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YOUR MSLEXIA

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PIG-E BACKING The success of an e-book can have a very positive effect on paperback sales. My novel, That Summer in Ischia (Tindal Street), has been near the top of the Kindle charts for weeks. This exposure has seen the paperback rise in ranking to the same level as recent Richard & Judy promotions. This would seem to be a good way for a small publisher to compete with the major spenders. Penny Feeny, Liverpool

COVER CAVEAT The last time I saw a manic, smirking redhead was Rebekah Brooks in the Hackgate scandal, so the recent Mslexia cover was disturbing to say the least. To stop the nightmares, I was forced to cut her picture out and use the blank space for other famous people in the news. Gazza has been the most successful so far. Yasmin Keyani, Norwich

So... Mslexia discussed porn and e-books. Subtle cover then. summerdaze7, via Twitter

I love Mslexia but why is there a totally naked woman on the front, looking utterly awkward and uncomfortable, holding a Kindle? Bidisha, via Twitter

I value Mslexia precisely because it gets me away from the stereotypes of the young/slim/nude/curvaceous woman with long flowing hair. I had to bend the cover out of sight before I could bring myself to read on. Nina Lübbren, Cambridge

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON I was surprised and a little disturbed to see Walk Two Moons recommended in ‘Writing for children aged 9-12’. It would be an excellent novel were it not for the poorly-researched, stereotypical and damaging portrayals of American Indians. A review detailing problems with the novel can be found here (http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com). For a realistic portrayal, try Cynthia Leitich Smith’s Rain is not my Indian Name or Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Alice Nuttall, Buckingham

SHAKEN AND STIRRED I’m relieved my copy didn’t fall open on the train, to the page with the seven purple dildos on it!! *snigger* lilleopard, via Twitter

Very moving monologue published in Mslexia. I was angry and upset all at the same time. Well done Lindsay. Greenacre Writers, via Twitter

Just read Sarah Roby’s poem in the latest issue. It blew me away. Sophie Playle, via Twitter

What makes a good biog? I think the biogs in mslexia are wonderfully human, a glimpse of writers’ processes, fascinating in often odd ways. Angela Readman, via Twitter

▶Womencartooniststhroughtheages 1942ROBERTA MACDONALD specialised in humour about modern working women in the 1940s

Letter: PO Box 656, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 1PZ Email: postbag@ mslexia.co.uk Message: facebook.com/ mslexia Tweet: twitter.com/ mslexia Comment: mslexia. co.uk/blog or follow the links from www.mslexia. co.uk

Rant And lo, Lady Gaga didst summon reporters unto her domain and upon the 11th hour, which hadst been scheduled for nine, ninethirty at the latest, didst promote her new opus EverybodyLookAtMyCrazedGenius (VolI), and she didst eat sweetmeats (when not wearing them) – and it was bad. She didst straddle the globe like a Goth Streisand Colossus and bringer of bad taste and Euro pop. And I just don’t get it. Amen. LORNA IRVINE, Glasgow

Rave Graffiti lurks in neglected spaces, derelict buildings, temporary structures. Materialising in the public square, it is swiftly eradicated. Graffiti is living art. It constantly adapts, finds another position from which to point, another dark corner to reveal. Its images, a spattering of spontaneous births and rebirths, celebrate incompleteness, metamorphosis, freedom.  MARY TAYLOR, Belfast

◀ Submit your Rants or Raves to submissions@ mslexia.co.uk

4 Dec/Jan/Feb 2011/12

NEW YORKER, 9 MAY 1942, CARTOONBANK.COM

SMART BITCHES I almost choked on my bicky when I read [your mention of ] an article by Susan Quilliam [about the damaging effects of romantic fiction, p 6]. This article was discredited months ago and now turns up like a cockroach in one of my favourite reads. I direct you to smart bitches, trashy books (www. smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index. php/weblog/comments/shooting-fishin-a-barrel-with-addictive-romancenovels/) where Sarah Wendell sets the record straight. Romance fiction is writing by women, for women and it’s glorious. Kareena Giblett (aka Lucy Ellis – I write for Mills & Boon) Victoria, Aus

D-DAY LANDINGS My Mslexia 2012 Diary has arrived. Am like my 6-yr-old with some new lego!* mrytale25, via Twitter

My fab Mslexia Writer’s Diary just arrived! Now I have to admit 2012 is looming. 4 books due out, 1 novel to finish *scribbles new deadlines* laridonwriter, via Twitter

SEXUAL HARASSMENT I was dismayed to find the question ‘Are you sexually active?’ at the end of the erotica survey. This meant that participants were forced to answer or close the survey (and waste all the time they’ve spent on it thus far). It’s important to play fair with participants. There shouldn’t be any unpleasant surprises or negative consequences (in a survey that’s supposed to be fun and informal. Alexia Casale, Gerrards Cross, Bucks