Fixing the Mistakes!

Fixing the mistakes!  A daunting process to say the least.  But as I went back to the very beginning of Behind the Mask, and read it word or word, the rawness of it hit me like a tsunami.  It was definitely choppy reading and didn’t flow.  And as I read through it picking out the typos and grammatical errors, there was a part of me that wanted to just start over and rewrite the entire book. But then I thought, this was my baby, so it’s imperfect and has flaws. If I went back and changed it up too much, it would lose its authenticity.  At least, that’s my thinking.  I also still stick by my mantra of you can’t please everyone, and not everybody is going to like my stories. Because even though the chapters might be choppy, I still believe the story itself is good and the characters are root-worthy.  Again, some might not think so, but it is what it is.

Writing-wise, the sequel, UNMASKED, is better by leaps and bounds.  Not choppy and flows with ease.  But when it came to writing that book, I had more experience and a first, novel under my belt. I felt more confident too when people would ask about my writing.  With the first book, I never fully felt sure of myself when someone would ask about the book.  In fact, the running joke used to be…”Oh you’re writing a novel, when will it be available?” and my stock answer, “Don’t hold your breath!” Looking back on that, makes me laugh because I actually followed through and not only completed one novel but two!  A fact I sometimes still find hard to believe myself.

But I digress, jumping back to Behind the Mask, I corrected most of the glaring typos, although a few might have still slipped through.  And fixed many of the grammatical and spelling errors.  However, the thing about fiction writing these days, or at least from what I’ve read, an author can write in his/her own way, and the old rules don’t seem to apply.  And for someone like me, that’s a good thing, cause I think my writing style is very unconventional.  That said, it doesn’t excuse the errors.

I’ve updated both the paperback and Kindle versions.  Though, it doesn’t appear that Amazon alerts previous buyers that an updated Kindle version is avaiable.

 

Kindle Countdown Deal – UNMASKED

UnmaskedCoverWebsite1Kindle edition for my novel, UNMASKED will be available at Amazon.com for only $.99 starting Monday, July 16th, 2018.  The sale will continue through Saturday, July 21st, 2018.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle App (for other devices) for free at Apple.com or for Android at Google Play.

Excerpt from UNMASKED:

Though he was doing a good job concentrating on the task at hand, his thoughts once again betrayed him, by sending him right back to the Bank of Philadelphia.  But this time, it wasn’t the meetings before or the actions afterward, it was right at the point when he and Tom retrieved the diamonds.  They each had one of the two keys required to open the safety deposit box, and Liam thought about how as they unlocked the box, he was oblivious to Remi being in the vault with them.  He was so focused on the diamonds that to him, she didn’t exist.  Of course, she soon became very real when right before they were about to exit, Tom asked what they should do with her. Those dark blue eyes, he thought. It was as if those eyes could see directly into his soul.  Liam remembered telling Tom just to leave her.  Never realizing that it was at that exact moment, he began protecting Remi. Even with his own empty threats against her, looking back, he had to laugh at the irony.  Other than knowing she was one of the tellers, she was a stranger to him and knew little about her but yet he was still compelled to risk it all for her.  “You identified with your hostage, that’s a big no-no.”  Remi’s own words certainly rang true, in more ways than one.

He gazed up at the full moon then started smiling.  “No regrets, no emotions, no involvement…blah blah blah,” he uttered.  Those words sounded so false now.  While inside the vault, Remi asked who he was trying to convince, after his cold declaration that hostages were just part of the job.  She didn’t believe him, and at the time, he thought she was dead wrong, but now knew she was right.  It took someone like her to make him face reality.  And face it, he did.  The longer he laid there, the more he realized that not only did he want to go back to Philly, but he needed to go back. – Chapter 5

 

Ugh…Reviews!

 

Street Signs on White Background
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I recently found out that Amazon has the power to remove whatever reviews they want.  Their reason…any reviews that can be considered biased, will be nixed.  So, this pretty much sucks, when friends and family support your work and want to help you out by reviewing your book, only to find out that because of their close relationship to you, the review is null and void.  I understand it, to a point, because apparently, it can skew a potential reader’s decision on whether to purchase a book or not.  This is a recent policy because the reviews on my debut novel, Behind the Mask (2014), haven’t been removed and one of them has the same last name as me.  Just saying!

