Category: Things that might make you think

Publishers “ignoring” lesbian writers

That’s according to a piece published today in the Washington Blade.

The article‘s author, Julie Enszer, notes that

While there is much to celebrate in queer literary culture, there is something to bemoan as well, particularly for lesbian writers and readers. The lack of attention by mainstream publishers to lesbian writing, particularly lesbian fiction, is appalling.

As it has for more than four decades, lesbian publishing is flourishing in small, often lesbian-owned, publishing houses like Bold Stroke Books, Bywater Books, and Naiad Press. These small publishers are vital and important to our literary culture, but they must operate in conjunction with mainstream publishing. By mainstream publishing I mean (generally) New York-based trade publishers, who market books to broad audiences and sell books through mainstream bookselling venues, now primarily big-box bookstores, but also locally owned booksellers. Mainstream publishing brings us Dan Brown, J.K. Rowling, and Stieg Larsson, but it is also brings us Rita Mae Brown, Jeannette Winterson and Emma Donoghue.
source

Sadly, she’s right. Mainstream publishing in this country (Enszer notes that lesbian writers and subjects make major mainstream publishing houses quite a bit in the UK) does ignore lesbian fiction — especially genre fiction. There are a number of reasons for that. I’d argue that persistent homophobia is one; ignorance about the thriving lesbian publishing industry flying underneath the mainstream radar is another; and fears that the target audience for lesbian fiction (genre fiction) isn’t big enough to sustain a book starring lesbians. Sure, homophobia lingers, but ultimately, publishing is a business and they want profits. These publishers don’t think that a lesbian writer could make enough money for them to justify publishing her.

I think that the expansion of ebooks could change that, because large mainstream houses won’t have to worry about whether or not they can sell that minimum print run of 10,000 books. Ebooks might actually end up being an inroad for lesbian writers into mainstream publishing. It’s something I’m intrigued about, and I’m keeping an eye on it. Anyway, more food for thought.

Happy reading, happy writing!

H/T to some Facebook friends for posting this article link.

by Categories: Books, Publishing bizness, Things that might make you thinkTags: , , ,

Things not to do when you’re in Congress

Hi, kids!

Lordie. Had quite a lot going on, and I’m finally able to chill out and provide some tips to you and, hopefully, certain parties in the state and federal legislatures who I’m sure read this blog religiously. Actually, this is pretty good advice for all of us.

Wanna know? Click on…

Continue reading →

by Categories: Bless Their Hearts, Random WTF stuff, Things that might make you think, Things you shouldn't doTags: 2 Comments

When books go not-so-good: some writing tips

Sigh. I finished reading a mystery today on my Kindle. I won’t say which one or who the author is, because I don’t do book reviews and I’m sure there are people who enjoy this writer’s stories. I was able to try this author’s work for $.99, for which I’m grateful. And if I like an author, I’ll gladly pay full price for his or her work.

In this case, the book started strong — set in Arizona, which is right next to my New Mexico stomping grounds, so I love stories set in the American Southwest. A great premise, too. Double murder at a campsite, internally tortured female detective with all kinds of issues, both professional and personal, and weird stuff about the murder victims and the possible suspects.

The author has a nice eye for detail, and included some great descriptions. That went on and on and on and on and…seriously. Often a tangent that took up 1-2 PAGES, detracting from the narrative and losing the reader. The author also did another no-no in my mystery-writing toolbox — a form of “as you know, Bob.” That’s another form of info-dumping and telling, not showing. It occurs when a writer provides way too much backstory and not enough narrative to move the story along. Your purpose as an author is to MOVE THE STORY FORWARD. You do that in a number of ways. Dialogue with characters to reveal things, action sequences, and subplots tightly woven in to your main plot. This author included a subplot that was a serious red herring and ended up adding probably 80 pages to this book that were unnecessary to the main plot. And it’s frustrating, because the author didn’t effectively tie the two together in a logical way.

