Phillip Ryan had wanted to be a journalist all of his life. He'd managed to get a job at the local rag right after leaving school . You know the sort - they are full of advertisements that pay the wages and the printing, and they are delivered free to all the local residents, most of whom don't want it, who then use it to wrap the veggie scraps in, clean the barbecue with, or as a firelighter.Still Phillip felt, at 17, that he'd made a START. Occasionally the editor sent him out with a photographer to interview an old biddy who had the reputation of being a local witch, or at election time he got to trail around behind a fiery red-neck and had the pleasure of watching him being pelted with rotten eggs by some mean spirited citizens.
But now he was within days of his 21st birthday, and feeling that it was time to move on. There was nothing on the horizon, but he was keeping an eye out.
Occasionally a nutter would slip a message through the letter slot in the front door of the newspaper office. Usually the messages were awful and after causing a frisson of repulsion in the staff, quickly screwed up and binned. Usually the messages didn't come with photos. That's what made today's so interesting.
An urban legend blinks
The message was accompanied by a picture of the local park - but wait, wasn't that a body under the swings? Phillip's heart raced. At last - was this a real story?THE HOT TYPEWRITER is Albert Victor's debut novel, and is anything but pedestrian. The main character Phillip Ryan is vividly drawn, and the author manages not only realistic scene setting, but tension that heightens to a dramatic climax. Albert Victor is the pseudonym of a local Australian author, and THE HOT TYPEWRITER is not yet available for general purchase.
This review was created for Weekly Geeks 2009-28.
It uses random words generated at Creativity Tools
Among the random words I had to include were witch, neck, and mean.
I also had to use a randomly generated phrase and a randomly generated sentence. I wonder if you can spot them?
Your task, dear reader, is to decide whether this is an authentic review for a real book, or simply a figment of my imagination.
Tell me what you think via a comment.
My guess (since I haven't read your email yet): it's a fake, the random words are witch, eggs, and birthday. The random sentence is An urban legend blinks.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to see if I'm even close! Thanks for playing. :-)
I'm voting for the fact that the review is a fake because I've not seen the title in that little box you have over there ----> which says what you're reading or about to read.
ReplyDeleteOf course you could have deliberately left it off but I'm still voting fake.
You don't say how many random words you had to incorporate but I think some of the random words are pedestrian, frission, repulsion, typewriter.
Great review either way
I love this task! I think yours is fake, but I love the way you have managed to find a cover for it!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with - this is so much fun!
I like the way you've done this but I'm guessing it's a fake. I can't put my finger on it but something's telling me it might be :-) .
ReplyDeleteIf it is fake, great job at the accompanying picture.
I really loved the review. I will definitely pick this book whenever it is written down!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Weekly Geeks: Reality bites?
I love this task so much! I'm with the rest on guessing yours is a fake, although "Phillip Ryan" kind of rings a bell...in any case, nicely played!
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, "witch" and "eggs" seem like they might two of the random words...and maybe "frisson"?
I'll go with fake as well:)
ReplyDeleteRandom sentence: An urban legend blinks?
That's very well-written. Specially if it's a fake.
I'm guessing fake as well, because that clue is an awful lot like the sort of sentences you get from the generator. Also, Albert sounds too old-fashioned to be chosen as a pseudonym.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame if it is fake, because it sounds like a good story!
I have to admit that yours was one I read before attempting my own post of this - well done. I'm going to say that you wrote this yourself and that the sentence you had to use was "an urban legend blinks"
ReplyDeleteI think this is fake. I think your random words are frisson, repulsion and firelighter. I think your random sentence is An urban legend blinks.
ReplyDeleteGood job, I tried this route first but it just didn't work for me!
I'll go with fake too, and I think the title is your random phrase - random sentence wise, I'll go with the general consensus. But, I could totally see this book being on the shelves. I used to work for a peper like the one you describe... ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm very sad, because everyone seems to be saying it's a fake - so all I can say is, if you made this book up, I really hope you'll write it soon! It sounds like such an interesting story, and one that I'd grab off the shelves.
ReplyDelete