Mmmm, summer

[itsallovernow]

I don't have to work tomorrow, which is a lovely way to end the summer before school starts - the slew of teenagers re-enter my life and my lackadaisical work life ends as deadlines become reality again. My plans? To finish the Morgaine saga and to write, write, write Blue Eyes in my bright, sunny bedroom while fending off Georgie the Wonder Siamese who believes that I sit at the computer so that he has a someplace to bug me. He also likes to sit on top of the iMac while I write and bat at the cursor. It's good to be the cat.

I may even go to the beach and pretend I actually live in Southern California:)



My friend C. has recently decided to not go back to her ex-husband, and so as a gesture of support, I have agreed to join with her on a mission to date more. So far, we haven't exactly been successful, but my mother is pleased beyond belief. She calls frequently to inquire after the mission status. However, my aim to support C. backfired a little this week.

C. is a lovely, hearts and flowers and yotz, one true love kind of girl and is a little distressed by this whole dating in L.A. prospect. As a result, she's been purchasing vast quantities of contemporary girl fiction and how-to date books, which she then shares with me, and I feel compelled to not discourage this behavior and thus have ended up reading a pink book called The Accidental Virgin by Valerie Frankel. I kid you not. It is, well, bad isn't the right word. It's cheery, it's competent, and it makes me feel very, very ill. I hate the main character, I hate her reactions to the things that befall her, I hate the concept that if you've gone a year without getting any, you're no longer a sexual object, and well again, I hate the main character and all the people she interacts with. Yet I am reluctant to tell C. this because I think she believes that I have the sort of breezy, detached attitude towards dating and relationships thrust upon the main character.

I also hate the way the book is written and find myself again befuddled that with all of the truly talented writers out there who are either concentrating on fic, or doing it as a practice run, that this kind of book is embraced by the publishing community. Sigh. I know it sells, and I know I shouldn't rag on anyone's choice of reading material, but dude, John/Scorpy makes my brain feel less dirty (that is not a dismissal of the J/S OTP ers, or in fact, a criticism of that as a legitimate pairing. Everyone knows my ship, and J/S makes me feel like I've had a cheesegrater run over my brain. But in a good way of course:) But you have the victim/torturer, hated nemesis thing going on. That pairing should sting a little, at least if it's done right:)

I don't wanting to be dating in a world where this particiular character exists. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I am really really reluctant to invest the extra hour it will take to finish this book. Maybe I'll just give C. some Jennifer Cruise and hope that proves to be an antidote if she wants fluff. That, at least, is good romantic fluff.

Comments

Re: Morgaine saga

[thassalia.livejournal.com]

Ooh, that'd be great! The books are taking me frelling forever because I've been trying to work and write and do all that other stuff. I find myself easily distracted when I read them if I don't have a long time to sit down and read, but I'm enjoying them immensely.