l echo Debi McCarthy's comment! And we do need fiction as a way of helping us develop empathy. Thanks for these worthwhile thoughts, plus the info about your books!
I appreciate your efforts to create nuanced characters. So often, bad guys/gals are comically bad with no redeeming qualities to the point where they're unbelievable. Even though your antagonist represents behavior you dislike (i.e. banning books), imbuing her with positive qualities while difficult, is worthwhile for the reader. I'm looking forward to reading that novel.
Well of course book banning has been weaponized as a partisan issue. No one cares what the other side says, even if it is reasoned, informative, cogent. Especially if it is reasoned, informative, cogent.
One can dislike DeSantis. I certainly do. But unless he's lying here, much of the reporting was false.
I'm an old style liberal, and among the shrinking few who are appalled at the propaganda in our national discourse. My progressive friends, not so much. "You fight fire with fire!" one told me. No, you fight fire with water.
I think that info from DeSantis’ website is very favorable to him. I don’t believe teachers covered/removed all their books as a political stunt. When the rules are unclear and there are threats to your livelihood, you take the safest route. The four books listed are the most problematic in the school libraries—age appropriateness—but it is not true that those are the only four that have been challenged and removed. (Many challenged books will not be permanently removed, but they remain unavailable until a committee of indeterminate qualifications gets around to deciding.) De Santis created a problem, and he may not be lying, exactly, but he is disingenuous in not simply admitting that he stared all this nonsense thinking it would help his political career (and it backfired). https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/12/ron-desantis-florida-book-bans-backlash-analysis shows that the back and forth is confusing to principals—whose jobs are also on the line over making mistakes. Overall book challenges and removals for 2023 were reported a month ago. The wildly outsized number of challenges in Florida have a lot to do with the policies that Des Santis’ is walking back. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data
l echo Debi McCarthy's comment! And we do need fiction as a way of helping us develop empathy. Thanks for these worthwhile thoughts, plus the info about your books!
I appreciate your efforts to create nuanced characters. So often, bad guys/gals are comically bad with no redeeming qualities to the point where they're unbelievable. Even though your antagonist represents behavior you dislike (i.e. banning books), imbuing her with positive qualities while difficult, is worthwhile for the reader. I'm looking forward to reading that novel.
You give us a lot to think about and I’m glad to have the invitation to buy your books! Thanks for putting that out there.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for the David Corbette quote.
His article is really good!
"Please allow me to introduce myself/I'm a man of wealth and taste..."
I read something the other day that said that line was inspired by The Master and Margarita.
Well of course book banning has been weaponized as a partisan issue. No one cares what the other side says, even if it is reasoned, informative, cogent. Especially if it is reasoned, informative, cogent.
https://www.flgov.com/2023/03/08/governor-ron-desantis-debunks-book-ban-hoax/
It’s an interesting walk back.
One can dislike DeSantis. I certainly do. But unless he's lying here, much of the reporting was false.
I'm an old style liberal, and among the shrinking few who are appalled at the propaganda in our national discourse. My progressive friends, not so much. "You fight fire with fire!" one told me. No, you fight fire with water.
I think that info from DeSantis’ website is very favorable to him. I don’t believe teachers covered/removed all their books as a political stunt. When the rules are unclear and there are threats to your livelihood, you take the safest route. The four books listed are the most problematic in the school libraries—age appropriateness—but it is not true that those are the only four that have been challenged and removed. (Many challenged books will not be permanently removed, but they remain unavailable until a committee of indeterminate qualifications gets around to deciding.) De Santis created a problem, and he may not be lying, exactly, but he is disingenuous in not simply admitting that he stared all this nonsense thinking it would help his political career (and it backfired). https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/12/ron-desantis-florida-book-bans-backlash-analysis shows that the back and forth is confusing to principals—whose jobs are also on the line over making mistakes. Overall book challenges and removals for 2023 were reported a month ago. The wildly outsized number of challenges in Florida have a lot to do with the policies that Des Santis’ is walking back. https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/book-ban-data
I do agree with you that it’s water which will douse the fire/not allowing propaganda to be the driver of conversation