That’s My Story!, G.H. Monroe: Review, Author Interview, & Giveaway

A collection of short stories, from the wildly bizarre to the deeply touching.

Rick’s Lucky Day – A shy, nebbish fellow is unaccustomed to the attention of Lady Luck, comes to Las Vegas for a long weekend and meets her face to face.

The Landlord – In this peculiar tale of just desserts, we get confirmation that like fate, comeuppance works in mysterious ways.

Road Rage – This story focuses on humanity’s all too common inability to control its rage and lets us peer through a window into one woman’s wild ride with her own fury.

Debts – The story of a man who’s past acts catch up to him in a way that he would never have imagined.

Wreck – On a rainy night, two emergency medical technicians struggle to determine what, exactly, is the right thing to do.

What’s Under My Bed? – The monster that has lurked under children’s beds throughout the ages makes one more appearance in this warped kid’s tale gone deliciously amok.

Nightmare on Haifa Street – A US soldier struggles with the horrors of war and tries mightily to hold on to a shred of his humanity.

Just Coffee – A busy executive is running short on time, patience and her grip as she tries to grab a cup of coffee on her way to the office.

Cherry Icees – A snapshot of disturbingly fortuitous moment in the lives of a doting father and his little girl.

Shaken, Not Stirring – A disturbing story that we all wish would never again be told, is told one more horribly unnerving time.

The Morning Paper – An old woman’s frightening morning encounter is not exactly what it appears to be. – FROM THE BOOK

FROM THE BOOK FAERY REVIEWS…I enjoyed reading That’s My Story! very much. If a story can pull out some sort of emotion or shock me, it’s a good one in my book. Every single story had me expressing those emotions. I couldn’t help but notice that my feelings started out more aggressively and ended on a lighter “aww” feeling. When I first went through the contents page of the collection of stories, I thought I would enjoy Shaken, not Stirring (that one was pure sick and disturbing…nothing like I thought it would be and surely the purpose…). Instead I ended up enjoying What’s Under My Bed and Just Coffee tremendously! I enjoyed the fact that I never really knew what I was in store for story to story. Each one was so different from the other. Not once did I say…”here we go again with ANOTHER similar story”. Each story brought out a different me in the end. FASCINATING!
I think my favorite words after reading a short story quickly became “Oh #%*^” or “Damn”… (Ssh..don’t tell Mom!).

For those who enjoy watching the book trailers, you can check out this one here:

AUTHOR INTERVIEW…Thank you Mr. Monroe for sending me a copy of That’s My Story! and being a guest here at The Book Faery Reviews.

The Book Faery Reviews: How did you come up with the idea of the title of your book?

G.H. Monroe: I wish that I had a more captivating story behind the title, but the simple truth is this. I wanted a title that was moderately catchy and conveyed that this had something to do with stories since it was a short story collection. I toyed with a few ideas … Tell Your Story Walkin’ … A Likely Story … when I had the TV on and I heard someone say “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.” At that moment I decided that the title of my book was That’s My Story!

How long did it take you to write all of the stories for this unplanned book?

Now that question called for a bit of research. The first story in the book that I wrote was actually Just Coffee, which I posted on my favorite writers sight in Oct of 2006 where I was expecting it to be carved to pieces in review. I was pleasantly surprised when it was well received, but I always carefully considered every suggestion offered in critique and mad many changes and corrections over the years. The last story written, The Morning Paper, was completed in Oct of 2008, by which time I knew I was writing for a book of short stories.

Which is your favorite story in the collection and why?

That’s hard to say. I would probably say Nightmare on Haifa St. for two reasons. The first is that I am so vehemently anti-war. I just understand that sometimes people have to defend themselves, but I believe that that is the only valid reason to resort to war. It takes such a horrific toll on so many innocent lives and I just cannot understand such a senseless waste of life. The second reason it is a favorite is for the quirky way in which the story was born. I happened to be looking at my collection of videotaped movies under my TV when the news came on. At the exact moment that my gaze was on Nightmare on Elm St. the newscaster spoke of the violence in Iraq and specifically on Haifa St. I thought to myself Nightmare on Elm St indeed! The real nightmare is on Haifa St. And the wheels began to turn, and a story was born.

Do you have future plans for a longer length story or do you prefer short stories?

I do. I am currently working on what I hope and believe will be my first full-length novel (I’ve started many others). The working title is Reasonable doubt. It is the story of a man who is facing execution and the strange alliance that comes about in an effort to discover the truth about the crime that he is convicted of having committed.

Who is your favorite author or inspired you to start writing?

My favorite author(s) would have to be John Grisham and Thomas Harris. I find Grisham to be an easy and exciting read. The work of Thomas Harris is very stimulating and enjoyable to me, but he writes in such a manner that I must be prepared and in the proper frame of mind to read his work. I think John Grisham entertains me, and Thomas Harris is the bar, which I hope one day to reach.

I did indeed just redo my office … or more properly, my sanctuary. You will find all manner of books in there from books that affected me deeply as a child to technical computer programming guides (my prior life). Some of the more curious items include a full three volume set of the complete works of Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes), five books concerning the assassination of President Kennedy, a set of fiction purchased from new, independent authors such as myself (I’ll sneak a plug in here if you don’t edit it away) Resurrection Diaries by Paul Aronson and The Chosen Few by Matthew Simon and there is the obligatory Grisham, King and Patterson. I need to accumulate more of the classics, which is something that I am working on. I have pictures yes, and I’ll send one along (if you think the world cares) with the caveat that not every book there is mine. I will not be held accountable for the “chick-lit” [smile].

What are you currently reading?

I have a bad habit of reading several books at the same time. Not great for one’s focus, but what can I say? I have attention span issues. I have been reading The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham I know it’s not fiction, but I want to be a writer, not a starving writer. Also, I am in the middle of Capitol Offense by Barbara Mikulski and Marylouise Oates and The Grapes of Wrath (recall what I said about classics).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…G.H. Monroe was born at West Point Military Academy in 1960. He graduated from Horseheads High School in 1978 and attended the State University of New York where he attained a degree in Computer Science. He married and fathered a wonderful baby girl.

Over the years, Monroe wrote short stories and poetry while working in the field of information technology and various less rewarding areas. After a divorce and a health crisis that put him out of work for a time, there was nothing left except for the writing.

‘That’s My Story’ is a collection of short stories that have been painstakingly written, tweaked and re-written over the years. They were not written with the intention of compiling them into a book. Each was written because a writer was blessed with an idea, and when blessed with an idea, a writer takes that idea and does his best to turn it into some piece of entertaining or stirring writing. – FROM THE AUTHOR SITE

BOOK GIVEAWAY…Leave a comment below with your e-mail address and tell me which short story from above you think you’d automatically turn to first and why. And as usual…for additional entries in you can do the following (you CAN PUT ALL you do inside of ONE COMMENT if you wish):

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This giveaway will run til October 31st and announcing the winner November 1st.