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Random stuff - the something good happened thread
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D.J.
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May 22, 2018 04:07AM

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I do t spend a lot of time of perfection. I usually go with my instinct and change as comments come in. It may come off sloppy but I see life as a work in progress that just gets better every day

My thoughts on promotion and how wonderful I am at it:
https://medium.com/@debzcooper/writin...


The 'something good' that happened? My two review services results for my first ever novel "Balance" came back today (by coincidence, they arrived on the same day!)...
From Clarion/Foreword: Four Stars and overall a pretty glowing review.
From Readers' Favorite: Five Star glowing review and the RF "5 Star" Seal to throw on my books digitally or in print.
I guess that's a pretty good day back to work after 5 days in rural Maine for my niece's wedding where I had NO cell service. It was a good break but I missed my connection to my writer friends.
Happy Tuesday!

Alex wrote: "M.J. wrote: "Hello all...I've never posted something in this thread. I've had to have Carole report that my mother recently died, and I've come by in other threads looking for help or chat about Me..."

That's fantastic, M.J.!

My thoughts on promotion and how wonderful I am at it:
https://medium.com/@debzcooper/writin......"
Shared!

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

I have always been puzzled by the dedications found in novels and other forms of literature, small but important "honors" paid to friends or family members, mentors perhaps, or a person who played an important role in the author’s life or the birth of the literary piece that now carries the honoree’s name. For most of us—dare I say all?—the dedication often is viewed as a private matter between the author and the person honored, something to which we are not privy. It’s a communication within a society of the chosen, if you will. We don’t know the secret handshake.
You may have felt the same as you read the dedication in this book. There you saw the words "For Jimmy." Perhaps you simply shrugged, guessed it was a friend of mine, someone I knew and respected, and then you moved on and (I hope) enjoyed the novel.
But there is more to this dedication than that. Jimmy was James Francis Adamouski, Captain, United States Army, a friend of my wife Susan’s and mine, and son of our good friends, Judy and Lt. Col. Frank Adamouski, US Army (ret.). Frank and I worked together for many years, traveling occasionally from Washington, DC, to Ft. Monmouth, NJ, for our work. When in New Jersey, we took time and headed north to visit Jimmy, who was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. There, he not only excelled academically but in sports as well, soccer being his game of choice. We had many a good meal together at The Thayer Hotel, something to which I always looked forward. And what an honor it was for those who attended Jimmy and Meighan’s wedding in Savannah, GA, after his graduation to witness the solemn ceremony with its military formality and to attend the beautiful reception that followed.
Upon graduation, Jimmy attended flight school at Ft. Rutger, AL, where he learned to fly Black Hawk helicopters. His first overseas deployment was in support of the US efforts to quell the Kosovo conflict, where as a lay Eucharist minister in the Catholic Church, the troops took to calling him “Father Jimmy” because he conducted prayer services for his fellow soldiers.
Jimmy, who was to enter Harvard Business School in the fall of 2003, was killed in action when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed in central Iraq on April 2, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. His remains were buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery and West Point Cemetery.
If someone were to conclude Jimmy was the inspiration for the character Louis Martelli in my NYPD mystery/thriller novels, they would be correct.
Rest in peace, Jimmy. Thank you for your service to our country.

Photo courtesy of the Adamouski Family: Judy, Frank, Karen, Laura, Jaclyn, and Meighan (Jimmy's wife)
James Francis Adamouski, Captain, United States Army
2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia
Died in Central Iraq, April 2, 2003, at the age of 29

Very touching.

Thanks, Carmel. It was a tragedy.

Today, and every day, I appreciate Jimmy and all those like him who are willing to lay their lives on the line to protect our country and our freedom. Each and every one is a hero. Thank you for sharing Jimmy's story.

Thanks, Margaret. You would have liked him (and, I'm sure, he, you.)

My husband's father also served in both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. His father was an orphan. He still has a whole album of black and white photos of his father as a very young man serving in both those wars as well as other historical data from that time. He even has his father's dog tags. So I am always grateful to my uncles and those who gave and give their time and lives everyday in the military.

We never can thank them enough for their service, Angel. It's truly a shame that few of us even know someone in the service today. When I grew up, almost everyone on the block either was in the service or knew someone who was. Most people today have no idea the sacrifices our military and their families make, much less respect what they do.

That is so true, Ted. I remember when I thanked my brother-in-law for his service in Vietnam, he cried and told me NO one had ever thanked him before. The Vietnam vets were treated most egregiously upon return. Anyone who serves in the military deserves more gratitude and respect than we can ever give. I have two nephews and a niece serving. They make me proud.

Those were terrible years around the RVN War. I lost a classmate in the bombing of Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin (if you recall that incident). He was a PhD candidate in solid-state physics, researcher Robert Fassnacht.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterlin...

He had gone back to the lab to finish something and was to leave the next day with his family for vacation. He was the only one in the building at the time. The four bombers thought the building was empty. They escaped to Canada...and they never faced justice.

He had gone back to the lab to finish something and was to leave the next day with his family for vacation. He was the only one in the building at the time. The four bombe..."

He had gone back to the lab to finish something and was to leave the next day with his family for vacation. He was the only one in the building at the tim..."
How very tragic. These are the things I want answers for some day....

I have liked your blog posts Angel.
I have a Bargain Booksy promo active today. I am waiting for the one promo that proves me wrong when I say 'I don't sell books.'
Books and the Bear have a 50% off promo at the moment using the code nifty50. I've signed up for a week-long promo for next week.
(It's very stormy in my part of the UK and I'm less than thrilled with the fuzzy head and recurring headaches I've got.)

We were in Leicestershire for the weekend and there were storms (and headaches) there. Back in Kent, it's still the same. I've relented and taken painkillers. The gloom isn't helping my dodgy eye. I need more light to compensate. Like you, I like storms but I don't like the surrounding nonsense they bring.

I have liked your blog posts Angel.
I have a Bargain Booksy promo active today. I am waiting for the one promo that proves me wrong when I say 'I don't sell books...."
Thank you, D.J. I hope your eye gets well soon.


I say that's improvement. :)

https://medium.com/@debzcooper/a-walk..."
Shared.

I looked on Wattpad today and Traveling Salesman is ranked at #31 in the steampunk genre and Singular Sin is ranked #103 in fantasy fiction. Wow, I am blown away. Never had that happen before on Wattpad. And I've been a Wattpad member for five years.


Wattpad is free. There is no cost at all. It is a free reader and writer platform. You just write and post your stories once you create a Wattpad account. Wattpad was where I first gained a following. Readers also get to read them for free. Readers will vote and comment on your story if they like it. Audience there is mainly teen to young adult since that's what Wattpad pretty much caters to. My blog is still here on Goodreads, but I send my followers an overall message with a link to my blog so they can see any blog posts I post here on my Goodreads blog. Go to Wattpad.com to get started. If you have any other questions to ask me about Wattpad, feel free.

My Bargain Booksy thingy happened. I sold 3 copies in the US on the day and nothing since. But that's 3 copies I wouldn't have sold otherwise.
I've had 30 clicks collectively on my AMS adverts. No sales, but I'm really not expecting any. My book turned up in an Amazon email-I'm assuming that's related.
I've sold 3 times as many books in the US as I have in the UK. I know the US market is much bigger than the UK, maybe that accounts for the difference in numbers.

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog..."
Liked, Angel
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