The Sad, Disturbing Case of Karen Marie Moning Is About More Than Just Her
The Sad, Disturbing Case of Karen Marie Moning Is About More Than Just Her
This one’s a rant. You may have heard of this by now: author Karen Marie Moning (KMM) took to FB to defend Phil Gigante- a long-time friend and collaborator on her audiobooks- from the wrath of the internet regarding his *convictions* on charges of being a sex offender and having an inappropriate relationship with a 14 year old girl. Let’s be clear on that part: CONVICTIONS. That means he was…
The beginning of 2015 coincided with some hardcore romance cravings. I devoured 3 books in 3 days (all of which I recommend) and while I’ve moved onto different genres, a bout of the cold brought with it a need for the kind of comfort only this particular category can provide. Couple that with the impending release of that movie based on that book we shall not speak of and the desire for erotica in particular was strong.
What struck me in particular about Solace Ames’s The Companion Contract was its skilful hand in crafting a finely tuned and diverse ensemble of characters, each with a fully three-dimensional personality and a refusal to be easily categorised, all while avoiding strained or lazy exposition dumps. The novel follows a young Japanese-Filipino-American porn star, Amy Mendoza, who has grown tired with the industry and is seeking an exit. In less talented hands, this character, with her troubled family life, occupation and complex relationships with men, so easily could have become a preachy after-school special or tired cliché, yet Amy remains a fresh and vibrant presence throughout. Ames’s depiction of a sex worker is deft and refreshingly never falls into lazy whorephobia or sanctimonious condemnation of the industry. The world of porn is not an especially nice one as depicted here, yet Amy’s participation is not something she feels ashamed of. She owns her sexuality and does her job, even as she faces various kinds of criticism and microaggressions....
Recently, there was some social media discussion among book bloggers and reviewers over the potential breach of ethics regarding a prominent book vlogger called Christine Riccio who did not issue a...
Sponsored content is nothing new, but when bloggers don't offer clear disclosure of their deals with publishers, it calls into question the basic integrity and transparency of not just their work but what we all do as book bloggers. I break it down at Bibliodaze.
Naomi Watts was recently cast in the role of Four’s mother in the Divergent sequel, Insurgent. It’s no surprise to see a relatively big name in the role since YA adaptations have attracted some of the oddest names to their projects (Emma Thompson in Beautiful Creatures, anyone?) However, this one is a particular problem due to a continuing problem in Hollywood and the entertainment world at large.
Four is mixed race. That’s not fan-casting or race-bending, that’s straight from the author Veronica Roth’s mouth. He’s mixed race, although Roth goes to lengths to ensure us all that he looks white, thus ensuring diversity cookies are still earned while appeasing the prevailing whiteness of our society. Theo James, the actor who plays him in the film, is decidedly not mixed race. Roth, who had previously said “I really hate whitewashing… I really do. It’s VERY important to me that it not happen”, was delighted by James’s casting and remarkably silent on the elephant in the room. Of course, authors generally have very little control over such aspects of the adaptations since it’s an entirely different system, but for Roth to go from being so vocal to so complicit in the very practice she decried hurts more than a little.
#Weneeddiversebooks but we also need to STOP whitewashing the characters of color in film adaptations of diverse books.
Considering all the support the #Weneeddiversebooks campaign has gotten, it's disappointing to see all those many allies go silent when the announcement went out about the whitewashing casting of Naomi Watts.
I guess it's easier to support diversity when it doesn't require you to do anything too uncomfortable, like admit a popular YA author is a silent accomplice to racism.
I started it with a lovely and far more able friend called Catherine.
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