Quiltbag Cantina and Tearoom

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Bookewyrme

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I'm not entirely sure what I'm looking for. "Community" is too vague. I've never quite gotten the hang of forum sites like this one. Too easy to forget to stick my nose in for weeks at a time and then I feel like a stranger wandering into someone else's party (which makes me less likely to participate, which ... well, you get the idea).

Mostly I want a context where I can talk about writing (and researching, and publishing) with people in a similar place, so I don't bore my non-writing friends to death. I really miss the old usenet group rec.arts.sf.composition before it was murdered by self-serving ...well, never mind that. Nothing has really replaced that group in my own private mental ecosystem.
This is just something I tried, and worked for me. But, maybe you should join one of the "ongoing" threads, such as the Blue Bordello (erotica) Comedy Cabaret, Horror Hounds, Jed's Newbie Cafe, The Old Fart's Bar & Grill (in Office Party), etc. They're like microcosms of the greater AW ecosystem, but with a much smaller number of users, and of course it's just one thread. Plus, you can really tailor it to your specific genre/writing type interests (or just hanging-out type interests, but knowing you'll be hanging out with writers), so you're get an even better chance of finding like-minded folks. The folks who hang out in those specific threads also tend to stay relatively similar (barring the usual gradual ebb and flow of course) so it's easier to get to know posters as individuals, and eventually as friends.

I found it really helpful, and made some very close friends that way, who I now even interact with in other parts of the Great Trackless Interwebs. Because I definitely felt like a bit of an outsider looking in to start with too. There's just so MUCH! Which I think is a good thing, but it is overwhelming sometimes. :)
 

hrj

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Oh Oh! Where have you sent it, if we may ask? We can bite our nails waiting to hear back with you. :) I LOVE that part.

Well, in my typical over-analytical fashion, I put together a spreadsheet of about 50 potential markets based on intersection with at least two or three of the genres my story participates in (fantasy/alternate-history/regency-romance/lesbian/adventure/mystery), added some weighted evaluation factors for the extent of the intersection, the publishing model, and whether any of their books had been nominated for or winners of major QUILTBAG fiction awards, and in the end the one that rose to first position on my list was Bella Books. (I seriously considered aiming for a "mainstream" fantasy publisher, but I kept coming back to the issue that my book is, at its most essential level, a lesbian romance, and I wanted a publisher that would not only respect that but would consider it crucial.)
 

Kim Fierce

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I have heard of Bella; good luck!

Might I also say you could consider JMS Books, LLC for adult or Queerteen Press for young adult. (That's who I go through, they are both the same company.)

Check out the adult site here: http://www.jms-books.com/
 

Unimportant

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and in the end the one that rose to first position on my list was Bella Books.
Everything I've heard about Bella's editor (K Kallmaker) has been positive. However, one (ex) Bella author noted that her contract didn't contain a rights-reversion clause, so that's probably something to watch out for and negotiate in the contract.
 

MacAllister

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Heh. I can't be the only one checking back to see if hrj has heard anything, right? (Yes, I know it's only a few days, and that it just plain takes a while -- but what's the fun of waiting alone, when you could have a party instead?)

:D
 

hrj

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Heh. I can't be the only one checking back to see if hrj has heard anything, right? (Yes, I know it's only a few days, and that it just plain takes a while -- but what's the fun of waiting alone, when you could have a party instead?)

I promise I'll tell everyone when I hear something! Don't encourage my impatience.

I'm actually not doing too badly on the patience thing. I'm working on the next book in the series and just polished up a short story that's a prequel to the novel that's out under consideration. This week all my free time is taken up putting together a lecture/research article** on sex between women in the middle ages and renaissance in Europe. Oh, and my day job is being very absorbing at the moment as well.

**I'll be posting a version on my LJ and website when it's all polished up and footnoted. It's part of a continuing series of essays on "themes and motifs useful for creating historically-grounded characters that resonate with modern lesbian readers".
 

MacAllister

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(It looks like Maine and Washington have both passed pro-same-sex marriage initiatives, put to a popular vote. We're living in the future. And Tammy Baldwin won, in Wisconsin.)

Hrj, would you please send me a link when you've posted it? I follow you on LJ, but don't check in there all that much any more, and would hate to miss it.
 

