RE: what I do and don't respond to...often the criticisms you note as "meaty"
(including some of those you raise) are in large measure subjective...why did
I do *this* instead of *that* because the correspondent in question thinks X
should be done instead of or in addition to Y. There is no way to actually
debate that, or answer it, because it's subjective...what you want in a story
may not be what I want, but too often because it isn't what someone else would
do, or like, it's "bad." Or a plot hole.
So it isn't so much as responding to the nitpicky notes as those that can be
objectively answered.
jms