Tnúth

Lyrical, atmospheric, engaging characters and, best of all, gorgeous humour. No, I haven't kissed the blarney stone. I loved Mrs O'Brien for breaking a mirror to get attention. And Paddy Fitzpatrick's 'face that wanted to be remembered'. As for the visits to the cemetery to take gifts to the dead babies ... There's great skill in making your reader laugh in one sentence and cry in the next.

Sorry I came to this late, but it was well worth the wait. Was already on my WL but will back the minute I can make some space.

Best Wishes

Anna (Black Damask)

Oh sweet Mary Mother of God but this is bloody fabulous. I don't want to gush but you just caught me up and swept me away with this and by the time I had come to, I had finished the darn thing and the kettle had boiled dry. You have that mystical magical ever-sought-for thing - voice. In spades.
This is lyrical without being worthy, tender without being saccharine, humorous without trying too hard. It is effortlessly lovely. I feel, having read it, as if I've been warmed by a comforting mug of hot tea and a plateful of hot toast slathered with butter.
You obviously have huge affection for your characters and you instill it in your readers.
The day starts, full of promise. Mrs O'B stretches and we stretch with her, confident that we'll be there with her when the sun sets.
Some of your descriptions are just wondrous and you had me laughing out loud in several places - the back hair on the poor nun for just one example.
Just huge congratulations on this - it's a true gem. I wish we could give gold stars for extra-special books on here. I'd give you half a dozen.
Backed. Doh. Like there was any question.
Jane (Walker)

CP,

This is as good as it gets. This may be the best writing I've seen on authonomy, and I've read a lot. Others compare but I don't think anyone has yet matched what I see here in terms of the tone, structure, and flow of the writing and dialogue. I see NO flaws. These characters are well developed, and your dialogue expertly captures the accent. And the humor (my American spelling of that word) is deftly handled.

I have read the first three chapters and I'm continuing with the others you have uploaded. I can only hope I'll have an opportunity to read the entire book at some point.

This is a treat. Literary fiction at its best.
Backed with delight.
Mark

I enjoyed reading from Tnuth. Good, powerful voice. For whatever’s worth, you’ve got my vote.
Maybe you could take a look at TO KILL A DEAD MAN.

TNUTH
I was browsing through books with gold stars (people say on the forum older books here were better) so I stopped to read Tnuth. The premise of this: appreciate what you have because you could lose it tomorrow and want it back jumped out at me. Your characters are a good mix. I think you do a great job with dialogue. Made me enjoy this a lot. I think a lot of fathers will recognize themselves in the story. I’m adding it to my shelf. Burgio (Grain of Salt).

Dear C.P., I love your unrequited - that's happened to me more than I've liked. Great intrigue story. :) 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, 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"...authonomy quote.
"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.

Wonderfully written. Totally believeable characters. backed. Colin

A reality novel well written dealing with family dynamics. Not my type of novel or reality TV, had enough of both. Nevertheless they are popular, and this novel has more than most of this genera to offer.
Backed.
BK

Hi C P,

I love the start of your book. It isn't really my sort of thing but I think I'll find these people interesting when I read some more, so I shall read on (when time permits).

Cheers
Elaine

I think HC kinda knocked the wind out of my sails here; they've said all I would have and much more. I'll head over and read your other book now--see if I can say something somebody smarter hasn't said first. Good luck with this novel.
Gerry

I think you have a beautiful flowing writing style-the story is gentle in one sentence and hard hitting in the next. I loved the story and your descriptive scene setting to the narrative. Backed.
C.J.

Wonderful, captivating, lovely writing, backed it at once and shelved it for further reading.
Goodluck, not that you'll need it. :O)

Thanks for backing The Lucky Bean Tree. This book of yours is interesting. You have caught the mood of the period and the language, but I would expect a little more action in the first chapters perhaps. It is not a genre I read, so could easily be wrong. Backed. Kop.

Lovely style.

Lorrii

Hi C.P
Just read through the first five chapters.

Things i loved: the banter, the unique lean on exaggerating the dialect, love mary-kate
Things I didn't love: The pace was a little slow for me. But i'm a drama girl, what can i say. Some of the conversation sections seemed overly elaborate. Almost like you wanted to be able to add to the vocabulary and unique vernacular. don't get me wrong i love the unique dialect but at points just wanted it to be a bit more simple. But again I focus on YA so that's just my thing.

Overall it has been a good read and will get around to reading the rest soon.
thx
Dawn
The Immortals: Changeling

Tnúth: It appears you've already been on the editor's desk and so don't need further backing, but I'm new and I just found this book. I would be greatly remiss if I didn't stop to say that I loved every single word of it. You've such an gorgeous turn of phrase, such a very Irish sense of humor, and your characters and all their remarkable quirks are glorious to behold. I simply can't say enough good about this gem of a tale, except that if it were in print, I would buy and keep it, just for the splendid way you use the language. Have you any plans to post the rest of the book?

