rough passages

We are are launch plus two weeks & two days since The Sharp Edge of Yesterday released, and it has TWO 5-star ratings on Amazon now! It may have had the second one for a while, but there’s no review with it, so I didn’t see an alert. That may be small potaotes in the the greater world of publishing, even for indie authors, but hey, I knew my audience reach would be tiny from the get-go. Two ratings is a third of the way to the lifetime total for some of my other books.

Today also a BIG THANKS day to the folks who’ve finished the book already & reached out to say they loved it. (or enjoyed it, or at least were satisfied by it.)

Positive feedback does soothe my constantly-jangling “BUT WHAT IF NO ONE LOVES IT LIKE I DO?” nerves. I don’t doubt the quality of my writing. I don’t doubt its appeal as a general concept. But no story is ever fully complete without an audience, and I have no way of gauging whether a given story will touch many hearts, or only mine.

Fun fact 1: writers do not know if you’ve read their works unless you tell them. That’s one of the emotional reasons reviews are important. A sentence or two like, “I loved the banter and the descriptions,” or “some of the scenes made me really laugh” are more than marketing tools. They’re replies to the message in a bottle that we set drifting away from our little isolated islands.

Fun Fact 2: in my case, if you do not bring up the fact that you’ve read my writing, I will never ask. Even if you told me you planned to read a thing, I don’t remember. My brain is a sieve. Not a joke. Even if you’ve told me (multiple times) that you’ve read ALL my work and love all my characters, unless we are in regular communication about writing, and/or you’ve been a beta reader for me, I WILL forget between interactions.

I can apologize for that all day long, because it’s probably hurtful, but I can’t change my brain, and my brain capacity for “who’s read my books?” is a constantly shifting list of about two dozen people. It’s like I can juggle

How bad is it? Welp, I forgot Spouseman had read Weaving In the Ends, and I’m married to him

One small fringe benefit: my memory issue gives everyone in my life the easiest of easy outs for avoiding book-related social awkwardness.

I hope everyone I know is reading my books. I hope you love them. BUT. There will be no quiz, no assigned book report, no interrogation. While I do absolutely love to gush over my stories with readers, no matter how much I am bursting to talk about the fabulous things my characters do, to discuss the deeper themes, and the direction the series is going… I won’t start those conversations.

People seem to think I’m going to ask, “Have you read my new book” or “How did you like my book?” because they preemptively inform me that they are going to read one, or offer me excuses for not finishing one they told me they were going to read.

I won’t ask. Ever. Those are two of the the most painfully awkward questions imaginable. Forcing people to make excuses or find something Painfully Positive & Reassuring like “it was interesting, but I’m just so busy right now” or “it didn’t grab me, but it was well written,” is about as appealing as stabbing myself in the eyeballs.

No, thank you. Stilted, forced compliments might as well be gut punches to people have rejection sensitivity issues (THANKS FOR NOTHING, ADHD) And the idea of pushing someone into promising a read out of social guilt makes me feel filthy.

ANYway. I loathe making people feel cornered, so I won’t do it. If someone has DNF’d (did not finish) a book of mine or was totally unimpressed, that’s their business and none of mine. No book is right for everyone, and no one should dhave to feel like they need to justify their reading or non-reading. Period. No need to apologize for not reading my books or for not liking them. It’s easy to let forgotten dogs lie, so to speak.

If you’re planning to read Sharp Edge or any of my other books, I am ecstatic for you. I write fantastic books. They will give you Big Feels and make you ponder important Life Stuff. I want the whole WORLD to

And if you want to talk, hit me up.

All that, in summary, is why I am so wildly, gloriously grateful to everyone who does reach out to share moments of squee or tidbits of joy re:my books. Every share is a fresh, lovely surprise and a big boost to my confidence. I truly am thankful for all my readers & love you all.

Even if I don’t remember the specifics for long.

And that’s all until later, except for the wrap-up ads. (buy my wonderful books, join the Exclusive Good Stuff mailing list, etc, etc.)