Want more? Read on.

Continue reading →

by Categories: Things that might make you think, Writing tipsTags: , 1 Comment

Oldies but Goodies

Hey, peeps–

Handy Sunday reading tip for you here: read books that are older than you. WAY older. Why? Because books are guideposts to history. Like art, they’re reflections of the historical contexts in which they were written. Authors are products of their historical contexts, as well, and of their cultural and geographical environments. Writers capture their surroundings, whether they write fiction or nonfiction, and through older books, you can get a snapshot of cultural and sociopolitical moments that play into larger trends and patterns.

So, given our current situation, with rampant corporate corruption and greed and how profit-driven mentalities can affect and hurt every one of us, have a look at Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle.

This is the 1906 cover:

source

Upton Sinclair was a muckracking journalist, and spent time undercover in 1904 in Chicago’s meatpacking plants. The results of his investigation were first published in serial form in Appeal to Reason, a Socialist newspaper. [before you get all bent out of shape, check this definition of Socialism.] What he saw in the plants will turn many stomachs still — the unsanitary and horrible conditions in which American meat is butchered and packed. But Sinclair also revealed the horrific conditions in which the workers at these plants toiled, and the circumstances of their lives and the industries in which they worked that kept them virtually enslaved.

As a result of this book, sweeping changes were made to the meatpacking industry to safeguard the health and safety of consumers and workers (Food and Drug Act, anyone?). However, Sinclair also wanted to draw attention to American poverty, the treatment of immigrants, and how the lack of social programs hurt not only workers, but a wider array of Americans. This book demonstrates how corporate (and government) corruption and wage slavery damage the so-called American dream and the economic foundations of this country. Sinclair shined a light on the dark side of capitalism, and it’s not pretty. Unchecked corporate capitalism, he warns, benefits no one but the corporate and government elite. There is no “trickle-down.” There is only the haves, who keep getting more, and the have-nots, who keep getting screwed.

So read it and see if you notice any similarities between what’s going on now and what went on just over a hundred years ago. I think you’ll be surprised.

Happy reading, happy writing, happy thinking!

by Categories: Books, Cool stuff to read, Inspiration, Things that might make you thinkTags: , , , 4 Comments

Memorial Day

Hi, folks–

If you’re hanging out at home (maybe it got a little hot to do much on this Monday off), I recommend this book by Sebastian Junger:

War

source

The book accompanies a documentary called Restrepo, but if you’re not familiar with Junger’s writing, read this book. He is a master with phrasing, narrative, and sparse, gritty language that puts you right into the heart of whatever he’s describing. Here, Junger spent months shadowing an American infantry platoon in Afghanistan. Here’s a quote from a New York Times book review:

The best way to describe Junger’s book is to say what it is not. “War” does not attempt to explain the strategy behind the American war in Afghanistan, or the politics of Afghanistan, or even the people of the Korangal Valley. As the action unfolds, Junger makes no attempt to connect it to anything else happening inside the country.

Instead, he uses the platoon (the second of Battle Company, part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade) as a kind of laboratory to examine the human condition as it evolved under the extraordinary circumstances in which these soldiers fought and lived.
source, New York Times Review of Books, review by Dexter Filkins

Here’s a trailer from the documentary Restrepo, which won the 2010 Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at Sundance. My point? There is a reason we commemorate Memorial Day, regardless of your beliefs about war.

The language in this trailer is NSFW.


link

by Categories: Books, Movies, Things that might make you think, TragedyTags: , , , 1 Comment

I still have an attention span–hey! A new iPad!

Caught this Publishers Weekly post thanks to fellow author Lori Lake, via Sisters in Crime. It’s a lament about our dwindling attention spans. Click here.

