So, I have a troll.

Yes, it’s true, I have officially picked up a dedicated hater. Last year, some guy set up an Amazon reviewer page for the express purpose of leaving a bad review on Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins. It was my first truly bad review since I released the book in 2013, but it was impossible to get upset about it because they guy trotted out several staple barbs employed by Amazon trolls, including that old classic, “All these good reviews must have been left by the author’s friends.”

My troll then fell silent until recently, when he resurfaced to leave negative reviews on the first two Well-Behaved Women, and it was more of the same cut-and-paste cheap digs. Again, I couldn’t get upset — not just because of the laughable “reviews” themselves. This guy bought one of my books, hated it so much he felt it necessary to spend the time to put his hatred down in writing, and then a year later bought two more in order to do the exact same thing.

If I’m curious about anything, it’s what I did to so upset this individual that I’m now living in his head rent-free (so to speak; technically, he’s paying me to be there). I mean, something about my writing had to be so egregious that he has committed money, time, and emotional energy to trying to get under my skin.

Or — a more likely personal theory — he sees someone succeeding as an indie author and it’s pissing him off that it’s not him. That kind of thing happens to authors, indie or otherwise, quite a bit. Do the job long enough and eventually you’ll pick up reviewers who have nothing constructive to say, they just need to lash out and tear someone else down. They can’t achieve anything themselves, so they set out to prevent others from achieving — almost always behind a veil of anonymity, of course.

Well, have at, Amazon review troll. You keep trying to make me feel bad and I’ll laugh all the way to the bank with your money.

WRITING PROJECTS

The Adventures of Strongarm & Lightfoot – Sworded Affairs: First draft in progress.

Well-Behaved Women – Endtimes: Fifth draft in progress.

Action Figures – Issue Nine: Hell Hath No Fury: First draft in progress.

Action Figures – Issue One: Secret Origins (audiobook): Review completed, final editing in progress.

APPEARANCES & EVENTS

• The Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Saturday, October 5, Lebanon County Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT: I’ll be back again to sell and sign books as part of CTRF’s Local Authors Series!

The New England Speculative Writers group has a new preview book for newsletter subscribers. Pick it up and read the opening chapters to Well-Behaved Women – Awakening and other stories.

If you’d like to make sure you don’t miss any news from me, remember that I have a weekly newsletter that features some of the stuff you see posted here plus new, newsletter-exclusive material. Click this link to sign up.