“Alice knew that Selma sometimes felt judged by their mother and didn’t always like it when Alice was praised and Selma was not. Alice glanced over at her sister, but Selma was smiling at Alice. In what Alice understood might be Selma’s last act of generosity towards her sister, Selma was going to let Alice bask in the glow of Emma’s pride toward her elder daughter. Then the three shared a hug, a hug that seemed to last forever.”
Alice Heppenheimer, born into a prosperous German Jewish family around the turn of the twentieth century, comes of age at a time of growing opportunities for women.
So, when she turns 21 years old, she convinces her strict family to allow her to attend art school, and then pursues a career in women’s fashion. Alice prospers in her career and settles into married life, but she could not anticipate a Nazi Germany, where simply being Jewish has become an existential threat. Stumbling Stones is a novel based on the true story of a woman driven to achieve at a time of persecution and hatred, and who is reluctant to leave the only home she has ever known.
But as strong and resilient as Alice is, she now faces the ultimate challenge – will she and her husband be able to escape Nazi Germany or have they waited too long to leave?
Why I Chose the Title “Stumbling Stones”
Germans have coined the term “Erinnerungskultur,” or “culture of remembrance,” to refer to the policy of confronting Nazi-era crimes by acknowledging responsibility for the Holocaust. Erinnerungskultur has resulted in large-scale government-funded memorials throughout Germany. But the culture of remembrance has also resulted in grassroots initiatives like the “Stolpersteine” or “stumbling stones” – small, engraved brass paving stones commemorating victims in the streets where they used to live. A German artist, Gunter Demnig, began this commemoration project in 1993 to commemorate the victims of Nazi oppression, which included Jews, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, and dissidents.
In the prologue to my novel Stumbling Stones, the reader is introduced to stumbling stones, and three stumbling stones in particular – the stones of Alice Heppenheimer’s sister, mother, and brother-in-law. The novel is based on a true story, and those stumbling stones do exist, in front of Böhmerstrasse 60 in Frankfurt, Germany. The residents of the apartment building decided to have stumbling stones placed in front of their building to remember Emma Heppenheimer and Selma and Lippmann Lewin, and the stones were laid in 2014. Here are their stones:
None of the apartment owners had any obvious connection to Emma, Selma or Lippmann, but I would like to think that they were inspired by Erinnerungskultur.
After learning about the Stolpersteine project from the research I had done on his family, my husband and his siblings decided to have stumbling stones laid for their father, uncle, grandfather, and grandmother. On October 12, 2021, stumbling stones were placed at the former home of Max and Recha Heppenheimer in Mannheim, Germany, to remember them and their two sons Kurt (Curtis) and Alfred (Fred). Even though my husband’s father (Curtis), uncle, and grandmother survived the Holocaust, they were still victims, having been forced from their home and forced to emigrate to survive.
Stolpersteine are intended to remind us of the victims of the Holocaust in a personal way, because you can see and touch the brass plates. Every time you walk by a plate embedded in a sidewalk, you are reminded that the person commemorated on the plate had live in the building and had been forced to leave that home by the Nazis. That person may have emigrated to America or may perished in the Holocaust. Either way, that person was a victim. And so, I chose the title Stumbling Stones because I wanted the book to serve as a stumbling stone for Alice Heppenheimer. She was victim because all European Jews were victims of the Holocaust. And I also chose the title because I wanted to remind the reader of the importance of remembering the Holocaust. We don’t have Stolpersteine in America, and so I hope my book can serve as a stumbling stone to the reader, for Alice and for all the victims of the Holocaust.
Bonnie Suchman is an attorney who has been practicing law for forty years. Using her legal skills, she researched her husband’s family’s 250-year history in Germany, and published a non-fiction book about the family, Broken Promises: The Story of a Jewish Family in Germany. Bonnie found one member of the family, Alice Heppenheimer, particularly compelling. Stumbling Stones tells Alice’s story. Bonnie has two adult children and lives in Maryland with her husband, Bruce.
Mollie is back for Christmas! “Be naughty and save Santa a trip. It’s better for the planet…”
There was little over a week to go until Christmas Day, but Mollie McQueen hadn’t sent a single card. She hadn’t purchased one gift, and she hadn’t decked the halls with anything other than mountains of wet laundry.
Usually, come the first of December, the McQueen house resembled Santa’s grotto. Stockings would hang from the fireplace, his and hers advent calendars would be propped up on the mantlepiece, and the two sparkly polar bears bought by Mollie’s mother would stand proudly on the windowsill.
