God Bless the Child is DUMB, DUMB

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K.T. Leone

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I know this is going to get some people upset, but I really don't care.

There is a reason why I fight so hard for reviews from this site and that's because writing mainstream fiction that feature a transsexual character who isn't the butt of jokes or a caricature is an uphill battle. God Bless the Child is a story that was painstakingly crafty, that I have devoted hours of work and cried a bucket of tears into. My goal, was to show that thre are causes for transexuality. I chose a young character for a reason, so it wouldn't get thought of as some kind of sex story.

This was the latest review on Amazon:

This story is so dumb. The 1st mistake made within the story line is when the couple needed to buy the little boy pants and he didn't want them cause the ones his abusive father put on him were to small and hurt....didn't they think to get sweat pants with an elastic waist, take him home and let him see they wouldn't hurt.
Next, the mother can't make up her mind if she wants to keep him...as she says...he's a sweet little boy but he has issues...who doesn't.
Next, since when do you take a child shopping and let HIM pick out the clothes at age 4????
After they continue to dress him like a girl, they wonder why he wants to be a girl? And, don't take him to a Day Care...take him to a speech specialist and get him able to pronounce his name.

So now I wonder if I should even continue with this whole career. This isn't the first review like that I got. I even gotten called horrible names from people from this site. I am going to sit back and really think about things. I can use my talents and write stories about baseball or wrestling or war or christianity or knights or daredevils or kite flying. I am beyond distraught.

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Now (Updated)

Now I want you to think of the issues of where the adoptive parent sent the kid packing on a plan back to Russia that had issues. Or the boy who at the age of 5-6 wanted to be a girl but was forced by his parents to dress as a boy because they listened to the advice of those around them only to eventually listen to their child.

Also when you do your research on these issues then read the remarks of some people that question the idea that a child at that age could even think of allowing such a child to make such a decision.

Okay its possible to mistep on the clothes in the beginning but a child is taught at a young age to begin to chose what type of clothes they like. Some young some old.

Now think of how many of them 'EVEN' understand the deep's that a transgender child knows about themselves. They would say they would 'beat' the kid out of such an idea.

Look of the kid who wore rainbow colors to school and their remarks.

*****************

One other point of contention that was noted.

When you go from having -- oh lets say 200-300 people seeing your work to mainframe then you're window of criticism increases proportionally. People will write what they want to write because they feel its their obligation to just smack down whatever they want to. Best to keep the people at their level of intelligence than to let someone think that they know better.

This Review Is Dumber

Never ever take any notice of anyone who uses multiple punctuation marks to make a point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a good story, and you are a good writer. I look forward to the tg Christian Knights wrestling the kite-flying daredevils.

Ban nothing. Question everything.

J.K. Rowling gets called a

J.K. Rowling gets called a "practising witch" for her writings. Jennifer Hepler, a writer at the video game company BioWare, was subject to abuse and threats for her character creations and her own personal opinions. Anna Gunn who plays Skyler White on Breaking Bad has been the subject abuse too from irate fans. A developer for Call of Duty was sent countless pieces of hate-mail and death threats (see: http://gamerfury.tumblr.com/) all for slightly reducing the rate of fire of a sniper rifle.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't take it to heart. By putting yourself into the public eye you're making yourself a target. There's nothing you can do about that. Try your best to ignore the hate, there will always be some anonymous person on the internet waiting to put you down. If you're happy with your works, and you know others like it too, you should just continue onwards happily creating and writing.

Review

Katie, I made it a point to download this wonderful story onto my Kindle when you first released it. I did so even though I had already read and enjoyed it when it was first published here. Yes, this is a dark subject but as far as I am concerned, it is well-written. There is only one reason why I have not given a review on Amazon and that is the fact that for some reason I am not able to get my Kindle to connect up to the review site. Oh, and every time I do so, Facebook thinks someone is hacking my FB account.

This is going to sound weird

coming from me, but sometimes, reviewers don't know their head from their ... backside.

I took a ton of heat over a recent story - the review you got is kind compared to some of the vile hatred I got in PMs and e-mails. But, following the advice of many here, I got past the negative reviews, and I'm writing again. Granted, my muse took a beating with my ego, but we're on the road to recovery. To paraphrase PT Barnum, you can't please all the people all the time. Some grouchy types you'll never please.

