As a new author, one of the most valuable and painful lessons I learned was that not every soul in the universe is going to adore my books. Before becoming published writers, many of us who eventually get there harbor delusions about throngs of fans clamoring to read our books and that every one of them will fall in love with our stories. Alas, that dream vanishes with a quiet, rueful sigh. The agony of reading that first acrid review is something only a published author knows and lives with. Knowing full well that Amazon and other sites, especially blogs, will serve up reviews crawling with fangs, talons, needles, and venom, we still visit the sites with anxious yet hopeful hearts. Every time we see terms like cheesy, poorly-written, clichéd, total waste of time and money, tawdry, tedious, and pedestrian, we wince and try to quell the tears burning our eyelids. To read more of Shoban’s blog about reviews please click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

When I took up creative writing–romantic fiction no less–I faced some tough challenges. I wanted to write about my own Indian Hindu culture with all its colors, tastes, scents, and textures, with the firm belief that it was interesting to non-Indian readers. However, most people don’t associate romance with India, where arranged marriage, dowry, male dominance, repressed women, and loyalty to family overrules individual needs and aspirations. To add to that, I decided to become a novelist at the ripe age of 50, so my writing career began as a”menopausal epiphany.” Want to know more about the shy heroes and heroines of India? Click here. Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.