This year, all was quiet on the Christmas front. The door was missing its usual wreath, the sprig of mistletoe was absent from the hallway, and the alcove in the living room was minus the retro tree that Mollie normally insisted on rolling out on the first day of December. When Mollie first announced her plans to strip Christmas back to basics, she received nothing but negative feedback. Max accused her of trying to ruin Christmas, Margot advised her to chuck back a daily vitamin D pill in a bid to rediscover her Christmas spirit, and Mrs Heckles had taken to singing Christmas carols through Mollie’s letterbox.
Despite their grumbling, Mollie was determined to prove to everyone that you could enjoy Christmas without falling victim to the endless marketing campaigns that emotionally blackmailed you into purchasing unnecessary gifts for people who would rather have a pack of socks and a slice of Yule log.
With her no-Christmas Christmas amassing quite the guestlist, Mollie had an almighty task on her hands.
Can she convince her nearest and dearest that the true meaning of Christmas had nothing to do with expensive gifts and garish decorations?
One thing’s for sure, Mollie McQueen is NOT Ruining Christmas.
My Review:
This book is funny. Hilarious, actually. Mollie decides to make Christmas all about the reason for the season and helping less fortunate people through actual working for free, while all the while bringing the true and best of any Christmas come to be. Never mind the kooky homemade gifts Mollie made, or tossing beans into mashed potatoes, but Mollie has everyone worried about what they will eat and the gift giving doesn’t line up with past years. Decorations are off the table and slowly but surely, time happens, and the true sense of the best Christmas ever happens.
I loved setting up and posting a unique fashion show to my art gallery yesterday. I post hand painted in Oil Paint pieces, Photography Works, Stained Glass, and more including AI Pieces. With that written, the link to this fashion show is here.
It should go without saying that with great love comes great loss. As fiercely one can love another, then loss happens, that is how acute this loss will be. I made this post public in the hope that it will be shared and thus, help others. I’m writing this post with sincere honesty. If my words help to validate another person’s loss, then my pain in writing this verbiage was worth it.
If a person loses a child, a parent, a sibling, and so on, the level of your love will equal the pain of your loss. The King of Loss is Child Loss.
I’ve lost many loved ones, many felt more acutely and for longer than others. I’ve lost many, but my first horrible and acute loss was the death of my baby brother after heart surgery to repair the heart issues that came with Down Syndrome. An innocent one, not quite age three years. A baby I changed diapers, gave small bits of nutrition and heart medicine (digitalis), and that meant careful measuring of dose, or he could die, and I was the one honored with baking his last earthly birthday cake. It took a lot of time to deal with this loss.
Sadly, I gave birth to my oldest son, knowing he was already gone to heaven, as he’d strangled on his umbilical cord inside me, yet still had to deliver him. It did not go well at all. At that point in time, Shane dying ripped me apart. It was too much. Dealing mechanisms failed. I chose a 30 day stay in a psych unit coming to grips with his death. I still feel his loss to this day, but not acutely, not all consuming. With the great love I had for him, the loss was too much. I wasn’t weak. My little brother had died one year prior, my stepdad only a few months earlier.
The following year, I gave birth to my rainbow baby, Gene, and I was scared as he was born blue, after 30 plus hours of intense labor. It came down to one last push from me and the doctor using suction cups to bring him into the world. I thank the Lord every day for this blessing. That was December 1983. Something bright and good came into my world.
Come April 1985, my third son was born. I was in bliss. We were a family of four. I won’t delve into the relationship I had at the time with my boy’s father. Sammy was a happy and well-fed baby, just like his brother, Gene. He started getting sick a lot in September 1989. Multiple sinus infections, ear infections, and he even picked up mononucleosis! His mono spot was positive, and the doctors were amazed. Source: Most likely grocery shopping cart. Reason: Lowered immune system due to treating his multiple infections.
He remained sick and had head x-rays and CT scans, sadly misread by a radiologist in Salina. His pediatrician never looked at the scans. The Ellsworth doctors never looked at the scans.During this time, Sam had a “bad head hurt” that he didn’t tell me about until after diagnosis.
Mono comes from the Epstein Barr Virus. If a person gets this virus, they can get nasopharyngeal cancer. That was the cause of my little boy developing his nasopharyngeal cancer. When finally diagnosed, it had already spread to his brain and both lungs. He endured a living h*** for eight months at KU MED, after diagnosis.
His manner of death was traumatizing and with horrendous pain at only age five years. My loss was so palpable, I was not a pleasant person. He died in October 1990.
