Someone read the story and posted this review on Amazon -- I found this to be a strange story--essentially protagonist finds he's been used as a puppet, but it seemed to have gotten him out of his rut and comfy, foibled existence and broadened his horizons, ending up in a much better situation. That's it, and I don't know what to make of it. Positive? Negative? Big shrug? I mean, they gave it 4 stars so I guess that's good...but the words chosen are...well...less than cheerful, to me.
It's wild what some people read into your work. I wrote a teen romance based on Beauty and the Beast, some years back, where the girl (Charl) is motherless and the boy (Mitch) is severely deaf with a protective mother. Charl's brother and sister are selfish and spoiled and her father is overwhelmed by the failure of his business, so she takes on the role of mom.
Mitch's mom is wary of her, at first, knowing about said brother and sister, but warms to her and gives her some motherly advice -- that it's okay to let yourself be in love. A simple conversation in the kitchen as they're making hot cocoa.
Some woman read it and accused me of having Mitch's mom pimping Charl for him, thanks to that scene. Her comment made absolutely no sense to me, so I went back over the dialogue to see if I'd screwed up in some way, and I couldn't even begin to see what would give anyone that idea...but it's how she saw it.
That was the beginning of me deciding I'm not going to tell anyone how they should view my work. They see in it what they see. And sometimes I've been ripped...especially over HTRASG...though usually by people who obviously have not read the book but only been offended by the title. I've also had silly negative reviews -- like the guy who hated LD because I had a character use the wrong conjugation for to lay -- as well as silly positive ones -- like the one referring to BC as a great love story. Um...thanks, but...really?
Of course, if someone likes my work, I thank them...and I do try to thank those who dump all over it, just because they read it...and because sometimes the non-stop negative comments pop up with an honest critique that helps make you more aware and improves your writing, even if only a little.
Negatives still hurt, but at least they aren't devastating like they used to be, for me...and that's a major improvement.
It's wild what some people read into your work. I wrote a teen romance based on Beauty and the Beast, some years back, where the girl (Charl) is motherless and the boy (Mitch) is severely deaf with a protective mother. Charl's brother and sister are selfish and spoiled and her father is overwhelmed by the failure of his business, so she takes on the role of mom.
Mitch's mom is wary of her, at first, knowing about said brother and sister, but warms to her and gives her some motherly advice -- that it's okay to let yourself be in love. A simple conversation in the kitchen as they're making hot cocoa.
Some woman read it and accused me of having Mitch's mom pimping Charl for him, thanks to that scene. Her comment made absolutely no sense to me, so I went back over the dialogue to see if I'd screwed up in some way, and I couldn't even begin to see what would give anyone that idea...but it's how she saw it.
That was the beginning of me deciding I'm not going to tell anyone how they should view my work. They see in it what they see. And sometimes I've been ripped...especially over HTRASG...though usually by people who obviously have not read the book but only been offended by the title. I've also had silly negative reviews -- like the guy who hated LD because I had a character use the wrong conjugation for to lay -- as well as silly positive ones -- like the one referring to BC as a great love story. Um...thanks, but...really?
Of course, if someone likes my work, I thank them...and I do try to thank those who dump all over it, just because they read it...and because sometimes the non-stop negative comments pop up with an honest critique that helps make you more aware and improves your writing, even if only a little.
Negatives still hurt, but at least they aren't devastating like they used to be, for me...and that's a major improvement.
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