I was remarking the same thing to myself the other day that I am so very, very much unlike Lucretia (main character of Bystander)

You know, I enjoy writing characters that are really not very much like me. But the funny thing is occasionally they're so different from me that it really takes ME a while to get around to understanding them.
Nothing I've written is published, but in my latest fiction, I had a great story, and a great character, but the two didn't fit quite right, I didn't understand her. I had to muddle through a lot of brainstorming and back story creation before I finally had that moment of "Aha! That's who you are! I GET it!"
The down side being that now that I have made her REAL I'm stuck with yet another character voice in my head. 

Landing... It's a little bit of both. I agree that you can find nuances of a writer in their work. I personally love it when I read a character like Harry who is so very detailed and REAL, and then I get to know that the author shares some of the same interests/quirks.
But I think in the field of writing, especially in creating fiction, its very important that the reader not let their emotions get carried away. Would Jim write about his character killing someone as a point of action and intensity in the story? Yes. Would Jim himself use violence, or condone that sort of violence just because he writes about it? Hardly.

But, after all, I might be biased because I'm a pretty brutal writer. In the epic series I have outlined with a co-writer, we kill off a LOT of the important characters. And we do so quite heartlessly. Because the characters no matter how beloved, needed to DIE to further the story. They're martyrs to the cause. I promise. 
*She says in her calmest 'I promise I'm not crazy' voice*

As much as we might not want it to happen, but if you write... Especially if you write something provocative... You will have people making the assumption that you agree with them, or secretly mirror their habits. People inevitably blame the author when they feel something goes too far in a book. Just look at the amount of fan distress and outrage when 'Changes' came out. (This is also why I -don't- let my certain family members read my more intense fiction.)

An author I love wrote a little bit about the subject, and I thought I'd share it here.
This is author Seanan Mcguire who's written "Rosemary & Rue" "A Local Habitation" and "An Artificial Night" among others.
http://seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com/280642.html?view=9457986#t9457986

And this is why the PG snark-theater is ALWAYS worth it. 

While I do feel posting here a month after the last post is a trifle close to nechromancy by the new thread age standards... Nonetheless I shall try to say my piece.

I don't feel like a 'leper' but I do still feel quite lost in the new forum. I always liked the fact that the threads ran long, and the topics had a chance to grow and mutate and become far more interesting, and often hilarious, before they reached 50 pages and got cut. Conversations were easier to play out without a chronological 'enddate', and since threads now END at the last post, new threads are often started days later, with no way to keep track of what was previously said.

I also desperately miss the 'Angst' corner. Yes, there was drama there (that was the point) and some of it was intense, but it was also cathartic to have a place to simply explode in text... Knowing you would have sympathy and empathy from intelligent friends. While I appreciate the efforts to create 'advice threads', most of the time I don't need or want ADVICE... I want to say "X really sucks and I hate it" and someone else can say "I know how you feel" "Feel better" "hugs" or some other heartfelt plattitude that helps get me through the day.

I know the place got ruined by people with too much drama. I know at least once I lost my head. I also know that what's done has been done. Probably for good. Probably forever. But I miss the old Macs. I miss my friends, and there's a void in my online social life where the old bar used to be. I miss the fun, the wackiness, and the way a thread could wander through twelve distinctly different subjects before it lost steam.

Like I said, what's done is done. I don't expect that what I'm saying will really affect a change, and I'm not deleting my account and running away. but I just had to say I miss the way it was. This place doesn't feel like home anymore, it feels more like a hotel... You're welcome to visit, just make sure your thread checks out on time.
That's all I'm going to say. Please don't take this to mean I need to get banned.

ATM Neither Faery Maids or Eldest Gruff is showing in the store.
Could be that they're still rennovating.

I made a shirt for my husband, based on the icons here.
"Are you always a wiseass?"
"No, sometimes I'm asleep."

Even if I can't get him to read the books, the quote was too fitting for him to ignore.

It was awesome. And very yummy. I think I'll be finding any excuse to make more... So I can be eating them. 

My absolute favorite changes line: