Authors on my Blog

[Carmel]

Petra wrote: "Dale wrote: "Petra wrote: "Dale that was an interesting interview, did it cause problems that you were a bit critical in the review? Did the author mind? Or was he just happy to get the interview? ..."

I tend to agree, in that everyone has a different experience of a book, which will influence their reaction or "review". I, myself, prefer to look at it as feedback, based on personal reaction, rather than "criticism". Unless, of course, one misses basics like proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar (that probably falls under the category of "criticism", and I would want to pay attention to that, regardless!) I have not always been grabbed by a book, even though it may be well written, so I expect the same to happen with others.

[Dale]

Petra wrote: An interesting answer, thank you. I'm always a bit nervous when writing reviews, because I don't want to hurt someone with my subjective opinion. But you're right, if you want to learn as an author, listening to criticism is a good way to do it.

You're quite welcome. I've read a bit about providing feedback, because I run a small workshop for writers at my local library and wanted to understand how to make criticism both helpful and relatively safe. A lot of it comes down to three things: (1) Be honest but respectful; (2) be specific; (3) if you must give bad news, give some good news first.

[Dale]

I finally have a new review and author interview on my blog, featuring Christopher Walker and his excellent short story collection, The Amnesiac and Other Stories. He's an amazing writer and has some great comments about writing and publishing, so I hope you'll read it and share it around. Thank you!

[Anna]

Very, very interesting interview and so well written - this deserves to be shared.

[Dale]

Anna Faversham wrote: "Very, very interesting interview and so well written - this deserves to be shared."

Thank you!