You know, it's funny-- it really absolutely astounds me to see an author respond in a confrontational manner to an unfavorable review in a reviewer's journal/comments to an article. If an author is going to respond in any way, they should do it on their own turf (and even that comes with its own set of rules and restrictions *coughAliceHoffmannLaurellKHamiltoncough*).
I mean, the other day, I got a Google Alert for Adiós-- I clicked it and it was to a blog review, which-- holy hell, the book came out over three years ago, right? And it wasn't the most favorable review. The characters and story were too perfect with a side of squick (which, admittedly, the squick had never occurred to me before, so it surprised me). It wasn't completely negative. Apparently, my voice and writing were kicky and perky and some other adverbs and really, deserved better than my shitty plotting and storytelling.
Yeah... I was mildly annoyed. But then, after I got over the initial annoyance and back into my right head, I realized that a) this post had no responses to it and b) who cares? It's this chick's opinion and she's entitled to it. I don't happen to agree. If (and big if there) I had chosen to respond in my blog, what it would have amounted to would have been this: I refuse to apologize. I can't write the book that everyone wants because then I'd be writing a book for every single reader out there, not the book I want to write. Adiós was not only my first published novel, it was my very first young adult novel after four adult manuscripts. I was feeling my way through the process and learning what worked and didn't work. The book, for me, still works. Clearly, it worked for a lot of people, given the reviews and awards it garnered. It's not going to work for everyone-- for some it was too simple, too easy. What I was trying to do was present a story that showed how even when things are "easy" they don't come without cost and you can still grow from the situations that are engendered. If people don't see that or choose to not see that, well then, I would question whether I was successful.
Overall, I think I was, because I have yet to receive a consistent criticism about that book. The people who have disliked it, have done so for varying and in some cases, vastly different reasons, so all I can put it down to is personal preference and that, I can't do a thing about, so why waste the bandwidth trying, right?
Very little positive can be gained by going onto a reviewer's site and publicly losing your mind. But a hell of a lot can be lost.
And to quote Jimmy Malone from The Untouchables: There endeth the lesson. *g*
no subject
I mean, the other day, I got a Google Alert for Adiós-- I clicked it and it was to a blog review, which-- holy hell, the book came out over three years ago, right? And it wasn't the most favorable review. The characters and story were too perfect with a side of squick (which, admittedly, the squick had never occurred to me before, so it surprised me). It wasn't completely negative. Apparently, my voice and writing were kicky and perky and some other adverbs and really, deserved better than my shitty plotting and storytelling.
Yeah... I was mildly annoyed. But then, after I got over the initial annoyance and back into my right head, I realized that a) this post had no responses to it and b) who cares? It's this chick's opinion and she's entitled to it. I don't happen to agree. If (and big if there) I had chosen to respond in my blog, what it would have amounted to would have been this: I refuse to apologize. I can't write the book that everyone wants because then I'd be writing a book for every single reader out there, not the book I want to write. Adiós was not only my first published novel, it was my very first young adult novel after four adult manuscripts. I was feeling my way through the process and learning what worked and didn't work. The book, for me, still works. Clearly, it worked for a lot of people, given the reviews and awards it garnered. It's not going to work for everyone-- for some it was too simple, too easy. What I was trying to do was present a story that showed how even when things are "easy" they don't come without cost and you can still grow from the situations that are engendered. If people don't see that or choose to not see that, well then, I would question whether I was successful.
Overall, I think I was, because I have yet to receive a consistent criticism about that book. The people who have disliked it, have done so for varying and in some cases, vastly different reasons, so all I can put it down to is personal preference and that, I can't do a thing about, so why waste the bandwidth trying, right?
Very little positive can be gained by going onto a reviewer's site and publicly losing your mind. But a hell of a lot can be lost.
And to quote Jimmy Malone from The Untouchables: There endeth the lesson. *g*