{"id":456,"date":"2015-12-15T00:38:49","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T00:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnknoerle.com\/?p=456"},"modified":"2017-07-26T15:51:42","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T15:51:42","slug":"critiquing-the-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnknoerle.com\/historical-fiction\/2015\/12\/15\/critiquing-the-critics\/","title":{"rendered":"Critiquing the Critics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"critics\"<\/a>The best quip about critics I ever read was from a long-dead author whose name escapes me. \u201cThey expect that you won\u2019t hit them!\u201d<\/p>\n

My sentiments exactly.<\/p>\n

My beef isn\u2019t with literary critics at major publications \u2013 even if they don\u2019t give your novel a big wet kiss they always have something valid to say. But a relatively obscure author like myself doesn\u2019t get reviewed by the pros very often.<\/p>\n

My novels are more likely to get a going-over by readers on Amazon and various literary sites. Most of those reviews are positive and encouraging, but they\u2019re not the ones you remember.<\/p>\n

The Proxy Assassin is a totally pulpy throwback with over the top dialogue. But you know what? I still enjoyed it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Well thank you, dear critic, for descending from your Olympian perch to muddy your lily white vestments with the likes of me.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a more insidious variation. A reviewer who raves on and on about your book until he administers a quick stab in the back that is so deft you barely feel it. At first. An online magazine\u2019s review of A Pure Double Cross<\/em> was going along swimmingly until the critic opined that, \u201cThis is hilarious stuff. Sometimes unintentionally so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unintentionally<\/em>. My writing is unintentionally <\/em>hilarious? A critic I have never met knows what I intended<\/em> to make hilarious?!<\/p>\n

Then there are reviews that make no sense whatsoever and, while you generally want a five-star rating, in such cases you\u2019re not so sure.<\/p>\n

John Knoerle has a very witty sense of humor using analogies like that of a dancing bears final act as the hunters circle the bear for the kill. The main character Hal Schroeder is a foreign interloper or is he that of a stand-up spy remains to be determined. <\/em><\/p>\n

(There are no mentions of dancing bears in the book.)<\/p>\n

But enough of this grousing. Every once in a great while you are rewarded with a gem, from a reader who seems to understand what you were hoping to achieve. This quote is from an online review of The Proxy Assassin <\/em>by a woman I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Right from the start of the story, I realized I could not or should not put the Kindle down, as my fingers kept on sliding the pages. This author uses almost a magical writing style, which is very concise, and at the same time fascinating and motivating. Going from page to page was a pleasure as I was very curious to find out what would happen next.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bless you dear lady. You made my day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best quip about critics I ever read was from a long-dead author whose name escapes me. \u201cThey expect that you won\u2019t hit them!\u201d My…<\/p>\n

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