lkh + mjd = bff?

[karmyn75.livejournal.com]

The recent Mrs. Giggles wank brought up how she was unimpressed when Mary Janice Davidson was acting all high and mighty because she was BFFs with LKH. I heard she even did something stupid on the lkh board. Does anybody have any links or info on this? I read the first four Betsy books and while they weren't that bad, they weren't that great either. I've never been able to stomach any others. Her latest story has Puritans in America doing the sign of the cross after burning a witch. Research is your friend, writer.
So, what's the deal on MaryJanice Davidson being BFFs with LKH and causing trouble?

Comments

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

I wasn't thrilled with MJD writing either. I've read a few of her books (only one being the Betsy series). She has a good idea, but her writing style bothers me. I know first person is hard to write (I'm challenging myself to write a whole book in it), but I hate it when the first person sounds like some sugar-high teen.

As for the Puritans doing the sign of the cross over the burning witch, I could see that happening. A lot of Christian religions use the cross to ward off "evil". However, if that's supposed to be the Salam Witch trials, the burning isn't right. All the "witches" were hung (except for one guy who was crushed). The burning happened in England, and I don't think it was the Puritans who conducted those.

[artemis-rex.livejournal.com]

Isn't the sign of the cross traditional used as part of the Catholic religion?

I've gone to several different churches, and while I've seen ministers raise their palms in a blessing, I've never seen anyone other than Catholic & Eastern Orthodox priests use the sign of the cross.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Tradionally, yes, but I've seen some (a very, very small percentage) of the Protestant branches use it. I'm not 100% sure if Puritans used it, but I could see it happening. The cross is normally used in either blessing or a moment where you need some kind of help.

[karmyn75.livejournal.com]

Puritans were anti-Catholic so I doubt they would have made such a Catholic gesture. I'm Episcopalian and we do the sign of the cross, but not everybody does it and it's only at certain times, like when the Trinity is mentioned and at communion.
I've been banned from British history classes, but I'm pretty sure the Puritans did not do the sign of the cross. That would be like a Baptist praying to the Pope.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

True, true. I guess they wouldn't use the cross then. My bad.

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

Oh, forgot to ask. How can you get banned from your British History class?

[karmyn75.livejournal.com]

That's the disadvantage of attending a university where only one professor teaches British History and having him get tired of me failing the class. I know the material. I just have problems with his essays. I think he just got tired of me compareing Cardnial Woolsey to Larry Flynt.

[artemis-rex.livejournal.com]

Learn something new: Checked off!

Thanks!

[summersdream.livejournal.com]

I read two of the Betsy series... it was a good idea she had. She has a few of them in there, but they just kind of get lost behind the narrator/main character's chatter. I think she was trying for that Buffy-esque high velocity dialogue with its own lingo but it just doesn't work. And at least with the two I read, MJD seemed to have forgotten to give Betsy some more human depth under all the sugar-high patter.

First person is so hard because you have to remember to keep yourself separate from the character while seeing through their point of view- and you have to have that character's voice down pat. (Ahem, Ms. Hamilton? SEPARATE)

[amamelina.livejournal.com]

I fully agree that first person is hard. It's my second least-favorite style to read and write. (the first is typing "you" like they did in the Choose your own adventure series) I admit, nothing has me putting a book down faster then the main character's inner dialog over whelming the story.

[raietta.livejournal.com]

Could somebody post a link to this MJD stuff? I looked through Mrs Giggles' blog, but can't find anything about MJD being BFF w/ LKH. (Wow, that's a lot of abbreviations, there.)

Story

[ravenhaley.livejournal.com]

The whole story about MJD is she was posting comments on Karen Scott and some other peoples blog and they got into some kind of agurment. They were talking about PC (cover art) and somewhere in the middle there was a case of communication breakdown and MJD thought and confused someones PC’s rant with hers, which she didn’t. The girl was referring to PC’s supposedly track record.

Anyways, MJD just want crazy and thought it was an attack.

She kept going on and on and Karen Scott moved her blog somewhere else.

MJD found it and starting commenting again. The whole thing was very crazy.

Than you had MJD going over to LKH's board and laughing up a storm about how she was a victim.

Here is MJD's blog about what she thinks happen on the blog:

http://maryjanicedavidson.blogspot.com/2006/06/authors-behaving-badly-yeah-right.html

This is Karen Scott's blog about the Dear John letter that was on the LKH board.
http://karenknowsbest.blogspot.com/2006/07/dear-john-arent-readers-bastards.html

Drama part1:
http://indida.blogspot.com/2006/06/too-much-lip.html

Drama part2:
http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/?p=506

Darla using LKH's blog
http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/2006/07/authors-and-trolls.html

MJD admitting to following Karen Scott's blog:
http://forum.laurellkhamilton.org/showpost.php?p=332457&postcount=25

MJD breaking LKH's board rules:
http://forum.laurellkhamilton.org/showpost.php?p=332472&postcount=51

I thought the whole thing was funny to watch. On another note, it was just crazy. It was childish for MJD to go onto LKH's board and bang on her chest like she is the Queen of the Jungle.

Now, I don't mind MJD's work. She is a light humors writer. She is also funny in person too. I got to go to her book signing last year. Never laughed so hard in my life. It is one thing to know you writer by reading his/her work but to meet them and see they are pretty nice than to read the drama. Not to mention, seeing them run to LKH and MPE is just batshit crazy.

It has been over six months and I hadn't heard MJD causing drama. Nope just MPE is doing just nicely with their post and blogs (Dear Negative Reader). Evening more so since Darla is posting on Amazon.com

[elsandra.livejournal.com]

Let me start this out by saying I've known Mary (MJD) since high school. Let me also tell you that she and I do not see eye to eye on her writing and I am not presuming to speak for her, this is my own take on the whole thing.

It started on Smart Bitches when they were discussing ARCs being sold on Ebay. An ARC of a book with Mary, PC Cast, and others in it was coming out the next month but they had found ARCs of it for sale on Ebay. This pissed them off and PC sent a note to the gals at SB. Somewhere in the discussion Mary thought a comment had been aimed at her (it wasn't) and she replied back in a rant she meant to be funny but did not come off that way. Mary is a nice person with a big heart but her mouth (or in this case her fingers) tends to engage sometimes before her brain can stop it. Knowing Mary as I do, I was able to see what she was trying to convey but I also understood why everyone interpreted it the way they did. This started a flame war.

Now, I'm not condoning Mary's behavior. After she was told that the comment was not aimed at her, I thought she should have shut up and let it die but that's not her style. She can be very in your face and stubborn but she is also very loyal. That's where her connection with LKH comes in. LKH was nice to her when Mary was starting out (they did a signing or two together at Uncle Hugo's in Minneapolis) and really helped boost her by including her in the anthologies Bite and Crave.

Like the poster above me stated, Mary is very funny, nice, and very generous. Her heroines are really aspects of her personality and what you read is what Mary sounds like in real life. She's also loyal so she will stand by LKH, despite what others say. (Our group is just as fed up with the turn in LKH's writing, hence my presence here!)