Sunshine Blogger Award!

This is a morning to smile. I have just been awarded the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" by the incredibly amazing Jeff Whelan, author of the quirky, fabulous, fun space opera, Space Orville. Check out the link below for Jeff's awesome blog and his post about the award. Jeff gave this award to ten bloggers, so I'm in great company. Be sure to visit all those wonderful blogs. The links are on Jeff's post.

The incredibly amazing Jeff Whelan.

One of the key things in getting this award is to answer ten questions. So here are my responses.


1) What is your passion? That's an easy one, my grandkids. My grandson is six and a half and already a great reader. My identical twin granddaughters are almost four. They're all passionate about books, just like me. My passion for books is what inspires me to write.

2) Favorite time of year? I'd have to say summer. I love the warm weather and cerulean blue skies. Here on the Florida Gulf Coast that also means awesome beach days. I've been in love with the beach since I was a little bitty kid. I love sand between my toes and gentle surf.

3) Favorite book? Now this is a hard one. I have sooooo many favorite books, so narrowing it down to one is extremely difficult. Can I cheat and list two? My absolute favs are: The Moonspinners by Mary Stewart and Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey. I've read both of those books more times than I can count. If I was going to cheat even more and add a third it would be The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell.

4) Favorite movie? Oh no! Another hard one. One movie? How could I possibly narrow it down to one? Well, I'm going to cheat again and list two favs: Breakfast at Tiffany's and Friendly Persuasion. Yes, I've watched those more times than I can count. I have to include a third, Casablanca.

5) Favorite animal? This one is easy, dogs. I currently have two, Shani and Dude, and I blog about them and post their pics all the time. I've had dogs since I was a baby. They're all about unconditional love, something we all need.

6) Favorite time of day? I love the sunshine, but my favorite time happens to be the middle of the night. I'm a night-owl and much of my inspiration comes to me in the darkest, quiet hours. It's also the best time to read, write or play on the net.

7) Favorite flower? Gardenia. The smell is awesome! Roses are a close second.

8) Favorite non-alcoholic beverage? Coffee, coffee and more coffee. I'll drink it black, but I prefer a dollop of milk. If I don't care about the calories, half-and-half or cream is even better. My daily fav is 100% Columbian. However, I went to Jamaica twice and fell in love with Blue Mountain Coffee. If I could afford it, I'd drink that every day.

9) Favorite physical activity? Reading. No kidding, reading is about the most active I get these days. In days of yore I used to swim, surf, water-ski, snow-ski, backpack, bike, baseball, tennis, climb trees and even run. But back surgery in 2004, osteoarthritis and degenerative back disease have slowed me down a bit. Well, my dogs do take me for a walk now and then, but they prefer car rides.

10) Favorite vacation? This is an easy one. Several years back my husband and I, along with his sister and her husband, took a three week, five thousand mile road-trip through Australia and the Outback. We drove from Melbourne along the Great Ocean Road, Port Campbell, the wine country in Barossa Valley, looking for opals in Coober Pedy, climbed Ayers Rock/Uluru in the Red Center, then north on the Stuart Highway through Alice Springs, Mataranka, Tennant Creek and Katherine to Darwin on the north coast. Then we explored Kakadu, which is awesome. Then south again back to Tennant Creek and east through the heart of the Outback stations to Mt. Isa and then to Queensland and the exotic coast: Port Townsend, Cairns and the Daintree Rainforest. We even managed a day-long boat trip out to the Great Barrier Reef. Whew! That was a lot of traveling for three weeks time. I have awesome photos and movies of the trip and incredible memories. For those who might ask, our trip was very economical considering all the places we visited. No tour guides, just a good rental camper-van and an adventurous spirit. This trip was the inspiration for my contemporary romance novel, Outback Love, which includes many of the awesome places we visited. Would we do it again? If we had the money, you betcha!

Now here's the cool part of the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" I get to pass this award on to some other cool, awesome, incredible, amazing bloggers. So here are the ones I picked (in no particular order):

1) Julie's Chick Lit

2) Ellis Vidler's Unpredictable Muse

3) Molly Greene: Writer

4) Peggy Eddleman - Will Write for Cookies

5) Onisha Ellis - Old Things R New

6) Tim Vicary (Three Blogs)

The above are just a few of many awesome bloggers out there.

Now assuming the above bloggers have time to receive the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" all you need to do is answer the ten questions below and select up to ten of your own favorite bloggers to receive the award.

1)  What is your passion?
2)  Favorite time of year?
3)  Favorite book?
4)  Favorite movie?
5)  Favorite animal?
6)  Favorite time of day?
7)  Favorite flower?
8)  Favorite non-alcoholic beverage?
9)  Favorite physical activity?
10) Favorite vacation?

