Haters Gonna Hate

So, it happened. I knew it was going to. It’s inevitable, after all.

The one-star review.

Waiting for the release of DARKWALKER was a nerve-wracking experience, not least because I was concerned about how the book would be received. Every writer worries about this. Wonders how they’ll deal with criticism. You’re putting yourself out there when you write a book, or produce any kind of art for public consumption. And it’s inevitable — as in sun-rising-in-the-east, death-and-taxes inevitable — that not everybody is going to be wildly enthusiastic about your work. Some people will, in fact, hate it. This is particularly true if your novel is very dark, very grim, and features one of the least likeable protagonists in the history of fiction.

So I knew. And I dreaded. And you know something? It wasn’t that bad.

I had the initial gut-punch, of course. But it lasted only a few seconds. I read the review in its entirety (very long — he really put a lot of love into that hate) and I thought, OK.

Really, that’s what I thought. OK.

It feels like I graduated into some other class at that moment. The class of real writers who get bad reviews, shrug, and move on. My husband and I had a nice cold glass of white wine, toasted my review, and spent a very nice weekend by the pool. I worked on the opening chapter of my next novel.

Bring it on, haters.

ps — if you’d like to check out the Ode to Fail, it’s over at Goodreads. Enjoy!