The Relationship Kerfuffle

**I wrote this 100-word "story" as an entry into Saturday's Flash Fiction contest: http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-duchess-of-yowl-writing-contest-ii.html

This week I got a mention for a "delicious" twist.**

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“Oh, what’s she so miffed about anyway? It’s not like he’s the first of her boys to get in a scuffle,” Tiffany wondered aloud.

“Young’uns, I tell ya. They’re always sulking about looking for trouble,” Doris replied as she shuffled into the porch rocker.

“Well, we can’t blame him, really. That other boy did steal his lady,” Tiffany mused.

Doris wanted to remind Tiffany that no boy is settled on a particular lady at that age but saw an interruption headed their way.

“Move over, Fluffy-Butt,” Food-Giving-Poop-Scooper said, “I want to sit with you.”

Book Review: The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker

Recently, at VStock, I parsed the Ted Dekker section..."Got it, got it, got in on Kindle, got it." Since this bookstore carries new and used books, there's always a chance I could find one of his lesser known novels. (For example, I only have one of the Martyr's Song series.)

Ok, so in lots of stores, I've seen authors with similar names (i.e. various Decker's) but never another Dekker. Jokingly, I picked up The Choosing, "Hey look someone else has Ted Dekker's name," I said to the hubby. "This does NOT look like a Ted Dekker novel," I point at the cover with a picture of a funnily dressed woman staring down at her feet. Again joking, because I had the impression his spelling of the name was unique, "I wonder if they're related?"

And then I actually looked at the cover and description more closely; it was written by his daughter. Mystery solved. And though the cover made me think it was some sort of historical romance, once I read the description, "Hey, this sounds good. Can I get it?"

I'm happy to report that Rachelle Dekker is a good storyteller. The world she builds is a future city where the Authority takes control after a semi-apocalyptic event. At first, that's a good thing; the Authority is like a council with a police force but it follows Judeo-Christian teachings. As the story unfolds though, you realize it follows them to ritual extreme.

The main character, Carrington, becomes a Lint (basically a servant) after failing to get chosen at her once-in-a-lifetime Choosing Ceremony - where all the young men of a certain age get to choose their spouse. The Authority tells the Lints it's their own fault and it must be God's will for them.

But a strange circumstance leads the Authority to allow one of their own to be choose a bride, only from the Lints. Carrington thinks Authority Knight's choosing her is a blessed second chance at a normal life. Boy, was she wrong.

I can't tell you much more but I can say this was an excellent and engaging novel. I love how the main character finds out the difference between ritual religion and a relationship with God. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel. I don't think I have a negative thing to say about this novel.

The Wheelbarrow of Snotty Tissues

Today's post is another 100 word story I wrote for Janet Reid's flash fiction contest this past weekend. (http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-we-have-writing-contest.html) I didn't like this post as much as last week's but I did get an honorable mention for best first line(s)!

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My best friend shot me today. I guess maybe I can’t blame him. Thankfully, he was quick about it. None of that emotional nonsense he usually carts along with his wheelbarrow of tears and snotty tissues.

I replay our brief conversation:

“Go ahead, if you’re so tough then,” I taunted.

“I should,” he bellowed. “You ratted me out to the cops!”

“Oh, boo-hoo. Now, you have to do some community ---“

He’s too ignorant to know I did it to keep him out of the cemetery. That gang he was flirting with don’t much care for cry-babies.

The Bloodstained Dress

And then she saw the world. A cold place, full of despair. A place where children were desensitized to the splatter of their teacher’s blood across the chalkboard. A place dominated by hate.

“Maddy, where are you going?” the teacher’s aide asked.

“To close her eyes, Miss.”

 It was more complicated kneeling in front of the classroom. She worried about the blood staining the new dress Daddy bought at the Disney store. But Maddy had to do what was right, what was respectful. She couldn’t let the world stay broken; she would do something about it. And that stunned her.

**I wrote this 100-word story as a part of a flash fiction contest on Janet Reid's blog. (Highly recommended, in fact, here's a link: http://jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/) I didn't win the contest, so I'm assuming that's permission to post my entry on my own sites. Words in bold italics were part of the contest requirements.**

You Were Told (circa 2008)

You were told by family

That you sang beautifully

You were told by your superiors

That you were never inferior

But were you ever told

"It's not a lie, you deserve to die?"

