Going Twice

Hi Ray,

I'm not sure if I should even comment on this book, not because it's bad in anyway (far from it) but rather I feel I've read an incredibly personal piece of writing here. It is like secretly reading someone's diary, part excitment, part shame. Shame at being reminded of the awful, awful events that are slowly being consumed by history the further we move forward, away from the Holocaust. Thankfully we have wonderful, if sad, works of literature (and that is what this is, not simply a book) to remind and remonstrate us against forgetting.

Your language is beautiful, just beautiful. At times I was reminded of Anne Michael's "Fugitive Pieces", and at others of Rachel Seiffert's "The Dark Room".

The immediacy of Frankie and Bea's relationship was almost as that of sisters, between Alistair and Bea that of brother and sister, between Bea and the absent Jake... heartbreaking. All tinged with moments of lightness – I can't imagine an English rabbi saying "dude" that much but it made me smile nonetheless!

Please finish this, Ray. You owe it to yourself, to we readers, to Bea. But most of all you need to finish it for all those individuals who will never have a second chance, who deserve to be remembered if only as ink on paper, and a tightness in our hearts.

They deserve that, at the very least. And you, my friend, deserve to be published.

Mark

Rachel,

I'm fairly certain there's only one thing I really need to say about this book: I WANT TO BUY IT. I want to buy it, take it home with me, curl up with my favorite cup of chai and not stop reading until the wee hours of the morning. On my WL, will be on my shelf before you can blink.

Sydney
Siren

Back for a return visit to this wonderful story. Even though I already read all the chapters, I figure this to be the last chance to read it again before it gets its (well deserved) star, and falls off the listings--and hopefully goes to press.

I love the opening chapter, which I obviously paid insufficient notice to the (late) night I first read this story--or else there was a glitch and I didn‘t see it. The opening hook is one of the best I have ever run across--the box calling out to her, the man’s voice whispering to her mind. Absolutely beautiful--especially her innate knowledge of the origin of the box, even down to the wood taken from a tree the girl once climbed. And then the inlaid flower shifting, ‘blooming open in my palm’--like the box knows who it is intended for. Masterful writing.

And you somehow maintain this gut-tugging quality throughout the story. I was particularly taken my the remembrances of her mother’s funeral, when she felt the need to bury the box with her mom, but could not bring herself to part company with it.

And then she finally realizes where the box is, followed by the revelation of why her father had put it, and other things that brought his wife back, away. And her: ‘Shame is bitter in my mouth.’ Lovely.

An emotionally charged chapter eighteen is the perfect stopping point--tying the mystery of the two chests together in a march toward…

For the first time ever on Authonomy I use this word: A masterpiece--started and ended this read with a constriction in my chest, which never let up in between. A rare gift indeed--the ability to generate such an emotional tug.

Yes! This is is something I would buy and take to bed with me. I've really only found a few things here that suit my taste exactly, but this nails it. Your prose is clean and elegant, and the premise is intriguing. It's not so much that this kind of thing has never been done before. Everything's been done before. It's the WAY it's done. Somehow you create a special atmosphere in which we can readily suspend disbelief. It's especially interesting to me because we deal with similar themes. You go a different direction with your revelations: I flash images; you stab thoughts at us ("Iknew that..."). It really works in this context. I want to read more, but I've promised several people I'd get to their work before thursday, so I'll have to stop here for now. I'll be back, though.
Susan

Rarely do I come across a book that compels--no--FORCES me to read and read and read. I clicked on this book thinking that it, while not my cup of tea, had an intriguing enough pitch to make me glance at it.

And then I was blown away.

Bea is so sharp on the page I was surprised I didn't come away bleeding. Her pain, her love, her gift, her budding friendship all spoke to me in a way that can only be described as amazing. It was like being immersed in the mind of your closest friend. Someone you care about but never knew the depths of. It was gratifying and heartbreaking all at once. And the other characters are just as engaging. So distinctive and original.

