blogflog: title for Anita #16

I haven't really flogged a blog in a long time, but I couldn't resist when I read the latest offering from the desk of Laurell K. Hamilton. It seems she's got a title for that Jason book that's been giving her fits.....

LKH blog in bold
Me, quivering in pain.
URL: http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/2007/09/title-at-last.html

I'm running out of time to do the research for the Jason book, oh, we have a title now. I keep forgetting. Blood Noir is officially the title for Anita Blake # 16.

BLOOD NOIR. Let me say it again, because I sure needed to hear that twice: BLOOD NOIR.

To be fair, I think it's very difficult to characterize anything as Noir these days. Part of the reason that the genre is so appealing is that there isn't any set formula. However, the framework is now, and has always been, based on the old style of hardboiled detective and crime fiction.  Guys like Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Raymond Chandler, or even more recently, Mickey Spillane and Lawrence Block, have good reason to be characterized as such. It isn't limited to male writers at all; in fact, Christa Faust is a fantastic writer and also has the title of being the sole female published by Hard Case. They write/wrote hardboiled, gritty characters.

Moreover, fans of Noir and Crime Fiction are a Dedicated Bunch. There's something sinister and romantic about a tough lead character, shady business dealings, and gangsters who really knew how to be gangsters. There's recently been a surge of what I'll refer to as Neo-Noir (not because I'm trying to coin a term; I just really have no idea what to call it) and the sad truth is, most of it fails miserably because it just doesn't capture that magic element.    There have been some great ones though: I consider David Lynch's films to be a form of noir, and they're usually spectacular.

The sheer arrogance of LKH to insinuate that Anita is in any way a Noir character is just mind-blowing. Noir has plot twists, and complicated story lines.   As far as i'm concerned, figuring out which of the eleven males in your harem will be dinner for the evening doesn't constitute a plot twist.

I could be wrong, she could have just chosen the title because it sounds omg!soDarkandFrench. But if that's the case, then she made a serious error in judgment because it opens her up to all manner of criticism from genre afficianados.

This wasn't much of a flog as it was an opinion, but I'd love to hear how all of you feel about it. Am I being too harsh?