DEADLINE open thread. Have a party.

*proudly displays new icon*

*loyal flying monkey grumble*

There's a review on Goodreads that's under my skin.

One of the readers is saying that she hates writers who write grief when they don't know jack shit about it. That is really irksome to me because it's impossible to get through LIFE without knowing grief, and that's really a complaint that Mira is not writing grief the way the reviewer would prefer to read about writing grief.

I mean, we saw Georgia's grief about Buffy, and that was different from the Masons' grief about Phillip, and different from Maggie's grief about Dave. Shaun's grief wasn't just grief. It was grief in a horrible melange with guilt, rage, frustration, fear, and loneliness, and it was more than his sanity could take.

Another of the readers is complaining that Georgia should've mentioned her relationship with Shaun in so many words, and that "she's a private person" isn't enough of a reason to have not mentioned it. I thought about it for a while, and I finally said that it seems to me the Georgia/Shaun relationship is in the same category as Dumbledore being gay. It's an interesting tidbit about the character, but it's not relevant to the main story. What does who Georgia's sleeping with have to do with her coverage of the Ryman campaign? What does who Shaun's sleeping with have to do with him going out and poking zombies with sticks? The same thing Dumbledore's sex life has to do with Harry and the Order defeating Voldemort -- not much.

Never, never, never wanna hurt your heart.

I was just having Loyal Protective Grumblies and was figuring that posting it here would generate more Loyal Protective Grumblies as other people who love you and love your work would have the same "huhwaitwtf" reaction I had to the review.

I apologize for the heart-hurty and shall not repeat.

And also -- the reviews that love you on Goodreads really, really love you. Just so you know the nasty is easily outweighed by the OMGZOMBIETERRORMANICFREAKOUTLOVE.