The imagery, the language, the tone--everything grabbed me by the throat and would not let go until the end of chapter 18. If there had been more, I would have had to read it all. As it stands now, I am ravenous for more. As soon as this book is published (how could it not be?) it is definitely going to be added to my collection.

As it stands now, Rachel, I have to shelve this.

On a scale of 1 through 10, this surpasses even 10. Wonderful. Brilliant.

Thank you so much for the read!

~Brandi Guthrie~

Rachel,
I am in love with your book. It caught my attention from the moment I began reading the first chapter. This story is full of emotions and mystery, which, in my opinion, is one of the best combinations in writing a wonderful story. I love Bea... she is such a realistic character, and her special power reminded me that the power of knowing is not always good. Thank you for sharing this story with us.

Happily backed,
Evie

I’ve promised myself not to ‘gush’ but I’m struggling. I love every word you have written. I got totally absorbed in it. You paint the prettiest pictures and I love the language – covering my objections with her weapon of choice –reason. You have a beautiful turn of phrase. I like your characterization particularly Alistair. This is a book would make, me take the phone off the hook, lock the doors and curl up on the sofa. I really hope you get this into print it deserves it.

Sue Mackender - Knowing Liam Riley

Atmospheric and polished writing of a fascinating and engaging story. The people and environments are clearly drawn, without being given a mind-numbing exposition of details. The tautness of Bea's emotions and her attempt at creating a carapace against intrusion by others, are very well drawn. There is some lovely imagery: "cannonball of despair", "memories that are becoming yellowed", "ribbons of gold", "a jawbreaker of dread." Shelved, with pleasure, Carolyn.

Rachel, I have obviously shelved this work. I've not finished reading yet, but it grips. Highly evocative. You create atmosphere very effectively - nice attention to detail, yet certainly not overwrought. Lovely!

Interesting.

chapter 1

A very nice beginning to get the reader interested. Good hook at the end. Not much to say other than that.

chapter 2

I am slightly grossed out at the mention of sex. It's been that long... This struck me as very, very odd. Sex is, from an objective view point, potentially very disgusting... but we don't see it when we're horny, which a person is likely to be if she has not had any for a while. Just thought I'd mention it...

I think the idea for your story is quite good, and you are developing a sympathetic character. Your writing is paced well... perhaps some more insignificant things could be trimmed down in the dialogue, but not much, really.

Well done and backed. Best of luck!

chapter 1

A very nice beginning to get the reader interested. Good hook at the end. Not much to say other than that.

chapter 2

I am slightly grossed out at the mention of sex. It's been that long... This struck me as very, very odd. Sex is, from an objective view point, potentially very disgusting... but we don't see it when we're horny, which a person is likely to be if she has not had any for a while. Just thought I'd mention it...

I think the idea for your story is quite good, and you are developing a sympathetic character. Your writing is paced well... perhaps some more insignificant things could be trimmed down in the dialogue, but not much, really.

Well done and backed. Best of luck!

I must confess that normally I only read between one and four chapters as a rule. Of course there are exceptions and 'Going Twice' falls into that category. Absolutely beautiful voice running throughout the book.

Backed with pleasure.

Bob x

I very much like the way this starts. Mystery from the outset, well written as well, which is great for the reader's eye. You have two good things here - a good story and a good style. Great combination. I really couldn't see anything wrong with this at all. So all I can say is
Backed
Flicka

I like the pitch for this, makes me think of Pandora's Box. I love the opening as I love antique shops as well, that smell is also one that I love, a musty smell found in old books and old buildings, absolutely love it. Had to stop and back this after a few paragraphs as this was also funny and I love your writing, shelved with pleasure.

Sandie
The Crown of Crysaldor

This is lovely stuff, so real, so varied the voices, it touches the heart, and that is what matters. Backed with great pleasure
BADD

I was just going to read a bit and then take a nap, but forget the nap. I just kept reading and reading. You are a writer. You have something alot of us can't even get to in our writing. I was pulled in and wanted to stay. Thanks for the read. I will shelf this when I change my books around again. Best of luck to you on this.

I was just going to read a bit and then take a nap, but forget the nap. I just kept reading and reading. You are a writer. You have something alot of us can't even get to in our writing. I was pulled in and wanted to stay. Thanks for the read. I will shelf this when I change my books around again. Best of luck to you on this.

I'm just dipping into this and have a brief comment.
In the fourth para you mention antiques with shiny wood and brass door pulls. I'll suggest shining wood and brass pulls. It's new furniture that's shiny, and pulls can be for drawers as well as doors.

Dai

Oh, Rachel (or Ms Wilson, if that's your preference), this is wonderful. Beautiful. Evocative, atmospheric and absorbing. I can't read more than about 3 chapters on screen (it's an age thing, and I'm a hundred and seventy), but what I've read is extraordinary. This should be out there on the shelves, being bought in the thousands and more. Given time, I'll revisit to read the rest. But, whatever, make sure you continue to write. The world needs talent like this and you have a responsibility to have those words read by as many people as possible. Thank you for sharing this with me. You've in spired, educated and delighted me. Your characters are friends already. Keep up this level of work and you'll be a name in no time.
Thanks,
Stuart Aken

Hello Rachel,

I am surprised you haven't received an offer on this yet (or have you?). I am new to this site and have looking for a great book to read. You have exactly the kind of writing I like. It moves along steadily so that you don't even think about stopping. Your story is very wonderfully written. It does sound like a personal story. I wish you blessings in publishing your work. Very good job!
Tammy

Rachel,
I can see how you got your gold star - great banter in the dialogue that's easy to follow with no missteps; punctuations of the surreal that entice the reader to keep going, looking for more, without being over-the-top; descriptions that put one into the space, the atmosphere, inside the doggone glass for heaven's sake; interior monologue that reveals so very much that one aches for this main character.
You said to be honest. I've read through Chapter 4 but cannot think of any criticism to give you.
I would shelve "Going Twice," but you've already won. Well done - well deserved gold star. Best wishes for success.
Mary

Rachel,
I read the first three chapters and youre excellet tight writing kept me immersed, which is quite an achievement since I have a short span of attention on Authonomy since much of the writing sucks. As it is, this book is outstanding and dwarfs most of the others I've read.
The quality of the writing is brilliant but a good book has more than that. It has story; without a good gripping yarn you might as well pack up and go home.
Your book is a great story.
Love it
Can't shelve it but I am awestruck by your ability.
best,
fred

This is quite a brilliant piece of writing, the four chapters I’ve read so far. As a writer, you’ve got everything going for you: an ear for the music of words, a film director’s eye for storyboarding the action, and an attention to the surface of things that matches your interest in the darker depths of the character’s world. I can’t say I know yet what the book is about yet, which is a compliment. I feel like I’m the trusted friend Bea doesn’t have, the confidant that Frankie can’t quite be. That’s a sweet gift of privilege to offer a reader. Thanks.

What I like? The bravery of Bea as a little girl, keeping that ring on despite its disturbing power. That foretells some pluck which, very soon, doesn’t seem much in evidence. (How old is she in that scene? I feel like she’s about 10 or 11. Some readers get really anxious if they aren’t told quickly.) You deliver information in the right doses, moving from the first sections of Chapter 1 to the point where Bea is widowed, which is when the reader realizes she was married… and soon enough we learn about the miscarriage. We learn that she’s devoted to work, and it’s probably interesting work, but we don’t know what that work is, which keeps me turning pages. This kind of weaving of biography serves the purpose that writers have, of telling the reader everything we want them to know *all at once*, so they can be equipped for what the story has to offer… but what you skillfully avoid is a laundry list of biographical details, but rather the unfolding of character through the telling of a story.