I was extremely angry at God. Why did my son suffer? I still attended church; I was picky on how things would be for my middle son when he was young. I was ANGRY at God. With GREAT love comes GREAT loss. Acute loss that is still felt at times, and right now as I write this piece. Many years, I’d go up to confession and discuss my anger at God. Bishop Fitzsimmons helped me the most. I no longer have anger at God, and I haven’t had anger at Him for a very long time. Not since 1993.
Why did I write all the above? There are people in the Ellsworth community and county, and around the world who are going through huge losses. It’s an unquantifiable loss for each person. It’s normal to go back and forth after a huge loss. Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross became my friend, and she helped me the most with phone calls and emails after Sammy died. Our connection was special.
People are hurting with grief. Sometimes, when we are hurt, our hurt and anger gets misplaced upon another person. I see that clearly happening here, thus, it happens around the world. My post is to help those who are hurt. Your pain is validated. Only you know your pain. Your pain is real. Anyone can talk with me. I validate what you feel. I get it. Email me, text me, drop a note in messenger, etcetera. I will help you anyway I can.
I’m NOT a doctor and doctors are the people to see if your situational depression doesn’t get better. I’m a sounding board and I will cry with you. I pray my message is clear.
Lord,
Lift the hearts of the brokenhearted in Your Glorious Name.
It is 1294 and Eustace de Lamont is back in England after five years in exile. He will stop at nothing to ruin Robert FitzStephan and his wife, Noor d’Outremer.
Robert’s half brother, Eustace de Lamont, has not mellowed during his absence. He is more ruthless than ever, and this time he targets Robert’s and Noor’s foster son, Lionel.
Lionel is serving King Edward as a page when Eustace appears at court. Not only does Lionel become the horrified witness to Eustace’s violent streak, Eustace also starts voicing his suspicions about Lionel’s parentage. The truth about Lionel’s heritage is explosive—should King Edward find out, all would be lost for Robert and Noor.
In October of 1294, Wales rises in rebellion. Robert must leave his family unprotected to fight the Welsh rebels on the king’s behalf, comforted only by the fact that Eustace too is called to fight.
Except that Eustace has no intention of allowing his duty to his king—or a mere rebellion—come between him and his desire to destroy Robert FitzStephan . . .
Every time I say goodbye, I die a little
It is hard to write the last book in a series. After so many years with daily interaction with my characters, the journey is over. Not that my characters’ lives are—they have new adventures to look forward to, new challenges to address—but I am no longer steering their fate.
This, of course, is where things get really, really difficult, because I am, by nature, curious, and as I love my characters, I want to know what happens next. In one of my series, The Graham Saga, curiosity had me sticking with my protagonists well into their sixties, and boy, was that an exciting ride! Doing so with medieval characters, like Robert FitzStephan and Noor in Their Castilian Orphan, is somewhat more dangerous, in that death was a constant companion in times as fraught with conflict as the last decade or so of Edward I’s reign.
Thing is, as a writer one needs to be true to the period. Noor has so far survived all her childbirths—but the probability of her dying next time is high. Robert has suffered injuries, some very severe, but he is still alive. But what if Edward I calls on him to serve in his Scottish campaign? I gulp at the thought.
People who do not write find the attachment writers develop for their characters amusing—and a bit strange. “They don’t exist,” people tell me. Huh: they sure exist in my head and heart! They live and breathe, they have flaws and virtues. I know that Robert has a fondness for cheese, that Noor knows the name of every single ewe in her flocks and that Robert’s best friend, John the Gascon, is more than adept with needle and thread. I know little Alonso has a voice that will carry him out into the world and that Father Alain has a son he has never seen. So yes, to me they are real.
When I first started writing The Castilian Saga, my intention was to write one book. One, set against the backdrop of Edward I’s conquest of Wales in 1282/3. I have so far never managed to write only one book—all my stories expand into series—so I should not have been surprised when I reached the end of His Castilian Hawk only to immediately begin the sequel, The Castilian Pomegranate. But while writing the second book, I took a conscious decision not to expand the series beyond the events of 1294/95. Why that cut-off date, you may ask? Well, that is because in 1294, Wales exploded into a massive rebellion, surprising the English. I wanted to write about this, especially as the rebellion coincided with the French stealing Gascony from Edward I.
The king, to put it mildly, was not a happy bunny in 1294. He’d not been a happy bunny since late 1290 when his beloved wife, Eleanor of Castile, died. Writing Their Castilian Orphan gave me an opportunity to portray this somewhat terrifying king, now an older man afflicted by gout—and loneliness, because apparently he held himself to the memory of his dead wife.
