Author vs. Female Author? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T05:43:54Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/537324:Topic:108640?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A109975&feed=yes&xn_auth=noYes, I really hate that. The…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-13:537324:Comment:1819092009-02-13T22:48:32.596ZDonna Carrickhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DonnaCarrick
Yes, I really hate that. The protagonist, whether male or female, should not need to stand on some idiotic side-kick's shoulders to appear intelligent, or sexy, or desirable, or sharp. A much better supporting character is one who challenges the protagonist by being smart & sexy as well.
Yes, I really hate that. The protagonist, whether male or female, should not need to stand on some idiotic side-kick's shoulders to appear intelligent, or sexy, or desirable, or sharp. A much better supporting character is one who challenges the protagonist by being smart & sexy as well. Absolutely agree about the ma…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-13:537324:Comment:1818062009-02-13T14:29:52.614ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
Absolutely agree about the male-bashing. A more subtle form of this pits the female P.I. against her cop boyfriend. The cop boyfriend is much too dense to figure out the plot, but he proves what an attractive creature she is sexually.
Absolutely agree about the male-bashing. A more subtle form of this pits the female P.I. against her cop boyfriend. The cop boyfriend is much too dense to figure out the plot, but he proves what an attractive creature she is sexually. No kiddin'!tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-13:537324:Comment:1817692009-02-13T02:24:58.834ZDonna Carrickhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DonnaCarrick
No kiddin'!
No kiddin'! I'm going to add another bit…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-12:537324:Comment:1817502009-02-12T23:31:45.496ZDonna Carrickhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DonnaCarrick
I'm going to add another bit on this, because I just remembered something that happened a long time ago that bothered me a great deal. I was newly separated, and raising my son on my own. He was about 7 at the time. A friend thought that a book titled "All Men Are B****" or something equally offensive would be a humourous gift. I didn't see it in time to throw it out. When my little boy saw it, he burst out crying.<br />
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It really made me realise how corrosive all gender bashing really is. It makes…
I'm going to add another bit on this, because I just remembered something that happened a long time ago that bothered me a great deal. I was newly separated, and raising my son on my own. He was about 7 at the time. A friend thought that a book titled "All Men Are B****" or something equally offensive would be a humourous gift. I didn't see it in time to throw it out. When my little boy saw it, he burst out crying.<br />
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It really made me realise how corrosive all gender bashing really is. It makes no difference what side of the coin you are on. Nastiness hurts... What a tricky topic! Kudos fo…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-12:537324:Comment:1817422009-02-12T23:20:23.503ZDonna Carrickhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DonnaCarrick
What a tricky topic! Kudos for having the courage to bring it up and out in the open.<br />
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As a writer who happens to be female, I've worked hard to maintain a strong and confident voice. That has meant focusing on <b>characters, plot, literary devices, skills and themes</b>, rather than allowing <i><b>gender</b></i> to hi-jack my work. Straightforward, declarative prose has been my motto, and I've taken pride in the compliments I've received from both male and female writers and readers for my…
What a tricky topic! Kudos for having the courage to bring it up and out in the open.<br />
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As a writer who happens to be female, I've worked hard to maintain a strong and confident voice. That has meant focusing on <b>characters, plot, literary devices, skills and themes</b>, rather than allowing <i><b>gender</b></i> to hi-jack my work. Straightforward, declarative prose has been my motto, and I've taken pride in the compliments I've received from both male and female writers and readers for my work.<br />
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I have a peeve: I really hate it when a female writer gets caught up in <b>male-bashing</b>, or when a male writer does likewise to females. We are all in this art-form together, no matter what personal approaches we take. When I am reading work by a female author and I encounter <b>hostility</b> toward the other half of the population, I am seldom able to read on. I have as little tolerance when a male writer marginalises a female character for no reason other than being female.<br />
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I realise that many great names have been made on the <b>controversy</b> stirred up by that kind of <i><b>gender bashing</b></i>. But for me, intolerance of any kind is, well, <b><i>intolerable</i></b>.<br />
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A male reader whom I greatly respect once told me that I seemed to really understand what <b>motivates</b> men. I took that as a tremendous compliment. I probably didn't deserve the compliment, though.<br />
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<b><i>After all, aren't we all more or less motivated by the same needs?</i></b><br />
<b>Donna Carrick</b> I'm pretty frustrated by this…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-12:537324:Comment:1816322009-02-12T15:20:19.907ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
I'm pretty frustrated by this myself. The fact is that more books are written by women for women (who make up the larger part of the reading public). Women writing for women will often focus on women's issues. They also specialize in certain fields (romance, cozies, romantic historicals, suspense, cat mysteries and feminine hobby mysteries).<br />
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Christa Faust is an exception to the rule. But there are many female authors who stay away from strictly feminine topics (and characters) to keep to the…
I'm pretty frustrated by this myself. The fact is that more books are written by women for women (who make up the larger part of the reading public). Women writing for women will often focus on women's issues. They also specialize in certain fields (romance, cozies, romantic historicals, suspense, cat mysteries and feminine hobby mysteries).<br />
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Christa Faust is an exception to the rule. But there are many female authors who stay away from strictly feminine topics (and characters) to keep to the middle of road between, say, the cozy and the hard-boiled. Here here! You're like my Sco…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-03:537324:Comment:1104052008-01-03T14:44:59.012ZSandra Ruttanhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Sandramre
Here here! You're like my Scottish twin.<br />
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Except I'm more of a tomboy.
