Wednesday 9 December 2015

Reviewing the reviews

Hello everybody, having received a request to meet and have coffee with one of my readers who I have never met before, I was intrigued to meet her today face to face and to discover her thoughts on my debut novel. I was introduced to her by a friend who had recommended  my book Exactly 23 days to her. Upon arrival her greeting to me was, "I am so pleased to meet you, I am your number one fan, I just have three words, "'Amazing, I loved it!' Oh that's four words!."

Well she certainly appears to be my number one fan! She was so full of praise for my work. She continued to tell me that she could not put the book down, that she read it at every available spare moment she had, taking it to work with her to enjoy it in her breaks and often falling asleep at night reading it too, such was her determination to get to the end. She said that it was the fastest that she had ever read a book, stating also that she has hundreds of books and that it was the best book she had ever read! AND that she cannot wait for book two! She said that I had inspired her with my attitude and determination to survive, when I could so easily have sunk to the depths of despair and that she cried and laughed throughout the story and that she too, loved the 'creative' name given to the villain in the book! She finally said that she loved the fact it gave other women, in a similar situation hope that they too can survive betrayal

All that praise from one woman!. I am so thrilled that one of my readers took the time to request a coffee meeting with me and give me such wonderful face to face feedback. 

How does it make me feel? Well, incredible, excited, grateful, humbled and inspired to carry on for sure! It also made me want to reflect on ALL the praise that I have had for Exactly 23 days over the past few weeks for two reasons: 1) to allow myself to actually relish in the pleasure that my work is bringing to peoples lives and 2) to acknowledge that each one of those many many positive reviews (there has not been a single negative review to date) is equally as valid as the comments from 'my number one fan' in inspiring me to continue and adding to those feelings of excitement, gratitude and humility! Thank you all, everyone of you. 

Here are some more of those reviews:

Two words: Love it! (female 40's)

I can really see this as a movie! (male 50's)

I have not read a book since I was 16 and it was compulsory to do so at school, I couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to get to the end which had some amazing twists! (male 40's)

Wow, this book is amazing, it is very relatable and had me tearing up at points. (female 20's)

Wow Jayne what a story!!! unbelievable. Couldn't put it down at one point...the book made me laugh and made me cry all the way through, well done you. Now get on with the next one haha. (Edited version in order to prevent plot spoiler alerts! Female 60's)

I'm so fed up 😟 have finished your amazing book, Exactly 23 days. I didn't want it to end, I can relate to so much in your book, have laughed & cried at Fi's journey and felt her heartache. Well done!!!! (female 50's)

I'm really enjoying your wonderfully written and funny book Jayne!! Clever lady! (female 40's)

And so on and so on. I am truly overwhelmed that my passion for writing is having such a response and to have the women who have read it, now buying bulk orders off me for their girlfriends Christmas presents is just wonderful. People could simply humour me with their praise but they are not, they are 'heaping' praise upon me and my work and that is THE most perfect of all reviews as a writer, to have your readers giving honest and heartfelt feedback and praise. To have multiple people tell me that they have cried and laughed at my book is truly phenomenal and I am so proud that my book had the capacity to evoke real tears in people, but to know that it is also making them laugh out loud too is incredible. Thank YOU. Oh, and that means YOU too! Thank you. 

Word of the day: Emotional: I have smashed it! I have managed to create a piece of work that has evoked emotions of sadness and gladness within my readers. And to my editor who said he could really see it as a movie on several occasions, that sentiment was also re-iterated today by my number one fan!

If this blog post has sparked an interest in my book then you can purchase it from: https://completelynovel.com/books/exactly-23-days
in paperback or from iBooks for all apple gadgets or from Amazon.co.uk 


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Tuesday 1 December 2015

Jayne Higgins: Advent Giveaway

Jayne Higgins: Advent Giveaway: Hello everybody, It's the countdown to Christmas for some of you and so I thought I would have a sharing giveaway event on the first adv...
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Advent Giveaway

Hello everybody, It's the countdown to Christmas for some of you and so I thought I would have a sharing giveaway event on the first advent calendar day. I am giving away copies of my book 'Exactly 23 days', for exactly 24 hours today on apple gadgets. Just search for Exactly 23 days by Jayne Higgins on iBooks and help yourself to a free copy at check out. Happy reading as you absorb the emotions on the roller coaster ride with the main character Fi.


Word of the day: Sharing. I am sharing with you all by giving away my words in an effort to kick start the 'giving' ethos of Christmas AND I am being perfectly honest in admitting that I hope in return that this may lead to my words being shared by you!
  
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