I'm taking an at-home writing retreat and hit a major snag yesterday.
By last night I was tired and discouraged. The chapter of the day needed more work than I'd estimated, and I wound up with less time to address it.
And then this review appeared in my inbox.
And while the muse didn't suddenly vroom into action, I definitely felt inspired and encouraged.
Or as I wrote back to the reviewer last night, "Kind of like that glass of cold water to the weary traveler in search of Eldorado..."
BTW, he writes in my favorite genre, and I had the honor of editing his book. You can find it here.
So I just finished the book...
Every so often, you read a story that makes you momentarily glance away from the pages and ask yourself, “why can’t I come up with something like THAT?” Other stories have a pacing that feels like perfect cruise control – comfortably mesmerizing – where you just don’t want to stop.
This book has both.
The characters are interesting, the mood was set perfectly to each setting, it’s funny in the right places and overall, really witty. The way you were able to tell the whole story from Caryn’s perspective but in two distinct voices (her diary vs. manuscript) and make it completely seamless was awesome. Loved how she referenced much of her real-life experiences to fuel the story she was writing - that sure rang a bell! LOL. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next, and I almost felt bad about popping in the bookmark and stopping when I had to, concerned I might not find that pace again, but I did, each time. The descriptions were vivid but not overdone, and even the little expositional tangents still managed to retwine back into the story in one way or another.
As someone still learning (with a LOT to learn) about
such nuances in storytelling, this was a good lesson…and a hell of a fun read!
Congrats on a kickass story!
