Short Story Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber

by Carol5 Comments
Title: "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" Author: James Thurber Category: Short Story First published: March 18, 1939 in The New Yorker Rating: 4½ out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon Walter Mitty, a mild-mannered forty-year-old man, drives into Connecticut with his wife for their weekly shopping trip and his wife's appointment with the hairdresser. Tired of his drab, schedule-driven life, Walter escapes into five elaborate daydreams, and finally becomes the hero he always hoped to be. I don't know why that blurb says Mitty becomes the hero. I don't think he ever really did, outside of his daydreams. Each of his daydreams is prompted by something in his environment. First, he's as a pilot flying in a storm, prompted by his fast driving, then he's a surgeon performing a one-of-a-kind surgery as he drives by a hospital. Next, he's an assassin testifying in a courtroom, and then a RAF pilot volunteering for a daring, secret suicide mission to bomb an ammunition dump. As the story ends, Mitty imagines...
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Thursday’s Tale: The Petrified Mansion

by Carol4 Comments
Today's story, "The Petrified Mansion," is from India, retold by Francis Bradley-Birt in Bengal Fairy Tales, 1920. It's a similar tale to the more familiar "Sleeping Beauty." A prince sets out to see the world. He carries with him no valuables and has no servants in his company, it's just him and his sword. After a time, he comes to a grand mansion, which he enters (without permission, apparently). He is surprised to find all the people and animals in all the rooms are petrified, statues. He was frightened and on the verge of leaving, when he sees a beautiful young woman lying on a golden bed. To all appearances, she is dead. The prince was "enamored" by her beauty and sat staring at her. One day he notices a stick of gold near her pillow. He picked it up and was looking at it when it touched the young woman's forehead and she instantly came awake as did the rest of the household. Everyone in the mansions...
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Audiobook Review: First Time Killer by Zak Allen

by Carol2 Comments
Title: First Time Killer Author: Alan Orloff writing as Zak Allen Read by: Bob Dunsworth Category: Mystery Published: January 2, 2012 Audio published: July 9, 2013 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon In shock radio, nothing is too far over-the-top in the pursuit of ratings. Not even murder. During his twenty-six-year career, D.C. radio talk show host Rick Jennings steered clear of outrageous radio. Wasn’t his thing. So when WTLK execs tap him for the Afternoon Circus to land a lucrative satellite deal, Rick struggles to maintain his standards — and his dignity. A chilling call (“I’m a long-time listener, first time KILLER.”) leads to the discovery of an intern’s arm in a trashcan. Rick spars with the “First Time” killer over the airwaves. The police are stymied. Ratings skyrocket. And First Time continues to knock off members of the Circus, phoning in to gloat afterward. In a world of psychics and poseurs, crazy deejays and crazier callers, it’s up to Rick to bring First Time down...
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Guest post: Brine Books, publisher of My Whispers of Horror

by Carol4 Comments
Today I'm happy to share a guest post from Brine Books, publisher of My Whispers of Horror. Five Mistakes Writers Make When Querying Publishers There are some mistakes people make. Some are quite common, others often go unnoticed by both sides but still effect the outcome. 1. Don't beg This happens sometimes through either the cover letter, follow ups to a decline, or sending the same submission multiple times. This doesn't get a publisher to approve your work. In fact, it results in them ignoring what you had written, and then going the other direction. There is nothing wrong with following up on a decline and asking for more clarification as long as you are polite and open minded. But keep in mind: publishers have their own conferences or festivals, and they do sometimes talk with one another. So always write as though you are contacting your next publisher. Learn from what they have to say, and you will do better the next time. Heck,...
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Audibook Review: Rules of Murder by Julianna Deering

by Carol4 Comments
Title: Rules of Murder (Drew Farthering #1) Author: Julianna Deering Read by: Simon Vance Category: Mystery Published: August 1, 2013 by Bethany House Audio published: August 1, 2013 by Brilliance Audio Rating: 2 out of 5 stars Add: Goodreads Purchase: Audible | Amazon | Book Depository Introducing Drew Farthering. From the tip of his black homburg to the crease in his cheviot trousers, he's the epitome of a stylish 1930s English gentleman. His only problem? The body he just discovered. Drew Farthering loves a good mystery, although he generally expects to find it in the pages of a novel, not on the grounds of his country estate. With the help of beautiful and whip-smart Madeline Parker, a guest from America, Drew proposes to use the lessons he's learned reading his mysteries to solve the crime. Before long, he realizes this is no lark, and no one at Farthering Place is who he or she appears to be, not the butler nor blackmailer, the chauffeur nor embezzler. Trying hard to remain one step...
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