GC Agent Fired

[MondayYogurt]

The absolute thrill and power surge this TRA, Bethany Baptiste, must have felt in doing this.

twitter.com/storysorcery/status/1297708094122790918?s=21

Sorry if this is a dupe - I did search.

Elly Griffiths had a transwoman character who made a brief appearance. I had the impression the character was positioned to appear in subsequent books, but they disappeared after the one book, afair. Griffiths fairly frequently notes the sex of skeletons, quite unambiguously.

I expect as the subject remains in the public eye more characters will pop up. Although it is one of those subjects where one isn't apparently allowed to write unless one has personal 'lived experience'.

Fiction gets more predictable by the day.

I guess our perspective is naturally skewed to the area in which we work. I'm women's commercial fiction, and I'm very aware that supermarkets offer far and away the best opportunities for big sales. The shelves in Tesco and Asda are always well stocked with a constantly rolling supply of cupcakes/cafe titles and also clogs and shawls. Individual authors might not have the star clout of big names like JKR but as a sector those genres shift an awful lot of books.

But I agree with you 100%. The industry itself has been well and truly captured.

I think maybe I'm trying to express that it's more than just the presence or absence of trans characters, but the stifling of the imagination and the limiting of fiction to certain approved topics, modes or attitudes. I think that is what I'm seeing (and better writers than me have discussed it thoughtfully - Zadie Smith and Lionel Shriver are two that spring to mind.) It's not that books are being stuffed with trans characters necessarily (though in YA I'd argue they really are) but the deadening effect the capture of the industry is having on individual writing and books and the project of fiction as a whole. I think you are right it affects different genres in different ways but I think it is coming for everyone.

I sound so pessimistic! I don't mean to. I think and hope there will be a new wave of fiction that overturns these imposed morals and limitations. Either that or they'll start locking us up like they're always trying to do with Elif Shafak.

If someone knows this agent and/or how to get in touch with her, here's an idea: She should set up her own shop and commission a book of essays by gender critical trans people.

Agree, queen of knives. A general 'chilling effect'.

Great idea. What do you think, Helmet?

Though it's not the agent who commissions books, it's the publisher. But maybe she knows GC editors?

YA does seem to be particularly toxic and narrow-minded, and not just on trans issues. See
jessesingal.substack.com/p/ya-twitters-victims-and-critics-speak

Authoritarianism and literature don't go hand in hand.

What authoritarianism produces is propaganda.

Any half decent writer should be backing Shriver all the way on this.

Did anyone else think their official statement sounded spiteful? As if it was written by someone who could hardly contain their glee at being able to announce that the evil T*RF had been defenestrated, and they'd got the company to agree to a series of grovelling penances in a vain attempt to exculpate their guilt by association?

Well, it becomes even more fascinating when you read what used to be their pinned tweet. They took it down after several people pointed out the glaring discrepancies between their guiding principles and they way they actually behaved at the first sign of crisis.

I looked up The Tobias Literary Agency (previously pinned) tweet ’The Seven Fundamental Tenets’

and it seems it belongs to The Satanic Temple

from Wiki en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Satanic_Temple
Orientation Activism, protest, lobbying
Spokesperson Lucien Greaves
Region North America, Europe
Headquarters United States
Founder Lucien Greaves
Malcolm Jarry (pseudonyms)
Origin 2013
The Satanic Temple is a nontheistic religious group based in the United States.[1][2][3][4] The Temple is recognized as a church for the purposes of tax exemption,[5] with chapters in 16 US states, as well as two in Canada and one in the United Kingdom.[6] The group uses Satanic imagery to promote egalitarianism, social justice, and the separation of church and state. Their stated mission is "to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people". The group was co-founded by Lucien Greaves, the organization's spokesperson, and Malcolm Jarry.[7] The Satanic Temple has utilized satire, theatrical ploys, humor, and legal action in their public campaigns to "generate attention and prompt people to reevaluate fears and perceptions", and to "highlight religious hypocrisy and encroachment on religious freedom".[8][9][10][11]

From their website thesatanictemple.com/pages/about-us
The Mission Of The Satanic Temple Is To Encourage Benevolence And Empathy, Reject Tyrannical Authority, Advocate Practical Common Sense, Oppose Injustice, And Undertake Noble Pursuits.

If The Tobias Literary Agency was part of this ‘church for tax reasons’ I wonder if they’ll find themselves ‘parting ways’ for not adhering to the the 7 tenets, and clearly flouting the ‘reject tyrannical authority’ part of the mission statement?

I also looked up Lane Heymont (President) who I believe put out that rather craven apology - under is bio
“He has been the #1 agent for horror on Publishers Marketplace and in the Top Ten for women's fiction and romance.“ Women Lane, really?

Just as a reminder:

’The Seven Fundamental Tenets’

I
One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason

II
The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.

III
One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

IV
The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own.

V
Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs.

VI
People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.

VII
Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word

@AgnesCastus

I guess our perspective is naturally skewed to the area in which we work. I'm women's commercial fiction, and I'm very aware that supermarkets offer far and away the best opportunities for big sales. The shelves in Tesco and Asda are always well stocked with a constantly rolling supply of cupcakes/cafe titles and also clogs and shawls. Individual authors might not have the star clout of big names like JKR but as a sector those genres shift an awful lot of books.

But I agree with you 100%. The industry itself has been well and truly captured.

