@MaryAnnLewis01 - Mediocre work is that which is not exactly bad, but it certainly isn't great - if it's graded, it might receive something in the B-C range. If it were to be professionally reviewed, it would get some nice words in one or two sentences from someone at Kirkus, but not the coveted Kirkus Star. It's work that is decent enough but certainly not Nobel, Pulitzer, or National Book material. It won't ever find its way into a Norton Anthology...
My poetry probably falls under that category. Sigh. The other students in the poetry writing workshop I was taking laughed at it because it was so pretentious. It would appear that I am not the next TS Eliot.
That was decades ago.
Anyway, you were curious as to how I might explain mediocrity, so there it is: Look at my poetry. It is neither bad nor great, and it's mostly off the literary radar, probably with good reason.
I'm glad you are enjoying my novel. <3