Susan, maybe this will ::enlighten:: (oozing sarcasm here, not at you, but at BB):

Old Buddy: BB suggested K (female lead) as a female Merlin. Not maternal. A warrior/power-wielding woman.

(OK, and I haven't even included my rant, which she will get by phone tomorrow, about the tiny, mind-bending, universe-destroying thought of simply leaving the lead character as she's written)

Me: Um, hello? Merlin wasn't a warrior. He was SEXLESS, emasculated - that was the price of his "power". Stewart wrote him that way, Mallory wrote him that way, T.H. White would have written him that way if he'd been anything other than a Brit who avoided touching the subject of sex if possible. Merlin's power could only serve OTHERS, not himself. He was helpless, given magic in return for his personal worth. You call that power? I don't. And in seeing a strong lead character with genuine honest to goddess female characteristics as a "Merlin"? I call that taking a powerless servant whose only purpose is to shepherd a Boy King (feh), and putting panties on him. That. Is. Not. K (lead character). Gah.

I am so cranky over this, it's mind-boggling. Yeah, let's have another generic dopey "girl discovers nether regions and leads Rightful Boy Character to his destiny."

And then we can rename it "Bite Me".

Feh.

Heh, Deb. That's one of my problems with Season Seven Buffy... Ahem. But, your rant is a thing of beauty.

(bowing at Plei, but still seething)

You know what absolutely makes me want to bang my head against a wall? BB's husband is a world-famous scifi writer.

Merlin. Gah. Eat me, lady.

(banging head against desk)

I share your rant, I'm just genuinely puzzled as to what fantasy BB has been reading. Because I go look at my own bookshelves, and I see Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books, some of Guy Gavriel Kay's work, the Rawn/Roberson/Elliott collaboration The Golden Key, even Orson Scott Card's Enchantment and the Alvin Maker series, and I'm just not seeing this One Standard Plot which all fantasy must follow if it's going to sell.

Oh, and I shared my concerns about the resume business with my career counselor. Now that she understands that writing novels is my highest priority, she agrees that it's not the way to go. She's recommending me to a colleague of hers who does a lot of work with writers to help me find a self-employment route more compatible with writing.

Susan, here's the thing, and it's the most important point:

This isn't genre fantasy. BB is trying to nudge the author, who is a well-known writer and former president of SFWA, into rewriting and expanding as a genre fantasy.

It isn't.

There's no magic of any kind. Basically it's a historical novel set in AU circs because she needed a specific climate (cold) and a specific stage of society (just pre-industrial, with the first telegraph wires being strung). She refuses to allow it to be shoved into the genre fantasy niche. It's about a woman who wants to be a cartographer and who works for a guild who won't let her go do that, because she's far too good at representing the local PTB and collecting their enemies and whatnot.

Merlin my left ventricle. This. Is. Not. Fantasy.

Weird. And disappointing, because it sounds like a fascinating book as is.

OK, and also disappointing because I have a couple of non-magical AU plots bouncing around my own head.

And speaking of agents and their changes, I haven't even finished my book yet, but I'm already half-expecting the first verdict I get from an agent to be, "This is nice, but no one is writing romance in first person anymore."

I wish I was familiar with the romance market, but Old Buddy (who I'm screaming at in lieu of screaming at BB, who thank Jah is not my agent) is definitely familiar with it: her last published book was a modern romantic comedy and she adores regencies.

Cool--if it's not too obnoxious of me, I may ask for more information about her when I've finished this thing.

And meanwhile, I'm going to tear myself away from the computer and go do some actual writing for an hour or so.

And for dinner and meds. Nic's homeward bound, and he's my Medicine Man.