Another blind item landed in my inbox, and each one is more interesting than the next. You like the blind items? Hate them with a burning, itchy passion? Let me know.
On to the item of limited vision:
This NYT Author’s deviltry won’t come as any surprise to many of her colleagues, as sources say she’s not made many friends in the way of authors, reviewers, or, according to some fans who attended a recent weekend, members of her own fanbase.
The scene: a restaurant, a relatively mellow mealtime during a recent conference. The Author is chatting and, given the gradual increase in volume, possibly arguing with her companions when the waitress approaches to take their order. The Author doesn’t stop her conversation, and waitress is standing, waiting, ignored, for some time. One of the companions at the table invites The Author kindly to relax a moment so the waitress can take their orders.
Commence ruckus at the table: loud crashing and smashing noises and even louder “Goddammit!” as she stands up. By this time, the restaurant is silent and staring, but the still quiet does not give The Author any pause. She hollers at her companions that she will not relax, and that this brash companion has no business telling The Author what to do. The Author then makes her way quickly out of the restaurant.
The waitress, who was understandably shocked and a little embarrassed, tells our source of this fury-tale that The Author’s companions made attempts to apologize on The Author’s behalf and begged that the waitress excuse The Author’s rudeness. But The Author overhears this smoothing-over and bellows from the doorway to a very attentive audience of both her own party and everyone else at every other table in the restaurant that no one should dare apologize on her behalf. Then, The Author departs.
The audience is silent, until a curtain of conversation descends upon every table, each person uttering a variation of, “Did you see that?”
Is it odd that I find this more interesting from my perspective as a waitress (ack, the dreaded day job!) than as an author? Because during more than ten years serving food and booze to rough-around-the-edges loggers and road-weary tourists, I have never actually witnessed this kind of unrestrained tantrum. Cranky customers? Sure—even a few that I couldn’t charm out of their bad moods. Demanding, huffy, unsatisfied, even snooty? Yup. But spewing salty language across a full dining room and then admonishing her companions for daring to apologize on her behalf? Not even once. It boggles.
All I can say is, I’m glad I live in a small town. No one gets away with shit.
I try to avoid reading too many gossipy items, though I get sucked in sometimes. My logic is:
1. First and foremost, it’s important to me to keep my relationship with the *books*, not the authors. Authors’ websites can get in the way of that, and gossip is even worse because it engages my imagination. I don’t want to spend time speculating about an author; I want to read her books. I don’t want to personally “support” an author, nor do I want to personally try to damage her bank balance by not buying her books. I would rather not have *any* motivations toward the author herself.
2. For the most part I don’t like to judge a book by its writer. For one thing I believe that someone can be a complete jackass and still produce great art. For another, I think it’s admirable and fascinating when an author can set aside her day-to-day worldview and create characters and a world that speak to people she herself wouldn’t get along with. If we really believe that authors of fiction are not their characters (e.g. erotic romance writers need not live in menages), then I don’t see a conflict in disliking an author’s views but liking her fiction—or vice versa.
3. Online, it’s easy to feel we “know” people better than we do, and often what’s obvious to me is the opposite of what’s obvious to others. I really believe we can’t reliably ascribe motive in many cases. As Meriam said,
I’m cautious on those last two: I would put plagiarism and stalking across the incontrovertibly unethical line, but be more forgiving on those issues that are more interpretive. As for contempt, I’m not that sensitive about it. Many of us can be contemptuous at times, particularly in the heat of argument, but that doesn’t mean it’s chronic. And again, I’m more focused on the books. If contempt leads to the quality going downhill, that’s a problem.
For me that’s so far removed that ascribing motive is nigh impossible. Sometimes the defenders are genuinely bad apples, but it could also be simply groupthink—bestauthorpals do it, group blogs do it, reviewers do it, we all slide into it. And it may also be that some people’s inner mama bear comes out swinging on their own behalf, some on others’. Basically I’d rather not waste the rage on someone defending a friend—I have other uses for it.
