Uplifting Review

This one was on Amazon.  "P. Romance" from Philly, USA.  Totally made my day, made me want to keep writing, made me remember why I started in the first place.

"No matter how many times writers recreate Pride & Prejudice, I always end up falling in love with the story over and over again.

"Beth Pride did not like William Darcy after the awful he treated her at a charity ball. But when the ball brought her roommate and his best friend together, they have no choice but to see each other all the time. However, William's feelings for Beth weren't as antagonistic and he soon found himself falling for her wit and intelligence. As she got to know William, Beth realized maybe be she needed to rethink her first impressions.

"Pride's Prejudice was amazing! Definitely a new favorite. I could read this book over and over again. The author did a wonderful job of incorporating all the major pivotal plot points but still adding enough of her touches to make the story her own. And I sincerely appreciate the fact there are plenty of fan service scenes of Beth and William. Don't worry. The scenes were sweet and clean. This made their attraction for each other more believable and why there was room for their love to change and grow. The cast of side characters were quite enjoyable and did not add any extra strife. But what about "Lydia"? I have to say this has to be my "favorite" version of Lydia. I always considered her an unnecessary nuisance in most retellings but in this one, the author made use of her carelessness as a good life lesson of what can go wrong and she actually learned from it!

"I've read many variations and this one has to be one of the best modern versions out there. Great cast of characters, a clean story, lots of sweet Beth and William scenes, a more agreeable cast of characters and a wonderful plot made this book a winner. Even if you have never read P&P, you will still enjoy this story if you are fan of romances. Pride & Prejudice fans, get this book now!"

Coming Soon!

"Persuaded"

by Misty Dawn Pulsipher

an adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion

What's worse than never getting over your first love?

How about watching him fall for someone else . . .

Coming in 2014

Great Review of Pride's Prejudice!

http://my-book-diary.blogspot.com/2013/08/prides-prejudice.html

The Adventures of Pocket Edward at Barnes & Noble.....

My friend Jeannie posted this on Facebook.  We are both huge Twilight fans and needless to say, I had to go change my pants after seeing this.  Her caption was:  "No, Edward - for the hundredth time I'm sure you are more handsome than William.  Don't be so absurd."

My captions were:
 
"Wow, great dress!"
"I wish Bella had that rack....."
"Don't even think of picking up this book - Paranormal Romance is two aisles over."

What's yours?!

Maddeningly Unhelpful.....

Warning:  This is not going to be a positive post!  I am always so anxious to read new reviews from readers.  I love hearing the little things they enjoyed about the story, and I appreciate suggestions for how to better my writing.  But do the bad reviewers have to be so MEAN?  It's like you're in high school all over again, getting shoved into a locker (not that this ever happened to me....)

Anyway, I always want to respond to bad reviews on Goodreads or Amazon, but I really don't think this is going to help me as an author.  So I've decided I will vent about them here instead.  The people who give bad reviews aren't likely to be following my blog anyway, so I'm confident it won't cause any problems in that corner.  Let me preface this by saying that I don't expect all positive reviews, and I do want people's honest opinions.  The people who have commented on grammar and spelling errors have actually made me more careful about the way I use words, and this has been a positive thing for me as an author.  But to those who criticize for the thrill of it, I give you the "more than less than unhelpful" award from Captain Jack Sparrow himself.  If you have criticism, at least make it somewhat constructive instead of just trying to tear others down for their hard work.  This one, for example - a three star with some constructive criticism:

"Well structured and takes care to hit all the important corner stones of the original. Yet the story never really took off for me. At points I would have liked to get even more background story on some of the characters and there emotions. Nevertheless a good afternoon read."

There.  That wasn't so hard, was it?  Contrast with this one star that really got me today:

"I am tired of books that tout a connection to Pride and Prejudice just to gain a wider audience. Who were these characters? Darcy's personality was flat..... It was a disappointment and clearly not worth 5 stars!"

