This review of The Story Is the Thing by Amy Hale Auker

Chances taken, love lost, lessons learned, life moves on. The Story Is the Thing is the third book written by Amy Hale Auker and with each book her writing gets better, her words more lyrical, her story more heart-felt, more poignant. This book is written like a love letter.

It seems I’ve know a man like Uncle Bill before and I’ll bet you did too and that is what is wonderful about this book that we can find people we know in each of the characters. Julia is the spirited outsider trying to find her place and Charlie is the cowboy-girl who lives a life harder than most but only wants simple love like everyone else. Cody Jack is the type we’ve all heard about or known, the type we have no use for in this life. It’s Uncle Bill who weaves the story together for us so we can understand a time and a place and a thing that happened, a thing that changed everything.

… And all around Uncle Bill’s story is the story of a lifestyle, a story of the land, a story of hardships accepted, of joy and of love held and lost.

The author took a chance in the way she set her chapters and allowed her characters to reach out from the page but it was perfectly balanced with a beautifully smooth clarity to the reading.

It’s not hard for me to recommend The Story is the Thing to you. I hope you pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did. Amy is fast becoming one of my favorite independent authors. She recently wrote for this blog about the process around writing and publishing. Here is an excerpt:

This Bonus of a Day by Amy Hale Auker

Today I got a wonderful surprise from my publisher. I can’t tell you what it is, but I can promise you that it truly is something wonderful.

The cold wind is blowing in the Santa Maria Mountains of Arizona. Our fall cow move is almost over. And the publication date of my new book, The Story Is the Thing, is made of jello. We are aiming for December 1, 2014. Writing is one thing. Writing is my first love. Publishing is another. You can read the full article here. 

The Story Is the Thing is published by Pen-L Publishing and is available now from the publisher and direct from the author’s website.  The fabulous book cover artistry is by Steve Atkinson. Be sure to read about the story behind the cover art in Amy's blog post Collaboration and Celebration

All of Amy's books can be purchased directly from her website where all books are signed by her and at all the usual places including B&N and Amazon but if you choose to purchase at a store, I would suggest you support a local independent bookstore such as Amy's bookstore pick, Peregrine Book Co in Prescott, AZ,  my personal favorite Bookwork’s in Albuquerque  or one in your neighborhood.  

You can also purchase directly from Pen-L Publishing.