4. While I don’t disagree, I’m a little uncomfortable with where this approach could lead:
That isn’t something I want to do, nor am I always comfortable with others taking it upon themselves. I’m not saying we shouldn’t speak up. I’m just moderate-to-cautious after seeing how good intentions can turn into either a pile-on or what I think is a more insidious problem: a judgmental, tattle-tale tone in the community.
Like someone way above, I’m all over the cons tonight…. Gossip can be fun, and even useful. In this particular case I’m over on the side of the burny, the itchy, and the squicked.
I would have to agree with several commenters here that I tend to separate an author’s personality from their product. Bad behavior in public, in itself, is not enough to keep my from buying their books. (Though it might make me whap them across the head with my tray…)
Likewise, I will continue to watch Gladiator and fantasize about Russell Crowe kissing me underneath the awning, right up until he lobs a telephone in my face…
I agree. I would hate to see the SB site turn into Inside Edition (ewww), but I have no problem with the occasional gossip piece, as long as it’s not so sleazily done that I need a shower after reading it. But I do think it should be straightforward… or at least with hints obvious to anyone curious enough to Google. It allows for more accountability on both sides. Part of the reason the Vajayjay thang was resolved so quickly, IMO, was because the parties involved (and others nearby) were able to step in and straighten things out. If it’s so vague that most can’t definitively ID the individuals involved, then the risk of collateral damage is that much higher, which is unfair to innocent parties who won’t have a clue when, how or why their reputation became damaged. Not that life is fair, mind you, and they may have done other things that deserve scorn, but still—the risk of permanent damage is much greater w/o the names and accountability. And if authors (or anyone else for that matter) are being asshats, they should own that along with the good press they receive. I also believe most of us are savvy enough to separate an isolated incident from a pattern of behavior.
If an author commits a reprehensible act (plagiarism, making a habit of viciously abusing fans or staff, stalking reviewers, etc), then I am finished with them. I’m a firm believer in grace, redemption and forgiveness, but there are certain boundaries that IMO should not be crossed without consequences. My pastor has a great saying: “Sin sets things in motion that repentance can’t stop.†Translate that into secular life, and it still holds true… if not as succinctly. I may be willing to forgive, but I won’t forget. In the same way that I won’t let a financial felon do my taxes, I won’t read the new (perhaps) words of a plagiarist. They broke a trust with me, and gave up any future royalties from me. A new career is in order… preferably far away from a keyboard.
There have been a few authors whose online behavior has stopped me from reading their books. Usually authors who are new to me, but some familiar ones as well. Maybe because I’m willing to cut the familiar ones more slack, because on some level “I know them,†whereas I have no loyalty invested in the new author, and they become “someone I don’t want to know.†:shrug: For example, I have a whole stack of signed books by a few now-NYT-selling local authors – many of whom were relatively new when I became acquainted with them. However, they are almost diametric opposites from me in most value areas… politics, religion, etc. Each time I would start to read one of their books, inevitably one of them would spout up and say something that made my hair curl, and I lost interest in reading their books. But I “sortof know them,†and live in hope… I’ve quit reading those particular listservs, and some day I may actually read those books even yet. If nothing else, many are valuable signed first editions, so they may bring a nice price on eBay eventually. LOL
But that’s just personality stuff, and I can usually overlook that, even if it takes a bit of time to pass first. As long as the author (or whomever) actually lets time pass, and doesn’t make a habit of talking out of his/her ass, that is.
I must say there is one author who has well and truly disappointed me over the past year; probably because I absolutely love her books and it’s hard to reconcile that the woman who writes some of the most incredible prose I’ve ever read is obviously, bless her heart, batshit crazy IRL. She only produces a book every year or two, so if she’d just lay low from book to book, it would be much easier to live and let live. For the sake of her bottom line if nothing else, the gal needs to step away from the computer once the book is written. She’s entitled to an opinion, even when she’s wrong (which is most of the time), but she certainly doesn’t do herself any favors with her online ravings – especially when she invariably defends the indefensible, or attacks other authors who’ve done nothing to her, save outsell her and/or win the awards she covets for herself. Her poor behavior seems to be escalating too, and she chooses a shoddier battle each time. She’s balancing on the edge of what I can or cannot accept, and once she tips over, even though it will grieve me, I’ll have to walk away, lest I tacitly enable/support her asshattery. To do otherwise would be to violate my own personal sense of integrity, and no matter how much I love her work, she’s not worth that.
