Tag: lady business

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Other worlds: Rowling returns with The Casual Vacancy

J.K. Rowling. The author’s first non-Harry Potter book, The Casual Vacancy, is coming out on tomorrow. ‘Cozy village mystery’ is not a genre we’d cover if Rowling wasn’t writing it, but there is an interesting profile in The New Yorker for the occasion. Naturally, the part that went viral was the quote about sex and unicorns, but if you’re in the mood for a 10-page profile on Jo Rowling, well. Meanwhile, she told The Guardian that she promised her editor she wouldn’t read Fifty Shades of Grey. If we don’t ask every woman in publishing about the ex-fanfic smut, does the ex-fanfic smut win?

It’s (almost) the end of a Big Fat Fantasy era. The final book of the Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, will be released in January. Dragonmount’s Jason Denzel read the book, and shares some (spoiler-free) reaction and memories. meanwhile, fans can grab the book’s prologue on Amazon, while Tor offers the first chapter.

Adaptions. The latest YA book on the hoping-to-be-the-next-Twilight-franchise assembly line, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Beautiful Creatures, debuted its first trailer last week, and it looks, well, like a gender-swapped Twilight. (She’s a witch; he’s normal.) I did read the book a while back, and was distinctly unimpressed. The movie features Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Irons and Emmy Rossum in supporting roles. Meanwhile, Dreamworks has optioned Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone. It will be produced by Harry Potter’s David Heyman.

All the powerful ladies. Tor’s Liz Bourke presents an argument against copping out on women in historical fantasy.

Do not want. Robin Hobb is quietly working on a new Fitz novel, a prospect which fills me with dread. Her breakthrough Farseer Trilogy is all well and good, but the second set of Fitz books were probably about 90% chaff and whining. (Despite that, I think parts of the ending – not Fitz – did actually make me cry. YMMV.) Is the character going to be Hobb’s Lestat? Speaking of, Anne Rice is asking her fans why they want Lestat to come back. Dear lord, no. I could write whole essays for her second question.

Also: Terry Brook’s Shannara series optioned for TV; Naomi Novik talks writing and fan fiction; A visual history of the Hugo’s Best Professional Artist winners.

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Convention tip: Don’t be a creeper, or, basic human decency 101

There’s been a lot of talk about people being inappropriate at conventions lately, in large part because of an incident at ReaderCon last month with author Genevieve Valentine. (Here’s a very long list of all the posts/responses/reaction.) It’s a disturbing story, in large part because it’s by no means uncommon, and thus something I felt I had to address in this series.

Yes, a lot of the things under the cut are ‘common sense’ about treating people respectfully and acting like a functional adult in public. But not common enough, sadly.

There was one incident at the last Celebration that was widely publicized. Was it the only one? Was it even the most extreme? I can’t say. I do know I’ve seen at least one woman talk about being made to felt uncomfortable by other attendees at CV, and that’s more than enough reason to write this.

Continue reading “Convention tip: Don’t be a creeper, or, basic human decency 101”

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So Leia’s in an X-Wing… Now what?

Reaction to the new Star Wars comic has been, in a word, mixed. There’s been the expected asides about canon and continuity from the usual quarters, of course. (I’ve already said all I need to say on that.) But today, the headline news from this has been, unquestionably, this from Wood on Tumblr: “Oh yeah, Leia’s an X-Wing pilot.”

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Wood elaborated:

Leia is not going to be sitting around in a gown attending a lot of meetings — she has her blaster and an X-wing and is out there with Luke and Wedge working on building the Alliance back up after losing so much. I really wanted to put Leia into the mix, holding her own in battle.

On the one one hand, of course I would like to see Leia get more of a role. On the other hand, we already know Leia’s a badass and a better shot than most of the dudes: Does putting her in an X-Wing really show a new dimension to her character?

Yes, this again. Here’s the thing: We are constantly told Leia is a brilliant politician, but how often do we actually see that aspect of her – her actual career? Every once and a while in the books, right before things go sour and the blasters (or, more recently, the lightsabers) come out?

I’m not against putting Leia in an X-wing. This is not really specific to Star Wars, the Comic. (And a comic book is almost certainly not the place for that sort of Senator Organa anyway.) I just wish when we got more Leia, it would be less about the size of the lasers she’s shooting and more about adding some dimension to an aspect of her character that’s been shamefully neglected.

And hell, maybe Wood will go there between battle scenes. Obviously, I have no idea. I just wish we could click off a box other than Action Girl every once and a while.

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New Her Universe gear available to all

You don’t have to go all the way to Disney World to stock up on the latest shirts. All Her Universe’s new Star Wars stuff is now online to order at Her Universe now – including both new charms and the shirts that debuted on Hot Topic earlier in the month.

Plus-sizers, alas: The only shirt that comes in extended sizes seems to be the Dolman top (on the right) and it appears to only go up to 1X at the moment.