Monday, March 29, 2010

You knew THIS was coming!

Writers are such review whores, aren't they . . . uh, we? Seriously, though, I'm profoundly grateful The Prayer Waltz has met with such a favorable reception. In addition to Tam's reactions and the Recommended Read from Dark Diva Reviews, Jenre at Well Read gave the novella an "excellent" rating and Aunt Lynn at Reviews by Jessewave gave it five stars. What makes the reviews all the more gratifying is the thought and sincerity behind them. They weren't just fly-bys.

I'm glad there's a place in nonliterary fiction for stories that don't center on action!adventure!intrigue!bdsmsex! Shortly after I got into m/m romance -- which I did without much forethought when I wrote Obsessed, because I was thinking only about Jackson Spey and Adin Swift -- I wasn't sure what readers of the genre expected. I had a sense they liked alpha heroes and whodunits. But since I'd never much liked alpha heroes and didn't have a clue how to write about law enforcement-type stuff, I thought, Ah, screw it; I'll just go where my imagination takes me. I didn't want to try absorbing someone else's voice or riffing off someone else's themes just to be popular.

The approach led to a fairly placid ride: no super highs, no super lows. Unfortunately, that meant my work wasn't making much of an impression (with a few notable exceptions *smooch*). I guess that's why I'm so head-over-heels about people liking The Prayer Waltz.

Besides, I've got two more books coming up, so I doubt my high will last much longer. Just put up with it. :-)

8 comments:

Jenre said...

That's great news on the reviews, KZ. I hope they bring you many new readers.

I think there is a market for m/m books which centre just on the romance without the whizz, bang, flash of action/adventure to get in the way. I like to read a variety of different types of books and certainly appreciate the chance to read a quieter book which doesn't rely on theatrics to further the romance.

K. Z. Snow said...

Thanks, Jen.

I think I began to realize that gentler stories could move readers when I came across reviews of A Note in the Margin. (I've been dying to read it for a year -- curses on the price of print books and my lack of an e-reader!) But at the time, I was committed both to the UX series and InDescent, so I had to put that realization on the back burner for a while.

I'm glad I finally acted on it.

Chris said...

Congrats on all the great reviews!! I promise I will read it in the not-too-distant future. I've been in a bit of a reading mood the past week or two, and I've been avoiding things that I know will require more thought and be more emotional, knowing that I'm just not in the place to appreciate them at the moment.

K. Z. Snow said...

Hell, you don't have to explain, Chris. I have plenty of reading moods myself. ;-)

Tam said...

I do love a good who-done-it, but sheesh, you can't read too many of those one after another or your brain starts to overload. I'm not so big on alpha males, I prefer more normal people and I actually will choose a regular contemporary most of the time which I think Val's survey showed that is the most popular. I know I like to imagine what I'm reading about could happen in my own little world. Sure murder and stalking happens, but not everyday. So I think there is definitely a place for what you write and seems you're damn good at it too. :-)

K. Z. Snow said...

Aw, Tam. And you're the best blogger! :-)

Kris said...

Congrats on the great reviews, KZ. That's awesome. :)

K. Z. Snow said...

Thanks, Kris. I'd tell you what an awesome blogger you are, but it might go to your head.

;-)