Tuesday 19 March 2024

Review: Mrs. Stockley's Parrot, by Michael Wombat

Mrs. Stockley's ParrotMrs. Stockley's Parrot by Michael Wombat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Michael Wombat is one of my favourite authors. I enjoy his writing style and his brilliant stories, and this collection doesn't disappoint. It's full of ordinary as well as extraordinary tales. As always Michael writes across genres, so you will find some unique concepts in the fantasy sci-fi genre, a little bit of horror, suspense and even a touch of romance. They run the whole gamut.

My favourite is Mrs Venturey, speculating on who Jack The Ripper was, with a kicker of an ending. I also loved Escape Pod and The Rendelsham Forest Incident, both brilliant, unique and contrasting sci-fi fantasy concepts. And Love Me Do is a really enjoyable tale, which maybe because I live in Holland and it has a Dutch touch in it, but I also liked the idea of dead parents still match-making.

If you like an ecelectic mix of story ideas, I definitely recommend it.

View all my reviews

Saturday 2 March 2024

Do you leave book reviews?

Did you know only 1% of readers review books? 

I'm a member of a local bookclub where there are around six or seven regulars that don't leave reviews. I try and encourage them, but even though they all read a lot of books they don't really consider doing it. And for the big bookseller lists (which they mostly choose their books from), those have been sent out to hundreds of authorised reviewers and other famous authors, and so already hundreds of reviews before they've even been released, so why bother? 

But for an indie authors, like me, it makes all the difference.

I get it - every time you buy something on line you get an email asking you for a review now, and it gets tiresome. I delete a lot of those emails too, unless it's something I feel strongly about. But on most book selling sites, reviews increase a book's visibility. After so many reviews the system's algorithm pick it up and promote it. And for indie authors like me who don't have the money publishing houses do to buy their way onto bookseller lists, ever single one counts.

Myth Busting: leaving a review doesn't mean you have to write an essay. Just one line saying whether you liked it or not is enough, or failing that, leave a rating.

If you want to help an author without spending any money, please consider leaving a review. 🙏