I want to thank Jeff Whelan for honoring me with the "Sunshine Blogger Award!" It's so cool to have my blog noticed and enjoyed by other bloggers. It was also a lot of fun putting this post together. For those of you reading this post, I hope you'll check out the great blogs listed above.

A Tale of Two Stories

Flowers on my patio.

I just finished reading two books, both "tall tales" so unbelievable, so poorly written, so poorly edited that I wanted to throw them across the room. However, I was reading them on my new Kindle Fire, which my husband gave me on my birthday back in July. Let it be known, I love my Kindle Fire, so I couldn't bring myself to throw it across the room. On the the other hand ... yeah, on the other hand, I was very irritated after reading each of these books.

I buy a lot of books. In fact, I buy more books than I really should, but I love books. I'm passionate about books. Yes, I admit, I'm addicted to books. So here's the deal. I spent good money on both of those books and though the cost was minimal, I did feel a bit cheated.

Here's my beef. I keep hearing about how Indie books are crap. Yes, there are people out there who use that exact word or worse. These same people rave about how traditionally published books are edited by a zillion of the best editors out there, which makes those books superior. Then there are some Indies, or should I say self-published (as some insist they're not Indies, but self-published), who claim to spend tons of money to have their books edited by the best editors in the business and, therefore, their books are superior to those not edited by the best of the best. If you can afford a high-priced editor, that's great, though most of us Indies or self-pubs don't have that kind of money. But that's all neither here nor there.

Okay, there are great editors and not-so-great editors. I'm not attacking editors here, just saying that some are better than others. Also, some self-editors are better than some paid editors, but that really isn't my issue either. What I'm saying is, the best editor in the world can't "make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." If the story itself is crap, absurd, awful, terrible, you pick the word(s) you want to use, then the book falls short. In other words, the book itself is something not worth reading.

Now, as I was saying, I recently read two books, one by an Indie and one by a traditionally published author I've read through the years and have loved. Both books were so bad that I'm still steaming. Yes, that is steam coming out of my ears.

Here's the deal. If you are writing a book that has as its central theme, setting, what-have-you, around a true event (contemporary or historical) then get your facts right. A reader will probably (not always) accept your tall tale if you get the facts right. For the two books in question, the facts were so skewed they must have been written about a parallel universe.

I'll be the first to admit that fiction is not reality. Fiction is a story, make-believe, yes, a tall tale. But there is a difference here. I've read many a tall tale that was awesome. In my opinion, what makes a book great is when the reader can somehow identify with one or more elements of the story. Hopefully the hero or heroine is someone you can identify with or admire. Or maybe it's the setting that is so real, that the unbelievable characters seem to fit in okay.

The problem comes in when the facts are skewed beyond recognition, the characters are so unbelievable and/or have no redeeming features and the action is beyond the possible. That's when a book falls flat. That's when a reader feels cheated.

I will in future be even more selective of the books I decide to read. My time is precious and I don't want to waste a minute of it reading a book that leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. As a reader, I expect a book to have some redeeming features. I expect a book to be edited, not necessarily to perfection, but at least enough to make it readable. I expect at least one character to have something about them that I admire, can identify with, or at least can have compassion for that poor soul. I expect the storyline to at least be something I can swallow.

If the book is science-fiction, paranormal or fantasy, then as a reader I expect unreality, magic, the fantastic. But if the book is a contemporary, and your story is set around something that really happened, then I expect some truths. The same goes with a historical. Get the facts right and a reader will accept your tall tale if it's not too unbelievable.

I have to say that I read a lot of books. Most are good or very good and many are excellent. I read books by Indie authors and traditionally published authors. I do not expect a book to be perfect, but I do expect a good read. I make allowances for a book not being in my favorite genre. In fact, I've read a lot of great books that are not what I normally would read. It's the story that makes it great.

Now I want to explain why I chose the above photo to illustrate this post. The yellow and gold flowers are mums, recognizable flowers you can buy at most any store that sells flowers. The purple and white flowers are wildflowers. They are both beautiful. In my mind, Indie books are the wildflowers and traditionally published books are the store-bought flowers. They are both beautiful, exquisite, meant to be enjoyed.

What I ask of all authors, myself included, is to write that beautiful flower of a book. Make it the best story that you can. Edit it (either self-edit or professionally edit) the best possible. If it's an eBook, then format it correctly. If you can't do it yourself, then get someone to help you. There are guidelines out there that walk you through every step of the formatting process. Granted some books will be edited or formatted better than others. I admit, it's all a learning process, but honestly try to get it right, or at least readable. Check all your facts. You might miss something, but if you get the basic facts right, your reader will most likely overlook the rest.  Then write the best story you possibly can.

Below are some books that I've read over the last year that particularly stand out in my mind. They may or may not be perfect in all respects, but every one of them was a great read. So here are some of them (listed in no particular order).

