I've heard some writers say they do not read reviews of their own work. I don't think I could do it.
Seven years ago, my book All In got a savage review in Quill & Quire, widely considered the top journal in the Canadian book industry. One of my friends, author Elaine Kalman Naves (I mention her because she's going to turn up again in today's blog entry) advised me not to read the review. So I didn't -- at least not for several years. (By the way, I feel compelled to tell you that the book was later shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Crime-Writing Prize, and has been published in French by Courte Echelle. See! Even the fact that I told you all that shows I haven't quite recovered from the sting.)
Now back to Elaine... she is also the friend who once told me, "A writer needs a thin skin to be sensitive to the world around her (or him); but a writer also needs a thick skin to deal with the business of writing." Great advice, don't you agree? Only sometimes it's a little tricky to implement....
Like today when I learned that Quill & Quire reviewed my latest novel, So Much It Hurts, in their July/August issue....
Could I be one of those writers who ignores reviews? I didn't think so.
Could I have a thin skin and a thick skin at the same time? I hoped so.
It turns out that Quill & Quire's Liane Shaw gave my book a thumbs up. Here's what she had to say about it: "So Much It Hurts provides a detailed anatomy of a young girl's descent into the nightmare of an abusive relationship that is both accessible and thought provoking."
Every book an author writes means a lot to the author. How couldn't it? We spend months, sometimes years, working on our stories. Because So Much It Hurts was inspired by true events, it's extra close to my heart. Over the next few months, reviews of the book will be rolling in. In the mean time, I will work on keeping my skin thin and thick... and on continuing to tell more stories.