Reviews

Want to Take Part in #ShareAReviewDay ?

/ Marcia / 29 Comments

I’m looking for reviews! There are Tuesday openings starting as early as day after tomorrow, if you can send me the items requested in the Share a Review Day Instructions linked at the top of the page. Pick your newest or favorite review and send it in. I’ll do all the setting up for you. Just be sure to include everything I need as listed, and I’ll make it happen. 

All review posts will be scheduled in the order in which they are received, two per Tuesday. (One in the morning & one in the afternoon.)

Hoping to hear from you soon!  🙂 ❤

#ShareAReviewDay — To Kill A Labrador by Kassandra Lamb

/ Kassandra Lamb / 20 Comments

shareareviewday2

Marcia has given me permission to kick off today’s Share A Review Day with a review for one of my books, To Kill A Labrador, A Marcia Banks and Buddy Mystery.

First, let me point out that the Labrador does NOT die. If you look at the titles of the books that follow this one in the series—Arsenic and Young Lacy, The Call of the Woof and my latest release, Patches in the Rye—the title makes more sense. 😉

For us writers, our books are like our children, and we shouldn’t have favorites, right? But I must confess that this book and its four-legged protagonist Buddy are particularly dear to me. Below is one of my favorite reviews.

2a ToKillALabrador FINAL

5 out of 5 stars ~ by Diane, Excellent Mystery
March 4, 2018

This story kept me turning the pages from beginning to end. Marcia trains service dogs for veterans with PTSD. I was fascinated by the training. Buddy (a Labrador Retriever) and Jimmy were her first match. She was so proud of them, but then Jimmy is accused of killing his wife. The sheriff sends for Marcia to retrieve Buddy. She’s convinced that Jimmy couldn’t have murdered anyone.

While Marcia investigates, she riles up the townsfolk and intrigues the sheriff. A budding (no pun intended) romance between them confuses her, and she’s not sure she’s ready after her divorce. Engaging characters, a plot with many twists, and plenty of tension make this a memorable book. I’ll be reading more by this author.

BLURB

Marcia (pronounced Mar-see-a, not Marsha) likes to think of herself as a normal person, even though she has a rather abnormal vocation. She trains service dogs for combat veterans with PTSD. Then the former Marine owner of her first trainee is accused of murdering his wife, and Marcia gets sucked into an even more abnormal avocation–amateur sleuth.

Called in to dog-sit the Labrador service dog, Buddy, she’s outraged that his veteran owner is being presumed guilty until proven innocent. With Buddy’s help, she tries to uncover the real killer. Even after the hunky local sheriff politely tells her to butt out, Marcia keeps poking around. Until the killer finally pokes back.

Just $0.99 on:   AMAZON   NOOK   APPLE    KOBO

1 - Kass Lamb lighter-reduced

Kassandra Lamb is a retired psychotherapist turned mystery writer who now spends most of her time in an alternate universe with her characters. The portal to that universe (i.e., her computer) is located in northern Florida where her husband and dog catch occasional glimpses of her.

She’s the author of the Kate Huntington mysteries, the Kate on Vacation novellas and the Marcia Banks and Buddy cozy mysteries. She has also written a short guidebook for new authors, Someday Is Here! A Beginner’s Guide to Writing and Publishing Your First Book.

Connect with her at http://kassandralamb.com or on Facebook. She also blogs at  http://misteriopress.com.

 

Feelin’ The Love Today!

/ Marcia / 30 Comments

23874_happy_clam__95302_1405230618_1280_1280

This is one of those mornings when you wake up to find lovely things in your Inbox. Nothing makes my cuppa Earl Grey go down better, I have to confess. First, I found my entire  Wake-Robin Ridge series was displayed today on Sally Cronin’s Summer Reading Blog feature. Wow! Such a nice thing to see! Thank you, Sally. To read (and mostly, to share far and wide, pleeze?) you can go HERE.

Then I discovered my latest book, Harbinger, was being featured on Rosie Amber’s blog as a #TuesdayBookBlog post, and with a 5-star review, no less. THANK YOU, Rosie! To see, and hopefully share, what Rosie thinks of Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3, go HERE.

This is the kind of thing that makes the LOOONG hours worthwhile. Just knowing there are some readers who enjoy my stories makes me happy I finally decided to give writing a go. And belonging to our caring and supportive community of writer and bloggers is the icing on the cake.

Color me happy . . . as a clam! 🙂

Sharing Janet Gogerty’s Great 5* Review of Wake-Robin Ridge

/ Marcia / 21 Comments

thank_you_banner-500

One of the best things about The Write Stuff is the way our fellow writers and readers support each other. In addition to all the friendships and  helpful advice engendered here, this blog encourages the sharing and promoting of all our talented authors. Janet posted this review in the Comments section of Rosie’s post on August Reviews, and I just wanted to share it with all of you as a reminder of the ways we help each other. (And because it’s a terrific review, too. THANK YOU, Janet!) Enjoy!

***

Even the two dogs will steal your heart in this gripping story.
2016-08-05

‘A great story teller’ was my first impression as I quickly got into this story, or rather two interwoven tales. I enjoy novels set in more than one time and in this book the chapter headings helpfully tell us when and where we are. I have never been to the USA and if I ever get there I would rather visit Wake-Robin Ridge than Disneyland! This is a rounded tale, a romance and ghost story, but also a delightful journey to a beautiful part of the USA. Two very different love stories and four very different lives. I was so involved, that half way through the novel I thought I had misread that it was also a ghost story, so when the first paranormal event occurred it came as a complete shock. Without giving anything away, the description of that first night of terror was more vivid than any horror movie. If I did visit the Blue Ridge Mountains, I would certainly not stay by myself! I look forward to reading more by this author.

