As an author, I realize that book reviews are critically important, as feedback for the writer as well as other prospective readers. Reading a book takes time, a precious commodity in this day and age. There are many authors with other books competing for the reader's attention. A positive review lets other readers know someone else enjoyed and recommends your book. As long as a negative review contains constructive criticism, they also provide valuable feedback to the writer, so they know what didn't work and where to improve. My first novel, Coastal Empire, received positive reviews...just not very many of them so far. My friends tend to call to tell me personally that they enjoyed my novel, rather than publishing a review for posterity. The former is appreciated, but the latter would be beneficial to me and other readers. Therefore, I entered Coastal Empire into a contest run by Reader's Favorite to gain exposure and get another published review of my book. Here's what reviewer Annie B. said in her five star review about my first novel: "Coastal Empire", written by John “Rocky” Leonard, has its setting in the beautiful Savannah, Georgia. Our story begins with a murder and a big bang. When Sarah Reid walked into private investigator Robert Mercer office, he admired her beauty. She hired him to investigate her husband, Barry, a real estate tycoon, suspecting him of cheating on her. Mercer thought “her husband must be an idiot.” Could Barry be an adulterous husband or was it a case of identity theft? The investigation turned dangerous as the murder victims began … [Read more...]
Official Kickstarter campaign for Secondhand Sight
If you liked reading my novel Coastal Empire,I think you might enjoy my new book, officially released on September 7th. Please consider supporting my Kickstarter campaign for Secondhand Sight. … [Read more...]
Kickstarting Secondhand Sight
If there ever was any remaining doubt that my wife is brilliant, this Kickstarter book trailer she made for me today to promote my upcoming novel, Secondhand Sight, ought to eliminate it. It makes me want to buy my own book. Kudos again to Jason White for his outstanding cover design. Check out the trailer and let us know what you think. I'll post another update when the Kickstarter campaign goes live. … [Read more...]
Barnsley Gardens
My wife and I celebrated our twenty-third anniversary at the Barnsley Gardens resort last week. This most improbably located gem in north Georgia is only a few miles outside of Adairsville, about an hour north of Atlanta and south of Chattanooga with roughly the same traveling time. My general rule of thumb for vacations is that I steadfastly refuse to stay anywhere that isn't nicer than where I live. No problems there.Barnsley Gardens far exceeded my wildest expectations. In fact, I had only one complaint about the whole experience, if that's what you would call the purpose of my call...for the first time in memory, I called the resort after we left with my concern about being under-billed for our stay. The package we selected came with a complimentary round of golf for two OR a one-hour massage in the spa as part of the deal, or so I thought. Since my wife doesn't play golf and doesn't like massage, I took the freebie that came with the package, but also booked a one-hour facial for her. When the smoke cleared from billing, it was clear to me that no charges for the facial showed up on our bill, even though I signed a slip of paper charging the service to our room bill. It turned out that we didn't plan a long enough stay to include golf, anyway. As you can see from the pictures, we had plenty to see, walking the breathtaking gardens and exploring the ruins of the old Barnsley manor. Of course, "room" is a euphemism for the one bedroom standalone cottage we had to ourselves. When the staff found out it was our anniversary, we were showered with … [Read more...]
The power of quotation marks
Truly, political correctness is anathema to me.... As a writer, I understand the power of quotation marks. In fiction writing, it’s when my characters come to life and speak. In my nonfiction work, this form of punctuation indicates the words contained within are quoted verbatim, exactly as uttered from the mouth of the speaker cited. Sometimes in my writing, I’ll put quotation marks around a single word to convey what I consider to be questionable usage. Those applications are the only ones using quotes with which I am comfortable using. For example, today I'd like to talk about the ongoing effort to stigmatize users of an currently “unpopular” word. You see, in this instance, “unpopular” suggests that nobody likes the word. But in truth, only a certain set of people dislike use of the word and seek to marginalize its use by the general public. However, there is yet another convention. In the modern vernacular, quotes placed around only a single letter signify that the word associated in question that comes to mind in the given context is politically incorrect, or verboten. For example, the “N” word associated with a racial slur is considered one of the most horrible, offensive words in the English language. It is thought to be so bad that a teacher got fired for using the word "niggardly" correctly in a sentence, because it only sounded like the forbidden one. Before you think it was simply an aberration, the same thing happened to the aide to the mayor of Washington, D.C. In other words, ignorance and hypersensitivity to political … [Read more...]
