My Nominations for the Top 3 Monthly Contest - FAVORITE AUTHORS

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(Edited)

This is my entry into this month’s Top 3 contest.

This month's topic is: FAVORITE AUTHORS

My Nominations are:

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Nomination Number One

Taylor Caldwell

My Reasons for the Nomination

Perhaps my all-time favorite author is Taylor Caldwell. I read my first novel, Dynasty of Death, at the age of 17. I thought she was a male writer. I read that she started writing at an early age. She inspired me to become a writer.

Then I read Testimony of Two Men. I was a bit shocked by the graphic nature of it, but I couldn't put it down. I was accustomed to reading a novel in less than a few days. I would take them to school and read during lunchtime. I also read several other authors during that time, but Caldwell was my favorite.
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By the time she wrote Ceremony of the Innocent, I was hooked on the genre of fiction. Of all her books, Ceremony of the Innocent is the one I love the most. What I read about government in this book, I didn’t read in my high school. I was fascinated and a bit scared that her version could actually be true. I saw myself in the main character, trusting to a fault. But unlike her character, I grew up and learned the way of the world and adapted.

You can tell by my picture that I've had my books for quite a while, as the cover for my Testimony of Two Men is tattered. I'll have to take better care of it. I'm currently looking for replacement covers.

I’ve also read Bright Flows the River, Answer as A Man, and Captains and the Kings. Caldwell has written numerous other books, all best-sellers. Caldwell's other books never disappointed me. Yes, her novels are lengthy; but in my opinion, they are detailed, with each character fully revealed.

I love how she delves into the American dream, whether greed, lust, or family struggles, and researches the time period to the point that you feel you are standing in the middle of the scene, a witness as it’s happening.

I returned to her books during my mid 30s. I love her family dynasty series. Although my perception of them was a bit different, I still loved them for what they represented. She also wrote under pen names. If you haven’t read any of Taylor Caldwell’s novels, I highly recommend them. You can find Taylor Caldwell's list of novels here.

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Nomination Number Two

James Patterson

My Reasons for the Nomination

I love an excellent mystery story. And James Patterson is the king of mystery. He won the Edgar Award, the highest honor for a mystery writer. Patterson also authored a mystery series in which his protagonist, a detective, named Alex Cross, has become a household name.

In this series, the detective travels the world matching wits with illusive serial killers and others. In Cross Country, his protagonist travels to another country tracking a killer.
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Two of his books were made into movies, Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. His other mystery series is Women's Murder Club. His books are too numerous to name. The film version of books and novel series somestimes just don't capture the essence of the novels. I like to read the books. As soon as I watch a film version of a book, I immediately know what was left out, changed, or added.

If it were ever possible to fall deeper in love with an author, I did. And I remember precisely the day it happened. It was the day I learned that James Patterson had authored children's books. I couldn't wait to purchase them and introduce my grandchild to the world of mystery books.

I purchase books for all the young adults in my family, and James Patterson is at the top of the list with such favorites as the Witch and Wizard series. This mystery series quickly rose to the best-seller list where a young brother and sister team takes children on mysterious adventures in which choices between good and evil are weighed.
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Awesome that I can now share James Patterson with my young family members and encourage them to read, read, read. And they are relevant to young adults, such as the book, Middle School - The Worse Years of My Life. This illustrated book is hilarious and a fun read.

What I love the most about James Patterson is the fact that he created a charity that gives to programs that promote reading.

I recommend reading James Patterson not only for the mystery lover in you, but also for your children and other young adult family members so you can introduce them to this exciting genre. Check out James Patterson's list of novels here.

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Nomination Number Three

Terry McMillan

My Reasons for the Nomination

To me, Terry McMillan is a wonderful storyteller of modern life, and the struggles men, women, and even couples encounter on their way to finding love, happiness, and self worth. She doesn't sugar-coat any of her words, as they are direct. You can imagine youself in those situations. I managed to secure a signed copy of one of her books.
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She impacted my life at a time when I was questioning everything that I was doing for others and not for myself. Going through life without really fulfilling your own dreams. But first you have to figure out what your dreams are. Reading McMillan's novel about relationships, you get a different perspective, as she shows the other side of the coin.

McMillan's books have been made into films. Three of them, A Day Late and Dollar Short, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and Waiting to Exhale are excellent screen versions of her books. Her books fill you with such deep emotions as she takes you from problems to resolutions on the character's own terms. I like that her characters portray different types of women, such as strong, compassionate, funny, angry, warm, and best friend.

Waiting to Exhale is probably the most notable, as the leading actress in the film version was played by Whitney Houston, the well-known singer. The supporting cast also featured other excellent actresses as her best-friends.

McMillan's stand-up-and-don't-take-crap-from-anyone philosphy seems to exude from all her female characters, making them strong women, and at the same time, cheering them on to reconcile themselves with relationships.

Not all her characters are "in your face" strong. Some possess a quietness and warmth. My favorite book I read from McMillan is A day Late and a Dollar Short. This book reminds me of the favorite phrase I'd hear growing up that adults would utter, often in a sarcastic manner. It was meant to portray someone always coming up short in whatever is attempted, and just can't quite get it right.

If you haven't seen the movies or read the books, it's worth your time to read Terry McMillan. One moment she'll bring you to tears, then the next, have you laughing at the antics of a character. If you'd like to see a list of her books, you can find them here.

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Thanks,
@justclickindiva

Happy rest of the week everyone with whatever your endeavors.


SOURCES:
a) JustClickin logo created at CoolText.Com
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) Separator Lines Free ClipArt Belt from Public Domain Vectors & ShadedLine from ClipArt-Library
e) All Tribe logos used with permission of Tribe Discord Channel admins.

