Dear humans,
The female was bad. She read a review. According to the star value, the reader really liked the book. But, the female’s trigger?
Tripped.
So, let’s talk, humans.
An author’s personal beliefs is not what they write. Stop assigning an author’s morality by what they write.
Yes, the female writes about societal issues.
All societal issues.
If it happens in society, it is fair game.
The female writes about the consequences of child marriage. She has protagonists who enter their children in betrothal agreements to protect them, because that is how this society functions.
This does not mean the female agrees with child marriage and thinks parents should enter their children into betrothal agreements to protect them.
The female has characters who have been married through arranged marriages and betrothals. These couples have found their happily ever afters.
This does not mean the female believes arranged marriages and betrothals will lead to happily ever afters.
The female has written about white, conservative males. This does not mean she is a white, conservative male.
The female has written about Asian progressive females. This does not mean she is an Asian progressive female.
The female has written about promiscuous characters. This does not mean she is promiscuous.
The female has written about monogamous characters. This does not mean she is monogamous.
What you read is not the author’s reality. Inclusion is the art of writing outside of a set box to represent everyone. This means that morality directly counter to the female’s belief is included. Sometimes it is positive. Sometimes it is negative.
Inclusion means just that: to include.
You do not have to agree with the lifestyle choice to include something in fiction in a positive fashion. You do not have to disagree with a lifestyle choice to include something in fiction in a negative fashion.
Stop assigning morality to authors. (Also, the cat is going away for a while. Author-to-Reader time. Zazzle is now busy trying to take over the world.)
Now, let’s talk racism for a moment, but likely not in a way that you think. As an author, it is very difficult to avoid accidental racism. Here is an example:
Gypped/Jipped is a highly racist word.
“That bastard gypped me!” is an example, and it means that you have been cheated because people believed the Romani (or Roma) people were cheaters and would automatically try to cheat you.
Now, the term Gypsy itself is exceptionally racist because it literally means “Person who came from Egypt.”
The Roma are from Punjab, India.
Yeah. They’re not even African, but ignorant asshats started calling them a slang term from the wrong bloody region.
P.S.: Do not call your Roma friends gypsy unless they, very directly, tell you to. And even then, you should address them by their proper heritage. For example, a Ruska Roma is a Russian Roma, so the Romas went to Russia and put down some roots there, and have remained in that area for long enough they associate their Roma heritage with Russia.
Accidental racism is using gypsy instead of Roma or Romani. Accidental racism is using the term gypped or jipped without realizing its origins.
Now, if you’re writing a racist character, and you wish to show their racism, you absolutely should make appropriate usage of racist terms. It is a part of the story, and accurately representing that is important.
That does not make the author racist if the author is accurately portraying a racist character.
That’s called good research.
Accidental racism sucks, and most of us do it.
Good people adjust their terminology. Not so good people dig in their heels and refuse to change, because why should they?
You can decide for yourself which grouping you are in. It makes no difference to me as an author. It’s just a statement of fact. (Good people change when they learn they are doing something offensive and harmful to others. Bad people refuse to change.)
I have, over time, been accidentally racist in my books. I have deliberately left those terms in some of my titles as a reminder of change. I know they are there.
They are learning opportunities.
Also, on the subject of Ruska Roma, we have likely presented something less than accurately here, for which I am sorry. And since we’re also here on the subject, Kanika’s usage of her terms was done intentionally. She uses gypsy, because she does not know better. She is aware of her heritage to only a certain degree, and no one taught her otherwise. She is proud of what she is but she is also ignorant of what she is.
Amusing fun fact: I was upset over how I wrote some of that, because I toed lines I do not like toeing.
It is my character’s morality, not my morality.
To write characters to the author’s morality alone is to have single-dimensional characters incapable of growth, books that cannot have growth, worlds that cannot have growth.
To complicate matters, being inclusive can be exceptionally difficult because no one’s experiences are the same.
Let’s take Blending In for example.
I created a mother with a son who has a variant of OCD. I spent probably ten plus hours researching this brand of OCD, reading into parenting methods for that very specific brand of OCD, and so on.
I had two readers write in, one who was absolutely furious with me because how dare that mother work with her son like she did, that parenting method is unacceptable and boys with OCD do not respond that way. The other mother thanked me for having researched the type of OCD because her son has that variant, she recognized it, and she knew and understood that is how experts recommend parents work with children with that brand of OCD.
Two people, two experiences.
But the best moment for me for that book was the reader who wrote in because she has that type of OCD and was very excited to have seen herself in my pages.
I do not have OCD. I have no idea what it’s like. All I can do is guess and do my very best to somewhat accurately portray what it might be like.
I like to believe authors do their best. We screw it up.
Take Olivia.
When I wanted to write an Asian main character, I decided she needed to be a mix. I was not ready to write a first-generation Asian woman living in America. My experiences versus hers would be difficult to ‘get right.’ Worse, I don’t personally know any first-generation Asian women. This makes me sad. But I do know plenty of second-generation Asian women with one white American parent and one Chinese parent.
I ambushed every last one of them and begged for help to understand Olivia’s household. I took the commonalities most of them shared, and I used that as the foundation for Olivia’s experiences growing up. I read online. I read about Chinese culture. I read about mixed households and the challenges the couple faced.
I read.
A lot.
I read a fucking lot. So much reading. And it was needed. I still hesitate about writing Olivia, because she is so far outside of what I know. But every time I sit down to work with her, I do my best.
That is the most important thing an author can do for those they’re trying to represent. They try their best, and with an awareness life is not the same for everybody.
I want to write diverse characters.
Writing about myself? That would be boring. My characters would be a little like this:
Get up. Drink coffee. Have stomach problems. Sigh over liking coffee. Drink tea instead. Try to drink less coffee. Read books. Read more books. Write stuff. Read. Okay I just want to read books why do I have to do the rest. Write books I want to read.
P.S.: I write books I want to read, just so I can read them later. I literally am an author because I could not find the books I wanted to read, so I started writing them. Now I read them whenever I want. Except I have more books I want to read, but I have not written them yet.
This is a constant problem, and I resent that it can take hundreds of hours to write a single book. Resent it so much.
Just stop assigning morality to authors. You look like an idiot when you do it. Stop complaining the author needs a good editor when you don’t like how they wrote the book. (There is a difference between a writer using they’re when they should have used their versus not phrasing things the way you want.)
If you don’t like how they wrote the book, write books for yourself how you want them to be written.
Just because you do not like how a book is written has nothing to do with if a book is in need of a ‘good editor.’ It has everything to do with how you’ve closed your mind to a fluid language.
Hint: regionalisms exist, and people speak and write in completely different fashions on one side of the continent than in the other. Sentence structure is different. Word choice is different.
It’s all different.
One section of the continent uses hazards.
The other uses four-ways.
Yes, the flashy doohickeys you hit when you’re warning people you’re either driving slowly or you are a hazard.
I grew up referencing them as four-ways. The first time someone used hazards, I was an adult, I had absolutely no fucking clue what my damned husband was talking about and we (a cabbie and I) had to finally point at the button to turn them on to restore clarity to the conversation.
The cabbie and I used four-ways. My husband used hazards. There was much confusion.
This is how important it is to realize that regionalisms are so ingrained into how someone speaks or writes.
My syntax, my way or writing, and my general presentation of words is a blend of five different languages. 1: American English, Mid-East Coast. 2: American English, Tennessee. 3: American English, Pennsylvania with a smattering of Jersey and New York (Bronx, if you please.) 4: Canadian English 5: Quebecois.
Yes, American English by region may as well be a different language at times. I’m now picking up language #6: Californian English.
The syntax, the accents, the way of phrasing varies fairly spectacularly between these six regions. For example, ‘to be’ is commonly dropped in two of the six regions I have lived in. It is up in the air in a third region. The other two regions religiously include it and will hang you from the nearest tree should you drop it. Yeah. “This needs to be washed” versus “This needs washed.” Both are 100% correct depending on region.
Please note I avoided the term lynched. It’s pretty damned racist. (This is one I struggle with, because it’s so ingrained in two of the regions I lived in for a damned long time.)
People from the “This needs to be washed” regions are far more likely to be unaccepting of other regionalisms, so I tend to include the to be washed because honestly, they just can’t handle it being excluded.
I love my readers, but if you could kindly relax a little regarding this linguistic regionalism, I would be very appreciated.
How to get jumped in a hurry: drop a to be.
So, yeah. Be aware.
If you think a book needs ‘a good editor,’ please take the time to decide if the book actually needs a good editor, or if you’re actually upset because that’s not how you would have written it.
In the needs a good editor category: the author uses they’re instead of their frequently.
In the ‘not how you would have written it’ category: the author drops to be when you prefer when it is used. (And sometimes, to be is necessary, and excluding it IS an error. But in the instance of “this needs to be washed” versus “this needs washed” it is a matter of regional preference.
I just got tired of being yelled at over it. (Also, it is worth mentioning, those from the region who drop the ‘to be’ do not get upset over its inclusion.)
Food for thought.
Please enjoy this picture of my food, and have a good night.
Take a chill pill guys. It’s fiction for God’s sake.
We think this often, but for some reason, it’s usually bad form for the author to say it…
Everything you’ve said is true. I write about characters being executed for their crimes, and I don’t believe in the death penalty. I also write about characters who are Racist and Xenophobic in nature and I don’t believe in their hatred towards the people or species that they hate.
I have exceptions for the death penalty. Pedophiles deserve the death penalty. If some fuck raped a child, they should be slowly tortured and then killed.
I am unwilling to budge from this issue. I’ll buy the torture implements and help.
It’s the one instance I’m REALLY not a nice person.
So totally agree!
I love reading your rants! They are so delightfully colorful. And very truthful, having lived in the north for most of my life I never think about how regional our speech is. But then someone says something about language I kept from my time living in Texas. Give me a break. People are stupid about the weirdest things. And Yes!! The death penalty for child molesters!! I like the idea of a pine stump rusty can lid and fire myself.
I didn’t know about the regional dropping of “to be”. English remains “the language with no rules”. Thank you for writing the books I would have to write otherwise. You do a far better job.
Thank you. For the books and for the lessons. I’m born and raised Texan. So I like to read books that have different “ speakers” so to say. As for Blending In? It’s one of my favorite books? Why? I raised a special needs child and none of them are the same what works for one doesn’t for another and the wrapping paper thing? Yeah that’s something I would of done to teach a lesson.
I M sorry that little minded people wrote to you about their issues with your books. The books are not real life. (Though would love a cindercorn). I read for pleasure and to get a different view from my own. I own everything you have written and am getting the audios.
Reviews are just people opinions and most people will only write about what makes them made.
Please keep up the good work with everything you write. Love them.
Takes your time and don’t get too sick on coffee. (I shouldn’t have it either but I do)
I live down under and there are many words and sentences used by US authors that have pulled me out of a book until I realised what was meant by the word or sentence due to the context. This does not stop me from enjoying the book It is just a minor inconvenience I have since adapted to. Enjoy the book or read other choice is always yours.
When I was in high school, an Aussie came over as part of a student exchange program, attending a convention I went to for high school and college students. We needed a translator for the first while of it because we just could NOT understand each other. At all. But then he learned American English, and we started to figure out Australian English. Yet, both English.
At the age of 10 I came into an east coast elementary school from an english model school in Japan. There was major linguistic and cultural dissonance made worse because as a US born kit it was assumed that of course I would speak and react as like everyone else.. I had none of the background cultural references at all, and as a kid I also assumed that I was on the same wave length as everyone else.
I was thinking you should write a book in Australian English to really blow their minds, before reading these comments. Also it is not just English. The Swahili I learned growing up in Tanzania was slightly different than the Swahili at the boarding school I went to in Kenya. My sister and her husband have lived in several Arabic speaking countries and they always have to learn the regional way to talk.
I actually CAN write in Australian English for the most part. When I was a freelancer, I was hired to write the content for an Australian university, so I had to adapt my English for the university. I’ve also done extensive writing for British clients as well, and had to adapt my English for that audience.
Both projects were… something. It was very, very rough. I learned a LOT about Australian and British culture from having to mimic their form of English. And the clients were super sweet, so when I DID get something wrong, I got a quick cultural lesson, and I fixed the specifics; there weren’t too many of them, but it was quite a challenge.
The languages are very, very different.
I’m an Auzzie, I live in Tazzie, and I like most of your books. I’d be happy to read an Australian character as done by you.
I understand regionalist generalisations too. I can’t stand when an author writes a character from Sydney and then gives them the vocal vernacular of some famous Queenslander that spoke over the top ‘strayan (the common term used by Auzzie media for someone who uses a lot of contractions, colloquialisms and General Auzzie ‘isms’) as beloved to some as he may have been. We don’t all speak the same. Tasmanian speech when heard by a Queenslander sounds fast and overly English. To people from Tazzie, the Queenslanders sound slow and possibly even like they might be from New Zealand. Haha. I love the sense of humour you imbue into your work. Life is full of stress, if only people could accept their foibles with as much laughter as your characters produce then I would have a lighter heart. Thanks for your writing and your understanding about differences. Something I practice when I am reading is suspension of belief because I clearly don’t live in a world where nuclear weapons created magical human beings (nice premise there by the way, love it.), but I love reading about people who do live in that world and all it entails. Beatrix Potter obviously wasn’t read to the people who can’t understand the difference between reality and suspension of it for a story. You’re awesome. Can’t wait for more of the zodiac series or even the royal states. Or , the romance with a body count series. I need a bit of magic in my life. Thanks for bringing it.
It never ceases to amaze me how numerous are people who just can’t get over themselves. I had an aunt who asked me to “carry her back to the farm.” not just give her a ride. I need to get another beehive. You need a gallon.
I noticed the dropping of “to be”, and sent you a message on your Facebook page. I hadn’t heard it before. But once I knew what it was, it was easy to read it. I have an OCD father and husband. You were right on! Now, I am a middle American white woman of a town with lots of Hispanics and few Blacks or Asians. Reading your books have given me insight that I hope will help in the future, as my town becomes more interracial. Keep up the good work!
And THIS post is why I love and respect the HELL out of you as an author.
I don’t know many other writers who handle writing stories so well, factoring in regional influences on language, much less having a clear boundary between themselves (who they are / their beliefs) and their writing (themes and characters).
I’ve always been impressed by this side of your writing skill set. My favorite skill set you do: show, don’t tell writing style. It’s such a relief to read.
Fastest way to lose my interest as a reader: tell me a story, don’t show it to me. I get SO bored when people tell in books. It’s like… I… I want to figure out the story. Be clever, authors. Show me shit. Allow me to infer meaning. Let me interpret their emotions through their reactions.
The last Grade I completed in school was the third grade. I never learned the fundamentals of writing yet I have two books published. I am trying my hardest to write stories that people would want to read.
I used to work for a woman who was first generation Chinese American. She ran a scientific publishing company. She married an Irishman from Boston. Her family was from Hong Kong, but she grew up in India! All over the British empire.
I’m not familiar with Olivia. Which book/series does she belong to? I’m pretty sure she’s not the princess from Montana.
I am in awe of how much you write. Part of me wants you to be successful enough to write less and be less stressed, but another, smaller part is selfish and wants all the books and more!
And part of me is rather worried about Zazzle taking over the world…
Olivia is the lead character from Hypnos, the first book of the Seeking the Zodiacs series. 🙂
It’s a shame so many people live to be offended, and to dump their ire on you.
Personally, I love your stories, and am eager for whatever you choose to write, since I have no doubt that I will enjoy it no matter the subject. You continually manage to amaze me with the breadth of your imagination. Thank you.
And please try not to let the negative people get you down. There are just people out there that will not be satisfied, and being unsatisfied, feel the need to share.
Olivia rocks. I just finished the audio book of Hypnos the third time. I find something new every time I listen to the book
I have been stumped a couple of times, shake my head and move on. Here in Australia, that phrase would be “This needs washing” just to be a picky PITA 🙂
snicker – in parts of southern US as well – ‘that needs washing’ is correct
I am originally/family from Louisiana, lived in North Carolina, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, New York, Alabama, Maryland while growing up, for school and for work (and now work with a lot of folks from around world, especially UK, so even more confused). My word choices and phrasing are a mess (spelling was never my strong point, and working with UK has not helped). My husband loves accents and regional variations in speech and is always trying to figure out where things I say come from. He also likes to try to figure out the same in folks he meets, but many can be offended if you ask someone you meet randomly where they are from, so he doesn’t ask nearly as often as he would like to remain polite.
Anyhow, Louisiana English is different than the rest of the south – many in northeast thought my mom was from UK or something because they couldn’t figure it out. So many differences in US alone.
Again, regional stuff, ‘needs to be washed’ is valid in my part of Australia. Some of it also may come down to socio-economic background too. Who knows. It’s great we can all be who we are.
you are absolutely correct. books stand as written and i love yours
thank you so much for writing
I grew up in rural northeast Ohio and then moved to Central Illinois for a few years. The one regionalism that has stuck with me even 35 years later is “shut the lights”. This means to turn off the lights. “Shut off the lights” would have even worked better in my brain. This may not even be a regionalism but a much smaller localism. I have never heard it anywhere else, but everyone in that town used it.
I love your books and have them all. I have preordered everything available. Please don’t let negative people stop you from doing what you, and we, love.
I use shut the lights/shut off the lights. I have lived in Maryland, Canada, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and California.
Being French Canadian, we say shut off and open the lights.
I am so sorry people are morons. I love your books I look forward to each and every one of them. My family has a long history of being grammar nazis. However we understand not everyone speaks Ontarian Canadian.
How could they, most of Canada is similar in English language but our east coast has a bunch of dialects. I do know that there are a ton of french varieties through out the entire country. Let alone the U.S. where there are a ton of regional dialects.
People need to get over themselves if authors only wrote what they are comfortable with how would we know about the uncomfortable. If no one ever wrote about it we would have no idea it’s out there. ( i am talking about child marriage laws here.) You have helped by letting everyone know it is still a thing even in so called first world countries. So I say ignore those who don’t get it the rest of us LOVE you the cats and your books, I bet there are more of us than them.
And British books published in the US are changing, because people are morons and can’t figure out that a jumper is a sweater, a lorry is a truck and a boot is the trunk!
In Michigan they’re all-flashes, pops have carbonation and suckers are both fish and sweet treats.
Well, yes. Here’s the thing; if you’re writing for a region, you do need to use language that region can at least understand. That does mean if you’re targeting the US and you’re British, you may have to adapt terminology. I open my books to British folks and expect them to completely negatively review my titles because I don’t write in a way that is coherent to them. That’s completely normal.
US English and British English are quite different. If you’re British and writing for a British audience, that’s marvelous. If you release the book to the US or another variant English-speaking language, you will be reviewed negatively because you’re not using terminology, syntax, and grammar that is familiar or accepted to them. Even regionalism in various forms of the US is problematic.
It’s part of being an author–and vendors allow authors to release different versions for different regions. I opt against spending the time to translate for British readers or Australian readers. I pay for that in negative reviews and commentary from those markets because I did NOT take the time to translate.