At any rate, very well done, and congrats on your recognition at the editor's desk.
Cheers ~

G. M. Atwater

This is reminiscent of the beautiful "Evening News" you are a gifted descriptive writer, I felt the icy wind and the loneliness and the weight of ancestors and old traditions that hold a communtiy anchored to other times together. Both Paddy and Maggy are endearing as hell and I plan to read every word you write. I'm sorry it took me this long to get back to the site, your book is a literary gem.

Kathleen

This is really lovely. Funny and quiet, characters with a lot of motivations and eccentricities and beautifully blended description. I've read up to chapter five straight through and will read on. Great blend of personalities, place, their past and the ways we try to control the future. The family and all the tensions in it come together very believably. I scanned through the comments and noticed someone said that the dramas feel manufactured - I think they missed the point. Of course they are - they're family problems that only come from rigid personalities and the kind of loving, hating intolerance you get inside any family. I think this is captured wonderfully, with a sly, understated comment on the behaviour that brings out the humour, but doesn't detract from the believability. The characters are all doing what they see as best.

Really great.

This book makes me smile. Beautifully written. Beautifully described. The dialogue is a joy. Backed!
Rosalind Barden
American Witch

I agree with all of the positive comments. I enjoyed reading the 10 chapters and would finish reading it. You write so very well.

Started reading Tnuth today and can give you nothing but praise. I'm not one for romance novels, especially with how cloying they have become in recent years (Twilight, Argh, how you have tainted literature), but the characters in your story are well rounded and blessed with depth. It's not impossible to fall in love with them and care for what lays ahead. Shelved as I follow this to the end.

Tnuth is a brilliantly told tale of the fight for young Mary-Kate’s soul. Her father wants her married off. He still smarts that his own sister renounced the world, and the money it would bring, for a cloistered life. Worse, her influence might lead his own daughter to such a vile fate. Then there is rakish Paddy who the reader suspects might eventually lead Mary-Kate astray. Who will win? We all want to know.

The characterizations are rich and complex from Mrs. O’Briens ample size contrasted with Mary-Kate’s waiflike appearance. And Mr. O’Brien is a giant of a man matching his larger-than-life personality. The dialogue is crisp flowing easily and delightfully Irish. Congratulations and good luck. Tnuth is a wonderful read.

Backed with delight.
Galen Watson – The Psalter

Aw! I love Mr and Mrs O'Brien. I agree with your other readers you do have a lyrical and delicate writing style that draws a reader in to this story. shelved!

Well written, full of atmosphere and cultural metaphors. Not a genre I would normally read but I do appreciate the skill and sensitivity required to write it.

Regards, Mike.

A beautiful book, it deserves a place on the top. Thanks for your message, just caught me in time. Will be back next week. Good luck kara

This is an atmospheric tale. You do well with the descriptions of Tnuth and its inhabitants, their customs, their speech patterns, which is an especially dangerous thing to tackle in fiction--so easy to get wrong, but you do quite well with it. (As an aside, I wonder if you've ever read Angela's Ashes, where Mr. McCourt captures the Irish brogue perfectly.)

I did find, however, the characters to be largely unsympathetic. Their troubles seemed to me to be manufactured, and I didn't much like them. Mary-Kate, in particular, was petulant and outright mean. To invoke her mother's lost children in that way? Heartless.

I wish you well with the book.

Brad.

Hi C. P. Wonderful cured read. Very solid writing and rings of knowledge of the area and people. Fascinating. Thank you. RobynAnne The Cats Who've....

Although not my style, this is very well written with fresh dialogue and interesting characters. Those who read this genre will find this a very enjoyable read. Good luck with the editors at the end of the month.

Best wishes.

Stavro.

Hello CP,

Your writing has it all, every aspect that readers seek and other writers envy. A town filled with real people and stories rose up from the words you so skillfully selected and arranged, then grabbed me. I became a reader lost in a wonderful book not a writer analyzing someone else’s work for future ranking points. Your book deserves not only to be in the top five, but, I feel, demands a quick request from Harper Collins for the full manuscript. I wish you the very best.
Very Impressed.
Daniel “Storykeeper”

Good luck with this

A lovely, refreshing tale, packed with realism that slowly draws you in. Not usually my sort of thing, but I found myself enjoying it despite myself! It reminds me of those wonderfully innocent British films from the 1940s and 50s. There's an earthy quality about them, gritty without being obscene. This is like that. Reminds me of a lost time. All the very best of luck with it.
Glenn.

