What gets me most are the sex scenes, where the guys are never rushed or, well, swept up. It's all, "Are you all right, my precious? Have I hurt you?" Ugh.

Hee. I had a list of words you'll never see in a romance novel sex scene. (Current favourite: Grunties.) I think 'premature ejaculation' can be added to the list.

I think I'm fine by those criteria. My guys get good and swept up in the moment on a regular basis, and even when they're self-aware about their feelings, don't spend a lot of time talking about them.

Sean Stewart also writes good women, as does Greg Rucka. Earl Emerson, however, does not. Oy.

I don't recognize any of those names. What do they write?

Sean Stewart writes science fiction novels, and he was also head writer for the completely and totally awesome A.I. web game (and incidentally, one of the main characters, and the one who was kind of the players' surrogate, communicating with us through her journal and various e-mails, was female). Greg Rucka writes crime fiction but is probably better known as a comic book writer. Lots of great Batverse stuff.

Sean Stewart wrote Mockingbird, about a pregnant woman (and from her POV), and it was quite good. (Though, since I've never been pregnant, I can't say whether it's accurate.) His most recent is Perfect Circle, with a male protagonist.

Stewart's shtick is interesting/odd characters, and the use of magic/unreality/fantasy to explore the protagonist's emotional problems.

Sean Stewart writes mainly sci-fi/fantasy (his debut novel was pretty much cyberpunk, but he's more on the fantasy side of things these days, but the sort generally set in our reality, just with magic), Greg Rucka writes mainly thrillers (and comic books, and he went to college with JZ), and Earl Emerson writes mysteries.

If you ever need to get a feel for what Seattle was like two decades ago, pick up some classic Emerson. He does local description and action much better than female characterization.

Sean Stewart wrote Mockingbird, about a pregnant woman (and from her POV), and it was quite good. (Though, since I've never been pregnant, I can't say whether it's accurate.)

It was pretty accurate. As someone who has been pregnant, I consider it more of a not-quite successful attempt (and his second-weakest book), and think he'd have been better off with the slight distance of third person limited, but I'm really picky about first person.

He has the honor of writing the most accurate fictional portrayal of someone who has miscarried (in Resurrection Man) and never quite healed emotionally.

One thing I noticed not too long ago is that while I really liked Ursula K. LeGuin's earlier works, the most recent stuff that she's done as a "feminist" writer has left me cold. I certainly don't begrudge her writing a female protagonist (which she also did back in The Tombs of Atuan during her earlier period), but the women = wise and good and longsuffering, men = cruel and stupid or resentfully powerless before the awesome generative power of the Womb-bearer really starts to rankle after a hundred pages or so.

I certainly don't begrudge her writing a female protagonist (which she also did back in The Tombs of Atuan during her earlier period), but the women = wise and good and longsuffering, men = cruel and stupid or resentfully powerless before the awesome generative power of the Womb-bearer really starts to rankle after a hundred pages or so.

Wait, I can blame LeGuin for Everybody Loves Raymond?