They say the second novel is the hardest, and that was certainly true for me. The success of my first Franco mystery surprised me and I felt a lot of pressure to make the sequel even better. While it’s a good read, it has flaws. Notable among them was my reliance on gang lingo and police slang, and boy, did my reviewers let me know! Lesson learned. Since then, when I use slang for flavor, I make it clear in the following sentence or two what I’m referring to. That was a great lesson I wouldn’t have learned if I ignored my reviewers. Therese Walsh at Writer Unboxed explains how a less than enthusiastic review can help the writer who takes her craft seriously.
