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Category Archives: Reviews
New Review of Confessions
” Great read. Easy
March 7, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Progress
The interior of the paperback version of my poetry chapbook is done! Check out the five-star review of the ebook by four-time Bram Stoker winner and poet Linda D Addison!
This book was inspired by the author’s journey with depression, an illness that affects so many people. From Introduction: “The CDC says at any one time 7.6 percent of those above the age of 12 in the United States suffer from depression. It’s an invisible illness, but an illness nonetheless.” Wendy’s bravery in pulling back the skin on the wounds of her life to share and uplift is courageous. This book is for anyone who has struggled with depression, known someone who has or loved and supported someone one challenged with this misunderstood illness.
The next step is to finish the wraparound cover; I have an appointment to work with the cover designer on Wednesday or Thursday.
Another 5-Star Review
In an Amazon review, BSV writes:
Confessions of a Female Safety Engineer, by Wendy S. Delmater, is a compelling read, a genuine “page-turner.” Those who are always open to learning something new will find this book pleasing. The safety engineer jargon is easily understandable and this is an easy, fun read. For those who wish to dig deeper into the subject, a glossary of terms is included at the end. It’s also a human story, one of overcoming obstacles such as that of a single mom having to work 18 hour days, and having the dogged determination to succeed. The really satisfying thing about Confessions of a Female Safety Engineer is that Wendy does succeed, along the way knocking the stuffing out of adversity. It’s reminiscent of a modern-day Horace Greeley epic. The reader’s response throughout the book is “Yay, Wendy!” Highly recommended!
I had to look up Horace Greeley. He became a successful NY editor in a rags-to-riches fashion and rubbed elbows with (and helped publish) Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Wow. Thanks, BSV!
In other news, I’m taking auditions for a reader to do an audio book version of Confessions. I’ll let you all know how that goes.
New Review of Confessions
I woke to a nice surprise this morning, with another five-star review of Confessions of a Female Safety Engineer waiting for me with my morning coffee. This one is by a male engineer who really enjoyed it.
Wendy Delmater is a study in determination, tenacity, and grit. This story humbled me, inspired me, and made me laugh out loud. It brought me back to some of the inanity I’ve experienced working as a young engineer at government labs. I wish it were fiction, so I could wait for the sequel.
Thank you, sir!
European reviews!
From Amazon UK
5.0 out of 5 stars It will take you to scenes you otherwise never would experience and glad that you didn’t have to
6 January 2018
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
This book is not only entertaining but informative.
Ms Delmater paints the atmosphere and character of the people of New York City with accuracy and humour in her roll as a certified safety engineer. She stumbles into this roll from the position of being a single mother looking for a way to support her three sons. She lands in a man’s world where she has to earn respect and use charm and wisdom to prevent danger and deflect misogyny. The book is filled with examples from the safety engineering field, names changed to protect those involved. It will take you to scenes you otherwise never would experience and glad that you didn’t have to.
The mood around and after the 9/11 attack and how that event affected her career and her life were heart-wrenching.
I especially admire this book because she shares the story of, as she calls it, an “accidental feminist” – a women work in a man’s world. This is a great book to be used to discuss not only safety but also equality at the workplace in mutual respectful admiration. I highly recommend this book for all, but especially for:
– single mothers who grope after hope,
– all those interested in pursuing a career within construction and
– those who want to discuss workplace equality
My seven from 2017 Goodreads post
Fave reads of 2017 from my post on Goodreads
I loved these books. I hope you will, too.
1. The Horn Series (Oathbreaker, Original, Overseer) by J. Kathleen Cheney.
Migod, these books are great. Cheney does a fantastic job of logically mashing up medieval elements with science-fictional themes. There’s great world building, the plots have occasional twists, but the characters are real people and drive it all. These are the sorts of books I will reread over and over again for pleasure. You want these!
2. The Genehunter: The Complete Casebook by Simon Kewin (Stormcrow Books). Noir detective fiction in a believable future where genetic code is worth money. Fantastic read. (And it’s only 99 cents right now!)
3. Walking on the Sea of Clouds, by Gray Rinehart (Wordfire Press) Fans of The Martian will want to read this book, which is as close to living on the moon yourself as you’ll ever get. Hyper-realistic, up to and including the financial aspects, but the characters drive the story.
4. Another Girl, Another Planet by Lou Antonelli (Word Fire Press) Larry Niven blurbed the book; he said it was great ideas, well told. He was right. If they don’t make this into a blockbuster movie, they’re nuts. You’ll love it.
5. fragment: a novel by Craig Russell (Thistledown Press) Save the whales? How about the whales and we learn inter-species communications, and we both face a common threat together? The posited peril is several hundred sq miles of the Ross Ice Shelf that break off, threatening whales with places they cannot surface to breathe, and humans on places like the Falklands with being scraped off the land by the juggernaut. It gets much further north than you’d believe. Fantastic book.
6. Angel Keep (Where Angels Die, Book 1) by Tom Simon (Bondwine Books)
This series will be so much fun! In Book one, we learn of a land where demons have brought eternal winter wherever they posses folks, and merely jump to another when their poor hosts are killed. Knights that are also exorcists are required, and there are not enough to go around. And the exorcism is usually fatal unless an “Angel”–a woman skilled in restoring their souls, immediately helps them. The personalities, the world-building, the battle scenes…this is the best and most original sword-and-sorcery tale I’ve read in ages. And there is more coming!
7. The Books of Unexpected Enlightenment by Jagi Lamplighter (Wisecraft Publishing) I hope the Harry Potter and The Hunger Games series cured us all of thinking young adult novels are beneath us. This series is great, and the 4th book came out in 2017. In the most recent installment we follow Rachel Griffin, a girl going to a school of the magical arts in the upper Hudson river valley, on even more adventures. Her photographic memory means all spells involving veils and obfuscations disappear if she pays attention. But what she sees in book 4 –that no one else can see–is her greatest and most frightening challenge yet. The books are charming, sort of like Supernatural goes to Hogwarts. Give ’em a try.
Another 5-star review
Safety professional Jennifer Rosenboom has this to say about my book, debuting tomorrow. Thanks, Jennifer!
Customer Review
New review on Goodreads
Over at Goodreads, U.K. safety manager Teresa Budworth gave Confessions five stars.
“This is the most insightful read on influencing skills since Cialdini. Wendy Delmater Thies found herself a single parent in New York and set out to become a safety engineer in the tough environment of that city’s rail and construction industries . Her memoir sets out how she overcame the technical challenges of high hazard work in densely populated neighbourhoods, negotiating the prejudice of co-workers and clients to deliver safe sites.
“It’s an inspirational read and not only for those sharing Wendy’s passion for ensuring their colleagues go home to their families at the end of the working day. Her perseverance in achieving safety qualifications whilst working full time and raising her children show us all what can be achieved with determination and good humour.
“I wish I could have read this book at the start of my working life.”
I’m humbled and honored she found it useful. Thanks, Teresa.
More reviews coming
This is the sort of message an author wants to wake up to:
“Wendy I LOVED your book. I’m happy to write a review and submit it to you and, if you like, the UK and Middle East Safety journals and magazines. It’s inspirational. How many words did you want?” – Teresa Budworth
That’s from a safety manager gal in the U.K. who wanted to review Confessions. I told her 100-450 words, and gave her the links to the review pages on Amazon and Goodreads…but safety journals? How unexpected! 🙂