My own first negative review

I've been a writer for a loooong time, and I've been a published writer for about six or seven years now. I've had some criticisms and some raves, and I realize that's what comes with writing for public consumption: some people are going to like it, and some aren't. That's just life.

I've also reviewed quite a few books in my time, and the thing I've always tried to keep in mind--even with my negative reviews--is that there's a real person on the other side of the review. The writer. Maybe it's because I'm a writer myself, but I understand the hard work and effort that goes into writing something, even if I don't personally like it. And so I try to highlight what's good without performing a hack job on the book. Somebody out there is going to like it. That somebody just isn't me.

Which leads me to the subject of this post: my own first negative review. I guess I've been pretty fortunate over the years that it's taken this long for someone to really not like my writing. Years ago, I might have been crushed by the comments. Today...not so much. I've reached that perfect point of not giving two hot damns about it.

Here's the review in question: Sunflowers's review of The Giving Season. If you keep reading the rest of Ms. Sunflowers reviews you'll see that she really doesn't like anything. In fact, I can't help but wonder why she keeps reading romances if she hates so many of them. I get the feeling that our Ms. Sunflowers might just be a failed writer herself. Envy is an awful thing.

Why am I posting about this? Just to let anyone who reads this blog know that I'm going to be extremely fair about my reviews of books. Unless I absolutely hate the book, I'm going to find something good about it, because I know that everyone has different tastes. Even if I hate the book, I'm going to appreciate the work that went into it. I've had my share of rejections--and I still get them. Being published doesn't mean that it's smooth sailing from there on out.

So read Ms. Sunflowers's review. Enjoy it. Read her others and see if you don't notice a pattern (other than her seeming inability to spell "bitch" correctly). It's her right to criticize, and my right to respond.

And for the record...the positive reviews on the Amazon site are not "shills." Where in the hell would I get the money to PAY people to review my book?