Being without internet is like having my arm chopped off.

Well, not really. But you know what I mean. I have only been without it for two days, where losing an arm is more permanent and painful. I actually got a ton of writing done. But zero blogging and communicating... ah!

So here is my better late than never IWSG post. I kind of feel inspired to write more about internet dependency, but I will save it for when I have more time (so, never?)

Hey Fellow Writers!

I am not going to complain today. I always complain. I should be happy, right? My first book comes out in a month! But, it doesn't make me worry less. I'm a terrible worrier. I still have jitters about it. What if no one reads it? What if everyone hates it? And I'm really afraid of reviewers –not for myself and my book sales, but because some people listen to them as fact. I tell myself it can't be helped and come what may. But still, I worry!

And that is what I am going to talk about today. Bad Reviews and how to embrace them as part of the process.

Bad Reviews are inevitable. With all things in life, we have to take the good with the bad. I tell my boys, "Bad things make the good things more valuable." If there was no bad, we would have no appreciation for the good. We appreciate being well a lot more when we are sick. We appreciate what we have, when we lose it. And we appreciate our parents, when we have kids, our youth when we're old, etc. The moral of this story is: make the most of what you have NOW!

Part of appreciating something is finding the good that comes from a bad thing. As writers, we know every awesome ending comes after our hero suffers or loses something big. So what about bad reviews? Well, let's see some positives:

• We should assume they read the book, which, in my own experience, means it held their attention enough to read the whole thing.
• They also felt strongly enough about the book to say something publicly
• Some folks read a bad review and it makes them curious enough to see for themselves – creates a buzz. No bad publicity? Well…
• We can take these reviews and build on them. Use criticisms to improve our next book, or not.
• And remember, some of these people could be bitter writers who haven't been and probably never will be published – and we are! Nyah!

Taking bad reviews with a grain of salt and a dab of humor is necessary. It's just one person's opinion. Personally, I feel some reviewers write bad reviews for a hobby. Some have nothing good to say about anything. And some might have had a poor childhood, so sad.

But seriously, do not let anyone who writes a really mean, cutting review affect you. He is a bully. Trying to illicit a response from you. It is up to us to choose how we respond. And that is my advice to you, and myself. Choose not to respond poorly to a bad review. Learn from it, shrug it off, and move on. Easy for me to say since I haven't gotten one yet.

Now I ask you all. What do you do when you get a bad review?

As always, thanks for listening!