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Writer's Retweet
Horrifying illusions. Classified government operations.
Heavily guarded secrets.
Cryptic rumors. Dangerous prisoners.
Irresistible passion. Demonic magic.
Piers Anthony weaves this and more into Writer’s Retweet, a collection of five short stories abounding in the adventure, magic, and naughtiness that fans have come to know and love from this author.
In “Experiment,” “Discovery,” and “Mission,” painfully average Bigelow Bilge and Paula Plaintiff are thrust unwillingly into a world fraught with terrifying, victim-specific illusions. Who—or what—is the source of these horrifying encounters? Why have Bigelow and Paula been targeted?
A newspaper reporter in “Dull Street Incident” gets wind of a delicious scandal rumored to have punctuated a stale suburban street. Menacing prisoners, conniving teenage girls, and one well-kept secret leads this reporter to the story of a lifetime. But who will believe it?
In “Forbidden Fruit,” dowdy, middle-aged Edith happens upon a mysterious fruit that completely alters her life—and the life of Kent, an attractive, young neighbor. Seduced by her newfound magical abilities and rediscovered sex appeal, Edith plunges into a world filled with demons, pleasure, and unthinkable risk.
Heavily guarded secrets.
Cryptic rumors. Dangerous prisoners.
Irresistible passion. Demonic magic.
Piers Anthony weaves this and more into Writer’s Retweet, a collection of five short stories abounding in the adventure, magic, and naughtiness that fans have come to know and love from this author.
In “Experiment,” “Discovery,” and “Mission,” painfully average Bigelow Bilge and Paula Plaintiff are thrust unwillingly into a world fraught with terrifying, victim-specific illusions. Who—or what—is the source of these horrifying encounters? Why have Bigelow and Paula been targeted?
A newspaper reporter in “Dull Street Incident” gets wind of a delicious scandal rumored to have punctuated a stale suburban street. Menacing prisoners, conniving teenage girls, and one well-kept secret leads this reporter to the story of a lifetime. But who will believe it?
In “Forbidden Fruit,” dowdy, middle-aged Edith happens upon a mysterious fruit that completely alters her life—and the life of Kent, an attractive, young neighbor. Seduced by her newfound magical abilities and rediscovered sex appeal, Edith plunges into a world filled with demons, pleasure, and unthinkable risk.
94 pages, Paperback
First published August 13, 2016
11 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Piers Anthony
442 books4,222 followersThough he spent the first four years of his life in England, Piers never returned to live in his country of birth after moving to Spain and immigrated to America at age six. After graduating with a B.A. from Goddard College, he married one of his fellow students and and spent fifteen years in an assortment of professions before he began writing fiction full-time.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
Piers is a self-proclaimed environmentalist and lives on a tree farm in Florida with his wife. They have two grown daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 5, 2019
I was interested in reading Piers Anthony's new book, Writer's Retweet, for several reasons. He was one of the authors I grew up with, and I'm always curious to come back to a writer that I've read years ago and see if my understanding of their work offers anything new. I've reread books from when I was a kid and found layers of meaning in the text that I missed when I was younger, such as Madeline L'Engle's work. And then there are other authors whom I've revisited who've had much less of an impact on the adult me, even if they were integral to my formative years.
I'm also always looking for work that expands my understanding of the creative form, and the concept of this book was intriguing. Every author hears over and over that social media is a key component of today's writer's platform. I'm on a few social media networks, but I feel I'll always be a bit curmudgeonly about them. I enjoy them, but I consider myself a bit past the age/stage of life where I will keep up with the latest technology/trend.
So it was with great interest that I picked up Writer's Retweet. Mr. Anthony begins the book by saying, "When things went wrong with traditional publishing, I moved on to self publishing." And the self-publisher told him to become active on social media. Mr. Anthony came up with the idea of doing a story in tweets, which would run over the course of many months. In his own words, "I wanted something dramatic enough to attract and hold a person one day at a time; philosophical depth was unnecessary."
This is pantsing taking to a whole new level. For those of you who don't know the term, "pantsing" is generally applied to writers who "write by the seat of their pants." They don't do extensive outlining ahead of time, but let the muse guide their words. The opposite of this is "plotters," who, as the name implies, know where their character's going to be at any given time throughout the story. I myself am more of a "pantser" when it comes to writing, and so I wanted to see if this thought experiment of Mr. Anthony's bore any fruit.
Every day, Mr. Anthony would put out 140 characters on Twitter to tell the next installment of the story. When he finished writing these stories after many months, he collected them into a book so that those who missed any installments could sit down and read them as a whole.
