Category: Author

Reviews that cause you to pause!

Ok, so you’ve poured out your heart into your work. You love it, your editor loves it and even the dedicated friends that read it before it was published loved it. Then the dreaded reviews come in. Someone thinks it needs help. This post is dedicated to the feelings a review gives you.

1: A great review – Well the first great review you get makes your heart soar. You feel like nothing can hurt you at that moment. Your work has been approved by one person. Well, one person is not enough to make your book a best seller, but one good review could make it more popular than no reviews.

2: A good review – This is that review that says it was a fairly good book. But usually on a good review, there is a “But” in it. I always listen to that “But” because it is the suggestions of a complete stranger that usually makes more of a point than that of a friend who doesn’t necessarily tell you the truth about your writing.

3: A fair review – We’ve all had that review that really sat us back on our heels. I received one the other day. It was kind of half and half. What I mean by that is this. The reviewer started with “It was a great story line and I really liked it” which made me smile, but then they went into this “But, it was too rushed and didn’t get into enough of character building for me to really like it.” I sat back for a moment going, ok. That is the kind of review that can still sell books, but can also put off others.

4: A bad review – I’ve received some reviews that were pretty bad. It’s funny that you receive several raving reviews and then one of those nasty reviews come in and you go “WOW” where did that come from? I received one that said, “Sorry, but I couldn’t get past the first 4 pages”. Well, I’ve read some best sellers that I had a hard time reading them until I got past the first chapter, so I totally wrote off that review as someone who just didn’t like the story line, but then the very next review said they were pleasantly surprised how good it was as you got into the story. I think they were speaking to that other reviewer.

5: A questionable review – This is the kind of review where you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they never read the book to begin with. I was reading a review the other day where someone wrote a paragraph about the good and bad points of one of my books. The problem with this is that the information provided from the book did not match my book. I even showed my editor and she said that is not from your book at all. They evidently read the description of the book and did their own version.

6: The follower review – This is the review that goes with the other persons review. Have you ever received a review whether good or bad and within a few hours you receive another review that says almost the same exact thing? It’s as if the other person just marked your book as read and then just copied the other review.

7: The “not my genre” review – I had someone write a rather nasty review of one of my books, but what was funny about the review was that at the end of the scathing review they stated that they hated romance novels. Why on earth would you purchase a romance novel and then decide to write a review on it if you didn’t like romance novels?

8: The nasty review – These are the reviews that are just down right nasty and they usually come from fellow authors. I received one that was a full paragraph totally tearing my book apart, then they went on to say that they would like to read more of my work. That was really weird to me. Especially the way they tore the book apart and told that the author (me) was not their kind of writer. Oh well, can’t please everyone. Made me feel good, because that is my best seller so not real concerned.

This post was just to state my feelings of the different types of reviews I’ve received. I have even posted some of the bad reviews on my selling sites. You may be saying “Are you nuts?” Well, yes I am, but that’s the life of a writer. Do you know that I started having more sales after posting the fair review. It’s funny how the review process works.

I think some people read the reviews and that makes their decisions on purchasing or not. Some people never even look at the reviews, but others just shrug and say, well it may not have been their kind of book.

So don’t take reviews too seriously. Not all reviews that look bad will hurt you. Don’t let a bad review cause you to put your writing on a shelf  to never pick it up again. I’ve read a lot of best sellers that to me were horrible, but I knew it was not my style of book that I like, but I didn’t tear it apart in a review.

Also, when you do write a review, try to be as kind as you can. Offer some gentle suggestions and support the writer when you can.

As always, good writing/reviewing and May God bless you!

Feels like winter in the south.

Well we are feeling winter on our heels. Can’t believe a hurricane is in the area. Crazy weather. The wind is brisk here in Georgia and definitely a lot cooler.

If you read my blog then you’ll know yesterday was my church’s big Fall Festival. Boy that was a treat. We had a great turn out, but the cold weather was crazy. The wind was whipping around us and we couldn’t keep things on our tables. We could have filmed a commercial for duct tape. I kept a roll around my wrist. I had everything duct taped down.

We did a bubble station with several different kinds and shapes of bubble wands. The kids only had to load the bubbles and hold them in the air. The wind would send bubbles flying everywhere. It was a definite blast.

Well, getting the fireplace ready this week for the coming winter. Expecting a possible first frost in the morning. Burr!!!

To all my blog friends in Sandy’s path, we are praying for your safety and Sandy’s quick retreat.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you!

