Right, Left, or in the Middle--Do You Really Need To Know?

You'd think by now that the cold would be killing all the flowers. Yet the temperature highs are in the 80s and even 90s and due to remain so all week. How extraordinary.

And how bad for someone who needs to stay shut in and write.

Ah well, snow will come soon enough, I suppose. Until then, I'm working. But I thought I'd mention something that strikes me as an interesting topic of discussion. 

So many people are making it their mission in life to disparage and discuss politicians as the election draws closer. But do you think it's a good idea for authors to throw in their opinions as well? Do you feel bogged down in the "Facebook polls"?

Not that an author isn't expected to have an opinion, but I'm more concerned that readers like my fiction than my rhetoric, if that makes sense. I think certain viewpoints--having nothing whatsoever to do with an author's work--can be polarizing. 

As a reader, knowing too much about an author can put me off. If Author Susie comes across as a liberal or conservative whack-job, I wonder how I can read her book and not be reminded that she wants baby zebras to run congress. And though I'm all for women's rights, reading about authors burning bras, panties, and their ex-boyfriends to stand up for themselves makes me want to run fast and far, far away.

I have views. I have opinions. I have a definite idea of who I want running the country. But as Marie Harte, author, I don't think any of that is relevant to what I write. Or am I wrong?  Curious...