Category: Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events

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Swallow is a “great novel, frothy and bubbly like a good champagne, with a touch of angel martinis!” say the Review Broads!

Oooh, I so love this review! Here’s an excerpt:

“Tonya Plank has written a novel about a woman coming of age at thirty; about moral and psychological integrity, with strong sentiments on male/female relationships between father and daughters and the undercurrents that appear in love and social relationships within those dynamics.  This is not just regional, women’s fiction – it transcends any genre. As the layers unravell like an onion, I fell into Sophie’s world most intently.  Ms. Plank’s first novel is a brilliant show of even greater things to come.  She is an author to watch and follow.  I know her next novel will be even more brilliant than this one, if that is possible.” (bold is in the original).

Read the rest of the review here!

I found The Review Broads when I was browsing in Borders one day and saw on the cover of a book in the suspense section – I think it was a James Patterson novel – a quote from one of their reviews. I hadn’t heard of them before, but loved their name and thought, wow, the cover of a James Patterson novel! So I jotted them down and Googled them when I got home, and found they’re a fabulous new, increasingly popular blog devoted to reviewing books and other products. Wow, so glad I sent them a review copy!

Thank you, thank you Review Broads!

On the other end of spectrum, another blogger, of Cheryl’s Book Nook, didn’t like the book so well. But that’s okay – I know not everyone is going to love it. Part of becoming a writer is developing thick skin. Plus, I really do think diversity of opinion on a book is a good thing. It shows people are taking the book seriously.

(above photo taken from here).

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Thank You, English Person, Who Bought My Book and Put Me on the Map in the Amazon UK Store :)

Hehe, I am all giddy because I just made my first UK sale! This officially puts Swallow on the Amazon UK bookstore map since it now has a ranking – and believe it or not, is currently ranked number 2 in legal fiction and number 32 in literary fiction there! Just realized it’s also ranked in the top 50 in literary fiction in the US store as well, and this marks the sixth week that it’s in the top 10 in legal fiction here. I really couldn’t be more thrilled. I am so happy that people are reading my book and (most anyway!) are liking it. I am really curious to see how the Brits, and others outside of the US, like it, so am really happy it’s at least available in one foreign bookstore. My dream would be to get a big publisher and have it translated and mass distributed in physical bookstores and all that, but we’ll have to wait and see on that… In the meantime, I’m beyond thrilled with my e-book sales – am just about to reach a major milestone 😀

Also, I just received a really wonderful, detailed, well thought-out review from a new blogger, Media Mover, who is an American ex-pat living in Mexico and who I met on Kindleboards. In a short time, she’s already become a top 1000 Amazon reviewer, and has recently started this blog as well. She’s an excellent writer and reviewer (and not just because I love what she said about my novel ;)), so please read her other reviews as well. She’s posting one review every Sunday, and she’s reviewing indie books. Yes! We need more reviewers of indie books!!!

I’ve been very fortunate to receive lots of blogger reviews, for which I’m immensely thankful. I haven’t posted about every one so as not to sound like I was constantly pumping myself (I probably do sound like that sometimes anyway…sorry!), but am linking to them all now on the “reviews” page.

One other thing regarding my book and then I’ll shut up. I just wanted to call attention to this excellent program, Operation E-Book Drop, which another indie author (and former Army Sergeant) who I also met on Kindleboards, has founded and which I have just begun participating in. Authors join and give free ebooks to our troops overseas. If you happen to be an author, please consider donating. And, also, join Kindleboards!

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Wendy Perron, Esteemed Editor-in-Chief of Dance Magazine, Recommends Swallow on Twitter!

How awesome is this!: “Tonya Plank’s SWALLOW is a real page turner, & she shows that lawyers get as intensely nervous as dancers.” From Wendy Perron, E-I-C of Dance Magazine, via Twitter. I’m so giddy 🙂 I’d run into Ms. Perron at an Alvin Ailey season preview Tuesday night and when she told me she was reading my book and enjoying learning about my other life, I almost fell off my chair! I can’t even express how honored I am that she even decided to pick the book up!

The Alvin Ailey season preview was excellent, by the way. Their NY City Center season doesn’t begin until December but I think it’s going to be really fantastic. We got to see a sneak preview of The Hunt, by Robert Battle (incoming Artistic Director), which is an African dance depicting how men prepare for an actual hunt but that also serves as a metaphor for how dancers train and prepare to execute a difficult dance. I can’t wait to see that one in full, as well as The Prodigal Prince, by Geoffrey Holder. That one originally premiered in 1968 and Holder was there to talk a bit about it. Really sweetly funny man! It’s about the Haitian artist, Hector Hyppolite, known as “the Haitian Picasso,” and it’s a narrative filled with lots of beautiful African dance. We also saw Camille A. Brown’s Evolution of a Secured Feminine, which I remember from a Fall For Dance program a couple of years ago. It’s a one-woman solo that I liked very much and will, for the first time this season, be performed by someone other than Brown herself.

