Readers from Hell

"It is salutary to train oneself to be no more affected by censure than by praise."

-- The Summing Up W. Somerset Maugham

[In accordance with the agreement with the office, I have been asked to take the 'Thieving Cow' post down. This entry is the replacement. Thanks.] I just read a thread on readers' message board that has some readers picking a historical romance apart, along with a few kicks, jabs, and knifings. It got me thinking: We readers gripe when authors step over the [usually, invisible] line or say things that would have us flapping our hands, going, "Did you see that? Did you read what she's just said? I'll never buy her books again! I swear I won't!" We readers rush to readers' boards to let them know that a new release can be found in a certain shop that is selling copies early or for half of the retail price. We readers have no qualms in stating our opinions of romances [or novels, indeed], good and bad. We readers share info with each other, regardless whether it's a right thing to do, e.g. "Oh, she no longer writes because a couple of years ago, she killed herself" or "she is not working because she's going through a messy divorce". But what about authors' end? I'm quite sure that for them, there are a few readers from Hell. I remember one reader who told everyone that she'd never buy books from Suzanne Brockmann because SB was 'rude' to her at a book signing. Apparently, SB 'blanked' her when she came up to her table. The reader was angry enough to circulate this story on almost all romance readers' boards and Amazon.com. I'd imagine that SB considered her a reader from Hell. I'm curious if there are standard rules for readers when interacting with authors at book signings, through message boards and emails? What is acceptable and what isn't? What makes a reader a rude reader? I'm quite sure that many authors received rude emails, demanding information or such, and that's without a Thank you. Are there readers' common habits that drive authors potty? Such as emailing an author to ask a question, ignoring the fact that the answer is at the author's web site? On a lighter note: Mrs Giggles does it again: The Regency Historical Drinking Game. Genius. It's good enough for me to throw the Withnail & I drinking game in favour of that. Romantica author Angela Knight explains everything she knows about romance she learnt by writing comics: Making a Long Story Short. I think that actually explains why I like her short stories so much. Considering how mad I'm about graphic novels and comics. :) Be good, be bad & be safe.