Writers aren't supposed to care about reviews. We're supposed to be above that, dedicating ourselves only to creating the best work possible, understanding that a reviewer's opinion represents only one person, loftily standing as the voice of truth against the clamoring voices of critics who (like the old adage about teachers) critique because they can't write...
Bullshit.
We care. Even those who refuse to read their own reviews, care (or else they wouldn't be so affected by reviews that they refuse to read them). And the first review to appear about a book is usually the influential Publisher's Weekly. So when I got an email today from Tachyon with the subject head "PW review of DOGS," I could feel my stomach drop to approximately my ankles. But the news was good, and since my high from it has not yet worn off, I hope you'll forgive the self-indulgence of sharing the review of my upcoming thriller with all of you:
Dogs Nancy Kress. Tachyon ( www.tachyonpublications.com), $14.95 paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-892391-78-0Hugo- and Nebula-winner Kress (Beggar's Ride) offers a spine-chilling, suspense-laden story of pets turned unwitting killers. Why are previously well-behaved pet dogs in rural Tyler, Md., turning on their owners and biting them? What is it that makes the dog bites so lethal? And what about these random events makes the Feds so touchy? Former FBI agent Tessa Sanderson, a dog owner and recent widow who just moved to Tyler, wants to know, and insists on helping Jess Langstrom, a longtime resident of Tyler and its chief animal control officer, to investigate, even as the FBI begins investigating her for suspected links to terrorist organizations. Together and separately, Tessa and Jess track down the answers to Tyler's frightening human and animal crisis. Kress brings her thorough knowledge of genetics and biology to bear in this nicely creepy thriller. (July)
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Thanks for indulging me!
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5 comments:
But, but, but what about the DOGS???? What happens to THEM???? :) I loved FORBIDDEN AGE - Does that count? Okay - so I'm not a critic - like you said, it's one person's opinion. but... the little dogs.... Person's best friend.....
Dolly--
If you want to know what happens to the dogs, you'll have to read the book. I hope you will!
But they're dogs, dogs! How could you be so insensitive!
So, what will the dog wrangler budget be like for the movie?
Every creative is "needy." LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU! PLEASE LOVE ME! Anyone who says he or she writes, composes, paints, etc., for any other reason is kidding themself. Jerry Pournelle expressed it =precisely= back in the '80s: (paraphrasing) "I can read glowing reviews of my new book everywhere, but if I get a fanzine with a readership of =30=, and the reviewer didn't like it, that bothers me. It bothers me all day."
It's like telling a mother, her baby is ugly.
I never read my reviews, and I really do not care. I read them early on, and found even the glowing reviews bore me to death.
I do care about fan letters, but reviews? No.
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