Wool (Omnibus Edition) by Hugh Howey
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Emotional Waves by Maureen A. Miller
The Circle by R. G. Lawrence
Golden Boy by R. G. Lawrence
Judgement Tramp by J. D. Currie
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Desert Wives by Betty Webb
Mark of the Loon by Molly Greene
SEAL of My Dreams by Stephanie Bond, et. al.
One Small Fib by Jan Romes
Lucky Ducks by Jan Romes
Bluewater Killer by C. L. R. Dougherty
Runaway Twins by Pete Palamountain
Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot
Conor's Way by Laura Lee Guhrke
Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer
Come Back to Me by Melissa Foster
The Righteous (Righteous Series - Bks 1-3) by Michael Wallace
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Drinking with Dead Women Writers  by Elaine Abrose & A. K. Turner
The Independence of Carolyn Woltkowski by Benjamin X. Wretlind
Sullivan's War by Michael K. Rose
A Shore Thing (Otter Bay) by Marie Force
Dead Until Dark (A Sookie Stackhouse Novel) by Charlaine Harris
Mai Tai One On by Jill Marie Landis
Eyewall by H. W. "Buzz" Bernard

I'm sure I've left some out of the list above. This is by no means all the great books I've read over the past year. Sorry, but I didn't include any of the great short stories that I've been reading lately. I only wanted to list novels, novellas and anthologies in this list.

What am I reading now? Well, I'm almost always reading more than one book. So at this very moment I'm reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which I read back in my college days and decided to reread. I'm also reading Sketches from the Spanish Mustang by Benjamin X. Wretlind, which is awesome.

I hope that other readers will comment below and add some of their recommended great reads. There are so many great books out there and not nearly enough time in which to read them all.

PLEASE NOTE: I did not, will not, ever leave a bad review anywhere for these two unnamed books.  Both had some redeeming features or I wouldn't have read them. I'm just very disappointed. They could have been so much better with a little more effort. As a rule, I don't write bad reviews on books. If I can't write a good/nice review, then I don't review the book. So please forgive me, but this time I just had to vent.

The Road to Indie

My old Mustang on the road to Indie.

The road to Indie is a long and winding one. It is one filled with twists and turns, pot-holes and ruts, washed-out roads and ones that often end abruptly at the top of a precarious cliff. You quickly learn to make quick turns, back-up, swerve and go bump-de-bump over rocky roads. That's what it takes to get to Indie.

I started out young, optimistic and terribly naive/blind. Yeah, way back in my grade-school days I was sure I'd be an author someday.

I remember meeting the children's author, Scott O'Dell, when I was just a kid. Mom took me to the big library in the town next to ours. That's where Scott O'Dell was doing his book signing. Mom bought me a copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins, which Mr. O'Dell promptly signed.  I still have my signed copy of that wonderful book. Anyway, I shook hands with Mr. O'Dell and explained to him that I was going to be an author some day. He was kind enough to tell me that he hoped I'd get to do just that.

Well, the road to Indie meandered on after that. I entered the 4th grade and won a 4th runner up in an American Legion essay contest titled, "What the American Flag Means to Me." That win entitled me to ride on the American Legion float in the 4th of July parade in the tiny little southern California town where I grew up. Wow! Sitting on that float and waving to the crowds of people was an awesome experience. I thought I was well on my way to being a genuine author. By the way, the road for the parade route was a great big square around the park in the center of our town.

When I reached middle-school age I volunteered one summer at a mental facility, Pacific State Hospital. Those were the days when kids who were diagnosed with Down's Syndrome or  hydrocephalus were put in hospitals, something that is still shocking to me today. I wrote a short story about the kids I met there. It was a heart-breaking story about throw-away children who were no longer loved. The road to that hospital was a winding one through the hills.

As a teen I wrote a short story about my maternal grandmother, Viola, who was stricken with polio at the age of sixteen and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. The story was about Viola's collie, Lady, who died of a broken heart because she wasn't allowed to be with my grandmother when she was in the fevered throes of her disease.  The road back to my grandmother's childhood was one fraught with sadness.

I graduated from high school at the age of sixteen, a month before my seventeenth birthday. I'd managed to squeeze four years of high school into three and so graduated a year early. I was in such a rush to get into college, that I enrolled in the summer quarter and started college just three years after my graduation day. Back then I travelled the roads in the hand-me-down Mustang my parents gave me for my senior year in high school. Those were rocky roads over stream beds, switch-back roads up to Mount Baldy and down the Glendale Mountain Road, and the winding narrow roads to the California beaches where I surfed and lazed in the sun.

I entered college via the backdoor. I had to agree to be a Biology major even though I wanted a degree in English. Don't get me wrong, I like biology, but had no intention in heading down that career path. So after two quarters I petitioned to change my degree. My college counselor had a fit. If I wanted to change my major, it needed to be a degree in Business. What the heck? A hopeful author didn't get a Business degree. In fact, I would have preferred a degree in Journalism, but Cal Poly, the state college closest to my home, didn't offer degrees in Journalism. Well, I won out and changed my major to English. So the first road I took to college was one of many obstacles and detours.

