Felipe Adan Lerma

You’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology: Reviews Links and Excerpts, Part 2 – 100% of Proceeds to Charity

you're not alone coverYou’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology: Reviews Links and Excerpts, Part 2 – 100% of Proceeds to Charity

(from product page description) : An international group of indie authors, inspired by the personal grief of one, decided to collaborate in the spring of 2015 in a project to create this multi-genre smorgasbord of original short stories, all with the same potent theme – relationships. Some are heartfelt, some funny, some poignant, and some are just a little bit scary – much like relationships themselves. All are by authors fired by the shared enthusiasm to give something back in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. Cancer touches us all. It has in some way affected those who have contributed their time and talent here. This is our way of showing that we care.

100% of the royalties earned or accrued in the purchase of this book, in all formats, will go to the Pamela Winton tribute fund, which is in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

https://amzn.to/31lpWdx

Cover Creators: Nico Laeser and Christine Southworth.

Sample review (excerpt) :

By Anne Francis Scott on August 15, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

“This wonderful mix of short stories really fuels the imagination. The common theme of Relationships is crafted in a wide range of genres by talented authors, each with an original voice. Like Sci-Fi or Fantasy? Tales with a metaphysical bent? What about stories where fate spins the wheels? You’ll find all of this, and more, in ‘You’re Not Alone.’

“For anyone who enjoys an eclectic mix of stories, this anthology is the perfect go-to read.”

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“a beginner’s view: the intent of this blog is to incrementally build a body of thought that works toward integrating various topics, yoga, fitness, and the arts – it’s a process…”

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Fitness ** Arts ** eBooks

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You’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology:

Reviews Links and Excerpts, Part 2 –

100% of Proceeds to Charity

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November 21, 2015

Related Categories : Short Stories – Reviews – Charities

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Intro:

It’s not often one gets to contribute to a cause and be told all proceeds (royalties etc) from the sale to the customer are going to charity.

Like a recent fund drive to help the earthquake victims in Nepal via Yoga Dork, where 100% of proceeds went to the charity, Ian Moore, a UK author, along with help from several other writers, organized and brought together a quite disparate group of writers to generate funds for a charity group.

This is Part 2 of 4 showcasing excerpts and reviews of all twenty-eight works, plus links to each author’s Amazon Author Page.

In this post I’ve also added where the author is located if known.

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Reviews Links and Excerpts

1)
DAD By Kayla Howarth (Australian)
My take: How do I describe a story that begins as an everyday tale of the emotional turbulence that only living one’s life, day-to-day, can bring? I had the distinct impression, with emotions as the plot line that I was reading a nonstop no-holds-barred thriller. The small excerpt below, from near the beginning of the story, is itself just that, the beginning of coming to the first of many important realizations in one’s life. Culminating in a wrap back to the beginning of the life challenges depicted in the story. Powerful. Fulfilling. Marvelously satisfying. The way a really good fruit salad can taste like candy. You think you’re being bad it tastes so good, then find out you did good anyway (smiles).

Excerpt:

I started driving, and even though I was shaking and had a nervous pinching in the pit of my stomach, I was glad to concentrate on something else. Only, it was obvious I wasn’t concentrating.
“Isn’t the hospital that way?” Harrison asked, pointing in the opposite direction.
“Shit.”
“Pull over. I’m driving.”
This author’s Amazon Author Page:
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2)
FOREVER YOURS By Christoph Fischer (German, residing in the UK)
My take: If the story above is one of an everyday person feeling life’s movements as if in a thriller, this is a story how one feels during a perfectly boring everyday drive and suddenly watching the vehicle in front of you begin to hog the line in its lane, swerve, start to skid, make you brake, speeds up, crosses the line, weaves, you have to change lanes, scrapes the car ahead, speeds up again, takes out a guard rail, crosses back in front of you sideways, lurches over the divider straight into oncoming traffic. From the beginning, you know it wouldn’t end well. You just didn’t quite know how. Until it did.

…how perfect was he?

