Book Appreciation with Anna Clutterbuck-Cook (part 2)
The Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 110 with Heather Rose Jones
In the Book Appreciation segments, our featured authors (or your host) will talk about one or more favorite books with queer female characters in a historic setting. This time we had so much to talk about we split it into two episodes.
In this episode we talk about:
- What is Anna looking for in f/f historical romances?
Rich backstories and complex social networksThe default assumption that women’s lives can only exist in relation to men, and how this affects even f/f fictionWhat were the shapes of women’s lives in history and how could f/f stories fit into those spacesThe ways in which many popular m/f and m/m historical fiction tropes don’t fit f/f lives and relationshipsConstructing a “ladder of intimacy” for female characters that feels true to women’s livesHow do historic definitions of “sex” affect how we imagine f/f sexuality in historical fiction?Why is actual sex so often absent in f/f fan fiction?Embedding sex scenes in the particularity of the characters’ lives and experienceThe conflicting tensions in reader reactions around sex scenes--is it “romance novels without sex” or “non-romance novels with romantic elements”?Embedding queer historic characters in a community of marginalized identitiesK.J. Charles and Cat Sebastian as authors creating series of connected novels that build queer community over timeThe misperception that queer “happily ever after” is unhistoricalWriting characters as part of an existing queer historical continuum--the example of Charlotte CushmanLooking for stories with feminism and intersectional identities: non-white characters, disabled characters, non-privileged characters *Promoting diversity as readers and identifying our own biasesAre women inherently uninteresting? The problem of “himpathy”.Books mentioned- All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation by Rebecca Traister
”A Sweet Yuletide” by E.E. OttomanInvisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado PerezBeauty and the Clockwork Beast by Nancy Campbell Allen (m/f)Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen (m/f)The Soldier’s Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian (m/m but has secondary f/f couple)RWA racism and homophobia letters controversy (blog by Ivy Quinn)LHMPodcast on Charlotte CushmanSins of the Cities series by K.J. Charles (m/m)Mrs. Martin’s Incomparable Adventure by Courtney MilanDown Girl: The Logic of Misogyny by Kate ManneA transcript of this podcast may be available here. (Transcripts added when available.)
Links to the Lesbian Historic Motif Project Online
- Website: http://alpennia.com/lhmp
Blog: http://alpennia.com/blogRSS: http://alpennia.com/blog/feed/Twitter: @LesbianMotifDiscord: Contact Heather for an invitation to the Alpennia/LHMP Discord serverThe Lesbian Historic Motif Project Patreon- Website: http://alpennia.com
Email: Heather Rose JonesTwitter: @heatherosejonesFacebook: Heather Rose Jones (author page)Links to Anna Clutterbuck-Cook Online
- Website: The Feminist Librarian
Twitter: @feministlib Archive of Our Own: elizajane