Sunday, January 31, 2010

I Have Stolen Someone Else's Life

Someone much more famous and fabulous than me. The kind of person who lands three book deals with Berkley and has a real office (not just a bed, and a laptop, and one of them things you can buy from bookstores so the laptop doesn't burn your kneecaps off) and who goes to conventions where people actually know who they are and there's more than nine people who like their work.

I've stolen that person's life. Or even someone less famous than that, someone who has just written something really interesting or weird or cool or has published in a few places and is worthy of notice. So worthy of notice that they get a review, on Dear Author.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2010/01/30/review-waiting-in-vain-by-charlotte-stein/

Because that's what happened. I got a review, on Dear Author. And not just a DNF review or an F review, either. I got a B grade. Me! Less than nobody me! I'm a speck. I have two things of my own out. People were actually complaining that I didn't have a bigger backlist.

I would have squeezed stuff out of my right nostril, if I'd suddenly had the facility to pass published works through said orifice.

However, they weren't complaining that I didn't have a bigger backlist in the review comments. Oh no no no. Because apparently when you briefly steal someone else's life, you get the full works. And so my tiny little novella, Waiting In Vain, was #romwin-ed.

Which is basically like #romfail, only Jane from Dear Author takes an hour to talk about how orsum your book is, rather than how much it sucks, on Twitter. And everyone joins in. And I pass out.

I've passed out several times, since all this happened. I tried to type last night that I'd got a review, but it's really hard to make sense when your typing fingers have turned to jelly. I just don't know how three-book-deal-with-an-office-loads-of-people-know-who-they-are-has-written-something-interesting-and-cool person does it.

People keep commenting on how giddy I am, but I can't help it. I used to laugh at myself, for one day imagining that I would get a review on one of the big romance blogs. I'm so grateful, for everything that's come into my little life over the past couple of years. For the actual published stories and the people saying nice things and just everything. And to think, I almost didn't send Waiting In Vain to Total-E-Bound!

I shiver, thinking about that, now. Don't ever let that happen to you.

8 comments:

  1. I read Waiting In Vain because of the Dear Author review, and loved it! I hope you've got many more books waiting to come out.

    By the way, when I searched on your name at the Total-E-Bound web site, it didn't find anything, but it did find Waiting in Vain when I searched on the title. You might want to mention that to them because my guess is people are going to be searching on your name...

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  2. It's *your* life, baby, so get used to it--the life of a brilliant genius writes-like-no-one-else-and-makes-you-heartily-aroused-and-moved-and-amused-all-at-the-same-time amaze-o author!

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  3. Waah, it won't display my entire hyphenated word string. The words, in order of appearance, were as follows:
    writes
    like
    no one
    else
    and
    makes
    you
    heartily
    aroused
    and
    moved
    and
    amused
    all
    at
    the
    same
    time

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  4. Wheee! And totally deserved, Charlotte: you're just brilliant.

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  5. I'm glad you liked it, Statch! And I'm working on the getting more stuff out thing. Just got word yesterday that I'm going to have another novella published with TEB, so I'm getting there! Oh, and thanks for the info. You're absolutely right, and I'll make sure it gets passed on.

    Thanks, Madelynne!

    As you know, I love your words, Jeremy! And I might not be quite used to it, but you sure do help!

    Janine- thank you, mah dahlink!

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  6. Woohoo! Well done you! *cheers*
    So glad you sent it in ;-)

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  7. Thanks, Saskia! I am too. Thanks for telling me to persevere!

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