Received a great review from reviewer Tracy Riva today.

You can read more of the review and check out her blog at http://tracyriva.com/?p=3351 .  Here’s part of it:

Review:

I loved Regardless by Sharon Poppen! It is just a touch Science Fiction; it is first last and foremost a love story that will have you rooting for Michael and Tom from the early pages clear through the end of t…he book, but be forewarned, this book is a tearjerker and in more than one place I found myself pulling out a box of tissues.

Poppen’s talent never ceases to amaze me and this may be her greatest book to date, although it is hard to determine if it beats her stellar After the War, Before the Peace because the two books are so different. It was really interesting to see how Tom, a heterosexual male deals with his attraction to Michael, a homosexual male. The inner struggle as he realizes he really likes Michael. His peace of mind when he decides to let to Michael into his life and his total conflict when he realizes what he feels for Michael goes beyond mere friendship.

(for more go to http://tracyriva.com/?p=3351)

I’m so pleased that the reviewer liked it so much. I can only hope it brings some sales.

It was a good day all around as to being a writer. Not only did I get a good review, but I ran into two folks at our local Hastings Book store today who recognized me as being ‘the writer’. One wanted info on my book club at the Book Exchange and one wanted to tell me about how much his wife enjoyed ‘After the War, Before the Peace’ and wanted to know when the sequels will be available. It was a good day.

I’m giving ‘Finding Amy’ away again, just for today. So far there have been 78 downloads. It sure doesn’t seem to attract the readers like ’Hannah’ did. Still it got to 9th place on Amazon’s 100 free books, so I’m happy. Now, I hope I see some sales.

On another note, I saw the new movie ‘Star Trek into Darkness’. Loved it. I think what I like most is that the new actors seem to have studied the characters from the original TV show and bring them to the screen just like the original actors did. Hope they make more movies with these characters!

Because my efforts at writing brought such a fun day, I’ve thought about how I’ve felt about writing for many years now. Sure, I’d like to have a ‘best seller’, but the truth is I’d write even if no one ever read my work. So, I’ll close with this little bit of wisdom from Ben Sweetland, “Success is a journey, not a destination.”

Had a great weekend. One of my book clubs met on Saturday and we discussed the books of J.D. Robb. Very mixed reactions. Overall, most of us felt that the quality of the writing fell below the standards the author uses when she writes as Nora Roberts. I admire her ability to attract two different kinds of readers – Roberts with her romance and Robb with her crime stories. She certainly stretches her talents.

Finding Amy has been downloaded by over 200 readers, so far. It will be interesting to see if it does even half as well as Hannah is doing. Still no reviews. I can only hope the readers are finding it worth their time.

I’m doing a final edit on ‘Mama Played for the King’. Is it just too weird that I’m enjoying my own writing. I wrote it so long ago that some of it even seems new to me. I hope to have it on line by June 1st.

Had a mother’s day lunch at Denny’s today with Jo and Patty. Both my kids had already called to wish me a Happy Mother’s Day. Love talking to them. I’m truly blessed to have such great kids.

Then, tonight went to Karaoke. The regular crowd was there. Good people, all. I sang ‘I’m from the Country’. It’s short and I don’t think I strain ears with my flat singing voice.

Oh, and I’m so bummed. Just found out that the TV show ‘Smash’ has been cancelled. I love it. The musical numbers are wonderful and they have had so many guest stars. It reminded me of the old variety shows of the past like Dean Martin, Glen Campbell, Sonny and Cher and so on. I will really miss it!

In thinking about Robb’s book and the lack of reviews I’ve received for ‘Finding Amy, I found this from Aldous Huxley. “A bad book is as much a labor to write as a good one, it comes as sincerely from the author’s soul.”

My latest novel ‘Finding Amy’ is now available in both print and ebook format on amazon.com . I’m giving it away free for two days and as of a few minutes ago, there have been 154 downloads. It was years ago, but the story of a young man who follows his heart instead of his head is timeless. I hope my readers enjoy the story.

I posted the info regarding ‘Finding Amy’ on Facebook and sent an email to many folks in my email address book. It has been so rewarding to hear from so many people I haven’t heard from in ages. Each brings to mind a thought about how much we learned from each other as we began writing our short stories/books.

The sales of ‘Hannah’ are staying consistent, so that makes me happy. I’m now working on my novel ‘Mama Played for the King’ and hope to have it out by June 1st. And, I’m still moving the last book in my Farrell Brothers saga forward in my ‘spare’ time.