I like the opening. It peeks your interest when you say they are irish but ireland makes no claim to them. It brings up many questions in a reader's mind. It shows that a hook does not necessarily have to be an action sequence it can be anything; if written properly.

I cruised through ch 9--you've gotten so much feedback. Your prose is crisp and you've got good ears for dialogue. I think there's a little too much exposition on Paddy here. I think, for example, that your extended anecdote give a lot of the information that you cover with straight description so why not go with the anecdote as a way to develop that character?

Good luck. I wish I had time to read more.

Hello - congratulations on getting to the top! I have now read the 10 chapters and have been amused by the ideas, descriptions and dialogue. I love the caricature of the priest, the oddness of the buttons and hope that the seance is described in its fullness later in the story. I also enjoyed the compassion for the 'lost' children and the brisk lack of compassion for Paddy's upbringing. I guess you don't want to do a comical 'angela's ashes' but it is in Paddy's story that I felt you shone as a writer - so from chapter 7 onwards - here is a story of mischief born of mischeif and his plan to wind up o'brien sounds like it could be a lot of fun. Especially as O'Brien is already so vulnerable with his daughter/sisters/ophelia's relation to the church he should end up having a very difficult time of it! Best of luck 'on the desk'.

Congrats C.P. Hoff for making it to the top. I knew your book would make it.

Hi CP - have stuck you on my shelf - good luck! Chris1

Loved the book, Backed

All right! I just finished reading the full 10 chapters... And I want more!!
To be honest, I've been wondering what falls under literay fiction around here and now that I have my answer I can say that I am a FAN! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your story, the characters simply came alive and I just wanted the chapters to go on and on.
I swear, when Mr. O'Brien had his little outburst at the church and nearly hung the priest, I laughed myself to tears!
I love the true Irish feeling this story has and I know that you are going to win them over on the editing board
for sure.
Backed and hoping for more

Haley Brite - Hart

Wonderful book, I wish we read funny books like this in English class. BACKED

Great use of language - I saw that right from the first paragraph, with that beautiful phrase 'words holding them together like buttons holding clothes' (or something like that!). Good characters, lovely sense of humour. Shelved.
Paul T.

I have to laugh at myself: i picked your book because I thought the title was truth and mine is Where Truth Lies. I thought we might have common ground. Now i've put my specs on I can see it's not the word I thought. However, I loved the style of the first chapter and have been reading on ever since. It's very well written with humour and characters to warm to. I can see why you are so high on the list. I cannot offer any criticism, constructive or otherwise, but I hope you'll apply your wisdom and comment on mine, if you have the time. I hope you get published; it seems to be worth it. You'll certainly go on my bookshelf. Tacitus

Wionderful, vivid characters, lots of humour and you have an easy style that draws the reader in. I have only read the lst few chapters so far, and maybe I missed it, but, as well as the way you firmly establish place at the beginning, I felt I needed a few more clues regarding the time in which your story is set--I assumed it was set back in time, but I wasn't sure. Definitely backed!

CP, I haven't got time to read much of this and time is of the essence for you - shit, I've got to go to work so I would normally give it a good go. skimmed through the first chapter and it's a good intro. I sometimes like these gentle openings as most people (including often myself) always like to start with an 'in-yer-face' bang! But subtle openings often promise a build-up to something great. I'm going to shelve it in a couple of days and will get a review of what I've read in due course. Backed! - Chris1

This is beautiful. I can see everything in my mind clearly, beautiful writing!
I look forward to reading further. Backed!

Hi Connie, I came back to this and just read chapter 3. I find it amazing how well you use dialog to establish Ireland. I've never been but feel like I have now. Your characters and their give and take is sheer brilliance, and I'll put in back on my shelf for that. The banter between the entire family and even the priest is clever and fun with great humor. Some good laughs for me.
At the same time I feel like the conflict is a bit underdeveloped by now. Mary Kate appears to be the perfect child so why would her father have such a beef with her? Maybe I missed something or maybe he resents her perfection. Still, it seems like there could be something sooner to establish this conflict, tension, and have it be empathetic for both sides. Maybe that's just my opinion so take it with salt.
Good luck on the ED and/or beyond. Best, Jason (Little Universe and Jim's Life)

The Tnuth is beautifully written with characters that are both endearing and believable. The prose flows nicely, is funny in parts, and has an old-timey feel to it. I wish yu all the best.
Scott
The Esrevinu Chronicles/Secrets of the Elephant Rocks

