Review Tales
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How I am Spending My Afterlife by Spencer Fleury
Tell us about your genre. How did you come to choose it? Why does it appeal to you?
I don’t think I did choose it, at least not consciously. I knew what the story was that I wanted to tell, and only after I was well into writing it did I start trying to figure out what it was, category-wise. I’m not surprised it turned out to be a literary noir, though. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed books and films in the genre, probably because they often speak to a self-destructive element of human nature that I just can’t look away from. Certainly, that describes the character of Alton Carver in my book, and since he’s the driving force of the entire narrative, it seems like a natural fit.
What do you find most challenging about the writing process, and how do you deal with it?
No question, it’s the compulsion to second-guess everything in the early stages. It derailed me from ever really getting started when I was younger, because all my first drafts were so terrible. But that was before I understood that first drafts are supposed to be terrible; the good stuff emerges from the rewriting process. So I force myself to just write a certain minimum number of words when I’m working on a first draft, as a way to ensure that at least some progress is made each session. And sometimes, when I go back for the first round of rewrites, I find it’s not as bad as I originally thought. I still rewrite it, though, because you never get it exactly right on the first try.
When and where do you do your writing?
If I’m working on a short story, I’ll write it basically anywhere I can, whenever I have an hour or more to focus. I wrote a story on a recent vacation to Italy, even though I intentionally didn’t bring my laptop on the trip. But it was for a recurring reading series that I’d been trying to get into for a while, and the deadline was going to pass before I’d be home. So I bought a notebook and pencil and wrote a couple drafts before dictating it into my phone and submitting it with about five hours to spare before the deadline. And yes, writing a story in a cafe looking out onto a historic Italian piazza is exactly as romantic and gratifying as it sounds.
But more recently, I’ve been working on the next novel, and I find I need to set aside larger blocks of time to make much headway. So I’ll write in the evenings or during the day on weekends, usually at home or at this starkly-apportioned minimalist coffee shop near my apartment. I find the background noise of the customers and machinery helps me focus in a way that I don’t really understand, but it works so I’m not questioning it.
What have you learned about promoting your books?
The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that it’s incredibly hard to get anyone to pay attention to you, especially before you really have any kind of a track record. There are so many authors out there, all trying to promote their own books by using the same channels everyone else uses. It’s really crowded, and it’s a huge challenge to get that needle to budge.
That said, I have to remind myself that book promotion for an indie author like me is necessarily going to be a long-term project, and that short-term wins are going to be scarce for a while. It’s dispiriting and frustrating, but as a writer you’ve got to keep doing it because nobody else is going to care as much about your book as you do.
What are you most proud of as a writer?
Finishing and actually publishing this novel. Seriously, I know so many people who have started first novels but never finished them for a variety of reasons, all of them valid. Writing a novel is a huge demand on anyone’s time, and the act of writing fiction can be way more personal and revealing than some people expect or are comfortable with. I don’t blame people for stopping, but this was something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’m proud to have succeeded – and I have succeeded, even before selling a single copy.
If you could have dinner with any writer, living or dead, who would it be and what would you talk about?
Douglas Adams. As for what we’d talk about, well, pretty much whatever he’d like, though I expect he might be disappointed if he wanted to talk about cricket.
How I’m Spending My Afterlife
By Spencer Fleury
Genre: Noir, Suspense, General
Alton Carver has a problem.
A cocky lawyer in his mid-30s, he’s under federal investigation for embezzling and securities fraud. Instead of spending the next three to five years behind bars, he’s got a plan: stage his own death, take the money he stole and light out for Central America, leaving behind wife Nicole and daughter Clara. But when he sticks around town long enough to watch his own funeral, he makes the unpleasant discovery that the life he’s leaving behind isn’t the life he thought he had.
When he overhears the way his former colleagues talk about him now that he’s “gone,” Alton is forced to reconsider his self-image as a respected and admired pillar of the legal community. Then the shock of seeing Nicole in the arms of another man leads Alton to postpone his plan to run for the border. What comes next is a slow-burn train wreck, a tale of self-deception, revenge and bad decisions.
About the Author
Spencer Fleury has worked as a sailor, copywriter, economics professor and record store clerk, among other disreputable professions. He was born in the Detroit suburbs, spent most of his life in Florida, and now lives in San Francisco. How I’m Spending My Afterlife is his first novel.
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https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/how-im-spending-my-afterlife-spencer-fleury/1126718547
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35662380-how-i-m-spending-my-afterlife
The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François: Reviewed by da-AL
Happy bread day to me! Happy bread day to meeee!
