The final panel of the day, after a quick lunch, focused on the roles of female characters and their relationships. I recognised a writer from WFC13, who was appearing on the panel, and had a chat with her before it began.
Panellists were: Roz Kaveney, Mhairi Simpson, Glenda Larke, Charlaine Harris and Den Patrick.
My Notes
– The role of women is over pigeon-holed. This role is often purely to tell us about two men.
– Giving two women different reasons for meeting each other (different motivations).
– Women can touch without being sexually attracted to someone.
– Trust is a good measure of relationship between characters.
– Could female writers be better at writing female relationships? Discussion of Urban Fantasy writers and the way men/women generally use their friends for support/discussion.
– Different women will be attracted to different people. There doesn’t have to be a rivalry – one can like someone and the other not like them.
– Many of the Vikings invading Britain were female.
– Do writers put in romantic relationships because it’s ‘easy’ conflict?
– We write as much for male readers as female ones.
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The day ended attending the Mass Signing, being contestants of Pointless and spending a few hours at the disco.