Reader Expectations?

The other day I got an email from a male reader who "finally read" The Soprano Sorceress... and enjoyed it and says he's looking forward to the others. What was interesting about the e-mail was that this reader -- a careerist serving in the military -- admitted he'd put off reading the book because the protagonist was female. After receiving that email and then getting the early sales reports on Arms-Commander, I got to thinking matters over. I've written a number of books with female...