I find myself in a nebulous world. Past Sins was published nearly a month ago and it’s not yet received any reviews. Is one supposed to talk about these things? I’m a newish author — at least in the published sense. I don’t know the protocol.
It seems this is much like that moment after you give your mother her Christmas present. She tears off the wrapping (or carefully removes it, if she’s a saver) and peels back the tissue paper. You wait for the reaction. Does she like it?
You, dear readers, are the recipients of my present and I anxiously await your thoughts. Your interpretation. Your observations. My mind, my creation — filtered through your sensibilities and experience.
My book stands on its own. For better or worse, I acknowledge this thing that I’ve made. I don’t ask for validation. I will write regardless. Lost in the minds of my characters, reveling in their worries and hatreds and confusion and passion.
But without reviews I am ever frozen in time. The tissue paper crinkles. Your face rises to mine. What does your expression say?
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash.