I'm Seeing Stars!!!

  My feelings about my own work run a strange gamut. One day, I look at a completed novel, and I love it. The next day, I want to burn everything I've ever written and start all over. Once the book is in print, there is no starting over. All I can do is sit back and wait for other people's opinions. I was feeling a little discouraged at the beginning of the month. Sales were way lower than I had hoped, and I was starting to feel like I spent every free second of my life working on books that no one was ever going to read. But then I received four amazing five star reviews all in the same week!  Reviews that actually brought tears to my eyes. They reminded me that its not the number of sales that matter.  Its just about knowing that someone out there is reading my books, and enjoying them. Even if its only  handful of people, just knowing that the characters I love are being embraced by a chosen few is enough to make it worth continuing along this path.

 I thought I would share just a few lines from each of the reviews that touched my heart and helped restore my confidence. I'll start with a wonderful write up by Stephanie from The Sisters Elemental. You can read her full review of Destiny Unveiled here, but here's a small excerpt.

"I laughed at Flora and her mostly inappropriate and horribly timed comments. I cried with Gabby struggling to do what she thought was right where family was concerned. I pleaded with Darron to make better choices. And was heartbroken at times for Monte, and rejoiced at his humor and strength. The bad guys were just that, BAD! And then one or two of those bad guys made sacrifices that didn't make them seem so horrible!"

 "Book, Books and More Books" read both Destiny and Destiny Unveiled as part of my blog tour and loved them both! She even agreed to do a review of Phantom next! The full write up can be found here, but here is a sample.

  "This series has a little bit of everything for everyone.  There is fantasy, adventure, mystery, intrigue, romance, sex (okay only a little and it’s totally PG), and just fun.  Oh, and I forgot to mention the totally hot men.  So a couple of them are gay, they are still hot and not all of them are gay.  And for the men, gorgeous women.  Hmmm, did I mention the hot men??"

 Phantom also has its fair share of ratings this week. The owner of Close Encounters of the Night Kind was the first person to read Phantom who shares my obsession with the book and musical that inspired the story.  She loved the premise and give Phantom five "spiders"!  Check out her review here. 

"I admit, I like a great mystery.  I was about half way through the book mentally checking off the list of suspects when I settled on the one I thought was doing it.  lol...I was really off because that character died exactly two pages later.  The ending was quite surprising.  I really had no clue and was way off!!  But I was delighted by that fact!  I hate predictable books!!  This was a great read.  I'm sure all fans of Phantom will love it!"

And last but not least,  My Reading Room shared their thoughts on how Phantom parallels the  Phantom of the Opera, while still maintaining a fresh and original story line. I think their review, which you can find here, is one of my favorites so far.


 "When I accepted this book for review I was expecting a story I would enjoy, I ended up with so much more with this book. It was deeper and so much more enjoyable than I ever thought. I think it will be one of my most recommended books of the year, at least so far. It was fast-paced, refreshing and very interesting with wonderful characters that I think will appeal to all ages whether you have read, listened to or watch Phantom before or not."

Thanks so much to the wonderful book reviewers who helped me get over a creative slump and restored my faith in my words! To other readers out there who aren't bloggers,you can't imagine how important it is for writers to hear your thoughts on our books. Its not just about sales. Your positive comments give us the encouragement to keep writing. So when you read a book,  leave a review on amazon or good reads, write a note on face book, or  leave a comment on the author's blog. We read and appreciate every comment we receive!