I’ll close tonight with some thoughts on perseverance by William E. Hickson . “‘Tis a lesson you should heed, try, try again. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

So very excited! Patty and I have completed the administrative process for another book to go live on Amazon.  This one is Finding Amy. I wrote it quite a few years ago. The romance publishers wouldn’t take it because it had too much plot. Go figure! Anyway. the success with Hannah encouraged us to go forward with it. The cover is awful, but I learned something in that process. I hope the book blub and the story will attract readers.

Speaking of Hannah sales are now over 450, so it looks like JoAnn’s goal of 500 may be achievable. Got my fingers crossed. Also, the reviews have been so very positive!

Been attending some meetings around town lately featuring a couple of ladies who managed to escape from a polygamist sect up in Utah. Very sad tale of how women are treated in that community. Again, it makes me question the existence of a God who would allow such things. If adult women buy into such nonsense, then that’s free will and I don’t have an issue with God not interfering. But, according to these women, girls hardly into their teens are regularly molested, even by the fathers. Those young girls have ‘free choice’? I hardly think so. Very sad, indeed.

Got feedback on another section of The Band. It’s so interesting to read the varied opinions of the main character J.J. My plan is to work the character from being the ‘rock’ for his family, to a totally self-indulgent fool and then turn him back into the ‘rock’. It’s been fun. Some of the critiques treat J.J. harshly while others resent his wife for not being at his side. I’m enjoying their comments and seriously considering their suggestions. Once it’s published, I can only hope that my readers will be fascinated by J.J.’s wild ride and end of liking him when ’The End’ is written.

Got to close for now as I have a meeting in the a.m. with my web mistress. So, here’s my quote of the day. “Belief is desecrated when given to unproved and unquestioned statements for the solace and private pleasure of the believer… It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” – William James

I know in the overall assessment of things, the fact that over 7,000 readers now have ‘Hannah’ to read is a pittance to what well known authors have achieved. But, the numbers are motivating me to do more in the way of submissions and moving the story line in my current novel forward. As of a few minutes ago, ‘Hannah’s’ sales numbers are now 201! Yahoo!!!

Got more feed back on Leon Uris today from a friend who is reading ‘Redemption’. She is having trouble getting hooked as far as plot and/or characters. She is not fond of the usage of colloquial Irish dialog because it sometimes makes her miss the meaning. I hope it gets better for her. I know I liked Uris’ ‘Trinity’ better, but I still loved ‘Redemption’

Had lunch today with a fellow writer who specializes in poetry. His poems are often dark and based on experiences during a career in law enforcement. He’s a highly intelligent man, so he tends to want to ‘educate’ with his books. I think it’s good that overall their are writers for every reader need. I focus on those who want to be entertained – those who want to voyeur into how others react when put in the positions I often set my characters into.

So teach or entertain? Both have merit, but after the horror that occurred during the Boston marathon, I’m looking for entertainment. Something to take me to another place. The horror will always be there, but to have a few minutes/hours of fiction often makes the other easier to deal with.

So, my quote of the day deals with escapism. “listen: there’s a hell of a good universe next door: let’s go.” e.e. cummings

As of this evening, 180 ebooks of ‘Hannah’ have been downloaded. It feels so good to know that over 7000 people are reading ‘Hannah’. I can only hope they enjoy it and that it leads them to read my other books.

Wrote another chapter of my space novel. The year is 1992 so the science of the times is familiar to me, but the training for the space program is requiring a lot of research. I’m learning so much about the Johnson Space Center and what the astronauts had to go thorough. Still, my favorite part of writing is when I’m working with the characters. To me, that’s really what story telling is all about.

Was given some free tickets to see country singer Travis Tritt this coming Friday. I’ve seen him before and he puts on a great show. I’ll be spending the night in Laughlin and the yearly Motorcycle Rally will be full swing. Should be exciting.

We will be reading Leon Uris for our next book club meeting at our local Book Exchange. Got some really good feedback from one member of the group and a so-so comment from another. As for me, he’s my hero and he’s what strove me to be a character based writer.

Oh, my granddaughter turned fifteen and a half today and she is now the proud owner of a driver’s permit. The girl now has ‘wheels’! She’s growing up too fast. Because her paternal grandfather raced cars at one time, she feels driving is in her blood. She’s a dynamic girl and she’s going to be a good driver. Congrats, Hailey!

As for my quip of the day, my dream of having my books read and enjoyed by many, many people is what I’m living this past week or so. So, I quite agree with Henry David Thoroeau – “I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”