Eve McFadden's Blog

I recently posted Chapter 9 of Rhythm and the Blue Line. If you’d like, go ahead and read to catch up. There may be spoilers here. It’s okay, I can wait.

*waiting*

Okay, I can’t wait anymore. Hope you’re back. I spent a lot of time on this chapter, more than I expected and definitely more than I wanted. I hate having big lags between chapters, and I’m sure you all know from previous comments that my lag had its origins in Ch 7, which underwent a lot of rewriting before I finally posted, and then the 2011 holidays threw me further off track. When I could at last get to chapter 9, I was glad, but let me tell you — that first scene gave me fits (and my beta reader too, no doubt).

It was a good experience overall, though, and hopefully the next time I need to write a scene like that, I will know what to do. Feedback has been positive and all I can say to that is thanks so much. But there’s a “but.” You knew there would be, didn’t you? The “but” is summed up like this: Brody should’ve knock her dad on his ass though!

I see it as a white-knight syndrome. At the risk of spoilers (last warning), let me sum up the scene. Ryan is waiting for Brody to pick her up after work. While she waits, her father unexpectedly confronts her and accuses her of advising her younger brother to throw away a professional basketball career. An argument ensues in which Ryan’s father pulls no punches in criticizing her — he calls her best friend a slut, insults the music she creates, and says all her friends are drug addicts. Ryan doesn’t hold back on her end either, and somewhere towards the end of the to-do, Brody comes up.

Several readers have commented as the one above — they wanted Brody to step up and defend/protect Ryan. Admittedly, I could have gone that way, but why? Why can’t Ryan stand up for herself? Why does she need to be rescued? I mean, this is a young woman who has spent a long time striking out on her own path, fighting her parents’ disapproval all the way. She’s hardly a shrinking violet or damsel in distress. So I think when Ryan says to her dad, “I’m fucking finished with you!” , that’s about all that really needs to be said.

As I wrote the scene, it’s hard to tell how much of everything Brody heard. I don’t think that was intentional, but that’s how it turned out. Another reader thought Brody was too passive, especially for an athlete who plays a fast, hard game like hockey. My beta reader’s take was that athletes are disciplined; they know when to step in and when not to. Brody thought his places was not in the middle, but beside Ryan, to offer support. This is not as proactive as clocking her dad, but it doesn’t mean it was the wrong thing to do. And if Brody isn’t entirely sure what he walked in on, then I think it’s pretty reasonable that he’s not going to get between a father and his daughter. I also think it shows some respect for Ryan, that Brody knows she can handle herself. It’s not for him to step in and defend her honor — she’s capable of that herself.

So if what I wrote wasn’t what you expected, well, I guess I can’t do much about that. All the same, I hope you enjoyed it.

And I’m working on Ch 10, I promise!

 

The next chapter of Rhythm and the Blue Line, Chapter 9, is now up at Literotica. It’s also up at StoriesOnline.net, EroticStories.com and at LushStories.com. Enjoy, and feedback is always welcome!

Note on Lush: I have to post in shorter bursts there, so Ch 9 on the other sites is Chs 32-35 at Lush.

Excerpt:

After dinner, Ryan told Brody to go while she cleaned up. He shook his head and they put away the leftovers and dishes, then he pulled her back to the living room.

“So what will we watch tonight? Food, superheroes or exploding buildings?” Ryan asked.

“I thought maybe we could listen to some music.” Brody went over to his iPod dock and turned it on. “There, how’s that?”

Ryan listened for a few beats and grinned. “Nancy Sinatra? Really?”

Brody flushed, turned around and tapped the buttons on the iPod. “What the fuck?” He gaped at the music player. “Bax, that son of a bitch! This is his iPod. I can’t believe this!” He scanned through the songs. “He switched with me! There’s all kinds of—of—I don’t know, sixties and seventies easy listening crap! Jesus, that stupid piña colada song is on here!”

Ryan laughed while he sputtered in indignation. “I thought you were trying to suggest I dress like a go-go dancer with knee-high boots.”

Brody stopped and grinned her. “I think you’d look fantastic in knee-high boots.”

“Keep dreaming.”

Brody put the offending iPod down, walked over and slid his arms around her. “Okay, you got me. Guess we’ll do without. I just thought it might be better if you wanted to talk.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I think you’re still upset.”

“Yeah, I am. I’m trying not to be, but I am.” Ryan let him pull her to the couch.

“I’d be upset too, you know. Your dad said some pretty lousy things.”

