The Day I Felt Like Mic Jagger by Vonnie Davis

I'd been writing toward the magic words of THE END on book two of my "Black Eagle Ops" series. According to my bullet list, this past weekend should have been the completion of HERS TO HEAL. I could feel the sigh of relief building. Calvin had promised me a celebratory meal out. I was more than ready for free time. Mental rejuvenation time.

After all, I'd been writing this book from ten am until eight or nine pm seven days a week for three months. I was more than ready for a break.

The hero's proposal had been offered and accepted. Then a couple hours later, the hero tells the heroine about his new job. I figured she'd be happy. But was she? No-o-o-o-o! In fact, she inhaled a heated breath of air and hurled--hurled, mind you--orders for him to refuse the job. "No!" I screamed at the computer screen. "If you say that, he'll walk out." And, of course, she said it and was shocked when the door slammed in her face.

I glanced at my bullet list taped next to me. I had three scenes to write. I did not have time for this foolishness. I stalked to the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee to wash down headache medicine. And Mic Jagger came on the oldies radio station I play on low.

I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down, to my feet and I saw they bled
Yeah, sure and I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread, sure
Yeah, I was crowned with a spike right through my head
But it's all right now, in fact it's a gas
But it's all right
I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas, gas, gas
(** Lyrics by Mic Jagger and Keith Richards)

So, is HERS TO HEAL finished? Well, no...not quite. I get a shot in my retina at 11:30 today. Between the shot and 5 different types of eye drops, my vision will be done for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow. I'm hoping tomorrow will be the magic day. Then not only will I sing Mic's song, but with a banana in my hand like a microphone, I'm strutting and prancing through my kitchen singing...

 

Well, it was Wednesday when the sun shone upon my head. Yeah.

And I finally put that dratted book to bed. Yeah.

So, it's all right, now, now that it's done.

'Cause I'm a Romance Writer,
Where, where, where is my choc-OH-lat? 

Vonnie Davis writes contemporary and contemporary paranormal romance all with a splash of suspense and a dollop of humor. She likens herself to a freshly baked croissant: Warm, crusty, wrinkled, a tad flaky and best served with strong coffee. Visit her on www.vonniedavis.com  

Reviews -- The Blessing and Bane of a Writer's Existence by Vonnie Davis

I'm a proud owner of a Kindle so, no, I'm not enamored of the smell and feel of books. Having packed thirty-one boxes of books to move from one state to another kind of ended my love affair with short and heavy tomes. Not to say Calvin and I are book hoarders, but we still had books from college and those we read at bedtime to the kids. Yeah, it was time for me to switch to something lighter.

So when I shop online for eBooks, I read reviews. I notice the number of reviews, but it's not a deal breaker. I read three of the top reviews and two of the lower ones and make my decision to click or not click.

Reviews can make or break a writer's sales.

Or so we tell ourselves.

I've been blessed with many good reviews ... and not so blessed by bad. Some of them I deserved and learned from. A well-written bad review can spur a writer to do better next time. After all, I'm not a perfect writer. Weaknesses abound. I mean, I'd like to think I'm like Mic Jagger, getting better with age but, sadly, I'm not.

 I do have a tendency to end the book on a sudden note. As a reader, I like a quick start, a quick ending, and I don't need my hand held with a bridge from one scene to another. But that's me. As a writer, I have to consider my readers and give them the long drawn out, emotion-filled ending they seem to want. If I don't, I'll get reviews like "That's it? Really? After this romance you want to end it on a dime? Really? You ruined this book for me!"

Then there was the reader who claimed I'd made my heroine weepy. "She cried sixty-five times." What did the reader do? Keep a tally? Even I would have noticed sixty-five crying spells. I had a review of another book where the reader said, "I can't stand stories where infertility is magically healed." What? Never once did I say the heroine could not have children. She'd lost two babies because of an abusive husband who beat her.

I dislike it when a reader attacks the author instead of the book. I've been called dumb, uneducated, untalented, too lazy to do research (oh, if only she could see my research files), over-sexed *cough* ... okay, we'll gloss over that one.

My editor was thrilled there were three-hundred and fifty requests for BEARING IT ALL through NetGalley before its release. She actually believed I'd get that number of reviews. The first two that came in were two-stars. Ouch. Sales skidded.

Several said I stretched the bounds of believability--it was a paranormal, y'all. Bear-shifters done my way. Did I get three-hundred and fifty reviews? No. Three-hundred? I wish. Two-hundred? Can a grown woman cry here? Last week, the book just got it's sixtieth review. I nearly dropped to my knees in gratitude.

Free reads does not guarantee happy readers. It seems to bring out their snarky side. Do I review every book I read? Only if I can leave a good to average one. I know the effort that goes into writing a book. It's not in my nature to bash another writer. If a book was a "did not finish" for me, I'm not reviewing it--and I do this for two reasons. I don't want to hurt another person's feelings and it can be career suicide for me to leave a bad review for another. The writer's posse or fan club may gang up on me and leave a bazillion one-star reviews. While it doesn't seem fair we can be battered in reviews, but cannot express our true feelings without fear of reprisal, it is becoming more and more the nature of the business. And that saddens me.

 

 

THE SIXTY REVIEW WONDER

 

http://amzn.com/B00TCI2A5E