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At the moment, I'm rereading Robin Hobb's fantasy trilogy, Farseers. Those books have been treasured possessions of mine for a long time, and when I met her and got a book signed by her, I was ecstatic. But these days, she really annoys me. You can read her opinions on fanfiction here (with commentary, unfortunately: she's replaced the rant on her site) and on blogging here. Although, if you want to read her books? I'd advise against it. I know of at least one person completely put off her writing by the offensive way she writes about both fanfic writers and those who keep blogs.
Ha. Here I am, falling to the temptation she warns of, with three regularly updated journals and several more, somewhere. But I actually get writing done (admittedly, the novels aren't edited, but that's because they weren't worth that effort). As does Neil Gaiman. Perhaps her rant says more about her own tendency to get distracted than anything about writers in general.
My point is... sometimes it's nice to not know the author. I'm quite glad that the POV in Farseers is so strongly not Hobb herself. It makes it a lot easier to separate the characters from her. Sometimes, I think that separation between the author and the characters, in the eyes of the reader, is the best thing. Maybe it's best not to follow your favourite writer's blog, for fear that something they say will make you want to throttle them and take away the enjoyment from reading their work. Perhaps it's best to keep your favourite author a stranger.
Personally, so far I'm not having much trouble reading Farseers without letting Hobb's own opinions getting in the way. But I would much prefer to remember the snapshot of a person I had before I read her rants: reading an excerpt from Fool's Fate, answering my clumsy questions about how to write, signing my brand new copy of Fool's Fate.
Ha. Here I am, falling to the temptation she warns of, with three regularly updated journals and several more, somewhere. But I actually get writing done (admittedly, the novels aren't edited, but that's because they weren't worth that effort). As does Neil Gaiman. Perhaps her rant says more about her own tendency to get distracted than anything about writers in general.
My point is... sometimes it's nice to not know the author. I'm quite glad that the POV in Farseers is so strongly not Hobb herself. It makes it a lot easier to separate the characters from her. Sometimes, I think that separation between the author and the characters, in the eyes of the reader, is the best thing. Maybe it's best not to follow your favourite writer's blog, for fear that something they say will make you want to throttle them and take away the enjoyment from reading their work. Perhaps it's best to keep your favourite author a stranger.
Personally, so far I'm not having much trouble reading Farseers without letting Hobb's own opinions getting in the way. But I would much prefer to remember the snapshot of a person I had before I read her rants: reading an excerpt from Fool's Fate, answering my clumsy questions about how to write, signing my brand new copy of Fool's Fate.
