Passion

I overreact to things. I can easily get my feelings hurt and hold grudges forever. I have an embarrassing need for people to like me. It’s really kinda sad.

But today I thought about one thing that you’d think I’d hate, that you’d think would have me in tears. One of my one-star reviews at Amazon.com mentions mine is the worst book they ever read.

I didn’t get upset. I was delighted. It even took me a while to realize why it delighted me.

Take the biggest authors today, the biggest moneymakers, most popular, etc: they have people who are frothing at the mouth for them. Talk to a Twilight fan, or talk to a Twilight hater, they both froth at the mouth regarding the book. Stephen King has tons of rabid fans, while his detractors are angry and baffled. Dan Brown. JK Rowling. They all have people who commit hours of speaking time and thousands of righteous written words on blogs claiming just how bad they are. It might hurt them like a punch in the stomach, but when they fall down, their gobs of fans catch them. Or they fall on a pillow.

A PILLOW OF MONEY.

Passion moves people. And passion can be love or hatred. We love extremes- we cheer for Wilbur the runt because he’s at the extreme end of the downtrodden spectrum, we want him to turn out to be Terrific and Humble. Did any of us give a crap about the other pigs in that litter that were inevitably turned into delicious bacon? Heck no! The were the middle of the road, ho-hum pigs. No one hated the pigs enough to kill them at birth, but no one cared enough to save them from the slaughterhouse when they were adults.

Passion drives us to love and hate. Some books you read and they’re okay and then you put them down and then you move on with your life. Other books you read and they hit you upside the head. Either you love them or hate them, but they affected you, and you have GOT TO TELL SOMEONE. Tell someone to buy! Tell someone to not buy! You are moved.

Odds are, if someone hates your book (and it’s a solid book- let’s be honest with each other here; a universally reviled book is not the goal) there’s someone else who will crawl over hot coals to read it. For every person who says you’re a no-talent hack (king) who can’t keep the adverbs in the dictionary where they belong (Rowling) and are a writer who glorifies abusive relationships (Meyer) or just plain old can’t freaking write (Brown), there are likely several hundred who will beg to differ.

So take heart. If some love you, some will hate you. If they all think you’re “okay” that’s when you worry. Don’t be one of the healthy pigs.