I thought his writing was misogynistic in tone.

Then I read some of his quotes and that spelled it out in no uncertain terms.

And I agree about Heinlein–he does strike me as a bit of a dirty old man.

I find myself slightly embarrassed to admit myself a Heinlein devotee. Lazarus Long’s daughter, Lorelei Lee Long? :::blushes::: His books are fun! Come on ladies, pantheistic solipsism? Isn’t the idea of Oz being real somewhere out in the cosmos kinda nice even if it’s absolute b.s.?

Failure rate nationwide for vasectomies and tubal ligations–1 in 250.

You freaking betcha! Which is what I lecture my friends with (minus the official sounding numbers) when they ask incredulously why I still have an IUD if the hubby got a vasectomy. It’s also why I raised an eyebrow when my doc asked why I wanted that IUD if hubby was getting snipped. Doesn’t he know there’s a fail rate?

I remember reading a statement by Marion Zimmer Bradley about her days of writing erotica that first she set up the plot and characters, made sure there were no holes then went back and stole some sex scenes from Henry Miller. I’m not sure about the stealing sex scenes but it does seems like the plot and characterizaion needs more attention than it gets.

I haven’t read MZB, and goodness knows I try really hard to separate an author’s biography from her art, but this might be an uncrossable line for me, especially in terms of reading erotica written by her.

And how, Robin! The heroine, Kallista, lives in a matriarchal society where polyamorous marriages are the norm — in fact, a marriage isn’t considered legitimate unless it involves at least four people. Kallista herself ends up with eight spouses by the end of the first book. I don’t want to spoil y’all by going into too much detail, but let’s just say that it’s not every day you read books containing magic-laced orgies. *g*

FWIW, I thought Dayton handled this aspect of the story very well; polyamory isn’t something that would work for me, but within the world Dayton builds, it works.

As fertile as we are, he’ll be at those check ups! LOL

IIRC, in SWEET LIAR, Jude Deveraux mentions one of the Montgomery men had a vasectomy and still managed to get his wife pregnant. That’s some fierce sperm.

While improbable, not at all impossible. A few years back I had two co-workers, they were having an affair. He was in his 50s, she was in her early 40s. He’d had a vasectomy some years back and…yep, you guessed it. She got pregnant. Turns out, vasectomies? Not 100% reliable birth control (though more reliable than just about anything else) Who knew? So, in Jude Deveraux’s defense, it can happen, and has happened in real life and it’s possible she knew this.

If we’re talking within books, then I pretty much agree with you. I think authors should be aware of the words they’re using, and use them correctly.

I was thinking more of using ‘menage’ (I would use the accent but I don’t know how to do it on my keyboard) as shorthand in reviews of books, and in that context I do think it’s a reasonable shortcut, as are WTF and TSTL.

Teddypig, The Forbidden Tower is my top MZB ever. It was pretty much my first exposure to polyamory in fiction, and initially I was kind of horrified, and felt that it weakened Andrew’s love of Callista that he also had a relationship with Ellemir. But that was to do with my own taboos, rather than a fault in her writing–on re-reads I appreciate the complexities of the society she’s portraying.

I don’t remember any magic vaginas in MZB, but I will never outgrow my love of reading about special tiny beautiful telepathic redheads. I have a shelf of MZBs–they’re all keepers, and I re-read them lots. If I could write like her I would be a happy happy person.

Despite being fearful of the negative consequences of his men getting free, Deke does not cut off the source.

Deke’s sperm might really be all super powerful. IIRC, in SWEET LIAR, Jude Deveraux mentions one of the Montgomery men had a vasectomy and still managed to get his wife pregnant. That’s some fierce sperm. (Picturing FAMILY GUY’s Stewie in his little spaceship-like craft taking out Peter’s sperm in the “Emission Impossible” episode.)

sorry too lazy to look up the shortcuts for the proper accents, forgive me Ann Bruce

Ladies, I don’t hold blogs to the same standards as books. I’m not THAT anal retentive.

Hey Ann, when I lived in France, they used menage as a slang word for a mess. Quel menage! What a zoo! So when I read menage a trois, I see zoo for three.

My French roommates didn’t mention this to me (then again, they were guys and we didn’t bond over discussing romance novels; we bonded over DIE HARD), but I’m going to be giggling every time I see it now. Of course, with all the shapeshifting going on in erotic and paranormal romance, “zoo for three” might be very apt.

I like her well enough, but I found her about ten years too late if I wanted to lurve her books.

That is too bad I grew up with her so I ot to sorta grow with her books and make discoveries. You are right in that there are only a few books now out of the whole series I consider must reads.

I maintain that if you’re writing a contemporary story set in contemporary America, you probably shouldn’t have the characters use the shorthand either.

I agree with the idea in a book if you use the term ménage continually that same way. I can forgive someone going for the shorthand occasionally. But… I find the term polyamorous too eeeeeh most times to like to use it even in discussion. Something Mormon, crazy cult, about it. Threesome is cool for describing the sex. Just saying something more simple like they are both my lovers works even better for me.

Oh, and I just discovered Marion Zimmer Bradley earlier this year. I like her well enough, but I found her about ten years too late if I wanted to lurve her books. They’re mildly entertaining, but I’m mostly outgrown of the need to read science fiction about uber-special little girls with magical healing vaginas and nifty telepathic powers.

And I agree about Heinlein–he does strike me as a bit of a dirty old man.