Today a guestpost by Jennifer Harlow.
About Jennifer Harlow:
Jennifer Harlow spent her restless childhood fighting with her three brothers and scaring the heck out of herself with horror movies and books. She grew up to earn a degree at the University of Virginia which she put to use as a radio DJ, crisis hotline volunteer, bookseller, lab assistant, wedding coordinator, and government investigator. Currently she calls Northern Virginia home but that restless itch is ever present. In her free time, she continues to scare the beejepers out of herself watching scary movies and opening her credit card bills. She is the author of the Amazon best-selling F.R.E.A.K.S. Squad, Midnight Magic Mystery series and Justice, the first in the superhero thriller trilogy. For the soundtrack to her books and other goodies visit her at www.jenniferharlowbooks.com
Mary Sue vs. Debbie Harry - Jennifer Harlow
Urban Dictionary Definition of a Mary Sue:
A female character in FanFic or original stories who is so perfect, so superior to all other characters, so powerful,she's annoying. Often based on the author.
(See Ana Steele, Bella Swan, TV Sookie Stackhouse)
Jennifer Harlow Definition of a Debbie Harry:
A female character who is flawed in many ways but does her best to overcome and accept them, is mouthy or prickly, strong or finds her strength, and who has to work for all she has, especially love.
(See Anita Blake, Kinsey Milhone, Lizbeth Salander)
I consider myself a tough broad. I have a mouth on me, dirty a lot of the times, I've walked through dangerous cities at night alone, I've seen someone assaulted and got my friends out of the situation while keeping a calm head, and I've kicked not one but three dudes in the balls when they wanted to play rough and I didn't. I can shoot a gun, change a tire, I kill spiders and open jars for my brothers, and I take shit from no one. I'm not ugly but it takes over an hour for me to become pretty. The only things I'm exceptional at are dispensing advice, storytelling, and keeping fish alive (Beta Larry lived 2! years). I'm stubborn, solitary, I have no sex appeal or mojo, and I live with my parents. In other words, I am not a Mary Sue. I am a human being, flawed yet still fabulous. And so should your main character be.
I came across the term "Mary Sue" when I read an article on "Fifty Shades of Grey" (yes, I read the book. Got it from the library. Wasn't great, wasn't terrible, read it in about three hours.) Like most blockbuster books, there was some derision about it, especially from authors. So much was said but for the purpose of this blog I'll just focus on the main character Ana. She was definitely a Mary Sue: perfect, every male falling over her, had the supernatural gift of having mind blowing orgasms every time. The woman would not exist in the real world.
In this article (which I'm sorry I can't remember the name of, sorry) the author also mentioned that this type of character a "Mary Sue" was prevalent in Fan Fiction, which is how Fifty got its start. The term came into existence when Paula Smith wrote a short story about the type of female character prevalent in Star Trek FanFic. Mary Sue was only fifteen, a genius, the youngest lieutenant, with unprecedented skill in everything both mental and physical, and is beloved by all characters in this case especially Spock and Kirk. Mary Sue has no flaws, she struggles at nothing, and everyone fawns over her. In other words, she's boring. Unbelievable. Those are the worst words any writer can face.
If Mary Sue kept herself contained in the pages of FanFic I'd really have no problem with her. Full disclosure, I don't read or write FanFic. My roommate was obsessed with it, especially Wincest (EWWWW) and Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy parings. I understand the desire to write them. These are characters you love, and in writing the Fic you get to tinker with those characters however you see fit. You put yourself into this fantasy world. You're in control. But before Fifty no one was really making money on it. Now publishers are checking the sites for the next Fifty. Besides the copyright issues, my main concern is that more characters like Ana (a copy of Bella Swan) are going to be the norm. The only acceptable female lead will be demure, gorgeous, subservient, basically a feminist like me's worst nightmare. Ana let a man tie her up and spank her just to please him. Bella literally became a teenage bride, got knocked up, then DIED in childbirth. This is what has captured the minds of American women. It gives me chills.
