Rough Stuff: In Which I Discuss Being Accused of Having a Sordid Mind

Rough Stuff: In Which I Discuss Being Accused of Having a Sordid Mind.

This is probably one of those blogs I shouldn’t write, but impulsivity and I are old, old friends. (Remember that time I decided to wear only clothes from Wal-Mart for a year? Yeah.)

I get a lot of very generous feedback about my writing. Some of it in the form of reviews, some of it direct to my inbox. It’s the kind of feedback that keeps me going, writing the next book or story. It helps me put out the flames of self-doubt when they come shooting out of my brain, obliterating the words before they can take shape on the page. I won’t say that I can’t live without it, but it surely makes my work easier to put out there. You know. Welcoming arms and all.

I’ve never addressed a reviewer directly, and I won’t do it now. But there’s a thread that runs through some of the uglier criticism of my novels and stories that I think is worth mentioning and examining.

Vulgar is a word that’s commonly used. Lurid as well (though it was used in conjunction with entertainingly, which I rather liked). My favorite and most recent hint that all is not hunky dory in my world is the observation that I must have a sordid mind.

It does make me think. It makes me wonder if,

To read the rest of the essay: http://www.laurabenedict.com/rough-stuff-in-which-i-discuss-being-accused-of-having-a-sordid-mind/