Beyond Words

After receiving plenty of great reviews and ratings for Invisible , yesterday, I went through a rite of passage, I got my first ever one-star review from a reviewer on Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/278254425 . It's okay, really, I'm fine with it. After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion. But what really got to me was the reason why! There is a gay character in my novel. Her name is Charlie and I love her. I think she adds dimension and depth to my novel, but the reviewer hated her. The reviewer's stated "I don't do gay." So I ask, is this really a review or an opportunity for the reviewer to tout her so-called Christian values? All I ask is for a fair review. Review the book as a whole. A one-star review is fine by me, especially when it comes from a narrowminded individual. I would have thought in this day and age that such prejudice and hatred would not be so prevalent.

I'd like to share my Kirkus review of Invisible by yours truly. Sorry for the self-indulgence. I don't do this often but the review means a lot to me. INVISIBLE          A young girl just shy of graduating high school acquires a new gift and a way to literally hide from the world. “Sometimes I disappear,” she explains. Lola, self-described as “fat” and “freakishly tall,” lives a lowly existence. Her parents, desperately clinging to their youth, barely acknowledge her; her sister belittles her; and she’s a target for bullies. She finds solace in her love of writing, her BFF Charlie (short for Charlene) and her maternal grandmother, affectionately called Gran. Any wish she had to become invisible in the eyes of cruel teenagers is suddenly a reality, as she vanishes from others’ sight and is neither seen nor heard. Lola soon realizes that she disappears during emotionally intense moments. Bannon’s debut novel adequately captures the life o...

Former bar singer and Buddhist meditator Caitlin Shaughnessy, a Canadian journalist, discovers that Inez, a traumatized young Mayan woman from Guatemala, has killed Dr. Jerry Simpson, her partner of many years. Caitlin struggles to understand what happened, and why. In the process, she confronts her own demons, as well as the innocence and wonder within Inez which seem to belie the young woman's violent actions. For a chance to win one of three free copies of THE GIRL IN THE BOX, enter to win at Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12043711-the-girl-in-the-box . Contest ends November 18th. Shelia Dalton’s THE GIRL IN THE BOX is a wonderfully constructed and intricately woven tale of a mute, seemingly autistic teenage girl who is rescued from a deplorable existence in the Guatemalan jungle. Chained and made to live in a windowless shed by her parents, Jerry, a Canadian psychoanalyst on vacation, rescues the girl by bringing her back home with him to Canada. The no...