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This is for those in the know who had sent me a certain link and asking me what I thought of it.
I finished reading the most anticipated book of the year for me--Lilith Saintcrow's fourth book in her Danny Valentine series, Saint City Sinners. Once again, I was riveted by the sheer power of Saintcrow's writing. Once again, I mourned because she (to me, needlessly) killed off two familiar characters. Now, Danny Valentine's main men have this tendency to get killed and be resurrected in another later book, but I'm getting worried.
Book Five, the next book, is the final of the series. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a happy ending for Danny and her demon lover. Saintcrow likes to kill off whomever Danny cares for and loves and the next excerpt hints that Danny wants to go down the suicidal path in her quest to fight the Devil. It doesn't look good because Saintcrow has set up the demon lover on the side against Danny and so he might be sacrificed at the end. Argh. Cannot. Take. That.
Sigh. I hate unhappy endings. It makes me feel incomplete, especially when I've invested four books into the relationship. If the two friends who died in Book Four already made me so anxious for Japhrimel's safety, can you imagine how I'm going to feel in January, when the last book comes out? Argggh. If you know me, I'm the biggest spoiler ho in the universe. So I'll probably peek at the end to see if there is a good ending, and if the last chapter ends well, then I'll finish this series. If not....I don't know. It's a dilemma. I don't know whether I can read a bad ending for a hero I've been so into.
Sort of like killing Jed at the end of the Virtual series, you know? Helen would survive his death, but I don't think I would. LOL.
So the question is this, am I, wearing the author's hat, responsible for the reader's emotional well-being? I mean, if I killed off a minor, but quite popular, character in the universe, and without good reason (or even with...coughcoughCam andPattycoughcough) can I reasonably reason with unhappy readers with words like "Muse," "creative freedon," "character growth," and finally, "well, that's the way it had to go." Yes, I'm stressing on REASON.
Because I tell you, although I'm a very reasonable and logical businesswoman when I'm a roofer, I'm an emotional reader. You cannot reason with me where my heart is concerned. I'm strong enough to take the deaths of minor characters because as a writer, I understand the need for some room for 'pain and gain,' as I call it...coughcough- CamandPattycoughcough...but I'm not strong enough to take the death of a major character. Not after 500,000 words! It's an undesirable ending. And unreasonable.
You see the emotional mess I'm already in, and I don't even know what the real ending of the Danny Valentine series is?! I've descended into the Afraid To Find Out state of mind. Meaning, I've sort of made up my mind to avoid that last book if my demon and Danny V are going to be parted forever, in death or living hell.
Yes, yes, totally irrational and unreasonable, but there you have it as a reader. But as a writer, I'm in awe of Lilith Saintcrow. What a great urban fantasy series!
And before you send out cries of doom at me, I haven't actually killed off Cam and Patty yet. To be honest, as a writer, yes, my Muse has suggested it, in several different scenarios, how one or both of these characters dead would make a really strong story for one of the characters. It's all in my head. But as a reader, I totally get the love for Cam and Patty, and I totally understand that some readers already have a story in their heads about those two.
There needs to be a balance, of course. A writer has to be faithful to his/her vision, but that doesn't mean, to me anyway, that the vision is unchangeable. Vision, in the precognitive sense of the word, is a possible layout of a future, and in writing, as in living, that layout changes with every word/action.
Just as life has many choices, creating art does too. Just don't think to pleasure the reader with love, and then later, reason with her for killing that love. I'm just sayin'.
Your turn to talk back: What kills your love for a beloved series, whether the books are labeled romance or not? And you can mourn about Buffy and Angel. The pain...oh the bitter pain is still with me today, so years later.
Don't REASON with me that the books aren't romance. I don't care!!!!!!! Yup, I'm an irrational reader.
(If you like urban fantasy, do try Lilith Saintcrow's Danny Valentine series. The action is fantastic and the heroine is believably edgy, although a bit stubborn in the communication department. The sexual tension between Danny and her two men (especially the main guy, Japhrimel) is top-notch. Just don't blame me if you fall for Japh and then gets all scared about Saintcrow maybe ending this series sadly. Heh.)
MAY 07
