A Satisfying Collection of SciFi Stories

J. D. Sanderson’s Around the Dark Dial blends everyday characters and situations with the fantastic while also mixing storytelling elements of classic science fiction with modern concerns. Most of the stories seem to stand alone, but even that line gets blurred. Sanderson brings it all together in a satisfying collection that should appeal to science fiction fans or anyone else who enjoys well-told, thought-provoking stories.

Author Shay Mills Reviews SciFi Adventure Sons of Taldra at Substack

“Truly unique and amazing!” —Shay Mills, author of The Secret Life Series. Read the review here.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Released! "Sons of Taldra: A Science Fiction Adventure" by @DuaneSimolke

It wasn’t just good — it was truly unique & amazing!

Substack: https://t.co/n9CmQMFpRr
Medium: https://t.co/n86zBeGCOn
GoodReads: https://t.co/pBss1BKZlK#Writingcommunity #LGBTQIA pic.twitter.com/7fukwCRnRd

— Eric Rench - Shay Mills Fiction Author (@IDOBOOKREVIEWS) May 16, 2023

From the Substack bio of Eric - Author Shay Mills: "After a successful career in the military, I took to telling my tales. I am known for being an eclectic author who writes Horror, Thriller, Crime-Drama, Paranormal, Suspense, and Literary Coming of Age Tales."

The Acorn Stories is a LitNuts Book of the Day

LitNuts, a site that calls itself “crazy about books,” has announced the Texas fiction collection The Acorn Stories as a “LitNuts Book of the Day.” The Acorn Stories is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary.

According to the site, “LitNuts LLC is a woman-owned, family-run business founded by Kathleen Meyer and her father, Mike O'Mary, who share a love of literature. Kathleen is an avid reader with 11 years of marketing experience, including with Dream of Things, a small press founded by Mike in 2009. From 2009 - 2016, Dream of Things published three New York Times Bestsellers, three winners of the Hoffer Award, and one book that was optioned for a film.”

LitNuts Book of the Day: The Acorn Stories. #BookTwitter #BookRecommendation 🍁📙 #CrazyAboutBookshttps://t.co/fu8mCLUrL8

— BookTWT and SciFi Geek (@DuaneSimolke) May 9, 2023

“A poignant look into small towns and the people that make each small town unique.”

From a new book review of The Acorn Stories:

“This collection is a poignant look into small towns and the people that make each small town unique. I thoroughly enjoyed reading these stories. Take my advice and grab your copy today. Escape to the small-town life.”

Read the full review at N. N. Light's Book Heaven.

Texas Comedy/Drama Trailer at N. N. Light's Book Heaven

Comedy and Drama With A Texas Twist

Discover Books a New Way with BookHylla

Ray Ferch, author of But What If Harry? and Blueburrie, is creating a new book search system. BookHylla allows authors to create unique keyword combinations for searches, called “Ferch Phrases.”

I added some of my books and created some Ferch Phrases. They didn’t take long to start appearing in Google search results.

On Bookhylla’s “About this” page, Ray explains, “What makes Bookhylla so powerful is that we can really create unique Ferch Phrases that define our book and make it really easy for readers to find our book. We can create phrases that tie movies to our book, for example.”

BookHylla featured books.

BookHylla featured authors.

My BookHylla page.

Bookhylla Featured Author - Duane Simolke - https://t.co/G0S40o6AQx @DuaneSimolke pic.twitter.com/PtJ6lyoIXA

— rayferch (@rayferch) March 21, 2023

Discussion Questions for Reading Groups/Book Clubs

Was your home town anything like Acorn? If so, how?

How would setting The Acorn Stories some place other than West Texas change it? What about setting it in the 2020s, instead of the late twentieth century?

How would changing the nonlinear structure of stories like “Knock” and “Mae” affect the stories?

Which characters did you like most in The Acorn Stories? Why? Did any of them remind you of yourself or anyone you know? Are the characters you enjoyed most necessarily ones that you would want to meet in real life?

The stories “Echoes” and “Come With Me” both take their names from paintings, while “Survival” takes its name from a student essay. How do the themes and imagery from those internal, creative works affect the overall stories? Is creativity a theme in any of the other stories?

Why do some of the characters in The Acorn Stories seem to care so much about names, and variances of names?

Does The Acorn Stories glamorize or criticize small-town life?

The Acorn Stories is a story collection, but does it resemble a novel?

Many characters reoccur in this collection. Are there any who seem important to the overall book, rather than just to one or two particular stories?

Texas contains many oddly named towns. Some of those names appear in The Acorn Stories and its spin-off, The Acorn Gathering. Did you catch any?

How do acorns work as a metaphor in The Acorn Stories? Are there other metaphors in the book?

Does The Acorn Stories reflect the diversity of Texans? Americans?

The Acorn Stories is mostly set during the 1990s. If it became a movie, which 1990s songs would work best for the soundtrack?

If you’ve seen the Del Shores play or movie Sordid Lives, how would you relate it to The Acorn Stories?

Which books, plays, or movies would you suggest for people who like The Acorn Stories?

Discuss The Acorn Stories at GoodReads and BookBub.

Read the reviews at Kirkus Reviews, Amazon.Com, bn.com, and Goodreads.

Excerpts from The Acorn Stories

The Individual Stories

Historical Acorn, Texas

The Acorn Gathering, a Spin-off from The Acorn Stories

One of the Most-Read Interviews in Tweetables Book Blog’s First Year

Please visit the award-winning book blog Tweetables. My author interview there ranked as one of the top-five most viewed of the blog’s first year. That top five also includes Jane’s discussions with authors Lisa Thomas, Liz Treacher, Shane Scott, and Martin Featherston.

“I swung from sad to happy, angry to laughing out loud,” Jane wrote in a review of my short story collection The Acorn Stories at Tweetables. The review appears just below the interview.

Please follow jane @ tweetables on Twitter.

Keywords: book blog, bookblogger, reviewed, reviewers, review, short stories, writer resources, awards.

Happy Anniversary

Happy 25th anniversary to my Texas fiction collection, The Acorn Stories, and 100th anniversary to my alma mater, Texas Tech University.

Queer Indie 2023 Nomination

What an honor to receive a nomination for the 2023 Queer Indie Awards! That makes two years in a row.

🏳️‍🌈 VOTE NOW in the Queer Indie Awards! This nomination involves the overall works of an author, instead of just one particular book.

🏳️‍🌈 VOTE NOW! 🏳️‍🌈

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN!

Vote for the 2023 @Queer_Indie Awards!
OUR 3RD ANNUAL AWARDS SHOW!

Pledge your sword to your favorite author in each category, and let the games begin!https://t.co/yf3rcEzM4q

— Queer Indie 🏳️‍🌈 (@queer_indie) January 25, 2023