LitBlog Co-Op

Katharine Weber Gets Pivot-ed

New_weberBefore the Aussie day posting starts, let’s see what Katharine Weberwhose Triangle is all the rage over at the LBC this week — has to say to the Bernard Pivot Questionnaire. (Inspired by the ladies of Seven Impossible Things, I asked Nicola these questions last week, you’ll remember.) Katharine’s answers are absolutely delightful (especially #5).

   

1. What is your favorite word?    
       Lunch.

2. What is your least favorite word?    
    Moist.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?    
    Echoes and integrity.

4. What turns you off?    
    Dishonesty and ugliness.

5. What is your favorite curse word?    
    Fuckwit.

6. What sound or noise do you love?
    The shuffling of a deck of cards.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?
    Other people’s television.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
    Psychotherapist.

9. What profession would you not like to do?
    Manual disimpaction technician.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
      Love your work!

Katharine Weber Gets Pivot-ed Read More »

And the LBC Goes On (+ Always Redux)

The feisty and fabulous Melissa Moorer has weighed in on Always, and I don’t want y’all to miss it. So consider this a brief Always Week revival. Among the things she has to say is:

So, since I’m in a brain cloud, I’m going to do what shouldn’t be done and talk about the queer thing. I realize that this is a no-no. There’s the fear that this will somehow ghettoize these books (and therefore doom them to mediocre sales) and Yes, I know, we’re supposed to be talking about the writing, the structure, the characters, but Aud’s gay! And strong! And this is (surprisingly) not a combination I see very often. In fact, I’ve seen the argument repeatedly that we shouldn’t want strong female characters to be gay (I’ve seen this argument most around Starbuck, and typically made by lesbians) because that would somehow stereotype all strong women as lesbians. Why is this so terrible? Apparently it is. Most of the lesbians in media are very…well, they certainly couldn’t kill anyone with a flashlight. In fact, I’m pretty sure they couldn’t change a tire or make a fist either. They’re almost always stripped of strength, power, and anything that signifies butch and or even queer. They read as straight girls (and I mean that in the worst possible, hyper-feminized way)…who just happen to like other girls. And the tough women? They’re almost always straight (Starbuck, Ripley, The new Bionic Woman, Faith, Buffy, Sydney, Veronica Mars). I’ve even seen people argue vehemently that Vasquez in Aliens was straight, which completely breaks my brain, but it’s not like there’s any concrete evidence to the contrary.

You’ll really, really want to go read the rest.

Meanwhile over at the LBC, Levi Asher has taken over the discussion reins and is doing some fun stuff in honor of Katharine Weber’s Triangle. Don’t miss: this excellent interview, her 5X5 books, and some thoughts from Scott Esposito.

And the LBC Goes On (+ Always Redux) Read More »

Don’t Miss Friday!

And Always week wraps up today with a podcast by the Amazing Carolyn Kellogg aka Pinky. Music and talking from Nicola! (And embarrassing babbling by yours truly.)

And yesterday Hannah Wolf Bowen posted a nice review of the book you should check out.

Thanks to all y’all for commenting and following along. Please, if I haven’t convinced you yet, buy this book and read it. I’ll try to round up all the festivities in one big post over at the LBC tomorrow for easy revisiting.

Don’t Miss Friday! Read More »

Nicola Griffith Gets Pivoted

NicolagriffithOne of my very favorite blogs in the world is Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast. They do these lovely, long interviews, which they always finish with the Pivot Questionnaire — you may know it from The Actor’s Theatre (which must be pronounced theat-ah). Inspired by Jules and Eisha at SITBB, I asked Nicola these questions while impersonating James Lipton. If these were not paricularly what you wanted her to answer, well, she’s over at the LBC today guest blogging and you can bring your own. Here we go.

1. What is you favorite word?
    Mine!

2. What is your least favorite word?

    Share.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

    Focus, clarity, enthusiasm.

4. What turns you off?

    Wittering and whingeing.

5. What sound or noise do you love?

    Wind in the trees.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?

    The yapping of small dogs.

7. What is your favorite curse word?

    Fuck.

8. What profession other than your own would like to attempt?

    Something to do with flow, literally or emotionally. In science, studying wave mechanics or surface tension. In arts and crafts, pot throwing or bronze sculpting. In corporate life, the fostering of innovation — idea flow.

9. What profession would you not like to do?

    Driving a school bus.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

    Fancy a pint?

Nicola Griffith Gets Pivoted Read More »

Don’t Miss Wednesday

Don’t Miss Wednesday Read More »

Don’t Miss (updated)

Updated:

Really, really, really don’t miss Nicola’s guest essay at Booksquare about the difficulties (and joys) of writing a series character who changes and genre expectations and the whole ball of wax. A snippet:

I hadn’t set out to write a series character (I was halfway through The Blue Place before I understood the novel was merely the first act of the play that was Aud); I’d never really considered how it might be to write more than one book from first person. I wasn’t ready. So when I sat down to write Stay in the same bullet-train, cold-edged, urban-metaphored style as The Blue Place, I was shocked that it wouldn’t work. Aud was not only in a different geographic and emotional place, she persisted in seeing and responding differently. I kept writing then throwing away chapters, and then one day, duh, it hit me: change the metaphor systems, change the focal length, change the expectations. That is, change the voice. Just don’t change it too much.

Don’t Miss (updated) Read More »

Always & Forever Awesome

AlwaysOver at Bookslut, Colleen Mondor has given a rave review to Nicola Griffith’s fabulous Always. As you might recall, it’s my pick for the LitBlog Co-op for this round, which is coming up very, very soon. In earlyish August, actually, we’ll kick off the discussion. If you’d like to be in on that, either with a post at your own site or some other grand or teeny plan, please let me know. Drop a comment here or send me an email (link up and to the right). Danke!

And if you haven’t read it yet, there’s still plenty of time to do so and join the talkity talk.

Always & Forever Awesome Read More »

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