Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
The Inner Monster Every Author Must Break in the Book Writing Process by Jonas Salzgeber
The Inner Monster Every Author Must Break in the Book Writing Process by Jonas Salzgeber
Looking back, I see this guy sitting in front of his old laptop, the face hidden in his sweaty palms, desperately seeking strength to break his inner monster.
He gets up, stretches and groans, and paces around like a tiger in a cage before falling flat on the couch, overwhelmed and beaten by handwritten notes, an unstructured word document, and a fuming mind. Read More
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Politically Correct by Dennis Scheel
Politically Correct by Dennis Scheel
Being Politically Correct started in America when it came to the racial question, but after the changes in the last two decades, all of the world, especially in Europe followed suit, insisted on being politically correct, no longer just in the Americas. It’s a worldwide phenomenon now. Even getting close to breaking this brings horror to a lot of people. But how come? Religious fanatics, or is it something else? Read More
Killed By Happy Endings by Heinrich von Wolfcastle
Killed By Happy Endings by Heinrich von Wolfcastle
When it comes to creative writing in the classroom, teachers often charge their students to defend the creation of their work. “Why should this exist?” they ask. It’s a difficult question to answer, because, frankly, why should anything exist? Stephen King responded with his answer that entertainment is reason enough. It’s hard to argue with that.
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Hurricane Sandy and Holly’s Hurricane by Marie Carter
Hurricane Sandy and Holly’s Hurricane by Marie Carter
Out of destruction, can also come creativity, or in my case, a novel. On October 29, 2012, the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy hit New York City, flooding streets, tunnels, and subway lines, and cutting power in and around the city.
Challenging the Impossible by Christian Hofsetz
Challenging the Impossible by Christian Hofsetz
(Image source: https://chracatoa.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/challengingtheimpossible.jpg)
Challenging the Impossible
When I was 8 years old, my best friend asked me a serious question.
“What would you do if everybody in the world was held hostage, and the only way to save them was to turn yourself in. But then, you’d be killed.”
(Image source: https://chracatoa.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/boys-childhood-children-551581.jpg)
As any young child would do, I ignored how nonsensical the question was, and how he had come to such a high-stakes hypothetical situation. Instead, I considered the possibilities, like any best friend would do. The truth is, in my mind there was only one possible answer.
“I’d turn myself in,” I said.
But it doesn’t matter what I said. When someone asks these types of questions, they really want to give their own opinion about it.
“Not me,” he said, matter-of-factly. “I would investigate it.”
8-year-old me was fascinated by his response. It didn’t even cross my mind that such a young kid would have absolutely no chance against people who imprisoned the whole world. He would challenge the impossible.
That conversation stayed with me to this date. It turns out that getting out of impossible—or nonsensical—situations is one of my favorite themes for movies, TV shows, comics, and books. But it’s not just the impossibility of the situation that matters to me. I want to know how far the characters go, how many principles they’re willing to break to avoid their doomed future.
The Mission Impossible movie series is an obvious implementation of this idea. I really like them, but they’re still too straightforward. I also need the mystery of not knowing exactly what’s going on.
(Image Source: https://chracatoa.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/936full-mission_-impossible-poster.jpg)
The 4400 TV show is a better example of that. Most episodes start with an outlandish situation that doesn’t make sense, but by the end of the episode everything is explained and fixed.
(Image source: https://chracatoa.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/4400.jpg)
Finally, the TV series Lost is another favorite of mine. It was not just about how the passengers were lost in an island. The viewers were also lost for a while, and it took several seasons to straighten it out.
(Image source: https://chracatoa.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/lost.jpg)
And that’s how my debut novel Challenges of the Gods starts. The main character is thrown into a hopeless scenario that forces him to go against his principles. No matter what he does, a lot of people will die. But will he just give up, just like I suggested when I was 8, or perhaps will he investigate the situation?
(Image source: https://chracatoa.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/preorder.jpg)
Jeyran Main’s review of Challenges of the Gods immediately identifies this theme: “The underline of the tale revolved around how far people were willing to go before they would begin to question their own belief.” And I was delighted to see that the Kirkus Review of my novel also picked it up: “(…) this impossible-mission tale features an appealing hero.”
Sometimes I wish I could go back in time just to give the right answer.
“Yes, friend. I would fight against the bad guys. I would investigate it.”
About the author
After working for several years as a professor in Brazil, C. Hofsetz moved to the United States and changed careers. Currently, he is a Software Engineer Manager at Microsoft by day, and a writer by night.
Software engineering and computers have been his passion since he was a teenager, but he’s been reading novels for longer than writing code. One day, he couldn’t help it anymore. He wrote the first chapter of a book. How bad could it be? But things escalated quickly. Next thing he knew, he was writing yet another chapter, and then the next. He tried to hide it, but his family knew he was up to something.
When they figured out what he was doing, it was too late—he accidentally had written a whole book.
The result of this journey is Challenges of The Gods, a story about a fantastic world of gods meddling with humans.
For more info, check the links below:
Amazon https://buff.ly/2sfXCJT
Website https://hofsetz.com
Twitter https://buff.ly/2Fisvp9
Facebook https://buff.ly/2F7U6K8
Instagram https://buff.ly/2Fisv8D
My Family Record Book by Harris N. Rosen (Book Review #532)
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