 

 

Goodreads Giveaways!

I have set up a giveaway of 1 signed paperback of each of my five books on my author page at Goodreads. Just follow this link to the “Moonbeam & Roses” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36077-moonbeam-roses. Follow this link to the “Tender Flames” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36081-tender-flames. Follow this link to the “Ghost Lover” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36078-ghost-lover. Follow this link to the “With All My Heart…” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36079-with-all-my-heart. Follow this link to the “A Love Never Lost” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36010-a-love-never-lost.

It has been a great week. The trees are turning beautiful colors and the air is starting to turn crisp. This Sunday is our Church Fall Festival, which being the children’s minister I’m in charge of the activities. I’m excited. Wednesday is Halloween and time for our annual “Trunk or Treat” at the Church. Trying to figure out what I’ll dress as. I’ve been a bouquet of balloons, a cowgirl, a pumpkin, a little girl and so on. SO I have to figure out something cool.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. As always good writing and may God bless you!

 

Surprise on Amazon!

I was looking up my book files on Amazon yesterday when I noticed a strange addition. At first I panicked thinking someone had hijacked my books. But in fact it was where I have one of my paperbacks in expanded distribution through CreateSpace. Seven wholesale book companies have picked up my book and have it on their sites. Needless to say I was dancing around the office. So, that inclined me to do this very shameless post. I haven’t posted my books lately, so here goes. Sorry for anyone who does not want to or care to know this. All of these are available on Smashwords, Amazon, Google Books, Barnes & Noble, Diesel, Kobo, Apple, & Sony.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you!

 

 

 

Ghost Lover

Stephanie Payne Hurt

Having a father who thought business came first and his daughter last had affected her. But when Jess turned 21 he gave her a gift that would change her life and add an unexpected love. What was behind such an extravagant and unexpected gift? Would her father’s business partner put a stop to any happiness that she could have or would the man of her dreams take her away from it all. Jess would soon find out her father’s sinister plan. When tragedy strikes will she find her Ghost Lover or will all be                    lost.

 Tender Flames

Stephanie Payne Hurt

Sara has loved Wes all of her life, but she only sees sisterly love in his eyes. What happens when in a moment of anger she makes a hasty decision? Will it turn his head or turn him away? When tragedy strikes will the tables turn in her direction? Will love finally fan the tender flames of love?

 

 

 

Moonbeam & Roses

Stephanie Payne Hurt

Sara secretly had a crush on Wes and had most of her life. Then when Wes rejects her love and moves to Montana, she jumps into her work as an artist and into the arms of another man. It is not until a tragic accident happens that things start to turn around for Sara. Could she finally have true love with the cowboy in her dreams or will her blindness cause her to throw it all away.

With All My Heart…

Stephanie Payne Hurt

When Amanda moves to a small town to pursue her career as a Children’s Minister, she never expects to find the man God has sent for her. But just as she opens her heart up to him something terrible happens to her causing her to shut the world out, including the love of her life. Will he be able to help her find her faith or will she forever be lost?

 

 

A Love Never Lost

Stephanie Payne Hurt

Friends since early childhood, Lilly and Zane have always been inseparable. After four years apart, will their relationship change? Upon seeing Lilly again after such a long absence he realizes his heart belongs to her. When a wealthy ranch owner from Texas offers Lilly the job of a lifetime, will she leave knowing the effect it will have on Zane and their relationship? Will her new boss expect more than just an employer/employee relationship? Just how far will he go to win her over? Will Zane be able to pull her from the ties of the ranch or will it be A Love Never Lost?

Beautiful Blogger Award! Me! Thanks!

I want to thank Sonya Loveday for the wonderful honor of nominating me for the Beautiful Blogger Award. I accept this honor with much humility and adoration.

The rules for the Beautiful Blogger award are as follows. Thank the person who nominated you. Thank you again Sonya! Add the badge to your blog- and then reveal seven things about yourself. Choose 15 Beautiful Bloggers and pass the award along to them.

Seven things about me:

1: I am an Accountant and own my own Accounting business.

2: I love romance. Guess that’s why I write in that genre, huh!

3: I am a mother of a 13 year old son and been married for 18 years.

4: I love horses and cowboys!

5: I always wanted to be a concert pianist. (Studied for 8 years)

6: I have a passion for children & my faith, that’s why I am a children’s ministry director.

