Horror Aficionados discussion
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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August 2018 Group Read with Guest Author, Michaelbrent Collings
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Ken wrote: "I'm glad to see that so many people are enjoying APPARITION. However, for me, it didn't work. After reading my review, what other works of yours would you suggest that you think I might like better..."Well, first of all, I want to reassure you that I think it is AOK that you didn’t like it – one sad thing I have noticed in this industry is there are a huge number of toddlers masquerading as grown-up writers. Not everyone has to like every book, and it doesn’t hurt my feelings at all that you didn’t like mine particularly. It makes it a better world if we all have different tastest, and makes it that much more fun when we find a place where we overlap.
As to a book you might enjoy more… perhaps The Loon or Darkbound – depending if you would like more paranormal stuff (Darkbound) or if you are in the mood for monster yarns (The Loon). Both of them certainly get moving a lot faster than Apparition. One other alternative is The Colony: Genesis. It is the first book in a zombie series which starts off with a bang and then doesn’t let up. Every book ends with a cliffhanger (full disclosure) since it is essentially a 1500 page serialized novel. So if you hate zombies or cliffhangers then avoid it. :-)
Thanks again for reading Apparition, and for taking the time to review it! Negative reviews are important as well as positive ones, and I’ve never minded a single negative review where the reader was putting him down their critique in a thoughtful manner. Which you definitely did – laying out the reasons you didn’t like the story and not just essentially writing, “boy did that suck,“ in a variety of different ways over and over again.
I hope you enjoy the next one more, And thanks thanks thanks for the read!
Mod
Out of your works, I also own The Colony, Twisted, and The Haunted.
Ken wrote: "My pleasure, Michaelbrent. I appreciate you taking the criticism constructively. It simply didn't work for me. Many of my esteemed colleagues loved it, so I know it's a matter of taste. That's fine..."*thumbs up*
The Colony is, again, a slam-bang actioner - I don't think anyone even stops running for the first half (and then only because of, you know, unconsciousness) - so if you've got it and haven't read it yet, that might be a good place to start!
Late to the party, but starting the selection tonight.
Michaelbrent wrote: "Andrew wrote: "I’m in!"YES!
I know, I know, fist pumps are SO late 90s. Or 80s. I don't remember. Whatever, they're appropriate sometimes, and I will hold onto my fist pumps until they are prie..."
Gigli saw.
Kel wrote: "Late to the party, but starting the selection tonight."Enjoy! I look forward to chatting with you about it!
Finally starting with Apparition :) after I prepared myself with some lighter stuff I’m totally in the mood for some horror again.Interesting info about the different covers, though I‘m glad I have the old „white face“ which is what got my attention first.
I'm at the halfway and bouncing between reading and listening. The narrator is a little more upbeat than the voices in my own head. What I like is the build without the sleepiness. There is a song by "The Teargarden" called "Empathy With the Devil", immediately I thought of a line from it...
"You feel me when I'm close, an ice wind of steel stilettos hammered in your spine".
I used to have dreams that I couldn't beat my daughter hard enough...my hands were all floppy and had no force or control. I used to laugh about it and tell her that was how much she stressed me out.
When my little brother was about 9yrs old, I had him watch "The Exorcist" after a few months of reading him creepy true stories books. He told me he wasn't scared, and I said, "Wait till you go to sleep". It was about a month before he slept through the night again.
Elke wrote: "Finally starting with Apparition :) after I prepared myself with some lighter stuff I’m totally in the mood for some horror again.Interesting info about the different covers, though I‘m glad I h..."
So sorry for the lag in responding! Been migrating my website to a new host, transferring emails... oh, yeah, and I have a new book coming out in a week and a bit, so that's been hectic.
Glad you're giving this one a go! Hope it's fun for you and do shoot questions/comments/jokes over as you go... I promise I'll actually be here this time.
Kel wrote: "I'm at the halfway and bouncing between reading and listening. The narrator is a little more upbeat than the voices in my own head. What I like is the build without the sleepiness. There is a song..."
