Can They Tell A Lesbian Wrote Their Straight Romance?

[lydamorehouse]

I think "they" CAN.

An Amazon.com customer reviewer wrote this about Tall, Dark & Dead, "This book is spicy and very strait (sic) forwarding in the sexual thinking department. It kind of leaves you with you mouth hanging open and wondering 'Do girls or even I really think that way'?"

This comment made me smile because one of the reoccurring conversations I had with Ms. Ember, my straight grrl consultant for TDD, was about the fact that I tended to have Garnet hop into bed with her lovers without a lot of preamble. Ember told me that straight grrls, at least from her perspective, being one, tended to need more reason for sex other than "Yippee! You're cute, let’s go!"

Which, frankly, baffled me.

I guess straight grrls need to remember things like condoms, the pill, and any number of other contraceptive/protective measures, which slows down the whole "yippee" reaction. And, you know how it is, once you have to stop to think of one reason not to, suddenly you have a moment to consider the whole thing, and the next thing you know you're looking at your watch saying, "Oh, is that the time?"

What's funny, is that I originally had Garnet in bed with Sebastian a lot sooner than what appeared in the final draft. Both Ember and Anne, my editor, told me they thought the affair went too fast. So, I grudgingly added all sorts of "romantic" foreplay.

Humph, if Garnet were a lesbian, she'd have moved her stuff into Sebastian's apartment sometime after the first date.

So, yes, Virginia, there are girls who think that way, they're just not straight (strait) girls!

Comments

[oracne.livejournal.com]

In the same vein, I am a straight woman who has sold several pieces of lesbian erotica. I don't think the writer's orientation matters as much as the character's individual traits, what the character is like. Who's to say Garnet isn't just someone who likes to Yipee!?

I think that Amazon reviewer just had a narrow view of women--it always annoys me when certain types of behavior are assigned to one gender or sexual preference, not taking individual variation into account.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I also think there may have been concern that if Garnet bedded too rapidly, romance readers wouldn't like her. Genre expectations may play into this as well.

[planetalyx.livejournal.com]

"Yippee! You're cute, let's go!" And then the U-haul.

Thanks for the giggle.

[magentamn.livejournal.com]

Martin and I jumped into bed, well, sleeping bags, after knowing each other only a couple of hours. (We were at a festival, and we both thought it would just be afestival fling.) He brought a U-Haul, well, his dad's truck, on our third date. (Third time he visited from Madision, where he was living.) Do we count as lesbians? ;-)

We celebrated our 15th anniversary yesterday.

Here's a tell

[(Anonymous)]

that a lesbian wrote the straight romance.

The first time Seb & Garnet do it, things are going pretty hot and heavy until Garnet is naked and Seb is standing before her wearing nothing but his PJ bottoms. He's depicted all buff and sexy. Well, unfortunately, no matter how ripped a guy is, he looks a little ridiculous if he is wearing nothing by PJ bottoms AND he's sexually excited he looks kind of ridiculous. He's got a pup-tent thing going on down there.

And getting the PJ bottoms off is a bit tricky as well. Garnet just kind of slides them off his body. It can be a bit trickier than that.

What? Too much info? Really?

jpj

[fiction-theory.livejournal.com]

Bwah!

I guess straight grrls need to remember things like condoms, the pill, and any number of other contraceptive/protective measures, which slows down the whole "yippee" reaction.

This is true. But the point of the pill at least is that you worry about contraception *before* you have sex. That way when you want to "yippee!" (seems to be the prevailing euphemism for sex), you don't have to worry. Condoms aren't that much of a yippee-killer. (Speaking as someone who's had het sex). That is, if both people know what they're doing. You get a coupla virgins in a Chrysler trying to figure out how the *frell* to get the damn thing on, *then* it becomes a yipee-killer.

Ember told me that straight grrls, at least from her perspective, being one, tended to need more reason for sex other than "Yippee! You're cute, let’s go!"

If I'd been your straight-girl consultant (which would've been a misnomer since I'm sorta bi) I'd've told you that some straight girls, yes, need to have other reasons for sex. But some straight girls really do say "you're cute, wanna fuck?"

Characters like Samantha on "Sex in the City" (the ultimate celebration of liberated female heterosexuality) really *do* say "Yippee! Let's go!". Look in the pages of Cosmo, you'll see lots of readers writing in to say that they have sex for reasons of pure animal lust rather than any emotional connection.

It kind of leaves you with you mouth hanging open and wondering 'Do girls or even I really think that way'?"

I wouldn't take this comment *too* personally. I mean, if you have to wonder if *you* think a certain way, that's indicative of a serious cognitive issue. Or you know, not really having all that many thoughts.