Boys Who Write Girls Who Write Boys Who Write Girls

As we all know a lot goes into a good book.  You need setting, situation, world building, a decent grasp of the language you are writing in, and of course characters. A really good character is one that you can fall in some sort of emotion with, it could be love, hate, sympathy, empathy, whatever, but a well written character is one you fell something for. Most people tend to like characters that they can identify with in some way.  How many times have you read a book and been "I totally know what that character feels like!" or "not that I would ever do that, but I understand why that character did what he/she/it did".  At the risk of sounding completely biased I would guess that most (not all) people tend to have a stronger identity with characters they have something in common with e.g. gender, race, religion, hobby, talent, location, family, problems and so forth and as potentially limiting as that sounds, I personally think that it's ok.  It does not preclude a person from loving a character that is different from oneself, or even identifying with a character that is completely different, it's just in human nature to find similarities to identify with.  All this preaching and yammering to get to a completely different point. 

I rarely like it when males write females and vice versa.  Hold on now, before you all start freaking out on me, hear me out...then feel free to let me have it :-)  I have been trying to branch out my reading lately (to some small degree of success) and have been trying new authors, styles and genre's.  The one consistent thing I have found is for the most (again not all) part as hard as they try, it is seems to be difficult for another gender (and I am talking all of them male, female, gay, bi, trans, ect.) to fully write a completly accurate portrayal of another gender.  I think without the experiance you can only write what you think the other genders feel/act/think like. This becomes especially problematic when the author uses a first person narrative.  I rarely like the use of first person narrative because it gets you stuck in peoples head to much, but sometimes it works.  When a person from a different gender uses it for the voice of the main character, well to me it's a study in what a person thinks a person should think/feel, versus what a person would probably really think and feel.  Hmmm let me see if I can explain it a little better.  I can only really write this from a straight female perspective so that is what I am going to go with.  Almost every time I read a female character written by a male (especially first person narrative) it always feels like they are trying to get there character to do and say what they think I as a female reader would want them to do and say.  They are either super strong and sassy, or super sweet and vulnerable, or super bitchy and controlling, or super something else.  I have seen this go the opposite way as well, I have read male characters written by female authors and even though I am not a guy been able to see, um yeah that is probably a female talking in a boys voice.  I think it has gotten better to some degree more recently, where it is more allowable for all genders to do whatever they want.  Boys can become nurses, teachers and cooks without too much flak, and girls are actively encouraged to go into traditionally boy fields (says the girl who works at the

firehouse!). Some genre's are better at cross gender writing than others.  Sci-Fi has almost always been a better place for all the genders to meld.  Fantasy, especially some of the newer stuff is starting to explore a more fluid concept of gender, which makes it easier for all genders to get there hands into it. YA is a mixed bag, I have seen some amazing gender study level stuff come out, but there still seems to be a very overarching girls are either super sassy or super sweet and boys are either bad boys with a heart of gold, or the perfect best friend.  Of course there are always glaring exceptions, Robin Hobb is a female author who among other wonderful books wrote the Farseer Series  which not only employs the dreaded first person narrative, but used a male voice as well.  I totally fell in love with the book and the character and it totally blew all my expectations out of the water (note to self, do a rambling on this soon).  Now to be fair, I am not a boy so I'm not sure how well she portrayed the maleness part, but it seemed pretty spot on to me.  Scott Westerfeld has done an amazing job with his Uglies series in which a female is not only one, but two of the main characters. Obviously there are amazing authors out there that can handle any character thrown at them, but for every one of those, there is five that should do a tad more research before attempting to write a different gender. All of this ranting and rambling to say...well...I'm not sure really, just kind of in the mood to rant. 

What do you think of writing for a different gender?  What are some great examples of cross-gender writing?  What are some awful examples of cross-gender writing? How does non-traditional genders play a role? Do you think I am crazy and read way to much into these books?

I Heart Tolkien

If I ever had chance to wonder what my ultimate favorite highly specific genre is, this collection of short stories cinched it for me. The collection is called After the King edited by Martin H. Greenberg, and is a collection of stories written in honor of J.R.R. Tolkien.

