Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
Literary Devices Make Writers Giggle by John Espie
Back when I was taking Lit classes, I kept learning about allegory and extended metaphors and allusions and lots of other fancy words, and the whole time I couldn’t help but think, Are these professors taking this stuff way more seriously than the actual writers did?
Read MoreWriting the Gift Story by Alex Bernstein
No one likes staring at a blank page. Fortunately, many writers cultivate all sorts of prompts and tools to conquer that authorial vacuum as much as possible – whether it be leaving the previous day’s writing off on a cliffhanger – or maintaining an endless List of Ideas forever begging to be written.
Read MoreInterview With Kathy Davis
- What’s your favorite thing you have written?
Probably the poem that closes Passiflora, “Girls, She Falcons, Be Thin: Let Us Work Ourselves Asleep Against You,” because the hawk’s rise at the end feels so hopeful. Also, the title comes from a book of poetry someone gave me as a gift when I was in college but that I didn’t read until more than 20 years later. You never know what’s waiting on your bookshelf to be pulled down and read at just the moment when it will mean the most to you.
Read MoreWriting Even When You Don’t Think You Can By Kristin Durfee
Writing a novel can sometimes it can feel like being in one of those old cartoons where the character makes this herculean effort to get to the top of a mountain…only to see thousands of other mountains along the horizon.
Read MorePrintable Magic by Kathy Martone
What lies behind the eyes shines with an unearthly gleam and sparkle, a treasure chest of magic if you will. Gathering the letters, words, and images hidden deep within the soul’s retinal landscape becomes an act of worship, kneeling before the altar of inspiration.
Read MoreThe Price of Publication and Self-Publication in the Literary World by Ren Powell
The Price of Publication and Self-Publication in the Literary World
There is a term “pay for play” that is used about political donations and political appointments, for stand-up comics paying for stage time, and even for artists who pay for exhibition space. I have never heard it used when discussing literary publishing, but maybe it is something that needs to be discussed.
Read MoreA Little Conversation from Jennifer L. Rowlands
A common question I’ve heard of authors is “What is your writing process?” I’ve answered this question myself, though I questioned it. I mean, what is a writing process? Does the asker just want to know how I find a quiet place where I can comfortably place my hands upon a keyboard? Snoozefest.
Read MoreAn Interview With Sherry Quan Lee
- What’s your favorite thing you have written?
I think favorite could be interpreted in various ways. I co-wrote a performance piece, Black White Chinese Women Got the Beat, with a woman twenty years younger than me. The significance of that writing was the similarities and differences of two mixed-race women with a substantial age difference. She grew up in a rural area, I grew up in a city. Together we performed our combined stories at various venues including a bar, a coffee house, and a college classroom.
Read MoreAn Interview With David Seaburn
- What genre Is Broken Pieces of God?
Broken Pieces of God is contemporary literary fiction. Primarily, this means it is a character driven story.
- What Is the main plot of the book?
The main plot revolves around the lives of Eddy and Gayle Kimes and their two adult offspring, Rich and Sandy. Eddy has recently lost his job with a cable company and Gayle, an independent tax accountant, has been diagnosed with cancer. As Eddy’s attempts at finding a job fail and Gayle’s chemotherapy is equally unsuccessful, they pin their hopes for making it through on everything from seeking the solace of a statue of Jesus, to magical thinking, to a questionable (and possibly illegal) financial scheme, to the strength of family ties.
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