5 Stars for the King of Terror (from a stranger)

It's strange how authors keep hoping that someone, somewhere will read their works, like them and write nice big reviews on Amazon and other places, but it seems that ill-will and procrastination are much stronger than good-will and enthusiasm. I know very well from my sells reports that there are people out there buying and reading (I assume) my Assassin Chronicles. And I know that they must have enjoyed them (or else the world is full of masochists) because I am selling copies of Book 15, Book 16 and so on. But where are the reviews? I see other authors on the Kindleboards, Amazon boards and Goodreads posting their latest and 63874th review on their works and yet, when I hazard a peek at my Amazon author pages and such, I see nothing but the same old reviews I've had for ages. (Some of which, I will admit came from family members. Not that I'm opposed to family members writing reviews... I mean what is a fella to say to a family member who posts a wonderful review after reading my book? Hey! WTF?! Stop trying to help me out! I'm an ungrateful, sorry bastard and you have to keep your nose out of my business!) Well, I'm not that kind of family member. I'm just glad that none of them did me any favors by giving me three stars on a review a few years ago that brought my four and five stars down and knocked me out of a competition completely simply because, as he later explained "I didn't actually get to read the book. I loaned it to a friend, but I wanted to get a review up for you." After which, while my jaw was sagging on the floor in disbelief, he smiled and said "I'm sure I'll like it." Please, please, please... what else can we say?

It's not that family and friends are out to get us (most of the time). It's just that they don't understand what it is we do. They don't understand the damage they can do to our reputations and our outlook on life. They don't understand that they can actually give us hernias, heart attacks and ulcers. To them (generally speaking) writing is just something that I 'fiddle' around with in my spare time. A hobby. They do not know that my writing is actually my life and without it, I am nothing.

Now, trolls of course are another breed altogether and I shall leave them for another blogpost.

Hello Out There! Anyone Home?

I recently got a few of my books up and running in DTB (paperback) and a couple more at Smashwords which allows greater distribution and more e-format downloading options. However, Smashwords has stopped selling for me altogether. I've gotten no sales according to my reports since early May. I wrote to them because I keep seeing numbers of downloads change though I see no sales. The answer was that they were working on it.

Working on what? I wonder. Some of my fellow authors, Mr. Patterson, for example say that they have many sales on Smashwords. I cannot believe that I've not sold a single book there in over two months. Strange.

What is really strange is that my book sales on Amazon in both ebook and paperback have increased and that means people are reading my books and coming back and buying the series. This naturally makes me think: "Hey! Someone out there likes the books!" This is good, but total silence in the review section and few, if any, emails makes me wonder if the books are being bought by robots or maybe from passing ET's who have sent emails and reviews from millions of light years away and I simply haven't received their wonderous comments yet. Or perhaps they are being purchased by Time Travelers who have posted in the future. Hmmmm? Am I onto something? Could it be that we are being studied as a race through the Red Cross of Gold series? How would that change the destiny of the human race I wonder?

5 Star Review!!

In looking at some of my book sites over on Amazon, I found a very nice review on Book 5: Quinta Essentia.

Since this blog will not allow pasting, I will paste a link so that anyone interested in reading the review can go and look at it. It's a five star review and I'm very proud of it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001P5HBTM

Mark Twain

Be careful of reading health books. You may die of a misprint. - Mark Twain

Mark Twain is certainly one of the inspirations behind my writing. I love his wit, humor and even his dark cynicism that many people today would find completely unacceptable. Even though I am over 1/4 Native American, I find his overt hatred of 'Indians' understandable considering the time in which he lived. His disdain for religion and God was also understandable even though I consider myself a devout believer. I believe one of his best dislikes was his intolerance of all things French. He didn't like the French, but in light of recent developments in the political world, I believe he might find some support for his opinions of our French allies. I wonder what he would think of them now? I wonder what he would think of America now? Would he recognize it at all or would he think he'd died and gone to France? I wonder what acid remarks he might have rebuked his detractors with? While my sainted grandmother was born with French as her native language, I can only say that I had always thought myself part French, but then I read the history of the Cajun/Acadian peoples and learned that they probably weren't French at all and were actually cast out of France before they were cast out of Nova Scotia (formerly known as Acadia). Then they were kicked out of New York by the 'Americans' and finally set down in the swamps of Louisiana (French again!) A strange story, but well, there it is and so that leads me back to my original thought of the day. What would Mark Twain have said to my French reviewer who saw fit to give me a one star rating on Amazon? I think he would have said something scrumptious, but then I thought "Hey! The thing speaks for itself!" The review is on The Red Cross of Gold II:. The King of Terrors. At first, it may not be evident why I would be laughing over it, but then consider this... Why would he buy the second book if the first book was so disgusting? Isn't that like saying "Hey, this spaghetti is awful! Give me another plate full so I can make sure." D'oh!!! LOL.

Great News!!!!

I have just received an outstanding review from a formidable reviewer. Miss Red Adept who frequents the Kindleboards with many comments, quips and posts has made all of us quake in our boots due to her ability to write reviews like a professional. I have read many of her reviews and was actually dreading the day when she might finally read my novel and pass judgement... but my angst was all for naught!! Wonderful, wonderful news! Four stars... count them!! 1, 2, 3, 4!!!

I want to sincerely express my gratitude to Miss Adept for being an honest and straightforward reader not afraid to express her opinions for all to see... in my case this is wonderful... maybe not so good for others. Of course, she did include a 'Dislike' section, which I found quite refreshing. I have never been deluded into thinking that my book would be perfectly free from typos and formatting glitches here and there. They are the bane of all serious writers, but such praise from her completely took the pain out of hearing about the faults.

One of them, however, I did not find painful at all. She said that she did not care for Miss Meredith, who happens to be the leading lady. This is a good thing. Miss Meredith was never meant to be portrayed as a true heroine in the sense that many might expect of a heroine. She has much evolution ahead of her and therefore offers much room for improvement as the series unfolds. In fact, the entire series is about human evolution. The lead character, the indomitable Knight of Death, who has been around for over eight centuries is not quite so self-sufficient and wise as he, himself, had assumed, nor is he a perfect gentlemen or the greates lover the world has ever known. He is a very troubled individual with a long row to hoe ahead of him. Miss Meredith and the Chevalier du Morte must come to terms with their own shortcomings in order to grow and evolve into better and better examples of what true Knights of Christ might be.

Again, thanks Miss Adept for the input. Her review can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Cross-Gold-Knight-ebook/product-reviews/B001J6ORUI/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending