The CHD podcast has left me reeling -- in all the wrong ways. Rather than in awe of SJM and excited for what lies ahead, I find my faith in her as a writer majorly rocked. So many things in that interview left me immensely uncomfortable, in a way I never would have foreseen.
The below is NOT advisable reading for anyone who is an out-and-out supporter of SJM -- this is a rant, and definitely not even an exhaustive list of all my issues with it! In that, it is not designed to generate discourse or upset: it is purely meant as a way for me to help process my thoughts about it.
The romantasy debate?
Although one of Sarah’s most salient points in the interview was about valuing romance, romantasy, women’s fiction and ‘things that give women joy’, I felt she massively undercut her own points here by describing, repeatedly, how many of her male characters are defined by the fact that they’re ‘smokin’ hot’. Like, of course male characters' appearances', the portrayal of attraction and sex is intrinsic to the genre — but it’s not all it is. You can’t, on the one hand, claim that people are reducing romantasy to ‘fairy smut’ and then, on the other, laugh about how your Google searches are about men with abs. Sarah is falling prey to the very stereotypes she is claiming are harmful and inadvertently propping up misconceptions about the lack of depth in romantasy fiction here. Again, this isn’t to say that there is anything wrong with fiction that celebrates the female gaze — but more that Sarah came across as if she wasn’t interested in really arguing, properly and roundly, how her work demonstrates it’s more than that the reductionist view of ‘fairy smut'. (I honestly believe it IS a lot more than that, but I was staggered by how unprepared she seemed to really talk about any literary value her OWN books have).
Lack of respect for literature?
Part of the poor way of addressing the romantasy debate I thought was the almost overt disdain Sarah seemed to express for poetry, short stories and non-fiction via her anecdotes about the creative writing course she took at college. As a lit grad and English teacher, this was enormously disappointing. I’ve had plenty of students who’ve asked to be excused from homework, projects or complained about what we were studying — this is common from high school students. But one would assume that, at college level, students would have an innate appreciation for all forms and genres of literature, regardless of whether or not they personally enjoy them. It seemed as if the only book series that Sarah really valued in any way was LoTR. (I know I’m not the first point out the irony in that because LOTR is absolutely steeped in literary heritage and allusions -- too many to list -- but it was painful to hear). Honestly, demanding to be excused from writing poetry because she personally didn’t like it — at undergraduate level — seems shockingly entitled, immature and cringeworthy. As if she expected to be excused, because, what? She’s special and doesn’t need to know it? Indeed, the scarcity of reference to influential books or anything in the contemporary market at the moment, together with her evident disdain of the ‘traditional literary’ genre, was very troubling. What we need are more high-profile individuals celebrating literature and the arts, in all its wonderful diversity, not confirming these shallow stereotypes of 'non-fiction? Oh, that's so boring!'.
Check your privilege?
Sarah’s demand to be excused from projects in the creative writing class in college, as the interview progressed, merely cemented an impression I was getting the more she spoke: someone who was deeply ignorant of their own privilege and remarkable good fortune. I was obviously aware of how enormously popular and rich she is, but I had no idea of how her background is really white and very middle class, and how she came across as — exempting her traumatic story with her first child’s birth — fairly sheltered and unfamiliar with anything that could be considered a real disadvantage or hardship in her life. It seems as if she was lucky enough to graduate college and write, seemingly unemployed, until the age of 26? As someone who is currently writing — and knows tons of other writers working full-time jobs desperately trying to find the time to write and break into the publishing space — this seemed to me to be tone deaf, or at least symptomatic of someone who either doesn’t know, or rarely considers, how privileged her background and current situation is by comparison to the vast majority of writers. This also came through her — honestly quite laughable — assertion that she wants a director-level of control over any ACOTAR adaptation. Either Sarah is simply not aware of the realities of the film / TV industry or she really believes she exceptional in a way other writers aren’t.
Dismissal of fan theories
The way Sarah answered the fan-theory questions came across with an overarching sense of bafflement and borderline condescension. Which was, quite honestly, heartbreaking. Even though her evasiveness was partly from being unable to comment because of spoilers, her dismissal of the ideas behind some of Alex’s questions I thought was deeply upsetting. Is it not the highest compliment when fans find the time to engage with your books — to make connections, links and patterns — and to be so excited about these possibilities that they make theories from them? Yes, some of them may be highly specific / niche / inconsequential, but what does that matter? The impression Sarah gave me was that she thought her readers were silly for making some of these up. That the details they'd noticed were unimportant. Even worse though, is what this implies about the lack of thought and attention to detail that Sarah, as the creator, is putting into her own work. As a writer, you need your readers to make these links, whether on a conscious or subconscious level, to make your writing function most effectively. And yet Sarah reacted as if this was unnecessary; as if fans have nothing better to do. This almost mocking attitude of fan culture left me uncomfortable, and massively rocked my opinion of Sarah’s craft. The way that she claimed to not have any of world-building written down or filed, just ‘all in [her] head’ I thought was not only ludicrous (given the volume of lore and world-building she has constructed over the years) but really gives me cause to doubt her ability as a writer. It felt like Sarah was exposing this enormous literary reputation she’s built as being balanced on straw by highlighting how unseriously she approaches writing her own books.
CHD Podcast: a poor setup?
Ultimately, I wonder how much of this unlikeable, frankly arrogant persona and, at times, flat-out incompetence, was drawn out through the very nature of the Call Her Daddy podcast. It is not a bookish podcast, and it is not aimed at an intellectual audience; it’s thriving off a demographic of women encapsulated in its (imo, quite superficial) host, where dipping into the world of ACOTAR is a fun, titillating exception to their hobbies. I don't know much about the podcast, but it's pretty clear that a book-focused episode is pretty out of the way of their usual content. I wonder how much of the well-heeled, lady of leisure, celebrity-gossip, mean-girl ideal the entire podcast promises to deliver means any deep discussion of thematic issues, literary ideas, philosophical thought, theories and links was effectively erased — or simply unable to be demonstrated in any meaningful way. I wonder how much of SJM’s appearance was, in part, a performance to those mainstream, casual readers who are interested in seeing a woman who they recognise and can identify with: bookish without being intellectual, sexy without being seen as feminist or too political. Maybe that’s harsh. But that was my honest impression — not at all an impression I had had of SJM before, but one that I thought was horribly inescapable by the end of the podcast. I would love to think that SJM was playing into this, rather than this being a rather unpleasant reveal of what her true character is like.
I’m still massively looking forward to ACOTAR6 and 7, and have plenty of my own ideas about how it will play out. But I find myself desperately hopeful that she continues to do more interviews, on different platforms, so that I can find something redeemable about SJM — that I can trust in her as an author again.
do you ever find yourself bedeviled by writing ideas that are the equivalent of finding a single carrot in your fridge. your brain goes "we should write a pirate story" or "we should write a parisian thief caper" and you ask, "all right, what do we cook with that, then?" and it says "no other ingredients (:"
truly do not understand how people just slip into relationships and jobs and opportunities and friend groups and lifestyles. to me there are a million obstacles to navigate in a single basic conversation
I could function in a society that had an actual nightlife that isn't synonymous with just clubbing. Where are the night markets what if I want to go to the library at midnight
→ The Morrigan was the goddess that is associated with war & fate, especially with foretelling doom, death, or victory in battle. She incites warriors to battle, can help bring about victory for enemies, encourages warriors to do brave deeds and strikes fear into enemies’ hearts.
text id: A not admitting of the wound (1188) by Emily Dickinson. // A not admitting of the wound / Until it grew so wide / That all my Life had entered it / And there were troughs beside — // A closing of the simple lid that opened to the sun / Until the tender Carpenter / Perpetual nail it down — /end id.
Elaine dies of heartbreak. In accordance with her instructions, her body is placed in a small boat, clutching a lily in one hand, and her final letter in the other. She then floats down the river to Camelot, where she is discovered by King Arthur’s court, who call her ‘a little lily maiden’.
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Mysterious Art Century
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thinking about “you haven’t met all the people who will love you” and like!!! you also haven’t found all the things that will make you happy!!!! there will always be new authors and musicians and artists whose work you will one day discover and love!!!! there will always be new hobbies and skills for you to learn and feel fulfilled by!!! there will always be new things around the corner that will bring sudden and unexpected happiness!!!!!!!!!!!