If I, in the midst of depression, family troubles, sucky work, embarrassing medical problems, and general fatigue, can get back to writing, then anyone can. Do NOT let your voice be stilled because of an asshat or two. Please.

If you want to PM to chat, feel free. But please do not stop writing.

Imagination is more important than knowledge
A. Einstein

Ignore the hate

Katie take a serious look at some of that review and think.

"After they continue to dress him like a girl, they wonder why he wants to be a girl?" If this statement were true, the number of FtM transgendered would be enormous, and the number of MtF would be miniscule. Many more girls wear 'boys' clothes than boys wear 'girls' clothes.

"Next, since when do you take a child shopping and let HIM pick out the clothes at age 4????" I will admit that I don't have children, but even at that young of age a child knows what they want to wear, and parents allow their children at least some choice in what it is.

"The 1st mistake made within the story line is when the couple needed to buy the little boy pants and he didn't want them cause the ones his abusive father put on him were to small and hurt....didn't they think to get sweat pants with an elastic waist, take him home and let him see they wouldn't hurt." I admit that I had similar thoughts when I first read the story, but also realize that they needed clothes now, not later, and that until they got him to trust them, having any clothes is better than none, and fighting over the clothes isn't worth the difficulty.

"And, don't take him to a Day Care...take him to a speech specialist and get him able to pronounce his name. " This child was much more in need of social interaction with other children than to be stuck with a speech specialist. Many children, even those older than 4, have trouble speaking. Some need help, some learn on their own. And Jenny had much worse problems than saying 'Jeremy'.

You, Katie, are an excellent weaver of stories. You create characters that are believable and come alive.

Remember those who can, do; those who can't, teach; and the really inept criticize.

As an aside, I really hope that that reviewer never has children, because they will definitely need therapy as adults.

Rember This!

These are the same kind of people who read "Real Life Transgender News" and think it is DUMB DUMB!!! And their lives should not "be written"(That is Exist) and then make negative comments about those.

They expect a magic wand to just fix everything, without magic of course. Gee, wasn't it dumb that Jem'y's real parents had such problems, I mean they just should have gone to rehab! Problem solved!

Besides if you couldn't have characters do dumb, controversial & evil things etc. there would not be any stories to tell.

["God Bless the Child" (The nothing controversial happens version)]:
Jenny was born, perfect, absolutely perfect, and had perfect life with no problems and everything anyone could possibly want, full of love and happiness. For "God Blessed this Child". The End!

Seems kind of boring to me, and doesn't

If anything was "DUMB DUMB!!!" it was that review.
Anything ever written has some people who think it was dumb, just ignore those.

I hope I am expressing this right,
~Hypatia >i< ..:::

perusing

Even some of the big names in the publishing industry sometimes receive scathing reviews. Just because you've received a handful of bad reviews doesn't mean you're a bad author. Any writer who is worth his/her metal is going to invoke the wrath of his readers and the occasional critic. Don't let these comments get you down, the fact is you have more positive reviews than negative. And this particular reviewer sounds like a bigoted and narrow-minded a**hole. His/her opinion isn't worth the light of day.

Have delightfully devious day,

Keep writting

Katie,

Keep writting. Many people are scared of THE TRUTH. Transgender is real, no matter what their narrow minded thoughts would like the "facts" to be.

This is an important story. Please, please do not let the ignorance of one who is obviously challenged keep you from writing/speaking on this subject. Even in your earliest works, your writting ability is clear- and every time you write something you get better.

While you should always be looking for areas to expand the subjects you write on, so you can grow as an author, never let ignorance still your muse. If that happens, we all lose.

Hugs from Portland,

Kathy

Don't let them win

Keep writing if it makes you HAPPY! PLEASE, DON'T let one bad review get you down!

God Bless this Child

I liked God Bless this Child, in reply to the criticism in the review, young children have a strong view on what they like and dislike. They copy their parents and older siblings if they have them, it part of the learning cycle for all children. Gone are the days when children were seen and not heard.

Keep writing BC visitors and followers know what they like, and keep coming back.

Huggs Eliza

ELIZA

KT That is enough of that.

KT it is a good story and a well written one.I have had too much life and way too much good therapy to trigger easily and yet your writing was able to trigger me. Very powerful writing ,My dear.Very powerful indeed.

