Monday, March 31, 2008
Re-Direct: SF Novelists
I'm preaching over at SF Novelists today on the subject of "When Writers Don't Write." Can I hear a hallalujah?!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Plot Go Vroom
About a month ago, I attended MarsCon here in the Cities and sat on several panels. One of these panels was on Plot.
I know, I know...we've talked about plot on this blog before, and you can find any number of blogs and articles and books on the subject out there. (I direct our gentle readers here, here, here and here for some of the earlier plot discussions on this blog.) How much more can you say on the subject?
Well, lots, actually. I mean, there are books and articles and blogs out there on this subject for a reason: it's a darn slippery fish to get hold of when you start trying to say what it *is*. Agreement, let us say, is far from universal.
Which is why I'm not going to even try to define the fish today. Nope. I'm just going to talk about how it swims in different streams.
"A-wha?" you say.
Bear with me here.
During the Plot panel's discussion, each writer took a turn explaining what plot was for them -- how they saw it, how they used it, etc. Fortunately, we had several "kinds" of writers up there: world builders, character followers, plot hounds, and idea mavens. And as we worked through the panelists, it became clear to me that we each saw plot based, at least in part, on how we wrote. In other words, our initial approaches to the story helped define how we interacted with the fish we call plot.
Okay. What does that mean? Well, to explain it, I need to switch metaphors. Now, plot is a car. (No, really, forget the fish.)
One of the things the panelists (more or less) agreed on was that plot is the thing that moves you through the story. This is over-simplification of a long discussion, but let's just work with it right now. So, if plot is the thing that drives the story forward, then we can just as easily see it as a vehicle that gets us to our ultimate destination (the end of the story, the revelation of a message, the completion of a theme -- whatever). Thus, plot = car: it gets us where we, the writer and reader, need to go. And how we, as writers, view and interact with that car depends a lot on how we approach Story in the first place.
So, if I am a world builder (start by building the world of the story and only later populate it with people and a storyline), I am going to tend to view my plot car as a touring vehicle. I am going to see it primarily as something I use to drive around my cool world, looking out the windows a lot and stopping to see the sights.
If, however, I am a character follower (create the characters first, and then watch them as they interact with the story and world), I am going to be more of a back seat passenger. I am going to watch the characters operate the plot car and see where they go and when they stop for gas. I may or may not have a road map to help, but my main focus is to see how they drive the plot car.
Plot hounds (create a detailed outline and follow it to the end, with as few variations as possible) are going to make sure the plot car follows the route they mapped out for it. An occasional diversion may be all right, but for the most part there is a trip plan and a schedule and we are going to stick with that. The plot car is a well-maintained machine that gets us to our final destination with the fewest possible hiccups or break downs.
Idea mavens (the main purpose behind the story is explore and play with a core idea -- be it technical, philosophical, ideological -- presenting it to the reader in glorious and fascinating detail) are most interested in the guts of the plot car itself. They like to get under the hood, play with the transmission, even replace or modify parts that they think will increase performance and better convey their core idea(s). It's not the journey that is key here, but conveying just how cool the engine is that runs the car in the first place.
Of course, there are any number of variants on this. There are writers who won't fit any of the above, or who may fit several of the "drivers" cited. It can even change from book to book for some people. But I'm not trying to define writers here, or even approaches to writing. What I am saying is that how we view plot is impacted by how we approach writing and story in the first place. And that, I think, is part of the reason we continue to have such a hard time talking about what plot is; because it is, at base, subtly different for each of us. How we approach story determines, in part, how we interact with plot, and that is going to be different for everyone.
In short, it's not so much a matter of defining what plot is or is not, but understanding our particular approach to it. We all use the car that is plot -- the question is, how do we see that car in relation to the trip we are taking it on?
How do you see your plot car? Or is it not a car for you at all? If not, then what?
I know, I know...we've talked about plot on this blog before, and you can find any number of blogs and articles and books on the subject out there. (I direct our gentle readers here, here, here and here for some of the earlier plot discussions on this blog.) How much more can you say on the subject?
Well, lots, actually. I mean, there are books and articles and blogs out there on this subject for a reason: it's a darn slippery fish to get hold of when you start trying to say what it *is*. Agreement, let us say, is far from universal.
Which is why I'm not going to even try to define the fish today. Nope. I'm just going to talk about how it swims in different streams.
"A-wha?" you say.
Bear with me here.
During the Plot panel's discussion, each writer took a turn explaining what plot was for them -- how they saw it, how they used it, etc. Fortunately, we had several "kinds" of writers up there: world builders, character followers, plot hounds, and idea mavens. And as we worked through the panelists, it became clear to me that we each saw plot based, at least in part, on how we wrote. In other words, our initial approaches to the story helped define how we interacted with the fish we call plot.
Okay. What does that mean? Well, to explain it, I need to switch metaphors. Now, plot is a car. (No, really, forget the fish.)
One of the things the panelists (more or less) agreed on was that plot is the thing that moves you through the story. This is over-simplification of a long discussion, but let's just work with it right now. So, if plot is the thing that drives the story forward, then we can just as easily see it as a vehicle that gets us to our ultimate destination (the end of the story, the revelation of a message, the completion of a theme -- whatever). Thus, plot = car: it gets us where we, the writer and reader, need to go. And how we, as writers, view and interact with that car depends a lot on how we approach Story in the first place.
So, if I am a world builder (start by building the world of the story and only later populate it with people and a storyline), I am going to tend to view my plot car as a touring vehicle. I am going to see it primarily as something I use to drive around my cool world, looking out the windows a lot and stopping to see the sights.
If, however, I am a character follower (create the characters first, and then watch them as they interact with the story and world), I am going to be more of a back seat passenger. I am going to watch the characters operate the plot car and see where they go and when they stop for gas. I may or may not have a road map to help, but my main focus is to see how they drive the plot car.
Plot hounds (create a detailed outline and follow it to the end, with as few variations as possible) are going to make sure the plot car follows the route they mapped out for it. An occasional diversion may be all right, but for the most part there is a trip plan and a schedule and we are going to stick with that. The plot car is a well-maintained machine that gets us to our final destination with the fewest possible hiccups or break downs.
Idea mavens (the main purpose behind the story is explore and play with a core idea -- be it technical, philosophical, ideological -- presenting it to the reader in glorious and fascinating detail) are most interested in the guts of the plot car itself. They like to get under the hood, play with the transmission, even replace or modify parts that they think will increase performance and better convey their core idea(s). It's not the journey that is key here, but conveying just how cool the engine is that runs the car in the first place.
Of course, there are any number of variants on this. There are writers who won't fit any of the above, or who may fit several of the "drivers" cited. It can even change from book to book for some people. But I'm not trying to define writers here, or even approaches to writing. What I am saying is that how we view plot is impacted by how we approach writing and story in the first place. And that, I think, is part of the reason we continue to have such a hard time talking about what plot is; because it is, at base, subtly different for each of us. How we approach story determines, in part, how we interact with plot, and that is going to be different for everyone.
In short, it's not so much a matter of defining what plot is or is not, but understanding our particular approach to it. We all use the car that is plot -- the question is, how do we see that car in relation to the trip we are taking it on?
How do you see your plot car? Or is it not a car for you at all? If not, then what?
Friday, March 28, 2008
Ever Wonder What We're Really Thinking About During Critique?
So you're telling me how to improve my writing, and I *look* like I'm taking copious notes, but really, I'm thinking, "Ha! Dinosaur with feathers EAT you!!!!"
This is actually my sketch of "Albert" the dwarf, arctic allosaur featured prominently in Eleanor Arnason's newest BIG MAMA story, which we all got the privilege of reading before any editor could buy it. It's called "Big Red Mama in Time and Morris, Minnesota" and, in a word: it rules. In fact, you'll notice this is the entirety of my critique.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Never Yell "Free Books" at a Library Conference
Because when you do, you sign a box of books in about fifteen minutes.
Today was the second day of the Public Library Association's Trade Show and Conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It was... ginormous. The Romance Writers of America sponsored a booth there with FREE BOOKS for conference participants, and I just had one of those rare moments in an author's life -- there was a queue around the corner for a copy of my book.
I noticed that the only authors doing give-aways at RWA's booth were local people, and I don't get that. I was ready to fly when I first saw the conference booth mentioned in the RWA Report. A chance to put my book in front of librarians! Heck yeah!
I don't know why any author would object to library sales. Sure, your books get into the hands of readers for free which ostensibly doesn't net you any royalties (although the library does purchase at least one copy of your book). However, my experience as a reader is that "free books" usually translate into eventual sales. I've purchased books from authors that I first discovered on the shelves of the library. It seems to me that given how quickly books disappear from the shelves at the bookstore (you really only have about two weeks before the books get stripped and returned to the publisher), that libraries do authors a great service by providing a place for their books to be "discovered" months and even YEARS after their initial shelf date.
Viva La Library!
Today was the second day of the Public Library Association's Trade Show and Conference at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It was... ginormous. The Romance Writers of America sponsored a booth there with FREE BOOKS for conference participants, and I just had one of those rare moments in an author's life -- there was a queue around the corner for a copy of my book.
I noticed that the only authors doing give-aways at RWA's booth were local people, and I don't get that. I was ready to fly when I first saw the conference booth mentioned in the RWA Report. A chance to put my book in front of librarians! Heck yeah!
I don't know why any author would object to library sales. Sure, your books get into the hands of readers for free which ostensibly doesn't net you any royalties (although the library does purchase at least one copy of your book). However, my experience as a reader is that "free books" usually translate into eventual sales. I've purchased books from authors that I first discovered on the shelves of the library. It seems to me that given how quickly books disappear from the shelves at the bookstore (you really only have about two weeks before the books get stripped and returned to the publisher), that libraries do authors a great service by providing a place for their books to be "discovered" months and even YEARS after their initial shelf date.
Viva La Library!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Lyda's FF&F Questions, Kelly's Answers
How long does it take you to write a novel on average?
I'll break that up a little into life sections since I've written eleven and the pace has varied a lot. The last five (since I sold a book) have taken an average of six months apiece, but I think I can shave a month or two off of that, because there have been outside circumstances over the last three years that have chopped my time up in ways that I don't think will continue. The six before that averaged a year apiece. And my very first took about three months.
Do you have another job?
Nope.
How long did it take you to find representation? How many rejections?
My situation is very unusual in that Lyda did much of the agent work for me by finding hers. By the time I was thinking about looking for agents, Lyda's first agent, was already repping three of the folks in Wyrdsmiths and I'd sold a fair heap of short work. He asked me to send him a book when I met him at a con (about three weeks after I finished the beta draft of WebMage).
I then signed with him about two months before he folded his agency. At that time, another agent, Jack Byrne, who did some work with my agent of two months, was interested in picking up something like a third of his clients. I was one of that third and I've been quite happily with Jack ever since.
So, it took me approximately negative two months from when I had intended to start seeking an agent and zero rejections to first agent. And one folded agency and no rejections from there to my current agent.
How do you deal with irritations or constant interruptions when you're trying to work?
That's a very rare problem for me as I write full time during the day, I don't have children, and my few relatives have been trained not to bother me when I'm working. I don't remember the training phase being too difficult, but I come from a family of F&SF fans and married into another similar family. Both families understand and value intellectual work in general and writing novels is well within the realm of the normal range of pursuits for them.
For those of you, especially debut authors, who sold series where the first book was complete but future books were not: How much freedom did you have with the writing of the second book? Did you just write Book 2 and send it off to your editor? Or did you have to write a Book 2 proposal/synopsis and have it approved before you began writing? Or did you have to write multiple different synopses for Book 2 and let the publisher choose which one you would write? (I've heard of the latter happening, and am wondering how common it is.)
My first book contract was for WebMage and "a sequel." That's all the contract said on the subject of book II. For context, my agent and I had discussed the fact that I had some vague ideas for writing another book in that world and my editor thought that would be great. For further context, WebMage was not the first book of mine that my editor had seen and liked, though she didn't buy Numismancer. So she knew at the time of the first contract that I could write multiple novels in multiple worlds that she would like.
I'll break that up a little into life sections since I've written eleven and the pace has varied a lot. The last five (since I sold a book) have taken an average of six months apiece, but I think I can shave a month or two off of that, because there have been outside circumstances over the last three years that have chopped my time up in ways that I don't think will continue. The six before that averaged a year apiece. And my very first took about three months.
Do you have another job?
Nope.
How long did it take you to find representation? How many rejections?
My situation is very unusual in that Lyda did much of the agent work for me by finding hers. By the time I was thinking about looking for agents, Lyda's first agent, was already repping three of the folks in Wyrdsmiths and I'd sold a fair heap of short work. He asked me to send him a book when I met him at a con (about three weeks after I finished the beta draft of WebMage).
I then signed with him about two months before he folded his agency. At that time, another agent, Jack Byrne, who did some work with my agent of two months, was interested in picking up something like a third of his clients. I was one of that third and I've been quite happily with Jack ever since.
So, it took me approximately negative two months from when I had intended to start seeking an agent and zero rejections to first agent. And one folded agency and no rejections from there to my current agent.
How do you deal with irritations or constant interruptions when you're trying to work?
That's a very rare problem for me as I write full time during the day, I don't have children, and my few relatives have been trained not to bother me when I'm working. I don't remember the training phase being too difficult, but I come from a family of F&SF fans and married into another similar family. Both families understand and value intellectual work in general and writing novels is well within the realm of the normal range of pursuits for them.
For those of you, especially debut authors, who sold series where the first book was complete but future books were not: How much freedom did you have with the writing of the second book? Did you just write Book 2 and send it off to your editor? Or did you have to write a Book 2 proposal/synopsis and have it approved before you began writing? Or did you have to write multiple different synopses for Book 2 and let the publisher choose which one you would write? (I've heard of the latter happening, and am wondering how common it is.)
My first book contract was for WebMage and "a sequel." That's all the contract said on the subject of book II. For context, my agent and I had discussed the fact that I had some vague ideas for writing another book in that world and my editor thought that would be great. For further context, WebMage was not the first book of mine that my editor had seen and liked, though she didn't buy Numismancer. So she knew at the time of the first contract that I could write multiple novels in multiple worlds that she would like.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Questions from FF&F
As you may know, my alternate ego is an occasional blogger over at Fangs, Fur & Fey, a LiveJournal community that focuses on urban fantasy/paranormal romances. They have a nice deal where once a week the various authors answer reader's writing related questions. I thought I'd post my (or rather Tate's) answers here as well. If the other Wyrdsmiths want to pipe in with their answers that would be fun.
How long does it take you to write a novel on average?
About a year, but, admittedly, I'm lazy. I tend to take exactly as long as the publisher gives me. When I only had six months to write Tall, Dark & Dead, it took me six months. When I had no deadline at all, it took me about four years.
Do you have another job?
I do. I'm a stay-at-home mom. Until really recently that was a full-time job. Now, my son is at pre-Kindergarten for a few hours in the morning (not quite half day, but close.) Next year, I'll be a full-time writer.
However, when I first started writing professionally -- that is, during and after I sold my first novel, Archangel Protocol, I had a full-time day job at the Minnesota Historical Society. It was only after budget cuts came along that my family and I decided to risk trying to keep me at home. Until this year, I've never made anything approaching a "real" salary from my writing, even when you include a regular teaching gig at the Loft.
How long did it take you to find representation? How many rejections?
A ton. I didn't keep track of how many query letters I sent to agents, but I'm sure it was over fifty. I got nibbles from two, neither of which went for it. My story is weird, however, in that I originally approached the man who became my agent as an editor (which he also was at the time for Tor.)
A friend of a friend of a friend knew this guy Jim Frenkle who was a consulting editor at Tor. With a sort of old-fashioned "letter of introduction" from this friend of a friend, I sent my first novel Sidhe Promised (which has never sold) to Jim. Jim ignored it for years. Luckily, someone (I think it was Lois McMaster Bujold in an interview I did with her for Science Fiction Chronicle) suggested that the best thing an author can do when a novel is being shopped around is start the next one. So I did. That next one was Archangel Protocol, and after writing about fifty pages of it, the friend of a friend taught I should sent the partial down to Jim. I did, and he wanted to represent it (not buy it for Tor). So I actually got my agent before I finished writing my first novel, which I think is probably quite unusual.
How do you deal with irritations or constant interruptions when you're trying to work?
Mostly, I write after my son is asleep, and I've gotten to the point where I can actually sit with my partner as she's watching TV and write my novel. I would never have thought I could do that, as I usually require a lot of quiet to compose my thoughts.
