Reviews are dangerous. You’ve poured your entire soul into writing a book. You pay an editor to rip it to shreds, stomp on it, slap you upside the head with changes, but you come out the other side with an even shinier version of said soul.
Then you put it out into the world, hoping, praying that others will feel the same way you did when you created the world. And most of them do, giving 4 and 5 stars.
You’re good enough.
“Who knew a book on racing, would keep me up all night reading? Well written developed characters that have real personalities. Sweet heat of romance. and did I mention Shakespeare? Lovely addition. Recommended.”
“A good mix of the excitement of the pro cycling world and a good old-fashioned love affair! A gripping easy read that keeps you wondering as the ‘secret’ is slowly revealed. Well worth the time taken to read it!😊”
“The author captured her characters well. Each scene was captivating and encouraged the eyes to keep reading. The diary format works well and the ability to keep up with the timeline of things. Zalesky addresses some deep-seated issues in both main characters and it was well done, not over the top. She got her message out and it was done realistically.”
And then, a 2 (.5) star review.
“This is not typically my kind of book The blurb was interesting so I gave it a shot. I found it long and wordy. I found myself skipping parts, as it seemed to set a drawn-out pace. I picked up and put it down numerous times in order to get through it.
The story was interesting. The characters were good. I would have enjoyed it more if it weren’t so long. Loren’s character was strong yet at times her issues really steered me from going further in the book. 2.5/5 I won’t be reading the second book.”
Minutes after I was notified about this review today, the Universe brought me a link to an interview my Muse gave recently about how to deal with rejection.
“Life of an actor feels solitary, especially at the beginning and you’re going out for auditions and repeatedly politely declined, sometimes impolitely – often – and the door will be closed in your face and you won’t know why. It’s puzzling. Your natural instinct is to take it personally and feel you have failed. You can get despondent. The challenge is to find a way of negotiating that; that sense of rejection, that sense of failure without it eroding your sense of self and your own specific talent and curiosity in the work.
It doesn’t matter what stage you’re at in your career or creative life, but people will always have an idea of who you are and often it’s inaccurate, or not wholly accurate. You mustn’t let it change your sense of who you are. Only you know what you had to go through to deliver that performance in that audition or on that stage or in that short film or television series. Protect that with everything you have because all those people who think they know who you are, didn’t do the work and they don’t know.
Have faith in yourself.”
Chin up and carry on. Thank you, Universe.
Wheeler 