Get the message!

I am OK with people who don’t like my books. I can respect people who don’t appreciate fantasy or don’t like reading violent or graphic books. I have a friend who won’t read Spellbound by Fire because it will give her nightmares- but she has the book as a sign of support and backs the message up 100 per cent.

What I can’t stand is when people bash my book because they simply did not receive the message embedded in it. Didn’t like the violence in it? Did it make you angry? GOOD! DO something about domestic violence! Speak out about it. Become a voice. Don’t shoot down someone standing up against it.

Spellbound by Fire received it’s first one-star review. And I am not ashamed to post it here, so I will share it. Here it is:

“This book was so bad it was BAD!!! I could not even finish it and I read it all…It was a hard read because it kept switching fonts into italics when it was going from past to present…and is hard to read italics on my kindle. It jumped around a lot and had so MUCH sadism against women it is just sad…. I like the premise of the story but it was all a little too angry and didn’t stick to the magic or witch theme –more to the men beating the absolute crap out of women (witches) apparently not very good witches since they kept getting caught and could do no magic to get out of it…also whips and nails and torture galore– just brutal!!! Think the author could use more writing classes and less torture classes..

Thank goodness it was free….You have to really be into S & M to get into this book. I did not understand all the positive reviews….I read a book every 2 days and have read some very bad stuff but this rates at the top when I can’t even finish it!!! It was just too brutal!!!”

First off… “I could not even finish it and I read it all.” Really? Did you or did you not finish it? If you are going to post a review, at least specify whether you really did finish the book or not.

Secondly, sadism against women? S&M?

Look, I am OK with someone giving me a low rating if they didn’t like the book. What I am NOT OK with is someone giving it a low rating because they missed the message. Horrific violence against women happens every day in society and this person wants to act like it ONLY happened in my book. Well, where do you think those “torture classes” happened?

The fact this person did not understand the positive reviews means they didn’t understand the message behind all the horror and violence. Abuse against ANYONE, male or female, old or young, is UNACCEPTABLE and must be stopped. Giving a book that speaks out against violence a low rating will not silence the book nor this author. It will not stop the violence in the real world, outside of my book. It will not end the suffering and horrific ordeals abuse victims go through. That is why Spellbound has been receiving four and five star reviews. They got the message.

Yes, Spellbound is graphic, violent and painful to read. It is not for the faint of heart. But if I have the guts to rise above my own childhood of horrors and write about it, speak about it and stand up to it, then other people can too. You can turn your head to this issue if you want. You can pretend it doesn’t happen. You can pretend such things only happens in books and movies, that it is something you can just hand a low-rating and say how awful it is that these ideas can formulate in someone’s head. But outside of books and movies are real sadistic people torturing their victims. Don’t get angry at me for writing about it, speaking about it and putting it into the light. Get mad at abusers.

Turn away. Give my books low ratings because it was so horrific you “couldn’t finish it.” Pretend it only happens in imaginations.

I know it’s real. The monsters are out there. Just because you want to be silent and try to silence others about it, or you just don’t want to acknowledge it happens, it won’t stop me.