Blog

Well, it can’t all be sunshine and roses, can it?  After a dozen excellent-to-very good reviews, today brought the first bad one.  Lucky number 13?  I’m not quite masochistic enough to link you to it, though it should be pretty easy to find if you are interested.  In short, the reader simply did not like the style of the book [it made her scream], did not enjoy Destinee’s voice [and by, “did not enjoy,” I mean, “hated like fire”], and thought my sentences were too long.

I’ve wondered how the first bad review was going to hit me.   I certainly want everyone to like the book.  I’d like everyone to love the book.  That’s not the way the world works, though.  On the whole, I appreciate that the reviewer took time out of her life to read the book, and to write the review.  I can’t hold either of us accountable for her taste–if you don’t like something, you don’t like it.  It’s not right, or wrong, it simply is.

So how did it hit me? It was a shock, and then blindingly painful for about 30 seconds, then it was over.  Of course, I’ve had some practice at rejection.  Like the time I got blackballed by all the sororities on campus the 3rd day of Freshman Rush Week.  THAT is mass rejection right there.  Also, I had enough “no thank yous” from agents and publishers before Tiara Trouble sold that I realized there would be bad reviews in the offing.

A bad book review means you wrote, sold, published, and marketed a book with enough success that someone could come along and say, “Ew.”  It means you wrote, sold, published, and marketed a book.  Even a bad review is a reminder of your accomplishment.  I have accomplished something WORTH taking the time to say, “Ew.”  That’s not a bad thing.

When I wrote for the college paper, I got paid to review music, movies, and art shows.  I remember getting this album by a new artist, listening to it and gagging into the typewriter that it sounded like a bad rip-off of Sinead O’Connor.  I gave it a terrible review.  The rest of the world loved it, and I think you could probably name five more Sarah McLachlan songs off the top of your head, than Sinead O’Connor tunes.  And commercials.  A band I loved, the Fatima Mansions, whose album I gave a rave review, are…nowhere.  There is no accounting for taste.

I sent the reviewer a thank you for her time, and now I’ll focus on the text message I got today that read, “Just an fyi…my boss’s wife is ordering your book to give as Christmas gifts because she loves it.  Oprah, here we come!”

Happy Halloween, y’all!  Happy Birthday, Dad!

Just as soon as the next link goes live on my blog tour, I’ll share it with you.  In the meantime…

It’s been kind of a crazy few days.  We’ve had a whirlwind of medical visits for my mom, and it’s culminated with the need for open heart surgery.  We’ll be getting her set up for that in the next week, or so.  Then, we’ll get her recovered and back on her way to playing baseball and running a paper route.

I want to give my husband a big shout out because after I shared all the information about my available leave time, FMLA requirements and all that, a day later he came back to me with how much time he has available and offered to use it all to help care for my mom.  I know I married a good man because I live with him every day, but things like that really make me take pause and appreciate what a good man he is.  Being good to my mother is the way to my heart.  Forget diamonds.  Just be good to my mom.

I do wish my parents had given me an older sibling, though.  Preferably one who  would be a patient, kind nurse.  Then we could take turns.  I could be the bossy, Border Collie sibling who nipped at Mom’s ankles to make her do what the doctors have ordered, and Big Sis could be the sweet, gentle one who soothed Mom’s frayed ends.  I’m better at herding than healing. #Capricorn

Alas, I am an only child, so I’ll have to manage my tendencies to be a stress-tyrant and try hard to be a stess-managed-benevolent-helper.  That laughing you hear is my inner-voice.

 

 

Not gonna lie.  I’m really enjoying this All About Me Week.  Today’s Woman Worth Knowing is me.  To get to know me better, you can read my Q&A below, you can read my interviews over on Chloe Gets a Clue and Musings and Ramblings (the interview portion wasn’t up yesterday, but it is now!)  Thank you to Chloe Gets a Clue, and Musings and Ramblings for hosting me on their sites today!  Please go visit them.

Thanks so much to the Little Read Hens for hosting me all day on Tuesday.  I had a great time clucking with you!

Now, Meet Lane

Name:  Lane Buckman

Age: 42

Job Title: Writer…I guess I can call myself that, now.

Industry:

1. Who are you?  Most of my descriptive identity seems to be tied up in being Joan’s daughter, B’s wife, and Thor’s mom, but I am also a little bit of every nickname I’ve ever had, and some of the nastier names I’ve been called combined.  Mostly, I’m just pretty happy.

