Monday, July 30, 2012

Amazon, Reviews, and Twelve Year Olds

 Bad reviews can be hard to take at times, but unfair reviews shouldn't be tolerated at all.

I've done some research and learned how one bad review on Yelp could totally destroy someone's business, even if the review isn't fair. IN the link that I provided above, the author illustrated a perfectly good example of the unreasonable accommodations that most people are looking for.

Take for example Amazon.com. ePublishing has been a wonderful thing! It has taken the publishing decisions out the hands of the big publishing companies and given the power back to the writers. Writers, that could wallpaper their walls with rejection slips from the powerful literary agents and publishing houses, can now bypass that and take their books straight in the hands of the voracious readers. With the Kindle, many people are turning off their television sets and getting comfortable with a good book again. The E-Publishing business has opened many opportunities to writers that didn't exist in the past.

Now the bad. There are many publishing companies that refuse to market their books on Amazon for a variety of reasons. One of them being that people can write a review on your book without having purchased it! Now it's fine to review a book that you may have at home, purchased through other avenues, but is it really in your author's best interest to have people randomly writing reviews on books that they've never read?

Most people would argue and say that one bad review may not hurt you. That may or may not be true. But it could be devastating for an author that is starting out in the novel writing world. Many reviewers have stated that they look at negative reviews first before they read the positive. Again, I'm not advocating that there is anything wrong with this, but if the review is based on nonsense, then the review shouldn't stand.

I read a negative review once because the author dedicated her book to God. What did Amazon do? They let the negative review stand, even when it had NOTHING to do with the actual book.

Amazon is full of hit-or-miss reviewers complaining about books for a plethora of reasons; many being grammatical, syntax, or punctuation errors (the funny thing is, lots of those reviews are filled with grammatical, syntax, and punctuation errors themselves). Some even for book covers, formatting, or just down right mean and personal reviews that have no merit.

Oh yes, ePublishing can get pretty nasty! There was one romance author that went so far to track down a three star reviewer, that she had the reviewers address and place of employment. (Hey, people act really strange when you mess with someone's income)

Does Amazon have an obligation to authors or its buyers? Or both?

Personal attacks, reviews that are obscene, harassing, spiteful, or books that were NOT purchased by the reader should not be allowed on Amazon. Again, many publishers thought Amazon was insane for allowing some of these ridiculous negative reviews on their products stand.

ePublishing is a wonderful thing. Without it, some of my books wouldn't have seen the light of day. Amazon should probably revise their guidelines to get rid of some of these awful reviews. It's not fair to the author and ultimately, not fair to the reviewer. They just may pass on a fabulous find just to save a few ridiculous reviews.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Hannah Ocuish--The Book

Purchase Hannah: A Fictional Life Account of The Youngest Child Executed in U.S. History
Why Hannah Ocuish?

One day I was doing research on capital punishment when I came across the name. I Googled it and saw that she was the first child executed in the United States. I tried to find information from various websites, but not much information is known about her or her life. I felt compelled to tell her story the best way that I could. Even though she committed an unspeakable crime, I wanted to know why she did it.



What do you want your readers to know about Hannah?

That history wasn't so kind to her for obvious reasons. I want the readers to realize that Hannah, like Eunice were just children at the time. Hannah didn't have the benefit of social services to help her nor did she have a parent in her life to steer her in the right direction. I want my readers to know that Hannah was just a child when she committed this crime. That doesn't absolve her of anything because she was aware that murder was wrong. She didn't have the support system that is required to raise healthy children, physically and emotionally.

Tell us more about the process of writing a historical fiction novel.
It isn't easy that's for sure. I did a ton of research on this book before I wrote one word. Since very little is known of her life before the crime was committed, I thought that I would fill in the details. The first half of the book focuses on the lives of Hannah and the family that she worked for to give the reader a taste of life in Colonial America.

The second half of the book focuses on the crime that she commits but how Hannah faces her own mortality. Numerous sources talked about how Hannah was "indifferent" when it came to her execution: almost as if she didn't understand what was going on. Many people attributed it to her mental status but that explanation is far too convenient.

I feel that at the age of twelve, one would worry about what would happen to them when they died. Hannah didn't have the benefit of a sophisticated mind to ponder this thought, nor did she have an adult leading her down the right path.

In colonial America, Hannah wasn't a little girl, she was a simple servant...a possession.


What about James Arcene? Wasn't he the youngest? 


He was the youngest but he didn't have a meeting with the hangman's noose until her was twenty three. That still makes Hannah Ocuish the youngest child executed in the United States.




What is your stance on capital punishment?

(smiles) Well I go back and forth with the issue all the time like many people. I can say that it definitely isn't a deterrent for people to not commit crime. If it were, we'd have less of it, not more. Colonial America was a very pious and strict place to live. Merely stealing, not going to church enough, or adultery could get you the death penalty in many situations: especially if it wasn't your first time committing the offense.


Anything else?

I just hope that I did Hannah's story justice. Thank you all.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Writing Historical Fiction: An Inside Look To Writing Hannah

Authenticity!!!!!! That's the number one thing that authors obsess about when writing historical fiction. If someone asked you to write a historical fiction piece about the year 2012, well, I'd doubt that you would have a problem with that....provided that you're reading this relatively recently.

Now try writing about Medieval France. Unless you have an obsession with that period of time and know everything about it (which would really work in your favor) you'd have to do research....and lots of it.

Research? What language did they use when they spoke? Murder will out is a phrase used in Shakespeare's time but your character stating Blessings in disguise will cause your readers to scratch their heads. Unless your book is centered around the American Revolution.

What type of clothing did they wear? Food? Children drinking small beer in Colonial America would be considered the norm but would be frowned on in 2012. The water wasn't all that great and only a fool would sit there and drink it. Great way to get sick, I might add.

All of that must be taken in consideration. I did a great deal of research for this time period and I only pray that Hannah feels authentic to the reader. What I would highly recommend is to read plenty of books from that time period to get a feel for the time period that you're writing for. There are also great websites out there that help you with clothing, speaking phrases, and daily activities in the time periods that you're writing about.

It also helps to use a great note taking application to keep track of all the websites and notes that you're going to take. My favorite application is EVERNOTE ! I use it to clip websites, links, pictures, etc. that I will need to work.

Hannah is coming soon to amazon.com!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Hannah Ocuish--The Novel Coming Soon!

Hannah Ocuish is not a name that most people have heard of. When the question is asked, who is the youngest person executed in the United States, many think of George Stinney. He was fourteen when he was put to death in the state of South Carolina for the crime of murder.

But those people are wrong. Hannah Ocuish, a mulato girl, was put to death December 20, 1786 for the murder of six year old Eunice Bolles.

Not much is known about her life, but using historical texts and research, I have pieced together a fictional account of the last days of Hannah Ocuish.

Stay tuned for more details of, "Hannah: A Fictional Account of The Youngest Person Executed in the United States"



~Coming Soon Winter 2012~