News on Reviews...

First of all, let me share a terrific five star review for Red Sunset from Top2Bottom Reviews:

http://top2bottomreviews.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/red-sunset-by-rowena-sudbury/

And secondly, I was remiss in mentioning that The King's Tale & The King's Heart received a high honor from Two Lips reviews, both are marked as Recommended Reads!

http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8896&Itemid=67

http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8934&Itemid=67

Nothing ever happens...

The writing isn't bad but the story is dull and the characters aren't fleshed out. When I read, I want to get wrapped up in the book and feel something but all I felt with this one was boredom. There are no emotional highs or lows and no excitement.

Don't get me wrong, this 2 star Amazon review for Blue Moon doesn't really irk me all that much. It's the person's opinion, nothing more. Granted, I read it and think...no highs? no lows? Whu....? Are you sure you were reading my book? But, whatever, I'm sure the knock was what the entry title suggests...nothing happened.

In my books...nothing happens. They're love stories. My sole purpose in writing them is to study the human condition as it pertains to how love works on the emotions. There's no action. My characters aren't spies, or vampires, or shape-shifters. They don't do anything except exist in their worlds. They are kings, woodsmen....wrestlers! They live mundane little lives, but they burn with passion and have all the emotions that fill people who are in love.

I can't get mad at people who read my books and are disappointed with the fact that nothing happens, and believe me, this is not the first time I've been accused of being "boring." Reading should be an escape after all. For me the escape is diving into someone else's normal world and going through all their ups and downs as they revolve around love. I'm fascinated by that, so I write that. I can see where that doesn't work for other people. It's kind of a shame when they feel the need to give low ratings for my work...as the above reviewer notes, the writing isn't bad. But...it happens, and I've grown accustomed to it.

Twelve days into the new year, and I've still yet to write anything. Still trying to get my mind out of the whirlwind of things that have happened over the last few months, and I'm sure within a week, or two (or several) I'll be back at work on the next boring little book. I can't wait!

The King's Heart Reviewed!

Stop by to read about a fantastic review for The King's Heart! Here!

Promises and Lies

One year ago today Promises and Lies was released. I remember being so excited, and thinking it was going to be such a well received book.

Then time went by, and it wasn't really. It got a few really great reviews, but readers at Good Reads seemed to pick it apart for the smallest reasons. My fragile writer's ego was bruised. And then I got over it. Recently it picked up another bad rating, this one with a review that said "the author needs to learn how to write." Honestly, this criticism didn't bother me as much as it once would have. But, it did cause me to re-read the book myself.

What I decided is that Promises and Lies is a pretty good book. :-)

I guess my struggle is always going to be my fascination with language, and words. I'm not content to say someone "tries to get out of a situation" when I can say "extricate" instead. One of the things I prize the most when I read new books is if they teach me a new word. (I still remember with fondness learning the word "voluptuary" as I read a King Arthur novel once, I became fascinated with the word, although I've never used it myself.)

I'm not having anything published in 2011, aside from the Halloween Howl story "Depth Perception" and the freebie in the DSP newsletter "The Way They Are". 2012 is already shaping up to be a banner year though with two projects on the horizon. "Blue Moon" (which I suspect will come out early January) and The King's Heart in May or June. I'm looking forward to both of those things.

Some thoughts about reviews

I'm guessing it's in poor taste for authors to write about reviews and reviewers, so I'll preface this by saying I'm not talking about anyone or anything in particular, just a random thought I had this morning.

First of all, I'm a pro-wrestling fan, and have been for about ten years. If you read my short story "Silent Night" I guess that would be clear, since I based it in that world.

Ok, so that's the back story, here's the real story. My favorite pro wrestler is Chris Jericho. He is also a musician, and his band Fozzy released their fourth CD at the end of January. It had been five years since their previous release, so this one was highly anticipated by people like me who are infatuated with everything he does. The CD did not disappoint. In fact, in my humble opinion it's their best yet. They're no longer a band stumbling through covers and trying to find their voice, they're a straight ahead rock band that finally has a personality, and an identity.

The other night I was looking at the CD at Amazon, and out of curiosity I looked at the reviews. Before I had my own book for sale on Amazon I never looked at the reviews. I'm the kind of person who wants to make my own judgement about things. If I were ever going to actually read a review, I'd tend to trust a well known reviewer, not a random name on Amazon. For example, if I were going to buy a Gay Romance Novel I'd look at Book Wenches, or Literary Nymphs way before I'd read an Amazon review.

One of the reviews attached to this CD was a one-star review. I literally gasped and made the :O face because how could someone give my baby a one star review??? I read the review, and I found so many holes in it. I came up with counter-arguments to everything that was said.

So, that's when it hit me. Those kind of reviews are meant to be taken with a grain of salt. Those and the rash of one star reviews that The King's Tale has been racking up at GoodReads. I'm guessing Chris Jericho will never read the one star reviews at Amazon, and so why should I?