I love pop culture. It’s fun and funny and weird and covers a range of things — there’s pretty much something for everyone. That said, I also like what’s a little off the beaten path. Movies that don’t get huge openings, musical groups that don’t or won’t rule the charts, those television shows that are good enough to get renewed even if they aren’t water-cooler conversation.

And sometimes, I’m outside that bubble completely. Exhibit A: Reality TV. I have not watched any of it, not even way back when the only “reality TV” was MTV’s The Real World. My first reaction on learning what TRW was about was — how could these people be so desperate for attention that they would do this? At any rate, I wasn’t going to watch. I couldn’t imagine wanting people to watch me in such a situation, and so I wasn’t going to watch anyone else. So, and I say this only as a fact, I have not watched (aside from inevitable snippets) Survivor, The Bachelor/ette, Project Runway, Big Brother, nor any of the History/Discovery/A&E shows on real people in dirty dangerous jobs or real people who hoard everything. If you watch it and enjoy it, have at. I’ll just read something until you’re done.

I have to say that I would place the competition reality shows like Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, etc., in a slightly different category. Those are basically game shows of a short and to me that’s different thanReal Housewives of [Wherever].

One of the biggest crazes I was on the other side of was Titanic. Anyone reading Rhythm and the Blue Line might remember Ryan and Brody watching a movie (The Crow, one of my all-time favorites) and Ryan delivering her opinion of Titanic: “[It's] an overlong piece of dreck.” No offense to James Cameron, who has made some cool movies and for whom I have a great deal of admiration regarding his underwater explorations. I just recall being appalled at the gushing reaction to this movie, where so many people thought it was so romantic. Sorry, 1500 people died (including the lead guy in the movie) — that is by no means romantic, not to me. However, millions of people spent billions of dollars on tickets, etc., and so I’ll just let that one go by and remain on my little iceberg island.

The latest craze I am not participating in is EL James’ 50 Shades trilogy. There are a few reasons for this, I guess, although I admit I should reserve complete judgment until I read it. But we all read critics and as opinions and so far, I haven’t seen anything that makes me want to go read this. It’s not even the fact that it was originally Twilight fan fiction. I haven’t read any of the Twilight books (yet another pop culture item I missed/avoided, although hey, I did read and see The Hunger Games), but I’ve also read that the author made many changes and so it’s no longer what it started out as. No problem.

I did read the free sample of 50 Shades of Grey on Amazon. Um, it was okay. Over on Literotica, where I post stories for free, there’s been much railing about 50 Shades. Many are appalled that there are hard-working writers coming up with original stories that got passed over by what they see as a hack. Yes, well, that does happen and I don’t see the point in getting worked up about that. Others have said it’s so poorly written it’s laughable, although the excerpt I read seemed, I don’t know, competent enough.

My biggest problem with the sample, and which made me not care about reading more, was the beginning premise.  The heroine, Ana, goes to interview hunky CEO Christian Grey. Okay, fine. Ana’s roommate is the editor of the college paper but is too ill to conduct the interview herself. This was again, fine, until it’s revealed — Ana has no experience in stuff like this, she’s not involved in the school paper, and she knows nothing about Grey. The roommate forgets (on purpose?) to give Ana any background info.

I’m sorry, that’s just too much for me. Logic (it seems) would dictate that another member of the paper’s staff should be assigned to do this. I don’t like when characters act illogically for no apparent reason. An acquaintance who’s reading it told me that that is all explained, but I don’t want it explained. I either want it logical from the start, or I want there to be some kind of hint that there’s an explanation coming, and I got no hint of that.

I admit that likely the main reason I’m not reading it is that I have little to no interest in the BDSM relationship that I understand makes up the bulk of the trilogy. I am not down on BDSM itself, don’t get me wrong — I’m fine with pretty much anything consensual between people in a relationship. It’s not my thing, but if it works for you or someone else, fine. I’ve been told that Ana signs a contract that gives Grey control over her for something like two years. Sorry, no can do. One thing you’ve probably noticed in my stories is a sense of equality between the characters.

There’s always give and take in a relationship, so I’m not saying that in all the things I write about it’s all 50/50 between the characters. Surely one will give more and the other take more at times, whether we’re talking emotionally or sexually, but that’s how real life works. Plus some people like to be more dominant, although not necessarily to the extent of trying someone down (but hey, why not give it a try if everyone’s good with it?).

So if you’re reading 50 Shades, I hope you’re enjoying it. I may even read it myself some day, because as with Titanic, there comes a time with these pop culture phenomena where I have to see it for myself.

