How do I get my book read by professionals and get feedback on it? My husband and I are AMACOM authors of THE BLACK MANAGER;MAKING IT IN THE CORPORATE WORLD. Retired and 71, I tried my hand at a fiction which as you know is so different from non-fiction. I self published at ebookit, but they do not read the books they publish. I wish I had someone in the business to tell me if I should keep going. The name of the book is,"GIFTS" and is a horror story. If it is really good, I might consider approaching a "real" publishing house.

I pulled up behind a pickup truck at a busy intersection. I realized there was something moving in the back of it covered with a cheap tarpaulin. This truck was a large red pickup, bearing no signs or markings on it to prove its identity. Out of curiosity, I followed to see what it was carrying.
The turns the driver made were quick and sharp, moving the covering away from this creature. This afforded me a slightly better glance of what was underneath. I noticed a tentacle, but the rest of it what was hidden under the tarp camouflaging it. The sounds and movement continued still as it struggled to wriggle free of this hold.
The truck continued its rapid pace down the street. As we turned, I couldn't help notice that the road turned into a residential neighborhood with stately, gated mansions. Ahead of us about a half a mile, was a spectacular home with a large aquarium at its entrance. The sharp turns and fast pace continued as we moved toward this house. The creature continued to free itself of the cover and the apparent ties that connected them to the truck. It was moving toward me, an octopus that must have been close to five feet in length from end to end. With its massive bulbous head, bulging eyes and long tentacles I was concerned. What was I going to do? I had to act fast.
I decided that the driver might need my help wrangling this back into the truck so I jumped out of my car, running toward him. What did I know about this type of creature, nothing really, except for the creatures I’d seen at the aquarium and on television. I do know, though, that they have long, beak-like jaws that can bite viciously and saliva that subdues their prey. I prayed that I wouldn’t be his prey. It was a beautiful creature though and maybe it was tamed from an aquarium, at least that’s what I hoped.
So I reasoned that the driver must know what to do, since he was charged with its care. I asked him what I could do to help. Fortunately, he had tools to get it back into the truck. Why didn’t he use these in the first place?
He gave it a tranquilizer shot to subdue it as I held onto one of its tentacles. It ceased its movements immediately. He was able to scoop it up with a kind of automated forklift from the back of the truck.
Soon, it was returned to the truck and he was thanking me for my help. I told him he was welcome but I felt like I wasn’t much help. I asked where it was going and he said it was headed to the house he pointed to down the road, the one I’d seen before to be part of their home aquarium on loan from a national aquarium.
Elle Lavery
Guru.com ID # 1512964