Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Distant Cousin Separation Syndrome?


It's been several weeks since we've posted comments from readers--with the two exceptions of our extraordinary commuters and the annoyed bride--so maybe a few recent reader impressions might help convince the wavering to give these fun stories a try.

Special thanks to these readers, who took the extra step to drop us a line!

"I have started reading Distant Cousin and I am charmed. It's been a breath of fresh air."

"I finished your book! Thank you. I had lots of fun with it. Loved the very true to form tex-mex culture, loved the characters, had a great great time. I got hooked at about 30% through, then it all went flying by...But you know what I enjoyed most about it? I finished it and spent a while thinking, why I had felt it go by really quickly and why I had had such a pleasure reading it... what was it? The characters were nice sure, but that wasn't it, the story was intriguing and exciting, but why did it make me feel good? And then I knew... it's because [snipped! sorry! can't spoil it for anyone!].Thanks again! Not many books I've read like that...."

"I was just galloping through this excellent novel by Al Past on my iPod touch when BAM! I came to the end of the sample. "Oh no," I said to myself. "I thought I bought this book!" Well, I guess I hadn't, but I've fixed that oversight, and now I'm ready to race on toward the ending. Thank you, Al! Both for writing this book, and for enabling a generous sample."

"Some months ago, I swiped DC1 from [my husband's] night stand table (he hardly ever reads fiction; it's just a lost cause) and dropped it off at my mother's house. Apparently, she was recently looking for a book to distract her from the summer heat (102 today) and picked it up. She called me this afternoon to rave about it. She's really enjoying it and wanted to know all about you and find out if you had written any more books."

"I...was entertained by the unusual, always-surprising plot and the good, page-turning writing. It's hard to write simply and inoffensively for a wide audience, but Past does it very well. There's humor and suspense, as well as romance here, and just enough science to keep it interesting. I especially liked the ending, which was a natural segue into the sequels to come."

" I like this series. It's original, and entertaining. This one, in particular, is one of the few American English novels you'll find where large portions are in idiomatic Spanish. The meaning is usually translated or otherwise obvious in context. I also enjoyed the West Texas settings. Past is a talented writer with a gift for plotting and characterization. Recommended."

"Al, I finished your book early yesterday morning and I am still suffering from separation syndrome. Nothing can take its place. It is a great book! You handled everything so well, especially when you switched to another set of characters and what they are doing and thinking. The transition was instantaneous and natural. You have gotten better, smoother--and I don't see how you could improve in style or plot, certainly not in plot, which pulls the reader in immediately and keeps him there. I think I will read something really dull, with the hope that it will put me to sleep. Maybe that will help me recover from the separation syndrome. Congratulations! It is a superb adventure, novel (I don't like to put it in a category), with new depth."




A reader finds his place in the universe with the help of Ana Darcy

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