What is the point?

Not of life but of writing – well writing for publication anyway. I absolutely know you can’t please everyone. I really do. I am the pickiest of readers but it seems to me that there is a cruelty in some reviewers that is out of kilter with fairness. I KNOW reviews are for readers not authors – but you’d have to be a very strong person not to look at your reviews – at least a few of them. And can we authors say a word in response without getting chopped to pieces? No.

I don’t like the whole plot being revealed in a review. I like to know why someone liked a book or didn’t like it and that’s all. I don’t like reviewers showing off for their readership and some do. I don’t need to read quotes or chunks of dialogue taken out of context. I don’t like scorn and derision. I don’t mind disappointment in aspects of the book being expressed. As I said – you can’t please everyone.

I should have thought after I’ve had almost 40 books published that my STYLE is well established. I like lots happening. I like humour. I like drama. I like sweet endings. I like sex. I like parts to be edgy.

I don’t write very dark stuff but when I stray anywhere near tricky topics, I have to have warnings so people don’t get upset. If you don’t like reading even a few lines about abuse – then you need to know if the book covers that. If you don’t like cheating, then maybe you need to know that too. Etc etc What warrants a warning for some, won’t for others. I’m not responsible for the warnings. The publisher makes that decision and I’m happy to go along with it. They know better than me.

But I’m warning all readers that my books are fast moving and full of drama. FICTION. NOT very likely to happen in real life. But that does not mean they are not realistic. I want them to be exciting, maybe a bit soap opera like. I don’t write slow tales about coming out or Gay for you stories.

Today I’m upset. Very upset. Authors are human too. We have feelings and just because we put our work out there does not mean we don’t mind when it’s stamped on. And no one has yet paid for flipping copy of this book!