Week three of Women in SF&F Month is now over, and what a great week it was! Today I just want to put up links to last week’s posts in case you missed any and link to a couple of related articles. Of course, I also want to announce next week’s guests.
There was a giveaway last week, and if you entered to win a copy of Parable of the Sower, check your email since I notified the winner earlier.
Week In Review
Here’s what happened during week 3:
- Lisa Shearin wrote an encouraging article on having perseverance when writing.
- Sarah from Bookworm Blues wrote a very heartfelt and honest post on her thoughts on the issue of women in science fiction and fantasy and how it pertains to her as a mother with a daughter.
- Shara from Calico Reaction (WordPress | LiveJournal) talked about why she avidly read science fiction books written by women and shared some recommendations of books she discovered along the way.
- N. K. Jemisin wrote a very personal, well-written article about a book she discovered as a young girl that made her rethink her ideas about – and fear of – “girliness.”
- Lynn Flewelling discussed how she handles the subject of women in military roles in her fantasy books.
Thanks to everyone who stopped by this week for giving us lots to think about and keeping us from ever running out of books we want to read ever again. (My wish list has exploded this month.)
There were a few posts around the Internet I came across this week related to the topic of gender/women in SFF that I wanted to point out.
Helen Lowe, author of The Heir of Night, wrote a guest post at I Should Be Writing on writing strong women. It’s a great article, and I particularly liked this part:
I believe the key to writing women characters who are truly strong, regardless of whether they are warriors, mages, or accountants like Daniel Abraham’s Amat Kyaan, lies in the word “character.” As authors, if we want our stories to work we must focus on writing characters who are credible and live for the reader on the page. Female or male, we are primarily writing personalities (i.e. also recognizing that not all Fantasy characters are human) and to “work” these personalities must be believable emotionally and in terms of their motivations. Also, when it comes to writing personalities, whether strong or weak, venal or honorable, each character’s development will be shaped by a combination of factors, including disposition, events, and the mores and values of the societies within the world.
Justin at Staffer’s Musings has invited some guests to his blog to discuss agency. He’s asked a few authors to talk about the following:
- What is agency?
- Why is it important?
- Why do we find more male characters with agency in fantasy novels than females?
- Is it OK if a character doesn’t have it?
- Can a character still be interesting if it lacks it?
- Can a book be good if none of the characters have it?
Guests so far have been Elizabeth Bear, Michael J. Sullivan, Mazarkis Williams, Kameron Hurley, Myke Cole, and Anne Lyle.
Shaun at The World in the Satin Bag wrote about some of his own thoughts about N. K. Jemisin’s article this week called “I Would Ride a Unicorn (Maybe Even in a Dress)” or “Hey, Gender Paradigms in SF/F!” He talks more about the assumptions of gendered identity and how foolish some of these assumptions are, and relates some of his personal experience. It’s a great article.
Week Four Guests
Guests for the fourth week are:
Angie from Angieville
Kate Elliott (Spiritwalker, Crown of Stars, Jaran, Crossroads)
Teresa Frohock (Miserere: An Autumn Tale)
Memory from Stella Matutina
Pamela from The Discriminating Fangirl
Ian Sales from SF Mistressworks