I enjoyed seeing all my favorite Ailey dancers again – and on a small stage this time (it took place in the Citicorp theater in the basement of their studios instead of City Center), and I was particularly happy to see Briana Reed again. She is one of my favorite women in the company – strong and very dramatic and an intense mover – and I missed seeing her last season. I think she was out with an injury for most of it.

Also, Judith Jamison revealed that Ailey will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Revelations this season, which means the cast for some performances will be increased to 50 dancers! They’re also making a film about that dance, which will be shown at all of the performances, and there will be a lot of live music, some of which Jamison will herself be conducting. Sweet Honey and the Rock will also perform live. And, there will be nice tributes to Denise Jefferson, Joan Weill, and to Jamison, who will be serving her last season as Artistic Director.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking of moving out of New York for a while, but I’m now thinking I’m going to wait on that for at least a few months. There are too many exciting things happening this fall – from Ailey’s season, to New York City Ballet’s first ever fall season, to ABT’s first Nutcracker, to of course the regulars like Fall for Dance and the Guggenheim Works & Process series. I think I need to wait a bit. Plus, I’ve made so many wonderful friends here, and I’m so involved in the dance scene, and every time I think of leaving NYC it really saddens me. But of course with the internet, friendships can easily survive physical distance these days. And I’m sure there are dance scenes everywhere, maybe just not of the same intensity. Who knows, maybe I just need a top-floor apartment somewhere else in the city… Upstairs Godzilla has moved out but her furniture-throwing legacy — an extremely creaky ceiling that sounds like it’s going to fall every time the new upstairs neighbor so much as shifts his weight (and which the landlord won’t fix) — remains…

Oh, one more thing (I know this post is very rambling): Ms. Perron mentioned to me that she saw a preview of Mao’s Last Dancer, which she thought was very good, and that it opens this weekend. So, I know one thing I’ll be doing this weekend. So excited for good ballet movies!

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A Psychologist Likes Swallow!

Swallow just received a very good review from a psychologist and top 10 reviewer on Amazon! I was a bit worried since the book is mainly about a psychological condition, and a psychologist is one of the main characters, so I’m thrilled she liked it. The psychologist in the book is very Freudian, which is I guess is not the norm today. Anyway, it definitely helped me to get over the sting of my first one-star review! That’s okay – knew I’d have to get one at some point…

I’m also having fun sending the book out to international bloggers. It recently received a good review from a blogger, Violet Crush, in Singapore, and Blue Archipelago Reviews, in England. And I just sent it out to a blogger in Australia. I’m having too much fun 🙂 The kindle version recently went up on the Amazon U.K. site. I don’t think as many readers in the U.K. use e-readers and my Amazon.com reviews don’t seem to be transferring, so if any British readers of this blog would like a review copy (or if anyone else wants to review it), please let me know!

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BRIEF BLOGGING BREAK

Hey you guys, I just wanted to let you know I’m in the process of re-modeling my website a bit. I should have the new site up very soon – I’m hoping the beginning of next week. At this time any new posts here are not automatically going to transfer over which means I’ll have to manually add everything. So, I probably won’t be posting again until the new site is up.

Thank you SO much to everyone who is being so wonderfully supportive of my book, by the way. The Kindle version is still on the Amazon top 100 list and is still at this time at number 1 on the legal fiction and anxiety disorders lists. I’m more thrilled than I could ever express. I’m just so happy people (well over 1,000 now!) are reading it.

Anyway, will be back soon! In the meantime, happy first international dance day everyone!

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PLEASE PLEASE!

Hey you guys! I have the hugest favor to ask 🙂

So my novel in e-book form has been climbing the Amazon best-seller charts, winning awards and getting good reviews. I’ve been told that if it continues with this success that there’s a chance I could get picked up by a good publishing company, which is my dream beyond dreams! So, I’m just asking you all to spread the word! It’s about a young Manhattan attorney with an anxiety disorder called Globus Hystericus, and it’s comical in places, but also very serious. Reviewers have found it both entertaining and thought-provoking. People who like books about lawyers, women’s fiction, or books about anxiety disorders seem to be liking it the most. It’s currently 99 cents in e-book form and is $14.99 in the paperback version. But since the e-book version is doing so well and people seem not to mind taking a chance on a new author at that price, I’m trying to get the word out about that one. So if you know anyone who reads e-books (the Kindle version is downloadable onto any e-reader as well as a PC or Mac) and likes the kind of fiction mentioned above, please let them know!

Thank you so much you guys!

