Howl's Open Salon Blog

learning curve

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:08:30 -0400

re: my Fifty post

Fifty (excuse my F-bomb)

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 21:08:42 -0400

I’ve thought about writing a review of EL James’ Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. But other things have come to mind based on my experience with this book.

I first heard about the book from my cousin. She casually mentioned it when we were at a bridal shower in which sexy nighties and other sexual accoutrements were on display. She confided that her husband had never seen her naked. I confided that I didn’t have sex any more.

Since I don’t have a Kindle I made a trip to the bookstore about 30 miles away. I picked up the first volume only because I didn’t feel like shelling out $50.00 for a trilogy if I didn’t like the first book.

I read the book, and being a voracious reader in need of something to read, I returned to the bookstore for the remaining two volumes. More about my opinion of the trilogy later.

Of course the novels I was looking for were prominently displayed; I didn’t have to go searching. While I was there, I came across a book by Karen Marie Moning that was on a discount table. I remember reading Immortal Highlander so I picked up the volume. Reading the jacket I discovered there was a whole series of Highlander novels. I went to fiction to investigate. No Moning. I enquired where Moning’s books were, and the clerk led me to the Romance section. I was mortified.

I don’t read Romance novels.

When I got home I looked at the back cover of Fifty Shades of Grey. It said “Erotic Romance: Mature Audience”. And I remember seeing copies of Fifty in the Romance section, J and M being reasonably close together alphabetically speaking.

I do not read Harlequin Romances. I don’t read Romance novels.

Yes, I did read Immortal Highlander, and yes, it had all the requisite throbbing, hair thrown back, muscle bulging, and other things bulging. But the story intrigued me. It was about immortals, faeries … there was a story, and as for the romance it included your standard steamy scenes … I guess because I don’t read Romance novels, so I wouldn’t really know what that standard is. But the Highlander is an interesting fictional character with some background, baggage history. There was a movie, and Highlanders are Scottish guys, etc.

EL James’ “Romance” however, left me wanting … content? Story? Reason to keep reading? At first the sexual scenes were somewhat titillating. But I have to say I was highly disappointed in book two, Fifty Shades Darker, when it was revealed that the “darker” part was that Grey was a sadist. Ahem. I’m not an expert on kinky sex, but I thought it was kind of obvious in book one … I mean why all the crops and whips, and the need to inflict pain. It was a let-down in book two that all they said about it was that he was a sadist. That was it. No sadistic scenes, at least nothing much different from the first book.

To me it seems much of the reading public misunderstands what a romance is or is not. I would definitely classify Fifty in the genre of cheap, trashy, pulp, Harlequin-type romance, with some “kinky fuckery” thrown in.

I read a blog posts on Salon.com about romance novels and was shocked when someone commented that The Far Pavilions was a romance. That’s a historical novel. Do Romance novels have to have sex in them? Do some just have undying love and devotion, and (insert appropriate genre-approved term here)?

I have to make a confession. No, I really don’t read Romance novels, at least not as a habit, but it’s true I will read just about anything in print that I can get my hands on, but I don’t, I really don’t read romances. I read historical fiction.

Okay, so some of them might be called historical romances….nah I don’t think so (I don’t believe there is such a sub-genre and I won’t vote for it). After I had been led to the Romance section at the book store I looked to see if one of my favorite authors was located there. She wasn’t in Romance. She was in fiction.

Victoria Holt, Jean Plaidy, Phillipa Carr. A 1993 New York Times article, at the time of her death mentions that her real name was Eleanor Hibbert. The article at first states that she wrote “romantic tales,” but went on to clarify that she depicted strong female characters and that she wrote many historic novels and the article said she was “a pioneer in the romantic suspense or Gothic genre.” Oooh, Gothic Romance … now we’re talkin’ a good read.

I didn’t see anything gothic, historic, suspenseful or depictions of strong women in “Fifty.” I want a real story. I want it woven with fact. I want to be intrigued. In fact, Fifty was so poorly written, that I actually found myself skipping over the sex-scenes to save myself from absolute boredom, because, hey, I was busy looking for the story. (why I don’t know, because I’m not usually an optimist).

Don’t get me wrong, I like popular novels, but the really good ones are popular for a reason. John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Ann Rice, Stephen King. These people can write well in my humble opinion. There’s nothing special in the writing with EL James.

Perhaps I’m jaded; I have read some erotic literature, emphasis on literature, and other erotic books that were way more eye-opening than Fifty. But perhaps I’m jaded because I have read so many well-written books from every possible genre—and Fifty isn’t one of them.

Oh, sorry, to close the circle of my opening anecdote: My cousin mentioned that she had recently had a bath with her husband (how can anyone do that without seeing nakedness?), and I am trying to entice my husband into reading Fifty Shades of Gray to try and … get something, anything happening with the sex life. But after a few pages, he deemed it repetitive and ridiculous. He was right.