Just not right now. And you can’t make me.

Here we go!

“Behind Stone Walls” is a collection of short stories by four authors, including myself, who have published via Yellow Silk Dreams. It is now available exclusively at Amazon for a time as a Kindle book.

Jacqueline George, an author based in Australia who founded Yellow Silk Dreams, suggested that we write stories around a “castle” theme. I think you’ll find that we all took that and ran in different directions, providing a wide array of stories based on castles real and more metaphorical. Other contributors include Gemma Parkes and Jocelyn Modo.

My story is called “Leaving the Castle,” and here’s an excerpt:

“That works.” Sasha’s voice was breathy. “So, what does a rogue do, exactly?”

He lowered his lips to within an inch of hers. “First thing, he steals a kiss as a reward for helping the beautiful princess escape from the evil queen.”

Sasha started to smile but his lips were on hers before she could. For just a moment, she froze; she hadn’t believed it would happen, that Ty would kiss her. It was like a dream. When Ty slid one arm around her waist and cupped her head so that he could deepen the kiss, the dream slid away. This was real and Sasha intended to enjoy every second. She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and parted her lips.

Ty wondered if anyone was watching them, but when Sasha opened under him he didn’t care. He pulled her to him, trying not to crush her. His tongue dove into her mouth, dancing with hers as he tasted her.

Her body was soft against his, and warm under the clothes she wore. He pressed against her, hoping he wouldn’t scare her but unable to stop himself. After another minute, they broke the kiss.

“Wow.” Sasha cleared her throat and laughed. “You certainly live up to your roguish reputation.”

Ty pressed his forehead to hers. “If we weren’t out in public, I’d live up to it a lot more.”

Sasha took a deep breath. “I think I’d like that.”

Ty stilled. “Are you sure? Because I know I’d love that.”

“Yes.”

Please check it out, and I hope you enjoy!

My husband and I have been watching M*A*S*H, which has been a lot of fun. I’ve seen many episodes before — I imagine M*A*S*H was the syndication king before Seinfeld came along.

We’re on the last third of season two, and it’s funny what you notice. For example: did you realize that of the major male characters, most are cheating on their wives? That’s Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson), Trapper John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers), Maj. Frank Burns (Larry Linville), and Hawkeye Pierce (Alan Alda). The first three characters are married, and cheat on their wives with merry abandon, while Hawkeye is single but let’s face it, promiscuous. Then there’s Maj. Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit), who is sleeping with Burns, and knows he’s married.

Yet we sympathize with and like these people. If we don’t like them, like Burns, it’s not because of the infidelity, it’s because he’s a jerk. He’d be a jerk whether he was cheating on his wife or not. We sympathize with Margaret, too. For one thing, it’s hard to figure out why she’s with Burns. He’s an idiot, a mediocre surgeon, and the only thing they really have in common is their patriotism. Yet Margaret is a woman in a man’s army, and working up to the rank of Major and being head nurse at a mobile surgical unit is an accomplishment. She’s a strong woman, and I guess that makes up for the affair (which we just can’t take seriously and it is played for laughs).

So we’ve watched nearly forty-eight episodes, all of them amusing, some more so than others. The show is quite tame compared what’s on today, even on network, and certainly compared to what’s on cable. M*A*S*H ain’t got nothing on Game of Thrones, let me tell you. We tend to watch the shows after the kids are in bed, not so much for content so much as other things are going on and the kids want to do other things.

Tonight we were watching, figuring we could close out season two. Our son was still up, but busy doing something on the computer and we figured, what the heck, even if he comes out, it’s not like we’re watching Boardwalk Empire.

Indeed, he joins us and (perhaps prompted by the laugh track) laughs at the show, declares it “hilarious” and wants to watch a full episode. We say okay, one episode and then off to bed. The episode is #22 from season 2, and is called “George.” Every episode to date has been a little silly, and what happens in this one? Turns out one of the injured soldiers, a Private Weston, is gay. In the parlance of the show, “homosexual.”

Figures.

Now, of course, the boy is laughing, not understanding. Weston, a white guy, tells Hawkeye that two guys in his outfit were beaten up, a Negro and a homosexual. Hawkeye’s joke is, Who’d have guessed you’re a Negro. Son wonders if homosexuals are Negroes (hey, he’s eight). I pause the show at the next break and ask if he knows what a Negro is – he says yes, colored. Close enough. Now it is left to define homosexual.

