Molly Ringle's Blog, page 4

88 Lines About 44 Women Writers

So, I made a thing. I heard that ‘80s song about 44 women, and I decided to write…

88 LINES ABOUT 44 WOMEN WRITERS

Enheduanna was a poet

From four thousand years ago,

Sappho, too, wrote lyric lines

For lovers we may never know

Murasaki’s Tale of Genji

Might be the first novel ever,

Hildegard knew plants and music,

Mystical and wise and clever

Héloïse became a scholar,

Writing reams to Abelard,

Veronica the courtesan

Penned poems earning high regard

Aphra was a spy and playwright,

Boldly...

Free audiobooks, cheap ebooks, and a New Year's resolution that works

Happy February!
Deals seem to be the theme of the month so far. First, thanks to The Wild Rose Press trying a big new promotion, there are LOTS OF FREE CODES for Audible, up for grabs for both UK and US users, for The Ghost Downstairs and Summer Term in their audio editions. Go claim one! And if you are willing to be so kind, a review afterward on Amazon and anywhere else you leave reviews would be much appreciated.

Yummy listening. For those who prefer reading on screen, some of my...

Art you can keep vs. art you give away

Yesterday I listened to this podcast interview with Megan Whalen Turner, whose Queen's Thief series I totally adore, and she said something I have thought too:

To paraphrase, she said she's grateful she's a writer, because she can create something and give it away or sell it, yet still have it. People who make ceramics or paintings or other physical crafts have to either part with their creations or live surrounded by a sea of their art.

I am in awe of people who can make physical art like...

Oh hi, new contract!

Hello all -

Exciting news first: there's a new book on the way! I've just signed a contract with Central Avenue Publishing (my awesome publisher for the past several books as well) for my next novel, currently titled Lava Red Feather Blue. For those who read The Goblins of Bellwater and wanted more fae, I have heard you! This one has loads of fae, including a protagonist who's half-fae, half-human. Meanwhile for those of you who read All the Better Part of Me and wanted another male/male love story, I've hear...

The shame we carry forward from youth, and the empathy of writing

“I’m a novelist, not a memoirist.” It’s what I keep saying, in defense, when people ponder dubiously, sometimes viciously, in online book reviews, whether I (as a 40-something-year-old mostly-straight woman) have the right to write a novel about a 25-year-old bisexual male. Or someone from another country. Or someone with a disability I don’t have. Or any other difference you might name. I still stick to the defense that writing about people different than ourselves is the exact point and the...

Guest post: Roberta Blablanski on how music inspires writing

I've been social-media friends with writer Roberta Blablanski for years, and lately, since we both had new m/m books released, we got up the idea to write guest posts for each other on how music has influenced and inspired our writing. My post for Roberta is over at her blog, and now I'm delighted to host her post here!
Take it away, Roberta!
--

Ever hear a song for the first time that immediately gives you all the feels? A story builds in your head of two lovers coming together for the first...

All the Better Part of Me: all the release links!

All the Better Part of Me is officially available worldwide! It was a long wait, and I hope you enjoy it if you're just now picking it up.

Also, this means Amazon is now allowing people to leave reviews. So if you have already read the book and loved it, please do review it on Amazon! (And for that matter on Barnes & Noble and any other bookselling site you enjoy, if you want to go above and beyond.) If you didn't love it, feel free to take no particular action. ;)

I'm especially excited...

Yes, people spoke casually in ye olden days too

Another Linguistic Pondering for you: in book/TV/film reviews for stories set in historical (or prehistoric) times, people often complain if the dialogue is casual, because that feels "too modern." The fallacy there is the notion that everyone was always formal in ye olden days. Which they were not! Humans have always been humans. All languages have always had a casual register and options of informal usage.

The issue on what would make it "feel too modern" is more one of translation: e.g., i...

Flawed characters = better story. Fiction ≠ a how-to-live manual.

I'm sorry, but I wrote a bit of a manifesto. Here goes.

I'm a human who screws up sometimes, and as such, I find it comforting and endearing when characters in books make mistakes too. Characters who are perfect aren't inspiring to me; they're usually boring, in fact. Sure, if all the main characters are so flawed that they're obnoxious and I wouldn't want to hang out with them ever, I might take off one star on my book review for that alone. If they commit truly awful deeds and display unash...

On All the Better Part of Me as a coming-out book

All the Better Part of Me is a coming-out story, a story where a lot of the focus is on sexuality and identity. But it’s probably the only one of that category I’ll ever write.

I have written and will continue writing characters who happen to BE queer (along with straight ones), where the story’s focus is on other things, but it’s true that a focus on LGBTQ issues feels like “not my story to tell.”

Some have told me so. Usually straight liberal friends concerned about appropriation or “gettin...