I know some authors don't, but I do. I want to get a sense of the pulse of my readers. I want to know how they're reacting to the themes of the book, so I know if I hit the mark or not with my writing. I also want to know ways I can improve if it's something specific I can work on. That said, I'm not writing for everyone's taste, so there's a point where I have to let go of a review and chalk it up to my books just not being for them.
I was an illustrator, and still do some illustration sometimes (mostly for myself.) As such, I actually have an appreciation for a wide variety of styles, both illustration and photography. But the books that catch my eye do something different with the tools they've been given. I think that's what sticks out for me, is to not do what everyone else is doing, but to look at the trends and go beyond them.
I tend to incorporate the effects of grief and trauma in my stories because it has very much defined the past few years of my life, though I don't directly copy any specific events. I more use the emotions I experienced to inform the themes I choose to represent and how the characters react to their situations.
