You buy the book… and it’s written. You think to yourself that “Wow, it would have been great if Stephen had just…” whatever.
Photo by Lou Levit on Unsplash
One of the major issues facing readers of fiction is – you feel like you’re after the fact. Like a sport game after it’s done, and you get to find out who the champion skier was. Who got the gold. Etc. (Is it still Jean-Claude Killy?)
But you’re essentially separated from the authors.
I remember my dad had some Arthur C. Clarke in the house, plus his collection of strange “secret government” genre books (my dad was in the Marine Corps, and actually spent much of his career in an organization that a lot of supply clerks in the army try to pretend nowadays they’re a member of… and he used to tell me “This book is not fiction.”)
I added in Robert Heinlein, and some other books like that.
I never wrote a letter to Robert Heinlein or any other science fiction author. Back then, you had to put paper in a typewriter, and type. Then make out an envelope, put a stamp on it, and put it in the mailbox. So it was much harder then.
Kind of a shame.
Today, things are different. There’s social media. There’s blogs. You can go nowadays to any author’s website and leave comments. You can interact with them on Facebook or Twitter.
I think personally it’s great. I would love for readers to tell me later on, “Wow, it would have been great if Lynch had…” And then I can explain that Lynch ended up taking on a life of his own, and actually threatens to overshadow the antagonist in my books – so I have to reign back Lynch just a little!
But the “German” that the Inner Circle members talk about – Rolf Offenstath – I can literally make him as scary as Lynch, and not hold him back.
In my fourth book you find out a little of Lynch’s past – a little. And I’m hoping my future readers will make the discovery and want to know more (hopefully, some will pick up the hints).
Indeed, the way things are today, you can actually suggest ideas to your favorite authors! If Frank Herbert were alive today, I could have told him how he could have wrapped up the Dune series – and he certainly went in the wrong direction with them very early on. The last two books were horrible. I haven’t read them since the 80’s.
Get involved with your favorite authors! That’s why I have a commenting system. That way, you can get in on the ground floor before I’m published and my work is filmed!
Don’t be afraid to say, “I thought you should have had Carpenter blah blah blah…”. Authors (unless they’re temperamental like JD Salinger) love to talk about their book, why they had their characters do what they did. Often, as the author is explaining it, he’s figuring it out himself!
And if you start talking to the author on their website in the comment section, or on Facebook, you might be surprised and they answer you! (I wrote a letter once to a football quarterback when I was 8 years old, and to my surprise, he wrote me back, and sent me an autographed picture. Not bad for a kid who really didn’t like sports!)
Interact. Dare to interact. Often, authors only get interaction by seeing a paycheck. Some prefer it that way. I guess I’d be a little disappointed if all I got for feedback was a paycheck (not that I’d complain about it!). I’d rather hear from people and have them say, “I wish you’d given Terrell a bigger role, because I really identified with him…”
I know! I wrote him that way on purpose! I wanted to have a character that most people could identify with! There’s Carpenter, who most of us wish we could be, there’s Yossi, who’s really similar to people I know (including me!) and then there’s Terrell, who most of us will say, “Hey… that’s me!”
Conclusion
What do you think? Do you read books and then wish you could talk with the author, find out what was in their head? Have you ever read a book and thought, “No! You should have done this!” Talk about it below!
