What a difference a few decades make. Pride & Prejudice was published in 1813. North & South was published in 1854-55 and was originally serialized in Charles Dickens’ magazine Household Words. While comparisons between writers and times may be naive, there was such a stark contrast between the way women’s concerns are portrayed by these authors. In particular, in North & South, the character of Margaret Hale is the epitome of Victorian womanhood, who flinches from even respectful male admiration. She has two suitors, Harry Lennox and John Thornton, who each propose to her and whom she not only rebuffs, she is physically repulsed by their proposals. Despite being strong and intelligent, and physically so courageous that she takes a rioter’s rock that was meant for Thornton, she grows ill and enraged at the thought of their love.

As with many things Victorian, this is actually kind of neurotic and it kept me from liking Margaret as much as I wanted to.

Now take her counterpart, Lizzy Bennet. Lizzy is never once physically courageous — we are told nothing about her physique (Gaskell frequently describes Margaret’s strength, her arms, her imposing presence). She may even lead a more sheltered life than Margaret did (well, especially since Margaret does walk around pretty freely). Yet she is more matter-of-fact about sexuality and married life than Margaret is. She turns Darcy down because of the insulting way he proposes to her. Whereas to Margaret, the proposal is the insult.

How can we know this about Lizzy when Austen’s characters barely touch one another? It’s the absence of Lizzy’s concern when she is naturally attracted initially to the handsome Wickham. He’s a rogue and a troublemaker, a complete bad boy, and she likes him.

Yet, take a look at everything that Margaret accomplishes! She befriends a small family and helps keep it together during hard times, she keeps a riot from growing worse, she keeps her family together through selfless self-denial (another Victorian virtue), and for all of this she ends up a wealthy woman. Lizzy doesn’t really do much.

The difference in the portrayal of women is really astonishing, as I said. Sure it may be a difference between authors — Gaskell was a writer and a thinker among a group of writers and thinkers who worked to improve the lives of the poor. She was married to a minister, and Austen’s father was a minister though, so in that sense, perhaps they had quite a bit more in common. Perhaps in Austen’s time, ministers really were just paid employees of the church (hence the term living, and the fact that Wickham almost got one, though he would have made such a bad minister as to be laughable. Can you imagine?)

But it was just 40 years. Forty years difference between the two authors and there is so much difference in the portrayal of society and women.

I’m glad I read North & South, and will probably dip into more of Gaskell’s work. It is not fair, perhaps, to say that Austen is the “better” writer, since those kinds of comparisons, especially based on this admittedly simplistic comparison, really are so subjective as to be useless. All I can say is, I admire Margaret Hale a great deal, but I also feel a little bit sorry for her. She had spunk, but she was emotionally crippled by the times in which she lived.

And I feel a bit sorry for Lizzy too — she had so much less freedom and scope for self-determination than Margaret Hale did.

Kagawa does such a good job of presenting Ash’s choices and his trials in The Iron Knight and relating them back to what it means to be human that I wanted to applaud while reading (but I was staying at my mom’s and didn’t want to alarm anyone).  And she’s done this in every book — nothing is easy, everything is well thought out, and decisions have consequences. Seriously, while The Hunger Games gets much-deserved attention, if you or a fantasy-loving teen you know is looking for something new, check out The Iron Fey.

Have I gushed enough? Sorry… but when I get excited about a good book I have to tell everyone.

If you’ve read it, let me know in the comments — we can share notes. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Jim C. Hines has an excellent post on his blog about sexual harassment at cons and what can be done; you can read it here. He has some very sensible suggestions.

I would like to add one more suggestion.

I call upon con committees to take on sexual harassment in a proactive way by clarifying what it is and that it will NOT be tolerated at their conventions. They can communicate this on their websites and in their programs, which often have rules of behavior anyway. Yes, this is a bummer. A convention is supposed to be a great time for fans and authors, and nobody wants to think about this stuff. On the other hand, no one needs to be intruded upon, harassed, made to feel uncomfortable, or actively threatened at a convention. Since it’s such an issue, it needs to be addressed.

These episodes are not rare occurrences. They happen often enough that a lot of authors and fans have the same story. There are repeat offenders. And while the stereotype of the congoer is of the socially maladjusted male, I cry bullshit on that. Harassers and predators know exactly what they are doing.

So if cons make it explicitly clear that harassment will not be tolerated and offenders will not be given a second chance but will be removed immediately, I think it will go a long way to making sure that cons are fun and welcome for everyone.

Yes, there are going to be gray areas. Where human intersects with human, there always are. I trust that we can work through the gray areas to come to the truth of a situation.

I love cons. I love fans. I love how smart attendees are, how interesting, and how funny. I just want everyone to enjoy their experience without weird sexual power-tripping going on.

Her science fiction was the first I read that was about women, strong capable women running the show. Even though they had traditional gender roles, her female characters were recognizable. They were like me. I could aspire to be like them. In the 1970s, most women in science fiction were caricatures. McCaffrey wrote characters.

After high school I left Pern behind. The later books no longer had the same allure; maybe I just outgrew the series, but I think to my shame I let other opinions convince me that the lurid covers and the high emotional content were cheesy and not to be taken seriously. Too romance-y I guess. Why do we always think there is something wrong with romance? Everything about Pern was over the top and thunderous and emotional, like a telenovela. With dragons. On a dangerous planet.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Thank you, Anne McCaffrey, for the greatest gift a writer can give to a reader — a magnificent world.

My short stories Into the Dark and Ice were both published in Realms of Fantasy, and they were two of my proudest sales.

Shawna in her farewell essay says:

Since this is my third attempt at a farewell editorial, you’d think I’d be adept at it by now. Not so much, I’m afraid. Realms has been my baby from the first issue in 1994 to the last (sob) in 2011.

Shawna, it was a truly amazing run. I am sorry it can’t continue. Thank you for the pleasure of reading some of the best contemporary fantasy out there.

At first I wasn’t too worried. I finished a novel earlier this year, and created a screenplay from a short story, and then last month wrote two short stories in record time.

So what is this about writers block then?

Well, I haven’t been able to start anything new, except for the short stories, and they are both finished and off to markets. And that’s scary, not having anything to write. no new projects. No new characters living in my head with which to have conversations.

The creative well has dried up.

So yeah, while at the beginning of the year, through the summer and up until September 30, I was pretty much okay with it. Something would come. It always did.

I finally broke down and admitted what was going on. See, the thing is, I don’t believe in writers block. The fear that comes with writing is mostly of our own making, and I’ve gotten very good at not letting that fear stop me. But this is different. I want to write. I feel the itchy restlessness that I get when a project is welling up and ready to go. But I sit at the computer and nothing comes out. I tried to get started on something new that I have the merest glimmering of a concept for, and got a bit sick to my stomach at the words that I got down.

I turned to my colleagues, writers who have been there, done that, experienced the same thing. Here’s what they came up with:

• Create a particular character type and give that character a problem. It doesn’t matter what the problem is or who the character is, or even whether this becomes a short story or a novel.
• Exercise. Physical activity.
• If your brain doesn’t want to write, say “fine.” And then embargo the computer for two weeks and don’t write a word. (This is opposite from below; depends upon your personality.)
• Get a checkup — sometimes malaise can have a physical cause.
• Read nonfiction.
• Force yourself to write — don’t allow yourself to get up from the chair until you’ve gotten down 200 words. (this is actually a good one for me. I’m very good at distracting myself.)

I’ve done some form of all of these and have not had a breakthrough — yet. But in a way, it’s comforting that other writers go through this, that sometimes the well does run dry, that writers block is not malingering, no matter how much I tended to think that way (and boy is that a case of eating crow), and that eventually I will get unstuck. In the meantime, I will take a deep breath and stay calm.

I know the next story is coming. It’s just taking a little longer to break the surface.

How do you break through writers block?

I loved Halloween as a kid. Such a spooky, scary night, running all over the neighborhood without parents, dressed in all kinds of homemade creative costumes, and candy. It was cool, dark, windy (usually), leaves scattering across the street, voices wafting through the dark, and flashlights darting to and fro.

There was a little bit of danger, of transgression — out after dark! Without parents (well, they trailed behind)! Candy! Staying up late! And even some mischief — what with egging houses (actually a bad one) and smashing pumpkins.

And now? Grownups dress up. Kids wear store-bought costumes and go trick or treating in the mall.

Grownups got Halloween. Kids got rocks. (name that reference).

It was a busy weekend. Coffee on Saturday morning with writer friends so we could commiserate about not being at WFC like all the other “real” writers. (Maybe that last part was just me.) Then the Pflugerville Science Fiction and Fantasy Meetup, which was a good time. One thing that doesn’t change — the kids who like science fiction and fantasy are some of the smartest kids around.

Then a party! With karaoke! And Rock Band! And general silliness.

And for Halloween at work I went as Inigo Montoya, because our theme was heroes and villains. So I had a little bit of the Halloween spirit, okay?

There’s more news to come about The Unexpected Miss Bennet — I will keep you posted.

I love writing adventure stories and getting into the emotional lives of my characters, and swooping them into big expansive plots, although for The Unexpected Miss Bennet, a big plot would have been out of character for Mary Bennet, so I kept it small and suitable to a respectable young lady of good family. But of course, there are horses, as there are in all my novels.

This past weekend was the Texas Book Festival. Due to so many things going on from Thursday on — The Austin Film Festival among them — I only got out there on Sunday afternoon with my friend Julia. We saw a couple of panels, the best of which was the Tough Guy Panel, described thusly: “new fiction about violence & men, with Frank Bill, Bruce Machart, Donald Ray Pollock, and Daniel Woodrell.”

