I've always found complimenting people to be a difficult thing to do. I can criticize with skill and precision, but when it comes to the compliment, the best I can usually come up with is a "you're awesome" or a "that's great." It's really too bad, and I imagine my relationships have suffered because of it.

Today, I received an email from a gentleman named Gerard Fleck, who I was in a writing group with for a time. The letter he sent was the most complimentary I can ever remember receiving. What I like most about it is its precision--why are most of us so good at criticizing with precision, and so bad at this?

I quote verbatim:

I really enjoyed reading World Leader Pretend. It was very original and kept moving at a good pace that kept me interested (and laughing). Although as an amateur writer, I found that thinking about the task of connecting these people through an online game in a meaningful real world way, kinda daunting --- you pulled it off quite satisfactorily. I'm glad you did not get bogged down in technical detail or the intricacies of on-line gaming. I think that is one of your strong suits, that you deal with a subject not initially accessible to someone who does not get into on-line gaming, yet you give just enough info to get me interested and then you really kept the story about the characters, with game as a backdrop or rather a web that ties them together. I finished reading it about a month ago, and don't have it with me right now, so can't reference the exact character names -- but -- the parts that are very memorable are the guy who ends up in Antarctica - the parts about him living in NYC, picking up girls was very well done. Also, the guy who wants to walk all the time, was good comic relief, but then when he finally does talk, he nails Xerxes - nice. The way your write about Gabby, being nuts, very convincing because you just put the reader right with her without getting bogged down in trying to prove she's nuts or use alot of clinical mumbo jumbo, she's just a young adult who is in fact a bit off kilter. When she tossed the baby off the mountain and hits Xerxes with it, and when the walking dude falls off the rock, absolutely brilliant and hilarious. Also, Gek Lin and Charlie's storyline came across very convincingly, animated, funny, yet with an understated seriousness. I think most guys can relate to Charlie being compromised in their desires to both help and ravage Gek Lin. And most folks cheer for Gek Lin and feisty determination.

Every moment throughout the book I never questioned your authority (ie: your demonstrated ability to be the author of what you were writing - credibility, I guess is the word), or the stories authenticity. I never once broke awkwardly from the narrative or found myself saying 'yeah right.' Even with such a truly mixed bag of characters and events that include a marriage on the south pole, an Olympic class skier from England (where they have no Olympic class mountains!), a millionaire underworld gangster in Thailand, a dotcom upstart gone bust, a therapist intern who moves from NY to AZ for a one-hour per week internship, Gabby & X's absent parents, absolutely outrageous coincidences around a chandelier mounted web cam, it all worked and worked quite well! Overall it was timely with the Internet company bust, the edginess of the characters, casual sexual and drug related references, a strip mall based mental health facility -- your book has quite a good sense of the y2k zeitgeist, my man. To be blunt, your book has all the elements that could have, in a less skilled writer's hands, amounted to schlock, but you, my friend, have clearly created literature. You should be proud of your skillful acrobatic act, and especially the way you stuck the landing.

Stay cool, keep on scribbling, and yes, I have recommended WLP to several people. I'm looking forward to seeing [your next book] in print.

Your Friend,
Gerard

Gerard has obviously made a friend for life...

Labels: What They're Saying about my Novel, World Leader Pretend