Laurell K. Hamilton: The new Anne Rice?

[matgb]

Oh dear. Laurell K. Hamilton has, it appears, had her own Anne Rice moment. Getting something straight:

They aren't comfortable books. They are books that push my character and me to the edge and beyond of our comfort zones.

OK, got that, bad things happen.

The characters aren't real to you. They are real to me, and to a lot of other people. I, and a lot of readers, would feel an emotional loss if some of these guys died.

Right. So, about this Comfort Zone thing?

I read one of her books (book ten I think) because I needed an extra in a 3-for-2 offer so thought a series with 10 books+ can't be that bad. Oh dear. Morbid curiosity got me buying a few more, partially in the hope that reading the first ones might make more sense, and I also picked up the Gentry books, and I still can't believe how bad they are.

Now, she responds to critics (rarely a good idea, although there are exceptions that prove the rule), contradicts herself, admits that she is Too Much Of A Pussy To Kill Off Characters and proclaims that we don't like her books because they're too deep for us. Right...

Laurell? It's not that they're too deep. I like deep. I like thought provoking, I like mind expanding, I like confusing, let's start taking notes, WTF is the author doing here confusion. I also like shallow, puerile crap. As long as it's well written. The problem m'dear? Yours isn't. Both your main characters are little more than Mary Sues. Your sex scenes are little more than porn, and badly written porn at that. I've paid good money for at least 5 of your books. Don't expect me to do so again.

And, while reading other feeds, it seems John Scalzi also had the Anne Rice comparison (it was a bit obvious, wonder if kobold will spoof this as well?), and has some advise for budding authors:

Now, why you, as an author, shouldn't follow Ms. Hamilton's example:

It makes you look like an asstard.

Here's the thing. Some people won't like your books. If these people also have access to the Internet, the chances are good that they might tell other people how they don't like your books. Sometimes, they'll tell people they don't like your books, even if they haven't read your books, because some people are crazy screechy monkeys.

I also liked tnh's comments in the thread, this one is particularly apposite:

And to cap it all off, how does she prove she's right about the series, and they're wrong? Because her sales figures keep going up. Way to go, lady. Get right out there and tell your fans that the reason you don't have to listen to them is that they keep buying your books. They'll have that paradox sorted out for you in nothing flat.

She makes one point that I agree with though.

If that's not want you want, then stop reading.

I did. (via John, Nick and James)

Never mind. There's a comic adaptation now. Ah, oh dear. It's worse (via)