Bitchin' Blog Posts
: Gender
October 26, 2011 | Wednesday | 6 Comments
Tonight at 9pm EDT, the window below will go live and we’ll be discussing Sea Change by Darlene Marshall. Pirates! Cross dressing! Women practicing medicine!
I seriously cannot wait to chat with you, especially after the discussion of cross dressing, gender, and women in history living publicly as men. Author Darlene Marshall will join us for a Q&A at 10pm EDT. I hope you’ll stop by and join us as well! Talk to you soon!
Sizzling Book Club Chat: Sea Change by Darlene Marshall
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April 21, 2011 | Thursday | 109 Comments
Time for another Good Shit Vs. Shit To Avoid, this time prompted by Amanda, who is searching for books with strong female friendships: I am looking for a book to read. I’ve been a little bored with the romance novel offerings and here’s why: Why doesn’t anybody ever have a friend? None of the women ever have any friends! I mean, sometimes they have a convenient “This is my friend, sometimes I see her in a park, a ballroom (if historical), or in yoga class (if contemporary). We talk for five minutes and then we don’t think about each other…
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September 30, 2010 | Thursday | 48 Comments
Here, have a tour of different awesome things to read on the internet. Links and how to wear them! From Tamara: The NY Times and others are reporting that several libraries in the US, including one in California that wasn’t in too bad of shape, have been taken over by a private company. The outcry is vaguely reported, and the article makes it seem like the major cripping factor is the pensions of the library employees. How much would that suck, by the way? One day you’re a state or city employee with a pension and retirement fund, and the…
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July 26, 2010 | Monday | 45 Comments
Gotta love it when I stick my foot in my mouth! Last night I did an interview with 744 ABC Melbourne about erotic fan fiction. During the interview with Alan Brough, he asked me about why erotic fan fiction so often pairs two characters of the same gender. What I meant to say was that in most countries, popular culture reveals a general discomfort with homosexuality, and that frank portrayals of homosexuality are not common. What I said was that “most people in the world are uncomfortable with homosexuality.” Clearly, these are not the same things. Yes. Everyone in the…
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March 03, 2010 | Wednesday | 22 Comments
When I first finished this book, I didn’t think I’d liked it. Well, that’s not exactly correct: I knew I’d adored the heroine, and I was terribly moved and desperately scared by the ending, but the hero took some time to mellow in my brain to the point where I felt I fully understood and appreciated him. I think the biggest obstacle to this book for many will be the degree of redemption that the hero requires, and the depth of selfishness from which he has to redeem himself. Gabe Rossiter is a park ranger, with enormous understanding and respect…
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December 30, 2009 | Wednesday | 43 Comments
After seeing Laura Clawson‘s article about romance novels on Daily Kos, “Romance Reader, Unashamed” (and seeing the most awesome comment thread ever in terms of knowledge and enthusiasm) I had to get all nosy and beg Ms. Clawson for an interview. Behold! Laura’s a contributing editor at Daily Kos, and a senior writer at Working America. Even better, she’s a romance fan - wait until you see her favorites list. So what made you write this article about romance, sexual politics, discrimination and misogynist myths about romance? Laura: I think that when the second Twilight movie came out I’d seen…
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December 21, 2009 | Monday | 77 Comments
Lessons from a Scarlet Lady is a romance that features protagonists in a rather different way. Brianna is a newlywed duchess who wants a more passionate marriage. She finds a used copy of Lady Rothburg’s Advice, a book so salacious and so frank in its discussion of sex and sexual power that it was banned - so Brianna promptly brings it home to read so she can try to seduce her husband and crank the homefires to burning hot damn. The Duke, Colton (Colton? Is that really a historical English name?), is shocked to his dukely toes by his wife’s…
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December 09, 2009 | Wednesday | 70 Comments
I’m embarrassed to admit there was gaping hole in my werewolf romance reading, but I’m so glad I fixed it by reading these books. Anna is an abused werewolf, changed against her will and subjected to hideous abuse and assault by her former pack. Charles is the son of and executioner for the Marrok, the werewolf who is alpha over all the the packs in North America. When Charles was sent to clean up the mess of Anna’s pack, his arrival set off a series of small explosions in their private world. Charles’ wolf chose Anna as his mate. Anna…
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October 02, 2009 | Friday | 54 Comments
If some guy said to you, “A Jewish guy cut me off while driving on the highway, so I hate Jews,” you’d think he was a complete bigot and a tool. We certainly wouldn’t think he was romance hero material. So how is it a justifiable plot point that a guy is unwilling to commit because one woman, ONE. JUST ONE WOMAN broke his heart, dumped him, slept with his best friend, or committed some other act of douchebaggery? I realize asking these questions may undermine the emotional tension of 65% of romance plots, particularly those in the category category,…
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September 12, 2009 | Saturday | 4 Comments
A house full of Jacks is not a winning hand for Mariah Eller. She knows she is in trouble when she is called to her inn to help deal with a group of trouble-making noblemen using fictitious names like Jack Sprat and Jack B. Nimble. She doesn’t know just how much trouble, even when she realizes that one of those trouble makers was her future king. Soon, she finds herself pressured to be a mistress to a prince and a bride to one of his subjects. I loved this book. Betina Krahn picked an interesting time for the setting –…
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September 10, 2009 | Thursday | 139 Comments
I read this book because not one but two different people emailed me and said, to wit, “OMG you have to read this it is HILARIOUS. Like Pregnesia Hilarious.” One reader said, “I just had to draw your attention to a stunning read. It’s so bad, it transcends the line between bad and good and becomes rather excellent…. I can highly recommend Kendrick’s latest. Honestly, she’s usually one of the authors that I like - I kind of enjoy the hyper-realism of her stories, and I know what I’m getting. But, for me, this tipped over from presents into parody.…
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August 27, 2009 | Thursday | 21 Comments
Head for Cambridge if you’re a Heyer fan: on 7 November 2009 at Lucy Cavendish College there’s going to be a one day conference on Re-reading Georgette Heyer. Some of the presentations sound amazing, such as these three:
2:30 Catherine Johns: ‘Class and Breeding’
3:00 Sarah Annes Brown: ‘Lady of Quality and Homosexual Panic’
3:15 K. Elizabeth Spillman: ‘Cross Dressing and Disguise in Heyer’s Historical Romances’
...which are followed by a structured discussion of cross dressing and gender issues.
[Thanks to Dr. B. Lewis for the link.]
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July 25, 2009 | Saturday | 54 Comments
I’ve been thinking a lot about the role romance novels play for its readers and authors ever since reading Teresa Medeiros’ inspiring and heart-wrenching post about why she writes romance novels. If you’ve been buried underneath some sort of Internet rock and haven’t read it yet, go have a look-see. That piece does more to allay doubts about the power of popular fiction to make a substantial, beautiful difference in people’s lives than anything I’ve read in recent memory. A few things Medeiros wrote caught my eye, however, and started my brain spinning in all sorts of loops. Forgive me…
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