tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post43545489331179036..comments2016-06-02T13:25:57.734-04:00Comments on Christina Mitchell: IWSG: Genre ShameChristina Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01760329784127319240noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-63705367091440575802013-05-22T19:08:57.295-04:002013-05-22T19:08:57.295-04:00Thank you! That's sweet of you to say. My tast...Thank you! That's sweet of you to say. My tastes shift often too. I get into literary fiction kicks, romance, urban fantasy, Y.A. and even true crime. I like a good story and I'm not a snob about it. Christina Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01760329784127319240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-83166633800006861682013-05-17T00:40:05.423-04:002013-05-17T00:40:05.423-04:00great post, I feel kinda similar about fantasy. I&...great post, I feel kinda similar about fantasy. I'm not a big fan of 'literary fiction', so you'll get no jibes from me. If it's written well and with heart, I'll like it. I used to be a mills and boon / Harlequin woman, same as I used to be a mallory towers/famous five/pony club girl. My tastes shift every so often, but I have a soft spot for past loves. Keep writing and don't let the begrudgers get you down (they're only jealous that they can't write it) :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17465460330758905673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-17185800840861033502013-05-04T19:13:42.453-04:002013-05-04T19:13:42.453-04:00Thank you for the high fives Melissa! I'm so s...Thank you for the high fives Melissa! I'm so sorry that anyone ever treated you like that. There is so much snobbery and sexism that still exists and people don't ever stop to question why they behave that way. Everyone says it's a bad genre so it must be, right? Idjits.You were brave to sit up there and take that. I would not have been very cheerful about it. <br /><br />If it isn't ignorami, it should be. Though that also sounds like a kind of fish. <br /><br />Thank you for your kind words. <br /><br />Christina Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01760329784127319240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-42214730148502080632013-05-04T06:03:46.046-04:002013-05-04T06:03:46.046-04:00Amen and high fives!! Thank you for your thoughtfu...Amen and high fives!! Thank you for your thoughtful and wonderful comment on my blog. Robyn sent me right to you and I'm very happy she did. <br /><br />It's just amazing the disparaging comments we get. How easily dismissed we are. I've sat on a guest panel and had been mocked whenever I attempted to answer questions. That my six stories and one novel, all published, were not relevant when compared to the unpublished works of the three mystery writers, the one sci fi writer who had book being looked at by an agent and the Christian writer who thus far only been published with her church. They all knew better than me the publishing industry, even scoffing at my publisher as being nothing more than an on-line porn site. Well, I cheerfully replied that my work was available on Amazon, that I had an actual author page there and when was the last time they received a royalty check for their work. Ignorami! Or is that ignoramuses?<br /><br />Keep going strong, my fellow Wolowitz and cool points for sweater yams. ;)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443736284850057306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-73699023120881301852013-05-03T22:59:12.160-04:002013-05-03T22:59:12.160-04:00Romance has come a long way since those old cheesy...Romance has come a long way since those old cheesy titles and covers I remember reading as a preteen (just for the sex scenes at that age!). I think a lot of people who disparage romance have never actually read one, or haven't read one in a good long while. They probably don't even know there are sub-genres within romance, like sci-fi, historical, sweet, Christian, contemporary, and Western. Good romance and erotica is an artform just like any other genre. <br /><br />I'm amazed at some of the amateur erotica I've seen on writing sites, and am glad when people comment and say that good romance/erotica needs a real storyline and character development, not just a rush to the sexy bits. Some of these amateur writers I've read aren't just lacking in writing skills, but haven't even done basic research for their own genre! I was so embarrassed for the writer of one recent erotic story I read, where s/he described the G-spot as being outside the body!Carrie-Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05810154378449825641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-34373180443960935092013-05-02T11:07:40.654-04:002013-05-02T11:07:40.654-04:00"This became longer than I wanted." LOL..."This became longer than I wanted." LOL, that's what she said?<br /><br />But seriously, perhaps you are the Rajs. Valuable, misunderstood, difficult to articulte your awesomeness. Fantasy is awesome! Phooey to normal! Where is the challenge in that? I imagine lots of extraordinary people had folks trying to tell them to quit being so unusual. But who does history remember? The normal or the extraordinary?