I suspect writing and teaching are similar in this way. Everyone who has never tried thinks teaching is an easy job that they could do as well as anyone. What they fail to realize is that anyone can be a *bad* teacher, but being a good teacher requires a LOT of hard work and self-development.

Also also, don't wish to write like her. You write beautifully in your own style. I LOVED The Midnight Bargain and Even Though I Knew the End, and am looking forward to the Witchmark series. You have your own thing to be darn proud of!

Also, I wrote a college essay in a science fiction class about Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine, which the professor was really dismissive of (the books, not my essay) and I didn't have the self-confidence to argue with him about them. Still makes me mad to this day, thirty years later!

Tanith Lee has been one of my favorite authors since I first started reading novels as a kid. Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine are possibly my very favorites of hers, though it's really tough to pick because there are SO MANY great ones.

I agree. Being over 40, I will admit that at first I did find it confusing. But just like understanding people with accents, the more you're exposed to it, the easier it becomes to understand. If people find it confusing, they need more exposure to it, not less.

Congrats! (I know it's not yours, but I also know you're excited for this.)