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A Review of my book - my first ever review - yippeeeeee!

Dear Blog-Browser,

I've copied and pasted into this a review of my novel 'Abernethy'. The review is by Phillip Ellis of Australian Reader.Com, and you can check them out at http://www.australianreader.com

I'm pretty stoked with the review. 'Stoked' is an Australian colloquialism for delight and elation. Hell, I damn near had an orgasm when I read it!

I've been doing my 'book tour thing-o'. There was scarcely a soul around when I was doing a book signing yesterday. I think they all went ot the nearest major city because LA Galaxy were in town to have a match against the local soccer team. Bah, humbug, I say. David Beckham doesn't need the money. I do!

Anyway, read the review in the knowledge that you all have my best wishes.

*********

Dear Simone,

enclosed below is the review of Abernethy. It will be sent out later this month.

Yrs

Phillip

*****

Simone Bailey, Abernethy (Burleigh : Zeus, 2010) ISBN 978-1-921574-95-5 $24.95

Billy Alexander's life is not the best: not only is his father in
gaol, but he has moved to a new town and a new school, where he has no
friends, and he has become the favourite target of the school's golden
boy-cum-bully. He has no-one to turn to, no-one to confide, until he
meets a beagle named Abernethy, formerly a witch's familiar, and now
Billy's confidant and mentor. Because it just so happens that
Abernethy can talk to Billy.

The novel that results from this situation follows Billy as he tries
to sort out his life, and become part of the school and the town. The
events that occur, as a result of this, seem natural outgrowths of the
characters and the situation, and the pople that inhabit Abernethy
feel real, and three-dimensional as a result of the author's skill.
Billy and Abernethy are an engaging pair, and while it may be expected
for Billy to triumph at the end, his eventual triumphs feel a natural
outgrowth of the events, and not a forced or predetermined end.

Abernethy is a good, well-written book. It has the potential to go
far, with the right promotion and with the right exposure, and it has
the capacity to charm and to delight. It would be good to see
Abernethy acheive high sales, and a more than small measure of
popularity, and it is a title well worth obtaining and reading.

The only real downside to Abernethy, though is the handling of the
dialogue, particularly Abernethy's. There is a tendency for the
dialogue to feel too sophisticated, and less attuned to the
characters, particularly in the opening chapters, but this does
diminish over time, and it is not hard to let it slide past while
progressing through the novel.

Abernethy has charm and personality, and it would be a shame to miss
out on its charms. Abernethy is available from the publisher's website
a href="http://www.zeus-publications.com/abernethy.htm%3E" target="_blank">http://www.zeus-publications.com/abernethy.htm> and from bookshops.

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Comment by Simone Clare Bailey on November 28, 2010 at 7:32pm
Thanks, Kenn!
Comment by Kenn Bivins on November 28, 2010 at 1:39pm
Congratulations, Simone! It sounds like an exciting read. The review is GREAT for a first one and I share your excitement. May MANY more follow. I'm going to read the sample chapter now.

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