thoughtfulThis? Is totally, absolutely, 100% fair. You should never have to read anything you don't want to, unless it's for a class (and even then, only if you want to actually pass said class). Life is too short! Don't read bad books unless reading bad books brings you joy, and don't read books that don't interest you unless you have a damn good reason.
At the same time, while I can totally appreciate the sentiment, I'm not sure it's a sentiment that I, as a reader, would ever feel comfortable expressing to a writer. Especially not now that I'm a writer myself, which means I know that a) the story will go where the story will go, and b) by the time you get your hands on book one in a series, book two is finished and turned in, making it impossible for the writer to avoid the plot elements you've said that you dislike. "Don't do this or else" is a wasted statement. It is already too late to avoid doing whatever it is you want to have avoided.
But still, for every person who speaks, there are ten more who don't, so I thought this might be a good time to say something about what's coming up for Toby. Specifically: yes, there will be more missing people, because after defeating Blind Michael and preventing a war, finding people is what she has a reputation for being good at. Ironically, Toby herself prefers murder cases; they're less time-sensitive, and she's less terrified of getting it wrong. But if she gets a call from out-Kingdom, there's a very good chance that it's going to be about somebody's missing son, daughter, or heir.
The plot of Chimes at Midnight doesn't center around missing children, but it does involve someone who has been lost. The Winter Long is still in progress, and is more about people being found than people being lost; there's also a murder, which is good for Toby's admittedly frayed nerves. This doesn't mean that there won't be missing children somewhere down the road, because those are the cases that make people sit up and say "I want my baby back alive, get that October woman."
Losing and finding people are huge themes in the Toby series, and that's a very intentional thing; that's never going to change. If that isn't the sort of thing you want to read, I'm really sorry. InCryptid has different themes, and changes narrators periodically, which should help to keep things more varied. But much like Newsflesh was about truth, Toby is about loss. At least until we find the ending.
So that's what's going on for Toby, and why things are the way that they are. I hope it makes sense; I hope you'll all stick around. And if not, I hope you'll at least understand why I write it this way.
This is how the story goes.
(*Names are withheld, as always, because that's how we roll around here. Playing nicely is the new black.)
January 4 2013, 03:29:26 UTC 4 years ago
"Hey, I wanted to let you know that I love this series, but this one part of the story is really triggery for me, and as much as I love your books I can't really deal with it, so could you please let me know if I have more of this triggery subject to look forward to, so that I can avoid it??"
But maybe I'm just giving far too much credit, because as others pointed out, the way it's worded is a pretty shitty attempt at manipulation and demand.
January 4 2013, 04:42:54 UTC 4 years ago
That doesn't make it okay to say whatever you'd like or expect that an author will just do whatever you want them to because you threaten not to read, but it might explain the lack of elegance in the criticism.
January 4 2013, 05:21:43 UTC 4 years ago
January 5 2013, 01:08:51 UTC 4 years ago
It's a very very tiny possibility that it was triggery and this person wasn't self-aware enough to realize that and lashed out, but it's also possible that they were just rude. It's kind of amazing what people think it's okay to say, especially over the internet.
My rule of thumb is that if I wouldn't say it in person, I won't say it via email. Unfortunately, most people don't seem to get that when you send an email, an actual person receives it.