7: Christmas is my favorite time of the year! (Just wait for those blogs. I get really giddy at that time of year.)

So thanks again Sonya, you’re the best. If I list you and you don’t want to play along I totally understand. Here goes:

http://nikkiziehl.wordpress.com

http://busyteacher.wordpress.com

http://candaceknoebel.wordpress.com

http://melissarsmith.wordpress.com

http://rosieamber.wordpress.com

http://bottledworder.wordpress.com

http://igamemom.wordpress.com

http://henryspruce.wordpress.com

http://paulaacton.wordpress.com

http://seanmacuisdin.wordpress.com

http://joannewadsworth.wordpress.com

http://organizedmama.wordpress.com

http://wyattmcintyre.com

http://cristianmihai.net

http://amatuerstorywriter.wordpress.com

I have so many wonderful blog friends, so if I did not include someone I’m sorry, but I had to get only 15. I love you all!

Levels of Love…

As I write this I ponder the different levels of love I’ve had in my 43 years of life. I am by no means an expert. This is just my outtake on the subject, so take it as you may.

Here goes:

Baby Love: I feel like as a baby you feel love, not positive because I do not remember being a baby, but I do remember how my son was as a baby. He would brighten up when I would walk in the room, so I feel like he was feeling love for me. So…

Child’s love: As a child you have such a reserve for real love. You have not been challenged by the things of the real world so you can be open to love with your whole heart. Children love unconditionally, well most of the time.

First crush love: You know the love I am talking about. Usually you experience it in your early teens or earlier for some. It is that feeling when you look across the aisle in class and lock eyes with a cute boy. You instantly think you are in love and you will just die if he looks back. Yeah, you remember that don’t you. Ok, you can quit laughing now.

Idol love: Well as a teenager usually you develop huge love issues for movie stars, musicians or even someone older in your life. It is the kind of thing that causes you to post pictures all over your walls and spend your whole allowance on anything with their picture on it. Yeah, been there done that…

First young love: Well this is the one that usually hurts and makes you think you will never love again. You are usually dating by the time this one hits and you think that nobody else can ever take their place. Well, you have not quite got to the real love stage, so you soon learn there is more out there. (Was engaged for 4 years to my first young love. Boy am I glad that went away.)

First real love: This is the love that comes and your heart just is taken away. It no longer belongs to you. Sadly, sometimes this is the love that we mistake for some other feeling and we don’t act on it as our heart tells us to. This is usually the love that if you don’t keep, you end up keeping it with you forever in your dreams. If you don’t realize it is real and you let it go, you spend a lot of time later in life thinking about that lost love.

LOVE: Sometimes when we think we feel love we do things that are not in character for us. We may even marry someone thinking that it is love only to find out after the stars are out of our eyes that we were wrong. That is really sad, but it happens everyday. The divorce rate is prime example. A scary percentage of people are in marriages that started with misguided love.

Obsessive love: This is the sick kind of love where one person thinks that they can’t live without the other person who 9 out of ten times does not return their love. (I had a stalker that did that to me. I went out with him one time and Bam! he thought he was madly in love with me. He served 18 months for stalking me. I was only 17 and it was a scary time.)

Forever Love: This is the love we are strive for. It is the kind that when the person walks in the room, you almost swoon from the heart palpitations. Hopefully you all have felt this kind of love. Maybe it is with the person you are married to, hopefully. It is the kind of love that stops everything around you. When you lock eyes you know and it scares you sometimes the depths it can go. Now that is great love.

As I said before, this is just my take. There are so many more levels of love. It is endless. Hope you have Forever Love. It is always a great thing to have. Hopefully it is with your spouse or spouse to be, if you gave up on Forever Love and went in another direction, well try not to dwell on it too much, because it will drive you insane. Just my opinion.

As always, great writing and May God Bless!

Good Wednesday Morning!

It is a beautiful Georgia morning. The air has a slight crispness to it. As I sit here with the windows open, the cool breeze comes softly across me. I sip my coffee and have my laptop in my lap, just enjoying the morning. I can hear the birds chirping in the trees as if agreeing with me.

Of course I know that I need to get up and get ready for my day, but I just put it to the back of my mind. Life is so short and we run around all willy nilly not stopping to smell the roses or feel the breeze on our face. Why? If we miss life’s precious moments what have we accomplished?