“I think you could make me very happy,” he had said, and that was exactly what she set out to do. Whatever it took she would do.
This author’s Amazon Author Page:
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3)
FRUITS By Phyllis Edgerly Ring (German, residing in the U.S.)
My take: A vignette vs a true short story, Fruits brings to mind one of mine and my wife’s favorite TV shows, Indian Summers on PBS Masterpiece. In this very short, beautifully evoked piece, instances of class and racial divisions, images of the traveling poor in dust driven areas of India, and the patient coping struggles of an American educated Indian are all depicted. So beautifully evocative. The ending is poignant, leaving me wanting much more. I hope it is of a piece of something much larger eventually.
Excerpt:
The banana peels never had a discarded look.
Bejan Sabet’s dark eyes followed their descent from the roof overhead to the dust of the roadside.
They landed gently, custard-coloured petals spreading open like lotus flowers, an unexpected bloom, soon to be devoured by a passing goat or cow.
This author’s Amazon Author Page:
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4)
THE YOGA BOWL By Felipe Adan Lerma (US)
My take: First, I must admit it’s a bit odd giving my own take of my own book. But, it must be done 😊  Like my own favorites among my own shorts, this is of a moment among family. It has no plot or problem beyond the simple living with and among people we love. In this case it involves a grandmother and two of her grandchildren, two young boys ages nine and ten. It is half vignette and half full story. It can lead to more, yet is complete as a time to itself. As you can probably tell, I give myself quite a bit of leeway in my short work. As long as it has some sort of punch. And some sort of eye-widening nuances that make one glad to experience the daily ditties of being among family.
Excerpt:
Rosetta smiled her easy smile she unknowingly saved for her grandchildren. It was easy enough to do, seeing the two young boys, almost tweens, both masked in life’s innocence, each mirroring her own diamond-lit eyes.
My Amazon Author Page:
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5)
LILIES FOR THE MANTEL By Sylva Fae (UK)
My take: Slightly endowed with magic, the way a perfectly baked pie is sugar-white sprinkled on top. Sparingly. Temptingly. I kept fearing I was reading a tragic foreshadowing in the early going, then possibly a hanging-in-the-air ending without a full feeling of closure. The story, full of charm and children and love, resolved itself not only believably, but with a deep sense of authenticity. What made that work, I believe, was the mix of third person deep point of view with observational details that blended realism and magic. All wrapped in the daily commonplace trappings of children and with two parents. Authors know, creating an ending saturated with satisfaction is itself magic. This is one the author simmered perfectly to my taste.
Excerpt:

Thick dust coated everything but even the dust and cobwebs glistened in sunshine, giving it a magical feel.

The old man’s story played on his mind on the walk back up the hill; so sad and yet so lovely. It was obvious they had been very much in love. He hadn’t needed to ask about the unfinished carving of the lily. Some things were better left unsaid.
This author’s Contact Currently Are :
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6)
GABRIEL AND THE MINISTER BIRD By Andrew Updegrove (US)
My take: I’d read and reviewed both of the author’s two novel length thrillers and was wondering what to expect in one of his short stories, much less one with such an open-ended title. This short isn’t a thriller, though the writing is as sharp. And it isn’t whimsical, as proven by the excerpts below. But it is about the most complete beginning-middle-end story, long or short, I’ve come across in quite a while. The problems posed in the story are solved. The emotional arc is a rainbow across the heart. And the sense of closure, real closure, vivid and clear, is the kind you want to take home to bed at night. I want a minister bird. Please.
Excerpts:
This author’s Amazon Author Page is :
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7)
INSIDE OUT By Penny Luker (UK)
My take: This story reminds me, within prescribed parameters, of Ian Moore’s short in Part 1 of my reviews and excerpts for the stories in You’re Not Alone. Despite the slightly faster-start and scare (first excerpt below), the language and pace are deeply low-key (as per the second excerpt). Both are domestic, in the sense of being within the humdrum of the everyday. Though the character’s dilemma in this story is known before the end, both stories have their characters quietly navigate their interior demons as people more concerned about disturbing others, than being disturbed by their own limiting sense self. Finally, the last connection between the two seems to be their lingering presence in my mind, in my own day to day. These, I felt were people we know. Real people in our own lives. And gratefully so.
Excerpts:
(beginning of story)
Celia clung to the lamp post. Her hands were clammy and her heart was beating too fast. She could see two youths at the end of the street, but her eyes wouldn’t focus and she couldn’t move. Her legs felt like blancmange.
(later in story)
The next day there was a knock on the door. Mrs Bliss, Andy’s mum, stood there. She was wearing a smart pinstriped trouser suit and so much make-up she looked doll-like, but her wispy fair hair stopped her from looking smart. “Could we have a chat Celia?”
Celia couldn’t really say no…
Reviewed and enjoyed this author’s book of short stories.
This author’s Amazon Author Page:

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Last Notes:

1) You’re Not Alone is available on Amazon, including Kindle Unlimited, at :
https://amzn.to/31ncJAQ

Additionally, it is also available in paperback format.

2) For further information regarding the charitable aspect, please feel free to contact the anthology’s creator and contributor, Ian D. Moore. He’s available on FB at www.facebook.com/yourenotalone2015, and via iandmoore71 at hotmail dot com.

Thank you so much,

Adan

namaste´- con dios – god be with you

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Related posts:

You’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology: Reviews Links and Excerpts, Part 1 – 100% of Proceeds to Charity

You’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology: Reviews Links and Excerpts, Part 3 – 100% of Proceeds to Charity

You’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology: Reviews Links and Excerpts, Part 4 – 100% of Proceeds to Charity

You’re Not Alone: An Indie Author Anthology – 100% of Proceeds to Charity

“An American Sniper” from Clint Eastwood – The Final Dilemma

Belleville Park Press, in Paris – New Opportunity for Writers

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