For those of you, especially debut authors, who sold series where the first book was complete but future books were not: How much freedom did you have with the writing of the second book? Did you just write Book 2 and send it off to your editor? Or did you have to write a Book 2 proposal/synopsis and have it approved before you began writing? Or did you have to write multiple different synopses for Book 2 and let the publisher choose which one you would write? (I've heard of the latter happening, and am wondering how common it is.)
My editor bought my first novel and "an unnamed second book." I wrote her a very informal set of pitches for the ideas I had for a next book. They were a paragraph or so long, but at least one of them represented a novel I had about eighty pages already written. At the end of this rather long email, I wrote, "Or I could write a sequel, I suppose." The answer I got back was, "Yeah, do a sequel."
Which I just wrote without any kind of formal proposal, which was an enormous amount of freedom, and something I've never experienced since. All of my paranormal books as Tate, I've had to submit a proposal - usually about a twelve page, detailed synopsis outlining my beginning, middle and end.
How long does it take you to write a novel on average?
About a year, but, admittedly, I'm lazy. I tend to take exactly as long as the publisher gives me. When I only had six months to write Tall, Dark & Dead, it took me six months. When I had no deadline at all, it took me about four years.
Do you have another job?
I do. I'm a stay-at-home mom. Until really recently that was a full-time job. Now, my son is at pre-Kindergarten for a few hours in the morning (not quite half day, but close.) Next year, I'll be a full-time writer.
However, when I first started writing professionally -- that is, during and after I sold my first novel, Archangel Protocol, I had a full-time day job at the Minnesota Historical Society. It was only after budget cuts came along that my family and I decided to risk trying to keep me at home. Until this year, I've never made anything approaching a "real" salary from my writing, even when you include a regular teaching gig at the Loft.
How long did it take you to find representation? How many rejections?
A ton. I didn't keep track of how many query letters I sent to agents, but I'm sure it was over fifty. I got nibbles from two, neither of which went for it. My story is weird, however, in that I originally approached the man who became my agent as an editor (which he also was at the time for Tor.)
A friend of a friend of a friend knew this guy Jim Frenkle who was a consulting editor at Tor. With a sort of old-fashioned "letter of introduction" from this friend of a friend, I sent my first novel Sidhe Promised (which has never sold) to Jim. Jim ignored it for years. Luckily, someone (I think it was Lois McMaster Bujold in an interview I did with her for Science Fiction Chronicle) suggested that the best thing an author can do when a novel is being shopped around is start the next one. So I did. That next one was Archangel Protocol, and after writing about fifty pages of it, the friend of a friend taught I should sent the partial down to Jim. I did, and he wanted to represent it (not buy it for Tor). So I actually got my agent before I finished writing my first novel, which I think is probably quite unusual.
How do you deal with irritations or constant interruptions when you're trying to work?
Mostly, I write after my son is asleep, and I've gotten to the point where I can actually sit with my partner as she's watching TV and write my novel. I would never have thought I could do that, as I usually require a lot of quiet to compose my thoughts.
For those of you, especially debut authors, who sold series where the first book was complete but future books were not: How much freedom did you have with the writing of the second book? Did you just write Book 2 and send it off to your editor? Or did you have to write a Book 2 proposal/synopsis and have it approved before you began writing? Or did you have to write multiple different synopses for Book 2 and let the publisher choose which one you would write? (I've heard of the latter happening, and am wondering how common it is.)
My editor bought my first novel and "an unnamed second book." I wrote her a very informal set of pitches for the ideas I had for a next book. They were a paragraph or so long, but at least one of them represented a novel I had about eighty pages already written. At the end of this rather long email, I wrote, "Or I could write a sequel, I suppose." The answer I got back was, "Yeah, do a sequel."
Which I just wrote without any kind of formal proposal, which was an enormous amount of freedom, and something I've never experienced since. All of my paranormal books as Tate, I've had to submit a proposal - usually about a twelve page, detailed synopsis outlining my beginning, middle and end.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Re-Direct: The Pace of Publishing
Jim C. Hines has an interesting post over at SF Novelists entitled "Racing Along at the Speed of Publishing" which I thought I'd direct your attention to....
Words as Inspiration
I got this from YourDictionary.com's word of the day:
Blandiloquent (adjective)
Pronunciation: [blæn-'di-lê-qwênt]
Definition: Smooth-talking, honey-tongued; flattering.
Every once and a while I'm inspired to write as story based on a word. I used to have a "Forgotten English" word-of-the-day calendar for my desk. On that calendar, I came across the word "tutivillus," who is defined as the demon who is in charge of taking words mangled during the performance of Mass (say by a priest who'd been double dipping in the holy wine) and whisk them off to hell. I ended up writing a short story (that appears in New Wyrd, actually) about what exactly hell needed with all those mangled words.
So perhaps one of you will be inspired by "blandiloquent." What's the stangest thing that ever inspired you to write a short story or start a novel?
Blandiloquent (adjective)
Pronunciation: [blæn-'di-lê-qwênt]
Definition: Smooth-talking, honey-tongued; flattering.
Every once and a while I'm inspired to write as story based on a word. I used to have a "Forgotten English" word-of-the-day calendar for my desk. On that calendar, I came across the word "tutivillus," who is defined as the demon who is in charge of taking words mangled during the performance of Mass (say by a priest who'd been double dipping in the holy wine) and whisk them off to hell. I ended up writing a short story (that appears in New Wyrd, actually) about what exactly hell needed with all those mangled words.
So perhaps one of you will be inspired by "blandiloquent." What's the stangest thing that ever inspired you to write a short story or start a novel?
Friday, March 21, 2008
Minicon Schedule
One hundred percent of the female members of Wyrdsmiths will be at Minicon 43 this weekend at the Sheridan Bloomington Hotel. If you're curious about the kind of programming that we will be attending/participating on, check out Minicon's Programming Grid.
In other news, it's snowing here: great, huge gobs of fluffy white stuff. A true confession? I kind of like it. Today feels like one of those days when, if I didn't have an off-school, four and a half year old banging on a drum in the other room, I'd totally snuggle into bed and read and/or write all day.
Do you have days that FEEL like writing days? Is there perfect weather for writing?
In other news, it's snowing here: great, huge gobs of fluffy white stuff. A true confession? I kind of like it. Today feels like one of those days when, if I didn't have an off-school, four and a half year old banging on a drum in the other room, I'd totally snuggle into bed and read and/or write all day.
Do you have days that FEEL like writing days? Is there perfect weather for writing?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Shilling for My Alter-Ego
My other personality wants all the local readers of this blog to know that if you'd like a chance to hear her read, she has a gig coming up. The details follow:
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 starting at 7:00 pm at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis Elizabeth di Grazia and Lyda Morehouse will be reading as part of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Reading Series hosted by Andrea Jenkins and John Medeiros. This event is free and open to the public. For more information call 812-871-4444. This reading is part of the Carol Connolly Reading Series of Intermedia Arts.
Lyda actually has no idea what she's going to read, as very little of her work actually has GLBT content, so, if you show up, you might get a chance to hear a bit of "ishtartu" an AngeLINK story that is currently available in the anthology PERIPHERY: EROTIC LESBIAN FUTURES... but given how easily embarrassed Lyda is, it's hard to say.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 starting at 7:00 pm at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Avenue South, Minneapolis Elizabeth di Grazia and Lyda Morehouse will be reading as part of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Reading Series hosted by Andrea Jenkins and John Medeiros. This event is free and open to the public. For more information call 812-871-4444. This reading is part of the Carol Connolly Reading Series of Intermedia Arts.
Lyda actually has no idea what she's going to read, as very little of her work actually has GLBT content, so, if you show up, you might get a chance to hear a bit of "ishtartu" an AngeLINK story that is currently available in the anthology PERIPHERY: EROTIC LESBIAN FUTURES... but given how easily embarrassed Lyda is, it's hard to say.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Re-Direct: Internet Review of Science Fiction
My alter-ego would like to direct your attention to an interview she did with science fiction/fantasy author Jo Walton over at the Internet Review of Science Fiction called: Subversive Pixel-Stained Technopeasant: An Interview with Jo Walton. You have to subscribe to IRoSF in order to read the article, but the subscription is free.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Farewell, and Safe Voyages, Sir.
It is with sadness that we must report the death of Arthur C. Clarke, one of the pioneers of SF in its Golden Age.
He will be remembered fondly, and re-read often.
He will be remembered fondly, and re-read often.
Plot Synopsis Project/Morehouse
I also have a plot synopsis on-line, if people would like to take a gander at it (it's in .pdf format):
Messiah Node Brief: A three-page synopsis of the book that became Messiah Node. This proposal falls under the catagory of a true proposal, which is to say it was written to sell the concept of an unwritten book.
and...
Messian Node Detailed: a fifteen-page synopsis of the same book.
Messiah Node Brief: A three-page synopsis of the book that became Messiah Node. This proposal falls under the catagory of a true proposal, which is to say it was written to sell the concept of an unwritten book.
and...
Messian Node Detailed: a fifteen-page synopsis of the same book.
Plot Synopsis Project
Joshua Palmatier has put together a great resource for new writers with his Plot Synopsis Project wherein a bunch of us put up synopses of books that went on to sell. I agreed to this a couple of weeks ago and set up the post in advance. Without further ado, here's the link to the WebMage Plot
Monday, March 17, 2008
Blogging Hiatus for Kelly
I will be blogging very little to not at all for a couple of weeks. My grandmother, Phyllis Neese, died today.
We were very close and she was one of my strongest boosters as a writer and biggest fans. A good part of what I am today I owe to her and to being a third generation science fiction and fantasy fan. After all, how many people can say that their grandmother was part of the letter writing campaign to save the original Star Trek? I'm doing all right at the moment, but I expect that a good deal of that is shock.
It was both very fast and relatively painless and very sudden (though not wholly unexpected) which is a small mercy.
We were very close and she was one of my strongest boosters as a writer and biggest fans. A good part of what I am today I owe to her and to being a third generation science fiction and fantasy fan. After all, how many people can say that their grandmother was part of the letter writing campaign to save the original Star Trek? I'm doing all right at the moment, but I expect that a good deal of that is shock.
It was both very fast and relatively painless and very sudden (though not wholly unexpected) which is a small mercy.
Match It for Pratchett
Via Jay Lake and Making Light more or less simultaneously. Terry Pratchett has just donated a half a million pounds to Alzheimer's research and Pat Cadigan has started a campaign to match it for Pratchett. This is a fabulous idea and I'm all for it.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Author Interview–Paul Melko
Hey folks,
Here's another author interview. Paul Melko this time.
Paul's collection TEN SIGMAS AND OTHER UNLIKELIHOODS is coming out 3/14/08 from Fairwood Press.
Art.
Amazon.
1) What stories did you select for this collection and why?
TEN SIGMAS is a collection of my science fiction short fiction, all published within the last decade or so. The twelve stories first appeared in such places as Asimov's SF, Talebones, and Strange Horizons. The title story first appeared in Talebones #28, and was subsequently picked up by Gardner Dozois for his year's best collection.
2) Explain the title for our viewers.
The title story "Ten Sigmas" is from the view point of a character who lives simultaneously in billions of universes. He's a normal distribution of all his selves. During the course of the story, he continually makes decisions that drive him farther and farther to the edge of the normal distribution, until he is so far away from the center -- ten standard deviations, or ten sigmas -- that he becomes unique again in his consciousness, just like you and me.
3) There's some overlap of stories between this collection and your first novel, isn't there?
My first novel -- SINGULARITY'S RING -- was released last month. It's the story of five teenagers that are actually a plural human who can share thoughts and emotions among themselves. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the teens. When I first wrote the book, there were six humans in the composite human. Subsequent editorial decisions resulted in the sixth person being dropped. The collection includes the original sextet-based stories that became the novel, as well as the section cut from the novel and first published in Asimov's SF: "The Summer of the Seven." Also in this collection is the Nebula-, Hugo-, and Sturgeon-Award nominated story "Walls of the Universe." This story is the basis for my next novel, of the same title, coming out winter 2009 from Tor Books.
4) Why Fairwood Press?
Fairwood Press publisher's Patrick Swenson published in his magazine Talebones a number of my stories: six of them, in fact. Two of them are included herein. The sixth is in the current issue of Talebones, "Cankerman's Shower," available now. When it came time for me to publish my collection, there really was no choice except for Fairwood Press. Check out the other collections available from Fairwood.
5) Come on. Which story is your favorite?
All of these stories are special to me. How can you ask that? All right, "Ten Sigmas" is the story that is most significant to me. I still choke up when I read the ending. Yes, I'm a big baby.
6) Who drew the artwork?
Adam Hunter Peck drew the awesome cover. Check him out here: http://www.adamhunterpeck.com/
7) What are you writing now?
I've just turned in the novel version of "Walls of the Universe." My follow-up novel is set in the same universe as "Cankerman's Shower" and is entitled CANKERMAN'S TWIN. It's the story of a misogynistic remittance man with no scruples, traveling about the galactic empire, getting into trouble and adventure.
8) Where will you be next?
I'll be at Millenicon in Cincinnati March 14-16. Then I'll be at the Nebulas in Austin, Texas April 25-27. Over the summer, look for me at Marcon in Columbus, Confluence in Pittsburgh, and WorldCon in Denver!
Here's another author interview. Paul Melko this time.
Paul's collection TEN SIGMAS AND OTHER UNLIKELIHOODS is coming out 3/14/08 from Fairwood Press.
Art.
Amazon.
1) What stories did you select for this collection and why?
TEN SIGMAS is a collection of my science fiction short fiction, all published within the last decade or so. The twelve stories first appeared in such places as Asimov's SF, Talebones, and Strange Horizons. The title story first appeared in Talebones #28, and was subsequently picked up by Gardner Dozois for his year's best collection.
2) Explain the title for our viewers.
The title story "Ten Sigmas" is from the view point of a character who lives simultaneously in billions of universes. He's a normal distribution of all his selves. During the course of the story, he continually makes decisions that drive him farther and farther to the edge of the normal distribution, until he is so far away from the center -- ten standard deviations, or ten sigmas -- that he becomes unique again in his consciousness, just like you and me.
3) There's some overlap of stories between this collection and your first novel, isn't there?
My first novel -- SINGULARITY'S RING -- was released last month. It's the story of five teenagers that are actually a plural human who can share thoughts and emotions among themselves. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the teens. When I first wrote the book, there were six humans in the composite human. Subsequent editorial decisions resulted in the sixth person being dropped. The collection includes the original sextet-based stories that became the novel, as well as the section cut from the novel and first published in Asimov's SF: "The Summer of the Seven." Also in this collection is the Nebula-, Hugo-, and Sturgeon-Award nominated story "Walls of the Universe." This story is the basis for my next novel, of the same title, coming out winter 2009 from Tor Books.
4) Why Fairwood Press?
Fairwood Press publisher's Patrick Swenson published in his magazine Talebones a number of my stories: six of them, in fact. Two of them are included herein. The sixth is in the current issue of Talebones, "Cankerman's Shower," available now. When it came time for me to publish my collection, there really was no choice except for Fairwood Press. Check out the other collections available from Fairwood.
5) Come on. Which story is your favorite?
All of these stories are special to me. How can you ask that? All right, "Ten Sigmas" is the story that is most significant to me. I still choke up when I read the ending. Yes, I'm a big baby.
6) Who drew the artwork?
Adam Hunter Peck drew the awesome cover. Check him out here: http://www.adamhunterpeck.com/
7) What are you writing now?
I've just turned in the novel version of "Walls of the Universe." My follow-up novel is set in the same universe as "Cankerman's Shower" and is entitled CANKERMAN'S TWIN. It's the story of a misogynistic remittance man with no scruples, traveling about the galactic empire, getting into trouble and adventure.
8) Where will you be next?
I'll be at Millenicon in Cincinnati March 14-16. Then I'll be at the Nebulas in Austin, Texas April 25-27. Over the summer, look for me at Marcon in Columbus, Confluence in Pittsburgh, and WorldCon in Denver!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Blah, Blah Bloggin'
I picked this up from Mindy Klasdy's LJ... apparently Robin Hobb has gone on a screed against writers who blog.
Good Pay Flash Fiction Market
From Brenna at BroadUniverse:
*Title: Bits of the Dead (An Illustrated Flash Fiction Zombie Anthology)
**Editor: Keith Gouveia
Publisher: Coscom Entertainment
Release Date: Late summer/Early fall 2008
What we want: *Flash fiction stories of the undead, with the location, time period andsituation being your choice. Flash fiction can be a tricky art form if not done properly and what we're seeking are zombie tales that suck you in right from the first sentence and yank you by the nostrils straight through to the last. Intensity is key and is the name of the game here. Whether your story is horrific, creepy, emotional, mysterious-it doesn'tmatter. The main thing we're after are hard-hitting tales that convey an intense atmosphere and a strong sense of intrigue that aren't just your run-of-the-mill zombie tales about a dead guy gobbling a human.
