reviews_and_ramblings | The pro and cons, to be or not to be...

The pro and cons, to be or not to be...

When wondering why and if I have to continue with this blog, I received an email like this one:

"Greetings and respect from a gay leatherman who finds your reviews truly excellent

Dear Signora Rolle,

I wish to express my sincere thank you and my profound respect for your wonderful and discerning reviews. I use your reviews to select what M/M fiction I will like best and you never, ever let me down.

You provide a wonderful service, taking your passion for M/M fiction and sharing it primarily wih female readers but also with gay men.

I also love the beautiful male images which you have collected.

You are a wonderful person, a wonderful and expressive writer. I both admire and respect you. Thank you so very much."

I received this email weeks ago, and also in a moment when I was a bit down. Then I read it and decided there was a reason for doing what I'm doing. Then again yesterday I wondered again; maybe I should let other people doing that, other reviewers with more experience... why a straight woman should read and review gay romances? but now, when I will wonder again, I have the above letter to give me a reason to continue.

My response to Victoria Brownworth: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1108364.html

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Keep that in mind, always *hugs*

They do read romance, yes. :) It's a big old world, Elisa, and there is plenty of room for everyone to do everything they love, not just certain people to do certain things.

Never doubt that we love ya! :)

Scusa se non sono molto presente nel commentare ma credimi tu fai un gran lavoro qui che è molto apprezzato.

ciao

Please do continue! I may not comment often, but I read most of your reviews and have promised myself to read many of the books you've recommended.

I also love all the beautiful cover artwork you post - I end up noticing bad covers too often, so it's wonderful to see so much quality artwork on your blog.

I hate the whole 'straight women shoudn't write/review m/m romance' thing. Why not? As long as it's out there and being published, it doesn't matter. And as long as someone is reviewing, it doesn't matter.

By the same theory, I shouldn't have my other journal reviewing primarily teenage fiction because I am no longer a teenager.

It's all just silly.

I appreciate what you are doing. I always check out what you have to say and use your suggestions to help choose my books. Thank-you.

Don't discontinue this journal, Elisa! I love the fact that you post a lot of diverse content, rather than being bias towards movies, for example.

If I wasn't so poor right now I'd buy all the books you've recommended XD

I think you do a great job! I frequently add books you review to my 'to read' list and have found some gems as a result.

You're the only reviewer I have on my friends list on LJ, and I think that says a lot :)

Anna

As someone from the LGBTGQ community, I reiterate what everyone has said so far: You are providing a wonderful service with great dignity and respect. I may not comment all the time, but I am ALWAYS reading through your Inside Reader Lists, film recommendations, and your art and event postings.

Also, the idea that you shouldn't be doing this because you're a straight woman is total rubbish. If anything you are showing more respect and understanding towards writers, readers, and publishers of this genre. Moreover, I must point out that not everyone who writes, reads, and publishes in this genre circle is actually gay. Lastly, we SHOULD be more inclusive to straight allies to counter the exclusivity of the larger heterosexual population.

I hope with all my heart that you won't ever close down this blog. Even so sometime I don't know what to comment, reading this blof is still a high part of my day after I've got home from a long,boring, tideous day at work to relax and unwired.

Please....

I know I find your reviews wonderful, I am among the many straight women who read. I only recently started reading gay romances after years of reading slash online and until I found your lj it was difficult to slog through the good, bad and ever ugly stuff out there. I for one an grateful you do this.

I enjoy this blog very much. It was the first I found. I always enjoy your reviews and the sense that you enjoy the books and the authors as you get to know their particular styles.

I don't think there is another Elisa.

Dear Elisa,

I'm very glad I discovered your blog (via Goodreads, for the record) since you're the most enjoyable M/M romance reviewer I've read. I usually don't comment but I always read your entries and I really enjoy them. Your focus on the content enables me to discern what I am going to like from what I'm not, saving me much needed time and money.
Your writing reflects your respect towards both writer and reader and shows your love for the books, which I find very important. And the number of your readers proves that you are doing it right. You should be very proud.

Thanks for all your hard work, I really hope you'll continue it.

Hugs from Germany to you :) I love all your posts. Thank you!!

I think a lot of people use read your blog before they buy a book, including myself:) Keep going :*

those are some truely disheartening opinions. Could I be guilty as charged? I don't know. I just want to write about things that are important to me. I want to bring characters alive and give them a voice. I don't think I should be in the equation at all- the story should be the only thing being judged.

There have been times when I wished that I could write some other genre, but for some reason, the characters I want to write about all turn out to be gay. I'm sorry I'm not a gay man! All I can say is I'm not trying to sell porn, or make a quick buck by exploiting someone else's sexuality. I just want to tell stories. That seems naive, but I'm afraid its true! I just wish I could explain to those who are circling the queer wagons that we are all so much more alike than we are different. Let's take down the walls and just be humans. Don't make me flash my rainbow ID to get in the door.

i've felt like giving up too. who knew so many people could be so vicious?

Elisa, I've told you before that you were the first person to review my first book, and your opinion is what kept me going all these years. For that, I will always be grateful, and sincerely hope you continue to do so!

The article you cited made me see red - it was full of half truths; the author tried to pass off skewed views as fact.

I think the line that angered me more than any other was "A feature of M/M novels is often rape." Really? Not in my books, sister. Not in any I've read, either.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and if the author of that article was simply stating theirs, it would have been fine, but that's not the case here. It was opinion and prejudice being passed off as fact.

Don't let it get to you.

I went, I read, I shrugged and I left.

That sounds overly simplistic, but what she said in that post was excruciatingly narrow and largely incorrect. My experience in reading m/m romance is so far removed from hers that its like a completely different topic.

Recently I took a long trip by train and loaded up my e reader with books that had been sitting on my TBR list. When I sat down to start reading, I realized that among the authors I'd chosen were Josh Lanyon, Sarah Black, ZA Maxfield and Tere Michaels. Hmm... Now I read pretty much everything, and that list led me to realize that many of the truly quality authors out there are in the genre of m/m. Oddly enough, many are women.

I occasionally write m/m. I don't think of myself as a m/m author because I write outside the genre as well. I'm a writer, I write romance, and I write the characters that suit the story. Sometimes its fantasy, sometimes its sci fi. Sometimes its m/m and other times its not.

I write for women. I am a woman. I have always had male readers, even when my book is het or bi.

This whole angst isn't mine, and it isn't yours, Elisa. Its hers. She owns it, we don't. It sure as heck doesn't keep me awake at night.

I'm sorry that you've been feeling as if you ought not to carry on, but I hope that that letter and the comments here have convinced you that you should. You know that your blog is read with pleasure by LGBT people as well as straight ones - that must mean you're doing something right, mustn't it? If LGBT people read your LJ and don't feel exploited or uncomfortable - if they write to you to say how much they enjoy it - then you must not be part of the problem.

That's my take on it, anyway. As long as I'm getting fanmail from gay men, I reckon I can't really be writing skeevy exploitative stuff, no matter what some people say. It's good to be kept on our toes, though, by articles like this, so that we can be thoughtful about what we're doing and try not to do harm. Not that you ever have!

I (and obviously a lot of other people) think you write with respect and caring about the books you read. I've found some books I really loved from reading your reviews. Thank you for this LJ.

Emilie

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