Linkage and thoughts

[oyceter]

Wah. Woke up today and rushed to work for my 9:00 meeting, only to discover that... I had no 9:00 meeting.

*headdesk*

Need to check my calendar better.

Things that I've sort of been thinking about/reading online:

chi_zu complains about the Memoirs of a Geisha trailerMost of my complaints are in the comments. I liked the book when I read it, but that

Comments

[oyceter]

Hrm, that's what I sort of suspected myself... I flipped through the first few pages and bounced off, sporking all the way.

[coffeeandink]

Yeah, I saw the book and was turned off, too. Other Asian romance writers I know of: Marjorie Liu (haven't read) and Karen Harbaugh (part-Asian, part-white, writes Regencies and European historicals; pleasant but not outstanding; haven't read the historicals). There was also an anthology of contemp. Asian-American romance a year or two back, but I didn't get it, which I regret now.

I've been thinking about a giant essay on race & romance with some mentions of other genres, too. I'd love to see yours if you felt up to writing it. Not to pressure you!

[oyceter]

Hrm, interesting! Sigh. I want to support non-European (or even just non-set-in-Great-Britain) romances, but... gah, the writing!

Ooooooooo, I'd love to see your essay!

I am very much debating it now. Either something like that or race and nationality and anime/manga geekery in different countries to submit to that anthology thing (maybe, if I end up not being too tired or something).

[chi_zu]

A bit random, and out of curiousity, but, is there a romance novel tradition/genre in other countires the way there is in the states? I'm trying to think of what I've been exposed to. I know that there are definitely Filipino romance novels, written in tagalog no less. Though the Filipino culture is particularly reflective of American culture as seen through a funhouse amplifier, if that makes any sense. I would consider a lot of shoujo manga to serve that purpose in Japanese culture, but I couldn't speak to solely textual novels. I don't know enough about other kinds of literature to make an observation about other forms.

[chi_zu]

Further clarification, I guess by other countries, I mean non-English speaking. I know that England has a romance, nay even chicklit tradition very similar to ours, I assume for some reason that Australia and Canada do too

[oyceter]

Oooo interesting!! Your thoughts are nifty and interesting thoughts

[chi_zu]

Well, the answer is complicated, so don't feel bad

[rilina]

I'd love to read your essay (or rant) if you ever get around to writing it.

I've been contemplating writing some sort of essay on being a geeky Asian female to submit to that "She's Such a Geek" anthology, but I don't know if I'll have the time for it.

[oyceter]

Oooo, I'd love to read that if you had the time!

I've been thinking about doing the race and romance and genre thing for a while, mostly because I am totally copying coffeeandink and she's mentioned thinking about that essay as well and I'd love to see hers.

I've been also thinking about doing some sort of thing on being an anime/manga fan in different countries and how different it is for that anthology.... not sure, will see.

[pinkdormouse]

I'd like to read your thoughts on race in genre. I worry about getting the balance right between not mentioning race unless there's a very good reason for it (the occult is still very much a white boys' club, so Andrew in the late 80's is going to pay attention to any staff or customers in his shop who happen to be non-white and female). Richard's family are far more bothered about whether people are entirely human, than if they had a non-white grandparent or great-grandparent (even though the latter covers both James' family and Olivia and Imogen's in my head). Susan's been involved with Taj for six years, and she's more bothered by the nineteen year age gap than by the race/culture differences.

So do I need to make more of it, or should I leave my readers to fill in the racial mix of my characters where I've not mentioned it?

Gina

[oyceter]

I think it is a difficult balance! And I think it's tough to say if race is an issue or not. Mostly I guess I notice when a cast is all-white or if there are only one or two minority characters, because my life is not all-white. I've also found that I really like it when race is just sort of casually slipped in -- the minority characters aren't just a sum of various minority traits

[pinkdormouse]

It made total sense. I think part of my problem is that Oxford University in the 1980s is a very white setting, especially when you're looking at the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology. On the other hand I do wonder whether to give Charlotte in my current novel a black boyfriend so I can explore Susan's reactions in one of the subplots. Especially since I can turn that on its head and flashback to Charlotte's reactions when she first met Taj. Yeah, I might do that.

Gina