robert eggleton

It's been quite a while since I last posted here about my debut novel, Rarity from the Hollow. Over 600 book bloggers from 29 countries have helped spread the word about it. The final edition was published on November 3, 2016 and released as an eBook on December 5, 2016. It was awarded Gold medals by Awesome Indies and Readers Favorite, the ARC was named on of five best books released in 2015 by a Bulgarian book critic and a 2016 Top Pick by a popular blogger. It has 110 reviews posted mostly by independent book bloggers on Amazon, but the number of actual reviews is larger because some book critics and reviewers will not post their reviews on sites that sell books, such as the ones by the Missouri Review, the one that I posted above, Amazing Stories Magazine, and several others, especially those located outside of the U.S. I was trying to close out the self-promotion of this project and my PC crashed last week. I still haven't recovered my files, but I will. UGH! Until I'm up and running again, I'm using an ancient laptop. When I got my old laptop up and going again, I discovered new contributions to my project: 1. Review of Rarity from the Hollow, an adult social SciFi adventure filled with tragedy, comedy, satire, and political parody. “The author gives us much pause for thought as we read this uniquely crafted story about some real life situations handled in very unorthodox ways filled with humor, sarcasm, heartfelt situations and fun.” Half of author proceeds are donated to the prevention of child maltreatment. The novel is available anyplace that sells books, including Books-A-Million. On Amazon, it is $2.99 / $22.86. 2. 1-31-18 Book Review: “…a dark comedy sci-fi fantasy…madcap…I’m glad I decided to read it.” Half of author proceeds are donated to prevent child abuse. Please see and Like: 3. Released Today (2-6-18)! Rarity from the Hollow appears in Cyber Cozen, Israel’s longest running Science Fiction Fanzine. “…the novel received a very cool review by Amazing Stories Magazine: ‘Amusing at times, shocking at others, a touching and somehow wonderful SFF read.” Full review: Purchase: $2. in receiving Cyber Cozen free by email in English or Hebrew, contact: Each issue includes monthly news in the SciFi field, including book and movie reviews. This issue is Vol. XXX No. 02 Feb. 2018. To check out past issues from 1992, the main repository is:This novel was also honored by David Brin (NASA Scientist and award winning SciFi author) having read and blurbed: ‘A fun, sometimes cleverly-gonzo, and even inspiring tale about an undaunted girl's close encounter of the weird kind.’ Here's the link to a review that nailed the political parody, connected the tragedy with the comedy, and its overall child welfare interests (half of author proceeds are donated) within the climate of adversity in America: -- Leybl Botwink (Editor) “Check it out – it’s for a good cause!” Feel free to contact me via Facebook if you have any questions. Wishing everybody the best. Thanks, Robert

Following is the most recent review published on the named blog (reprinted by permission). A Universe On the Edge RARITY FROM THE HOLLOW. Robert Eggleton. Doghorn Publishing. Published 2012. Lacy Dawn is a little girl who lives in a magical forest where all the trees love her and she has a space alien friend who adores her and wants to make her queen of the universe. What’s more, all the boys admire her for her beauty and brains. Mommy is very beautiful and Daddy is very smart, and Daddy’s boss loves them all. Except. Lacy Dawn, the eleven year old protagonist, perches precariously between the psychosis of childhood and the multiple neuroses of adolescence, buffeted by powerful gusts of budding sexuality and infused with a yearning to escape the grim and brutal life of a rural Appalachian existence. In this world, Daddy is a drunk with severe PTSD, and Mommy is an insecure wraith. The boss is a dodgy lecher, not above leering at the flat chest of an eleven-year-old girl. Yes, all in one book. Rarity From The Hollow is written in a simple declarative style that’s well- suited to the imaginary diary of a desperate but intelligent eleven-year-old – the story bumping joyfully between the extraordinary and the banal. The central planet of the universe is a vast shopping mall, and Lacy Dawn must save her world from a menace that arrives in the form of a cockroach infestation. Look again and the space alien has made Daddy smart and happy – or at least an eleven year old girl’s notion of what a smart and happy man should be. He has also made Mommy beautiful, giving her false teeth and getting the food stamp lady off her back. About the only thing in the book that is believable is the nature of the narrative voice, and it is utterly compelling. You find yourself convinced that “Hollow” was written as a diary-based autobiography by a young girl and the banal stems from the limits of her environment, the extraordinary from her megalomania. And that’s what gives Rarity From The Hollow a chilling, engaging verisimilitude that deftly feeds on both the utter absurdity of the characters’ motivations and on the progression of the plot. Indeed, there are moments of utter darkness: In one sequence, Lacy Dawn remarks matter-of-factly that a classmate was whipped to death, and notes that the assailant, the girl’s father, had to change his underpants afterward because they were soiled with semen. Odd, and often chilling notes, abound. As I was reading it, I remembered when I first read Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle” at the age of 14. A veteran of Swift, Heller, and Frederick Brown, I understood absurdist humour in satire, but Vonnegut took that understanding and turned it on its ear. In the spirit of Vonnegut, Eggleton (a psychotherapist focused on the adolescent patient) takes the genre and gives it another quarter turn. A lot of people hated Vonnegut, saying he didn’t know the rules of good writing. But that wasn’t true. Vonnegut knew the rules quite well, he just chose to ignore them, and that is what is happening in Eggleton’s novel, as well. Not everyone will like Rarity From The Hollow. Nonetheless, it should not be ignored. by Bryan Zepp Jamieson