Just seen an ad for the GCLS Con.
I have only one question.
WTF is Missy Good doing as Guest Speaker.
And even bigger WTF is she doing listed as being on a panel with "fellow authors" Karin Kallmaker & J M Redman!!
When she stops announcing on her list that she "doesn't care about grammar, continuity or similar concepts" because she's "just having fun" then maybe - just maybe - she's worthy of appearing on a panel with J M Redman. And maybe she's worthy of comparing herself to women who've been writing lesbian fiction - good lesbian fiction - for over 20 years.
Don't get me wrong. I read her stuff (mostly) and I enjoyed her early work (not so much the recent stuff because it became ridiculous & unbelievable). I do not like the way she tried to keep Gab young & naive (ditto Kerry) nor do I like the way she has Xena (and Dar) go from serious hardarse to complete marshmallow with no intermediate stages. And I sure as hell don't like the fact that in her actual episode of the show (Legacy) she tried to turn the clock back & make Gab a really wimpy guilt-ridden pre-season 3 shadow of herself. I do like her take of the ending of the Rift because (although it was a fantastic episode) Bitter Suite was kinda of a cop-out. All that angst & hatred, add a few show tunes & poof - all better now.
But... just because she is the fanfic writer who got unbelievably lucky & wrote a couple of episodes for the show (Xena) does not make her a great author. She's a half-way decent writer who, if she took the craft seriously, learned her trade and worked at being better, could probably be a good writer.
As it stands though... she does not deserve to be linked with J M Redman, Karin Kallmaker, Katherine Forrest, Ann Bannon & the like.
If they needed a Xenaverse writer to show how much the Xenaverse fandom contributed both to the GCLS and to the resurgence of lesbian light-fiction then what the hell was wrong with using GCLS stalwarts like K G MacGregor, Blayne Cooper or S X Meagher?? All of whom are far better writers.
