Thick Skinned Spies

The December Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine is out on the stands now and it has given Sleeping*** a 4 1/2 stars. No Top Pick this time but hey, with a title like Sleeping **coughwiththeagentcough**, I'd take points off too, LOL. It's a great review too, so I'm not complaining:

That she was forced into betraying her best friend is a horror that Lily Norestski lives with every day. Rescued from abuse as a young girl, she was taken by the CIA and programmed with mind-control experiments. Lily was unaware of her programming until she was triggered by a renegade CIA operative. She was stopped from completing her horrific mission, but she can’t forgive herself. Lily is now on the run from various groups, all of whom want to get their hands on her.

Navy SEAL Reed Vincenzio has been sent after Lily to see if she’s still under mind control and discover her plans for a dangerous detonator. Lily knows she’s in deep trouble, but her first concern is the young girls she has smuggled out of Macedonia. Finding them passports and moving them on to new lives is the most important thing. Lily was never big on trust, but these days she can’t even trust herself. She can’t do this alone, but was it a mistake to place faith in Reed?

This is a top-notch espionage thriller from an author fast becoming a big name. Multifaceted characters with multiple motives make this story rich in drama and adventure.

;-)

Hopefully, it will encourage new readers to pick my book up. I know some readers hesitate because they don't want to start in the middle of a series but really, I think all three of the SEAL books can stand pretty much alone.

Oh, while I'm tooting my own horn, can I post a link to another review of Sleeping***? It's from the wonderful review site, Romance Junkies, and I'm really excited about this one because the reviewer had never read me before:

here

It's always cool to read some positive reviews just before the book comes. Sort of strengthening the armor before the criticisms start splattering!

I do get emails from writers asking me how I deal with bad reviews of my books, especially the kind that really get nasty. Some of my published friends get really depressed over a bad review and can't sleep for days while obsessing over every criticism. It's tough to put your baby out there and have people talking publicly how ugly and stupid it is, you know?

My advice is that it's okay to feel indignant and hurt, but don't let it ruin your day. After all, it's only an opinion, and sometimes people don't see the world your way. A little snark can be fun, sometimes, and it generates talk about your book, if nothing else.

Like the old song goes, "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative." That's basically my philosophy in life. Reaction is always good, in my opinion, even the vitriolic ones. And if it's really bothering ya, don't read them any more.

Talking about reviews, while leafing through the RT magazine, I'm amazed at the quotes given to the new paranormal/dark erotic fantasy IT girl, Cheyenne McCray's book, Forbidden Magic. WOW! She has about 20 authors--big name authors too!--giving her the thumbs-up (pg. 23) It's tough enough for any author to get a quote from ONE author, let alone a dozen or two on ONE BOOK. I wonder how she did it! I bow in wonderment.

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