1. What do you love most about your life? The people in it.  I am so fortunate.  I have so many good people around me.

1. What do you love most about your work?  As a writer, getting to entertain people.  As a banker, my coworkers.

1. Describe your family:  My family is where I can be myself.  My family is where I wear my spiritual yoga pants and just let all the Lane hang out.  So, I’d tell you that my family is a gracious, loving, long-suffering lot because all the Lane hanging out can be…a lot of Lane.

1. What does the first hour of your day look like?  I get up and make coffee, then I spend 15, or 20 minutes reading comics and looking at Facebook.  After that, it takes about 30 minutes to put my face and hair together, then I wake up Thor and get his day started.

1. The last hour?  The last hour is usually spent researching, writing, or trying to catch up on TV shows.

1. What makes you feel successful? Sometimes I really have to think about it because I have a tendency to say to myself, “I did it, so how hard could it have been?”  I very rarely give myself credit for the work I do until years after I’ve done it.  The last time I felt really successful was when I saw Thor do something amazing for another child.  I thought, “I put that in there!  I have produced a kind person!  Success!”

1. What brings you joy? I’m such a broken record.  My people bring me joy.  My friends.  My family.  That kid.  But I especially love it when I can make B laugh out loud.

1. Which women do you most admire? Today, I most admire J.K. Rowling for the how she has addressed the need she sees around her, for her largesse, for her uncompromising stance on welfare and single parent homes, and because she invented Hermoine Granger.

1. What do you like best about your closest friend? I have about five of these, and it’s the same in each one: She listens without judgment, and tells me the truth without whitewashing.  I trust my girlfriends to be honest with me, even when they know I’m not going to like what they have to say.  That’s a gift.

1. What do you like best about yourself? I am a very decent human being.  I am nowhere near perfect and won’t ever be, but I am kind-hearted, willing to give, and I genuinely care about other people.  Just don’t cut me off in traffic.

1. What advice would you give to boys about girls? Sometimes a girl will show you her body because she wants you to see her heart, and she has confused your interest in her breasts with an interest in her person.  Always remember to see the Person when you are looking at the body.  There’s nothing wrong with admiring beauty, but remember that respect is part of admiration.

1. What is the best advice anyone has ever given you? Do what you have to do, and let the hairy side drag.

1. How do you overcome adversity?  I do what I need to do, and let the hairy side drag.  Ha!  I will generally give myself a set amount of time to moan, cry, or panic, then I make a list of what I need to do.  I do the easiest thing first, and I chip away at it until it’s surmountable.

1. How do you want to be remembered?  I want the people I love to remember how much I loved them.  I want everyone else to remember how much I loved my people, so they can remind my people all the time, “Oh my word!  Lane loved you so much!”

Today, I have a guest post over at Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries, and More.  I’ve worked really hard to make sure every guest post is fresh, so run over and read it, please!  I think you’ll enjoy it.

I am also visiting with Musings and Ramblings, where I answered a Q&A, you can read an excerpt, and a review.  I am holding my breath to see the review!

Meanwhile, when I was sending the TIARA TROUBLE manuscript off to my (wonderful, glorious, brilliant, helpful, fantastic) Beta readers, several of them commented on Destinee’s closet and how much it must have cost to build.  Destinee’s father built out the space, sparing no expense.  Destinee doesn’t even know how much it cost.

When I started designing Destinee’s living space, I needed to create an amazing closet for her.  This is a woman who spends a lot time in her closet.  Clothes and costuming are very important to her, and she takes great care of her belongings.  Also, she is her daddy’s girl, and because he is a carpenter/construction guru, he would have built her the most beautiful space imaginable.

The most important thing to me was her vanity.  She needed natural light, and a window to daydream out of because she is a very busy woman.  The only time she has to really drift away is while she is in the middle of her makeup routine.  She can put on lipliner and stare out the window at the same time.  It’s a talent.  She can also do that thing Molly Ringwald did in the Breakfast Club, where she put lipstick on with her cleavage.  Destinee has considered using that for a pageant talent before, but decided it might be a little risque.

I took to the internet and hunted down pictures for the perfect Destinee Faith Miller closet.

I based her vanity area on this picture from bydesign.ie

For her closet space, I combined these gorgeous beasts:

I’ll talk to you about the rest of her house later.  For now, check out the stops on the blog tour, and please, please, please order, or pick up your copy of Tiara Trouble today!

Buy TIARA TROUBLE on Amazon here.

Buy TIARA TROUBLE at Barnes & Noble here.