Bill Henderson, one of the co-authors of the book Book Love, which celebrates the printed book, notes that our techie-oriented society is literally changing the structure of our brains:

The e-experts said that in the future all information and literature would be available on the device of the moment (sure to be replaced by the device of the next moment). You may never have to leave the comfort of home or bed. The latest bestseller—indeed, millions of out-of-print books (you didn’t know you needed that many)—could be had at the click of a button. This was billed as an improvement.

Lots of people are making lots of money telling us this is for our own good. Tweeting away, we never stop to think. In fact, we may be losing the ability to think.

In The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains (Norton, 2010), Nicholas Carr notes that after years of digital addiction, his friends can’t read in depth anymore. Their very brains are changing, physically. They are becoming “chronic scatterbrains… even a blog post of more than three or four paragraphs is too much to absorb… .Because our brains can no longer think beyond a tweet, we can’t write well. And we can’t read well either. The idea of reading—let alone writing—War and Peace, Bleak House, or Absalom, Absalom! is fading into an impossible dream.

source

He also notes that you’re probably not saving many trees with your ebook reader. Why not? Well, click the link and find out. It’s not saving resources. In fact, it’s adding lots of toxicity to the environment.

Just some food for thought.

Happy actual paper book reading!

by Categories: Books, Things that might make you thinkTags: , , , , 3 Comments

Something that doesn’t sit well with me

Hi, folks–

Took a little hiatus there. Hope everyone’s well. A writer colleague of mine sent me the link to this article, and it kind of irritated me. No, not the fact that my colleague sent me the article. THAT didn’t irritate me The topic of the article did.

It’s from The Telegraph in the UK and it’s titled “E-books drive older women to digital piracy.”

And I started gnashing my teeth before I even read it. Why? Because book and music piracy is totally not cool. It’s just not. It’s not only unethical, but it’s theft. Plain and simple. Here’s my take on it.

And here’s a quote from the article:

One in eight women over 35 who own such devices admit to having downloaded an unlicensed e-book.
That compares to just one in 20 women over 35 who admit to having engaged in digital music piracy.
News that a group formerly unwilling to infringe copyright are changing their behaviour as e-books take off will worry publishing executives, who fear they could suffer similar a similar fate to the record labels that have struggled to replace lost physical sales.
The picture across the entire e-reader and tablet markets is even more troubling for the publishing industry. Some 29 per cent of e-reader owners of both genders and all ages admit piracy. For tablets the figure rises to 36 per cent.
source

That’s pretty unsettling. And disappointing, especially if you’re a writer. As an individual, I choose not to rip people off, and I choose to pay artists and writers for the work they produce, as well as support the industries that publish them. Now, I also support libraries and ebook libraries. Here’s why. That’s a whole other issue. The point is, I’m bummed that technology has, in a weird way, created new pirates. Or perhaps that people have allowed themselves to be lured into it. I’m all for ebooks and ebook readers. But it does make me sad that people use the power of technology for not-so-nice things. Double-edged sword, technology.

Anyway, hope you’re getting through your post-Rapture depression. 8)

by Categories: Book piracy, Books, Stuff that totally and completely sucks, Things that might make you think, Things you shouldn't doTags:

Cool “writers on writing” archive

Hi, folks–

I took Monday off. Kind of a Manic Monday, don’tcha know.

Anyhoo, I came across this really sweet New York Times archive. It’s called “Writers on Writing” and it’s a big ol’ list of articles done by various writers that addresses some aspect of writing. Super cool.

How about E.L. Doctorow on how novels are following films into a land of “fewer words”?

As more than one critic has noted, today’s novelists tend not to write exposition as fully as novelists of the 19th century… .The 20th-century novel minimizes discourse that dwells on settings, characters’ CVs and the like. The writer finds it preferable to incorporate all necessary information in the action, to carry it along in the current of the narrative, as is done in movies.
source

Or Annie Proulx (whose work I deeply admire), on inspiration?

