Darla wants to play...

[saucyirishlass.livejournal.com]

Darla decided to join in the "Re: Author tells fans to go away" thread on Amazon. I've left my response, which is the same as I would say to any other member on that board. She doesn't get special treatment just because she's Laurita's minion personal assistant. I felt the need to suggest that she consider not using Jon as an editor. Was I overstepping my bounds?



"Some people got the point, others did not.
Laurell has never objected to critisism. But there is simply no way to please everyone. What one person likes, another hates. So critisism is relevant mostly to the person making it!

The original blog was in response to emails from people who said they found the sex or violence outside their comfort zone. Or that they liked static characters who did not change much from book to book. Or those that seemed to believe that they could threaten or intimidate Laurell and other fans in to sharing their opinion. Sorry, the world does not work that way. Not everyone enjoys the same thing. The fact that a vocal minority seems to think they can force what they want is just wrong. We heard from lots of fans who wanted Laurell to speak up and say something to defend herself and them. So she did. And other people too offense.

Should we be bold enough to suggest you stop reading, if you weren't enjoying the books, then the complaints flew that we were telling folks what they could and could not read.

Book writing is a solitary practice. At least the way Laurell does it. She does not collaborate. Her books are not written by committee.

There is simply no way to satisfy everyone. Make everyone happy. So for those who are not happy, then all we can suggest is that you do find a writer who makes you happy. It doesn't mean your wrong to not like Merry or Anita. It just means it is not what you want to read. That is fine. If it is not for you, then it is not for you. But, at the same time, if it is not for you, you do not get to impose on, intimidate or harrass other people who do not share your opinion.

Why is that so hard for some folks to get?"

I don't know. Why is it so hard for Laurell to write a book with plot?

URL: http://www.amazon.com/gp/discussionboard/cd/discussion.html/ref=cm_cd_ef_tft_tp/102-5715013-4957731?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1OFHYU31CK06W&cdAnchor=0425217248&cdThread=Tx3KX37WDADL1BH

Comments

[darksongtrilogy.livejournal.com]

This is what I said, LadyR:

Darla--not that I expect a reply, but this is a rare opportunity--you and MPE have done everything you could to fan these flames. Maybe it was intentional, as "no publicity is bad publicity." Or maybe it's just gross incompetence. Either way, the way you treated the initially polite unhappy fans is the reason why you've got this mess to deal with now. You insulted them too many times to count. You rewarded the lunatics that stalked them and spied on them on other websites on the internet. You banned and flamed us on the old message board and on the current new one. You undermined the admins you appointed that were making a real effort to be fair. In fact, the longer you stayed away from the forums, the more polite and enjoyable those forums were. Every time you reappeared, the board exploded and the fighting got more vociferous. You were flagrantly biased, mind-bogglingly unfair, and apparently utterly blind to both qualities. So forgive me if I don't put much stock in anything you have to say--which is, in your post, just another repetition of things you and LKH have said before.

Legitimate criticisms are legion, going to characterization, plot development, spelling, and LKH's tendency to lift whole paragraphs from previous books and put them in new ones. That's the technical stuff, never mind that character development, for the THOUSANDTH time, does NOT mean a complete 180 from everything that character previously believed, especially when that 180 is abrupt, unsubstantiated, and inexplicable. Characters can change in major ways, but a good author knows that change has to develop over time, as it does with real people. That you and your boss seem incapable of comprehending that speaks to YOUR literary shortcomings.

More, deciding that the detractors are either a) prudes that can't, like, HANDLE the cutting-edge daring sex, or b) literary simpletons incapable of following LKH's oh-so-complex plots is just condescending and insulting. An ad hominem attack designed to ruin the detractors' credibility rather than answer their points. Dr. Suess is more stimulating than LKH's recent sex scenes. I've found better sex scenes for free on the internet. And as Anita, in the last couple books, usually sits in a little room, has sex, and periodically knocks out entire groups of lycanthropes and vampires with the force of her orgasms, following the plot REALLY hasn't been that complicated. Boring. Laughable. But not complicated. Especially considering the 'plot', as detailed on the dust jackets, consumes less than a tenth of the actual book. The rest of it is talking before sex, talking during sex, talking after sex, or fighting with Richard. Which is getting pretty old after five books.

(Other half incoming; I'm told it's too long.