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I’m going to say what will likely be an unpopular opinion but it’s important to me on a deep level because I think romance is literature and I think engaging with literature is part of why we write and read books: of course I read the reviews of my books. OF COURSE.
I am not personally offended by someone not liking or critiquing my work, and I respect their right to express their opinion. I am BEYOND flattered they have put thought into something I have written.
Do I occasionally get something in my craw or think there’s a laughably bad take or just feel delicate? Oh, sure. Usually that means something hit a nerve and usually that means it’s useful to me — examining why that nerve twinges.
Why is it painful or flattering and what does that tell me about what I’m trying to do and whether it is resonating or where I can go further or where I might need to question my own intentions?
Muddling around in these questions is so important to my entire process as a writer.
Because that is why we write texts. To have them engaged with. To see them out in the world. To be reacted to, and react to the reactions.
Like books, reviews, tweets, blog posts, etc are also texts. And if you write a text and put it on the internet, you have to assume people will read and engage with it. Maybe even people you personally did not intend it “for.” This is part of the discourse and ecosystem of art.
There is a long, fruitful, and yes—sometimes uncomfortable or contentious—history of discourse between the makers, critics, scholars and consumers of art. This is not bad. It’s great! It’s the literal lifeblood of culture.
I’m glad people care so much about romance novels and talk about them. I think there is space to do this acknowledging that we might be read by people who take issue with our views, or even hurt by them.
But I think that should be ok too. I can’t speak for all authors, but if you write reviews of my work, please know that they inform how I think about what I’m making, and what I will make next, and what I can do better, and where I want to poke.
