It’s Monday morning somewhere, isn’t it?
1. Links of Interest (these may not all be super fresh, I’ve been away):
An article I missed was My Trouble With Courtesans, by Lynn over at AAR. Good reading, and yet another version of the “it’s just fantasy defense” erupts in the comments. I am starting to think, “It’s just fantasy” should be banned from Romanceland, since it is never used for any good purpose, and usually has the effect of misdirecting or ending the conversation, as if somehow the fact that something is fantasy means it is removed entirely from the realm of human politics, morality, relationships, actions, and indeed human significance and meaning in general.
Another oldie is Editorial Ass’s link to Fran Lebowitz telling us we’re doin’ it wrong when we read Jane Austen. As EA puts it:
Lebowitz says that Americans, who are generally unironic, think of Austen as a romance writer and an archetypal Victorian; they don’t realize she wasn’t a Victorian writer and furthermore was a moralist, not a romance writer. She wasn’t telling fairytales; she was showing us how to behave.
I came to Austen from Alasdair McIntyre’s After Virtue, so I always thought she was a moralist. but I don’t see that as in much tension with romance, since I think a lot of romance is thuddingly moralistic as well.
M/m writer Ann Somerville has been writing a terrific series of reflective posts on straight women writing m/m. I especially like: “Oh look, the straight woman is speaking again. Quick, make her stop.”
I am so excited to read Lessons in French that I am behaving like my English Shepherd with a new bone: he is so overwhelmed that he hides it under the sofa cushions and then paces around nervously. But thankfully, other readers have fewer hangups, and the reviews have started trickling in. This review by Nicola O. of Alpah Heroes pretty much gets at what I love about both Kinsale and Nicola.
I was so proud to see the blogosphere react swiftly and decisively over the whitewashing of covers in recent weeks, and few have been swifter or decisiver than the Book Smugglers. They’ve just debuted a terrific new feature, Cover Matters. In their words:
We want this feature to dedicate more separate space to a topic that has always intrigued, irked, and befuddled us. In these posts, we plan to touch on not only racist cover practices (as with Liar and Magic Under Glass), but other cover issues too (covers in poor taste, misleading or completely inaccurate covers, and, of course, covers that manage to get it right). We are writing these pieces because we do care about cover issues – whether they be about whitewashing, slenderizing, homogenizing, etc. Cover Matters does not have any agenda beyond creating a space for an ongoing discussion of book covers.
Who knows why Bloomsbury changed their minds this time around, and who knows what effect the blogosphere had, but I can’t help being at least a little bit reminded of the famous Margaret Mead quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Beverly at The Season Blog has published one of the few blog posts critical of self-publishing that I have seen of late. She explains why she no longer tales a chance on self-published writers.
Although I find it interesting that this article was published in the Fashion and Style section, the NY Times is reporting on a recent Pew Research Center study that shows that
Based on a study of Census data, Pew found that in nearly a third of marriages, the wife is better educated than her husband. And though men, over all, still earn more than women, wives are now the primary breadwinner in 22 percent of couples, up from 7 percent in 1970.
While the changing economic roles of husbands and wives may take some getting used to, the shift has had a surprising effect on marital stability. Over all, the evidence shows that the shifts within marriages — men taking on more housework and women earning more outside the home — have had a positive effect, contributing to lower divorce rates and happier unions.
In very very sad news, the NYT is going to start charging me for reading it online. *weeps*
Over at the Witchy Chicks, Anya Bast has advice on writing that, while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, is so true and so clear, everyone who has ever tried writing anything should read it.
Heloise has joined the ranks of ebook readers, and reports on her brandy new Nook here.
And last but not least, Tumperkin is glomming Sarah Mayberry! Wheee!!
2. Solo blogging: the pros and the cons
It’s been very difficult to get back into the swing of blogging since I got back. I’m behind on work (missed a week of classes), the kids are very jetlagged and needy, and my husband is still in South Africa. I love solo blogging because it’s the one area of my life where I can express myself without worrying (much) about uptake, and I am in complete control — if I want to blog 10 times a day or 1 time a month, I can.
On the other hand, I could really have used someone to help pick up the slack. Someone who has “got my back”, who can help out, and whom I can help out when needed. Someone to brainstorm with, share good blog news with, complain about other people to, you know the drill.
Then again, I ask myself, why do I want someone to pick up the slack? Who cares of there are no posts for a while? Well, I’m not sure I can express this, but there’s a certain momentum you can feel when you have been blogging for a a while. It ebbs and flows, but I think everyone settles in to a certain pace (at least for a while). When I feel the blog slipping off that pace, I don’t like it. It’s like running: no one cares if you run fewer miles in more minutes one day in your little neighborhood, and it truly doesn’t matter … but YOU know the difference.
