Shall We Begin With The End?

By now you are either ready for the holiday chaos or going nuts trying to be.
Traffic becomes impossible to navigate, you couldn't pay me to head to a mall and well, life as we know it becomes manic- I mean MANIC- high up, low down, high up, low down, and that's before dipping into the eggnog.

As an author and of course not immune to the sting of critics and frenemies...I too have to vent on occasion though I find myself playing shrink for so many others I sometime wonder if I should get paid by the hour. I think it's nice that so many people are comfortable telling me their problems, deepest secrets and uh hum, personal business. Yes, well, perhaps a scene or two may show up in my novels, but I am a vault as far as other's secrets are concerned. You tell me, it goes nowhere.

I have too many times been the recipient of evil tongues, and I'm not talking about the ones you want in your mouth. I would never complain about those.

Okay, what I came here for is to tell you about The End.
My novels all but one, have happy endings. We crave that. I do. When I watch a movie I want it to make me feel good. Books are no different. For the most part, we want to feel content. 'Aww, that is so cute,' kind of moment.

One particular comment in a review has got me slightly perturbed. Not angry, lord knows I've been chewed up and spit out, mostly by other authors, for my work. After reading most if not all of them I shrug and say, oh, well, can't please everyone. But this one issue does bug me. The End.
When I watch a movie with a love premise, the movie usually ends when the couple manage to make it as a pair. Then the credits roll up. We don't see, after the Happy Ending and the couple eating breakfast, or going to work, or maybe sitting on a sofa and watching TV. Day after day. No. The movie ends, literally, at the beginning of the successful union. You see, my dears, the drama is how they get there from here. Not what happens once they are together. Yes, there are exceptions. Your craving for Mark and the boys makes the drama continue like a soap opera, or in this case, a lubrication opera.
But I do get why some people don't want those two words, The End, to show up. They like the characters, they like the story, and they want to spend more time with them. That, is very flattering to an author. Hearing, 'Write a sequel, please, what happens next?' That means you delivered.
Let me assure anyone who bothers to read my rantings on this blog or elsewhere, GA does not do 'rush jobs'. I think because of my one book a month goal, I may give the impression that I snap my fingers and without any thought a book comes out of my files. First of all, I am months ahead. No rush, no deadlines. And I work for me. If a book is released the first, mid or last of the month, that's entirely my call.
I assure you that each novel gets the same attention to detail, hard work, and thought, as every other. But! When the end comes too quickly, I get accused of 'a rush job'. No, my dears, see it as what it is. You don't want it to end! I get that, I do. I love my men too and sometimes writing those two words is hard. But I know me. They will come back, either on their own in a sequel or as a guest. So believe me when I say, I do not rush. On the contrary. I spend the exact same time for each book. I never change my production methods. They are done with care, consideration, and of course, common sense.
Inevitably the book's goal is to get the lovers together. Any reasonably intelligent person can guess once they have succeeded, they live, 'Happily Ever After' The End.
Do you love my men so much you want another fifty to a hundred pages of what comes next? Yes, if something were to occur, but...the goal was met.
All Prince Charming has to do is propose, then the credits roll.

I think what annoyed me the most, was the fact that I may not care deeply about each novel I write. The opposite couldn't be more true. I strive to make each book, top the previous. And so many kind, thoughtful authors know that a careless review from someone who has no clue how to write, can really make ya feel, well, pissed off, or questioning where you placed, The End. Even though the writer of the review meant it in the nastiest way possible, I still look at it as a plus. They didn't want the book to end. That's a good thing. And if my readers crave to know about the morning after the night before, then I will certainly strive for a more complete novel. Just don't tell me I was too long winded, and a bore if I go on and on about the happy couple's normal life.

Heck, life is manic this time of year, and life in general tugs us up and down by its very nature. I guess if the worst thing have to blog about is someone wishing my story was longer, then I could have a worse life.

Be safe, especially this time of year when every one's head is up their butt.