There are many sentences that are lovely and wise, but here are a few: “Every morning it’s the same. Every morning I reach for him, straining my ears, hoping to hear his soft snoring or maybe even the toilet flushing in the bathroom. But it’s just me. It’s always just me.” “But as a friend the lines are blurred, muddy like a watercolor gone wrong.” “Grossed out by mention of sex… it’s been that long.” “I can barely hear her apology as the distance grows between us.” “The future is just a feeling; it’s not like when I touch things.” “…like a jellyfish… letting currents drag you farther into this depression.”

I like how Bea’s analytic and cautious character is revealed as she meets impetuousness Jake. It’s such a authentically romantic way to expose her, through their first date. The emptiness of the house that Jake built is heartbreaking, the irony of all that beautiful cabinetry with “three lonely glasses, scared, lonely and trembling.”

I do have a couple of questions so far. In Chapter One, how could it be that Frankie, a professional who knows and loves Bea, who sees her weekly, could not know she’s been sleepless for months? I would think this would be obvious, because Bea’s eyes, at the very least, would give that fact away. Also, when Frankie brings up the “dream of the man” at that point, the only dream so far is of the man with the boots. So why does Bea clarify Frankie is not referring to her husband? Jake at that point is bit of an emotional ghost, but not conveyed in a dream so far.

I’m eager to read more of this deftly written and soulful book.

I've only managed to read 4 chapters due to being at work but I can tell that this is a magnificent book. I want to buy it, take it home and read it properly so I can digest eveyrthing... get lost in it! It seems incredibly personal, touching, haunting... you write beautifully Rachel. I'm backing this and WL so i can come back and read more soon.
Best wishes
Gerri

Dear Rachel,
I am watch listing this. I read the first chapter to get a taste, but tomorrow I will have a chance to read much more. Although my creative mind works differently that most, thus my books and my stories tend to shovel the lessons of life by weaving my readers through a world unknown to us yet capable of being equally as wonderful and cruel at the same time. It's just that every now and then a situation arises where we have no control,be it a tyrant, a natural disaster, a war or personal relationship. We somehow let it slip away at times during our lives-or it is taken from us and we are left stripped naked of all self respect.
Reading the first chapter I know I am going to be filled with a heartwrenching story about Bumble Bea's trials and tribulations and inner most feelings and then some.
Watch listed.

Thanks

Jeffrey B. Allen
GoneAway Into the Land

Oh, please upload the rest of this book!

It was hard for me to read it objectively. Different gender, but there's so much of myself in Bea (which coincidentally is my younger daughter's name). Losing the one person in your life is hard to describe, but "What I want, I had" puts it in a nutshell. You brought tears to my eyes, especially when Bea broke the glass. I've been there. And although my sensitivity to objects (more particularly, places) is far less intense than your protagonist's, I know how uncomfortable it can be.

So why do I want to read more of a book I find painful? Well, forget the personal emotional catharsis: you write beautifully and you offer an intriguing, superbly-paced mystery narrative. "Going Twice" is gripping, poetic, thought-provoking, profound and intensely moving. Therefore, I believe it will also affect people for whom your story doesn't have such personal resonance as it has for me.

Give me a little while to make space on my bookshelf for it. And when it's published, there will be a real copy on my real bookshelf. Very few works on Authonomy are of comparable literary quality - Mary Miller's superb "Liminality" is one, though it's entirely different from "Going Twice". The downside of reading something like this is that I might give up trying to write. I'll never be as good as you.

Mark
("Overlooked").

I wanted to know if you would be interested in a book swap? Broken Birds, Jeannette Katzir

I found you writing so vividly descriptive. I like the pace of your writing also.
Jeannette Katzir
The Broken Birds

Hi, Rachel
Wrote this almost a week ago and sent it to myself:

Just finished your Ch 12. I love the way you keep switching up the voice -- light to dark to shadowy and back again. it gives the book layers, like tree rings. The way you've drawn the little girl and the old man is especially poignant, and the hints about plot trend are just subtle enough. I'm really enjoying this. Once I get past this week and next, I'll have a lot more time for this website. Right now I'm directing two different plays at once, and I'm about amped out.

