My thoughts exactly. I don't know if I want it to be true or not though cause I seriously want some SE/BD.

hmmm....maybe she is trying to get away from all the hate mail/end game requests...

@SalvatoreBroFTW: You know, that is EXACTLY what I am thinking. She is trying to find a way around the hate mail, the constant requests from fans (mostly DE fans) and maybe she wants to put a stop to the Delena hype but before, she couldn't find a way to do it. I don't know, I don't believe that some random person is just going to come in and all of a sudden finish the series, it doesn't make sense to me. I mean, maybe I am crazy for thinking such a theory, I don't know.

i agree you have a point there... i think she wants to finish her story from her heart and not what the fans want...which is probably why she's doing this .. it could be who knows..
lets hope its good for DB and SE fans!

Bamonites and Stelenators UNITE! :D

Never thought of that. It's a good possibility. Do you think she might still do the after hours story for Bamon?

I dont think so because she told us all her plans that she would have done.

It's possible that these rumors are an elaborate hoax, but I highly doubt it. I've never heard of any author going through such great lengths in order to dissuade her fans.

Hey Bamon fans,
I know this thread is a little on the old side now but I couldn’t remember the name of the more current thread I wanted to add too.
I saw a thread only recently that said something like L J had been fired. Before going into it I thought the thread was referencing the show I thought L J was at least a creative consultant on the show(?)
I can’t believe she's been dismissed from the series of novels she created! I’ve never actually read the novels but I know lots of you are fans so in that regard I feel bad for those of you that have been invested in her story and her character creation.
If I were L J I would be hopping mad that someone was now going to be writing “my” story and manipulating “my” characters.

ApplePie88, I literally know nothing about the novels or their creation/creative process but I think you might have a point. L J is probably still very much invested in them. Even if her stake in the novels is now more franchised than that of a private owner she would still be making oodles of cash from the sale/rights and residuals of the books.
I’m cynical so I think you’re probably right L J is still likely shaping the stories in some form.

I think it's bullshit that LJ says she was fired. Tell me, if the publishers truly fired her for writing about Delena in the books (which I sincerely doubt), why didn't they do it after Shadow Souls? Further more, why did they even allow Shadow Souls to be published like that, if they're so hellbent of strictly Stelena books? Nu-uh. Something just doesn't sit right there. I think LJ lied about being fired. This way, obsessive crazy Delena fans won't send her hate mail and death threats if the series ends with Stelena/Bamon, like they would if she were still writing it. I agree with you Noelle. She probably is the ghostwriter. Or, at least she knows the person, and told them how she wanted the books to go. And I honestly don't blame her; I wouldn't want to put up with the DE shit either. Still, there's no way she doesn't have at least some influence on how the book will go, if not all the influence.

April80s & Bubbles: EXACTLY. I think that even if L.J. Smith was "fired" (personally I think she quit but then again, that is only my intuition and me purely speculating), she most definitely is going to have a rather HUGE influence over the books and how these books turn out. I think she is either going to be the ghostwriter going "undercover" or she knows the new ghostwriter personally. If it;s the latter, I'm 100 percent sure that it is someone whom L.J. trusts inherently with her own story, and feels will continue her story the way that L.J. Smith really wanted to write it when she was still writing the series. So, even though L.J. Smith may not be in charge of writing the series anymore or have the job of writing every word in her TVD books, she most definitely will be pulling the strings behind the scenes in regards to how the TVD series turns out. I don't believe that L.J. Smith is not at least going to have absolutely no influence over what is going to happen to her own story. So I don't believe her in that regard. I said it a few months ago and I will say it again, I still believe that L.J. Smith really quit because she simply could not handle all of the pressure from all of the TVD fanbases including SE, DB and DE, but especially DE. I think she was extremely overwhelmed by all of the OTT Delena support and all of the DE nutzos sending her endless brainwashing garbage about Delena and also, telling her in a rather aggressive manner how to write her own story. And because of this, this caused her too feel guilty and feel pressured and stifled into impressing the Delena fan base just to cater to them. It's really sad when you think about it.

