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For more info:

Sisters-in-Crime september blog hop: Are your favorite authors men?

9/24/2014

5 Comments

 
The National Sisters-in-Crime organization is running a "blog hop," meaning asking its writers to respond to particular questions on their blog posts. The question I chose to tackle:
  • If someone said "Nothing against women writers, but all of my favorite crime fiction authors happen to be men," how would you respond?

I would have to admit that many of my own favorite crime writers are men as well. I find that odd myself, but the truth is that the writers I have read and enjoyed the most recently include Robert Crais, Stieg Larsson, Mark Mills, John Grisham, and William Kent Krueger. So what's the matter with me? Or does it so happen that these were just the authors I happened to pick up?


Here's another theory. Do I like reading male authors because their experience is different from my own? Yet somehow Krueger is able to capture his female characters--especially the mother. And Larsson is able to capture Lisbeth. 


And now a final conundrum: I write a mystery series using a male protagonist, and I write in first-person. Lots of readers have asked why I do this. My response is that most mariachis are mostly men. When I play in a mariachi group, it's usually me and another four or five guys. I've spent so much time talking to male mariachi players that I think I know how they think. I hope my readers do not beg to differ!



So what's your opinion? How do you answer this question? Do most of the women readers often prefer women writers or vice versa or is there any rhyme or reason to it at all?!


Mystery lovers, join in the fun by adding to the conversation on your own blogs!  www.sistersincrime.org/BlogHop
Picture
Two readers happily reading about a male protagonist as written by a female author
5 Comments
Sunny Frazier link
9/26/2014 11:38:42

I confess most of my favorite mystery authors are men, although I do like J.A. Jance and Sue Grafton. But I don't enjoy cozies or anything with romance and too many women write with those elements. My own series, the Christy Bristol Astrology Mysteries, are targeting a female readership because women seem more interested in astrology.
However, I love reading serious historical fiction and prefer female writers. The male writers concentrate too much on battles and the male leaders. I want to learn about the women who played politics without overt power. Okay, I also want to know how they dressed, what they ate, and what cosmetics they used. Hey, I'm still a girl!

Reply
D.R. Ransdell
9/30/2014 19:36:50

Sunny, thanks for the thoughtful reply. Those are interesting and insightful distinctions. I think one of my problems is that authors on either end of the spectrum go a little too overboard--too cozy or too violent either way. Maybe this is why I was inspired by Murakami's 1Q84 and the way it's divided by a focus on a female character, then a male, and back again, yet for me both sides of the story work tremendously well.

I grew up on the noirs--Chandler, Hammett, Ross Macdonald, so I think the male authors my resonate with me more deeply because of that.

DR

Reply
Elizabeth link
3/2/2015 15:07:02

Rather than reading the Archer stories solely as mysteries, thrillers, entertainments, and detective stories (though of course they can exist solely on that level for readers who are interested in them as such), we’d do ourselves a favor to consider them in a few other ways as well. In the massive reference work World Authors 1950-1970, published by the H.H. Wilson Company, Macdonald wrote that The Galton Case and Black Money “are probably my most complete renderings of the themes of smothered allegiance and uncertain identity which my work inherited from my early years.”
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-black-money.html#.VPVJvNKUc7U

Reply
D.R. Ransdell
3/3/2015 19:41:03

Very interesting! And certainly the early Macdonald, including The Galton Case and Trouble Follows Me were very influential. I loved those books--and they inspired me to want to write mysteries (along with Hammett's Maltese Falcon, which is what I'd read first.)

Thanks!

Reply
Lady Gaga link
5/20/2015 11:58:13

Since the majority of music today is downloaded for free, I’ve noticed that fans want to learn more about the artist personally - their lifestyle, tastes, and opinions that go beyond just their music. Artists have the opportunity to further connect with their audience in this way by pairing up with brands that they commonly use in their everyday life. It works really well when the artist and brand genuinely love and respect each other’s talent, and this is definitely the case with Anna e Alex who have created exquisite and unique hand crafted jewelry.
http://themostfascinatingpeople.blogspot.com/2014/12/singersongwriterproducermodelspokespers.html

Reply



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