Love is in the Air!

Hello, friends!

I have presents for you today, in the spirit of the holiday :), because I love you all!

First a gift for those of you who are tired of family members and co-workers asking "Are you published yet??" It's a blog post from the lovely INTERN detailing why everything in publishing happens at a snail's pace. Please feel free to email it, or just print it out and hand it around the table at your next family gathering. You're welcome!

Next, a present for the romantics among us. You know who you are, you adorable things, you! (It's okay to come out of the closet... I'm one of you.) Jessica Faust over at Bookends has tributes to romance from romance writers themselves!

For those among us who like our sweets a little bitter, a wonderful, well thought out article on sexism in the writing world by RAMPANT author Diana Peterfreund. At first it will piss you off a little, but if you're anything like me, you'll feel warm fuzzies knowing that awesome writers like Diana are bringing attention to subjects such as these. Rock on, lady authors! And rock on male readers who love them!



Lastly, the yummiest treat of all: THE COVER OF THE NEXT HUNGER GAMES BOOK!!!!




SQUEEEE!!!! OMG!!! SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

I know.

I can't wait, either :).

Also, sorry for deafening you.



Happy Valentine's Day!


*Make sure you've entered my BOOK LOVE CONTEST before Valentine's Day! I'm picking winners of fabulous prizes (including a giftcard, book, critique, bookmarks, coffee, and chocolate--Could it get any better??) on 2/15/10!

Is There a Feminism Backlash?

So my husband and I watched Twilight this weekend so we could make fun of it, and played a drinking game that involved taking a swig of beer every time Bella flips her hair, every time Edward tells her he's "dangerous," and every time he tells her to go away and then obsessively stalks her. I'd hoped the movie would be in the "so bad it's funny" catagory, but..... yeaaaaaah. It was just one of those things.

The movie did make my husband bring up an interesting point. Since this movie/book series has gotten a lot of criticism for being anti-femenist, we wondered, is this part of a cultural backlash against feminism as a whole? These things have happened before, after all.

I read another book lately, Kushiel's Dart, which is also fairly anti-feminist with a softish courtesan as the main character. She doesn't fight even though she's in the middle of a war, and she's actually a masochist. The theme of the book is summed up in the quote "that which yields is not weak," and the story relishes the idea that being pliable is a good thing for a woman. I enjoyed it, but I felt myself frustrated by her weakness throughout the story.

Is this a backlash trend we're seeing? We know this happened in the '80s when there was a very conservative cultural movement as a backlash to the free love of the '70s. Is this our generation's backlash? Are we tired of warrior princesses and power suits, and are looking for a good man to take care of us again?

What the hell?