Are you like me?  Are you excited and proud to share good news about yourself, i.e. want to brag when something good happens?  And then, right behind that whoop of excitement you feel a bit embarrassed?

Great book.

Perhaps we all have had a dad like Peggy Klaus, author of Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It.  Ms. Klaus wrote about when she was small, she won a tennis match and was celebrating and telling everyone about her success.  Then her dad took her aside and said, “Peggy, don’t toot your own horn; if you do a good job people will notice you.” She learned to become more and more self-deprecating until this “aw shucks” attitude drove her away from success in Hollywood.

Then Ms, Klaus discovered the art of storytelling.  That’s right.  She learned to talk about herself by literally writing true stories about her life and her accomplishments.  Success started tumbling in.  Great book.  You may want to check it out.  I’ve given copies to several friends, and keep referring back to it.

What has this to do with a Daisy Arthur update?  I want to brag today.  I’ve received some kind and generous feedback about Faith on the Rocks recently, and I’d like to share it with you.

The Professional Review

Yesterday amongst my usual litany of emails to get me to buy something, be a part of something and general “you’re on my mailing list” stuff, came an email from my publisher.  I  have to say, I jump all over these emails.  Anyway, Tiffany forwarded a review for me from Linda Morelli, an award-winning romance writer of three published novels.  Ms. Morelli also  writes reviews for the website, MyShelf.com, and somehow she selected my book for a review (I suspect my publisher’s hand in here–Thanks, Tiffany).   The review was so cool and kind it made my day.  My favorite line was “While the murder plot is well-developed, it’s the characters that make this novel an enjoyable cozy mystery and thoroughly entertaining read. Faith on the Rocks truly rocks!”

A Second Read

I’m also thrilled to tell you about a note from my brother-in-law.  Randy is someone I’ve always looked up to.  I met him when I was still a little girl and he was one of those grown-up college guys.  A whiz at math, and a great ping-pong player (who my own dad loved to play against), Randy, like all my “big brothers” was always a bit out of my league–someone to star-gaze at.

Then this summer he actually bought one of my books.  It wasn’t my sister (though I suspected he bought the book for her), but this professional who has a mind that’s very deep.  He couldn’t possibly want to read a cheesy little murder mystery, right?

Randy read the book within a day or two of buying it, asked me probing questions, and was generally kind in his feedback.  I floated on cloud 9 for a few days after.

Then, last week, I received this message: “Picked up a lot more little things in the story the second time. . . Keep writing.” Wow!  Thank you Randy!  I can’t imagine people reading my book a second time. How cool is that?

Seeing Beyond The Words

Some of my feedback comes directly from friends.  Kaye stopped to chat with me at ballroom dance a few days back.  She was in the midst of reading Faith, told me she was pretty far along in the book and still didn’t know who did it, but she suspected it wasn’t anyone in the writing group because of the book’s title.

I explained that the title came from the occupation of the victim and the manner in which he died.  “Oh darn,” said Kaye. “I thought I’d figured it out.”  She also talked about some of the layering of themes I’d put in the book, but didn’t think people would see.  You could say this review left me feeling like dancing–even if dancing meant doing steps in exercise fashion, over and over again.  Thank you, Kaye!

Other Daisy Progress

I’m excited to let you know that my second novel, Sliced Vegetarian, is with beta readers right now, and I’m starting to get a little feedback here too.  I chose my beta readers with care, and I’m sure these friends will give me some good things to chew over before going into final edits and submission.

Melissa already let me know that I need to push up a little more humor in chapter one.  Will try, my friend, and thanks for your thoughts.

Also, a few weeks ago I mentioned I was going to be at Three Chimneys–Natural Surroundings for a book signing in Littleton.  That signing went well, with over 10 books sold!  Whoo Hoo!  It was super to meet more people from the area and talk mystery with these terrific readers.  Also, Terri and her team were terrific hosts and left me feeling both welcome and appreciated.  I’ll be returning to Three Chimneys in November.  If you can make it, I’d love to see you there.

Last update

I’ve settled on a new idea for the third Daisy novel.  Can’t tell you much about it, as I’ve only had ideas start to gel, but I think the title will be, Pot Shots.  I’ll keep you posted.

Wishing you a great day, and may all your mysteries find satisfying resolutions.