Diane
I like gossip about real people that proves a point or illuminates character. This wasn’t real to me because I have zero clue who it is and it actually does not prove anything. Except that an unnamed woman was very angry about something unnamed, and her anger caused her to behave rudely.
I remember being in a hotel lobby once when an acquaintance of mine was causing a major, unpleasant scene. He was angry and rude and out of control. Turned out there was no hot water in his hotel room. Just cause for a scene, in my book.
This blind item does not contain a cause.
And I agree with the many posters who have said this kind of item creates an automatic clique of insiders (“We were there!”) versus outsiders (“Who are you talking about?”)
I think it is reprehensible that LKH’s name was brought up at all. Hey, maybe it was Oprah. Maybe it was George Bush in drag. Come on, this is just way too petty, and you are smearing innocent people.
Finally, I am quite willing to read books by people with whom in real life I would never want to associate. Like Benjamin Franklin, that scumbag adulterer. The artist is different from the art. Unethcial professional behavior is a far cry from yelling in a restaurant over—well, I don’t know what it was about, do I?
So stop this. Name names or forget it.
I’m not sure why it’s generally assumed that this is typical behavior on the author’s part(and I have no idea who it is). To me, it really sounds like a chemical/hormonal imbalance. I mean, people know that this kind of behavior isn’t right. What is the author is going through the beginnings of menopause, or just had her anti-depressant meds adjusted, or is on an anti-cancer drug that makes her all out of wack?
I agree, Lizzie. The blind items come across as snidely coy and actually kinda-sorta make the whole site unpalatable by association, at least to me.
Spamblock: anyone.
Heehe.
Well, it has been awhile…
Oh yes! More support for McKenna reviews! I admit that I still automatically pick up her latest in trade size whenever I see it on the shelf—am probably going to buy an anthology that she’s headlining coming out this week (today even? Hmmm. Must make book store trip)—in the hopes of recapturing the magic of her first three novels. When I read Behind the Shadows I thought she was the best thing to happen to both erotic romance since Emma Holly and romantic suspense since well… ever (as I usually hate such books unless they’re by La Nora and even then, sometimes…). I mean her characters were so intense and over-the-top as to seem implausible but whew did it work on the page.
However…yeah…the villains are so ludicrously evil I’m surprised their saliva doesn’t burn objects on contact. And her sociopath alpha males and secret tiger women with the requisite luscious T&A;have reached Olympian proportions the likes of which I have never seen. (And I read EC e-books.) I actually like her latest though…for reasons I’ll have to consider since the characters seem to be pretty much like all the others she’s ever written. I’d send you my copy Smart Bitches but I spilt lentil soup all over it.
(Btw the kidnapped children aren’t to be sex slaves after all but reluctant organ donors, if you know what I mean. :-S)
***
As for separating authors from their books I’m usually able to do that. And in LKH’s case her books devolved into crap long before I ever read about her blog. However her palpable condescension to former fans who did not take to the new direction her Anita Blake novels went—apparently we weren’t intellectually advanced to appreciate…whatever the hell she was doing in those books—guaranteed that I would never pick up any book written by her again, of any sort.
I totally got her annoyance with the kookoo negative fans who were seemed rather too concerned with letting her know, often in person, how much they hated what she’d done to the Blake line. But don’t group me in with them and call me stupid when you wouldn’t recognise a complete sentence with subject and predicate (among other things, like a coherent plot) if it grew a 12 inch studded schlong and satiated Anita’s lust along with that of her entire sex zoo.
I didn’t appreciate Crusie’s reaction to the Cassie scandal but I’d totes buy her next novel. (Especially if it included a gyrating stripper military tribute and/or vajayjay/armpit antics! Middle-aged women (any age, I’m flexible) in transparent fairy outerwear? Bring it. Truly I would love her for eternity.)
I bought the latest one hoping something had changed, but when I got to the initial mention of that little detail, I closed the book and haven’t opened it again. It’s an e-copy, or I would send it elsewhere, also. IMO McKenna’s books have crossed the line from portraying the threat of violence to her heroines to committing it through the book itself. I know that’s a weird sentence, but there are certain books where I feel the heroine is actually being victimized *by the book* and I’m just not that into it.
Still adore Behind Closed Doors, though. And the shorter piece about the architect motorcycle guy.
But what about an author, for example, who helps a “friend” author track down and publicly threaten a reader? Or who joins in public mocking of a reader on the friend’s behalf? I see that as quite different from someone merely standing up for a friend.
Also, here’s a general question I’ve been wondering about for a while. How do readers feel about authors who publicly indicate that the earnings from their books will go directly to a specific social or political cause? Like how Suzanne Brockmann has donated all the money from All Through the Night to an organization that protects the legality of same sex marriage in Massachusetts (and even put an author’s note in the book explaining her intentions). Now I have no problem with that, but if, for example, an author said she was giving all the proceeds of a book to an anti-choice organization or a pro-racial segregation organization or a holocaust denier’s group—well, that might be a problem for me, because in a sense my book purchase would constitute an indirect donation. I know that some of the businesses I buy from already are not totally in line with my political and social views, so I don’t know if I have a hard and fast line here, but I wonder what others think. Does this kind of thing matter?
Honestly, I think that Stephanie, Robin, and Diane win the award for the best blind items. Their stories are so much better than a diva tantrum at restaurant. Stalking a reader??? Making fun of someone’s twang? Crazy as batshit???
Damn it, I feel so out of the loop now.
Oh, flip, the reader stalking is not a blind item. It’s even made the Guardian book blog.
Robin
Behind Closed Doors! Yes, that was the title, pardon my error in my previous comment. Good times. I left the trade paperback at the family house so bought it again in mass paperback when it came out, I liked it that much.
Actually, it’s interesting, your point there about the heroine because I must say there were scenes in Extreme Danger, specifically all of the scenes at the Ukrainian mafia guy’s luxury pad, that match your weird sentence, now that you’ve said it. I laughed in disbelief when I read them, not at the heroine but at McKenna because I couldn’t imagine how she could up the villainry and abuse but there we had it. It got better after, I think, largely because for most of the book after that (haven’t finished it yet) the good and bad guys are separated.
The scenes with the kids though…:-S Pretty much any scene involving bad guys and women…I’d really love Candy & Sarah if you could review it and decode it for me! (I am toeing the nagging line artfully, yes?)
That motorcycle novella in Bad Boys Next Exit is a good example of how she writes alluringly about situations that IRL would be setting off a dozen red flags (at least). It’s what fascinates me about her books.
Robin,
I’ve considered that question too and, fortunately, so far I’ve not come across something like that with any authors. I have very strong feelings about the issues you mentioned and it seems all authors who have voiced an opinion either in their books or in public have shared my views.
I hope I never do come across that issue with somebody whose writing I enjoy, especially not after the fact. I’d hate to find out in an afterword that my financial contribution had been given to something I absolutely abhor.
If I ever do, I know I will do what I did with the authors I mentioned previously, never buy another book again and possibly try to return the already purchased book.
Somebody else gave examples of – to them – more important issues that should determine where to draw the line and I’d certainly agree that certain issues may be considered more important but the fact that they may be more generally agreed upon as important does not make my reasons for not buying books due to author behavior any less valid.
I’m with you. My initial thought when I read that in her notes was, “what happens when the organization folds?” because my experience is that organizations fold fairly frequently.
I have no problem at all supporting organizations that work toward inclusiveness, equality, fairness, and goodness and light, but if I knew the proceeds from my purchase were going to supporting wrong-headed agendas (too numerous to list), I absolutely wouldn’t want to buy the book. However, if it was a book I REALLY wanted to read, I’d order through the library, which is supporting the wrong-headed agenda anyway, just through an intermediary.
It gets to be more work to police the author’s policies than it’s worth. For example, I try to shop green, but it gets to a point where I just don’t have the time or money to be a purist. I don’t shop at WalMart, but I spend money on the same stuff in different stores. Does it make a difference, or am I just patting myself on the back for being a tool?
