Space Marine and Dragonwrangler Bar & Grill

[BigWords]

Originally Posted by lilyWhite

Just about every story I've written has had lesbian characters in it, usually including the protagonist.

*thinks*

So... Ghost Bureau has 2 (I think), the 2nd SF thing has the MC, while the first only has robots and children - though it gets a pass on being classed as YA by virtue of the heavy Rwandan influence (damn - another recurring theme is people being stuck in a warzone), and there are "fluid" characters in nearly everything. Bellamy would sleep with anyone given half a chance.

[jallenecs]

Originally Posted by Reservoir Angel

The main thing I'm worried about with writing homosexuality and man-on-man romance into everything is that if one of said things gets published, I'll have to deal with rampant homophobes. And at this point in my life I'm really sick of dealing with them. I used to find it fun to bicker with them, but the novelty is long gone now.

Umm... well, to be blunt, you're a homosexual. You're going to end up dealing with homophobes, whether you write gay romances or not. Fair? Not really. But this is what IS.

Go ahead and write what you want. You're going to have to deal with assholes either way. At least this way, you'll have gotten to have the fun of writing what you enjoy.

Well, who doesn't? Seriously, Americans loving people with English accents seems to be frightfully common. Another reason I need to visit and/or move to America. The accent gets me no play here at all, because everyone has it.

QFT

[BigWords]

Originally Posted by Reservoir Angel

The main thing I'm worried about with writing homosexuality and man-on-man romance into everything is that if one of said things gets published, I'll have to deal with rampant homophobes.

I have been thinking about this, and... if the homophobes don't latch on to the fact that a bunch of my characters are gay, then the racists are gonna be all over the fact that I have colored characters in roles filled traditionally by white, blond-haired, lantern-jawed heroes. It is discouraging to think that there are some people who will be reading merely to rip things apart and point out all the things which aren't "right", but that doesn't mean we should pander to an audience - if anything, becoming more determined to subvert opinion is a way to go.

[jallenecs]

Originally Posted by BigWords

I have been thinking about this, and... if the homophobes don't latch on to the fact that a bunch of my characters are gay, then the racists are gonna be all over the fact that I have colored characters in roles filled traditionally by white, blond-haired, lantern-jawed heroes. It is discouraging to think that there are some people who will be reading merely to rip things apart and point out all the things which aren't "right", but that doesn't mean we should pander to an audience - if anything, becoming more determined to subvert opinion is a way to go.

Now THAT is a topic that makes me nervous about my writing. I don't put people of color into my stories because I DON"T KNOW ANYBODY OF COLOR! It's not because I'm a racist. It's because I can count on one hand the number of black or Asian people I know. I'd rather skip it altogether than try to fake it and get it wrong.

I've already been jumped on (in the audio drama community) for being a woman writer who is NOT writing female leads. I've told them, over and over, that the male voice feels more natural to me, but apparently that's not a good enough answer.

(honestly, I really prefer to write married couples in lead roles. I've been married since I was nineteen years old; I grok the married couple dynamic much better than singletons, of either gender)

[BigWords]

Originally Posted by jallenecs

Now THAT is a topic that makes me nervous about my writing.

I'm actually rather amazed that I get so much leeway IRL - most people, on first glance, would probably think "average white guy"... Then they get to know me, and discover that so much of my brain is filled with things from other cultures. Although I have had a couple of jibes online about not having the right to speak about certain things because I am white.

There will always be someone looking for something to complain about.

[AceTachyon]

Originally Posted by jallenecs

Over many years of reading and writing, I've noticed that writers find themes that they keep coming back to, over and over.

I seem to keep coming back to the strong female character who shoots and fights but is still female. I think it has to do with having a huge crush on Miriya Parina from Robotech back in high school.

Which later led to being a fan of Xena, Buffy, Nausicaa, etc.

[Stanley_Ford]

Originally Posted by 10trackers

Tell us more about this party. It sounds better than any party I've been to, ever.