Obviously, no one is going to tell me Edward I didn’t exist, and I love having my fictional characters interacting with the IRL peeps of their time, which is why Roger Mortimer of Chirk also plays a central role in The Castilian Saga. My Roger Mortimer is probably far more sympathetic than the real deal—this, after all, is a man suspected of having drowned his two Welsh wards to claim their lands—but people have many facets, and while Roger may have been horribly ruthless and callous towards others, to Robert FitzStephan he is a loyal friend.
Writing those final pages of Their Castilian Orphan meant not only saying farewell to Robert, Noor, their family and extended household. It also meant waving bye-bye to my interpretation of Edward I and Roger Mortimer. (Although Mortimer plays a central role in the first book of my series The King’s Greatest Enemy. In In the Shadow of the Storm, my Roger is pushing sixty and is the loyal supporter of his nephew and name sake, Baron Roger Mortimer who rebelled against Edward II.)
It is hard to let go, peeps. It is hard to lie awake at night and wonder if Noor and Robert will ever leave their home again only to hear Robert chuckle and tell me they’re off to Castile. “What?” I sit up straight in bed. “To Castile?” “Aye. The king has requested we travel there to offer his aid to Queen Maria, now that her husband is dead and her nefarious brother-in-law is threatening her and her son.” That, dear peeps, changes everything! No way am I letting Robert and Noor set off on such an adventure without me, no way! Or maybe I should: maybe I should take a deep breath and let them go, wishing them well. I sink back into my bed and close my eyes. In my head, new characters whisper new stories, while Noor blows me a kiss before taking her man by his hand and walking away. And yes, seeing as I am utter romantic, of course they walk off into a glowing sunset, surrounded by their children and that horribly ugly dog, Goblin.
Buy Links:
This title is available to read on #KindleUnlimited.
Had Anna been allowed to choose, she’d have become a time-traveller. As this was impossible, she became a financial professional with three absorbing interests: history, romance and writing. Anna has authored the acclaimed time travelling series The Graham Saga, set in 17th century Scotland and Maryland, as well as the equally acclaimed medieval series The King’s Greatest Enemy which is set in 14th century England. Anna has just released the final instalment, Their Castilian Orphan, in her other medieval series, The Castilian Saga ,which is set against the conquest of Wales. She has recently released Times of Turmoil, a sequel to her time travel romance, The Whirlpools of Time, and is now considering just how to wiggle out of setting the next book in that series in Peter the Great’s Russia, as her characters are demanding. . .
All of Anna’s books have been awarded the IndieBRAG Medallion, she has several Historical Novel Society Editor’s Choices, and one of her books won the HNS Indie Award in 2015. She is also the proud recipient of various Reader’s Favorite medals as well as having won various Gold, Silver and Bronze Coffee Pot Book Club awards.
“A master storyteller”
“This is what all historical fiction should be like. Superb.”
Find out more about Anna, her books and enjoy her eclectic historical blog on her website, www.annabelfrage.com
Sign up to Anna’s newsletter to keep up with new releases, give-ways and other fun stuff: http://eepurl.com/cjgatT
21 tales of love, loss and the unexpected . . . exploring what it is to be human.
This collection encompasses the cycle of life, from finding love to challenging children, parents who misbehave, and beyond, with a sprinkling of mystery along the way to keep things interesting. Read cover to cover or dip in at random. There’s something for the briefest of moments to a well-earned break. Whatever time you have, Lily Lawson has a story to share with you …
I found this book to be quite touching and meaningful in nature. The poet writes about many subjects and I won’t write about them all. A dog, abandoned, found by a gentle woman, fed and slept part of the winter day, awoke, worried he might make a mess on her floor, not trustful that he won’t be abused, let out the front door and his business done, he looked back, she welcomed him back inside. After a very long time, the dog finally began to trust the human who gave him a forever home with food, love, water, warmth, caring, no longer fearful of being abused. Who does that not evoke thoughts of how some humans treat animals and each other. Food for thought. One more to touch on. I’ve two children in heaven. A man at age 22 becomes a father, and that information is kept from him for 22 years by his mother. Another tough read. To be the father of a 22 year old woman, never seen her, and he always wanted kids, his wife divorced him, and then he finds out the deep betrayal by his mother. She was wrong.
Please welcome Stacey Pierson to my blog this morning. Good morning, Stacey! I’m glad you were able to join us today. Shall we have a chat?