Friends forever, always and never.

Book Review: Insignia by S. J. Kincaid

Insignia is a Young Adult novel. I’m not sure I’m qualified to chunk it into a genre but it is set in futuristic America (more or less) where various world governments have formed political alliances based on economic monopolies supporting them. The different alliances are at war with each other but in a new way. Battling starships in space remotely. Seems pretty cool. Control of the ships is based on a neural implant that allows the combatants to sort of mind-meld with the computers.

Due to biological reasons, teenagers are the best candidates for these neural processors. Only the best and brightest are chosen. They are scooped up by the military, sent off to training, and download their homework directly into their brains. Yea, I wish. 

The main character, Tom, is the homeless son of a gambling deadbeat dad. Tom illegally makes enough money to put himself and his father in a hotel room by making bets on various virtual reality games. He’s very good at the games and catches the military’s attention. They recruit him and he starts training. 

In his tactics class, Tom he notices that the enemy has a particular combatant that just can’t be beat. Her call sign is Medusa and Tom becomes obsessed. He watches footage of all her battles over and over again. When Tom starts meeting Medusa in virtual reality games, he hardly thinks about it being treason. After all, he’s just trying to beat her; he’s not sharing confidential secrets. But when an information leak occurs, Tom must prove to himself and his superiors that his meetings with Medusa were not to blame.

Here’s my opinion: for a good portion of this novel, I had an entirely Ender’s Game feel for the book. It could be because I read that recently and it just blew me away. Ender’s Game was one of those books that when I closed it after the last page, I knew. I knew it would be hanging over my head, affecting my opinion of every book I ever read after it. Very few books have done that to me. (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Hunger Games, The Book Thief, Ender’s Game)

While Insignia was not one of them, I did really like it. And it did share some things with Ender’s Game. They both have a kids-fight-space-wars premise. Both characters are abnormally good at what they do and have been deemed “vicious.” 

By around the middle of the book, I found this comparison less weighty. I really enjoyed the book and will probably buy the next in the series. The author knows how to pull you in; the dialogue seems both realistic and appropriate for the ages of the characters. 

As far as moral appropriateness, there is some minor toilet humor. I don’t recall any foul language. A few innuendos that are probably acceptable for most teens and preteens. The one example of this I can think of: when Tom first gets put into a simulation as a female character, his friend Wyatt (female) has to tell him not to explore his new boobs in front of her. Otherwise, a pretty clean read.

Book Review: The Eye of Midnight by Andrew Brumbach

Hi all,

I recently received an ARC of The Eye of Midnight by Andrew Brumbach as a contest winner for the incredibly useful blog Literary Rambles (http://www.literaryrambles.com/). Of course, I'm always willing to read more books so here's my opinion on this one.

Recently, I read somewhere that the young main character going off to a grandparent's / other elderly relative's home for summer vacation is a tired trope. That premise inspires no disdain or otherwise negative feelings for me; so I'm fine with the premise of this book.

Which is: young cousins William and Maxine are sent to their grandfather's manor for the summer. Maxine arrives at the manor first, and upon exploration finds no one present. She holes up in the library for awhile until William arrives. The cousins get the chance to explore more thoroughly before Colonel Battersea (their grandpa) finally shows up. After receiving a weird telegram though, he rounds the children up and starts traveling for NYC. He tells the kids that he'll put them to bed in a hotel and then head off to collect a package from a courier.

When the group gets off the train though, Colonel Battersea disappears. The kids try to get help from law enforcement but eventually decide their best bet is to meet the courier. This decision starts a grand adventure to rescue the courier's package from gangsters, their grandpa from secretive assassins, and themselves from all the danger in between.

In my opinion, this was a fun story. The characters are engaging, the plot appropriately paced. The language was a bit flowery, almost in a poetic way. I'm not sure if that's a product of the author's voice or the historical setting. Regardless, it was done well and not overdone so I like it. Also, I'm glad to say that this book is totally kid appropriate (good thing since it's aimed for a younger audience). And Colonel Battersea's adventurous ways are built up with some good wisdom and hopefulness that shows up near the end.

Accolades to the author; I would be intrigued enough to buy into this if he intends to make it into a series. (It seems like that's where this is headed since the kids' summer isn't over and now they're on to a new adventure.) Particularly, I want to know about Nura's (the courier) journey to bring the package to Colonel Battersea.