More Rebuttals

 I haven't probably gotten many written reviews since I did this last time; mostly I just get annoying "ratings" with no words.  As an author and a reader I don't find that helpful.  I want to know WHY someone liked or didn't like a book.  I mean what if Roger Ebert had just said Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down with no reason for why he liked or didn't like a movie?  It'd be pretty useless.  But I know we'll never be able to make people do that, because the world sucks.  I would definitely rate it 1 star.

Anyway, here was one for Private Dick that is 4 stars:

Dick Larson was a hard boiled detective in 1930s of California was difficult enough, but things happen that is unknown enter Dixie Larson, who took over the the agency for the last few months, a woman who is a bit on androgynous looking girl, she not a ravaging beauty, but girl a who holds secrets. One night a pretty girl wearing oversized men's clothes enter the agency. She claims that she the man heir to oil fortune. Most wouldn't believe it. But Dixie did. Why or how come, strange that the cause that lead to more mystery that what happened.

The issue is mostly this line: a woman who is a bit on androgynous looking girl.  That's not true!  At the start of book 1, Dixie is a super-hot blonde with huge breasts.  The idea was to do a bit of role reversal where the Bogart-esque private eye becomes the bombshell femme fatale.  A couple of times it's mentioned she looks like Greta Garbo--this being about 1938 and all.  There is a twist in that while the visible parts of Dixie look like Greta Garbo, under her panties she's got a pretty big schlong.  But that would make her more a hermaphrodite than "androgynous."  Since this person doesn't seem to have a great grasp of English, maybe she used the wrong word.

I'm not sure where this person got this idea that she's "not a ravaging beauty" unless she's thinking of book 3 where Dixie becomes a plainer woman and then a little girl--which is why book 3 is no longer on Amazon.  

It seemed kind of weird.  I thought, "are you writing your own story now?"  Maybe they are.

One day I was browsing Goodreads and found out someone had written a blog post about my book Derelict that was mostly complimentary, though a few of those compliments were the backhanded sort.  In the comments it was mentioned like The Magic Panties that they didn't think something with a cover like that could actually be a good story.

I get it as the woman on the cover is kind of skanky, but that's what people want.  Mainstream books you can get away with showing just shoes but books like these you have to have some sex appeal.  Looking at this cover in a larger format, I realized I needed to use the Soft Edge filter on the woman because on the right you can see a thin white line that didn't get cropped out.  The tooth of her necklace also needed some white added back, so I copied and pasted in an unformatted version of the tooth.  Not that anyone would notice, but now it's a little better.

Anyway, I liked that this reader actually GOT what the story was, which was mostly like a Twilight Zone episode--specifically that one with Bill Mumy wishing people to the cornfield.  While there is some sex, it's not just a sex romp.  It's nice when someone actually understands what you were trying to do instead of just complaining because it didn't check their imaginary boxes.

This person has Reunion: Gender Swap Warriors on a To-Read shelf, but I don't think he/she has read it yet.

Fun Fact:  While I thought they had merged reviews from all their international sites on the main Amazon.com page, this review is still apparently only on the Canadian page.  I'm not sure why.

File this under "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery":

A filter that can turn you into a girl.  Great idea!  One that I pretty much had at the start of last year, so almost 18 months earlier.  Only mine was an app called Swapp, which I think is cleverer.  Swap + app = Swapp.  Boom!  The cover design is even similar, though I used a computery background and a sexier chick:

So far the other book has 1 2-star review saying it just ended without any resolution.  The Swapp books are rated much better.  So there.  Accept no substitutes!