Posts Tagged ‘review’

The Quiet Game: One Month Later

Posted: August 17, 2013 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Review, short story, Writing
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It has exactly been one month since The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones came out. Yes, one month. Feels like a lot longer, but it’s only a month. A pretty crazy month too. I moved into my new apartment with my roommate Morgan, I worked most days, I saw some old friends and met some new ones, and in four days the fall semester starts (more on that later).

I’ve sold 25 print paperback copies and ten or eleven digital copies so far (there’s a guy I met who said he’s going to be downloading the book tonight. Depending on how long it takes for KDP to register a download, I may not find out till tomorrow). Also, I’ve gotten another review on Amazon, this one from Jason Haxton, owner of a box that is said to be possessed by a dybbuk, a demon from Jewish folklore. You may also know him as the author of the book The Dybbuk Box, a book detailing his experiences with the box, and the movie The Possession, which is based on Haxton’s book.

Here’s what he had to say on the book, which he gave 5 stars. The title of the review is Nailed It:

I happened across The author Rami Unger about a year ago when he was researching the paranormal online.
He nailed the Dybbuk story. Write more… soon! Jason Haxton Author of “The Dibbuk Box:.

Pretty awesome, huh? And coming from an author of a really excellent book and someone who’s experienced the supernatural before, I take it as a compliment. Plus his review has brought The Quiet Game‘s rating to a 4.5 average. I cannot complain. Oh and Jason, I have a book coming out in November. If you want me to let you know about that one too, I will.

If you’re interested in reading The Quiet Game, check it out on Amazon or Smashwords. And however you feel about the book, please write a review if you have the time. I always appreciate feedback, whether it be positive or negative feedback that I’m hearing.

Hope things are going well with you tonight. I’ve got another blog post and some writing to do before I go to bed tonight. Wish me luck.

Review: Elysium

Posted: August 16, 2013 in Review
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It’s been a while since I’ve seen a movie such as Elysium, one that’s not just visually, but also intellectually stimulating and emotionally invigorating. I was so glad my roommate Morgan and I went to go see it.

Plus we had a laugh afterwards making fun of right conservatives’ reactions to this movie.

Elysium, directed by District 9‘s Neil Blonkamp, depicts a world where the rich literally live above us all, in a Mercedes-logo satellite called Elysium where there is no war, crime, or sickness and all the buildings look like a cross between mansions, Greek temples, and sci-fi edifices. On Earth, the rest of humanity have to deal with poverty, non-existent education, sickness, and crime. That is, until Max de Costa, played by Matt Damon without any hair, gets hit by radiation during a workplace accident and learns he has five days to live. Returning to his old criminal contacts, Max will go to great length to go to Elysium and save his life. What happens next will change the course of human history forever.

What was interesting about this film was that it didn’t follow the normal flow for a sci-fi action movie of this sort, which is introduce the world and the conflict, dive right into the action, have your resolution after a ton of explosions and deaths, all while avoiding character development that can’t be done in a few frames or in a very tense emotional scene with romantic or beautiful background music. Instead, Elysium flows more like a novel, with a slow but steady build-up to the catalyst that causes the conflict in the story, several twists and turns of action and espionage and deceit in the middle, full of character development that penetrated deeply into your soul, and an ending that, while unconventional for sci-fi movies, left you feeling satisfied and full of joy and hope.

Unless of course you’re a right wing conservative, which means you left this movie in tears because you thought you saw the future.

Elysium was well-executed in terms of filmmaking. The settings were vivid in their portrayals of excessive wealth and terrible degradation, the special effects were extremely realistic, and the ways you could relate this film to our own lives and the United States political system these days are many (not surprising, considering whom the director is). My one complaint is that at one point, the all-powerful healing machines do something that I think is a little like cheating, but other than that an excellent movie.

For all of the above, I give Elysium a 4.5 out of 5. Best of all, no bad sequels. I cannot wait for what Neil Blonkamp will make next.

My Fourth Self-Pub Authors Article

Posted: August 16, 2013 in Journalism, Writing
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It’s been a little while, but I’ve written my fourth article for that wonderful website, Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. I wrote and posted it yesterday, truth be told, but afterwards I started moving into my new apartment, and the cable guy wasn’t scheduled to come and install the Wi-Fi until after I left for work today, and I’m only writing this now because it’s lunch break, so please forgive me for letting you know earlier.