I LOVE your story. That's how it is: easy to be brave when all the lights are on and the world's awake. It's when lights go out and you hear snoring in all the other rooms that the universe collapses on you.
Glad you're along for the read; toss questions or comments my way, I always enjoy hearing from readers!
And BTW: mentioned this to the previous person, but it bears repeating - sorry for the response lag. Been migrating my domain between hosts, and have a new book coming out next week and a half or so, so things are hectic.
Yeah. Hectic. Accurate in the same way as "the Titanic might have brushed up against an ice cube."
Kel wrote: "I'm at the halfway and bouncing between reading and listening. The narrator is a little more upbeat than the voices in my own head. What I like is the build without the sleepiness. There is a song..."
Clarification: I LOVE the story about your brother. I definitely FEEL for your story about your kid. ;o) I tell every new parent the same thing: "I'm not going to tell you to get sleep while you can; every other person you know has already told you that and it's a crock of crap regardless. But I WILL give you this advice: the first time you want to toss your kid out of a window, don't feel bad. Both good parents and bad ones feel that way, so the real delineation just boils down to 'did you do it?'"
Michaelbrent wrote: "Kel wrote: "I'm at the halfway and bouncing between reading and listening. The narrator is a little more upbeat than the voices in my own head. What I like is the build without the sleepiness. The..."I feel a DIY congratulatory birth card in the future for any and all new parents that cross my path.
This story read very much like a screenplay to me. I like the way I could be in each character's head, and relate to their situation in many ways. I am a flibbertigibbets by nature and I found it hard to root myself into the characters because I float in free space too easily. Being familiar with the Lamia had no effect in stopping me from saying "llama llama llama"in my own head...which I found to be a positive.
Kel wrote: "Michaelbrent wrote: "Kel wrote: "I'm at the halfway and bouncing between reading and listening. The narrator is a little more upbeat than the voices in my own head. What I like is the build without..."AH-HAHAHAHA!
Kel wrote: "This story read very much like a screenplay to me. I like the way I could be in each character's head, and relate to their situation in many ways. I am a flibbertigibbets by nature and I found it h..."No surprise it read like a script; I write most of my books as screenplays at the same time, so they "grow up" together as it were. This one's in development (for like, the eighteenth time), so hopefully it'll make its way to a theater near you at some point!
Finally got around to writing that review for the book. I copied it onto amazon as well. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 Five thumbs up. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Oops. Made on slight addition. Now it’s done. I forgot to say I thought your use of that particular aspect of the Semitic mythological tradition was done well. (Trying not to be specific.) I hold advanced degrees in religion and theology, and nothing bugs me more than folks who handle that material and don’t do it well. Or, use it in the worst two-dimensional or characatred ways. (Totally a pet peeve of mine, and nowhere near the worst sin one can commit in writing.) You did your homework and deserved a complement on that part.
Andrew “The Weirdling” wrote: "Oops. Made on slight addition. Now it’s done. I forgot to say I thought your use of that particular aspect of the Semitic mythological tradition was done well. (Trying not to be specific.) I hold a..."Thanks so much for the kind words and the review! I'm glad the mythos/religious aspects worked for you. I agree - one of the most important part of a lot of people's lives is their theological backgrounds, but religiousity is all-too-rarely properly researched in fiction.
THANKS!
Finally felt up to review the book (would never have been in the mood during vacation, so it took some time), here is my result: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...As you can see, I had very weird and wrong expectations - I still don't know where that came from... But, and that's the important thing, the 'other' story I got instead was incredible! Usually, I mention that I enjoyed reading a great horror book, but with this work it would feel just wrong to use that phrase. But I was deeply moved and impressed and, of course, also scared - so let's just say I'm glad I finally read the book.
As always: thanks to the author for joining this group read and to the group mods for organizing it!
Elke wrote: "Finally felt up to review the book (would never have been in the mood during vacation, so it took some time), here is my result: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...As you can see, I h..." Thanks so much for the read...and sorry I missed this for so long! Grrrr... Glad you were moved. Glad you didn’t “enjoy.” Many, many thanks again!
My review:
http://intothemacabre.com/2018/08/10/...