I’m a big believer in answering a kid’s question as simply as possible. So I tell him it’s when a man falls in love with another man, or a woman with another woman, instead of a man/woman pairing. Son says, well, no, that can’t work because they can’t get married. We say, no, that’s not true, they can in some places. Luckily we have a real-life example of this. Friends of ours, a gay male couple, live not too far away. They are married, active in their church and have adopted two boys. It’s on the tip of our tongues to add more, but we hold back and await reaction.

Big grin from Son, and then happy days! He exclaims that he and his best friend can get married!

Screeeeeeech!!Reverse thrusters, Captain!

No, actually, we tell him not to worry about marriage to anyone for at least another ten (or twenty or thirty) years. We also point out that friendships change and he and Best Friend may not always be so. This results in a defense of said friendship and we are happy to concede the point. Then – bed time. Ahhhh. No more awkward questions.

Except that he went up to his room, turned on the AM radio he made from an electronics kit and came back to tell us about a report her heard about a girl getting caught in some kind of cross-fire. Gah! Makes you think the Amish may be on to something.

It’s funny, you never know where that stuff will come from but you can’t always be waiting for them. A couple of years ago, my son asked my husband how babies are made (he’d just had a testing assessment and the teacher administering it was pregnant). Husband’s wonderful response: they’ll tell you that in fifth grade. I thought that was a great answer, and probably appropriate for a 6yo who didn’t really want the details.

But it’s all great story fodder.

I recently read this blog entry at The Washington Post. My favorite bit is this, from Caps' defenseman John Carlson.

* John Carlson finished the Hunger Games trilogy and did not like how it ended. "It was a terrible ending, and I was really not happy to see how it ended. In fact, I'm kinda mad right now."

Warning: Probable THG spoilers ahead. I myself recently finished reading The Hunger Games and have to say, Carlson has a point. I'm not mad about it, though. (I hope he channels that energy into the playoffs!) Still, I did have to wonder at how traditional the ending is. Katniss has been through the Games, been through dangerous battles in the rebellion, and at the end of it all — she marries, falls in love, and has kids (pretty much in that order).

This made me think of my favorite ending to a book — the end scene in the sixth book of Michael Moorcock's Elric saga. I will give you a basic spoiler warning, but these books are over forty years old, so I think any statute of limitations on spoilers has long since expired.

Elric is the last Emperor of Melnibone. His people are decadent and declining as humans are ascending. He has gone to explore the world, accompanied by the semi-sentient sword Stormbringer, forged by the Lords of Chaos. (Note: anything made by chaos is going to be inherently unstable.) At the end of the original six books (Moorcock wrote others that filled in "gaps" in the original story), Elric and his friend and ally, Moonglum of Elwher, stand at the end of the world. Really, the world is ending. Stormbringer, never one to be too concerned about friend or foe, kills Moonglum and then, in a surprising turn, kills Elric. Stormbringer, the Stealer of Souls, takes that of its … well, let's say partner. Elric was never the sword's master; even he'd admit that.

You don't often see your hero get offed like that. Not after all he'd been through — almost dying, losing his empire, losing both of the women he loved to Stormbringer, suffering the caprices of his patron, Arioch, Duke of Chaos. Usually the hero gets a respite at the end of it all. You could certainly argue that death is a respite, but one gets the impression that dying at the point of Stormbringer is not exactly going gently into that good night. And Stormbringer's final words are excellent: "Farewell, my friend. I was ever a thousand times more evil than thou."

Awesome.

Anyone who's read my stories knows I like happy endings. And I do. It's a nice break from the mudslinging politics and police blotter stuff we read in the paper. Yes a happy ending isn't always the right ending. Take Elric, for example. He was a misfit among his own people to start with, both in appearance and thought; he breaks with many traditions; he must fight off his cousin's attempt at usurping the throne; he loses the two women he loves to his erstwhile ally, Stormbringer; he loses friends along the way and almost himself, and by the time the world is ending, his people are scattered to the winds. His reputation precedes him, and not in a good way. Just where is he supposed to go, even the world hadn't ended? No, I think Elric met the only proper end.

What's a proper end in romance/erotica? It depends on the story, of course, and I'm going to stick with romances here. Common ending: engagement or marriage, with an epilogue describing the ensuing happy life, likely with kids. This is fine. I'm married with kids myself, and happy about it, and so if someone else can be happy that way, well, great. However, I noticed as I went along that I didn't do this in my romances.

