Links of Interest
Holly at Book Binge posted about Facebook Fan Pages, especially for authors, and why they can annoy her.

Noting the “make or break” nature of that first book, Dear Author is compiling an awesome list of debut books.

Witchy Chicks has an interesting post which reveals the ways in which an editor takes the readers’ viewpoint, by suggesting changes based on her perceptions of what readers “can handle” or would like to read.

Magdalen, a new-to-me voice in Romland, has a guest post on the difference between angsty and emotionally satisfying romances at Monkey Bear Reviews.

Because some people still need reminding, BookEndsLLC has a post on authors and their blogs with a simple list of “do’s”.

I liked the post at TGTBTU on snippiness in Romland, and the way the author connects it up with stresses in the publishing industry. Along similar lines, Ana of The Book Smugglers posted about repetition in historical romance. Check out their Weekly Stash for a link to Ana’s initial post and a couple of related posts, including one from The Story Siren about ARCs and the expectations publishers have of bloggers who receive them.

Judaism and Identity

You may have heard that prestigious Jews’ Free School in London denied a pupil admittance because it determines Jewishness by matrilineal decent and this child’s mom had converted. The conversion itself was not the problem, but rather, that she had converted with a Reform (liberal) rabbi, so the conversion didn’t “count” from the perspective of the Orthodox school.

The parents sued and eventually won.  The British courts said the school’s practice of determining who is a Jew by the mother’s ethnic status is discriminatory and unlawful.

From the  NY Times article ( see also reaction from the Huffington Post)

In an explosive decision, the court concluded that basing school admissions on a classic test of Judaism — whether one’s mother is Jewish — was by definition discriminatory. Whether the rationale was “benign or malignant, theological or supremacist,” the court wrote, “makes it no less and no more unlawful.”

The case rested on whether the school’s test of Jewishness was based on religion, which would be legal, or on race or ethnicity, which would not. The court ruled that it was an ethnic test because it concerned the status of M’s mother rather than whether M considered himself Jewish and practiced Judaism

This question hits very close to home. I am a convert to Judaism, also in the Reform tradition. I know that my conversion, and my kids’ status as Jews, is not recognized by Orthodox Jews. My kids do not have the right of return to Israel, although my Conservative Jewish husband, with Jewish roots on both sides going back as far as a genealogist can tell, would, even if he became an evangelical Christian.

As a convert, I constantly experience the reality that Jewishness is an ethnicity. I do not have the same set of shared traditions, the same connection to Jewish history, as ethnic Jews. When I meet new people, I wonder sometimes whether or when to “reveal” the fact that I am a convert — am I ‘passing” if I don’t? My first name is of Hebrew origin, and my looks — brownish black hair and grayish olive skin — wouldn’t signal it the way a first name like “Christine” or “Faith” and blond hair would.

My conversion was a long process: a 26 week group class followed by another 6 months of solo learning with a rabbi. At the end, I went before a Rabbinical court (bet din), immersed myself in the mikvah, and was called to the bimah where I recited a Torah portion (not all at once, thankfully). There was nothing hasty or superficial about it. My Jewish in-laws were thrilled with my conversion, but bemused by my knowledge of Jewish law and religious ritual. My mother-in-law is as Jewish as it gets (my husband was the first person in his family on either side to marry a nonJew), yet she never set foot in the synagogue unless it was for a High Holy Day or a wedding. But she makes a mean brisket and awesome latkes.

The debate ensuing in London is a painful reminder of the divisions within the Jewish community but also of the richness of the meaning of the word “Jewish”. I oppose the decision of the Jews’ Free School, and I oppose in principle the idea that one group of Jews can tell another group they “don’t count.” I hope the events in England help invigorate and move forward the ongoing discussion of “who is a Jew”.

But what does this have to do with romance? Well… nothing much, although Hanukkah is coming up, and last year I read a pretty good Hanukkah romance. Hanukkah is a minor holiday, so I am not too surprised, although folks have yet to explore the erotic possibilities of the awe and atonement that is Yom Kippur, as well. Does anyone know if there are any recently pubbed Hanukkah roms or new ones on the horizon?

3. Thanks to Jmc_Books , I already got some helpful replies to my question about Hanukkah themed romance. And I have already read one of them, a short called Eight Nights by Keira Andrews (Loose-I.D., 2008, $3.99). It is part of their Festival of Lights collection, from which I also purchased Bad Brad, for another $3.99.

There’s a lot I could say about these stories, starting with the hefty $3.99 price tag for 1000 Kindle “locations”. To compare, Demon Forged by Meljean Brook was 7761 locations for $6.39, and Beyond Daring by Kathleen O’Reilly, a Harlequin Blaze, was $3.40 for 3268 locations.

Eight Nights, in which the more experienced partner reassures the virgin that he’s “clean” immediately after saying he’s not into relationships and has had lots of meaningless sex, got me thinking about expectations of protection in erotic (or any explicit) romance. The partners in this story do use condoms. But what if they had not used them? One objection might be that this kind of story, in which “true loves means blind yet well placed trust” represents a dangerous reality to which we should not give credence, even in fantasy. But, says the other voice, it’s fantasy: little about this perfect sexual relationship and these two perfect bodies is based in reality. Why accept all the other fantasy elements, and pause at “no condoms”?

For the first time, I saw this as similar to the issue of “accurately portraying BDSM”, “rape in romance” and any other similarly controversial issue. That is, when people object to the lack of birth control in romance, are they staying within the text and making an aesthetic objection, along the lines, of “this doesn’t fit these characters in this situation” or are they making a moral claim outside the text, as in “this scene shores up myths or practices that real people believe or do, which are very harmful, and therefore you shouldn’t write it.”

I enjoyed the well-written Eight Nights, by the way, even if it was a very predictable, with a schematic plot designed mainly to provide opportunities to scale the ladder of sexual awakening (has anyone invented a board game? Shoots and Ladders?). It is what it is — an erotic m/m short.

Not sure what I will do with the blog this week. It is a busy one for me.

HAPPY WEEK!

Related posts:

  1. Monday Morning Stepback: Links, Cliques, and Randomness 1. Links of interest (It turns out I can live without Twitter longer than I can live without my Google...
  2. Monday Morning Stepback: Vlogs, holiday tipping and travel blogging The weekly links, opinion and inanity post. Extra inane version. 1. Links of Interest I have been writing posts so...
  3. Monday Morning Stepback: PM Edition: how to gift an ebook? The weekly links, opinion, and randomness post 1. Links of Interest Books on the Knob is a good bet for...
  4. Monday Morning Stepback: Yom Kippur edition! Actually, there is nothing Yom Kippurish about this post, except that it’s going up just after Yom Kippur ends. 1....
  5. Monday Morning Stepback The Weekly Links, Opinion, and Inanity Post 1. Links of Interest: Sandy of AAR was interviewed about vampire romance for...
  6. Monday Morning Stepback: Lots o’ Links All the online happenings … a week late. Links of Interest: Yesterday I interviewed Milena, a Croatian romance and SFF...