editor

Shelfari – hosted by Amazon.com – And All That Other Social Media

Angela2 Comments

I was kind of surprised that I stumbled upon this new book recommending site while reading someone else’s blog, seeing as how I have been using Amazon a few times a week to update book reviews.

It states it is a “community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers.”

Well; that certainly applies to me. And yet; it reminds me a bit of Goodreads.com. So I have to say that I did not register with this site yet. I may, or may not. I have no shame in saying I have enough electronic sites that I struggle to keep up with as it is, so I certainly do not need to add another one right now. If this is a site that takes over the internet and becomes a platform for authors, I will then be left no choice but to sign myself up.

Right now I am going to continue trying to keep my blog(s) alive and thriving, keep better track of my about.me account, finish my profile for my brandyourself.com account, make sure my Google+ account is current, and while I am at it, I may even learn to use my Twitter account so that it is actually an effective tool for me. I have not been on my Pinterest account in who knows how long; my Instagram account has one picture on it after being live for months, and I am pretty sure I created a Flickr.com account for my photography, but as I have not checked back in since I did create it, I am thinking a month or two ago, I hope I remember my log in name.

So how do you handle the Social Media overload? Do you control it, or does it control you?

That One Story You Cannot Let Go

Angela1 Comment

and it took me forever to find it, and thank you Amazon.

Dawn of Desire

My poor Granny has no idea what she did when I “stole” her book from her when I was 11 years old. Yes; over 30 years ago. It was “Dawn of Desire”. By Joyce Verrette. And I read this story over-and-over again. Only to lose it in a basement flood of all things.

And I forgot about it. Yet; I didn’t.

It was the best story I had ever read for my young age.

And still, at 42+ years old, it is one of the stories I will continue to read, over-and-over again.

And after literally checking the internet for years looking for this book; I found it! As well as the 2 following books that were part of this series.

I do not know what happened to Joyce Verrette; but I do know I got these books back in my hands. So Thank You!

When Self-Publishing Fails

Angela11 Comments

What do you do? Did you self-publish, only to find that the platform you used has serious formatting issues?

I have not self-published, as I am keeping my stories locked up tight; for the time being. But I am aware of several self-publishing companies that cater to the writer who wants to be published, and this is the best route. I did not say easiest route, because it is not.

I know Lulu, Blurb, and Createspace are very popular. Wattpad has been getting a lot of attention lately. I know Amazon offers self-publishing, but I have been seeing a lot of fall-out from their pricing and restrictions. The latest is that Amazon is selling merchandise for $0.01 and the sellers cannot do anything about it.

I have read some terrific stories from self-publishers. But I do take offense when a self-publisher wants to blame their shoddy skill of the very difficult English language on their self publisher.

Keep in mind; no matter how chopped up the story was; when your emails are just as chopped up; I am not going to believe this is a server/platform issue.

I have read about 3 horrible stories (yes, horrible) that I could not even read again no matter what the payment was.

I guess what I am saying is this: I wish these self-publishing websites had a way to tell that a story is pure crap and just refuse to publish it. Is the all-mighty dollar worth so much that these companies will publish anything as long as they are getting some kind of profit?

Oh, how the writers of days-gone-by are turning in their graves.

So I guess I would personally like to apologize to Maya Angelou, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and F. Scott Fitzgerald, not to mention so many others.

The Best Christmas Gift For the Man In Your Life!

Angela5 Comments

Unless if he doesn’t like books, that is. This came across my Facebook wall, and I cannot believe such a thing exists!

Due Date Neck Tie

Unfortunately, I did not see anything here for women, per-se, but these neckties are pretty amazing.

You can find their website here: http://cyberoptix.com/products/printedneckties/duedatecard.php

O Holy Night: The Peace of 1914 – Michael Snow

Angela3 Comments

No one wants to think about war when they are trying to focus on Christmas. Generally, I would hope no one likes to think about war at all, although for some it is their life’s work and career to pay attention to just such things.

O Holy Night Cover

So what was going on in the year 1914 at the time and season of Christmas? War. A war that had French and German troops in trenches, on French land, hiding from the other while they at the same time hoped to have to opportunity to destroy them; for most for no other reason than it would save their own life.

It may not be 100% clear who first called for the truce between the troops, but the story tells us that the initial singing of Christmas carols came from the German trenches, and was able to completely silence the other noises of the war-torn night unlike anything else. ‘Silent Night’, sung in German, did just that.

Numerous letters were sent to loved ones from the men who were in these trenches on this Christmas Eve night. Men who were glad to put down their guns, climb out of the trenches, and approach the enemy to shake hands and trade souvenirs. As the first few made those frightening first steps toward the enemy, the others began to do the same, seeing that they were indeed safe in their endeavors. Games were played, food and drink were shared, and mementos traded amongst the soldiers, all who commented to others that the ‘enemy’ was quite alright after all.

This story shares the narrative of these soldiers, as well as some of the letters that were sent home. This is a wonderful story; both comforting as well as something that makes you realize what has been sacrificed for the freedoms we have.

