Nick Keen's Guide to Ghost Cleaning

Fun, fun, fun!

A true page turner, intelligent, humorous -- and loaded with exciting ideas!

Beautifully crafted, your writing and storytelling skills are stunning.

Backed with true pleasure, and a big smile on my face.

Johanna Kern
Master and the Green-Eyed Hope

Hi K., So entertaining that I couldn’t tell what I’d laugh at next. The names and the claw on the door that Nick noticed, and the street names in the town. What a place that needs the ghost cleaner! Nick’s POV shows that he’s up to this and with the money, it sounds as if his predecessors were scared off. Very enjoyable and easily shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

I began with the first few chapters, then moved to Chapter Twenty onwards (Part Four) as recommended. This is a very enjoyable book. The pitch tells us about an unusual idea and you carry it out well. Your characters, Nick, Irv, Monique and Hermes, and of course Nona, are eccentric, funny and great fun to be with. You are full of creative ideas and strange things just keep on happening. I loved the shadow which buzzed through Monique and left her speaking in what might have been proverbs if there had been any sense in them. Nick is a very naive, likable character, and we really want to see everything working out for him. Your writing is clear and enjoyable, and nearly always very funny. Backed.
Gerry McCullough,
Belfast Girls.

Hello K,
My acid test for a book, is would I buy it? … and I definitely would buy this. It’s an unusual premise and great fun. Your prose is realistic and engaging, as are the characters, which are very credibly portrayed. Your style flows and the story develops quickly. A super read, I hope this does as well for you as I think it should. Backed with pleasure, Rheagan Greene – Unwelcome Reflections

A fascinating title and a very interesting premise highlighted by effective pitches give the reader a fair hint what to expect here. I expected the supernatural elements, didn't expect the humour to work so well, this is great fun. There are many delightful touches here and a story-line that is never allowed to flag. Backed.
Jared.

Great voice and a real treat of a story! Well done! Backing!

Camille
Curse of the Golden Fly

You have something special here because it will translate into books, television and cartoons. Skip all the explanations at the start and get the authonomy reader straight into it, some have an impatient streak. Please don't tread on poor Cuthbert on your way to the top! Paula Barrett (Cuthbert-how mean is my valley)

K,

Oh man, this is a lot of fun! You've got a great sense of humor and it really shines through in this piece. Nick is a fun relateable character, and you have no problem getting him up to all kinds of mischief. I really enjoyed the voice of this, and I'm looking forward to finding out where it leads to!

Nice work! Backed! Looking forward to your thoughts on Head Games!

Kevin Alex Baker
Head Games

This is a most unusual story it has lots of light relief and is easily a book you can get absorbed in I have one nit in chapter one. Worryingly you say I was about 25years old don’t you know?
Wilma1
Knowing Liam Riley – I hope you can spare a moment to take a look

Really fun and well done! I'm going to be a bit of a pain and say 'if you can clean it up a bit...' but I've not got any examples as to what needs cleaning.. except maybe the line "...it was true now." IIt;s hard to know when we are (past/future? When is NOW?) Maybe that will help. Awesome job, regardless, and well worth backing

this is such great idea and great fun!

I enjoyed this fun, well written story.
Backed with pleasure.

Dawn
My Friends and Me / Sammy and the Wise Willow

What a very original idea! And I think your grammar is fine as well as your writing ability. I hope publishers see the potential of this story. Jayne

What a fun read!

J.S.Watts
A DARKER MOON

Like this one alot. Nice short sentence structure which makes for a great brisk pace. Love the frankness of the characters too. Interesting and entertaining read. Backed

Clever premise. A journey filled with surprises Nick is credible, likable and well fleshed out. Excellent dialogue and narrative. Your humor is spot on, as is your pacing. Backed.

Fun, fun, fun!

A true page turner, intelligent, humorous -- and loaded with exciting ideas!

Beautifully crafted, your writing and storytelling skills are stunning.

Backed with true pleasure, and a big smile on my face.

Johanna Kern
Master and the Green-Eyed Hope

Hey K. West, nice work. Love ghost stories, I believe this one has great potential. I'm backing this and wish you all the best of luck and much success. Brilliant work.
Backed
Helen
The Last Dream

Just a quick word about the movieTitle *Pet Sematary* . I'm innocent of this mispelling, that really is the correct title of the movie and I think it's supposed to be childish spelling or something, from what I can remember the movie was eminently creepy.