This collection of stories is mostly written in the style of high fantasy and the vast majority of these stories manage to convey a huge sense of a world in just a few pages.  As short as they were almost every story in this book instantly took me to far off places and looking up from the pages was almost heartbreaking in the realization that the mundane world was still here.  It's this type of story telling that made me fall in love with reading in the first place.  The ability to take a reader somewhere, anywhere else and let them inhabit these other places and people for a short while is a true gift.  High fantasy is my most favorite of all the genre's, as much as I love to read and explore other types of books, when I am in need of a for sure fix, high fantasy it is, it rarely disappoints and always gives me the escape I look for when I am reading.  This collection stands out for several reasons.  The first reason is that most of the stories are written in the style of Tolkien.  I always found him to be less of a linear beginning to end person and more of a telling a story that's a piece of a larger story that takes place in a bigger universe.  I always felt that this style gave one many options, to be able to tell small personal stories and still have a sweeping epic over all tale.  Many of the stories in this collection give you that same feel.  The second reason is that every story in this book is good, true I enjoyed some more then others, but that's like saying I like dark chocolate sea salt carmals better than coconut truffles, I still love them both, I just have a slight preference for one over the other. Anyways all of the stories are very well written and I would pick up a book by any of these authors (many of which I already have).  I will tell you about of a few of my favorites, just to give you an idea.

A Long Nights Vigil at the Temple by Robert Silverbert-This story kind of blew my mind.  The author actually figured out a way to make aliens high fantasy.  I know, I know it's crazy I tell you, but seriously the care that went into crafting this tale was apparent and the result a work of art that makes one stop and think of how people view religion, stories, myths, fables, prophecies, strangers, etc. So much in so short a story!

The Dragon of Tollin by Elizabeth Anne Scarborough-This tale of inevitability, combined with some amazing verbiage that paints spectacular descriptions of a world that has been destroyed is just lovely.  The ability to convey a whole history through something as simple as a conversation between two strangers is amazing, and of course there is a dragon, which makes this essential fantasy reading. This haunting tale stuck with me for days after I had read it.

The Halfling House by Dennis L. McKiernan-I loved this story right off the bat.  It has a great sense of humor about it and gives homage to every fantasy character you that owes it's existence to the stories of Tolkien.  There are halfings, hobbits, warrows, pixies, leprechauns, gnomes, elves, dwarfs and every other creature you could possibly imagine.  Even better the story itself gives nods to the classic stories.  You can tell that the author has a real love for the stories that proceeded him.

Faith by Poul and Karen Anderson-This is the kind of story nine year old me would have read over and over and over.  It loses no magic now that I am an adult, but growing up I loved stories where kids around my age were the hero's.  This story has the potential to get very dark, but the ending is uplifting and hopeful and just everything you want it to be.  The goblins were terrifying, the kids had courage and the adults were just there to ensure the perfect ending, loved it.

Nine Threads of Gold by Andre Norton-This tale from a master of story telling was probably the most Tolkien like to me.  It was an origin tale, the start of a strong and powerful fellowship that you knew would go on to have many adventures. This story really felt like it was pulled from a longer saga and as great a story as it was on its own, feels like it would fit right into a greater tale.  These kind of stories remind me of the old sagas like Beowulf where the whole was made up of smaller stories.  Incredible.

Ok I could probably write something awesome about every story, but I really want you all to go pick this up and read it.  If you like fantasy in any way, shape or form than you really need this on your shelf.  I can already tell I am going to go back and pick this up and read my favorites over and over again any time I need an escape from the big bad world. I give it 8 out of 10 One Rings.  Happy Reading Everyone!

Ummzzzz

Don't know what to write about today...hmmm, hey look over there that's interesting...must write something...ooh pretty...no no looking at stuff until this post is done...Hey I know I need a nap...or coffee...or a bolt of lightning to the head.  I don't think anything of any import is going to get written today

You all should send me some idea's of what you would like me to ramble on and on about.  In the meantime I am going to go fill up the few spaces I have left in my house with a little online book shopping :-)  Happy Reading everybody!