Friday, July 27, 2012

Welcome, Lorrie Unites-Struiff



Thank you, Roseanne, for having me on your blog. It’s such a nice one. You are a popular author. Congratulations.
I think I’ll rant on your blog today, if you don’t mind.
Question of the day.
I loathe those squiggly letters. How do you feel about them?
I like to read blogs, read the excerpts, blurbs and see the great covers.
Some books I actually purchase by reading the lures and if it suits my fancy.
I would like to tell the author how the comments convinced me and in general, what I think about the topic they chose to write.
But, I do have a raging peeve. One that makes me want to pull my hair out by the roots.
I am a human, honest. No lower being could get on the blog—except maybe a chimp. No, I’m not a chimp nor a robot--sometimes I wish I was a robot.
So, here I sit writing a nice long comment to the guest author. I get to those squiggly letters that are all smooshed together to prove I am an intelligent being, and my eyes can’t pull them apart. Is that an I or a M? Or is it a T and a N? Hmm. Maybe L and an I?
I try my best to guess. I push publish. The saying comes up, “try again.”
I try one more time. “The letters did not match, try again.” By this time, I am so frustrated, I log out angry.
Now we have the squished letters on the next blog, oh, also a number in a dark box. I have written a long comment, too.
I type in what I think the mashed letters are and then hold up my computer to the light, squint my eyes, and try hard to read the number.
I push publish. Not only do I have to try again, but my whole comment is gone. Talk about being frustrated, that’s me.
Three times is enough. No more. If I don’t hit it on three tries, I’m outta there. My head is aching and my jaw is hurting from clenching my teeth. And by this time, I give up reading blogs for the day.
And what about the ones that you have to use either a Wordpress, Facebook, or a Twitter name. What if I don’t have any of them?
But that’s beside the point. There has to be an easier way to comment on a blog. The blog owner usually reviews the comments anyway before allowing it to post.
Now I have heard that most blogs must have those squiggles because of the site they set up their blog with. I also heard there is a way to do away with them. True, honest. I have seen blogs without squiggly letters and hidden number.  I have read an author's blog that tells you how to omit them.
I admit freely that I am a computer illiterate. I don’t know how to set up a blog nor have enough know-how to keep it running. I envy those that do.
Am I getting angry at bloggers who have no control over getting rid of those dumb squiggles? Or not knowing how to do away with them? No, I don’t think you have a choice. But if there is a way to dump them, please find it for all readers’ sake. You just may find you get more comments that way from actual readers. 
I am one blog reader that will love you for it.

Now, I’d like to introduce you to Homicide Detective Rita Muldova.
This book is for you mystery, thriller, paranormal, romance lovers out there. I included a little gypsy lore I’m sure you’ll find interesting..
I’ve had quite a few tell me they couldn’t put the book down. Try it. Lol. It’s very inexpensive. I write to entertain readers.
From BooksWeLove Press.
Blurb
Everyone has secrets.
Homicide Detective Rita Moldova has a secret, a crystal amulet from her Roma bloodline that allows her to see the last image a victim had seen in their eyes before they died. Now, a ritual killer is terrorizing her town and the crystal’s magic has suddenly stopped doing its job.
FBI agent, Matt Boulet, is sent to lead the task force and gives the group strange orders. Worse, Rita senses he is holding back a deep, dark secret about the killer.
When she confronts her seer mother’s advice, she learns another secret about their clan that she finds impossible to swallow.
Rita swims through a whirlpool of confusion as the investigation continues. Can Rita deny the lore of the ancients? Can she deny her growing feelings for Matt Boulet?
Available  on Amazon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVodeejCBl4

No cover as yet.
Being released within the next two weeks,
The COD club series with BTGN.
Story 1&2 will be included in the first book.
Come and meet Winnie Krapski who hugged a cherry tree during a lightning storm. The bolt slammed her, splitting the tree in half. The near-death experience bestowed her with a gift–one she’d rather not have.
Drafted into the C.O.D. Club (Call on the Dead) by Fat Phil Phillips, her mission is to grant the newly deceased’s ghost one last reasonable request. Can Winnie honor her oath?
Well, she tries, but not before she lands in humorous situations that almost get her killed. She’s one spunky broad.
I hope you try a copy and look forward to more of Winnie’s adventures.
I’ll put the real cover up and release date soon.

