When the bad hits the fan...

by: Joelle Charbonneau (for Dave on his fabulous honeymoon. Congrats!)

This week, I had a day where I found it hard to get words down on the page. On Tuesday, I was trolling some of the publishing trade reviews and found a review for the book of a close friend. It was the first review I’ve seen for the new book and it wasn’t good.

I have to admit that up until this week I’ve been burying myself in work trying hard not to think about the reviews that my book will get. I got the first one last week – thankfully, it was pretty good. More reviews are coming. Just knowing they are on the way makes me a little queasy.

Regardless of what my reviews will be, I know I’ll be okay with them. One person’s opinion will not make me like my writing more or less. The book is what it is. It won’t stand the test of time like Agatha Christie, but hopefully, it will make a few people laugh. That’s what I hope for.

Yet, the review for my friend left me reeling. My heart went out to that writer and to all the other writers with bad reviews in this week’s version of that publication. It hurt to see a reviewer tear apart hard work. The book may not be the writer’s best. I don’t know. I haven’t read it, although I will as soon as it hits the stands. Still, I wish my friend and all writers the strength and belief in themselves to keep writing even when the reviews or even editors and agents say your work isn’t strong. And if you have a trick to keep going when the bad hits the fan, feel free to share.