Fess Up Monday!

Did you write? Did you sell? How many words? Tell, tell tell!

The Global Existential Threat Level remains at GUARDED.

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Today's question: Why do we do this? Why, when we know the odds are against us meeting our ultimate goals, do we keep writing?

Fess Up Monday!

Did you write? Did you sell? How many words? Tell, tell tell!

The Global Existential Threat Level remains at GUARDED.

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Okay, more like Fess Up Monday on Tuesday. I'm blaming the time change.

Today's question: Have you ever returned a book because it did not satisfy?

Personally, I think the practice of unhappy readers returning books is, to say the least, odd. Especially if the reason is because the ending wasn't happy, or, even more strange, the book featured people outside your ethnic group (as noted on Karen Scott's blog, comments section.)

I wonder if this is a practice for romance readers only, or if unsatisfied science fiction or mystery fans demand their money back for the offending book? Presumably the fan read the book, because otherwise how could they know the story didn't make them happy?

Do you ask for your money back because the wine doesn't have the smooth finish you expected? Do you ask for your money back because the pizza gives you gas? I've read some books so unsatisfying I felt I should be able to sue the author for damages afterwards, but come on.

This world. It disenchants me on ocassion. How about you?

It's Valentine's Day, So Let's Talk About Sex

When I was evaluating epublishers, I almost didn't submit to Liquid Silver Books (my first choice for various reasons) because I didn't think BONDS OF DARKNESS was sexy enough. No threesomes, no M/M, no toys, no anal. Just two people caught up in a paranormal conflict, falling in love and expressing that love physically, and not very often at that. I felt that more sex would've ruined the suspenseful rhythm. ("Hey, it's a life-and-death situation, let's stop for a shag!")

Mrs. Giggles and Emily Veinglory discuss the eroticism of erotic romance, and reach the same conclusion as I have. A lot of erotic romance just isn't sexy. Part of the problem lies in predictability.

Endless descriptions of tab A in slot B, no matter how an author varies the tabs and the slots, are not erotic. It's mechanical. (If you want to write about mechanical sex, actually feature an AI character. This is speculative romance!)

Miz Veinglory plaintively asks, "Where are the books full of furries, pegging, forced feminisation or all those other unexploited wonders of human sexuality?" Since I'm not even sure what pegging is, I'm instantly intrigued. We're writing SPECULATIVE FICTION here, folks. Our readers want us to look into potential futures and potential alternatives to the now. They want us to deliver the oh-wow factor, the awe, the wonder. They want us to go poking around in the dark corners. Otherwise they'd go read historical or contemporary romance! Writing another round of anal sex or a POUS (penis of unusual size, as one of my clever reviewers has dubbed it) isn't living up to your responsibility as a speculative fiction author. And with the competition for the erotic romance reader's dollar…

Mrs. Giggles (who also tires of tabs and slots) gives another insight. "I want descriptions. I want sensations. Thoughts. Emotions. I've come across sex scenes where the actual act is alluded to but the heroine's emotions and thoughts during the act are so explicitly detailed that I find such a scene too erotic for words."

You as the author may be caught up in the writing-the-sex act. But boiled down, whether you are writing about the heroine having sex or kicking ass or solving a riddle, you are always WRITING ABOUT CHARACTER. Everyone knows what it's like to have sex. (Even people who haven't had sex have a set of concrete expectations.) Readers want to know how it is for the heroine or hero or even villain to have sex.

Magical Musings hosted agent Lucienne Diver recently, and she spoke about what makes a story go from "almost, but" to sold.

"Your viewpoint character is the lens though which the reader sees the world. A lens can warp images, color them, magnify or diminish them. Voice should do the same. Descriptions will be filtered through a character’s unique perceptions and way of expressing him or herself."

Every woman feels a kiss in her own unique way. Every man experiences an orgasm in his own unique way. Every sex act is different, for an infinite number of reasons. There's just no excuse to have your characters make love like somebody else's characters. Make it a point of authorial honor, and deliver the reader a surprising, even shocking, new take on sensuality through the filter of your characters' experiences.

So there. I've had my rant. What do you think?

