Like everyone else on earth, I like compliments! I like them even more when they're about one of my books. While some of my works only took a month or so to write, that doesn't mean I didn't put a lot of thought into them or didn't strive to make them the best they could be. They're novellas, after all, not encyclopaedic tomes.
What sort of amuses me, though, is when reviewers find the "hidden meaning" in my books. It's rather endearing. You see, there are no hidden meanings. Underlying themes? Possibly, but I'm not convinced of that, either.
It's not the reviewer's fault. We've been conditioned to look for the unspoken truth in everything. I am probably the poster child for asking, "What do they mean by that?" Because, you see, hardly anyone blatantly pronounces their intent. They cloak it. The most intelligent people most likely do that on purpose. It's like a little test (unless they're just psychopaths). I'm known to parse someone's words. There is a guy (also an author) whose podcast I follow, a (too?) smart man, highly successful, a deep thinker. He often leaves his statements hanging out there for viewers to chew on. While interesting, that's also frustrating. Sometimes I watch a podcast simply to relax, oftentimes to lull me to sleep. I usually prefer to listen to someone who just says what he/she thinks. I've always considered myself one of those people, especially in my writing. I don't write with the purpose of making a reader ponder my message. I don't have a message. While it's true that since I write in first person, my MC's do try to suss out others' intentions, but that's only natural.
Maybe my books have a message and I don't know it. If any reviewer hits on the correct one, I'll probably recognize it. No one has yet. I haven't erupted with, "Hey! You're right! I am doing that!"
Writing to deliver a message is, to me, boring and obvious. But if someone does find meaning in any of them, I'm not going to discount it. In the meantime, I just keep telling stories.
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