The House on Denton Road - Review - Day 36
So today's review is about human weakness. How, despite our best intentions, we don't always live up to our potential. It is also about compassion and understanding. And that is not what the story is about.
The story is a pretty good haunted house story. It is solid and familiar, and makes for a good Halloween tale.
Unfortunately, it is very poorly edited. It is riddled with spelling and grammar errors. That sort of thing can be excusable, but it makes it very hard to get into the flow of the story. I was a little disappointed, but then I looked a little deeper.
I clicked on a link to the author's Amazon page, and found he had published quite a few books. They are mostly in the horror genre, or at least have bloody covers, but some of the premises are quite interesting. From there I found his blog on Goodreads and he has some interesting posts, mostly error free. That's when I found the culprit.
The author has a degenerative eye disease. He has been writing for awhile, but it is getting hard to see the screen. This story is the first one he has written using text-to-speech. If you go back and read it with that in mind, it makes sense. You can see where the software misinterpreted what he said. And if his eyesight is blurry so that he can't proofread it then...you can see how difficult it would be.
It is easy to judge when someone comes up short. It is easy to sit in a place where you think you are competent, and point out the shortcomings of another. But once you know their story, the reasons they aren't measuring up to the standard you are setting, it becomes harder to point the finger.
This is a good story. Thumbs up from me.
I'm glad you enjoyed the story and I appreciate the critique. I had my partner go over the story again after reading your review and I did a massive rewrite with her help. As you said I'm still getting used to the speech to text writing. Hopefully things will improve with time.
ReplyDeleteJosh, you get no criticism from me. It is a solid story. I really enjoy your blog. You have some good posts out there and really lay your heart on the line. This post was suppo to be about how easy it is to be judgemental. Funny thing is, I found a typo in it. {face-palm} Oh well. Keep up the good work and don't let the bad things get you down.
Delete*supposed
DeleteA great review, Jeff. I understand just how difficult it is using Text-to-Speech software to write a story. I have radial nerve damage in both arms that means I can no longer type without intense pain. I tried Text-to-Speech software and completely failed at it. It is HARD!
ReplyDeleteI finally discovered that I can type with one finger per hand with not as much pain.
So, I applaud Josh's ability to write with his eye disease using Text-to-Speech software.
Congratulations!
Best,
Dean Lappi