A whole set of metaphoric shovels is part of my tool collection, and for me the research that underlies the writing is the best part of the scribbling game. Years ago, alder scratched, tired, hungry, and on a late return from a fishing trip, I was driving through Maine when a hubbub on the sidewalk caught my eye: milling customers at a yard sale. I stop for yard sales. Pay dirt. I found the wonderful second edition unabridged Webster’s New International Dictionary with its rich definitions and hundreds of fine small illustrations.
source

Or Alice Walker on meditation, John Updike on character, or Carl Hiaasen on plagiarizing from real life?

This archive is a treasure trove of gems from a variety of writers, from a variety of perspectives. Seriously check it out.

Happy reading, happy writing!

by Categories: Cool stuff to read, Coolness, Inspiration, Things that might make you think, Writing tipsTags: , , , , , , , ,

Sunday readin’ and ruminatin’ tip

Hi, folks–

As some of you know, I already suggested unplugging yourself from technology (read that here) and yes, I am fully aware of the irony of me telling you these things while I’m online writing this blog. 8)

I do think, though, that it’s important to get away from all the crap that’s online these day. Sock puppets, trolls, freaks, assorted conspiracies, rampant unhealthy consumerism…it’s not good for us as individuals or societies. Currently, there’s a troll-fest going on over on one of the Facebook pages I “liked” and I can’t help but wonder whether the asshats who are trolling would say the things to people in real life that they’re posting online.

In some ways, I think not, but even saying these things online tells me something about the kinds of people they are. And these are some vile, hateful things that these trolls/sock puppets are saying. If they are, in fact, the types of people who would say those things to someone’s face as well as online, then clearly they are not the kinds of people we need in our lives. Healthy, happy people don’t feel the need to say the kinds of things these people are saying, whether online or in real life. And if we are to maintain a healthy, happy outlook, then we need to remind ourselves that words do have power, and everything we say is a reflection of who we are as people, whether in real life or online.

Which brings me to author Richard Louv. Read on to find out why I recommend you read this guy.

Continue reading →

by Categories: Books, Cool articles, Cool stuff to read, Things that might make you thinkTags: , , , , , , ,

Cool reading

So there I was, skipping around the interwebs, and I came across this in The Atlantic: “Nearly 100 Fantastic Pieces of Journalism.” That is, a list of nearly a hundred articles The Atlantic listed as TEH AWESOME in journalism. You’ll find the link to the list at the end of the blog. In the meantime…

The articles are grouped by topics. For example, the first topic is “The Art of Storytelling” and in that you’ll find articles like Mariah Blake’s “Dirty Medicine,” from the Washington Monthly, which profiles the dysfunctional health and medical industry and how health care reform hasn’t changed a thing. Another is Malcolm Gladwell’s “Pandora’s Briefcase,” which appeared in The New Yorker. It’s a story about one of the most successful acts of espionage in WWII.

Or, if that’s not your thing, try something in the Crime and Punishment section, like Sean Gardiner’s “A Solitary Jailhouse Lawyer Argues His Way Out of Prison,” in The Wall Street Journal, which details how a high school dropout educated himself in a law library, confronted witnesses who testified against him, and proved the corruption of the prosecutor who wrongfully convicted him. Or how about “The Ballad of Colton Harris-Moore,” by Bob Friel in Outside Magazine, which traces the actions of a teen fugitive in the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington, and how he made a mockery of law enforcement.

Perhaps something from Science, Religion, and Human Nature? Like Forrest Wilder’s “He Who Casts the First Stone,” about a militant Christian group in Amarillo, Texas that targets people and businesses with campaigns of constant harassment. You can find that in the Texas Observer. Or a story from The Atlantic about the first person diagnosed with autism, and what his long, happy life could tell us. That’s “Autism’s First Child,” by John Donvan and Karen Zucker.

And that’s just a teeny tiny bit of what you’ll find at this link right here. Each listed story has a link to that story, so browse, find something that appeals to you, and…

happy reading!

by Categories: Cool articles, Cool stuff to read, Things that might make you thinkTags: ,