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Make Pretend: The Complete Short Fiction of Armand Rosamilia, Volume 1
Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2020
About the author
Armand Rosamilia
241 books2,742 followersArmand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life...
He's written over 150 stories that are currently available, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.
He not only runs two successful podcasts...
Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast - interviewing fellow authors as well as filmmakers, musicians, etc.
The Mando Method Podcast with co-host Chuck Buda - talking about writing and publishing
But he owns the network they're on, too! Project Entertainment Network
He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool.
You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!
and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal:
armandrosamilia@gmail.com
He's written over 150 stories that are currently available, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.
He not only runs two successful podcasts...
Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast - interviewing fellow authors as well as filmmakers, musicians, etc.
The Mando Method Podcast with co-host Chuck Buda - talking about writing and publishing
But he owns the network they're on, too! Project Entertainment Network
He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool.
You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!
and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal:
armandrosamilia@gmail.com
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 21, 2020
Armand Rosamilia hails from New Jersey and currently residing in Florida, with 150 titles under his belt and currently available for consumption, he has covered many genres including, horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. Mr Rosamilia’s goal is to write a good story and not worry about what genre it fits into. He also runs two very successful podcasts on Project Entertainment Network; Arm Cast: Dead Sexy Horror Podcast and The Mando Method Podcast.
Today is Mr Rosamilia’s 51st Birthday, but it’s also the Release Day for his newest offering; Make Pretend.
Make Pretend is a collection of short stories collected from the author’s career, and not necessarily in chronological order. This makes for a really nice variety of not just subject matter, but also writing style.
I really enjoyed reading this collection, it was a great way to get to know the author outside of happening across a story in an anthology. It’s also a brilliant way to get a grasp on the range an author has when they collect stories from throughout their career and not just the last however many months they’ve been organising a collection for.
The Book starts out with a piece from Tim Meyer who gives us a heartfelt introduction to the book and to Armand Rosamilia himself, sharing with us his experience of knowing Armand and also getting us good and ready for story time once we get to the book. Following this there is a foreword by the author explaining a bit about himself and where he came from, and how he got to be the Armand we know today.
All of these stories are good in their own right, there is not a single one amongst them that I hated reading or felt was too long, but I do have favourites. Some of which, I didn’t know were going to be favourites until the very last line. There are twenty one stories in this book, but I’ll be writing about my favourites. I’m sure other reviewers will choose different ones as this collection is a really good all rounder, so you should get a good grasp by reading lots of blogs – something I heartily recommend!
First up I absolutely loved The Wolf who cried Boy, as it happens I was actually a big fan of the Boy who Cried Wolf growing up so the title immediately hit me with a sense of nostalgia. The story itself was an interesting switch around and worked really well. Simply done but really well done and a story with an ending that hit home with a simple but cutting line from one of the characters.
Next I’ve picked out Dirty Deeds; The Stakeout. It’s nicely written and is mostly based around two men in a car so its an easy to follow story. The dialogue between the two is well written and quite realistic, as well as having an air of those dramas you watch on TV. It’s a nice read basically, and I really liked the way it ended. I haven’t really found many stories that end in the way this did and I liked it a lot, you feel like a fly on the wall.. or.. on the back seat as it were.
Stairs to the Ocean was a very interesting story which grabbed me. It reminded me of the early horrors I watched, again a simple concept with limited characters but it worked very, very well.
Do you Read Gutter Bane? Has to be my favourite story in the book. I was sold the moment I saw the title. In the Mouth of Madness is one of my favourite films ever and all I wanted to do after seeing it was read the books in the film. The books that don’t exist, much to my disappointment. The second I saw this title I was excited as the name Sutter Caine flashed into my mind. The story is a fabulously creepy story and the ending does not let it down. If you buy the book for nothing else, buy it for this story. You’ll see why I loved it.
The Toymaker was one of those where I didn’t know I loved it until the end of the story, it’s very well written and I connected with it very well so it wasn’t a case of not enjoying it until the end but it does absolutely end the story well and I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to.
In all, it’s a great read and it’s the perfect tool to get to know the author without investing in one particular story. This book has a range of genres within it and therefore plenty for you to check out before you decide on your favourite style and go with a bigger story. I would absolutely recommend checking it out because there is something for everyone in it, and also, it’d be a great Birthday Gift to the Author, especially if you left a review.
Today is Mr Rosamilia’s 51st Birthday, but it’s also the Release Day for his newest offering; Make Pretend.
Make Pretend is a collection of short stories collected from the author’s career, and not necessarily in chronological order. This makes for a really nice variety of not just subject matter, but also writing style.
I really enjoyed reading this collection, it was a great way to get to know the author outside of happening across a story in an anthology. It’s also a brilliant way to get a grasp on the range an author has when they collect stories from throughout their career and not just the last however many months they’ve been organising a collection for.
The Book starts out with a piece from Tim Meyer who gives us a heartfelt introduction to the book and to Armand Rosamilia himself, sharing with us his experience of knowing Armand and also getting us good and ready for story time once we get to the book. Following this there is a foreword by the author explaining a bit about himself and where he came from, and how he got to be the Armand we know today.
All of these stories are good in their own right, there is not a single one amongst them that I hated reading or felt was too long, but I do have favourites. Some of which, I didn’t know were going to be favourites until the very last line. There are twenty one stories in this book, but I’ll be writing about my favourites. I’m sure other reviewers will choose different ones as this collection is a really good all rounder, so you should get a good grasp by reading lots of blogs – something I heartily recommend!