The first piece is "Experiment," and one might guess that the title applies to the story itself as an experiment in social media, as well as to the subject of the story. The story begins with Bigelow Bilgewater, who is so ordinary he is unremarkable. On his way home from work one day, he narrowly avoids death from a number of different accidents, including being hit by a falling safe, being run over by a car, and being bit by a rabid dog. He runs into a woman in the same boat as him--Paula Plaintiff. She says she has narrowly escaped similar illusions, and they realize that they can work together and free themselves from whoever's plaguing them. They decide to confront the perpetrators of their misfortune together.
The next piece continues the plot from where the first one leaves off and is called "Discovery." Bigelow and Paula find out where the illusions are coming from, but upon entering the main headquarters of the perpetrators, they discover that all the people have been murdered. The company recruits them to find out who the murderer is. The story concludes in "Mission," where the two characters confront and overcome the murderer.
There is some repetition in this first trilogy of pieces, which I feel is somewhat inevitable with a story told in tweets. The author is trying not to lose his reader, but at the same time he is trying to tell a comprehensive story. When the tweets are put together in block story format, as opposed to tweet format, it shows the difference between a story told in pieces and a draft that has been created out of whole cloth. While the stories are fun and adventuresome, they don't delve into any sort of deeper meaning.
The next story is "Dull Street Incident," and it is told by a reporter who hears that something of interest has happened on Dull Street, which is a poorer neighborhood that generally lives up to its name. After snooping around, the reporter discovers something unusual and somewhat shocking, but at the same time concludes that there isn't enough of a story to publish.
This piece struck me as a bit strange and unconventional. The subject matter made me uncomfortable, which was probably the point of the story--an incident swept under the rug. Although I don't know if the reporter's reaction is realistic--I feel that, in this day and age, with the lack of news media accountability, a story regarding this particular subject matter would be blasted out by the media even if there wasn't any corroborating evidence. It wouldn't be ignored, which is what the reporter ends up doing. But other than that, the piece did a good job of suspenseful pacing.
The last story is probably the most interesting, as it contains a deeper message and has a more elaborate plot. Entitled "Forbidden Fruit," it centers around Edith, who discovers a strange plant that gives her magical powers. With the help of her lover, Kent, they discover that the plant comes from an alternate plane of existence where magic exists. The drawback is the people there only exist on the spiritual realm and can't make any true difference in the world, since nothing they do is permanent or real. Edith and Kent must make a decision whether to stay and live forever, or go back home and face the reality of death.
Perhaps my favorite story in the collection, I thought it was much more complex and contained a lot of the elements that I was looking for, both in a story and in this tweet experiment.
This collection isn't long--only five stories in all--and so it ends up being a fast read. Even within the limits of the tweets and the length of time it would take to write these stories (140 characters a day doesn't add up to a lot, so to tell a story of any length would take months), I felt that the writing style was strong and interesting enough to hold my attention. However, there isn't a lot of depth to these stories, as Mr. Anthony himself warns in his introduction. If you're looking for anything other than a light adventure, you might be disappointed. I enjoyed the premise of the experiment, though, and look forward to seeing what Mr. Anthony comes up with next.
This review was originally published in the magazine Bewildering Stories, Issue # 697.
I'm also always looking for work that expands my understanding of the creative form, and the concept of this book was intriguing. Every author hears over and over that social media is a key component of today's writer's platform. I'm on a few social media networks, but I feel I'll always be a bit curmudgeonly about them. I enjoy them, but I consider myself a bit past the age/stage of life where I will keep up with the latest technology/trend.
So it was with great interest that I picked up Writer's Retweet. Mr. Anthony begins the book by saying, "When things went wrong with traditional publishing, I moved on to self publishing." And the self-publisher told him to become active on social media. Mr. Anthony came up with the idea of doing a story in tweets, which would run over the course of many months. In his own words, "I wanted something dramatic enough to attract and hold a person one day at a time; philosophical depth was unnecessary."
This is pantsing taking to a whole new level. For those of you who don't know the term, "pantsing" is generally applied to writers who "write by the seat of their pants." They don't do extensive outlining ahead of time, but let the muse guide their words. The opposite of this is "plotters," who, as the name implies, know where their character's going to be at any given time throughout the story. I myself am more of a "pantser" when it comes to writing, and so I wanted to see if this thought experiment of Mr. Anthony's bore any fruit.
Every day, Mr. Anthony would put out 140 characters on Twitter to tell the next installment of the story. When he finished writing these stories after many months, he collected them into a book so that those who missed any installments could sit down and read them as a whole.
The first piece is "Experiment," and one might guess that the title applies to the story itself as an experiment in social media, as well as to the subject of the story. The story begins with Bigelow Bilgewater, who is so ordinary he is unremarkable. On his way home from work one day, he narrowly avoids death from a number of different accidents, including being hit by a falling safe, being run over by a car, and being bit by a rabid dog. He runs into a woman in the same boat as him--Paula Plaintiff. She says she has narrowly escaped similar illusions, and they realize that they can work together and free themselves from whoever's plaguing them. They decide to confront the perpetrators of their misfortune together.
