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Werner
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Jun 11, 2010 04:12AM
Just to let you all know, yesterday Jessica posted a poll in this group asking us to vote for our favorite heroine. (Jessica, before I vote, am I correct in assuming that this means favorite action heroine? If so, I can edit it to make that explicit, if you want me to.) We have until July 11 to vote, and if you have a different favorite than the stated choices, there's a write-in option. (My problem will be that it's so doggone hard to pick a favorite!)
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The poll results are in as of yesterday (sorry I didn't announce them then; my home computer is in the shop, so I can post only from my office computer for the present. :-( ). Dru Anderson from the Strange Angels series and Katniss of The Hunger Games each received one vote. Though she's no doubt an admirable lady, Max of the Maximum Ride series didn't happen to get any votes here. And the hands-down winner is: "Other," with seven votes. Heroines who were mentioned in this group were: Aeron in Patricia Kenealley-Morrison's The Copper Crown; Aliera e'Kieron from Stephen Brust's Vlad Taltos series; Aynber, who stars in several short stories by Charles de Lint; Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series; David Gemmell's Miriel character; and Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson.Jessica, thanks for creating this poll, it was fun, and generated a good amount of interest and response! I'm thinking that, at sometime in the future, we may try this again --only perhaps have each poll focus on a particular action heroine genre/category, as in, say, tough detectives, swordswomen, etc.?
I like that idea, Werner.
Well, I'll try to get a poll up sometime this fall, unless anyone beats me to it! Are there any suggestions as to what category we should start with?
Good idea, Danielle! Interestingly, I was thinking of those myself, too --even though I've never really read about any. So, hopefully, I'll try to put up a poll about some of those characters next month; or maybe sooner, if I get time.
Okay, the poll that Danielle suggested is up, and open for voting as of now; it'll run through September. (The ladies are listed alphabetically; and as with the previous poll, there's an option for "other.") So, if you have a favorite tough female detective, she wants your vote! :-)
I knew most of the ladies in this poll, so rather than voting for other, even though there are others I like better, I picked V.I. since I liked her the best of those offered.
"I'm thinking that, at sometime in the future, we may try this again --only perhaps have each poll focus on a particular action heroine genre/category, as in, say, tough detectives, swordswomen, etc.?"That's a great idea...also, what about a versus thread? You know - Ripley vs Sarah Connor, Xena vs Red Sonia. Members could choose their champion post their reasons as to why a certain heroine should win and the rest of the forum votes.
Cheers
Russ
Russell, I hadn't thought of that idea, but it could be interesting! (Just as a reminder, any group member can create a poll --you don't have to have moderator status to do that.) And if you have a favorite action heroine who fits the profile for our current poll, don't forget to vote for her!
My favorite action heroine is the one I wrote, so I'm biased. Agree that Ripley rocks, however.
C., you've got a perfect right to be prejudiced --for those of us who are authors, our characters are, to us, kind of like kids are to a parent! :-)
I'll be announcing the result of the current poll (for our favorite tough female detective) at the end of the week. (So you still have some time to vote, if you want to!) Do you all want a respite from polling for awhile, or would you be game to have another poll up for next month? And whether we do the next poll then or later, do you have any suggestions about the topic?
Now I wish we could have added Jack Daniels. I just finished reading a book about her plus some short stories. I can't wait until the other books get here.