Not much too it really. Just the mother of my brother-in-law's child coming to collect the little girl about 2.5 hours early, waltzing into my house uninvited and my wife going all Jerry Springer on her. Had to rip them apart like they were massive sheets of velcro. Finally got them outside and had to do it again twice more before my wife finally called the police to have her removed for trespassing. She was then forced to leave or be arrested, without her daughter. YAY redneck nation... le sigh. I really hate drama.

Originally Posted by _Sian_

Totally revised my story line for SS. Talk about a rewrite.

Ditto

Originally Posted by LadyV

ION: I nearly got into an accident coming home from work. Some a-hole from New Jersey decided he didn't want to yield while coming on to the highway. I had to slam on my breaks. The scariest part? I don't even think the guy saw me until I laid the horn on him.

Glad you are safe and sound now.

Originally Posted by cameomac

Hope your wife feels better.

Much thank you, and she didn't get sick until after the aforementioned visit by the police.

Originally Posted by Raventongue

Before I go recharge my netbook batteries, I just had to show you all this:

This made me giggle.

Originally Posted by hillaryjacques

Happy Birthday, Max!

Sorry I missed it Max. Glad you had a good one.

Originally Posted by BigWords

The only cure for stupid is permanent. And often messy...

I should hope it is permanent, if not it wouldn't be a cure.

Originally Posted by Fenika

Yes, but people of worth have to pick up the slackers slack. And then the slacker says 'why do they schedule doctor's appointments during work hours?' As if they have sole monopoly on the right to leave work because they are so fking special.

Said person also came to me about a crisis, which I don't think I shared because the stupid hurt too much:

Stupid: I need to take a longer break. Maybe. I'm not sure, but it's really important.

Me: ummm. What?

S: I am trying to get in touch with my kid's school but no one is answering right now.

M: ummm. We are done work in a few hours. You can call then.

S: No, it's really important.

M: You can't just take a longer break to call someone. It affects the team. Leave the person a message.

S: But the teacher assigned my kids a book to read and I just found out it has drug use in it.

M: Um, you do realize sheltering your kids will only make them more likely to experiment, yes?

S: But it's not just that.

M: *Attempts to give a damn about this conversation. Fails.*

S continues, in a lowered voice: It has gay people in it.

M: *I consider lying and saying I'm gay* None of this is a good reason to take an extended break. And your attitude toward homosexuality is really inapropriate *feels really sorry for her kids, regardless of orientation*

S: *babbles*

M: This is not an emergency. Get back to work.


There's just no helping people this thick.

I could make a day trip to help fix that issue.

Originally Posted by jallenecs

You mean cynicism and poor personal hygiene?

Hey now...

Originally Posted by zanzjan

I'm back, folks. Did you miss me? There's no way I'm backreading four days' worth of posts, but hopefully everyone is well and was busy writing their little fingers off while I was gone

SF convention was awesome fun, but yikes am I tired.

I was going to say yes, but then you didn't share pictures from your trip and now I have a sad.

Originally Posted by Tifferbugz

Tea, wine, and vodka?

...These are a few of my favorite things!~

Scotch, Whiskey, and Burbon
Tequila, Rum, Jager are.. Ok, I'm stopping this now before I go crazy.

Originally Posted by Fenika

I need to sell the warhorse by March or April. Money will flow the right way after the horsie has found a new home.

This makes me sad for you. I don't know why, but it does.

Originally Posted by jallenecs

I have an idea for a paranormal romance. i don't even LIKE paranormal romance.

Make the idea go away!!!!

Make Mal blow it up?

Originally Posted by Kricket

Guys, I am shaking, literally shaking, because I am so pissed right now. If this bitch wasn't on the other side of the continent I'd slap her and shake her so hard her little tiny brain would fall out through her nose.

And now I've stirred up some drama on FB. But I just couldn't keep silent. I can't just listen to her filthy lies as she tries to make a martyr of her self, again.

It's anger like this that prevents me from having a weapon. I very seriously might kill people if given half the chance.

Sorry. You can now return to your regularly scheduled craziness.