For a buncha tough guys they were thoughtful and interesting. Bruce Machart had my favorite thought of the panel, which I will no doubt butcher in translation, but went like this — we are shaped by two places, where we are and where we’re from.

And there were books, man. Tents and tents of books. I ended up getting The Key of Amatahns, by a young writer, Elisabeth Wheatley. I will say up front that while it is not exactly self-published, it was put out by Chengalera Press, an itty-bitty press with an absurd lack of web presence. I talked with Miss Wheatley’s grandma, who was utterly thrilled with her granddaughter, as well she should be, but man, there’s something to be said for an apprenticeship before you jump in. That said, a quick skim shows a not-bad proficiency. I am optimistic.

This was also buy a self-published book weekend. While I was picking up morning coffee at my favorite-est coffee shop in town, Genuine Joe, there was an author having a book signing. Not having had coffee yet, but clearly already mellow in anticipation, I dropped $27 (!) on Within the Walls of Santo Tomas by Betty Byron. Since I have been enthralled with the Destroyermen by Taylor Anderson, I had to get this. There are nurses! In WWII on Manila! A quick skim shows less than stellar prose but I remain optimistic.

I am going to try to read these like a naive reader, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. Anyone who writes knows that writing for pure story goes by the wayside once you get into it.

I’ll let you know what I think.

It was a fiasco that should have the National Book Foundation covered with shame. Here is Publishers Weekly’s story:

Last week, Chime by Franny Billingsley was added as a sixth nominee to the category, and Harold Augenbraum, NBF executive director, confirmed Monday that NBF staff had originally misheard Shine for Chime when the list of nominees was read by the judges over the phone. The mistake was not caught until the judges heard the announcement on last Wednesday’s radio broadcast. The YPL judge’s panel is chaired by author Marc Aronson.

That was a bad enough mistake; really just amateurish, if you ask me. But then, the NBF said that Shine could stay on the ballot; and then the organization changed its mind and asked Myracle to withdraw her book, which she graciously did.

The first mistake was bad enough. It was compounded by a lame move to “let” Myracle’s book stay on the ballot. What for — as a consolation prize? Much better to have skipped that sop to kindergarten feelings and gone straight to the ultimate decision.

At this point, the awards for this year are irretrievably tainted, and that’s too bad. If Billingsley wins for her novel, will she feel that her award should have an asterisk by it? If another author wins, will they feel as if they were selected just to avoid controversy?

I bet the judges can’t wait for this year to be over.

Lauren, you have my sympathies and your grace under pressure is absolutely admirable. I read your very fine book because my sister, a librarian, pushed it on me. Big sisters always know best and she was right; it is a wonderful book. So now, for anyone who hasn’t read Shine, please go out and buy a copy and find out why the book really could have legitimately been one of the finalists.

Note to readers: don’t let the NBF’s mistake make you miss out on some other good books. Chime and the other nominees look really good. It’s not the authors’ fault at all that this happened. Here’s a link to the nominees.

The edition arrived, a 50- or so page booklet that was a crude summary of a classic novel. It was chopped up and bowdlerized and had entire chapters and scenes cut from it.

The gall of a company to take someone else’s novel, put it out under their copyright (the copyright page says only Wilder Publications, 2011, and nothing about the original publisher), and then do their best to ensure that the book pops to the top of search results on an online bookseller site. This is beyond contempt. It is disrespectful and wrong, and trades on the good name of a beloved author.

How dare they?! Who the hell do they think they are? Why would a company do such a thing?

After receiving this travesty, I sent it back to barnesandnoble.com for a refund. I will also write to Wilder and express my displeasure, that is if I can find an address. The book had a P.O. Box but who knows it that is even valid.

I did a little research after the fact, and Wilder comes up a lot for putting a warning label  on its books containing the Constitution of the US, the Declaration of Independence, and other historical documents. What? Why? And what does such a warning serve? What is Wilder’s point and what is it trying to do?

The whole idea of the company is baffling to me.

Again, Wilder should be ashamed to be doing business like this. I wrote to barnesandnoble.com and told them they should take the book off their search results. I’ll put up a review and a warning to other readers (I should have checked because indeed, there was already a disgruntled review). I hope this post helps warn others away from Wilder. It appears that part of its business model is to take out of copyright classics and redact them into these weird booklets. If so, spread the word so people don’t lose any money to them.

Edit: Interesting to note that on barnesandnoble.com, the reviews for all editions come up for the book. So this edition looks like a winner, what with all the reviews praising the novel. On amazon.com, one can leave a review for that specific edition, which I did.

I hate getting duped and I hope this prevents someone else from falling into the same trap.