Tango gatherings are social in the best way, often involving potlucks. When a dance mate brought a yeast-raised loaf still warm from her home oven and proceeded to describe how easily she’d baked it, I ran to get the book she’d gotten the recipe from.
Truly, “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D., and Zoë François lives up to its subtitle, “The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking.”
The authors didn’t inventor no-knead yeast bread. Nevertheless, they provide gourmet quality easy recipes illustrated with much glossy high color food porn. This panettone became a family favorite with my first loaf.
In my Iran-born husband’s family, one is either ‘noon-ee,’ bread loving, or ‘polo-ee.’ rice loving.’ Bread lover that I am, I’ve repeatedly tried to bake yeast bread, always failing at producing anything better than hard bricks.
Not so with these recipes! For the panettone, instead of the fancy paper employed by the authors here, I use parchment paper to line the ceramic pot from my electric crock pot, fill it with dough, and then bake just the pot in my conventional oven. For the first half of the baking, I leave it covered. For the remainder, I take the lid off.
The yeasty fragrance of baking perfumes clear to the outdoor perimeter of my house. What a marvel it is to hear a loaf hum, whistle, and crackle a steamy tune as it cools! And what textures! Crunchy, chewy goodness!
Voila! Jacques Pepín puts it best when he states that nothing can compete with fine artisan bread slathered with pure butter.
Here’s Jacques, making his own no-knead bread.
Caveat: “…Bread in Five Minutes…” might mislead some, albeit forgivably, given how easy and delicious the recipes are. The dough takes five to ten minutes to mix. Then it must rise for a couple of hours. Baking time varies, i.e., breadsticks are understandably baked quicker than whole loaves. The dough can be frozen, or it can be refrigerated for up to a week. In either case, let it warm to room temperature before baking.
Written by da-AL
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Winter by Marissa Meyer (Book Review # 3)
Winter is Marissa Meyers last book. It is the finale where all of the characters come together. In this book, the author decides to keep you on your toes throughout the whole story. Every page is interesting and full of drama. There is action happening every corner you read. There are sad parts, happy parts, wow parts and much more. I recommend you to purchase this book as it makes all the anticipation and waiting worthwhile.
I am going to mention something here that may or may not benefit the author. That is, if you purchase Winter alone and just read this book, you can still catch up on all you missed and still understand the whole story altogether. On the other hand, if you wish to know all of the “Nitti Gritty” parts and in general just like a smooth read along and then reach to the end of the story then you should start from Cinder. The reason behind what I say is because the author touched base on every character and gave them at least a page describing everything they went through in this book. So if you just picked this up and did not know that there were three books before it, then you won’t be shooting yourself.
The book does focus initially on Winter and her story, her background and how she has been struggling with her situation. Her friendship with Jacin and her secret love was both sweet and intriguing. You never knew how her relationship was going to end or grow. Scarlet is pretty much useless until the end. She is a prisoner and besides her harsh language and angry referencing’s, you do not get to read much about her. Cinder is getting stronger and more determined. Wolf, Cress, and Iko are just the same people trying their best to help Cinder. Prince Kai now knows the secret and has more motivation for save his country from two vital things, the plague and Queen Levana. Torin, Aimery, and Maha have more roles to play in the series, and there are many battles and romance, which is always exciting and helpful.
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Fresh artisan bread made easier than ever! Reviewed by da-AL
Author Jim Lahey with his Sullivan Street Bakery
Surely there’s a place in heaven for bakers who have worked out the kinks of no-knead bread baking, the ones who share their secrets with the rest of us. No-knead recipes are yeasty home baked goodness without the usual bother, and that take a fraction of the time to make.
Jim Lahey’s “My Bread” bumped my no-knead loaves to Everest heights. Bread genius and angel to home bakers that he is, he does the rest of the no-knead cookbooks one better. He does away with the need for pizza stones and steam via his simple radical solution: baking in covered pots.
Recipes, for me, are diving boards to be fiddled with after my first try, not destinations to be rigorously followed. Lahey’s recipes, all easy, forgive unconditionally. A straightforward writer, he encourages innovation!
These two loaves are loose renditions of his “Pane Integrale/Whole Wheat Bread,” the ones he lusciously illustrates and describes on pages 60-62. For brunch last Sunday, I baked them together. The smaller is a whole recipe. The larger one, a double recipe, needed a bit longer to bake thoroughly.