In my early college years I was writing short stories and poems and submitting them right and left. All I managed to get published was one poem in an obscure literary journal. Somewhere through the years I lost my copies of that journal. Oh, well. I still remember the poem and love it to this day.

About this time I took the road to marriage and a baby and had to drop out of college. Life got in the way and it was many years before I was able to finish my college degree. In the meantime, I kept on writing. More short stories. Lots of short stories. I remember one from those years, "Blue Roses," about a woman standing up for her rights. I gathered rejection letters in those early years. The rejection letters pointed out that the market for short stories was declining, that even though my stories were quite good, there was no market for them. So the roads those days were road-blocked.

At twenty-six I was finally able to go back to college to finish that degree I'd started so many years before. The same guidance counselor tried to push me once again into that Business degree. At least get a double major, he'd said. So I took those business courses and didn't much care for them. English Lit and Shakespeare were my thing. Well, I'd made my way around one of those dreaded road-blocks.

Around that time I'd started writing my first novel, a suspense thriller about a woman who was high-jacked on her sailboat and taken south to Mexico. I made the serious mistake of having one of my college professors read the first five chapters. His response a few days later was that it was the worst novel he'd ever read. OMG! That was heavy criticism. I went home, gathered up everything I'd written up to that point with the exception of my poetry, and burned it all.  My road had reached a fiery dead end.

A couple weeks later my professor stopped me in the quad. He wanted to apologize. He explained that he'd been thinking about my novel over the last couple weeks and he'd decided I actually could write. Sheepishly he acknowledged that suspense thrillers weren't his thing, but he had to admit that my novel was a really good one and to keep writing. What the heck? I thanked him, but didn't bother to mention that I'd burned everything, including all my notes. I realized then that on some roads you can get blind-sided.

I never tried to recreate that first novel or the stories I'd destroyed. I considered that a learning experience. Don't ever take the criticism of any one person too seriously. Everyone has an opinion. Take what you can from the advice and keep on writing. So I'd learned the hard way, if one road is closed, try another.

In my final year of college I attended a lecture by Ray Bradbury. I was in awe, totally mesmerized by his every word. Fortunately, I got to meet him afterwards. He held my hand and looked me in the eye and assured me that he knew I'd be an author someday. I already wrote a more detailed blog post about the wonderful Ray Bradbury, so be sure to check it out. Anyway, let it be known that he pointed me in the direction of a road that looked promising if I cared to venture down that winding lane.

I finished college with a BA in English and moved from southern California to Florida. I needed new roads to travel, ones in the land of sunshine and paradise. Besides, Hemingway found inspiration in Florida and I could too. The roads in Florida headed south to the land of Hemingway and Key West. I was sure my dream of being an author was closer than ever.

Before leaving California I'd started my next novel, a contemporary romance, The Sailor's Way. I was going to do it the right way this time. I attended writer's conferences and even met with an agent. I met other authors who were published via Harlequin and Silhouette. I read everything I could about writing. I studied my craft. I was a wife, a mother, worked full time and wrote late at night and weekends. I was on my way with an open road up ahead.

I sent the partial for The Sailor's Way off to that agent I'd met in California. She'd agreed to read it and I was elated. Weeks later I got the rejection letter, "If I'd only worked with you from the beginning." Excuse the language, but WTF? The beginning of what? The beginning of time? I boxed up my novel and put it in the back of the closet, underneath my shoes and other paraphernalia. Obviously I didn't know how to write. Yep, another road-block and this time a big one.

Some people never give up. I happen to be one of them. Yeah, some of us like to beat our head against a brick wall. We don't take no for an answer. Yep, we dream, and we dream big. So I kept on writing. I wrote a bunch of short stories and sent them off every which way. I gathered rejection letters, none of them helpful. "If you were a known writer we'd consider your story." Huh? Well, I had to get published first to be known and that apparently wasn't going to happen. More road-blocks.

My favorite rejection letters at that time were for the same short story, "Harry's Garden." The letters arrived on the same day. One said, "I loved the first half of your story." The other said, "I loved the second half of your story." Now why couldn't those two get together and like the whole story? Well, not to be deterred, I kept on writing and studying my craft. After all, if there were two editors out there who loved half a story of mine, there had to be someone who would love a full story. Gee, I could see a clear road up ahead, if I could just get past that hairpin curve.

That's when I started writing my big novel, a dystopian view of the future, all 899 double-spaced pages. For eighteen months I wrote late into the night and every weekend. My husband helped me work through the plot and willingly added some great scenes and dialogue. My "baby" was born, ten full pounds of paper.