In Nothing Gets Through, for example, the two leads, Dom and Lani, never even say "I love you." No one seemed to mind, though. The point wasn't whether they did or would fall in love. The point was that Lani felt betrayed by Dom's life being exposed in the newspaper when he wouldn't tell her any of those details himself. Dom realized this and tried to make it up to her. In Numbers Game, the two leads did get to "I love you," but only that far. The point there was two people taking a chance and trying to make up for a previous mistake.

I could go on, but you get the idea. In my were stories, I pretty much side-step the whole marriage issue with the mating theme/convention that's in so much of that genre. I like that, really. It's a convenient way to have people commit to each other without having to have a marriage, even an elopement. I find there are more interesting things to write about. The getting there is what I like. The chase, essentially.

So what's important to me is the right ending, even more than the happy ending.

Best movie ending? I suppose I have to go with Some Like it Hot.

First off, business.

I believe that tomorrow is the last day that my stories Exiled, Young Blood, All Too Human and The Hunted Key will be available on Amazon via Republica Press. After that, I will try to get them back up myself, but it will likely take a few days. I have submitted these to a new publisher, but am waiting (and probably will for another month or so) for a response (the publisher had to go abroad). Thanks to everyone who has purchased, read, commented — it means a lot.

I'd also like to thank Republica for all their help and support. We'll miss them.

Second — Considering Katniss.

I have just finished reading Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy (this is an Amazon link). If you haven't read them, or seen the movies, you may want to stop reading now, as there are SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS ahead, both in the links I provide and in what I write. Although part of me says, if there are indeed spoilers left for you, you have done an amazing job at avoiding the media blitz on the movies and books. Kudos!

I myself got suckered in. Sometimes it's fun to resist the popular tide, but most of the time after there's enough of a hubbub, I like to read or see whatever it is for myself. After a little debating, I bought the THG trilogy for my Kindle (too long a wait at the library for me). I read them in about 3.5 days, so perhaps I should let things sink in a  little more, but what the heck.

So I read the books. I'm sure many of you know, as I've stated before, that I am not a huge fan of YA books. That is not to criticize the authors or their audiences, just a statement. I prefer characters closer to my own age, in large part, and as for the "genre," well, not liking YA is no different to me than not liking sci-fi or horror or anything else. I tried to keep an open mind going in, and I think I did all right. Also, one thing that trumps nearly any dislike I might have of a genre or style is whether it's well-done. Collins' books hooked me. As I said, I read them all within four days (and I have two kids).

I've also read a lot of the THG movie coverage, which naturally touches on the books. There are movie reviews galore; Slate.com has a section dedicated to THG, ranging from movie reviews to examinations of whether Panem's economy is viable; and, perhaps most depressingly, jezebel.com's article on the racism that some fans indulged in after seeing the movie.

Obligatory background: unspecified years in the future, the North American continent, or at least the US part of it, has collapsed environmentally and economically. Apparently much like in the late, lamented Firefly tv series, a centralized authority fought for command and won. The country, now called Panem, is governed by "The Capitol," apparently located in the Rockies. The Capitol is surrounded by districts 1-12 — 13 was decimated some time ago — and each district provides a specific good or service for the Capitol. (Wiki page here.)

In an effort to keep the districts fearful and in their place, every year there is an annual contest called "The Hunger Games." Each district provides a boy and a girl, aged 12-18, chosen via lottery on "reaping day." The chosen are whisked off to be prepared for the games, which are something like Survivor, except more tightly controlled in every aspect — the "arena" is enclosed and controlled by Gamemasters. The heroine, Katniss Everdeen (16yo), volunteers to go in place of  her 12yo sister. Katniss is from District 12, a low-population, coal-mining region.

So what about Katniss? I know I warned about SPOILERS, and they will likely start soon. Katniss is not a terribly likable person, which is not surprising: her father died about five years before, her mother went into a crushing depression, and she has been trying to keep herself, her mother and younger sister alive. She is introverted, slow to trust, and angry, but basically decent. No problem. She may not be likable, but she is sympathetic, which perhaps is more important.

I was thinking, though, that for all Katniss is a heroine (so I read) and idol for the book/movie fans — is she so different from anyone else? Is she just someone who feels sorry for herself and keeps doing it because, well, it works? I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of her.

