A New Review for My First Title

Today started  delightfully. Not only was the sunshine streaming in through the windows, I also discovered a beautifully-crafted review of my first title, ’25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia’ had been posted.

Particularly interesting to me was its perception of this book through the eyes of someone living outside of Australia.

A big thank you, Jake!

Here it is:

25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia
by Margaret Lynette Sharp (Goodreads Author)

Jake Taylor‘s review

Sep 18, 13

5 of 5 stars

Read in September, 2013

Some years ago, the wife of a dear friend of mine told me to grab a few sweets available to all the guests at the end of a lovely dinner. Having chosen the wrong ones, she corrected me by saying, “Not those ones, the other ones, the small dark-chocolate ones.” I picked up a few of these and they proved to be absolutely delicious morsels. That’s what these twenty-five stories reminded me of. Small bits of wonderment that do not quite tell you the end; they rather let you imagine it and savor it in your own mind. “25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia” also provide the reader, especially the ones that are not Aussies, with some unique expressions and references common to that lovely land, for example, “cuppa” for a cup of tea, and kookaburra, which is a kind of bird. You will get all the flavor of the land down under, Ms Sharp makes sure of that.
In addition, she includes many funny statements, like the one pronounced by a wife when referring to her stage fright while playing the piano in front of an audience. She decided to practice a couple of tunes for quite some time until she could say that: “They didn’t sound too bad, either, when my audience consisted exclusively of my husband and our dog.”
Well, I hope you pick up a copy of this book and enjoy its 25 short stories while drinking a nice cuppa. It is fun to read; five stars. Jake Taylor

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http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Life-Love-Australia-ebook/dp/B008FP217C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

What I Love about Blogging

Backtrack two years, and I’d never even heard about blogging. At that point. I’d started writing my first book: a collection of Short Stories and vignettes, which ultimately became ’25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia’.   

Writing a book was one thing: blogging, quite another. And I had no idea that authors were expected to share their life with the rest of the world, by way of writing a blog.

But, once I’d tasted it, I began to relish blogging. It has so much going for it.

Blogging allows for immediate publication. There’s no need to wait: and many posts are so much better for being relevant to current circumstances. Flowers, seasons, new literary releases, current affairs: the list is endless.

More: results can be almost immediate. Within minutes, I’ve had positive feedback: thoughtful comments, or even a simple ‘like’ bring their reward.

Linked to this is the associations: even friendships: that can be engendered between bloggers and their readers. Meaningful conversations can be had,  and information transferred between blogger and commentator. What other medium allows for such easy and potentially valuable communication?

Sure, social networking sites also have this application, yet blogging seems to me to have greater potential. Don’t the other sites tend to have much scantier development of ideas?

Lastly, there’s the ever-present potential to be nominated out of the blue for  Blogging Awards. I’ve been nominated twice: The Versatile Blogger and The Sunshine Award. Fun!

If you’re thinking about starting your own blog: well, think no more.  Just do it!

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Reminiscing….

Do you reminisce?

Do you look back on milestones: consider your life before and after THE EVENT?

I guess all of us, if we survive into middle age, can look back and pinpoint the decisions that have moulded our lives. It could be anything: from personal involvements, trips, or choice of career.

One of my most recent big moments came almost two years ago. I decided to write a book.

I think this idea came into being around the time of the wedding of a close relation.  Of course, I saw this a milestone in her life: a decision, a turning point, for the future. She would have this to look back on.

I suppose I then considered that I, too, wanted a milestone. Already happily married, it had to be something else. A career!

And realistically, the only career that held prospects of satisfaction for myself was as a writer. I had the background: successful completion of literary courses, followed by extensive reading and life observation.

So, egged on by my husband, and later editor, Ronald Sharp B.E.M., I started to write a book. A book of Short Stories, set in the Australia that I love. A book that spoke to others of the joys and vicissitudes of life and humanity: that could make you laugh, or maybe shed a tear or two of happiness. That book, a collection of Short Stories, became known as ’25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia’. It gave me my first taste of the pleasure of receiving a five star review; a pleasure which was not repeated for many months, since getting the work into the wider literary community is, unfortunately, a slow and difficult process.

At last, I’m making progress. Six books published, and it’s just starting to happen! Exciting times!

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http://www.amazon.com/25-Stories-Life-Love-Australia/dp/1456597736

’25 Stories…’ and ‘A Taste..’: Both Kindle Best Sellers Ranked

Here’s an update: two  or three days in, both ’25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia’ and ‘A Taste of Life and Love in Australia’ are both to be found on the Amazon Kindle best sellers list!

Okay, they’re in the #170,000’s : but a start’s a start!

Maybe there’s a resurgence in the popularity of Short Stories and vignettes, particularly those with happy endings. With time at a premium, maybe reading a little and often, with satisfaction at each sitting, is the way of the future. I can only conjecture.

July is the month that Shelleyrae at Book’d out has  graciously listed ‘A Taste of Life and Love in Australia’ for review. Who knows the degree of interest this will engender?

As a newcomer to all this, I can’t draw on any previous experience. All I can do is hope: and cross my fingers!

Review: 25 Stories of Life and Love in Australia

I suppose a book review written by its author is apt to attract a very healthy degree of scepticism, yet who knows its contents more intimately?

If you haven’t already rejected my thoughts as useless, I promise to faithfully deliver the comments of others, as well as my own.

To begin, let me say that  ’25 Stories…’ is my first book, started in September 2010 and published early this year. It’s been edited by my husband, Ronald Sharp, the creator of the Grand Organ in the Sydney Opera House, and his enthusiasm was instrumental in bringing this, and all my books, about.

One reader described it on its Amazon site as “hard to put down”; further, his wife and himself were both  “enthralled by its content and style”.

By word of mouth, I’ve been told it’s “great” by one man, and that she “couldn’t put it down” by another reader. Several people who’ve finished this book have purchased subsequent volumes. It also seems to be finding favour at  local libraries.

Like all my collections of Short Stories, this is dominated by tales of love and romance, although several human interest stories  are interspersed. “Family Values”, about a child’s visit to see his grandparents who live in the country, and “New Digs”, relating a senior’s dilemma over moving home, have both been praised, but my feeling is that  “The Virgin Dancer” is by far the most moving. This very succinctly  tells the story of a middle-aged woman who has been held back in life, never able to live the “fuller, freer life” she wanted. Suddenly, circumstances contrive to find her at last on the dance floor, and able to be like everyone else, and dance.

“A Question of Trust”, which describes the scene where the rose-coloured glasses are abruptly removed from a rather naive young woman, and “Fresh Pickings”, the tale of young passion set against an ambitious family background, rank amongst the most striking love stories.

As in all my Short Story collections, the last story is  in fact a continuation of the first, with the elapse of many years.

If my review has whetted your appetite, why not check out this book on the Amazon web-site, and use the ‘click here’ feature? If you like what you read, please, spread the word!

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