Poor February.
First up is Groundhog Day when we either cheer or jeer the poor bunch of rodents who are dragged out of their warm habitats to either see their shadows... or not. The threats are fast and furious along with the analysis and disputes of who has the better record. And with most years people are pretty darned tired of winter and just want it all to go away...
Then we move into the middle of the month, all happy and sweet with Valentine's Day with all the chocolates and flowers that you can stand. Lovers coo to each other and people race around to declare their undying love for at least a single night or a weekend. School lockers get clogged with valentines stuffed in the hinges and shoved in the air vents or the ultimate embarrassment - giving and receiving cards in front of the whole class. Old married couples sit and hold hands and watch their younger selves do the mating dance as the romantic scenarios play out over and over again because Valentine's Day is VALENTINE'S DAY, DAMMIT!
Then... it's over. We're stuck with half-price bags of candy, unused Valentine Day cards and loud red socks competing with wooden roses to see who gets picked up first.
And not too soon after that the month is over. Poof. 28 days, or maybe if you're lucky, 29. Worse if you're a Leap Year baby and only get to celebrate your birthday every few years.
February never gets the loving, in my opinion. It's just too soon after Christmas and is more of a precursor to Lent and Easter and all that spring stuff.
I think there are genres who are, in their own way, February. They're special in their own way with unique aspects not found anywhere else but they just don't get a whole lot of attention or support because they're so small.
Which genres? Which pairings? I wish I could say but it tends to shift every time I look at it. One month shifters are the December of books, everyone wants one and celebrate every day it's out. Then they become February and no one's interested except if there's a candy attached. One month fae are in and it's all the rage.... then it flares out and no one gets what the fuss was all about.
As writers I think we have to accept that February is always going to happen and we need to drift through and wait until March and the cool rhymes and flowers and all that.
As readers... why not embrace February by picking up a lesser-known book by an author you might not know much about. Take a chance on a new genre or a new pairing, a new publisher or a new author and see where it takes you.
Power. Out!
*drops mike and leaves stage*
;)
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