Monday, April 28, 2008

Antidotes

Yesterday I discovered a less-than-glowing review of one of books on the web.

I was disappointed and dismayed. It felt like I'd failed an exam. Not a life-shattering experience, but certainly not pleasant, because I worked really hard on that book, ya know?

Then I watched Carrier, on PBS. They took cameras onto the U.S.S. Nimitz and let 'em roll.

Now, I have a soft spot for the navy -- any navy -- because my dad was in the navy during World War II and I was in the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. Let me tell ya, that was a pretty unusual job for a teenage girl in the 1970's. It was a wonderful experience, and a great way to learn self-discipline. There's no negotiation or whining in the military. Well, okay, there is -- surreptitiously. And we will not speak of the abduction of the petty officers' beer.

My pity party ended in about a second and a half.

I'll be watching and/or taping the rest of Carrier this week.

2 comments:

Kimber Chin said...

What I can see
from this business,
reviews are based on expectations,
not actual talent
or strength of story.

If this was your first book
or you were a small press author
or an otherwise unknown
or heck,
anyone other than Margaret Moore,
it probably would have been glowing.

But nope, you ARE Margaret Moore
and Knave's Honor ROCKED
(review folks will expect
your next book to be even better)
and people have been waiting
for Drury's story for years,
building it up in their minds
and wait, oh, no,
this isn't a medieval,
you did something different!
The horrors!!
LOL

Anonymous said...

Well said, Kimber.

People bring their personal preferences into the reviews. It's so subjective, and hard to read.

Sorry about the bad review, but the book is great.