I take a lot of pride in the fact that I almost never miss my deadlines, but, just like with my college papers, I always find a way to get my book in EXACTLY on time -- which, in the case of June 1, which falls on a Sunday, often means I'm technically going to deliver a couple days late.
I have no idea how my editor feels about this, but it's something I do reliably, like clockwork. I suspect she just rolls her eyes at me, because, barring major tragedy, I have never been later than a couple of weeks. Actually, there was the book that I never finished (the St. Paul alternate history/magic book) that turned into a contract renegotiation for Tall, Dark & Dead... so I can't really say I've NEVER missed a deadline.
I suspect I'd be better served if I were more like Kelly and could get my books in months ahead of deadline, but my personality won't allow it. I'm anal about holding on to a manuscript and re-working it and trying desperately to find every last typo and plot hole. I should say though, too, that I tend to have a very messy first draft. I write so organically that by the end I usually do need to go back over the beast a few times to make sure the beginning and the ending match.
Anyway, I don't have anything of substance to say about deadlines and the whooshing sound they make as they pass, except I'm mostly done. My book will arrive a few days late, but it will be there.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Author Interview–Simon Haynes (with bonus free ebook)
Simon Haynes is the British/Australian author of the bestselling, award-winning Hal Spacejock series, featuring an over-confident but woefully under-skilled freighter pilot and his wise but obsolete robot, Clunk.
If you enjoy TV shows like the Young Ones, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and Dr Who, or books by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde, then the Hal Spacejock series was written for you.
If you’ve never heard of the Hal Spacejock series … surprise! It’s only available in Australia.
However, to coincide with the launch of Hal Spacejock 4: No Free Lunch, the full text of Hal Spacejock Book One has been made available as a free download. To grab a copy in text, rtf or html format, go here (Yes, you’re welcome to share the download link. Encouraged to, as a matter of fact.)
Simon, what was your inspiration for writing Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch?
My publisher phoned me and said 'can we have another one?', and I find that sort of thing very motivating. Fortunately, I'd already completed two drafts. Unfortunately, the book I handed in didn't result from either of them.
My other motivators are Hal and Clunk themselves. These characters are very dear to me, and I love putting them in life threatening situations, sending them broke, taking away everything they care about and generally giving them a really hard time.
Hey, I'm a parent. It's in my nature.
Who are your favourite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
When I was growing up I read all the usual suspects for a British kid in the 70’s: Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome, Agatha Christie, Jerome K Jerome, Tolkien, Showell Styles, Frank Richards, Richmal Crompton, Michael Bond, WE Johns, Isaac Asimov, William F Temple ... and about a hundred others.
We moved to Spain in 1976 and English books were suddenly very hard to come by, so I read anything I could get my hands on. Westerns, thrillers, SF and so on. Mostly the sort of holiday books people abandon when they go home again.
Nowadays I enjoy humour, satire and SF, plus the occasional horror novel or murder mystery. I studied eng lit for my BA, which was enough to put me off the classics for many years, but I'm slowly coming round in my old(er) age.
What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
Every novel begins with a blank slate, and the possibilities are endless. Whether you’re reading the things or writing them, or both, it’s a journey into the unknown and the unexplored.
Also, speaking of my own stuff, I just love the idea of self-aware robots. Despite their supposed loyalty to humans, the robots in my books often have their own agendas and desires, and rather creative methods of getting what they want. If you’ve ever struggled with a wayward computer program you’ll know the feeling.
Why did you decide to make Hal a space courier?
I needed someone with a valid reason to travel the galaxy. Also, Hal's a careless type and there's a lot of humour to be found in his clumsy destruction of valuable cargo. His chosen occupation puts him in competition with customers, other pilots and all manner of officialdom, and we all know conflict drives novels.
It’s not just freight disasters giving Hal problems … there’s a spare cabin aboard his ship, which means I can throw in the occasional passenger. They’re inevitably bad news for Hal, and that’s fun to write.
A few people have asked whether I modeled Hal on Han Solo, from the Star Wars series, and the answer is no. Hal Spacejock is a terrible pilot, is law-abiding and is fearfully over-confident while being woefully under-skilled. I’m not even a big SW fan, have never read any of the books associated with the series, and am still trying to expunge Episode I from my memory. Anyway, my influences are mostly British and Australian.
As for Hal’s name … I began writing book one in 1994, and when I reached for “brash, over-confident, loud, unintentionally funny, unaware of his failings, secretly insecure”, the name ‘Hal Spacejock’ instantly popped into my head. Anyone proudly calling themselves ‘Spacejock’ has a lot of complex issues for me to uncover.
What do you do for fun?
I love DVDs, particularly watching them on my laptop with headphones. It’s more personal and involving than watching on a big screen. I rarely watch live TV, thanks to the ads, watermarks and scrolly banner things, so boxed sets are a great escape.
Apart from my DVD-watching hobby I also count golf and archery amongst my favourite activities. In truth, it's four or five years since I swung a golf club in anger, but I just rekindled my interest in archery and am looking forward to nailing a few targets.
Finally, I write a lot of software, particularly for readers and writers. I make it all available free via the Spacejock.com website.
What sort of research did you do to write this book? What kind of preparation do you do when you are writing?
I don't do any research. I just outline the thing to death, send a two-page doc to my editor and await her go-ahead. The writing always diverges from the plot outline, but I rarely force it back again. An outline is just a map, and writing the novel is the journey.
Preparation … I stock up on coffee, chocolate, biscuits and spare batteries for the exercise bike. (I built a shelf on the handlebars for my laptop, and only allow myself to watch DVDs when I’m peddling.)
Hal Spacejock loves his food, and particularly coffee. Is that your favourite too?
Yep – instant coffee by the bucket. These days I limit myself to three cups a day, but I try and get them all in before 10am. Then I switch to t-tea and t-try not to l-let the j-jitters get to m-me.
I rarely eat out, and can’t be bothered with fancy restaurants. Give me Thai or Indian and I’m happy.
I enjoy cooking, and have a page on my website with my favourite recipes. Nothing flash – I like healthy, filling food which tastes good. I’m not in bad shape for a writer – 1.92m and 90kg (6’3” and 200lb) – but I can see that balancing health, fitness and writing long-term is going to be a struggle. In case I’ve given you the impression I’m a health nut, I’ve not seen the inside of a gym since 1985. I just try to burn more calories than I consume.
You say Hal Spacejock is law-abiding, so how come he gets into so much trouble?
Because his author is a right bastard. If I wanted all-round nice guys and do-gooders in my books I’d go write picture books with an eye to the lucrative education market. As it is, my books are popping up in school libraries all over Australia, so I’ll accept some of the blame for the parlous state of modern youth.
The thing is, I’m a firm believer in actions and consequences. If Hal is forced to ‘borrow’ a truck in one chapter, you can bet your booties he’ll regret it later. There is NO easy way out for any of my characters, EVER. Just like real life.
What are you writing now?
I’ve just dashed off yet another plot outline for Hal Spacejock 5. Every time I come up with a new plot I know THIS is the one… until I come up with the next one. I like the other plots, but they can always form the basis of book 6, or 7, or 14 …
Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?
I majored in Creative Writing at university, but despite that handicap I still maintained an interest in fiction. The problem at uni was that there were so many Serious Writers pouring their hearts and souls into passages of deep, moving prose. Handing out copies of my work for class discussion was like chucking hand grenades into a chook pen.
As for where I am now, that’s a long story. (The grotty details are on the Spacejock website, but in brief I self-published three books using my own imprint, and was literally plucked from the shelves of a local bookstore by a proper, real, honest-to-goodness publisher. The old ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ .. and it worked!)
What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
I see the kids off to school, mess around with email & internet until two hours before they’re due home again, then do two thousand words in a right old hurry.
Where do you write?
Propped up in bed. I kill the wireless network and get on with my daily word count, safely tucked away in a quiet corner of the house. It’s relaxing, and I enjoy the familiar surroundings. Also, nobody can sneak up behind me and read the early first draft rubbish over my shoulder – it’s strictly backs-to-the-wall stuff.
What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
Hardest? Hitting 3000 words with 92,000 to go. I have no idea where it’s going at that stage. How many months will it take me to finish? Will the deadlines trample my grave? Will I disappoint my fans?
Easiest? Hitting 3000 words with 92,000 to go. I have no idea where it’s going, and I love it! It’s going to be the best Hal book yet, I have months to work on it, and I gesture rudely at impudent deadlines.
This isn't your first book. Tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
This is the fourth book in the Hal Spacejock series, so there are three more of those for starters. In each title Hal finds new and exciting ways to destroy his business, his cargo and his reputation. Funny, too.
The books are available in stores across Australia and New Zealand, so those living elsewhere have to make do with (expensive) imports. My publisher and my agent are on the lookout for overseas rights deals, but are facing two problems:
One, US publishers aren’t sure how the UK-style humour will translate to their market. (To which I say, bugger the translation. Just print the books as-is and trust your audience. I’ve tested the books on US bloggers and readers, and none have dismissed the weird limey humour as incomprehensible.)
Two, UK publishers regard Australia as their home turf. When they publish a book in Britain, up to a third of the print run sells to Australia, so books which are already published here are far less attractive than home-grown ones.
On top of that, several US publishers indicated they’d be interested in the series if it did well in the UK first. To which I say Aaaaaarrggh! Sometimes I swear I’m living in a Monty Python sketch.
Anyway, I console myself with the thought that each Hal book, each positive review, each appearance in a bestseller list, and each additional printing of the books is jacking up the price these publishers are eventually going to pay. I’m in no hurry, but I’m not happy when I have to reply to emails from UK and US residents asking me why they can’t get Hal in their local store.
