On the Anne Rice debacle

[mandragora]

There's an interesting discussion here by several professional authors on their response to Rice's Amazon.com comments.

The journal in question is that of Michelle West, whose earlier works were published under the name of Michelle Sagara. She writes some of my absolutely favourite books, in particular a long and brilliantly well-crafted multi-layered fantasy series that's up to 8 large novels and still going strong. There's so much more to learn about this universe that I can't wait for the next instalments. The impression I've gained of Michelle through her LJ and also a mailing list which is dedicated to her novels and which she's a member of, but which was not set up by her - she's far too self-effacing to do anything like that - is very favourable indeed.

She comes off as being intelligent, kind, witty and courteous who can definitely take a joke at her own expense. She gets a lot of teasing on the list, which she takes in good part. She'll happily join in a discussion of other authors' works, but not her own, as she feels uncomfortable accepting (IMO well-deserved) praise.

If you haven't read any books by this author before and enjoy excellent fantasy then her books come highly recommended.

And please do check out the discussion. It's interesting to read the views of several published authors, all of whom regard Rice's diatribe as an object lesson of What Not To Do - Ever if you're a professional author.

Comments

[filenotch.livejournal.com]

Neil Gaiman's comments on the Rice thing are worth reading, if only for his quoting of James Branch Cabell's response to an inept review in the Times (at the bottom).

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. Love Gaiman and his attitude and James Branch Cabell's response is simply beautiful. Pity Anne Rice didn't respond in similar way to those criticisms that went over the line (by which I mean the comments as to her personal life as opposed to those on the calibre of the book itself).