As I’ve mentioned a time or two on this blog, I read a lot of advice columns, especially the more offbeat ones, like Cary Tennis in Salon and Dear Prudence at Slate, and Carolyn Hax, who puts the beat down on so many people that it’s a wonder anyone still writes in. She never sides with the advisee. Never — even if the person is all, “my boyfriend promised to marry me and here it Read more…
This year the theme at Apollo Con, or at least the track I did, was young adults. I was on several panels about YA. The first, YA heroines, ended up being about Twilight and why Bella was too passive and too self-sacrificing to be a good role model. Among other complaints. One of the audience members pointed out that we would consider a self-sacrificing man to be a hero, so why couldn’t we consider Bella Read more…
I had an all-around wonderful time at Apollo Con, and I’m only just now recovering from the weekend. I rode down with Renee Babcock, a friend from Austin, and we had a wide-ranging conversation there and back, making a long trip much shorter and more enjoyable with the company. The writer’s workshop on Saturday was small, with only two workshoppers and two auditors, who didn’t have stories to be critiqued but who came for the Read more…