On Friday, I made the mistake of looking at my number of unique views by posts.

This may not seem like a big deal to some, but to me it was eye opening in many regards. And while there are definitely things to cheer (my page for my novel A Jane Austen Daydream gets really, really great numbers), there were others that brought me down. (My comedy radio scripts for Time Out Of Mind sadly did not inspire a lot of readers, once again emphasizing to me the loss of radio drama, ’cause it can’t be my writing. No, not at all.) That is life though, you win some and you lose some.

Earlier this month, I wrote about how I finally passed 10,000 unique views on my site (I wrote about it here and while I know it is not a big deal for many, it means a lot to me; I’m over 11,200 now), and I realized over this weekend it might be fun to share and write a bit about some of my past posts… but in a way different than most would.

Today, let’s look at the most unpopular things I have ever written on my site… heeheehee… Would that make this the anti-victory lap?

Skipping the links to articles that are available on other sites, here are the most unpopular articles I have written.

5 and 4- Two Book Reviews of Ray Bradbury

It seemed like such a fun idea in theory. Ray Bradbury, the master of the short story, had just passed and I wanted to rediscover a writer who I adored as a young reader and influenced me a great deal as a writer. But instead of focusing on reviewing the books we have all read at one time or another, I decided to look at some of his lesser or forgotten work. My dream was to find some lost treasure or gem that most don’t think of immediately as a Bradbury classic.

Number five and four are my reviews of From the Dust Returned and Summer Morning, Summer Night.

The obvious problem for these two entries is that I was writing about two books no one really knows about; and afterwards it was sadly for a good reason. So if Bradbury fans had found these reviews and were hoping for a heartwarming review of the great master’s work… Well, I’m sorry… No one will be happy here.

So often in today’s literary world, especially around the blogosphere, you only see positive reviews, turning reviews and their commentary into something akin to a commercial. That doesn’t mean that a reviewer should give notes to the writer to correct their work or list all of the mistakes (You see this all the time in film reviews as compared to book reviews online), but they should give the possible reader an idea of what they would get reading a book, and some insightful reflection on what to look for in their reading… Anyway, that is what I like to think I did with these reviews.

But they were two obscure books by a writer who had published a mountain of fiction. So for me as a reader/reviewer- lesson learned.  Yet, I did enjoy writing these book reviews, and I plan to do more in the future, but probably not Bradbury right away.

… Oh, and on a side note, I did find a book I was very happily surprised by and think of now as a classic of his- The Halloween Tree (My review for that work is here). Just avoid the cartoon, it is awful.

3- Rewatching Sunset Boulevard: A Struggling Writer’s Nightmare

This might be a little unfair.

I just wrote this one last week, and as time goes on, I’m sure more will find the article (That usually seems to be the case with pieces like this). I mean, how often are people thinking about Sunset Boulevard? Besides Andrew Lloyd Weber, of course.

A part of me imagines this article being “used” by film students over time. Yes, I will be ripped off for years to come, picking and snatching little ideas for their own classroom-assigned essays on the film; like a child going through a bag of M&Ms looking for only a certain shade of color… Or it may stay at the bottom of the pile, lost like Norma’s film career.

Whatever the case, it is a great movie and a classic for a reason. Check it out.

2- The Road More Traveled: Sacrifice and Luck, the Two Paths to Writing Success

This article has a semi-interesting history. I first wrote it for a writing website and as a favor, but then the website changed and the original article got lost in the shuffle. So this was my attempt to save the piece, update it in spots, and get it back out in the open… so it can get lost again it seems, but now on my site.

Argh!

I can also say that this is not the original title of the article; what the original title is now, I can’t say. Usually mine are shorter; but this one is a mouthful… But looking back over the piece, I think it still has some great points about writing. I like to think of articles like this as my necessary reality wake-up calls for people considering this life style choice.

Not everyone becomes J.K. Rowling. Go figure.

How an article with unicorns in its search tag is at the bottom is beyond me… heeheehee… C’mon! Unicorns.

1- Writing Advice: Never Be Happy

Sometimes writers are the most optimistic artistic group out there. You pick up any book at Barnes and Nobles, and instead of talking about how some have the skill and some don’t, they focus instead on how we all can do this and isn’t life great when you are writing… Happy, happy, joy, joy. Jump into the pool, the water is fine and there is room for everyone!

This article’s title clashes with that sunny disposition. What person looking for writing advice would click on a link with a title like that? Probably only someone with masochistic tendencies.

This is a shame, because I think there are some great points in the piece (if I do say so myself). The overarching theme of the work is that as an artist, a writer should always want to grow in their work, not allow themselves to get lazy in a style (from plot and genre down to language and presentation) that works for them.

All good points.

Yeah, I love all of my “children,” even the most unpopular ones…

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If you liked reading my article, why not check out some of my books? I had two novels published in the last few years, My Problem With Doors and Megan. You can find them via my amazon.com author page here. Thanks for reading!