For example, (SPOILERS SPOILERS!!) during the Hunger Games start (aside: an odd name, although catchy; I had to wonder why they weren't called the "War Memorial" games or something like that), Katniss goes quite a while without killing anyone. That's fine, and she was more concerned with keeping herself from getting killed at first, which I think is a decent strategy. Her first "kills" are accidental — she releases a have of genetically-altered wasps on to a group that has trapped her in a tree. Her first direct kill is in retaliation for the death of a young girl with whom she has allied. Her second and last (as I recall) is a mercy killing of another "tribute" (what they call the contestants).

Now from a strategy point, I think allowing your "enemies" to kill off as man of each other as possible and saving your energy for later is an excellent idea. It's basically pacing yourself. But what if Katniss had been a bit more aggressive? A bit more "pro-active"? What if she had, in fact, stalked or tracked and killed any of the other tributes? Would we consider her weaker or stronger? More or less moral?  More or less likable, or sympathetic? It's all self-defense, after all. She's supposed to be someone who is hardened against feelings, except in specific instances, most notably her younger sister and her best friend from District 12, a boy named Gale who's two years older than she is. So in that sense, strictly of survival, I certainly wouldn't have held it against her if she took a few out.

(I have to put in a quick aside — years ago I read a book called "The Cage," and I forget the author. A woman was attempting to find the man who had years ago imprisoned her in a cage, and she had a cage all set for him when she found him. Yet, as often happens, when the moment came, she didn't do it. I wanted her to.)

It's a bit more of the same in Catching Fire, the second book. Katniss is forced back into the games for a special 75-year anniversary edition called the Quarter Quell. However, by this time, Katniss has unwittingly started a revolution — she and her fellow District 12 tribute, Peeta Mellark (who is in love with Katniss) were about to both commit suicide in the arena rather than have one return alone, which totally messed The Capitol's plans. She didn't mean to — she simply wanted to either go home with Peeta, or not at all. District 12 is a small place, and life would have been awful for either one of them if they'd gone back alone.

The last book, Mockingjay, puts Katniss in a somewhat less-than-flattering light. She's fairly passive for long stretches, and I can give her a pass for some of it, but after a while, you want her to say, "Okay, this sucks, but I have to do [THIS]." Seriously — she's only 17, and I'm fine with giving her some time to pout, sulk, be depressed, try to work things out, whatever. And she does try to get it together, let's give her that. But at this point I have to say, I wish someone had taken her aside and told her these things — that they know it's tough, that she can have a little time, but then, it's time to go to work.

It may be that very thing that appeals to the books' audience — surely nearly every teenager must feel overwhelmed and in need of direction and support at some time.

At the end, too, the book likely plays into many girls' fantasies or hopes, in that Katniss marries Peeta, and he loves her, and she loves him, and they have children, and seem mostly happy (they can't beall the way happy, given what they've been through, but that's okay).

So there you go. My thoughts on that, at least for now. Other things come to mind, but I'll stop here.

I suppose I was. After all, I was not on a soap opera and hence victim to the Soap Opera Aging Syndrome, where a kid disappears at any age, and reappears about six months later as an 18yo (or thereabouts), yet the parents and other characters have not aged a bit. No, I did indeed go through the chronological ages 13-19, so I was, in fact, a teenager.

I'm not sure I was a typical one, although I'd guess most of us weren't (or aren't). I've been reading a lot lately about Twilight and The Hunger Games and other female-targeted YA stuff and in many ways, I end up scratching my head. I don't recall — and I fully admit that my recall isn't perfect, because no one's is — being a big reader of YA stuff when I was, in fact, a YA. I remember, at about age 13, reading Dune by Frank Herbert. Although the hero of the book, Paul Atreides, was a young man, this was not "young adult fiction." This was a full-fledged sf series that went on (and on and on even after the death of Herbert) for quite a while.

The  main YA connection I remember with Dune was the movie that came out in 1984. (I beg you, dear reader, do not see this movie. If you must watch an adaptation, watch the SciFi channel's miniseries.) I was 14, and I went with a friend of mine in my class, and there were three or four screaming peers in front of us, dying for a glimpse of Sting in a ridiculous codpiece. Aside: I re-read the book specifically because I was going to see the movie, and thanks to director David Lynch, I came out more confused than when I went in.

Sorry, I digress. My point here is that I did not read whatever the popular books for teenage girls were in the mid-80s. I confess to reading a few Sweet Valley High books that belonged to a friend of mine. They were okay. And I recall a couple of other romances. But I didn't seek them out.

