Ask E. L. James Hashtag

On Monday there was a question and answer on Twitter with the author of Fifty Shades of Grey, E. L. James. Some are claiming it was an event gone wrong and they’re blaming her PR people. Others seem to think it’s the most brilliant idea any PR people have ever had. After all, she is promoting a new book right now.

In any event, it seems that everyone who has been holding back what they think of Fifty Shades of Grey let it all come out, in public, on Twitter. The results ranged between social commentary about women to Twilight fanfic…and if there is anyone left on the planet that didn’t know Fifty Shades originated as Twilight fanfic, I think it’s safe to say that’s over now. It was interesting for me because I found FSoG long before it went mainstream. I also know people who either love the book or despise it.

LONDON — Twitter Q&A sessions are a notoriously risky business, particularly if you’re the author of a a set of books as widely known (and widely parodied) as the Fifty Shades series.

I followed it on and off all day and was surprised to see readers mention negative things about the book I hadn’t realized before. For example, rape culture.

You can read more here, with examples of tweets.

Last Thursday I went to dinner at a friend’s house and the new E. L. James novel came up in conversation. There seems to be a division right down the middle. Those who know books and publishing think of James as the antichrist and those who don’t know much about publishing are willing to die for her and for Fifty Shades of Grey.

Some of you might not like my opinion, but whether you like the book or not I think any book that can spark that kind of controversy did something right for a change. After all, millions of people bought the book and paid top retail dollar, and even more showed up to the movie.

And, here’s a link to a NYT book review. 

Domestic Partnership Benefits

Interestingly, with the recent SCOTUS ruling on same sex marriage comes a new batch of issues. This time it’s domestic partnership benefits.

A number of large employers have been moving away from domestic partnership benefits. Prior to the Supreme Court ruling, Verizon, IBM and Delta Airlines, among others, had already stopped offering domestic partnership benefits in states that had marriage equality. Their ultimatum to employees: if you want benefits for your partner, marry him or her.

“With no legal barriers to same-sex marriage, it is likely some employers will eliminate their benefits for unmarried same-sex partners,” Todd Solomon, who has written a book on domestic partner benefits, told The New York Times. 

You can read the rest here. 

It sounds fair, but there are a few gray areas.

Ginormous Penis Scares People

There’s an STD epidemic in Norway and they’ve taken some serious steps in trying to control it…with a great big penis. 

To combat this ignominious distinction, Norwegian sex-ed organization RFSU produced a PSA featuring a human-sized penis running up to unsuspecting strangers then ejaculating gold glitter on them.

You can check the “ginormous” penis out here. 

Kind of reminds me of the Pillsbury Dough Boy, with  a penis shape and two perfectly round dinner rolls at the bottom.