"Yes, I really did that," sayeth the author.

The idea for this post came from the wonderful Bookalicious Pam (also known as Pam van Hylckama and my future agent). She rules, you should check her out.

Now, she specifically was talking about a video game where a lot of fans were upset over the endings of the series (yes, endings. Anyone who plays video games knows what I am talking about) and how they started a petition to 'take the video game back'.

LOLOLOLOLOL REALLY???

Okay, don't get me wrong, I will deeply love and cherish every single fan I manage to get, even after I'm dead. Without fans, I will be going absolutely nowhere. I am not going to be one of those authors/celebs/whomever who whine about having to meet with fans and give autographs and are all around snobbish to the people who put them where they are.

That said, I have boundaries. Fans who think they can dictate where I take my story is one of them.

My manuscript, the one mentioned in the title *points* I have been working on for nearly seven years. Yes, seven years. I don't need to be in my thirties to work on something for a long period of time.

I digress. I have planned every book in the series and will continue to actively plan it until the last book goes into print. Something have changed, some things won't change. I'm fairly secretive about my plans--unless you read the books.

Now, the idea of a bunch of people who think they are entitled to whine about an ending to a story kind of really miffs me. Yes, I am well aware that video game fans spend more time progressing the plot than with movies, tv, or books. They are more invested in it. Nonetheless, that doesn't give them the right to dictate someone else's creativity.

Not that book fans are innocent in all this. Deathly Hallows epilogue anyone?

I guess because people only see the final product of movies, tv shows, books, and video games, they tend to forget that originally, this was someone's brainchild. When all you see are the characters in the book or video game or the actors in the film or tv show, you forget the person who put them there. You forget that someone (or in some cases, someones) took months or years to sculpt this art into the way they wanted it.

One of the first thing you learn as a writer and arguably the golden rule is that you always write for yourself FIRST (or your characters, personally I find them interchangeable). Not your audience, nor your publisher, nor your agent. You, the writer, first and foremost. If you are anywhere lower on the list, all you are going to get is a crappy book no one likes. Nobody wants that.

I guess what I'm saying is that fans need to remember and respect the writer and his/her decisions. I can tell you, from experience, they aren't doing it to spite you (at least they shouldn't be). We want you as fans, we would never do something maliciously to force you to not be our fans. Yes, there are exceptions *cough* but on the whole, what author really wants to piss off their fanbase?

You don't dictate what I or my characters do, and I'll continue to give you awesome books. Deal?

Because really, Caraka won't listen to me, do you REALLY think she is going to listen to anyone else? Hell naw.