Please introduce yourself to those reading this blog post.
I’m Stacey L. Pierson. I am a horror writer living in Louisiana. By day I take notes and door dash, by night I write.
Has writing always been part of your life and when did you “know” that it was time to start writing your first book?
For me writing has always been my escape and the one thing I constantly had morning, noon, and night. I was a military brat, so moving around it was hard to keep friendships. But I never lost and made friends with the characters I created in wild adventures I put them through.
How difficult was it writing your first book?
With Vale, my YA bayou murder mystery I rewrote it 17 times. I didn’t have the voice for a long time until one day I placed a new character into it. Dark Descendants, my Creole Island horror, I knew what was happening with every key stroke. And my third not yet out Static, had it own floe. I was just riding the waves.
Have you ever wanted to give up and what stopped you?
Oh yeah. I love twisting tropes in everything I write. When it came to finding my novels homes, it was hard. With every query, I felt I was taking a few steps back when someone said that what I was writing was too different. I wanted to quit, but didn’t because if I love the idea, then someone out there will too.
Who is the most supportive of you and your dream to be a writer?
My parents for sure. They are the best when it comes to beta reading and tossing ideas out. They have never had a problem telling this or that could be better, work on this, and I am blown away I forgot I was reading your word. And always telling how proud and howe much they love me.
Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
Get through the first chapter. Lean into the characters words, and more importantly remember you are not in control when you fall for the words. And enjoy the ride because things are going to get bumpy with my stories. But fun.
What is the best advice given to you (book or otherwise), and by whom?
Look at everything like a reader. Would you read that book? Would you read that type of story? If yes, then write it because if you love it, then others will too. And the person who told me this is my mom.
What is your target audience and what aspect of your writing do you feel targets that audience?
I love horror. I want to have horror readers on the edge of their chairs like they are watching a movie. But I also love good thrillers. I want thriller readers to find the thrill inside the lines between the horror. It may be hidden but it’s there. I love the aspect of my writing, always asking the question what if in everything chapter. You never know where and how far I will write a character and scene.
Did the cover evolve the same way, or did you work with someone to make it come together for you?
For Dark Descendants I had a wonderful cover designer, A.A. Medina. All I did was mentioned a few things and let him take over. He buried the body in the right place with DD’s cover. Pure horror love.
What are you working on now? Can we get a peek, an excerpt?
I am working on a few things right now. But yes, I can share a line from one of them. It’s from my smalltown horror – “I might regret it in the end, but I am going to do everything I can to prove what I saw.”
Any last words before we wrap things up?
When writing a fist draft, don’t worry how long it is, how many notes you write in the margins, or writing in caps PUT SOMETHING HERE…just get it done. Once you feel you have sone the best you can, print it off, and have a blast editing and adding all through it.
My poem, “My Little Dragonfly,” appeared in Collected Whispers, The International Library of Poetry, in 2008. My YA novel, Vale, was released by Darkstroke Publishing in July 2022, as was my haunting poetry, Carnival, which appeared in Abditory Literary Journal’s Issue One: Mirabilia. Dark Descendants, my Creole Island horror novel, was published by Anuci Press and came out in May. Static, a different kind of ghost story, will be released in October 2024.
Of all these book awards, the most prestigious are the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer Prize, the Booker Prize, the International Booker Prize, PEN America Literary Awards, and the National Book Award. These awards are highly coveted, being recognized globally by authors alike across all genres.
Reader’s Favorite, Pencraft, Pinnacle, Readers Choice, Firebrand, Literary Titan, The Bookfest, Author Shout, etc to list a few that have legitimate contests despite the money required to enter them. They don’t make up categories or change their awards. Quality books in set genres win different levels. They are run with the style of a true awards should be. I now bring you the CROOKED one. This is NOT Libel or Slanderous as it is posted with the Better Business Bureau and the repost and complaint are visible for anyone to see and read.
On the image above, I see no mention of Her Alibi being a fiction book whatsoever. I will elucidate further. Please read the actual categories I never entered into. This will change as you will see if you read this post.
