Reviews, rambling, and characters that won't go away

I chanced upon a very nice review for The Scarlet Tide last night, from Nina at Gay List Book Reviews. I was kind of busy at the time, but everything had to stop while I read it. And read it again. Authors are strange creatures, and every now and then we need to have our egos stroked. Like anyone, we need encouragement. Yes, we get the negative comments as well and learn to live with them (in a fashion) but we're human. And when you read something nice about one of your works, it does give you a lift. Sometimes, though, you have to say "Really?" Recently a young woman said that Pale As a Ghost was her favorite book. My first reaction was "How nice!" My second was a "Really?" I mean, really? Favorite? Of all time? What the hell else has she read, if anything? Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. But favorite of all time? Surely an exaggeration. Hell, I wrote it and it's not my favorite of all time! But it's lovely that those characters seem to have some fans. I've sent the 4th book in the Duncan Andrews series to the publisher, and it was to have been the last of Duncan and crew. If it gets published and you read it, you'll see why. It wraps everything up nice and neat. So what else would there be in Duncan's tale? But sometimes the people you create have other ideas. A scene came into my tiny little mind last night and I thought, "Wow. That's got to go into a book." Just when I think I'm done with Duncan, Robbie, and crew, they creep back into my consciousness....