Another Word on the HEA

It's been a few weeks since the last convulsion of "Romance = HEA." But I've been thinking about it, because I have a very complex reaction to the "Romance = HEA" issue.

I believe that something that's published in the genre of romance should end with the lovers united, looking forward to a life together after overcoming all the obstacles to their love.

On the other hand, when I read "it's romance and it's got to have an HEA!" all my rebel-against-authority buttons are pushed. Throw a rule at me, and I'll feel an irresistible urge to break it. It's one of my natural laws.

So I think that we are presenting the argument ineffectively. For those who feel constricted by the romantic HEA, or feel that romance novels suffer from the demands of ending happily, I appreciate your feelings because in some part I share them. But I ask you to consider it this way.

The ending of successful fiction pays off to its theme. If the theme is "misuse of science brings horror and death," the ending won't satisfy if on the last page dawn rises over a new tomorrow filled with hope. If the theme is "only through the greatest sacrifice can evil be overcome," then the hero of the story will die in the end if the writer has done her job.

The theme of every novel published in the genre of romance is ROMANTIC LOVE CONQUORS ALL. That's the ride the reader wants. And that's the ride I generally deliver, because it directly reflects my personal philosophy.

It's pretty hard to pay off to the theme of Romantic Love Conquers All without having the lovers overcome all the obstacles and live happily ever after. And that's why romance novels end the way they do. The authors are doing their jobs effectively in paying off to the theme.

I think that "unhappy endings" are effective when the story's theme mirrors or resonates with the audience's own personal world views. If I agree that only through the greatest sacrifice can evil be overcome, I might cry when the hero dies, but I will also love the novel because the theme that hooked me paid off in the end.

But I don't agree with that philosophy. When someone tells me I have to make a sacrifice, I am just too cynical and assume I'm giving something up so they don't have to. So a book with the sacrifice overcomes evil theme can be the most powerfully written story ever, but it's going to be a tough sell to me. I might admire the prose, the characters and the author's technique, but it probably won't satisfy me.

So instead of thinking "happy vs. unhappy" with all the subtext infecting that conflict, think paying off to the theme. If you are writing a story that features the theme Romantic Love Conquers All, and you pay it off, chances are you will successfully tap into some facet of the eager romance market.

Classy, Classy, Classy!

Each week I get an email from the reviews coordinator at Samhain Publishing, letting me know about new speculative romance releases. This makes me smile every single Monday, because as a one-woman shop, I really appreciate the time they take to make my life easier. (Thank you, M, did you know how much I appreciate you?)

Today when I got home from the day job, I found a holiday greeting card from the Samhain Publishing Staff.

I'm telling ya, that's classy.

Happy Holidays, Samhain Publishing!

SANTA BABY...

Over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books, a call for gossip devolved into a genuine discussion of a favorite topic: what readers expect from paranormal romance.

I wouldn't want to be an editor looking for the next hot read in speculative romantic fiction, because everyone seems to expect a different experience, or bring a different reader need to the bookstore aisle. I think that our subgenre has to work the hardest in any of romance, because of the varied tastes and desires of its fans.

And although this reality too often leads to angry readers demanding to know why a favorite series has turned the corner into something they don't want to read, I think the diversity in speculative romance is a strength.

I'm sure my letter to Speculative Romance Santa is very different from yours, and not just because I'm weird. It's because speculative romance whispers so much to so many, that we must be flexible in our definition of genre, and be understanding that what tosses your confetti might sink somebody else's tugboat.

So share your wish list for 2007 with the Speculative Romance Santa.

Here's mine:

Dear Speculative Romance Santa,

Please forego the diamonds and dark chocolate confections in my stocking this year, and deliver some good specrom reads, like…

Stories so well crafted that the romantic conflict grows directly from the circumstances of the author's speculative vision.

Stories that challenge my emotional boundaries through characters that so move me, I must transcend my "squick" factors to appreciate their love story. Even if it's only for the time it takes to read the book.

Real aliens to fall in love with. Tentacles and everything.

Historical speculative romance.

More stories like early Dean Koontz, but with more speculative content. I'm tired of re-reading Watchers and Lightening, Santa, please?

Love and chills,

Joyce

Provoke a Thought Or Two.