From Steven Seril:
Your Awards! ” Hi Mary! Congratulations on your huge success in our recent Outstanding Creator Awards contest! Attached below are your award certificates and two versions of our award seal that you are now free to use! — Steven Seril Outstanding Creator Awards OutstandingCreator.com
From Mary Schmidt:
Steven, Sorry, but I can’t accept the award because they are wrong for many reasons, sadly my efforts for awards have been destroyed and money wasted. I’m in tears! 1. Her Alibi is NOT fiction – thus it cannot take third place for best fiction spring 2024. I lived this hell for my entire life and now it is reliving a different hell for the categories to be so messed up. 2. Pseudo-Memoirs – what does that mean? 3. Parenting 2nd place? You can use that one. But what parenting did my mother do? She did none! 4. Psychological Fiction 2nd place? Her Alibi is NOT fiction! It should be Psychological Non-Fiction! But then it wasn’t judged in that category. I lived this entire book and it is a true memoir. Please don’t drag my book down publically with any news release. It’s not fair. 5. Horror 1rst place. I did live the horror of the entire book. 6. Best Supporting Character Honorable Mention? What is that? Who supported who? 7. Best Villain – Honorable Mention? How can that be? My mother was untreated for her mental illness from birth to age 82 years. My BISAC subjects are: TRUE CRIME / Forensics PSYCHOLOGY / Forensic Psychology FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Abuse / Child Abuse My THEMA subjects are: Memoirs True crime Coping with / advice about abuse True stories of heroism, endurance & survival Coping with / advice about death and bereavement Family psychology Psychological thriller My keywords are: shooting;gunshot;force feeding;abuse;gaslighting;alibi;crime;true crime;jailed;whipped;despicable;police;hid gun;fingerprints;psychotic;1960s;1970s The ONLY solution I see is to have HER ALIBI run in the current Summer contests which is unfair to me as I was judged with Spring books. What do you suggest? Those certificates are trashed. I won’t, and can’t, use them for publicity for the obvious reasons listed above. Those categories below can’t be rejudged for the spring or not? My BISAC subjects are: TRUE CRIME / Forensics PSYCHOLOGY / Forensic Psychology FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Abuse / Child Abuse My THEMA subjects are: Memoirs True crime Coping with / advice about abuse True stories of heroism, endurance & survival Coping with / advice about death and bereavement Family psychology Psychological thriller If you reply back, please reply to this email and CC to as I’m with doctors for the next few days, but I can read it via my phone email. I must go now, as the tears just won’t stop and I see no way to repair this. — Thank you so much! Mary Schmidt aka S. Jackson https://whenangelsfly.net/ M. Schmidt Productions
Steven:
Hi Mary, I hear what you’re saying and can understand your frustration. However, did you realize that at the beginning of “Her Alibi” it clearly states that this is a fictitious memoir, so we had to judge it based on that? I’ve attached a screenshot of that passage from the PDF that you submitted. So, we had to go based on that information. I’m sorry for all you’ve gone through with your real-life mother, and we really enjoyed your book and gave it a lot of props and credit. That’s why it won so many awards. We didn’t do that to hurt or spite you–of course not. We care about our authors and do what we can to elevate them. At the same time, we don’t feel it’s our fault that the book was stated to be a fictitious memoir in the book itself and went with that interpretation. I would also advise that you not take things so personally. The grand majority of people don’t respond to winning awards like this. We didn’t name the mother “Best Villain” or Harold as “Best Supporting Character” to be real-life, personal digs or insults at you or anyone else. We named them that because they’re compelling figures in your book that people might be intrigued to read about. They’re reasons to buy the book, in other words. Numerous other authors of memoirs and biographies have had themselves or people they knew named Best Villain, Best Character, or Best Supporting Character without issue. They all understand that it just shows that their book was read and that the person or persons described in it stood out to the reader. Regarding the Parenting category, this book is a good example of bad parenting. Don’t you think? It’s a book that focuses on what not to do and how not to be. Joseph Fagarazzi’s book in this contest also involved a very bad parent. Same with G.L. Franklin. They understood that their books were in those categories because they focused on parents, that includes bad or even horrifically bad ones. If you would like, we can adjust the entry to be third in Non-Fiction, change the category on the certificate to simply Memoir, remove it from Psychological Fiction, and remove the mentions of characters in the Special Awards. Again, attached below is the passage from the book describing it as a fictitious memoir. – Steven
Mary:
Steven, Please make sure my book is removed from whatever site it’s listed since the awards don’t fit my book. Can that be done ASAP please? I was going to go big on social media but I can’t. How to fix? How to fix fairly since spring books are done and those are the ones I competed in? If run in the right categories for summer then my book is up against books that are unfair to run against. Maybe you should refund my money for this terrible screwup? As it stands, I can’t recommend your awards at this time, depending on how you will fix this I’m so upset, I’m still crying. Hubby just suggested for me to not send anymore emails to reduce my stress level until you have a real plan, if any. Last resort if you can’t fix this fairly, refund my money and I report you to the Better Business Bureau how badly you and your people messed up. Then I post on social media everything that happened so wrongly done by my book, that no one looked at it to see it’s true story and not fiction.
