The Writer and the Story

It's always crazy when you meet an author you have absolutely loved, and you find that their personality is so different from their writing.  I think, because it is inevitable that large bits of us wind up in our writing, we expect, see or think it's similar for others. And it is, I think.  But readers are wired to spot the familiar, relate-able things in the books they read....

Should you Write With a Cause?

Since I spent the week looking at SFF relevant to its place in a feminist sort of history, I felt it was fair to clarify this point: Should you write with a cause? NO. I think addressing social issues directly is more a part of literary fiction than genre fiction.  I think genre fiction has a history of playing with ideas, but I don't think it has a place in main plot because I don't believe...

Are strong Women Realistic?

Before I left a writer's group I'd participated in for quite some time, this question came up. I was honestly horrified that a group of girls wanted to even ask this question.  It really made me wonder at the role models we have given girls. But since I've been writing about the portrayal of women in the genre I feel the need to look into this question in more depth. First, I established...

Violence, Strength, and Women

I loved women's literature courses in college.  One of the most interesting things discussed in Intro to women's Lit was the classically depicted strong women. Classically, strong women were those who endured.  City of Women, a text by a Cristine de Pizan was full of early "strong women," and then you could look at the more recent Jane Eyre. While some women in City of Women were fighters,...

Women in Fantasy

Sorry all, I hate to bring up politics, but my inspiration for posts this week comes from two sources: a lively FB topic and ongoing media installments demonstrating a massive misunderstanding of female biology. Growing up, reading Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series, Andre Norton's Witchworld books, and watching the ever increasing roles of women in TV: Scully, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Kira and...

Not One of My Better Weeks

This week has been very slow.  I wrote a bit in the novella, made some changes to the two and a half short stories I have floating around, and began the next chapter in the main WIP.  And I've been lurking in the blogosphere :( Sorry--Will leave comments! I hate these weeks.  No amount of coffee seems able to keep the grogginess at bay.  My focus swings between different projects,...

What was your Childhood Monster? Blogfest!

Thanks Christine for this exciting blogfest!  Everyone be sure to visit for more entries. Monsters were definitely present in my childhood, but thanks to Sesame Street, perhaps, they weren't manifestations of my fears.  They were my best friends. At a young age I developed a family of monsters that I used to understand my world and justify my dislikes. Like orange juice.  With lots...

Attempting a mobile post

Fiddling with my phone today, and I decided to try a mobile post. I have a to admit that this is quite slow.But on those blue moon days I suppose I felt can share pics easily....

Wrote a Short Story Today :)

After being preoccupied for a week by random stuff, I'm back on the right track!  Further, I managed a story in  a day.  Lately short stories have taken me a few days and sometimes more than a week.  Then, they don't often end up as short as I want them to be. I really want to make August better, since my birthday is early September and I'll be 29 :( So I want to get two more...