Or is this just awful?
The funny thing is I hit on this page after looking into The Crossroads Cafe because the ever wonderful wendy said it rocked.
So after reading the first few pages of the excerpt… going back to wendy’s review to see how I screwed up the authors name… googling Deborah Smith… going back to wendy’s site to see if she had fessed up to whatever crack she has been smoking… I decided to blog about it cuz horrid writing should be shared.
THEN I noticed if I had just read the amazon reviews (who knew?!?) my answer would have been found in the first posted review from wendy’s Deborah Smith:
If you’re a confused reader trying to find one of my novels such as the NYT bestselling A Place To Call Home or Sweet Hush, you’re probably wondering when I began writing pseudo-sexual “Christian” novels with lurid titles. Well, I didn’t. I’ve been publishing award-winning mainstream novels for nearly twenty years under my name, Deborah Smith, and this new “Deborah Smith” is someone else. Someone whose work I would dearly love to NOT see included when my book lists pop up. Since so far I haven’t been able to convince Amazon.com to post ANY distinction between us, I hope my readers will complain to Amazon when they order “Sex Secrets of Pistol-Whipped Ministers” or whatever this stuff is, by mistake.
All I have to say is that sucks. Poor Deborah Smith. Of course she should be happy because according to Amazon:
What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?
62% buy The Crossroads Cafe by Deborah Smith $12.03
You can too if you like here or here.
I am still a little up in the air about it. So do tell me if you have read it.
the other day I had a book pop up on my Amazon recommended list that I had to look at because I just didn’t remember Lora Leigh writing a book with that title. As it turns out, my mistake was in the author name: Lori Leigh (writing for a small, small press publisher) wrote the book. What was interesting? Amazon customers who bought that book? Bought five other titles by LORA Leigh. I’m thinking of taking on the pseudonym of Nola Roberts (or Nori Roberts)…or hey, Lola Leigh! and writing a few books. Might make bank, eh?
Oh my god. That excerpt had me rolling.
I do live in California, but I assure you – I do not smoke crack. I will admit to occasionally drinking too much wine, but I try to avoid blogging during these slightly inebriated moments.
The worst part about this Other Deborah Smith – I just bought up most of the Real Deborah Smith’s backlist via Amazon and now I’m getting the ODS recommended to me constantly. Blah.
And still undecided on The Crossroads Cafe? Jayne over at Dear Author gave it an A-.
There was a hysterical post on the Jenny Crusie listserv about an introduction that an aspiring author gave for Nora Roberts about having his pen name be Norma Roberts or something like that.
Oh, dear.
My favorite part (and no, you’re not wrong, that is just awful) is where she just happens to discover, after sleeping with him, that her minister is married, and says, “I just couldn’t trust him anymore.”
Uh…
First, wouldn’t you know if your minister was married or not? Don’t most minister’s wives come to church?
And “I just couldn’t trust him anymore”? Like, you know it’s unreasonable, but after discovering he was cheating on the wife you didn’t know about, you just couldn’t help but feel like he maybe wasn’t trustwsorthy?
I’d have a fit if that was me.
That does really suck, though admittedly, Sex Secrets of Pistol-Whipped Ministers is kind of catchy. 🙂
I’ve had problems before in running into authors with the same name on Amazon, but this is the craziest pairing I’ve seen yet. Poor Real Deborah Smith ™. How I miss the days when only Hester Prynne was sleeping with ministers. Now everyone’s doing it.
so if i become j.r Rowling and call my book haryy porter and the toilet of doom that is perfectly OK?
and i think i wouldn’t mind reading Sex Secrets of Pistol-Whipped Ministers. sounds thought provoking!LOLOL
Isn’t there a rule of some sort about publishing under a already established name? Like in Hollywood, one person would have to change their name? I thought so but I guess it’s not true because I’ve had similar problems with other authors like Kathleen Eagle and her twin and David Payne and his twin who is a poet. Joan Wolf also has a twin. I did email her too to see if she was now writing romantic suspense and she reponded that she wasn’t.
Keishon
“I am vexed without you!”
Hmm… I do not think that word means what she thinks it means.
I’d read it for the schaedenfreude, but I got a nosebleed from the excerpt alone.
On the other hand, I loved On Bear Mountain, Sweet Hush, and Charming Grace by the Rich Deborah Smith.
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