First up I absolutely loved The Wolf who cried Boy, as it happens I was actually a big fan of the Boy who Cried Wolf growing up so the title immediately hit me with a sense of nostalgia. The story itself was an interesting switch around and worked really well. Simply done but really well done and a story with an ending that hit home with a simple but cutting line from one of the characters.
Next I’ve picked out Dirty Deeds; The Stakeout. It’s nicely written and is mostly based around two men in a car so its an easy to follow story. The dialogue between the two is well written and quite realistic, as well as having an air of those dramas you watch on TV. It’s a nice read basically, and I really liked the way it ended. I haven’t really found many stories that end in the way this did and I liked it a lot, you feel like a fly on the wall.. or.. on the back seat as it were.
Stairs to the Ocean was a very interesting story which grabbed me. It reminded me of the early horrors I watched, again a simple concept with limited characters but it worked very, very well.
Do you Read Gutter Bane? Has to be my favourite story in the book. I was sold the moment I saw the title. In the Mouth of Madness is one of my favourite films ever and all I wanted to do after seeing it was read the books in the film. The books that don’t exist, much to my disappointment. The second I saw this title I was excited as the name Sutter Caine flashed into my mind. The story is a fabulously creepy story and the ending does not let it down. If you buy the book for nothing else, buy it for this story. You’ll see why I loved it.
The Toymaker was one of those where I didn’t know I loved it until the end of the story, it’s very well written and I connected with it very well so it wasn’t a case of not enjoying it until the end but it does absolutely end the story well and I liked it a lot more than I was expecting to.
In all, it’s a great read and it’s the perfect tool to get to know the author without investing in one particular story. This book has a range of genres within it and therefore plenty for you to check out before you decide on your favourite style and go with a bigger story. I would absolutely recommend checking it out because there is something for everyone in it, and also, it’d be a great Birthday Gift to the Author, especially if you left a review.
November 28, 2020
Readers of Armand Rosamilia will find a bit of everything we know and love in here. This book is a great introduction for those new to the author, showing his range of style, from horror to sci-fi to the weird and the “normal”. There’s a story from his Dirty Deeds world, as well as his Dying Days series. We even get a story written when he was 10 years old. My favorite of the lot has to do with a prisoner who is assigned his own cell block for reasons revealed as the story progresses.
February 18, 2021
I am always impressed with the writings of the talented Armand Rosamilia, so when this book was offered to me for review, there was no option, as far as I was concerned, but to say yes.
As usual, I was not disappointed.
Armand's Forward reveals a lot about him, as does the blips he has to say about some of the stories in the collection (I honestly think that every author who does a short story collection SHOULD have little blips talking about the story behind the story, or when it was written, why it was written, etc). Though he warns us that he picked out some good, as well as some bad, to show not only his range, but how much he's grown, I can honestly say that there was not a single story in this collection that I did not enjoy. The only negative I can give you about this particular collection is that, when I came to the end of the last story, there were no more stories or me to read.
If you have not experienced an Armand Rosamilia book, I would definitely suggest this collection as a starter. He has such an amazing imagination, and the execution of his stories leave me satisfied while wanting more. I can't wait for the next installment.
[Originally posted on Meghan's House of Books: https://mhyden.blog/2021/02/18/review...]
As usual, I was not disappointed.
Armand's Forward reveals a lot about him, as does the blips he has to say about some of the stories in the collection (I honestly think that every author who does a short story collection SHOULD have little blips talking about the story behind the story, or when it was written, why it was written, etc). Though he warns us that he picked out some good, as well as some bad, to show not only his range, but how much he's grown, I can honestly say that there was not a single story in this collection that I did not enjoy. The only negative I can give you about this particular collection is that, when I came to the end of the last story, there were no more stories or me to read.
If you have not experienced an Armand Rosamilia book, I would definitely suggest this collection as a starter. He has such an amazing imagination, and the execution of his stories leave me satisfied while wanting more. I can't wait for the next installment.
[Originally posted on Meghan's House of Books: https://mhyden.blog/2021/02/18/review...]
January 20, 2021
Nice assortment of stories. I can't decide if Dirty Deeds: The Stakeout is my favorite or The Wolf Who Cried Boy.
January 21, 2021
Make Pretend by Armand Rosamilia is a collection of short stories that vary from horror to sci-fi to fantasy and more. They might be considered different genres but they are all unnerving.
The collection contains stories written over the course of several years. Some are, as the writer describes them, "duds." Most are fascinating.
I suggest this book to people who are interested in writing, particularly genre finlction. It is a good study for people who want to improve their writing and enjoy it. I wouldn't suggest it for people who just want to read a bunch of scary stories.
The collection contains stories written over the course of several years. Some are, as the writer describes them, "duds." Most are fascinating.
I suggest this book to people who are interested in writing, particularly genre finlction. It is a good study for people who want to improve their writing and enjoy it. I wouldn't suggest it for people who just want to read a bunch of scary stories.
February 26, 2021
Overall this book was enjoyable. The Kindle version I read seemed to have a few typos or grammatical issues, but they were few and far between. I enjoyed the short stories and found myself wanting more after each one. I look forward to looking into other books by this author.
January 5, 2021
Good storyline and read
January 25, 2021
Great Variety of Shorts!
I love the writing of Rosamilia as I have read many of his novels. He can also write great shorts as this book proves
I love the writing of Rosamilia as I have read many of his novels. He can also write great shorts as this book proves
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews