Happy Birthday Chris Smith

[erastes]

This is almost too true to be funny.  Have a good one, dear!

I just got an email from a publisher with their latest releases and I note that they are now listing what the endings are in the stories. e.g. HFN/HEA – please publishers do not do this.  It’s bad enough that I know it’s going to end well because it’s a “romance” i really don’t need the sub-genre of ending spelled out to me too. GAH!!!

Plus the fact that they have other warnings on the stories “e.g. this story contains masturbation, bad language and gay sex”  is there ANY POINT ME READING IT?

I should add, also that these are all short stories of about 4000 words.  Head very much desk.

 

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Comments

[seraphim-grace.livejournal.com]

my Cloths of Heaven ends unhappily, with one of the lovers dead in a shock twist and the amount of people that have praised me for publishing it as romance even when they didn't like the book
they said they were reading it and thinking ooh he's a bastard but I want them happy, it's a romance it'll be fine
and it's not
and I love that my publisher took that risk with it because the one thing I have recieved praise for with the book is that risk but then i moved to a publisher that takes nothing but risks and I'm now on the same press as Piers Anthony
so....
but I do have a novel listed as romance that ends with everyone dying... so I can say that it's not all roses in romance, at least where people dare

[erastes.livejournal.com]

that's encouraging news - i sometimes wonder if I'll ever offload this tragedy love story! Well done!

[aphephobia.livejournal.com]

Does romance have to end happily, though? I write plenty of stuff that's centred around two people having loving/romantic/whatever feelings for one another, but usually the stuff I write like that ends in the people screwing one another over and the reeling from that.

But there's not really a genre to describe that, and since it's relationship-focussed, I call it romance.


I think sometimes "warnings" serve as advertisements, too. I remember a fandom discussion about people warning for triggering material and pointing out that in fanfic, saying something contains dangerous kinks and non-consensual sex and, well, traumatic stuff probably interests people as much as it makes people go "not for me, thanks."

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

A genre romance has a HEA or HFN, yes; it's part of the genre definition. If your characters end up messing each other over, and the story is about how one or both respond/recover/whatever, that's not a romance, although it could be an excellent story. I can't think of a genre that fits either, but "General Fiction" always works, and actually enjoys higher prestige than genre fiction, among people who have an issue with genre fiction.

Angie

[chris-smith-atr.livejournal.com]

IT IS MY BRITHDAY!

BOW!!!!!!

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday! [applauds and hands you chocolate]

Angie

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

Oh, good grief. :( This isn't fanfic fandom, folks. Heck, on this subject I wish fandom weren't fandom either. [sigh] I don't want warnings, I dont' want spoilers; just file the book under its appropriate genre, give me a decent blurb and an appropriate excerpt (which doesn't mean a chunk of sex scene -- if it's a romance or erotica I'm assuming the story has sex scenes, thanks anyway) and then let me enjoy the story for myself.

Angie

[beckyblack]

I say that technically all stories that don't actually then follow on to the rest of the characters lives are HFN rather than HEA. Who knows what's going to happen in the future? And since if you're not writing a fairytale you can't actually say "and they lived happily ever after." all the reader can do is hope they do.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you, anyone who thinks ANYONE is going to live happily forever is a nitwit.

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

SO you think I SHOULD do the necrophiliac twincest where he's actively raising her from the dead? And it works...much to his eventual dismay.

I loved overwarning when I did fanfiction. "Warning: contains poetry. Those sensitive to culture might want to leave now."

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

There was a time that I put up warnings like this:

"Warning: story is gen. Shippers may want to leave now."

[beckyblack]

Warnings seem to be getting silly everywhere actually, not just on books. I mean do I need to be told a disaster movie "contains scenes of extended peril."

Oh and I just checked my DVD of Torchwood: Children of Earth and its warning is: "Contains infrequent strong gory horror, moderate violence and threat". Strangely it neglects to mention "May rip out your heart and stamp it into the dirt".

I saw something once with a warning that the movie contained a "vengeance theme". WTF? Warnings for plot themes?

Of course some movies need warnings. Like I need a warning on The Fly to never ever watch it again if I don't want to be traumatised. Again.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I want warnings that say: TERRIBLE ENGLISH WARNING: NEITHER AUTHOR NOR 'EDITOR' GOT ANYTHING OVER A 'C' IN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH.

Of coure, you can pretty well tell that from excerpts, but ... HEA v HFN? Come on! Most romance publishers already state they won't publish a whole string of things. How finely ground does the oatmeal have to be?