Tuesday, 23 December 2014

AN OPEN LETTER TO STEPHEN KING AND OTHER ESSAYS by Jenny Twist

4.5 out of 5 stars

Assorted articles

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE



I just spent a lovely afternoon reading this. It's worth five stars just for the articles about Spain, where the author lives. They're pieces about a rural, mountainous area of Andalusia (I think), where time stands still to a certain extent, and they made me long to be there - which is what the best articles about foreign countries do, isn't it? These were my favourite of the 'other essays', followed by some of Ms Twist's views on the effect of Women's Lib, the differences between the sexes, and why the media promotes skinny as the ideal shape for women. Agree, agree, with all of these!

Also in this collection are lots of articles with help for the new writer. Jenny talks about her experiences, and dares to embrace controversial subjects, ie, how many self-published books are just badly written: "For every great writer who never made it out of the slush pile in the publisher's office, there are hundreds who should never have been in print in the first place". Yet at the same time she is helpful, and illustrates her own mistakes and misconceptions. She has obviously become jaded about indie publishing companies too, as she comments that some (not all) have dubious standards and will accept most submissions regardless of quality; she now self-publishes.

There's an interview from another author's blog, too, in which she tells of her time as magician's assistant, The Lovely Tanya! I'd definitely recommend this collection, it's something you can keep dipping into.



TALES OF THE MANTEQUERO by Jenny Twist reviewed HERE

1 comment:

  1. Thank you so much for this brilliant review, Terry. I'll be looking at some of the others here as well. This is SUCH a good idea.
    Love
    Jenny
    xx

    ReplyDelete