Lisa Tener on what to do when someone tries to take the wind out of your sails:
In terms of the writing–he’s not your target audience. I would be very careful of not giving the book to someone who is not your target audience right now. I would focus on getting feedback from people who are your target audience–probably mostly women. And people you trust to be kind, who will offer helpful, specific feedback.
And:
One of the lessons here is to be careful who you share your work with. Once someone has proven untrustworthy (i.e. it’s not like he gave you some great feedback that was very specific and helped you improve the book the first time he looked at it), do not trust them with an additional read. Lesson learned.
It sounds like his was also an energetic attack, meant to undermine your creative energy, confidence and success. So, maybe spend some time in nature, do whatever you need to connect to your life-force and rejuvenate your spirit. Envision yourself taking back any life-force energy he may have “taken” with his attack. Don’t dwell on it, though. Reconnect with your strength and from that place, ask what’s next. It may be very helpful to work with a coach or a healer to clear the trauma of this and un-create whatever beliefs about yourself that fed into this attack.
My sense is that when someone has a passion as you do, it’s no accident. You are meant to write this book and all the support you need to make it compelling is available to you as you remain steadfast.