I know a lot of folks who read this blog are solo bloggers. I’d be curious as to how you would describe your experiences. Do you ever think the grass is greener on the group blogging side?
3. A few more pics from our South Africa Trip:
A Mosque in Durban
We happened to run into two young men here, whom we had sat next to the day before on a crowded Durban beach. They remembered us, and offered us sweet meats (which is a traditional offering).They had come from Johannesburg, but knew all about this mosque.
This is called "bunny chow", but don;' worry: it's chicken
Ostrich carpaccio
View of Cape Town from top of Table Mountain
Our cabin at a farm in Oudtshoorn
This seemed like such a great idea. And then we realized what it meant to have a tin roof and 160 species of birds dancing on it at 5:00am…
Shanty Town
We thought about doing a tour of these shanty towns with their lack of electricity, clean water, debris and rat problems, violence, and unemployment, but decided against it. Just smacked too much of colonial privilege, although I can see the other side: that the money that comes in helps the people, and getting a first hand view would provide a more complete picture than the one I just described, gained from the windows of our rental car.
A postmodern display
I was totally fascinated by this postmodern display at a Cape Town museum. Instead of scratching and redoing everything, the curators overlaid postmodern interrogation of the binary oppositions inherent in museumship (?). the result was the most reflective, transparent display I have ever seen. This was from a mixed media display by the artist, Fritha Langerman, which “aims to draw attention to some of the contemporary debates surrounding biomedical visual and material culture.” It tackled head on issues of cultural representation, and the tension between culture (mutable, organic, integrated) and museum classification (immutable, inorganic, divisive). Still thinking about it.
Electronic walk in Tsitsikamma forest
I have to giggle when I see this photo. It looks like a nature loving family out for a hike, right? In fact, our cabin safe wasn’t working, so my husband insisted on putting every electronic device we had with us in my backpack. He’s “wearing” a Kindle, 4 iPod Touches, a Sony PSP, a Nintendo DSi, a netbook, and two cell phones. We got lost about 10 minutes after this picture was taken and returned to our cabin to read and play video games.
4. This post was written in memory of James Mitchell. I haven’t watched All My Children for 30 years, but I still can’t believe Palmer Cortland is gone!
I am working on a post — really! I’m like 500 words in! — connecting moral repair to the moment of ritual death in romance. I have reviews of Victoria Dahl (Lead Me On), Lauren Dane (Laid Bare), Joey Hill (Natural Law) in the works, as well as a N.E.A.R. review of a nonfiction book about the Columbine school shooting.
Happy week!
I really am not sure whether Jane Austen is a moralist, since Lydia from P&P gets married and gets the necessary money to get by in her marriage from Darcy, her brother-in-law, a far better fate than most authors of any past era would give such a silly, amoral girl.
What I keep in mind when reading Austen is that while her books always end with romantic matches, she herself never married. She was more an observer than a participant in those mating rituals she depicted with such drollness and irony.
And her heroines are practical, practical, practical. Mrs. Giggles recently blogged about how readers who find Austen so romantic, would turn around and eviscerate romance heroines for taking a flinty-eyed look at the hero’s wealth and assets.
Being flinty-eyed myself, I totally agree with Elizabeth Bennett for falling in love with Darcy’s home first–you have to know where a man comes from and if he is from Pemberley, then so much the better!
And yes, like Mrs. Giggles, I do wish romance readers would be a little more accepting of a heroine who put more thought and careful weighing into her own happiness and well-being.
BTW, did you read Mrs. Giggles’ recent take on the Trouble with Courtesans? Worth a look.
so not my business Jessica, but is hubby working over in South Africa? Will he be back soon?
Again, thx for the photos.
I know what you mean about the shanty town tour. We went to Fiji over Christmas and the locals there (or at least where we were) live in poverty while the tourists were in luxury. The people were all very friendly but I did wonder if they were secretly resentful of our profligate ways or whether they were happy we were there – after all their job depended on our tourist dollars – even if their job only pays $2 (Fijian, not US or AUD!!!) per hour! I didn’t end up reconciling it really, but it was something we thought about and discussed, even though we didn’t come up with any answers.
http://www.impressionsofareader.com/ … while you were gone (soon to be another of your least favourite expressions, I’m sure
, the Lady of the Quilts blog discovered another blogger (see above).
I agree with Sherry Thomas that it’s an interesting point*counterpoint to read Mrs. Giggles on courtesans (altho I can’t say my opinions line up with hers) but yet another blogger weighed in (making it a tripod I suppose?): @magdalenb over at Promantica.
