Let us be humble in every act and every deed.

Firstly this is beautifully written and well told, Ms Ivey can let loose the fanciful and stylish allusions, delightful descriptions and language when she wishes but mostly the book is restrained and she only lets her literary-self loose on occasion. This restraint makes the book flow better, makes it easy to read leading to an “unputdownable” book so do not be surprised if you are still reading in “The wee sma hours”. I will not give you a summary of the book other than to say it is the old Russian faerie tale retold in 1920′s Alaska where an older couple that cannot have children build a girl of snow and she comes to life. The characters are believable, in parts the book made me recall “Miss Smilla’s feeling for Snow” and that is a high recommendation. 

Sorry here, I have to do a couple of disagrees. 1. Sometimes, kicking the day job is what you need to do. I followed Sam's advice and kept my day job after the first book came out and even after the second and third. This put me at a distinct disadvantage to those that wrote constantly, were able to market when asked, rather than when I could fit it in, attend signings on order etc. I finally did give up the day job after my fifth novel because I had no choice, the company I worked for were going to fire me and so I fell upon my sword and left. It was a big wrench, very difficult at first, but all that unused time allowed me to write for magazines and newspapers, work on my novels and market. Soon I had my own writing business though i was still earning much less than I had as an employee. As people knew me more, and trusted my articles and short stories I was given a couple of columns in local newspapers and the book review section's. Soon I was earning the same kind of money I had whilst being employed (though from fifty different sources rather than one). I suppose that in a way I still have a day job, but now the day job is one I love and that is writing. At the time that my then employer was thinking of letting me go, I hated them after the long hours and hard work that I had put in for them but it seems now, with hindsight, that they were doing me a favour. 2.. Bernadette, I feel sure, means well and believes in her advice but I only write for myself. Many others (far more successful than I) also do so. You have to write what you would enjoy reading. It is the only sure basis you have to know what others think. If you have bought a book and enjoyed it, and write in a similar vein then it has already at least one reader (You, and remember you bought that book). If the book happens to be a bestseller and you like writing like that even better. I would say, Always write for yourself, never your audience. People are fickle. If you write a good book that you like you have already won. I have never kept a journal, it is rare but I have fooled around with diaries in novels. Here i cannot really think of a successful one. Kidding. Anne Frank, Robinson Crusoe, Almost every book by Johnathan Aycliffe and Susan Hill, Candide, Dracula, how many weeks do you wish me to go for..... (sorry Bernadette, did not mean to get at you but as you can tell I disagree) LOl and just to be dreadfully awkward I love Dante and also Gustav Dore (sorry have no accents on this keyboard to get dore right).

Children lost at sea, girls lost in the woods, boys lost in castles, And they scream silently for help. They scream always. Rob, the poor fool, the poor ranger cares not, does not wish to save them, does not care for all his hope is gone. But the screams of the lost, the lonely, the bereft and the forsaken live in his mind. He cannot forget them.

Like many of these Hard Science fiction books I suspect that if i had read this in the seventies I would have said; wow. It is dated and was clearly of its time even if visionary. I must say that I feel rather rotten but two stars out of five. I apologise to Mr Benford. I suspect it is the period when it was written rather than the novel itself.

Another Glorious work of art from Mr Aycliffe (Danial Easterman). There are few in the world that can write a ghost story such as this man. I only aspire to write as well as he.  In this tale he follows standard routes yet even then the tale is creepy , the setting wonderful and strange. A master of the art in my opinion. 

For all the hopelessness in the world there is great beauty. Sometimes, it is right in front of you like a majestic mountain or Ancient forest. A church full of wonders but at other times, it lies in a poem or story that makes you feel good, scares you, amazes you or enchants you. It can be in a work of art, set in gold or lapis lazuli that entrances your eye, or a photographers vision of a dying tramp. The realism of life, the wonders and woes all caught up in one single blink of an eye. More Than that even, writing exits, even when photographs fade. Bob Hope once said, that the money and good food were great but what he lived for was the smile on peoples faces. We writers do not always make them smile, laugh or make people happier but what we do is make a photograph that never fades, a joke that will always live, funny or not, a reminiscence that never dies. Take your moment.