I sent out queries, partials and one time, at the request of an agent, the whole ten pound novel. Months passed and I gathered one rejection letter after another. None of them had anything constructive to say about my novel. The general consensus was, "This can never happen." The story was set in 2020 and although I hate to admit it, many of the things I wrote about all those years ago have already happened. Well, I boxed up that novel and added it to my other writing residing in my closet. I got out a map and started looking for a better road.

About this time I got back two rejection letters that led me down another road. One said that if only I was a known author they'd consider my novel. Gee, I'd heard that one before. But it also meant that maybe my writing was okay. So how did I get known? Another rejection letter advised that I needed to write a short novel in order to get published and then I could get the long one published. So I started working on a short one, this time a historical romance set in Virginia City, Nevada. I was travelling an old wagon-rutted road this time.

My husband, daughter and I had just moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Talk about new roads! I figured I'd hit the jackpot there and finally get published. I just had to write the perfect romance novel and it would be a done deal. I joined RWA and the Cactus Rose Chapter of RWA, attended writing conferences, met an assortment of published and aspiring authors, belonged to a critique group, etc. I kept on writing and writing and writing. In Nevada all roads lead to Vegas, and that's where I was, Vegas, baby, Vegas.

In Vegas I met the aspiring romance author, Ruth Kerce, at an RWA Chapter Conference. We eventually started our own writing group, Desert Rogues, and critiqued/edited each other's writing. We all submitted query letters, partials, attended conferences, met with published authors and agents. We did it all the right way, the traditional route to publishing. Ruth found the right road and was published by Ellora's Cave and Changeling Press. Michele Bardsley, yeah, that Michele Bardsley of the urban vampire comedy fame, found her own road. I crashed into another road-block and gave up, but only for a while.

Move forward many, many years and many roads later. I'm back in Florida again and this road leads right to the beach. But it also happens to be on the road to Indie. August of last year I ePublished my contemporary romance novel, Outback Love. I followed that with a short story prequel, Jetting Away, which was written because a reader wanted to know more about Priscilla's back story. Moon Over Madness came next, a paranormal romantic comedy novella. I had the most fun writing that one. Most recently I ePubbed Bayou Blues and Other Sorrows, which is a collection of my short stories and poems, some of them written years ago and some new. The infamous "Harry's Garden" is one of those short stories. Hey, it took me a heck of a long time, but I reached the right road, the road to Indie.

For the record, Outback Love was written following a three week, 5000 mile road trip my husband and I took with his sister Barbara and her husband through Australia and the Outback. Somewhere between the Great Ocean Road and the Stuart Highway in the Outback I came up with beginnings of the romance I would eventually write. So even the roads through Australia lead to Indie.

Now a year down the Indie road, I'm still cruising along. I hit a bump now and then, but the road to Indie is a good one and I'm going to keep on going on.

What Are We Reading This Summer?

My Summer Reads

What are you reading this summer? For readers, this is a very important question. Summer is supposed to be a time when we relax. Vacation time. Beach time. If nothing else, summer is a state of mind. However you chose to look at it, summer is different from the rest of the year. The weather is hotter, often scorching hot. In tropical climbs like Florida, summer brings tropical storms and dreaded hurricanes.

For those of us who live in Florida, summer is six months long (winter is two weeks at most). So what dates do I use for a Florida summer? I'll stick with the summer tourist season, from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. So before I go off on another tangent, let's get down to the real reason for this post, What are we reading this summer?

Now first off I can hear my mother asking, "We? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?" She used to drive me nuts with that question as a kid.  Funny, all these many years later, she hasn't asked me that question lately. Okay, I told you, I have a tendency to go off in different directions.

What are we reading this summer? I really want to know. I, for one, have read some great books, many of them Indies and I've reread some old favorites. So I'm going to share them with you, just in case you care to know. On the other hand, I really want to know what you're reading too. Have you found some exciting/thrilling/enchanting/memorable reads?

As a writer/reader I don't have as much time to read as I'd like. Things like plugging away on my work(s) in progress, marketing my books that are already published, editing (yeah, I hate that part), blogging (I love that) and Tweeting (just plain fun). Reading fits in there somewhere. "So many books, so little time."

So now we're down to the "I'll show you mine and you show me yours." Sheesh! We're talking books silly. I'll tell you what I've been reading this summer and what I hope to read before the season is over and you'll (hopefully) do the same via the comments below. This is also a time where you can shamelessly mention your own books too (as suggested summer reads) and even include your blog addy and Twitter ID. Readers need to know what great books are out there.

Here's a list of all my reads since Memorial Day weekend. I heartily recommend every single one of them. This is the order in which I read them.

