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Not *that* eldritch!
At the 2001 Worldcon, a panel discussed sf and romance, and Catherine Asaro, who writes both (sometimes at the same time) said that it’s like jazz and ballet: The jazz audience wants to see what you’ll do, and the ballet audience knows what you’ll do and wants to see if you’ll do it well.
I think that distinction applies even more to audiences than to genres. Many readers want to read a story where the good guy battles dragons or villains and wins. The good guy may of course be a good gal, and of any of the pigmentations humanity comes in, but the important thing is that the basic structure not be messed with. This strikes me as a lot of what the Sad Puppies were about before Vox Day commandeered them for his own hateful purposes. Brad Torgersen, for instance, complained that Mercedes Lackey was Not Playing Fair when she got us to identify with her protagonist, only to reveal that he wasFilipino gay.
On that theme: From the File 770 lettercol, a discussion of how the Sad Puppies don’t like horror that’s too horrific.
I think that distinction applies even more to audiences than to genres. Many readers want to read a story where the good guy battles dragons or villains and wins. The good guy may of course be a good gal, and of any of the pigmentations humanity comes in, but the important thing is that the basic structure not be messed with. This strikes me as a lot of what the Sad Puppies were about before Vox Day commandeered them for his own hateful purposes. Brad Torgersen, for instance, complained that Mercedes Lackey was Not Playing Fair when she got us to identify with her protagonist, only to reveal that he was
On that theme: From the File 770 lettercol, a discussion of how the Sad Puppies don’t like horror that’s too horrific.