Writerly Ways & Happy Valentine's Day

[cornerofmadness]

Happy Valentine's Day. I'm spending it alone but better that than with a jerk I suppose. I have prosecco and chocolate covered strawberries and I have crab legs and scallops for dinner. I think I'll enjoy a little hedonism tonight.

Other than that I've managed to lose a whole day. It was nearly 1 by the time I got home (how it took me THAT long in Kroger's today I'll never know) and then suddenly it was 3 and now nearly 5. Huh. I've done absolutely nothing. Thank god I have off tomorrow.

In Jana's news we have this: See Kaleo’s snippet &
Sunday Small Talk

This is rather important how authors ruin their chances on Amazon Amazon has been stripping reviews and this shows you how to avoid it. I'm sure I've made this mistake.


We've been having some interesting conversations on Queer Sci Fi and that has to do with lesbian fiction. Between authors failing at it and publishing houses learning it doesn't sell, it makes you curious as to why. According to some of the editor/publishers, on their publishing house forums the answer is 'lesbians don't read that stuff.'

I find that interesting. Granted I've known for a long time that most of the gay m/m stuff was only being read by a relatively small percentage of gay men and that women made up the lion's share of the current boom in gay romance. I've seen too many comments by readers (much like I have with far too many slashers) that anything with a woman in it is 'icky,' and 'who wants to see a woman?'

If I were getting a doctorate in psychology I swear I'd make THAT a study. I do find it disappointing that there isn't more lesbian fiction out there. That was the point of the conversation, more diversity in the QUILTBAG other than just m/m fiction but the bi/lesbian/trans/asexual stuff doesn't seem to sell. I did try one short story for one of the few lesbian anthologies I saw but realized quickly it would never be a short story and shelved it. Mostly because I didn't see a market for a longer piece.

And I was disappointed as well looking at Wayward Ink's non-romance LGBT section which was about six books in total. I know they're a newer company (that I'm thinking of sending something else to) but I was hoping there was more there. I also wished I knew how those books or the non-romance ones in DSP were selling. Either way I'll finish off the few novels I have left in that and try to make a decision.

Even though I know if I really want to sell something it should be contemporary romance. sigh.

This isn't that accurate since I have put nothing of Weird West into it and frankly it's in the other room and I don't feel like hobbling after it.

Yearly Count -

6849 / 115000
(5.96%)

Blood Red - Edited up to chapter 12. PROGRESS!

Weird West - languishing in a lake of self doubt.

And a week later my knee still hurts but that urgent care visit was worth whatever I'll pay for it because that vaseline impregnanted gauze and the NSAIDs have made me hurt much less and the damn wound isn't sticking.



And congrats to Deadpool for smashing expectations (and robbing 50 Shades of Shit of a record). Who knew?

Comments

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Amie read lesbian romances and I read quite a few of them because she'd give them to me to read. Most of them were quirky and cute though a few were downright icky. I remember there being a lot of more of the lesbian books on the shelf at the gay store we used to frequent (than m/m - and the store was run by men so, take that as you will).

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

And that was over a decade ago. I guess the pendulum has swung. It's interesting though since ever effort to actually use all the letters in the quiltbag keeps getting met with immense resistance.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

That would give me pause.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

It does me as well. The big market is m/m and I wish that a big understanding for the entire LGBT community went with it but it doesn't

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I suppose it goes where the money is.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

very much so. It's all well and good to talk diversity but if no one buys it....

i'm also very disappointed in how few non-rxomance titles there are. It's disturbing to me that they only want to see the sex

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

And what have we learned writing fanfic...?

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that they all migrated to pro work

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

That the stories with sex were the ones to get all the glory.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that's not what I'm seeing in pro work. WHat I am seeing isa lot of lip service for diversity but none of them want to actually want to see it.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Ah. Okay.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Happy (late) Valentine's day!

That's interesting about lesbian fiction. Maybe the fact that it's not as well written as gay romance is turns people off? Or could it simply be a bias against women in general? Of all the books I remember reading in my life, very few have main characters that are female. Take Harry Potter for example, Hermione could be seen as a token female in a sense, since most of the other characters are male. Now it's been years since I've read it so I could be wrong there. Plus would it have sold as well as it did & been as wildly popular if Harry was short for Harriet, Ron was short for Veronica, & Hermione was a Herman? Are we so conditioned to see men & boys as the heroes of the story, that having a woman or a girl does seem "icky" because it's not the "norm"?

As for seeing other "patches" in the quilt, maybe if authors wrote more of it, there would be more on the market for people to choose from. It would be like when those writing gay romance first started, but I would think eventually it would catch on. You can't say people don't like something, if a) they don't see it on the shelf, b) it's poorly written so those who do find it hate it, c) it only sells a few copies at first (before it catches on) so "peeps don't like it." It should be given a chance & marketed the same way m/m is. As long as the characters are interesting, who cares whether or not they're straight, gay, lesbian, bi, trans, or asexual? As for just reading things for the sexy bits, I think fanficcage has ruined the market with its PWP crap, so peeps come to expect that now in anything they read.

