Realm of Dreams
by James Patrick Updike

James Patrick Updike's Realm of Dreams is a collection of short stories spanning from his humble beginnings to his first successful published short story. But the author goes further than just providing a collection of shorts as each story is introduced with a narrative that helps to get the reader into the mind of an aspiring author.

The stories vary from the macabre to tales suitable for a child. And all are written well, though as the book progresses it's obvious that Mr. Updike's skill in crafting a story increases. This book is not only entertaining but also a worthy guide to any author seeking to get published, but don't think the journey is easy for the stories contained in this book span over a decade of Mr. Updike's life. A testament to all aspiring writers that finding success is not something that will happen overnight.

As to the stories themselves I found some rather disturbing, a few less than appealing, but most entertaining and highly recommendable. In addition to this there are two moral based stories contained in this book that are suitable for young children. All in all, Realm of Dreams has something for just about everyone.

The only problem I found with this book is some of the formatting is not up to industry standard for a work of fiction. But these problems are minor and certainly do not distract from reading the book.

I highly recommend Realm of Dreams to anyone climbing the publishing ladder or anyone interested in what it takes to reach that pedestal of being a traditionally published author.

Gloomwing Review by David W. Hoffman

Pages: 122
Softcover ISBN:1-4116-5903-1
E-Book ($4.00) and Softcover ($10.99) available at http://www.lulu.com/content/182449

James Patrick Updike's Lulu Storefront
James Patrick Updike's Website