Ahem: A Little Groveling Is In Order

Hi.

You like my words, right?

I mean, they don't make you physically and/or mentally wretch or want to suddenly speak in tongues, right?

Like if you were forced, at gunpoint (or something), to read 5,000 of them, all right in a row and without stopping, you wouldn't choose death instead, right?

Right?

And if you were compelled, by the ardor of my affection for all of you, to write a short review after reading these 5,000 words, this responsibility wouldn't make you crack and weep and bellow, "WHY? OH, DEAR LORD, WHY DOES SHE TORMENT ME THUSLY?" toward the heavens, even if you were, in all honesty, an agnostic/atheist/polytheist/Wiccan/other not inclined toward dramatic God appeals or using words like, "thusly"?

Okay. Good to know.

I entered my novel, Plum Blossoms in Paris, into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest a few months ago. The ultimate winner (to be announced in April) receives a publishing contract and a healthy advance. They have winnowed the 5,000 entries down to 800 or so semifinalists. And I'm one of them (whee!).

Amazon has posted the excerpts for their customers to read and review. I'm not sure how critical these reviews are to advancing toward the next level (in late February, they'll cut the pool down to 100), but I assume they'll matter.

So please, if you have the time, or desire, during the next few weeks to stop by and read my first couple of chapters, I would be very grateful. If you like what you read, and want to pen a review, that would be great. If you don't like what you read, and don't want to review, that would be equally great.

My excerpt is here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012658UI

It's a pdf, which is a little awkward to read, so if you want to print it out, that might be helpful. The powers-that-be were supposed to cut if off at a chapter break, but they went too long, and chopped it off mid-sentence. I can live with this.

Thank you so much to those who are willing to do this for me. And please only do so if you are genuinely interested in the synopsis. In all seriousness, I welcome your honest reviews, so don't feel an obligation to pad the rating. There's certainly room for improvement here.

Thanks again!