As for Weird West, write what you want to read & take it from there. That might be just what you need to banish the self doubts. Awesomeness on Vegas Vamps!

As for your bad knee, here's a booboo bunny for it. https://peggywright.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/boo-boo-bunny2.jpg It just looks sooo OUCHY. ^^; I hope it doesn't bother you too much! *huggles*

YAY!for Deadpool! :D

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

There is that possibility. I am seeing Lesbian fiction on Goodreads giveaways so it is out there. Me, I'll read just about anything if it's genre fiction. I'm not sure if it's gender bias (very possible) or the fact that the LGBT market is now driven by slashers who have this idealized idea of what gay sex is but the publishers do seem to have little faith in the ability of lesbian fiction to sell.

And then whine when there isn't enough diversity out there.

Thanks. I'm trying. I did write some on weird west last night if you count three lines writing. I think I'm going to have to set nightly goals.

thanks for the boo boo bunny. It hurts but it's getting better. It started itchy like mad at 2 AM when I was trying to go to bed.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

*nods* That's good. I'm with you on that one. As long as it looks appealing & turns out to be, I'll read it it. :D That woudl suck if it is. A pity they're not giving any of it a chance & then they whine about it. XD

You're welcoem. I hear you. I'm kinda written out from GerIta week (I actually finished it despite being banned) so my Pinch Hit, which really needs to be done, only got a couple sentences. I feel bad as the person I'm writing for was supposed to get this back in December. o.0 And I have 2 of them to write. *sighs* I've tried that & I wind up wasting time surfing tumblr. XD

You're welcoem. I wish he could be there for real as I'm sure he'd help some. :) I'm glad it's getting better. *huggles* That stinks! But itchy means it's healing, no?

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Very disappointing.

Good luck getting your stories done and sorry you got banned.

itchy seems to mean healing.

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

been as wildly popular if Harry was short for Harriet, Ron was short for Veronica, & Hermione was a Herman? Are we so conditioned to see men & boys as the heroes of the story, that having a woman or a girl does seem "icky" because it's not the "norm"?

...I've been asking this (perhaps not as eloquently) since I was a very small child. "Why can't I find books with girls in them in stories I like?"

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

because you never read mysteries

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Didn't like mysteries as a kid. I liked action adventure novels, fantasy novels, and animal novels.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

true though there were those too like Narnia and L'Engles books, boys and girls together and Hambly, Lackey and Bjuold's books though we were in college then

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Didn't get L'Engle or Narnia until I was in middle school.

The closest thing I could come to remembering books where girls were a big part of the story were the Edgar Eager novels or Tizz A Pony or Clarence the TV Dog. The latter two were each comprised of two novels. The Eager novels, I think there were four? I read one of them last year and it held up.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I don't know those. Like I said reading mysteries in grade school helped. I had the Dana girls, Trixie Beldon, Nancy Drew and I was already into Agatha Christie by 5th grade so...

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Didn't read mysteries. Like I said, I read a lot of animal books or what amounted to fantasy/magic series.

Lots of King Arthur or Robin Hood...which doesn't focus much on the wimminfolk (at least when I was a kid). Lots of Greco-Roman mythos...which ditto, from the stories I had available.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Awe... I didn't read much as a child as I had a lot of trouble with it, but once I hit middle school & high school, I used to read my Great Aunt's old Ellery Queen's & Perry Mason's, & any thing by Dumas. That Aunty LOVED books & when she passed my great granny got them & then they became mine. Sadly, they're too fragile to read anymore. So I never got to have girls as heroes in my stories either. XD

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I was trying to teach myself to read but Mom wouldn't let me so I could start school at the same rate as the other kids. :D

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

My sister taught herself to read. :D I have trouble with spelling so words sometimes don't look like what they're supposed to be. XD But that's cool you tried teaching yourself to read. :D

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I'm somewhat dyslexic so I understand the problem. :D

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Yeah? XD

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I can usually catch it when typing, but I found out after I graduated college that I try to read words backwards or try to see whole phrases as one word. Something like that. And if bits are missing, I can't figure out what's supposed to be said.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

Aaah... I see words that are spelled correctly, but a part of my head insists they're wrong. I also mix up syllables when speaking. So even though I know how something's said or should be said if I'm reading, it still comes out wrong. XD I would think if bits are missing, that would be hard for anyone, no?

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

I sometimes have that problem with knowing words are spelled correctly but my brain insisting they're wrong.

Like "ask". That's a word that confuses me sometimes.

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

It's good to know it's not only me. :D

"Though" is a word that trips me up at times. XD

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

It's not. :D

[kiramaru7.livejournal.com]

:D