BenPanced

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It looks like the same-sex marriage amendment in Minnesota is still defeated, supporters conceding, 50-49 52% against, 42% for, with 76% 100% of the precincts.

In Minnesota, when voting on a constitutional amendment, not marking the ballot is considered a "no" vote. They're reporting 1%-2% of the ballots were not marked.
 
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mayqueen

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This week all my free time is taken up putting together a lecture/research article** on sex between women in the middle ages and renaissance in Europe. Oh, and my day job is being very absorbing at the moment as well.

**I'll be posting a version on my LJ and website when it's all polished up and footnoted. It's part of a continuing series of essays on "themes and motifs useful for creating historically-grounded characters that resonate with modern lesbian readers".
Would you mind sharing that link here? I'd love to read it! The novel I'm querying has two women in a romantic/sexual relationship in the early middle ages.
 

shadowwalker

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It looks like the same-sex marriage amendment in Minnesota is still defeated, supporters conceding, 50-49 52% against, 42% for, with 76% 100% of the precincts.

In Minnesota, when voting on a constitutional amendment, not marking the ballot is considered a "no" vote. They're reporting 1%-2% of the ballots were not marked.

I'm still ashamed that such an amendment appeared on our ballots at all, but quite proud that we are the first state to actually defeat it. At least now we still have the opportunity to get rid of the laws making same sex marriage illegal.
 

Kim Fierce

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There are a lot of positive things that came about in this election! I heard that Obama got 90 % of the GLBT vote. . . the only thing that surprised me about that is the other 10 per cent, really.

Unfortunately, I have to get on Facebook and find out that some of my so-called "friends" are not feeling the same way. . . some of their remarks are so extreme that I deleted one person (a co-worker) and may end up with more unfriendings!
 

BenPanced

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I'm still ashamed that such an amendment appeared on our ballots at all, but quite proud that we are the first state to actually defeat it. At least now we still have the opportunity to get rid of the laws making same sex marriage illegal.
Here's hoping. The state legislature is leaning more to the left with an increase in Democrats.
 

Rhoda Nightingale

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Would you mind sharing that link here? I'd love to read it! The novel I'm querying has two women in a romantic/sexual relationship in the early middle ages.

Seconded--a big chunk of my f'list on LJ is queer women, and they're all big readers.
 

hrj

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Hrj, would you please send me a link when you've posted it? I follow you on LJ, but don't check in there all that much any more, and would hate to miss it.

(My first reply seems to have gotten lost in the ether. Very annoying.)

The first essay in the series was on the topic of cross-dressing/passing women, although the only version I currently have online is a more personal version, written in answer to a friend's question about why I sometimes cross-dress in the SCA and what it means to me both as an authenticity fanatic and as a lesbian. The original LJ version (with discussion and commentary) is http://hrj.livejournal.com/316305.html, and a more permanent version (I think with some revisions) is here.

I revised that original essay significantly for a lecture/slide-show, removing the SCA and personal aspects, expanding it, and adding illustrations. I don't seem to have gotten my act together to get that one on-line yet. Must do something about that. (I'm sort of in the middle of changing my website interface from Dreamweaver to Drupal, so I'm not adding new content at the moment, so don't hold your breath.)

For the current lecture, I'll need to do some revising to turn it from a verbal presentation to a more annotated web article, so it may be a month or so before I get to it, but I'll definitely post back here when it's available. Future topic ideas in the series include "options for singlewomen", "women's economic independence", and "emotional bonds between unrelated women".

This is really about simply sharing the research I've done for my own purposes. I'm less concerned about whether it's reasonable to identify specific historic (or fictional) women as "lesbians" than I am about finding ways to ground my own fictional characters in historically based motifs and behaviors that still give me space to tell the stories that make me happy.
 

MacAllister

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Oh good, and thank you! I remember reading that when you first posted it, in fact. I'll look forward to more. :)
 

MacAllister

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And now I've renamed the thread, since it's evolved fairly radically.
 

Gale Haut

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(My first reply seems to have gotten lost in the ether. Very annoying.)

