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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

The Night Shadow – Cheri Vause

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The Night Shadow CoverThis is a great suspense-mystery story, set in the 1960’s. Taking place between California and New York, the attention to details for this decade is excellent, and just one of many things that make this story so enjoyable.

There are many characters in this story, but the story places them in at the right time, without overwhelming you and making you feel like you can no longer keep track of who-is-whom. Very early on I was trying to work out what I thought the ending of the story would be, the who-done-it if I may.

There are twists and turns, and I quickly developed a valued interest in the main characters, Esther and Mac. There is tragedy, illness, murder, deception, hatred, and many other vices sprinkled throughout the story that made me stay up much later than I should of just because I needed to know what was going to happen next.

I can honestly say at one point I was brought to tears, and that does not very often happen to me from a book. Of course I never had it figured out, but those are the ones that make the best stories, wouldn’t you agree?

I would recommend you get this book as soon as possible. Just make sure you have the free time to read it, because once you start, you will not want to put it down!

Cheri is a theologian, a photographer, and an author. She is the proud mother of 2 sets of twins, born on the same date, 14 years apart! She currently lives in Texas with her husband and dogs, Scully and Mulder.

There’s Nothing Like A Day of Illness…

Angela4 Comments

…to make a person appreciate how wonderful it is to feel, well, wonderful! My first official day of my 9 days off for Thanksgiving break, yesterday, consisted of me vomiting, dry-heaving, sweating, shaking, cold-sweats, and a headache from Hades that I could not take anything for, because it would not stay down anyhow.

So I did not get any of my reading or reviews done, at least not like I had thought I would. I never left the vicinity of my bedroom-bathroom until about 6pm, and managed to eat some jello! Which lead to taking some ibuprofen, and a cup of Thera-flu. I feel spectacular today, and am taking advantage of it. So I was up at 6am making cupcakes, cleaned the house, and got groceries at 8am before the stores got crazy busy. It is a trip to Allendale to visit my oldest, and then off to the movies with my youngest two to watch Mockingjay. My 16 year old is having a whirlwind visiting spree with her Father and extended family.

I have 8 more days off, and besides helping my homeschooler, I have a whole lot of books to get read, and I have every intention of getting it done 🙂

Wishing you a warm, healthy, Blessed Sunday full of comfort and a good book to read!

More reviews coming soon, and my next giveaway will begin, tomorrow! Stay tuned 🙂

Friday Feature – Author Andrea Hintz!

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Andrea Hintz Profile Picture

Andrea Hintz has loved writing her whole life. She began college at the age of thirteen and graduated at seventeen with a Bachelor’s in Public Management and Administration. Having endless stacks of books, she has a particular interest in fiction genres that contain lots of adventure and take her to other places of the world. She has written many books, including the books in The Tesoro Series. Andrea also plays the guitar, sings, and has written notebooks and notebooks full of songs and book ideas. Her favorite books were very special to her growing up, and she believes that if at least one reader feels that way about her work, she will have successfully done her job as an author.

Tesoro Book 1 Cover Image

You can find Tesoro I: Secrets of the Hidden Treasure Book on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Tesoro-Secrets-Hidden-Treasure-Book-ebook/dp/B00M2C545U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416519722&sr=8-1&keywords=Andrea+hintz

Tesoro II: Secrets of a Captain’s Journal was released on November 2, 2014. Now is the perfect time to grab both books at once!

Be sure to visit Andrea’s Website, found here: https://sites.google.com/site/andreahintzauthor/home

On Hearing of My Mother’s Death Six Years After It Happened – Lori Schafer

Angela6 Comments

One can only wonder what would lead someone to not know of their mother’s passing until such a long time after the fact. And then you read this story.

It touches you, and it moves you. It makes you angry, and hopeful. You do not feel sorry for the main character, you just feel sad. Sad that someone would have to go through such a difficult situation. Sad that someone was robbed of a loving mother due to an illness that affects so many, and is yet so hard for most to talk about.

The author is not looking for sympathy, or anyone to feel sorry for her. She does not have a “woe-is-me” attitude. She made the best out of a very tough situation, and persevered; succeeded; beat the odds when so many others would have given up.

Have you felt true fear? The type of fear that comes from within you and makes every nerve in your body alive as if electrified over and over again? This is the sense of fear you feel as you read about a girl whose mother went to school with her every day, convinced someone was going to harm her. And she was the only one harming her. Calm and normal one minute, angry and physically violent the next.

On Hearing of my Mother's Death Cover Image

Running away from home, living on the streets, knowing true hunger not for days on end, but for months on end. This was still better than living at home.

This is a story of mental illness, strength, and unending determination. A story about what one young woman did to survive when she had no other choice. It is a story about a disease that is only talked about behind closed doors, with only the closest of relatives. This was a subject you did not want your friends and neighbors knowing about. But of course they did know. How could they not?

If you have ever experienced mental illness in your personal life, you do not want to pass up this story. It is an easy read, not full of medical jargon that has you reaching for a dictionary. I have been witness to this type of behavior in a loved one, and the effects can be truly devastating to a family. It is time to start talking about mental illness, and stop ignoring it. It does not go away. It will not go away.

Look for this story on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N0WYHDQ/

Find further information on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23275192

Edge of Darkness (Submit to Darkness Book 1) – AJ Spencer

Angela1 Comment

This story was a great read for me, and I had in finished within 24 hours. It is fast-paced, with characters that are well-developed and detailed descriptions that easily have you watching this story in your mind as you are reading it. You can see the characters, and you have empathy for them. Well, some of them. Derik Ryder; not so much.

Edge of Darkness Cover

Natasha Stolt is new on the case of the Serial Killer known to the public as Grimm, due to his fascination with staging his victims in a Fairy Tale type of scene, making a point that Natasha recognizes right away.

Her partner, Giovanni Tagliente, seems to have something to hide. I have a feeling book 2 is going to be a bit more sinister than this, and the lines are going to be drawn in the sand between what is good, and what is evil, and exactly where Natasha stands on that line between darkness and good.

I will certainly be finishing the next two books of this story; it is spectacularly written with a storyline and plot that will have many looking deep inside themselves to see if they are 100 percent sure of exactly where they stand on that line between darkness and good as well.

(This book comes with a warning disclaimer due to the graphic nature and violence of the story. It is justly earned so if reading graphic novels that include violence against women in every possible sense of the word is upsetting to you, this book is not for you).

You can find this book on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Darkness-Submit-Book-ebook/dp/B00NLPCIV0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416346897&sr=8-1&keywords=Edge+of+darkness+AJ+Spencer

The Mystery of Orcival – Emile Gaboriau

Angela2 Comments

What a great book, by an author I have never heard of. Emile Gaboriau lived and died in the 19th century, and writes in the style that you would liken to Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved Sherlock Holmes.

Orcival Cover Image

Monsieur Lecoq is a detective of rare form, the kind whom not the tiniest fact can slip past. He lives in France, and the crime thtat took place at Orcival is complicated, full of twists and turns, and certainly a great read, if you are into those kinds of stories.

I would not say it was an easy read by any means, but I did enjoy the story, and am glad that I read it. Detective Lecoq does much more than assist the local police as they try to figure out a baffling crime of murder, mystery, and deceit. They know that one murder has taken place. But there may be as many as three, since key players are missing, presumed dead, and Detective Lecoq is not buying it.

This is a story where you will need to adjust your “reading” for the nuances of stories written in the 19th century, where instead of “Monsieur”, you will see M. I have another of Emile Gaboriau’s Lecoq stories to read, but that will not be happening anytime before Christmas.

Do you enjoy these types of stories, written “way-back-when”?