Thanks for the links, Robin. Interesting, Rachel Caine posted some two star and one star reviews of her books on her blog. Instead of trashing the negative reviews, Rachel comments on how some are helpful.
http://rachelcaine.livejournal.com/
Bad reviews mean bad sales??? Not necessarily. I can think of a couple of authors that I love who always get bad reviews.
I agree. The line will be different for everyone. And I have to tell you that the more information I have, the harder I have to work in certain cases to keep the lines separate. Especially with an author whose work I have never read, where there is no relationship between me and certain books. My will not read list is really, really short, but I don’t know over time if my own lines will change. I didn’t used to think I had any, but I’ve discovered differently as I’ve become better traveled online. Ultimately, IMO readers should be able to decide whether or not they want to read anything for any reason. Especially fiction.
Hey, I knew which book you were talking abut, Arethusa—there are certain books I can never get the titles right on, either (especially the later In Death books). Anyway, I haven’t gotten that far in the new McKenna, but I have a very very difficult time with certain things being perpetrated against a heroine, so I don’t know if I can read the whole thing or not. I agree with you that the unique pleasure of McKenna’s books is the way she can make certain dangerous things palatable and even sexy. That’s a real talent, IMO. But it’s like her later books have become a caricature of the earlier ones, and unfortunately in a way that crosses some lines for me as a reader. I love to find subversion in some of these retro set-ups, but I haven’t been able to find it in these later books.
I’ve been having a great time reading these! And I definitely agree that so-called bad reviews can cut both ways. Now the way Amazon has set up its reviewing system is a problem, IMO, but the reviews themselves can be a hoot to read (Anne Rice’s rants, anyone??).
I love McKenna’s architect motorcycle guy story and the one with the hotel tycoon is pretty good, too. I did not care for the third one (they are all together in All About Men The two I like do skate very closely to the edge, but I didn’t feel they were going over. I’ve only read one of the books (the one with the museum curator) and while I liked the story between the h/h I really disliked all the rest of the book and felt it would have been much better if all the over the top awfulness had been cut out, but even so I didn’t feel she’d gone over that edge, just that I didn’t enjoy the book as much.
From what I’ve read here, she’s definitely fallen off the wrong edge, unfortunately. I feel in those two short stories she explored themes that are controversial, but in the end she manages to titillate without grossing the reader out (other folks mileage may vary).
It’s too bad. I was very excited about having discovered a new voice. Too bad indeed!
Okay, so I seem not to be able to form complete sentences today. I swear that the post was complete before I hit send. 🙂
That was supposed to have read:
she’s definitely fallen off the wrong side of the edge, unfortunately.
Okay, my spam word is europe85. How does this thing come up with them? I’ve only lived in Europe for 27 years, thank you very much. 🙂
Robin, you bring up a good question about author supported causes. The thing I like about what Suzanne Brockmann did with her recent novel is that she was up front about it. (Well that is besides the cause which in this case I support.) However, I wouldn’t like to be surprised by an author supporting some cause I did not support or like. Brockmann, I think, gave buyers a chance to say, “No, I don’t want to support that cause and so I will not buy that book. But I might check it out at the library.”
So I guess for me, as long as an author is up front about such a decision, then I figure the buyer has choices about response so I’m fine with it. Also, because plenty of people will react negetively to any cause—afterall there are always haters even for liddle fuzzy bunnies—I think that very honesty takes more metaphorical balls. Afterall, on one hand an author is saying, “Hey, I want to give this cause my money and support.” and on the other, the author is saying, “I’m not afraid of the consequences for making my support really clear either.”
Robin I definitely wouldn’t advise you to read the rest of her latest, judging by your comments. 😀 It gets better but it got a lot worse before (right at the beginning!) so I doubt you would have gone further after the mafia dude appeared.
Growly
That was Out of the Shadows (I think) and my second favourite after Behind Closed Doors. Probably her last full length novel where she toed the line, beautifully. They all become a blur of sameness and extremity after that.