 WRRnewsmall
Now Permanently Priced at $.99
Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1

 

#MidWeekPOV – #wwwblogs – A Word About Reviews . . .

/ Marcia / 18 Comments

leaveareview1

Leave ’em. Please! It’s the best way in the world to thank an author for his or her hard work. Not only does it make authors feel good, but it most definitely has an impact on the book’s ranking on Amazon, and Amazon is where a plethora of good reviews can make a substantial difference in a writer’s paycheck.

I’ve heard lots of opinions on exactly how much of a difference it might translate to, and I don’t claim to be an expert on Amazon’s system, but I can tell you from my own personal experience as a reader, I pay attention to reviews when I’m buying books there. I honestly believe that’s true of most readers. Here’s a query for you: When 90 out of 100 reviews rate one book at 4 or 5 stars, and 90 out of 100 reviews rate another book at 2 or 3 stars, which one are you more likely to spend your money on? Assuming that Book #2 is not a relative or personal friend? Yeah, I thought so. Me, too.

So, my word about reviews is that we should ALL remember to leave them, especially if we really enjoy a book. But I just realized that I have another word or two to say about reviews, as well. Specifically about negative reviews. I quit leaving those, period. Why? Several reasons.

1. No need for me to do so. Apparently many people would much rather leave negative reviews about books than positive ones. For sure, there are plenty of folks willing to do so, ad nauseum, and some actually seem to enjoy it. No need for me to bother. (I discovered this LONG before I wrote my first book, btw.) Some people delight in tearing things down, but, personally, I think truly scathing reviews often say more about the reviewer than the reviewee. (Is that a word?)

2. If I think a book is really bad, I don’t finish it. My reading hours are very precious to me, so I prefer to spend them reading books I’m enjoying, and I’m certainly not going to review a book I didn’t even finish.

3. I can read a book that’s flawed, and still enjoy it overall, if I care about the characters enough. That means, I might not be able to give the book 5 stars, but I can probably find enough positives to rate it at 4, or at the very worst 3/3.5 or so. I can GENTLY point out that there were some problems, but that because of certain other factors, it was easy to overlook them, and I enjoyed the story anyway. And I can emphasize the positive aspects. This approach makes ME feel a lot better, too.

4. And the last reason I don’t leave negative reviews is simple. Now that I write books, too, I know exactly how demoralizing and painful it is to receive one. Happily, possibly shockingly, I’ve been blessed with way more good reviews than bad ones, especially when you consider how very little I knew about writing when I started 2-1/2 years ago. But, like every author, I do get a negative review now and then, and every one of them hurts. I don’t want to do that to anyone else, so I just won’t review any book I that leaves me with nothing good to say.

This doesn’t mean you can’t leave negative reviews, if you wish. Just that I won’t. And I suspect those who do so under the guise of helping the author learn aren’t being totally honest. They could do that more effectively by communicating privately with the writer, and offering a kind, but honest critique. So much better than public humiliation, I think. But that’s just me.

One last thing I want to say about Reviews: LEAVE THEM, please! Oh. Did I say that already? 😉 Well, it bears repeating, because those reviews can make or break a book. Or an author’s heart.

Please feel free to share this little graphic I created far and wide, to remind your social contacts to leave reviews, as well. I’ll be making a few more of them, and will share them here as I get them done. I’m on an Educate the World About Reviews kick. Hope you’ll join me.

As always, inquiring minds wanna know how you feel about this topic.

 

A Question, and a Request!

/ Marcia / 12 Comments

tumblr_mhjc0foBns1qmqh97o1_1280

Agatha Christie

The Question: Agatha and I have been wondering…where does the time go? No, I mean, really. Where does it go, once we’ve squeezed every bit of the life from a moment, and cast it aside, moving on to the next? Is there some graveyard for used hours somewhere? Or is it really relegated to crumbling photo albums and lines in a diary?

Just curious, here, on account of I seem to have lost a LOT of it lately. But I suppose that’s the nature of things–both losing time, and wasting more, wondering where it went. By my age, there are veritable slag heaps of lost time piled up behind me, but I’m finally learning that it doesn’t pay to worry about it. What does pay, sort of, is writing. So that’s where I’ve been in recent weeks. Writing my fingers down to bloody bones! Makes for a messy keyboard, but it does get me closer to the final line of Novel #4, anyway. And that brings me to the next part of this post.

The Request: I’ve said this before, and I’ll no doubt say it again. Most readers have no concept of just how important good reviews are to writers, most especially in this day of eBooks. If you’ve read a book you enjoyed, please, please consider posting a review on Amazon. Yes, even if the book is by a famous author who has sold millions of copies. Every single review has an impact on where they rank on Amazon, which, in turn, impacts how many new readers come across their book. Unless they are in the #1 spot, across all boards, they have room to move up, and increase their sales. And if you enjoyed their book, they’ve earned it.

Reviews are even more important for new writers, such as myself. When I balance the number of reviews Swamp Ghosts has gotten, for instance, against the number of emails and other comments I’ve received from folks who say they enjoyed the book, I know that a lot of them–most of them–aren’t leaving reviews. I think some don’t know how critical they are, and others actually mean to do it, but forget. Either way, it would sure be nice if everyone who enjoyed reading a book, mine included, would take five minutes to let the world know. It will increase sales dramatically, and for some authors, that can mean the difference in being able to continue writing versus having to get a second job, just to put food on the table. You can leave reviews on your blog or Goodreads, too, but the one that will make the biggest difference is the one you leave on Amazon.

Help your favorite writers succeed. Read and review. Rinse. Repeat. Rainbows will follow you everywhere you go, and sweet dreams will visit you every night. Okay, not really, but you WILL be doing a good thing. 🙂 Thanks!