For the last couple of weeks Camera Girl has been asking me to send her a copy of my book.\u00a0 And I kept forgetting.\u00a0 Now, she\u2019s not the most tech savvy individual.\u00a0 So, reading a book from her laptop isn\u2019t ideal for her.\u00a0 But a few days ago she finally figured out how to open the file I e-mailed her and began reading it.\u00a0 Somehow yesterday she informed me that the last twenty pages of the book were missing.\u00a0 This panicked me because I had sent her the same file I sent to all of the other readers and I was afraid everyone would think I was losing my mind and forgot to finish the book.\u00a0 But on examining her copy I could see those last twenty pages.\u00a0 Somehow, she had a second copy open and something screwy happened to it.<\/p>\n
Well, the good news is she likes the book.\u00a0 And this cheered me up quite a bit.\u00a0 Firstly, because I think she really means it.\u00a0 She is a very honest woman and even taking into account her bias in my favor, her positive comments were recognizable facets of the story.\u00a0 Secondly, I\u2019m encouraged because this gives me my first test sample for women readers.\u00a0 And Camera Girl is a voracious reader of thrillers.\u00a0 She\u2019s always reading a Lee Child book or some other big author in the genre.\u00a0 And she\u2019s not a science fiction reader so if the other aspects of the book appeal to her it makes me think my story will have general appeal, possibly even with women!<\/p>\n
And I\u2019ll have to say that shocks me.\u00a0 I would say that my reading and writing preferences are definitely pre-feminist.\u00a0 The world at large currently is immersed in fiction that is geared for women readers almost exclusively.\u00a0 Even male authors take into account the sensibilities and preferences of a female audience.\u00a0 And to such an extent that men must notice that something has changed in these books.\u00a0 So, I\u2019m surprised that my writing style hasn\u2019t triggered some alarm bells in Camera Girl\u2019s fiction reading programming.\u00a0 So, I think that\u2019s interesting.<\/p>\n
Of course, this has made me want to get some more female beta readers, but they\u2019re hard to find in my circle of associates.\u00a0 If any of you know of any women who are interested in this branch of fiction please let me know and I\u2019ll send along a copy for her.\u00a0 The trick is to find women who wouldn\u2019t be politically triggered by the right-wing nature of the plot and characters.<\/p>\n
Of course, Camera Girl still has twenty pages to go so there\u2019s no guarantee that she won\u2019t hate the ending.\u00a0 But one positive sign is that a scene in the book sparked her desire to bake a crumb cake today.\u00a0 And as much as I\u2019m on a diet I saw it as a positive sign for her ultimate seal of approval on the book.\u00a0 So far, she says her favorite scene in the book is when Chastain is being pressured to accept becoming the next President of the United States by the remaining upper echelons of the federal government (Supreme Court Justices, highest ranking military officers, etc.) and he tells them he has to call his wife first to get her advice.<\/p>\n
Well, I hope she likes it.\u00a0 I\u2019m depending on getting her recommendation on the back cover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the last couple of weeks Camera Girl has been asking me to send her a copy of my book.\u00a0 And I kept forgetting.\u00a0 Now,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3366,1289,1263],"tags":[300,1290,5067,4484],"class_list":["post-35084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-in-dunwich","category-fiction-by-me","category-stuff-that-personally-interests-me-miscellaneous","tag-camera-girl","tag-my-fiction","tag-self-publishing","tag-the-american-archipelago-book-1-the-sniper"],"yoast_head":"\n