Reviews & Audio Book Update
Huge thanks to Kaia Robinson for her review!
TLDR!
Here’s what to expect from this month’s update:
Review time - thanks to Kaia Robinson!
Accountability report
I love it when I can share reviews of my work!
On the 25th of April, a review of “Shadows Over Seattle: Prequels 1-6” dropped. It was written by Kaia Robinson, an Instagram book reviewer, and posted on her feed. I was blown away by what she had to say, and she was kind enough to let me share it.
I didn’t expect a short story collection set in Seattle’s supernatural underbelly to feel this cohesive, but Shadows Over Seattle really pulled me in.
I finished it yesterday, and what stood out most was how each of the six interconnected stories adds another layer to this hidden paranormal world. I especially liked the wolf shifter storylines with Richard Parsons—his struggles with his past, the gang history, and his personal demons made him feel more like a flawed person than just a supernatural archetype. The museum break-in angle in “Under a Hunter’s Moon” had a nice mix of tension and emotional weight.
Then there’s the tonal shift across stories, like going from shifter drama to military operations in Iraq in “Wolves in the Desert,” which sounds like it shouldn’t fit in the same collection, but surprisingly does because of the underlying supernatural thread. That one in particular had a more grounded, gritty feel that reminded me of military thrillers I’ve read, just with an added layer of something not quite human lurking beneath it all.
I also enjoyed the bar setting in “April Fool”—the Devils Own feels like one of those places where everything can go wrong in the best possible way. The fae chaos and shifting reality gave it a playful but still unsettling edge.
If I had one small critique, a few transitions between stories felt a bit abrupt since they were originally written over different years, even though they’ve been updated for consistency.
Still, this is a strong urban fantasy sampler with variety, atmosphere, and a genuinely interesting shared universe. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy supernatural short stories, shapeshifters, vampires, and darker urban fantasy with a gritty, interconnected world.
Kaia reads across a wide range of genres and is really good at getting to the heart of the story and putting it into words. This is a skill that many reviewers don’t have.
What really impresses me about Kaia’s reviews is that they always seem fair and well-balanced. She highlights the things she liked, the writing style, or anything else that stood out in a positive way. But she also points out potential stumbling blocks for some readers, offering a balanced view.
I’ve even picked up a couple of books from her list, just based on the reviews. So, if you’re looking for a good read, you should definitely check out her feed.
Audio Book Update!
I’ve finished creating the audio files, and downloaded them for listening. I’m on the third story (“Wolves In The Desert”), and have a lot of notes on things I’d like to fix.
The plan is to finish listening to the recordings, then start editing. I want to add in appropriate pauses, and fix anything I didn’t like about way some of the sentences sounded with the digital voices.
On a side note: I really love the sound design of a couple of the digital voices I created; others not as much. But I’m committed to the voices I have, because I want to get this project finished, instead of beating myself up over choices I made when picking aspects of the voices.
Writing/Editing Update
Things are very much where we left them at the end of last month.
I’ve started writing Chapter 2 of “Shadows Over Seattle: Book 1 - Of Wolves & Men”
I’m about 6500 words into the story (so, 2500 more than last month).