References

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/21/books/eleanor-hibbert-novelist-known-as-victoria-holt-and-jean-plaidy.html

I found this photo on Moning’s facebook page. I don’t think it has anything to do with a novel cover.

http://www.facebook.com/KarenMarieMoningfan

Allen Ginsberg

Wed, 1 Aug 2012 16:08:15 -0400

https://notes.utk.edu/bio/greenberg.nsf/0/6f7dd8b9270db5c585256d0d001e0a93?OpenDocument

borrowed this link from Fernsy's blog

blog 2

Tue, 3 Jul 2012 02:07:58 -0400

Blog Post 7/2/2012

It has been a very busy week with my granddaughter. My chair is broken so it makes it even harder to type. I cannot type as fast as I think. ……………………

The older I get the more difficult it becomes to type. I didn’t start out to talk about typing, but that is as good as any place to start.

I have to blog but I don’t want to, I want to run away. But I can’t, can I? Cause I’d love to get the puck outa here.

That’s not a good blog. A good blog is having H here for 5 days. She ( beiBng a little kid) requires me to step up to the plate. Her voice is lilting and full of promise. As they say, now, aging isn’t all that. It sucks. Even middle age.

I don’t feel like there is a venue where I can say what I want. You know what I mean. I’m not even gay. How hard would that be. I just don’t agree with everything my family thinks. Is that a hanging offense?

If only I could get the laundry done. . . That’s my blog today.

Ps the only reason I cant type is because the machine is notsety up for 8it

WORDS Everywhere

Tue, 3 Jul 2012 02:07:28 -0400

What is that strange vibration noise I hear nearby? It's not an earthquake, just something I'm trying to use to rock my world ... or should I say, my words. Words With Friends, and my phone is buzzing!

But, what does Qi mean? And if Re is a word, then why not Un? After a few years of brain atrophy and a few miles on my bod, I've wanted to find a way to exercise my brain. You know, like, if you work crossword puzzles all your life you will add 10 years, or you won't get Alzheimer's......whatever.

I used to have a word game on my Blackberry, Word Mole, that I could play by myself if I wanted to relax (insert vegetate) for a while at the end of the day. It was a timed game in which you had to make as many words as you could out of those supplied on the board or grid. I enjoyed the game and I noticed that it had sort of a garden theme, and when you start thinking along certain lines like gardening all kinds of related words come to mind. It's almost like a subconscious word association prompt, undoubtedly closer to the surface than the subconscious however.

Of course, like 99 % of the rest of the world I replaced my Blackberry with a Smart Phone. No Word Mole! In a search for word games that met my criteria (using my brain to think of words), all I could come up with was Words With Friends. I'm sure I'll date myself if I say my husband had to download it for me, and somehow it is connected to my facebook account....I have no idea how that works. (I know how to download things, but I always back out when they ask for all those permissions...who knows what he let the program do to my phone).

Starting out on Words... my knee-jerk reaction was to come up with long words that showed off my preternatural vocabulary skills ( I just finished reading Ann Rice and borrowed her oft-used word). I started playing with my daughter. I know how smart she is. But I know I have a degree in English! I'm the smarty pants. And my daughter knows that I have always challenged her with words so I knew she would be a worthy opponent. She kicked my butt in a nanosecond. After getting my butt kicked royally by joecool969, I asked her, "Come on, tell me, what is the secret?" She didn't exactly laugh at me but told me there was no secret, and kept her lips zipped.

Obviously, I know how to play Scrabble, but my whole life I played it with an eye to the words. I often won, and sometimes lost--but few could match my vocabulary. But I do like to win. So now I have tools in my Words belt: Xi, vis, Qi, Ed (hunh?), Ha, El, and don't forget the always handy Ta and Nu and Ne. But I still continue to search for the elusive mind blowing seven-letter word with maximum points.

But lest I get too arrogant I have to remember what my oppontent msbrownsugarbabe taught me. If you think you are going to school someone because they used a few three--or four letter words, watch out. They may have Qi in their pocket as well.

As an aspiring writer and former community and magazine journalist, I would like to get back into that business now that the economy is picking up????? Now that newspapers and magazines haven't completely disappeared from the face of the earth (unlike trees?). And I have yet to figure out how to be a freelance writer and make use of the new platform called the...world wide web? Internet? blogging? Online publications....I don't know all the names, but I know what they are, I use them and read them and I can see that this is now a viable platform. People actually do get paid for some writing on the Internet. I think it took a long time, and a lot of free things had to go out there first, but it is coming into its own as a pathway to paid publishing. Anyway, as they say, one has to grease the skids, lube the engine, er hum, you get the idea. So I am exploiting Words With Friends to stimulate my brain.

For my own sanity, for my future as a writer, I need words. I need to think about words, look at words, read words, think of words. This is not your typical advice for a writer, but it is a tiny baby step for me and I like it.