A Serious Request

The title is serious: I'm making a serious request here. But seriously, and I will stop making this sound unserious after this, I really could use your help.

If you have an Amazon account, would you be willing to 'follow' me please? Just go to any page with one of my books on it, find my pen name (Charles Martin Cosgriff) and click follow. This will help me manage my books more closely, and will help the algorithm, the famous algorithm, to find and suggest me to other Amazon shoppers.

Full disclosure: this will open you up to receive emails or other solicitations from Amazon about updates to my books or author page, and perhaps other Amazon entreaties as well. If you don't want to be subject to such, I understand. I'm throwing myself at your goodwill and tolerance, and no hard feelings if you don't want to deal with it.

I will happily reciprocate if you're on Amazon yourself, and follow you. I will put my proverbial money where my mouth is. 

Thank you in advance!

Saved Yet Amazed

My Shop Keurig died suddenly Wednesday. It couldn't have been from overuse, could it?

As I can indeed be taught, I spent a few minutes Thursday morning trolling Amazon to see what replacements might cost. That website gave me the same price I was finding on the websites of the brick and mortar stores around Detroit, and promised me free delivery between 2 and 6 yesterday afternoon. Identical pricing and free delivery that very day? It's tough to pass.

Yet pass I did. I had running around for work to do, and thought I might see what I could find while out and about. And indeed I stumbled upon a single serve Keurig for ten bucks lower than the Amazon price. I bought it. Serendipity.

Still, the idea that I could get delivery six hours or so later for what would have been an order at 9 in the morning impressed me. Yet it was also nice to save ten dollars through simply refusing to break old habits. 

Is there a lesson here? I don't know. I'm just filling blog space.

Triple Honest

Now that I'm making a heartfelt effort at putting myself 'out there' I'm getting more and more Amazon reviews on my books. Here's a favorite, about my first book A Subtle Armageddon:

I had to make a decision to rate the novel either a 3 or 4 star. It was a tough read for me since the story just seemed to describe a man wandering around and experiencing many things for the first time. I decided that perhaps I did not like the book since I am not a big fan of either of the two authors that seems to influence the author and decided on awarding a 4 star. Perhaps if you like this type of genre, you might be more impressed.

I like this little review, basically for its honesty. There are to my mind three levels of honesty within it.

First, the man is honest with me. He admits that he isn't a fan of the writers who inspire me (Tolkien and CS Lewis). That's all right. I'm an adult, and I realize that what I pen isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. Still, he informs me without rancor that the story isn't for him. I respect that.

Second, he's factually correct. The main actor in ASA is (at least at first) simply wandering around and things just 'happen' to him. That was done on purpose as I developed the story and, I will argue, was necessary under the circumstances I imposed upon myself in writing the book. But the reviewer makes a fair criticism: it all can appear random and unimportant, at least at a casual glance. 

Third, while grading it in the standard Amazon five star format, he waffles between 3 and 4 but then assigns it a fourth star precisely because he realizes his prejudices might be affecting his judgement. He's playing fair (to my writing as well as his views) and I highly respect that.

So, for something which is less than a stellar review it is nonetheless a decent and valid one. I have to appreciate it on that ground, and I wish more folks (including me) might be more like that in things we say and do. I think it's how human interaction should be.