The poll votes are in! With seven nominated choices, I'd thought that in this poll, Other might not do so well; but with nine votes, it would have won again, if we count it that way. However, this time those votes weren't completely scattered; one lady written in there received more votes than anyone else, including any of the nominated choices, so I thought the only fair thing to do was to count the votes by individual detectives.Therefore, the winner is (drum roll): Angie Gennaro, the female half of Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro detective team, with four votes! Eve Dallas, the series sleuth created by Nora Roberts (writing as J. D. Robb), was a close second with three votes. One vote each went to: Sheriff Joanna Brady, created by J. A. Jance; Sara Paretski's V. I. Warshawski; Saz Martin, created by Stella Duffy; Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the forensic medical examiner created by Patricia Cornwell; Mary Russell, Sherlock Holmes' protege in Laurie R. King's The Beekeeper's Apprentice; Samantha "Sam" Mallet, a P.I. character in one of the stories in Thad Brown's The Smoking Gun Sisterhood collection (that vote came from Thad); and the characters of Manhattan Allen's Lioness series. Despite being nominated, Carlotta Carlyle, Sharon McCone, Kinsey Milhone, and Stephanie Plum got no votes at all. (But being tough, they can take rejection without flinching for even a moment. :-) )
Since we've all had fun with this poll, and nobody voiced any objection to doing another one right away, I've put up another one, which will run through October. This one gives you a chance to weigh in on the question, "Who's your favorite action heroine in urban fantasy?" I know that two of the nominees, Buffy and the Charmed Ones, are mainly TV characters --but there are spin-off novels as well, so they're legitimately literary characters too. (Okay, the critics don't view TV spin-off books as legitimate literature --but then, they don't view action heroine fiction as legitimate literature, either. Too bad for them that they miss out on a lot of reading enjoyment! :-) )
Just as a note to the new members who may not be aware of it: if you have a favorite action heroine in the urban fantasy field, be sure to visit our "polls" section to vote for her in the current poll! It runs though this Sunday.
October's poll results for our favorite action heroine in urban fantasy are in, and we have a winner --or winners. :-) The choice getting the most votes, again, was "Other," with five. But the top vote-getter among individual heroines was Patricia Briggs' shape-shifting series character, Mercy Thompson, with four. She was closely followed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with three. (I'm a fan of Buffy in her movie and TV versions, but didn't vote for her here myself only because I haven't read any of the Buffy books yet --though I want to!) Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan ranked third with two votes.One person voted for the Halliwell sisters of TV's Charmed and its spin-off books. The "Other" votes were also scattered, with one apiece for Kitty Norville, Carrie Vaughn's midnight DJ and werewolf; Sookie Stackhouse, the protagonist of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire series; and Faythe Sanders from Rachel Vincent's Shifters series. (Two of those who voted for "Other" didn't specify whom they meant; but in one case, from a post on another thread, it can be inferred to be Cat Crawfield, from Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress books.) Illona Andrew's Kate Daniels and the early Anita Blake, as Laurel K. Hamilton portrayed her in her first few books, each were strong second choices for someone, but weren't anyone's first choice in this balloting.
At least in this voting, unlike the one those of us in the U.S. will do tomorrow, these ladies didn't sling mud at each other and pester us with robocalls and junk mail. :-) (So these votes are a lot more fun!) I'll see about posting another poll sometime after the first of the year --maybe for TV/movie action heroines next time?
Ooo! 2 of my favorites were at the top. I like Mercy & Rachel. I saw the first Buffy movie with Donald Sutherland & liked it. Never could get into the TV series. I guess I'll get my geek membership revoked over that...
Nah, Jim, you can be a geek even if you didn't get into the Buffy TV series. Sarah Michelle Gellar won't report you to the geek authorities. :-)
We're ringing in the new year in this group with another poll, this one inviting you to pick your favorite movie actress in the action heroine category. (I thought we'd have another poll later for TV actresses.) They don't let us vote on the Academy Awards; but this is your chance to weigh in and select a deserving lady to honor, in a genre that too often doesn't get much respect. This poll will run through January. (My main problem will be picking a favorite!)
Angelina Jolie is the one with the big lips, right? The one Robin Williams said makes you want to lick her lips & stick her on a window? I like her. Weaver & Hamilton got too skinny & butch, but Swanson was cute. I don't know the other two.
It is very hard for me to pick my favorite movie. Too many!
Yes, Jim, Robin Williams did famously make that observation about Jolie's lips. :-) (Personally, I've never thought of them as markedly big; but I've never really noticed them apart from her face as a whole.) I like her and Swanson, too, and Nilsson's Red Sonja as well, but I've never watched a whole movie with any of the other three myself. (At least, not a movie in this genre --I did like Hamilton in Dante's Peak.) But I know that they have a lot of fans for their work!Two other actresses in this field from former decades that I didn't put on this poll are Sybil Danning and Cynthia Rothrock. I've never seen any of their films through either, but from what I've read, they built up strong reputations in the 70s and 80s for this type of role. (Rothrock in particular was quite adept at martial arts; I once tuned into a bit of one of her movies by chance on TV and saw her in action, and I'd compare her karate/kick-boxing skills to Chuck Norris'.
