About the Author:
Roland Allnach has been writing since his early teens, first as a hobby, but
as the years passed, more as a serious creative pursuit. He is an avid reader,
with his main interests residing in history, mythology, and literary classics,
along with some fantasy and science fiction in his earlier years. Although his
college years were focused on a technical education, he always fostered his
interest in literature, and has sought to fill every gap on his bookshelves.
By nature a do-it-yourself type of personality, his creative inclinations
started with art and evolved to the written word. The process of creativity is a
source of fascination for him, and the notion of bringing something to being
that would not exist without personal effort and commitment serves not only as
inspiration but as fulfillment as well. So whether it is writing, woodwork, or
landscaping, his hands and mind are not often at rest.
Over the years he accumulated a dust laden catalog of his written works, with
his reading audience limited to family and friends. After deciding to approach
his writing as a profession, and not a hobby, the first glimmers of success came
along. Since making the decision to move forward, he has secured publication for
a number of short stories, has received a nomination for inclusion in the
Pushcart Anthology, built his own website, and in November 2010
realized publication for an anthology of three novellas, titled
Remnant, from All Things That Matter Press. Remnant has gone on to
favorable critical review and placed as Finalist/Sci-fi, 2011 National Indie
Excellence Awards; Bronze Medalist, Sci-Fi, 2012 Readers Favorite Book of the
Year Awards; and Award Winner-Finalist, Sci-Fi, 2012 USA Book News Best Book
Awards. Roland’s second publication, Oddities
& Entities, also from All Things That Matter Press, followed in
March 2012. It, too, has received favorable critical review, and is the
recipient of four awards: Bronze Medalist, Horror, and Finalist, Paranormal,
2012 Readers Favorite Book of the Year Awards; Award Winner-Finalist,
Fiction/Horror and Fiction/Anthologies, 2012 USA Book News Best Book Awards.
His writing can best be described as depicting strange people involved in
perhaps stranger situations. He is not devoted to any one genre of writing.
Instead, he prefers to let his stories follow their own path. Classification can
follow after the fact, but if one is looking for labels, one would find his
stories in several categories. Sometimes speculative, other times supernatural,
at times horror, with journeys into mainstream fiction, and even some humor- or
perhaps the bizarre. Despite the category, he aims to depict characters as real
on the page as they are in his head, with prose of literary quality. His
literary inspirations are as eclectic as his written works- from Poe to Kate
Chopin, from Homer to Tolkien, from Flaubert to William Gibson, from Shakespeare
to Tolstoy, as long as a piece is true to itself, he is willing to go along for
the ride. He hopes to bring the same to his own fiction.
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About the Book:
‘Oddities & Entities’ is a surreal, provocative anthology of six tales
within the supernatural/ paranormal/horror genres, exploring a definition of
life beyond the fragile vessel of the human body. The stories are: ‘Boneview’,
in which a young woman struggles to balance her ability to see through people
with the presence of a supernatural creature in her life; ‘Shift/Change’, in
which a hospital worker struggles to regain his memory as he is confronted by a
series of desperate people; ‘My Other Me’, in which a lonely college student
finds himself displaced from his body by his alter ego; ‘Gray’, in which a
frustrated man is stunned to discover a little creature has been living in his
head; ‘Elmer Phelps’, in which a brother and sister find themselves linked in a
strange reality by a bat bite in their youth; and lastly, ‘Appendage’, in which
a cynical mercenary is hired by his son to protect a research lab on the verge
of a stunning discovery.
Praise for Oddities &
Entities:
“Oddities & Entities” by Roland Allnach, categorized as horror
fiction, is unlike any other horror fiction I have ever encountered. The book is
comprised of six stories, each of which is written a cut above the norm. There
are no recognizable monsters in these stories, no sophomoric zombies, no evil
ancient vampires, and none of the standard fare I have become accustomed to in
the horror genre. I do like the usual run of the horror genre, but this book is
written with thoughtful intelligence, for an intelligent adult reader. I do not
mean to imply sexual situations or coarse language. What I mean is, any
intelligent reader, capable of deep thought, will find this book irresistible.
The six individual stories are as unlike as any six stories can be, yet each one
is so sufficiently well-written that, if sold as individual short stories, I
wouldn’t hesitate to award 5 stars to each of them.
To say I like this book is a crass understatement. Each story drew me in
and evoked my empathy for various characters. These stories forced me to
actually think beyond what I was reading. Each premise was unique, at least in
my experience; I have never encountered any other stories that even approach the
situations these present with authority and authenticity. If I could boil down
my perception of this book into a single word, that word would be WOW! Roland
Allnach’s first anthology, “Remnant”, which I have also read, was placed as a
finalist in the Science Fiction category in the 2011 National Indie Excellence
Awards. I absolutely expect “Oddities & Entities” to follow suit. If you
read only one book this year, make it this one. Be prepared to have your comfort
zone challenged.
– Readers Favorite (ReadersFavorite.com)
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE
Oddities & Entities Tour
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