So, I got a really funny comment on my blog over the weekend...

[Jon Loomis]

Here it is, unedited:

Read your book Mating Season, first book I have read by you and the last, I don't think you shouldput your politics in your books by bashing Pres. Brush and his Cabinet which shows your liberal views which we can do without.

Where to begin?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Good points. If this person is gauging the worth of the book based on perceived political views, then he/she is missing out on what sounds like a great read. Some readers just can't separate the author from the characters. If that were true, we'd be in blaze orange making license plates for the state.

I've read many books I've disagreed with politically, and I'm glad I read them. It solidified my beliefs. Knowing what I don't believe is just as valuable as what I do believe.

[Donna Carrick]

Jon, you should have seen the beauty of a comment I got yesterday -- flat out prfanity, I couldn't even bring myself to approve it. Won't quote it. There is no shortage of stupidity amongst those who are able to read....

If you can't express your true opinions in your own work, where the heck can you express them? We're only living the once. Whether or not I agree with a writer, I always applaud courage. Trying to nurture more of it within my own work -- that's my goal for 2009.

Keep on keeping on, and let the idiots enjoy each other. Personally, I have no time for them. So much to write, so little time.......

[Jon Loomis]

Zackly. Sorry about the rotten comment. One wonders what gets into people.

[Donna Carrick]

So many angry people in the world! It's really a shame. I'd rather laugh, but sometimes they just won't let you! I wish they'd form a colony on a lovely desert island and their only boat would sink. Then they could have at each other till they ran out of targets! The rest of us could get on with enjoying our lives uninterrupted...

[B.R.Stateham]

I'm telling ya, where would the conservatives of this world be without we Liberal, Commie-loving, Pinko free-thinkers! Can't tell you the number of things people have accused me of being (and doing) because of my politial views.

But without 'critics' like these, the world would be a dull place to live in.

[Donna Carrick]

Dull indeed -- and who would we laugh at?

[Benjamin Sobieck]

Separate question: Is it a good idea to divulge political beliefs on a Googleable forum? Just gut-checking here.

I'm guilty of speaking out on a couple issues, but I've never label myself a (political ideology).

[Donna Carrick]

Good point, Benjamin, and I understand where you're coming from. As for me, though, I'm too old to be that cautious. My political beliefs are a very small part of who I am, but they are a part, and like my gender, I won't hide them. Too darn stubborn, I guess.

I know a lot of people in our field still can't really accept 'women' mystery writers. Like Popeye, I Yam What I Yam... Hope that's ok with the world, 'cause it ain't changin'. I's a girl.

I could be wrong, but I suspect from reading your posts (which I thoroughly enjoy) that you are coming at this as an ex-journalist, who is well-trained to remain objective all the time. I completely respect that, it's great training. My fiction has little or nothing to do with politics for the most part. As for speaking plainly on a Google site, I would never be caught being disrespectful. Beyond that, I make no promises....

[Donna Carrick]

Hey, Jon, this tickles me so much I had to come back to it!
I can certainly do without "your liberal views", since I have my own! HA HA

[Chip Cook]

I am picking up the book today, so soon I may find what I am about to say is useless.
However, I gotta ask: Is there a bunch of politics in Mating Season?
If so, does it relate directly to the story?
Is it a character's trait, like J. W. Booth saying: "I sure do dislike that Abraham Lincoln. Yes, sir. I do."
Or is it something else?

[Jon Loomis]

It's mostly one character, a painter with strong political views. Pretty much the ohe only mentions of political figures occur in the descriptions of the paintings. So, Sarah Palin in a dominatrix outfit, pointing a shotgun at a cowering John McCain dressed in moose suit. title of the painting: "Moose Hunt." There are maybe three such descriptions in the whole book--but even that's too much for your true wingnut, who can't tolerate the expression of any opinion he/she doesn't share.

[I. J. Parker]

I do like your politics. :) Sarah Palin would make an excellent character, I think. Different name, of course.