And Reviews - Good and Crazy - Are In

Every now and then I spend a day going out to various bookseller sites to read reviews of my books. The one book that has been getting positive 4 and 5 star reviews is Space Oddities. I’m reading reviews like:

“I enjoyed this book. I found it well-written with great stories. There was some humor and I loved the author’s tone.” 

“This is not a technical history and Cuhaj does a fine job bringing out the human element…Overall, there is something for everyone who thinks they "know it all" about the space race. I highly recommend this book.”

There are a fair number of critiques that I take to heart. These are reviews that only serve to make me a better writer and I do appreciate them.

But then, there are those that just make me shake my head. Here are a few with the answers I WOULD like to reply with, but I know when to curb my Jersey sarcasm:

• “If you or someone you buy gifts for is interested in the defunct space program, give this book a read.”

Quick! Someone tell NASA! They’re defunct! Cancel the next Artemis flight!!

•  (This is an actual conversation from my website):

“This book is great. How did you write it?”

On a laptop.

“No, no! I mean, how did you write it?”

Sometimes a pen.

(No more comments on this thread.)

• “I give it one star. I purchased this from Amazon and it arrived in the mail damaged.”

Let me call Jeff Bezos for you.

•  “This book cost me $22.95. I wouldn’t pay $25 for it!”

Ok, but thank you for your $22.95. 

• “There is no way you hiked all of the trails in this book.”

You’re on to me. I’d better fess up to my family about my long weekends away and my affair with chipmunks. 

• (A reviewer comments on the story of Mobile’s Boyington Oak where legend has it, a man was unjustly hung for a murder, but before he died, he said an oak tree would grow where he was hung to prove his innocence. An oak tree did grow on the very same spot.)

“Joe, do you know how many oak trees there are in downtown Mobile? Imagine the number of acorns rolling around over the centuries.”

Ok, I can’t argue that, but are YOU going to be the one to end a 188+ year legend? Not me!

Oh, there are more, MANY more. I'd better get back to reading them, and just shake my head.

 

 

 

Oh, The Possibilities

 

With storm clouds on the horizon for yet another "weather alert" day, my mind is wandering with a bajillion possible writing projects being yanked from the filing cabinet in my brain. I've had positive responses from a couple publishers about my proposed non-fiction WWII history manuscript, "GI Jive", and my short story collection, "A Fig Newton of My Imagination", but as I sit here and wait for the official go ahead, I'm pondering other possible projects. 

The Alabama Gulf Coast has seen an incredible rise in the number of hiking trails and walking paths over the past few years. Since my PKD has been keeping me from doing any long hikes right now, I may research the possibility of authoring a new trail guide to those nice, shorter but just as fascinating and beautiful hikes. 

I've also been reading a lot of mysteries again. Just finished the latest Miss Fisher mystery by Kerry Greenwood, "Death in Daylesford." Great read. Probably 10+ years ago I wrote a mystery that takes place in Mobile, Alabama during WWII at a local radio station. The characters were based on people I knew in my radio days. They get killed off one by one. LOL! It's fiction, people! Anyway, a publisher loved the first two chapters, wanted to review the rest (which I hadn't quite finished yet), and I was pushed into completing it. Basically from chapter 3 on it was trash. I think I may revisit that one. 

So many options and if you know me, I'll tackle them all at once. :)

More Space Oddities Reviews

 

I'm pleased to see that my book, Space Oddities: Forgotten Stories of Mankind's Exploration of Space continues to receive glowing reviews. Here's the latest by Edward Journey on the Alabama Writer's Forum website:

Click HERE for review.

New Book Trailer Released

 

The first book trailer for my new book that will be out in October, Everyone's Gone to the Moon: July 1969, Life on Earth, and the Epic Voyage of Apollo 11, has dropped. There are so many great stories from that month - both little known and forgotten global events and personal stories by average people, NASA employees and contractors, that I couldn't possibly put them all in this 2 1/2 minute video. Version one is ready for viewing. Note: This is a YouTube video so you may be asked by Facebook to go to an outside link. Enjoy! I can't wait until all of you get the chance to read it when it's released.

View the trailer by clicking this link.