When Someone Gets It

You paint a picture, create a sculpture, write a poem or a book. Folk say they love this or that. A few say they don’t like anything you’ve done. Well, you try for a thank-you to them anyway, because that’s what you’ve been taught to do. Smile. Be polite.

And then someone writes a review of your newest and shows that she gets it. She gets the purpose and the heart of your story, although she doesn’t normally read in your genre–or in this case, genres.

Yesterday, that happened when a reader wrote these words about Sailing out of Darkness. I don’t care that she only gave it four stars while she gave my first (Becalmed) five. You’ll see what I mean when you read her words, these from Goodreads:

Normandie Fischer’s latest, Sailing Out of Darkness, includes some of my favorite things: sailing, travel, mystery, and even a bit of fantasy thrown in. Fischer’s latest novel seamlessly melds multiple genres–romance, Christian fiction, women’s lit, and literary–without settling entirely within any one. Don’t think that’s a criticism. For me, I found the balance just right: the romance never gets sappy, the thread of faith/Christian fiction runs through subtly, never pounding the reader over the head with it as so much of that genre does, the mystery and conflict over Samantha’s past coming back to haunt her kept me on edge without becoming melodramatic, and her literal and figurative voyage of self-discovery moves at an engaging pace that never falls over the line from relatable introspection to banal self-absorption. Sam, Teo, and all of the characters’ personalities come through clearly and their interactions and dialogue flow smoothly. Fischer is a master at transporting the reader into the scene. The beauty and foreignness of exploring new places is captured pitch perfect in Sam’s ponderings as she makes her way through Italy. I could picture the Italian countryside, feel the rhythm of the boat on the Mediterranean Sea, and my heart ached and pulse raced when Sam confronted…well, read it to see what and how she overcomes the ordeals she faces.