Hi Frank, we're so glad to connect with you and have you tell everyone a bit about yourself. What interested you about reading for The Spun Yarn?

First, I love to read, but more importantly, I enjoy helping other authors achieve the best results for their hard work. Writing and eventually publishing two books myself, I wished I had this service before I published the first book. Fortunately, it was available to me for my second book. The beta readers at Spun Yarn helped me see things that really helped me so, I thought it would be cool to return the help.

You've been a reader with us for a while now, when giving feedback for the Spun Yarn, what part do you find most challenging?

Honest feedback is critical in helping an author craft their best work. Sometimes the stories are brilliantly written and other times, they need a lot of work. The most challenging part for me is delivering this honest feedback without discouraging the author or, in contrast, overly applauding the work. Writing is hard, but everyone has a story in them and bringing out the story should be encouraged either critically or strategically. This is more difficult than it sounds.

What is your favorite part about being a reader for The Spun Yarn?

My favorite part of being a Spun Yarn reader besides reading some very cool stories is knowing that I get to help an author improve their storytelling while, at the same time, improve my writing. I believe that critiquing others helps me see where I can improve my own skills.

As an author yourself, can you tell us why this type of feedback is so important to writers?

As story tellers, the plot, the characters, the visuals and the smells are all in our head. This sometimes blinds us to thinking the reader is in there as well, and when we write our stories, we take it for granted that they understand the picture we are trying to paint, which character is speaking, the looks, feels and smells of a scene or the expression that is prominent of a characters face. Having beta readers review the work not only helps me catch this before it gets to the reader but also lets me know when it's too much detail, repetition, or the scene makes little sense. For me, this type of feedback is critical. Not only does it help me improve my storytelling, but also helps me know when it's ready for editing. 

When you aren't reading for TSY or writing fantasy novels, what do you like to do?

In my downtime, I love to be with family, reading stories to my grandchildren, or going out to play a round of golf.

Anything else you'd like to tell us?

I would like to commend TSY for providing a much-needed resource to authors like myself. Feedback is critical to learning regardless of if you're a plumber, teacher, politician, or a storyteller. Seek it out, and you'll be better for it.