*runs and hides all of the weapons in the Cantina* I can understand the hate of drama.

Originally Posted by jallenecs

Hugs for Kricket, poor thing. Go ahead and burn her in effigy; it's satisfying without actually being felonious.



Whoo hoo!!!

*starts stripping*

Turn up the music, I see nekkid dancing in my future!




Wait. The heat's turned up high in the Cantina, right? I'm not freezing my nekkididity if I don't have to.

It will be when K starts the effigy.

[QUOTE=Kricket;7900385So, tonight, Mr. K and I will be experiencing our first D&D game. I'm excited. [/QUOTE]

YAY for DND!! Every Friday night in my house.

Originally Posted by N.P. Browning

So I received a rejection from the Harper-Voyager thing today. I was expecting it, wasn't letting my hopes get too high so I wouldn't be bummed out. Still, surprised how much it hurts.

*hugs* Suck man. Sorry to hear.

Originally Posted by jallenecs

Dear God, I get into the most bizarre conversations. My niece is sitting here in front of me, telling me about the soap opera that is middle school. Apparently there's this guy named Burrows, who is, and I quote, "The Love Guru of the Eighth Grade." She also described him as a "Cherokee yenta."

Wow. Just wow.

I don't know what to say to this...

Originally Posted by _Sian_

Hyperactive border collies are a menace. I am now missing half a toe nail and have had to put my education to practical use on myself.

Not the start to the morning I was hoping for.

Good thing you have it though.

Originally Posted by Raventongue

Agh, the only thing more annoying than my dad being difficult is my dad being difficult in my email inbox via his phone. Complete with U instead of "you" and 1-sentence responses.

Text speak makes me crazy. Sorry you're having to deal with it on top of your dad being crazy.

Originally Posted by lilyWhite

New resolution: Only allow myself to change avatars on the first of every month.

Any bets on how long until I give in?

48 hours from now.

Originally Posted by Reservoir Angel

The main thing I'm worried about with writing homosexuality and man-on-man romance into everything is that if one of said things gets published, I'll have to deal with rampant homophobes. And at this point in my life I'm really sick of dealing with them. I used to find it fun to bicker with them, but the novelty is long gone now.

Don't let them get to you. Just know that it is their own personal lack of selfesteem that leads to them being too stupid for society.

Originally Posted by Reservoir Angel

Well, who doesn't? Seriously, Americans loving people with English accents seems to be frightfully common. Another reason I need to visit and/or move to America. The accent gets me no play here at all, because everyone has it.

I prefer a good Aussie accent personally.

Originally Posted by AceTachyon

I seem to keep coming back to the strong female character who shoots and fights but is still female. I think it has to do with having a huge crush on Miriya Parina from Robotech back in high school.

Which later led to being a fan of Xena, Buffy, Nausicaa, etc.

And we are totally thankful for that.

ION: Sorry for disappearing for two days again. Had to be at work for extra hours the last two days and I was out cold by 11:30pm last night. Wow that was a lot of quoting. Ok going back to writing on my story.

[eyeblink]

Originally Posted by BigWords

I'm actually rather amazed that I get so much leeway IRL - most people, on first glance, would probably think "average white guy"... Then they get to know me, and discover that so much of my brain is filled with things from other cultures. Although I have had a couple of jibes online about not having the right to speak about certain things because I am white.

There will always be someone looking for something to complain about.

I'm with Henry James on this. A writer has a right to deal with any subject he or she chooses. How well or badly he or she does it is entirely valid comment on the result, of course.

As it happens, I don't know that many people of colour, though do know some. Writing from a POC viewpoint is something I would be hesitant to do, because I feel I wouldn't do it very well. Maybe I should try sometime - I do believe we should push ourselves out of our comfort zone now and again.

