If the public likes you, you're good. Shakespeare was a common, down-to-earth writer in his day.
I don't like people. I don't like any kind of people. When you get them together in a big lump they all get nasty and dirty and full of trouble. So I don't like people including you. That's what a misanthropist is.
If the public likes you, you're good.
Now I'm not an author, I'm a writer, that's all I am.
I read all the time... I read a lot of history books.
Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it's a letdown, they won't buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.