Wednesday Wisdom for Writers and Those Who Love Them

"A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote." —Mignon McLaughlin

When a writer strings words together, it's sometimes magic and sometimes labor. Everyone one of those words is a personal choice. The book is a personal offering.

A reader comes to a book with his or her own expectations and biases, and they don't always match up to the those of the writer.

One of the easiest things to understand is also one of the most difficult things to believe: Some people aren't going to like my books.

I've learned, by listening to the likes and dislikes of other readers, that our tastes are as varied as the choices of reading material. And that's very cool.

I've also decided, just for the heck of it, that people who don't like my books also don't like chocolate. Or bacon. Or puppies. It helps.

It's all better with friends.