Then, after having such a wonderful day brightener, it got even better. Denise’s 12-year-old daughter (pictured to the left – isn’t she a doll?), who also read Misfit McCabe posted a comment on the family blog, which she gave me permission to post below:

The best part of this for me was not that she loved the book, which is still fabulous, but how she expressed the connection she made to the words and the surprise that a book could cause that level of emotion. I think Jewelz and I must be much alike when I was her age, in that I could not cry in front of others about anything that had to do with me. My tears were private and emotion was buried as far as I could get it. Except when reading or watching a movie, which then allowed me to vicariously let go of the emotions I had been harboring inside. One of the comments I hear frequently about Misfit McCabe is you made me cry hurled like an accusation. I am delighted to hear it because it means I have effectively done my job and struck a chord within the reader. (Sorry guys, not going to say sorry for making anyone cry.)

I was recently challenged by another Twitter friend, Monica Pearce (@MonicaEPierce) and had to tell her why I feel my books are important because she called me out when I called them simple stories. Jewelz encapsulated it perfectly in the surprise that a book could cause that level of emotion. I write stories so readers like Jewelz can connect with my characters and know that they are not the only ones who feel that way and make mistakes and it’s okay to feel the emotions. In this complicated world, the task of growing up is filled with pitfalls and uncertainty and by reading about characters who experience similar issues to their own, it helps the path to feel a little firmer under foot. Or, at least, it did for me and this is what I hope to pass on to my readers and why I write.

Thanks to Jewelz for her comments – she has truly made my day & probably my week.

The post Review and Comments to Warm the Heart – Misfit McCabe appeared first on Be the Cat.

How did this come about?  Well, as you know I submitted by book, Misfit McCabe for review and Shannon Yarbrough, Lulu Book Review owner and author of Stealing Wishes, gave it a very nice review.  Through that process, Shannon and I had several communications back and forth, both to do with the review itself plus winning the marketing book give away that the Lulu Book Review sponsored.  Shannon gave me a copy of Stealing Wishes along with the marketing book, so I wrote and posted a review here, as well as on Amazon.com and Lulu.com of Stealing Wishes, which prompted more correspondence back and forth.

I admire what Mr. Yarbrough has set out to do and has accomplished with the Lulu Book Review because I feel it is important to encourage my fellow authors and to help promote self-publishing as another means to getting your work published, while retaining control of your work.  Publishing is changing and there is definitely a place for the self-published within the publishing world.  So during the course of our correspondence, I offered to assist in writing some of the reviews for the Lulu Book Review and Mr. Yarbrough graciously accepted.  I think it will be an arrangement that will work out for both of us because I will have the opportunity to read and critique other work, which ultimately will serve to help me improve my own work, and the Lulu Book Review will benefit from having an additional “voice” for the reviews.

And so, I am now a part time book reviewer, in addition to all of the other projects I am working on.  So, stop on by the Lulu Book Review to check out the reviews, and if you are a fellow self-published author through Lulu, ask for a review.  I’d love to see your work.

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The review from The Lulu Book Review has been posted to Amazon.com, so I was very happy to note that it was there. I was also happy to note that the review posted against both the paperback and Kindle versions of the book. Now all I have to do is post the review to Barnes & Noble.

All for now – tomorrow I’ll get back on the horse and get something (anything) accomplished.

The post A Labor Day Break appeared first on Be the Cat.

I have just received a review of my young adult novel, Misfit McCabe, from The Lulu Book Review, and it was a stellar review. I haven’t come down from the heights yet.

Waiting for a review can be a little nerve wracking because you have taken your work and actively sought out someone else’s opionion. Will they like it? Will they hate it? Will they be able to give you a quote you can use to help promote your work? When will they get to your book on the mounting pile of submissions?

My first experience with a review was not quite the experience I was hoping for. I submitted to a fairly new review site, and because they were new, the turn around on the review was faster than normal. The review was positive, but the reviewer was so green, that it was not a well constructed review, and left me with no quotable material.

My next experience was better. I submitted to a student reviewer site and the 11 year old student wrote a better constructed review of my work than the adult reviewer. Of course it was helpful that the student reviewer liked the work, and I finally had something to quote.

At the time I submitted my book for review to the above two sites, I also submitted my book to a third site, for which I am still awaiting a review. It will happen one day – and hopefully, I’ll still be checking the site when it does ~ otherwise I may never know.

Because The Lulu Book Review is a newer review site, I was able to get a quick turn around from submission to review (the fastest ever). I knew that the review itself, whether positive or not so positive, would be well constructed, because I had done my homework and read through the reviews on the site. The only remaining question was whether or not the reviewer would like the work.

I was absolutely amazed by the positive review. It started with the comparison to Judy Blume and continued to get better. Thanks so much to Shannon Yarbrough, author of Stealing Wishes, for his vision and drive and talent for writing.

Read the Complete Review

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LK Griffie
Visit me at Griffie World

The post Being Compared to Judy Blume appeared first on Be the Cat.