May 1, 2016

Dear friends and followers,

We are at 6 weeks in, with 223 orders. We’re very close to the 250 mark now; I have every confidence that we will cross it this month. Which means that at the end of the month, I will be writing my first cheque for a donation to Chez Doris! These people do good work, and of course if any of you wants to make a donation, you should feel free to do so.

The sooner we cross that line, and the further we go beyond, the better. And that’s going to take a bit of help from all of you. If each person could get a friend interested in picking up an order, we’d overshoot that 250 line by a mile and I’ll have a pretty sum to put on that cheque. I’ll also have to scramble to identify that second charity I want to add on at the 450 mark....

Anyway! Let’s see what’s-what on the bookshelves this week.

1) "Scribbles", by Tabi Card. This was among the first books I decided I wanted, once I began taking an active part on Inkshares. Short stories are really handy things, bite-sized pieces of fiction that you can consume on the go or when you otherwise don’t have a lot of time to commit; and I promise you, Ms Card knows how to turn a phrase. She doesn’t have a lot of time, though: 13 days to get 119 orders. It seems terribly daunting. Still, it’s happened before, at least twice in the past month, and it could happen again.

2) "Wings of the Pirate", by Eric H. Heisner. Pulp adventure! I admit I was on a bit of a pulp adventure kick once, and the attraction of the genre still lingers a bit. The story involves treasure-hunting in the south pacific while being chased by pirates. The opening paragraph implies a 1920s/1930s setting.  Also, the book has the word "pirate" in its title. Arr.

3) Have I never mentioned "Cape’s Side Bay", by James Rasile, before? Well, I’m mentioning it now. Like Mike Donald, Rasile hails from a film making background; and like JF Dubeau, he’s telling a story of something unearthly in an idyllic rural setting. It’s billed as science-fiction, because of the nature of that something unearthly, but I think it could fit just as comfortably into the horror niche. In any case, expect cinematic suspense.

Until next week, friends and followers: have fun, and keep reading.