Did you hear the loud crash at my house last night. Instead of having a big tree because of the shysters I opted for a tiny tree set on top of my hutch in the corner. It has lasted the entire Christmas season with no problem. I left my Christmas decorations up since we are having family Christmas the end of the month. I guess Boris decided it was time to take them down. Here is what I am thankful for today. How about you?
I spent my weekend reading. It was cold, cold, cold and all I wanted to do was snuggle under the covers and read a book and so I did. I posted my reviews today on Amazon and Goodreads.
I will admit, I am not the best reviewer. For some reason I can spin a yarn or a tale, but when it comes time to review something I am occasionally at a loss for words. I have received good reviews and bad reviews for my books. I take that into consideration when I write a review of something I have read, because looking at the bad reviews that some books receive, and at the other books the reviewer has reviewed, the books haven’t merited the horrible review they got. You know the kind of review I mean? The kind that stabs and is cruel and mean with no purpose except to wound rather than to post a constructive critique that would help the writer. In fact, looking at the other reviews there seems to be a thread where the reader doesn’t like the genre of book that the book they have just reviewed falls into.
Keeping that in mind there are books that I have started and could not get through. Most of them have been free books and not what I normally read, so it stands to reason I might not like them. Others might be poorly written.
When I post a review I see no reason to be cruel if I don’t like a book. In fact, if I quit reading a book that I don’t like, I often times do not leave a review because there are occasions when it is better to say nothing at all. If I leave a review with fewer than four stars I usually leave a gentle reason why I deemed it three stars. I do not do less.
The last three books I reviewed got five stars because I liked them. I didn’t have to muddle through to get to the end. They kept me reading. I give five stars to new authors and award winning authors. Famous author or indie author, I award the same. When I give five stars it is because I liked the book. I liked the genre it was in and I felt the writing was good. Having that in mind I will tell you I am not a stickler for perfect grammar and perfect punctuation. Remember I am comma challenged. I am not a stickler if I like the story. I don’t let the mistakes in editing take away from my enjoyment of the book. I don’t dock for those unless they are way out of line. If I look at the editing too closely I take away from my enjoyment of a good storyline.
If you follow my reviews and you see a five or four star review for a book and you look back through my history and see that is all I am giving —- it is because the other books didn’t make the cut of my even giving it a review. The books I review are books I like. That is the way I do my reviews. That is the way I continue to do my reviews. If you understand that–then you should follow my reviews. If you don’t, then I am not the reviewer for you.
If you want the terrible with the good. If you want the critical, soul destroying reviews then you can find them but you won’t find them where I hang out.
If you enjoy a good book, make sure to leave a review. A good review is a gift for every author.
Here is one of my recent gifts. Posted by Skeeter on Amazon for Granny Skewers A Scoundrel on October 20, 2014
I loved this book. Granny gets in more trouble than Carter had liver pills. What a hoot! And I think the books get better the more the author writes. Don’t know where she gets the ideas, but keep them coming. And I would personally love to see Granny’s hidden wardrobe!
Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf posted in Albert Lea Tribune and Courier Sentinel week of November 17, 2014
Today is World Peace Day. Yesterday was United Nations International Day for Tolerance and National Fast Food Day.
We all know that for us every day is a special day in our lives because it is different from the day before. I hadn’t thought much about the days that people have named for us to celebrate until I picked up one of my AARP newsletters.
There are the days that we all remember: Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter Sunday, Grandparents Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, but I hadn’t realized how many special days there are until I picked up that magazine.
According to my AARP magazine these are the special days for the month of November:
November is National Family Caregivers Month. Nov. 11 is Veterans Day, Nov. 13 is Embrace World Kindness Day. Nov. 23 kicks off National Game and Puzzle Week, and the 26th kicks off National Deal Week. Nov. 27 we celebrate Thanksgiving Day, and then we move on to the 29th and Small Business Saturday and on the 30th Senior Sunday.
The two I mentioned when I started this column are not mentioned in the AARP magazine but are two I found on investigating days celebrated.
Since the month is half over and you might have missed celebrating some of the days I have mentioned, here are some days for you to celebrate the rest of the month: Nov. 18 is National Adoption Week, Nov. 20 is Name your PC Day, Nov. 21 is World Hello Day, Nov. 22 is Stop the Violence Day. Here’s one I have no idea what it is and that is on Nov. 23, and it is National Sinkie Day. I would like to give credit for finding some of these to Jill Badonsky, writer of “The Awe-manac: A Daily Dose of Wonder.”
I have a feeling that if we wanted to name a day and we could get the world to catch on through social media, we could add another day to the November calendar to celebrate.
There may be days when you wake up in the morning and feel kind of blah and you feel you have nothing to celebrate. I am telling you that there is always a day to celebrate. If you look hard enough, you will find one.
Remember, there is also your birthday. I had a friend who never liked to celebrate his birthday because he didn’t like to think about his age. I always told him that celebrating his age was better than the alternative. The alternative happened, and I would guess he would tell you to celebrate your life on your special day. You can celebrate your life each day just because we wake up in the morning.
I decided to check out some more days to see what I can look forward to. I like June 18 because it is National Splurge Day or June 21, National Wandering Day. I am very good at splurging and wandering. It is cold where I live and Dec. 3 is one day I am going to celebrate, it is National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day.
If you can’t find a day you like to celebrate, then make one up and shout it the world and let others celebrate with you.
I think I will declare Dec. 26, Hermiony Vidalia Criony Fiddlestadt Day. She is my character in my Fuchsia, Minnesota Series, and I think she should have her own day. Why Dec. 26? It is a special day for her. I can’t tell you why — it’s a secret until my new book, “Granny Snows a Sneak,” coming out this month, gives it away.
Find a day to celebrate. Share that day with others and remember the turkey. He gives his life for us this month.
“You’ve to celebrate the good days because there are brutal days that make the good ones sweet.” — Brian O’Driscoll
Sprinkled Notes 