However, zombies-chasing-humans stories are allowed, but they must make the reader feel like they're *really there* and can't merely be an entertaining read and an entertaining read only. Again, intensity. What about "other zombies," like zombie dogs or platypi? Glad you asked. You can submit those, too, and if we get enough good ones, such tales will havetheir own section in the book. All stories submitted should range between 100 to 500 words. If you have a slightly longer one (i.e. 525 words) we might consider it, but please don't go over the maximum word count, if you can help it. Stories that stay within the 100 to 500-word limit will get priority.
*What rights do we want?* First print and electronic rights to your story and exclusive rights for 1 year after publication. After that you can resell it or tuck it away for safekeeping. We'd also like to keep the book in print as long as there's a demand for it.
*What we don't want:* Stories that depict the usual no-nos like nudity, explicit sex, child exploitation, racist remarks, etc. Also not allowed are tales containing coarse language and blasphemy. (And with only 100-500 words to work with, why clog it up with filthy language?) No poetry. No reprints either. New stories only, please. Multiple submissions are allowed, but keep it to a maximum of 3.
*What we're making:* *Bits of the Dead* will be published as an illustrated trade paperback andas an eBook.
*What you get:* 5 cents a word and a contributor's copy. The paperback copy of the book will be sent to you upon or shortly after the book's official release date. Payment is based on final word count from the final edited copy of the story so once your story is ready for print, payment will be sent to you via Paypal.
*What to send:* Please send your story in standard manuscript format: Courier 12pt, double-spaced, 1-inch margins around the page, with any italicized words underlined. Also include your name and contact informationon the first page as well as your name in the upper right corner of subsequent pages. Don't forget to also number your pages. Please follow these guidelines to the letter. Submissions that don't will be automatically rejected regardless of the name attached to them.
*Where to send it:* Send all submissions via email to *bitsofthedead at gmail dot com* Please also use the same address for any questions not addressed here.
*When to send it by:* Reading period starts right away and will end at the end of April, 2008. You will be notified by early to mid May if your story is accepted, possibly sooner. (Even right away if we really, really like it.) Thanks.
*Title: Bits of the Dead (An Illustrated Flash Fiction Zombie Anthology)
**Editor: Keith Gouveia
Publisher: Coscom Entertainment
Release Date: Late summer/Early fall 2008
What we want: *Flash fiction stories of the undead, with the location, time period andsituation being your choice. Flash fiction can be a tricky art form if not done properly and what we're seeking are zombie tales that suck you in right from the first sentence and yank you by the nostrils straight through to the last. Intensity is key and is the name of the game here. Whether your story is horrific, creepy, emotional, mysterious-it doesn'tmatter. The main thing we're after are hard-hitting tales that convey an intense atmosphere and a strong sense of intrigue that aren't just your run-of-the-mill zombie tales about a dead guy gobbling a human.
However, zombies-chasing-humans stories are allowed, but they must make the reader feel like they're *really there* and can't merely be an entertaining read and an entertaining read only. Again, intensity. What about "other zombies," like zombie dogs or platypi? Glad you asked. You can submit those, too, and if we get enough good ones, such tales will havetheir own section in the book. All stories submitted should range between 100 to 500 words. If you have a slightly longer one (i.e. 525 words) we might consider it, but please don't go over the maximum word count, if you can help it. Stories that stay within the 100 to 500-word limit will get priority.
*What rights do we want?* First print and electronic rights to your story and exclusive rights for 1 year after publication. After that you can resell it or tuck it away for safekeeping. We'd also like to keep the book in print as long as there's a demand for it.
*What we don't want:* Stories that depict the usual no-nos like nudity, explicit sex, child exploitation, racist remarks, etc. Also not allowed are tales containing coarse language and blasphemy. (And with only 100-500 words to work with, why clog it up with filthy language?) No poetry. No reprints either. New stories only, please. Multiple submissions are allowed, but keep it to a maximum of 3.
*What we're making:* *Bits of the Dead* will be published as an illustrated trade paperback andas an eBook.
*What you get:* 5 cents a word and a contributor's copy. The paperback copy of the book will be sent to you upon or shortly after the book's official release date. Payment is based on final word count from the final edited copy of the story so once your story is ready for print, payment will be sent to you via Paypal.
*What to send:* Please send your story in standard manuscript format: Courier 12pt, double-spaced, 1-inch margins around the page, with any italicized words underlined. Also include your name and contact informationon the first page as well as your name in the upper right corner of subsequent pages. Don't forget to also number your pages. Please follow these guidelines to the letter. Submissions that don't will be automatically rejected regardless of the name attached to them.
*Where to send it:* Send all submissions via email to *bitsofthedead at gmail dot com* Please also use the same address for any questions not addressed here.
*When to send it by:* Reading period starts right away and will end at the end of April, 2008. You will be notified by early to mid May if your story is accepted, possibly sooner. (Even right away if we really, really like it.) Thanks.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Same Book,Different Covers
I have the unusual distinction of having my books translated into... English. My agent sold British rights to all three Garnet Lacey books. I just got a gander at the British Cover for Romancing the Dead. I thought I'd put them both up here for comparison....
On top, the British. Below, I present the American version of the same book.
Anyone have a favorite?
Smart Things--1,000 True Fans Deconstructed
So, a while back I posted a link to someone talking about survival as an artist and 1,000 True Fans. I found it interesting but not entirely convincing, which is why it got posted as "Interesting Things" rather than "Smart Things." There were some unspoken assumptions that I felt needed more examination. Now, John Scalzi has done the necessary examination. So, John Scalzi saying smart things about 1,000 True Fans.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Interesting Things–Tor, and Charlie Stross
So, Tor is creating an online fanzine with serious publisher support. See Patrick's post at Making Light for details. If it succeeds it will be a really cool thing.
In a completely unrelated note, Charlie Stross compares the US election to D&D. V. Funny.
In a completely unrelated note, Charlie Stross compares the US election to D&D. V. Funny.
My Feline Overlords–Elsewhere Blogging
So, I've posted about my feline overlords and cats and writers in general over at SFNovelists. If you're so inclined, go have a look.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Re-Direct: Dreams at SF Novelists
I've posted about my writing-related dreams here before, but I had a doozie last night and I ended up using as the subject of my blog over at SF Novelists: "Writing-Related Dreams."
Guest Post–Alma Alexander
Today we've got a guest post from Alma Alexander, whose book Spellspam launches tomorrow.
COURAGE
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to tell the difference”.
It’s been everywhere, that particular prayer. It’s been seen on posters, on cards, on bookmarks, on fridge magents, scribbled on the flyleaf of journals and diaries, uttered through clenched teeth when faced with circumstances completely beyond a person’s control. It’s a mantra. It’s something that keeps you sane in a world that often seems rather less so than you might wish.
And it contains a single word, a single idea, that is something that’s embedded in every single one of the books I’ve written, at the core of every protagonist who carried the stories of those books.
Courage.
Let me put it this way – I’ve often said that I would not wish to meet any of my characters in a dark alley somewhere, alone, because they DO have a genuine beef with me – I put them through six different kinds of Hell before I allow them a respite. And yet, none of them has ever surrendered, or given up. Sure, they have their vulnerabilities. If they did not, they would be far less interesting as characters – creatures who are invulnerable or all-powerful (or think they are) are either gods or fools, and it is less interesting than you might think to read about all-powerful gods (what’s their story? Why would we be interested? I mean, nothing can HURT them…) and it’s both frustrating and annoying to read about fools. There are entire books driven by so-called idiot plots where everything could have been resolved four hundred pages ago if the characters had only TALKED to each other.
My lot all carry courage.
• Anghara, the young heroine of the “Changer of Days” books, is initially swept away by the power of her half-grother Sif who takes her throne, her land, her birthright. But she is only nine when all of this happens. She is a child. She has no power or knowledge or wisdom of her own. She is inevitably at the mercy of a lot of influences.
It would have been easy for her to simply fold her hands and let others rule her fate. But after an initial period – which she doesn’t spend wailing and whining and gnashing her teeth but LEARNING, learning all she can – she takes her courage with both hands and leaves the land of her birth, goes to a strange place of which she knows very little (and most of THAT is hearsay) and learns how to control the gifts that were her heritage. And then she comes back to claim what is hers.
Sure, she has a lot of help. She has friends. She is not alone. But her road is often solitary, and she takes it with her head held high. She knows she is the Queen. She knows that courage is necessary. She struggles through loss and pain, through betrayal, and finally through an unexpected redemption which she can offer her worst enemy. She struggles to learn, wrestles with her knowledge and her failings and her fears, and it is the courage which is the heart of her that sees her through it all.
• In “The Secrets of Jin Shei”, I have more than one young protagonist who survives by courage. Nhia’s is the courage of the crippled child of low birth who struggles every day to retain her place in the world; Khailin’s is the courage to break rules if they are stupid rules and to reach for knowledge which should not be forbidden to her simply because of who she is. Tammary’s is the courage of the wild thing who does what she must to survive; Antian’s is the courage of someone who knows she has a responsibility and in her last moments thinks only of how the legacy of that responsibility can be passed on to someone who can carry it on; Yuet’s is the courage of the healer, who knows she faces death eveyr day and squares off with it in battle, daring it to take a life in the face of her attemppts to preserve it; Qiaan’s is the quiet courage of faith; Xaforn’s is the great gleaming shining courage of honour and the sword; Liudam takes on her entire world – possibly for all the wrong reasons, but she does it anyway, standing up to all the establishment and the hidebound old men and changing a world single-handed; and Tai… Tai has the strongest courage of them all, rooted in her quiet strength, she is there for ALL of them when their worlds come tumbling down, she is the courage that is the rock of sanctuary amidst a heaving ocean of troubles and she carries the weight of Empire on her small shoulders.
• In “Embers of Heaven” Amais sets out to restore something that was grace and power and beauty, now vanished, buried beneath the detritus of centuries. She faces down social change, a love for a man who can never be wholly hers and who sometimes seems to work directly against her own goals, persecution, pursuit, and not least a divided soul, being born of two different worlds. It is courage that helps her endure, and courage that brings her home, and courage that makes her swear allegiance to something that is huge, much vaster than herself, something that humbles her and yet makes her stand with her head held high in pride. The courage to stand at the head of a nation, unnoticed, and lead the land into a future that is once more rooted firmly into the necessary knowledge of the past.
• And, finally, the Worldweavers books. In all the other books we might have started with protagonists as children, but they kind of get the chance to grow up and face down their trials in the fullness of time – perhaps before they were ready for them, some things you are never ready for, but still, they had the time to gather up their strength. But in the Worldweavers books, Thea Winthrop remains young. She is a child when we meet her – in the first book she is fourteen – and she remains a kid in the other two books, not quite sixteen when the third book comes to a conclusion. Her trials could perhaps be dismissed as juvenile, at least in the beginning – what child hasn’t brought home a bad school report, seen a parent’s eyes cloud over with disappointment, felt a stab of guilt and shame and resentment and defiance and all those other things that a teenager carries around with them while they are deciding who they want to be when they grow up? Thea is no different to any of those teens, except that her failures lie in an area which the kids of our world don’t have much to do with – her magic. The seventh child of two seventh children, Thea is the most magical of all magical beings – or should be, if only she showed any glimmer of a magical talent at all. But in the first book alone she is picked up by the scruff of her neck and tossed into an entirely different world which works by whollly different rules, in a desperate hope that it might waken whatever it is that is sleeping within her.
And it does, but not in the way anyone expected.
She finds out that she had courage she didn’t even know that she had – that she had blocked her own gifts by pure and sure instinct, waiting for the battle that would need the “unmage” that she is, a battle against a monster which feeds on magic. With the first stirrings of her own magic awakening within her, she might have been afraid that whatever she had would have been enough to devour her whole, too, and yet she puts herself squarely in the path of the monster and defies it to take her on. In the second book, “Spellspam”, she has to find the courage to deal with the only other being who is remotely like her in the world, and take on the guilt for it. In the third book, she has to find the courage to look at her new-found and treasured gifts and to weight their value against their potential to do something much greater than herself.
In that thing I quoted at the beginning of this essay, in a sense, EVERYTHING prayed for is an aspect of courage. The serenity to accept the things one cannot change is simply the courage to endure what must be endured. The courage to change the things one can is the active courage of taking one’s life into one’s own hands and shaping it to one’s own desires. The wisdom to know the difference is the courage to know when to let something go.
It is courage that makes these protagonists learn, and grow – they accept all that is thrown at them, and although sometimes they might stagger under the weight of it, they do not fall under that weight, they learn to shoulder it, they learn how to go on and how everything that they have learned can be used to make them better, stronger.
It is a courage that I hope will pass from the pages of my stories and the hearts of my heroines and enter into my readers, and the message is simply this:
IT IS NOT OVER. EVERYTHING REMAINS POSSIBLE IF YOU HAVE COURAGE.
About my books (with purchase links):
http://fantasyliterature.net/AlexanderAlma.html
This is an essay in three parts. Read them all:
http://www.wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/ :Courage
http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/ :Choices
http://tltrent.livejournal.com/ : Change
COURAGE
“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to tell the difference”.
It’s been everywhere, that particular prayer. It’s been seen on posters, on cards, on bookmarks, on fridge magents, scribbled on the flyleaf of journals and diaries, uttered through clenched teeth when faced with circumstances completely beyond a person’s control. It’s a mantra. It’s something that keeps you sane in a world that often seems rather less so than you might wish.
And it contains a single word, a single idea, that is something that’s embedded in every single one of the books I’ve written, at the core of every protagonist who carried the stories of those books.
Courage.
Let me put it this way – I’ve often said that I would not wish to meet any of my characters in a dark alley somewhere, alone, because they DO have a genuine beef with me – I put them through six different kinds of Hell before I allow them a respite. And yet, none of them has ever surrendered, or given up. Sure, they have their vulnerabilities. If they did not, they would be far less interesting as characters – creatures who are invulnerable or all-powerful (or think they are) are either gods or fools, and it is less interesting than you might think to read about all-powerful gods (what’s their story? Why would we be interested? I mean, nothing can HURT them…) and it’s both frustrating and annoying to read about fools. There are entire books driven by so-called idiot plots where everything could have been resolved four hundred pages ago if the characters had only TALKED to each other.
My lot all carry courage.
• Anghara, the young heroine of the “Changer of Days” books, is initially swept away by the power of her half-grother Sif who takes her throne, her land, her birthright. But she is only nine when all of this happens. She is a child. She has no power or knowledge or wisdom of her own. She is inevitably at the mercy of a lot of influences.
It would have been easy for her to simply fold her hands and let others rule her fate. But after an initial period – which she doesn’t spend wailing and whining and gnashing her teeth but LEARNING, learning all she can – she takes her courage with both hands and leaves the land of her birth, goes to a strange place of which she knows very little (and most of THAT is hearsay) and learns how to control the gifts that were her heritage. And then she comes back to claim what is hers.
Sure, she has a lot of help. She has friends. She is not alone. But her road is often solitary, and she takes it with her head held high. She knows she is the Queen. She knows that courage is necessary. She struggles through loss and pain, through betrayal, and finally through an unexpected redemption which she can offer her worst enemy. She struggles to learn, wrestles with her knowledge and her failings and her fears, and it is the courage which is the heart of her that sees her through it all.
• In “The Secrets of Jin Shei”, I have more than one young protagonist who survives by courage. Nhia’s is the courage of the crippled child of low birth who struggles every day to retain her place in the world; Khailin’s is the courage to break rules if they are stupid rules and to reach for knowledge which should not be forbidden to her simply because of who she is. Tammary’s is the courage of the wild thing who does what she must to survive; Antian’s is the courage of someone who knows she has a responsibility and in her last moments thinks only of how the legacy of that responsibility can be passed on to someone who can carry it on; Yuet’s is the courage of the healer, who knows she faces death eveyr day and squares off with it in battle, daring it to take a life in the face of her attemppts to preserve it; Qiaan’s is the quiet courage of faith; Xaforn’s is the great gleaming shining courage of honour and the sword; Liudam takes on her entire world – possibly for all the wrong reasons, but she does it anyway, standing up to all the establishment and the hidebound old men and changing a world single-handed; and Tai… Tai has the strongest courage of them all, rooted in her quiet strength, she is there for ALL of them when their worlds come tumbling down, she is the courage that is the rock of sanctuary amidst a heaving ocean of troubles and she carries the weight of Empire on her small shoulders.