When it came time to write my latest book, Justice, I made the conscious decision not to let my main character Joanna be anything close to a Mary Sue. In fact, what makes her special is that she is not special. She is a normal police officer who lives among superheroes and villains. She cusses like a sailor, drinks too much, makes tons of bad decisions, and nothing comes easy for her. Yet she’s also excellent at her job, owns up to her flaws, and loves with everything she has. When my agent was shopping the book around one of the reasons editors gave for not publishing it was Jo was too tough. She wasn’t “feminine” enough, whatever that meant. She was the kind of woman who if someone punches her in the face, instead of crying and shutting up, she spits blood right back in his. In other words, she's wasn’t perfect, and there's a reason for that. Perfection is boring. Who would you rather hang out with, spend money on? Little Miss Perfect Mary Sue or flawed, funny, tough Debbie Harry? Me, I'd rather spend an hour with an interesting shit than a whole day with a super nice person. You get more from Debbie than Mary Sue.
What about all of you? Do you prefer Mary Sue or Debbie Harry? Why? Am I being too hard on poor Mary Sue? Can you think of any other examples of either?
About Justice:
It’s hard being a regular police officer in Galilee Falls, a city with the highest concentration of superheroes and villains in the country. It’s even harder watching your best friend, the man you’re secretly in love with your whole life, planning to marry another woman. Detective Joanna Fallon has to contend with both. When the vilest supervillain in the city’s history, Alkaline, the former crime boss who can shoot acid from his wrists, escapes from the maximum security prison, the whole city is gripped by panic. Leading the pursuit is Captain Harry O’Hara, Joanna’s boss and secret lover, and the city’s champion superhero Justice, who caught the villain last time, much to Joanna’s chagrin. Before her father was murdered in a mugging twenty years earlier, Joanna worshiped the hero, but when he disappeared and failed to save her father, that adoration turned to contempt for all supers. After Alkaline attacks too close to home and targets Joanna as his next victim, tough-as-nail Joanna has to contend with her increasing fear while struggling to choose between her life-long crush and her new-found love.
At turns vulnerable and fierce, equally mordant and winsome, Joanna is an earnest yet emotionally damaged heroine, who despite the tough breaks of her childhood sees the good in people and vow to protect her beloved city at all costs. An ass-kicking petite firecracker with no superpowers of her own, she charges after supervillains unflinchingly, never losing her wit even when facing her toughest fight. With a coy blend of whimsy and vivid imagination, she delivers both humor and thrills in an action-packed and edgy blend of comic book cool, fantasy-noir, and bitter-sweet romance.
Buy Justice from Amazon here
------------------
Giveaway:
Jennifer kindly offered a digital copy of Justice to one reader of my blog.
The winner is Texas Book Lover
A winner will be picked at random on October 23th.
Open internationally to everyone who's legally allowed to enter this giveaway.
------------------
Don't forget to leave a comment:
I decided to have an event wide giveaway on my blog for commenters.
At the end of this event I'll pick one commenter on any author post of this event at random and that person will win a book of his/her choice as long as bookdepository ships to where you live, you're legally allowed to enter, and the book costs no more than 10$
And drop by Between Dreams and Reality as well for more great author posts.
6 comments:
I definitely prefer Debbie Harry because there's no such thing as the perfect person, everyone has flaws and they make them more interesting. I don't think you're being too hard on Mary Sue, she needs it. I can't think of any Mary Sue characters, but as for Debbie Harry - one of my favorite characters is Jennifer Estep's Gin Blanco, who definitely has flaws and is a complex and interesting character, just how I like them.
Sometimes it's fun to read about a Mary Sue, it's the ultimate escape. Nothing will happen to her. It's very safe.
But after one story, I'll get bored and want to read about kickass women who stands up against the bad guys, is an equal partner to the hero and has her own flaws to make life interesting
Two for team Debbie!
Make that three for team Debbie. I love Anita Blake. My favourite characters are those that grow throughout the books. Adding Jane Yellowrock to the mix.
I'll admit to the occasional guilty pleasure read of a Mary Sue book (the one series that immediately comes to mind is the Meredith Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton), but in general, I like my heroines to have to struggle, the more angst, the better.
Gotta go with Debbie Harry. Any lead who is little miss perfect will get on my nerves because it is just to predictable. I'll add Mercedes Thompson to the list.
Post a Comment