By the way, I've added a short prologue (under 2 pages) before my Ch 1 -- in Daphne's voice on the eve of the eruption. If you get a chance to look at it, I'd love your opinion on whether or not it works.
Susan

Hi, Rachel
Just finished your Ch 12. I love the way you keep switching up the voice -- light to dark to shadowy and back again. it gives the book layers, like tree rings. The way you've drawn the little girl and the old man is especially poignant, and the hints about plot trend are just subtle enough. I'm really enjoying this. Once I get past this week and next, I'll have a lot more time for this website. Right now I'm directing two different plays at once, and I'm about amped out.

By the way, I've added a short prologue (under 2 pages) before my Ch 1 -- in Daphne's voice on the eve of the eruption. If you get a chance to look at it, I'd love your opinion on whether or not it works.
Susan

Your premise has a lot of promise, and your writing is nice and effortless. I'm curious about the WWII German guy and the box and her nightmares. (The romance market is so saturated you would really need an original concept to break through liek Audrey Niffenegger's Time Traveler's Wife or something. Yours also sounds like it could be one of these original concepts.) Your prologue also works since Ch 2, we see Beatrice as the direct opposite of her younger self! Haha. I like your premise, and I like your Chapter 1. WL for now, definitely bookshelf once a space clears! (Actually, I changed my mind. Your book's going on the bookshelf NOW.)

Hi Ray,

I know I'm a little late since you've already made it to the editor's desk, but I finally got around to looking at Going Twice. You have a mesmerizing story here that draws the reader in from the very beginning and doesn't let up. Your writing flows smoothly and is impeccably polished. Bea is a well defined, three-dimensional character that makes the reader want to follow her story as she reluctantly picks up the pieces of her life and moves on. Her talent, or curse, of being able to "feel" the vibrations of things is intriguing, giving her depth and knowlegde which will no dobut eventually help reveal her true "reason" for being on this earth.

Your setting, background and atmosphere are superb as is the imagery throughout the story. Well done, and congratulations on making it to where few of us here on authonomy do. SusIe Parker, author of Foul Player.

Atmosphere is beautifully written in this book. You can almost smell or feel bitterness and anxiety. Williamret

Rachel,
I've read 5 chapters now. Have to stop for now and go do some mundane chores, but I'll be back. It strikes me how many parallels there are between your story and mine. The voices are different, of course, and your approach is more contemporary in terms of pace and a certain cinematic quality -- lots of dialogue, stuff that can be "acted out." I rely more on interior monologue, visual and auditory images, etc. Still, we seem to be going the same direction: the past infiltrating, insinuating itself into the present, ultimately bringing insight into the human experience. You have a subtle mind and a gift for choosing just the right words. I especially like the way you prevent this from becoming melodramatic by balancing the real with the surreal, the rational with the emotional, the contolled with the chaotic. This just feels right. I have confidence in the writer not to let me down, so I can just sit back and involve myself in the story without looking for flaws. There are, mind you, a few small technicals -- pronoun case, occasional odd syntax, that sort of thing -- nothing major, but maybe enough to distract a little every so often. I'll go back and try to find some of these later, but the good news is that I was so interested in the read that I didn't feel like stopping to note them as I went along. A good sign, for sure.
Susan

I'm on the night shift at work and have been using my time to go through some books on my bookshelf.
Before my boos returns, I'll quickly say well done for putting on paper how much someone's life can change from childhood to adulthood.
Well done also for making a girl the centre of a WWII story- makes it much more interseting for old war addicts like me to read.
i like the six degress of separation aspect too.
Very well written and all success much seserved.

