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Okay, here it is. This is my sixth contribution to the LHTWAN blogosphere, so hopefully you’ve gotten a chance to know me a little bit. Hopefully you and I have had the chance to connect through words and feelings and fears, and all the tumultuous emotions that are a built-in aspect of this writing and publishing journey we’re all on. And now that we’ve had the chance to connect, it’s time for me to reveal my true self to you. The truth is, you guys…I’m a weirdo.
Okay, maybe “weirdo” isn’t quite right. (Although I give you my blessing to ask my husband what he thinks. He will most likely lovingly endorse the designation.) But let’s put it another way. I’m…well…in a lot of ways, I’m not normal. Today I want to talk with you about one of the ways I’ve demonstrated my lack of normalcy. My weirdo-ness, if you will.
Four years ago last month, my first traditionally published novel released. It was a romantic comedy in which a recent divorcee in the throes of a mid-life crisis became a hugely successful writer of steamy, R-rated romances. She found fame, fortune, and notoriety…and then she found Jesus. Her newfound faith led to her wanting to walk away from her career path, but she still had contracts and obligations to deal with, not to mention the fact that she had recently appeared on
The Tonight Show and suddenly everyone recognized her on the street. Take all of that and throw in our heroine falling in love with her widowed (and single father to a young daughter) pastor, and you have The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck.The novel received some lovely positive attention, including a starred review in
Publishers Weekly, a Selah win, and a Christy nomination, but that’s not what I’m here to talk with you about today. Remember? I’m a weirdo. So we’re going to talk about this…“A cheesy, stupid book with a cookie cutter plot you can see a mile away.”
“This book was really bad. The story line was zero and it never developed into anything.”
“Probably the worst example of Christian fiction I have read!”
“Fluffy Christian romance with a poor attempt at being edgy and bad writing.”
Those are just a few comments from some of the horrible reviews my debut received. Just a few of many. Oh…so many.
That was it. My career was over. My career had only just begun, but it was over. I only had a one-book contract, after all. The publisher knew they were taking a chance with me and that the book was risky, and that there was absolutely no guarantee it would go well. And from the time those negative reviews began pouring in, I was convinced their risk had not paid off. I was done.
So, I did what I do. I did what we all do. I found a way to cope. I found a way to take those reviews—those devastating, heartbreaking reviews—and turn them into something a little less threatening. For me, that meant turning the worst things people could think of to say about my book, my writing, and my personal integrity (seriously…some of it was personal) into cheery, bubbly promotional graphics, which were promptly shared on social media.
Yes, that’s right. Despite all the wise advice I received to not even read my reviews, much less pay attention to them, I decided to celebrate the worst of the worst.
Before I go any further, let me make one thing clear. It was never about insulting those readers who didn’t like my book. Quite the contrary. I was careful to never be mean or degrading about their opinions. I truly celebrated them. I appreciate every reader and I am so grateful to anyone who takes the time to write up their thoughts about what they read—whether their words are complimentary or not.
For me, celebrating the negative reviews helped. A lot. They kept me from taking myself too seriously. They kept me from putting too much stock in my own press. They made me smile when I otherwise may have felt like crying. And, most of all, they united me with other writers who, I discovered, wrestled with many of the same emotions.
So my advice for you today is to figure out what works for you. How will you cope with criticism? How will you move forward? How will you use every opportunity to learn? How will you refuse to be held back by the naysayers? Because that’s not optional. You must refuse to be held back. So find a way to process, and if it doesn’t look the same as the way everyone else processes, that’s okay.
There’s nothing wrong with being a weirdo.
An aspiring screenwriter has a chance encounter with an actor who could be the man of her dreams. Over the next ten years, she’ll write the story . . . but will he end up being the star?
February 4, 2003, promises to be a typical day for Olivia Ross—a greeting card writer whose passion project is a screenplay of her own. But after she and a handsome actor have a magical meet-cute in a coffee shop, they make a spontaneous pact: in ten years, after they’ve found the success they’re just sure they’re going to achieve, they’ll return to the coffeehouse to partner up and make a film together. The only problem? Olivia neglected to get the stranger’s name. But she doesn’t forget his face—or the date.
But a lot can happen in ten years, and while waiting for the curtain to rise on her fate, the true story of Olivia’s life is being written—and if she’s not careful, she’ll completely miss the real-life romantic comedy playing out right before her eyes.
Bethany Turner writes romantic comedies for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight. Her titles include
The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck, Wooing Cadie McCaffrey, Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish, Plot Twist, and the upcoming The Do-Over. A former bank vice-president and a three-time cancer survivor (all before she turned 35), Bethany now serves on the executive leadership staff of a growing church in Southwest Colorado, where she lives with her husband and their two teenaged sons. For her romantic comedy novels, Bethany has been awarded multiple Selah Awards, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, been repeatedly named to Family Fiction’s annual list of 40 Essential Romance Authors, and been a finalist for the Vivian Award and the Christy Award. But she’s also received some of the most fabulous one-star reviews ever written! (Seriously…there are some absolute gems in there.) Hang out with Bethany at seebethanywrite.com or @seebethanywrite across social media platforms, where she’s likely to be found celebrating those one-star reviews and obsessing over Colin Firth. Text her at (970) 387-7811.