The Dreaded Two Star

I have received my first not-so-positive review for one of my books. I've been expecting it. I know perfectly well that not everyone in the world will like what I write. And, as I also expected, it kinda hurt. A couple of months ago I contacted this person, who does book reviews on her blog, and offered her a free copy in exchange for an honest review. She posted her review on her blog yesterday. After reading what she thought of the book, my first instinct was to email her and either a) defend my book or b) critique her review. I decided not to do that, because everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, there are a couple of things I wanted to touch on. For anyone who writes a book review, whether positive or negative, it is helpful to readers and authors if you are specific in your opinions and constructive in your criticism. This particular review for my book, I feel, accomplished neither. I'm always looking to improve upon my writing, but that's difficult to do when the people who read what I write don't give helpful feedback. I'm not trying to sound complainy, even though getting a negative review isn't fun. It's how the business goes. Thankfully I have plenty of positive reviews, so her negative one doesn't mean much. Time to move on and keep writing.

I had a goal to finish writing book 2 of my Vessel series by the end of December. The holidays proved to be busier than I anticipated. I'm about 2/3 of the way through it. I think it'll be done and ready to send to my editor by the end of Jan. Hopefully sooner. As for the second book I plan to finish by the end of the year, I have several prospects to pick from. It could be book 3 of The Vessel. It could be the first in a whole new series, of which I have several. It could be another stand alone. It will definitely be something that has a large chunk already worked through. I have high hopes for 2014!