It is no secret that during the lean years, to make ends meet, I did a two-volume Avril Lavigne graphic novel.

Today a friend sent me this screenshot of a review on Amazon for it.

I& #39;ve never been more proud of the book.

PS: I think the book is pretty good, actually.

I used to get emails from teen girls all the time about that book. They seemed to really love it. They loved that it was a horror story. They loved that the protagonist was depressed & felt misunderstood. They tended to be split on the ending... but more because of its ambiguity.

Also, I think this person is confused about what "praising and promoting" means in storytelling.

Have you read The Monkey& #39;s Paw? You know, that book that "praises and promotes" bringing your loved ones back from the dead with strange and demonic magic?

I remember one email exchange I had with a young girl more than all the others, because we went back and forth for like a week. She could not stand that the book was open ended and demanded I tell her what really happened to the protagonist. (more)

I told her it was up to her. That it was her story now. She told me I was the writer & it could only every be my story & that I had to know what happened or I was a bad writer. But I just kept laughing & saying, "No, stories live their own lives." (more)

It was driving her crazy. After several email exchanges she told me she had been diagnosed as being on the spectrum. I found it really charming and fascinating.