Here are three more archive posts from Long Ago. One is a foamy rant about the notion of ‘lesbian books’. I think it was published somewhere, but I’m damned if I can remember where. Two are do-my-homework questions which got short shrift. Pah! Back of my hand to lazy people! (Except me, of course. Writers are supposed to be lazy…)
- no such thing as a lesbian book — sometime in 1996, I’m guessing, as BtL: F was published in 1997.
- my angle is… — about 1999. I think. And, oh, the cheek of these people!
- Written on the Body, The Awakening: Compare and Contrast — again, 1996, though a bit later in the year.
Nicola Griffith 
my angle is… HAHAHAHAHA! The irony is gonna make me pee my pants!
Yes, hilarious. People are unbelievable sometimes. That nasty W.
Do they really think you are going to do it for them? Oh, and maybe I’ll read one of your books after…..
You were pretty gracious really. But at least those requests are good for a laugh.
Happy to amuse you :)
It was a long time ago, in the days when I hadn't had ten zillion such requests, and the web was new and shiny…
When I worked in the book store, it was amazing how many people wanted, needed, DEMANDED that books be niched out and labeled. We had people very upset that (for example) books by African American authors were mixed in with fiction and mystery and romance. (By the same token, there were a lot of people who were peeved that science fiction and fantasy had been combined into one section…)
I have a friend whose netflix queue is filled with “gay” cinema. Another seeks out gay bookstores in every city he visits.
I, on the other hand, have never sought out gay cinema or gay literature. I went to see Let the Right One In because it was a vampire film. I read The Blue Place because it was noir set in Atlanta.
I'm a big fan of meta-labelling–call TBP queer fiction, literary fiction, crime fiction, Atlanta fiction, all of it.
As for Let the Right One In, what an astonishing film. Definitely worth the time.
Too funny! That and the dollop of ice cream in my coffee really made the morning!
Well, speaking of ice cream, I believe Kelley is about to post about our adventures in adult milkshakes last night…
And here it is now…
http://www.kelleyeskridge.com/shake-it-in-the-summer/
When I worked in a bookstore, we tried to get rid of the “African-American” section. Just shelve it in with “fiction.” We're no discriminators! Except, then they stopped selling. & we realized that, duh, identification & branding are for the buyers sake, not the author's sake. Nicola's “meta-labelling” is ideal, & seeing more & more prevalence in the online world.
I still haven't seen Let the Right One In, but I did enjoy the book.
There’s a reason labels exist–and I have no quarrel with them, as long as there are many.
It’ll be interesting to see how labelling changes in the next ten years, not just because of technology but because of identity politics. When us quiltbag folks have all our rights [falls down giggling…], will we still identify as queer? Now that Obama is prez, how fast […still giggling…] will the attitude towards African Americans (inside and outside the group) change, and what will that mean for cultural/identity tastes and art in general?
I think it’s going to get interesting.