Any review is extremely hard to get, so I was pleased to get a good one for Alien Dream Machine from ReadersFavorite.com.  Here is part of it:

Readers Favorite.com: Five Stars!

“… a narcoleptic private investigator’s adventures with an alien family of recovering drug addicts that keeps you hooked from start to finish. The plot moves at a brisk pace and features colorful characters with distinct personalities that pop out of the pages…. Anyone who’s itching for a sci-fi novel filled with romance, humor, and suspense, should grab a copy of Alien Dream Machine.”

I am gratified that at least one reader was delighted by my story. That is rule #1: satisfy the reader.  But…

What is this book really about?  From my perspective, it’s not about aliens, drug addiction, dreams, or gambling.  It’s about the relationship between individual consciousness and communal consciousness. Are we connected, psychologically?

In Alien Dream Machine, I wondered what empathic communication would look like between humans and aliens.  We humans are empathic with some animals.  Anyone who has a dog will confirm that a lot of non-verbal mind-reading goes on in that relationship! So an alien should not be too much of a stretch.

The deep empathic connection with the aliens was made via dreams, when our (human) self-awareness is almost missing. In a dream, we don’t know we’re in a dream. It seems like its own reality.  Would that be true for aliens, too, or is that just a human thing?

None of these considerations made any impression whatsoever on the reviewer, apparently.  That’s not a criticism of the reviewer.  A deep, philosophical review would not sell any books.  But it makes me wonder if I’m working way too hard on my novels. Still, I can only do it the way I do it.

Alien Dream Machine is available on Amazon and Smashwords:

Ebook –  Kindle:  ISBN: 978-1-7355412-5-9              327 pp
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0916MWF45
ASIN B0916MWF45

Paper –   KDP:        ISBN: 978-1-7355412-6-6   333 pp kdp 6×9
ASIN 1735541265
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735541265

Ebook – Smashwords  ISBN: 978-1-7355412-4-2  (Epub)
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1066184