• In “Embers of Heaven” Amais sets out to restore something that was grace and power and beauty, now vanished, buried beneath the detritus of centuries. She faces down social change, a love for a man who can never be wholly hers and who sometimes seems to work directly against her own goals, persecution, pursuit, and not least a divided soul, being born of two different worlds. It is courage that helps her endure, and courage that brings her home, and courage that makes her swear allegiance to something that is huge, much vaster than herself, something that humbles her and yet makes her stand with her head held high in pride. The courage to stand at the head of a nation, unnoticed, and lead the land into a future that is once more rooted firmly into the necessary knowledge of the past.
• And, finally, the Worldweavers books. In all the other books we might have started with protagonists as children, but they kind of get the chance to grow up and face down their trials in the fullness of time – perhaps before they were ready for them, some things you are never ready for, but still, they had the time to gather up their strength. But in the Worldweavers books, Thea Winthrop remains young. She is a child when we meet her – in the first book she is fourteen – and she remains a kid in the other two books, not quite sixteen when the third book comes to a conclusion. Her trials could perhaps be dismissed as juvenile, at least in the beginning – what child hasn’t brought home a bad school report, seen a parent’s eyes cloud over with disappointment, felt a stab of guilt and shame and resentment and defiance and all those other things that a teenager carries around with them while they are deciding who they want to be when they grow up? Thea is no different to any of those teens, except that her failures lie in an area which the kids of our world don’t have much to do with – her magic. The seventh child of two seventh children, Thea is the most magical of all magical beings – or should be, if only she showed any glimmer of a magical talent at all. But in the first book alone she is picked up by the scruff of her neck and tossed into an entirely different world which works by whollly different rules, in a desperate hope that it might waken whatever it is that is sleeping within her.
And it does, but not in the way anyone expected.
She finds out that she had courage she didn’t even know that she had – that she had blocked her own gifts by pure and sure instinct, waiting for the battle that would need the “unmage” that she is, a battle against a monster which feeds on magic. With the first stirrings of her own magic awakening within her, she might have been afraid that whatever she had would have been enough to devour her whole, too, and yet she puts herself squarely in the path of the monster and defies it to take her on. In the second book, “Spellspam”, she has to find the courage to deal with the only other being who is remotely like her in the world, and take on the guilt for it. In the third book, she has to find the courage to look at her new-found and treasured gifts and to weight their value against their potential to do something much greater than herself.
In that thing I quoted at the beginning of this essay, in a sense, EVERYTHING prayed for is an aspect of courage. The serenity to accept the things one cannot change is simply the courage to endure what must be endured. The courage to change the things one can is the active courage of taking one’s life into one’s own hands and shaping it to one’s own desires. The wisdom to know the difference is the courage to know when to let something go.
It is courage that makes these protagonists learn, and grow – they accept all that is thrown at them, and although sometimes they might stagger under the weight of it, they do not fall under that weight, they learn to shoulder it, they learn how to go on and how everything that they have learned can be used to make them better, stronger.
It is a courage that I hope will pass from the pages of my stories and the hearts of my heroines and enter into my readers, and the message is simply this:
IT IS NOT OVER. EVERYTHING REMAINS POSSIBLE IF YOU HAVE COURAGE.
About my books (with purchase links):
http://fantasyliterature.net/AlexanderAlma.html
This is an essay in three parts. Read them all:
http://www.wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com/ :Courage
http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/ :Choices
http://tltrent.livejournal.com/ : Change
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Making Light Indices Sep-Dec 2006
Making Light Indices Update Sep-Dec 2006.
These updates have not yet been added to the main indices, but should go up in the next week or two. In the meantime, here they are:
Writers Index:
F&SF As A Genre
The Common Fantasy Tongue is created. 50 comments Nov, 2006.
Literary Scams
Airleaf Publishing. The latest incarnation of Bookman Marketing a scam publisher that preys on author hopes. 263 comments Nov, 2006
Teresa posts on new YADS* website which is an online forum ostensibly designed to bring new writers to the attention of editors, but really a content generation machine that uses aspiring writers as fuel. Amateur writer will critique other writers--which is actually a great way to get started and publishing professionals won't get anywhere near it. *For more info see writer beware on manuscript display sites. 123 comments Dec, 2006.
Publishing Industry
Amazon allows comments on reviews, or, as Patrick puts it "The End of Author Productivity In Our Lifetime" What a really bad idea. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
In response to the WSJ Teresa talks about the non-bestsellers part of the book biz. In which she coins the term okaysellers and dispenses much wisdom on publishing. If you are a writer you should read this. 129 comments Oct, 2006. You should also read the follow up post which continues the discussion. 64 comments Oct, 2006.
"“Doctor Who” Explains Modern Media Consolidation To You". Satellite Five episode. Woot. 115 comments Nov, 2006.
Writing Craft
Teresa highlights "Keith Snyder on Novels in Progress" an absolutely priceless post on how to write and revise a novel. Must read. 87 comments Dec, 2006.
General Index
Administrative/In the Beginning
Ads are neither selected nor endorsed by the keepers of Making Light. 459 comments Dec, 2006.
Afghan War
Forgotten Afghanistan. The war Bush put aside in favor of Iraq. Taliban bombing in Kabul. 48 coments Sep, 2006.
George Bush continues to skip military funerals. 86 comments Sep, 2006.
Astroturf in Politics and on the Internet
More on astroturf on the net. A whole bunch of links and a lengthy discourse on the subject. 76 comments Sep, 2006.
Astroturf and letters to the editor. Also, those "spontaneously" forwarded rightwing emails. Shorter version, copyeditors are cheap and plentiful. 95 comments Sep, 2006.
"The Royal Society vs. Exxon’s astroturf" On Global Warming, if you hadn't guessed. 67 comments Sep, 2006.
More astroturfing, this time a PR campaign for a movie and done really badly. The Science of Sleep, BTW. It's a real train wreck and fascinating to watch in the same way. 63 comments Oct, 2006.
Rumsfeld creates sockpuppet brigade. Reorganization of Pentagon's public affairs department includes team for responding to blogger. 43 comments Nov, 2006.
Boing Boing links to tech voter's guide that is essentially a shill for big tech businesses. 47 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa examines two appalling internet business models of the astroturfish variety. One in which people are paid to post comments and links to blogs to generate the illusion of popularity to draw in more commenters and thus create online communities that will generate content and add dollars. Bleah. And a second in which bloggers and commenters are paid for product endorsements without disclosure, i.e. comments spam and splog. 149 comments Dec, 2006.
Follow up to this astroturf post generates verse on the theme of making money from betraying trust (see astroturfing). 58 comments Dec, 2006.
DIY A Myriad of Odd and Sometimes Useful How-Tos
Teresa on how to wrap a package. 74 comments Dec, 2006.
Fandom
Antrhax Hoaxer Charles Conrad Castagna turns out to have said some really dumb things about F&SF in addition to really dumb things about politics. Gets roasted. 210 comments Nov, 2006.
"Punditslash". Yes, it's exactly what you think it is. 104 comments Nov, 2006.
F&SF History and Culture
The Common Fantasy Tongue is created. 50 comments Nov, 2006.
Food (Not Recipes)
Restaurant review La Parada in Brooklyn by Teresa. Sounds lovely. 51 comments Sep, 2006.
Jim recommends a couple of diners in New England. 89 comments Oct, 2006.
Elizabeth Moon's "Holiday Feasts for Beginners" an extensive and useful how-to. 86 comments Nov, 2006.
On the decline of the modern fruitcake and the proper making of same. 287 comments Dec, 2006.
Ghosts of the Great War
Not Ghosts of the Great War 2006. Mourning an old friend instead: "Sorry. I know I usually post about the Great War today. Happens it’s one of those subjects where the realization’s hit me hard that I’m not going to be able to talk to Mike about it any more." 139 comments Nov, 2006.
Internet Discourse
Teresa points to an excellent example of internet thread control. Perhaps unsurprising from the master of a knitting blog, but very nice nonetheless. 170 comments Nov, 2006.
Youtube as sign language forum for the deaf. Unmediated many to many communication. 115 comments Dec, 2006.
Iran
Discussion of Time magazine story on potential war with Iran, complete with numerous administration talking points. Way to go free press. 149 comments Sep, 2006.
Iraq (Afghanistan-now its own category) War
Valerie Plame very much not a desk jockey. The first revelation and discussion on same. 175 comments Sep, 2006.
Link to Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial on the combined incompetence and deception of the Bushies in re: no WMDs in Iraq and cooked intelligence. 56 comments Sep, 2006.
George Bush continues to skip military funerals. 86 comments Sep, 2006.
Iraq, a national military pretty much in name only. The Iraqi "military" to which we are returning significant control of the country. 67 comments Sep, 2006.
Rumsfeld and incompetence. Who could have guessed that we'd need a post war plan? Pretty much everybody in the world not directly involved in the planning of the Iraq war. Oh, and a few of those folks too, though they ended up being fired for pointing out that it might be a good idea. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
Jim posting on military ethics and their impact on individual soldier action in the face of unlawful orders in re: the ongoing disaster that is the Bush administration's version of war. "You are not required to obey an unlawful order. You are required to disobey an unlawful order." and so on. 321 comments Oct, 2006.
Rick Santorum talks Tolkien...do I really need to say more about the stupidity that follows? Plus some other link salad odds and ends from Patrick. 118 comments Oct, 2006.
Exposure of 1999 study about the massive troop numbers needed to stabilize Iraq. Does anybody still believe that Bushco shouldn't have known better? 28 comments Nov, 2006.
Military recruiters lying to potential recruitstelling them Iraq war is over. 70 comments Nov, 2006.
The enormous mess that is Iraq. A whole lot of evidence that the war is pretty much already lost even if it drags out another 5 years, and the next stage is fixing blame. 183 comments Nov, 2006.
Name that war. Something other than Iraq II. 157 comments Nov, 2006.
Having already erased the election results from his "brain" Bush reverts to normal...worst president ever. Already setting up his choice to ignore the results of the Iraq commission. 86 comments Nov, 2006.
"January 2007: United States Conquered by Canada; Pockets of Resistance Quickly Suppressed" "December 20, 2006:
“Currently there are no active or reserve Army combat units outside of Iraq and Afghanistan that are rated as ‘combat ready.’”
At least we’ll finally get health insurance." I have nothing to add. 166 comments Dec, 2006.
On the Hanging of Saddam Hussein. 134 comments Dec, 2006. More 19 comments Dec, 2006.
John M. Ford Misc
John M. Ford passes from among us. I've been delaying rereading Sept 2006 in part because I didn't want to revisit this one. Ave. 458 comments Sep, 2006.
In memory of Mike Ford, Teresa reminds us all "Sign your organ donor card" Excellent advice. 148 comments Sep, 2006.
"Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. One)" posted by Jim. 21 comments Sep, 2006.
"Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Two)" posted by Jim. 14 comments Sep, 2006.
"Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Three)" posted by Jim. 4 comments Sep, 2006.
Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Four)" posted by Jim. 20 comments Oct, 2006.
Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Five)" posted by Jim. 21 comments Nov, 2006.
Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Six)" posted by Jim. 10 comments Nov, 2006.
Knitting
Teresa points to an excellent example of internet thread control. Perhaps unsurprising from the master of a knitting blog, but very nice nonetheless. 170 comments Nov, 2006.
Lexicography
Teresa on Geoffrey Chaucer's blog. Historical language games and other japery. 38 commments Dec, 2006.
Lord of the Rings
Rick Santorum talks Tolkien...do I really need to say more about the stupidity that follows? Plus some other link salad odds and ends from Patrick. 118 comments Oct, 2006.
Medicine/Emergency Response
In memory of Mike Ford, Teresa reminds us all "Sign your organ donor card" Excellent advice. 148 comments Sep, 2006.
Jim on fire.... No, not that way. Burns. Stop, Drop, and Roll. 127 comments Nov, 2006.
Mourning
John M. Ford. I've been delaying rereading Sept 2006 in part because I didn't want to revisit this one. Ave. 458 comments Sep, 2006.
"Feast of All Spooks" in which offerings are left for David Stemple and Mike Ford, among others. 99 comments Oct 31, 2006.
Music
365 days of strange MP3s with commentary. To strange to describe in anything less than the detail they lavish themselves. Go look. 18 comments Sep, 2006.
Patrick waxes rhapsodic on a new Beatles mashup with links to it and some older ones. 37 comments Dec, 2006.
Poetry
Follow up to this astroturf post generates verse on the theme of making money from betraying trust (see astroturfing). 58 comments Dec, 2006.
Politics
Bush aiming at Social Securityagain. Another attempt at gutting one America's best working programs. 42 comments Sep, 2006.
Faux News misidentifies a Republican congressional wrongdoer as a Democrat...again. What a surprise. You'd almost think they do it on purpose. Mark Foley of the page scandal. 84 comments Oct, 2006.
A Democrat who has drunk too deeply of teh stupid. Fred Head of Texas declares his Republican opponent a pornographer for writing...a romance novel. He is apparently unfamiliar with the best selling genre in American fiction and also with such things as running heads in books, possibly he is unfamiliar with reading. It's hard to tell anything because the teh stupid burns. 135 comments Oct, 2006.
Jim posts on a dumb Bush ad in which the RNC reminds voters of the very scary Bin Laden...and by implication that Bush still hasn't caught him at this late date. Whole lot of stupid going on there. 80 comments Oct, 2006.
"Vote Today"notable for Jim's excellent summary of what it means to vote Republican in the current circumstances: A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for torture. A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for corruption. etc. 309 comments Nov, 2006.
A well earned round of applause for Ned Lamont. 33 comments Nov, 2006.
“Voting your conscience” In its entirety because it's a thing of beauty: From Scraps DeSelby, in the “vote today” comment thread:
If voting with your conscience means anything, it means voting with consideration toward other people, not just yourself. Your conscience isn’t the part of you that doesn’t compromise. That’s your pride. Your conscience is the part of you that wonders whether what you’re doing is making the world a better place.
If half the people who say they voted their conscience voted their decency and judgment first, their consciences wouldn’t have anything to worry about. 25 comments Nov, 2006.
Ding Dong the Sec Def is gone. Which old Sec Def? Donald Rumsfeld. 56 comments Nov, 2006.
Patrick unloads on Jim Wallis for a weaselly attack on secularists. 140 comments Nov, 2006.
Accused Antrhax Hoaxer Charles Conrad Castagna turns out to have said some really dumb things about F&SF in addition to really dumb things about politics. Gets roasted. 210 comments Nov, 2006.
John McCain, tyrant in waiting" Scary stuff if you didn't much like Bush's impulses toward turning the USA into a monarchy. Scarier still looking back at in 2008 with McCain well on his way to the Republican nomination. 44 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa posts a quote from Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, on the pregnancy of Dick Cheney’s openly lesbian daughter Mary which makes some kind of point about being gay and unmarried motherhood, and who knows what else. In which Republicans once more beg the question How do you satirize those who have already passed over into farce? 140 comments Dec, 2006.
In which Patrick quotes a saddened Margaret Thatcher on the death of mass murderer Augusto Pinochet. What can you say? 75 comments Dec, 2006.
Political bumper stickers or Bush's America in 10 words or less. Priceless. 113 comments Dec, 2006.
On Bush ignoring the Iraq study group report and assumptions about rational behavior that don't work as a model for Bush behavior. Big meaty post on the politics of Bush. 133 comments Dec, 2006.
Recipes
Not exactly a recipe, more of a blueprint. Elizabeth Moon's "Holiday Feasts for Beginners" an extensive and useful how-to. 86 comments Nov, 2006.
Religion
Pope says not very smart things about Islam and pretty much every other non-Catholic religion. Patrick finds a couple of smart responses. 80 comments Sep, 2006.
Patrick unloads on Jim Wallis for a weaselly attack on secularists. 140 comments Nov, 2006.
A bunch of versions of a section of Luke starting with Anglo Saxon and moving forward in time. 115 comments Dec, 2006.
Scams
Airleaf Publishing. The latest incarnation of Bookman Marketing a scam publisher that preys on author hopes. 263 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa posts on new YADS* website which is an online forum ostensibly designed to bring new writers to the attention of editors, but really a content generation machine that uses aspiring writers as fuel. Amateur writer will critique other writers--which is actually a great way to get started and publishing professionals won't get anywhere near it. *For more info see writer beware on manuscript display sites. 123 comments Dec, 2006.
