[This is a golden oldie—it ran on Indies Unlimited back on October 8, 2011.]
In the movie, “What Women Want,” Mel Gibson’s character is able to read women’s minds after he suffers an electrocution event. Is there anything electrocution can’t do? It got me wondering, wouldn’t it be nice if authors knew what reviewers want?
Sadly, the cord from the hair dryer was too short to reach the tub, so I thought: why don’t I just ask them what they want? I e-mailed several book reviewers, asking if they would be willing to answer a few questions about what reviewers want to see from authors. Several of them just graded my e-mail and returned it with no stars. Nonetheless, a few very good reviewers were willing to take a chance, lift their restraining orders, and come out to play. Continue reading “What Reviewers Want (Part 1)”
Tag: book reviews
Ed’s Casual Friday: The One-Star Match Game
Heck with it, let’s just have a little fun. Listed below are 26 excerpts from one-star reviews off a popular website. If anyone would care to kill some time before getting back to work on their present MIP (Masterpiece In Progress), try to match them to the books they describe. I’ll post a key later as a comment, and if there is a winner they will receive, and I can’t stress this enough, absolutely nothing. Continue reading “Ed’s Casual Friday: The One-Star Match Game”
Spotlight on…Liz Borino
Liz Borino is the author of the Taylor twins series. To date there are three books: Expectations, What Money Can’t Buy and Gifts From The Past. Her short story “Jesse” was included in the Lazy Day anthology, Indulgence. She earned her BA at Hofstra University in 2010 and is currently pursuing her MA in English at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. When Liz isn’t writing or doing homework, she enjoys travelling and has spent time in Europe. One day she will escape the suburbs of Pennsylvania for good, but until then she will “continue to give her characters more interesting lives than she has”.
The Taylor twins books focus on the twins, Matt and Chris (naturally!) and Chris’s lover, Aiden. They are a very likeable trio whom you come to adore. Continue reading “Spotlight on…Liz Borino”
Review: How about some non-fiction?
Why do we read? For all sorts of reasons: to learn, for pleasure, for relaxation, for inspiration, or for stimulation. What do we read to furnish us with these delights? Fiction? – thrillers, sci-fi, romance, erotica, horror? To each, his/her own – we all have our own ‘fixes’. So where do non-fiction, true-life accounts figure in all this? Personally, reading for me is balm for the soul and fiction is what provides it. However, two books came my way, each written by a woman who had undergone an extraordinary, near-fatal, life-changing illness. I wouldn’t normally pick up a book written by the sufferer of a particular disease or illness unless I too was suffering from the same condition, but these two books were compelling reads.
The first of these books is Heartaches and Miracles by Greta Burroughs who relates her experiences of a blood disorder called ITP, an autoimmune disease. Greta writes children’s books, two of which have been published. The second is In a Flash – Miracles Here and Beyond by Kim Justus, who survived an aneurysm. Kim works in the Financial Services industry and writing and photography are amongst her many hobbies. Continue reading “Review: How about some non-fiction?”