And that’s fine. I’m using a different version of the language than they are accustomed to.
I wish there was a like button. I totally agree Author! I, as a reader, if I don’t understand the vernacular used in the book, look for where it was published and then set my head in to ‘right this reality is in the U.S. don’t expect Australian English’ or wherever it is set. People are weird. We don’t watch movies and expect them to suddenly be set where we live so we can understand them. We watch Harry Potter and expect that cupboard under the stairs to be in the UK. Keep writing. I love how wherever you set your book is more than 2d. Xx and rant or no, I think your opinions are pretty reasonable.
Thank you for saying what a lot of people won’t. You write what I want to read and you do it extremely well. Personally if I don’t like a book, I don’t complain in a comment. It just wasn’t for me and I move on.
Keep on reading and writing and know I’ll be there for everything you write.
My book would be get up, work, grab lunch, read for 15 minutes, go back to work, keep working, cook dinner, eat dinner, clean up from dinner, try to read, go to bed. Rinse and Repeat. Weekends Lawn and Laundry.
I have always been amazed at how much research you do. Not just because you do it, but because you then turn that research into stories and publish so many of them — all using different research!
Yes, I want to be you (as an author) when I grow up.
When you started talking about hazards and 4-ways, I realized I used both. Not sure why (Pittsburgh, cental/western NY person). I always get a chuckle because I have used soda and pop, but the darn NH Tonic really threw me for a loop.
We all have accidental racism. Even as a minority, I know there are things I use that others would call me out on (always used lynched, interestingly) because that is how we grew up/ are distanced from. I wrote a character that was very dark-skinned but got lighter over time as we understood him and thought of him better. That is the thinking in the African-American community I grew up in that lighter is better. Someone pointed it out to me because I was blind to that fact (can you say rewrite? Yes, I can). So much of how we live and were brought up influences how we speak, even if the intention is not there. Which circles back to — once pointed out, do we change or dig in and continue to use the terms.
Change is good. Change often brings growth.
I am so sorry your “rant” needed to be said ?. I love reading your books – the hilarity juxtaposed with various societal challenges . It allows me to “what if” without having to overthink, or dwell on graphic Images of ugliness. I very much appreciate you describing some of the regional “dialects” and differences in names and grammatical “rules”. Differences are interesting, “the spice of life” and fun to discover/think about. I wouldn’t even think of criticizing nor “advising” you about how you do/did things unless you specifically asked me for my input. I hope you and Zazzle and “et al” can find some joy and relaxation. Life is so very precious when we get to stop and recognize it. Be well ??
I am from Central Pennsylvania & never thought of myself as having a Pennsylvania accent until I moved to Maryland for a while after graduating from high school. The people there would comment on my accent. To me they had the accent.
Thanks for the reminder about the word “gypsy.” I’d learned that before, but forgot in a story I’m writing. I had time to go back and take all those references out.
People need to remember we call writing fiction for a reason. I write mysteries, but have never personally killed anyone.
I don’t understand people. These books are not real life (although I agree that cindercorns would be awesome in real life). These books are not found under the non-fiction section. Why would you think that this is something like an autobiography of the author. Imagination and creativity. And that is what you get when you pick up these books. When I read a story like Blending In, Hypnos, or any of the other books (BTW, loved Dawn of the Dea), I read it to be entertained, to make me feel whether it makes me laugh or cry (and I have cried sometimes when reading it), and to most of all, take a break from the daily grind of life. If you don’t like it, stop reading the dang thing.
As for not being able to pick up phrases used by the author, it’s called using the context. If you really think British English is hard to understand, try Hawaiian Pidgin. How they can use 3 words (go, stay, come) to have a whole conversation is amazing. I literally have heard conversations in my classroom like this.
Student A:Eh, you stay go come?
Student B: Yeah, I stay go.
