Things I hate about my favorite authors

• Diane Duane introduces charming and interesting non-human characters, kills them off at the climax for extra pathos, then brings them back for the curtain call.
  
• Neal Stephenson stops (not ends) his books by running them into (or over) sheer cliffs.
  
• Many of Larry Niven's characters are thinly-drawn mobile viewpoints, cameras through which the author shows his readers the latest Cool Thing he's imagined.
  
• Warren Ellis tends to use the same guy as his protagonist(s): a cynical, sarcastic chain-smoking bloke who somehow gets away with being a jerk to almost everyone.
  
• Paul Dini likes leggy dames, madcap chases, and musical numbers... and will bend plot and characters to put them in, if necessary.