In light of this, my publisher recently agreed to release the first Hal Spacejock novel as a free ebook.
The press release with the reasoning behind the choice of a drm-free, publicly available ebook is here.
What is the purpose of fantasy/science fiction, if any?
It exists to counteract the Serious Writers with their Ponderous Tomes of Gloom. Unfortunately, some writers have resorted to writing Serious SF in Ponderous Tones, just to get establishment approval (and arts grants, recognition, reviews in major media outlets, lucrative awards and other petty trappings of the literary world). SF writers who still remember to entertain first and pontificate second are my heroes. Motto: We don’t need no stinking arts grants .. we live or die on the sales of our books!
Ordering links for the Hal Spacejock books
The bad news is that Hal Spacejock is only widely available in Australia and New Zealand. You can order the books from Amazon and Powell’s, but they’re imports and the cost of postage is high.
Because of this, Fremantle Press has put together a bundle of all four Hal Spacejock novels including worldwide postage for just A$79.80* (That’s the same price Australians pay in bookstores.)
http://www.spacejock.com.au/BuyHal.html
* Subject to change – follow the link for details.
If you enjoy TV shows like the Young Ones, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and Dr Who, or books by Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt or Jasper Fforde, then the Hal Spacejock series was written for you.
If you’ve never heard of the Hal Spacejock series … surprise! It’s only available in Australia.
However, to coincide with the launch of Hal Spacejock 4: No Free Lunch, the full text of Hal Spacejock Book One has been made available as a free download. To grab a copy in text, rtf or html format, go here (Yes, you’re welcome to share the download link. Encouraged to, as a matter of fact.)
Simon, what was your inspiration for writing Hal Spacejock No Free Lunch?
My publisher phoned me and said 'can we have another one?', and I find that sort of thing very motivating. Fortunately, I'd already completed two drafts. Unfortunately, the book I handed in didn't result from either of them.
My other motivators are Hal and Clunk themselves. These characters are very dear to me, and I love putting them in life threatening situations, sending them broke, taking away everything they care about and generally giving them a really hard time.
Hey, I'm a parent. It's in my nature.
Who are your favourite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
When I was growing up I read all the usual suspects for a British kid in the 70’s: Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome, Agatha Christie, Jerome K Jerome, Tolkien, Showell Styles, Frank Richards, Richmal Crompton, Michael Bond, WE Johns, Isaac Asimov, William F Temple ... and about a hundred others.
We moved to Spain in 1976 and English books were suddenly very hard to come by, so I read anything I could get my hands on. Westerns, thrillers, SF and so on. Mostly the sort of holiday books people abandon when they go home again.
Nowadays I enjoy humour, satire and SF, plus the occasional horror novel or murder mystery. I studied eng lit for my BA, which was enough to put me off the classics for many years, but I'm slowly coming round in my old(er) age.
What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
Every novel begins with a blank slate, and the possibilities are endless. Whether you’re reading the things or writing them, or both, it’s a journey into the unknown and the unexplored.
Also, speaking of my own stuff, I just love the idea of self-aware robots. Despite their supposed loyalty to humans, the robots in my books often have their own agendas and desires, and rather creative methods of getting what they want. If you’ve ever struggled with a wayward computer program you’ll know the feeling.
Why did you decide to make Hal a space courier?
I needed someone with a valid reason to travel the galaxy. Also, Hal's a careless type and there's a lot of humour to be found in his clumsy destruction of valuable cargo. His chosen occupation puts him in competition with customers, other pilots and all manner of officialdom, and we all know conflict drives novels.
It’s not just freight disasters giving Hal problems … there’s a spare cabin aboard his ship, which means I can throw in the occasional passenger. They’re inevitably bad news for Hal, and that’s fun to write.
A few people have asked whether I modeled Hal on Han Solo, from the Star Wars series, and the answer is no. Hal Spacejock is a terrible pilot, is law-abiding and is fearfully over-confident while being woefully under-skilled. I’m not even a big SW fan, have never read any of the books associated with the series, and am still trying to expunge Episode I from my memory. Anyway, my influences are mostly British and Australian.
As for Hal’s name … I began writing book one in 1994, and when I reached for “brash, over-confident, loud, unintentionally funny, unaware of his failings, secretly insecure”, the name ‘Hal Spacejock’ instantly popped into my head. Anyone proudly calling themselves ‘Spacejock’ has a lot of complex issues for me to uncover.
What do you do for fun?
I love DVDs, particularly watching them on my laptop with headphones. It’s more personal and involving than watching on a big screen. I rarely watch live TV, thanks to the ads, watermarks and scrolly banner things, so boxed sets are a great escape.
Apart from my DVD-watching hobby I also count golf and archery amongst my favourite activities. In truth, it's four or five years since I swung a golf club in anger, but I just rekindled my interest in archery and am looking forward to nailing a few targets.
Finally, I write a lot of software, particularly for readers and writers. I make it all available free via the Spacejock.com website.
What sort of research did you do to write this book? What kind of preparation do you do when you are writing?
I don't do any research. I just outline the thing to death, send a two-page doc to my editor and await her go-ahead. The writing always diverges from the plot outline, but I rarely force it back again. An outline is just a map, and writing the novel is the journey.
Preparation … I stock up on coffee, chocolate, biscuits and spare batteries for the exercise bike. (I built a shelf on the handlebars for my laptop, and only allow myself to watch DVDs when I’m peddling.)
Hal Spacejock loves his food, and particularly coffee. Is that your favourite too?
Yep – instant coffee by the bucket. These days I limit myself to three cups a day, but I try and get them all in before 10am. Then I switch to t-tea and t-try not to l-let the j-jitters get to m-me.
I rarely eat out, and can’t be bothered with fancy restaurants. Give me Thai or Indian and I’m happy.
I enjoy cooking, and have a page on my website with my favourite recipes. Nothing flash – I like healthy, filling food which tastes good. I’m not in bad shape for a writer – 1.92m and 90kg (6’3” and 200lb) – but I can see that balancing health, fitness and writing long-term is going to be a struggle. In case I’ve given you the impression I’m a health nut, I’ve not seen the inside of a gym since 1985. I just try to burn more calories than I consume.
You say Hal Spacejock is law-abiding, so how come he gets into so much trouble?
Because his author is a right bastard. If I wanted all-round nice guys and do-gooders in my books I’d go write picture books with an eye to the lucrative education market. As it is, my books are popping up in school libraries all over Australia, so I’ll accept some of the blame for the parlous state of modern youth.
The thing is, I’m a firm believer in actions and consequences. If Hal is forced to ‘borrow’ a truck in one chapter, you can bet your booties he’ll regret it later. There is NO easy way out for any of my characters, EVER. Just like real life.
What are you writing now?
I’ve just dashed off yet another plot outline for Hal Spacejock 5. Every time I come up with a new plot I know THIS is the one… until I come up with the next one. I like the other plots, but they can always form the basis of book 6, or 7, or 14 …
Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?
I majored in Creative Writing at university, but despite that handicap I still maintained an interest in fiction. The problem at uni was that there were so many Serious Writers pouring their hearts and souls into passages of deep, moving prose. Handing out copies of my work for class discussion was like chucking hand grenades into a chook pen.
As for where I am now, that’s a long story. (The grotty details are on the Spacejock website, but in brief I self-published three books using my own imprint, and was literally plucked from the shelves of a local bookstore by a proper, real, honest-to-goodness publisher. The old ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ .. and it worked!)
What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
I see the kids off to school, mess around with email & internet until two hours before they’re due home again, then do two thousand words in a right old hurry.
Where do you write?
Propped up in bed. I kill the wireless network and get on with my daily word count, safely tucked away in a quiet corner of the house. It’s relaxing, and I enjoy the familiar surroundings. Also, nobody can sneak up behind me and read the early first draft rubbish over my shoulder – it’s strictly backs-to-the-wall stuff.
What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
Hardest? Hitting 3000 words with 92,000 to go. I have no idea where it’s going at that stage. How many months will it take me to finish? Will the deadlines trample my grave? Will I disappoint my fans?
Easiest? Hitting 3000 words with 92,000 to go. I have no idea where it’s going, and I love it! It’s going to be the best Hal book yet, I have months to work on it, and I gesture rudely at impudent deadlines.
This isn't your first book. Tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
This is the fourth book in the Hal Spacejock series, so there are three more of those for starters. In each title Hal finds new and exciting ways to destroy his business, his cargo and his reputation. Funny, too.
The books are available in stores across Australia and New Zealand, so those living elsewhere have to make do with (expensive) imports. My publisher and my agent are on the lookout for overseas rights deals, but are facing two problems:
One, US publishers aren’t sure how the UK-style humour will translate to their market. (To which I say, bugger the translation. Just print the books as-is and trust your audience. I’ve tested the books on US bloggers and readers, and none have dismissed the weird limey humour as incomprehensible.)
Two, UK publishers regard Australia as their home turf. When they publish a book in Britain, up to a third of the print run sells to Australia, so books which are already published here are far less attractive than home-grown ones.
On top of that, several US publishers indicated they’d be interested in the series if it did well in the UK first. To which I say Aaaaaarrggh! Sometimes I swear I’m living in a Monty Python sketch.
Anyway, I console myself with the thought that each Hal book, each positive review, each appearance in a bestseller list, and each additional printing of the books is jacking up the price these publishers are eventually going to pay. I’m in no hurry, but I’m not happy when I have to reply to emails from UK and US residents asking me why they can’t get Hal in their local store.
In light of this, my publisher recently agreed to release the first Hal Spacejock novel as a free ebook.
The press release with the reasoning behind the choice of a drm-free, publicly available ebook is here.
What is the purpose of fantasy/science fiction, if any?
