So… life. Let’s talk about life and how sometimes things go a totally different direction than you expected.
In July of 2012 I applied for an apprenticeship. In September I took a test. In January 2013 I had an interview, and in March of 2013 I started down a career path I’d never have expected for myself.
I’m an Apprentice Electrician with the I.B.E.W. (Local 6) learning a skilled trade. I work in San Francisco, and commute to the city every morning. I love my job. I love working with my hands and using my brain. I love facing challenges, and learning new things every day. I love being able to stand back and look at what I’ve accomplished. I absolutely love getting to turn on things I’ve wired. Knowing that I’m the reason a light turns on when you flip a switch is still new and exciting.
I am learning about how to work safely, and do some really cool things. I’m learning about unions and why they are still important. I’m making a wage I can afford to live on for the first time in my life. I am in a really good spot. Finally.
During all of this, I read. A lot. I read on the train to and from work (~40 minutes each way) and if a book was especially good, I’d keep reading into the evening. I have a huge backlog of books I can review, and I hope to get back to doing this soon.
(Seriously, check out how stuffed my bookshelf has gotten. Yeah, some of those have been reviewed already, but there are so many that haven’t.)
So, if you’re still around, or if you’re new to me and this blog… let me know.
What’s been going on with you? How are you? How are things? What wonderful or terrible or terribly wonderful things have happened recently?
Authors & Reviews & Other Drama
Apparently, I missed the entire #occupygoodreads explosion, or whatever the hell it was. It seems the online blogging world had a bit of a clash with some poorly behaved authors. Oh dear.
It’s interesting to me, actually, that it seems to have blown up to such proportions. I’ve had a couple of my mediocre-to-negative reviews get found by the authors. (See The Girl in the Steel Corset) I’ve been lucky, apparently, to have not been outright attacked by the authors. Rather, they saw fit to comment on my issues and then let it lie. I’m alright with that. It’s their right to address minor issues, so long as they don’t make it personal.
Apparently, however, there are some authors who could not just let it go. Instead, they went head-to-head with their reviewers and came out looking like all manner of stupid assholes. They may have intended to discredit their reviewers, but instead they brought more attention to negative reviews which might otherwise have just disappeared. And, in case I didn’t emphasize it enough; they made themselves look stupid, and probably lost more than one reader because of their behavior.
I don’t often hold an author’s personal life against them, but when it’s something of this scale, attacking your reviewers, it’ll make me hesitate before I pick up your title. If I do choose to read it, it’ll make me hesitate even more before I review it, no matter how much I may have loved it.
I’m curious though, since there is a line, and while some authors cross it, others are smart enough to stay on the right side. Where does that line lie? When is it ok for an author to comment on a negative review? Or a positive review? What do you think?
I think I’ve got one or two authors who check my blog, too. What do you guys think? Would you ever address a negative review? Do you avoid looking for them just in case?
Want to know more? Here are a few more in-depth or entertaining posts on the subject:
CuddleBuggery logs and analyzes the “Wankfest” (There are multiple posts, I linked to the first.)
The Guardian discusses it briefly
Well, that’s not a whole lot more posts. I’ll add more if I find them.
On other notes, the Guardian article referenced a review of Moira Young’s Blood Red Road.I loved it. Their reviewer? Notsomuch. Oh well.
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Filed under Not a Book Review
Tagged as authors behaving badly, authors commention on reviews, drama, not a book review, occupygoodreads