I don’t think there is anything as pleasurable to a writer as praise from another writer you admire. Yes, I know we are supposed to be writing for readers and it is wonderful to run a blog like this that allows me to get feedback from them, but a review is a different thing. Personally, I find them incredibly hard to write and so I know the toil that goes into producing them.
For this reason, I have two public thank yous to extend. One to Kathleen Bradean and the other to Claudia D. Christian.
Kathleen Bradean is a breathtaking writer. There are very few stories that go on haunting me for years, but she wrote a sci-fi erotica piece about an angel that I have never, ever forgotten. She writes in almost every sub-genre of erotica with equal aplomb. A few of her pieces are online: City Lights, Orbiting in Retrograde, and Challenger Deep. She also appears in print in books too numerous to mention. You can get to know her, and her writing at her blog, or follow her on Twitter, where she occasionally delights her followers with some of the shortest and sharply hot pieces of micro erotica ever written. Finally, she is now a regular contributor on the Oh, Get A Grip group blog.
Kathleen has written a review of my Coming Together Presents Remittance Girl anthology at ERWA.
Claudia D. Christian is one of the very few romance writers who makes me proud to say I read it. Perhaps this is because she takes it back to its gothic origins: the morality is ambiguous, the danger to both body and soul is more than simply a device to move the story along and the love is deliciously, exquisitely painful. She has a great deal of her work online at her blog, and three e-books available on Kindle at Amazon: Love Unfortunate, Paradise, and Fracture – A Miserable Love Collection. You can also follow her on Twitter.
Claudia has written a review of The Waiting Room on her blog.
Okay, I’ll admit it, both the reviews are incredibly complimentary. And nothing’s as sweet as the respect of one’s peers. However, I did get a totally stinky review for my short story Midnight at Sheremetyevo (the first chapter of the Tales of the Mumbai Coven) in the Sweetest Kiss erotic vampire anthology. And I’m rather proud to have you read it because the reviewer despises it for all the very best reasons. *evil chuckle* The reviewer complains that it was horrible that I started the story off with the narrator locked in an airless, lightless underground prison and just gets worse from there. Problem is, I can’t find the damn link to the review now. If anyone comes across it, can you please put the link in the comments or email me with it. I’m rather proud of it.
Your words are so kind. Thank you for them and thank you for writing your stories. As you’ve heard me gush time and time again on Twitter, your work moves me. Pushes the boundaries in my mind and cause me to question many, many things. So the review is the least I can do for the cathartic experiences.
I agree. I enjoy writing for me, but when someone I respect as an amazing and talented writer compliments my writing, I can’t help but feel honored.