On the other hand, I do have a lot of female friends and I work in an office where the ratio is more than 3:1 women to men. Also, I belong to a writing group that's always hovered around a sex ratio of 50:50, so quite a few people who can put me right if I slip up on anything. So that's a (superficial) answer as to why I do include a lot of female characters in my fiction, including quite a few female protagonists and/or first-person narrators. (I've also written male protags, both gay and straight.) I've sold female-POV stories to female editors, so hopefully I'm not getting too many things wrong.

In short, if you don't know something from first hand, you do your research and that includes asking people if possible. I've found that for the most part people appreciate it if you make efforts to get these things right and don't just fall back on stereotypes.

[Silver-Midnight]

Well, I'm quite tired, but thankfully, I only have one more thing to read. Hopefully, it won't take me that long and then I can go to bed. I only have a little bit more to read.


I didn't get a chance to read more of the last galley that I have right now. Hopefully, I can get it to it soon so, I can go ahead and finish it up and the get the review for it posted. I'm little bit over half-way done with it. So, not that much but still a fair amount to get through.

[Fenika]

Morning. Pass the tea and comfort breakfast. No pork though

Zzzz.

[aliwood]

Originally Posted by Fenika

Morning. Pass the tea and comfort breakfast. No pork though

Zzzz.

Morning

and one meat free breakfast arriving *Makes room for oatmeal and world's tallest stack o'toast*

I seriously need to watch a lot of comedy or something. I am just at the moment. Me and this time of year don't really get along. I should move to a lower latitude I think, better for my brain.

I did manage to afford some bird food yesterday, so the poor little frozen things will at least have something to eat today. I bet when I get outside it's all gone.

I need to work on my SS story today. Someone please find my motivation. I don't want to flunk. I really don't, but my brain is just hitting the hibernation mode button.

[Black-Marlin]

Originally Posted by aliwood

I need to work on my SS story today. Someone please find my motivation. I don't want to flunk. I really don't, but my brain is just hitting the hibernation mode button.

I have a rare day off and so I'm trying to crank out a couple of thousand words of the WIP. I too want to procrastinate. But I'll get on with it if you get on with yours...and you wouldn't want to be responsible for me falling behind, now, would you?

And besides, I have kick-assery to write, and I'm looking forward to it.

BM

[aliwood]

Originally Posted by Black-Marlin

I have a rare day off and so I'm trying to crank out a couple of thousand words of the WIP. I too want to procrastinate. But I'll get on with it if you get on with yours...and you wouldn't want to be responsible for me falling behind, now, would you?

And besides, I have kick-assery to write, and I'm looking forward to it.

BM

Deal. Now, go kick that ass.

*Pours more coffee*

[_Sian_]

A boy two years my senior at high school and a co-worker at the supermarket I work at just passed away. Car accident apparently.

I only knew him in passing, but it makes me incredibly sad. 23 is far, far too young.

[10trackers]

Originally Posted by Black-Marlin

I have a rare day off and so I'm trying to crank out a couple of thousand words of the WIP. I too want to procrastinate. But I'll get on with it if you get on with yours...and you wouldn't want to be responsible for me falling behind, now, would you?

And besides, I have kick-assery to write, and I'm looking forward to it.

BM

Woooord waaaars in the chatrooooooom!

[10trackers]

Originally Posted by _Sian_

A boy two years my senior at high school and a co-worker at the supermarket I work at just passed away. Car accident apparently.

I only knew him in passing, but it makes me incredibly sad. 23 is far, far too young.

I'm sorry, Sian

[_Sian_]

Thanks 10. It sounds cliched, but I hate when someone has their whole life ahead of them and this happens. I mean, he'd only just graduated from university. He had all this stuff to get to, to enjoy and experiance.

[Reservoir Angel]

Originally Posted by jallenecs

Umm... well, to be blunt, you're a homosexual. You're going to end up dealing with homophobes, whether you write gay romances or not. Fair? Not really. But this is what IS.

Go ahead and write what you want. You're going to have to deal with assholes either way. At least this way, you'll have gotten to have the fun of writing what you enjoy.

This is true. They have problems with me automatically just for existing, so I shouldn't really care if making one of my MCs gay and the other one bisexual gets on their nerves.

