Steve Benner

Advertising sample, part one, 5 Jun 2013

"The First" is a pre-release, advertising teaser for "The Returned", the début novel of American author, Jason Mott. This short, single-chapter vignette presents a tantalising prelude to the events of the full story, setting the scene and giving a good feel for the "main feature", scheduled for release in September 2013. Similar additional samples are also scheduled for "drip-feed" release on the first day of each month leading up to the main publication date: "The Sparrow", in July and "The Choice", in… Read more

Of death and reconciliation, 3 Jun 2013

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

"The Returned" is the début novel of American author, Jason Mott. It is a strange work, exploring the likely effects and consequences of the dead returning en masse from the grave -- not in the horror genre sense of zombie apocalypse, but as hordes of people mysteriously cured of death itself and somehow restored to life and with the expectation, therefore, of picking up their previously terminated existences. Sensibly, the author steers clear of any attempt to present any explanations of how this global phenomenon might have come about, concentrating instead on the purely pragmatic, emotional and social consequences of its occurrence. The emphasis throughout is on individual,… Read more

How stories work; what they do; and why we need them, 27 May 2013

Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)

John Yorke's "Into The Woods: A Five Act Journey into Story" is an excellent book for anyone interested in narrative theory, or wanting an understanding of the power and purpose of stories and storytelling. Those who see this treatise on story structure as a formulation of a script-writing template for successful film and TV stories not only miss its point, they also do the author a grave disservice.

Yorke's starting point is an analysis of dramatic form in which he extends Christopher Booker's "The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories" by showing that even Booker's seven can essentially be collapsed down into one… Read more