Hello and Welcome.
After our arctic winter here, we’d all but despaired of a summer, but it’s arrived. It’s Sunday and the beach is full of sun worshipping souls. So I won’t try to fight my way through to my little beach hut, I’ll wait until tomorrow. Hopefully, the sun’s still in a good mood.
Now to the point. I feel so excited; I’ve actually learnt how to put a review page on here. It’s for all those authors who’ve worked through joy, through hope, through rejection, abundant sales and no sales. It’s for all those authors who’ve clenched their teeth and drawn blood, as they sit and write their heart out. Honestly, when I began writing a novel in earnest, I was so enthusiastic; I thought what an incredible experience. But then as the pages grew, and the chapters appeared, I found myself immersed, intense, pounding the keys, the music amplifier turned up to full blast as I hoped it crashed through brain cells finding new ideas. Then there would be those tranquil days where the words floated like falling blossoms in a pebbled stream. Then came the gritty times where the Black Eyed Peas took over and to my relief got the chapter written. Music seemed to lift barriers and touch the soul. I hoped my writing would do the same for the future readers. Little did I realise the tsunami to come. The dreaded promoting. I had no idea – what was a blog? How did I build a website? How did I find other blogs? Did I just go and find them, but where? Who would tell me? What was a blog tour? Did I have enough money? Maybe they’d turn me down anyway, rejecting my child born of the keyboard. I’d heard of forums, but how did I get on one? If I did write to these bloggers with their fantastic sites, would they think I was rude, crashing in on their space, pleading to be friends?
Now I still wonder, do the blogs really want me? I tried to leave a comment only to find I had to register, then subscribe. Subscribe? How much was that going to cost? Then I learnt it was free well for some of them anyway. Still not sure what to do about that but I’m trying.
So back to the point, reviews. I cannot and will not give anything under a five star review. From a literary point of view yes, maybe it has typos, grammar errors, the plot gets a bit confused and so on, but what about the story? A story that aeons ago we would sit around the fire and listen to the shaman reciting the tales of the tribe. No-one gave five star reviews then. No, they thanked him, housed him and fed him before he went on to the next cave dwelling. How can an author’s soul be summed up in a one to five star review? Write about it yes, happily give five stars for effort, for dreams, for despair, for determination in the face of rejection. Happily give five stars for writing the next book when the first one languishes forgotten except for the author who in the night of despair, speaks to the book, ‘come my child, let us walk into the sun, for I made you with love and you give me joy until….’
So welcome to my review page. Each book will have five stars and a letter from the author if they wish to give one. I love the idea of sharing our works. So if you would like your book to appear just leave a message in the comment and I will get back to you.
