The Prophecy of the Kings - the Omnibus Edition (Book) - 1/27/2018 5:47:36 AM
Five out of Five stars.
From the very first sentence of page one it grabs you. The attention to detail is amazing and the reader can immerse themselves into the world that is being created. Just the right amount of death, Magic intrigue.
Absolutely perfect from start to finish.
Drachar's Demons (Book) - 1/21/2018 9:34:16 PM
What intrigued me most about this novel was that it appeared to be told from the villain's perspective. This is something I always find interesting, especially in a genre that isn't known for it's fleshed out bad-guys.
A review of the first two chapters: What I noticed from the beginning was that the Burrows are really great at introducing tension and writing action, but overlooked simple details that probably seemed obvious to them. For example: I could picture the opening scene really well... until the woman shows up. Her name is Ashona, but we don't learn that for several pages. For the first page or two I couldn't figure out if she was supposed to be Stephan's daughter or an adult acquaintance. It wasn't until she begs him to have sex (after a traumatic dream?) that I realized she was meant to be a woman, and the scene ends.
Then we go to a scene with Lothanal. The scene is going great, until suddenly the narration randomly calls Lothanal Drachar, the titular character, and once again I felt the waves of confusion wash over me. Are they meant to be the same person? Is this a typo? (Turns out to be a typo giving away a reveal, since in the second chapter he is given the name Drachar as a punishment.) These missing and muddled details make the opening of this book an uneven read.
However I really liked the court scene in the second chapter, because it gives the readers a chance to understand what's be going on. I always say the biggest problem about getting into a fantasy is learning all the new rules, as it were. So it's great to see a rather original way to get through exposition and move the story along nicely.
There is obviously a lot of interesting world-building and plot here, but I feel like the Burrows need to edit a little more carefully. I would love to come back and read a more polished version of this story.
The Prophecy of the Kings - the Omnibus Edition (Book) - 1/13/2014 5:01:59 PM
This seems a very interesting book, combing the ancient with the contemporary mode of expression. Will read this soon. Ny very best wishes for more such creativity David.
Death or Glory. From an Author's Perspective. (Short Story) - 2/19/2017 3:24:11 AM
I enjoyed your short story which was long on separating a writer's reality from the different world he/she creates.
Death or Glory. From an Author's Perspective. (Short Story) - 2/11/2017 8:00:06 AM
In a story this short, it's hard to know what Krell and Grakyn are except the latter are probably flying. It's hard to imagine battles like this, man to man, and what they must have been really like with all that pain and gore. But with strange creatures? Makes the fiction even harder to write.
I think I get the irony… Warming the place up so it will be cozy. Making a nice hot cup of tea. Able to ignore the coming snow outside. And, a warm kitten purring on your lap. Just the kind of mood to write about the world going terribly wrong!
Methinks you scream too much. Perhaps you could yell a little… Or yelp, shriek… Whatever. ;-)
Ron
This is Where I Died (Short Story) - 12/18/2016 10:36:18 AM
The ghosts of war don't rest easy. A chilling write that every puppet master that sends young people to war should read and every young person thinking of joining the service should read.
I met a Vietnam veteran the other day in a car repair waiting room. He had a metal right leg from the knee down. He was fidgety and couldn't sit still driving his wheelchair around the room. When I asked him, he said he was a gunner on a helicopter and was shot down three times. Finally, he told me that he, "Didn't want to talk. Have too many troubles." Still, I wanted to know his story as a writer.
Reminiscent of The Thin Red Line and a short story I read from A Red Badge of Courage about the American Civil War.
Ron
Wizard's Downfall (Short Story) - 1/5/2014 11:56:03 AM
very well done
budd
Wizard's Downfall (Short Story) - 1/5/2014 8:35:33 AM
You have perfectly described a few bouts with the flu that I've had. It wasn't very long ago that people believed that alchemists could cure them of all kinds of ills, like Catholics believed in exorcism. Modern wizards keep coming up with magical years magical cures as well. Money cures everything.
A nice little story, well written.
Ron
Terror Unleashed (Short Story) - 1/4/2014 11:13:50 AM
Except for a couple of typos, a very well-written story. I find demons to be mental and not physical, so the story didn't have the kind of impact it might on those that like this type of story. It's just not my genre, but I read it and commented because that's the appropriate thing to do. I would like to see that all those who like this type of story would read it and give you their superlative comments. That's what you deserve from your fans.
Ron
Bad Reviews (Article) - 7/1/2017 11:50:51 AM
Great review David! Reviews like Neo's bring out the best in writers.
Negative reviews have their place, I suppose, but should not dwell in the
writer's psyche, they are more detrimental than beneficial. It's always best not to react by relying to negative reviews.
Self-Publishing and its Pitfalls. (Article) - 6/15/2017 1:31:59 AM
interesting, informative review....
I often receive books from writers asking for a review, and see the apologetic phrase, I am self published, to which I declare,
Hemingway, Dickens, Twain, all self published, YOU are in fine company!! OF COURSE I will review, and I do
m
Wow. Where NOT to Lose a Contact Lens (Article) - 3/1/2017 11:11:37 AM
I read this hanging on to whether you found the contact lens, my faint hearted fear of losing mine on my way to class was primal and here you were ice climbing Ben Nevis!