I think we all need to learn how to take feedback. For me, good or bad or even hateful I neither accept nor defend nor reject. I sit quietly with it and allow it to challenge me and my ideas (including about myself). That which fits and has value, I incorporate that which does not fit or is of no value, I discard.

Folks will comment on your work out of their own experience or agenda and some of that will be hurtful or hateful and have nothing to do with craft or art mostly politics, ignorance, fear, or misguided theology. Always remember, it boils down to,"I liked it."; "I didn't like it" all of the rest is superfluous bull shit.

Katie, you are a dear sweet woman whom I am proud to call sister. You have an innate compassion which comes across clearly in your wonderful writing. Yes, nastiness hurts, especially from family or co-religionists but they are wrong and hateful and frightened little people take such words with a grain or 30 of salt and keep on writing and keep on being your good and lovely self. And, yes, I am still reading "Child" and yes it is better now. And by 4, my son was choosing most of his own clothes both in the stores and in his room.

LUVU

Joani

Hemingway would get some

Hemingway would get some seriously scathing reviews and handled it so well...

The stagecoach

There is an anekdote about John Ford's movie "The Stagecoach".

The movie starts out with a lot of native american Indians on horseback pursuing a stagecoach, the Indians shoots at the passengers and the passengers returns fire, eventually the Indians' attack is foiled and they flee.

At the release press conference a journalist asks: "Why don't the Indians just shoot the horses, and have it done with?", to which John Ford replied, "If they'd done that, there wouldn't have been a movie!".

The point, as I understand it is: in order to move a story forward a writer needs some plot devices, eventually with a greater audience the writer will encounter a reader who, for a multitude of reasons, will reject belief in that plot device.

Early access readers, e.g. trusted good friends who has access to early revisions of the story, can help locate some, but not all, of the plot devices which causes suspension of belief.

As for the specifics to this plot device: I am convinced that some people would allow their four year old child a great deal of influence over their manner of dress and others would disregard their child's opinion all together.

Any movie, book or story.

As you pointed out its true with any book or movie. As with anything people will analyze the content and say why not just do this or that. Doing so can change the tone or direction of the movie or book.

Just like Harry Potter why didn't he just run away from home instead of living in the closet. Or why do a lot of villains give away their plot as they torture the hero? These of course are just examples. Those that criticize the story probably wouldn't like it anyway. They may be too engrossed with details that takes the imagination away from the suspense. Just like I know with action films where the hero or villain gets up from an impossible stunt I know its just to entertain me.

Early movies did not depict the actual effect of a bullet as it hit someone. Even today actors are 'told' how to die to give it a theatrical look. They want to draw out the emotion in us. Some cannot believe what they read or see.

Comments, Comments, Comments

The internet is a sewer. It carries the effluent from billions of keyboards. While some things that entered the stream are beautiful, they're mixed in with all the rest.

If you want to get a perspective on comments in general, go pick out a few news stories on USA Today's website and read the discussion threads. Bleh! While some of the comments are from thoughtful people with useful opinions that add to the discussion, the majority of them are quite the opposite. Even the business news on the bloomberg.com site is assailed. Rubbish, hot air, incoherent babbling, personal agendas, "Look, Ma! I is on teh internetz!", politics, and complete trollery.

Enjoy your positive comments, but don't take them too seriously. As for the negative ones, just remember they came out of that giant sewer pipe, and if the smell is leaking through, adjust the clothespin on your nose. The show must go on!

Bad reviews of REAL LIFE

I enjoy watching movies and documentaries about WW II. In the movies I expect to see the sort of contrived plot devices that have been previously mentioned here. But in the documentaries not so much.

So, take a typical 'submarine in the pacific' movie or documentary. It will have at least one scene where the Japanese destroyer makes a bee-line for the American sub and begins to drop 'depth charges' on it. We lost a lot of subs that way, for real.

And I always say (to myself unless someone else is around) "the destroyers always have depth charges - so how come the submarines never have surface charges?"

We had some pretty good 'writers' running WW II. So did the Japs and all the others. And yet not one of them saw how dumb it was to not have surface charges for the subs.

***

I complain, but I still enjoy the movies and the documentaries.

What everyone has said,

Just don't let the idiots win. Keep on writing girl.