4 Replies to “First Cup of Coffee – January 26, 2021”
Happy anniversary.
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FTR, I have only lost one stud earring. I still have the other one but nothing to pair it with. I am also fine with wearing different earrings provided they are weighted the same. I can no longer wear heavy earrings. Which makes me sad as I have several pairs of earrings I can no longer wear.
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The problem with middle of the road books is they don’t truly appeal to anyone. “It was fine” *sigh* is not a reaction I want to have when I read.
When one discovers a new author and then reads all of their books, be it as they are published (if discovered early) or by gobbling up their back list, there will be a range of reactions from (a) OMG love to (b) meh to (c) nah, did not like. But I have stopped reading authors due to a lot of meh books much more so than the occasional nah, did not like book. There is no autobuy author I have where I have loved each and every book. But when I start to finish books by a longtime autobuy author and think meh, it was fine or just okay and then it happens several times in a row I will start to reevaluate. It may take several years depending on my nostalgia level for old favorites, but invariably they stop being autobuy authors.
It can be a painful process to “break up” with a favorite author. But I think it’s actually more difficult to do because of multiple middle-of-the-road books than a case of author behaving badly. I usually chalk it up to changing tastes or their voice no longer working for me.
Thank you! We had a lovely evening 🙂
I must have thick earlobes because I can wear heavy earrings. Of course, I also lose them where you don’t…
Interesting points on meh books and series. I totally agree on the break up being painful, even if it is one-sided.
Your talk about universal fantasy reminded me of the continuing brouhaha online over fan fiction where people fall into two camps of “Write whatever you want so long as you tag it properly and understand fiction is not real life” or “You are not allowed to write about problematic stuff ever because it hurts my feelings/traumatizes me and that makes you a bad person.”
Dark Wizard sounds like something that folks in the 2nd group would probably object to. 2nd group also skews younger so there’s that. I don’t know. I’ve picked up a lot of questionable stories with dub con, sympathetic villains, etc. because those things don’t bother me in a fictional setting. It’s not real. Bad, lazy writing bothers me more.
My problem with “meh, it’s ok” books usually develops when it’s a long-running series. Some people are better at plotting the longer story arcs than others. While I’m guilty of getting sucked into those series because of course you want those side characters to get their own HEA, sometimes 1 (or a trilogy) and done is the way to go. Short, sweet, wrap it up and move on to something else.
The whole thing about writing stuff that people find hurtful is interesting, for sure! I’m particularly appreciative of the people who step in and say “your marginalized experience is not my marginalized experience, and what is hurtful to you isn’t necessarily hurtful to me.” While I think we all have a responsibility to do our best to do no harm, it’s also incumbent on us to take care of ourselves. Sometimes putting on a sweater is better than turning up the thermostat – or trying to change the temperature of the world. I’ll be interested on your take with Dark Wizard once you read it!
Yeah, long-running series are difficult. There can be a lot of reasons to stick with a world 🙂
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Happy anniversary.
~~~
FTR, I have only lost one stud earring. I still have the other one but nothing to pair it with. I am also fine with wearing different earrings provided they are weighted the same. I can no longer wear heavy earrings. Which makes me sad as I have several pairs of earrings I can no longer wear.
~~~
The problem with middle of the road books is they don’t truly appeal to anyone. “It was fine” *sigh* is not a reaction I want to have when I read.
When one discovers a new author and then reads all of their books, be it as they are published (if discovered early) or by gobbling up their back list, there will be a range of reactions from (a) OMG love to (b) meh to (c) nah, did not like. But I have stopped reading authors due to a lot of meh books much more so than the occasional nah, did not like book. There is no autobuy author I have where I have loved each and every book. But when I start to finish books by a longtime autobuy author and think meh, it was fine or just okay and then it happens several times in a row I will start to reevaluate. It may take several years depending on my nostalgia level for old favorites, but invariably they stop being autobuy authors.
It can be a painful process to “break up” with a favorite author. But I think it’s actually more difficult to do because of multiple middle-of-the-road books than a case of author behaving badly. I usually chalk it up to changing tastes or their voice no longer working for me.
Thank you! We had a lovely evening 🙂
I must have thick earlobes because I can wear heavy earrings. Of course, I also lose them where you don’t…
Interesting points on meh books and series. I totally agree on the break up being painful, even if it is one-sided.
Your talk about universal fantasy reminded me of the continuing brouhaha online over fan fiction where people fall into two camps of “Write whatever you want so long as you tag it properly and understand fiction is not real life” or “You are not allowed to write about problematic stuff ever because it hurts my feelings/traumatizes me and that makes you a bad person.”
Dark Wizard sounds like something that folks in the 2nd group would probably object to. 2nd group also skews younger so there’s that. I don’t know. I’ve picked up a lot of questionable stories with dub con, sympathetic villains, etc. because those things don’t bother me in a fictional setting. It’s not real. Bad, lazy writing bothers me more.
My problem with “meh, it’s ok” books usually develops when it’s a long-running series. Some people are better at plotting the longer story arcs than others. While I’m guilty of getting sucked into those series because of course you want those side characters to get their own HEA, sometimes 1 (or a trilogy) and done is the way to go. Short, sweet, wrap it up and move on to something else.
The whole thing about writing stuff that people find hurtful is interesting, for sure! I’m particularly appreciative of the people who step in and say “your marginalized experience is not my marginalized experience, and what is hurtful to you isn’t necessarily hurtful to me.” While I think we all have a responsibility to do our best to do no harm, it’s also incumbent on us to take care of ourselves. Sometimes putting on a sweater is better than turning up the thermostat – or trying to change the temperature of the world. I’ll be interested on your take with Dark Wizard once you read it!
Yeah, long-running series are difficult. There can be a lot of reasons to stick with a world 🙂