{"id":7988,"date":"2013-03-12T04:00:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T10:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=7988"},"modified":"2013-03-09T19:16:58","modified_gmt":"2013-03-10T03:16:58","slug":"one-of-those-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/03\/12\/one-of-those-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"One of Those Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Doranna<\/em><\/p>\n

Sigh.\u00a0 It didn’t used to matter.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean, it always mattered to ME,<\/strong> but I could console myself that strikingly nasty or baffling reader reviews didn’t matter in the big picture.<\/p>\n

Of course, now reader rankings matter a whole lot,<\/strong> and one or two ugly ones can really skew the curve and affect sales.<\/p>\n

And they still matter to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A nasty review is pretty obvious,<\/strong> both to readers and the author.\u00a0 A baffling review…not so much.\u00a0 Recognizing those takes knowing what’s in the book in the first place.<\/p>\n

\"\"It’s one where you wonder if the reader was even looking at the same book.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Feral Darkness <\/a><\/em>just got one of those.\u00a0<\/strong> Someone is terribly upset at me for making certain statements about religion that…<\/p>\n

Well, that wasn’t the book I wrote.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, it was the book I assiduously steered away from writing.<\/p>\n

It would be easy to put this down to different folks\/different strokes<\/strong> if the Catholic religion wasn’t specifically referenced several times in the review…along with the assertion that my intent is to make fun of that faith.\u00a0 To mock it.<\/p>\n

Now watch me scratch my head.\u00a0<\/strong> There isn’t any true presence of the Catholic church in this book (there’s a character who’s a lapsed Catholic, on the whole because of the conflict with the pagan elements).\u00a0 There’s a pastor in the story, a thoughtful guy who happens to be very protestant, in his very protestant church.\u00a0 I was rather fond of him, actually–I thought he tried to do his best to handle a difficult situation.<\/p>\n

But the truth is, the book has pagan elements and pagan magic.<\/strong>\u00a0 That’s kind of the whole point.\u00a0 I wove together enough of those historical pagan elements across cultures (never mind the book learning…I called a monastary!)–to catch the eye of a British scholar, who interviewed me a couple of years ago and included A Feral Darkness<\/em><\/strong> in the resulting publication.\u00a0 (I was beyond excited about that, yes I was!)\u00a0 There’re ancient Celtic gods, ancient Celtic dogs…and one contemporary woman who has to make it all come together in the context of her rather practical life.<\/p>\n

I hadn’t meant to examine the interface of religions, but the character went there (she rode her bike there, actually),<\/strong> and I had to follow.\u00a0 It was not easy writing…but maybe that’s why the book has connected with so many people over the years (and boy am I grateful for that!).<\/p>\n

Sometimes, in order to make that connection,<\/strong> you have to reach far deeper than is truly comfortable.\u00a0 It’s a vulnerable, vulnerable place to be as a writer.<\/p>\n

So it does baffle (and ouch!) me that anyone could take the resulting book as a mockery of any given religion,<\/strong> and it makes me a little sad.\u00a0 On the other hand, I think what also surprises me–a lot–is that someone who feels this strongly about the (“disturbing”) interface of religions would not only pick up the (“sickening”) book in the first place, but would read it through to the (“pathetic”) end.<\/p>\n

It still matters to me, though.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Doranna Sigh.\u00a0 It didn’t used to matter. I mean, it always mattered to ME, but I could console myself that strikingly nasty or baffling reader reviews didn’t matter in the big picture. Of course, now reader rankings matter a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159,80],"tags":[157,102,106],"class_list":["post-7988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-backlist-ebooks","category-behind-the-scenes","tag-behind-the-scenes","tag-e-fiction","tag-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-24Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8998,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2013\/07\/28\/the-hardest-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":7988,"position":0},"title":"The Hardest Review","author":"Doranna","date":"1307.28","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna \"Read the reviews!\" \"Ignore all reviews!\" \"Don't let them get to you!\" Well, bother. 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We went into book stores, we cruised the shelves\u2026we plucked , we scanned, we chose\u2026and we walked out clutching our beloved new books. That option is still available, of course--although more limited, without backlist support or the same wide array of choices.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Backlist Ebooks"","block_context":{"text":"Backlist Ebooks","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/backlist-ebooks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Backlist Ebooks","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/BEfacebook.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2689,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/10\/20\/behind-the-scenes-making-the-rules-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":7988,"position":2},"title":"Behind the Scenes: Making the Rules","author":"Doranna","date":"1010.20","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember what I said about the Influential Reader? Oh, you do give my heart glee when you grab the power! Review by: natski : Having read the 1st 2 books in the series i thoroughly enjoyed the further adventures of Kimmer & Rio. For me a good romance book is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Backlist Ebooks"","block_context":{"text":"Backlist Ebooks","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/backlist-ebooks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Making the Rules","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.doranna.net\/covers\/c.makingtherules.SM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7325,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2012\/10\/29\/dear-amazon-authors-whose-books-i-reviewed\/","url_meta":{"origin":7988,"position":3},"title":"Dear Amazon Authors Whose Books I Reviewed","author":"Doranna","date":"1210.29","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doranna The very nice thing about taking the blog off the M\/W schedule is that if I feel like posting something oddball, I can. Like this. No doggie pics, no videos, just a bit of cold wrath. It goes like so: Dear Amazon Authors Whose Books I Reviewed: I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Backlist Ebooks"","block_context":{"text":"Backlist Ebooks","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/backlist-ebooks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":896,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/03\/22\/ego-mush\/","url_meta":{"origin":7988,"position":4},"title":"Ego Mush","author":"Doranna","date":"1003.22","format":false,"excerpt":"posted on Monday You don't know when or just how, but it's out there. The Bad Review. Let's say that again, shall we? Using the Monster Truck Announcer Voice? The BAAAAD REVYOOOOO-OO!!! Sigh. \u00a0 The one where you simply fail to connect with the reviewer. \u00a0Fail, fail, fail. Not, alas,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing"","block_context":{"text":"Writing","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Reckoners","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/doranna.net\/covers\/c.reckoners.SM.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4065,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/05\/25\/the-bargain-hunting-gene\/","url_meta":{"origin":7988,"position":5},"title":"The Bargain-Hunting Gene","author":"Doranna","date":"1105.25","format":false,"excerpt":"Gene-deep satisfaction, that's what a bargain is. I am definitely a gene-carrier. Since I got my Nook, I've discovered that I have a little thrill of interest in the boxed sets, or \"bundled\" books.\u00a0 Partly it's the savings\u2026partly it's the thrill of knowing in one fell swoop, I've gotten TWO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Backlist Ebooks"","block_context":{"text":"Backlist Ebooks","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/backlist-ebooks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Action Romance Bundle","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/c.boxedset.actionromance.2-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7988"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8000,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7988\/revisions\/8000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}