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Kuhstedtermoor – Helen Waldron

AngelaLeave a comment

Kuhstedtermoor by Helen Waldron is certainly a book that is different than what I would normally read. At least I thought so at first. I was unsure what to expect when reading a story set in Germany, with some German words and dialect thrown in, as I am not familiar with Germany, per-se.

Kuhstedtermoor in the Winter. Courtesy of Helen Waldron.
Kuhstedtermoor in the Winter. Courtesy of Helen Waldron.

I was very pleasantly surprised as I was at the beginning of the story, and kept saying to myself, “just one more chapter!” It pulled me in right from the start, and it took some chaotic Christmas holiday events and personal family issues to make me put the story down for more than a day.

This story is written in the first-person, but you also get to experience the intertwining lives of the people in this small German town on a very personal level. On the outside, it appears as any regular run-of-the-mill small town where everyone knows everybody, including their secrets. But not all of their secrets.

Each character is intertwined with the next, but it did not feel cluttered or complicated. It felt like I was observing the people of Kuhstedtermoor from the outside, looking in. A silent watcher of the personal triumphs and tragedies of the townspeople, like seeing someone on the wrong path that you know you cannot help.

My almost-strict rule of no spoilers holds true for this story, but I will give you the scenario. A woman, new to Kuhstedtermoor, slowly gets to know the residents, even though she feels like an outsider; so very different from everyone else who lives there. As one young girl goes missing, the town gathers to search for her. With no trace or clues, the woman continues to watch, observe, and try to fit in. Gossip is idle, and contagious, and then girl #2 disappears.

You hope for the best, while expecting the worst, and will be turning pages until you get to the ending! At 22 chapters, this is a quick read (minus any personal-life interruptions!) and you will be glad you spent your time getting to know the residents of Kuhstedtermoor.

Kuhstedtermoor is the first part of The History Lovers trilogy and Helen Waldron’s first novel.

Helen Waldron Portrait light 6

Helen works as an English Language Coach in Hamburg and has created a blog about the day-to-day business of two such language professionals which can be found here: http://speakeasyandwritewell.wordpress.com/.

Are You A New Author? I Want To Read Your Story!

Angela34 Comments

*UPDATE* 11-30-2014*

*I want to thank everyone that was willing to allow me a peek at your in-process, about-to-be-published, and published stories for me to review and edit when requested. I am down to a minimum of stories to still get finished, and it will not be a long process from here on out. As of today, I will not be accepting any more stories for editing and reviewing through this blog. This is strictly due to the fact that I want to finish up the stories I have left to do, as well as begin reconstructing my blog, or likely setting up a website, where I can strictly offer these services. With Christmas 4 weeks away, I want to make sure I do not overwhelm myself as I prepare for a very busy 15 more days at my company before our year ends, as well as getting my home-schooler squared away and on task before the new year begins. Thank you again for all of the responses, I have gotten to read some absolutely fabulous stories, and made some friends along the way as well! I hope as I get closer to setting up a website that I can call on those of you whose stories I reviewed for honest feedback on my abilities to proofread/edit!*

I will in the very near future be offering my knowledge and skills for proofreading (usage and formatting), editing (line and copy), sentence and paragraph structure, plots (and those plot holes we all dislike so much), point of view, structure of the story, and other services the author deems necessary to publish the best, most polished book they can.

There are some things you may, or may not know, about editors. They love books. They really, truly love books. They also love authors. They love that you are making this sacrifice and commitment to get the written word out to the masses, and an editor wants to help you with that. An editor really can help you publish the book of your dreams; a book you are going to be proud to market, autograph, and host release parties for.

I have to date reviewed numerous books I have read by choice, and books I have been asked to review. I have met many great new authors who truly deserve to be famous in the world of books. In that aspect, I am not asking or expecting you to give me your book for free in exchange for an honest review. I go to the bookstore all the time and buy books by authors I have never heard of, because I like the summary of the story, and the cover caught my eye. With that being said, I also do not have the means currently to be spending hundreds of dollars on books in order to review them.

In return for my review, I would like an honest review on my proofreading and editing abilities. If you want someone to find any spelling or grammatical errors, I am that person. Are you not sure if you are writing in the proper point of view for the story? I can fix that. Plot holes? I can make them disappear.

So you would probably like to know what exactly makes me a qualified editor for your work that you have invested so much of your time and talents on, correct? Correct.

I love the English language. I love everything about our complicated, hardest-language-to-learn in the world. I love spelling complicated words, and how a sentence can be structured to be an amazing line of thought-provoking letters and punctuation. I am currently working on my MBA, and have portfolios of all papers written for my previous 2 college degrees. I have maintained a GPA of 3.83 to 4.0. That 3.83 was courtesy of Statistics classes. Yikes!

I read to learn, so I have vast fields of knowledge in various areas that may be of benefit to you. I love history and everything about it. From the Civil War to now, if it is out there and I found it, I read or watched it. Mythology and various religions have also been areas of study for various classes and research papers. I love to research information, and document it. Are you citing someone else’s information? I can make sure you are protected from any possible instances of plagiarism. If you need to add information but you are not 100% sure it is correct, I can find and fix it for you.

If you are interested in an honest review of your book, I would love to review it! I do not post a review that I was asked to provide without the author first seeing it. It is not my intention to harm anyone’s future as a famous writer. I will also provide the review to Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook, your blog, website, or publishers website. If you want it posted somewhere specific, you just need to let me know.

I can be contacted in the comment section to this blog, or reached at angi.gibbs@yahoo.com. This is my personal email address, and any instances of spam will be immediately deleted, and you will be blocked from any access to my emails or blog. Thank you for your understanding!

I look forward to great readings and reviews to come!