Reader vs. Writer

I'm judging the RITA again this year and my books arrived last week. I eagerly tore open the box and pulled out the contents to see what treasures were inside.I'm not that eager anymore.I will, of course, not give the author or titles or any specific information about any of the books I'm supposed to judge. Because I'm not really anxious to read any of them. Oh sure they're in the categories I asked for: Romantic Suspense, Single Title and Women's Fiction with Strong Romantic Elements.

But I don't like Western settings, I'm not crazy about serial killers and though I do like paranormal elements the ancient times setting is putting me off.

So here's where the 'vs.' comes in.

As a reader I would never have picked any of these books off the shelf. I've read one book all the way through, but found myself skipping the long pages of narrative/ introspection in the middle. I forced myself to read the whole first chapter of another, but ended up putting it aside to come back to later. Tomorrow, I'll pick another one and give it the 'opening test' and see how far I get.

However, don't let my reader complacency fool you. As a writer who has enter the RITA three times in the past, I know what it takes to put yourself into the arena, get your hopes up and then have them smashed in March when the finalists are announced.

So every book in the Fed Ex box will be read. It will be given a fair chance, especially when it's something I don't normally like. [Last year I gave a werewolf book the highest possible score because although I would never in a million years have bought it, the writing was just that damned good].

But here's a question that tends to set off arguments: How to score? You can use any number between 1 and 9 including decimals (for example 4.7). Some people think average scores should be given even if you didn't like the story because 1) hey, the book got published and 2) so as not to hurt the authors feelings.

I've been on the receiving end of some 2s and let me tell you they hurt like a bitch. So part of me hesitates to give a less than average score. But is that fair to me, who ends up lying? Is it fair to the author, who might strive to write better next time?