This article, called Can & Should You Ask For Reviews?, discusses whether or not you should ask for reviews from friends and family and how you should go about it if you decide to do so. Already it’s caused quite a bit of discussion, with many people saying they disagreed with my conclusions and with some people adding onto my advice. I’m glad everybody’s discussing the article, even if not everyone agrees with it.

Go check this article out and check out the rest of the website by clicking on the links above. It’s quite a helpful website for authors of all stripes, and I can’t recommend it enough.

The Quiet Game: My First Amazon Review

Posted: August 11, 2013 in Review, short story, Writing
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It finally happened, ladies and gentlebloggers! The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones finally got a review on Amazon. As most authors know, especially self-published authors, reviews are a major component, along with word-of-mouth, for getting your book out there and getting people to buy or download copies of your book. So now that I finally have a review on Amazon, I’m very happy!

And guess who gave the review? My dear mother, Rabbi Wendy Ungar. Now wait, before you judge and say something like, “She probably gave a positive review because it’s her son”, let me remind you that this is my mother we’re talking about. She introduced me to most of my influences, she’s honest when it comes to a book she’s recently read and she voices her opinion on it, and she knows I like it when she gives me a sincere opinion.

So what review did she give me? A 4-star review, with these notes to go with:

“I thought these stories would be scarier than they were, but it was a great read and a good effort from the first time author. These stories were more in the genre of creepy rather than scary, but what I really liked was that it made you think of them long after the book ended. The themes of addiction, of sweet innocence gone bad, and of the sins of the fathers being visited on their descendants were very well dealt with, and caused the reader to think of them even after finishing the book. I’m looking forward to more from this new author!”
If you didn’t know we were related, you’d think she was talking about someone she didn’t know. But still, coming from my mother this means a lot to me. My mother is one of my biggest fans and I’m always happy when she gives me her thoughts on the book. So thanks Ima. I always appreciate it when you tell me your thoughts on something I’ve written.
If you haven’t read The Quiet Game yet but you’re interested in checking it out, you can check out the Short Story Collections page, or you can check it out on Amazon and Smashwords.
Also, expect another post on The Quiet Game soon. I got interviewed not too long ago, and the interviewers finally sent me the transcripts for my blog. Check it out when it comes out.

The Quiet Game: Three Weeks Since Publication

Posted: August 7, 2013 in short story, Writing
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I swear, I’ll stop doing these update posts once we get past the 1-month marker. Then I’ll do it once a month.

It’s been three weeks since my collection of short stories, The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, was published. So far, 22 print copies have been sold and 9 electronic copies have been downloaded. several friends and family members have also said they’re going to buy copies, but do to either time, money issues, or poor memories haven’t gotten around to it. Not that I can blame them: in this crazy world, getting a book by a friend off of Amazon or Smashwords isn’t always first on anyone’s list of priorities.

I also haven’t recieved any reviews yet, but I know they’re on the way. My mother said that the next time she’s on Amazon, she’ll write a review for The Quiet Game the next time she’s on Amazon, and my friends Angela Misri and Matthew Williams said they’ll review it too. I’m looking forward to hearing what they have to say. Heck, I’m looking forward to what everyone has to say. It’s always good to get feedback on my writing, good or bad. It’s how I’ve grown and gotten better at writing fiction.

Until I get those reviews, I’m still working hard. I’m just about ready to resume writing two books at once, having had a nice past two days to relax, meditate, read, and watch Doctor Who spin-offs on DVD. Now I’d just like to get back to work, maybe write another article or two for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. We’ll see what happens.

Until then, expect a few blog posts from me. I’ve done some thinking over the past few days on fiction writing and on life and what-not, and I  want to share them with you.

See you later.

Review: The Wolverine (2013 film)

Posted: July 29, 2013 in Review
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Go see the movie. You will enjoy it.

I wrote “2013 film” in parentheses because there’s a million different “The Wolverine” out there, and not just that team up north in Michigan, of whom only about 20 fans of I like. If you don’t get that, you don’t know Ohio or Michigan or college football.

I’m a huge fan of Wolverine, and I love Japan (total otaku), and I love action movies, so I was psyched to see this film, especially since it was supposed to be so much better than X-Men: Wolverine. I was not disappointed. The story follows Wolverine as he is taken to Japan to pay his respects to a dying man whom he saved when the second bomb fell and exploded in an unrealistic fashion. However once he gets there, thing start to get strange, and Logan has to protect the daughter of a business tycoon while all sorts of dangerous forces come after her…and Logan! Plus romance and new friendships and enemies and a ninja with hair dyed deep-red wearing casual clothes make for a great afternoon well-spent.