… OK, trying again to post. Somethings nevah change
I’m a solo blogger who needed help last summer and got it from a forum friend of mine. She was the best and kept things going on the blog when I wasn’t able to. I loved the help, honestly. She’s moved on to her own blog now, but I wouldn’t mind having another partner one day, when I have time to blog fully again. It’s nice to not have to do it completely on your own.
I still can’t believe Palmer Cortland is gone!
I was so shocked when I read the news about his death this morning. I haven’t followed AMC since I was a kid, but still, it feels odd thinking of that show without him.
Is Austen a moralist? I don’t know. She seems to me to be a keen observer of human nature and the society around her. That doesn’t necessarily translate into moralism. Or into my perception of what/who a moralist is.
And a teller of fairy tales? I don’t think any of her work can really be equated with stories of the “once upon a time” ilk. Unless the mere idea of a HEA makes P&P a fairy tale. For me, JA’s voice is (depending on the book) too practical, ironic and witty to belong to a fairy tale.
I’m going to come back and actually read this whole thing later when I’m not brain dead, but James Mitchell? Nooo! I loved Palmer!
It might be my imagination, but I always got this sense of a genuinely warm wonderful witty human being shining through.
Thanks for the link, hon.
I don’t like buddy blogging, personally, and I’ve seen a lot of abuse of the idea. I want to read your views, no one else’s when I come by, and I expect people want me and my own foetid rantings when they visit my journals. I hate hate hate when I can’t tell from the start who’s writing about a subject. To me it’s about accountability.
Great photos!
Squeee, I made the Stepback! You really are awfully generous, Jessica, and I thank you.
One of my favorite bloggers, Jackie at Literary Escapism, put out a plea a month or so before her vacation for guest posts, which seemed to work out well. You can have someone do a post or two without going full-out partnership (I know you know that since the incomparable Tumperkin has made such appearances here).
And I am also sad but not that surprised about Palmer. I stopped watching AMC about two year ago, but he had definitely not been looking well for some time even then.
@Sherry Thomas: Clearly I have to read Mrs. G’s take on the courtesan thing, and weigh in more substantially. It seems to be a discussion that people found very important. A number of peopel have emailed me about it as well. I will try to do that later, maybe in a separate post.
I agree with you on Austen. My own take is not really that she’s a moralist, which has a bad connotation wherever you use it, but especially in literature, as it is so opposed to aesthetic values (or at least puts them second to teaching a lesson), but I agree with McIntyre that she wrote from a coherent and often pretty explicit ethical worldview, namely a virtue ethics perspective. She had a vision of the good life, IMHO, and of the kind of character one needed to attain it, and also a keen sense of the difference between superficially living that life and genuinely embodying it.
@Janet W: thanks for the link. I’ve added that blog to my reader. And I am sorry you are still having trouble posting!
@Kaetrin: Oh, he’s a historian — Victorian Britain with a focus on empire and especially South Africa, and yes he’s there for research and a conference. He does more than his fair share of the domestic labor in our house so things have fallen completely apart in his absence. In fact, I am typing this while sitting on a pile of dirty laundry…
@jmc: I agree with you! I’m sorry I posted in haste, the only way I seem to be able to post lately, and didn’t make myself clear.
I guess, for me, one of the thing I find ironic is that in romance I do see a lot of quasi-moralism (not every book, not the whole genre), by which I mean, the author has a very clear moral world view which almost seems to push the story, the good guys win, the bad guys lose, love wins, hate loses, etc. All of this depends on the writing, of course.
But then people turn around and say “it;s just fantasy”. Yes, of course, a lot of romance is fantasy, but that has nothing to do with how the book affects people, or with what the author intends, or with how closely connected the text is to the real world. There are different kinds of fantasies, different fantasies have different meanings and uptake with readers.
@Ann Somerville: Yeah, that’s the other piece of it. you have a very distinct voice, as do many in blogland. I mainly visit solo bloggers because of that.
@Nicola O.: I think I should have had a few guest posts. Then it would’t have been as hard to catch up and get back into it.
I like being a solo blogger because I can blather on about whatever I want. But I do “cheat” and have guestbloggers periodically, to mix things up, usually folks I think are interesting who don’t blog on their own, or who I think have something to say a little bit differently than they might on their own blog.
Awww, Palmer Cortlandt. I haven’t watched AMC in years and years, but I remember when he first started on the show.
