Gold Fury by Kieren Westwood

 

I read the paperback edition of Gold Fury by Kieren Westwood, which is a flash fiction novella and roughly 75 pages in length. Kieren Westwood is a YouTuber and writer and even editor. I've enjoyed watching quite a few videos on Kieren Westwood's YouTube channel regarding writing and they're good. So, I had high hopes for Gold Fury as I like reading novellas. I was also interested in seeing how a flash fiction novella would play out in real life. Plus, Gold Fury had been shortlisted for the Bath novella-in-flash award.

What are my thoughts about Gold Fury after reading it? I liked the short chapters. Each chapter felt like I was looking at one of those old time Polaroid snapshots in that each chapter focused on particular characters and situations that helped propel the story forward. It was like each snapshot was a pice of the puzzle that propelled the storyline forward. Each separate chapter built on the next the chapter, but not in the normal way I am use to a story being told. Gold Fury is a unique reading experience for sure and artistically done.... However, Gold Fury wasn't really my thing. I just didn't like it as much as I hoped I would enjoy reading it.

Below is the plot summary for Gold Fury by Kieren Westwood from the Goodreads website:

Gold Fury is a short novella of flash fiction, tracing twenty moments in the journey of a stolen car as it moves through the criminal landscape of a rural town. It was shortlisted for the Bath novella-in-flash award 2020. "They guy told me to run and not look back, and he had a gun." "Yes, that's all I know. I already told you what he looked like." "Yes, that's my car, a gold Plymouth Fury 1970." "Why would you be looking through my letters? It's my personal property. It had nothing to do with what happened." "I wasn't trying to blackmail anyone." NO ONE RUNS FOREVER.

I am giving Gold Fury by Kieren Westwood a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story by Kaye Linden

 

I read 35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story by Kaye Linden, which is short nonfiction book at 96 pages in length. 35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story gives writing advice on how to write flash fiction or flash nonfiction.

35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story by Kaye Linden is a very quick read with VERY LARGE PRINT!! I have mixed feelings about this book. It's short and to the point, which is a good thing. However, the first 35% of this book didn't resonate well with me in helping to write flash fiction with confidence. I think there is some good stuff in the remainder of this book that may be helpful for writing flash fiction and flash nonfiction.

Below is the summary for 35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story by Kaye Linden from Goodreads:

A step by step guide with prompts on how to write a successful fiction or nonfiction flash story.

I am giving 35 Tips For Writing A Brilliant Flash Story by Kaye Linden a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

Two Flash Fiction Reads by Annaliese Lemmon

Every so often I enjoy reading flash fiction, especially when I don't have a lot of time to read because I am commuting, waiting around, etc.

I recently read two flash fiction reads by Annaliese Lemmon. I read Disability, Death, Or Other Circumstances and The Gift Of Tongues. 

I read the digital version of each of these flash fiction reads and was able to download them for FREE to my Kindle from Amazon. Below is my honest, unbiased read for each short read.

A 400 word work of flash fiction.

Too fast of a read for me.

I liked the premise of this story,

but would have loved to see it flushed

out a bit more.

Below is a blurb about Disability, Death,

Or Other Circumstance from Amazon:

Count your blessings, they say. Overcome trials with humor, they say. This Mormon housewife is trying, but having her husband transformed Kafka-esque into a giant rabbit is still hard to deal with.

This is a 600 word work of flash fiction.

Too fast of a read for me.

I liked the premise of this story,

but would have loved to see it flushed

out a bit more.

Below is a blurb about The Gift Of Tongues

from Amazon:

Sister Morgan has a gift of tongues, but it is not helping her to learn Spanish on her mission. Then a bird flies to her window, offering to exchange her ability to speak with animals for a gift of her choosing, including the ability to know Spanish. Sister Morgan doesn’t believe that exchange is worth it, but what would be?

I am giving Disability, Death, Or Other Circumstances by Annaliese Lemmon a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars. I am also giving The Gift Of Tongues by Annaliese Lemmon a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Mad Flashes by Lindsey R. Loucks

Horror Flash Fiction

I like flash fiction in general. They are short reads that are shorter than short stories and make for great reading when you don't have a lot of time. 

I decided to read Mad Flashes by Lindsey R. Loucks, which is a collection of 10 horror flash fiction stories written by one author.

I was able to download Mad Flashes by Lindsey R. Loucks to my Kindle for FREE from Amazon.

Below is my honest, unbiased review of Mad Flashes by Lindsey R. Loucks.

Overall, I liked the flash fiction written by Lindsey R. Loucks. Some of the stories, I didn't quite fully understand. But, as I already mentioned in my previous sentence, overall the stories were good and well written. 

I am giving Mad Flashes by Lindsey R. Loucks a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!