roboz6 wrote:Oh My! On the one hand I feel flattered that RFC (David) himself has responded to some of my comments, and on the other hand I feel contrite and chagrined that David feels miffed in response to all of his hard work.
As David rightly says:The bottom line is that books will be however long (or short) feels "right" to me, and that may not always be a given reader's (or group of readers') cup of tea. I'm okay with that. I've been doing this for 30 years now and I'm still learning my craft (hopefully I'll always be learning my craft), and I always try to listen to my readers. Unlike certain PITA well known writers who shall remain nameless,I think reader feedback is essential, especially in a long running series. But I am the conductor of this particular orchestra, and the pieces will be performed in the way that suits my ear until the day I finally hang up the baton.
So there!
At the end of the day, I, and I am sure many others of the Safehold fans, just love this series so much - dare I say addicted to it - that we just can't wait to get into the next instalment.
And I must also agree with:SilverbladeTE wrote:I don't really care much about the Gbaba, like faceless murder machines....not anything like as interesting as dragging Safehold up, the antics and tragedies of Merlin and the mortals who make their tales touch you, etc
Wanna see the Two Emperors and the Siddermark Scum get their arses handed to them
So David, don't you dare die before you finish this series! And I pray as well that I don't die in the meantime and miss out on getting to read the entire series.
Oh, not miffed. The thing is that after 30 years or so I neither panic if someone is less than totally pleased with a story, nor do I get ticked off with someone who critiques one (or more) of them so long as the critique is delivered in a reasoned way and without invective. You can look back at some of my online exchanges with Dilandu, kzt, GregD, and a few others for places where I've taken them to task for taking me to task, but all of us have generally managed it in civilized fashion and without making it personal. We don't always agree at the end of the day, but at least we're still speaking!
I wasn't trying to say I was irked with you (although, of course, suitable acknowledgment of my towering talent, possibly with a few "thou conquerest, O David"s and a couple of dozen dancing girls with pompoms leading my chariot as it rolls down the Appian Way past the cheering multitudes would probably have been more appropriate, you understand
). What I was trying to say is that there is no such thing as the perfect novel; that I'm more interested in telling the story than in scoring points for my superlative, unrivaled, downright peerless stylist perfection; that no two people are going to tell the tale in exactly the same way; that there can be only one guy at the wheel; and that in the end the fellow responsible for the story has to tell it the way that works for him.The fact that so many people are kind enough to like them --- and like them enough to be dissatisfied on those occasions when the writer doesn't hit it out of the park for them --- is all gravy, really. These are the voices trying to get out of me head, and if I don't let them out my way, a teeny bit at a time, then the moon rises, and ----
Let's just say you wouldn't like me when I'm hairy.