In theory when a writer is signed to a publisher they have to do what the publishers TELL them to do. If the publisher doesn't like the title, the author has to change it, if they don't like a part of the book, they have to change it. So my theory is if the initial way the books were portrayed were elena/stefan always being together no matter what with a mix of some extreme flirtations happening between elena and damon (idk never read the books) then that would be the route that she (the author) would have to go. When the t.v. show came about, there seemed to be an influxuation of DE fans that came and in that of itself, like some of u have said they could have put an extreme amount pressure on L.J. Smith to write more scenes in the books for them, and in L.J. accomodating them or adding unnecessary scenes that r not needed could have led her to being fired. Now there may have been books that showed alot of DE connections but the publishers never gave it a second thought b/c the books revolve around a triangle, but if they noticed a pattern of unnecessary things as well as a storyline implying DE as "endgame" they could have fired her for being influenced or going off route. The theory that L.J. Smith could have made up being fired and being replaced by a ghostwriter so that she can write her books in peace does make sense...I mean hell the publishers could have told her to do just that so that she won't be influenced, but writers DO get fired for not doing what they're supposed 2 do, and it's not like they don't kno either, I mean they did sign a contract after all, and I'm sure any publisher would at least give u a warning about changing things b4 firing you from ur own books. I'm trying to be a writer myself and it's shocking to know that I can be fired from my own books but it's understandable b/c it's not like it wasn't in a contract to begin with. There is a possibility that even if she's not writing her books anymore that she has some type of influence but don't assume that she does b/c in reality she might not even have that privilege, hell she'll be lucky if she knows who her replacement is.

i thought that its was a possibility i thought she was pressurize so they create this situation yet she blame SE story line in a v depressing manner htat im not sure any more but i think its the tv show shd start after the end of books tv people shd hv waited a little longer even they r not fully following the books storyline

J.Lsmith claims that she loves her charcters and her books and its seems that she wanted to finish them , I dont think J.Lsmith would have stoped writing and give up her book title because of DE hate mail , only if the mail got out of hand which I then can understand possibly but if this is true then she has lied to a nation of fans. Im so positive that DE wont happen ever and im soo positive that Bamon will be the endgaame.

Either way I guess the publishers felt that L.J Smith was going into another route and since they've probably been there since the beginning (since the book started) they kno the characters as well as the author herself does (even if the author created them b/c remember if the publishers don't like something she HAS to change it) and that of itself means they could hire the perfect unknown writer to write what they want and not have to worry about if fans r influencing them or not.

Based on what I just saw on her guestbook “I fought tooth and nail to write those books--I fought until my agent wouldn't support me, when she said I would be sued and she wouldn't fight with me anymore, and I WROTE Phantom. But instead of edits what I got back was a letter to Clare the ghostwriter telling her to completely change my book. I HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER. I was deceived by Alloy and got no support from Harper.”

I don't think she's lying about being fired but I do wonder if Delena fans, and the publisher have been pushing, and pulling her in different directions until she can't see straight. I've noticed a lot of editorial issues in The Return series and I can't help but wonder if the publishers have been trying to screw her over all along.

I think (my opinion only of course)they forced her to keep writing a series she considered "done" because of the show an then got mad cuz she wouldn't make it closer to the show. I think she tried to keep the series and explore more Bamon viewpoints but the publishers just wanted a push over they could totally control. I love L.J. Smith's books and I just can't help but think that Alloy has a big greedy hand up her shirt and is behind more of The Return series and the future books than we know. Thats just my take on it though.

^ You have an interesting theory. But a part of me can't help but think it's fishy, because she seems to be playing "victim" a lot in regards to being fired. I don't know, it may sound strange, but I have a hard time believing her, even though I love her writing and her novel series and her as a writer. There's something about the whole thing I just don't buy or believe. I'm just really good at judging situations and I'm highly intuitve and my intuition is telling me something is not right.

I think something is up too, I just don't think it's on her end. I know if they did to me what they did to her (taking away a HUGE part of my life's work AFTER writing Phantom for them) I'd be devastated and honestly I don't think I'd write anything else after having my such a big part of my work taken from me. As often as she say's how much it hurts, I'm just praying she keeps writing for us. I guess you see her hurt feelings and see something fishy, I just imagine how I'd feel if it happened to me and what they're doing in my opinion is just jacked up.