I have failed at sustaining its use with many a pair being flushed down the bathroom sink, popping out while driving and the list goes on. I have since moved back to reading glasses , the stress associated with losing them when most needed was too much to bear. Being faint hearted I have moved back to reading glasses with a pair constantly perched atop my head!
Wow. Where NOT to Lose a Contact Lens (Article) - 3/1/2017 8:46:30 AM
Not for the faint hearted… Indeed. You were incredibly lucky to find that contact lens under those conditions. And the color was fortunate. I once would try anything, but ice climbing would bother me because ice is so unpredictable, like you described. Truly scary.
I got contact lenses way back in 1962 when they were first available as a sophomore in college. The $120 I paid covered one replacement lens. My father called me "moneybags" for buying them while playing my way through college.
My eyes were very dry and they popped out very often. Once in a darkened theater. I looked down and saw the lens on my sweater reflecting the flickering light from the screen. And while riding to a college basketball game in my roommate's car with plastic seat covers at night when it was below zero. Spotted the lens sitting on the back seat cover, thankfully.
At my parents' home I recall the blue lens blending very well with the blue linoleum on the kitchen floor, making it very hard to find. And finally, eating one at dinner because it was nowhere to be found after.
After my hands were paralyzed six months later, I could no longer put them in and take them out and never wore them again. They are in their case in my bathroom drawer after 55 years, un-scratched and never to be worn again.
Ron
How Long Does it Take to Write a Book? (Article) - 2/6/2017 11:08:42 PM
Nice response and very helpful, Ron. I like the comments on the graphics. It's always interesting to see different expertise picked up by self-published authors
How Long Does it Take to Write a Book? (Article) - 2/6/2017 9:01:59 AM
I will not drop you a line, but will comment here like most authors should because our experiences can be helpful to others like your article is already.
My 400 page doctoral dissertation took about a year to write. My first novel took only three months (typing one finger at a time), but it was only 65 pages and covered 6000 years. My autobiography took 22 years, largely because I wrote it occasionally while off work, stopped a few times, and my life, of course, got longer and required more writing.
While I have many past publications: research articles, poems newsletters, and a monograph published in the traditional way, I started self-publishing when I wrote an edited newsletters many years ago. Through that process I learned formatting and how to incorporate images and diagrams as well as reproduce and distribute what was published. These things came almost naturally just by copying what I observed in magazines, newspapers and books. Amsterdam there
There are many ways to self publish. Most are there for your money and not for your benefit. Like David suggests, self editing is the first requirement, and if you're not good at it, be sure you have someone edit your work that is. Paying a lot for editing may not help at all. I find graphics quite easy and have designed my own covers taking very little time at all. In a couple of cases, I sent out multiple ideas to friends and asked them for their opinion on which cover they liked the best.
Unfortunately, the simple to use software, MacDraw Pro and an earlier, easy to use, Photoshop 2.5 that I used to do my first covers is obsolete and the replacement software I have found is much harder to use and in some cases, doesn't work for me. So, I have relied on a professional cover designer for two of my covers. I find cover designers unwilling to come up with optional covers but want the author to settle on a single design with minimal adjustments.
I also use my POD publisher to do all the formatting for iTunes, Kindle, and Nook. If I publish on my website, I do it myself with simple HTML tags. I can still send out signed (I simply scanned
my signature in blue) copies of my books in eformat in Microsoft Word. If you want to be more secure you can convert your Word document into PDF with a converter like OmniPage. In this day and age, it's not about books on shelves anymore. It's about readership. The more an author can get his or her work read, the more success he or she will have. One caveat. People only want to read your work if it is good (and well edited to meet standard English practices). Encouragement by family and friends is not a good source of gauging your writing ability.
Ron
Self-Publishing and its Pitfalls. (Article) - 12/18/2016 12:48:23 PM
I loved your need to explain weigh and rudder. That's what I like about your writing, the little surprises you throw in.
So there was a hitch to the freebie offer at the Peninsula. I'm only familiar with the Oriental and my vague memory of that hotel was that it was one of the finest in the world at that time, two years after the US pulled out of Vietnam and sending guys to Bangkok for R&R.
While an instructor at Stout State University in northwest Wisconsin, I volunteered during the summer of 1971 to work on a hotline in that small town of Menominee. I was told that I was to forward any talking down anybody freaking out on drugs to the expert (a practically teenage former druggie) they had on hand, and was glad for it, having no experience.
While doing a simulation during our brief training, I remembered the hit-and-run in our hometown with the radio announcer that did it announcing the tragedy for several days before turning himself in. I pretended to be that guy calling in. All the young man that was supposed to be receiving the call, after I did my act, could say was, "Heavy man. Heavy." So, I wrote my story , Hit and Run, and posted it here a few years ago.
As I recall, they only called me to work a couple of nights. There weren't any calls. There wasn't any luxurious suite. We were in an old building. And there wasn't any fabulous buffet.
Ron
