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622 Public Reviews Given
968 Total Reviews Given
Public Reviews
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (5.0)
Thanks for your email. This looks like a great contest for Civil War enthusiasts. I look forward to reading the entries. I hope everything goes well and you get lots of quality entries. Here are a few points to help you keep it going.


Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (4.0)
Cute and folksy. I like it.

I see you entered this in the creative non-fiction contest. I think you may have made a sytax error by putting a space after your item number. As a result there is no link to the story.

Just in case you risk a technical disqualification, you might want to go back to your posting and check it.

I think its worthy of consideration for prizes.

Good luck
Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: ASR | (5.0)
To the contest managers

I seem to have an abundance of idle Gift Points. They could be better used in your cause than sitting in my bin. Love the contest and seeing all the talent at play. Keep up the good work, and thanks for your ongoing efforts.

Brian
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Review of It's About My Car  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (3.5)
Cute story. I hope you are building an inventory of these personal accounts. I started doing that a few years ago and now have hundreds of them. Good keepsake for the kids and grand kids. Keep posting them and you will get lots of people reading them. Good luck with your writing.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (5.0)
Thanks for your note on the Preferred Author's Form. I like your little discription here - very interesting and enlightening.

I would likely lean more to the "normal" side as you describe it.

Good luck with your writing. I will try to offer some comments on some of it.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (5.0)
Hi Judity

I'm sure we have communicated in the past. I have read some of your materials on here and I think I will pick up your latest publication on Smashwords.

I am considering using Smashwords to publish some of my shorter materials, and even some of my longer pieces.

If you have any opinions or advice about Smashwords, I would love to hear it.

You're a great inspiration - keep at it.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (4.5)
I see this is an old post. I was wondering, now that a couple years have passed, what your experience has been with Smashwords.

I have been downloading free books for a couple months and have read their style guide. I am considering publishing some material there, but am looking for some opinions of those who have used it.

Thanks
Brian
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Review of Cold Eyes  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (5.0)
Great story - filled with wonderful (but dark) descriptions.

As I walked into the cold, metal holding cell, my shoes reverberated as they connected with the floor. A coarse voice emanated from the corner of the room. A mixture of passion and madness echoed in the voice, sending a cold shiver down my spine.

This is a powerful introduction with great use of strong verbs.

The rest of the story flows just as well.

This looks like it could be part of a longer piece, but it stands on its own very well.

Excellent - keep it up.

Brian


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Review of Behind the Scene  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
Congratulations on another win. 200 stories - wow. And most of them winners. That becomes a 50,000 word book. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

One of these days I am going to order a bunch of the self published books from authors on this site. If yours is one of them, it will be first on my list.

I haven't read all 200 yet, but I will try

Another impressive story - keep at it.

Brian
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Review of Brass Screws  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (4.0)
Interesting story, with a subtle message. Well done.

"The male mind incorporates an odd filter." I really like this line. It is an interesting observation and a unique way of stating it.

I am always working on the rule: "show" don't "tell" I slip into too much "tell". This line "Mothers with children always asked questions" might better be replaced or suplemented with some "showing". Your final paragraph is an excellent example of "showing".

Good luck in the contest. Well written account.

Brian
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Review of No Smoking  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (5.0)
Congratulations on winning the Daily Flash Fiction challenge. This is a really well written story - good use of the prompt.

I love the way you are able to "show" instead of "tell". That is an area I still struggle with. (eg.Steve and Bob gave another chuckle as the young man slumped his shoulders and headed for the door.)

Well done - keep it up.

Brian
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Review of The Price of Love  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (4.5)
Congratulations on winning the Daily Flash Challenge - well deserved.

This is a great short story - complete unto itself, but looks more like the start of a longer story.

I hope you take it further and put together a longer tale. I will watch for it.

Keep writing.
Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ | (5.0)
You certainly have accumulated a good number of wins - well done. I wil try to get through them all - hopefully comment on a few as well.

