Last month Val at Obsidian Bookshelf did some posts on names and locations and careers of books she'd read in the first half of the year. And I said "Wow, Val's brilliant, I'll do that for September." And hey, I actually did it. I tried to keep track of character names, locales and careers. So what you see below is what I found in 31 books. (many shorts - don't freak out) I did not count any of the Healing Hearts Charity Sips from Torquere because my doctor/nurse quotient would be totally off and also because most are 20-30 pages, you often don't know what city or sometimes what the other career is. I did not count sci-fi/fantasy stories that have weird space names that obviously won't be duplicated or with locations that are made-up. Lets begin.Names: I was surprised there weren't more duplicates of names amongst the 31 stories. I counted those that were mentioned twice or more.
- Ben (2)
- Matt (2)
- Brian (2)
- Sebastian (2)
- Chris/Christian (2)
- Sam/Samuel (2)
- Thomas/Tommy (2)
Careers: So what do our sexy boys do for a living? To be honest, lots of them appear to do nothing. LOL Often in a short story careers are not noted but for those I could determine:
- Students (8) - Many of them had other part-time jobs as well
- Farmer/Rancher (4)
- IT Consultant (3)
- Chef/Cook (2)
- Houseboy (2) - Not something you see ads for very often
- Architect (2)
- Professor (2)
- Rock Star (2)
Locations: There are TONS of unknown locations, usually you know they are in the US or in Britain, but otherwise that's as detailed as it gets. I enjoy specific locations, but sometimes it's not really a factor, especially in shorts where they may only stay in one location like a house or office building for a few hours. Anyway, I virtually visited:
- New Mexico (2)
- Colorado (2)
- California (5) - Usually the city was noted
- United Kingdom (4) - Location usually not specified
- Somewhere else in the US that I don't know (9)
So there is my boring statistical analysis for September. If I was totally going to geek out I would have noted what color their hair/eyes are to see if there is a statistical anomaly towards blue eyed blonds. :-) Maybe I'll save that for October.
And since my daughter is a bit ill and decided not to go out to her Dad's today or participate in the horse show, we are bumming around the house in our pjs today. And speaking of bumming and bums ... Here are some nice ones. Have a great weekend everyone.
21 comments:
Yum. Some very nice arses there, Tam.
The statistics were interesting too. It would be also interesting to see whether we are attracted to the same books/settings, but as I gave up trying to remember to write down all the books I've read (in 2009 I kept a spreadsheet, but constantly forgot to update it this year) then I couldn't tell you what I've read this month other than the books I've reviewed at TDBR or at Wave's.
BTW, hope the kiddie is better soon.
Because I record everything I read here I can go back and update it, but I find it a lot more work.
I probably do find myself gravitating towards certain careers. I like stories with cops, firemen and students (not necessarily together), I tend to stay away from "owners of BDSM clubs" and soldiers.
The kid's just trying to avoid sneezing at this point as it hurts when she does.
Two set in New Mexico? Really? Oh, wait -- ha, ha! One of those must be mine. :)
I'm so glad you did these names / professions / locations, Tam! Very fun to see how it all breaks down. It does confirm my suspicions that too many m/m writers are kinda glossing over details of job and setting in order to crank out that fiction faster (or maybe I'm being too cynical -- after all, many of these are short stories).
Hope the kid feels much better soon!
Hi Tam! Thanks for sharing those lovely bums. Interesting stats. I think students and IT consultants are good careers because you don't have strict hours to have them at work. You can put them together at any old time!
The American Southwest seems to be the new hotspot Val. :-) I don't really need a location if the action takes place over a day. However from the curiousity side I often wonder.
That's a good point Wren. You don't have the restrictions of some jobs. And if you have characters under about the age of 24 many of them are students primarily with part-time jobs in other areas. You're not going to have a 19 year old doctor or even electrician usually.
Very nice bums indeed!
Interesting way to look at your books - I'm not sure I'd remember to keep track after the first book or so.
I think that green eyes would win out over blue-eyed blonds. :)
I tried to update the spreadsheet each time I posted. I'll have to see if I can remember doing eye color. I remember I did that post for Kris and I looked at over 100 books and in the end it was pretty damn close to what you'd find in nature (Western European descent). I think there were a few extra green eyes and a lack of hazel. :-)
I'm curious how this will work now.
*pats*
We need to find out about how to advertise for a houseboy. I could seriously do with one of those.
I'm with Kris! I need a houseboy of my own.
Hope the kidlet is feeling better!
If I ignore the sniffling and whining she's doing fine. LOL
Definitely a houseboy. My problem is that I'm so damn lazy I'm not sure I could be bothered bossing him around and giving orders. Sigh. I'd need one with high intrinsic motivation.
Ooo, many moons riseth. 'Tis a truly magical night. :-)
I used to treasure those pj days. They made getting sick worthwhile. Hope the chicklet feels better soon, though. It must bug her to be away from the horse(s).
It's indeed convenient to have student or self-employed heroes. And, often, it's inconvenient to devote too much text to place and employment details. Depends on the nature of the story. I'm still mostly content with engaging characters grounded in good writing. I guess that makes me both an easier and a harder reader to please. ;-)
I like a nice full moon KZ. :-)
It really does depend on the story. Sometimes you wish you knew more but other times it really doesn't have an impact on the story. Figuring out the right level of detail is part of it all I suppose.
Neat statistics. I'd try to do that but I think I'd forget to update it. I'm so short on time these days.
Loved the pics! Biteable, lickable, kissable. YUM!
I hope your daughter is feeling much better real soon.
It is hard to keep up with the updating Lily. We'll see if I can do it for physical attributes next month just for fun.
Needless to say it's only 9:30 so the kid is still sleeping. But I suppose sleep is probably what she needs.
The statistics are fun! I'm very much interested in the eye and hair color statistics, lol! Maybe next month? ;D
Delicious bums indeed! And I heart the hottie of the day pic too - you made me forget my headache for a moment, thx!
Hope your kid is feeling much better today.
Sorry to hear you have a headache Janna, that was her biggest problem all weekend. Mojo that yours goes away soon.
I'll definitely do hair and eyes for next month, we'll see what I come up with. :-)
Looks to me like you've got the makings of a new village People group there!
No more indians, or cowboys or leather guy, nope. Now we have The Student (in his college sweatpants and wifebeater), The Farmer (not a cowboy, although he may wear a cowboy hat someimtes), The IT Consultant (in his business suit), The Chef (white puffy hat of course), and The Rock Star (would this be Beiber-ish or KISS-esque?).
SOunds good to me!
HUGS...
Ewwwww. No Bieberesque rock stars. They were more ... Bon Joviesque, in his prime. :-)
I am having grabby fingers at the moment with all those delectable bums on display...
Not surprised by the amount of student in these stories now - it seems to be the newest thing to write about..
:)
Themes do seem to go in waves and since they are all chosen for publication at different times it's kind of weird how it all works out, since it's not like jumping on the bandwagon really. Oh well, I like 'em young. :-) Students work for me. In books.
Post a Comment