War on Terra
American torture (how I hate having to write those words) approved techniques and the destruction of the victims. 206 comments Sep, 2006.
Bush comes very close (syntactically) to threatening to stop torturing people if congress refuses to legalize torture. Sounds like a win to me. Also a note on the likely usefulness of intelligence gathered from folks who've been imprisoned for the past four years. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
Torture and rendition as official American policy. Weep for my country. 183 comments Sep, 2006.
"In case I disappear" On the possibility of being "legally" disappeared by the American government. 142 comments Sep, 2006.
"The terrorists who don’t count" You know, the ones who bomb planned parenthood clinics and other things that the American right disapproves of. 148 comments Oct, 2006.
Terror is a tactic, you can't declare war on it. Guy Fawkes Day and the gunpowder plot. 50 comments Nov 5th, 2006.
Patrick Verbatim: Go directly to hell. Do not pass Go. Do not pick up $200. In a just world, Richard Cohen would go to his grave with these words as his epitaph.
We are a good country, attempting to do a good thing. In a post-Sept. 11 world, I thought the prudent use of violence could be therapeutic. 94 comments Nov, 2006.
Jim on new passport restrictions and the reasons for same: "'Make it tough for the enemy to get in and you can’t get out.' That’s George Bush’s motive for wanting to build a Berlin Wall around America." 115 comments Dec, 2006.
And in that same vein, Teresa on Coast Guard gunships on the Great Lakes. 104 comments Dec, 2006.
More Rumsfeld. Trying to quash an anti-torture lawsuit against him. 147 comments Dec, 2006.
Uncategorized (Thus Far, and yes, deliberately out of order)
Amazon allows comments on reviews, or, as Patrick puts it "The End of Author Productivity In Our Lifetime" What a really bad idea. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
Teresa links to a collection of incidences of people being stupid about the history of the Middle East. 146 comments Oct, 2006.
"“Doctor Who” Explains Modern Media Consolidation To You". Satellite Five episode. Woot. 115 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa on "Why I Blog" This is a huge juicy post that talks about the way the media has sided with the power elite against the people, and how that affects everything that happens in the country and also a whole bunch of related and important things. 217 comments Dec, 2006.
Patrick is baffled by a post from Attytood re: the social responsibility of the inventor of a new thing toward those who are harmed by the old thing it replaces. Is joke? Is not joke? 78 comments Dec, 2006.
The lost and feared destroyed Bactrian Gold resurfaces. Hooray for a treasure found. 51 comments Dec, 2006.
The top ten underreported stories of 2006. Teresa condenses them from the original and I'm just going to do the titles. Interesting stuff and well worth a read.
10. Hackable Passports
9. What’s Worse Than Bird Flu? The Cure
8. Petro Powers Drop the Dollar
7. The Gender Gap Gets Smaller
6. Iran and Israel Hold Secret Talks
5. United States Funds the Taliban
4. Russia Fuels Latin American Arms Race
3. Bush’s Post-Katrina Power Grab
2. China Runs up African Debt
1. White House Looks the Other Way while India Helps Iran Build the Bomb
73 comments Dec, 2006.
Advertising as art and entertainment with examples. 123 comments Dec, 2006.
Teresa's favorites from the BBC's hundred favorite factoids of 2006. 32 comments Dec, 2006.
These updates have not yet been added to the main indices, but should go up in the next week or two. In the meantime, here they are:
Writers Index:
F&SF As A Genre
The Common Fantasy Tongue is created. 50 comments Nov, 2006.
Literary Scams
Airleaf Publishing. The latest incarnation of Bookman Marketing a scam publisher that preys on author hopes. 263 comments Nov, 2006
Teresa posts on new YADS* website which is an online forum ostensibly designed to bring new writers to the attention of editors, but really a content generation machine that uses aspiring writers as fuel. Amateur writer will critique other writers--which is actually a great way to get started and publishing professionals won't get anywhere near it. *For more info see writer beware on manuscript display sites. 123 comments Dec, 2006.
Publishing Industry
Amazon allows comments on reviews, or, as Patrick puts it "The End of Author Productivity In Our Lifetime" What a really bad idea. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
In response to the WSJ Teresa talks about the non-bestsellers part of the book biz. In which she coins the term okaysellers and dispenses much wisdom on publishing. If you are a writer you should read this. 129 comments Oct, 2006. You should also read the follow up post which continues the discussion. 64 comments Oct, 2006.
"“Doctor Who” Explains Modern Media Consolidation To You". Satellite Five episode. Woot. 115 comments Nov, 2006.
Writing Craft
Teresa highlights "Keith Snyder on Novels in Progress" an absolutely priceless post on how to write and revise a novel. Must read. 87 comments Dec, 2006.
General Index
Administrative/In the Beginning
Ads are neither selected nor endorsed by the keepers of Making Light. 459 comments Dec, 2006.
Afghan War
Forgotten Afghanistan. The war Bush put aside in favor of Iraq. Taliban bombing in Kabul. 48 coments Sep, 2006.
George Bush continues to skip military funerals. 86 comments Sep, 2006.
Astroturf in Politics and on the Internet
More on astroturf on the net. A whole bunch of links and a lengthy discourse on the subject. 76 comments Sep, 2006.
Astroturf and letters to the editor. Also, those "spontaneously" forwarded rightwing emails. Shorter version, copyeditors are cheap and plentiful. 95 comments Sep, 2006.
"The Royal Society vs. Exxon’s astroturf" On Global Warming, if you hadn't guessed. 67 comments Sep, 2006.
More astroturfing, this time a PR campaign for a movie and done really badly. The Science of Sleep, BTW. It's a real train wreck and fascinating to watch in the same way. 63 comments Oct, 2006.
Rumsfeld creates sockpuppet brigade. Reorganization of Pentagon's public affairs department includes team for responding to blogger. 43 comments Nov, 2006.
Boing Boing links to tech voter's guide that is essentially a shill for big tech businesses. 47 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa examines two appalling internet business models of the astroturfish variety. One in which people are paid to post comments and links to blogs to generate the illusion of popularity to draw in more commenters and thus create online communities that will generate content and add dollars. Bleah. And a second in which bloggers and commenters are paid for product endorsements without disclosure, i.e. comments spam and splog. 149 comments Dec, 2006.
Follow up to this astroturf post generates verse on the theme of making money from betraying trust (see astroturfing). 58 comments Dec, 2006.
DIY A Myriad of Odd and Sometimes Useful How-Tos
Teresa on how to wrap a package. 74 comments Dec, 2006.
Fandom
Antrhax Hoaxer Charles Conrad Castagna turns out to have said some really dumb things about F&SF in addition to really dumb things about politics. Gets roasted. 210 comments Nov, 2006.
"Punditslash". Yes, it's exactly what you think it is. 104 comments Nov, 2006.
F&SF History and Culture
The Common Fantasy Tongue is created. 50 comments Nov, 2006.
Food (Not Recipes)
Restaurant review La Parada in Brooklyn by Teresa. Sounds lovely. 51 comments Sep, 2006.
Jim recommends a couple of diners in New England. 89 comments Oct, 2006.
Elizabeth Moon's "Holiday Feasts for Beginners" an extensive and useful how-to. 86 comments Nov, 2006.
On the decline of the modern fruitcake and the proper making of same. 287 comments Dec, 2006.
Ghosts of the Great War
Not Ghosts of the Great War 2006. Mourning an old friend instead: "Sorry. I know I usually post about the Great War today. Happens it’s one of those subjects where the realization’s hit me hard that I’m not going to be able to talk to Mike about it any more." 139 comments Nov, 2006.
Internet Discourse
Teresa points to an excellent example of internet thread control. Perhaps unsurprising from the master of a knitting blog, but very nice nonetheless. 170 comments Nov, 2006.
Youtube as sign language forum for the deaf. Unmediated many to many communication. 115 comments Dec, 2006.
Iran
Discussion of Time magazine story on potential war with Iran, complete with numerous administration talking points. Way to go free press. 149 comments Sep, 2006.
Iraq (Afghanistan-now its own category) War
Valerie Plame very much not a desk jockey. The first revelation and discussion on same. 175 comments Sep, 2006.
Link to Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial on the combined incompetence and deception of the Bushies in re: no WMDs in Iraq and cooked intelligence. 56 comments Sep, 2006.
George Bush continues to skip military funerals. 86 comments Sep, 2006.
Iraq, a national military pretty much in name only. The Iraqi "military" to which we are returning significant control of the country. 67 comments Sep, 2006.
Rumsfeld and incompetence. Who could have guessed that we'd need a post war plan? Pretty much everybody in the world not directly involved in the planning of the Iraq war. Oh, and a few of those folks too, though they ended up being fired for pointing out that it might be a good idea. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
Jim posting on military ethics and their impact on individual soldier action in the face of unlawful orders in re: the ongoing disaster that is the Bush administration's version of war. "You are not required to obey an unlawful order. You are required to disobey an unlawful order." and so on. 321 comments Oct, 2006.
Rick Santorum talks Tolkien...do I really need to say more about the stupidity that follows? Plus some other link salad odds and ends from Patrick. 118 comments Oct, 2006.
Exposure of 1999 study about the massive troop numbers needed to stabilize Iraq. Does anybody still believe that Bushco shouldn't have known better? 28 comments Nov, 2006.
Military recruiters lying to potential recruitstelling them Iraq war is over. 70 comments Nov, 2006.
The enormous mess that is Iraq. A whole lot of evidence that the war is pretty much already lost even if it drags out another 5 years, and the next stage is fixing blame. 183 comments Nov, 2006.
Name that war. Something other than Iraq II. 157 comments Nov, 2006.
Having already erased the election results from his "brain" Bush reverts to normal...worst president ever. Already setting up his choice to ignore the results of the Iraq commission. 86 comments Nov, 2006.
"January 2007: United States Conquered by Canada; Pockets of Resistance Quickly Suppressed" "December 20, 2006:
“Currently there are no active or reserve Army combat units outside of Iraq and Afghanistan that are rated as ‘combat ready.’”
At least we’ll finally get health insurance." I have nothing to add. 166 comments Dec, 2006.
On the Hanging of Saddam Hussein. 134 comments Dec, 2006. More 19 comments Dec, 2006.
John M. Ford Misc
John M. Ford passes from among us. I've been delaying rereading Sept 2006 in part because I didn't want to revisit this one. Ave. 458 comments Sep, 2006.
In memory of Mike Ford, Teresa reminds us all "Sign your organ donor card" Excellent advice. 148 comments Sep, 2006.
"Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. One)" posted by Jim. 21 comments Sep, 2006.
"Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Two)" posted by Jim. 14 comments Sep, 2006.
"Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Three)" posted by Jim. 4 comments Sep, 2006.
Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Four)" posted by Jim. 20 comments Oct, 2006.
Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Five)" posted by Jim. 21 comments Nov, 2006.
Mike Ford: Occasional Works (Pt. Six)" posted by Jim. 10 comments Nov, 2006.
Knitting
Teresa points to an excellent example of internet thread control. Perhaps unsurprising from the master of a knitting blog, but very nice nonetheless. 170 comments Nov, 2006.
Lexicography
Teresa on Geoffrey Chaucer's blog. Historical language games and other japery. 38 commments Dec, 2006.
Lord of the Rings
Rick Santorum talks Tolkien...do I really need to say more about the stupidity that follows? Plus some other link salad odds and ends from Patrick. 118 comments Oct, 2006.
Medicine/Emergency Response
In memory of Mike Ford, Teresa reminds us all "Sign your organ donor card" Excellent advice. 148 comments Sep, 2006.
Jim on fire.... No, not that way. Burns. Stop, Drop, and Roll. 127 comments Nov, 2006.
Mourning
John M. Ford. I've been delaying rereading Sept 2006 in part because I didn't want to revisit this one. Ave. 458 comments Sep, 2006.
"Feast of All Spooks" in which offerings are left for David Stemple and Mike Ford, among others. 99 comments Oct 31, 2006.
Music
365 days of strange MP3s with commentary. To strange to describe in anything less than the detail they lavish themselves. Go look. 18 comments Sep, 2006.
Patrick waxes rhapsodic on a new Beatles mashup with links to it and some older ones. 37 comments Dec, 2006.
Poetry
Follow up to this astroturf post generates verse on the theme of making money from betraying trust (see astroturfing). 58 comments Dec, 2006.
Politics
Bush aiming at Social Securityagain. Another attempt at gutting one America's best working programs. 42 comments Sep, 2006.
Faux News misidentifies a Republican congressional wrongdoer as a Democrat...again. What a surprise. You'd almost think they do it on purpose. Mark Foley of the page scandal. 84 comments Oct, 2006.
A Democrat who has drunk too deeply of teh stupid. Fred Head of Texas declares his Republican opponent a pornographer for writing...a romance novel. He is apparently unfamiliar with the best selling genre in American fiction and also with such things as running heads in books, possibly he is unfamiliar with reading. It's hard to tell anything because the teh stupid burns. 135 comments Oct, 2006.
Jim posts on a dumb Bush ad in which the RNC reminds voters of the very scary Bin Laden...and by implication that Bush still hasn't caught him at this late date. Whole lot of stupid going on there. 80 comments Oct, 2006.
"Vote Today"notable for Jim's excellent summary of what it means to vote Republican in the current circumstances: A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for torture. A vote for a Republican, any Republican, is a vote for corruption. etc. 309 comments Nov, 2006.
A well earned round of applause for Ned Lamont. 33 comments Nov, 2006.
“Voting your conscience” In its entirety because it's a thing of beauty: From Scraps DeSelby, in the “vote today” comment thread:
If voting with your conscience means anything, it means voting with consideration toward other people, not just yourself. Your conscience isn’t the part of you that doesn’t compromise. That’s your pride. Your conscience is the part of you that wonders whether what you’re doing is making the world a better place.
If half the people who say they voted their conscience voted their decency and judgment first, their consciences wouldn’t have anything to worry about. 25 comments Nov, 2006.
Ding Dong the Sec Def is gone. Which old Sec Def? Donald Rumsfeld. 56 comments Nov, 2006.
Patrick unloads on Jim Wallis for a weaselly attack on secularists. 140 comments Nov, 2006.
Accused Antrhax Hoaxer Charles Conrad Castagna turns out to have said some really dumb things about F&SF in addition to really dumb things about politics. Gets roasted. 210 comments Nov, 2006.
John McCain, tyrant in waiting" Scary stuff if you didn't much like Bush's impulses toward turning the USA into a monarchy. Scarier still looking back at in 2008 with McCain well on his way to the Republican nomination. 44 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa posts a quote from Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, on the pregnancy of Dick Cheney’s openly lesbian daughter Mary which makes some kind of point about being gay and unmarried motherhood, and who knows what else. In which Republicans once more beg the question How do you satirize those who have already passed over into farce? 140 comments Dec, 2006.
In which Patrick quotes a saddened Margaret Thatcher on the death of mass murderer Augusto Pinochet. What can you say? 75 comments Dec, 2006.
Political bumper stickers or Bush's America in 10 words or less. Priceless. 113 comments Dec, 2006.
On Bush ignoring the Iraq study group report and assumptions about rational behavior that don't work as a model for Bush behavior. Big meaty post on the politics of Bush. 133 comments Dec, 2006.
Recipes
Not exactly a recipe, more of a blueprint. Elizabeth Moon's "Holiday Feasts for Beginners" an extensive and useful how-to. 86 comments Nov, 2006.
Religion
Pope says not very smart things about Islam and pretty much every other non-Catholic religion. Patrick finds a couple of smart responses. 80 comments Sep, 2006.
Patrick unloads on Jim Wallis for a weaselly attack on secularists. 140 comments Nov, 2006.
A bunch of versions of a section of Luke starting with Anglo Saxon and moving forward in time. 115 comments Dec, 2006.
Scams
Airleaf Publishing. The latest incarnation of Bookman Marketing a scam publisher that preys on author hopes. 263 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa posts on new YADS* website which is an online forum ostensibly designed to bring new writers to the attention of editors, but really a content generation machine that uses aspiring writers as fuel. Amateur writer will critique other writers--which is actually a great way to get started and publishing professionals won't get anywhere near it. *For more info see writer beware on manuscript display sites. 123 comments Dec, 2006.
War on Terra
American torture (how I hate having to write those words) approved techniques and the destruction of the victims. 206 comments Sep, 2006.
Bush comes very close (syntactically) to threatening to stop torturing people if congress refuses to legalize torture. Sounds like a win to me. Also a note on the likely usefulness of intelligence gathered from folks who've been imprisoned for the past four years. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
Torture and rendition as official American policy. Weep for my country. 183 comments Sep, 2006.
