Big Al has spoken

and I'm having another wine right now. I sent them my short stories shortly after I published them last year in March. They had warned me that they're busy, but gee, I had no idea how busy. But gut Ding will Weile haben as the Germans say.

Today I had visitors from their blog and checked  out the 'why'. My heart beat accelerated because they had posted a review. I was prepared for the worst because they are well known for their straight out reviews. No holding back. One of the most respected review blogs. So, with my throat a little tighter, I read it and breathed. In and out. In and out.


Here's what they said (courtesy Big Al's Books and Pals):

Murphy rules in this collection, which has fun with the minor miscues and mishaps that happen in everyday life. While it sometimes seems that everything that can go wrong, does , they are all normal kinds of problems. Some are unique to women (either one of those things that wouldn�t bother most men, or that a man would never encounter). If you haven�t experienced most of these things, you�ll know someone who has.

Humor requires a tough balancing act. A typical approach is to exaggerate in some way. Depict the stupid or clumsy as stupider or clumsier. Make everything bigger than life (just a little over-the-top), yet recognizable as true to life. Deleuze�s exaggeration comes, not in the events that go wrong, but in the sheer number of tiny mishaps that accumulate. It�s a more subtle humor than the over-the-top bigger, badder, or sillier. You might not have many laugh-out-loud guffaws, but you�ll still find the stories funny (as long as they aren�t happening to you), as those numerous chuckles accumulate. 

They also mention a small amount of issues with spelling and proofing, which I knew, but they have been sorted since I sent it over to them. I assume that's the four out of five stars, nevertheless, I'm very happy indeed.

Thank you, guys from Big Al. You rock!