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KINDLE AUTHOR INTERVIEW

I am today’s interviewee on the new blog, Kindle Author, which is for people who are thinking about publishing their books via Kindle. I think it’s my longest interview yet and I blabber on and on about my own writing and publishing journey, the reader outreach I’ve tried to do, and the advantages I’ve found of publishing in e-book form. If you’re an aspiring author, I highly suggest subscribing to that blog; he’s got some really good interviews up.

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KINDLE NATION DAILY EDITOR'S NOTE

I’m today’s sponsor of the fabulous website Kindle Nation Daily‘s daily email. Look at what the editor wrote in his note! (I sent him a review copy of Swallow.)

(Editor’s Note: Ordinarily I don’t say much to embellish the material provided by authors and publishers for our sponsorship titles, but it’s not often that — for a mere 99 cents — we get to play a part in discovering a new novelist who is destined for very big things, as you can see from the 5-star reviews from some of the top Amazon reviewers to the great blurbs and book description below. As one of Tonya Plank’s first readers among the citizens of Kindle Nation, I promise that you are in a for a real treat. -S.W.)

How sweet is that! It’s from an email, but I think you can access it online here, or here.

Update: Only minutes after this email went out my book shot up the Kindle bestseller charts, making #307 on the overall Kindle charts, and #3 on the Legal list! 😀

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DRIVE-THRU INTERVIEW, AND SWALLOW MAKES LEGAL THRILLER BEST-SELLER LIST ON AMAZON

Today I have a short, “drive-thru” interview on fabulously wonderful indie author Jenna Elizabeth Johnson’s blog, Hello Kruel, Kruel World.

I met Ms. Johnson on the Kindleboards, where I’ve connected with a number of really kind and supportive indie authors. I joined Kindleboards after hugely successful indie-turned-traditionally published author, J.A. Konrath, suggested the site as an excellent way to connect with other authors and readers of Kindle books.

It seems to have worked in my favor sales-wise as well because last week, due largely I’m sure to my reducing the price of my Kindle book to 99 cents (for at least the duration of the summer), my Kindle sales skyrocketed, putting Swallow on a couple of Amazon top-seller charts: Anxiety Disorders, and Legal Thrillers. Sales have slipped a bit over the weekend but it spent nearly all of last week in the top 10 of those two lists, which was really surreal.

Funny thing is, strictly speaking of course my novel is not a legal thriller, but the way Amazon categorizes things, since it’s legal fiction and since Amazon reviewers have tagged it with words like “lawyer,” “legal,” and “criminals,” it was categorized as legal, and the only root category for legal fiction it seems is Mysteries & Thrillers. So I guess that’s how that worked. Others have mentioned they had the same thing happen: a legal comedy and a novel whose protagonist was a lawyer but had no other connection to the law were both categorized as a legal thrillers too. Anyway, it’s not like I don’t have a product description and several reviews for people to read before deciding whether or not to purchase.

And, even though my book focuses on the main character’s anxiety disorder, it is largely about her job as a criminal appeals attorney, and representing a certain segment of society. That’s one huge thing I was hoping people would come away knowing more about after reading. So, although I worried at first about it being mis-categorized, I think it’s actually a good thing that it ended up there; it’s a sign to me of what I should be writing anyway. The book I’m working on now is more in that vein – it’s about a shooting witnessed by various people, from different perspectives.

Anyway, I’m just so thrilled some people are reading it. Thank you again to all of my wonderful, wonderful blog readers who have been so supportive! And to my new indie friends 🙂

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SWALLOW RECEIVES A VERY GOOD REVIEW IN THE EXAMINER!

By Maureen Linehan:

“Tonya Plank’s debut novel, Swallow, is as engaging as any book I have read. Although it does seem to be a little long at first (just over 400 pages), the character development is so appealing that once you start reading you find yourself eagerly anticipating what will come next, as you will undoubtedly sympathize with Sophie, and hope that she finds peace.”

Read the rest here!

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SELECTIVE MUTISM AND GLOBUS HYSTERICUS

I just saw this review of my novel. It was posted a month ago, but somehow I’d missed it.

It’s interesting because Rae says she can identify with my protagonist, Sophie, because she had something similar called selective mutism. I hadn’t heard of that before and so looked it up. It’s where a child doesn’t speak in certain situations, although the child can speak and does so at other times. It’s an anxiety disorder, as is Globus. Interesting because I remember having something similar when I was a child. I remember my father thinking I had a speech impediment and having me enrolled in a speech class in … I think it was either kindergarten or first grade. I was in a special ed class with kids who had severe lisps and couldn’t pronounce groups of words properly. The teacher told my parents that wasn’t what was wrong with me and the class wasn’t helping me. I don’t remember what happened, but eventually it must have gone away. I’m just now remembering it.