It exists to counteract the Serious Writers with their Ponderous Tomes of Gloom. Unfortunately, some writers have resorted to writing Serious SF in Ponderous Tones, just to get establishment approval (and arts grants, recognition, reviews in major media outlets, lucrative awards and other petty trappings of the literary world). SF writers who still remember to entertain first and pontificate second are my heroes. Motto: We don’t need no stinking arts grants .. we live or die on the sales of our books!
Ordering links for the Hal Spacejock books
The bad news is that Hal Spacejock is only widely available in Australia and New Zealand. You can order the books from Amazon and Powell’s, but they’re imports and the cost of postage is high.
Because of this, Fremantle Press has put together a bundle of all four Hal Spacejock novels including worldwide postage for just A$79.80* (That’s the same price Australians pay in bookstores.)
http://www.spacejock.com.au/BuyHal.html
* Subject to change – follow the link for details.
Wiscon Again
My Wiscon was not like Sean's Wiscon. Only a thousand people, all of them in one hotel, and many different cons took place...
I think the question of writing panels may need more discussion. Apparently, Sean and others felt there were not enough at Wiscon.
The terse note in the program book suggested that something happened midway through the programming process, and instead of using software, they had to use pieces of paper or maybe clay tablets or knotted cords.
So some of the problems this year might be explained by this, whatever it was.
The question is, what kind of writing panels do people want, and is there a way to make them happen?
I think the question of writing panels may need more discussion. Apparently, Sean and others felt there were not enough at Wiscon.
The terse note in the program book suggested that something happened midway through the programming process, and instead of using software, they had to use pieces of paper or maybe clay tablets or knotted cords.
So some of the problems this year might be explained by this, whatever it was.
The question is, what kind of writing panels do people want, and is there a way to make them happen?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Yeah, yeah, I know: WisCon report
I've got my WisCon report up over at my blog.
What's that? Yeah, it's over at Livejournal now. Why do you ask?
What's that? Yeah, it's over at Livejournal now. Why do you ask?
Lyda's Wiscon
Lyda went to an entirely different con than I did. It sounds fun and relaxing. I looked for Leah Cutter and did not see her, got out onto State Street briefly on Saturday and bought a couple of pieces of jewelry, including a very nice thunder and lightning pin, which fit with the amazing storm we had in Madison -- though less amazing than the same storm in the Twin Cities area.
Otherwise, I did four panels and a reading, which may be too much, though I enjoyed it all. But I feel as if I never slowed down until yesterday, when I slept 14 hours.
P.S. I wrote a lot more about Wiscon on my own blog, much of it about definitions of social classes, since I was on the "SF and the Working Class" panel at Wiscon. I have been on the this panel many times, and it never works. So I tried to think out why it doesn't work.
It's kind of a huge chunk of thought. Now that it's done, I can take a deep breath and think about other things less intensely.
Otherwise, I did four panels and a reading, which may be too much, though I enjoyed it all. But I feel as if I never slowed down until yesterday, when I slept 14 hours.
P.S. I wrote a lot more about Wiscon on my own blog, much of it about definitions of social classes, since I was on the "SF and the Working Class" panel at Wiscon. I have been on the this panel many times, and it never works. So I tried to think out why it doesn't work.
It's kind of a huge chunk of thought. Now that it's done, I can take a deep breath and think about other things less intensely.
WisCON and Women's Press
If anyone wants to read my con report, I put it up at my LiveJournal. Also, the Minnesota Women's Press did a small article about me, which is available on-line at "A Bite of Vampire Romance."
Wiscon
Since I barely saw my fellow Wyrdsmiths at the con, I would be interested in how it went for them.
I had my usual exhausting time. I will never learn to pace myself. Patrick and I take highway 12 to and from the con. It's slower, but more restful and prettier than the interstate. Driving home, we saw a porcupine waddling across the highway. It made it safely, then sat down and used one hind leg to scratch itself on the chin, then waddled on.
I like porcupines, maybe because they are spiny and ridiculous. I can identify with that. They are also dangerous. I found a video on line of someone feeding a baby porcupine. You do it with thick gloves.
My next con with be Fourth Street Fantasy, which will be much more restful. I am going because a couple of friends are going. I will hang out with them and maybe sit in on a panel or two. I will not have the driven feeling that I am surrounded by 1,000 interesting people and this is my one chance to talk to them.
I had my usual exhausting time. I will never learn to pace myself. Patrick and I take highway 12 to and from the con. It's slower, but more restful and prettier than the interstate. Driving home, we saw a porcupine waddling across the highway. It made it safely, then sat down and used one hind leg to scratch itself on the chin, then waddled on.
I like porcupines, maybe because they are spiny and ridiculous. I can identify with that. They are also dangerous. I found a video on line of someone feeding a baby porcupine. You do it with thick gloves.
My next con with be Fourth Street Fantasy, which will be much more restful. I am going because a couple of friends are going. I will hang out with them and maybe sit in on a panel or two. I will not have the driven feeling that I am surrounded by 1,000 interesting people and this is my one chance to talk to them.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Bittersweet: CodeSpell and my Grandmother
Today my third novel, CodeSpell, is coming out from Penguin's Ace division. It's a great day for me. It's also a very hard one. In mid-March my grandmother, Phyllis Neese, died. She had a huge role in raising me and in my becoming a science fiction and fantasy author. She was my grandmother, she was my friend, and she was one of my biggest fans. Not having her here today to see the book hurts. She was born in 1924 and she was a grand old lady on many levels.
She was the first woman to go to the tech school where she learned to repair radio equipment. She was a single mother in an era when that was even harder than it is now. She went from a rural beginning in an era before the advent of the transistor to a computer test equipment technician. She lived through a lot of hard times, both personally and with this country but she was never bitter. She embraced change her whole life and she worked hard to stay current.
She was looking forward with great anticipation to the publication of CodeSpell and the sequel that will follow next year. She was a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy and she passed that love of genre on to my mother and the both of them passed it along to me. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother and grandmother reading the Lord of the Rings to me, or Asimov's Foundation trilogy and I know that I wouldn't be where I am now without that.
One of her big regrets over the last two years was not having been well enough to attend any of my readings or signings and I know she would dearly have loved to be here today and to hold the book in her hands. I've tried to write about how I feel about her death a couple of times but it's hurt too much. Too be honest, it hurts too much this time too, but I refuse to let this day go by without acknowledging how much this book and all of my writing owes to her, how much I owe her.
Thank you, Grandma.
I miss you, especially today,
Kelly McCullough
CodeSpell (reviews)
Cybermancy
WebMage
She was the first woman to go to the tech school where she learned to repair radio equipment. She was a single mother in an era when that was even harder than it is now. She went from a rural beginning in an era before the advent of the transistor to a computer test equipment technician. She lived through a lot of hard times, both personally and with this country but she was never bitter. She embraced change her whole life and she worked hard to stay current.
She was looking forward with great anticipation to the publication of CodeSpell and the sequel that will follow next year. She was a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy and she passed that love of genre on to my mother and the both of them passed it along to me. Some of my earliest memories are of my mother and grandmother reading the Lord of the Rings to me, or Asimov's Foundation trilogy and I know that I wouldn't be where I am now without that.
One of her big regrets over the last two years was not having been well enough to attend any of my readings or signings and I know she would dearly have loved to be here today and to hold the book in her hands. I've tried to write about how I feel about her death a couple of times but it's hurt too much. Too be honest, it hurts too much this time too, but I refuse to let this day go by without acknowledging how much this book and all of my writing owes to her, how much I owe her.
Thank you, Grandma.
I miss you, especially today,
Kelly McCullough
CodeSpell (reviews)
Cybermancy
WebMage
Friday, May 23, 2008
Vale Robert Asprin
According to Scalzi we lost Asprin yesterday. Apparently, he died gently with a science fiction book in his hand. Which is as good a way to go as any, I suppose, but I'm still bummed.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
A Very Different Interview: Ravirn at Cat and Muse (Updated)
The extremely funny Jackie Kessler has a CodeSpell interview up over at Cat and Muse. For those of you who aren't familiar with Cat and Muse, it's done as a radio show script of Jackie's lead character for the Hell books, the succubus Jezebel, interviewing various other book characters. In this case, Ravirn from the WebMage books. They're pretty much as much fun as you can have as an author in an interview setting. Oh, and if you haven't yet, go buy Jackie's books they're great fun. Hell's Belles, The Road to Hell, and Hotter Than Hell.
Updated to add the link...doh.
Updated to add the link...doh.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Miss Snark...Drat
So, the much missed Miss Snark stopped blogging a year and a day ago. There was a project to put up Snark Lights in tribute. It was supposed to happen all over the blogosphere yesterday, but yesterday was a very bad day and I missed it. I'm also failing totally to put the picture up because I have some weird blogger interaction that prevents me from uploading pictures about 97 percent of the time. But I do miss the Miss and wanted to make note of the shutting down of a most excellent blog.
People Are Going To Walking Be On My Poetry
The city of St. Paul had a poetry contest, and I am one of the 20 winners. The prize is getting your poem installed on a city sidewalk for people to read. There is also going to be an anthology.
My fiction is always some kind of SF -- science fiction, fantasy, alternate history. But most of my poetry is realistic. Don't ask me why.
I did write a 65 page epic poem many years ago. It's set in the world of Spenser's Faerie Queene, though I was not crazy enough to use Spenser's stanza. That was fantasy. I've never figured out what to do with it. There is not much call for epic poems these days, even short epic poems.
I'm happy about the sidewalk poem. I like popular art forms, and there isn't much more popular -- or more urban -- than a sidewalk.
My fiction is always some kind of SF -- science fiction, fantasy, alternate history. But most of my poetry is realistic. Don't ask me why.
