I’m deadlining…   which is different from being on a deadline.  It’s a BS excuse.  If writers are working writers, we’re ALL on deadlines and that means—we’re employed.

I’m at the last 30 pages, the ‘get the bad guy and make ‘em pay dearly’ pages of the story.  In this book, Damage Control (Dragon One #5)  I’m pretty much telling two different stories that collide. I do that with almost every book, just not to the extent of Sebastian and Olivia’s story.  I think I'm pushing the limits, but its fiction.  There are no limits and nothing is illegal.  

Recently, I had a letter from a reader saying she’d bought my last book but wouldn’t read the past the first 100 pages because my evil bad guy had body guards and guns.  She claimed that they didn’t have them in Singapore, reserved for the government officials.  Bad guys, as we’ve see in the news daily, don’t play by the rules, that’s why they are...oh gee… BAD.  !

Most times I just gaff off stuff like this.  The average reader has no idea that the author of a book is NOT that last person to touch it.  Any published author can sympathize.  Personally, the instant I get a copy of my book, I check it against the galley proofs that I’ve corrected and I’m always disappointed.  My second book was missing about 8 pages of a very critical scene because the copy editor, not my editor, decided she could write better than me.   And (here's the real heartbreaker) despite that I took 24-hours to correct and Fed Ex the proof pages to NYC (after flying 36 hours from Okinawa to CA with 2 toddlers) it went to print without a single correction.  So you see, we authors have less control than anyone thinks.

I started thinking about all the great books that were just panned by reviewers or readers.  Books that didn’t sell well, yet went on to become world classics.

And here’s where payback is sweet, albeit, late.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare - performed in London in 1662.  "The most stupid ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life." - Samuel Pepys, Diary.

Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift - 1726.  "..evidence of a diseased mind and a lacerated heart."  - John Dunlop, 'The History of Fiction', 1814.

Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - 1857.  "Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer." - Le Figaro.

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - 1877.  "Sentimental Rubbish"  - The Odessa Courier.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925. "What has never been alive cannot very well go on living. So this is a book of the season only."  - New York Herald Tribune.

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - 1961.  "Heller wallows in his own laughter... and the sort of antic behavior the children fall into when they know they are losing our attention." - Whitey Balliett, New Yorker.

So my dear bloggers…. readers and writers alike.  Tell me your worst reader letter, review, publishing mistake, horrific cover, or name a great book that was panned... or just bitch. 

Come on, the mic is yours!

AMY

AMy, LOVED this post! LOVED the stupid comments on the GREAT books! haha IMO, the craziest reviews can often be found on Amazon because it's anonymous. Good luck on your deadline! Me TOO!!! xo, Leanne

Thanks Leanne. Oh yeah, anonymous on the internet is cowardly.

The review of Catch 22 slayed me. In schools its required reading! I read it in high school!

Hi Amy!

I just want to say that I love your books and am very happy to hear that you have another in the works! I'm sorry that a reader has problems with the perceived lack of realism regarding bad guys and guns, but I say bring on the suspense! I like fiction for the simple pleasure of living vicariously through the characters. In real life I'm a huge chicken...I think most people are. Realistically most people cannot pull of what happens in the scenes of books or other media outlets. That what makes them so fun.

I try to not let the opinions of others sway me when it comes to choosing a book to read. Everyone has an opinion as you can see on Amazon. While one person loves a particular book, another will completely trash it. For instance, my best friend and I like many of the same books and authors. However, she can't get past the middle of my favorite book, which happens to be the one that got me back into reading after many years of being a non-reader (I'm ashamed to say). After that book I looked for more by that author and read all of them. From there I branched out to other authors and genres. Now I just love to read. One person's trash is another's treasure.

Your also right about readers not understanding the publishing process. I just found out recently that one of my favorite authors lost her publisher even though her books have gone back to press several times. To me this just doesn't make any sense. She is now looking for a new publisher. I guess even in this industry it is another story of one person's trash is another person's treasure. I don't know how hard it is to find a publisher but I wish her all the best. Her books (in my opinion) are very fun reads.

I have a quick question about this process though. You mentioned that a scene was omitted or things can be added either by an editor, or copy editor, or whomever else has the right to make changes. As an author are there ever times when you get to just put your foot down and refuse a chan

Thanks Lolly, Great comments. And thanks for reading my books! I agree about the trash to treasure. Its opinion. I've read great books where scenes are highly improbable (Dirk Pitt comes to mind) but it makes for great reading. I like the outrageous. (That a surprise to anyone who knows me??)
With regard to editing, I've erased so much on copy edits I keep a pile of eraser shavings. I'm always tempted to send back with the manuscript. =) It all comes down to MY name is on that cover and I'll catch the flack. We ALL get angry and upset when some, and usually VERY young copy editors, tries to change out words. Ah, hello? they didn't pay you to write the book, they paid ME.
I've put my foot down many times, sometimes it works, sometimes not. All depends on the editor, really. Your Friend who's looking for a new publisher but out sells and gets reprinted, that happens a lot. Personally, I think the publisher now knows they have to PAY her more and don't want to, or can't afford her. Dumping an author means the writer has to go somewhere else, start over, and that often means a much lower advance. Highly Unfair. Clearly, some idiots were at the helm then.
Those 8 missing pages... I slammed my foot down so hard they could hear it from Okinawa. After that, I started writing for another house at the same time and that made them pay attention, for a little while at least. Refusing to change for your EDITOR is one thing,(that'll get you a reputation of not playing well with others and no new contract) Its the copy editors who do the most damage, imo, and often, they're college kids, younger than my son! Yes, You can refuse to make changes, but I pick those battles carefully because the writer risks them canceling the publication. For me, its all about the story.

.:)