I am not good at feedback. Whenever someone in my writing group says anything that is the least bit critical about my work  I  hate their guts for about 3 – 30 seconds, depending on how much cheese I have consumed.

Once I actually process said critique, I am always Incredibly Grateful for the insight they have gifted me with however that doesn’t make me any less homicidal the next time someone says ‘that character is flat’ or ‘you need to put a period there.’

I have been posting on this blog for over a year now, and yet not once have I dared experience the pain of feedback during that time. However, I figure if am going to show my mother why blogging matters, I ought to give it a shot. SO HERE GOES.

The following is the current opening paragraph of my YA thriller about three girls who are modeling in Tokyo and soon find themselves competing for something a lot more valuable than the next cover of Vogue: their lives.

Jess set her suitcase on the sidewalk. Several taxis were parked in front of the terminal, bottles of Absolut Vodka, Shiseido eyeliners, and Fuji cameras flashing across their sides. One near the end caught her attention. Unlike the rest of the taxis, the sides of his vehicle were black and plain. The front windshield was darker than the others so that she could barely see the driver—and yet somehow she was certain she could feel him watching her. Despite the warm night air, a chill ran through her. Tokyo was normally a pretty safe city, but lately things hadn’t exactly been normal and she was suddenly glad the agency had insisted on sending Hiro to pick her up. Jess turned away.

If you have any thoughts about this excerpt, I would (somewhat) love to hear them.