Why? All I can say is that I know, at the moment, I do not care for books with teenage protagonists. I'm not sure I did when I was a teen, and perhaps it just never changed. I think I didn't care for those teenagers because I wasn't like them. I was not tied up with being interested in boys. I just wasn't. I read my books and hung out with friends and went to some dances, but I didn't date until I was sixteen, and even then it was unexpected. My girlfriend and I had actually made plans to do something the night of the junior prom, as neither of us had been, or expected to be, asked by anyone (nor was there anyone we wanted to ask). Imagine my surprise when, in fact, a guy I knew from a school music program asked me. He told me he'd been trying to flirt with me; I hadn't realized. (Luckily, my friend got a date, too, so we all went together.)

But I was not terribly into makeup, or boys, or any of that "typical" stuff. To this day, I have never had a crush on anyone. I just haven't. So when I read books in which teen girls are all gaga over makeup and boys, or moping over same, it's hard for me to relate to. And that, in a long roundabout way, kind of brings me to the current thing with vampires and gladiatorial combat.

In the library last week, while my daughter did her thing, I pulled Twilight: New Moon off the shelf. I read three or so chapters, I guess, and while I didn't think the writing was so awful (although I've read a number of articles that disagree), nearly every character got on my nerves. I have to say that the first-person narration bugged me, too, but that bugs me in nearly any genre, so I wouldn't give it any special weight here. However, after even just a few pages of Bella bemoaning how her icy cold vampire bf wouldn't turn her into one, I was kind of done.

You probably saw this picture at some point; I originally saw it on Facebook. Again, not having read Twilight, I'd have to agree. I know it hurts to lose someone you love, and I'm willing to give a person a little fetal-curl time, but hey — get over it. There are other guys, many of them warm-blooded. And yes, I did read the Harry Potter books, enjoyed them immensely, and loved Hermione.

And on to The Hunger Games. These seem a bit more my style, although I am still wary. I'm a big sf fan, and I can get with the dystopian, bad future theme. I sense, from articles I've read, that I might have some logic issues, but I can also suspend disbelief and enjoy a story. I like the idea that Katniss, in these books, seems self-confident and perhaps a little cold (sounds like anyone would have to be to remain sane in Panem). The first-person narration, again, doesn't appeal, but that's an across-the-board thing.

What I have found most interesting about THG, at this point, are all the articles about the books and movies and pondering various themes. For example, in this article at Slate.com, the columnist looks into the economics of tesserae. At Salon.com, here's a column about the sexual politics of THG and Twilight. Another Slate.com article looks at how environmental disaster and climate change figure into much of this dystopian theme. For those interested, here are two movie reviews, one from Salon.com and one from Hollywood-Elsewhere.com. I warn you, these are on the negative side.

What might put me off THG? Well, I can only by what I've read about the books. I'm not sure how much explanation is given to how the society fell to the point it is in the books, and I'd want to know. In the Dark Angel TV series from the '00s, the US had fallen apart; blame went to an EMP that apparently took out the country, or most of it, electronically. Also, a point raised in the Hollywood Elsewhere review: is there no one among the elite who protests this arrangement of children killing children for sport? Resistance to stuff always pops up somewhere.

Like I said, I haven't read either of these series, so my judgment is in general reserved, and any opinions have been formed by what I've read about them, and the little I've managed to read of the books themselves. And of course, if you read and loved (or hated) them, good for you — a book that can get a strong reaction out of a reader can't be all bad.

——

P.S. You may be wondering what I am, in fact, reading. Right now, I am on book nine of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. On my Kindle, I am in the middle of The Neptune Crossing (Chaos Chronicles). On my nightstand there's quite a pile, including Roger Ebert's Life Itself.

So I was reading Roger Ebert's review of  "Friends with Kids" today and the last paragraph caught my attention.

Yes, and we all know where the plot is headed, anyway, because if there's one thing we know about a rom-com, it's that conventional values invariably must win in the end.

Now, I have no intention of watching this movie, but I thought he had an interesting point there, and it can certainly apply to written romances, erotic ones or otherwise. Two specific things came to mind for me: country vs. city, and families.

1. Country > City (i.e., country life/town is better than city life)

In many stories, a citified/urban character — and it can be male or female — will have to go to the country. They will be visiting a relative, doing a business stint, going back to the town/farm/whatever that they swore they'd never come back to. They miss their concerts, their (overpriced) gourmet coffees, etc. They meet the old girlfriend or boyfriend, or the new person in town, but are adamant that they will leave and return to the city when their time is done. However, if "conventional values" must win, a Mr. Ebert says, then you know they won't. They will decide that fresh air, wide open spaces and etc. are better for a person than the big, bad, city.