<br /><br />I think the covers you are talking about are the old school romances, the ones in nightmarish bright hues where the couple are wrapped in an embrace that isn't physically possible and the guys have mullets and the wind is blowing from three different directions? Did you know those covers were created to attract men? Males ran the bookstores back in the day and in order to get them to order romance novels, the publisher would put those garish, too sexual covers on and the men would order them. A lot of the covers now are much more discreet and intriguing than they used to be. Christina Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01760329784127319240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-81537366769554659902013-05-02T11:02:32.517-04:002013-05-02T11:02:32.517-04:00Amen, sister. Also -- I know exactly what you mean...Amen, sister. Also -- I know exactly what you mean about job shame and it suuuucks. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11952125198101179121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-31571751422557269902013-05-02T10:05:07.884-04:002013-05-02T10:05:07.884-04:00*giggle* Sweater yams. Go, you! Stick up for yours...*giggle* Sweater yams. Go, you! Stick up for yourself.<br /><br />People understand Sci-Fi, but oh my God, when I tell people I write Fantasy, I watch their eyes glaze over with confusion or disinterest. One person even said, "Oh, like Star Wars?" NO, that's Sci-Fi. That was a 5-minute conversation of trying to explain the difference. -_- So maybe Fantasy writers are the Rahjs?<br /><br />I also think it has to do with when other black people ask me what I write, they expect me to say stuff like Zane (who I've never read) or someone, and that stuff doesn't interest me. My mom even asked me when I got a rejection from a major company, "Have you ever thought of writing normal stuff?" Never felt so misunderstood until then.<br /><br />I'd never count out romance because I'm a romantic. The covers often turn me off, but I'll blame the artist on that one.<br /><br />This became longer than I wanted. XDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-60733484369546056322013-05-02T09:52:24.812-04:002013-05-02T09:52:24.812-04:00Definitely, some of it is terrible. But I've r...Definitely, some of it is terrible. But I've read some literary fiction that was terrible too. It's very easy to dismiss a genre but how silly is it to do so? It's like saying all cars are bad because some of them break down sometimes. Well yeah, but overall cars are awesome!<br /><br />Norah Roberts tells an interesting story in the book, "Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches Guide to Romance" about the time in her life when she transitioned to writing mystery novels and how a fellow mystery writer slapped her on the back and congratulated her, saying something like, "How does if feel to be a real writer now?" Nora had sold millions of books, was a household name, comfortably well off and won tons of awards for her romances but this mystery writer really felt as though none of that counted for anything because of the genre. <br /><br />I will keep right on ignoring the buttwads.Christina Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01760329784127319240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-79465752244716710452013-05-02T09:37:33.397-04:002013-05-02T09:37:33.397-04:00Yes, I too have downplayed it by sweeping it aside...Yes, I too have downplayed it by sweeping it aside with my hand or saying, "I JUST write romance". It's a bad habit and it defeats us. I do the same thing with my day job, "I'm JUST a receptionist". Because I'm a little embarrassed to be one and I hand that shame to anyone who asks about my job. <br /><br />We need to quit downplaying the thing that is so very important to us. We (and our genre) deserve better. Christina Mitchellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01760329784127319240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-78159910574325014112013-05-02T08:43:34.658-04:002013-05-02T08:43:34.658-04:00You make so many great points, Mencara. Geeze, peo...You make so many great points, Mencara. Geeze, people can be such idiots. I admit I've bashed Nora Roberts out of pure jealousy. And some of it is garbage, but so is some of it from every genre. I had a friend suggest I write romance novels. I dismissed the idea. It'd be too challenging for me. So keep ignoring the butt-wads and keep doing your thing.<br /><br />xoRobynRawknrobyn.blogspot.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15997241410192066577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8609284582131445193.post-44419537702122099862013-05-02T04:06:00.958-04:002013-05-02T04:06:00.958-04:00I have to admit that I've sort of played to th...I have to admit that I've sort of played to the judgy people by replying that I write "girly stuff" or "silly romance novels." It seemed easier to place myself and my chosen genre at the bottom of the Writing Pyramid before they could. Shame on me, eh? <br /><br />BUT! I've stopped doing that. <br /><br />Also? That boy was a douchy douche bag with greasy hair. He was probably just jealous because woman would rather read novels like ours than date him. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11952125198101179121noreply@blogger.com