Golden Boy by R. G. Lawrence
Judgement Tramp by J. D. Currie
Eye of the Storm by Denise Moncrief (short story)
Hurricane  (A Novel of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane) by Janice Thompson
Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose & A. K. Turner
Hurricane, A Short Story by R. Narvaez
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Stay Close, Novac! by Jan Romes
Sullivan's War: Prologue - Sergeant Riley's Account by Michael K. Rose
Sullivan's War: Book 1 - All Good Men Serve the Devil by Michael K. Rose
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

I'm currently reading (almost finished) the following:

Short Stories by Michael K. Rose
Wool (Omnibus Ed.) by Hugh Howey (soon to be an awesome movie)

Whew! Now that I've listed them all, that's more books than I'd realized. I'm a night owl and have a difficult time falling asleep, so I do most of my reading at night. Though sometimes I take a break for much of a day and just read. That's how I relax and how I rejuvenate my brain.

Now here's my wish list of the books I hope/plan to read by summer's end (not necessarily in the following order):

Tales from the Spanish Mustang by Benjamin X. Wretlind
Summer with Fidel by R. G. Lawrence
Sullivan's War: The Complete Adventure by Michael K. Rose
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury (read previously in my college years)
Mark of the Loon by Molly Greene
Treasure Me by Christine Nolfi
Bluewater Vengeance by C. L. R. Dougherty
Land of the Noonday Sun by Carmen DeSousa
Haunting Refrain by Ellis Vidler
Kiss Me by Jan Romes
The River Between (The River Series, Bk 1) by Jacquelyn Cook (I have the whole series)
Bradbury Stories by Ray Bradbury (may take me all year to read the 100 short stories)

Note - This is just my short-list for summer reading and is bound to change with the addition of other books I discover along the way. Reading, after all, is a wonderful journey of exploration and enjoyment. I'm always asking myself, "What should I read next?" That's the joy of it, not knowing which path you'll take next.

I'm now the proud owner of two Kindles: my old Kindle Keyboard (still running after 2+ years) and my new Kindle Fire (a birthday present last week from my husband). I have more eBooks than I can count on my Kindles and archived in the cloud. With the exception of the Ray Bradbury books, all I'm reading these days are Indie books on my Kindles. Once again I attest that "Indies Rock!"

Please take a few moments of your time to comment below. What enjoyable/notable books have you read so far this summer? What do you hope to read before summer is out? Do you have a book(s) of your own you'd like to recommend for a summer read? We readers want to know these things, so please jump in with the books you think we'd love to read this summer. Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to your summer reads.

Talking About Reviews

Seagulls Talking About Reviews

I am trying to understand the concept of writing book reviews. As a reader and as a writer/author, I am looking at this issue from two different angles.

Until last year, when I became a published Indie author, I always considered reviews from the angle of a reader. I read a lot of books and some I consider so great that I want to talk about them. Those are the books I want to shout to the world, "Hey, you have to read this! This book is great, stupendous, glorious, outstanding, incredible, amazing, awesome!" You get the picture.

I wrote a fair number of those reviews on Amazon about books I loved and thought others would love too. I penned 5-Star Reviews for the ones I loved the most and 4-Star Reviews for those I enjoyed and felt them good enough to recommend to others. So for me, reviews were all about recommending a good/great book to other readers. It never dawned on me that reviews might be written for another purpose.

Now, as an Indie author, I'm hearing that reviews are really for constructive criticism to tell the author what's wrong with his or her book and how to make it into a better book. Huh? Did I hear that right? Now let's look at this from the author's point of view. Said author has spent one, or two, or more years writing a novel. Said author has put his/her whole heart and soul into that novel. Now that novel is published and out there for the reading public to read, savor and hopefully enjoy/love. But wait, a reviewer comes on the scene.

This reviewer may or may not be an author. That part doesn't really matter. But this reviewer wasn't part of that blood, sweat and tears process. This review says, "This book is a piece of crap and should be thrown in the garbage." Say what? I'm not making this up. I've seen so many reviews like this one that I've lost count.

I like to study things and analyze the whys and wherefores of something. So I've made it a point of studying reviews, hundreds of reviews, maybe into the thousands by now. I've studied reviews written on books by best selling authors published by the Big Six,  books written by genre authors, books written by Indie authors. The reviews that say, "This book is a piece of crap..." run the gamut of all those categories of books.

Now we're going back to the constructive criticism part of reviews. Is the review that says, "This book is a piece of crap..." constructive criticism? Or is this just pure meanness being vented at some hapless author? This is what I'm trying to understand. If this is constructive criticism, is the author truly supposed to take the reviewer at his or her word and throw the book in the garbage?

Here's an example of 1 and 2-Star Reviews for a single book. One review says, "This book is so bad the author should never write another book as long as she lives." Another review says, "I was looking for a romantic comedy and this is anything but." Another says, "I would have liked the book but it didn't have enough dialogue." Another says, "Too much talk and not enough action." Another says, "Not enough sex." Another says, "Warning, explicit sex. Don't read." Now, if this is constructive criticism, what is this author supposed to do?

Assuming this author can pull the book off the market and make changes, what changes need to be made? Add more dialogue? Or less dialogue? Add more action? Or less action? Add more sex/romance? Or clean up the explicit sex?