I would like to stick up for the cities. I grew up in the southern NJ suburbs, so the closest city to us was Philadelphia. We were fans of the Philly teams, and in grammar school we took a field trip to the historical area. We didn't go there often, but Philly always felt a little like "my city." After college, I moved to Washington, DC. I loved it.

I absolutely loved being able to do so much stuff on my own — I had no car or anything. I could walk to my school, I could take the Metro to work, I could do either to the museums on the Mall. It was excellent. I was (thanks to my aunt, with whom I lived while going to grad school) able to go to the Kennedy Center and see James Galway. A few years later I saw a play at the Arena Stage. Friends took me and my then-fiancee to the free Shakespear in the Park. I would hit the museums on my weekdays off, because the crowds were thinner. It was just fun. Even though I don't drink coffee.

I am not trying to say that country, or non-city life, is dull. Life is what you make of it. But cities do tend to offer more things like that for a person, more cultural opportunities, more things to see and do. Yet in romances, cities are almost always the place that someone leaves. People are presented as less genuine, more harried, more self-centered, and surely there are people like that in cities. but there are also good, friendly, generous people — just as I'm sure there are less-than-perfect people in rural areas.

2. Big, nosy families > small, not-so-nosy families

I should clarify here that I'm not talking about characters who have been orphaned or are estranged from their families. I guess I should also make a disclaimer that I'm something of a private person, and like to decide who I tell what, and why and when.

So I get pretty annoyed reading stories where someone from, let's say, a 'quiet' family gets involved with a big noisy family — that family is usually of Italian or Greek descent — and they are not just noisy, but nosy. Moms and aunts and dads and uncles are forever getting into the business of the younger generation, especially where romance is concerned. The Nosy Family Person shrugs and looks apologetically at Quiet Family Person and things move along. QFP is almost always steamrolled along into some Nosy Family project, such as preparing a meal or cleaning a room or house. In the course of the developing relationship, QFP is subject to subtle and obvious questioning, and generally manage to bite their tongues and be polite.

This would drive me nuts. Sure, there will be questions when you meet someone and their family and I've no objection to that. But you know the stories I mean. When the news that someone made a mistake, or was embarrassed, gets around faster than the speed of light within the family. When a character is surprised that someone twice-removed from the protagonist is as familiar with the situation as they themselves are, and offer a whole lot of unsolicited advice.

This is not necessarily good. There should be boundaries, and privacy, and I for one would like to see a character say, "You know, Mrs. Jones, I'm not comfortable talking about that." Or, "Mr. Smith, I understand you want the best for your daughter, but I don't appreciate being judged guilty before I've done anything."

I just want Quiet Family Person to make the point that Noisy and Nosy isn't always Better. That boundaries don't mean disrespect, and respect doesn't mean you'll tell someone every damn thing. I'd like QFP to tell NFP, "Your family is great, but I could use a little space."

I love families, I do. I think whether you have a big noisy one or a small quiet one doesn't matter, so long as there's a lot of love and trust and support going on. But I have to say that when I read these books and see these elements repeated, I'd like to see one where NFP says, hey, you know, a quiet family is just as nice as mine.

And a quiet city family is pretty cool, too.

I've received news that Republica Press, which currently publishes five of my e-books, will be closing on March 31. This is a bit of a surprise and is driven, in part, by the PayPal brouhaha/controversy/debacle, whatever you'd like to call it. However, it is also because well, running an e-press is a lot of work. I'm disappointed, of course, but would like to thank RP for getting me started, and all the help they've given since.

I think RP's story shows that publishing is harder than many think. For everyone who says, "Oh, you can self-publish now," this is true but — who will get your ISBN? Who will do your marketing? Your cover art? Etc. All of that takes time, and personally, I don't have the time to do all that, write stories, take care of my family, etc.

The situation for now is that my books are still available on Republica Press and at places like Amazon for the rest of the month. This includes the Exiled series: Exiled, Young Blood and All Too Human. Also The Hunted Key and Melting the Ice, co-written with Tamara Clarke. As of April 1, they will be not be available via RP, although I am looking into self-publishing them to keep them available. My shorter works, The Collection and Light and the Darkness are still available via Yellow Silk Dreams and Amazon, and are not affected by RP's closing.

I will be looking for a new publisher, and may in the interim self-publish these books on Amazon. I'll let you know.

I'd like to thank RP again, as well as anyone who has purchased my books, from them or any other vendor. It means a lot.