500 Followers! One Happy Girl Here!

Angela10 Comments

Thank you so very much to each and every one of you who have chosen to follow my blog! I could not explain the excitement I feel each time I see I have a new follower; the 500th one was as exciting as the very first one.

500 Hundred Followers

I try to write a blog that is interesting, fun, and informative. I love books; they are my passion, and the stories I have read have been so much a part of my past, present, and certainly my future; I could not imagine a day without my books.

My bedroom is dominated by bookshelves full of books; yet I still have books packed away, stacked on top of others, and never-even-read yet, because I have so many. I am grateful to have 4 daughters who love books as much as me, and I know that is because I read to them from day one, took them to the library every week, and set a good example.

So once again; Thank You so very much! It truly makes me happy to be able to share my joy of books with so many others!

Did Any Of Your Favorites Win A Goodreads Award?

Angela1 Comment

I know I am a few days late, but I have been incredibly busy and just now had a chance to go see who the winners were in the Goodreads Best Books of 2014 contest.

There were a total of 3,317,504 votes placed. 6 of the books I chose won. There were a couple categories I did not vote on because I had no interest in them and had not heard of or read any of the books.

How did your favorites fare? Do you know someone who was a winner this year? I know I have read some great stories this year by new authors who I have no doubt will one day have their books being voted on as well.

I do have more book reviews coming, as well as more author features. My 13 year-old homeschooler has fallen off the wagon on staying on task, so I have been getting up at 4am, going to work for 9 hours a day, and then coming straight home and spending 5 to 6 hours every night helping her get back on track. I could of sworn I successfully made it through the 8th grade, about 30 years ago; it sure feels like I am going through it all over again!

What To Do With That Horrible Book Review You Wrote

Angela13 Comments

Oh. Hello there. I hope you were not coming here to find the answer to what you should do with a horrible book review you wrote, because I have no idea. I actually was hoping someone could tell me.

As I have stated many times, it is not my intention to destroy anyone’s writing career, or write horrible things about their writing abilities. But when you pick up a book, and it was very poorly constructed, how do you avoid that huge problem while focusing your review on the underlying story that was actually pretty good?

If I post a review that I loved it, or even liked it, I destroy my reputation immediately. Trust me, if you saw this book and I gave it a top review and rating, you would think I was off my rocker. Now, the fact that this story had a few top ratings on Amazon also tells me that someone had their family members post reviews for their story. There were no ‘bad’ reviews for this particular story, or even reviews with much needed and deserved constructive criticism.

Book reviews are a touchy subject, especially to the writers who have no control over how the reader is going to interpret what they wrote. Did they understand the point you were trying to make? Did they misunderstand the dialect? Did they not realize the story was intentionally written like that? and on and on and on again…

One of my favorite quotes is about the fact that no two people will ever read the same story. I find it amazing that no one else read Harry Potter and got the same, identical things from it that I did. That is the beauty of books!

As a footnote, I do not want any of my recent authors who have sent me books or whose books I have purchased to panic. This post is NOT about you. I have had a couple people contact me within the last couple of days and I do not want them to think I am talking about their story 🙂 This is a story that I found on my own while I was looking for someone else’s book.

So at this point I am going to hold unto this review. This book is not a new release and I do not believe that more people will purchase this story, and that I did not prevent that from happening by holding unto this review. I want to do some more digging to see if I can find more ‘true’ reviews of this story and then go from there.

As I Finish Up Your Stories…

Angela4 Comments

…I would like to ask that if I had indeed contacted you about reading, reviewing, proofreading, and/or editing your story, and you have not heard from me, to please send me a personal email.

Those whom I am about to review are Marilyn Cohen de Villiers, “A Beautiful Family”, Kate O’Hara, “Aphrodite on the Half Shell”, the 2nd book of “The Universe of God 2: the Chronicles of Jesus”, (twestephens please email me, I am lacking contact information). Also Adan Ramie’s, “Darkness Undone”.

Mary Ellen Deleon, please send me the date of your blog post on the 3 chapters you asked me to read, I can have that done as soon as I hear from you.

CB, I left a reply on my post, please contact me via my email so I know if there are certain ones of your short stories you would like me to look at, and I need your contact information as well.

I also am in the process of reviewing 2nd stories for Caryl McAdoo and Tony Smith.

If I have not mentioned you and had contacted you previously, Please send me an email. I likely just overlooked it, as I know there are books I purchased and are on my nook that I did not list here. Some books I found from reading through your blogs, and you did not necessarily ask for a review; I just found the premise of your story interesting, and wanted to read it!

I also received a couple emails from persons unknown to me, and unless if you put “Book Edit or Review” somewhere in the subject line, I would not have opened it. I do still have them in my inbox, but please send me another email so I know you are someone who has seen my blog post and not a random email virus waiting to infect my laptop!

Thanks so much, I look forward to hearing from you, and Happy Reading!

angi.gibbs@yahoo.com