One and a half hours to go

[ksmith]

I should get offline now.

Gacked this from james_nicoll. Ok, more proof that writers should not respond to negative reviews. Yes, LKH goes overboard and repeats the same points over and over and over--much like she does in her books--but...

...I haven't read an Anita Blake book since Obsidian Butterfly, which I bought in hardcover since it was an Edward book. Edward is my favorite character in that series. The sociopathic monster killer with the nickname Death. Go figure.

After OB, I waited for the next book, then heard rumbling about the turn the series was taking. Reviews weren't good, even though sales were through the roof. I have nothing against good sex scenes, and LKH does a decent job, but I really liked the police procedural aspects of the older books, and that seemed to have fallen by the wayside. So I stopped reading.

But I read this diatribe, and what do I see about the next book,The Harlequin? Edward plays a major role. So does the ardeur, apparently, which has me wondering whether Anita and Edward...

Now I doubt this, because Edward is married...I think...and mortal besides, and I don't think the ardeur works with mortals. But I may buy this book, which I read about in the author diatribe against reader/critics, because Edward's in it.

There's a moral in here somewhere, but damned if I know what it is.

Comments

[janni.livejournal.com]

I've never, ever seen responding to a negative review--or any review--serve the writer well. I've seen plenty of folks I respect do this, but ... it never works. It just doesn't.

Better to stand back, and let the discussion of your works go on without you. The last thing any of us want is for the author to step in when we're having a spirited discussion of that book we just read anyway.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

The last thing any of us want is for the author to step in when we're having a spirited discussion of that book we just read anyway.

Yup. Nothing brings a discussion to a halt faster than the author weighing in with the Definitive. I remember, iirc, a discussion about one of Lois Bujold's Miles books. Lois entered the conversation and answered whatever burning question was being discussed, and someone posted, essentially, "I didn't want to know the answer, I just wanted to keep talking about the possibilities."

It sounds dumb, but I understand it. Once you know, then you Know, and you can't Unknow, so you'd rather not Know.

[janni.livejournal.com]

And the thing is, I actually don't know. Every reader's experience is their own; I can't tell someone else what a story should mean to them. That's between them and the text, not them and me. They bring their own story to their reading, and that's as it should be.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

It's sometimes very, very hard to keep one's fingers off the keyboard. To just close the door and find something else to do.

It's better, though.

[juliabk.livejournal.com]

I like to see writers weigh in on questions about their work (note I'm talking about reader discussions, not reviews). I'm perfectly capable of running an alternate universe in my head if they're taking their 'real universe' in a direction I'd rather they didn't. :-) I'm also perfectly capable of continuing to argue my point even after The Authority has said otherwise and left the conversation. ;-):-) (Me? Stubborn?)