I am especially delighted with this review.
The US Review of Books
Reviewed by Sue Johnson (no relation)
"Praise be to the Creator of All.
Praise be unto this Life
For she is the one foretold
To be the Messenger of Hope.
She is the Anointed One
To bring the Message of Remembrance
Of who we are.
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice!" (This quote from Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls)
Dan Brown opened the door to religious artifacts with his book The Da Vinci Code. Bettye Johnson blows that door off its hinges in Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls. After visiting France, the author became fascinated with Black Madonnas, which forms the basis for her wonderful new novel centering around two women hiking the French Pyrenees Mountains and discovering ancient scrolls in a hidden cave. Bringing an American Businessman and a disillusioned priest into their secret, the women hear an interpretation of the scrolls. It appears to be the life self-scribed story of Mary Magdalene.
As the two women and their companions continue to interpret the scrolls, they become fearful that the scrolls will fall into the wrong hands. The ladies begin a cross-country trek to insure that the scrolls are placed with the proper authorities, so that they may be received and enjoyed by all. What follows is a story of passion, betrayal, and mystery told in a page-turning style.
Although this is a work of fiction, truth is found in the research on display here--truth and the seekers of truth. The novel is packed full of historical references, but the fictional elements ease the delivery of the overly intellectual passages. There is also a bit of the outspoken to please the curious mind. In the end, this is an adventurous and thought-provoking story.
www.theusreview.com/USRrecent.html.
The US Review of Books
PO Box 11, Titusville, NJ 08560
www.theUSreview.com
Showing posts with label davinci code.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label davinci code.. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
AUTHOR'S BLOOPERS AND BONUSES ~Part 3
The manuscript of Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy is about to be printed and getting it to this point has been a grand learning experience and much different than publishing Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls. As I have written in a
previous segment of Author's Bloopers and Bonuses, I changed 'horses' in mid-stream--meaning I switched from Word 2000 to Word 2007. Actually, this was one of the best things I did.
Although I have had excellent editors and proof-reading, I had an experience that taught me a great deal. I 'thought' the manuscript was in great shape and ready to be sent to the printer when I noticed that some of the quotation marks were not all the same. In transferring the data from Word 2000 to Word 2007--even though I was using the same font, the quotation marks were different for each Word. I therefore began going through the 384 page manuscript and correcting the out-moded quotation marks. This led me to see that there were still items that escaped the eagle-eyes of my editors and proofreader and I was able to make the corrections. Yes, it was a long and tedious process, however it was well worth it.
In Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy, I have a quote as said by Jill and that is,
From adversity comes the jewel. I am experiencing this more and more. Another example is in connection with Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls. A few months ago I submitted it to the Writer's Digest 15th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. A few days ago I received a large envelope with a Certificate of Participation along with a letter informing me that I was not a winner. Then I looked at the Judge's Commentary Sheet and I found the jewel.
Books are judged in the areas of plot, grammar, character development and cover design with a scale of 1 to 5 and 5 being 'excellent,' or the highest mark given. My book received a 5 in ALL of the areas of judging.
The Judge's commentary in reply to the question of What did you like best about this book? is as follows: "Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls is a tantalizing story depicting the discovery of ancient scrolls about Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Though it covers some of the same ground as The DaVinci Code, the writing is infinitely better and far more believable. The heroines in the story are more realistic and the adventures described in a truer voice along with a possible time-line--something very much lacking in Dan Brown's tale. Whether the reader chooses to believe what is revealed in story form or not, the book is entertaining from beginning to end."
The Judge's commentary in reply to How can the author improve this book? is as follows: "No suggestions--the author knows how to write and tell a compelling and convincing story. Hopefully the promotion for this book will be enough to make those who read The DaVinci Code want to read the Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls." What more can be said? I have a jewel of a review and since my book has already been acclaimed as an Independent Publisher Book Award Winner in 2006, I
am well-pleased.
previous segment of Author's Bloopers and Bonuses, I changed 'horses' in mid-stream--meaning I switched from Word 2000 to Word 2007. Actually, this was one of the best things I did.
Although I have had excellent editors and proof-reading, I had an experience that taught me a great deal. I 'thought' the manuscript was in great shape and ready to be sent to the printer when I noticed that some of the quotation marks were not all the same. In transferring the data from Word 2000 to Word 2007--even though I was using the same font, the quotation marks were different for each Word. I therefore began going through the 384 page manuscript and correcting the out-moded quotation marks. This led me to see that there were still items that escaped the eagle-eyes of my editors and proofreader and I was able to make the corrections. Yes, it was a long and tedious process, however it was well worth it.
In Mary Magdalene, Her Legacy, I have a quote as said by Jill and that is,
From adversity comes the jewel. I am experiencing this more and more. Another example is in connection with Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls. A few months ago I submitted it to the Writer's Digest 15th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. A few days ago I received a large envelope with a Certificate of Participation along with a letter informing me that I was not a winner. Then I looked at the Judge's Commentary Sheet and I found the jewel.
Books are judged in the areas of plot, grammar, character development and cover design with a scale of 1 to 5 and 5 being 'excellent,' or the highest mark given. My book received a 5 in ALL of the areas of judging.
The Judge's commentary in reply to the question of What did you like best about this book? is as follows: "Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls is a tantalizing story depicting the discovery of ancient scrolls about Mary Magdalene and Jesus. Though it covers some of the same ground as The DaVinci Code, the writing is infinitely better and far more believable. The heroines in the story are more realistic and the adventures described in a truer voice along with a possible time-line--something very much lacking in Dan Brown's tale. Whether the reader chooses to believe what is revealed in story form or not, the book is entertaining from beginning to end."
The Judge's commentary in reply to How can the author improve this book? is as follows: "No suggestions--the author knows how to write and tell a compelling and convincing story. Hopefully the promotion for this book will be enough to make those who read The DaVinci Code want to read the Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls." What more can be said? I have a jewel of a review and since my book has already been acclaimed as an Independent Publisher Book Award Winner in 2006, I
am well-pleased.
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