Author's Gender

[Toothpaste]

lol, I'm done. Okay, you guys keep up with your theories. Fact is, men white romance all the time. Fact is men write from the perspective of women all the time. So if Mr. Maas really wants something unique and special, well he's too late on either of those fronts.

I've said my peace. I think I'm destined to just keep repeating myself if I stay. Thanks everyone for the awesome conversation though, it's been lovely!

[Phaeal]

Olivia Goldsmith lampoons this attitude in The Bestseller. A woman writes a potboiler with female protag. Her husband takes credit for it, and a publisher buys it because it's so amazing that a man could express the heart and soul of a woman so fully. The publisher then promotes the book using that line of attack. Eventually it comes out that a woman wrote it, but only after any juice it ever had has been edited out, including the insight into the female protag.

[Lady Ice]

Men can be bad at writing female characters. And yes, it would be interesting to see a male writing in a female perspective not just for trashy romance. It would also be interesting for a woman to write a literary romance with a strong hero (in general, it's focused on the female perspective because that's what they know).

And as a man, he probably wants to read things by his fellow men. I think women are more forgiving about gender.

[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by Lady Ice

Men can be bad at writing female characters. And yes, it would be interesting to see a male writing in a female perspective not just for trashy romance. It would also be interesting for a woman to write a literary romance with a strong hero (in general, it's focused on the female perspective because that's what they know).

And as a man, he probably wants to read things by his fellow men. I think women are more forgiving about gender.

Do we really have to use the term "trashy romance," especially as opposed to "literary romance?"

[maestrowork]

Men who write romance/love story with tragic endings from a female POV are still rather rare. That's why we keep hearing the same names over and over (Nick Sparks, Charles Frazier, etc.)

I think what Maass was saying, in context -- although I have no proof, just interpretation -- is "give me something off the beaten path." I mean, he mentioned "all African-American Lord of the Rings" -- so is he racist? No, he's saying not many people write that stuff and write it well!

Yes, men do write romance, and yes, men do write from female POVs, and yes, men do write drama with tragic endings, but put them all together you have something like Nicholas Sparks and everyone wants to find the next Nicholas Sparks because right now there's only one Nicholas Sparks.

[kaitie]

I actually took the statement to mean that there are already a lot of high quality books of that type written by women and that he would like to see one done by a man. They are more likely to be written by women, and if a man writes something of the same caliber it stands out.

All of those look like that to me. It seems that he's looking for things that are new and different and will stand out against the grain. I didn't take this to mean that a man can do it any better than a woman, just that the genre is already filled with women writers and a man would stand out and be different and probably sell well for it.

I think it's no different than wanting a Muslim detective in a story that isn't about terrorism or a ghost story that isn't just another recycled horror movie. I think all he's looking for is something that is different from the majority of what is already out there or what he's already seeing.

As for a guy writing from a female perspective, I don't find that odd at all. I almost always write men and I'm a chick. We've discovered in many other threads that authors writing across genders is fairly common. I don't see any reason why a male author couldn't write a convincing and well-done female character. In fact, I've read quite a few who do just that.

[M.Austin]

Originally Posted by Phaeal

Olivia Goldsmith lampoons this attitude in The Bestseller. A woman writes a potboiler with female protag. Her husband takes credit for it, and a publisher buys it because it's so amazing that a man could express the heart and soul of a woman so fully. The publisher then promotes the book using that line of attack. Eventually it comes out that a woman wrote it, but only after any juice it ever had has been edited out, including the insight into the female protag.

In my opinion, this is the best answer. I might not know exactly why, but I do know it happened. "A man could express the heart and soul of a woman so fully..."