Buddhist Fiction Blog tries crowdsourcing reviews

Happy New Year! This month I’m going to read Francesca Hampton’s collection of short stories in Buddha on a Midnight Sea. The poignant, insightful short stories in this collection are the result of Ms. Hampton’s unique creative writing talent combined with her belief in the efficacy of Buddhist narrative, both honed over four decades of Buddhist practice and experiences all over the world. In particular, Ms. Hampton has a talent for deep characterization and vivid description that acts as a conduit allowing readers to live through the characters. This is a skill that is difficult to cultivate in any form, but most especially in short story.

For this particular “Currently Reading” experience I have a special invitation for you. Ms. Hampton has agreed to discuss her stories with Buddhist Fiction Blog readers, so I invite you to purchase a copy of Buddha on a Midnight Sea at these links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Buddha-Midnight-Sea-Short-Stories/dp/1621417484

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/buddha-on-a-midnight-sea-short-stories-francesca-hampton/1112436720

Ms. Hampton has also provided a link to the short story “Teachers” here:https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6BfPq5S_oEeam5XbDI4MXBrdXM/edit

and to the short story “In the City of the Queen of Angels” here:https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6BfPq5S_oEeNzlYbTNvckRSUTA/edit

both of which are part of the collection in Buddha on a Midnight Sea. You can also review the author’s online page here:https://sites.google.com/site/abouttheauthorfhampton/

Once we have all had time to read the stories, I start the ‘review’ of the Buddha on a Midnight Sea collection on 30 January 2013 by opening up a discussion with Ms. Hampton that I sincerely hope you will be even more engaging if you jump in. I sincerely hope that you will join me in reading these short stories and discussing them with Ms. Hampton a couple of weeks from now.