Monday, October 13, 2008

authors and their muse


It's not easy to find the perfect balance in life, is it? It's not any easier with books either! I'm so picky when it comes to reading that I find myself obsessing over my favotire authors because they're so few.
Lately I've been craving Lora Leigh. Soaking up every thing she writes, loving almost all of it. She has a great mix of steamy love scenes and a great plot. Esp. her Tempting SEAL series. I love those books! Lots of action and a hunky hero intent on saving the girl. Unfortunately I've read them all. Damn it. I'm waiting on Maverick to come out. In the meantime, what do I read? That's the problem, isn't it? You find an author you love SO much that no other can compare.


I did this when I discovered Feehan and Kenyon too. I read one, then bought the rest in the series and couldn't get enough. Sadly, I read too damn fast. I end up catching up, then I have to wait forEVER between books.


Even more frustrating is when you discover an author who writes the types of stories you love, but then they change their style and leave you hanging. Don't you hate that? I had one favorite author do thhis recently and it's really upsetting. I miss her books! I end up re-reading the old stuff, just to get my fix. Ugh! I hate when an author changes. Being an author myself, I totally get that you have to follow your muse. You can't write what others want, you can only write what feels right to you. Sometimes, that means changing your style. But where does that leave the readers who've followed you faithfully from the beginning? I'll tell you where that leaves them, it leaves them out in the cold! Sure, we'll try to read your new stuff, but it just won't be the same. Let's face it, we readers hate change. We fear change. We know what we like and we don't want it being screwed with.


Has this happened to you? Have you had an author totally change their style on you? Did you feel strangely betrayed? I know it sounds crazy, but the truth is, I feel betrayed when I think of it. I derived such joy from this particular author's books. Now, it just makes me sad, as if I've lost a good friend or something.


Instead of dwelling, I've moved forward, found other authors to fill that empty space. There's so many authors out there, I know I'll find another one who has a similar style, it's just a matter of finding her. In the meantime, I have Lora Leigh's SEALs and Breeds to keep me company. Not too bad when you think of it like that, huh? ;-)

7 comments:

Regina Carlysle said...

This is a great post. I think we all have favorite writers and we rush out to pick up anything new they have out. The most frustrating are the series books that you just get soooo attached to and then they screw around with the characters and deviate from the storyline in bizarre ways. To me that's sad. I have a favorite author who has done this with her series and it makes me want to BAWL. Guess I'll re-read the first few books but I won't buy any more of her work.

Kelley Nyrae said...

I just LOVE when I find an author that I can't get enough of. I did the same thing as you with Kenyon. Devoured them all and now I anxiously await each next installment that always seems to take forever to get here! She's one of my all time favorite authors.

Yep I've had an author switch things up on me to. Agh, it is hard. It's like a loss to fall in love with an authors voice or a series and then have it take a turn on you.

mamasand2 said...

Anne, I have a number of favorite auto buy authors. One changed drastically a while ago and I hate that. Linda Howard did great romances and now is doing longer mysteries with way too much research inserted. I have to wonder is it's to swell the word count. If you were to give me a free book of hers now I wouldn't read it because for me they are just boring now and have lost her magical romancic touch.

Yeah, I was way too long winded but you hit one of my pet peeves.

sandie

Regina Carlysle said...

I know just what you mean, Sandi. I love L. Howard but her books are different these days.

Anne Rainey said...

Regina--I hate when I've got a favorite series and then things take a drastic turn. ugh! That really is the worst! Thank God Kenyon has stayed true to her characters!

Sandie--I'm glad you said it. I was thinking of Howard (as well as another author) when I wrote the post. I used to LOVE Howard's books. So much sexual tension, great characters and lots of heat...I stopped reading her awhile back, I just couldn't get into them once they started to be more suspense and less romance.

Michelle said...

Yes, I've had an author whose style I was in love with alter their writing & it just wasn't what I wanted to read. On the other hand I have also had the new style be totally fantastic and drag me in to another series that I love...

Anne Rainey said...

Michelle--I can see what you mean. I never read Kay Hooper's romance stories, but I love her romantic suspense stuff!