I did write a 65 page epic poem many years ago. It's set in the world of Spenser's Faerie Queene, though I was not crazy enough to use Spenser's stanza. That was fantasy. I've never figured out what to do with it. There is not much call for epic poems these days, even short epic poems.
I'm happy about the sidewalk poem. I like popular art forms, and there isn't much more popular -- or more urban -- than a sidewalk.
Interview: Kelly McCullough
Kelly McCullough's first novel in the WebMage series, WebMage, was released by Ace in 2006 to considerable critical praise. A second, Cybermancy, followed in 2007. His newest release, CodeSpell, will be out May 27th. And a fourth book, MythOS, is slated for late May '09. His short fiction has appeared in numerous venues including Weird Tales, Writers of the Future, and Tales of the Unanticipated. His illustrated collection, The Chronicles of the Wandering Star, is part of a National Science Foundation-funded middle school science curriculum, Interactions in Physical Science.
For more information and samples of some his short stories you can check out his website: http://www.kellymccullough.com/.
Why this book? What made you want to write this story?
That's a surprisingly difficult question to answer. This is the third book of a series and certainly part of my motivation for writing it is that this is a fun world to play in and I like these characters enough to want to spend more time with them. Part of it is that I had what I thought was a fast fun plot that continued the story in a way that would be entertaining to write and to read. But probably the most important part of the equation for this book is that actions have consequences. The things that Ravirn did in books one and two have ongoing repercussions and I wanted to see how they played out and how Ravirn would have to grow to respond to them.
Which authors inspire you? Has that changed over time?
Different writers teach me different things at different times. Zelazney and Tim Powers are probably at the top of the list of writers who've affected my work most visibly, though Powers is less present in the WebMage stuff than he is in some of my other, darker work. Norton and McCaffrey and Tolkien are in my bones. Martha Wells is wonderful and so are Robin McKinley and Lois McMaster Bujold.
Why genre? Is there something special about science fiction or fantasy that draws you to write in the field?
I was pretty much raised to be a fantasy and science fiction writer, though that certainly wasn't the intent of the process. I'm a third generation fan of the genre and some of my earliest memories are of having the Lord of the Rings, Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and A Midsummer Night's Dream read to me. I learned very early to love story and genre and once I found out that I could maybe make a living by telling the sorts of stories that were told to me I was pretty much lost.
What do you find most interesting about Ravirn? Why write about this protagonist?
What I love about Ravirn is his combination of idealism and cynicism. He expects the worst of a situation but won't let that stop him from working toward a solution, even when he knows the attempt is probably doomed. That and his sense of humor. I come from a family where humor, particularly black humor and sarcasm, are fundamental coping mechanisms. Sometimes life hands you a situation where you have to laugh or cry, and given any choice in the matter I'll always pick laughter. It may not solve the problem, but it sure lightens the load.
You're a writer. What else are you? What are your interests? Hobbies?
Husband and cat-wrangler are probably at the top of the list for other self-identifiers. My wife and I are coming up on twenty fantastic years together and over that time two cats became three cats, became four cats, became five. I love to read and play video-games. I've got a Gaiman, a Pierce and a Blaylock on the active books pile and I just finished playing Portal and Drake's Fortune. I also like hiking and biking, and since it's spring, I'm at the front end of the annual garden madness.
Did you have to do any special research for this book? What did you need to know in order to write it that you didn't know before? Do you have some special preparation you do for your writing?
I didn't have to do a lot of new research for this book. After finishing two novels set in the Greek gods plus computers reality of the WebMage I have a pretty good grounding in this world, and I really only needed to touch up my memory of a couple of the myths involved in this specific story. On a more general note, I read non-fiction voraciously. I just finished a great book on plants in traditional Hawaiian culture as part of a Hawaiian history and mythology kick. I read several science and technology magazines on an ongoing basis and I'm looking around for some good references on the Canadian Maritime provinces in general and on Halifax in particular.
I see a lot of computer and programming stuff in the WebMage series. Is that something that really interests you? Or is it more driven by the needs of the story?
Mostly it's the needs of the story. I love my laptop and the web and I tend to be a technology early adopter if I can afford it, but I'm not really much for programming or hacking. While I have been immersed in computer culture from a very early age since my mother became a bug-checker when I was about ten and has been working as an analyst and programmer ever since and because I've got a lot of close friends in IT, it's not something I'm much involved in outside of writing the books.
Ravirn displays a lot of physicality, constantly getting himself into life-threatening situations and back out of them in ways that involve all sorts of death defying action. I'm guessing that's not something you the writer have an enormous amount of experience with. How do you make that convincing? Do Ravirn's solutions reflect the sort of things you might do in a similar situation?
I'm much more of a thinker than Ravirn, especially as I've gotten older, but I've got to admit to a certain amount of speaking from experience when I have him do something big and physical and stupid like climbing a building and then jumping off. It's not the sort of thing I'd do now, but when I was in my late teens and early twenties I was something of an adrenaline junkie. I was into martial arts and mountain climbing and all sorts of things that are moderately safe when done responsibly and less so when done the way I did some of them. From fifteen to twenty-two I averaged two trips to the emergency room a year, and as I've gotten older that's led to things like a couple of knee surgeries and other corrective measures.
What are you writing now?
A couple of things. I just sent off book proposals for a fifth WebMage and for two books that I would like to write as a successor series to the WebMage/Ravirn books. I've also got a YA I want to work on–the second in a series that my agent is shopping around now–because I'm in love with the story and the world. That's the main front burner stuff. But I've got five complete novels and nine proposals out with various editors and any of those could get moved up the list if they sell. I'm pretty busy at the moment, and I love it that way. There's really nothing I'd rather be doing with my life than what I'm doing right now.
How did you become a writer? Is this what you saw yourself growing up to be? Or did it take you be surprise?
Short answer: I quit theater. Longer version. I set out at the age of eleven to be an actor and was well on my way when I met the woman I would eventually marry. At that point, I realized how incompatible theater was with having a long term relationship and I went looking for something else to do. On something very like a whim I wrote my first novel and fell head over heals in love with writing. Now I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
Do you have a writing routine? Talk process for a moment, how do the words get on the page?
I write between two and eight hours a day five days a week. On a typical day I get up around eight in the morning, stagger downstairs and collect a unit of caffeine–could be soda, could be tea, it doesn't really matter since it's a delivery system. Then I hop on the treadmill and websurf and read email and the like for an hour or so. At that point I'm mostly awake and I do things like respond to the email or other writing and life maintenance tasks. That can take anything between twenty minutes and two hours. Then I write. Less than a thousand words is a bad day. More than two thousand is a good one. Oh, and, I use a laptop so that I can work where the whim takes me.
Office? Closet? Corner of the living room? Do you have a set place to write? A favorite? How does the environment you write in affect your production? Your process?
In summer I write in a second floor screen porch. It has a gorgeous view over the park that abuts our backyard, and that sort of near outdoor setting is my preferred setting for writing–I'm hoping to have a more permanent solar built to replace the porch soon. Until then, my winter office is our upstairs sitting room which gets southern light and is a pretty comfortable substitute for my screen porch.
Is there anything you especially like to work on in a book? Anything you hate?
I love world-building and plot-twisting. Figuring out how a system of magic might work and then figuring out ways to game that system fascinates me. And yes, I was a rules lawyer back in my role-playing days, why do you ask? Likewise building a plot and then coming up with ways to add twists or bits of misdirection is a joy for me. I don't really have any hates. There are things that I used to find more difficult, character chief among them, but I'm getting a steadily better handle on the whole process and I just love writing. I even love rewriting, both the sentence level stuff and the bigger more complex story edits.
This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there.
Well, primarily it's the WebMage stuff. WebMage, Cybermancy, and now CodeSpell with MythOS finished and forthcoming and a proposal in for SpellCrash after that. On the novels front, as I mentioned above, I've got five more books and nine proposals out, so that could change at any moment. I've also had a number of short stories published, including an illustrated collection as part of a big middle school physical science curriculum that's been adopted by several states. But that doesn't make an enormous amount of sense outside the classroom setting it was written for.
Do you see fiction as having a purpose? Generally? How about your own work?
Transcendence. I think that human beings need story. We need myths and legends and tales that lift us out of ourselves and that fiction supplies that need. That's another reason I do most of my work in fantasy-if I'm going to be a mythmaker for a living I might as well write the truly mythic.
Early Reviews:
CodeSpell has been getting great reviews. Publishers Weekly called CodeSpell the "taut third book in the Ravirn series" and said, "A hint of cyberpunk, a dollop of Greek mythology and a sprinkle of techno-magic bake up into an airy genre mashup. Lots of fast-paced action and romantic angst up the ante as Ravirn faces down his formidable foes." From Romantic Times four star review: "This third book featuring hacker extraordinaire Ravirn is every bit of a fast-paced, energetic, page-turner as its predecessors. Ravirn continues to be a fascinating protagonist, and the chaotic twists of the plot carry the reader through to the end.
Sales info:
Amazon:
CodeSpell
Cybermancy
WebMage
Barnes & Noble:
CodeSpell
Cybermancy
WebMage
Dreamhaven (signed copies): http://dreamhavenbooks.com/mccullough.php
For more information and samples of some his short stories you can check out his website: http://www.kellymccullough.com/.
Why this book? What made you want to write this story?
That's a surprisingly difficult question to answer. This is the third book of a series and certainly part of my motivation for writing it is that this is a fun world to play in and I like these characters enough to want to spend more time with them. Part of it is that I had what I thought was a fast fun plot that continued the story in a way that would be entertaining to write and to read. But probably the most important part of the equation for this book is that actions have consequences. The things that Ravirn did in books one and two have ongoing repercussions and I wanted to see how they played out and how Ravirn would have to grow to respond to them.
