Critiques and critique groups part I

When the author of two award winning picture books agreed to critique my middle-grade novel, Vanessa the Contessa, I was thrilled. Sure, my audience was 10-13 year old girls, not middle-aged men. But ANY critique is good, especially one from a PUBLISHED author, right?

Hint: the correct answer starts with a W.

When I got my manuscript back, I scanned through, ready to learn from the master. His comments were sparse, but he'd scrawled a few words at the end, and they made an impression on me. I quote. "Shallow people dumping on shallow people = enlightenment?"

After the "critique" sunk in, I stomped around for a good hour, muttering to myself as I cleaned the house.

*Warning: cute toddler story ahead*

Later that day, my two year old son shared his feelings about the critique. "Shallow people dumping on shallow people makes Mommy mad."

I laughed, and eventually recovered from the critique. Maybe it thickened my thin skin just a little (but I doubt it).

Do you really need to hear the moral to that story?

More thoughts on critiques to follow.