Racy Li kindly pointed me at The Sixth Feminist SF Blog Carnival, which has kindly linked to my rant about the place of virgin heroines. (Read below.)

Dozens of interesting links discuss the roles of female protagonists in books, TV, movies, comics and video games.

I was glad to see that I was not the only one let down by the season finale of Eureka. It's so great to see a sci-fi show that dares to focus on relationships, but holy crap, could we break outta the box just a bit, fellas? In a town where the rules of physics are broken left and right, can we maybe get ourselves a little more challenging of a relationship going on?

Do Virgins Suck?

An astute Specrom member sent me a challenge on my disdain for virgin heroines. She had a story to enter the (cancelled for lack of entries) Zircon contest, but, knowing the market, knew that submitting a virgin heroine to the Zircons would be like submitting hot, same-sex polygamy to Guideposts. She suggested that in a genre like romance it's hard to escape the virgins, and because of my prejudice against virgins I'm missing lots of good fiction.

She might be right. Then again, maybe not.

In one of my very first reviews for SpecRom, I encountered a contemporary paranormal romance featuring a VH. The story could have been just as effective if she wasn't a virgin. Although a plausible (for some) reason was provided for her virginity, it just smacked of manipulation. I asked myself WHY an author might choose to write about a VH in contemporary America, and didn't like the reasons that came to mind.

Reason #1: The heroine must be a virgin because Virgins=Goodness. If an author chooses Reason #1, then I think it's just an example of sloppy characterization. Halos, white hats and intact hymens are lazy ways to cue the reader to cheer. You may in your personal philosophy believe that virginity is a sign of goodness. All well and good, but recognize that it won't connect with all readers unless you are writing to a niche audience.

Reason #2: The heroine must be a virgin so she won't make sensible choices about romance and sex, and then the plot can go on for 90,000 words. Insulting on so many, many levels, is it not? To assume that a contemporary heroine who has no sexual experience hasn't the wits to make good choices…yikes. To assume that a contemporary heroine who has sexual experience also has the wits to make good choices…yikes, again. I have yet to find a biology book which equates sexual experience and intelligence.

Reason #3: The heroine must be a virgin because this is a romance novel, and I don't want to defeat my reader's expectation. Get a calendar.

So I just couldn't figure out why an author writing a contemporary would choose to write a VH except out of personal storytelling choice. And hey, that's great. But expect me to exercise my personal reading choices right back. With few exceptions, stories set in our contemporary world with a VH aren't going to be great fiction to me. I mean, if the heroine is a virgin because she was abducted as a two-year old and kept in a basement by a gang of alien Satanists for sacrificial purposes, hell ya I'm interested. Chances are, you're not. Remember, the greatness of fiction is always subjective.

But, I hear you asking in legion, about speculative worlds? Can't the VH be plausible in those settings? The answer is of course. I have myself written and am trying to sell a short story set in the future featuring (gasp) a Virgin Heroine, and I didn't even realize it until Astute Specrom Member brought this issue up and exposed my own base hypocrisy. My compliments to you, Astute Specrom Member!

I guess I would ask authors to ask themselves, as they sit down to craft a speculative world, WHY are you creating a world in which virginity matters? As long as you can answer that question honestly and completely from either personal or story logic, then you write what moves you and audience be damned. If the characters ring true and the plot sweeps me off my feet, even a hypocritical virgin-hater like myself probably will like it.

Or not. Such is the subjective way fiction works. We write what moves us and hope that it connects with a reader somewhere. It's the nature of the beast we ride. It truly has two backs -- the reader and the author -- and one cannot control the other. It's a courtship, as tricky as any held in singles bars or speed dating sessions.

So I am officially no longer the founding member of the Deflower the Virgins Literary Action Committee, and I think a better author and reader for it. So bring on the virgins, but don't expect me to like them. Not all of them, at least.

So I put the question to you, speculative romance readers and authors: Do Virgins Suck?

READ THIS: Angst in D Minor, by Jenn Reese


Lone Star Stories features Angst in D Minor, by Jenn Reese: a clever little tale about one young woman's search for a new way of living in an eat-a-man world.


I've archived the READ THIS links at Speculative Romance Online, the website. There are a few broken links to fix, but otherwise you can find a short specrom fix with one quick click.