Which authors inspire you? Has that changed over time?
Different writers teach me different things at different times. Zelazney and Tim Powers are probably at the top of the list of writers who've affected my work most visibly, though Powers is less present in the WebMage stuff than he is in some of my other, darker work. Norton and McCaffrey and Tolkien are in my bones. Martha Wells is wonderful and so are Robin McKinley and Lois McMaster Bujold.
Why genre? Is there something special about science fiction or fantasy that draws you to write in the field?
I was pretty much raised to be a fantasy and science fiction writer, though that certainly wasn't the intent of the process. I'm a third generation fan of the genre and some of my earliest memories are of having the Lord of the Rings, Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and A Midsummer Night's Dream read to me. I learned very early to love story and genre and once I found out that I could maybe make a living by telling the sorts of stories that were told to me I was pretty much lost.
What do you find most interesting about Ravirn? Why write about this protagonist?
What I love about Ravirn is his combination of idealism and cynicism. He expects the worst of a situation but won't let that stop him from working toward a solution, even when he knows the attempt is probably doomed. That and his sense of humor. I come from a family where humor, particularly black humor and sarcasm, are fundamental coping mechanisms. Sometimes life hands you a situation where you have to laugh or cry, and given any choice in the matter I'll always pick laughter. It may not solve the problem, but it sure lightens the load.
You're a writer. What else are you? What are your interests? Hobbies?
Husband and cat-wrangler are probably at the top of the list for other self-identifiers. My wife and I are coming up on twenty fantastic years together and over that time two cats became three cats, became four cats, became five. I love to read and play video-games. I've got a Gaiman, a Pierce and a Blaylock on the active books pile and I just finished playing Portal and Drake's Fortune. I also like hiking and biking, and since it's spring, I'm at the front end of the annual garden madness.
Did you have to do any special research for this book? What did you need to know in order to write it that you didn't know before? Do you have some special preparation you do for your writing?
I didn't have to do a lot of new research for this book. After finishing two novels set in the Greek gods plus computers reality of the WebMage I have a pretty good grounding in this world, and I really only needed to touch up my memory of a couple of the myths involved in this specific story. On a more general note, I read non-fiction voraciously. I just finished a great book on plants in traditional Hawaiian culture as part of a Hawaiian history and mythology kick. I read several science and technology magazines on an ongoing basis and I'm looking around for some good references on the Canadian Maritime provinces in general and on Halifax in particular.
I see a lot of computer and programming stuff in the WebMage series. Is that something that really interests you? Or is it more driven by the needs of the story?
Mostly it's the needs of the story. I love my laptop and the web and I tend to be a technology early adopter if I can afford it, but I'm not really much for programming or hacking. While I have been immersed in computer culture from a very early age since my mother became a bug-checker when I was about ten and has been working as an analyst and programmer ever since and because I've got a lot of close friends in IT, it's not something I'm much involved in outside of writing the books.
Ravirn displays a lot of physicality, constantly getting himself into life-threatening situations and back out of them in ways that involve all sorts of death defying action. I'm guessing that's not something you the writer have an enormous amount of experience with. How do you make that convincing? Do Ravirn's solutions reflect the sort of things you might do in a similar situation?
I'm much more of a thinker than Ravirn, especially as I've gotten older, but I've got to admit to a certain amount of speaking from experience when I have him do something big and physical and stupid like climbing a building and then jumping off. It's not the sort of thing I'd do now, but when I was in my late teens and early twenties I was something of an adrenaline junkie. I was into martial arts and mountain climbing and all sorts of things that are moderately safe when done responsibly and less so when done the way I did some of them. From fifteen to twenty-two I averaged two trips to the emergency room a year, and as I've gotten older that's led to things like a couple of knee surgeries and other corrective measures.
What are you writing now?
A couple of things. I just sent off book proposals for a fifth WebMage and for two books that I would like to write as a successor series to the WebMage/Ravirn books. I've also got a YA I want to work on–the second in a series that my agent is shopping around now–because I'm in love with the story and the world. That's the main front burner stuff. But I've got five complete novels and nine proposals out with various editors and any of those could get moved up the list if they sell. I'm pretty busy at the moment, and I love it that way. There's really nothing I'd rather be doing with my life than what I'm doing right now.
How did you become a writer? Is this what you saw yourself growing up to be? Or did it take you be surprise?
Short answer: I quit theater. Longer version. I set out at the age of eleven to be an actor and was well on my way when I met the woman I would eventually marry. At that point, I realized how incompatible theater was with having a long term relationship and I went looking for something else to do. On something very like a whim I wrote my first novel and fell head over heals in love with writing. Now I can't imagine myself doing anything else.
Do you have a writing routine? Talk process for a moment, how do the words get on the page?
I write between two and eight hours a day five days a week. On a typical day I get up around eight in the morning, stagger downstairs and collect a unit of caffeine–could be soda, could be tea, it doesn't really matter since it's a delivery system. Then I hop on the treadmill and websurf and read email and the like for an hour or so. At that point I'm mostly awake and I do things like respond to the email or other writing and life maintenance tasks. That can take anything between twenty minutes and two hours. Then I write. Less than a thousand words is a bad day. More than two thousand is a good one. Oh, and, I use a laptop so that I can work where the whim takes me.
Office? Closet? Corner of the living room? Do you have a set place to write? A favorite? How does the environment you write in affect your production? Your process?
In summer I write in a second floor screen porch. It has a gorgeous view over the park that abuts our backyard, and that sort of near outdoor setting is my preferred setting for writing–I'm hoping to have a more permanent solar built to replace the porch soon. Until then, my winter office is our upstairs sitting room which gets southern light and is a pretty comfortable substitute for my screen porch.
Is there anything you especially like to work on in a book? Anything you hate?
I love world-building and plot-twisting. Figuring out how a system of magic might work and then figuring out ways to game that system fascinates me. And yes, I was a rules lawyer back in my role-playing days, why do you ask? Likewise building a plot and then coming up with ways to add twists or bits of misdirection is a joy for me. I don't really have any hates. There are things that I used to find more difficult, character chief among them, but I'm getting a steadily better handle on the whole process and I just love writing. I even love rewriting, both the sentence level stuff and the bigger more complex story edits.
This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there.
Well, primarily it's the WebMage stuff. WebMage, Cybermancy, and now CodeSpell with MythOS finished and forthcoming and a proposal in for SpellCrash after that. On the novels front, as I mentioned above, I've got five more books and nine proposals out, so that could change at any moment. I've also had a number of short stories published, including an illustrated collection as part of a big middle school physical science curriculum that's been adopted by several states. But that doesn't make an enormous amount of sense outside the classroom setting it was written for.
Do you see fiction as having a purpose? Generally? How about your own work?
Transcendence. I think that human beings need story. We need myths and legends and tales that lift us out of ourselves and that fiction supplies that need. That's another reason I do most of my work in fantasy-if I'm going to be a mythmaker for a living I might as well write the truly mythic.
Early Reviews:
CodeSpell has been getting great reviews. Publishers Weekly called CodeSpell the "taut third book in the Ravirn series" and said, "A hint of cyberpunk, a dollop of Greek mythology and a sprinkle of techno-magic bake up into an airy genre mashup. Lots of fast-paced action and romantic angst up the ante as Ravirn faces down his formidable foes." From Romantic Times four star review: "This third book featuring hacker extraordinaire Ravirn is every bit of a fast-paced, energetic, page-turner as its predecessors. Ravirn continues to be a fascinating protagonist, and the chaotic twists of the plot carry the reader through to the end.
Sales info:
Amazon:
CodeSpell
Cybermancy
WebMage
Barnes & Noble:
CodeSpell
Cybermancy
WebMage
Dreamhaven (signed copies): http://dreamhavenbooks.com/mccullough.php
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
CodeSpell, One Week Warning (Updated)
Hey folks,
So it turns out my next book, CodeSpell is out in a week. If you feel so inclined, that link will allow you to order a copy that will also kick money my way via Amazon.
CodeSpell has gotten a couple of very nice early reviews. Publishers Weekly called CodeSpell the "taut third book in the Ravirn series" and said, "A hint of cyberpunk, a dollop of Greek mythology and a sprinkle of techno-magic bake up into an airy genre mashup. Lots of fast-paced action and romantic angst up the ante as Ravirn faces down his formidable foes." From Romantic Times* four star review: "This third book featuring hacker extraordinaire Ravirn is every bit of a fast-paced, energetic, page-turner as its predecessors. Ravirn continues to be a fascinating protagonist, and the chaotic twists of the plot carry the reader through to the end.
Update SFRevu:
"Codespell is one long adrenalin rush, with a few small pauses for Ravirn to heal from his near-fatal brushes with the movers and shakers of the universe, all while trying to figure out how to survive the next inevitable encounter." And: "Politics takes on a whole new complexion when it's practiced by the immortals of Greek mythology who never eat breakfast without examining the pros and cons of bacon vs. sausages from all angles first."
Also, there is rumor of a hardcover reissue of WebMage for the library trade. I haven't been able to verify that its real yet, but if y'all feel the desire to improve the odds and are so inclined you could sign up to be notified in the event that actually does become a real book.
---------------------------------
*No link due to lack of a free online version.
So it turns out my next book, CodeSpell is out in a week. If you feel so inclined, that link will allow you to order a copy that will also kick money my way via Amazon.
