J.T. Kalnay's Blog, page 22

A Brilliant One Star Review For The Topsail Accord (and a nice five star…)

The Topsail Accord received another 1 star review this morning (and a nice 5 star yesterday).  People seem to either love it or hate it.  This reader clearly hated it, even though she admitted reading all the way to the end, hoping that Shannon would wake up and smell the coffee.  So, my question is, can a book that makes you read all the way to the end really be a one-star book?  Or, is the review a product of the reader’s dashed hopes for a cliched ending?  Is the review a review of the book, or of the reader’s hopes that a conventional love story can erupt at any time in anyone’s life?  Shannon and Joe certainly don’t have a fairy tale romance.  But perhaps they put together a life that both of them can accept.  Anyway… here’s the one-star review from this morning.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Topsail-Accord-J-Kalnay/product-reviews/1466388668/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R24B43LCLAAYAE

Evidently, the premise of this book was to switch around what quite often

happens in relationships and let the woman be the manipulating user who will not

commit instead of the man. I found Shannon’s character neurotic, compulsive,

selfish, and downright cruel. She strung Joe along for decades, alloting him

only minute increments of her time, and the only promise she ever made to him

was that she could and would end their pseudo-relationship whenever she felt

like it. Yet, I kept reading, somehow hoping this woman would see the light and

realize she had met her soulmate and the love of her life. Only a man could

write a novel like this, thinking he had written a romance.

Stunned and Honored

by today’s downloads of The Topsail Accord.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Topsail-Accord-ebook/dp/B005WF0AR6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1349398527&sr=8-2&keywords=topsail+accord

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

#37 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance

Meeting Rory Kennedy

I had the unexpected pleasure to fly from Chicago to Seattle today seated beside Rory Kennedy.  Being born and raised in Canada, I had no idea who she was.  We had an interesting discussion of the upcoming election and she made me rethink my “make sure no-one has the house, senate and white house” voting strategy.  I found Rory to be extremely well-spoken, thoughtful, engaging, and very interesting.  Naturally, shameless promoter that I am, I made sure she left with a signed copy of The Point!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rory_Kennedy

Travelling West While Topsail Accord Travels Up!

Thanks everyone who has made the Topsail Accord so successful.  I appreciate every letter, email, and post about the book.  About 8 out of 10 people love the book, and about 2 out of 10 people hate the book.  It seems like there’s no in between.  People either “get” what’s going on between Shannon and Joe, or they dismiss the story because they don’t like the characters.  Am looking forward to this trip to the Pacific Northwest where, I hope, Hagen Daz can be replaced by bacon!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

I Think I Can I Think I Can…

Oh boy, this could be really interesting!  Will you share the link?  Will you tell people about the Topsail Accord being free today, tomorrow, and Thursday?  Can we make The Topsail Accord the #1 Contemporary Fiction book on Amazon????!?!?!?!?

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

Here’s the link to the free promo:http://www.amazon.com/The-Topsail-Accord-ebook/dp/B005WF0AR6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1349220987&sr=8-2&keywords=kalnay+topsail

 

This is either Nasty or Beautiful

It depends on your point of view.  If you look real hard, you can see the Ctown CrossFit logo spelled out backwards near the top of this sweat angel.  The WOD was 15 minutes to find 1RM snatch, 15 minutes of heavy push presses, then a running/burpee metcon.  The resuls was the sweat angel in the picture..

Oh This is Fun!!!

As an author, some days are better than others.

Today is one of the good ones!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction

I think this might be the next Audiobook….

BookDude Helps Promote Topsail Accord

Thanks to the dudes at BookDude who are helping to promote the Topsail Accord.

http://www.freebookdude.com

FreeBooksy Helps Promote Topsail Accord

Thanks to the people at FreeBooksy who are helping to promote the Topsail Accord!

http://www.freebooksy.com/freebooks/2012/10/2/five-free-romance-books-for-kindle.html

Amazing WOD at Ctown CrossFit

It’s October 2nd in Cleveland, and it’s one of “those” October 2nds… Dark, misty, cool (maybe even cold).  My joints hurt, the arthritis is acting up, motivation is low, got a big travel day tomorrow, there’s a thousand and six reasons not to CrossFit today, and a thousand more to just suck at life.  Tuesday October 2nd is sucking.  I arrive at the gym and four of my favorite people are there, Carl, Laurie, Kim, and Sara. It sucks a little less.  We get loose under Coach Carl’s careful supervision, and it has to be careful today b/c we’re going for 1 Rep Max (1RM) snatch, then heavy push presses.  After the heavy dangerous stuff, there’s a running/burpee metcon.  Kim and I both have competitions coming up, so we are locked in on improving our snatch.  Laurie is working very hard on her technique, and Sara has a sore *ss but is pushing through it.  1RM comes and goes.  Some people hit PRs.  Tuesday October 2nd isn’t looking so bad right now.  Heavy push presses.  “Dip and drive, dip and drive, dip and drive” resonates around the box.  Warmup sets followed by three sets of five at heavy weight.  The cool temperatures help, but even as cool as it is, the floor becomes slick with sweat.  Still, it is good to move, to feel strong.  It sucks a little less.  Metcon time.  Tuesday October 2nd starts to suck in a major way.  I used to be a runner.  Used to love to run.  Ran a marathon in 3:22, ran a 5k in 16:30, both “back in the day.”  Now, a few decades later, and after hip replacement, and after a few dozen extra kilos are added on, running is tough.  It’s my mental weakness right now.  We start running.  Sara and her sore *ss disappear down the street.  Kim’s inside working on doubles.  That leaves Laurie and me.  I want to quit.  More accurately, I want to shave, I want to turn around before the turnaround point.  It’ll cut maybe 50 yards off the run.  It’s just a little shave, it won’t change the WOD much.  Laurie doesn’t say “no”, she just says “I’m going to the turnaround.”  She’s not going to shave.  And I know she HATES running.  I am momentarily shamed, and then just as quickly rejuvenated.  If Laurie’s going to do it, I’m going to do it.  She drags me through the run, and then we all drag each other through the burpees.  Coach Carl gets down on the floor and does the last 20 burpees with all of us.  Tuesday October 2nd doesn’t suck anymore.  Thanks Carl, Kim, Sara, and Laurie.  I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD is going to be….