...so, recently, Kristie had a contest and gave away a copy of Justine Davis' Lord of the Storm (which we both love) and in the comments we discussed how much we used to enjoy Ms. Davis' books but now...not so much. I loved the few sci-fi things she did and her early Desires and SIMs were excellent. She is still writing and still writing romantic suspense but the feel of the books is different. I'm not sure if it is that the suspense is outweighing the romance or just a difference in tone or what. But I don't enjoy her more recent stuff and it's such a shame (for me...because it's all about me LOL)!
Anywho, it started me thinking about some other authors that I have that same feeling about. Like Cait London - I loved her Desires. They were so warm and filled with whimsy. Fabulous! But now she writes Gothic-y romantic suspense that I don't care for at all. Serial killers. Stalkers. Ick! Where's the whimsy? Where's the fun and the warmth? Or, what about Linda Lael Miller? I loved her Desires too (yup, I used to read lots of categories of all sorts) - Escape from Cabriz! Glory, Glory! So good - and hot! ;-) And her vampires! Remember when she wrote vampire books?? They were amazing! But then she went in a different direction (less hot, for example) and I didn't enjoy her stuff. And, yes you western fans, I know she's been doing westerns and that's fine...but she did westerns before and the feel is different now. :o)
I know people change and their interests change and that's fine - how boring would we be if we stayed the same forever? But a writing style seems like it would be so much a basic part of the writer that it would be incredibly difficult to change (evolve yes, drastic jump no). I know I had a English Comp professor who did not like my writing style (and graded me accordingly) and strongly suggested I change it. How?? I just took the bad grades. The next semester a different prof loved my writing style and used my assignments as good examples. Go figure. But I digress...
I'm not bashing or complaining (at least, not exactly complaining)...I'm just wondering why the change? What happened? A question for the ages, I'm sure. :o)
Okay, I'm finished rambling. Anyone have any examples or insight?
Labels: 2 cents, book stuff
At 8:08 AM, 
Third on Linda Howard and I hated Garwood when she went to contemporary but hey, they were getting less about romance and just more about day to day stuff. If it's not romance, I don't care ;)
So far I have been lucky with Anne Stuart any changes she makes, she still puts in the heat.
Hmmm, who else.
I loved Brockmann's categories because they were about one couple, I liked her single titles but the story arcing becomes more of an annoyance.
Dang, I might need to write up something like this but I have to look up those authors that were once auto-buys and what it was that broke me of them.
CindyS
At 7:16 PM, 
Kristie (J)
I haven't read LLM in ages! Not since that cafe one although I do have one of the McKittrick books. But I do remember her vampire books. I really enjoyed them. And I think she took a lot of sizzle out of her more recent books!!
And up until Cover of the Night, I was still loving Linda Howard. I'm hoping that was just kind of one shot deal.
I've dropped a lot of authors over the years 'cause I didn't like the direction they were going. But luckily, I've also picked up a lot too :)
And heavy sigh again over Justine Davis/Dare
Oh yeah, Kristie - LLM took lots of sizzle out of her books! How disappointing! Talk about flying in the face of a trend, even back when she did it. LH is hit and miss with me now. Some are okay and some I don't like at all. Her earlier stuff was way better.
And don't get me started on how many new authors I've picked up...yikes! We just did the "How Many Books Do You Own" meme, after all (as I recall, you won). ;-)
I miss the old Sandra Brown's and also the old Lori Copeland's. Sandra used to do romance books and they were great! I devoured them the minute they hit the stands. Now, she does romantic suspense.....and I just can't read her anymore.
Lori Copeland used to write western historical romances with a bit of a time travel element to them. She's funny and her stories just flowed. Then she switched to inspirational romances and something's just off. Her writing just isn't the same anymore.
I sure miss them both.
I miss the old Linda Howard's. Now she writes the Romantic Suspense, with very little romance. With the exception of To Die For and Up Close and Dangerous, I really disliked most of her recent releases.