Steven:
Mary, I can’t emphasize enough that we spent a lot of time reading and reviewing your books. We put a lot of thought, effort, and energy into doing so. We have a reputation for being thorough and brutally honest. It’s in our description. The scores and rankings you received were fair and reflected our feelings about the books and experiences with them. Keep in mind that you’re competing against dense books that have been edited, proofread, beta-read, and rewritten numerous times by professionals. Some of them were objectively better performing books than yours. I hope you understand that we can’t just move you up a spot or into 1st-place. That isn’t fair. I can offer to change the placement of the book into categories relating to points 1 and 3 (Non-Fiction, Autobiographies & Memoirs), then add your book to our Crime category (which will be noted to include True Crime / Forensics). In fact, I’ve spoken to some of the judges and we wouldn’t mind putting it in 1st-place in Crime since it is better and more interesting than the books currently in 2nd place in that category. You can be sent a new digital certificate reflecting that if you choose. – Steven
Steven:
Hi Mary, As a good faith gesture, here is an updated version of your award certificate with the desired categories. Mentions of it as fiction have been changed as well. It was also elevated to 2nd place in Non-Fiction (instead of 3rd-place in Fiction) due to being seen as comparable in quality and style to another book in that tier called “Swerve” by G.L. Franklyn. It was also placed in 1st-place in True Crime/Forensics as mentioned in the previous e-mail. – Steven
Mary:Funny how Steven can then change his verbiage and thoughts on my books! So now my books is comparable to quality and style of another?
Steven, That won’t work. You didn’t live this and you don’t understand. The psychological aspect and forensics are not mentioned. At All. Please see my attachments. You can’t simply read one sentence of a disclaimer and go by that. What about the last sentence of the disclaimer? I’ve thought long and hard on this. 1. Change Best Fiction book to Best Non-Fiction and a higher award level. 2. Change Pseudo – Memoir to True Memoir and up one level. 3. Add in True Crime/Forensics as I entered by typing that category. It needs a good rating for explicit descriptions of what happened throughout the book. I want you to read the book. A two hour read. 4. Leave Parenting, Horror, Best Supporting and Best Villian. Please see attachments. Thank you. PS: You dinged Christmas in Evergreen bad even though it had twists and turns and was heavily researched. Assassins, the KGB, what were you all thinking? My 50th book wasn’t good enough for anything better than one Second Place?
Steven, I truly can’t imagine spending a lot of time reading Her Alibi which is a short two hour read and with 12 actual photos makes it even less to read. I fail to understand how “a lot of time was used” looked at, most of this would have been non-issues.
You are the only award contest who didn’t look enough to see why the first sentence was a disclaimer. Every other contest looks at the categories and you didn’t! I even wrote that the focus was on the psychological aspect of having untreated mental illnesses until age 82.
It’s not that she got away with the shooting. It’s the mental, child, and grandchild, until she died in November of 2012. You write rankings were fair and brutally honest, yet the awards on my attached front cover shows how compelling Her Alibi truly is. Please take a good look. You slammed my writing style unfairly. True Crime / Forensics should have been noted right away. The certificate looks better, but take a good look at my cover. My book was professionally edited. So, how do you plan to FIX Christmas in Evergreen? I have that cover attached as well. By the way, this one was my 50th book! There are FOUR GOLD awards on it right now and I’m sure November. You don’t know me, and you don’t know my work and creativity. My reach on X (formerly known as Twitter) is over 50 million and I have the proof. I also hand painted my cover. Christmas in Evergreen to fix.
