BOFQ?

Bitter Old Fic Queen.

Bitter Old Fic Queen.

t edit yeah.

I thought it was *Bitchy* Old Fic Queen.

I thought it was *Bitchy* Old Fic Queen.

The term is usually used in a derogatory sense, and has traditionally been Bitter Old Fic Queen.

Some of us have tried to reclaim the BOFQ title, and substituted Bitchy for the B, since I'm not so much Bitter as Crankily Been There and Done That and Here's My Frickin' T-shirt, ifyouknowwhatImean.

Is it time to google JennyO's original rant? Quite possibly. But I quite consciously wear the BOFQ title.

Ah -- I got "Bitchy" from Shrift. I knew it came from somewhere.

Is it time to google JennyO's original rant? Quite possibly. But I quite consciously wear the BOFQ title.

I think so.

Life is better with alcohol. Thank you, Shrift. I *heart* you.

There are people who can write Draco/Riley and make it believable, and there are people who write Buffy/Spike in a way that makes me want to loofah my brain.

shrift, I wish to tag this, please.

I'd be interested to see say Vamp!Willow and Dru together.

Minor self-pimping: I thought so too.

I have written (mostly badly) both canon and non-canon, slash and het pairings. I like good writing in all pairings, but I don't even look for it in pairings that don't intrest me. I nearly completely ignore the existance of fic with no pairing, because... because... just because.

Rebecca, how can you not read f/sf at all? How can you not find Giles sexy? ::comes over all faint at the thought. Um... Giles. Nummy.::

I'm with ita (and others)- I'd like some clarification. I think I probably do read literary fiction as well as fantasy, but I'd like some titles because I suspect that British bookshops classify differently to American ones.

I don't get the category of literary fiction. It seems kinda redundant, since all fiction is literature, isn't it?

I look at the literary fiction category in two ways, only one of which is completely bitchy and cynical.

Cynical version:

"Literary" fiction is often used by booksellers and publishers as a marketing category. (BIG HONKING DISCLAIMER: This has nothing to do with the fiction itself, merely the way it is sold.) I started to suspect this when I was browsing the horror section and saw a little sign that said that the Anne Rice books were now shelved with "Literature." I think that best-selling authors (e.g. Auel) have the clout with their publishers to get a change of sales category to something that has--in their eyes--more prestige, while other writers (e.g. Stephenson, Gene Wolfe) don't. Cover design shifts from glossy to matte, and any design elements that are considered 'typical' of other marketing categories (dragons, spaceships, Fabio) are squelched mercilessly.

There's a feeling, IMO, that the Literary label has more social cachet than the Romance, Fantasy, or even Mystery labels. There is a certain sort of person who wouldn't be caught dead reading something from a "lesser" genre, even if reading the latest Star Trek novel would actually be a more pleasurable and genuinely rewarding reading experience.

Non-Cynical Version:

I tend to think of "Literary" fiction in its purest sense as fiction where the style and structure of the writing itself is the primary appeal of the piece. Just as the "Mystery" category contains multitudes--intelligent cats, small-town mysteries in which no one truly important dies, gritty tales in whicy no one gets a happy ending, humor, angst, romance--so does the "Literary." In certain cases, the sheer beauty and poetry of the writing is what appeals. In others, an elaborate, interwoven plot structure is what carries the day.