The first review of Ground Control was a good one.
Your first review sticks with you, gets in your head. It lingers.
Your first review makes you feel terrible, or like a million bucks, or like a fraud, sometimes all three. I’m torn between the second two. Each reader responds to each book in their own way. What resonates with one person won’t affect another, and as such, each review is personal, and speaks not only about the book they read, but the person who read it.
This is perhaps a self-preservatory way of saying, “It’s not me or my book, it’s you.”
But, my first review was kind, lovely, informative and flattering. I felt both, of course you loved it, and oh dear, you’re just writing that in pity. But, it’s a good review. It warns people away (if they read reviews before buying, they wouldn’t expect a pure science fiction novel and give up in disgust halfway) and pulls in those who are looking for, well, the story that I wanted to tell.
So, thank you for your kind words, and your beautifully quotable: “We are creatures made to unfold over time and Hough produces characters of fascinating origami.”
Read it on GoodReads or on Mari Stewart’s site, ThinkingTooLoud:
(You do have your copy already, don’t you? Well, you can order it here.)