GUD Magazine #1, The Fix Review & 'The Beautiful Game' Podcast at Well Told Tales

GUD Magazine #1 has picked up yet another review over at The Fix. I dispute what the reviewer, Andrew Hook, has to say about Unzipped (well I would, wouldn't I?) but the magazine is getting some great exposure, so I'll just take it on the chin...

"Unzipped" by Steven J. Dines is another story which potentially has great aspirations for pathos. However, I found the message too heavy-handed—even if it is necessary and urgent for our times. An Iraqi war veteran finds it impossible to reintegrate into civilian life, but the ending is much too tidy. Can salvation from a pivotal moment in life really be found within a second pivotal moment? I don’t think so.


Elsewhere, my short story, The Beautiful Game, is now up at the pulp-fiction podcast site Well Told Tales as a streaming download or downloadable mp3 file. If you can spare 21mins of your time then please head on over there and listen, leaving a comment or rating when you're done. Personally, I'm pleased with the result and hope to appear on WTT again in the future. A big thank you to the Well Told Tales team.

That's all the news for now, folks. I spent a couple of evenings this week submitting stories for publication, so I hope to return with more good news very soon.

Hope you are well.

GUD Magazine #1, Mallory Review

I found a less positive review of GUD Magazine #1 today on F.R.R. Mallory's blog. The reviewer had this to say about my contribution, Unzipped:

This story does a good job on delivering the inner experience of post-traumatic stress although the way it elects to achieve this makes the protagonist distant and very hard to empathize with. Anticipating that this story behavior was intentional this becomes a bit of nonconsensual masochistic massage – as a reader you keep reading not because you are enjoying the story but because you are hoping the story doesn’t dirty itself on the page. This is well written and a story I would have tossed back.

That final sentence seems contadictory, but at least the magazine and my story are being read.

To read the review (Parts 1 & 2 of 3, so far) click HERE