Indie Chicks / Various

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Memoir

Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words (very rough count for story portion only. Doesn’t include biographies or book excerpts)

Availability
Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: NO
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Various, see description for list.

Description:

Twenty-five female Indie authors, with a story about becoming a writer. Includes an excerpt from a novel written by each of the twenty-five, with a foreword from Indie success Karen McQuestion and an afterward from breast cancer survivor Beth Elisa Harris.

All proceeds from this book will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which fights breast cancer.

Here are the contents, not including the book excerpts:

Foreword by Karen McQuestion

Knight in Shining Armor by Shea MacLeod

Latchkey Kid by Heather Marie Adkins

Write or Die by Danielle Blanchard

The Phoenix and The Darkness by Lizzy Ford

Never Too Late by Linda Welch

Stepping Into the Light by Donna Fasano

One Fictionista’s Literary Bliss by Katherine Owen

I Burned My Bra For This? by Cheryl Shireman

Mrs. So Got It Wrong Agent by Prue Battten

Holes by Suzanne Tyrpak

Turning Medieval by Sarah Woodbury

A Kinky Adventure in Anglophilia by Anne R. Allen

Writing from a Flour Sack by Dani Amore

Just Me and James Dean by Cheryl Bradshaw

How a Big Yellow Truck Changed My Life by Christine DeMaio-Rice

From 200 Rejections to Amazon Top 200! by Sibel Hodge

Have You Ever Lost a Hat? by Barbara Silkstone

French Fancies! by Mel Comley

Life’s Little Gifts by Melissa Foster

Never Give Up On Your Dream by Christine Kersey

Self-Taught Late Bloomer by Carol Davis Luce

Moving to the Middle East by Julia Crane

Paper, Pen, and Chocolate by Talia Jager

The Magic Within and The Little Book That Could by Michelle Muto

Write Out of Grief by Melissa Smith

Afterword by Beth Elisa Harris

Appraisal:

The book is arranged as a series of sections for each of the twenty-five “Indie Chicks,” bookended by the foreword and the afterword. The section for each chick has a story from that person, a brief bio (which is sometimes repetitive after reading the story), and an excerpt from one of that author’s books. The afterword is two sections, but in place of a novel excerpt it has a journal from the author’s battle with breast cancer.

Because some people (me included) don’t like reading excerpts and those who are interested could sample the book on Amazon anyway, I’m ignoring that portion. If you don’t want to read each excerpt, there is a functional table of contents that can be used to skip them. (Note that in my version the table of contents had a couple links that did not function correctly; however, this method worked well to maneuver through the book most of the time and I expect these problems will be fixed, possibly before this review is published.)

Although the potential appeal of these stories seems to cater to a wannabe author or someone who is already a fan of one or more of the authors chosen, Indie Chicks has much more to offer. While some of the stories are better than others and they cover a broad range of tone, from humorous to heart wrenching and confessional, the overall tone is inspirational, and not just for future novelists. The value of setting goals, hard work, and perseverance comes through loud and clear. That it is possible to come back from bad decisions and bad things happening to a person is another common theme. No matter what your situation and dreams, these Indie Chicks can help show you the way to get there.

FYI:

A small amount of adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

A small number of typos and formatting issues. A functional table of contents is an absolute necessity for a project like this. However, a small number of the links in the TOC did not function correctly in my copy. I would expect this issue will be corrected, if it hasn’t already been.

Rating: **** Four star