Okay, so I’ve gotten a couple of not-so-great book reviews.

The first one really upset me. For two days I brooded and swore and wished the vengeance of a thousand constipated seagulls on the head of my reviewer.

I am talentless, I decided. Worthless. I have no reason to live.

Even worse – my book sucks, I told myself.

But calming words from friends (and calmer heads) prevailed, and a few DMs and emails with other writers later, I knew that I was overreacting. My agent liked my writing and my books enough to offer me representation. And my publisher liked my books enough to offer me a contract for all three.

I hardly think I’d land an agent and a publishing deal if my books sucked.

So I mulled it over, and I realized two things: (1) bad reviews happen, and they happen to just about everyone, even bestselling authors; and (2) I needed to develop a thicker skin. Pronto.

I also realized that, while negative reviews are not much fun to read, they are only one person’s opinion. And if that one person is being honest in their criticism of my book, I’m okay with that. I may not like it, but I’m okay with it. Everyone has a right to their opinion. Everyone isn’t going to love my book(s). I get that, and I respect it.

My first book, “Prada and Prejudice,” has done pretty well for a first book by a first-time author. It was a best seller on Amazon UK for almost a week, it’s sold well here in the US and in Europe, and it’s gotten mostly good reviews. But it has a strangely polarizing effect on readers – they either love it, or hate it. There’s no middle ground.

This bothered me, until I realized something. Good or bad, like it or love it, my book gets a visceral reaction from readers. There’s been no ‘well, it was pretty good, you know? It was okay,’ or ‘meh. I could take it or leave it’ type of reviews. It’s been either ‘oh my GAWD I so love this book!!!’ or ‘I suppose it’s better than nothing, if there’s nothing on TV and you have no reason to live, and you don’t have the energy to get up and kill yourself.’

I’d rather write a book that delights, enrages, disgusts, or thrills readers, than one that’s so bland and boring that the only response it elicits is a yawn.

Yes, I put a lot of work and effort and, to a certain extent, a lot of myself into the stories I write. So I hope, when I put them out there, that people will like them. Mostly, they do. And if some don’t, well, that’s okay – that just goes with the territory. Everyone has a right to their opinion, even if it’s different than mine.

And anyway, you know what they say about opinions…