Also coming this fall from MuseItUp.
No cover.
A  Heap of Trouble.
Cole Walker, Sheriff of Cold Creek, has more woes than he can handle. He thought chasing rustlers would be the worst of his problems, until the newly arrived, Mattie Wells, jingles her spurs with a smile, and he falls head over heels for her.
      Cole's fear of critters comes to light when a runaway monkey, named Beggar takes a liking to him. He remembers when his pa's hound dog left teeth marks on his butt when he was just a tyke. 
 But, Mattie thinks Beggar's adorable, so what's a man supposed to do? Now, he's forced to put up with the little fur ball...uh...ringtail monkey, even when the furry thief starts stealing the townsfolk's trinkets. 
        The rustlers roaming the hills, stealing the Double J's cattle are a mighty puzzling crew. JJ blames the farmers and an all out war is in the making.
          Trying to keep the peace between the farmers and the cattleman, Cole and his deputies, Wade and Sully, have their hands full. Mayor Farley gives them a month to find the thieves before calling for outside help.
      Mattie has a dark secret and vows never to marry. While harboring a secret of his own, Cole pushes to pry out her secret in hopes of changing her mind.
     Cole chases Mattie, the rustlers, and Beggar in a town full of fun characters and chaos. Can he bring the rustlers to justice, peace and order to Cold Creek, the townsfolks loot back to their rightful owners, and win Mattie's heart?
     Yep. Cole has a heap of trouble on his hands. 
     For more information on my stories please go to  my website.
     Ya'll have a great day, now and thanks for reading. Let me know how you feel those dratted squiggles.










8 comments:

Cellophane Queen said...

I do not fear the squiggle. For some reason, I'm good a sussing them out.

However, most of the Capchas have a button to hear the clue letters/numbers.

By the way, everybody, I've read all of Lorrie's books (lucky beta reader) and can guarantee you'll be entertained.

Cate Masters said...

I did away with the word verification code, but now am getting deluged with spam. *sigh*

You already know how much I love your stories, Lorrie, but for anyone who hasn't yet had the pleasure, don't wait - pick up Lorrie's books! But be warned, they're addicting.

Gail Roughton said...

I'm not so great at squiqqles either, but one thing I learned early on. Copy your comment so if the whole thing disappears, you can just paste it back in! Saves a lot of cussing. Hey Lorrie!

Conda Douglas said...

I, too, did away with the captcha codes because several commentators on my blog could neither see nor hear them well enough to comment and they let me know that. So I too, am deluged with spam, but I use Google blogger, which puts 'em all in a spam folder and I just go through and delete 'em. Annoying though.

And Gail has a great idea, always copy your comment.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your comments. That's great that the spam folder catches unwanted mail. Just hit delete and they all go away.

And yes, I will copy my comments, but I'll still give up after the third try. It's maddening.

Chris Karlsen said...

HI Lorrie,

I don't have a blog but visit quite a few. I try to answer each commenter. I agree with you 100% on the squiggles. I have a devil of a time figuring out the letters when I am posting a response. Very frustrating.
Chris K.

Elizabeth Inglee-Richards said...

I have a learning disability and the capta codes are almost imposable for me to make out. It’s the one thing out there that I haven’t found a work around that I can make work with my problem. Mind you I have to type my comments in a word processing program first anyway, so I just copy and paste my comment and it doesn’t disappear if I don’t get the code right

Unknown said...

See, I'm asking you bloggers to please find a way around the squiggles. Even though I wear bifocals, I have a devil of a time, too.