The next piece continues the plot from where the first one leaves off and is called "Discovery." Bigelow and Paula find out where the illusions are coming from, but upon entering the main headquarters of the perpetrators, they discover that all the people have been murdered. The company recruits them to find out who the murderer is. The story concludes in "Mission," where the two characters confront and overcome the murderer.
There is some repetition in this first trilogy of pieces, which I feel is somewhat inevitable with a story told in tweets. The author is trying not to lose his reader, but at the same time he is trying to tell a comprehensive story. When the tweets are put together in block story format, as opposed to tweet format, it shows the difference between a story told in pieces and a draft that has been created out of whole cloth. While the stories are fun and adventuresome, they don't delve into any sort of deeper meaning.
The next story is "Dull Street Incident," and it is told by a reporter who hears that something of interest has happened on Dull Street, which is a poorer neighborhood that generally lives up to its name. After snooping around, the reporter discovers something unusual and somewhat shocking, but at the same time concludes that there isn't enough of a story to publish.
This piece struck me as a bit strange and unconventional. The subject matter made me uncomfortable, which was probably the point of the story--an incident swept under the rug. Although I don't know if the reporter's reaction is realistic--I feel that, in this day and age, with the lack of news media accountability, a story regarding this particular subject matter would be blasted out by the media even if there wasn't any corroborating evidence. It wouldn't be ignored, which is what the reporter ends up doing. But other than that, the piece did a good job of suspenseful pacing.
The last story is probably the most interesting, as it contains a deeper message and has a more elaborate plot. Entitled "Forbidden Fruit," it centers around Edith, who discovers a strange plant that gives her magical powers. With the help of her lover, Kent, they discover that the plant comes from an alternate plane of existence where magic exists. The drawback is the people there only exist on the spiritual realm and can't make any true difference in the world, since nothing they do is permanent or real. Edith and Kent must make a decision whether to stay and live forever, or go back home and face the reality of death.
Perhaps my favorite story in the collection, I thought it was much more complex and contained a lot of the elements that I was looking for, both in a story and in this tweet experiment.
This collection isn't long--only five stories in all--and so it ends up being a fast read. Even within the limits of the tweets and the length of time it would take to write these stories (140 characters a day doesn't add up to a lot, so to tell a story of any length would take months), I felt that the writing style was strong and interesting enough to hold my attention. However, there isn't a lot of depth to these stories, as Mr. Anthony himself warns in his introduction. If you're looking for anything other than a light adventure, you might be disappointed. I enjoyed the premise of the experiment, though, and look forward to seeing what Mr. Anthony comes up with next.
This review was originally published in the magazine Bewildering Stories, Issue # 697.
March 8, 2017
What the summary of Writer’s Retweet leaves out is the most delightful part of the whole book: its origin story. This is not a mere collection of solid and interesting stories by acclaimed writer Piers Anthony. Each of these stories was originally written on Twitter. Every day, Anthony tweeted a 140-character addition to his story until it was complete. It’s an interesting approach to storytelling that is strikingly relevant in today’s world. As media evolves, new storytelling formats arise, and Anthony uses this to his advantage. After tweeting, he compiled the stories into this novel where, while reading, you completely forget their remarkable origins.
They are each funny and intelligent stories with lifelike characters populating them. When, as a reader, we step back and remember that they popped up on a social media page, it makes them that much more fascinating. In other words, it’s a book for people who like strong, quirky stories, and at the same time it’s a book for people interested in the evolution of storytelling in the 21st century.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
They are each funny and intelligent stories with lifelike characters populating them. When, as a reader, we step back and remember that they popped up on a social media page, it makes them that much more fascinating. In other words, it’s a book for people who like strong, quirky stories, and at the same time it’s a book for people interested in the evolution of storytelling in the 21st century.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
March 10, 2017
Writer’s Retweet stems from an interesting concept of Piers’ where he used tweets to tell a story. For the purpose of publishing a novel with the stories all in one place, he removed the tweet structure and organized the book as a conventional piece. The first three chapters represent a continuous storyline, while chapters four and five stand on their own. I would have loved to encounter these stories in tweet format, as I think it would build suspense as readers wait for the next part of the story in the next tweet. Reading these stories in their original context would be more engaging, in my opinion. The plots of each of the stories were so-so for me, with ‘Forbidden Fruit’ being my favorite out of the three.