In most cases, the book has gone through a publisher, either the Big Six or one of the zillions of smaller publishers out there. So the book can't be pulled off the shelves, rewritten and then republished. The result, these reviewers have virtually just killed this book. Most readers will now pass on this book, because obviously it has too many problems to be read by anyone.

If this author happens to be an Indie who self-pubbed, maybe the book can be pulled and rewritten and re-published. But to whose standards? Reviewer A, B, C, D or ? Which reviewer is really in the know and can tell that author exactly what needs to be done to improve that book? No matter how you look at it, this is a no win situation, because when the book is rewritten it's most likely going to garner another whole set of 1 and 2-Star Reviews.

Then there's the reviewer who wrote that 1-Star Review and said, "This book is so bad the author should never write another book as long as she lives." Does the author take that reviewer at his or her word and never write another book again? Sadly, some authors do just that. Authors are sensitive souls who put it all on the line when they offer a book to the reading public. Does the reading public, the reviewers, have the right to destroy that writer's career and break that writer's heart and soul? I don't think so.

Another side to all this, I've heard many reviewers say that all 5-Star Reviews are suspect because no book is perfect. That may or may not be true, but as a reviewer is it your job to find every flaw in a book and point it out to the world? Is that what reviewing is all about?

I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever read a single book that didn't have a misspelled word, a missing word, the wrong word, grammatical errors, a typo. Even with the innovation of spellcheck, errors get through. Even with editors and beta readers, errors get through. It's a fact of life. Writers are only human and so are the editors and beta readers. What I'm getting at is that people aren't perfect, so why should we expect the books they write to be perfect?

I think we need to back up here and determine the real purpose for writing a book review. This isn't like in college when we had to write a paper, literary criticism, of some classic. Reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes&Noble, etc. are not meant to be literary criticism. Unless I've got it all wrong, these reviews are to recommend or not recommend books to other readers. If you really loved a book, shouldn't that be a 5-Star review? If you only liked the book, shouldn't that be a 4-Star Review? If you read it, but you're not particularly crazy about it, shouldn't that be a 3-Star Review?

Personally, if I can't write a 4 or 5-Star Review on a book then I don't write a review. I don't believe it's my place to point out the flaws to another author. So I don't write 1, 2 or 3-Star Reviews. Like I said, that's a personal thing. When I write a 5-Star Review it's because I absolutely loved the book and think others will love it too. I'm not saying, "This book is perfect." We've already come to the agreement that no books are perfect, though actually I think I've read some perfect books through the years.

Personally, I'm a bit offended if someone would think that a 5-Star Review I happened to write on a book is suspect. If I say I loved a book and think you'll love it to, well, I mean just that. I'm not writing that review to make points, or please a friend, or trying to see how many 5-Star Reviews I can write. If I love a book, it's a 5-Star book. That's all there is to it. For me a 4-Star Review is a book I really enjoyed, but it didn't get into my "best of the best" books that I love. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the book. It just means that particular book didn't resonate in my soul, didn't have that extra "zing" that made me say, "Oh, wow!" A book that I write a 4-Star Review may be a 5-Star book for someone else. We all have different likes and dislikes.

I'd really like to know what other readers, reviewers, writers, authors think about reviews. Why do you write reviews? What is the purpose of those reviews? What are you hoping to achieve by writing those reviews? I hope you'll join this discussion.

I happen to love great reviews and not love the mean reviews, it's as simple as that. First off, I think it's wonderful that someone would a) buy one of my books, b) read one of my books, c) take the time out of their busy schedule to write a review about one of my books. I can't thank those readers/reviewers enough. You are wonderful, incredible, awesome people!

Now here's one of my pet peeves, and it happens to the best selling authors, the Indie authors and everyone in between. Why would anyone write a 1-Star Review about a book they've never bought or never read? Is this to just be mean? Is this to eliminate the competition? Is it because the reviewer got out of the wrong side of the bed in the morning or his/her toast was burned? What motivates a person to do that?

I can't tell you the number of 1-Star Reviews I've read that go something like this, "The book was so terrible I couldn't get past the first page." If that's the case, get a refund on the book, take it to the library or the used bookstore, give it to someone on the street, throw it in the garbage. Why in the world waste precious time writing about why you couldn't read past the first page?

I read a 1-Star Review this morning on book that was a best seller years back and has now been brought out as an ebook. This reviewer went on a tirade, about a thousand words in length, about why she couldn't read beyond the first page. To sum it up, she couldn't get past the first page because, a) the book was different from what she expected it to be and b) the book had religious elements and this reader didn't like religious books. All I can say is, read the free excerpt on a book before buying it. Most bookstores or online book distributors will take the book back and give a refund. This particular review was on the Amazon/Kindle version of a book. Amazon will take the ebook back and give a refund. It's not necessary to rant and rave about it.