At the beginning of the book, Lahey discusses how long dough should be left to rise. Two hours is the minimum, yet more patience is rewarded with more fermentation. I’ve left my dough out for as long as 24 hours before baking. Every loaf steams with tangy sourdough excellence.
Along with messing with the ingredients (I added oatmeal to the smaller loaf, a whole wheat flour to both of them) my personal innovation is to usually use crock pots in the oven, not the electric part of course, instead of other types of pots. That way, I don’t risk ruining yet another non-metal handle.
Whatever I use, I line with parchment paper to ensure easy extraction. Plus, the paper embosses intriguing creases.
Forget about Wonder Bread or anything akin to grocery store texture. My loaves come out dense and crusty; a handmade delight to be experienced only by the truly fortunate. In the interest of not squashing the lofty goodness when I saw into each loaf, I use an electric carving knife that my mom gifted to my husband. Furthermore, to not risk mangling my already uneven slices, I use scissors for the absolute final bit of cutting.
Initially, when baked at Lahey’s recommended 475º, my oven emitted an offensive metallic odor. An appliance repairman set my qualms to rest. He advised me to run the oven at 500º for a couple of hours. The oven has been odor-free ever since.
Dough, just like bread, can be refrigerated for a week or so, as well as frozen for longer. For best results, allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking.
Written by da-AL
Please visit, share, & comment on her 1st ever blog: Happiness Between Tails
The Selection Series by Kiera Cass – America’s Tale (Book Review #1)
The Selection series is a 5-novel book about two girls named America & Eadlyn written by Kiera Cass.
I managed to read all five of the books in July and found them very easy to understand and to follow.
“The Selection,” “The Elite,” and “The One” were all written between 2012 and 2014. Without giving too much away for people who have not yet read the book, I would like to give a small description of the whole thing before I comment on my feelings about it.
The tale starts in the future after World War 4. America has been taken over by a country called Illea. The monarchy running the country passes their daughters to other nations in the hope of strengthening their allies, and the prince has to choose one girl from a selection of girls picked after each sector of their lands.
People live in a caste system where if you are a “one,” you are like royalty; a” two,” you are a celebrity; and if you are an “eight,” you are a nobody. Every caste has a category of jobs they can only take as a profession. The girls are to be virgins before marrying, and any marriages between higher castes and lower ranks are not received very well.
I have read many reviews and heard many comparisons to the Hunger Games and The Bachelor regarding this book. However, I was surprised to see that no one mentioned anything close to what I am about to say and review.
The books almost reminded me of Jane Austen and her famous “Pride & Prejudice.” Jane Austen demonstrated people ranked by their status and financial position. In Pride & Prejudice, people were not legally bound by what jobs they had to take or marked by the public with a number representing their status; they still suffered between an invisible line of being degraded and treated with prejudice due to their status. They could not move any higher in status unless marriage was affiliated with them.
While Elizabeth grabbed Darcy’s attention with her gracious behaviour and performed with dignity and pride even though she was of a lower status, America’s personality and behaviour in the selection were almost the opposite.
I found America to be obscene, and I was almost always confused as to what she was doing. She behaved very immaturely toward many important decisions she had to make, yet Kiera managed to make them all sound appealing to the one Prince of Illea. There was no grace, extreme pride, constant snapping or yelling, and almost always insulting the prince. Kiera was excellent in giving us a visual view of the beautiful gowns and scenes, and her skill in writing made you almost cry or gasp at certain moments.
America was pursuing another man in the palace, who happened to be her ex-boyfriend, Aspen, all at the same time. Most of her dates with the prince would end up half-finished due to her temper and attitude, and she was playing with two hearts, trying to decide which one she wanted and which one she wanted to break. I kind of was hoping that once she had reached the palace, she would forget about Aspen or at least America would let him go when she saw him at the palace.
Nevertheless, don’t be alarmed and decide not to read this book as it had many enjoyable parts where, if you dug deeper into the story, you would understand and want to know more. There were politics, history, love, affairs, dramas and many sudden changes to the book that was very refreshing and kept you on your toes, wanting to find out what would happen next. Love is not perfect, and compared to Hollywood stories that seal our minds with images of what we should perceive as romantic and genuine love, the selection series takes you to another level of perception.
Just like anything in life, you start to be confused or even unwilling to participate. You then realize that it isn’t so bad and start finding your true self, understanding that it was what you have been looking for the entire time. You pursue it with all you have and hope wholeheartedly that you succeed. Subsequently, since you never lose until you give up, America did just that, and she won.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Against All Odds by Danielle Steel (Book Review #290)
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