Thankful for reviews…

How can you be thankful for bad reviews? Well, when I get a bad review I notice an increase in sales. Odd, but true. I have realized that I have a bad review stalker. When I get a really good review on one of my books, they follow with a very mean and vindictive review. They always say the same thing, just change the words around. This time they added a paragraph telling how bad my grammar is and that a five year old could do better.

At first I was angry, then I realized that with all the good reviews on this one book, this one only showed a vindictive nature to this reviewer. They even gave me one star, why even give a star at all if it was that bad. If you’re going to review someone’s work, try to be a little less vindictive. It makes the review a lot more real. When you start slinging mud, it only makes the review worthy of nothing but mean spirited emotions.

Not sure why this one person keeps reading my books if they are so awful. If they even read my books. According to two of the reviews the comments totally don’t match the book or it’s content. Oh well, life goes on and we live another day to write for the people that truly enjoy our work and write nice reviews.

As Thanksgiving rolls around tomorrow, I’m thankful for those that take reviewing books seriously and know how to handle even the bad reviews. Thanks to my fan base that I thankfully am building, my books continue to sell at a slight upward trend. Not retire from day job pace, but a make the author happy pace.

As always good writing and May God bless.

Children in need for Christmas…

This post is about something near and dear to my heart. Children. Our Church adopts a needy family every year for Christmas. We all donate gifts and money to make sure the family has a nice Christmas. Even food is donated for their Christmas meal.

Well, I called yesterday to the local Family and Children service and spoke with the wonderful lady that helps us make this possible every year. She informed me that this year the biggest need was for foster children. She said a record number of children have gone into foster care this year. My heart heaved a sigh and tears pricked at my eyes.

She went on to ask how many we could help. I was sorry to say only three since we are a small Church. We always try to do our best to do more, but we have our limits. She was more that excited that we were taking three small children. She sent me their ages, first names and wish lists. As I read the wish lists I started to cry. They were so simple and sweet. It broke my heart to know these precious children would be without family for Christmas.

So my wish is to help these three have a wonderful Christmas so they won’t lose the spirit of Christmas.  Christmas is so special in the eyes of children. I remember the feeling of going to bed on Christmas Eve and knowing when I woke presents would cover the floor. I was lucky. It breaks my heart to know so many children around the world will go to sleep on Christmas Eve hoping they at least have something to wake up to. Presents are not what Christmas is all about, but to a child it is.

So if you get a chance, please help someone in need for Christmas.

As always good writing and May God bless you.

Give Thanks Sale!

Go on Smashwords.com and purchase 3 of my books at 25% off each. This sale will be through November 24th.

It’s my way of saying Thanks to all of you! Inspire some romance in someone’s life with the gifting option through Smashwords. Maybe you need a little romance in your life right now.

 

 

 

 

Moonbeam & Roses

Get 25% OFF at Smashwords.com by using coupon code HB52D

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/180924

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghost Lover

Get 25% OFF at Smashwords.com by using coupon code FP59Y

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/212795

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Love Never Lost

Get 25% OFF at Smashwords.com by using coupon code VH33A

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/240288

Week of Thanks…

It’s Thanksgiving week if you haven’t looked at your calendar. This year has flown by. I was sitting in Church yesterday which is an oddity for me because normally I’m downstairs with the children. It was a special Thanksgiving service, so I brought the older children upstairs for the sermon.

The band started singing a song called “Thank You”. It really hit me that as a whole we are not thankful enough for what we have. I was humbled at the thought. So many of us, me included, are so busy that we don’t take time to be thankful for what we take for granted. Here is my list of things I’m thankful for.

1: First and foremost I’m thankful for a forgiving Savior, because I need forgiveness.

2: My wonderful family. I am biased, but I have the most special family. I have a great husband who supports me in all I do and a wonderful son who helps me with anything I need and he’s a great kid.

3: My business. I own a accounting business and it is right beside my house. How many can just walk out the door and be at work in 30 seconds.

4: My writing. I am thankful for the fact that I can publish my writing and people will buy it. It has been a wild ride.

5: Definitely my friends. I have some great friends and that includes my blog friends, my twitter friends and as I call them my cyber friends. I treasure the conversations we have.

Take some time this week to be thankful for what you have. As always, good writing and May God bless you.

 

The birth of a novel.

Have you ever read a novel and wondered what the author was thinking about when they wrote the first word? Like what was Charlotte Bronte thinking when she started Jane Eyre or J.K. Rowling when she started Harry Potter? Did they know at the moment of the first word that it would be a success?

As I started my last novel I was thinking, will someone want to read this. Will it make the New Your Best Sellers list? I typed the first word and suddenly the words were flowing from my fingers. It was as though the story had to be written and I’d been chosen to write it. I knew what had to be said and what the characters had to go through to get to the words The End.

As the story evolved I became immersed in the lives of the characters. It was as though I was watching the story from a distance. I could see the house, the people, the horses, and feel the pain, love or just happiness. I even cried at one point which is so in character with myself.

To make the great novel what do you do? You put everything inside you on paper. You leave nothing unsaid and no feeling unfelt. I’m not saying my novel is the great novel by any stretch of the mind, but instead I’m saying it could be to me or maybe a fan of my writing. I can dream of the day it soars to life in someone else’s heart.

The one thing I hope to achieve from my writing, other than making a little extra money, I hope to take the reader to another world, another time and help them to experience love through my characters. My Christian series was created to help others cope with something in their life. My romance novels were created to inspire romance. Everyone needs it.

So as I close this post, I glance out my window and watch the sun shine on the golden leaves as they fall from the trees. My mind is working on the novel at my fingertips and I smile. Maybe one day after I’m gone, someone will read my books and say, “I wonder what she was thinking as she wrote these words.”

As always good writing and May God bless you.