In the last week I received two very different reviews of my book “Becoming A Druid.”

The first, by Nick P at The Book Scene, gushed about my book. I made a post about it (of course). He called it “A spellbinding adventure with intrigue, high stakes conflict, fun, great characters rich worldbuilding&, of course, lashings of awesome druidic magic.” It’s enough to make me feel uncomfortable about such praise. Not too uncomfortable to put it on the back cover of my book the next time it gets printed, but I do feel a little squeamish about getting such high praise. But, there’s no need to worry for me because:

The second review, by Julia Sarene of Fantasy Faction, who is one of the judges in my group of SPFBO competition, was less taken by my book. Overall, she rated my book a 3/5 stars and she did have some nice things to say. But as we all know, it’s the criticisms that really hit home. Some of her comments include: “The main character was . . . really quite arrogant and full of himself.” (Ouch!) Also, “The story is a typical quest, which was mostly interesting, but at times felt repetitive.” (Eesh!) She ends with “Overall it was enjoyable, and especially the world building . . . kept me reading to the end.” (Nice, but if you think I’m going to focus on this, you’re crazy).

This is not a bad review, and it does deflate my ego that’s been riding high the last couple of weeks, so that’s actually helpful. Most importantly, it underscores an important truth in writing, that no book will satisfy every reader. Honestly, I think my book lands somewhere in between these two reviews. As authors, we’re often encouraged to find our tribe and write for them. With my ego now firmly in check, that’s my plan going forward. And if this feels like a daily affirmation post, well, it should.