Manifestation and Why Even Sucky Reviews Are Great.

One of the exciting things about releasing a novel to the wild (or to the reading public) is that someone, somewhere, will read it – and hopefully review it. 

From a pure promotional standpoint this is huge. I mean, reviews are king in movies, music, restaurants, TV shows, and of course, books. People are less and less likely to part with their hard earned samolians unless they know the product is good. With the rising price of movies, I need to admit that I rely more and more on reviews before I will actually drop the wad of cash down to see something in the theatre. And it just isn't any review - it has to be from a reviewer I respect. There are a few friends that if they tell me to go see a movie, I will seriously consider it (but there are few). Same goes with journalists. I am very wary of the ones writing for newspapers that I wouldn't line my budgie cage with - and I don't even have a budgie!!!

I digress.

Often.

Short of the late Pauline Kael (for whom I would trust to tell me to go watch paint dry... because I know it would be interesting), there are very few movie reviewers that I listen to.

So back to my orginal point of the excitement of book reviews. For me, it goes beyond the whole promo thing, and hoping that a good review will separate readers from their credit cards. Wait, does that make sense? Basically, to go and buy the fucking book is what I am trying to say.

For me, truthfully, it is about finishing the work. The end of the artistic process is when someone else responds to it. The work is not complete until that happens. The fancy-schmancy term is manifestation. Or maybe just, releasing the work into the wild. As I've said at other times, these characters have been in my head for quite some time, years even. How about they go into your head for a while?

Now, this manifestation does not always lead to people loving the work. There is always a chance (and it's a high one, no it's not even a chance) that someone will hate it. And they will tell you. And they will use nasty words like, wooden, cliché, boring, or just plain old shitty. But even this has a value. People have read the work and responded. It makes the work alive. It completes the process. 

That may be a touch to esoteric - but I have been thinking a lot about this manifestation. The other day I received probably my favorite review thus far. That is not to lessen any of the others (I love you all!!!) But C.E. Welsh's review responded to the work in a way that broadened my understanding of the book I'd written.

From the review:

Sometimes the minimal approach missed with me. There were a couple of points where I wanted just a bit more explanation to make sure what I thought was going on was what was actually going on. But, really, just a couple of points - the rest of the time Terlson's approach is a tool, a paintbrush he uses to paint this world that is exactly like our world, except for those strange moments when it isn't.

This makes me consider how I write - the stories I tell, and the way I tell them. But better than that, it takes a step back and shows me what I am painting. Being so close to Correction Line over the years, this has been increasingly difficult to do.

There is a lot more in the review that I have been chewing over - and in the best of ways. 

I want to thank C.E.L. Welsh for his wonderful review, but even more so, for helping complete the work.

Read the whole review here.