Besides, I normally consider baiting homophobes to be quite fun sport. Which probably makes me sound like more of a prick than I intended it to, but whatever. It's just fun to wind up ignorant people and watch them explode.

Originally Posted by jallenecs

Now THAT is a topic that makes me nervous about my writing. I don't put people of color into my stories because I DON"T KNOW ANYBODY OF COLOR! It's not because I'm a racist. It's because I can count on one hand the number of black or Asian people I know. I'd rather skip it altogether than try to fake it and get it wrong.

I'm in the same boat. I have to really struggle to think of any people of colour that I associate with on any recurring basis.

This is the same reason I'm hesitant writing female characters. Because the only females I have any permanent association with are my mum and my faghag and neither of them are your 'normal' female by any stretch, they're both either insane or just act like a man.

Originally Posted by Stanley_Ford

Text speak makes me crazy. Sorry you're having to deal with it on top of your dad being crazy.

I'm the same way. I can never bring myself to talk in text speak. Which used to drive my friends crazy because whenever I'd reply to one of their texts they'd get like a full paragraph, all written in full with proper punctuation and everything.

Then again apparently I also talk in a weird, very formal way a lot of the time as well. So maybe that's just me being naturally a bit poncy.

Originally Posted by Stanley_Ford

Don't let them get to you. Just know that it is their own personal lack of selfesteem that leads to them being too stupid for society.

This needs to be QFT. My usual response to homophobes insulting me is "you're just jealous because I still get more women than you do."

Which is funny because it's true. Women love gay guys, it's a natural bond apparently.

Other response for when said homophobe inevitbly says God hates me: "If God hates gay people, why did he make us so awesome?"

Originally Posted by Stanley_Ford

I prefer a good Aussie accent personally.

Ooh, I agree with this. Though my ultimate favourite accent is Irish.

[_Sian_]

Aussie accents are not at all hot. At all. Just sayin'

Also, on the whole "I don't know many people like this so I'm don't want to write characters like this ect."

People are people. They act different ways and say different things depending on who they are (and who they are includes things like what gender they associate with, their culture, and their sexual orientation). But the emotions they experiance are still the same. The important things are still the same, though they come out differently.

So create a character, not a "person of group b", and add detail to that character like you would to any other part of writing - via research and asking questions.

Also, in my experience regarding people of different cultural groups, both inside and outside my country - people are more influenced by the culture of their family then by the culture at large. While that culture at large also influences that families culture, if you focus on that smaller sub unit, you're less likely to create stereotypes.

[lilyWhite]

Originally Posted by _Sian_

Aussie accents are not at all hot. At all. Just sayin'

I beg to differ. At least when it comes to the Sheilas.

[aliwood]

Originally Posted by Reservoir Angel

Other response for when said homophobe inevitbly says God hates me

I always find it rather presumptuous that ordinary mortals know what god thinks.

for Sian. I'm sorry sweetie.

ION, I have put more plaster on my bathroom wall and I have written a title for my SS. I am five words to the good. Win!


Also, I am hungry.

[Reservoir Angel]

Originally Posted by _Sian_

Aussie accents are not at all hot. At all. Just sayin'

You only say that because you're Australian. You're just used to the accent so you don't find it ridiculously sexy. Just like I don't find my particular kind of English accent sexy, because I hear it all the damn time.

It's like my girl friend's friend from Manchester. He doesn't think his accent is in any way attractive but whenever I hear it I just want to do innapropriate things to him.

I don't think anybody really finds their own accent particularly attractive.

[_Sian_]

I do find my own accent amazingly comforting though, when I've lived overseas. So there is that

[Reservoir Angel]

I'm in a pathetic conflict Cantina. I have the weird, overpowering urge to watch Glee all of a sudden. But I told myself long ago that I would never be associated with that show. It's just one step too far into stereotyping myself.

Yeah, this is the kind of stuff I spend my time fixating on.

[aliwood]

Need a name please, someone throw me a name. As stupid as you like.