CodeSpell has gotten a couple of very nice early reviews. Publishers Weekly called CodeSpell the "taut third book in the Ravirn series" and said, "A hint of cyberpunk, a dollop of Greek mythology and a sprinkle of techno-magic bake up into an airy genre mashup. Lots of fast-paced action and romantic angst up the ante as Ravirn faces down his formidable foes." From Romantic Times* four star review: "This third book featuring hacker extraordinaire Ravirn is every bit of a fast-paced, energetic, page-turner as its predecessors. Ravirn continues to be a fascinating protagonist, and the chaotic twists of the plot carry the reader through to the end.
Update SFRevu:
"Codespell is one long adrenalin rush, with a few small pauses for Ravirn to heal from his near-fatal brushes with the movers and shakers of the universe, all while trying to figure out how to survive the next inevitable encounter." And: "Politics takes on a whole new complexion when it's practiced by the immortals of Greek mythology who never eat breakfast without examining the pros and cons of bacon vs. sausages from all angles first."
Also, there is rumor of a hardcover reissue of WebMage for the library trade. I haven't been able to verify that its real yet, but if y'all feel the desire to improve the odds and are so inclined you could sign up to be notified in the event that actually does become a real book.
---------------------------------
*No link due to lack of a free online version.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Monday Quote
I was reading a book about critique groups last night in the tub called "The Writing Group Book: Creating and Sustaining a Successful Writing Group" and I came across this totally unrelated quote by Albert Camus:
"Those who write clearly have readers, those who write obscurely have commentators."
Saturday, May 17, 2008
John Barnes
I think Kelly and Lyda have perfect tones for blog writing, and my tone is the least good among the Wyrdsmiths. What one wants is a relaxed, conversational tone. This is a conversation, after all.
But I don't think I'm likely to change. J'y suis. J'y reste. I yam what I yam.
Be that as it may...
I am doing a panel at Wiscon about an essay that John Barnes wrote, arguing that genres have a 70 year life span, and science fiction is now dead, though still interesting as the corpse decays. Look at those lovely bacteria and fungi!
I think what Barnes means by SF is American pulp SF and what evolved out of it in the 60s through the 90s.
He's leaving out a lot of what I'd call SF, and I'm making a list for use at Wiscon.
But let's not get into that discussion here.
Instead, my question is: are we dead?
Has the field used up its ideas? Is sense of wonder gone?
But I don't think I'm likely to change. J'y suis. J'y reste. I yam what I yam.
Be that as it may...
I am doing a panel at Wiscon about an essay that John Barnes wrote, arguing that genres have a 70 year life span, and science fiction is now dead, though still interesting as the corpse decays. Look at those lovely bacteria and fungi!
I think what Barnes means by SF is American pulp SF and what evolved out of it in the 60s through the 90s.
He's leaving out a lot of what I'd call SF, and I'm making a list for use at Wiscon.
But let's not get into that discussion here.
Instead, my question is: are we dead?
Has the field used up its ideas? Is sense of wonder gone?
Not All Writers Are Neurotic...At Least Not In The Same Ways
I was at a library author appearance recently (Catherine Friend--funny funny writer, go buy her book Hit by a Farm). She said that when she was younger she'd never really been interested in being a writer. Further she said that this was at least in part due to having read about writers and determining that (at least according to their bios) they were pretty much all insecure neurotic drunks. She then gave the punchline--she was here to tell us it simply wasn't true and she was living proof...she didn't drink. Then she went on to detail her insecurities and neuroses. It was funny and it did a great job of selling her most recent work--a humorous memoir.
On that level the joke and the related anecdotes worked great. On another level they grated on my nerves a bit. I won't argue with the neurotic bit, I don't think I've ever met a writer who wasn't a bit neurotic in some way, but then I don't know that I've ever met any human who wasn't a bit neurotic in some way.
It was the insecurity thing. There is a school of thought, much reinforced by writer blogs, that suggests that all writers moan about how their work is crap much of the time...except for those writers who are egotistical monsters. Now, it is certainly true that some writers are insecure wrecks and some writers are certainly egotists, but there's a lot of ground in between. And really, I suspect that most writers spend most of our time in that middle ground. If we didn't believe we were doing pretty good work most of the time we'd never send it out. I certainly believe that I mostly do pretty good work most of the time.
I'm sure there are people who will argue with me on this, and that's fine. There are 1,001 ways to write a novel and every one of them is right, and if being an insecure wreck is your method and it works for you, I'm not going to try to say it shouldn't or make you stop. I just want to provide a counter-example. It is perfectly fine to by happy writing most of the time and be happy with what you have written...as long as it doesn't prevent you from seeing flaws and correcting them.
So, consider this official permission to enjoy yourself and give yourself the occasional pat on the back from a real live professional author (yes, that is tongue firmly in cheek, but it's also sincere). If every time you write you enjoy it, and every time you reread your work you go "Hey that mostly works," and sometimes you even say things like "I rock!" Or, "I'm a genius!" It's all fine. Just don't let it stop you from improving. It's perfectly acceptable to be a happy and secure writer. You can even do that and sell books.
This message brought to you by the Kelly McCullough People Like Me, They Really Like Me, school of writing.
On that level the joke and the related anecdotes worked great. On another level they grated on my nerves a bit. I won't argue with the neurotic bit, I don't think I've ever met a writer who wasn't a bit neurotic in some way, but then I don't know that I've ever met any human who wasn't a bit neurotic in some way.
It was the insecurity thing. There is a school of thought, much reinforced by writer blogs, that suggests that all writers moan about how their work is crap much of the time...except for those writers who are egotistical monsters. Now, it is certainly true that some writers are insecure wrecks and some writers are certainly egotists, but there's a lot of ground in between. And really, I suspect that most writers spend most of our time in that middle ground. If we didn't believe we were doing pretty good work most of the time we'd never send it out. I certainly believe that I mostly do pretty good work most of the time.
I'm sure there are people who will argue with me on this, and that's fine. There are 1,001 ways to write a novel and every one of them is right, and if being an insecure wreck is your method and it works for you, I'm not going to try to say it shouldn't or make you stop. I just want to provide a counter-example. It is perfectly fine to by happy writing most of the time and be happy with what you have written...as long as it doesn't prevent you from seeing flaws and correcting them.
So, consider this official permission to enjoy yourself and give yourself the occasional pat on the back from a real live professional author (yes, that is tongue firmly in cheek, but it's also sincere). If every time you write you enjoy it, and every time you reread your work you go "Hey that mostly works," and sometimes you even say things like "I rock!" Or, "I'm a genius!" It's all fine. Just don't let it stop you from improving. It's perfectly acceptable to be a happy and secure writer. You can even do that and sell books.
This message brought to you by the Kelly McCullough People Like Me, They Really Like Me, school of writing.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Dreamhaven
On another topic entirely, does anyone know what is happening to Dreamhaven? I just heard that Greg has sold his building. I know he was thinking about doing that, because he got tired of the road construction on Lake Street. Hard to run a business, when your customers can't get to you. Then I heard he might not sell. Now the deal is apparently done.
ETA: Check Comments thread for update on Dreamhaven's actual plans. --Sean M. Murphy
ETA: Check Comments thread for update on Dreamhaven's actual plans. --Sean M. Murphy
Author Interview–Jeri Smith Ready
Jeri Smith-Ready has been writing fiction since the night she had her first double espresso. She holds a master’s degree in environmental policy and lives in Maryland with her husband, cat, and the world’s goofiest greyhound. Jeri fosters shelter dogs with Tails of Hope Sanctuary. As of this writing, she has hosted twenty dogs at her home, all of whom have found loving adopters.
Jeri’s latest release is WICKED GAME (May 13, 2008, Pocket Books), an urban fantasy about a cadre of vampire DJs and the con artist trying to save their ‘lives.’
1) What was your inspiration for writing WICKED GAME?
A song, of course. Not the song “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak—that came much later. Almost three years ago to the day, I was driving down the road flipping the dial and came to a classic rock station playing “Bad Company” by the band of the same name. I thought, Hmm, “Bad Company” would be a perfect title for a paranormal book with a shady main character.
By the time I reached my destination, I had a fully formed idea for vampire DJs who were psychologically and culturally ‘stuck’ in the era in which they were turned. I also knew the heroine would be “bad” in some way. (The punch line is that even though it all began with “Bad Company,” the publisher ultimately asked me to change the title.)
2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
I tend to read widely rather than deeply and rarely follow series for more than a book or two, regardless of how much I enjoy them. I’m the opposite of an addictive personality. I’m pretty sure I’d be the world’s first casual crack smoker.
I was completely different as a kid, of course. I read EVERYTHING, especially books by Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley, and Jim Kjelgaard, who each wrote continuing series about animals (and not talking animals, either—usually just plain old horses and dogs). I also loved the Trixie Belden mysteries. Trixie was like Nancy Drew, but with an actual personality.
My all-time favorite book was DOGSBODY by Diana Wynne Jones. It combined my love of animals with my passions for astronomy and mythology. Because of that book, Sirius became my favorite star (not to mention my eventual choice in satellite radio).
My current favorite authors tend to write stand-alone novels or loosely connected series: Neil Gaiman, PC Cast, Charles de Lint, Christopher Moore, James Morrow, Caprice Crane, and John Irving, to name a few. They also tend to be funny.
3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
To me, speculative fiction at its core is about what it means to be human. Often it does this by juxtaposing humans with other races or species (like elves or vampires or aliens), or by putting ordinary people in extraordinary settings. I also like the genre’s tendency to push the boundaries of humanity itself.
4) Why did you decide to make Ciara a con artist?
From the beginning I knew that the main character would have a shady past. Her current job is in sales and marketing (S&M, as she calls it), which is really just a legal form of con artistry. It sounds like a cheap joke, but the two pursuits both require an understanding of human nature and how to manipulate people’s emotions to make them cheerfully act against their own best interests.
