Sapphire’s Worth. Those of you who have followed my blog know that Sapphire is my Book of the Heart. I just love that story. :love: I’m not sure why I like it so much, I just do. Wulfric is my favorite hero, Sapphire is my favorite heroine. The story was written purely from the heart, without any thought to its salability. I just wrote the story that came to me, regardless of the market. I have such dreams for that manuscript, such hopes, and yet I’ve sold every story except that one. It sits here, waiting for its chance. It’s been on the desks of two editors, and both of them offered for it, but I haven’t sold it. Yet.
I’m so curious to see how it will do once it’s on the shelves. It’s never finaled in a contest. Every time it goes before judges, it either gets scored really high, or really low. There is no middle ground with Sapphire. Readers either love it or hate it. Take the Golden Heart, where the highest score is a 9. Sapphire scored two 9s, an 8, and a 7.8. But it didn’t final. One judge gave it a 5. In every contest it’s been in, it always garners at least one perfect score, but the one judge that hates it, really hates it.
What is it about Sapphire? Well, the story is about a concubine, a woman who makes her living having sex. The book starts out with her having sex with a man not the hero. (you can read the excerpt to see how it begins) And some readers just can’t stand that. Sapphire has been called “not indicitive of a romance heroine”.
I just received judging scorecards from a contest. Again, two judges scored it almost perfectly and one judge didn’t like it. One of her comments is, “Sapphire’s feelings for the King are confusing.” Why? Well, because she’s supposed to be a romance heroine, but she’s having sex with a man without loving him. The king is a job, and she thinks of him that way.
Compare this to one of the other judge’s comments: “I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning. Nothing sticks out as the BEST element because ALL of it was so good.”
Obviously reviews for Sapphire will also be as conflicted. Some reviewers are going to hate it, and others will love it, but I tell myself all the time that any story that can incite such extreme feelings is doing its job.
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I loved what I read of it and would buy it in a heartbeat if I seen it in the stores! Just remember that you can’t please everyone, everytime!
Oh my goodness! I am so late! This book I have also taken to my heart. I absolutely loved it. And I have no idea what’s wrong with those judges. I say, BRAVO! :clap: You’re great and your writing is great. They need to have a little more faith and trust in this book in my opinion. And certainly, I agree with the above statement that you shouldn’t let their opinions bother you at all. The excerpt itself has hooked me for life and I am yet another dying fan waiting for it to finally be made available. Will it ever be? I sit and I wonder… and I dream of holding your book in my hands. :pray: :love:
Thanks, everyone! I’m glad to see that you all enjoy the beginning. It just gets better from there.
Sapphire sounds very interesting to me. The first book of my heart is a young adult novel, and the only novel I haven’t sold as well. It was my first book, and I loved it and still do. I love the characters, the story. But I pulled it from my agent because I know it needs work. When I’ll have time to work on it, I just don’t know. But I loved writing that book.
It was the first excerpt I read when I first stumbled onto your blog. I loved it then, and I love it now.
I’ve been waiting forever for this story. !!
Fingers crossed that you sell it!
When I first started visiting your website, Sapphire’s Worth was the first excerpt I read and after about 30 minutes of searching out where I could get a copy, I was very disappointed to see that it wasn’t available yet.
I had no problem with the beginning. Granted, I’d never read a book where the heroine started out that way, but when you take the whole excerpt as one piece, I really don’t see how it could bother anyone. It’s obviously another world than ours, so things are definitely going to be different there. It’s a fresh, exciting idea and I’ve often wished I could buy the story now, so that I could see the rest of the tale.
Some of the best authors out there write compelling stories that garner a wide array of opinions, so it makes sense that you’ll be doing the same. Don’t let a few bad opinions get to you, sweetie. We all know you’re wonderful.