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Removing Reviews Is So Not Cool

Please hold my calls–I may have to engage in an epic battle. Like many self-published authors, I have had a review pulled for one of my books. I could sing the praises of Cress in Waterbee, ask my brother to sing the praises of Cress in Waterbee, or ask a next-door neighbor to post a review. Oh wait. I can’t do any of that, because the alleged algorithms of a certain website will strike them down.

It sounds noble at first. The guidelines state that Continue reading “Removing Reviews Is So Not Cool”

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Cue Hero Music

‘Scuse me while I nerd out, but Superman is my favorite hero. With it raining comic book movies, I find myself ruminating on why Superman has held my and the world’s attention.image
I feel privileged to remember Christopher Reeve’s take on the Uber Mensch. From George Reeves to Tom Welling, no one ever nailed Superman’s dual identity like Reeve. His Clark Kent was lovable and goofy; his Superman every bit the hero. Reeve succeeded in proving that behavior is the true disguise – act like a milquetoast and no one will notice that you’re 6’4”. Continue reading “Cue Hero Music”

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On Damsels and Distress

Way back in our collective consciousness is the damsel in distress. The girl in peril at the hands of a villain. She is tied to the railroad tracks. As the piano thunders, a train barrels down on the helpless girl. But in the nick of time comes our hero! He pulls her to safety, they ride off into the sunset, and Bob’s your uncle.

So imagine how hard I belly-laughed when I discovered the play Under the Gaslight. Written in 1873, it featured the first known rescue of someone tied to railroad tracks. The play is Continue reading “On Damsels and Distress”

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Cress in Waterbee hit #1 on Amazon Kindle! In a very specific category!

Oh my little pretty one, my pretty one – this classic-to-be has hit #1 on Amazon. In a category so narrow that I have to paste it verbatim: #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children’s eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > United States > 1800s There were three other titles … Continue reading Cress in Waterbee hit #1 on Amazon Kindle! In a very specific category!

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‘But I worked so hard on my book.’ And?

8-Steve-Zahn I love the scene in ‘You’ve Got Mail’ when Tom Hanks is in Meg Ryan’s book store. After Steve Zahn’s character brings out all the features of a book for sale, Tom asks “Is that why it costs so much?” Steve replies “That’s why it’s worth so much.” Continue reading “‘But I worked so hard on my book.’ And?”

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She Rose High – Chapter One, Part 1

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Orphan Forty-Six

Although a February’s eve, Old Miss Heathering opened her bedroom window. Smiling, she looked down three stories to the ice-laden street. Were it not for her, forty-five girls would have roamed London for shelter. Old Miss Heathering ran Candemoore Home for Girls—no one called it an orphan asylum in her hearing—and 1894 marked its fifteenth year. Continue reading “She Rose High – Chapter One, Part 1”

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A Match is Made…kind of

We called it Concentration. Others know it as Memory, where you lay out a deck of cards face down, then search for matches. The memory part was to keep track of where the cards were. Say I turn over a nine and a jack.Not a match – waa waaaa. Next I turn over a two and a nine. Now where was that first nine? Third row, fifth card from the right? Yesss! You get a rush – a match is made. Continue reading “A Match is Made…kind of”