Yes. Do you think I’m wrong? Give me an argument, instead of trying to employ fallacy from authority.

Not three-dimensional. She’s a combination of “Girl-Hitler” and “Evil Queen/Matriarch/Incestuous-Sister.”

This flowchart does a far better job of explaining it than I ever could. 

Yes. That’s kind of a bad question. What you probably meant to ask is whether porn can be Art, high art, important art. Again, the answer is yes. Or rather, I would reverse the identity. If high art can be pornographic (as is often charged) than certainly pornography can be art.

Not really. Everything seems to be in a bit of a lull. 

Well, let me be clear on one point, Martin does a much, much better job than most fantasy writers. However, he made certain choices which hobbled him, and which hobbles the fantasy genre in general.

Here’s the crux of the issue–the generic fantasy world which has been employed in the vast majority of fiction is fundamentally misogynistic. It is a world where men play king and are important characters, well rounded and full of complex thoughts, and women are background characters, relegated to the sidelines. Martin, thankfully, attempts to usurp this system, but he only does it in one way, and that one way isn’t particularly flattering.

Here’s the general progression of Martin’s female characters–they usually start out as the queen character–impotent and weak, and as they develop, the only direction they seem to grow, as they become more active and complex, is in the masculine direction. In the end, the old trope is still in play–the only way a woman in fantasy can be an interesting character is if she pretends to be and behaves like a man.

This approach, in the end, keeps the same system cemented in place. The women become strong only because they play by the patriarchy’s rules. Are they stronger than usual? They sure are. But women should be able to be strong characters without having to become like men in the process–that’s just as misogynistic as the system itself. 

Lots of plans, but I haven’t had time to get anything written. Hopefully soon, but we’ll see.

Maybe, once I get my schedule settled down, and commissions under control. Of course, you can always commission them, but I know that’s not always a viable option. 

Well, the first piece of advice is that if the beginning is boring you, it’s going to bore the reader. Still, don’t forget that you can always go back and revise the beginning to include information you might have skipped over. My advice, is to start with the action, the core you want to write, and then you can always revise it with a longer beginning after you’ve gotten it down to begin with.