Anyway, I’m glad I’m now aware of this little nugget because though positive reviews are great to receive, I also want them to appear genuine.  And certainly, don’t want them to come across as false.  Even though I know they are legit, some may not believe that.

This brings me to another area of reviews, an extremely ugly dark side.  One that I knew existed but honestly avoided.  Maybe I subconsciously chose not to read reviews for fear of what I’d see, but when I happened to notice the sudden removal of reviews for my latest book, Unmasked, that’s when I spotted a truly mean-spirited review (dated from April 2016 – Kindle Edition) of Behind the Mask   This particular review was beyond scathing and this person did not hold back.  And I’ve always said, can’t please everyone and I still stand by that.  Plus, I’m the first to admit, my debut novel was filled with typos, grammatical errors, and the writing wasn’t the best, not by a long shot.  But what it was…was something I was passionate about and put my heart and soul into for many years.  I know a good editor would have done wonders for it, I’m not naïve or stupid, but editors are costly, so I opted against it.  Probably not the wisest of choices.  And for me to put myself out there was HUGE, and for those that know me, I’ve never been one to seek the limelight or be center of attention, so just allowing others to read my work was a big accomplishment.  And I knew I had to grow a thick skin, that people were going to be critical and I had to learn to take it.  I’m open to constructive criticism.  Pointing out mistakes in a tactful way is fine and welcomed.  Being bitter and doing it in a harsh manner, comes across like a personal attack, especially when it’s someone’s debut novel, that he/she self-published.  It’s a learning process.  I’m sorry that person had such an awful experience reading my novel; I never thought I’d provoke that much negativity and be cut down to the core like that.  Hating a story is one thing, loathing the writing itself took it to a whole other level.

That said, it did make me go back and do the one thing I hadn’t done in a while—read through the entire book of Behind the Mask.  The mistakes are glaring, and stick out like a sore thumb.  It’s like reading the good, the bad, and the ugly all rolled up into one.  Not making excuses, well maybe I am, but this was my first attempt at writing a novel, so I guess it could have been worse.  Regardless, I’ve decided to clean it up, which is something I should have done sooner, but after I read it over so many times back in 2014, that I most likely began to skip over all the mistakes.  It’s easier to do than one might think, which is why an editor is definitely needed.

So, in closing.  For those, who have copies of the original Behind the Mask, whether paperback or Kindle edition, I thank you very much for reading through the mistake-plagued version and for all the positive feedback.  When I’m finished revising (no story changes, just a more polished version with fewer mistakes) I’m going to submit it on Amazon.  Kindle owners may or may not get an update that the book has been revised.  I’ll make an announcement when I’ve done it, just in case.

Lesson learned #5,789 – don’t read reviews  🙂

 

Kindle Countdown Sale – Behind the Mask

BehindtheMaskBookWebsiteBefore the sequel read about how a masked gunman became a reluctant hero to a young woman who would forever change his life.  My debut novel, Behind the Mask, Kindle edition will be available on Amazon.com for only $.99 starting this Friday, May 11th, 2018.  The sale will continue through Friday, May 18th, 2018.

If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle App for free at Apple.com or for Android at Google Play

Excerpt from Behind the Mask:

He had never regretted his decisions; stealing was a means to an end. Guilt was something he kept at bay. An expert at being selfish, he made zero apologies for it, but he didn’t enjoy dealing with hostages. He preferred the jobs that were done overnight, where no one else was involved, or the smash and grab ones where everything was done in record time. On the other hand, Charles and Tom took great pleasure in watching innocent people suffer. Up until that point though, no hostage had ever been sexually violated or killed under Liam’s watch, and he had planned on keeping it that way. Even though he did threaten Remi, he never had any intention of harming her. He hated to admit it, but she was absolutely correct in her assessment of him. He was certainly no angel, but she was safe—at least with him. – Behind the Mask

Welcome!

I’ll begin this ‘welcome’ post with a disclaimer…this website is a work in progress.  After blogging via Blogger (blogspot) for years, this is my first time working with WordPress.  And I’m learning as I go so this site may go through many changes and tweaks before I get it to where I’m happy with it.  For those who already know me, that won’t surprise them, because though I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a perfectionist, I’m my harshest critic.  However, I wanted to get this site up and running, instead of leaving it dormant.  And since I’m releasing my second novel, waiting to launch this website, didn’t make much sense.  So, here it is.

–  Heather Carnassale