Mitchell was a dancer in his younger years, and appeared in plenty of film and stage musicals. In the Fred Astaire/Cyd Charisse movie The Bandwagon, he plays Cyd’s controlling choreographer/boyfriend. I’ve seen it a few times in theaters, and every time, I hear someone in the audience hiss “Palmer Cortlandt!” to whoever they’re sitting near as they recognize Mitchell.
I actually prefer solo blogging because of the distinct voice thing. Speaking from personal experience, I set up my blog because I wanted my own wee lil’ corner of cyberspace. Mine! Mine, Mine, Mine! No one elses. All me, all the time. Yes this makes me sound petty, selfish, and vain – but there you go. Some people “like” my blog – and some people don’t. And it’s all good. The Internet is a big, wide, open space. None of us has to like everything and we can all find our own little niche.
Plus having grown up a middle child – I’m at the point in my life where I don’t wanna share if I don’t “have to.” Sorry Mom!
However just to be contrary? I like the idea of author group blogs. I just think it’s a good way for authors to “band together” and promote – without having to carry the load all by themselves.
I’m extremely lazy, so I like the safety of group blogging.
And I may be [almost] alone here (anticipating upcoming conversational review with Sarah Frantz), but I don’t think Lessons in French is a light book. There, I’ve said it.
I do think the courtesan heroine is first cousin to Romance rape/forced seduction.
Robin, you are not alone. I think it is has a little humor, but I didn’t find it particularly light. Compared to say FFTS of STF it was lighter, but I still found it more meat than fluff.
LOL, Jessica, your image of your English Shepherd pacing around nervously reminds me so much of my Pyr that I snorted. He has a stuffed toy pheasant that nearly gives him a nervous breakdown, he’s so worried about where to store it.
Robin and Brie, I’m kinda sad (and surprised) that you don’t think LiF is light. I meant it to absolutely be a feel-good, non-challenging, ask no hard questions book. I look forward to your conversation, Robin, to hear more about your take.
It seems to be carrying the weight of a lot of expectations, both positive and negative, I guess. Which is kinda too bad, from my point of view, since it’s not meant to be that sort of book. A passe-temps, no more.
So don’t pace, Jessica! It’s just a silly little love story by one of those scribbling women.
Of course, when Brie says “meat,” maybe she means Hubert.
A little help doesn’t hurt when blogging solo but I’ve gotten over the need to post something. I post in moods. I have it on my About page that I don’t post everyday or post about new books. Fairly warned is fairly warned.
Laura, well of course Hubert’s what I meant by meat!
In all seriousness, I did find Lessons to be lighter when compared to many of your books, but when measured against a lot of historical romance I come across, I feel it has more depth-so that’s where the not “particularly light” comes from.
Jessica, I’m sorry for hijacking your comments! I do think you will enjoy Lessons in French. Can’t wait to read your thoughts.
Jessica, no way do you want to wait to read LESSONS IN FRENCH. Pick it up! Pick it up!
Compared to SHADOWHEART, this is definitely a light read. Personally, I can’t stand those fluffy, frivolous dress-up “historicals.” Puhleez, spare me. Give me this Kinsale any day for a light read.
Love the South Africa pictures! Your cabin is adorable looks like it would have a good view. Then again, the photo doesn’t show that 5am bird experience!
@Robin “I do think the courtesan heroine is first cousin to Romance rape/forced seduction.”
In many books, I do too. I think that’s why I find it so difficult to ignore the realities of that life and just go with it.
Also, thank you for the link. I’m glad you found interesting!
You know, you have enough material in this one post for a whole week…..
I’m with Ann S: my favourite blogs have unique and individual voices. Group blogs tend (thought it’s not invariable) to lack that. Guest bloggers fall into a different category and I’m pleased to see a post from Angela here which I shall read presently. Also, now that I use Google reader, I find that frequency of posts is totally irrelevant to me. It really doesn’t matter how often someone posts now (it did before).
Thanks for noting the passing of James Mitchell. He and I graduated from the same high school (several decades apart, thanks), and I met him once. He and his brother came into the bar where I worked after dinner in the restaurant next door. He was warm, funny, charming — and he left me a $100 tip (I was six months pregnant, too).
And yes, he had a very successful career as a dancer before he became a soap actor. Oklahoma!, the “Dream Ballet,” for instance. I had a total crush on him in that movie.
Gah. I just spent 20 minutes replying to everyone and then I accidentally clicked away. that’s all the time I had for the blog this morning, so let me just thank everyone for your comments!
ps. And Robin and Sarah’s review of Lessons in French is now up at Dear Author.
Ahh….my feelings exactly. I just don’t want the feeling of reading a fresh new Kinsale to end.