LOTTERY by Patricia Wood

*giggle*
It's good not to take reviews to heart lol!
Thanks so much and I'm glad you enjoyed it- Thanks also for your kind email- I really get a thrill when someone tells me they loved my novel...

Hi Patricia, I just wanted to let you know that my boyfriend and I both read Lottery and loved it (he even snuck it away from my before I'd finished and wouldn't let me have it back until he'd read the whole thing, which was, fortunately, only a few days). It was really enjoyable and interesting, even if a certain "critic" (grumble) managed to spoil it for me.

Anyway, thank you for such a great book, and I look forward to the next one!

Thanks so much for saying that!! I am away and internetless for a bit...but will be in Miami at books & books for an event October 11...

ALOHA my AW buddies!!!
I've been gone but now I'm back!!!!
I have the revision done with my next novel and my beta readers are in the process of devouring it and hopefully spitting it out soon- EEEEKKKK!!!
I've been doing quite a few book club discussions via speaker phone and SKYPE with LOTTERY and it's been really hard to go back and forth. I don't know how authors with ten books do it!

ORION said:

I just got word LOTTERY is in it's THIRD printing...YIPEE and just in case you think I'm getting a big head - read the latest Amazon review that trashed me lol!!
oh and this one! You need a REALLY thick skin to be in this game!
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/viewarticle.php?id=2748

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Hmm, I just now read that stinker. He says "Gambling has been at the heart of many stories. ... Which brings us to the most recent book revolving around gambling, Lottery, by Patricia Wood. " Well, that's his first big mistake. Gambling is NOT at the heart of "Lottery." It's obvious to me that Perry L. Crandall is at the heart of "Lottery," and Perry has a heart bigger than this reviewer could possibly imagine!

He furthermore says "But lottery players want to know how many tickets did he buy? How did he choose the numbers? How often did he play? What was the game?" No, that's NOT what MOST lottery players ask. Most aren't obsessed with what the winning numbers are, I've never known anyone who gives two s**ts what the numbers are as long as they don't match the ticket they bought. In Georgia you can say "Quick Pick" and give the cashier your dollar and get a ticket where the computer picks the numbers! You never have to look at your ticket unless the news says there's a lottery winner who hasn't come forward. (that's about all I remember, I haven't bought a ticket in over 10 years)

I can tell this guy's type from the way he writes. He's the kind of "lottery player" whose friends (if he's got any left who aren't also "lottery players") ask him "don't you think you should get help, you know, like, go to that Gamblers Anonymous thing or something?"

Patricia, I'm really GLAD you don't know any "lottery players" like THAT, and I'm glad I don't either!

Oh, and as far as it being a chickflick, I need to find me a woman who will drag me to see the "Lottery" movie (wink, wink, nudge nudge)...

ORION said:

ALOHA my AW buddies!!!
I've been gone but now I'm back!!!!
I have the revision done with my next novel and my beta readers are in the process of devouring it and hopefully spitting it out soon- EEEEKKKK!!!

Click to expand...

Your non-beta readers can hardly wait!

ORION said:

I've been doing quite a few book club discussions via speaker phone and SKYPE with LOTTERY and it's been really hard to go back and forth. I don't know how authors with ten books do it!

Click to expand...

I suspect you'll eventually figure it out, and you only have to add one book at a time.

Aw thanks Ben. I feel much better (I didn't tell you but one of the characters in my new novel is named Ben...)

Hi Patricia!

I just wanted to send a shout out to let you know that I read Lottery and I LOVE it! Your voice is spectacular and your characters are wonderful. Of course I loved Perry, but I was even more drawn into the sleazy/humanity dichotomy of the brothers and their wives. They weren't the one dimensional "bad" characters so many novels rely upon. I actually felt myself trying to understand and sympathize with them (even though I didn't, ultimately, like them ).

I was kept in suspense re: what would happen to the money until the very end. Very nice resolution. All in all, the story was a delight and I look forward to picking up your future work.

Wow that sure makes a writer feel good! Thanks a bunch.
I think creating characters that a reader feels they know and sympathize with is many times even more important than plot...

woohooo!!! i love reading the words "next novel"

i'm anxiously waiting.

soon...soon...
Now it's being read by the next level of beta readers and being "tweaked"
It's the part that I enjoy the most.
Analyzing what works for readers and what doesn't.

The paperback of LOTTERY has now just been released in the UK and TESCO selected it to launch their 2009 book club!!
http://www.tescobookclub.com/

YIPPEE SKIPPEE!!!

Those guys in the UK who want a personalized copy of LOTTERY check it out here:
http://www.autismspeaks.org.uk/ebay/09_book_auction/authors.html

I already had one before it was even released here. Ner ner ner ner ner!