Hi Ray,

I'm not sure if I should even comment on this book, not because it's bad in anyway (far from it) but rather I feel I've read an incredibly personal piece of writing here. It is like secretly reading someone's diary, part excitment, part shame. Shame at being reminded of the awful, awful events that are slowly being consumed by history the further we move forward, away from the Holocaust. Thankfully we have wonderful, if sad, works of literature (and that is what this is, not simply a book) to remind and remonstrate us against forgetting.

Your language is beautiful, just beautiful. At times I was reminded of Anne Michael's "Fugitive Pieces", and at others of Rachel Seiffert's "The Dark Room".

The immediacy of Frankie and Bea's relationship was almost as that of sisters, between Alistair and Bea that of brother and sister, between Bea and the absent Jake... heartbreaking. All tinged with moments of lightness – I can't imagine an English rabbi saying "dude" that much but it made me smile nonetheless!

Please finish this, Ray. You owe it to yourself, to we readers, to Bea. But most of all you need to finish it for all those individuals who will never have a second chance, who deserve to be remembered if only as ink on paper, and a tightness in our hearts.

They deserve that, at the very least. And you, my friend, deserve to be published.

Mark

Rachel,

I really enjoyed reading this. It took me back to gentler times, somehow reminding me of my childhood. I can imagine myself snuggled under the doonah, with a glass of red handy, reading this one winter's night.

You have a phrase, "the smell of history..." that is so evocative. I know just what you mean. Smells do have that ability to take us back, and that theme of connectivity between our senses and time permeates your work, in an unobtrusive kind of way.

Your opening lines are a brilliant hook and the close to chapter 1 (or is it a prologue?) matches the opening well.

Then we enter Chapter 2 with a nice change of pace (and tense). Very smoothly done.

Change down again for the session with the therapist/friend and gentle, well delivered exposition where your protagonist tells us an awful lot more about herself than she says, all very naturally.

I'm loving this and shall be back to read more. It's shelved.

JD

You get my shelf:

Lord, girl, you had me feeling from the opening paragraphs. The backs of my knees felt creepy remembering the sweat that gathers there and vinyl seats. (shiver) Then you switch to visuals and scents and whispering… you lock in the senses one by one. Outstanding.

And then… and then you end Chapter 1 chillingly.

You have a fantastic eye (ear and nose) for detail: the under-cabinet light casting shadows, for example, scratchy socks,

(It's extra eerie: I too have a novel with a widow whose husband's named Jake.)

And damn it, end of Chapter frigging 3 and you have me in tears already.

Fantastic.

You misspelled door jamb, though. But who cares...

-Coldhands

I am so pleased you are getting recognition for your lovely book, filled with buzzing characters.
I love the intrigue of it and feel I have been allowed into a secret world by reading it.

All the best for the future.

Hi Rachel May:

Better late than never, as they say. Seriously, I'm glad I finally got to read some of your book, even though you've already reached the ed desk. I think your book is beautifully written, a very accomplished work of art. I hope HC thinks so, too. I'm happy to put it on my bookshelf. I've made a few notes while reading, and here they are.

Ch. 1: Beautiful writing, and Bea’s premonition about the box and its history pulls the reader in. Her theft of the ring provides proper tension. The fact that her aunt can’t open the box deepens the mystery. I like that the chapter is short, compact and economical.

Ch. 2 is practically all dialogue, but it works. Again, the chapter is short and simple, the writing clean and economical. I particularly appreciate sparse prose (competent, sparse prose, I should add).

Ch. 3: Take this for what it’s worth: I once heard that it’s a mistake to make popular references in your novel. I’m referring to Everybody Loves Raymond. The idea, I guess, is that they anchor your work to a time period, date it in an unnatural way. Not sure if there’s any real wisdom there.

(This is weird, I know, but I love asparagus pee.)

