"The New Moon's Arms wasn't much your cup of tea, I gather. :)"
-Nalo Hopkinson
Some time ago, I posted a review of this book on my other blog, http://ev-boulevard.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-moons-arms.html, never expecting it to attract the attention of the author herself. It's kinda cool. Of course, she disagrees with some of my comments. She even defends herself a bit, though she never gets outright defensive. I appreciate that, because there are few things I dislike more than a writer who listens to/reads my critique of their work and then proceeds to not only disagree with me but say/imply that my opinion is totally invalid. So, even if I wasn't a fan of the novel, I can respect her for staying professional in her response.
Which brings me to another point - why defend herself to me? Sure, I didn't care for this book she sweated and bled over, but so? Am I really that important? I'm just one reader. I mean, come on, if I had a dollar for every critique I've received that was along the lines of, "This just didn't work for me," I'd have a lot of dollars. Plenty of other people liked it, and more power to them. I'm just one small fish in a very big pond. Not that I'm complaining, mind you - I'm feeling kinda flattered that an award winning writer not only read my critique of their book, but also took a few minutes to respond to it. That's pretty nifty. It's definitely one of the most interesting things that've happened to me lately.
You can find Nalo's blog here: http://carlbrandon.org/blog/index.html
5 comments:
That is cool. Especially since she did seem to take it so well.
Isn't there a part of you saying, "I write a lot more about Neil Gaiman and Joss Whedon. When are they going to pop in?"
The thought definitely did cross my mind.
Joss, Neil, if you're lurking I'd love to hear from you.
oh crap, people other than us actually read these?...uh oh.
I know, scary aint it? Makes you wonder who's out there, reading but never leaving any trace that they've been. *Looks around* Feelin' a little paranoid now.
Some people just have a rise up and defend and explain mentallity. Even if they're thinking, "It's done, it's finished, excuses and reasons change nothing," they could talk your ear off as to the "wherefores." Sometimes it's annoying, but it can sometimes be fascinating. I know that I've had things which I wondered why some strange, illogical bit was a certain way. But then when I heard the explanation I went, "ah. Clever."
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