First of all, this person has no idea why I write what I do.  Yes, there is a readymade audience for Austen spinoffs and sequels, because she was amazing!  But marketing definitely wasn't my first thought when I wrote this.  Second, I wouldn't ever claim Pride's Prejudice had anything on Pride and Prejudice.  If you are so tired of retellings, maybe you should stick with the original!  Does this person have any idea what a challenge it is to do your own version of any of Austen's novels, LET ALONE the most popular, which has been redone countless times?  Does she have an inkling what it takes to make your story your own, while staying true to the feeling of the original?  How to make it interesting and modern without crossing lines?  I daresay she does not, and she has never tried.  So, to this person I say:  "You have been weighed....you have been measured....and you have been found wanting.....See me when you are worthy!"  (Courtesy of A Knight's Tale - I'm sorry, but by now you know how much I love good movie one-liners).  When you finally publish a novel after five years of blood, sweat, and tears, you can knock other people for getting it wrong.  Heck, maybe you'll even do it better - good luck with that.

A couple other readers have knocked it for being "hokey" or not getting details right about New York, etc.  It's fiction, people!  No, I have never lived in New York City, and I have no idea if there is a music studio on 12th street, Tiffany's around the corner, and Macys down the street, but use your imagination!  Isn't that why we read/write fiction - to forsake reality for a spell?

One review on Goodreads said she hated it because it was overly descriptive.  As my good friend Jeannie Mineer pointed out, this person wrote a mini novel about how overly descriptive it was.  I say her energies would be better off writing her own books instead of critiquing others'!

Wow, I feel a whole lot better.  To end on a positive note, here are a couple of my favorite reviews so far:

Four Star by Nastassja Loots:

"Beth and William are wonderfully entertaining characters, and personality wise they are very true to Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. The verbal sparring between the characters is no less entertaining than the original Lizzie and Darcy, and their interactions are also a pleasure to follow. Beth and William are like magnets; they constantly find themselves drawn to each other even though they find it difficult to get along. I appreciate the fact that while William’s personality and actions are very true to Darcy’s character, William is a bit more open than Darcy, and once he realises he likes Beth he makes a move. I also appreciated that Beth and William get together before the very end of the story and that the author gives the reader the time and opportunity to appreciate them as a unit. The supporting characters are also interesting and very true to their original counterparts.

"While this version sticks closely to the original storyline, there are enough changes to make the book refreshing and interesting to follow, and while lovers of Pride & Prejudice will have a general idea where the story would end up, certain aspects are unpredictable and it is a joy to see where the author will take you next. I love the many ways the author spun events from Pride & Prejudice to make it realistic in modern times, and she did a wonderful job of portraying the progression of Beth and William’s relationship. Beth and William have great chemistry… and I can’t help but wonder what Ms Austen would say about the sexual tension! The author took great care, though, to not overdo anything and she cleverly managed to stay true to Austen’s sense of propriety while keeping a modern romance realistic and giving the readers some passion.

"Pride’s Prejudice is a fresh take on a classic that respectfully portrays events in a modern light. Any Austen fan will enjoy this take on the beloved classic."

Five Star by Christine H:

"Totally loved this modernized,yet clean, version of the Classic favorite
I was a little leery of reading a "modernized" version of the Jane Austen classic-Pride & Prejudice which I love, because so often in the case of remakes of "classic" films that means taking the innocence of the era completely out, and instead filling the remake with the profanity and sexual immorality so common in today's society and giving it a 'R' rating!

"I was thrilled to find that this author did not resort to that.It was also a huge plus that it was kept clean without having to be a 'Christian/Inspirational'novel.

"Just a wonderful,clean,realistic,fun read.The verbal sparring between the heroine and hero are often LOL funny."

Four Star by Brittany Bowman:

"Completely took me by surprise. I'm not ashamed to say I am a die hard fan for erotic novels. I love erotic and kinky books with graphic details & even though it didn't have any sex scenes I was still hooked with this book. I appreciated the flirting & sexual tension, it kept me coming back for more."

