From today through Tuesday The Hidden Fortune and O Father: A Murder Mystery are free at Amazon.com. (I suppose I could call this a back-to-school special. Little late for that. Or perhaps a "do your Christmas shopping early this year" theme.)
O Father is the book I wrote for the International 3-Day Novel Contest. The Hidden Fortune is a middle-grade novel. The setting for the mystery is the suburb where I was living at the time. (And still do.) And the kids' book takes place in a Seattle neighborhood where I lived in late grade school up until I got married. (At the tender age of 21.)
--Pope Bob is one of the most touching stories I have ever read. The author, Bill
Dodds, is a fine story teller, a more than capable writer, and obviously, a man
of faith. As I read the book, I clearly identified with the parts of
self-destruction, of putting my faith on the back burner in order to "enjoy"
life. As Bob hit his bottom, I was right there beside him. And when Father Pete
showed up, I wanted to cheer. What a winner! Thank you, Bill Dodds, for an
incredible journey with your characters. I can't remember the last time I sobbed
at the end of a book. A wonderful and worthy read.
--Kudos to Bill Dodds for writing this book. Pope Bob takes a nearly impossible to
believe scenario--the secretly alcoholic first American Pope getting lost and
waking up on skid row--and makes it plausible. But really this book is about
redemption, hope, addiction, friendship, love, and surrender, with quite a bit
of humor sprinkled throughout. This is a beautiful book, with a universal
message of the human condition and the struggles we each face as we navigate our
lives and face our fears and our weaknesses. The dialogue was crisp and
believable, the characters likable and very human. I smiled a lot while reading
this book, and as I read the last page I was left with a feeling of warmth, very
glad Pope Bob had come my way.
This has been a free long weekend (Friday through Tuesday) for Pope Bob and My Great-grandfather Turns 12 Today.
I'm happy to report I've given away almost 5,000 copies of Pope Bob and it's in the #2 spot on the top 100 humor Kindle books.
If your family and friends say
something you wrote is very good
then you can be sure it is very good
and should be published immediately.
Make your motto: Pointing out to the editor
"my family and friends say this is very good"
will seal the deal!
It's good to recall the life and work of author Ray Bradbury (who died yesterday at the age of 91) when you fall into the but-I-only-write trap.
But I only write . . . science fiction. Fantasy. Westerns. Romance. Short stories. Poems. Mysteries. And on and on and on.
When it comes to writing, when it comes to your writing, there is no "I only."
Writing is writing. No matter the genre.
I highly suspect those who write so well in one form wish they could write as well in another. The mystery writer would like to pen a fantasy. The fantasy writer wishes she could do a literary novel. The literary novelist would dearly love it if as many people read his work as looked forward to the next children's book about a wizard boy in England.
Writing isn't a one-genre-fits-all talent. The gift you've been given, and are nurturing and strengthening, is uniquely your own, just as that developing (or developed) voice is.
10. He's never told himself he can't.
9. She isn't slowed down by concerns about punctuation, spelling, grammar or style.
8. He has a story he wants to tell.
7. She isn't hung up on what size a "real" novel has to be.
6. He has no doubt he can finish it.
5. She thinks it sounds kind of fun to do.
4. He's blissfully clueless about publishers, agents, and such.
3. She's read some novels.
2. He's not worried about what others will think of it.
1. Instead of doing a bunch of other stuff, she can choose to sit down and write!