The first essay in the series was on the topic of cross-dressing/passing women, although the only version I currently have online is a more personal version, written in answer to a friend's question about why I sometimes cross-dress in the SCA and what it means to me both as an authenticity fanatic and as a lesbian. The original LJ version (with discussion and commentary) is http://hrj.livejournal.com/316305.html, and a more permanent version (I think with some revisions) is here.

I revised that original essay significantly for a lecture/slide-show, removing the SCA and personal aspects, expanding it, and adding illustrations. I don't seem to have gotten my act together to get that one on-line yet. Must do something about that. (I'm sort of in the middle of changing my website interface from Dreamweaver to Drupal, so I'm not adding new content at the moment, so don't hold your breath.)

For the current lecture, I'll need to do some revising to turn it from a verbal presentation to a more annotated web article, so it may be a month or so before I get to it, but I'll definitely post back here when it's available. Future topic ideas in the series include "options for singlewomen", "women's economic independence", and "emotional bonds between unrelated women".

This is really about simply sharing the research I've done for my own purposes. I'm less concerned about whether it's reasonable to identify specific historic (or fictional) women as "lesbians" than I am about finding ways to ground my own fictional characters in historically based motifs and behaviors that still give me space to tell the stories that make me happy.

I scanned a lot of this, but I'm keeping a tab open to give it more of my attention later. It's really well put together info.

Oddly enough, I've been scouring the intertubez for photo references of female to male or metrosexual fashion during the Victorian era or the Industrial Revolution. I'm not finding much useful stuff. You didn't happen across anything similar to this during your historical research, did you?
 

hrj

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Oddly enough, I've been scouring the intertubez for photo references of female to male or metrosexual fashion during the Victorian era or the Industrial Revolution. I'm not finding much useful stuff. You didn't happen across anything similar to this during your historical research, did you?

Just as a quick response, you might check out the Vintage Lesbian tumblr pages. (Definitely NSFW.) Some of the material goes back to ca. 1900. I'm not sure how much is earlier than that.

I'd have to do some library-mining to put together something more focused. Can you be more detailed about what you're looking for?
 

Gale Haut

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Ew, good resource. Thank you!

I actually can't go into much detail. But I'm working on a depiction of an all purpose woman in Victorian style clothing that isn't restricted by female fashion trends of the time. I'm starting to think I'll have to cross reference male photos with something circa 1970's Diane Keaton.

Thank you for your help and expertise!
 

Kitty Pryde

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I scanned a lot of this, but I'm keeping a tab open to give it more of my attention later. It's really well put together info.

Oddly enough, I've been scouring the intertubez for photo references of female to male or metrosexual fashion during the Victorian era or the Industrial Revolution. I'm not finding much useful stuff. You didn't happen across anything similar to this during your historical research, did you?

Try "Wheels of Change", which is a kids book of women's bicycle history. it's all about how bikes prompted cultural upheaval of women's roles, including fashion. Its like the sporty historical tomboy's guide to not wearing foofy dresses.
 

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One of the earlier uses of the word dyke was to refer to elegantly dressed lesbians c. 1920 wearing "masculine" attire.

There were a few French magazines that featured them with respect to cafe culture in the era.
 

Kitty Pryde

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The look of those bike pants are really interesting!

The book has tons of art about the evolution from split skirts to bloomers etc. the ridiculous convolutions women had to go through to balance the need to wear a long dress for decency, and the need to ride a bike without maiming oneself. They even tried to invent the sidesaddle bicycle, sigh. i can't imagine coming of age in a time that society would be in an uproar if i was sensible enough to wear trousers.
 

Gale Haut

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The book has tons of art about the evolution from split skirts to bloomers etc. the ridiculous convolutions women had to go through to balance the need to wear a long dress for decency, and the need to ride a bike without maiming oneself. They even tried to invent the sidesaddle bicycle, sigh. i can't imagine coming of age in a time that society would be in an uproar if i was sensible enough to wear trousers.

o_O I mean in some ways I'm not surprised by this. It sounds familiar.

Actually, this entire conversation is reminding me of Lady Sybil Branson's character arc from Downton Abbey. Great character.

It is a shame that it has taken cultural revolutions for an entire gender to have the social right to be somewhat comfortable in clothing. In the spirit of it, I'll do my darnedest to stay true to some sort of null gender interpretation, and make something functional and artistically aesthetic.
 
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