I've never read anything by Laurell Hamilton, and judging by her rant against readers who have the temerity not to like her recent books, I never will. It's a long rant, but worth reading for the extreme example of what not to do. Not that I will ever be one tenth as famous as Hamilton. But still, anyone who produces work in the public eye (which these days includes blogs, Youtube, etc) has to know how to deal with negative reactions.
I had a few bad reviews of VRT, only one that I can recall thinking they were "wrong" (as opposed to, they had a valid point, or it just wasn't their thing). I had the sense not to respond; you can't possibly win an argument over a negative review. The only exception being to correct a factual error. But that must be done as respectfully as possible, or you risk sounding like Laurell Hamilton. Or Anne Rice.
John Scalzi compared arguing with hostile fans to poking screeching monkeys with a stick. In this case I think Laurell Hamilton is the one who comes across like the crazed monkey. The best part is where she goes on and on, over a full screen's worth on my fairly large monitor, to explain how she loves her characters so much that she sometimes tries to buy presents for them. And she couldn't bear the thought of killing any of them for petty reasons like, you know, writing a good story. And anyone who doesn't understand her deep and abiding love for her characters is a poopy pants. She doesn't just love her characters, she lurrrves them. She sounds like she's writing fanfic of her own series.
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Is there something about writing about vampires that eats people's brains, I wonder? First Rice, now Hamilton... if Poppy Z. Brite goes off the deep end next, I'll consider that tentatively proven by virtue of 3 occurrences!
Now that Poppy Z. Brite is writing about the food industry instead of vampires, maybe she's immune! Whew!