100 things #83 learning from reviews

[jana_denardo]

I have a new review for If Two of Them Are Dead, my steampunk-mystery novella and it’s a truly great review. What I like about it especially is that it’s not entirely positive, but in the areas where the novella didn’t completely satisfy are teaching points for me. It’s always a bit bruising to get criticism but when it’s done right, the sting doesn’t last long and what you gain from it is invaluable.

I’ll let you read the review for yourself. check it out here . I’m thrilled that the reviewer still gave me four stars even though a couple of things weren’t all they could have been.

I’ll admit it, I wasn’t as happy as I could have been with the ending. I think in general it depends on how you perceive this novella. Is it a romance with a mystery or is it a mystery with some romance? The answer to that changes things. The reviewer felt the ending was too abrupt and in all fairness, I can’t argue that. In mysteries (my primary genre favorite), you don’t always get many pages afterwards once the villain has been brought to justice (though sometimes you do). Of course in a romance you would certainly want leisurely time once the couple is officially a couple. I probably should have been leaning more toward romance instead of mystery. I probably could have, and more importantly should have, expanded the end of this. In fact, I would like to get back to this someday with either another novella or something even longer and look at how Victor and Abraham , and his children, are getting along. So, note to self, if you’re worrying about the ending being abrupt, it probably is.

The other issue is deeper and more problematic. Of course there is a matter of taste in what you want to see in a sex scene (something the reviewer acknowledges). But again since I’m trying to learn and improve from this, I have to face facts. I do sometimes struggle with sex scenes (a problem considering what I write) and I particularly did in this novella. The editor called me on it and I did work hard to rework them. Even so, they might not be where I would have liked them to be.

Part of my problem with them is that’s not really ‘the good stuff,’ to me. I know a lot of readers can’t wait to get to the sex. I’d much rather get back to other things in the story (this is true of when I’m writing it and when I’m reading other erotica). The reviewer noted the best parts of the novella were the crime investigation and I would agree with that. To me, that is the good stuff.

Also my primary beta readers all would much rather fade to black on the sex scenes. Just this week one of them said something to the effect of ‘this would read a lot faster if we didn’t have to stop for sex.’ I suppose I could find beta readers who like reading sex more to help pump up my own scenes. However, finding a good beta reader is difficult and more importantly I like my readers. They help me in ways they probably don’t even realize.

So I do need to be more cognizant of my own struggles in this area. And I am. I’m working on a new novel right now Soldiers of the Sun and I’m bashing away at the sex scenes (no pun intended). I’ve shortened some, went more to the emotional side rather than the physical on others. But to be honest, in the back of my head is the idea that Dreamspinner Press, who I work a lot with, is just starting a non-romance imprint and boy, do I hope that takes off. I would feel more at home and playing to my strengths there.

Not that I think I do horribly at erotica. No, I’ve convinced enough people to take a chance on my work for that. But I’d have more fun writing murders or fighting demons or tackling fae politics than I do anything else.

And the thing that made me smile the most in this review was that the reviewer thought I did a good job with depicting how Victor and Abraham would have to hide their relationship. Even though this is steampunk, I have it adhere as close as I could to what NY was like in the late 1800s. Being out and open wouldn’t have happened (or at least not without severe repercussions) so I’m glad someone thought I did that well.