K

Ch 17 Nice conclusion to a sad affair. The writing is excellent and shows the effort involved in rewriting until the story is pared down to the best elements.

Ch 16 Great descriptions using that rather lackadaisical banter of the main character.

Ch 15 The author has a subtle but charming method of moving fromone scene to the next. The only giveaway that K. West is from UK is the spelling of Centre- Americans spell it center. I am so thoroughly enjoying the story. I recommend it.

Ch 15. Okay i start reading this chapter and I look at my clock and it reads 8:37 and then I read the first line. Is that an omen or what? So I'll check out this chapter later. I really do recommend this story for a bit of humorous, light reading. It is well-written and quite unique.

Ch 14 Nicely done.

Ch 13 Pet Cemetary, if you please, not Semetary. I'm surprised Nick tells Nona about his work as if it's ordinary. Still, I continue to enjoy the little cryptic interchange between Nick and Monique. Well done.

Ch 11 At this point I'm wondering if there is a primary plot to the story and if we are headed somewhere with the whole thing and I'd really like to know more about Irv. But altogether it's still pretty interesting. I have to read on just to see if the author can pull off this story.

Ch 9 Cute chapter but awkward in spots. It also neither adds to or takes away from the overall story, although it does round out the main character a little more.

Ch 8 The story continues to be imaginative and clever. The author needs to be careful that her characters don't all begin to sound the same. But overall its quite entertaining.

Ch 7 the interaction between the two main characters is pithy and very interesting. Well done.

Ch 6 Inspired.

Ch 5 Really excellent and still witty. Hard to achieve that conistency. Great start to a story.

Ch 4 Ok. Interesting. Let's keep it down-to-earth and not go straying way out into the twilight zone.

Ch 3 Fresh, entertaining, original. Excellent! The street layout and city description were absolutely great and the dialogue witty and clever. Let's hope it carries through the whole story.

The first chapter, if that was what it was, was off-putting. But the beginning of the story is well done and intriguing.

This is fresh--fun and quirky--all things wonderful in a book about ghosts. It is a real winner and easy to read and so enjoyable I could have read on and on even though it is time for me to be getting my kids off to bed. Well done! Happily backing this one,
Barbara

...sat the strange entity called... = seems as if the reader is expected to kinow who this is!
...my uncooperative mouth... = a bit contrived
...a few advices... = advice (uncountable)
I'm an English teacher...what do you expect? This could be a lot funnier than it is...pay attention to grammar and syntax...try to tighten up your narrative and avoid telling too much too soon...even better, let the characters do it for you. Overall, lots of potential here...
Best wishes
Stewart

I've only read a little as I'm leaving for a holiday break, but this looks like a fun book and I will read more when I get the chance. Backed.
Bill Long
Timecrack

Hi K., So entertaining that I couldn’t tell what I’d laugh at next. The names and the claw on the door that Nick noticed, and the street names in the town. What a place that needs the ghost cleaner! Nick’s POV shows that he’s up to this and with the money, it sounds as if his predecessors were scared off. Very enjoyable and easily shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

For some reason I thought of 'Rentaghost' when I first saw this. Anyway, top cover and top story. Very enjoyable to read and it's very much a page turner. So its fills in all the categories for me. Well done. Well I done I say!

Fun, eclectic, original, and sincere. Backed. Marianne (Saint Paddy and the Sundial)

I really got into this, much to my surprise really. I was expecting it to be a bit cheesy but in fact it was a genuinely fun read with a great MC in Nick and the bunch of 'people' he becomes involved with. enough description to ground the reader and dialogue is very good. No glaring typos. Just a very funny book that entertains.
Jim Darcy
the Firelord's Crown

You are totally fantastic, K.! :) How can I ever thank you enough for backing my 2 memoir books? :)
God bless you. :) Love, Susie :)

Now THIS is the kind of supernatural sci-fi fodder I can sink my teeth into (if one even can sink one's teeth into fodder). Fiercely funny -- farcical without reducing itself to pure parody -- and featuring very swift, clean writing.

Quite a fresh addition to an overworked genre. Well done!

And welcome to my shelf. Backed.

Best,

Greg
Notes on an Orange Burial (a tragicomedy)

Now THIS is the kind of supernatural sci-fi fodder I can sink my teeth into (if one even can sink one's teeth into fodder). Fiercely funny -- farcical without reducing itself to pure parody -- and featuring very swift, clean writing.

Quite a fresh addition to an overworked genre. Well done!

And welcome to my shelf. Backed.

Best,

Greg
Notes on an Orange Burial (a tragicomedy)

Great pitch and humorous read. Bradley did a wonderful job on your cover. You have a tongue-in-cheek style, and a voice to match. BAcked.

I hope you will give mine a read and back it if you like it.

Best,
Robert
Golden Conspiracy

Hello K,
I started reading your book sometime ago and have now finished. CONGRATS on a well crafted which has a very different storyline. I wonder at sci-fi books and how all these wonderful ideas are created with a good portion becoming fact. Your characterization are incredible, vivid and animated playing out their scenes........BACKED by me for sure, and best of luck with this book of yours. This is not my genre, it is good to cross over and comment on the skill etc of other writers. I would be so happy if you would cross over also and review my work. COMMENT and if you feel, back my book. If not that is OK too and best of luck again

Denise
The Letter

Dear K., I love your darling book on Ghost Cleaning with the 5 catagories listed. :) Wonderful humor. :) I actually heard of an evangelist playing Bible reading tapes 24/7 in his newly purchased house before moving in. Your pitch is excellent, so set the hook for me to read your book. :) When you use short paragraphs & lots of dialogue, it makes me want to keep reading to find out what's going to happen next. I'm backing your book. :) Could you please take a moment to back my TWO memoir books? Thanks. :) Love, Susie :)

This is information from authonomy (so beware of any other untrue information you may receive that is spam & not quotes of authonomy):
"When you back a book, it only improves the ranking of that book, not yours. However, the author whose book you are backing may decide to back your book also, in which case yes, your ranking would be improved"
"Every time you place a book on your bookshelf, your recommendation pushes the book up the rankings. And while that book sits on your bookshelf, your reputation as a talent spotter increases depending on how well that book performs."

i loved monique! as an amatuer baker, i laughed when i read about her poisonous cinnamon buns. her character is cool. possession by book . . . i love it!

me

This is a clever idea and told with great whimsy. The writing is solid technically, and the style you use serves the narrative and your general purposes well. Nice use of humorous cliff-hanger at the end of Chap. 1 as well. Happy to back this for you.
Craig
The Job

Hi,

Very short comment....Loved it.
Backed with pleasure.

Good luck,
Cerys (Gabriel)

Hi K
Who you gonna call? :) I really enjoyed this, it was funny yet serious and light yet deep at the same time and you've obviously got a great imagination. Really entertaining stuff.
DP Walker
Five Dares

This is humorous and lighthearted, and it reminds me of Ghostbusters. You should have a lot of luck with this because comedy is so popular. Good luck!

Dear K. West --

Nick Keen's Guide to Ghost Cleaning is one of the most fun reads we've had anywhere. In Nick, you've created a perfect MC to be your readers' guide into the world of ghost cleaning, and Monique provides a spunky foil. (Nice touch with Nick's reaction to Monique's name, btw: it gave a distinct glimpse into his character.) You also populate Nick's new world with strange but plausible items/creatures, from the zombie trap to twilighters. We kept reading in part for your imagination, wanting to know what you would come up with next, and so far, you have not disappointed.

Suggestions: consider paring down the descriptions around the dialogue in chapter 2; for example, Nick's "nonchalant yawn" when they're discussing the Winter house slows down the pace. A little back and forth would speed things up and also more firmly establish the bantering relationship Monique and Nick have.

But this is nothing compared to the overall quality entertainment of the story. It's our great pleasure to back Nick Keen's Guide to Ghost Cleaning. -- Delhui, The Long Black Veil

I LOVE this. I want my own paperback copy of it, so I can carry on reading it in the garden. My sons are addicted to Scooby Doo, so, like Nick, I've already got the theme tune looping round my head. I'll be back to read more.
Backed with pleasure x

What a nice premise for a book. And you make it totally believable. I only read the first chapter, but am looking forward to see how Nick will fare in his new career.
Karien - A Bird in a Pram