Tag Archive for: Goodreads

A Delicious Debut and a Giveaway!

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by Shari Randall

Dear Readers,

Greetings from the quiet northeastern corner of Connecticut, the setting for my new series, The Ice Cream Shop Mysteries. The setting, the village of Penniman, comes complete with a covered bridge, pocket farms, and the Udderly Delightful ice cream shop that specializes in unique flavors crafted with local products. It’s a dream setting and I have to be honest – the research for this series has been a dream, too! I’ve traveled the back roads of New England searching out the most delicious little ice cream parlors to inspire Udderly Delightful. The ice cream maker on my kitchen counter has gotten quite a workout as I’ve experimented with recipes for the book.

I’ll share more about the series as we get closer to publication date, but I did want to let you know that my wonderful publisher has set up a Goodreads giveaway with 50 (!) print copies of THE ROCKY ROAD TO RUIN on offer. So click the link to head on over, enter, and read more about the story! Here’s the link to the Goodreads Giveaway.

Shari Randall is the author of the Agatha Award winning Lobster Shack Mystery series. Her new series, The Ice Cream Shop Mysteries, written as Meri Allen, debuts on July 27 with THE ROCKY ROAD TO RUIN. You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook @ShariRandallAuthor and @MeriAllenBooks.

#goodreadsgiveaway #cozymysteryseries #icecream 

An Exception to the Rules of Perfect Timing

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By Laura Spinella
Amazing how the second Friday of the month (my high-heel
post day) sneaks up on me! A quick blog, as
Clarabel and Robert, September 24, 1949

Mother is visiting this weekend. If
you know Mother, you also know that my hands are filled with dust mops and
disinfectant, and that I have no time to devote to cleverness or chatty banter.

So I will keep this blog simple and relevant, noting first
and foremost that the Stiletto Gang has expanded their social media horizons by
creating a Facebook page!  I’m excited
about this new venture, and hope it will offer greater opportunities for us to
interact with Stiletto Gang followers, as well as with each other.  Please come by and “like” us!
If you haven’t heard, I have a new book out in a few weeks, PERFECT
TIMING! As excited as I am about the Stiletto Gang’s new digs, I’m
maybe a hair more stoked about this. Honestly? 
I believe the book’s existence can be traced to blood being drawn directly from
a vein—one in my neck. This is my second published novel, and I am excited to
share it with readers. One-thousand-and-one iterations later, the back cover
blurb goes like this:
There’s rock,
there’s a hard place, then there’s Aidan & Isabel

What’s a Jersey Girl to do when she moves to Catswallow,
Alabama? Isabel Lang finds the answer in friendship, an unlikely bond with the
musically gifted Aidan Roycroft. The two share everything from a first kiss to
startling family secrets. But when Aidan is accused of a violent crime these
inseparable friends flee to Las Vegas. The move seems like a jackpot win as a
long-awaited romance ignites and a major recording label offers Aidan a deal.
But Vegas luck doesn’t last when circumstance interferes and Isabel’s future
comes tumbling down.
Seven years later the past is history. That includes any
yesteryear bond with Aidan Roycroft—an entity better known as Aidan Royce,
Alabama’s own Springsteen. Isabel is busy running a radio station and closing
in on a commitment with Nate Potter, a guy who defines ideal. Life seems cozy
until new station management demands a sudden-death ratings grabber, putting
everyone’s future on the line. What should be a simple solution leads to a
stunning revelation as Isabel is forced to call on the past and the only rock
star she
knows.        
      
   
If that tickled your
reading fancy, you can pop over to Goodreads where there’s a giveaway going on,
courtesy of those nice folks at Penguin. 
If you’d like to read a little more now, you can find the first chapter
on my website 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Perfect Timing by Laura Spinella

Perfect Timing

by Laura Spinella

Giveaway ends November 09, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win


Wishing you all a
wonderful fall weekend! Many thanks for visiting with us at the Stiletto
Gang while I visit with Mother!


Laura Spinella, a RITA
finalist, is the author of the award-winning novel, BEAUTIFUL DISASTER. PERFECT
TIMING is available November 5th!  

I’m Glad You Asked…

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By Laura Spinella

My original thought was to do a post about the upcoming RWA conference
and RITA awards. I’ll be on my way to Anaheim at the end of the month for their
annual gathering of romantic-minded authors and accompanying soiree where the
RITAs are bestowed.  However, I realized that
a dress, shoes and an airline ticket do not for a blog make.
Then, yesterday, I heard from a reader. Derek first
wrote me about a year ago, and we’ve been chummy ever since. He’s a voracious
reader, who visits Goodreads more often than I frequent my liquor cabinet. In
fact, he reads so much, I worry about his vitamin D consumption and terminal
paper cuts. Derek sent me this link to an article in Publishers Weekly. For the
full effect, please give it a read.  The main gist of the article is Goodreads
dialogue, and not necessarily pleasant dialogue, between readers and authors. Whether you are an author, editor, agent or the most important component: a reader, the article is thought provoking.
Direct from Facebook, the other social media Kool-Aid, is my conversation with
Derek.  I would however, love to hear
your thoughts on the Publisher’s Weekly article. If you’re a reader/reviewer, is
it license to say whatever you want?  If
you’re an author, how do respond, if you respond? 
            Oh, BTW, about that RWA RITA thing…
If you could all keep fingers and toes crossed on the 28th, it would be very much appreciated! 
           Derek: I know we haven’t
talked in awhile but I stumbled upon this article about reviewers and authors
and backlash on Goodreads, and was wondering what your thoughts on it?

Me: Derek, it’s
always great to hear from you! And you sure picked an interesting question for
me… I feel like a Miss Universe contestant in the dreaded question round!
Interpreter, please! Well, interpreter if one is going to spend a lot of time
dissecting reviews anywhere, including Goodreads. 

Here’s my take for
whatever it is worth: I don’t read them. I don’t read reviews anywhere,
Goodreads, Amazon…  I don’t read them
if they’re glowing or a one-star kick in the teeth. I made that rule right after
BD came out. It just struck me as “awkward” to sit around reading
judgments about something that could never mean as much to someone else as it
does to me. I spent six years of my life with that book. It’s like toting your
kindergartner to school, shoving him/her in front of the student body and
saying, “OK, tell me what you think?” Reading is SO subjective, and
no two opinions are going to be the same. To say that an author reads a
negative review looking for ways to improve their writing, I wish them luck with
that. What happens when the next reviewer says the exact opposite? I don’t read
the good ones b/c there’s always a risk I might believe what they’re saying.
Seems like slippery slope to me.  

Lastly, I’d never
get into a dialogue with a reviewer. To what end? If they disliked my book (and
I’m sure some have), is a word war with me going to change their opinion? Maybe
I’m just not any good at dealing with negativity, or maybe i just think life is
too short. I do what I do. I love my book/s. Are they perfect? Heck no. But they’re
mine. Part of the job involves putting yourself out there for the masses to
comment on, like it or not. It’s a strange caveat you learn as you go. 

Well, I hope that
answers your question to some extent. Ask the next author and you’ll probably
get a completely different answer! I hope you’re having a wonderful summer!!
I’m off to CA in a couple of weeks… Again, I’d probably be happier alone in
my sunroom with my laptop. Writers are strange people (-;


Laura


Laura Spinella is the author of the RITA nominated novel BEAUTIFUL DISASTER. Visit her at lauraspinella.net.