So, what do you do if someone disagrees with something in your book? Now, I write novels that take place during the late 1800’s so language and the proper use of things during that time period can be difficult to determine. One example is when to use “you” or the colloquial form “ya”, or “should” rather than “oughta”. There are also the units of measures I sometimes use. Now, I’m a track and field coach so sometimes when talking about distance I’ll use the metric system which wasn’t used back then. I used this at some point in my first novel and an ARC reader pointed it out to me. At first I was stubborn about it, but then I ended up changing it per his suggestions.

He was also kind enough to email me a review,

“Paranormal Frontier Wild West lives up to its name, both the "wild" west and certainly the "paranormal" aspect. Hunters chasing Vampires and Werewolves is usually thought of as being in Elizabethan England times or else right now modern times and Zombies are almost always by themselves and modern; but here are all three terrorizing gold-rush mining camps in the middle of the eighteen hundreds.

Grab your peacemaker, get some ammunition loaded with silver bullets, and join the hunt, this book is a "wild", wild west tale.”

And also said that he could see this being a TV show, so I couldn’t really cause it criticism. That being said, I am always paranoid about criticism (I mean there’s a reason I always refer to my stuff as trash). That being said, I am used to negative feedback being directed at me (anyone who works or has worked in customer service like I did should know the feeling). Criticism comes with any job and people can be harsh critics. Some will knit-pick every little thing (I’ll give you a hint, these creatures live underneath bridges and attack or harass anyone who tries to cross. What are those called again? Trolls?)

Let me tell you a story about one of the patients I had when I was a receptionist at a dental office. The doctor came to me with the paperwork for one of his patients and I didn’t see the woman with him so I returned to doing some of my other duties. Apparently, this woman went and took a seat, and sat there for an entire hour waiting for me to check her out. I had no idea what this woman looked like so there was no way I would’ve even known she was there. The other receptionist who checked this person in didn’t notice them either. It's impossible to see anyone sitting in the lobby because of the high-counter in front of me and the massive computer screen twice the size of my head. Finally, a dozen patients come in and out every hour. (And when I saw a dozen, I mean a dozen because we had 6 hygienists, and six fully certified dentists in that office, but only two receptionists).

This person never spoke to me. She didn’t go with the dentist to the counter when I got their paperwork, and for some reason it took them over an hour to finally get up and say something (I would’ve been up after like five minutes, but this person waited almost 90). They then start chewing me out, saying I’m terrible at my job, starts explaining how things are supposed to work, berate me when I do start the checkout process for being to slow, asks me if I need glasses when they notice I’m squinting at the screen, rolls her eyes when I explain that my vision can’t be corrected with glasses, and then leaves before I even finish because they think I’m too slow. (If they had said something beforehand and I said that I just needed a minute I could understand being mad, but they didn’t. They just sat down for 90 minutes thinking that I might eventually call them up. Again if you don’t get called up for something like that after like five minutes you ask, if not that, then ten, twenty, or even thirty, but no 90).

This is what I mean by criticism. Yes, did I have some fault. Of course, I probably should’ve called her name, but I’ve also gotten paperwork for patients long before their appointments were over before. (I guess it’s my fault for assuming that they’d do the same thing every other patient does and walk up to the counter when it’s time to check out rather than sitting in a corner where no one can see you- that experience was one of the reasons I left customer service and I don’t regret it)

Now, how do you deal with criticism, because believe me that patient had a lot of criticism. I’ve cried it out a couple of times. I went on a run to de-stress after work. I treated myself to dessert. There are a lot of things you can do, but at the end of the day, you just have to develop a thick skin.

I’m used to getting knocked down a lot. This patient wasn’t the first to say I was slow at my job (I’m legally blind. It’s hard to do a lot of things when your eyesight sucks as much as mine does, especially when that involves reading something like a medical schedule. (Screen reading software still isn’t as fast as even my own ability to skim through words).

That being said, I was equally complimented on my professionalism, friendliness, commitment, and dynamic personality (Ha me dynamic. I’m so socially awkward that I can’t even get a girlfriend, which I’m not disappointed about. Being single is great!” He said before crying himself to sleep that night. LOL im kidding I didn’t cry myself to sleep).

Overall, I wish there was some quick and easy way to deal with criticism, but the truth is, there really isn’t. You just got to move on and not give up. (You can also be like me and tell yourself that you’re going to prove them wrong- look up positive self-talk. If there ever was a trick to dealing with criticism, positive self-talk would be at the top of my list). Also, put together a group of supportive people who you can talk to when things really suck. (Hmm, I just realized something. I’m not being really self-deprecating like usual… I’ll fix that by giving you some terrible advice. Listen to everything I say and you can’t go wrong. That is the worst advice I can give you.

I think I might be losing my edge. Am I starting to think I have something worthwhile to say? I think there might be something wrong with me, but I know how you all can fix it. I need people to start saying more negative things about me.

Anyways, I think that's enough rambling and terrible advice for one day (hey my pessimism is coming back to me). Thanks for tolerating me again, and take care.

MJ Maddox

Visually Impaired Author

Quack Life Coach and advice giver