Weaver too skinny ? You must be a sex symbol to a good action heroine ? She is most of the reason Alien series is so legendary. The fact she looked slightly androgyne,badass didnt need sex to be popular is why i think by far she is greatest action heroine. I like Milla,Jolie action roles since they are the only decent ones now but they are not near Ripley class.
Yeah, I like women with some meat on their bones & their female attributes more prominent. When they look like a male, teenage athlete, my libido takes a vacation. It's a fantasy & they just aren't mine when they look like that. In Alien 3, Weaver just didn't do a thing for me, although I do agree that it went a long way to making the whole thing more cohesive & dramatic. The whole alien thing wearing her down to a fine, tough point came across better for her appearance.
Milla is fun, but pretty skinny.
Jim wrote: "Yeah, I like women with some meat on their bones & their female attributes more prominent. When they look like a male, teenage athlete, my libido takes a vacation. It's a fantasy & they just aren..."I see what you mean we all prefer certain looks.
But i dont care if Weaver looked too skinny or not action heroine doesnt have to have a certain look for me.
They tend to be skinny because they choose the women who can move fast,do their stunts well.
Summer Glu in Firefly/Serenity,Milla,Angelina Jolie etc
Summer Glau is a trip. She played her part perfectly. They really did right by her in "Serenity".
Summer Glau is definitely earning her title as an action heroine. I'm excited to watch the tv show The Cape that's coming on NBC soon.
For the first time since we started doing polls in this group, "Other" did not win! The accolade for our favorite movie actress in the action heroine category goes to: Angelina Jolie, with four votes, more than anyone else combined. (Okay, it's not an Oscar, but I'm sure Jolie would still be pleased if she knew!) The only other listed nominee to get votes was Sigourney Weaver (Ripley), with two. "Other" was the choice of one person, divided between Kate Beckinsale and Mila Jovovich of Resident Evil fame.Thad has already created a poll for our favorite TV actress in the same category, to give the fighting ladies of the small screen their due. I cast my vote right away on that one, and I hope many of you all will vote, too!
I have to go with Diana Riggs as Emma Peel. I loved that show.
Forced to vote for just one of the nominees, I picked Peta Wilson as Nikita. But a lot of the others had strong claims to consideration as well, including Rigg. I was a faithful fan of The Avengers, too (and it wasn't because of John Steed :-) )!
He was cool & the reason I kept watching it after that other chick took Riggs' place. I didn't care much for her.
Jolie won im outraged as Weaver fan if this was a film forum or board Alien fans would crush Jolie hehe :)Tv actress i voted for Lucy Laweless. Xena might have been campy fun for most of the fans like me who was a kid in the 90s but she did kick ass in a very believable way. I liked Peta Wilson and Nikita but a warrior princess and a vampire slayer is another level of action heroine ;)
Jim, don't get me wrong; I did like Steed as a character. I just didn't have quite the same kind of reaction to him that I did to Emma. :-) Tara didn't impress me the same way, either; I didn't continue to watch it after she was brought in.Mohammed, I was a big fan of Xena, so she ranks high in my estimation as well! The series was campy, and the writers' blithe disregard for chronology and historical accuracy made for a lot of eye-rolling moments; but that wasn't Lawless' fault, and I felt that she brought the character to life really well. She really showed her chops as an actress, IMO, when she sometimes had to play a different part --someone who looked like her, for instance, or who had been magically made to switch bodies with her-- and she visibly became a different person, just by the whole subtle change of her bearing, mannerisms, expression, etc. No critic would ever give her credit for that, because they treat this type of TV show as beneath their contempt; but she deserves credit, in spades.
Frankly Xena was more like historical fantasy,mythological historal accuracy was not important. Laweless made the show so good.She is still awesome and beautiful in Spartacus tv show. She doesnt look older than she did as Xena.