Mary, Your demanding and rude behavior is inappropriate and uncalled for. We will make no further accommodations in your favor. We have already gone above and beyond in fulfilling our obligations as a service including providing you with $10 discounts for each of your books, bonus categories at no additional cost, multiple awards, and redoing the digital certificate by request. Meanwhile, you have violated the Terms & Conditions that you agreed to when you entered our contest. Those are: – You acknowledge that by participating in the Outstanding Creator Awards contests that you are not guaranteed a satisfactory outcome (i.e. victory). – You also agree that you will not seek retribution against the judges or organizers of Outstanding Creator Awards for a perceived wrong (such as not winning or placing) such as by posting or sharing defamatory or slanderous statements on social media or to your associates Earlier, you had attempted to pressure us into improving your placement and ranking. That in itself is unethical in a competition. Furthermore, if we did not do this, you demanded your money back for a service that was already fulfilled that you signed up for almost 100 days ago. That’s over three times longer than our 30-day refund limit. You also threatened to go to social media or the BBB if your demands were not met, further trying to pressure us into giving you a more favorable result. We are not those other book contests. We don’t know how they may have handled similar demands, but we will also not compromise our integrity by being pressured, intimidated, extorted, or blackmailed into providing a result that is undeserved and unearned. The services you paid for at a discounted rate were fulfilled and exceeded. You now have two options: 1. Take the awards that you have from us and move on in peace, or 2. Continue to make demands and attempt to pressure us into giving you a more favorable outcome. If you do so, you will be disqualified for violating the Terms & Conditions of our contest and all of your current awards from us will be voided and considered invalid. At that point, all mention of you and your books will also be removed along with your awards. We recommend that you take your awards and cease communication.
((((( The other awards entered kept true to form and didn’t change or make-up strange categories. This person was the only one who has ever not read categories listed as competing in nor looked at book genre. This is all public at the BBB, thus I can now post this on my blog. )))))
Mary:
Steven, Keep all awards and refund my money. If not, the BBB it is then.
Steven:
You now have two options:
Take the awards that you have from us and move on in peace, or
Continue to make demands and attempt to pressure us into giving you a more favorable outcome. If you do so, you will be disqualified for violating the Terms & Conditions of our contest and all of your current awards from us will be voided and considered invalid. At that point, all mention of you and your books will also be removed along with your awards.
We recommend that you take your awards and cease communication.
Mary: Now with this being part of the BBB
Complaint: 21685841
I am rejecting this response because: The fully egregious manner they treated me with. If they say it is $130 paid, then they need to refund the $130. Nothing else is acceptable. They need to run awards in the right manner and not flip flop on their words and verbiage back to me. Their TOU is invalid due to their inability to actually read the written word, see the categories, and the real life BISAC codes and what the books are actually about and not just a first line disclaimer to prevent libel. On Her Alibi, I was taken aback by “awards” that were not awards. Then they flopped and offered awards that “they make up” and they don’t even look at the categories chosen by me. The email manner they have treated me, and the purely vindictive manner they are using against me, for Christmas in Evergreen, a four Gold medal recipient book was the straw tha broke the camels back. The awards are a sham and a scam.
Her Alibi – they changed award categories when shown it was a true story.
Christmas in Evergreen – they abused me in my the emails back to me.
Their TOU does not include what happens when they strike back at me with agregious and spiteful verbiage. Therefore, they owe me $130. Plus they need to be listed under the BBB as a very unfavorable and untrustworty scam awards they make up categories to suit their whims. I don’t want to have to take this global in a blog post and show the numerous ways they treated me, flipping and flopping and making up things that simply don’t exist.
From Business to BBB Twice:
MESSAGE FROM BUSINESS:
We stand by our initial response.
From BBB:
Mary Schmidt
Subject:
BBB complaint has been closed
Mary Schmidt
Dear Mary Schmidt,
This message is regarding Complaint ID # 21685841- Outstanding Creator Awards
Your complaint is closed for the following reason:
We understand you are NOT satisfied with the business’s response, and have noted your dissatisfaction in our files. While we were unable to reach your desired resolution, the business has provided your Better Business Bureau (BBB) with its position. As BBB is not an enforcement agency, we cannot force a business to offer any specific remedy for consumer complaints. In this case, we cannot force the business to issue a refund. This matter is now closed in BBB files, and will appear in the company’s BBB Business Profile as: “Answered – the business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer remains dissatisfied.”
Please note, the text of your response may be publicly posted on BBB’s website. BBB reserves the right to not post in accordance with BBB policy, and we may edit your response to protect privacy rights and to remove inappropriate language.
We appreciate the opportunity to be of service, and sincerely hope you will contact us for future pre-purchase information.
Sincerely,
Mary Ann R Core Services Manager maryannr@bbbinc.org Phone: 316-719-4204
MESSAGE FROM BUSINESS: We stand by our initial response.
((((( Please note, the text of your response publicly posted on BBB’s website. )))))This means I can now blog this and not break their TOU as it is public with the BBB.
Life on Molly is a travel and lifestyle blog. I am a normal girl with many passions. I am an explorer of new places, a learner of new languages, creator of my ambitions, blogger, and a good pal. This blog is my little corner of the world where I am able to share my adventures with you and inspire you to live a life full of purpose.
When Angels Fly 