C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

So that’s who the Passive Guy really is! If you don’t folllow The Passive Voice already, you definitely should. Read his interview at the link below.

If you needed another reason to subscribe to his blog, I just found out minutes ago from The Passive Voice that JK Rowling is secretly the author of a detective novel. It was received well when they didn’t know it was her. Now I suppose the snark and knives will come out.

I read the article to She Who Must Be Obeyed and quoted Rowling (with a few edits.) So this quote from Rowling: "I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience,"

became this quote when I read it: 

"I had hoped to keep this secret a little longer because being Robert Galbraith has been such a liberating experience from the nits and pricks  who unfairly criticize any of my books that aren’t about a wizard. They can piss right off."

Of course, Ms. Rowling is a classy lady, so that’s all me projecting. However, some of the reviews of A Casual Vacancy suggested to me that they’d have preferred to intimidate Rowling into silence after harry Potter ended. Some critics are wait in the weeds to attack when any author challenges convention or tries something different or writes anything else  after a huge success. You’ll recall Harper Lee never wrote anything after To Kill A Mockingbird. Tragic. I think the literary media can take a bit of the blame for that.

Stephen King expressed similiar disappointment when his secret identity writng as Bachman was exposed. Look, I know these folks are nigh-impossibly rich so we aren’t supposed to feel bad for them for anything. However, I do feel bad for any author when nasty reviews are unleashed for bad reasons. (Note: Rowling and King are two of the most generous rich people on the planet. Not all of our betters are equal.)

It’s like when reviewers talk about a $200 million dollar movie and debate about whether it’s worth that big budget. What I want to know is whether it’s worth the price of admission and a medium unbuttered popcorn. I suppose Ms. Rowling will have to brace herself. Yes, the detective novel’s gargantuan increase in sales will be a quantum of solace, but critics who go after the author instead of the book still suck.

I have spoken.

~ Chazz

(Tomorrow on the blog, Hugh Howey! Also, Episode 5 of This Plague of Days by yours truly is released. In the meantime, go read Lynne Cantwell’s interview with the Passive Guy at the link.)