So. Recently, Justin Allen (Year of the Horse) contacted me to let me know about his coming 3-part essay titled “A Manifesto of Imaginitive Literature: Or for the Love of Pete, Don’t Mix Your Genres…or the New York Times Book Review Hates You, but I Didn’t…or Why Where Your Book Gets Shelved Determines Your Intelligence, Work-Ethic, and Value to Society.” (It’s the Energizer title–it keeps going and going…)

Well, that essay went live today, and here it is:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

I have some thoughts about this essay which I would like to share, but writing them up will take some time, plus I have a very, very busy night ahead of me. But expect me to return around midnight with my own comments on this very interesting essay. (You’re all waiting with baited breath, I know!)

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Behold! My promised thoughts!

This essay is an interesting piece of writing because it touches on topics which are familiar to many of us, while shedding new light on them, probbing deeper into the issues. A couple things especially stood out to me.

When I was in kindergarten, these two girls in my class said I wasn’t allowed to be their friend because my favorite colors weren’t pink and purple. It was a childish, petty thing, something you’d never expect to see out of an adult. And yet that’s what literature snobs do. In this essay, Justin Allen tackles this phenomenon. Literary writers who sniff disdainfully at genre writers. Genre writers who scorn literary writers. Writers from one genre who shun writers from another. This essay doesn’t say that it’s wrong to have a favorite genre, just that it’s wrong to look down your nose at those with a different favorite. Doing that is just like deciding you don’t like me because my favorite color is green.

And just as green isn’t the only color in the crayon box, your favorite genre isn’t the only genre in the bookstore. This essay challenges you to see the beauty in other colors. Imagine if I only wore green clothes. If I never bought anything that wasn’t green. I think that’s what Justin Allen is getting at in this essay. Categorizing books by genre in the bookstore is useful as a starting point. But we can’t allow ourselves to believe that nothing on any other shelf save the one devoted to fantasy will be worth our time. To do so is to close our minds to new ideas. After all, we weren’t just born reading fantasy books. At some point in our lives, we picked up that first one and realized that we really liked it. We gave it a chance. Isn’t variety the spice of life? I mean, I love green, but I can go for other colors, too. In case you hadn’t noticed, this website is blue. Each genre, just like each color, can be beautiful. Have your favorite, but don’t sneer at those whose favorite is different from yours. And don’t be afraid to color with a new crayon, or to read a different kind of book.

And that leads to the mixing genres issue. Justin Allen knows a little something about mixing genres. His novel Year of the Horse is a fantasy, a western, a mystery, and a YA book. I loved it. Last year, two of my favorite books were The Magicians and Mrs. Quent and The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker. Both were a blend of genres. In fact, Leanna Renee Hieber had a heck of a time selling Strangely Beautiful for that very reason. Nobody knew what to call it. But what fantastic books these are! I know mixing genres is risky (though I have a theory about how to make it a little more foolproof–come back next week for that), but what if these authors had stuck to just one genre? Sometimes a story fits perfectly into a genre category, and some cars look better painted red. But if a story needs a touch of mystery and romance in its fantasy plot, then genre boundaries will only hold it back. And some cars look better with a little blue mixed in with that red paint. (Yes, that’s right. First the Energizer title, now the color metaphor that keeps going and going…)

So, to recap: Author Justin Allen wrote this insightful essay about his views on some publishing issues. It’s got some good points, and I think it’s worth your time to read.

Glen Cook has had a prolific career in writing fantasy books, and my husband and I are both fans of his Black Company series. So it was interesting to read The Swordbearer, one of his earliest books. Interesting because it was so far removed from the skill shown in his later books. I mean, how cool is it as an aspiring author down here in the trenches to see such a respected author’s growth, to see this reminder that the more you write–even after you’re published–the better you get? Although the story itself was a disappointment, it was just amazing to see how greatly Cook’s writing improved in time, with dedication and study, with the diligence to keep writing new books–to keep looking forward rather than reworking the same book over and over again (a common mistake, and one I’ve been guilty of in the past myself). In a weird sort of way, it was inspiring. (My full review of The Swordbearer is here.)

There’s not a lot I can say about Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen that hasn’t been said already. It’s a classic. And it has always been my favorite of Austen’s books. What is it that makes a book a favorite? A character you can relate to, people who seem real. In Sense and Sensibility, Elinor and Marianne remind me so much of my sister and I (except that my sister has none of Marianne’s fondness for books). That’s why I love it so much.

And my inspiration for rereading Sense and Sensibility this month was my desire to read…Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. I could just go on and on about this book. Suffice it to say that far from ruining Austen’s clever prose, the startling contrast of manners and monsters makes her social commentary even more biting. It sticks with the original plot–the Dashwood sisters’ trials in love–but inserts hammerhead shark attacks, oversized jellyfish, and an enchanting undersea city encased in a dome of glass. Winters’ writing masterfully captures Austen’s own style so that his additions fit into the text almost seamlessly. (My full review of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is here. Also, be sure to check out the article link provided in the review. It’s pretty fascinating, says me.)

The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry is a noir-style steampunk mystery in which reality and its mirrors and shadows blend–where the truth is cast in reflections as distorted as those ina carnival funhouse, and where a clerk who has mysteriously been made a detective must sort it all out. This is such a well-plotted and well-written novel. I just could not put it down! It’s a debut novel, but Jedediah Berry is already a master of suspense. (I didn’t review this one myself, but this review prompted me to buy The Manual of Detection.

I’m never completely sure of all the books I’ll be reading in any given month (who is?), but I’ll be reading the debut fantasy novel Spellwright in March for sure. So stick around for next month’s Monthly Reading, or look for the review at Debuts and Reviews. See you soon!

After moving my site to WordPress, it was only a matter of time before I moved my blog here as well. The LJ account is staying open for now, but I’ll only be using it to comment on other LJ blogs. So if there’s an entry you want to reread for some reason, it’s still there.

Things will be a little different on this new blog than they were at the old. I’d really slacked off on my blogging lately, in part because I was reevaluating how I wanted to spend my time online. (You are now seeing the result.) Expect me to blog here every 1-2 weeks for now.

In the meantime, you can still find me reviewing books at Debuts and Reviews. I might start posting notices whenever one of my reviews goes up (which will not count as one of my regular posts).

Have a joyous day.