execrable.
― estela, Friday, 11 January 2013 13:49 (eleven years ago) link
Alisa Valdes, June 14, 2011: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alisa-valdesrodriguez/christian-fiction_b_875112.html
Christian book publishing is flourishing. The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) reports an increase in sales from 2009 to 2010 of 4.6 percent, according to a November 22 article in Christian Retailing magazine. Eight of the 15 member houses reporting to the ECPA reported an astonishing growth rate for that period of 14.5 percent.
My sociologist father taught me well that in American society there is a constant pendulum swing back and forth between what Max Weber and others called "traditionalist" and "modernist" values. In fact, the red-state, blue-state divide in the United States could also be interpreted as the ongoing conflict between these two distinct and yet both very American values systems.
At times of economic hardship, such as the one we are all living through now, people gravitate toward the traditionalist values, in search of something stable, predictable, and certain. It is no surprise then, that as the nation's economy continues to fumble and fall, that readers are drawn more and more toward stories that speak of simpler times, traditional values, and selflessness.
In other words, long gone are the days of Sex in the City and other consumerist "chick lit," as readers turn en masse toward Amish romances and romances set in small rural Western towns. Many in publishing say chick lit is dead. I don't agree. Rather, I think chick lit has given up Friday night cocktails for Sunday morning services.
My sociology professor father compiled a list of values that are in constant conflict between traditional and modern societies that I as an author find of great interest at this crossroads in our nation's history. Reading through it is almost like reading a list of plots and themes that worked in women's fiction in the 1990s and early 2000s (modernist) versus those that intelligent writers would be wise to utilize now (traditionalist).
Under "economic structure" we find the following differences:
* Modernists (like Carrie Bradshaw) create goods for exchange or sale; traditionalists (like the Amish heroines) create goods for their own use or for their community.
* Modernists function within a national economy and are city-based, whereas traditionalists function in a local economy and are rural-based. (We see the first hints of the power of the traditionalist Christian book market's emergence in the success of Twilight, which was written by a devout Mormon, set in the forest, and featured no sex before marriage.)
* Modern society sees a complex division of labor where everyone can do or be anything they like; traditional society has a simple division of labor set by sex and age -- meaning the Sex in the City girls (or the women in my own "chica lit" novels) are ambitious businesswomen and go-getters, while the new heroines tend to teach sewing or care for children.
The contrasts become even more fascinating when you look at the differences in social structure between modern and traditional societies.
* Modern relationships tend to be transitory and impersonal (think Samantha's many sexual conquests) whereas traditional relationships are long-lasting and genuinely intimate. Readers are actively seeking out these more satisfying stories, with a deeper level of connection.
It would be a mistake for Manhattan publishing to simply roll their eyes at the "wacko evangelicals" in the "fly-over states" who are reading the new traditionalist fiction by the trainload. The hunger for deeper meaning in relationship and life is not limited to the religious, necessarily, and these stories are finding widespread audiences.
The list goes on.
* Modern society has high and constant social change, and little dependence upon others for approval; traditional society offers a static society where people conform, or depend upon others for approval.
* Modern society embraces and exalts individuality; traditional society holds alternatives to a minimum (thereby offering comfort in belonging, during times of economic uncertainty.)
* Modern society's families are small; traditional society's families are large.
* Modern society emphasizes "achieved" roles, where you can be whatever you like; traditional society demands "ascribed" roles, that you are born into or inherit. In modern society, the individual is the center of it all; in traditional society, family is the center of it all.
This last piece, about self versus community, is key. We are living through a time of unprecedented greed in America, a time when bankers went haywire (resulting in record foreclosures and homelessness) and big business shipped our middle class overseas.
Is it any wonder, then, that romance readers are scooping up books that, while simplistically defined as "Christian," are in fact offering us an alternate view of life and society, one where selfishness and vulgarity have been replaced by community and decorum?
If economic indicators are to be believed, we are probably just seeing the tip of this particular iceberg. Hard times are here to stay for a while, and with them, traditionalist fiction isn't going away.
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 14:25 (eleven years ago) link
Explains all the Mormon vampires.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 11 January 2013 14:39 (eleven years ago) link
Weirdly explains 50 shades, too. Like some sort of crossover genre.
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 14:46 (eleven years ago) link
The soft light did not hide the obvious, which is to say your intense and masculine beauty. I just sort of gasped, and listened to the gentle come-and-go of your breath, and I wondered, again, how it was that I, of all the women in Albuquerque, got so lucky to have been found by you.
Magnificent.
― pandemic, Friday, 11 January 2013 14:49 (eleven years ago) link
xp This is news? As someone said on here recently, she has a very high words-to-ideas ratio.
― grossly incorrect register (in orbit), Friday, 11 January 2013 14:49 (eleven years ago) link
By she, do you mean Valdes, James, or Meyer?
Valdes seems pretty sharp to me, despite eye-rolling crap like:
Alisa Valdes @MizAlisa Ironic: When the same folks taking me to task for challenging extreme feminism try minimize my intellect with: "She just a romance writer".
Alisa Valdes @MizAlisa A word to reassure my loved ones: I have thick skin, emotionally. The criticism was expected. I questioned feminism. Sacred cow. I'm fine!
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 14:54 (eleven years ago) link
if I start using the phrase "scared cow" will people get the joke or will they just think I'm dumb
― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Friday, 11 January 2013 14:55 (eleven years ago) link
Teardrops often remind me of children.
I associate both with dampness and screaming.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 11 January 2013 14:57 (eleven years ago) link
Ha. In what context, DJP?