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23 comments
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Oh my word: Taylor Caldwell - I'd forgotten. James Patterson - there are a couple on my bookshelf. I do enjoy his books. McMillan: I am sure I've read some of her work, but can't remember. Perhaps not. I'll ad her to my list of must-reads.

Great selection @justclickindiva!

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Thanks @fionasfavorites for stopping by and viewing my post. I hope I didn't bore you to death with a "book" analzing books. I get excited, and I can't stop myself from writing trying to get everything I like in before I forget.

The book that was made into a movie with Whitney Houston is the most well-known of McMillan's. It's Waiting to Exhale. The best part I'll never forget and is a favorite saying of my daughters now is "if you like him so much, then you marry him." That was classic and shut "butting in" mom up.

There were so many authors who influenced me in my late teens, early 20s, that taught me so much about life in other countries, nothing is ever black and white, and the difficulty of relationships that it was hard to choose.

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Oh I'm so happy you joined us this month! I very much enjoyed reading your post. I have some new authors to check out as I haven't read anything from the first and third authors! I think I've seen "Waiting to Exhale", but should have known there was a book behind it. I generally enjoy the books more than the movies/shows, as well. You can create your own version of the story and characters in your mind when reading a book, and more often than not it is not quite the same when someone else interprets it onto film. Excellent choices and good luck in the dpoll!

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Thank you very much. The moment I saw your contest, I knew I wanted to join in. My books raised me in a way my parents never could. They didn't understand. I had so many at one point, I couldn't keep them all and had to donate them to the local library. I hated to part with them, but they were literally being destroyed in my attic.

It took several hours for me just to find the ones I wrote about. Now I have a new project to tend to...organizing my bookshelf and attic. Years ago, I started to make an excel spreadsheet of my inventory. Think I'll try to find it again.

Appreciate your encouragement and support. Have a great day.

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Thanks for these awesome suggestions for our contest this month! We've given you an upvote and logged your nominations, ready for the dpoll - keep an eye on our blog for the dpoll post!

Set your post payout to 50/50. You keep the SP and then transfer the STEEM and/or SBD (whichever is paid out at the time) to @yourtop3 with a link to your blog post entry in the transfer memo. This is the minimum entry fee, but you can add as much as you like to it! The more you add, the more you can win.There is no maximum entry fee.

Not sure how to find your post payout? Look in your Steem Wallet under Author Rewards to find the exact payout for your post. In the example below you would send the 0.014 SBD and 6.587 STEEM over to the @yourtop3 account as your entry fee. We’ll take it from there and convert all of the prize pool to SBD for easy prize distribution at the end of the month!

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Hey @justinclickindiva,

Thanks a lot for joining the Your Top 3 contest! You came along at the right time as we just started our leagues (which you’re automatically enrolled in now) so good luck with this first month!

Brilliant depiction and storytelling in this entry, that’s what it’s all about and we love reading the stories and depth you went in to!

Let’s see how the STEEM community decides when we do our dpoll later in the month!

NH

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Thanks so much @yourtop3 for your kind words of support and encouragement. Hope others will enjoy my authors as much as I do, if they get a chance to read them.

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That's what we're all about here, positive vibes!

And we're happy you found us - there are plenty of people sharing their authors this month that you could share some stories with - we've had over 10 so far - have a look at the search results for the yourtop3 tag and see what others are sharing :)

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Hi justclickindiva,

This post has been upvoted by the Curie community curation project and associated vote trail as exceptional content (human curated and reviewed). Have a great day :)

Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.

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Thanks for the recognition and highlighting my post. much appreciated.

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Hi @justclickindiva. I have not read anything from the three authors you mention. I liked your argument for each of them.
Receive my cordial greetings

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Thanks so much. I didn't know so many steemians were novel readers. So glad I found a new outlet for meeting new people and still engaging with others from before. This is my first time joining in with this group.

Appreciate you stopping by and viewing my post. Have a great day.

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Today I learned a lot with your post. My readings are almost always in Spanish or French. English literature I read when there is a translation.
I can read and speak in English but I have limitations in literary art.

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I understand about your limitations in literary art. I can't understand Spanish. And it's those posts like yours that are so helpful to me because you provide a Spanish translation.

Now I can support those posts for all who do the same with upvotes and comments.

Hve a great day.

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I dont know these authors, but it is interesting to know about them as it widens the interest :) Thanks for putting in an entry with the contest. Well done!

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Thanks so much for stopping by and reading about my authors. I love reading them, and I hope others might want to give them a try. Appreciate your support and encouragement.

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Hey @justclickindiva

It’s Q here, I see that your awesome Top 3 entry post has reached 7 days old. Please remember to confirm your entry into the contest by sending half of your payout (STEEM and/or SBD) to the @yourtop3 account as your minimum entry fee.

Not sure how to find your post payout? Look in your Steem Wallet under Author Rewards to find the exact payout for your post. In the example below you would send the 0.014 SBD and 6.587 STEEM over to the @yourtop3 account as your entry fee. We’ll take it from there and convert all of the prize pool to SBD for easy prize distribution at the end of the month!

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But don’t forget that you can send us as much as you like for a chance to win a greater share of the prize pool. There is NO MAXIMUM! Also, send us your post URL in the memo.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. The Top 3 Panel would be more than happy to assist.

Thanks for entering and good luck.

Q
Your Top 3 Contest Mascot

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Hi. My internet has been out all week since Monday. Trying to navigate Mobil phone. To be online. Will try to go to engine and send.

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Is it imperative that I have to send it today. Every time I try to enter my posting key in to engine, I end up having to over. I can easily accompli s h this tomorrow. My service providers sched ruled for Friday 8am. To fix it. Thanks.

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