To Ramona and Jeff, thank you for brightening up my days. I really appreciate this free Podiobook!!

My one and only comment is that I’m not at all sure which has been more exciting, the book or the nail biting commentary of all the “helpful” listeners.

Criticism in the manner in which it has been posted here is NOT constructive only destructive.

If you don’t like the book, delete it, don’t listen. See, simple.

can’t even write one paragraph without a mistake!!

Good luck, dearie.

Regardless, this is a moot conversation. Ramona and I have severed our professional relationship, so future titles, if any, won’t be narrated by me.

In one of the first two episodes you tell the story of Peggy’s husband and pack in all of these derogatory things about him to set the plot for why she was suddenly single and needs to lean on her sister. He’s an unemployed, drunken, wife-beater- a common and sadly, realistic type of ex-husband. Then you go on to say, after all the negative build-up, that he’s gay and left her for another man. That’s the most preposterous thing I’ve heard in a long time and was clearly thrown in there just to make him seem more “evil” and repulsive in the eyes of narrow minded people. A gay man who’s comfortable enough with his sexuality to leave his wife for man, especially one so visible as a wealthy real estate tycoon, is not the type of man who is suffering from the kind of oppression and self-loathing that would cause him to beat his wife. The other ridiculous aspect of this is Peggy staying with him and taking his abuse for so long, because in your words, “he’s so handsome”. Battered wives don’t stay with their husbands because they’re nice to look at when they’re no hitting you. There are many psychological reasons but if you ask a woman who is currently living through it 9 times out of 10 she’ll tell you she’s staying out of love. Not just her love for him but her belief that he loves her despite his actions. You’ve trivialized something that plagues women around the world for the sake of telling a story. Not even telling a the whole story, just to introduce a character. So here’s Peggy introduced. She’s not weak or timid and she doesn’t bat an eye at her sister Cindy getting drunk and beating her closest sister with a broken champagne bottle, something that would be a trigger for a person who’d lived through the marriage you described. Yet somehow by episode 11 she’s raging and ready to walk out on Angela because she’s talking about ghosts. As has already been mentioned, your oblivious inclusion of opinions about addiction only serve to underline the adolescent nature of the writing. The point of view the story was written from is inexperienced, inconsiderate and narrow. The writing is empty, redundant and barely mediocre in it’s expression. In reading some of your comments above I’m surprised to see that you had other people read this through for grammatical errors, I assure you there are many.
One last thing, in episode 11 the narrator is chewing gum or the like while recording the podcast, bad form.

I enjoyed writing the book because a lot of it is close to my heart. Some of the events are taken from real events from family stories. The house is actually based on two houses. I think the only one that isn’t a composite character is the dog.:-)

Yeah, I’m the same way you are with Jeff. When he’s rubbing elbows with Robin Williams and Owen Wilson, then I can say, “I knew you when….”

Thanks again for the great comments. You made my day.

I downloaded the book from iTunes, and listened to the whole thing in three days. Loved it! I left a five-star review there and ordered the sequel from CafePress. Can’t wait to read it.

When I found this response page, I was disappointed to see negative reviews and hateful criticism. If I may add my two cents:

1) I loved the twist ending. As with “The Sixth Sense,” it made me reevaluate earlier aspects of the plot in a new light.

2) Sure, there were a few grammar/editing mistakes, but who among us is perfect? If your daughter and three teacher friends didn’t catch them, it was only because they were too engrossed in the plot.

3) I’m from Texas and have a bachelor’s degree in speech-language pathology and audiology, so I therefore feel fully qualified to tell you that “y’all” can be singular or plural depending on the regional dialect of the speaker.

3) I didn’t mind hearing a man’s voice speaking Angela’s narration. Ever listen to the Harry Potter audiobooks? The male narrator produces a different voice for every character, including the females, to much the same effect.

4) I felt the alcoholism was sufficiently explained. I have one in the family too, so I get it.

5) *SPOILER* Thanks for explaining that all dogs really do go to heaven. I actually cried during the final chapter when Carolyn told Angela that the dogs were with her. (I used to work as a vet tech, so I’ve seen a lot of good dogs leave this earth.)

6) As for elitism, someday when the Angela King books are a bestselling series, I’ll be able to say with great snobbery that I discovered them back when the author was unkown to all but a few internet fans.

I’m partial to ghost stories, and this was a good one. Kudos to you both, and keep ‘em coming.

Jessica

That is so funny, Jeff. And thanks Joan for the kind words. I in no way plan on stopping my writing. I love it and it is one thing that I don’t care how it turns out as long as it does in an orderly manner. I had said before that I don’t expect people to slobber all over my writing and I don’t. It is a lesson learned and I won’t be caught off guard next time. I’ll take it a whole lot better. I promise. As Jeff said, just wait until my next book comes out. I can truly say there’s nothing like it.:-)

As I said before, I liked the book. I appreciate how difficult it must be to write a book, God knows I couldn’t put out anything passed “It was a dark and rainy night…”.

I love that there are all kinds of books available on Podiobooks. Sometimes I want a light escape like this one, and sometimes I want to rip into something like “Ancestor”, it really depends on how I feel at the time.

Just because these audiobooks are offered at no charge does not diminish their value. I have a feeling that many of the books offered here will be published traditionally one day.

Don’t bother about nasty comments. There’s always a heckler or two in every crowd. Accept the compliments and honest criticisms as they are intended and ignore the nasty people, who only wish to feel powerful. My mother has a response of fancy words for people like Louisa:

“If you insinuate that I should tolorate such diabolical insult from a microscopical specimen of your ilk, you may presume that your presumption is precisely incorrect; therefore, making you intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity.”

Take care,
Joan

Louisa, we get it. You didn’t like the book. But since Ramona is not trying out for American Idol or trying to dazzle the world with her writing ability or trying to land a $3 million book deal, perhaps the Simon Cowell approach is a bit cruel. Are you going to go to your local talent show and boo the performers? Do you harass the members of a high school play until they cry? Ramona is doing this as a hobby, so maybe you should cut her some slack. There are plenty of other books here at Podiobooks.com. I encourage you to check some of them out.

Ramona, she didn’t like the book. Not everyone is going to. Despite how insulting the words might have been and no matter how personal the book might be, the insults were directed at the book and not you. Try not to take it too personally. Water off a duck’s back, my dear. We’ll wow em next time with Not of This World.

Everyone, move along, nothing to see here. These are not the droids you are looking for…