Epiphany on the E Line

Hello, all.  Hope your new year is treating you well, or at least not biting at your ankles.

I've been published for, what, about three years now?  I think writer's years are like dog years at best, so that makes me somewhere in my late teens by Writer Age.  You know, that awkward phase, where you're learning to be an adult, but some of life's lessons still kick you in the crotch on a semi regular basis.

Reading reviews is something I often liken to a swift kick in the crotch.  Many of my other author friends seem to feel this, to the point where they refuse to read reviews.  I don't possess that strength of will. 

A good review is awesome, but a bad one negates not only that one in the author's mind, but actually creates a deficit.  I'd say it takes about twenty good reviews to cancel out every bad one.  Our minds are just effed up that way.

Bad reviews happen.  Some authors refuse to read reviews, good or bad.  I'm still in that child stage where I eagerly read them, still finding my feet and voice, and slapped in the face when I see the occasional one that slaps me in the face and calls me stupid and not entertaining in the slightest.  They hurt, yes, but I'm growing up.  Learning to deal with them, how to better take and process them, which brings me to my current podcast listening...

I've become a fan of The Nerdist Podcast, which is hosted by The Nerdist himself, Chris Hardwick, which I was listening to on my commute to the publishing house today.  It's an interview format podcast where he talks to other comedians, celebrities and the like and he's a riot.  Refreshing to hear a twenty year veteran of TV and stand up and his process, along with the humorous interactions that arise from the podcast itself.

Something that really struck me was said this week, that I hope to apply to my writing the way that he and interviewee Billy West (the voice of Ren & Stimpy, Futurama) were talking about their work as comedians.

The jist was that it made little sense to stress over having a shitty night on stage or if they were horrible.  Audience to audience is different, and the thought was that there aren't bad comedians, it's just that sometimes a comic and that particular audience just don't fit.   Now that seems pretty obvious once I wrote it out here, but hearing it from long seasoned pros in their field gave me great comfort.  I felt as if a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

This doesn't mean I'm going to work less hard at delivering the best books to my readers that I can, but I think it will help me to stop beating myself up over the "bad fits" with certain readers.  I find it terribly comforting even writing it.

And do make sure to check out The Nerdist Podcast.  Chris is a great host, and terribly engaging, genuinely interested in what his guests have to say.  I highly recommend it.

BTW, Dead Waters (Simon Canderous Book 4, for those counting), is out on 2/22, just a little over a month away.  Hope you enjoy it...