"In case I disappear" On the possibility of being "legally" disappeared by the American government. 142 comments Sep, 2006.
"The terrorists who don’t count" You know, the ones who bomb planned parenthood clinics and other things that the American right disapproves of. 148 comments Oct, 2006.
Terror is a tactic, you can't declare war on it. Guy Fawkes Day and the gunpowder plot. 50 comments Nov 5th, 2006.
Patrick Verbatim: Go directly to hell. Do not pass Go. Do not pick up $200. In a just world, Richard Cohen would go to his grave with these words as his epitaph.
We are a good country, attempting to do a good thing. In a post-Sept. 11 world, I thought the prudent use of violence could be therapeutic. 94 comments Nov, 2006.
Jim on new passport restrictions and the reasons for same: "'Make it tough for the enemy to get in and you can’t get out.' That’s George Bush’s motive for wanting to build a Berlin Wall around America." 115 comments Dec, 2006.
And in that same vein, Teresa on Coast Guard gunships on the Great Lakes. 104 comments Dec, 2006.
More Rumsfeld. Trying to quash an anti-torture lawsuit against him. 147 comments Dec, 2006.
Uncategorized (Thus Far, and yes, deliberately out of order)
Amazon allows comments on reviews, or, as Patrick puts it "The End of Author Productivity In Our Lifetime" What a really bad idea. 103 comments Sep, 2006.
Teresa links to a collection of incidences of people being stupid about the history of the Middle East. 146 comments Oct, 2006.
"“Doctor Who” Explains Modern Media Consolidation To You". Satellite Five episode. Woot. 115 comments Nov, 2006.
Teresa on "Why I Blog" This is a huge juicy post that talks about the way the media has sided with the power elite against the people, and how that affects everything that happens in the country and also a whole bunch of related and important things. 217 comments Dec, 2006.
Patrick is baffled by a post from Attytood re: the social responsibility of the inventor of a new thing toward those who are harmed by the old thing it replaces. Is joke? Is not joke? 78 comments Dec, 2006.
The lost and feared destroyed Bactrian Gold resurfaces. Hooray for a treasure found. 51 comments Dec, 2006.
The top ten underreported stories of 2006. Teresa condenses them from the original and I'm just going to do the titles. Interesting stuff and well worth a read.
10. Hackable Passports
9. What’s Worse Than Bird Flu? The Cure
8. Petro Powers Drop the Dollar
7. The Gender Gap Gets Smaller
6. Iran and Israel Hold Secret Talks
5. United States Funds the Taliban
4. Russia Fuels Latin American Arms Race
3. Bush’s Post-Katrina Power Grab
2. China Runs up African Debt
1. White House Looks the Other Way while India Helps Iran Build the Bomb
73 comments Dec, 2006.
Advertising as art and entertainment with examples. 123 comments Dec, 2006.
Teresa's favorites from the BBC's hundred favorite factoids of 2006. 32 comments Dec, 2006.
Friday, March 07, 2008
On-Line Class -- How to Try a Murder
I got this notice through one of my romance lists, but I thought people here might be interested in this one. The instructor sounds really cool and it seems like a person could learn all sorts of nifty stuff about the criminal justice system. Anyone out there writing a murder mystery???
************PERMISSION TO FORWARD**********
Join Wine Country Romance Writers, RWA, as we learn...
HOW TO TRY A MURDER.
Instructor: Lucinda Schroeder
Date: April: 4/7 - 5/2 ** 4 weeks ** $20/$25
Register by mail or online -- info at: http://winecountryromancewriters.com/workshops.htm
The cops know they have the right villain and justice will be served. But, not so fast! The American judicial system is full of more holes than cheesecloth, making it quite possible for the villain to go free. Learn about the caveats of arrests, search warrant affidavits, indictments, grand jury proceedings, evidence, trial preparation, jury selection and strategies used by both the defense and prosecution. Don't be guilty of missing this fact-packed class!
Lucinda Delaney Schroeder has a BA in Criminology and is a retired federal agent who during her thirty-year career conducted numerous undercover investigations and was the only female member a specialized undercover unit. She has taught undercover techniques to other agents at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA and continues to train law enforcement officers through her private business "Bulletproof Covert Identities." She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lucinda is the author of "A Hunt for Justice," (Lyons Press) a true story of one her undercover cases in Alaska, in which clever deception was her only protection.
************PERMISSION TO FORWARD**********
Join Wine Country Romance Writers, RWA, as we learn...
HOW TO TRY A MURDER.
Instructor: Lucinda Schroeder
Date: April: 4/7 - 5/2 ** 4 weeks ** $20/$25
Register by mail or online -- info at: http://winecountryromancewriters.com/workshops.htm
The cops know they have the right villain and justice will be served. But, not so fast! The American judicial system is full of more holes than cheesecloth, making it quite possible for the villain to go free. Learn about the caveats of arrests, search warrant affidavits, indictments, grand jury proceedings, evidence, trial preparation, jury selection and strategies used by both the defense and prosecution. Don't be guilty of missing this fact-packed class!
Lucinda Delaney Schroeder has a BA in Criminology and is a retired federal agent who during her thirty-year career conducted numerous undercover investigations and was the only female member a specialized undercover unit. She has taught undercover techniques to other agents at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA and continues to train law enforcement officers through her private business "Bulletproof Covert Identities." She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Lucinda is the author of "A Hunt for Justice," (Lyons Press) a true story of one her undercover cases in Alaska, in which clever deception was her only protection.
Today's Lesson
Pay attention to the little things.
Laura finished the beta of MythOS last night and really liked it. But we got to discussing whether it ended on a note that was a touch too dark. So I went back and reread the last 1,000 or so words.
As I was going over the final four or five paragraphs I realized that with a change of just three sentences I could shift the emphasis from the down notes and cost side of the wrap-up events to the up notes and the most important victory. I changed part of one paragraph, less than 25 words and it completely reframed the ending in a way that just lit the whole thing up. The events were identical, but two words of dialog got changed and a bittersweet tear became a bittersweet smile. And that made all kinds of difference. I won't say more because it would be a serious spoiler, but always remember the little things matter.
Laura finished the beta of MythOS last night and really liked it. But we got to discussing whether it ended on a note that was a touch too dark. So I went back and reread the last 1,000 or so words.
As I was going over the final four or five paragraphs I realized that with a change of just three sentences I could shift the emphasis from the down notes and cost side of the wrap-up events to the up notes and the most important victory. I changed part of one paragraph, less than 25 words and it completely reframed the ending in a way that just lit the whole thing up. The events were identical, but two words of dialog got changed and a bittersweet tear became a bittersweet smile. And that made all kinds of difference. I won't say more because it would be a serious spoiler, but always remember the little things matter.
Printing................
So, the downside of being beta ready is that I am nailed to my laser printer and binder for the next couple hours as I churn out several thousands pages of beta drafts and bind them. Sigh. This is why I need a new laser that automatically double sides. That's the first thing I buy with the next book contract. Bored now.
Updated: I was wrong. I've now been printing for three hours and I'm not going to get to binding for another twenty minutes. Waaaay bored.
Updated: I was wrong. I've now been printing for three hours and I'm not going to get to binding for another twenty minutes. Waaaay bored.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
B-b-b-beta!
I just finished the beta draft of MythOS and hey this thing doesn't suck. I'd expected to have to do a lot of work on the last chapter and epilogue since they were basically first draft, but they survived basically intact. Laura will catch up to me today or tomorrow and if she doesn't have any issues I can get this puppy out the door to readers this weekend. And that means it's Snoopy Dance Time!
Link deleted due to it breaking at the other end.
Link deleted due to it breaking at the other end.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Interesting Things–1,000 True Fans
Snerched from Patrick Nielsen Hayden at Making Light: A link to an essay on how 1,000 True Fans can support an artist. Very interesting stuff.
Brain Jello
I'm in the midst of converting the alpha draft of MythOS into the beta for my beta-readers. I just finished chapter 15 of 17 and my brain is a melted puddle of goo.
There is a section in here that relies on quantum computing and quantum encryption. It has to be very carefully written if it is going to be scientifically right (or at least not wrong), understandable to the reader who doesn't grok quantum effects in relation to computation and encryption, and have the desired plot effects.
I got most all of that right* on the first pass, but this time through I realized that the number of observers in the loop was not what I had initially thought it was and that put a logic hole in the story. Patching it while maintaining all the other stuff across a 5,000 word passage meant holding the whole thing in my head and pulling out and rearranging pieces very carefully. It cooked my brain and now I need to sit and drool for a while before tackling the big emotional and plot moments of the endgame.
_______________________
*I hope--I have both physicists and IT professionals in my beta pool and they will definitely let me know about it if I messed up
There is a section in here that relies on quantum computing and quantum encryption. It has to be very carefully written if it is going to be scientifically right (or at least not wrong), understandable to the reader who doesn't grok quantum effects in relation to computation and encryption, and have the desired plot effects.
I got most all of that right* on the first pass, but this time through I realized that the number of observers in the loop was not what I had initially thought it was and that put a logic hole in the story. Patching it while maintaining all the other stuff across a 5,000 word passage meant holding the whole thing in my head and pulling out and rearranging pieces very carefully. It cooked my brain and now I need to sit and drool for a while before tackling the big emotional and plot moments of the endgame.
_______________________
*I hope--I have both physicists and IT professionals in my beta pool and they will definitely let me know about it if I messed up
News Flash(s)
According to Absolute Write Water Cooler, Predators & Editors is being sued for libel both by Victor E. Cretella, III, Esq. (apparently on behalf of the folks at Publish America) and a literary agent named Barbara Bauer.
And, then when I went to check out what P&E had to say for itself on the matter, I came across the announcement there that long-time on-line community for writers Speculations has apparently died.
And, then when I went to check out what P&E had to say for itself on the matter, I came across the announcement there that long-time on-line community for writers Speculations has apparently died.
Q&A with Mike Brotherton--Spider Star
A lot of book launch interviews this month.
Mike Brotherton is a hard science fiction writer publishing novels with Tor. His latest, Spider Star, is being released on March 4, 2008. In addition to being a writer, he's a professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming, an observer who studies quasars with the Hubble Space Telescope and other facilities on and above the Earth. His webpage is http://www.mikebrotherton.com.
What is the premise of the new novel?
It's a story about an interstellar colony on the planet Argo orbiting Pollux, and what happens when the people there accidentally set off a doomsday weapon left behind by the original inhabitants of their system. The original technology behind the weapon came from an even more advanced alien species living in something referred to as the "Spider Star." There are two main protagonists. The first is an older man, Frank Klingston, with a family who is drafted into the mission given his previous experience as the only human to ever encounter living intelligent aliens. The other is a young hotshot, Manuel Rusk, who was supposed to head off the next interstellar exploration mission and is partially responsible for setting off the weapon.
What was your inspiration for writing Spider Star?
I was finishing up my first novel, Star Dragon, and was chatting with a friend at a review panel for the National Science Foundation. He told me about some papers by David Eichler, a theoretical astrophysicist, hypothesizing the concept of planets made of dark matter that might be found around neutron stars. Well, that was a pretty cool idea and originally I was just going to write a short story of some kind but never got around to it. By the time I was ready to write about this idea, it had grown to novel size and had accumulated a lot of associations. I'm always looking to do something exotic, leaning on my professional expertise for unique situations or environments, that haven't been done a million times already. The setting of Spider Star is unique, I believe, but a setting no matter how great doesn't make a story on its own. Story ideas kind of grow piecemeal for me, where one good idea isn't enough but when it hooks up with two or three other ideas suddenly a story crystallizes. It's like the ideas are amino acids floating around and my mind is the enzyme that assembles them when it finds the right combination.
What kind of research did you do for this book?
While I don't think so-called "hard" science fiction should be hard to read, it can be hard to write. My current operational definition is fiction that requires a calculator. I had to do a bunch of ugly calculations and estimates to world build, and then find engineering/plot solutions when the physics didn't quite work out the way I wanted for the world building. Some of the things were rather complicated and I lucked out that I found a couple of papers doing most of them for me, as I would have resorted to writing computer code to be sure what I was envisioning was plausible. I'm talking around this because I don't want to spoil too much.
I also leaned on the stories of Jason and the Argonauts and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for some layers of mythology that seemed to resonate with the plot and themes of the book. Happy accidents do occur when symbolism and motifs crop up on their own, but I usually try to put some in intentionally to reinforce points I'm trying to make and the mood I'm trying to establish.
What are you trying to do with your science fiction? Does it have a purpose beyond telling an entertaining story?
Yes, ideally. I think science fiction at it's best is great literature. It shows a side of humanity in the face of new ideas or new circumstances that cannot be done with mainstream work. What does it mean to evolve past our current state? What does it mean to us to confront non-human intelligence? Are we great, as complex and intelligent life, in the face of a largely lifeless universe, or insignificant before the near infinity of space and time?
I also try to get as much of my science right as possible, although I do push the limits and sometimes just avoid the impossible while embracing the unlikely (if it's interesting enough). I like to think I'm educating people a little about astronomy and physics and perhaps inspiring people to study science, the way I was inspired by Star Trek and other science fiction I encountered growing up.
Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
That's a difficult question because I have so many! My favorites growing up and then through college were Philip Jose Farmer, Joe Haldeman, Robert Heinlein, Fred Pohl, Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, David Brin, Larry Niven, Gregory Benford, and Roger Zelazny. More recently I've been a big fan of Dan Simmons, Nancy Kress, Michael Swanwick, Jack McDevitt, Eric Nylund, Robert Charles Wilson, Vernor Vinge, and Kurt Vonnegut (better late than never). I think there's a lot of great books being written and I'm happy to be able to contribute mine.
Spider Star can be purchased from amazon.com.
Mike Brotherton is a hard science fiction writer publishing novels with Tor. His latest, Spider Star, is being released on March 4, 2008. In addition to being a writer, he's a professor of astronomy at the University of Wyoming, an observer who studies quasars with the Hubble Space Telescope and other facilities on and above the Earth. His webpage is http://www.mikebrotherton.com.
What is the premise of the new novel?
It's a story about an interstellar colony on the planet Argo orbiting Pollux, and what happens when the people there accidentally set off a doomsday weapon left behind by the original inhabitants of their system. The original technology behind the weapon came from an even more advanced alien species living in something referred to as the "Spider Star." There are two main protagonists. The first is an older man, Frank Klingston, with a family who is drafted into the mission given his previous experience as the only human to ever encounter living intelligent aliens. The other is a young hotshot, Manuel Rusk, who was supposed to head off the next interstellar exploration mission and is partially responsible for setting off the weapon.
What was your inspiration for writing Spider Star?
I was finishing up my first novel, Star Dragon, and was chatting with a friend at a review panel for the National Science Foundation. He told me about some papers by David Eichler, a theoretical astrophysicist, hypothesizing the concept of planets made of dark matter that might be found around neutron stars. Well, that was a pretty cool idea and originally I was just going to write a short story of some kind but never got around to it. By the time I was ready to write about this idea, it had grown to novel size and had accumulated a lot of associations. I'm always looking to do something exotic, leaning on my professional expertise for unique situations or environments, that haven't been done a million times already. The setting of Spider Star is unique, I believe, but a setting no matter how great doesn't make a story on its own. Story ideas kind of grow piecemeal for me, where one good idea isn't enough but when it hooks up with two or three other ideas suddenly a story crystallizes. It's like the ideas are amino acids floating around and my mind is the enzyme that assembles them when it finds the right combination.
What kind of research did you do for this book?
While I don't think so-called "hard" science fiction should be hard to read, it can be hard to write. My current operational definition is fiction that requires a calculator. I had to do a bunch of ugly calculations and estimates to world build, and then find engineering/plot solutions when the physics didn't quite work out the way I wanted for the world building. Some of the things were rather complicated and I lucked out that I found a couple of papers doing most of them for me, as I would have resorted to writing computer code to be sure what I was envisioning was plausible. I'm talking around this because I don't want to spoil too much.
I also leaned on the stories of Jason and the Argonauts and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for some layers of mythology that seemed to resonate with the plot and themes of the book. Happy accidents do occur when symbolism and motifs crop up on their own, but I usually try to put some in intentionally to reinforce points I'm trying to make and the mood I'm trying to establish.
What are you trying to do with your science fiction? Does it have a purpose beyond telling an entertaining story?
