I am beyond pleased and chuffed (and whatever other words there are to describe indescribably joy) to announce that the website Liminal Fiction just reviewed my recently released collection of spec fiction short stories and poetry.
I was so thrilled I decided to stop working for a minute on birds trees water sky, and write this post to tell ya'll how very happy this review makes me.
You see, it's my first review by a fiction website.
And it's a glowing review. So I'm (as my Brit friends mighy say) double-chuffed. Not to be confused with double-stuffed oreos, but I really am that full up with happiness at the moment.
A Grab Bag of Dark Spec Fit TreatsReviewed in the United States on January 17, 2024
Four & Twenty Blackbirds is a grab-bag of very short horror, dark fantasy and dark sci-fi stories and poems by M.X. Kelly. None of the stories is more than a few pages long, but they never the less burst with storytelling and worldbuilding – tasty little morsels to whet your appetite.
All of these stories are fascinating, but I had a few favorites.
“The ABCs of the Apocalypse” is a jagged, broken little tale about a twelve-year-old girl living through the end of the world and trying to make sense of the jumble of her own mind after getting sick with the plague that’s killing humanity.
“World Wide Web” is a dark horror tale with a delicious alien villain who finds humanity… tasty.
“The Bullet” posits a portal to another world, a one-way journey for dissidents the governments of the world want disappeared.
“The King and His Twenty-Three Subjects,” from which the book takes its title, is one of several nursery rhyme retellings, along with “Forty,” which puts a whole new spin on Lizzie Borden.
And “Fifty Percent of Smartsuits Fit You Perfectly” is a snarky, sardonic sales pitch for a space suit that kills people, but only 50% of the time.
This is a great collection, with stories and poems that are the perfect length for a post-office line or bathroom read. They will take up space in your head and make you think about them for days after you finish reading them. Highly recommended.
Wow! Pretty good for my first ever book review!
Can you blame me for gushing?!
You can buy a copy of Four & Twenty Blackbirds by clicking on the title here or on the book cover image below.
Thanks, Scott! And thanks to everyone who has purchased a book so far. You are helping me to live my life's dream!
