A traditionally published author decides to self publish a new work in the hopes of igniting her stalled career. Despite roaring success, she uses lies and a fake author personality to build up a following. Her deceitful tactics come to the attention of The Independents, who have a message for her. One that may not stop with words on a screen…
The Independents
By aaronlspeer
With this work….Speer Proves he can write just about any genre….Straight PNR….Check…..PNR Romance…..Check…..Fantasy…..Check…..Thriller/Horror…..Check! And he does more than that…..he proves he has what it takes to master them at any length. It can be hard to present a fully completed story with a beginning, middle and end in a full length novel and Speer manages to do it in 15 pages. And in so doing he achieves what the genre is designed for…..he creeps you the heck out! At least he did this reader……He’s found another genre that this typically non-horror fan will gladly follow him into. Recommendation Status: Read It Now!
This was one of the better short stories I have ever read and I am a tough cookie when it comes to stories under 100 pages.
I am big into indie authors and the indie community, so the twist on the story was fun for me and had a creep factor making it actually scary because you know this are some crazy people in this world.
When you write something that is only 22 pages, you need to make every word count and Aaron nailed it. I was totally sucked in although I got slapped with a massive cliffhanger, which no doubt would happen with such a short story. It was welcomed and executed nicely.
I can see this happening in real life but worse. Good job on an entertaining story, Aaron! Can’t wait for the rest of the story.
abg
@AmberG
@Aliikattt7
Amazing!! A thrilling short story of dark humor and intrigue that will keep you on the edge of your seat, from beginning to end.
Aaron L Speers really delivers yet another entertaining, chilling and brilliant story. A definite must read, I highly recommend it.
Well holy hells, What a great short story! This is about A woman author whose not quite making it as a author. She decides that she’ll just write erotica as a male indie author. Even going so far as making a fake male author page, and conning women into thinking she’s a hot and ripped male. When she runs into a problem with someone finding out that it’s all fake, She/He makes a post about how that author shouldn’t be mean to him, hoping it will send these followers into a frenzy, which it does. But little does she know that upsetting the Indie book world, would have deadly consequences.
Martina Johnson is a divorcee, mother of two, and a struggling author. She knows she has talent and that her books were well written, but she has only an agent that never reaches out to her, only a handful of reviews and pitiful sales of her books. She knows a change is in order if she wants to achieve success.
Not wanting to dirty her own name, Martina created a new persona, a male with a super-hot body and all the attitude to go with it to tackle a new genre, erotica. Almost immediately, she has adoring fans, sales through the roof and everything she ever wanted as an author . . . until she gained the attention of the Independents.
And, once you have the attention of the Independents, you can’t escape it . . . because Independents stick together and once you insult one of them, you have insulted them all. When the onscreen threats start becoming real, Martina is left wondering how things got so out of control and if she can put a stop to it.
It amazes me how much story Aaron L. Speer was able to pack into 27 short pages! I readily admit that while I enjoyed his social commentary on how the Indie writing community sometimes works . . .yes, we have all seen the drama, I was also completely freaked out by the ending of this book and just how far the Independents were willing to go to support one of their own. A fantastic and terrifying read. 5 stars!
5 The Independents Stars
Holy freaking Holy, that sent chills up my spine!
I don’t know if I can put into words a review that is going to make sense.
Indie author Martina Johnson is struggling to sell her books. So she chooses to write another book in male pov and give herself a pen name.
Ok coolio right yeah NOT.. Things are not as they seem… Let’s just say watch what you do or say online… EEEK!!
I have chills still.. Good thing I have book 2 to start right away.
*You don’t have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*
I fell in love with this author’s writing from his Undeadly secrets series. Even though I’m not a thriller kind of girl I must admit I found it a good short read. Martina is a struggling author until an idea pops into her head. Little does she know the choices she makes afterwards come with consequences. If you don’t have the time to read a full book and are looking for something quick to read this novella is the book for you.
So, it’s not my favorite by Speers but I did enjoy it. I do love his other series more but I am willing to read anything he writes. This book is about an author who writes books but they are not selling. It tells of what she does to get her books to selling. It is a very interesting short story but I do wish it had been longer.
Great short read. Leaves you wanting more. Took about 20 minutes to read it. Very dark and twisted .
Lesson learned…. dont mess with Indie Authors
Omg this was such a thrilling short book. It sucked me right in from chapter 1. I really thought this was a great book. I loved it
A chilling short story about an author who compromises her integrity at the cost of her family. an intriguing little page turner.
A chilling short story about an author who lets greed get in the way of integrity … and pays the price in the worst possible way.
This was a captivating short story and it had me hooked from the first page. Martina wants to succeed as an author but at what cost. Now she has to face the consequences of her choices. I really enjoyed this well written character and plot. I can’t wait to see what happens next
Since I have been reading alot of suspense and thrillers this fit right in. I have also read this author before and knew the pages would be ones that are worth venturing in. Being a reader this also was relatable as far as this was a world I entered into alot that being the book world. This type of author in here though would be one that once discovered it would be a toss up which way things would go. Martina is one that will go in a direction different than she was used to but in a different persona. In this is unravels the lengths a author will go but some do not like how it is done. The suspense will build taking us with it. This goes quickly with you racing to keep up. When you are finished you know it was a good one.
Great story! This gave me chills. I don’t really know how to respond to this story – it was awesome and in some ways rather frightening because it does seem plausible in many ways considering how messed up things are. The indie community is really amazing but really hoping not that diabolical!
Well…I guess that’s what happens when you forget it’s a community and try to make it revolve around one axis. At least it was keys on the floor instead of something in the bed!
Wow! This was a great quick read that pulled me straight. It starts off with Martina, a struggling Indie author who decides to create a fake male author and publish under ‘his’ name…..no biggie you think but when she involves the Street Team to bash another author things go South, very quickly!! Gripping and quite chilling! Fab!!
I short and unique story that really captured my interest in the very first page. I haven’t read a story quite like this one creating a gripping read. I enjoyed the suspense in the story and writing of the story, The story was well written with a lot of description written throughout the story making it possible to imagine the story in my head.