Feb11

I make people lose sleep.

Posted on by
Standard
I make people lose sleep.

I gambled with sending Herb an early pdf of Wish I Was Here so he could review it.

Herb: “I will give you a review that will be fair and honest.”

Me: “I really, really hope you like my book, or I may regret this!”

Fortunately, the bet paid off.

TWO DAYS after I sent him a pdf, he responded: “Okay, that was worth doing. I will definitely have good things to say in a review when the time comes. It was a great concept and well-written, even though I don’t know that I’m the target demographic for it. It held my interest and kept me turning pages right to the end, so much so that I stayed up late to read it.”

I was so relieved. Here’s his review:

Thank you again, Herb!

Another woman I asked to review the book originally begged off a timely turnaround because she was recovering from surgery. Nevertheless, she also responded two days later, admitting that, though she shouldn’t have, she stayed up late reading because she loved it and couldn’t stop. (Her review has yet to hit Amazon.)

Then there’s Ab, who warned me he doesn’t have much free time for reading. And yet, I soon got a message from him via Instagram:

The next night: “Nice cliffhanger. And love the Descartes reference.”

Four days later:

THE NEXT DAY:

I cut this off so you don’t get a spoiler.

A half hour later:

When I read stuff like this, I’m a little gobsmacked. Hubby just shakes his head and says, “You wrote a good book, hon. When are you going to accept that?”

It’s still bewildering to me that so far everyone I know who has read it (and that one stranger) has had the same basic reaction.

So friends, if you struggle with insomnia anyway and haven’t read Wish I Was Here yet, you may want to change that. Don’t forget that I have “collector’s edition” covers if you want a signed copy from me. Ask for a personalized copy for yourself or as a gift for someone else below. 🙂

Old Q: Appia, Aurelia, Flaminia, and Cassia are all names of Roman roads.

New Q that I just made up on the spot: “Rowds. Ro-ads. That’s a total weird word, isn’t it?” What movie am I loosely quoting?

Discover more from Writing and Martial Arts

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

71 responses »

  7. Lucky you, getting such nice reviewers 😉 Before you know it, you’ll have a 4.75 average on goodreads with nothing but positive reviews. You might even have to bribe some curmudgeon to leave a mean review just so it doesn’t look like you’re buying reviews on Fiver or something.

    As for the trivia, I am fresh out on movie trivia 😦 I’m so sorry to disappoint you. I feel like I’ve really let you and your blog down. But never fear, I’ll try even harder next time, I promise.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

    • That makes you sound insane? What? You sound appropriately eager. 🙂 Thanks again! And, hey, do you suppose you can leave a review on Amazon, s’il te plaît? You can be number 40! (Is that appropriate? Didn’t you recently or will soon turn the small 4-0?)

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply ↓

  11. well, it looks like you have people who cannot put it down, you’ve bewitched them somehow and all good reviews! of course! and I own a collector’s copy! and I forgot about the stranger. no idea about the Q.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  12. “When I read stuff like this, I’m a little gobsmacked.” I think most writers are like that. We work in silence turning our thoughts into something that makes sense on the page. We focus so much on our project that we don’t always think about what it means for others. When we finally sit back and see the reaction . . . it can be a strange feeling. Good for you! I can’t think of a better compliment: you make people lose sleep. Good one! Ha, ha.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  19. I think it would be way more cool if the “stranger” who read your book is actually a robot pretending to be a real person. It means the robots have taken notice of your book, and are using it for training purposes to help them take over and enslave us all. Your book could end up being the turning point that gives them victory. You’d be the most famous author of all time! But once the robots are in control, I doubt they’d let the survivors read books anymore. But you’d still be famous. Totally worth it, in my book.

    Like

    Reply ↓

Share what you think of this story, or share one of your own!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.