Comments on: Clear Heart

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:39:24 +0000

I’m glad the ending seems good. I wrote the story before the great collapse of the housing market, so I’ve been wondering if it still makes sense.

By: isis62

isis62 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:16:56 +0000

Another great story. I could really picture exactly what Juke looked like in my mind. Kind of like that guy Rodger on sell this house show. I also really love how you ended this story, it was absolutely perfect!

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:20:12 +0000

Oops. The microphone is balanced on the table saw, not Susan.

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:18:44 +0000

Thank you, Graham. I’m glad you found the podcast anyway. I’ve decided that the best use of my time is to write more fiction and create more podcasts, where I know what I’m doing, and not distract myself doing publicity, where I suck.

Glad you like Susan, too. As it happens she’ll be arriving at my house in just a few hours to spend the afternoon in my sawdusty workshop basement, speaking into a microphone balanced on top of my table saw, recording about a dozen voices for my next podcast. It’s so great to collaborate with her. She brings so much insight into her voices.

By: Graham Pollard

Graham Pollard — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:29:57 +0000

Hello Joe,
I must say thank you for Clear Heart. This was a 5+ star experience for me. I have been listening to audio fiction for 4 years now and Clear Heart stands out as one of the best works of fiction I have listened to in those 4 years. I am just annoyed I did not download it sooner. As you must be aware the art of self publicity has paid dividends in the pod casting world and although that brash approach may not sit with the style of you or your writing I hope with more “push” your work can be read and heard by many more people.
I am presently downloading Babcock and look forward to listening to this in due course.
Thank you again and not forgetting Susan Walker for her beautiful voice.
Graham
in Luxembourg

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:11:00 +0000

Merci beaucoup, Bertrand!

By: Bertrand

Bertrand — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:33:16 +0000

Ouah ! Joe, congratulations….The best book I have listened so far. I speak french and understand english relatively well. Never before I have been so eager to listen to the next chapter and the story is so addictive….fun and touching at the same time.
You are a talented author. Please keep writing stories. I will buy them…
Bertrand

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:39:25 +0000

Thanks, Dariclone, for opening my birthday with such a nice comment.

By: Dariclone

Dariclone — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:40:18 +0000

This is an absolutly wonderful book! The characters are so well written they feel like real people. The voice work is also wonderful, Susan and Joe are very talented. You don’t need to know anything about carpentry to enjoy this story either, but you will learn something about it!

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:09:32 +0000

You have no idea how much it means to me to hear that. Thanks, Bob.

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:16:45 +0000

You have written one of the , no it is the most entertaining book that I’ve read.It is a story that has every thing, plus you and susan bring it to life. Its so good that after finishing it I’m going to listen to it at least one more time, maybe more. Great job!

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:24:53 +0000

And thank you, sir, for your kind words.

By: Markus

Markus — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 12:27:10 +0000

Wow, that was an amazing book! Honest, unpretentious yet beautiful, straight and true storytelling … all the carpentry craftsmanship traits transformed into thought and spoken word.

Thank you very much for telling us this story Joe, giving it (and all the great characters captured within) even more of a life than it already had in the written form.

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:14:16 +0000

thanks, Jane, for making my day.

Before you listen again, you might try Boone Barnaby. It’s uploading now and will be available as soon as it can grind through the podiobooks sausage-making machinery. Check back in a week, maybe.

By: JaneInPA

JaneInPA — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:01:13 +0000

Joe, thanks for a wonderful story! I became completely invested in your quirky collection of good souls. I even found my self literally laughing out loud a few times. And now the cashier at the market just thinks I’m a bit odd, since you caught me off-guard with Abe’s graduation speech. On a technical note, thank you (thank you!) for choosing a co-reader for the female characters. The dialog just flows. Great job. I was sad to come to the end and just might listen thru again.

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 05:42:38 +0000

Hey, the book is out! http://www.amazon.com/Clear-Heart-Joe-Cottonwood/dp/1439211027/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227724466&sr=8-1

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:12:39 +0000

Nice work on the podcast, Joe and Susan. Very enjoyable. All the best.

By: Lancy

Lancy — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:54:09 +0000

Huh, thank you so much for your brilliant books. As for the wood work, i also find some useful information about calipers here. I think you can also learn a lot from it. Cheers!

By: Joe Cottonwood

Joe Cottonwood — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:04:38 +0000

Thanks, Mandarine – and a belated thanks to Goran, as well. As for the Paypal issue, never mind a donation – just buy the book, and then you’ll have something to keep. The publishing process is slow agony, but pretty soon it will be available for orders from amazon or an autographed copy directly from me. But then I’ve been saying that for a month now, and the book still isn’t out yet…

Anyway, you have no idea how much these comments mean to me. Thank you from the bottom of my (sometimes clear) heart.

On the news front, an Italian publisher is going to reissue my novel Famous Potatoes – in Italian – 30 years after its original appearance, and they’ve invited me to do a book tour in Italy during a Blues Festival there next May. I guess I have to pay my own way, but still, how cool is that? Springtime in Italy, and a blues festival, and a book tour. I’ve never even been to Europe. Time to fix that. So come to Italy next May, and we can say howdy.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:34:54 +0000

I have just finished listening to the book and I must say it had been some time since I last had smiled that much while commuting. You (and Susan, and all your fascinating characters) made those last three weeks of cycling between home, train station, and work, pure bliss.

It was my first encounter with podiobooks (I have been a fan of LibriVox for some time), and I will certainly post a review on my blog to share my enthusiasm. English is not my first language, so I am not a very good judge of language sheen, but as far as story-telling and humour goes, I pictured you somewhere between P.G. Wodehouse and Mark Twain.

P.S. I have been working on the restoration of my old French farmhouse for six years now, and I have found the house construction backdrop totally gripping. And I was immensely flattered when you mentioned my Milwaukee Sawzall among the tools that count – it was the first expensive tool I invested in when I started working on my house.

P.P.S. I guess I will have to figure out how to revive my Paypal account soon. Or maybe I should order the book…