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Every writer would like to see their work published for other people to read. Some manage to make a living in this craft while most others fail. D. H. Schleicher takes a huge risk by self-publishing his second novella without the use of any editorial assistance. His gambit did not pay off and it is reflected in the book. Carabolia's is a small town diner, located near a major thoroughfare, where the main protagonist works as a waitress on the late shift. Maggie Delaney is a troubled young woman who has not been able to deal with her mother's alleged suicide. In order to forget what ails her, Maggie parties hard, has one-night stands, and smokes a bit of weed hoping that everything would just go away. Now her character will be put to the question one rainy night. As the tale begins, Maggie awakens in the middle of the forest after suffering from a blackout. While trying to regain her bearings, she discovers a dead body and panics. She runs trying to get help and finds Sheriff Ulysses Kemper, whom she had known her entire life, and tells him what she saw. When the police go and search the area, they find nothing and it is not much of a surprise. Maggie has a reputation within the small community of crying wolf after several situations. No one will believe anything she says even after weird events start to occur in Leedstown. The same can be said for the reader. By the end of Chapter Two, one wonders why to continue reading. It is not worth it. At the beginning of the work, the first paragraph starts with the following three sentences: -"Wake up, Maggie." Where did that voice come from? All she could hear were birds and leaves rustling. (…) The author should have taken the first sentence and left it all by its lonesome. In the second paragraph, Maggie can then react to the sound before another paragraph is started. One side note, why would the leaves rustle with the birds. Another thing Schleicher does is insult the readers by being redundant in his descriptions, just in case one does not get it the first time. Case in point, a description of a character named Kadita Rumen on Chapter 2, page 7. Where was the red pencil? - She wore a lot of silver jewelry, many decorative and silver rings, three silver chains and a heavy silver necklace with a mysterious pendant tangling at the bottom and resting perfectly on her bosom. There are several mistakes in the entire book such as poor punctuation; spelling (You're loosing [sic] you touch, darlin', (page 13)); paragraph construction; and trying to cram too much in so little time and space. There is more, but what would be the point? The book is only 166 pages. If one wants to be a good writer, one needs unbiased feedback of their manuscript prior to decide publication issues. If you decide to go solo, at least read the latest edition of the Chicago Manual of Style plus Strunk and White's Elements of Style. Time will not be wasted.
Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, January 2003
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