Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
Unveiling 11 Relationship Styles: Secrets Nobody Told Youby Ahmad Aljazeeri (Book Review #1867)
“Unveiling 11 Relationship Styles: Secrets Nobody Told You” is a pioneering exploration that delves into the multifaceted nature of human connections, offering a fresh and comprehensive perspective on both romantic and platonic relationships. The book introduces readers to the ‘PICCK A SPICE’ framework, which categorizes relationships into 11 distinct styles: Playful, Intellectual, Creative, Culinary, Kind, Adventurous, Spiritual, Physical, Inspirational, Caring, and Empathetic. This innovative approach provides a detailed map for understanding and navigating the diverse ways people connect with each other.
Read MoreA Character in the Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Universe of Lost Messages’ Speaks Out by Janet Stilson
Hey. My name’s Cheeta Lucida LaVera. You’ll find me inside a new book by Janet Stilson called Universe of Lost Messages. She asked me to explain a few things.
Read MoreFive Questions with Mark Doyon about Deep Fried
In the forthcoming novel Deep Fried by Mark Doyon, Americanized millennial Arjun Chatterjee is a food-truck chef working in a parking lot outside the nation’s capital. He dreams up multiethnic recipes and pursues a young woman toiling in a Kafkaesque office nearby. Building a clientele, he faces life with a sly optimism.
Read MoreInterview with Richard WalterÂ
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I came to California in the mid-60s for what I thought would be a short visit, but I enrolled at USC’s film school on a whim. Members of my class would eventually own Hollywood, except for George Lucas, who owns Marin County. I wrote my first screenplay in a class taught by the late and legendary Irwin R. Blacker. Though it never sold, it won me top representation and a slot on the writing staff at a major studio. I never looked back.
Read MoreAn Unexpected Novel – AFTERMATH BOY by Robert E. Honig
For twenty years, I’d stayed away from the Washington, D.C. Holocaust Museum.  Their repository of SHOAH Foundation testimonies and video recordings of survivor interviews included contributions by my two surviving aunts. Their older sister, my mother, had died at age 53 when I was a young man. Forty years later, this survivor’s only child, a transfer trauma recipient with history engrained in my DNA, had finally prepared himself to discover what the whispers of childhood were all about. Of course, I already knew quite a bit, whispered references to Dachau, Bergen Belsen, and ‘death marches’ peppered my ears when I eavesdropped from the top of the stairs in my childhood home.Â
Read MoreInterview with Ellis Shuman
Iva Dimitrova is author of this interview. Here is a link to the review of her book. Click here.
- In June of this year, you published your short story collection Rakia, which is set in Bulgaria. However, this isn’t the first time you’ve chosen my homeland as the backdrop for your stories. I’m referring to The Burgas Affair, which was also published in Bulgarian in 2016. What is it about my country that has held your interest for so long? Why is it special to you?
As part of my efforts to market my new book, Rakiya – Stories of Bulgaria – I ask people ‘When was the last time you read a book set in Bulgaria?’ The response is nearly unanimous – they have not read any books using Bulgaria as a setting. Add to this the fact that very little Bulgarian literature has been translated into English. The exception to this is the novel Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, which won the 2023 International Booker Prize, but even with that award, not too many people have read anything remotely connected to Bulgaria.
Read MoreThe Eye of Winter – More than a Hero’s Journey by Jaques Smit
In 2009, I was going through a tough time in my life. I felt trapped and isolated. Then a friend gave me The Magician by Raymond E. Feist. I vanished into its pages and blasted through the Riftwar Saga. Soon I learned Feist based these books on his D&D character, and suddenly, I was reminded of my passion for writing. As a teen, I wrote poetry and loved storytelling, especially in games. More often than not, I was the Dungeon Master among my friends.
Read MoreI Didn’t Mean To, But… by Iva Dimitrova (Book Review #1944)
I Didn’t Mean To, But…by Iva Dimitrova is a riveting psychological thriller that masterfully explores the fragile nature of decision-making and the often unpredictable consequences of even the smallest choices. This novel delves deep into the psyche of its characters, revealing how moral dilemmas and past secrets shape their fates in profound and often tragic ways.
Read MoreThe Journey Behind “Unknown Soldier: World War 1” by David L. Preston
The seed for my debut novel, “Unknown Soldier: World War 1,” was planted during a visit to Arlington National Cemetery when I was just a child. Standing before the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I was struck by a profound question: What were the lives of these men like before they became unknowns? This question lingered in my mind, sparking a lifelong curiosity about the stories of the soldiers who rest there in anonymity.
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