Authors' Burn-out

[Canarr]

That's the major problem, for me; not even the boring sex scenes, but her tendency to open all manner of (more or less) interesting plot hooks at the beginning of a novel, then drop most of them in favor of AB wangsting about either being a monster, becoming a monster, f*cking the monsters, or whatever else is currently tormenting her.

She'll devote pages upon pages to the size, hair, eyes and clothes of a dozen boring vampires or shifters, but summarizes actually interesting developments - or, you know, plots - in two sentences. It's like she doesn't even want to write novels anymore, but rather descríbe herse... her heroine having sex with dozens of interchangeably attractive men.

Again: the last book I actually read was either Narcissus in Chains or Cerulean Sins, so I can't personally comment on her latest 11 or 12 pieces. Haven't read ANY review so far that would persuade me to try, though.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Ugh... she sounds like a Suethor. -.- That kind of thing is what I call "My Immortal-itis"; when an author devotes endless pages on describing what a character looks like, and hardly any to plot development.

[Canarr]

Anita Blake, a Sue? Pshaw!

http://dearauthor.com/features/lette...lost-her-mind/

[Lace Neil Singer]

Never connected the Doom Crotch with that author... lol. XD None of the sporking sites I've been on ever mentioned her name, as such.

[eltf177]

Another one... Brian Jacques. First books in the Redwall series; fantastic. But after a while, they started getting dull and repetitive.

I read the first seven and enjoyed them, but it seemed he was writing them faster than I could read them...

[Nekojin]

This isn't quite the same thing, but I'd like to throw the Photon series of books into the ring for an honorable mention.

The first book, Thieves of Light, written by "Michael Hudson," reads like a competent Summer Sci-Fi movie - it feels, thematically, like The Last Starfighter. Then there were six more novellas written by "David Peters"... which felt like the cheap cartoon cash-in follow-ups. Everything from the first book was simplified down to cheap tropes. The characters were flatter. The conflict was simplified. Everything about it was just... less.

[celticgrl77]

The Outlander Series By Diana Gabaldon is one that started off great but the last couple have been horrible IMO and I have tried reading the Lord John books that go along with them and they are just BLAH.


The Xanth series after Zombie Lover they seemed to go downhill to me but that is just my opinion. I wasnt big on the Incarnations of Immortality when I first read them and have yet to make it through Apprentice Adept.

[Andara Bledin]

The Xanth series is what it is because the fans harass him into writing more. It's easier for him to just write another one than to put up with the hate mail for stopping. He's been phoning them in for ages.

^-.-^

[Eisa]

^There's really only so much you can do with that premise. I like the Xanth books. I still like them, I just don't expect a lot out of them. Like one of those books that are just candy, so to speak.

On the Anita Blake series...omg yes. I don't mind there being loads of kinky sex. I just want some plot to go with the kinky sex. And for ages, it's just sex sex sex, fuck plot. No. Stop that. That's what you have the Meredith Gentry series for. That one at least makes more SENSE to be all about the sex.

[Duelist925]

I actually found the first ever Xanth book that I read as a kid (Ogre Ogre) which got me into them back then at a used bookstore recently. Was rather fun reading through it again. Man he uses some racy humor at times.

For me, I stopped reading after the books become nothing BUT pun fests. I love puns. One of the reasons I loved Xanth is some of the puns used, as well as just the sheer uniqueness of the setting.

But it got to be too much.

As for Anita Blake...oh gah. I loved the early stuff, and suffered through the later stuff hoping it'd get better again. It did....a bit. She finally started adding in some plot with her kinky werewolf vampire bondage sex.

Honestly, if she wants to write porn, thats fine, write porn. But pleeaaase stick some damn plot in. Flirt was had a damn decent plot and the porn just got in the freaking way. Ahhg.

I live in perpetual fear of some of my fav series going this way. Dresden Files, Discworld...*shudder* I don't think either will happen, but if it did, it'd break my heart.

[XCashier]

From what I understand, the fans who clamour for more are the reason it's continued. The publishers knew that there was a guaranteed market, no matter what quality, and every time he brought a new book to them they agreed on proviso that they'd get a new Xanth book as well.

Exactly. The whole thing about "write X number of books in this series" is BS. Some stories only go for one or two books. You can only add so much padding before it becomes ridiculous.

Writers are not machines. The story idea is there, or it isn't. Story writing cannot be cranked out like other packaged goods, and it's usually disastrous to try to do that.

[RedRoseSpiral]

Personally, I love all of the Outlander series. I'm rereading them for the second time (just starting reading them a first time in early Autumn). There are only two more books in that series that are suppose to be written.

[celticgrl77]

Personally, I love all of the Outlander series. I'm rereading them for the second time (just starting reading them a first time in early Autumn). There are only two more books in that series that are suppose to be written.

Don't get me wrong I love the series but it seems they are just dragging out now maybe I need to take one weekend and just start with the first and go all the way through.

[violiav]

+1 to that. I used to love that series, back when the books still had plot. Unfortunately, LKH doesn't seem to share the opinion that the direction her books are taking is... bad.

Ditto. I didn't make it past Cerulean Sins. Couldn't even finished it.

Eta: ok. I just finished the thread, and OMG, I thought I was totally alone went it came to the excessiveness of the sex scenes.

I'm going to go ahead and add Anne Rice. I haven't touched one of her books since Merrick. That killed both her vamps and witches for me.
I'm mixed about Kim Harrison. I can never remember which was the last book of her's that I read though.

[Andara Bledin]

Re: Anne Rice. I never liked her witch series. And when it dragged the vamps in with it, it ruined that for me, too. Way too much ghost incest for my blood.

^-.-^