You certainly have a way with putting someone right there, right in the scene. I think this has so much potential and either you are from Ireland or you read books about it because you seem to have the lingo down to a "T". The only issue I had was perhaps something needs to come before chapter one, a reason why Mr. O'Brien dislikes his daughter so much and she him - there wasnt enough about her wanting to be a nun or just being lazy, that justified such harsh treatment in my opinion. Also, in the first three chapters I felt a little lost because if you mentioned anyone's age I didnt catch it, so I had no reference point in which to gage their reactions and if those reactions were true to their age. The O'Brien conversations were witty and I liked that because they were cute and funny, but it made them seem older, but again, without an age referece I was a little surprised when dad goes running off with daughter. I am not Catholic, but I wouldnt think anyone would be allowed to be anywhere near a confessional, but depending on the time, place, etc. it might have been common practice (this I just don't know). But the good stuff is that the characters are richly woven into the fabric of a very atmospheric read. You do have something here and I wish you the best of luck on the ED desk my dear. Happily backed and shelved.

Kim Jones
Children of the Damned

Very impressively written. With six hundred comments, I doubt I can add anything other than I like it. Good luck on the editor's desk.

Grass-green eyes. I adore this description, I am so tired of the over written “emerald” green eyes and such that everyone uses. Simple, but strong descriptive.

I also love the name Tnuth. Something about it is effective and impactful.

Haha, smart line, “for a happy marriage.” Definitely made me smile.

Mr. O’Brien is almost a loveable father figure. His little exchange with Mary-Kate is completely believable and fresh.

I also like the interaction with the priest and Mary-Kate's constant interjections

I really do not like the italics. It makes it half as fun to read, which is still fairly fun, so I think it would be much more if it weren't in italics. The story does start somewhat slow for me, because I have only a vague sense of the overarching conflict.

However, this is an excellently written work that WILL be published by somebody someday, if it hasn't already been. Good luck with it.

Dear CP,
I'm sorry, this is quick because I wanted to do this before the deadline! Just to say, I have put your book on my shelf having only read a few pages, but I've put it on because I like Mrs. O'Brien very much and the sense of place and people is excellent.
You create some great images and use very good phrases.
I thought the cook's line about the dad and children being addled was insulting, but it fitted the people, the honesty.

I think you just need to make minor adjustments to lay out - speech on a new line after description. Watch some of the spacing. Little things that have nothing to do with the story.
Can feel the place. Lovely. I like the way she sees it as a city before others have realised it's a town.

Good luck,
Ruth
(Erosion and Leaving Coty)

This is a lovely story, full of colorful characters and so engaging that I felt the urge to go down and slap Mr O'Brien when I read the second chapter. I would have loved to read much more than the ten chapters available, this is so well written.

Backed!

Kerstin

Hello C.P.,

I read the first four chapters of your book. When I read anyone's work, I make notes on things that strike me funny or things that seem beautiful to me. I will do my best to give you my perspective on it.

First, let me say I loved reading your book. There are some books that I have critiqued that were very difficult to get through, not because of vocabulary so much, but because of language and flow. I felt as if I were lying on a raft floating down a river reading your work. It had such a nice flow, both narration and dialogue.

Mostly, the comments I have to make are personal style and taste, I guess. Sentences such as "a wave of serenity washed over me" (Chpt 1) and "built like an ox" (Chpt 2) seem, to me, to be a bit cliche. I think there may be a better way to paint verbally other than using some of these cliched words and phrases.

I also noticed a few sentences that stopped me briefly because of the awkward phrasing (again, unsure if you did this on purpose or due to accent--though mostly it was the narrator, so I initially ruled the latter out). You may be utilizing anastrophe when you say things such as "She'd missed hardly a day" or "round bottom had permanently indented it." There is a more fluid way of saying such things, like "she hardly missed a day." Again, that's just my personal taste and you may very well have done it on purpose.

One other thing that tripped me up, briefly, and I hesitated on saying it because I believe it to be the character's accent, but again in chapter 2, the line "Now that's a sight would scare" would be "Now that's a sight that would scare" (probably accent). Aside from these minor things out of four chapters that I read, it is a well polished story.

I loved your lines of imagery, "She felt as though wrinkles, creases and time had not touched her..." Your dialogue was excellent! It was very true-to-life. I didn't feel as if their conversations were contrived. In fact, I enjoyed and laughed at some of the conversations between Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien. You are a very laconic writer, saying a lot in few words, mostly in character's conversations--especially about relationships in this book. For example, I loved the line out of chapter four, "From his vantage point, menacing had it's advantages." It said a lot in one sentence.

I hope this helps, or at least supports what everyone else has told you about your writing. If you get around to reading mine, that would be great. I just signed up to this site and am still getting used to how to use it, contact others, and exchange work with other as well. I apologize if I seem like a neophyte.

"Good Luck Storming the Castle",

Tommy Hahn

Hello,

I was wondering if you would check out my collection of short stories, if you have the time. I would appreciate your insight.

May This Letter Find You Well,

Tommy