Some authors avoid reviews altogether, but I don't think I could. I've got to learn from them, and, besides, it's great when a reader reacts positively to something that is important to you as a writer. Here's an example from a reader review of SECRETS VOLUME 15 on Amazon, which reports something that meant a lot to me, on a personal goals level. Saskia Walker did a fantastic job with "Falling for Trouble," intertwining a credible suspense plot and a romantic one, especially considering the short length of the story. It's tough to satisfy my standards when it comes to characters being thrown into life-threatening situations. Too often a woman miraculously knows how to fight off someone as if she's developed the physical skill by just watching action flicks, but Sonia acts and reacts in a completely believable way.
This really pleased me. When I write I try to create escapist ficion with realistic, believable characters who are plunged into unexpected, crazy or unusual circumstances. Exploring how they react to those circumstances and making their reactions credible as the plot unfolds is the character journey/growth part. This comment showed me I've managed to achieve something that is one of my main goals. Well, for that reader, at least ;-) I'm always very insecure about my writing, so feedback and things like this mean a lot to me. I hope I can make all my characters come across as well as Sonia did to this reader. And on that note, must get back to the two shorts I am working on, before I can kick off with the July/August writing schedule.
