Fiction writing

“The Odessa Chronicles”

Writing fiction can be a very interesting experience, particularly when the fictional characters start talking to you! As soon as I realized that there was a dialogue possibility between the characters and myself, I decided to take advantage of the situation and proceeded to arrange for two interviews with the namesake of the book … Odessa! Continue reading →

“The Odessa Chronicles” – Review

The following review has recently appeared on amazon.com. What more could any author ask for?
**  ***  *****  ***  **

I got a lot of laughs out of this book. The authors say it’s for children of all ages, and I guess they’re right, since I’m in my 60s and found myself entertained with every page. But I can understand why very young kids would like it also. After all, what kid doesn’t like talking animals?

The animals in this tale get into all kinds of mischief, and have a proclivity to pull practical jokes on their human friend, whom they call their Man-Servant. And he returns the favor by pulling jokes on them.

I found the writing to be highly polished, and it flowed smoothly and captivated my attention. The characters are painted with depth and feeling. They seemed to come alive, with their own souls. And by the middle of the book I sensed that I had come to know them well, and could regard them as my fictional friends.

Life lessons are interwoven throughout 47 chapters of fun, adventure, and humor. It’s a long book, but you can digest it a little at a time, since each chapter is a self-contained story.

I purchased the Kindle version, and read it on my PC, using Amazon’s free, downloadable Kindle Cloud Reader. I found it easy enough to navigate from page to page, and the table of contents included handy hyperlinks to each chapter. So I think the authors did a good job in the technical construction of this book.

In my view, the Odessa Chronicles can rival any of the classics that have talking animals, such as Charlotte’s Web, or the Wind in the Willows. It’s a good read, and I highly recommend it.

**  ***  *****  ***  **

Well that made my day!

 

“The Odessa Chronicles” – a new review.

Reviews are so important for book sales, and so it is always exciting to see/read a new one. Below is the latest review, which includes a slightly different perspective of “The Odessa Chronicles”. Continue reading →

“The Unexpected Hero” (Part 1)

“The Odessa Chronicles” was my introduction to writing fiction. The first thing that I noticed about our fictional characters, was that they would take the proposed story-line in a different direction to that originally planned. Continue reading →

The Secret – Part II

Dewey and the man-servant both shook their heads and walked back to Jaxon’s straw pile, but Jaxon was not there. For Jaxon to be out at night was very unusual, so they both decided to stay there for a while and catch him when he returned. It was not long. Continue reading →

Dewey’s Flight!

Dewey is a cat who shares living at Moonbeam Farm with Odessa, Jaxon and the man-servant. The following is an extract from the story “Dewey’s Flight”, copied from the book “The Odessa Chronicles”. Continue reading →

The Odessa Interview!

An interesting aspect of writing fiction is simply … it is fiction! A story can theoretically go in whatever direction the writer wishes. I note “theoretically”, because what surprised me with The Odessa Chronicles was how often the characters would seem to take charge of a story. Continue reading →

An Odessa excerpt!

Below is a small part of a story from “The Odessa Chronicles” which is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats … from the Friesen Press Bookstore, Amazon, and all the usual on-line book retailers. (Click book over in right side column for more information). Continue reading →