Demons in the House

Spotted another review for Lesser Demons over at Sacramento Book Review. Check 'er out.

As a writer, it's always interesting to track developing reaction to a new book. Sometimes critics agree, and sometimes they don't. With short story collections, following comments about particular stories can be interesting, too. It's always fun when a hand's down favorite appears, which is another way of saying that unanimous praise is always great. But the flip side of that definite pleasure is that reviewers will often split over one particular story in a collection, too. Some will love it...others, not so much.

Looks like the splitter in Lesser Demons is "The House Inside," my tale of sentient toys, a mutant spider, and an unforgiving sun. This reviewer pegs it as a don't-miss piece of work, but others seem to be looking for more answers in "House" than the story contains. What it's really about for me is questions. In other words, I don't believe that answers always can be found -- in life or in fiction. That's the way that "House" is built...from the writer's side of the page, anyway. Ditto the title story, "Lesser Demons."

Of course, as Patrick Swayze once said in a movie called Road House: "Opinions vary." Writing is a two-way street. I've always believed that. That's one reason I pay attention to reviews and readers' comments. I'll be following the feedback on "The House Inside" as Lesser Demons hits, so keep the comments coming.