I sense that some authors are getting upset over reader rants about their beloved characters and story lines. It's the way of life, you're going to readers who are butt kissers who'll say anything and everything your write is fantastic (and that's your online pals and crazy stalker readers), then you'll get those who cut you down and just hate you because they can, and then they're people like me who don't care about your feelings. I can fangirl with the best of them, but I'm also realistic. You write a genre I don't like? I won't read it, no harm no foul. Now you write a series and I'm thrown off course with a random threesome or someone dying, then shit will hit the fan. Well - not really cause I'll just rant once and never read you again. Your loss.
I don't want authors to write for me, I just don't want them to take the piss. Hell if the story moves fluidly into a menage or a death scene, then hell I won't like it but at least I won't begrudge for throwing me off the loop and making a crappy story. What I don't appreciate is when readers voice their opinion and say: 'hey this ain't cool' and author's going all MY BOOK MY BOOK, FUCK YOU HATERS. One it makes you look slightly weird and two you lost a whole lot of money.
It's like the word fantasy and fiction get thrown around so easily, then why are so many people grossed out by MPREG or hell why don't we get a story about a boy who loves his sheep? It's all fantasy right? I'm sure adding the sheep will bring some much needed angst for the boy and his family versus the sheep and it's love. Random example I know.
Look, you write what you write but there has to be an audience for it. You can't moan when someone says they didn't like book #3 in the series because one of the main characters died whilst rock climbing. Alright if it's done VERY well I could forgive, but there's a reason why we have our main characters, and if it's labeled as a M/M then hell that's what I want. I know writing a series is hard, hell when I write for fun I don't know what's going to happen in the next chapter - never mind a whole new book. But like the creators of 'Lost' they knew how that was going to end, or at least structured it enough to make it a long-lasting series. That's what I hope authors do as well (then again this may seem as demanding to some crazy folk out there).
I've also heard authors mention there books have been mislabeled by the publisher. Oh hell no way, that's not an excuse I'll take on board. Authors may not get much say in pricing or cover art and where their books are available, but there is no way I'll believe that if you pitch a romance story and it gets labeled under horror. If it does, that is up to you to fix that, like faulty blurbs. It's like an excuse from the blacklash you probably get when your mislead your readers: "Well it's not really a romance story, it's actually a fantasy story" Oh yeah? Really. Lovely.
