Wanna Be In My Gang? Author/Reader Cliques… Are You In One?
This reflective blog was inspired by something an author wrote in an e-mail to me earlier today.
It made me think about cliques, and how some women never seem to grow out of the need to hunt in packs.
When I was at school, there were always a bunch of girls who thought they were better than the rest of the world, and together, they looked as if nothing could touch them, but alone? Alone, each and every one them were complete pussies, who desperately needed the others around for Dutch courage.
These girls used to truly believe that they were the best thing since Always Ultra Towels With Wings, and they used to shun and ignore anyone, who they felt were beneath them.
One would assume that this kind of behaviour is left behind, once we reach adulthood. Not so.
Everyday on the romance circuit, I see evidence that cliques and girls clubs are very much alive and kicking.
Group lists and author fan boards are generally where the bitchiness and cliqueyness (my word) are often most observed.
There are some groups, where you know that no matter how hard you try to fit in, you’ll never be one of them, and you’re doomed to be forever an outcast, in their eyes.
There are authors who unconsciously (and consciously) encourage this method of excluding people, but if you were to ask them about it, they’d look at you wide-eyed, and totally deny it.
There are many of these Self-Appreciation clubs within Romanceland, and it often amazes me that people don’t comment more often about them.
You’ll probably know the groups that I mean. The ones where one person says something, and everybody else on the list rushes to agree with them, and woebetide anybody who dare suggest anything different.
I guess sometimes it’s best not to rock the boat.
Unfortunately for me, I take great pleasure in rocking boats, so alas, for this reason, I prefer to stay on the fringes of these groups, looking in and quietly observing, but rarely participating.
You learn more about people that way.
By the way, if you think I’m just talking about reader Self-Appreciation Clubs, you’re very much mistaken. I’m also talking about authors who hunt with other authors. There are more of them than you think.
It made me think about cliques, and how some women never seem to grow out of the need to hunt in packs.
When I was at school, there were always a bunch of girls who thought they were better than the rest of the world, and together, they looked as if nothing could touch them, but alone? Alone, each and every one them were complete pussies, who desperately needed the others around for Dutch courage.
These girls used to truly believe that they were the best thing since Always Ultra Towels With Wings, and they used to shun and ignore anyone, who they felt were beneath them.
One would assume that this kind of behaviour is left behind, once we reach adulthood. Not so.
Everyday on the romance circuit, I see evidence that cliques and girls clubs are very much alive and kicking.
Group lists and author fan boards are generally where the bitchiness and cliqueyness (my word) are often most observed.
There are some groups, where you know that no matter how hard you try to fit in, you’ll never be one of them, and you’re doomed to be forever an outcast, in their eyes.
There are authors who unconsciously (and consciously) encourage this method of excluding people, but if you were to ask them about it, they’d look at you wide-eyed, and totally deny it.
There are many of these Self-Appreciation clubs within Romanceland, and it often amazes me that people don’t comment more often about them.
You’ll probably know the groups that I mean. The ones where one person says something, and everybody else on the list rushes to agree with them, and woebetide anybody who dare suggest anything different.
I guess sometimes it’s best not to rock the boat.
Unfortunately for me, I take great pleasure in rocking boats, so alas, for this reason, I prefer to stay on the fringes of these groups, looking in and quietly observing, but rarely participating.
You learn more about people that way.
By the way, if you think I’m just talking about reader Self-Appreciation Clubs, you’re very much mistaken. I’m also talking about authors who hunt with other authors. There are more of them than you think.
posted by Karen Scott at
7:30 pm
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