Reviews - The Ultimate Motivation

Your manuscript is both good and original, but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.

Samuel Johnson

I received a fantastic review from a friend recently. Paraphrased it went something like this:

I’m glad I finally decided to read your book—the characterisation and sex were great. I might even have teared up once or twice… but I just got my period too, so I was emotionally challenged.

This is probably my most favourite review ever! There's nothing like a good writing buddy to lend their full  support... while keeping your ego in check :). It's all about balance, people.

Meanwhile I got a few lovely (unqualified lovely) reviews over at Amazon. I don't usually post such things or even go looking for them, but I was checking my book links etc. the other day and was so pleased with a couple of quotes in particular I thought I'd share them:

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I was expecting a bit of fluff book to pass the evening hours.....this book was great,and one I may reread on a cold winters night!

(as I know I only keep my absolute favourite books on hand for cold winter nights, I take this as a special kind of compliment! Thanks Karen)

and

I really enjoyed this author and I loved the way she wrote the sex scenes. You really felt what the characters were experiencing and the emotions of the scene came through loud and clear. Write some more books Sami!

(I'm trying, really I am, zzrole).

I do get the occasional thumbs down on Amazon and other such places, but I find comments like this buoy my writer's spirit so much the occasional bad review doesn't have the kind of power it could have. So today's lesson for any readers out there is this: if you read a book and truly love it, or even have anything positive to say about it and you have the time to say it, please do. It does wonders for a writer's motivation to know someone is going to keep your book as a cold winter's night reread, let me tell you. This is a big part of what keeps us writing.

Thanks to all those who take the time.

Sami

To Read or not to Read

Anne Scott, my superstar Samhain editor, recently wrote an interesting post on her blog about reviews and whether or not an author should read their own. You can read it here. The basic idea seems to be don't read them if they upset you, definitely don't respond to a negative review i.e. email or post a diatribe about how the reviewer just doesn't understand you--BIG no no--and don't take negative reviews personally.

I agree with all this. But when you get a positive review? Hell--read it, bask in it, then POST THAT SUCKER AS BIG AS YOU CAN!!! Here's what Ammie from The Romance Studio had to say about Sunset Knight:

"Sami Lee has a beautiful, erotic tale of love overcoming obstacles. I absolutely loved this book! It was exciting and touching. The characters are wonderful. Sami does a good job of making you feel like you personally know each one... more good stuff here, edited because there's just too much good stuff. I'm brilliant, let's face it. So here's the link to the full review. ...I really liked the way all the emotions were so well written. During some of the scenes where Lana is going through her heartache, my eyes actually watered. Now that is pulling you into the story."

Five hearts, Ammie, The Romance Studio.

I love it when I make people cry--is that wrong?

Sami

A Nice Review

I got a great review for Sunset Knight over at Fallen Angel. Thanks for the boost Rachel C!

"Ms. Lee didn't disappoint me at all with this story of good girl meets bad boy. The sex sizzles, but this isn't just about hot sex, no, Ms. Lee takes us right into the guts of the relationship between Lana and Brody. Delving deep into what makes Brody the man he is, we're treated to a real look at real people who appear to be polar opposites making it work... Sunset Knight delivers a roller coaster ride of emotions well worth reading."

Sami

Is Three a Crowd?

I got a lovely review for Sunset Knight over at Book Junkie. Brande had some wonderful things to say, my favourite being:

"This is Brody and Lana's story filled with love and heartbreak as Brody moves past his fear of rejection and takes a leap of faith with Lana. This is just plain delicious and captivating until the very end." 5 Stars

That's going straight to the pool room (Ah, I mean website :)). She also reviewed Chasing Sunset, which she didn't like as much. For the most part this seemed to be because she fell in love with Brody and wanted him to get a HEA. Hmm. (Lucky for her I wrote one eh?). This is an inherent problem with menage stories, someone gets left out at the end. Unless you end it with a triad relationship. This however, at least for me, requires a huge suspension of disbelief. I think building a successful relationship between two people, either male/female, male/male or female/female, is difficult enough. You add a third person in there and expect that to last forever? I have trouble buying it.

Thoughts? Know any authors who make the triad HEA totally believable? Bear in mind that if they're all werewolves you've given me a whole other plausibility factor to deal with :).

Cheers,

Sami