Of the actors, Hugh Jackman is always great playing the role of a surly tough guy, while Tao Okamoto playing Mariko Yashida touched my heart. Rila Fukushima is awesome as ninja psychic Yukio, while Hiroyuki Sanada as one of the main villains in the story is scary. And watch Svetlana Khodchenkova as the Viper puts the” fatal” in femme fatale. Also, watch for cameos from Famke Jessen (Jean Grey), Patrick Stewart (Professor X), and Ian McKellan (Magneto). And stick around after the credits, you’ll get a hint of what’s coming next year in X-Men: Days of Future Past, where the latter two show up.

Also be aware of some awesome special effects, including the Silver Samurai character. And there are some great fight sequences between Logan and the many Yakuza and ninja enemies he has to take on, especially since he’s taking them on with some handicaps (you’ll find out all about that when you see the movie).

All told, I’m giving The Wolverine a 4.5 out of 5. Can’t wait for next summer. Actually I can, I’ve got Elysium next month and two or three movies in October that will hopefully scare the crap out of me. I’ve got plenty to look forward to.

Review: The Conjuring

Posted: July 24, 2013 in Review, Scary Stuff
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You will be afraid.

When I went to see this movie, the woman behind the counter at the concession stand told me it was really good. When I came out of the theater, she was still there. She asked me what I thought. I replied by doing a comically frightened pose and saying, “EEEEK!”

The Conjuring is definitely a thrill-fest. It tells two stories at once: one is the Perron family, who have just moved into a house with a very hostile spirit living in it (some days you wish you could sue your realtor for that). The other story follows real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga in this adaptation, who are trying to continue ghost-hunting and solving the supernatural in New England while also acknowledging that their work is dangerous and could kill them (or their  marriage).

The movie’s director, James Wan, said he wanted to get away from Saw with this film, and I’d say he did a very good job. With just a minimum of blood, guts, and gore and more of an emphasis on the strange and the unknown and the just plain creepy, we are given a terror show of scariness, with plenty of jumps and freaky things that will have you hugging the arms of your seat. At one point I jumped back in my seat and said quite loudly “Oh my God!” That’s how good it is.

You also see a very accurate portrayal of how ghost-hunting is done, though usually an exorcism is not in the mix. And the build-up of suspense is done masterfully. Plus you’ll never want to play any sort of game related to Blind Man’s Bluff or Marco Polo or hide-n-seek after this film. And with some really awesome special effects, you’ll think to yourself, “This movie can’t get any better. It’s already scary good!”

For the whole movie, I give The Conjuring a 4.5 out of 5. Bring your friends, because you’ll need someone’s hand to hold by the end of the show.

Also, they say this movie is based on a true story, but I have a feeling they fudged some things in order to make the story fit a movie. Still pretty darn good.

The Quiet Game: One Week Since Publication

Posted: July 24, 2013 in Progress Report, short story, Writing
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It’s been one week since The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones was published in an elaborate post meant to take the place of an actual launch party (see here). I’m starting to wonder if I should’ve just said “The book’s out, here are the links to purchase it”. But anyway, it’s been a week since The Quiet Game came out, and since then I’ve sold about 10 print books and 8 e-books, with more to come as people tell me they are planning to buy it or will buy it as soon as they get home (thank you, everybody!).

And I’ve gotten some reviews, as well. One was from my mother, who said she can’t read me at night anymore (and has since given me a full report over the phone over what she liked and disliked), while the other was from Jason Haxton, author of The Dibbuk Box, which indirectly inspired one of the short stories, Samson Weiss’s Curse (apparently he really liked that one). As Jason told me, he thought the book was a strong start and wished me a hearty congratulations. Thanks Jason, I really appreciate the feedback.

And with other friends promising reviews I cannot wait to see what people think. In fact, this whole journey in publishing The Quiet Game has been a blast (except for the wait to get the copyright, but I won’t let that ruin the whole thing). I’ve learned a lot, had some great help from friends and family, and got to express myself as well. Maybe in a few books’ time I’ll write another collection of short stories, and it’ll be better than The Quiet Game! Sounds like fun, right?

If you’re interested in reading The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, you can purchase it off of Amazon or Smashwords, in both print paperback and e-book. And if you do read it, please let me know what you think. I always appreciate feedback, even negative feedback. It makes me want to work harder for my readers.