Yes, ideally. I think science fiction at it's best is great literature. It shows a side of humanity in the face of new ideas or new circumstances that cannot be done with mainstream work. What does it mean to evolve past our current state? What does it mean to us to confront non-human intelligence? Are we great, as complex and intelligent life, in the face of a largely lifeless universe, or insignificant before the near infinity of space and time?
I also try to get as much of my science right as possible, although I do push the limits and sometimes just avoid the impossible while embracing the unlikely (if it's interesting enough). I like to think I'm educating people a little about astronomy and physics and perhaps inspiring people to study science, the way I was inspired by Star Trek and other science fiction I encountered growing up.
Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
That's a difficult question because I have so many! My favorites growing up and then through college were Philip Jose Farmer, Joe Haldeman, Robert Heinlein, Fred Pohl, Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, David Brin, Larry Niven, Gregory Benford, and Roger Zelazny. More recently I've been a big fan of Dan Simmons, Nancy Kress, Michael Swanwick, Jack McDevitt, Eric Nylund, Robert Charles Wilson, Vernor Vinge, and Kurt Vonnegut (better late than never). I think there's a lot of great books being written and I'm happy to be able to contribute mine.
Spider Star can be purchased from amazon.com.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Gary Gygax Has Left the Inner Planes
Gary Gygax, of D&D fame has died. I know I speak for a lot of fantasy and science fiction fans and writers when I say that he will be sorely missed. I'm a world driven writer and world building is one of my strongest skills. Some of those skills were learned by GMing D&D and the other, later, games that it helped bring into the world. I will raise a beer in his memory tonight.
Goodbye, Gary. Ave, atque, vale.
Goodbye, Gary. Ave, atque, vale.
Q&A with Jim Hines--Goblin War
Hi All,
Jim Hines has a new book in his Goblin series out today. Since mine should be winging its way here via Amazon at this very moment I thought it would be fun to post this Q&A with him. The books are a blast. Here's the author.
Goblin War, by Jim C. Hines
Published March 4, 2008, by DAW Books
-----
Readers have dubbed Jim C. Hines the Goblin King. His third novel Goblin War has just been released in the U.S. His goblins are also showing up in France, Germany, Russia, and several other nations. The books have earned praise from the likes of Julie Czerneda, Ed Greenwood, and even Wil Wheaton, who called Goblin Quest "too f***ing cool for words!"
Q) What was your inspiration for writing Goblin War?
A) It's the unwritten law of fantasy. I had written two goblin books, but as a fantasy author, I had no choice. I Must Write Trilogies.
There were things I wanted to accomplish with the third book, of course. In the first two books, Jig is constantly struggling to protect himself from adventurers and heroes, not to mention his fellow goblins. This time, I wanted to bring that struggled to some sort of resolution. This is an all-or-nothing adventure. If Jig succeeds, he'll be able to keep himself and his fellow goblins safe for years. But if he fails, he's going to fail big.
There were other factors as well. Jig' and Smudge are a lot of fun to write about ... my readers enjoy him and wanted more ... perhaps most importantly, DAW was willing to pay me for a third book!
Q) Why did you decide to make Jig a goblin?
A) I wanted to take on the fantasy genre from the monsters' point of view. I've seen it done a few times before, Shrek being one of the more famous examples, but I never felt like they got it right. Shrek is really just a big, gross, socially awkward human. We never see anything about his family, his culture, or his background, and his motivations are completely human.
I also thought the tougher monsters had it too easy. Sure, anyone can survive an adventure when you're big enough to recycle armored knights and punch dragons in the face. So I decided to go with the underdogs, and you don't get much lower than goblins.
Q) What sort of research did you do to write this book?/What kind of preparation do you do when you are writing?
A) You wouldn't think a humorous fantasy would require much research. At least, I wouldn't have until I got started. But from day one, I was e-mailing a geologist for information on cave formations, looking up cooking sites to come up with good goblin recipes, double-checking armor and weaponry ... for Goblin War, I spent a fair amount of time trying to make sure my armies were using sensible formations and tactics.
Goblin War also required me to go back and re-read The Giving Tree. And no, I'm not going to explain that one.
Q) Are there any interesting scenes or ideas that didn't make it into the final book?
A) The biggest thing was a romance between Jig and one of his fellow goblins. I tried ... I really tried to make it work. I think I'm a pretty good writer, but I just couldn't pull it off. Maybe it's self-preservation, but my brain refused to go there. Much to the disappointment of my agent, who was hoping for a fourth book called "Jig gets Jiggy."
The first draft also gave Jig a magical elf cloak, a la Lord of the Rings, but I kept giving myself flashbacks to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Besides, invisibility would have made Jig's life far too easy.
Oh, and the scene where we learn that Smudge the fire-spider is gay didn't fly. I guess my publisher doesn't think the world was ready for homosexual spiders.
Q) What are you writing now?
A) DAW recently bought three more books from me in a new series. The first book is called The Stepsister Scheme, and should show up in January of 2009. I just finished revising that book, and have started on the rewrite of The Mermaid's Madness. The books are basically my response to the overcommercializiation of the fairy tale princess. My princesses come from the older fairy tales, which means these are some very conflicted characters with pretty dark backstories. I basically did a mash-up of those old fairy tales and Charlie's Angels.
Let's just say my version of Sleeping Beauty can kill you with a spoon.
Q) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
A) I do most of my writing during my lunch breaks at work. Typically, a few minutes are spent actually eating, and then there are a few minutes of stalling and procrastinating before I dig in and start typing. 50 minutes or so isn't a lot, but I've found I can do about 5000 words in a good week, which allows me to write a book every year in addition to some short fiction.
These days, I'm having to make time in the evenings and weekends to keep up with deadlines. I'm glad the writing is going so well, but I also struggle to balance family, writing, and the day-to-day jobs like shoveling snow or fixing the zipper on my daughter's backpack.
Q) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
A) There are the first two goblin books, Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero. All three are a lot of fun, particularly if you're a fantasy fan, because you'll catch a lot more of the jokes. I've also written close to 40 short stories. (Well, I've written a lot more than that, but I've sold close to 40. Big difference.) A fair amount of the short fiction is humorous sword and sorcery, but there's some serious stuff as well. I was quite happy to make the preliminary Nebula ballot this year for one of the serious stories, even though I got knocked out of the running for the finals.
Q) Who is your favorite author?
A) The answer changes from day to day, depending on my mood and what I've been reading. Today, I think I'm going to say ... Snoopy. His prose isn't always the greatest, but as an author, he's quite the inspirational little beagle. He never lets rejection slow him down, and he knows the most important thing is to drag that typewriter onto the doghouse and just keep writing.
---
Previews of all three goblin books are available at http://www.sff.net/people/jchines/Goblins/
Jim's blog is at http://jimhines.livejournal.com
Purchase links:
Goblin Quest
Goblin Hero
Goblin War
Cover art:
Goblin Quest
Goblin Hero
Goblin War
Jim Hines has a new book in his Goblin series out today. Since mine should be winging its way here via Amazon at this very moment I thought it would be fun to post this Q&A with him. The books are a blast. Here's the author.
Goblin War, by Jim C. Hines
Published March 4, 2008, by DAW Books
-----
Readers have dubbed Jim C. Hines the Goblin King. His third novel Goblin War has just been released in the U.S. His goblins are also showing up in France, Germany, Russia, and several other nations. The books have earned praise from the likes of Julie Czerneda, Ed Greenwood, and even Wil Wheaton, who called Goblin Quest "too f***ing cool for words!"
Q) What was your inspiration for writing Goblin War?
A) It's the unwritten law of fantasy. I had written two goblin books, but as a fantasy author, I had no choice. I Must Write Trilogies.
There were things I wanted to accomplish with the third book, of course. In the first two books, Jig is constantly struggling to protect himself from adventurers and heroes, not to mention his fellow goblins. This time, I wanted to bring that struggled to some sort of resolution. This is an all-or-nothing adventure. If Jig succeeds, he'll be able to keep himself and his fellow goblins safe for years. But if he fails, he's going to fail big.
There were other factors as well. Jig' and Smudge are a lot of fun to write about ... my readers enjoy him and wanted more ... perhaps most importantly, DAW was willing to pay me for a third book!
Q) Why did you decide to make Jig a goblin?
A) I wanted to take on the fantasy genre from the monsters' point of view. I've seen it done a few times before, Shrek being one of the more famous examples, but I never felt like they got it right. Shrek is really just a big, gross, socially awkward human. We never see anything about his family, his culture, or his background, and his motivations are completely human.
I also thought the tougher monsters had it too easy. Sure, anyone can survive an adventure when you're big enough to recycle armored knights and punch dragons in the face. So I decided to go with the underdogs, and you don't get much lower than goblins.
Q) What sort of research did you do to write this book?/What kind of preparation do you do when you are writing?
A) You wouldn't think a humorous fantasy would require much research. At least, I wouldn't have until I got started. But from day one, I was e-mailing a geologist for information on cave formations, looking up cooking sites to come up with good goblin recipes, double-checking armor and weaponry ... for Goblin War, I spent a fair amount of time trying to make sure my armies were using sensible formations and tactics.
Goblin War also required me to go back and re-read The Giving Tree. And no, I'm not going to explain that one.
Q) Are there any interesting scenes or ideas that didn't make it into the final book?
A) The biggest thing was a romance between Jig and one of his fellow goblins. I tried ... I really tried to make it work. I think I'm a pretty good writer, but I just couldn't pull it off. Maybe it's self-preservation, but my brain refused to go there. Much to the disappointment of my agent, who was hoping for a fourth book called "Jig gets Jiggy."
The first draft also gave Jig a magical elf cloak, a la Lord of the Rings, but I kept giving myself flashbacks to Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Besides, invisibility would have made Jig's life far too easy.
Oh, and the scene where we learn that Smudge the fire-spider is gay didn't fly. I guess my publisher doesn't think the world was ready for homosexual spiders.
Q) What are you writing now?
A) DAW recently bought three more books from me in a new series. The first book is called The Stepsister Scheme, and should show up in January of 2009. I just finished revising that book, and have started on the rewrite of The Mermaid's Madness. The books are basically my response to the overcommercializiation of the fairy tale princess. My princesses come from the older fairy tales, which means these are some very conflicted characters with pretty dark backstories. I basically did a mash-up of those old fairy tales and Charlie's Angels.
Let's just say my version of Sleeping Beauty can kill you with a spoon.
Q) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
A) I do most of my writing during my lunch breaks at work. Typically, a few minutes are spent actually eating, and then there are a few minutes of stalling and procrastinating before I dig in and start typing. 50 minutes or so isn't a lot, but I've found I can do about 5000 words in a good week, which allows me to write a book every year in addition to some short fiction.
These days, I'm having to make time in the evenings and weekends to keep up with deadlines. I'm glad the writing is going so well, but I also struggle to balance family, writing, and the day-to-day jobs like shoveling snow or fixing the zipper on my daughter's backpack.
Q) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
A) There are the first two goblin books, Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero. All three are a lot of fun, particularly if you're a fantasy fan, because you'll catch a lot more of the jokes. I've also written close to 40 short stories. (Well, I've written a lot more than that, but I've sold close to 40. Big difference.) A fair amount of the short fiction is humorous sword and sorcery, but there's some serious stuff as well. I was quite happy to make the preliminary Nebula ballot this year for one of the serious stories, even though I got knocked out of the running for the finals.
Q) Who is your favorite author?
A) The answer changes from day to day, depending on my mood and what I've been reading. Today, I think I'm going to say ... Snoopy. His prose isn't always the greatest, but as an author, he's quite the inspirational little beagle. He never lets rejection slow him down, and he knows the most important thing is to drag that typewriter onto the doghouse and just keep writing.
---
Previews of all three goblin books are available at http://www.sff.net/people/jchines/Goblins/
Jim's blog is at http://jimhines.livejournal.com
Purchase links:
Goblin Quest
Goblin Hero
Goblin War
Cover art:
Goblin Quest
Goblin Hero
Goblin War
Monday, March 03, 2008
MarsCon 2008: The British Invasion
(This is reposted from my own blog.)
So, first of all, it was a ton of fun being a Guest of Honor. One of the nicest perks at MarsCon is "Snarky's Cafe," which is like a spinoff consuite restricted to people who are working: vendors, ConCom members, GoHs, and heavy volunteers. This is the second year they've done it. There's a $20 charge for the people who want to eat there, although they comp'ed the GoHs. The woman who runs Snarky's spends the weekend cooking real food, in quantity, three times a day. It's simple stuff, the kind of thing you can cook in crock pots and hot plates in a hotel room, but it's real food, and you can actually have all your meals there. (There are people who manage this in the ConSuite but I am not one of them.) If you're a vendor in the dealer's room and can't come up for lunch, they deliver. I've been telling everyone how awesome it was in the hopes of inspiring imitators at other cons, but it is contingent on someone willing to spend the entire weekend cooking. Anyway, I ate lunch in the hotel restaurant on both Saturday and Sunday, because I wanted to eat with Haddayr, but the rest of my meals I had at Snarky's. And thank goodness I could, because the hotel restaurant is really slow, and there's not much else close by, and my windows for dinner were narrow.
And I got to be a performance judge at the Masquerade, which meant I got a front-row seat without having to start standing in line an hour ahead of time.
It was awesome.
But the really interesting part was Saturday night.
As I understand it, one of the ConCom members is an expat Brit, and on Saturday afternoon in the lobby she ran into a man in a kilt -- an actual Scotsman in a regimental kilt. She started chatting with him and found out that he was the Sergeant Major of a group (I'm sure there's a more technical term than "group," but I'm not even certain of his rank) of British soldiers who were on their way to desert training in Nevada. Their flight had been cancelled and they were stuck for the night in Minneapolis. She suggested he let them come to the con. He initially refused, but then thought it over and agreed to check it out. Apparently the con looked like fairly harmless fun, because he decided to let them come up. (Though apparently, normally they would also have been dressed in kilts; he had them change into their desert camo before they even arrived at the hotel.)
They all picked up badges, and headed for the party floor.
And....they had a blast. They drank a lot, not surprisingly, but generally behaved themselves. At first they roamed in packs, but as the evening went on and they found people to talk to they scattered around. Quite a few of them gravitated to the Tardis Tea Party, a British-themed party complete with British (well, Irish) beer, plus good cheese, and tea. (They were using American tea bags, but fortunately I think the soldiers were a lot more interested in the beer.)
The Sergeant Major also came to the party floor to keep an eye on things, in full dress kilt. (In addition to heading off kilt-flipping incidents, having the men change into their desert camo made the commanding officer instantly recognizable and visible. And no one was going to flip his kilt; he was both very likeable and slightly intimidating.) Over the course of the evening, he stopped off at every single party room to thank people for being so kind and welcoming to his men. He did the same at closing ceremonies.
He was unspecific about where they'd been (the rumor said Afghanistan) and where they were going (everyone figured desert training = Iraq), but he said they'd been through hell, and were going back to hell, and that the kindness of the people at the con meant a lot to all of them.
It was a fascinating dynamic to me on a number of levels.
First, this was fandom at its best. I think the invitation was issued pretty impulsively, and an onslaught of British soldiers was the last thing anyone had expected for the weekend. Nonetheless, people were genuinely excited about the unexpected guests, and everyone was welcoming and friendly, kind and respectful, and tolerant of misunderstandings.
Second, I think there's a secret belief among many fans that if the mundanes would just relax and quit thinking about what nerds we all are to do this sort of thing and how much cooler they are than we are, they would have a great time at a con, too. So it was neat to see that actually happen. I'm sure some of these men read or watch SF, but none, so far as I heard, had ever been to an SF con before. They didn't snicker at the costumes or the passionate love of comics / Star Trek / FireFly / Dr. Who; they looked around with wonder and fascination, and they really did have a great time.
Third, while there are always con virgins (that term clearly amused the hell out of the Sergeant Major) at any con, they're not usually so visible or so numerous.
Anyway, it made for a really different sort of Saturday night than you usually experience at a con. But in a way that was kind of magical as well as being really strange and unexpected.
(And yes, of course I was curious whether any of them had served with Harry, but I didn't ask, and I heard no rumors one way or the other.)
