Blauthors

I came across a site that allows one to locate local non-chain bookstores and found that there is a science fiction bookstore I never knew about only a few miles from my house. I was amazed at the number of books I found that I know have not shown up in the local library or on the shelves at Barnes & Noble.

I restricted myself to four books on my first trip and bought paperbacks from John Scalzi, Brenda Cooper, Charlie Stross, and Alastair Reynolds. I noticed afterward that all four others have blogs that I have looked at (Scalzi, Stross, Cooper, Reynolds). Perhaps blogging-as-advertisement is working on me better than I thought it was.

Of course blogs by authors give us a different glimpse of their personalities than is provided by their more formally published work. But I am not sure I want that. I don't want to know the authors as people. This is because it makes me feel guilty.

I feel bad that I buy their books in paperback (or, heaven forfend, used), thus depriving their families of the means of survival. Can I read about the charming antics of an author's lovely children, who are supported by revenue from the author's writing, and then skip buying the hardback of the latest book?  I also find that I am more inclined to buy a particular author's books because I learned from his blog that he has the same birthday I do. 

Even worse, after reading an author's blog I feel bad if I don't like something I read by them. I read on one author's LJ page (not regularly updated) about her fear of rejection and the struggle she had writing her latest series while taking care of an infant and so on. And then when I read the books (from the library, doing nothing to support said author and infant) I found I didn't like them at all. I am trying to convince myself that it is because I am not into that style of fantasy novel blah blah blah, but secretly I suspect that they may not be very good. And now I feel bad thinking that. So much that I won't write the author's name here.

And all this feels very strange.