[emoorman]

I am a 73-year old male and, personally, I don't care one whit about the gender of the author as long as they can spin a yarn and not bore me to tears. If the author can't tell a good story and keep the plot moving, I usually lose interest.

Modern female authors generally, in my opinion, tend to write a slower paced novel with considerable emphasis on the relationship of the main characters. I prefer a faster paced novel, no matter what the gender of the author is, but that is my personal preference.

One of my favorite authors is Jayne Ann Krentz (and her pseudonyms, Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick). I read everything she writes. She writes a fast paced novel with snappy exchanges between the main male and female characters. Invariably, there are 1 or 2 murders in the first chapter. her books remind me of the romantic mystery movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s. Since her books are nominally 'romance," they contain the obligatory 3 soft porn, sex scenes, which I admit to skimming over quickly.

My other favorite authors are Tom Clancy and W. E. B. Griffin. I am attacking some of the mystery/suspense books from here on Mobileread.

Bottom line is, in my opinion, there is too much talk about gender and not about how good the story is. The only reason I care about who is the author is so I can find another of her/his books.