Five Star by Jennifer:

"I didn't want it to end! One of those "sorry family, cereal for dinner" books! It's a clean read and you can't help but love the characters. Love anything Pride and Prejudice and so glad I read this modern day take on it!"

Now that I have that out of my system, I'm going to go work on my next novel!

Review of Pride's Prejudice by L.C. Lewis

by.htmlhttp://laurielclewis.blogspot.com/2013/07/book-nook-review-prides-prejudice-by.html

FREE!

Free Kindle Edition Pride's Prejudice for the next five days:

http://www.amazon.com/Prides-Prejudice-ebook/dp/B00CYQDTVK/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_D12V

And One More Thing.....

While you're so absorbed with things like margins, page breaks, chapter headers, and indents.....don't forget to check the spelling of your OWN NAME on the COVER.

Indie Publishing Blunders to Avoid......

First of all, I used to think 'Indie' was one of two things:  a nationality or a car race.  Apparently, it's actually the term used for self-publishing.  So here is what I've learned about Indie publishing over the last few weeks:

1.  When you think you have a final draft on your hands, you will make approximately 800 changes to your 'proof copy' once it arrives and you're done celebrating.
2.  You will go through about 3 packs of sticky notes, because you don't want to write in your proof copy.  3.  By the time you're done with the proof copy, you'll want to burn it.
4.  Do yourself a favor and don't bother manually indenting your paragraphs with tabs.  You will end up deleting every one of them when you convert your file to HTML for the Kindle Edition.  Instead, highlight all your text (minus chapter headings), go to LINE SPACING, LINE SPACING OPTIONS, SPECIAL (select FIRST LINE), then LEFT INDENT and make the indent that you want.  It will apply the indent to the first line of every paragraph throughout your document.
5.  Instead of putting a few spaces between chapters, insert a page break (CONTROL+ENTER).
6.  SECTION BREAKS are a catastrophe waiting to happen.  Use with extreme caution and only when absolutely necessary.
7.  When it comes right down to it - prevent unpleasantness such as ulcers and nervous breakdowns by paying someone else to format your book.  Create Space does it starting at $249.  You'll pay more than that in acid reflux medication and counseling alone - so it will totally be worth it.
8.  Watch out for backward quote marks - they will be your undoing.....just ask Melissa Lemon.
9.  Order a paperback proof copy and read through it - seeing your book in that format helps you think like a reader and not like a writer - and helps to identify plot/character issues and inconsistencies.
10.  If you are a perfectionist like me, take it down a notch and be willing to let insignificant things go.  Like each chapter starting on the right page instead of the left.  You will drive yourself and everyone around you crazy otherwise.
11.  To convert your document to HTML for the Kindle Edition, click SAVE AS then select WEB PAGE FILTERED.
12.  Think of the whole thing as a process rather than an event.

Pride's Prejudice

Coming June 2013 in paperback and Kindle edition!  Cover design by Cindy Canizales.

Beth fumed all the way back from the dance.

She could still see William standing before her with that intolerable smirk of his - hands in his pockets as his eyes dug into hers.

It didn’t matter that he was pleasantly taller than she remembered, or that those eyes were the color of dark chocolate.

She’d always preferred milk chocolate.

Beth Pride really can’t stand William Darcy:  he snubbed her at the Hartford College Children’s Benefit Auction; he has an infuriating propensity for pushing her buttons; his actions are frequently at odds with his words; and even his melting chocolate eyes and impressive physique don’t quite make up for his deficient personality.

Beth’s plan to avoid William backfires when her roommate falls for his best friend.  As the unlikely duo are thrown together time and again, Beth begins to second guess her earlier assumptions about William.

Will Pride’s prejudice keep her from a happy ending, or will Beth discover that first impressions aren’t always what they seem?