Kickstarter fantasy anthology!

[fireun]

Guys, we are seriously, seriously close to getting funded. If you have not, stop by the project page and take a look around. Spread the link for me. I have some fantastic authors involved here and I want this to not only fund, but really really fund, leaving no question as to the viability not only of the process but of the authors themselves.

$15 gets you the anthology. That's 20 stories worth of kick-ass fantasy in non-DRM eBook format. Organized, produced, and distributed by authors.

Comments

[fireun.livejournal.com]

I grew up reading fantasy, and all of the heroes (apart from a very rare few) were males. And I think that made an impression and stuck in there, so when I sit down to write it is hard for me to have my first concept involve a female lead. It is a problem with the genre. Urban fantasy tries to fix it, having kick ass heroines, but they go about it the wrong way- revolving around the sex appeal and relationships and all the covers have under-dressed women on them- because that is what sells, sadly. That comment by Halle Berry makes me sad. Yes, sexuality is a tool, but it is not THE tool that women possess.

The Deed of Paksenarrion, by Elizabeth Moon, was one of the first fantasy series I ever read with a magnificently strong female protagonist. I loved it.

[water-soter.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'm going to check it out. And yes, you're right, it's like we are taught from early on that males are leads in sci-fi and fantasy. So when we create those worlds, it's usually with a male lead.

The same, sadly, with the way women are viewed in the world of fiction. In order to be kick-ass, they have to be sexual creatures and only sexual creatures.

To be fair to Halle Berry, she did later apologize for the comment, but still it really shows how we (women) view ourselves. We are "empowered" if we use our sexuality to get what we want. My favorite character, female characters, are smart, and use their brains to be heroes.