Here here! You're like my Scottish twin.<br />
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Except I'm more of a tomboy. I don't give a shit whether a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-03:537324:Comment:1104022008-01-03T14:33:11.871ZDonna Moorehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/DonnaMoore
I don't give a shit whether a book is written by a man, a woman, or a hermaphrodite green alien from the Planet Zog. A good book is a good book is a good book. As Sandra says, the vast majority of the books I enjoy the most are written by men. I love noir, hardboiled, warped and funny (if I can get three of those in one book I'm in ecstacy). Of my top 10 authors probably 2 are female (I don't mean they're probably female - they definitely are!). Of my top 20 authors there are probably 5 women -…
I don't give a shit whether a book is written by a man, a woman, or a hermaphrodite green alien from the Planet Zog. A good book is a good book is a good book. As Sandra says, the vast majority of the books I enjoy the most are written by men. I love noir, hardboiled, warped and funny (if I can get three of those in one book I'm in ecstacy). Of my top 10 authors probably 2 are female (I don't mean they're probably female - they definitely are!). Of my top 20 authors there are probably 5 women - Megan Abbott, Barbara Seranella, Liza Cody, Vera Caspary, Dorothy Hughes. I also like Zoe Sharp and Ruth Dudley Edwards and early Lindsey Davis. I haven't yet read Christa's book but I know I am going to love it.<br />
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I don't care for cosies or romantic suspense and most of those ARE written by women. I love PIs and dirty sleazy raunchy bad guys and most of those ARE written by men. I can see the good points and the bad points in both types - the whiny heroine who goes down into the basement without a torch, having received a message from the serial killer to come alone is no worse than the duracell PI who gets shot 17 times and still has enough energy left to shag 5 women before a breakfast of neat whisky and 20 Capstan Extra Strength. I just prefer the stinking PI to the scented amateur (story of my life :o) ). It's just my taste - neither type of book is better than the other. I would dearly love to find some more female authors who write dark books. And I don't mean serial killer dark - neither Mo Hayder's books or Boris Starling's books are to my taste - or psychological dark (I'm not a big fan of Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine).<br />
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I'm not big on action packed thriller/conspiracy type stuff - which, I suppose, mostly tends to be written by men on the whole - although I can think of a few written by women which chuck in a gorgeous FBI agent and her hunky partner. I don't care for those either.<br />
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When I was little it was my Dad who read to me at night time. As a result I grew up loving Biggles and Just William and John Buchan and Jennings and Billy Bunter but I also consider myself a girly girl. I like high heels, I like lipstick, and if you look down my cleavage I'm not going to punch you in the face (within reason!) :o)<br />
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A good book for me is one about the characters and the relationships between them (and I don't mean the will they/won't they end up in bed together stuff - I mean the whys and the wherefores) and men do that just as well as women (Eddie Muller, David Corbett, Al Guthrie, Charles Willeford, James M Cain...)<br />
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I've seen women on internet lists who say they only read books by women and men who say they only read books by men. I think they're both losing out on some great reads. I don't choose a book by the sex of the author. I want a good story, well told, and I'd happily read it even if it was written by a pantaloon wearing armadillo. If it has the added benefits of being nasty, warped and funny then so much the better. I don't think there's a male…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-02:537324:Comment:1102402008-01-02T23:17:58.828ZRobert Gregory Brownehttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/RobGregoryBrowne
I don't think there's a male author on earth who could get away with the title Money Shot.
I don't think there's a male author on earth who could get away with the title Money Shot. I actually want to write a ha…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2008-01-02:537324:Comment:1099752008-01-02T06:26:31.433ZNL Gasserthttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/NLGassert
<i>I actually want to write a hardboiled book in the vein of what HCC puts out and asked someone in the industry if it would be impossible for me, as a woman, to sell it. The person, who is an editor with another publisher, who also focuses on hardboiled/noir, told me that the overwhelming percentage of submissions that come in are written by men. Over 90%. So my perception on the outside was as a woman, I couldn't sell this. It was an error in perception - it's really just that not many women…</i>
<i>I actually want to write a hardboiled book in the vein of what HCC puts out and asked someone in the industry if it would be impossible for me, as a woman, to sell it. The person, who is an editor with another publisher, who also focuses on hardboiled/noir, told me that the overwhelming percentage of submissions that come in are written by men. Over 90%. So my perception on the outside was as a woman, I couldn't sell this. It was an error in perception - it's really just that not many women are writing that type of book, so if that's your thing, you'll be reading more men.</i><br />
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I agree.<br />
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I wonder how many of those 90% of “male” writers are women writing and submitting under a pseudonym. Since I also write in a male-dominated field (gay suspense), I was asked by my publisher to use initials only. Now, I’m not hiding my sex, but I’m not making it obvious either, because (like Angela mentioned above) male readers are less likely to pick up a book written by a woman.