I'm *so* tagging "If you replace the talking horses with burned-out detectives, there are some clear similarities." Even if it does make me think Bayliss-as-Mr. Ed. "What kind of society *is* this, Wilbur?"

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I'm *so* tagging "If you replace the talking horses with burned-out detectives, there are some clear similarities." Even if it does make me think Bayliss-as-Mr. Ed. "What kind of society *is* this, Wilbur?"

You so should. When I first read that, I thought, "Huh, I thought I was reading Anne's post. I never noticed her post ending and erika's beginning," and had to scroll up to the top of the post, to name check.

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"What kind of society *is* this, Wilbur?"

can't... breathe...

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Wow. This really got me thinking.

The other thing that is a constant theme, both in my reading from childhood on and my writing? Women. Sounds broad, I know (ahem -- no pun intended), but it's women's lives, the daily details, what sets us apart from men, that has always interested me. In the Little House books, which I also adored, it was the chores the girls and Ma had to do just to get food on the table every day. In one of the books, Ma and Pa have to go away for a few days, and Laura and Mary decide to clean the house, including refilling the mattresses with fresh straw. I read that chapter over and over.

The historical perspective on women's lives -- how they've changed, what the limits used to be, what they still are -- have always fascinated me, but even now, I rarely read books written by men. And most of the nonfiction I read has a women's studies bent -- The Girl Sleuth by Bobbie Ann Mason, Hamlet's Mother by Carolyn Heilbrun.

Point being, almost everything I have an interest in writing has to do with some facet of that. I almost never write male protagonists, unless the form requires it (and romance does), and the books I long to write are YA stuff about girls, usually involving some paranormal aspect as a jumping off point or metaphor, and a novel that has to do with the relationship between three generations of women.

What drew me in were the characters--I have always been interested in books as a window into other people's lives and hearts.

This really resonates with me, although I guess I'm simply more interested in a window into women's lives. And now I feel terribly sexist.

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I know. The fact that I would ride either doesn't help much.

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What drew me in were the characters--I have always been interested in books as a window into other people's lives and hearts.

This really resonates with me, although I guess I'm simply more interested in a window into women's lives. And now I feel terribly sexist.

Argh! AmyLiz, please don't agenda yourself out over your artistic preferences. If you were writing horse stories, would you be worried that you were speciesist? If you were a ballet dancer, would you feel guilty for not tap dancing. You know what interests you--gets your mind thinking--your creative juices flowing, and you're able to harness that power. That's a gift, not a moral failing.

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can't... breathe...

(also dying over here)

And now I feel terribly sexist.

But why? You're female. When I was bedbound as a kid, my sister Alice would draw exquisite little paper doll characters and act out the scenes from the books for me. Her favourite - considering the name, no big shock - was Alice and Through the Looking Glass. But she also adored Milne and acted out Pooh for me. I was very much a Christopher Robin child, but interestingly, I never saw him as a little boy - I just saw him as a kid. There was nothing "Boys Book of Big Boyish Adsventures!" about Christopher Robin - he could just as easily have been a little girl. "Silly old bear!" is not gender-specific or even gender-inclined, surely?

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You guys, I've got too much to write to be thinking about writing crazy stuff like that. Please to not encourage my Ultimate Badfic. Kthxbye.ETA: And I think it's natural for women to read women stories. And it's not like we ever miss getting the guy's side, believe me.

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"Silly old bear!" is not gender-specific or even gender-inclined, surely?

I loved Pooh, too. I never saw the animals as gender-specific, and Christopher Robin was so young that he was just "kid" for me, too.

I suppose I shouldn't feel sexist, but yeah, if the only thing around to read had been (or still was) the Hardy Boys, I'd read it, but only grudgingly.

"Boys Book of Big Boyish Adsventures!"

Snerk.

That's a gift, not a moral failing.

Thanks you! That's a lovely way to think about it.

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Hmm. Now I'm trying to think more thematically about what I read as a child and how it's influenced what I write, and it's not easy. I know I write about women learning to take power over their lives even when it'd be easier NOT to, but I think that's more to do with my life experiences of the last decade than anything I read growing up. And, I suppose I write about staying true to yourself and your beliefs and using them to transcend the apparent ordinariness and pettiness of life--at least, I try to--and that's pure Silver Chair. Which was my least favorite Narnia book as a child, but is my favorite of the lot now.

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