I have held my tongue long enough but I'm afraid I'm going to rant.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH CURRENT 'IT' FEMALE AUTHORS????
It's bad enough I have to avoid chick lit with patronising and trite phrases such as 'slummy mummy' or 'bridget jones wannabe' but when I try to move out that genre and still find women's writing lacking, we have a problem. I am careful to move along the bookcase, avoiding blurbs that start '40 year old soandso is newlydivorced' or '20 something FuFu wants to find a man'. I know I won't relate to this literature. I am not the sit and wait type. Life won't come and find you, you have to make things happen.
I struggle to find a book that I want to devote time I could be spending knitting. I am however, a book worm and I love nothing better than a book store, especially second hand. I daresay I may like the joy of book shopping more than yarn shopping (not loudly, mind, I could be disowned by my knit sibs).
I was gleeful when my knit group girls suggested starting a book group. We chose a book based on enjoying the debut novel. We all agreed follow ups were hard and it could be a great 'debate' book if it was not what we were all hoping.
What I didn't expect was another diatribe of unrequited, obsessive love. It smacked of Twilight and women who want to be worshiped for all their flaws and pandered to in a way that makes me feel quite sick. YES, I want love. YES, I want to be loved. But NO I do not want to become a parody of all the weak and pathetic things women can be in order to get there. I feel guilty just looking at the female characters of some books I've read lately, I feel I'm putting other women down just by giving them my attention. We all have flaws, but some held under a microscope are desperate to say the least.
Some home truths might be in order:
- If you've run out of love stories, using supernatural characters always means you're on shaky ground (even if they are later cast to look like Robert Pattinson). I'm a secret sci fi/fantasy geek but really? Don't mix genres and hope to make a True Love story. I'll tke my ghosts malevolent and my vampires wicked thank you (which is why Eric always trumps Bill sadly, despit Bill's sexy 'Sookie!!' yells).
- If you're female heroine has to be deceptive, needy or manipulative to get her man, you need to seriously scrutinise your attitude to relationships.
- If I, as a neurotic disaster case cannot identify with a woman you've created with the same MO? Move on.
- If the father in the story is estranged but every man goes weak at the knees whenever they see your female lead? Call your Dad, believe me, he probably wonders why you never do.
Ahem
Normal playful service will resume shortly.