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:00 (eleven years ago) link
teardrops keep fallin on my headreminds me the child has probly wet the bedhe's such a little shitthose teardrops keep fallin on my head they keep fallin
― let's bitch about our stupid, annoying co-ilxors (darraghmac), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:01 (eleven years ago) link
Valdes. Sharp? This is ridic: "It would be a mistake for Manhattan publishing to simply roll their eyes at the "wacko evangelicals" in the "fly-over states" who are reading the new traditionalist fiction by the trainload."
"Manhattan publishing" is doing no such thing, they're making money off "bonnet books" and women's fiction directed at calming the fears of religious Middle America as fast as we, I mean they can. Points for strawmanning though.
― grossly incorrect register (in orbit), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:02 (eleven years ago) link
Maybe I'll start on Twitter, taking on the scared cows of our day
― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:03 (eleven years ago) link
tbf they still may be rolling their eyes xp
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:04 (eleven years ago) link
YESSSS xpost
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:05 (eleven years ago) link
Orbit, we totally agree, but there are plenty of examples of intelligent people who are capable of writing well who churn out drivel and bad, lazy, reactionary ideas. *shrugs*
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:07 (eleven years ago) link
i admit in the midst of this rather dire thread i irl lold and sort of did a little celebration when i realized jonviachi was still engaged in fully defending himself against any and all race war accusations
If you had actually taken time to read the thread, you would've seen that I was not defending myself against any accusations, I was calling out Mordy for a needless personal attack. But considering you are one of ilx's bigger bullies as well, I don't expect much different from you.
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:33 (eleven years ago) link
^ racist warmonger
― ♨ (am0n), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:35 (eleven years ago) link
^ bullying asshole
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:36 (eleven years ago) link
lol
― go to party leather (ENBB), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:38 (eleven years ago) link
(sorry)
*bullies erica*
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:39 (eleven years ago) link
can't wait for 3.0
― ♨ (am0n), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:39 (eleven years ago) link
The Bully and the Race Warrior
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:39 (eleven years ago) link
kind of interesting that a thread about a situation where a person was constantly belittled and marginalized contains a bunch of posts where several posters belittle and marginalize another one
also gives some excellent examples for my point to in orbit about how easy it is for people to slip into being abusive with words
― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:40 (eleven years ago) link
it is not at all interesting
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:41 (eleven years ago) link
can't wait for the bullying tag team of am0n and lag∞n to grow the fuck up.
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:43 (eleven years ago) link
*tags lag∞n*
― ♨ (am0n), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:44 (eleven years ago) link
oh jon
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:44 (eleven years ago) link
― Solange Knowles is my hero (DJP), Friday, January 11, 2013 10:40 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
oh come on
― drunk 'n' white's elements of style (Hurting 2), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:46 (eleven years ago) link
I mean do you guys not seriously think you are pushing this thing a little too far? You think its okay to continue to needle me after I've explained several time that I don't find the "race war" shit acceptable in the least? Grow the fuck up.
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:47 (eleven years ago) link
its kind of interesting... how i was right all along
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:49 (eleven years ago) link
oh jon jon jon whatre we gonna do with you
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:50 (eleven years ago) link
i'm more puzzled as to why your bullshit is tolerated and i'm painted as the bad guy.
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 15:52 (eleven years ago) link
something to think about i guess
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 15:53 (eleven years ago) link
I've now transitioned from resisting the urge to poke at Mordy to wanting to poke at jon/via/chi 2.0.
It's nothing personal. There's just this compulsion, like in the red button gag.
I think this is the rush bullies feel when some red-faced kid is sputtering in indignation.
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 16:08 (eleven years ago) link
p sure 98% of this board wouldn't be satisfied until someone uploaded my suicide video to youtube.
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
poke away at me. i can take it. xp
― Mordy, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:09 (eleven years ago) link
ha jon you are being very dramatic
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:11 (eleven years ago) link
probably, but i'm sick of the fucking pile-on after i explicitly explain how tired i am of the goddamn "race war" bullshit. i wish the mods would sack up and do something about bullying on this board for once.
― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 January 2013 16:12 (eleven years ago) link
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a1/Jimmy_and_Gary.png/220px-Jimmy_and_Gary.png
― Mordy, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:13 (eleven years ago) link
for me the thing thats funny about isnt how easy it is to send jon over the edge, its the absurdity of how easy it would be for him to end the race war, instead he fights on
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:14 (eleven years ago) link
i am totally ignorant of what race war means w/r/t jon so this is all kind of bizarre to me
― fueled by satanism, violence, and sodomy (elmo argonaut), Friday, 11 January 2013 16:15 (eleven years ago) link
can we get back to talking about how this woman is completely shameless
― maura, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
*searches for "race war" on ilx*
― REBEL YELL FOR HUGS (Austerity Ponies), Friday, 11 January 2013 16:17 (eleven years ago) link
when is someone going to get a statement from penguin already?
― Mordy, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:18 (eleven years ago) link
um, sorry, we have got a non-literary clusterfuck thread just over there somewhere, do you guys mind?
Voltaire, eh, what a cunt, bet he was racist
― let's bitch about our stupid, annoying co-ilxors (darraghmac), Friday, 11 January 2013 16:18 (eleven years ago) link
i spent like an hour early this morning reading about her antics, which include claiming bisexuality for an afterellen interview and then denying it and blaming the person who interviewed her
― maura, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:18 (eleven years ago) link
― fueled by satanism, violence, and sodomy (elmo argonaut), Friday, January 11, 2013 11:15 AM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
ha yeah i dont even know either, just that if you say jon wants race war he goes to defcon five, fwiw despite being #1 ilx bully i think ive done that maybe once, i was only experimenting swear
― lag∞n, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:19 (eleven years ago) link
did you read about the genocide letter she denied writing to her newspaper? xp
― Mordy, Friday, 11 January 2013 16:19 (eleven years ago) link