Winter of Our ... Content

   

Well, any "grumpy cat" feelings of resentment over my comparatively limited books sales (see previous post) have been eliminated by two things; nice reviews and snow!

Check out my GoodReads profile. Among the new reviews is one from  Mrs. Condit Reads blog.

"Both of the main characters of this story grab you and take you on a journey of discovery with them. What could have been a sweet, wonderful story suddenly becomes something darker and much grittier after an accident changes things in a way that neither of them expects. You want to grab them up and hold them, protecting them from the possible future they’ve lost and the potential future they now have to find, whether it be alone or together remains to be seen.
This story will hold you. It may haunt you by the time you’ve finished it, but one thing it will not do is let you forget it."

The full interview and review is posted HERE, along with a giveaway. All you have to do is post a comment on the review page, and you could win a signed Lammy-stickered paperback copy of Every Time I Think of You!

That blog is quite representative of the wintry avalanche of new books coming out. Check 'em out, then click and buy.

And then you can post a review, mm-kay? Gosh, if only the 900-plus folks who downloaded a free Kindle edition of Every Time back in 2012 would post a review, I'd have a bestseller! Thaw out, people. Share the love, like my pal Paul just did on Amazon.com:

The book is beautiful and intimate, and I will remember it. I guess the best compliment I can give is that I feel that if Jim could somehow get in my head and really know what I felt myself during my teens and early twenties, then he could write my story and get it right.


Here's another great review on the Young Adult literature website True Colorz. Written by author Madison Park, it's also on her blog.

"Reid is such a wonderful character, full of unconditional love for his boy, Everett, even after tragedy strikes. Knowing that their relationship might never be the same, Reid is still determined to hold on to Everett and show him how much he really loves him. I love the way Reid never gave up on Everett, even when Ev pushed him away. Time and distance are no match for true love!! The letters and gifts exchanged over their time apart were so sweet. I was completely swept up by their love story.

I also love the way Reid didn't lose track of himself. He continued to pursue his dreams of working the summer job in the park and pursuing his education, despite how hard it was to be separated from Everett. There were times he was tempted to walk away from his dreams and throw himself into helping Everett, but Everett loved him too much to let him do that. They both showed a great deal of courage and maturity in dealing with their tragic circumstances. Everett, in particular, showed tremendous growth by the end of the story."

(Sniff. gimme a hanky!)

But hey, back on track; snow tracks! The weather here in San Francisco has happily turned away from our usual rainy winter to a brisk, near-freezing temperatures! Why am I so happy when others complain? I'm a winter baby, I guess. Having been born in December makes winter a fun time for me.

I miss playing in the snow, one of the many things about the East Coast that becomes a sense memory practice when writing about different seasons. With the setting of Every Time's sequel mostly in Philadelphia, I have to remember what it was like to have to warm up your car, scrape the ice off the windshield, shiver, make snowballs and enjoy the blinding whiteness of frozen precipitation.

And all this cold weather makes for inspiration. Hey, ya takes it where ya finds it.

While I have yet to trek up into the nearby mountains to really enjoy the flakes, I hope to get up there soon, just for fun. Sure, my heating bill has doubled, but so have the layers I wear as I pound the keyboard.

In the meantime, I'm gonna sip cocoa, enjoy the winter chirping birds of positive reviews, and keep on writing...with fingerless gloves!