Shootin' From The Hip

I’ve done it, occasionally still do it—shoot from the hip that is. I would love to be able to claim I’ve learned how to curb my unchecked impulses, but can’t, because I’m human, so far from perfect it’s laughable. I’m also prone to react like a firework on a short fuse—KABOOM! Further ‘alsos' by way of warning, include: my loathing for being told what to do, or what to think, and scare tactics—that sanctimonious advice (steely threats in a velvet glove) handed out on how writers should manage their on line presence for fear of putting their writing careers at risk.
 
Well, I exercised extraordinary restraint on the issue of trademarking generic words (cockygate etc), and book stuffing (grrrrr), but this pious lecturing about the dos and don’ts for authors reviewing books? DOUBLE KABOOM!
 
Why, as an author, is it bad form to leave a less than 4* or 5* book review? What happened to respecting honest opinion? Sure, I’m lucky enough to have been published, but I sure as hell don’t remember abdicating my rights as a reader in exchange for that privilege. I pay for the books I read. And I do read. A lot. Sometimes I’m even moved to share my opinion of a particular book, good, or not so good, with a review. Don’t silence me with half-arsed advisories on etiquette for writers. Don’t silence me with idle threats of career suicide should I choose to disregard the apparent ‘special snowflake’ status of writers.
 
I’m not advocating being nasty, I don’t hold with the deliberate sabotage of another writer’s work by getting clicky with the 1* and 2*s, because both stink. What I do defend is the right of an author who reads to hold (and share, if so inclined) an honest point of view free from threat, because no matter how small or ridiculous said threat, people, that is akin to bullying.

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