Writing & Reviews & Lord Tennyson

Any writer who has a book out there might sooner or later get a bad review. Its almost unavoidable. 

In a moment of boredom, I Googled my name and found a review from a site in the UK. It was like a stab in the heart. The reviewer said my book, Soul Mates,  was about "animal abuse." In real life I've rescued and fostered hundreds of dogs. My two dogs are rescues. One from a puppy mill in Missouri and one from a hoarding situation. I've seen what animal abuse can do and that was not the point of my story. So this reviewer might have just ripped out my broken heart and stomped on it. The person didn't even finish the book, just made a judgement in the first few chapters. My first reaction was wanting to write to her and explain a few things. Like what she thought was happening wasn't the main point of the story. She didn't give it a chance, she didn't wait for the hero to come in and save the day. It was so opposite of what she thought it was about. I just wanted to reach out and talk to this reviewer. 

I held back. I didn't want to react with emotion. I wanted time to think about it. 

After a few days a light bulb went off over my head. 

>Ping< 

Another thought came to me. I made that reviewer feel things. Whatever she read made her ...angry? emotional? care?  

Soul Mates on Amazon

After that I realized maybe her review wasn't so bad. It showed me that my writing reached her. Of course, I believe if she finished the book her review might have been much different, but now I'm okay with the knowledge I reached her and made her care. 

The first review I got for that book;

"I cried, I laughed and I cried again. Being an animal lover and having four Chihuahuas myself, some parts were a bit tough for me but thank goodness those were brief. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it. Definitely a great read." ~Amazon Review

No matter how many things we toss out into the world, not everyone is going to like it, not everyone will give it a fair chance. We just need to move on and keep writing. Focus on the positive. Send a prayer and healing energy to the people who send negativity. 

Once in a golden hour
I cast to earth a seed.
Up there came a flower,
The people said, a weed.

To and fro they went
Thro' my garden bower,
And muttering discontent
Cursed me and my flower.

Then it grew so tall
It wore a crown of light,But thieves from o'er the wall
Stole the seed by night.

Sow'd it far and wide
By every town and tower,
Till all the people cried,
'Splendid is the flower! '

Read my little fable:
He that runs may read.
Most can raise the flowers now,
For all have got the seed.

And some are pretty enough,
And some are poor indeed;
And now again the people
Call it but a weed. 

~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

Turbulent Life & Time to Write

I wish I had stairs to do this! 

When life gets crazy--writing gets hard. 
Lots going on right now at home and at work so I'm struggling again with carving out time to write. Some days I come home from work and my brain is fried. I just want to veg-out and if I do pick up my laptop, it's usually for surfing art on Pinterest.  Some really awesome artists post there and after writing, painting is my next love. 

At work I've been designing artwork/lettering for company trucks and doing some copy writing. Although I started there as a receptionist, my job has morphed into much more and I'm having a great time. However, a busy day at work can be draining.  When my brain is mush, I'm not sure I can give my manuscript my best. 

Just did a major home improvement, which sent dust everywhere and drove me crazy. Now it's done so the house doesn't seem to be such a wreck any more. As a former stay-at-home-mom, I still feel like the house is my job and if it's a mess, that's all I think about. 

Am I making excuses??? Hmmmm....could be. Everything is an excuse when you don't write. I just have to figure out which excuses are valid and which are my anchors of procrastination. 

Back to the wall-best way to write. 

Did I mention my desk? Due to the shuffling we did in the house, my desk is now up against a wall. My desk use to be set out from the wall so I could slip behind it and my back would be to the wall. I know this might sound weird but when I write, if someone comes up behind me it startles me big time. I nearly jump out of the chair. So I'm thinking of moving it, I just don't know where. 

Where are you Edgar? 

And I can't find my Edgar Allan Poe action figure since moving my desk. 


The excuses are mounting....

How's your writing going? What are your usual excuses?