Molly Ringle

Novelist kateelliott first introduced me to the Bechdel Test in this post about epic fantasy. The Bechdel Test was originally created for movies, but can be applied easily to books too. As its official page states, the test rates a movie (or a book, we could say) on the following three criteria:

1) It has to have at least two women in it,
2) who talk to each other,
3) about something besides a man.

This test has stuck in my mind ever since reading Elliott's post, because, as she says, it's kind of astonishing how many books and movies don't pass all three criteria. I do believe in basic equality, and those three simple rules seem more than fair.

So naturally it made me look at my own novels. And I'm chagrined to say that some of them barely squeak by, or might even fail. Quick rundown:

The Ghost Downstairs: Passes with full marks. Lots of female characters--in fact, more females than males. They do discuss men (it's a romance, after all), but they also discuss ghosts and jobs and stuff.

Summer Term: Hmm. I do have a number of active female characters, but most of them don't interact with each other, or only meet briefly. The two best friends, Paige and Ky, do chat a lot, but it's almost always about men. Again, in my defense, it's a romance, and of the most frothy sort. Still, they take sidetracks into movies and academics for a line or two here and there, so maybe this book gets a pass.

What Scotland Taught Me: Passes just fine. Of the four main characters, three are young women, who do plenty of interacting. Again, squealing (or squabbling) over boys constitutes a lot of their subject matter, but there are soberer discussions involving family members and career plans and ghost legends.

Of Ghosts and Geeks: (Novella; likely soon to be published--yay!) Highly silly, given that one of the main female characters is an obnoxious ghost, but it does pass. She and the living female protagonist occasionally talk of non-romance issues, but not much, since the whole point is that the ghost is obsessed with romance.

Boy in Eyeliner: (Not yet published. In revision.) Eek. This might fail! But my defense this time is somewhat better. It's from a first-person male point of view, and his main love ends up being with another man. Hopefully that regains some of my gender-equality street cred. Also, I've scattered the characters across the globe--Portland, Seattle, and London--so the three or four important female characters simply aren't in the same location at the same time, on the whole. Still, maybe I should reconsider that.

So. How do your favorites--or your own creations--measure up?

My copies of Summer Term arrived, all glossy and beautiful! And the ebook version is now exploding onto the e-reading screens of the world too, via Kindle and other formats.

Also, I recently discovered a very cool site that helps you support indie bookstores. It's called Indiebound, and from it you can order practically any book (including mine) and have it sent to an independent store near you for pick-up. Give it a try!

And now for today's perfume review: New Haarlem, by Bond No. 9...

Yum! Delicious! Last time I was chatting with the proprietor of Knows Perfume in Seattle, I mentioned liking the smell of coffee but not always having luck with it in fragrances. She pivoted, pulled a sample of New Haarlem from her cupboards, and handed it to me. And from first sniff, it's pretty much been a "yum!" for me.

One time years ago, at Garden Botanika, I mixed my own perfume spray from their available fragrance oils. I used coffee, vanilla musk, and mint, and I think that was all. I was no pro at it, but I must say the resulting mix smelled pretty good. Well, New Haarlem smells like my early attempt done ten times better--that is, done right, by professionals.

It's interesting to see that it's such a difficult scent for some people to wear. It's strong, yes--only takes a drop or two to keep me pleasantly scented for the majority of the day--but it's an approachable and comfy scent for me. Makes me think of a Saturday morning: coffee, brunch treats like pain au chocolat or cinnamon French toast, a hint of manliness like my husband's shaving cream and/or deodorant, even a suggestion of newspaper ink. It also puts me in mind of an airport concourse, in a good way: the coffee and food and new-magazine scents, along with the clean-and-cologne-doused travelers wandering through. In short, New Haarlem carries that mix of "cozy yet exciting" that I adore finding in a perfume. Smells great on me and would be fabulous on a man too. Keeper!

If you feel like readin' some romance on your Valentine's Day, I just put up a preview of SUMMER TERM--the full first chapter. (Much as I did for THE GHOST DOWNSTAIRS.) Enjoy!

And, once again, yes, this is fiction; meaning, when I was a grad student in linguistics, I neither dated nor flirted with my professors or students. I was all married by then and stuff. I've also never been involved with a film star, alas. But I couldn't help thinking the grad student situation did contain the potential for a good romance novel...