Books, Books WONDERFUL Books: A Review of LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT and author interview with Vincent Zandri

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Vincent Zandri

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 217 KB
Publisher: StoneGate Ink; 1 edition (October 27, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
ASIN: B0060MB5JM
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This is one of the best examples of excellent 'sensory writing' I've read in a long time. Author, Vincent Zandri, has truly captured the essence of what a person living with blindness lives with in his new digital-short, Love At First Sight.

This is a story about a young man who came back from a mission overseas. Like many officers who come back from war ridden missions, he lives with a form of hysterical blindness. The story begins with him sitting in an outdoor patio having drinks with is fiancee. She's obviously uncomfortable with his condition, trying the best she knows how to help him cope. Only the young man isn't just struggling with his condition, but also, why his blindness developed. He loves his fiancee but how can he possibly make her understand what he's going through? Can she still love him despite his condition?

Here's a blurb: A young U.S. Army officer who’s served in Afghanistan finds himself suffering from intermittent bouts of “hysterical” temporary blindness due to impossible and deadly orders he was forced to obey by high command in the field. When he’s reunited with his fiancée in a military hospital in Germany after being separated for more than year, the couple are encouraged by doctors to travel to Venice, Italy together. There, amongst the canals and the cafes, they try to rekindle their love and fight off their personal demons while trying to comprehend the enormity of the heartbreaking role they now must play in love and war.

The brilliance of this short is that Vincent is able to tell a novel-length story in a fraction of the pages and yet doesn't lack any element of a fantastic novel. The dialogue is natural and flows beautifully, the emotions are felt, there is intensity and we are drawn to this couple and their extraordinary circumstances.

Vincent takes us right into the world of someone living with blindness. They say when one sense is damaged, the other senses become more intensified so that we can still cope in the world effectively. And Vincent does an incredible job of displaying this premise. He gets right into the head of this young man, 'showing' us how he uses his auditory and tactile senses to guide him in place of his unreliable visual sense. In addition to the issues between the main character and his fiancee, we get glimpses of what really happened during his mission and the horrific assignment he was given that triggered his boughts of hysterical blindness.

Love At First Sight isn't just a sweet romance. It also enlightens the reader to issues such as living in a sensory-rich world when one of your sensory systems isn't working properly. Finally, it really gives us insight into how difficult it can be for some soldiers coming back from war and try living a regular life. I won't spoil the story for you but let's just say I read it in an hour...maybe less...because I just couldn't put it down. And I'm positive readers, especially some of our regular followers who know what it's like living with sensory issues, will love this digital short too.

Not only can you find this book on Amazon (link above in the introduction) but you can also get it over at Barnes and Noble too.

NOW! In addition to our book review of Love At First Sight, we are honored to have Vincent here with us for a few minutes to answer a few questions for us! He’s currently on a blog tour for his book and we’re thrilled to be one of his stops.

CHYNNA: Welcome to our ‘Books Books WONDERFUL Books’ segment this week, Vincent. I’m happy you were able to squeeze us in. Let’s jump right in as I know you’re on your way to another stop. You are one of the best ‘sensory writers’ I’ve come across. Please share with us how you achieve this in your writing. Can you suggest a few exercises writers can practice to become more sensory aware in their writing?

VINCENT: Thank you. Like anything, I researched the concept and really put myself in the character’s situation. I tend to get really into research as I am a journalist too. For example, for research for my book The Innocent I spent a whole night in a prison cell. Once I start thinking about what I’m trying to learn, it just comes to me. In this case, it was how life would be different if I couldn't see.

CHYNNA: Amazing. And that shows true dedication that you’d spend the night in a prison cell to ‘feel’ how your character would in that situation. Awesome. Now, you’ve written several amazing works but you’re here today to promote your latest book, Love At First Sight. What inspired the creation of this story? What is your writing process like for such projects?

VINCENT: Love at First Sight was originally written right out of MFA school. At that time I was married to the mother of my daughter, my soul mate. I'd recently contracted a six-figure deal with Delacorte and life was good. It very quickly fell apart: The deal, my marriage, and my family. So it wasn't until recently that I pulled Love at First Sight back out and cleaned it up. In fact, I'm about to release its sequel--a full length novel entitled Precious where his fiancé is actually kidnapped and he has to find her while still dealing with this hysterical blindness.

CHYNNA: Wow, Vincent. You’ve gone through so much. Thank you for sharing all of that with us. And Precious sounds amazing. I’ll have to keep my eyes out for that when it’s released. Before we let you go to your next stop on your Tour, please give us five important things that authors-in-waiting need to remember in order to get their works out there.

VINCENT: Sure! Here you go:

· write everyday
· exercise daily
· work 7 days a week
· always stop where you know exactly what's going to happen next. As Hemmingway counsels this will prevent any blocks.
· and do all four of those no matter where you are at in your career.

Thanks for having me Chynna. I've enjoyed your questions and thanks for the review.

CHYNNA: Thank you for making the time to join us here today, Vincent. I have a feeling Love At First Sight will be another winner for you. And I can’t wait to read more of your work. Please feel free to come back again in the future when your next book comes out. You are always welcome. Readers, to follow Vincent along the rest of his tour, click here to be taken to his next stop over at Sarah Ballance's amazing blog on the 23rd.

I encourage all our book fans out there to check out Vincent’s Website and other books. He’s definitely one to have on your ‘Authors To Watch’ folder. You can also find Vincent at the following links:

~ Blog
~ Amazon Author Page
~ Facebook
~ Twitter

Vincent's Bio: Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling author of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, CONCRETE PEARL, MOONLIGHT RISES and SCREAM CATCHER. He is also the author of the bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL and MOONLIGHT MAFIA. Harlan Coben has described his novels as "...gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting," while the New York Post called THE INNOCENT, "Sensational...Masterful...Brilliant!" In March, April and May of 2011, he sold more than 100,000 Kindle E-Book editions of his novels. In September 2011, he signed a major deal with Thomas and Mercer of Amazon for the publication of his new novel, Murder by Moonlight, and the re-publication of many of his back-list titles, including The Innocent and The Remains. Zandri's list of publishers also include Delacorte, Dell, StoneHouse Ink and StoneGate Ink. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri's work is translated into many languages including the Dutch, Russian and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for RT, Globalspec, IBTimes and more, he lives in New York. For more go to http://www.vincentzandri.com/.

Thank you to Bri Clark with Belle Consulting for brilliantly arranging everything for us. =)