Ciara tries to save the radio station from corporate takeover by branding it as “WVMP: The Lifeblood of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” essentially hiding the vampires’ nature in plain sight. She disguises the truth as a marketing gimmick. I loved playing with notions of truth and lies, and I loved watching Ciara’s moral acrobatics in justifying her actions. Con artists are sociopaths with little notion of right and wrong; however, Ciara’s parents gave her a religious upbringing, which she’s rejected, but only on the intellectual level. She still feels guilt.
5) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?
I’m an avid pro football fan. It’s the only thing in my life that has nothing whatsoever to do with writing, and I guard my time with it like a starving dog with a bone. I also follow politics, but that’s not fun—more like a form of sado-masochistic torture.
6) What sort of research did you do to write WICKED GAME?
For the musical aspects, the research came by osmosis over the course of months and years. I’d think of a band and then run to Allmusic.com (and more recently
Pandora.com) to learn all about them. Then I’d surf the links to understand the connections among that band and its forerunners and followers.
And of course I read books. One of my favorites was THE ROCK SNOB’S DICTIONARY by David Kamp and Steven Daly. Entertaining, informative, and an incisive look inside the mind of the cooler-than-thou rock snob.
To learn about radio stations, I interviewed DJs and had them ‘vet’ the manuscript when it was in near-final form, to make sure I didn’t have any major mistakes. A highlight of my life was getting a cover quote from Weasel, who used to DJ at the legendary Washington, DC, alternative station WHFS. He said that, disturbingly, he could relate very well to my characters.
7) Shane McAllister (the 90s grunge DJ vamp) loves Nirvana. Is that your favorite band, too?
Yep, though I was only a casual fan during the band’s actual existence. I was sad but not devastated when Kurt Cobain died in 1995. However, as the years go by and I’ve learned to appreciate the band’s incredible talent, I grieve his loss more intensely.
I suppose the creation of Shane is my small way of honoring Cobain’s life and work and the impact it’s had (and continues to have) on my psyche. I feel a spiritual kinship with them both and wonder if but for the grace of good fortune I’d be in as bad a shape as they were in their lives.
8) What are you writing now?
I’m working on the second draft of WICKED GAME’s sequel, BAD TO THE BONE (May 2009). That’s due to my editor in a few days, which explains the bags under my eyes. And probably the hallucinations.
9) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
After three years of writing full-time, I’ve ceased to feel guilty for not writing first thing in the morning. My brain just isn’t wit-enabled before 10 or 11 am.
10) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
Dialogue is by far the easiest. Maybe it’s my theatre background, but my first drafts tend to consist of characters arguing in living rooms and coffee shops. I keep forgetting that novels have infinite budgets for location shoots.
First drafts are the hardest by far. It feels like sculpting air. Once I have a rough draft down, no matter how crap-adelic, I can work to make it better. But that initial creation of the story is torment.
11) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
I also have an epic fantasy series, the Aspect of Crow trilogy, which takes place in a world where everyone has magic bestowed by their Guardian Spirit animal. The first one, EYES OF CROW (Luna Books, 2006), won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Best Fantasy Novel. The second, VOICE OF CROW, came out last October (a favorite of mine because it was the Book That Almost Killed Me), and the trilogy will conclude this November with THE REAWAKENED.
I also have an older urban fantasy (REQUIEM FOR THE DEVIL, Grand Central Publishing, 2001). It takes place in modern day Washington, DC, and Lucifer masquerades as a political consultant. For the first time in his ten-billion-year existence, he falls in love. It changes everything.
12) What is the purpose of fantasy/science fiction, if any?
See answer to #3. I can’t be that earnest twice in one interview.
More about WICKED GAME
Visit the DJs and listen to a sample of their shows
Jeri on MySpace
Ciara on MySpace
Order links:
Mysterious Galaxy
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Jeri’s latest release is WICKED GAME (May 13, 2008, Pocket Books), an urban fantasy about a cadre of vampire DJs and the con artist trying to save their ‘lives.’
1) What was your inspiration for writing WICKED GAME?
A song, of course. Not the song “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak—that came much later. Almost three years ago to the day, I was driving down the road flipping the dial and came to a classic rock station playing “Bad Company” by the band of the same name. I thought, Hmm, “Bad Company” would be a perfect title for a paranormal book with a shady main character.
By the time I reached my destination, I had a fully formed idea for vampire DJs who were psychologically and culturally ‘stuck’ in the era in which they were turned. I also knew the heroine would be “bad” in some way. (The punch line is that even though it all began with “Bad Company,” the publisher ultimately asked me to change the title.)
2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
I tend to read widely rather than deeply and rarely follow series for more than a book or two, regardless of how much I enjoy them. I’m the opposite of an addictive personality. I’m pretty sure I’d be the world’s first casual crack smoker.
I was completely different as a kid, of course. I read EVERYTHING, especially books by Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley, and Jim Kjelgaard, who each wrote continuing series about animals (and not talking animals, either—usually just plain old horses and dogs). I also loved the Trixie Belden mysteries. Trixie was like Nancy Drew, but with an actual personality.
My all-time favorite book was DOGSBODY by Diana Wynne Jones. It combined my love of animals with my passions for astronomy and mythology. Because of that book, Sirius became my favorite star (not to mention my eventual choice in satellite radio).
My current favorite authors tend to write stand-alone novels or loosely connected series: Neil Gaiman, PC Cast, Charles de Lint, Christopher Moore, James Morrow, Caprice Crane, and John Irving, to name a few. They also tend to be funny.
3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
To me, speculative fiction at its core is about what it means to be human. Often it does this by juxtaposing humans with other races or species (like elves or vampires or aliens), or by putting ordinary people in extraordinary settings. I also like the genre’s tendency to push the boundaries of humanity itself.
4) Why did you decide to make Ciara a con artist?
From the beginning I knew that the main character would have a shady past. Her current job is in sales and marketing (S&M, as she calls it), which is really just a legal form of con artistry. It sounds like a cheap joke, but the two pursuits both require an understanding of human nature and how to manipulate people’s emotions to make them cheerfully act against their own best interests.
Ciara tries to save the radio station from corporate takeover by branding it as “WVMP: The Lifeblood of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” essentially hiding the vampires’ nature in plain sight. She disguises the truth as a marketing gimmick. I loved playing with notions of truth and lies, and I loved watching Ciara’s moral acrobatics in justifying her actions. Con artists are sociopaths with little notion of right and wrong; however, Ciara’s parents gave her a religious upbringing, which she’s rejected, but only on the intellectual level. She still feels guilt.
5) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?
I’m an avid pro football fan. It’s the only thing in my life that has nothing whatsoever to do with writing, and I guard my time with it like a starving dog with a bone. I also follow politics, but that’s not fun—more like a form of sado-masochistic torture.
6) What sort of research did you do to write WICKED GAME?
For the musical aspects, the research came by osmosis over the course of months and years. I’d think of a band and then run to Allmusic.com (and more recently
Pandora.com) to learn all about them. Then I’d surf the links to understand the connections among that band and its forerunners and followers.
And of course I read books. One of my favorites was THE ROCK SNOB’S DICTIONARY by David Kamp and Steven Daly. Entertaining, informative, and an incisive look inside the mind of the cooler-than-thou rock snob.
To learn about radio stations, I interviewed DJs and had them ‘vet’ the manuscript when it was in near-final form, to make sure I didn’t have any major mistakes. A highlight of my life was getting a cover quote from Weasel, who used to DJ at the legendary Washington, DC, alternative station WHFS. He said that, disturbingly, he could relate very well to my characters.
7) Shane McAllister (the 90s grunge DJ vamp) loves Nirvana. Is that your favorite band, too?
Yep, though I was only a casual fan during the band’s actual existence. I was sad but not devastated when Kurt Cobain died in 1995. However, as the years go by and I’ve learned to appreciate the band’s incredible talent, I grieve his loss more intensely.
I suppose the creation of Shane is my small way of honoring Cobain’s life and work and the impact it’s had (and continues to have) on my psyche. I feel a spiritual kinship with them both and wonder if but for the grace of good fortune I’d be in as bad a shape as they were in their lives.
8) What are you writing now?
I’m working on the second draft of WICKED GAME’s sequel, BAD TO THE BONE (May 2009). That’s due to my editor in a few days, which explains the bags under my eyes. And probably the hallucinations.
9) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
After three years of writing full-time, I’ve ceased to feel guilty for not writing first thing in the morning. My brain just isn’t wit-enabled before 10 or 11 am.
10) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
Dialogue is by far the easiest. Maybe it’s my theatre background, but my first drafts tend to consist of characters arguing in living rooms and coffee shops. I keep forgetting that novels have infinite budgets for location shoots.
First drafts are the hardest by far. It feels like sculpting air. Once I have a rough draft down, no matter how crap-adelic, I can work to make it better. But that initial creation of the story is torment.
11) This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
I also have an epic fantasy series, the Aspect of Crow trilogy, which takes place in a world where everyone has magic bestowed by their Guardian Spirit animal. The first one, EYES OF CROW (Luna Books, 2006), won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Best Fantasy Novel. The second, VOICE OF CROW, came out last October (a favorite of mine because it was the Book That Almost Killed Me), and the trilogy will conclude this November with THE REAWAKENED.
I also have an older urban fantasy (REQUIEM FOR THE DEVIL, Grand Central Publishing, 2001). It takes place in modern day Washington, DC, and Lucifer masquerades as a political consultant. For the first time in his ten-billion-year existence, he falls in love. It changes everything.
12) What is the purpose of fantasy/science fiction, if any?
See answer to #3. I can’t be that earnest twice in one interview.
