Welcome to my spot on the blog tour for Summer Paths, via Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources
The Blurb
This, the fourth and final selection of stories, completes the Seasonal Paths series created by a consortium of best-selling and award-winning North Atlantic writers.
In this anthology you will encounter unintentional consequences, love in later life, the pull of family dynamics, misguided assumptions and murderous soulmates.
These yarns will take you to new worlds, into a ghostly abyss, across an ocean in pursuit of truth and into the darkness of ancient beliefs.
Make yourself comfortable and surrender to these multi-styled tales, all linked by the theme of summer, within the covers of this book. You will be surprised and entertained by what you find.
My Review (4 stars out of 5)
Collections of short stories usually present a diversity of subjects and a variety of writing styles. This variety is good for readers as it hits the mark with the good old something-for-everyone mantra. ‘Summer Paths’ is no exception, with a few standout gems as well as one or two less appealing offerings.
Sandra Bunting’s slightly overlong tale centres on the advantages and disadvantages of hanging laundry on the washing line and what the development of that idea might mean for the community. C Arseneault’s contribution focuses on a goat called Esmerelda who infiltrates a baseball game. Steve Eston’s story is set in 790 and told mostly through dialogue – peppered with mysterious women, minotaurs, and crystal blades, it bears all the hallmarks of classic tales by the likes of Tolkien and CS Lewis. Angela Wren’s story takes place on board ship, with a heroine who becomes preoccupied with the mysterious stranger in cabin 3004. My own favourites include Gianetta Murray’s ‘Fakes on a Plane’, which is the most interesting story in the collection. This time, we have a mysterious stranger flying to Athens. As he forms a friendship with another passenger, the story takes on a curious and sinister twist. Another one that grabbed me with a superb first line, ‘I always wondered what it would be like to do murder,’ is Eden Monroe’s ‘Foul Play’, with a wonderfully patronising central character. In this tale we’re served up enough backstory to whet our appetites without going off on the proverbial tangent, before we get to a clever and witty denouement.
Aside from those mentioned, most of the stories are interesting enough in themselves but take a tad too long in the telling, which doesn’t bode well for a form which relies on the author’s ability to get to the point without veering off the path. Anyway…
An interesting collection, with some well-told and witty tales.
Purchase Links
Author Bios
Sandra Bunting’s publications include two books of short fiction, two poetry collections, a non-fiction book, besides articles, poems and stories in numerous literary magazines. Sandra is on the editorial board of the Irish-based literary magazine, Crannóg, and worked at NUI Galway where she set up the Academic Writing Centre and taught Creative Writing and TEFL teacher training. Now living in Atlantic Canada, she is a member of The Writers Union of Canada, New Brunswick Writers Federation, Words on Water Miramichi, the Grand Barachois group Women Who Write and the Galway Writers Workshop.
The youngest of eleven children, Pierre C. Arseneault grew up in the small town of Rogersville, New Brunswick. As a cartoonist, Pierre was published in over a dozen newspapers. As an author, he has six titles published so far: Dark Tales for Dark Nights (2013) Sleepless Nights (2014) Oakwood Island (2016) Poplar Falls – The Death of Charlie Baker (2019) Oakwood Island – The Awakening (2020) Maple Springs (2022)
Chuck Bowie studied Science at the University of New Brunswick, in Canada. His writing is influenced by the study of Human Nature and how people behave. He loves food, wine, music, and travel, and all play a role in his work. His latest novel is entitled Her Irish Boyfriend, fifth in the international thriller series Donovan: Thief 4 Hire. He has just completed the third novel in a new cozy mystery series: Old Manse Mysteries, set in a small Atlantic Canadian town. Chuck has sat on the Boards of The Writers’ Union of Canada and the Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick. He is a Fellow of the Kingsbrae International Residency for the Arts, and is an author of note with the Miramichi Literary Trail.
Steve C. Eston has been a lover of the fantastical and the scientific since he was a young boy. He wrote his first story by hand while still in elementary school a five-page story about a tiger-masked ninja — fighting mystical monsters that included his own illustrations. When not spending time with his family, Steve makes time for his numerous hobbies, which include reading (and hoarding) books, listening to music, playing video games, watching movies, making puzzles, and playing hockey and tennis. He also loves to travel and developed an obsession with New Zealand after traveling there in 2015.
Angela Wren is an actor and director at a theatre in Yorkshire, UK. An avid reader, she has always loved stories of any description. She writes the Jacques Forêt crime novels set in France and is a contributing author to the Miss Moonshine anthologies. Her short stories vary between romance, memoir, mystery and historical. Angela has had two one-act plays recorded for local radio.
Gianetta Murray has worked as a technical writer and librarian on two continents, writing everything from specifications to website, marketing, and newspaper copy. She was a Toastmaster county champion and won a Daniel Phelan writing award for a short story casting Peter Rabbit as St. Augustine. She moved from Silicon Valley to England two decades ago after marrying a Brit, and has stories in multiple anthologies as well as having published a collection of humorous paranormal stories (A Supernatural Shindig) and the first of her Vivien Brandt cozy mystery series, Moved to Murder.
Eden Monroe loves giving voice to the endless parade of interesting characters who introduce themselves in her imagination. In her novels she writes about real life, real issues and struggles, and triumphing against all odds. In her short stories she likes to color outside the lines. A proud east coast Canadian, she enjoys a variety of outdoor activities, and a good book.
Growing up in South Branch, Allan Hudson was encouraged to read from an early age by his mother who was a schoolteacher. He lives in Dieppe, NB, with his wife Gloria. He has enjoyed a lifetime of adventure, travel and uses the many experiences as ideas for his writing. He is an author of action/adventure novels, historical fiction and a short story collection. His short stories – The Ship Breakers & In the Abyss – received Honourable Mention in the New Brunswick Writers Federation ’ competition. He has stories published on commuterlit.com, The Golden Ratio and his blog – South Branch Scribbler.
Angella Cormier grew up in Saint Antoine, a small town in south east New Brunswick, Canada. This is where her love of reading and writing was born. Her curious nature about everything mysterious and paranormal helped carve the inspiration for her passion of writing horror and mystery stories. She is also a published poet, balancing out her writing to express herself in these two very opposing genres. Previous titles include: Oakwood Island – The Awakening (2020), Oakwood Island (2016), A Maiden’s Perception – A collection of thoughts, reflections and poetry (2015) and Dark Tales for Dark Nights (2013, written as Angella Jacob).
Colin Garrow 
Thank you.
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You’re welcome, Angela.
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