I've bought many books that turned out to be different from what I thought they were going to be. I read them anyway and usually find the journey enjoyable. Sometimes I come across a book that just doesn't come together for me. Maybe it's too slow or too violent or it doesn't have that "zing" that I've mentioned before. I put the book back on the shelf and often give it a try later. Many a time I've picked up one of those books and found I loved it at the second try. I can only imagine that the first attempt I was in the wrong frame of mind to read that particular book. For those books, very few I might add, that just don't do it for me, I pass them on. I give them to a neighbor, a used bookstore, the library. I've never thrown a book in the garbage and never come across a book I thought should be thrown in the garbage. But remember, this is just me, this is just my personal opinion.

Thank you to all who have read this lengthy post. As you can probably tell, this is an issue I feel passionate about. I think it's incredible to have the privilege to be both a reader and a writer/author. This is a dream come true. I know it's a dream come true for countless others too. I can only wish all other writers/authors the very best in their dreams. It's certainly not my purpose in life to write reviews that destroy that dream. Just sayin'...

I hope you'll add your comments to this post. I truly feel this is something we can and should talk about. By the way, I'm just sure this is what those two seagulls were talking about the other day on Pensacola Beach.

Celebrate Indies - Part 1

Indies are books written by independent authors, those authors not published by big name publishing houses. Some are published by small, independent publishers and others, probably the majority, are self-published (ePubbed). This is a new industry of books that came about following the rise of the eReader and eBook Industry. This is an incredible innovation that has allowed previously unpublished authors to publish the books they've been writing and/or dreaming about for years.

I happen to have the good fortune to be part of this blooming Indie Industry. I only jumped on the band wagon back in August of last year when I ePubbed my debut contemporary romance novel, "Outback Love." I would like to say that "Outback Love" started out with a big fanfare and instant success, but such is not the case, as with most indie books. First off, most of us indie authors are virtual unknowns. When we ePub a book it gets slipped in there, real quiet like, amidst all those books by well-known authors. We hope and pray for that first sale to an utter stranger (a sale not to a family member or friend) and then we jump up and down and shout for joy when it happens. It is at that point that an indie book is truly born.

Most indie authors are poor, or close to it. We don't have connections with big publishing houses, agents, etc. and we don't get monetary advances for our books. The poorest of us design our own book covers and edit our books with the help of family and friends. In fact, by the time a book is ePubbed, we've pretty much driven our family and friends to utter exhaustion. Nine times out of ten they will no longer answer the door, take our phone calls or even return emails. Yes, we're really hard on our family and friends. Some of us are fortunate enough to have author friends and we drive them to distraction too. If we have enough money, we actually pay or bribe someone to edit our books and even purchase professional covers. Well, enough said about all that.

Indies can sort of be compared to those surprise babies who arrive in this world from time to time. What is this? Where did it come from? In the case of indie books, it might have been residing in someone's closet or under a bed for many many years. Or it might have been rattling around in some indie author's head for like forever. That doesn't make it inferior to a planned baby, oh, I mean a planned, pampered, traditionally published book. It just means an indie book has a rough start in life.

Suffice it to say that indies often have a tough beginning, but that doesn't mean they aren't great books. I've been reading lots of indie books and, believe me, there are some great books out there. Some are a little rough around the edges, while others are pretty much polished gems, but they all have interesting stories to tell. My hope is that you, the reader, will take a chance on indies and read some of these wonderful books.

Now here is where you might ask, how can I tell an indie from a traditionally published book? Well, in many cases there's a very fine line. A lot of traditionally published authors are ePubbing some of their books, which makes them indies too. On the other hand, some indies don't want anyone to realize they're indies and so are unwilling to speak up. So all I can tell you is to try reading some eBooks by authors you've never heard of before. 

Many indies offer one or more books at a low introductory price, or even free, so that readers can get to know them. It's a win-win situation for both the reader, who discovers new authors to fall in love with, and indie authors, who gain new readers.

I'll be blogging about "Celebrate Indies" all month long, which is why this post is only Part 1. I hope you'll revisit my blog throughout the month to discover a bunch of indie authors and their exciting, wonderful, great books. Oh, don't forget to take a look at my indie books too (hint, hint).

For those readers and writers who like to Tweet, you might want to use the hashtag #CelebrateIndies from time to time.

Celebrate Indies is about more than just celebrating the indie books, it's about celebrating the indie authors too. So I'm hoping that indie authors will comment below and include links to their books, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. and tell us something about themselves and what they write. I'm hoping too that readers will comment about indie authors they've discovered, great indie books they think others would like to read or maybe just let us know what kind of indie books they'd love to read.

Thanks so much for reading this blog post. I appreciate hearing from you, so please don't hesitate to comment below.

NOTE - If you're an indie author and would like to be interviewed on my blog, please let me know. I'd like to do a variety of interviews as we celebrate indies together.