Responsibility

As a writer, how responsible are you for your work?

Over at Spirits of the Damned this question has been raised in the LKH forum.

Laurell K. Hamilton, as you know, is the writer of the best selling Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter and Merry Gentry series.

Originally, the Anita Blake series was a rollicking good read, filled with mortal and moral danger, mystery and suspense. Now, though, the series has descended into 'adult fiction'; that is, the books have more sex in them than anything else.

The once dominant and compelling male characters have been emasculated, there are more of them, any other female character is now an enemy and the whole series has devolved into such explicit descriptions of procreation that even the Happy Hooker would blush, if only because those scenes are written so poorly.

Gone are the crime solving, gone is the line between right and wrong, gone are any heroic figures to admire. Gone is any relevant plot.

Instead, we are subjected to male insecurity and metaphoric female chest beating and actual leg spreading.

As adult fiction, it's pretty appalling, insulting that such puerile writing is published at all under the banner of 'best selling author'.

On LKH's messageboard, Mary Sue-land exists. It is where no bad language can be used, no insults, no debate, no dissension is allowed. Only sycophantic cheers and milque-toast applause is allowed.

The most unfortunate and dangerous aspect of this is that the board is filled with squealing fan-girls who are underage. Thirteen-, fourteen- and fifteen year-olds who consider themselves 'mature' are reading this tripe and urging other, like-minded children to read the books.

Where is the responsibility to censor this readership? Is it with the author? Perhaps not. Is it with the board? Absolutely. It is definitely Darla's responsibility to protect those children and ban them from the board. Not answering questions about suitability for the under 18s in a timely fashion is a cop out, cowardly and suggest Darla knows the books are unsuitable. Hell, LKH knows they are unsuitable.

But what about parental responsibility? It is up to the parents to stop their children from reading porn. And while kids will always find a way, it is still the parents' responsibility to monitor what their offspring is doing or reading.

As far as I can tell, there is no safety measure on this messageboard to filter out paedophiles. Even if the rules should give people a clue as to what it's about:

This is a PG-13 board. We do have registered users who are younger than 18. We have the word SEX put in the megawords so most Nanny software should filter out the site and the board. However we are not the parents of these people and some folks under 18 do read the books. We also wish to maintain a certain level of respect for Laurell, her family and all others.

Keep all graphics to a PG13 level. Do not post pictures showing sexual interaction, sexual bondage, genital hair, nude buttocks (a g-string is acceptable), a woman's nipple/areole/pubic area, or a man's penis/scrotum. You may come close, but if it even vaguely appears to be showing, then it will be deleted. If you are in doubt, please PM a moderator and ask before posting the picture.

Keep all posts to a PG13 level. No posts about your sex life, hypothetical, fantasy or reality. No role playing or sexual interaction between users.

Certain curse words are automatically filtered out on this forum. Do not bypass that filter with alternate spellings.

This is from the 'rules', and in no way, shape or form, is this a 'PG13' rated board. Just from reading these rules, the board could be charged with 'assisting in the deliquency of a minor'. None of these rules are legally binding. Defending yourself by saying 'Well, I did post warnings' isn't a defence, it's a weak-willed excuse that won't stand up under litigation.

The difference is that prior to the book The Killing Dance, none of this would be an issue. But The Killing Dance is the pivotal book that begins the descent into moral corruption. It is the book where 'Adult concepts' hit full stride, but alas, it's too late for those under age readers; they are hooked, want more, and if the parents have read the previous books and allowed them to be read, they won't bother with the rest because 'they're probably all the same'. Way to lure the kids into reading pornography. How insidious.

So. Where do your responsibilities lie as a writer?

Personally, just about every book I've written has a sex scene in it. Would I allow any of my underage nieces or nephews read them? No, not on your life. They are books for adults and those scenes are there for a purpose (yeah, that's a snark), they progress the storyline (another snark).

Simply put: if you're going to be published, make sure you know your audience. Do not set up a message board that allows underage kids on - unless you're writing for kids - and then shrug your shoulders and bleat 'it's a free country'.

What do you think?