I made a decision the first of the year to start stopping and smelling the roses. Sometimes it gets me behind on projects but I know the fact is I am getting older and missing out on many things. I have spent the last twenty odd years building my accounting practice and working constantly. I have missed out on so much that the sweet side of life has to offer. Well I have been doing more for myself.

One of the main things is publishing my books and writing in my spare time. It has been so refreshing and revealing to me. I did not realize how much I had missed. I actually feel better physically and mentally. It is as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Well, try it yourself. Just stop and take a deep, cleansing breath. See if you don’t feel a little better. As always good writing and May God Bless You!

A post for Steel Standing By Christa Davis

This post is for my client and friend Christa Davis. She has recently published a book telling the story of her mothers battle with Metal replacement allergies. Hope you will check out this touching and revealing true story on Amazon.

 

 

Christa C. Davis – Steel Standing Bio

 

Patricia Davis Harton had been a vibrant, energetic and independent person all her life, bit in 2009 she was diagnosed with Inflammatory Myopathy. Although she had lived an incredibly healthy life, neurologists said her muscles would continue to weaken over time.

Her daughter, Christa, initiated her own research trying to discover what could have triggered the inflammation. Time was of the essence, since Patricia’s health began deteriorating soon after she was diagnosed. A pivotal clue unearthed the key to the medical mystery, unlocking answers and providing solutions.

Astonishingly, Patricia’s symptoms seemed to be caused by an allergic reaction to the metals used in her hip and knee replacements. It was not the case that the devices were faulty.
Christa’s theory, linking her mother’s muscle problems with her orthopaedic implants, was considered far-fetched and unlikey. At the time, the existence of metal induced allergy was not widely recognized. The facts documented throughout Steel Standing are obtained from highly credible medical sources, with patient case studies including scientific references and the latest published research.

Christa has a Bachelor of Science degree in health and business management and has worked in communications since 1986. With her innate skills, her career advanced through the years in publication, marketing, advertising, and public relations. A large part of her career has been spent working in medical centers together with specialty physicians in clinical and non-clinical settings.

Crazy things that happen to Accountants!

Well Paula Acton one of my wonderful blog friends suggested it would be funny to list the top 10 funniest deduction requests. So I decided to tell some of the funny things that have happened over the years.

1: I had a lady put down as a dependent a child named “Fluffy Ball” complete with a birthdate but no Social. I just sat and looked at her like “Are you kidding me?”

2: I had a woman ask me if they could claim her husband’s mistress as a dependent. (He was sitting beside her at the time)

3: I have had so many marriage proposals I have quit counting. (Usually these come after I get them a huge refund or straighten out their messes) I always laugh and tell them to get a grip!

4: I had a guy that handed me his list of deductions for his Lawn Care business. It included his ski boat, new pistol and his new hunting rifle. I politely handed it back to him and told him to start over…

5: I had one guy ask me to move into his office because the phone calls and visits were not helping. He had a mess!

6: I am listed in several of my clients wills as the person to find out where everything is.

7: I had one wife that did not like me because her husband kept telling me he loved me. He got nice returns every year and he didn’t realize I was just doing my job.

8: I have one client that calls me his second wife and she agrees with him. I asked him one day if I was on the insurance policy and he just laughed and winked. (Yikes)

9: One client got angry when he owed tax and stormed out of the office. He returned ten minutes later when his wife brought him back to apologize and pay me a big tip for being an idiot. (Her words not mine, but I was thinking it!)

10: I had a lady ask if I could tell from the tax papers if her husband was having an affair. (No!)

11: For some reason most of my clients think I have a degree in Psychology. I did take it in college, but not my major or minor. They will call and want to get advice. I guess I am just too easy to talk to.

12: The best one was when this lady called and asked if I would handle their tax return. I said no problem, we still had a couple of weeks left in the season. When she arrived she asked me to hold the door for her. I was curious so I held the door as she proceeded to bring in ten large plastic bins full of paperwork. I turned to my assistant and smiled. I charge by the hour to separate tax paperwork over the normal stuff. She then proceeded to tell me they had not filed in 8 years. I had to sit down. The bins had everything from birth certificates, prom pictures and bullets!!!

So how many of you are rushing out now to get that Accounting degree. It is totally hilarious how crazy these people can be. I love it. The marriage proposals bother my husband as some of these men are wealthy, handsome men. I just smile and tell him it keeps him on his toes.

Now you know why I have to lose myself in writing. I have to get it off my brain. Some of it can cause nightmares!!!

SO as always, good writing and God Bless!