By James L Hill aka J. L. Hill
When I started writing these blogs, I told myself I wouldn’t make it one long commercial for my writing. I want to give you, the reader, some useful information on writing, insight into what a writer thinks about as they work and how we view the world of science fiction, and other lofty goals. Now I do quote my own work because I don’t want to get into a copyright debacle over using someone’s work. We writers are like mothers of a newborn baby, proud and overprotective. When we ask you, what do you think of our work, what we really want is for you to smile and say ‘beautiful’. We want reviews not criticisms.
I recently found myself in a discussion on just that, I thought one person was complaining about a negative review she received; however, she was more concerned that the reviewer didn’t spell check and correct her grammar in the review. She felt the reviewer didn’t take the time to craft a quality review which in her mind reflected poorly on her book. I have found myself in a similar situation with two reviewers of my book, Pegasus: A Journey To New Eden. They virtually said the same thing to me, however, one person wrote the review, and the other never finished reading the book.
The first person disagreed with my style and said so, but was so compelled by the story and the way I told it, had to read it to the end. And he loved it. Now, I committed a major no-no in writing the book. I kept switching the point of view, abruptly at times, making the book difficult to read. I learned from an English teacher when you edit your own work turn it upside down and read it; it makes you concentrate on what you are reading. Pegasus was not meant to be a lighthearted story. Basically, I turned my book upside down to make it difficult to read, while I kept the story interesting to pull you through to the end, you must concentrate on what you are reading.
The second reviewer couldn’t have disagreed with me more. No matter how interesting she felt the story was, she couldn’t get pass the unconventional style and quit half way though. No review was written. They both asked me consider rewriting they book and changing the style. I will not (ok I did some minor transition work). You see the book achieved its objective; it makes you think about the story. I guarantee neither person will take Pegasus lightly whether they liked it or not. Pegasus makes you think about the future, about human behavior, about technology and its use.
Readers who are looking for a light and easy read will probably not want to read this book. For those of you who are looking for a deeper and more thought provoking science fiction story will love it. And with that, I will tell you, I achieved my objective.
When I started writing these blogs, I told myself I wouldn’t make it one long commercial for my writing. I want to give you, the reader, some useful information on writing, insight into what a writer thinks about as they work and how we view the world of science fiction, and other lofty goals. Now I do quote my own work because I don’t want to get into a copyright debacle over using someone’s work. We writers are like mothers of a newborn baby, proud and overprotective. When we ask you, what do you think of our work, what we really want is for you to smile and say ‘beautiful’. We want reviews not criticisms.
I recently found myself in a discussion on just that, I thought one person was complaining about a negative review she received; however, she was more concerned that the reviewer didn’t spell check and correct her grammar in the review. She felt the reviewer didn’t take the time to craft a quality review which in her mind reflected poorly on her book. I have found myself in a similar situation with two reviewers of my book, Pegasus: A Journey To New Eden. They virtually said the same thing to me, however, one person wrote the review, and the other never finished reading the book.
The first person disagreed with my style and said so, but was so compelled by the story and the way I told it, had to read it to the end. And he loved it. Now, I committed a major no-no in writing the book. I kept switching the point of view, abruptly at times, making the book difficult to read. I learned from an English teacher when you edit your own work turn it upside down and read it; it makes you concentrate on what you are reading. Pegasus was not meant to be a lighthearted story. Basically, I turned my book upside down to make it difficult to read, while I kept the story interesting to pull you through to the end, you must concentrate on what you are reading.
The second reviewer couldn’t have disagreed with me more. No matter how interesting she felt the story was, she couldn’t get pass the unconventional style and quit half way though. No review was written. They both asked me consider rewriting they book and changing the style. I will not (ok I did some minor transition work). You see the book achieved its objective; it makes you think about the story. I guarantee neither person will take Pegasus lightly whether they liked it or not. Pegasus makes you think about the future, about human behavior, about technology and its use.
Readers who are looking for a light and easy read will probably not want to read this book. For those of you who are looking for a deeper and more thought provoking science fiction story will love it. And with that, I will tell you, I achieved my objective.
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