Oh, god. Reminds me of a reading by Bernard Malamud I went to lo these many years ago. Someone asked him something along the lines of "when did you know you wanted to be a writer?", and Malamud looked at the guy and said, "If you don't know by this time, you should just give it up." The questioner was maybe 17 years old....

Harriet Doerr published her first novel, Stones for Ibarra, when she was 74. It won the National Book Award.

Betsy, that's a crock of shite. "40 is too old"? Someon should send her a sestina with variants of "bite me" as its theme.

And BTW, Rosie (in my writers group) did Iowa poetry as well. So this woman was a ninnyhammer and a fool.

Jean Rhys didn't complete _Wide Sargasso Sea_ until well into her 80s I do believe. Though it wasn't her first novel, it is definitely the one she is most well known for. Sometimes I think those "you can write ifs___" are some way of preserving some sort of elitism. Some writers want to stay on the pedestal, despite it being lonely and drafty up there. I guess there's a lot of room for the ego though.

Deb, yeah it was quite uncalled for. The only reason the comments phased me is because it came from a very close friend of mine-- not my prof, or you or someone else who I approach for editing/content advice. I was just showing it to him because he was interested..although, mostly in insulting me, apparently.

I just found this lovely quotation:

"People always ask if we--in the workshop--were dumbfounded by her writing," L'Heureux says. "But of course we weren't, because at that time she was only learning to write like Harriet Doerr."

Another reason that some writer-teachers tramp on people's aspirations is that they figure if the wannabee can be discouraged, they should be. (I don't know who died and made them God, but that's the explanation I've gotten.)

New women's fantasy line from Harlequin

Note that these will be sold as "single-title", not as Harlequin's standard on-the-stands-for-one-month-only deal.

That link isn't working for me, Betsy.

Interesting concept, though. I haven't been that impressed with most of the futuristic or paranormal romances I've read--the science fiction or supernatural aspect usually seems awkwardly pasted on to the romance.

Which isn't to say it couldn't be done well. I've certainly read and loved sf that did a good job of incorporating a love story.

Have you read Anne McCaffrey's Restoree, Susan? Obviously she makes her bucks on the fantasy side of the spectrum, but that book struck me as playing quite equally in both fields.

I haven't been impressed by the romance-packaged fantasies I've read. On the other side of the fence, I've read a lot of good SF and fantasy novels that used romance tropes. Bujold is building on romance tropes, so much so that she named one novel in homage to Heyer. Here are the bones of the article:

For published and not yet published writers, Luna Books represents a chance to write the kind of stories they've been itching to read. A longtime fantasy fan who believes that vivid characterization, world-building, imagination and compelling writing cross all genre lines, Luna Books Executive Editor Mary-Theresa Hussey welcomes this opportunity to move into the "real" fantasy market. In her first in-depth interview on Luna Books, Hussey tells Crescent Blues her hopes for the new line…and its writers.

What inspired Harlequin to name their new fantasy line Luna?

We were searching for a word that was elemental, powerful, mystical, female and yet accessible. Luna seemed the perfect combination of all of that!

What are the guidelines?

They are available through the Learn to Write channel on our www.eharlequin.com website. We are in the process of setting up a website, but it won't be ready for a little while.

What do you mean by "female-focused fantasy?" Could you give us any examples of writers and novels who you'd suggest as models?

Mercedes Lackey, Catherine Asaro, Barbara Hambly, Sarah Zettel, Jacqueline Carey, Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Hayden and Cecilia Dart-Thornton are a few examples of the type of authors we'd love to publish. We're honored to have the first four under contract for various projects. All those writers create strong, admirable, courageous, powerful female characters who are able to achieve their goals on their own. But each female lead also has a vulnerable side, and a varying degree of romance appears in their stories.