SBD -- Mary Sue
Mar. 12th, 2007 03:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jmc_bksWhen ever I read the name, I hear the jingle. What jingle, you're wondering? Prob'ly only people who grew up in the Mid-Atlantic, or maybe just in Maryland (I'd say Balmer, but I didn't grow up in the city) know it, the little jingle that played during the seasonal commercial for their delicious terrible-for-you chocolate easter eggs. It may still play, since Naron Mary Sue still makes the easter eggs and puts a huge inflatable pink bunny on the roof of its factory that you can see from I-83 as you drive by, but I haven't seen the commercial for years. [I don't think the bunny is up yet -- I didn't see it today I drove down I-83, but I wasn't looking for it. Really, a tall pink rabbit should attract the eye, shouldn't it?]
If you go here, you can email and they'll send you an MP3 of the song for your listening pleasure.
Thanks to my search for the song, I have found a new local blogger whose archives I must read: Baltimore Snacker.
How's this relevant to SBD? Because those candy eggs are what I think of when I read posts and threads about Mary Sues in romance. Until today, when I met the ultimate Mary Sue heroine in Her Secret Life, a 2006 Kimani Romance by Gwynne Forster. Dr. Jacqueline Ann Parkton aka Jackie Parks, heroine extraordinaire: She's smart; she's sexy; she always does the right thing; she sacrifices for her family; she works two jobs (editor of a lah-ti-dah mag and cocktail waitress at a men's club) in order to "maintain her standard of living" -- her own words, folks, lifted from page 7; she's a good role model to urban young women; she takes up for the downtrodden; she's liked by everyone; she's desired by all the guys too, including the hero, the bad guy and some other obsessive guy who served no purpose at all in the book.
Until I met Dr. Parkton, I never really "got" the whole Mary Sue name, although I understood the underlying meaning and the term's use in the romance community. But how'd the name get attached to the meaning? I'm sure there's a reason, I just haven't heard it. Pop culture reference of some kind, likely. Doesn't matter now. In my mind, it all makes sense. Mary Sue heroines are as painfully sweet as Mary Sue easter eggs (and I say that with the utmost affection for the vanilla butter cream eggs, btw). So sweet that they'll give you a tooth ache. So sweet that you can only deal with one at a time, then you need something tart or salty or smart and bitchy to clear your palate, eating or reading.
Other than the Mary Sue heroine, what did I think of the book? The pacing was a bit slow and the dialogue was stilted, with some info dumping. But since it was a category book and limited to a word/page count, I can forgive those flaws. It's the other flaws that merit the C- grade from me: the Mary Sue heroine, her Big Secret and lame ass reason for keeping it from the hero, her utter surprise when she has an orgasm. Yes, another 33 y.o. who hasn't had sex in 12 years and who has never come. Because she's smart enough to earn a Ph.D., but not smart enough to figure out her clitoris. The other characters mostly exist to reflectMary Sue's Jackie's fine qualities. The hero was fine, if rather Marty Sam-ish himself, and I liked the heroine's father.
Nitpicking again. The book is set in NYC; the heroine's sister lives in Florida; and while reflecting on her sister's potential love interest, the heroine thinks that a 300-400 mile distance might be a problem? WTF? Has Florida relocated to the Mid-Atlantic region?
Any lurkers here in the magazine editing business? The heroine called herself both a criminal investigative reporter (tho' she wasn't doing so during the book) and as the senior editor of an African American women's magazine (her day job). Are editors generally reporters, too? I mean, they may have been reporters before becoming editors, but are they usually both simultaneously? She kind of had to be here in order for the plot to work and to lend any credence to her lame-ass reason for keeping The Big Secret, but I'm wondering if that is usually the case.
Okay, it sounds like I hated the book. I didn't, I just felt like it was very flawed. Still, I liked Ms. Forster's style and language enough that I'd be willing to check out her other books at the library to see if she has written better heroines.
Here’s a treat that is sunny For your Easter bunny, The creamiest candy that’s made. Mary Sue Easter eggs, Mary Sue Easter eggs, Brighten you Easter parade.
We have those Easter eggs, Mary Sue Easter eggs, People are making the switch. Cause’ using pure butter Makes Mary Sue better, And you never had it so rich.
Mary Sue Easter eggs, They’re the best Easter eggs Honey your money can buy. So sweet and delicious, So rich and nutritious, Give Mary Sue Candies a try.
Brighten your Easter parade Try Mary Sue Candies Today!
If you go here, you can email and they'll send you an MP3 of the song for your listening pleasure.
Thanks to my search for the song, I have found a new local blogger whose archives I must read: Baltimore Snacker.
How's this relevant to SBD? Because those candy eggs are what I think of when I read posts and threads about Mary Sues in romance. Until today, when I met the ultimate Mary Sue heroine in Her Secret Life, a 2006 Kimani Romance by Gwynne Forster. Dr. Jacqueline Ann Parkton aka Jackie Parks, heroine extraordinaire: She's smart; she's sexy; she always does the right thing; she sacrifices for her family; she works two jobs (editor of a lah-ti-dah mag and cocktail waitress at a men's club) in order to "maintain her standard of living" -- her own words, folks, lifted from page 7; she's a good role model to urban young women; she takes up for the downtrodden; she's liked by everyone; she's desired by all the guys too, including the hero, the bad guy and some other obsessive guy who served no purpose at all in the book.
Until I met Dr. Parkton, I never really "got" the whole Mary Sue name, although I understood the underlying meaning and the term's use in the romance community. But how'd the name get attached to the meaning? I'm sure there's a reason, I just haven't heard it. Pop culture reference of some kind, likely. Doesn't matter now. In my mind, it all makes sense. Mary Sue heroines are as painfully sweet as Mary Sue easter eggs (and I say that with the utmost affection for the vanilla butter cream eggs, btw). So sweet that they'll give you a tooth ache. So sweet that you can only deal with one at a time, then you need something tart or salty or smart and bitchy to clear your palate, eating or reading.
Other than the Mary Sue heroine, what did I think of the book? The pacing was a bit slow and the dialogue was stilted, with some info dumping. But since it was a category book and limited to a word/page count, I can forgive those flaws. It's the other flaws that merit the C- grade from me: the Mary Sue heroine, her Big Secret and lame ass reason for keeping it from the hero, her utter surprise when she has an orgasm. Yes, another 33 y.o. who hasn't had sex in 12 years and who has never come. Because she's smart enough to earn a Ph.D., but not smart enough to figure out her clitoris. The other characters mostly exist to reflect
Nitpicking again. The book is set in NYC; the heroine's sister lives in Florida; and while reflecting on her sister's potential love interest, the heroine thinks that a 300-400 mile distance might be a problem? WTF? Has Florida relocated to the Mid-Atlantic region?
Any lurkers here in the magazine editing business? The heroine called herself both a criminal investigative reporter (tho' she wasn't doing so during the book) and as the senior editor of an African American women's magazine (her day job). Are editors generally reporters, too? I mean, they may have been reporters before becoming editors, but are they usually both simultaneously? She kind of had to be here in order for the plot to work and to lend any credence to her lame-ass reason for keeping The Big Secret, but I'm wondering if that is usually the case.
Okay, it sounds like I hated the book. I didn't, I just felt like it was very flawed. Still, I liked Ms. Forster's style and language enough that I'd be willing to check out her other books at the library to see if she has written better heroines.
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Date: 2007-03-13 12:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 09:05 am (UTC)CindyS
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Date: 2007-03-13 11:00 am (UTC)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_sue
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Date: 2007-03-13 11:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-13 11:31 am (UTC)~jmc
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Date: 2007-03-13 02:42 pm (UTC)