So I'm a Community Manager. You have to develop a pretty thick skin to be successful in this career. I've had people tell me that I should be fired for my incompetence. One person told me that I sucked. I had another tell me that I should kill myself and save the company from having to fire me. That was over a contest judgement. So yeah, thick skin.
I thought that this would come in handy as I read the reviews of my book. I of course want honest feedback but I can't say that little daggers of hate pierced my soul as I read a few lines from some of them tonight.
The thing is - they were honest and they were right. As I wrote Huntress, I worried that Grace was a little whiny. I also said myself that the first two chapters were boring. You don't get into the good stuff until like Chapter 4. So I can't get all butt hurt about them. They were right.
The good news is that I get to take away this feedback and ensure that I get right to the good stuff in Rifts. I have a few concerns about a direction I'm taking with the relationship between Grace and Drew. It's a little Emo to be honest but it feels like it progresses the story. After all the title of the book is called Rifts. It means much more than a chasm between worlds and dimensions. Rifts are created every day in relationships, in jobs, in life itself as people make decisions.
Whereas Huntress was about the metamorphosis of a woman dealing with an incredible amount of change in her life, Rifts will be how she deals with the fallout of that change and continues to grow as a warrior and as a mother.
Am I more nervous now as I write the words? Yeah. I am. But the underlying message I received from those reviews is that these people liked what they read overall. That is promising and gives me hope. :)
I just finished Huntress. I am waiting for the next book. Both I and my husband loved it. We both read allot of fantasy and this is still a new take on the mythical reality. I would say ignore any bad reviews... have you seen the books they give good reviews to? All copycat formulaic no imagination required books. I did not find any part boring. And I loved the character development of Grace into a more self-confident woman. Its always boring when the hero or heroine starts out perfect human flaws are so much more interesting. My husband didn't even find it a slow start and he is notorious for reading the first 3 pages of a book and deciding its too slow...lol... And next time you are in Azeroth you should drop in and say hi.
ReplyDelete:) Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to start writing again today. I think I had a brain fart and I forgot how to write entirely.
Your encouragement helps. :)