Bea’s Spartan existence in Ch. 3 makes me very sad, but I understand her and empathize with her. Very well written descriptions of the kitchen, her single plate, single bowl, four glasses, etc.

Ch. 4 is great in the way you cut to the chase, the delving into the cherry-wood chest. I was going to let off after reading this chapter, but the mystery of what’s in the chest forced me to read on. The chapter is a reflection over time of what happened to Bea when she was thirteen. Good job.

Ch. 5: Typo, right? (“inlayed flower pattern”)

“bumblebee” Ah ha!

Best of luck to you and your fine book.

Rob

Sad, haunting, haunted... really captures that feeling of disappearing into an emotional world of dust and solitude in the wake of insufferable loss... very curious to see where this is headed...

LBx

Rachel --

Fantastic voice and cadence. The unexpected snippets of humor carve a very human depth into the gravity of the story. Can't wait to read more.

A truly original story, Rachel, with a unique voice belonging to an extraordinary girl/woman in the form of Bea. No time to comment fully before the witching hour, so you have my vote, and I wish you so well. Love from Kay x

Going Twice - Rachel May Wilson. I read the 1st 3 chapters and scanned some of the comments. Nice writing style - the reader can feel her angst. You place the reader into the scene very nicely.

Some thoughts: why "welcome" pain? perhaps "tolerate" otherwise you're introducing the MC as psychologically bent from the start which may negatively bias the reader; perhaps you might want to spend a little more time in the mystic world beginning each chapter to give the reader a little more of a tease and create a cleaner segue into the chapter's content - currently it can frustrate as well as tease.

On my list.

Regards,
Gideon
The Oil Market Czar

I backed this wonderful book that is iridescent in its portrayal of humanity's connections that are born from love. History and present are interwoven in a splendid tapestry of mystery, revelation, and relationships. The characters are achingly beautiful, the unfolding story is enthralling. The writing is literary and satisfying. Please shelve this book. I highly recommend it and am eager to read it when it comes out in print. I must know what happens. The story is that compelling, the characters that cherished. Read it. Read it now.
-- Eve Paludan

Wow! This is awesome. I can't wait to see this one in print. I've only read the first couple of chapters and I'm hooked. Great job.

Hi Rachel! My apologies for just a hurried read, but I wanted to check out GT before the end of the month...and I am just about out of time! I enjoyed the first few chapters of this; Bea's heartbreak and depression are obviously important (and sad), but it's really the mystery of her peculiar intuitions and that box that opens just for her that have me more hooked. Very best of luck!!!

Hi Rachel

As promised -I've read the start of your book, found it brilliant and am more than happy to Back it. Good luck in the last few hours!

Once the excitement has died down, if you're able to look at my book that would be great -but the above is given entirely on YOUR book's merit, and comes with no conditions

Anthony
('Houses of Sand' )

Rachel,

I'm fairly certain there's only one thing I really need to say about this book: I WANT TO BUY IT. I want to buy it, take it home with me, curl up with my favorite cup of chai and not stop reading until the wee hours of the morning. On my WL, will be on my shelf before you can blink.

Sydney
Siren

Rachel, this is such an intriguing story. However, going from Chapters 1 to 2, I felt cheated about the abrupt shift. I wanted to know more about this little girl and did she have a special gift and all the secrets behind the box and the pearl. I know you will do well with the editors...so I am looking for it on the shelves soon. Best wishes...

This is beautifully written but I wonder about your target audience, its what publishers are always interested in. I am shelving it but care that the people whom you wish to read this book will appreciate it as much as I.
Shelved.
Paul S

Rachel,

This has an intriguing premise. I particularly liked the way she senses things from old objects - but then my favorite genre is fantasy, so go figure.

I'm not sure what I can offer by way of critical feedback - it's tightly written, well polished and I couldn't spot anything in the first couple of chapters that needs attention.

More than happy to throw it on my bookshelf. Good luck.

Cheers
Chris Andrews

On my shelf. Good luck!