jenett reminded me that she was the first woman to win Hugo and Nebulas and I remember being so impressed that it all started with short stories for her. Back in the day I was sure I could follow that same path. There are so many tropes and themes and devices that do have their roots in her work.

Something that I'm wondering about now is, given how much I loved it, at that age, when I was too young to see some of the issues that are there now, is whether I'm being unfair to things like Twilight which might fill the same need today that I had then. I dunno. F'lar and Lessa's relationship is rough, for instance -- he slaps her during the first dragon mating flight and later reflects that unless the dragons are involved it might as well be rape. Errrrr... and how exactly is this different from other things I roundly condemn now? Not much. I loved many of the books as a teen and young woman and I love them still though it is definitely through the lens of that fond memory and its impact upon my lifetime love affair with science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction, writing and media.