As I’ve stated in other Piers Anthony reviews, his writing style is very unique, but is not one that I am instantly drawn to. I do appreciate his work and his dedication to bringing his powerful imagination to others.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
As I’ve stated in other Piers Anthony reviews, his writing style is very unique, but is not one that I am instantly drawn to. I do appreciate his work and his dedication to bringing his powerful imagination to others.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
August 16, 2016
3 stars. This work falls into what I expect to come from Anthony. Each story is well written, has decent pacing with an acceptable amount of character depth for such short stories. The dialogue isn’t stilted, the description just enough to paint a scene with the rest being left up to your imagination. This is a light read, something to pass your afternoon with. While I’m not the biggest fan of the writing style or subject matter, Anthony’s concepts are ones that could, very easily, have been turned into full length novels or novellas- which is something I respect. To be able to take a full length concept and break it down without getting lost in the details takes skill. I also respect the matter in which this was written- using social media as a vehicle to get a story across. Such a fun concept!
Those of you that enjoy this author’s work, I imagine this will chalk up to be one that you can’t miss out on, and to those of you who haven’t read his works, this will be one to start with. All in all, this is a light read that doesn’t disappoint.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
Those of you that enjoy this author’s work, I imagine this will chalk up to be one that you can’t miss out on, and to those of you who haven’t read his works, this will be one to start with. All in all, this is a light read that doesn’t disappoint.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
September 28, 2016
Anthony created a series of five short stories incorporated into one piece that derived from a series of tweets. The first three followed the perfectly average characters of Bigelow Bilge and Paula Plaintiff and their adventures. These particular ones were my favorite of the five because I felt the character development was deeper, so I found myself turning the pages faster and faster, enticed by their terrifying encounters. The other two are still decent, but I would not go so far to say they are amazing. Overall, the book is enjoyable, but not one of my favorites. If you enjoy Piers Anthony and his style of writing, this would be a good one to check out.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
August 20, 2016
The stories in “Writer’s Retweet” were originally written as a series of tweets, then later combined to form full short stories. This gives them a fun, easy-to-digest composition, especially for those who read the original tweets as they were published. Each story is unique and fantastical in typical Piers Anthony fashion; my favorite stories were the ones involving Bigelow and Paula, as they were very likeable characters. I didn’t love the fact that women are used more as sexual objects than characters in some of these stories, especially in “Dull Street Incident,” but overall this collection is a fun, easy read.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
August 16, 2016
This collection of short stories was my first introduction into Piers Anthony, and I was absolutely hooked by page one! Each story was so suspenseful, I couldn't put the book down until I had read it cover to cover (I especially loved the first trifecta of stories as well as the last story). It's also a really creative concept, seeing as the author originally penned the book via tweets on Twitter. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book!
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
November 6, 2016
Review: WRITER'S RETWEET by Piers Anthony
Long-lived and prolific author Piers Anthony, adored by millions, took on the challenge of writing stories via Twitter, at 140 characters per day. Collected here are 3 stories connected through 1 theme, an unusual story about a street named "Dull," and a magical science fiction novelette about a really "Strange Fruit" and its incredible effects. Riven with the author's trademark ingenuity, these stories are effective as a one-sitting read, or read one at a time.
Long-lived and prolific author Piers Anthony, adored by millions, took on the challenge of writing stories via Twitter, at 140 characters per day. Collected here are 3 stories connected through 1 theme, an unusual story about a street named "Dull," and a magical science fiction novelette about a really "Strange Fruit" and its incredible effects. Riven with the author's trademark ingenuity, these stories are effective as a one-sitting read, or read one at a time.
March 29, 2017
I chose to read this book after receiving a free e-copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.
Titles don't usually do a lot for me but this one grabbed my attention and it's perfect. Plus, I sold a lot of Piers Anthony books in my bookstore so I'd been planning on checking out his books at some point, this was my perfect chance.
Piers Anthony first introduced these stories as tweets which must have taken a lot of thought. Telling a story 140 words at a time has to be a challenge! I didn't read these stories as tweets (I have a twitter account but don't read tweets very often), but I imagine it worked. I know I would have kept coming back for more, especially to read "Experiment." I mean, I would have had to find out why an ordinary man suddenly had so many attempts on his life.
These short stories work well in book form as well. I definitely recommend Writer's Retweet if you enjoy stories that are a little different.
Titles don't usually do a lot for me but this one grabbed my attention and it's perfect. Plus, I sold a lot of Piers Anthony books in my bookstore so I'd been planning on checking out his books at some point, this was my perfect chance.
Piers Anthony first introduced these stories as tweets which must have taken a lot of thought. Telling a story 140 words at a time has to be a challenge! I didn't read these stories as tweets (I have a twitter account but don't read tweets very often), but I imagine it worked. I know I would have kept coming back for more, especially to read "Experiment." I mean, I would have had to find out why an ordinary man suddenly had so many attempts on his life.
These short stories work well in book form as well. I definitely recommend Writer's Retweet if you enjoy stories that are a little different.
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