With 17 total votes, I believe our February poll for our favorite TV actress in the action heroine category had the best response of any of our polls! All the votes are in, and our clear first-place favorite, with 6 votes (as many as the second-place winners combined!) is Lucy Lawless, the incomparable Xena. (Drum roll. :-))Tied for second place were Diana Rigg of The Avengers and Jennifer Garner of Alias, with three votes apiece. The two votes for "Other" were both cast for Sarah Walker of Chuck. (I'm not familiar with that show, but those votes have gotten me interested!) And the other nominees, Peta Wilson of the original La Femme Nikita series, Buffy's TV incarnation Sarah Michelle Gellar, and any or all of the ladies of Charlie's Angels, each got one vote. As someone pointed out in the comments, the Halliwell sisters of Charmed should certainly have been listed as nominees, too! But being good witches, they've promised not to turn Thad (who posted the poll) into a toad for the oversight. :-)
Since folks in the group seem to like these polls, I'll try to post another one later in the year (unless someone beats me to it :-) ), and to get back to heroines of the printed page this time. Meanwhile, we can be thinking about what category we'd like to survey next. (Swordswomen? Cowgirls?)
Best Assasin ? Nice to see Xena winning :)
Mohammed, I knew you'd be gratified to see Xena get the top bragging rights. :-)Assassins could be an interesting category to survey, and thanks for the idea! Maybe we could broaden it to include antiheroines/villainesses in general?
Best villainesses is very interesting. There has been some that are very memorable.
There would be several "villainesses" but I'm not sure how that jibes with "heroines" I suppose if you read it as "main character". As for assassin, I can't think of a lot. I believe Robin Hobb has a series about a female assassin, but I can't think of others(?).It could also be divided by genre. Science Fiction (military, space opera, other subdivisions), Adventure (which might also be subdivided), historical, fantasy etc.
Mike, you're right that villainesses aren't heroines, in the sense that we use the term in our group name. But we do have an antiheroines/villainesses thread, to give the shadier ladies of action fiction their due, since some fans find both types of characters interesting. (Some even find the villainesses more fascinating than heroines, though I don't.) There are actually quite a few female assassins in modern fiction; I haven't read about many of them, but our group shelves have quite a few examples. (Of course, not all of them are villainesses; at least one is a British intelligence agent, who only shoots the deserving. :-) )Focusing a poll or polls by genre is also a good suggestion; there are action heroines to be found in quite a variety of fictional genres!
We haven't done a poll in awhile, so I've just set one up to run through May. Following Mohammed's suggestion, this one deals with assassins, and asks, "Who's the most memorable female assassin you've encountered in your reading?" (As opposed to "favorite," which might imply more approval than would be proper --though despite their line of work, not all of our nominees are out-and-out evil. :-) ) I'm not familiar with many characters of this type myself, but hopefully I've come up with a few worthy choices; and you can always vote for "Other."
How do I vote Werner? I'm not here in GR as much as I'd like..thanks for letting me know Shevata was nominated.. the character would hate the attention (as she returns to "school" in the 3rd out of the 4 novellas I'm writing now). But as her creator, I'm happy about it. Yaay!
C., I suspect most female (and male) assassins do prefer to stay out of the spotlight. :-) To vote, just click on the "polls" link near the top of the group homepage (on the right side as you face the screen). The current poll will be the one right at the top of the Polls page. All the choices will be listed there, so it'll be just a matter of pointing and clicking. If you run into any problems, just let me know. And best wishes with the new novella!
I'm not up on most of these books but I just ordered Act of Redemption. Of course as I will own it so I'll probably move library books ahead of it for a while (LOL) but hopefully I'll get to it soon.
Hey, thank you!! I'd like your opinion, very much appreciated.
I plan review the book (God willing) once I read it. The problem is always more "getting to it". I always end up borrowing books from the library and they have to get read and returned...LOL.
I know about that too...I'm behind on some reading as well. I did get a beta read done today. Never enough time! My books are short novellas, so a reader can usually knock it out in 2 hours, and the second of the four, "Children of Discord" is shorter. I don't 'lean' on readers/reviewers. Everybody does what they can...thanks for the interest..
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