So, first of all, it was a ton of fun being a Guest of Honor. One of the nicest perks at MarsCon is "Snarky's Cafe," which is like a spinoff consuite restricted to people who are working: vendors, ConCom members, GoHs, and heavy volunteers. This is the second year they've done it. There's a $20 charge for the people who want to eat there, although they comp'ed the GoHs. The woman who runs Snarky's spends the weekend cooking real food, in quantity, three times a day. It's simple stuff, the kind of thing you can cook in crock pots and hot plates in a hotel room, but it's real food, and you can actually have all your meals there. (There are people who manage this in the ConSuite but I am not one of them.) If you're a vendor in the dealer's room and can't come up for lunch, they deliver. I've been telling everyone how awesome it was in the hopes of inspiring imitators at other cons, but it is contingent on someone willing to spend the entire weekend cooking. Anyway, I ate lunch in the hotel restaurant on both Saturday and Sunday, because I wanted to eat with Haddayr, but the rest of my meals I had at Snarky's. And thank goodness I could, because the hotel restaurant is really slow, and there's not much else close by, and my windows for dinner were narrow.
And I got to be a performance judge at the Masquerade, which meant I got a front-row seat without having to start standing in line an hour ahead of time.
It was awesome.
But the really interesting part was Saturday night.
As I understand it, one of the ConCom members is an expat Brit, and on Saturday afternoon in the lobby she ran into a man in a kilt -- an actual Scotsman in a regimental kilt. She started chatting with him and found out that he was the Sergeant Major of a group (I'm sure there's a more technical term than "group," but I'm not even certain of his rank) of British soldiers who were on their way to desert training in Nevada. Their flight had been cancelled and they were stuck for the night in Minneapolis. She suggested he let them come to the con. He initially refused, but then thought it over and agreed to check it out. Apparently the con looked like fairly harmless fun, because he decided to let them come up. (Though apparently, normally they would also have been dressed in kilts; he had them change into their desert camo before they even arrived at the hotel.)
They all picked up badges, and headed for the party floor.
And....they had a blast. They drank a lot, not surprisingly, but generally behaved themselves. At first they roamed in packs, but as the evening went on and they found people to talk to they scattered around. Quite a few of them gravitated to the Tardis Tea Party, a British-themed party complete with British (well, Irish) beer, plus good cheese, and tea. (They were using American tea bags, but fortunately I think the soldiers were a lot more interested in the beer.)
The Sergeant Major also came to the party floor to keep an eye on things, in full dress kilt. (In addition to heading off kilt-flipping incidents, having the men change into their desert camo made the commanding officer instantly recognizable and visible. And no one was going to flip his kilt; he was both very likeable and slightly intimidating.) Over the course of the evening, he stopped off at every single party room to thank people for being so kind and welcoming to his men. He did the same at closing ceremonies.
He was unspecific about where they'd been (the rumor said Afghanistan) and where they were going (everyone figured desert training = Iraq), but he said they'd been through hell, and were going back to hell, and that the kindness of the people at the con meant a lot to all of them.
It was a fascinating dynamic to me on a number of levels.
First, this was fandom at its best. I think the invitation was issued pretty impulsively, and an onslaught of British soldiers was the last thing anyone had expected for the weekend. Nonetheless, people were genuinely excited about the unexpected guests, and everyone was welcoming and friendly, kind and respectful, and tolerant of misunderstandings.
Second, I think there's a secret belief among many fans that if the mundanes would just relax and quit thinking about what nerds we all are to do this sort of thing and how much cooler they are than we are, they would have a great time at a con, too. So it was neat to see that actually happen. I'm sure some of these men read or watch SF, but none, so far as I heard, had ever been to an SF con before. They didn't snicker at the costumes or the passionate love of comics / Star Trek / FireFly / Dr. Who; they looked around with wonder and fascination, and they really did have a great time.
Third, while there are always con virgins (that term clearly amused the hell out of the Sergeant Major) at any con, they're not usually so visible or so numerous.
Anyway, it made for a really different sort of Saturday night than you usually experience at a con. But in a way that was kind of magical as well as being really strange and unexpected.
(And yes, of course I was curious whether any of them had served with Harry, but I didn't ask, and I heard no rumors one way or the other.)
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Educational Opportunity for F&SF authors
Via Mike Brotherton
Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers now Accepting Applications for 2008
Launch Pad is now accepting applications for our summer 2008 workshop, July 30-August 5 (immediately preceding Denver Worldcon).
Launch Pad is a free, NASA-funded workshop for established writers of all types held in beautiful high-altitude Laramie, Wyoming. Launch Pad aims to provide a "crash course" for about twelve attendees in modern astronomy through workshops, lectures, and observation through Wyoming's two large telescopes. Our goal is to increase the quantity and quality of astronomy reaching the public through the work of participants. We expect to be able to cover lodging and most travel requests for successful applicants.
This year's guest instructor is writer and amateur astronomer Jerry Oltion. Other lecturers include University of Wyoming astronomy professor Michael S. Brotherton, PhD and education specialist Jim Verley.
Applications are now open for 2008's workshop, and will be accepted until March 31st, 2008. Attendees will be notified as soon as possible and no later than April 15th. Women and minorities historically underrepresented in the physical sciences are especially encouraged to apply. For more information and to apply please visit http://www.launchpadworkshop.org.
Launch Pad Astronomy Workshop for Writers now Accepting Applications for 2008
Launch Pad is now accepting applications for our summer 2008 workshop, July 30-August 5 (immediately preceding Denver Worldcon).
Launch Pad is a free, NASA-funded workshop for established writers of all types held in beautiful high-altitude Laramie, Wyoming. Launch Pad aims to provide a "crash course" for about twelve attendees in modern astronomy through workshops, lectures, and observation through Wyoming's two large telescopes. Our goal is to increase the quantity and quality of astronomy reaching the public through the work of participants. We expect to be able to cover lodging and most travel requests for successful applicants.
This year's guest instructor is writer and amateur astronomer Jerry Oltion. Other lecturers include University of Wyoming astronomy professor Michael S. Brotherton, PhD and education specialist Jim Verley.
Applications are now open for 2008's workshop, and will be accepted until March 31st, 2008. Attendees will be notified as soon as possible and no later than April 15th. Women and minorities historically underrepresented in the physical sciences are especially encouraged to apply. For more information and to apply please visit http://www.launchpadworkshop.org.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Q&A With Maria Snyder--Fire Study
Today Maria Snyder appears as our guest to talk about her very recently released Fire Study and her writing methods and inspirations.
First off, I want to say, thank you very much to my host, the Wyrdsmiths, for featuring me and my latest release, Fire Study! I’m very excited about the release, which is the third book in my Study series.
Cover art:
Q&A
1) What was your inspiration for writing Fire Study?
1A) I wanted to explore the uses and abuses of power in this book. Poison Study, which is the first in the Study series, concentrated on Yelena’s inner conflicts and her self-confidence, and only touched briefly on magic. Magic Study focused on discovering the extent and type of powers Yelena possesses. In the third book, I wanted to show the extent some magicians will go to gain power over others. Using magic to solve problems can be addicting, and, in Fire Study Yelena realizes how much she depends on her magical abilities. She must learn how to balance the use of her power with more mundane methods and to discover that completely turning your back on magic isn’t the right answer.
2) Where do you find your inspiration?
2A) It can be from anywhere. I get ideas from newspaper and magazine articles, from something I see on television, from something that comes up in conversation, from dreams, or from something my children say or do. I tend not to lack for ideas just time!
3) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
3A) Currently my favorite authors all have humor in their books. Since my life is so stress-filled and complicated, I’ve been enjoying light and fluffy reading with Mary Janice Davidson’s vampire series and her new mermaid series, Connie Willis is another favorite of mine, and I’ve recently discover the mystery/suspense thrillers of Harlan Coben. Growing up, I started with mysteries because that is what my mother enjoyed. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were my favorites before I graduated to Agatha Cristie, Dick Francis, Robert B. Parker, Barbara Vine, and Ed McBain.
4)Who has influenced you in your writing?
4A): I read a ton of mystery novels growing up. My favorite mystery author is Dick Francis and his books have influenced my writing style. I also use first person point of view and try to keep the story’s pace moving. My cliff hanger endings are a direct result from his books; I can never stop reading one of his books at a chapter break. My favorite fantasy writers all have strong female protagonists and interesting characters in common. Barbara Hambly’s books have a nice mix of action, character and humor - all essential elements to what I consider good fiction.
5) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
5A) As a writer, the attraction is in exploring new settings and characters and not having to worry too much about what is physically possible or not. I make my own rules about my world and, as long as I stick to them, can explore various problems generated by the unique setting and situation. As a reader, I enjoy traveling beyond my everyday world to a new place full of wonder and surprises.
6) What sort of research did you do to write this book?
6A) In order to write the scenes with Opal, a glass artist in the book, I needed to enroll in glass blowing classes. The teacher made it look so easy to gather a slug of glass. But when it was my turn – yikes! It was HOT! The big vat of molten glass was kept in a rip roaring furnace at a toasty 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. I held a metal rod, and, while squinting through an eye-melting orange light, I dipped the end into the thick goo and spun it, gathering a glob of glass onto the end. The incandescent glob glowed as if alive.
Once acquired, the slug then needed to be quickly shaped. Glass cooled at a rapid pace, and, even though heat waves pulsed from the slug, it didn’t stay pliable for long. My first paperweight was a misshapened blob. After hours of practice, my ability improved, and I created a paperweight worthy to hold down my next novel’s manuscript pages.
I learned that working with glass required deft coordination, arm strength, tons of patience, and a good partner—it’s a good thing I have a day job!
7) What are you writing now?
7A) I’m writing the fourth book based in the Study world titled, Storm Glass. Set five years after Fire Study, Storm Glass has a new protagonist and she’s the reason for the new series title. Storm Glass will be out December 2008.
8) Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?
8A) I started writing because of boredom! My first job after college was as a Meteorologist for an environmental consulting firm. The amount of work came in waves, and we were either extremely busy or very bored. During the slow times, I started writing a short story. Ideas were always floating around in my mind, but that was when I began using them. I submitted my first short story for critique at a writing conference in Philadelphia, and when the workshop leader gave me 7 out of 10, I thought that was pretty good for a first effort and decided to stick with writing for a while. After my son was born and I only had about one hour a day to myself, I had to decide what was important enough to spend that precious time on. Most days writing won.
9) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
9A) I sit down at my computer after my children leave for school. After answering email and procrastinating for an hour, I start writing and only stop briefly for lunch and continue until my son comes home around 3:30 p.m. During the school year, I’m very productive, but once summer comes along I can only do revisions.
10) Where do you write??
10A) I write in my home office. My husband enjoys woodworking and he built me a great writing room with built in bookcases and a custom made desk. I keep a number of toys nearby to fidget with as I’m working out a problem in my head, and I keep weapons nearby to make sure when I write an action scene, I’m not describing something impossible.
11) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
11A) Dialogue is the easiest and the most fun to write. I struggle with details. I tend to go light on details, preferring to focus on action and dialogue. Also describing emotions without using clichés is very difficult for me, finding something fresh is hard, but when I do—it’s like hitting the lottery.
Maria’s Bio:
Maria V. Snyder changed careers in 1995 from being a Meteorologist to a Novelist when she began working on her first novel, Poison Study. Published in October 2005, Poison Study won the 2006 Compton Crook Award, was a 2005 Booksense pick, and received a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria earned a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. Much to Maria’s chagrin, forecasting the weather wasn’t one of her skills. Writing, however, proved to be more enjoyable and she has earned a Master of Arts degree in writing from Seton Hill University. Since becoming a writer, Maria has been busy attending conferences, teaching writing classes, and doing book events.
Website
MySpace
Links to buy the book online:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
First off, I want to say, thank you very much to my host, the Wyrdsmiths, for featuring me and my latest release, Fire Study! I’m very excited about the release, which is the third book in my Study series.
Cover art:
Q&A
1) What was your inspiration for writing Fire Study?
1A) I wanted to explore the uses and abuses of power in this book. Poison Study, which is the first in the Study series, concentrated on Yelena’s inner conflicts and her self-confidence, and only touched briefly on magic. Magic Study focused on discovering the extent and type of powers Yelena possesses. In the third book, I wanted to show the extent some magicians will go to gain power over others. Using magic to solve problems can be addicting, and, in Fire Study Yelena realizes how much she depends on her magical abilities. She must learn how to balance the use of her power with more mundane methods and to discover that completely turning your back on magic isn’t the right answer.
2) Where do you find your inspiration?
2A) It can be from anywhere. I get ideas from newspaper and magazine articles, from something I see on television, from something that comes up in conversation, from dreams, or from something my children say or do. I tend not to lack for ideas just time!
3) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
3A) Currently my favorite authors all have humor in their books. Since my life is so stress-filled and complicated, I’ve been enjoying light and fluffy reading with Mary Janice Davidson’s vampire series and her new mermaid series, Connie Willis is another favorite of mine, and I’ve recently discover the mystery/suspense thrillers of Harlan Coben. Growing up, I started with mysteries because that is what my mother enjoyed. Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were my favorites before I graduated to Agatha Cristie, Dick Francis, Robert B. Parker, Barbara Vine, and Ed McBain.
4)Who has influenced you in your writing?
4A): I read a ton of mystery novels growing up. My favorite mystery author is Dick Francis and his books have influenced my writing style. I also use first person point of view and try to keep the story’s pace moving. My cliff hanger endings are a direct result from his books; I can never stop reading one of his books at a chapter break. My favorite fantasy writers all have strong female protagonists and interesting characters in common. Barbara Hambly’s books have a nice mix of action, character and humor - all essential elements to what I consider good fiction.
5) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
5A) As a writer, the attraction is in exploring new settings and characters and not having to worry too much about what is physically possible or not. I make my own rules about my world and, as long as I stick to them, can explore various problems generated by the unique setting and situation. As a reader, I enjoy traveling beyond my everyday world to a new place full of wonder and surprises.
6) What sort of research did you do to write this book?
6A) In order to write the scenes with Opal, a glass artist in the book, I needed to enroll in glass blowing classes. The teacher made it look so easy to gather a slug of glass. But when it was my turn – yikes! It was HOT! The big vat of molten glass was kept in a rip roaring furnace at a toasty 2100 degrees Fahrenheit. I held a metal rod, and, while squinting through an eye-melting orange light, I dipped the end into the thick goo and spun it, gathering a glob of glass onto the end. The incandescent glob glowed as if alive.
Once acquired, the slug then needed to be quickly shaped. Glass cooled at a rapid pace, and, even though heat waves pulsed from the slug, it didn’t stay pliable for long. My first paperweight was a misshapened blob. After hours of practice, my ability improved, and I created a paperweight worthy to hold down my next novel’s manuscript pages.
I learned that working with glass required deft coordination, arm strength, tons of patience, and a good partner—it’s a good thing I have a day job!
7) What are you writing now?
7A) I’m writing the fourth book based in the Study world titled, Storm Glass. Set five years after Fire Study, Storm Glass has a new protagonist and she’s the reason for the new series title. Storm Glass will be out December 2008.
8) Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?
8A) I started writing because of boredom! My first job after college was as a Meteorologist for an environmental consulting firm. The amount of work came in waves, and we were either extremely busy or very bored. During the slow times, I started writing a short story. Ideas were always floating around in my mind, but that was when I began using them. I submitted my first short story for critique at a writing conference in Philadelphia, and when the workshop leader gave me 7 out of 10, I thought that was pretty good for a first effort and decided to stick with writing for a while. After my son was born and I only had about one hour a day to myself, I had to decide what was important enough to spend that precious time on. Most days writing won.
9) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
9A) I sit down at my computer after my children leave for school. After answering email and procrastinating for an hour, I start writing and only stop briefly for lunch and continue until my son comes home around 3:30 p.m. During the school year, I’m very productive, but once summer comes along I can only do revisions.
10) Where do you write??
10A) I write in my home office. My husband enjoys woodworking and he built me a great writing room with built in bookcases and a custom made desk. I keep a number of toys nearby to fidget with as I’m working out a problem in my head, and I keep weapons nearby to make sure when I write an action scene, I’m not describing something impossible.
11) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
11A) Dialogue is the easiest and the most fun to write. I struggle with details. I tend to go light on details, preferring to focus on action and dialogue. Also describing emotions without using clichés is very difficult for me, finding something fresh is hard, but when I do—it’s like hitting the lottery.
Maria’s Bio:
Maria V. Snyder changed careers in 1995 from being a Meteorologist to a Novelist when she began working on her first novel, Poison Study. Published in October 2005, Poison Study won the 2006 Compton Crook Award, was a 2005 Booksense pick, and received a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria earned a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University. Much to Maria’s chagrin, forecasting the weather wasn’t one of her skills. Writing, however, proved to be more enjoyable and she has earned a Master of Arts degree in writing from Seton Hill University. Since becoming a writer, Maria has been busy attending conferences, teaching writing classes, and doing book events.
Website
MySpace
Links to buy the book online:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
