A review of reviews

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Charlotte Copper

There has been a lot of writing on one of the blogs I follow about reviews. About how devastating it is for an author to receive a bad review, especially a new author. Some of the responses say to ignore it. Some say different strokes for different folks. Some point out how cruel it is for the reviewer to be so negative. And some say that even a bad review can generate interest.

I know for a fact that I don’t like to leave anything less than a four star review. Now that doesn’t mean I lie about a book, it just means that I won’t leave a review if I’m going to give it less than four. I don’t leave bad reviews because honestly, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. As a soon-to-be-published author, I know how much of my heart, and soul, and time goes into a book.

I do, however, think less than stellar reviews are necessary. First, if a book is really bad, as a reader I’d like to know. Second, if the reviewer is any good, they might have some constructive criticism that may help the writer with their next book.

For books that are published through any sort of press (as opposed to self-published), the book is read by at least one experienced editor. If the book was a real stinker, would it even make it pass the editor’s desk? We all know the answer is ‘yes’ because we have all read stuff before that we did not think deserved publishing.

And think about movies. Millions (and millions) of dollars go into making a movie. Hundreds of people are usually involved in the process. You would think with all that money invested and all those fingers in the pot that it would be impossible to make a stinker. But, again, we all have seen a few really bad movies.

I follow every movie I want to see on a site called rottentomatoes. I want to know what others think about a movie before I spend $$ to see it. However, I also know that my type of movie is not everyone’s cup of tea. The more action, blood, and explosions in a movie, the better. The more romance and comedic dialogue, the further down the list it goes. (Sounds strange for a romance writer, eh?) So even with a dozen or so bad reviews, a high action movie that is sitting at 50% might get my money, while I pass on a movie like Les Mis that is sitting at 70%. Even as I write this I’m contemplating seeing Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters which is sitting at 17%. Why? Because reading the comments they talk about more action than story. They also compare it to Van Helsing which I very much enjoyed.

The point is… as long as the good reviews exceed the bad, is the book still worth reading? Definitely.
If a person writes a bad review should that be the end of the author’s world or a definitive reason for you not to read? Certainly not.
Will I cry if Silver Blade receives a bad review? Certainly. Definitely. Yes.

The evolution of a pen name…

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Charlotte Copper

So for those of you that don’t know me personally, I have a confession…Charlotte Copper is not my real name. It is a pen name. Why a pen name? I have to admit, I did want to see MY name (my real name) on the cover of my book, but I chose a pen name because in this world where everything can be found on the internet, I wanted a little bit of privacy. Not a lot, because I know I can still be found…but a little.

So how did I come up with Charlotte Copper? It was an accident actually.

My soon-to-be released book is titled Silver Blade. All the other stories I’ve written, am writing, and hope to publish, have colors in their titles, too. I’ve submitted Golden Star to Wild Rose Press in hopes of getting a second novella published, and Red Forever was my first (sob, sob) rejection letter. Based on this trend, I decided I wanted a color in my name.

The first name I decided upon was Amber Rose. How perfect! Colors in both first and last, and (in my opinion) a true romance writer name. However, as some of you may know, Amber Rose is also the name of (according to Wikipedia, anyway) a model and actress. Yes, I could still use it, but I decided to keep looking.

Then I moved to Amber Lee. Good name, keeps the Amber, puts me in the middle of the alphabet on book lists. Again, thanks to the internet, I found out Amber Lee is also a model. This Amber, however, is known to model bathing suits, lingerie, and less. Moving on…

I threw around ideas like Roni Rose, Wendy White, Velvet Green. I was rambling on about this one day in the car to The Daughter, when I said, “I should just use my grandmother’s name, Charlotte Cowper.” “Why don’t you?” she asked. “Because I want a color,” was my answer.

A couple of days later, I’m lying on The Daughter’s bed as I try to wake her up for school, and I’m rambling once again about trying to find a pen name. The Daughter, who is not truly awake and is simply trying to get rid of me says “Why don’t you just use your grandmother’s name. Charlotte Cowper. Or Charlotte Copper. Or whatever!”

And voila! A tribute to my grandmother. A color in my name.
A pen name…and author…were created.

Writing does not have to be a solitary act

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Charlotte Copper

They say writing is a solitary act. That is true, and yet there is a lot of support out there if you look.

For a few years now, I have been a member of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region (WCDR); an amazing group of writers who are very supportive and encouraging. Some are multi-published, some are just thinking about writing, and many are in the business (editors, teachers, etc).

I joined the WCDR after I wrote my first novel. “Wrote” mind you…not submitted, not published. I joined to find out how to get it published, and I learned a lot. The one thing I learned is that the book will likely never see the light of day. Although my first book ended up being shelved (or more correctly removed from my computer to a USB key), what I gained resulted in Silver Blade being seen and accepted.

The one thing that seemed to be lacking from my WCDR experience was other romance writers. Romance is the largest book market out there, and yet I felt like I didn’t belong with these writers. “What do you write?” I’d ask and get answers like poetry, non-fiction, and memoir. “What about you?” they would ask. “Paranormal Romance” I’d say and feel like I wasn’t a serious writer.

Now let me clarify that no one…ever…at WCDR made me feel that way. It was all of my own doing, and yet I decided I needed some more interaction with like-minded individuals. So this year I decided to spread my wings and join the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and the TRW (Toronto Romance Writers)…you must join the RWA before you can join the TRW. And both memberships were Christmas gifts from my mom – thanks mom!

Anyway, my first TRW meeting was yesterday, and it couldn’t have been better. Yes, it was 95% women (and I think 2 of the men were there simply because they drove their wives) but just listening to some of the women talk, I knew I was in the write place (pun intended).
What made it even better, was that Kelley Armstrong was the speaker at my first TRW meeting. She spoke from 9 – 4 about the business end of writing, as well as her own personal writing. I’ve got her entire Otherworld series, and can’t wait for her new adult Cainsville series to come out in August. Here is a photo of me with Kelley. (Yes, I did ask her permission to post her photo on my blog.)

I’m looking forward to learning and sharing with these women (and men). If I could achieve a fraction of Kelley’s success with my books, I’d be happy. As I said before, as a romance writer, I believe in happy endings!