Review: Whiskey Delta by Matthew Williams

Posted: July 20, 2013 in Review
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Yesterday I finished one of the first books on my new Kindle, and I’m happy to say that it was by a friend of mine. And since Matt’s done a lot for me and I for him, I thought I’d give him a review of his novel. So Matt, know that what I say here, I say as a friend giving his honest opinion. And I know you wouldn’t want me to just give a gushing review if it wasn’t truthful, right?

So my friend’s novel, Whiskey Delta, is about a world terrorized by zombies. Sounds familiar, right? But there are some key differences between this novel and other works featuring zombies. For starters, the military is actually giving an adequate response to the zombie threat. That’s something you usually don’t see in the zombie literature/films/movies. For another, something about these zombies makes them very different from regular zombies, though I won’t reveal what because that would be a huge spoiler alert. The book itself follows a group of soldiers sent into Los Angeles on a covert mission in order to retrieve something important for the war effort. What happens there will change each and every soldier profoundly.

I thought the story was an entertaining zombie novel. It’s rare to show the military doing anywhere near a good job in a zombie story, so I commend my friend Matt for doing so. Also, I thought the twists in this novel were very interesting, especially in terms of what we thought we knew about these zombies–known as Whiskeys in the novel–and what the truth of the matter turns out to be.

I did think that certain characters such as Kobayashi and Saunders were introduced so quickly that I didn’t even have time to process them into the group before they were in the group, and that the main focus of the novel seemed to shift between characters rather than focusing on one character and saying “Here’s our protagonist”. But it’s a military team, so I’ll let it pass.

I also thought that more character development would’ve been nice, as I seem to know supporting character and all-around hillbilly Whitman better than I know main characters Braun, Dezba, and Saunders, which doesn’t seem right to me. And all the military terms were hard to follow. I’m not overly familiar with the military, so things like claymores, SCARs, and Stryker left me a little confused and I had to rely on my imagination for most of it.

However it was an entertaining story and by the end of it I was glad I read it. For Whiskey Delta, I award it a 3.9 out of 5. I’m looking forward to what the sequel, Papa Zulu, will produce.

The Quiet Game: My First Review

Posted: July 18, 2013 in Living and Life, Review, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Between finishing the last post and getting out of the shower, I realized that there wasn’t enough time to watch a movie before bed (another time, perhaps). Which is why I decided to write this post, featuring my first review of The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones. (If you’re interested in reading but don’t have the link, click here). It comes from one of my beta readers, and it was posted on her Facebook status. And by the way, this happens to be my mother.

Yes, I know your family is supposed to love everything you write, even if you have your character choking a baby (please don’t ever write anything as sick as that). But my mom’s a little different. For starters, my mother was the one who got me into Anne Rice and Stephen King. Yes, she did. Originally a fan of the two authors, she’s the one who lent me Interview with the Vampire and told me to read Stephen King when I’d read several Anne Rice books. She’s also lent me other books and turned me onto other writers like Dean Koontz and Dan Brown. She also introduced me to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files, shows which had a profound influence on me and my writing.

So even though she’s family and even though my mother doesn’t get the same sort of thrills I do from horror movies (I feel delightfully terrified while she’s just terrified), she’s definitely helped in molding me into the writer I am. Which was why I was very delighted when I called her and she told me she was about one short story into the book. And later when I logged onto Facebook, I was greeted with my first review. What did Rabbi Wendy Warren Ungar have to say? Why this:

“Reading Rami’s new book of short stories that was just published, (shameless promotion here), and I’ve discovered that my son is yet another author I can’t read at night!”

If you haven’t noticed, the subtitle on this blog is “Scared yet? My job here is done.” Well folks, my job here is done. Because I’ve always dreamed of giving someone a fright with my writing, and hearing that my mother can’t read my work at night gives me a small sense of accomplishment. I like knowing that I can deliver the goods when I say my stories are scary, and I like knowing I’m getting the sort of reactions I’d hoped for.

So Mom, thanks for reviewing and shamelessly promoting and all that. It means a lot to me and I hope to make even better stories as time goes on.

I also hope to post more reviews for The Quiet Game as they come. I know some friends have said they’ll write a review when they’re done, so I’m sure those reviews will show up in the next couple of weeks. Until then I hope you enjoy reading The Quiet Game as much as I enjoyed writing it, putting it together, and sending it out to you.

Good night everybody!

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