As the author of over fifty works of fiction, people have asked me why I don't concentrate my work and pursue a single genre. They point out that genre writers, especially those who specialize in serial genres, reap the greatest commercial rewards. They have a point and the evidence is clear.

The contempt these mystery readers sometimes feel directed at them gets recycled as they express disdain for books they don't like which have been written and enjoyed by people they have to denigrate. That's not an argument or even a defense: it's blatant insecurity.