Dr. Drib - thank you for this comfortable place to prattle on about my own work.
Welcome to the dark confessions of a doubtful writer.
I am in the throes of discontentment. Wondering about my own sense of humor (or total lack thereof) and ability to convey it to an audience. I know my sense of humor is a bit wry and irreverent, but maybe my perception is skewed. Maybe I don't even have a sense of humor. Questioning your very ability as a writer is such a plague on productivity, let alone inspiration.
This self-doubt is new to me, and I have a whole friggin' series hanging in the balance that may never see the light of day. To shove these two manuscripts into the shadows would diabolically deprive me of a favorite therapy, and short change any readers who actually enjoyed the first in the series.
I've only had two reviews on this new release -- geeze, this is really pitiful and painful to engage in, but my ego and pocket book need to know. While one was warm and joyous, and the other over-the-top ecstatic, I am quietly wondering why the other fifteen or so recipients have been conspicuously silent. And I do mean silent. Crickets. Even family! Do I suck that bad? Will I only appeal to 10% of the population? Maybe? Maybe it's just the subject.
Who the heck knows? But I can no longer be my own judge and jury. If anyone out there is looking for new, humorous fiction and is willing and able to cut loose of a buck ninety-nine, I'd really like to know what you think of this work. I hope to bring smiles - laughter even.
I'm not looking for sympathy. Validation, yes. I am looking for an internal sense of validation that others consider my work enjoyable... at least this work. If not, then I have seriously overused the word “hilarious” on the cover.
I welcome the candid and constructive critisms of any reader willing to share on this thread and will endeavor to apply such insight judiciously to any future work in this series.
Some writers might think of this as pandering to readers, but too many writers fail to really consider their audience. Heck, I’m a reader also and appreciate a writer’s consideration of my expectations – always evident in good writing. I want to write the best books I can for my reader’s benefit. In the end that benefits me, too, because I get to keep on writing.
The book is titled, "Hardrock: Crazy Jake's Fish Bomb"
In short, it is a work of humorous fiction set in the 1979 Colorado wilderness around the Quartz Creek Inn and the handful of eclectic characters that call Hardrock home.
Excerpts beyond the Kindle sample are on-line at hardrockbooks.com
To those intrepid readers destined to download - crikey, I do hope you enjoy the read. Thanks in advance for your faith, purchase and potential feedback.