Reading your port, I see you are living in the middle east. I live in the UAE - not far away.

Keep writing and keep in touch.

Brian
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Review of Mean Man Magic  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (4.5)
Congratulations on winning the Daily Flash Fiction Challege - good job.

I like the way you used the vernacular to full advantage. When I read the first sentence I didn't like the use of the weak modifier "little", but it fits well with the rest of the story - as told by Marcus.

One point of confusion - I couldn't see if Marcus actually advanced the money. The story implies he did, but it isn't explicit.

Keep it up.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (5.0)
I can see your connection with dogs. This scene sounds familiar.

I don't read much poetry - much of it is repetitious themes and I can't relate. But this one I can relate to.

Well done - I look forward to reading more of your material.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (4.5)
Congratulations on winning the Writer's Cramp Daily contest. Well deserved.

This is a great little tale - it almost sounds true. You told it well and it is a humorous account.

I love the link to the Hatfield and McCoy fued.

Well done - keep it up.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (5.0)
Congratulations on winning the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge - well deserved.

I lov e your opening paragraph - lots of powerful descriptions. I particularly like the "tamborine" similie. The rest of the story is just as powerful.

Well done - keep it up.

Brian
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Review of The Bar  Open in new Window.
Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 13+ | (4.0)
This is an interesting and intriguing tale. My wife was reading it over my shoulder and was also taken by it.

Gareth was a very strange - I would avoid the use of "very" as a weak modifier.

I would also avoid overused words such as "suddenly" or adverbs such as "slowly".

These are just some of my thoughts.

Great job - keep it up.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (4.5)
I presume this would be accompanied by illustrations.

I have 3 grandkids and one on the way. I have thought of trying to write stories for them, or with them, but nothing has materialized yet. I applaud your effort.

I have read a lot of stories to my oldest (the others are still babies). At 4 years old he is fascinated with the stories and always wants pictures.

I have noticed that many - like yours - include some element of conflict and perhaps fear. What are your thoughts on how that impacts the young reader? Also does the act of putting incompatable animals (such as the duck and the cat) have any impact?

Just some thoughts I have had.

Great job - keep it up.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (3.5)
Creative story - nice job.
Here are a couple comments:

The language you used is pretty tame, but because of words like "crap", you might want to up the rating a bit.

Greg and William who was sixteen years old - If both boys are 16, then it should read "were". If only William is, then the statement is a bit confusing.

kideling - should be "kindling"

Keep writing.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ | (3.5)
I'm not a poetry critic, so I'm not sure how valuable my comments are.

I really can identify with your first section - we are obviously from the same general era. I was more "conservative" than most of my compatriots of the day, but I could relate.

I am a bit lost with your second section. For me it doesn't fit.

Just my observations.

Thanks for writing it.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (4.5)
I'm not sure if I catch all of your deeper meanings to this piece, but I love the way it is written. One of my weaknesses is description, so I am always on the lookout for stories that have rich description - yours is certainly rich, I love it.

Well done and keep it up.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: 18+ | (4.5)
Hey - congrats on winning the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge. Good job.

This is a cute story with subtle undertones, even if the language was none to subtle.

Although it's not critical for this effort, you had a lot of inconsistency in the punctuation - quotes in particular. If you rushed this entry, I can see how that happens.

It doesn't hurt the context of the story.

Keep at it - you are doing great.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (4.0)
This is a cute story - well written with lots of descriptive language. I like how you have placed the "thoughts".

I try to avoid adverbs as much as possible and look for more appropriate verbs. I see you have used several adverbs - you may want to revisit and see if they are necessary.

Good luck and keep writing.

Brian
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Review by Brian Author IconMail Icon
Rated: E | (5.0)
Cute story - good to see you back in action with many stories. I try to read them all, but don't always get a chance to comment on them.

It's always fun to see what your creative mind comes up with.

This story is well worth reading. I think you should assemble a bunch and publish "Ken's Greatest Stories." I would buy it.

Keep at it.

Brian
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