Being the youngest of a large family is sometimes not as glamorous as the first-born might try to argue. It’s funny, I had as many kids as my parents did. And it gave me a lot of insight. A lot of light shining on the inconsistencies, so to say. As the last in line, we may not have had all eyes on us. Like when we walked or talked. It was like, ‘yeah, so what.’ Whereas the first kid blows a spit bubble, and forks were sat down and there was suddenly a cheering section from the left side of the table. The fifth kid can go undetected for an hour or so before the parents wonder about their whereabouts. And I get it. Truly. I was in literally one posed family photo my whole career as the youngest kid. One. I think it was taken for proof I existed. By then I was five. It took five years to say, hey, we better take a picture before the oldest moves out.
So why do I blog about this? For this reason:
When you’re the last one, not only do things not greatly impress your parents anymore, unless the siblings that came before you are total losers, nothing you do is going to wow them. Especially if said siblings became attorneys, policeman, and nurses. Hmm, so they totally didn’t clap when I took a step, what is going to do it for a career? Aaand…I had nothing. Well, I had a pinch in the side to be a teacher. That never happened. And the job I had while I was raising a family worked, so why put the brakes on that? Even if I was slowly dying inside from the rigors of monotony.
It was….let me count….just a minute, I’m consulting the little sticks on the wall in my cell to see how many years it’d been since I began my stellar position at XYZ, Incorporated. Ah, yes. 22 years into my job I was going to leave any minute, when the idea presented itself in my little head to write. And for the last seven or so years I’ve plucked on my keyboard each moment I get reprieve from all my responsibilities. And it is satisfying. But it’s a far cry from a career path. Because don’t we define those with success? As in paid for services rendered? No, this little gig of mine…I do from the nightlight of my bedroom. The spare change in which I escape from Target by not spending in order to market the latest release. So to say I could wear ‘author’ as a badge of occupation would perhaps be taking it too far. But still I write. Currently too much. I need to get to the point of my post.
This week I received 2 reviews that made my writing feel…made my writing feel, what? Seen is perhaps a good word. Acknowledged. Important. And boy did it feel wonderful. That’s such an overused word, isn’t it? The reviews validated me, I guess. What I try to do and sometimes, not all the time, is hit the mark. One reviewer said they resonated with my character. What a great thing to do. To be able to paint such a picture of a fictional character that a reader can actually resonate with them. It was great. The second reviewer said THE MOST complementary things about my writing and my book that I actually read the lengthy review three times. A smile stretching from ear to ear each time I did. It said that I get overlooked in the women’s fiction genre. Me. I’ll say that again. Me. I get overlooked. I was speechless. As if I needed to say something after reading it to myself.
Resonating and being read. The two biggest goals I could achieve from writing a book and I did it. I may not have gone on the path to medicine or law, and I may have felt very unseen with my j-o-b, but for those minutes, reading those reviews, I felt like someone important. So I let that be my gasoline and packed it in for writing an even better number three to my series of Boone County. 
Reviews count, friend. Good and bad ones. I received a few of those, too. Obviously those readers are not my demographic. So look away, there’s nothing to read here. If what I write is not your cup of tea for subjective reasons, just look away. No need in saying my book was unbelievable. It’s fiction. Everything in it is made up. I digress. Reviews are our little two-way means of communication. I tell you a story, and you let me know how you received it. I LOVE reading how characters made you feel, who you’d like to strangle, and what made you cry. I crave the knowledge.
So read and write the review. I’m waiting…. 🙂 Have a truly splendid weekend!
