Friday, November 17, 2006

I've Got The Power


But I don't think I'm plugged in....

Somewhere in between the daily whirl of cleaning the toilets and picking up my kids' socks which they haven't turned out the right way, AGAIN, after me telling them some seven million times (and no that isn't nagging, it is reinforement -- steel girder reinforcement, but still...), I tend to take on the feel and value of a used dish rag. It's no wonder I turn to writing to save me --my golden ticket to the Wonker chocolate factory, my secret passion for dictatorship with moir on the throne instead of cleaning it, my secret challenge to the whole male universe. Bwhahahahaha.

Before you wonder what Babe has been drinking and what's brought on her sudden delusion of adequacy, let me just say that I've been reading other blogs, most particularly, that of Jennifer Crusie, and she's inspired me to look at my writing in a new way.

You've gotta love Jenny Crusie. She's bold, sexy and outspoken, but what I admire most is the way she empowers women. Particularly, me. :-) Take, for example, her view on romantic comedy (since that is what I mostly write.)

"If romance novels are a guilty pleasure, then romantic comedies are the designer chocolates of literature, rich, fun and seemingly without nutritional value. But underneath that sugar coating is one of the most feminist forms of literature ever devised. Jane Austen knew it two hundred years ago and writers like Susan Elizabeth Phillips know it today: romantic comedy empowers women and makes their world a better place."(Crusie: Romantic Comedy)

Who knew I was a closet feminist, much less a purveyor of designer chocolate!!?? Certainly not my kids.

No, I don't think I'll be burning my bra anytime soon. My Cooper's Droopers might become a falls risk without some means of contraint. I am, however, fully intending to write more subtly subversive literature valuing women, their choices and their rights to an opinion -- aka rom com/ verbal fluff/pop lit. Who knows where my wickedness will lead me? Today my computer, tomorrow the rest of the whirled.

3 comments:

Kristen Painter said...

Jenny's got it right. I love books that are smart and funny - I strive to be that kind of writer!

Anonymous said...

I can easily see you walking in Crusie's footsteps. You write smart and funny, and your heroine's are strong and self-reliant. All important. Did you know Jennie Crusie is also a professor?

She's a great supporter of new writers and she knows her stuff. Glad to hear you've found her blog. A wonderful woman to emulate.

Babe King said...

Yep, I agree, Kristen.

And thanks, Maggie. I love having her as a role model. The world has far too few good men, er...women. :-) I am not at all surprised she's a professor given her grip on ethonography and literature. I bet she taught women's lit or some such. I'd love to be walking in Crusie's footsteps and love the comparison-- thank you. There's room for a whole lot of women in those there shoes, esp if we're sharing designer chocolates on the journey.