A Stroke of Midnight: when the writing gets worse, and worse, and ...

spinnerin

geek.
Registered
Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
47
Reaction score
4
Location
Portland, OR
Website
lifeofaudrey.com
I picked up A Stroke of Midnight by Laurell K. Hamilton earlier this week. I've read about half of her other books, but this is going to be the last one. The writing is seriously bad. I knew that she's tossed out character development in favor of more sex scenes, but the plot is non-existent, the descriptions are repetitive, the pacing makes no sense... It's a complete train-wreck. With lots of sex. Which does not actually help. It's like reading a porn movie, where the action might be sexy, if only the surroundings weren't so completely ridiculous.

About half-way through, I started wondering whether her editor could be encouraged to hold some sort of intervention. Her earlier books weren't exactly "serious literature" but at least they had a beginning and an end. A Stroke of Midnight appears to stop because she hit the word count required in the contract. I really think she's gone off the deep end. More evidence of that can be seen here.

Anyhow, I wondered if anyone else had examples of writers who seemed okay at first, but started churning out really awful work after a while. I'm sure there are at least a few, right?
 

JeanneTGC

I *am* Catwoman...and Gini Koch
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
7,676
Reaction score
5,784
Location
A Little South of Sanity
Website
www.ginikoch.com
Tom Clancy

Janet Evanovich (sorry, loved the first 6 or 7 of the Plum series, now I can't break open the cover...but I'm clearly in the minority there)

Anne Rice

J.K. Rowling (ducking again...loved Books 1-4, loathed Book 5, Book 6 merely okay, not panting for Book 7 though I will buy it and read it)
 

WriterInChains

Feed my eyes
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
1,179
Reaction score
152
Location
Portland, OR
Jeanne's already mentioned every author I would've said (except JKR, still haven't been able to get through one of hers) but I have to thank you, spinnerin, for the link! OMG, I can't believe she didn't take that down the next day.
*clicking self-imposed gag-order in place, to keep from posting something I'll regret later*