I know what you mean about being excited over a new voice. It’s more and more difficult for me to find romance authors whose novels impress me in any sort of way. I try most of the hyped titles and either can’t get past the first few pages because the writing is so amateur and filled with cliched characters or it starts out well enough and kinda maintains that same medicore level. Which is why I’m still clinging to McKenna. Especially since I tried Emma Holly’s latest—about a character I was *so* looking forward to—and haven’t even finished it, weeks later.
Sigh.
I’m still getting notifications when people comment, and it’s getting totally annoying. Sarah, Candy, ANYONE, can’t you pleeeeeeeeeze make it STOP?!?!?!?!
And on-topic, I would agree with everyone who said gossip good, blind items bad. Either tell it all or skip it, because the “I was there, tee hee!” and “Who was it???” back and forth is really getting old. More book reviews and cover snark! That’s what I come here for, not guessing games.
Just my 2 cents, of course. And this time I UNchecked that damn “notify” box. I truly hate that thing…
I agree, I would still buy her books if they were worth reading. However, being the mean old bitch that I am, I would buy them second-hand so that she wouldn’t get a dime of my money.
Griping about bad reviews is one thing, but insulting the sexual mores, intelligence, and mental soundness of people just because they dislike your books goes over the line.
Voting against blind items. Dull and potentially destructive.
RfP said:
I love you. Can I have your baby? 😉
I think it’s fine. If I disapproved of the cause, I wouldn’t buy the book – if it was for something truly horrendous, like your holocaust deniers, I wouldn’t buy the author again.
I did buy the Brockmann book, but I don’t know that I would have thought of it as making an indirect contribution to the cause. The book didn’t cost me any more than it would have if she’d kept the money. If I’d bought the book, not because I wanted to read it, but to show support for gay rights, that would have been a contribution.
Perhaps they should have responded to the “No one dare apologize for me!” with… “I had to. I am thoroughly disgusted and ashamed of how you’re behaving and I want people around me to know that at least I can behave better.”?
Exactly. I’ll admit to enjoying gossip about people I know personally (yes, this probably makes me a bad person; I’ve given up trying to hide my flaws, and am going with admitting that they exist. I don’t seek out gossip, but I can’t deny that I enjoy it when it comes to me), but if I enjoy someone’s work, it’s the work that I’m interested in, not the person creating it. By the same token, I’ve never understood the fascination with actors—if I seek out an actor’s work, it’s because somewhere they turned in a performance that amazed me; it’s the character, in other words, that I enjoyed, just as I’ll seek out other works by an author because I enjoyed a book he/she produced. I have little to no interest in the person behind it, and often, I find that learning more about that person gets in the way of my enjoyment of their work.
Bad reviews do not equal bad sales numbers. Often a excoriating review results in INCREASED sales because readers wonder what all the fuss is about.
Alas, I can’t disconnect the author from their work. If I or someone I care about gets dissed by an author for no reason, they fall on my “never buy their books” list. It’s my way of signaling my disapproval of their childish behavior. They won’t notice my boycott. Folks like that never do. If an author goes out of their way to treat their readers with respect, they rate very high in my mind, even if I don’t like their writing.
On the flip side, divas make the rest of us look really cool. So throw those hissy fits, gents & ladies. You’re doing the rest of us a favor.
Which begs the question—what is the male term for “diva?”
Divine Sarah, you said
‘My point in posting blind items was to point out that any author, even namelessly, makes the writing community look poorly as a whole with poor behavior, ‘
I’m surprised to hear you say that. I disagree, utterly.
If my son is a jerk at a restaurant it does not mean I’m either an asshole or a poor mother. I do *not* represent mothers as a whole. Author ‘A’ does not represent Author ‘B’ any more than Tom Cruise could represent actors in general. Besides, I’ve never even BEEN on Oprah, so there.
My point is, I’m not about to walk the world worried about “representing” Nora Roberts, any more than I expect HER to represent me.
I hope to Good Bitchery Above that there are others like me out there. Otherwise I’d hate to live in such a narrow world.
-Joy
Jana,
the male term for diva is Colin Firth.
: >
-Joy