I haven't really gotten much feedback in terms of "how to make things better" (my fault, cause I haven't really gone looking for it), so I'm going to share the best compliment I've ever gotten, which was a friend telling me that she felt like she was right there with Fallon at a point in ATQH. (this is my editor friend I mentioned before, who I wish I still talked to.)
So, in 7th grade, the entire class had to read the book The False Prince by Jennifer Nielson (spelling??). At the end, we were charged with one of two tasks. To either A) draw a family crest for our own family, or B) write an epilogue for the book. I was the only kid in the entire class who chose B.
Now, there are a few things you should know about that book, if you've never read it (which I didn't like it much, if that tells you anything). First off, it's book one in a trilogy. Two, it's ridiculously predictable. Which, yeah, okay, picking up on hints for plot twists means the author did their job. But this was me guessing the ending by the end of chapter 2 level of predictable. And super-duper cliche. Three, there are multiple references throughout the book to the enemy kingdom, and the threat of a war.
The books ends with the "lost" prince being found. So, I decided to write my epilogue be the coronation party or like, a "hey, look, we got him back!" party. So, this kid (cause he is a kid), is sitting at the table, and all the most delicious food in the world is piled in front of him. Since he had been living as a thief for a while, this is great news to him.
I was originally planning to poison the poor kid in the middle of the feast, but decided that would take too long. So instead, right as the biggest, most appetizing slice of chocolate cake you have ever seen is placed in front of him, the enemy army attacks. The epilogue ends with the (idiot) prince running towards the battle, rather than away from it, even though he's like, 12. But even as he runs, all he can think about is the chocolate cake he left behind.
So why am I telling you all this in a question about feedback? We're getting there.
A cliffhanger. A good marketing tactic, and a very common way to end the first book in a series. And since there had been non-stop hints throught the book about this enemy kingdom, this all seemed very plausible to me. I print out the epilogue and turn it in.
A few days later, I get my paper back, with a rubric attached. My score? 28/30. Not bad! But the reason I was docked two points? For "not solving all the problems I created". Um? Excuse me??? This is the epilogue of a first book in a series. If I solved all the problems, there wouldn't be a next book. ALSO, it's a fucking epilogue. I really shouldn't be creating problems in an epilogue in the first place, unless it's specifically to set up a cliffhanger. Has this woman ever read a book?
So there you have it. The worst piece of feedback I have ever gotten, given to me over 5 years ago, and I am still very angry about it.
Also, as a bonus, guess how book two starts? An assassination attempt. And guess the plot of book 3? That enemy kingdom attacks. In my epilogue or plans for an epilogue, I managed to predict the entire rest of the series.
