REVIEW: THE FALL: TALES FROM THE APOCALYPSE

SOURCE: JEAN ORAM'S BLOG


 

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read this book. I had been hearing about it for months over at Agent Query Connect, and I couldn't wait for it to come out. Then the opportunity came to receive a free copy of The Fall: Tales From The Apocalypse in exchange for a fair review.
 
Hell, yeah! SIGN ME UP.
 
The book came at the right time. I was sick, bored out of my mind from being in bed, so what better time to delve into to the concept of mortality via the various tales devoted to the destruction of civilization.
 
I'm a sucker for zombies. What? That can't be surprise... hello, Walking Dead fanatic here. But, this book didn't just have zombies. Oh no, there's angels and baseball. Cat's and corn. There were tales that left me sniffling into my pillow because a character dies leaving behind a devastated loved one. And others which left me thinking about them for days ... okay, months later.
 
It's taken me a while to finish this book. I've been tied up with my crazy revision, so it's been nice to curl up and get the pants scared off me when I need to relax. I'm not a fan of every story in the book. There were a few that weren't to my taste ... mmm, brains, but this book is edited well. Even the stories I wasn't a fan of were well written. I can tell the authors had a blast writing this anthology.
 
 
On the whole, I think this was a fun read.
 
BOOK DESCRIPTION from Amazon:
An anthology of short stories, The Fall explores different visions of the apocalypse. Ancient prophecies, technological Armageddon, failures of government, a distracted deity, and yes, zombies all have their moments in this collection, but so do love, yearning, hope, and humor. In the end, the apocalypse offers a path to new beginnings, even if it requires a trek through death, despair, and destruction to find them.

The latest anthology from Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, LLC, tackles an array of challenges presented by thirteen authors (it just worked out that way, I swear.) Authors include P.S. Carrillo, Judy Croome, Ryan Graudin, R.C. Lewis, J. Lea Lopez, Mindy McGinnis, R.S. Mellette, Alexandra Tys O’Connor, Jean Oram, Matt Sinclair, A.M. Supinger, Amy Trueblood, and Cat Woods.

The Fall was edited by Mindy McGinnis, Matt Sinclair, and Cat Woods and copy-edited by Jean Oram, with cover design by Calista Taylor, and book design by R.C. Lewis.

For permission to reprint a story, please send a request to permissions@elephantsbookshelfpress.com.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Novel Writing- Inspiration from my Family History

I once had a conversation with the amazing Mindy McGinnis, also affectionately known as BBC, regarding where we draw our inspiration. I was thrilled to find another genealogy enthusiast. See, the thing with genealogy is most people don’t find it inspiring—at all. More like the opposite. Dry and dusty. Boring. Too much work. Who cares about someone who’s dead?

Yeah, that’s how some of the family members I contacted for their family trees responded. Others didn’t bother responding at all. A small percentage—the cool ones in my opinion—are just as enthusiastic as I am, and they pulled out their family scrapbooks for me.

It takes a special (slightly obsessive) mind to enjoy the research involved in finding those hidden family stories. It’s like an Easter egg hunt. You never know if the eggs are gonna be rotten and stinky. But other times, the stories are beautiful and amazing, like my ggg grandfather who saved a drowning boy. The story of Uncle Alonzo who was interviewed by the newspaper at the age of 102 yrs, and he told how his family traveled from Illinois to Kansas by wagon train in 1880.

Talk about inspirational. When I thought up the plot for my manuscript, Juju’s Child, I'd been researching my father’s side of the family tree. My Louisiana Creole roots branched out quite a bit. I soaked up the culture and history, and included it in this this story. My ancestors spoke to me (I'm not crazy, talking to spirits or anything) through their marriage certificates, letters, actions. I'll tell ya, after learning about these amazing people who had the strength to travel across the ocean, to survive slavery, to educate their children—well, I how can I complain about my life. How can I not follow my dreams. It would be a betrayal of their pain and hardship. Of their love and hope for a better future for their descendants.

If you’re interested in learning more about genealogy, and how clueless I was when I started (yeah, it’s pretty funny in hindsight. Not so much at the time), please check out my Family History Blog. It you begin reading at the first post it chronicles my research journey. In the beginning, I was so stuck. Now have over 4,000 members on my family tree. I discovered my ancestors came from all over the world: America (Nansamond tribe), Cameroon, England, France, Italy, Germany, and Portugal (to name a few). Cool, huh!

I also have links to genealogy help websites. If you have any questions on how to start researching your own family trees, leave a comment, and I’ll be glad to help.