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Battles In Our Lives
Random Summer Storms follows Ian and Dee as they recount the various experiences of their family members. What were some ideas that were important for you to convey in your story?
We are all the same in one way or another. We all have battles in our lives. Our little world can look picture perfect from those looking in but we all have problems and none of us are better than the other in the end.
What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think makes for great fiction?
Imperfections in character. We all have flaws that we spend our live correcting or hiding.
What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?
Loss. I get inside my head when I lose someone. There is no telling what will come out on paper when that happens.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
My ideas are forming now. I’m working on a thriller.
Author Links: Twitter | Website
Ian and Dee Conner share the storms their family members experience in this third book of a series. The Conners are a close-knit family of five who live in a beach community, enjoying surfing, biking, and doing what most families do. Together they weather some tumultuous storms.
The couple tried to run from a big storm they created in California, moving to the east coast of Florida to start over and raise their family. They shut away the skeletons of their past, never telling anyone their secrets.
Other skeletons appear on both sides of Ian and Dee’s family trees, but often these skeletons (storms) are what bring families together.
Eventually, Ian and Dee realize that nothing can stop a raging storm: They must face the past to have a future. Their family and children must chart their own course in life. It may not always be what they hoped, but one day the storm will end, and the waters will calm. That is, until the next Random Summer Storms.
Random Summer Storms
Dee has never known boredom. There isn’t a day in her life that hasn’t been fraught with drama, violence, or intrigue of one kind or another. From very early in life, Dee lived a youth that was leaps and bound beyond those of others her age. She and her surfer friends managed to survive a youth most could never imagine. After overcoming threats against her family and an unwilling involvement with the Cartel, Dee manages to build a life for herself–one that is filled with all the luxuries one could ever desire. Her life with Ian is, by all accounts, a perfect one. Or is it?
Random Summer Storms: Book Three–Family, by Denise Ann Stock, details the life of Dee and those who are important to her. Dee has a large closely knit family, and she reminisces about all of their accomplishments and relishes the thought of her own children’s promising futures. Family is everything to Dee and her husband, Ian. Their questionable past is behind them, and they have moved forward to create an enviable life.
As narratives go, Stock’s book has it all. Dee’s story lacks absolutely nothing when it comes to descriptions of the character’s lives, the lives of their children, and the interactions they have with extended family and friends. From Dee and Ian’s youth to their present stage of life, this first-person narrative extensively describes the lives of virtually everyone involved in Dee and Ian’s lives.
While the author does a thorough job of writing a well-developed narrative, there is almost no dialogue in the book. For all of the incredible life situations the narrator describes, I feel there is a lack of exchanges between characters that could have added to the intensity and drama of the book. A few verbal exchanges occur in flashbacks as Dee reminisces, but it isn’t extensive and doesn’t lend itself to any plot point.
I also missed any rising action and climax in this installment of the Random Summer Storms series. Early on, there is a hint at what may be coming. The narrator gives a mention of some impending doom, but then the reader is led on a journey through Dee’s memories and descriptions of her new life. After a couple of chapters, it is easy to forget there was a mention of a possible conflict.
Random Summer Storms has the potential to be a fascinating journal-style novel or an incredible drama. I can, however, recommend this book to any fan of personal narratives. Stock’s characters are interesting and represent amazing lives readers will find intriguing.
Pages: 252 | ISBN: 1952269474
Sharing Heartbreaks and Success
Random Summer Storms follows the Conners family to Florida where they weather the storm of life together. What were some sources that informed this books development?
I looked up the history of the city of Jacksonville before I started to write this story. I also talked with different people and asked them to share some of the pivotal moments in their lives that made them strong or broke them down. Listening to people and sharing heartbreaks and successes inspired this book.
The relationship between Dee and Ian is an interesting one. What were some obstacles you felt were important to their development?
It is important to me that people relate to my characters, that they believe the character as real. I wanted them to seem perfect but not at the same time.
This was an interesting book that felt more like a memoir. Was there anything from your own life that you used in the novel?
My husband and I have kids and we did move from California to Florida. My style of writing is to narrate as if I am the character. People often ask me if I am Dee. We have had family drama over the years as most families do. Fortunately not at this level. I dedicated the book to my nephew who died of a drug overdose. I incorporated a fictional family to bring awareness to this crisis in America.
This is book three in your series. What can readers expect in book four?
Action and Adventure. I think the Connors need to Travel…
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | Facebook | Website
Ian and Dee Conner share the storms their family members experience in this third book of a series. The Conners are a close-knit family of five who live in a beach community, enjoying surfing, biking, and doing what most families do. Together they weather some tumultuous storms.
The couple tried to run from a big storm they created in California, moving to the east coast of Florida to start over and raise their family. They shut away the skeletons of their past, never telling anyone their secrets.
Other skeletons appear on both sides of Ian and Dee’s family trees, but often these skeletons (storms) are what bring families together.
Eventually, Ian and Dee realize that nothing can stop a raging storm: They must face the past to have a future. Their family and children must chart their own course in life. It may not always be what they hoped, but one day the storm will end, and the waters will calm. That is, until the next Random Summer Storms.
Random Summer Storms: Book Three – Family
Dee is a surfer who has lived an eventful youth. Managing to survive one dangerous scenario after another, she has pretty much experienced it all. From swimming with Orcas to experimenting with drugs and trying to outwit known criminals, Dee and her friends knew no boundaries. Her summers were filled with one breathtaking encounter after another. She recalls these times fondly and describes the thrill associated with each of their close-calls with an unmatched level of nostalgia. As the years passed, Dee’s family grew and her family meets with their own challenges and successes. Theirs is a life many would look upon with amazement.
Random Summer Storms, by Denise Ann Stock, is the third book in contemporary fiction a series. Main characters, Dee and Ian, have a past rooted in turmoil. They have known nothing but drama since their youth on the coast of California. Wishing to leave their past behind and begin a new life, Dee and Ian set their sights on Florida for their fresh start.
Stock’s third book in a series is, by and large, a narrative. With few exchanges between characters, Random Summer Storms reads more like a memoir than a story with a clearly-defined sequence of events. Dee, the narrator, relates a detailed description of every family member’s activities and challenges. From her own husband and children to her extended family members, she paints a clear picture of each one’s celebrations as well as their business dealings, legal or otherwise.
Random Summer Storms is written in a unique style. While I prefer more dialogue in my realistic fiction, I enjoyed the feel of the memoir. I would have appreciated a little more organization to the story as I felt like it was a bit aimless at times, which left me with questions. This family fiction story felt as though it contained a little bit of everything, there was a motley collection of striking dilemmas and curious conflicts.
Random Summer Storms has the potential to be a truly engaging story, but I felt like the characters are not given an opportunity to flourish in a well-developed plot. Had Random Summer Storms been touted as memoir-esque and edited to read in a more diary-type narration, it could have been quite a fascinating piece of literature.
Pages: 252 | ISBN: 1952269474
LITERARY TITAN 