Student A: Okay, if you stay go come, and I stay go, you go stay til I go stay come.
Bring it on! You can keep your torches, boxes, and lorrys British English. My students can figure out when they are going to do after school using only 11 different words. Snap!
When I worked in a bookstore I was appalled at the considerable number of people who thought that the fiction section had books that ‘were about true things’ and that non-fiction was ‘made up’.
It did explain a lot about the dire state of the world though.
A nice rant – thanks for taking the time to write it out for us.
Regionalisms: I think that “standard American” usages are getting less dominant, perhaps due to the reduced dominance of broadcast TV. I love reading authors with usages I’m not familiar with, such as Susie Tate (romance with Britslang and medspeak) – but not all readers feel this way.
Racism: there are ugly bones at the bottom of our ocean, and it’s hard to avoid all of them. Racists (understandably) like usages which make their worldview seem normal, and I think that fiction which exposes those ploys is valuable.
You’re on my “buy everything” list, though your flood of wonderful invention makes that expensive! Thanks, and please keep it up.
I read books from all over the globe. Canada, England, Australia, Japan, USA etc the language helps me feel like i’m there it helps get into the story. If everyone in books spoke like me it would suck and be inauthentic. People need to get over themselves and maybe learn about the places books take place.
“The female was bad. She read a review.”
Were they polite?
Did they make a point that was within the boundaries of a reader suggesting something they believe would be valuable input to the author?
Were they open to learning and discussion?
You seem to agree that people can make mistakes.
You don’t appear to allow your readers who comment to do the same.
They posted a review on a commercial site. It’s for other consumers. They can post what they want.
That does not mean I have to agree with them. This has nothing to do with making mistakes. It has everything to do with this reviewer assigning morality to me. Which is incorrect. I addressed it from my point of view, on my blog. I did not address it directly to them, nor will I.
It doesn’t matter if they were polite. They assigned a morality to me. One that’s incorrect.
It doesn’t matter if they ‘made a point within the boundaries of a reader suggesting something.’ Commercial sites are not platforms for reviewers to contact the author. It’s a place for reviewers to tell other readers what they thought of the book.
Once again, it doesn’t matter if they are open to learning and discussion. They posted a review on a place authors are not supposed to discuss with them.
I think you’re confused over how reviews on commercial sites work. That’s a shame.
Good luck, and I hope you find books you love.
Also, in future, be aware that I do not normally allow anonymous people to post comments to the blog, but since you weren’t precisely rude, I’m permitting your comment this time.
Next time, I will not.
Anonymous posting is usually the domain of trolls. I’m not necessarily assuming you’re being a troll, although your inability or unwillingness to discuss openly leads me to believe certain things about you.
I am an avid reader, have over 2000 books in my audible library. I do not understand people who read a book, get their knickers in a knot because it’s something they don’t like or agree with. Why not just quit reading it? There are genres I don’t care for, I simply skip them and go on to something I will like, whether I agree with author or not. It’s fiction people. Get over it. I learn something with every book I read, even if it’s the fact I either love or hate the author, will buy more or never buy another. By the way, I am a fan and own all of her books.
I really don’t know. I tend to do three strikes because sometimes I will just dislike a book but love the next. After three strikes (in a row) of lack of interest or what not, I’m done and don’t tend to come back, because at that point, there are enough books I *don’t* like to make me want to deal with “will I like it or won’t I like it?”
And yeah, I totally expect readers to do that with my books. And that’s fine. They’re not for that specific person.
Can I just give you two thumbs up!!!!
I love your stories! Love how you write them. I agree with everything you have said here but some people just need to complain about something. (that is just my opinion). I would also like to say if what you write and the way you write offends someone, then they have the right to not continue reading. Duh!
I for one am very glad for you and your stories 🙂
thank you
I am probably saying it wrong, but I want more of the Ruska Roma, Egyptian queen of the mummies! There is so much room to continue Kanika’s story!