Stacy Borel's Blog
May 21, 2013
Thoughts/opinions/rantings
So it has been quite the whirl wind reading reviews and seeing the ratings of my first book. I have had emotions all over the board. I've been thrilled to see so many enjoy the book, heartbroken that some don't understand it, but such is life, and confused by other comments. I'll start with the negatives first because they are heavy on me.
When writing a book, it takes a lot out of an author. Meaning, every emotion and every word written was something that I've felt at one time or another. I know/knew that some were not going to "get" Em and that was fine with me. What I want my readers to understand is that, Em is ME! She is the type of character that wants to make everyone around her happy before she can be happy herself. Does she have a backbone? Yes AND no. She was weak in the sense that she let other run over her and she never really voiced an opinion about being treated shitty. BUT, she was also strong because even with everything that happened to her in this story, she still stood on her own two feet and dealt with each blow. The same goes for real life equations. I wrote Emilyn based of myself, how I am as a person, and how I actually react to things. I deflect conflict even if something makes me upset, I'm not abrassive, and I have kick ass people around me that push me for more and not take the shit. I have never been through divorce, but the feelings that I wrote for Em were real emotions I went through during a couple of bad break-ups. You live and you move on as a stronger person. I also have a real life Harper. She is my best friend and I wrote her based off of my BF. Things that were said in the book between Em and Harper, are real.
I understand that some of you wished Em had a stronger backbone, but she just doesn't. I wanted her to be this way because she was the easiest for me to write...me. I would love to say I am sorry if you don't like it, but I can't be. It felt important to me to stay true to myself and my characters. They live with me and they speak to me. Harper would kick my ass if I did the book any other way. Ha!
As far as negative reviews...well, there's just no changing your mind and I feel you on that. I've read some pretty horrible books. But because I've now written a book, I believe the way I write a review will be forever changed. I will no longer just say "this book sucked" (not that I've ever used those words) but if I ever leave a less than stellar review, I will make sure that I am critiqing the book...NOT the author or using words that could hurt the author. In the few bad reviews I've been given, there are been words that are used that aren't helpful to me as an author. Please just keep in mind that even if you didn't enjoy this book or any other book out there, saying it's garbage or dumb doesn't help me write any better.
For those that have loved the book and have praised Ever Enough, my characters, and messaged me, thank you! Even if you didn't like the book, thank you for reading it and giving it a chance. This has been a labor of love. It doesn't feel very real to me that people are talking to me about something I wrote. I can't wrap my mind around people asking me to sign my book and to hurry up and write a second book. Me? I wrote EE and crossed my fingers that just one person would like the darn thing and say "hey, good job you!" Ha! All of the readers have been fantastic and it means the world to me! I appreciate you more than I could ever express, and you all have pushed me to write more and better. I hope you all stick with me for however long this journey lasts, and I will do my best to give you the best of ME! Harper and Kyler's book is coming up next and will be out in November. I haven't even started the darn thing but I have it all mapped out in my head, so let's see how it all translates to paper (computer) and I'll keep you all updated on here and facebook as much as I can! Love you all!!!
When writing a book, it takes a lot out of an author. Meaning, every emotion and every word written was something that I've felt at one time or another. I know/knew that some were not going to "get" Em and that was fine with me. What I want my readers to understand is that, Em is ME! She is the type of character that wants to make everyone around her happy before she can be happy herself. Does she have a backbone? Yes AND no. She was weak in the sense that she let other run over her and she never really voiced an opinion about being treated shitty. BUT, she was also strong because even with everything that happened to her in this story, she still stood on her own two feet and dealt with each blow. The same goes for real life equations. I wrote Emilyn based of myself, how I am as a person, and how I actually react to things. I deflect conflict even if something makes me upset, I'm not abrassive, and I have kick ass people around me that push me for more and not take the shit. I have never been through divorce, but the feelings that I wrote for Em were real emotions I went through during a couple of bad break-ups. You live and you move on as a stronger person. I also have a real life Harper. She is my best friend and I wrote her based off of my BF. Things that were said in the book between Em and Harper, are real.
I understand that some of you wished Em had a stronger backbone, but she just doesn't. I wanted her to be this way because she was the easiest for me to write...me. I would love to say I am sorry if you don't like it, but I can't be. It felt important to me to stay true to myself and my characters. They live with me and they speak to me. Harper would kick my ass if I did the book any other way. Ha!
As far as negative reviews...well, there's just no changing your mind and I feel you on that. I've read some pretty horrible books. But because I've now written a book, I believe the way I write a review will be forever changed. I will no longer just say "this book sucked" (not that I've ever used those words) but if I ever leave a less than stellar review, I will make sure that I am critiqing the book...NOT the author or using words that could hurt the author. In the few bad reviews I've been given, there are been words that are used that aren't helpful to me as an author. Please just keep in mind that even if you didn't enjoy this book or any other book out there, saying it's garbage or dumb doesn't help me write any better.
For those that have loved the book and have praised Ever Enough, my characters, and messaged me, thank you! Even if you didn't like the book, thank you for reading it and giving it a chance. This has been a labor of love. It doesn't feel very real to me that people are talking to me about something I wrote. I can't wrap my mind around people asking me to sign my book and to hurry up and write a second book. Me? I wrote EE and crossed my fingers that just one person would like the darn thing and say "hey, good job you!" Ha! All of the readers have been fantastic and it means the world to me! I appreciate you more than I could ever express, and you all have pushed me to write more and better. I hope you all stick with me for however long this journey lasts, and I will do my best to give you the best of ME! Harper and Kyler's book is coming up next and will be out in November. I haven't even started the darn thing but I have it all mapped out in my head, so let's see how it all translates to paper (computer) and I'll keep you all updated on here and facebook as much as I can! Love you all!!!