I agree 100% with the first paragraph, not with the second.

Apart from in MN, I don't see any signs within the industry that it has been captured; neither authors talking about how they are transing their books, nor editors and agents asking for transed books, etc. I know exactly two authors who are GC, and only one of them is openly so and outspoken about it. Everywhere else, there is silence. Even at the height of the JKR kerfuffle, I didn't see authors etc discussing it. But then again, I don't go out into the world much -- but who does, these days?

But in being captured, I mean a lot more than a trans character appearing in contemporary books, or trans being made an "issue" in itself in a novel (Jodi Picault tends to write such "issue" novels -- has she touched on this? I don't know.)

What I meant was, the language of novels has not been captured. Authors are not being told to use transinclusive language. We don't have to talk about "assigned at birth" and fictional women are still called women and expected to have vaginas: even if their vaginas are never mentioned, it's assumed that they are "that" kind of woman.

That, for me, would mean being fully captured: when we have to use forced language. And I don't see it happening, realistically, because where would you stop? Would all the classics have to be edited for inclusive language? I don't think so. If it ever happens, it will only ever be in contemporary novels set in big Western cities.
That means I'm safe... but I think so are hordes of contemporary women's fiction writers, because their readers wouldn't like it.

I know the kind of books Agnes is talking about: these books and their readers all adhere to the basic principles of sexed bodies. It's what female readers demand, and what publishers want to give them. They're not like M&S, easily bullied in spite of what their customers prefer. Reader approval is easily determined -- they's write scathing reviews, they'd return books, they'd vote with their debit cards.

I don't read YA, but I've heard that market is pretty much captured by hordes of bullies with pitchforks,
The nearest I've come to trans in literary fiction is the sample I downloaded of Evaristo's novel. But I never finished it, so... and I agree that literary fiction is a good breeding ground for the ideology, but in the end I believe that it's grown women readers who will decide in their numbers. Let's hope.

Amusingly, the agent who fired her also liked a Titania McGrath tweet poking fun at him and the agency.

That is quite an impressive self-own!

But in being captured, I mean a lot more than a trans character appearing in contemporary books, or trans being made an "issue" in itself in a novel (Jodi Picault tends to write such "issue" novels -- has she touched on this? I don't know.)

Jodi is writing such a book right now. She told me: “ And I hope you will read my book...and see what it's like to actually BE trans, and to face a tsunami of discrimination.”

This was during a long thread here where people were imploring to look into the massive increase of adolescents with gender distress/dysphoria: twitter.com/jodipicoult/status/1271407114934681600?s=21

Jodi is writing such a book right now. She told me: “ And I hope you will read my book...and see what it's like to actually BE trans, and to face a tsunami of discrimination.”

Wow, just wow. Jodi was here on MN, and said this? Off to read that thread!

oops, sorry, I misunderstood "here". I thought you meant she said it on a MN thread! I see that it's Twitter.

[quote rogdmum]But in being captured, I mean a lot more than a trans character appearing in contemporary books, or trans being made an "issue" in itself in a novel (Jodi Picault tends to write such "issue" novels -- has she touched on this? I don't know.)

Jodi is writing such a book right now. She told me: “ And I hope you will read my book...and see what it's like to actually BE trans, and to face a tsunami of discrimination.”

This was during a long thread here where people were imploring to look into the massive increase of adolescents with gender distress/dysphoria: twitter.com/jodipicoult/status/1271407114934681600?s=21[/quote]
I don't rate JP as an author at all. However, I hope all the requests for evidence of high suicide rates has given her pause for thought (seeing as she was unable to provide any).

Had a conversation with dgs about the last Dr who series and he said he didn't watch it because it had become 'embedded in the town of Wokenshire' . He also said that the films that were woke were not appreciated and he and his pals (and there are lots, they have big on-line groups) find the whole thing very amusing.

They make exactly the same comments 'we just wont watch the stuff' and money talks. He was talking about characters in something specific but can't remember the name. They also review, big time and leave no one in any doubt.

He said the story lines are rubbish and that's not what they want.

I live in hope

However, I hope all the requests for evidence of high suicide rates has given her pause for thought (seeing as she was unable to provide any).

It seemed she blocked everyone who challenged her, so it seems unlikely she's going to think again. Or indeed think at all.

Sorry, not about books but I think relevant

You're right, Lamahaha. I was taking 'captured' to mean the fawning lipservice I see being given to TRA ideology, the unthinking virtue-signalling 'be kind'-ness that shoves women (like Baroness Nicholson) aside. I was truly sickened by the Damian Barr episode, and the number of people distancing themselves from JKR as if she was a plague-carrier, and retweeting the craven actor cowards' condemnation of her. That's the line the industry has chosen as the 'correct' one and anyone who publicly strays from that is taking a huge risk.

gc books will be out next year- i know helen joyce is working on one and dr kathleen stocks 'material girls' is ready to go. (fleet reads, part of little brown uk)

dr jess taylors book looks great too.

i think a book of essays by various on our experiences as women would be fab but something to org ourselves then take to agent/publisher.

wild woman writing club (twitter) is full of gc voices too.
id like to see a gc women in publishing off-shoot or something. the tras are very well organised- we need to be.

Julie Birchhill also has a GC book coming out soon. She posted the potential covers on FB recently. But I've forgotten the title.