More about WICKED GAME
Visit the DJs and listen to a sample of their shows
Jeri on MySpace
Ciara on MySpace
Order links:
Mysterious Galaxy
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I'm Going to Continue on This Topic a Bit Longer
I thought of another story which seems to me to be a classic neat idea tale: "Nightfall" by Isaac Asimov. It's about an alien planet where night falls only rarely, due to a lot of suns. When night does fall, and people see the stars, they burn everything they can find out of terror -- and their civilization collapses.
The last time I reread it, I noticed it is not well written. But it will stay with me till my memory fails.
Asimov was not an especially good writer, but I remember the Foundation stories and the robot stories. Is there anyone reading this blog who cannot recite the three laws of robotics? How about psychohistory? Do we all remember how it works?
This kind of story is core to SF, as are ideas. I suspect ideas are not as important to fantasy, though there's a lot of fantasy written by science fiction writers that turns on ideas.
For example, a very simple story by Avram Davidson, about what happens when the U.S. government breaks a treaty with an Indian tribe, which is supposed to last -- per language in the treaty -- "as long as the sun shines and grass grows."
Davidson was a fine writer, but the story is mostly about its idea.
Implicit in Justine's remark (I think) is the idea that SF is about character and plot and style and mood.
Nope.
I'm not sure any kind of fiction is ultimately about character, plot, style and mood.
Jane Austen's novels are beautifully written and plotted and full of wonderful characters, but what they are about is the English upper classes' blood-chilling focus on money, in spite of all their talk about morality and sentiment.
And they are also about the fact that women in the upper and middle classes have to focus on money, because they have no reasonable way to make a living. If they don't marry well, they will be poor.
These are ideas.
I suspect that any fiction which does not have an interesting idea at its core is not worth reading, except as entertainment. Not that entertainment is bad.
I don't think there are any ideas in P.G. Wodehouse, though I keep looking for one. His writing really is about his amazing skill as a writer.
And one could argue that producing concept free art is itself a kind of idea about art. "Look," Wodehouse says. "Art need not be about anything except a dazzling performance. It can be utterly pointless and still be thoroughly satisfying."
Finally, a personal note. I grew up around avant garde artists, and their art really was about ideas. Although I write popular fiction, my basic values are the ones I learned as a kid. Art should do something new. It should ask questions and push limits.
My apologies to Kelly and the rest for hammering this into the ground.
The last time I reread it, I noticed it is not well written. But it will stay with me till my memory fails.
Asimov was not an especially good writer, but I remember the Foundation stories and the robot stories. Is there anyone reading this blog who cannot recite the three laws of robotics? How about psychohistory? Do we all remember how it works?
This kind of story is core to SF, as are ideas. I suspect ideas are not as important to fantasy, though there's a lot of fantasy written by science fiction writers that turns on ideas.
For example, a very simple story by Avram Davidson, about what happens when the U.S. government breaks a treaty with an Indian tribe, which is supposed to last -- per language in the treaty -- "as long as the sun shines and grass grows."
Davidson was a fine writer, but the story is mostly about its idea.
Implicit in Justine's remark (I think) is the idea that SF is about character and plot and style and mood.
Nope.
I'm not sure any kind of fiction is ultimately about character, plot, style and mood.
Jane Austen's novels are beautifully written and plotted and full of wonderful characters, but what they are about is the English upper classes' blood-chilling focus on money, in spite of all their talk about morality and sentiment.
And they are also about the fact that women in the upper and middle classes have to focus on money, because they have no reasonable way to make a living. If they don't marry well, they will be poor.
These are ideas.
I suspect that any fiction which does not have an interesting idea at its core is not worth reading, except as entertainment. Not that entertainment is bad.
I don't think there are any ideas in P.G. Wodehouse, though I keep looking for one. His writing really is about his amazing skill as a writer.
And one could argue that producing concept free art is itself a kind of idea about art. "Look," Wodehouse says. "Art need not be about anything except a dazzling performance. It can be utterly pointless and still be thoroughly satisfying."
Finally, a personal note. I grew up around avant garde artists, and their art really was about ideas. Although I write popular fiction, my basic values are the ones I learned as a kid. Art should do something new. It should ask questions and push limits.
My apologies to Kelly and the rest for hammering this into the ground.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Continuing the Preceding Post
This is more about ideas. Maybe it tells you something silly about me, but I am very proud of places where I did something that strikes me as a bit new. I once ended a story with five morals -- five good and useful morals -- because you are not supposed to have morals at the end of a SF story.
When I started sending out stories, editors kept telling me that they didn't see the point of the stories. What were they about? So my second novel ends with my characters spending fifty pages discussing the meaning of their adventure. It's been years since I read the novel, so I can't remember their conclusion.
The discussion struck me as neat and funny. It meant readers -- especially editors --had the explanation they wanted, and I was not in any way responsible for the explanation, since it came from my characters.
I had given readers the meaning requested, but since this meaning came from chracters within the novel, it was a meaning in the novel and not the meaning of the novel, the author's meaning.
No one has ever complained about the ending of the novel or told me that they couldn't figure out what the novel was about.
When I do things like this, it seems to me I'm dealing with ideas, not character or plot or mood. Can you end a story with a moral and still have it work? Well, yes, but why have only one moral? Can you end a story with a long explanation and not have the readers turn against you? Yes, I think so, though I can't remember any reviews of that novel. I am pretty sure I did not get any angry letters.
When I started sending out stories, editors kept telling me that they didn't see the point of the stories. What were they about? So my second novel ends with my characters spending fifty pages discussing the meaning of their adventure. It's been years since I read the novel, so I can't remember their conclusion.
The discussion struck me as neat and funny. It meant readers -- especially editors --had the explanation they wanted, and I was not in any way responsible for the explanation, since it came from my characters.
I had given readers the meaning requested, but since this meaning came from chracters within the novel, it was a meaning in the novel and not the meaning of the novel, the author's meaning.
No one has ever complained about the ending of the novel or told me that they couldn't figure out what the novel was about.
When I do things like this, it seems to me I'm dealing with ideas, not character or plot or mood. Can you end a story with a moral and still have it work? Well, yes, but why have only one moral? Can you end a story with a long explanation and not have the readers turn against you? Yes, I think so, though I can't remember any reviews of that novel. I am pretty sure I did not get any angry letters.
Yet Again Ideas
I keep feeling, without having much evidence, that ideas are not easy. I wrote a story titled "Big Red Mama in Time and Morris, Minnesota," which was a time travel story. These are hard to write, because time travel is supposed to be impossible; and I felt -- if the story didn't have something new to say about time and time travel, it was going to be about nothing. I struggled with the story for months and years, collecting copies of Science News and New Scientist with articles about time travel and odd quantum effects. The problem with time travel is mostly one of causality. Physics says that effects cannot precede causes; or maybe it doesn't say this. There are theoretical physicists who think time travel is possible.
Anyway, in the end I did some hand waving. But the story actually does say something about time and history, though nothing based on physics theory.
Sometimes the ideas are less difficult than the working out of the ideas.
The idea that is the basis of my hwarhath stories is simple: what if there was a society where homosexuality was normal and heterosexuality was perverted? I think had to figure out in detail how this kind of society might come to be and what it would be like. In the end, I wrote two novels and ten + stories about the hwarhath and their society, mostly to explore the consequences of my original "what if."
Plot ideas come fairly easily for me. I never worry about my ability to work my way out of plot problem.
But saying something new and original is not easy; and I'm not claiming that I always manage to do this. But I do abandon stories, if they are becoming familiar -- hey, I've already said this, and I don't have to say it again; and I do stop and rethink stories, if I feel they are becoming ordinary or inevitable.
Anyway, in the end I did some hand waving. But the story actually does say something about time and history, though nothing based on physics theory.
Sometimes the ideas are less difficult than the working out of the ideas.
The idea that is the basis of my hwarhath stories is simple: what if there was a society where homosexuality was normal and heterosexuality was perverted? I think had to figure out in detail how this kind of society might come to be and what it would be like. In the end, I wrote two novels and ten + stories about the hwarhath and their society, mostly to explore the consequences of my original "what if."
Plot ideas come fairly easily for me. I never worry about my ability to work my way out of plot problem.
But saying something new and original is not easy; and I'm not claiming that I always manage to do this. But I do abandon stories, if they are becoming familiar -- hey, I've already said this, and I don't have to say it again; and I do stop and rethink stories, if I feel they are becoming ordinary or inevitable.
More on Ideas
I started this off as a response to Eleanor's post, but it metastasized, so I'm moving it up front.
My take on ideas as the easy part is that producing the basic idea isn't all that much work by comparison to the other parts of writing a book. It can take no more than a few minutes and sometimes happens as a subconscious process.
Doing the research, blocking out what to do with the idea, and writing and polishing the book can take anywhere from months to years of hard work. That's certainly been the case for me. The core of even the best of my story ideas have happened in a flash or the length of a dream. Crafting that idea into an actual story is what takes real time and major effort.
I'm a relatively fast writer--I've written a 5,000 word story that sold in single day and a novel that went on to be published in under six months. In that same six months I came up with dozens of new story ideas. Most of them were discarded, but a few went into the ideas file, a few got plotted out for possible later use, and one even became the next novel. I've had hundreds of novel ideas that I think are really cool and thousands that I've thought would make a decent book. I've only written a dozen because the writing is where the work and the effort go.
Is the production of the initial idea easy in absolute terms? I suppose that depends on the writer. In my case, I can't not produce story ideas in job lots.
Is it easy by comparison to taking the core of the idea and doing the research and reshaping needed to make it into something you could hang a book on? That's certainly been my experience. Is it really easy compared to the actual months long day-in-day-out effort of writing and polishing the actual novel? Again, that been my experience.
More than that, idea generation is pure unadulterated joy, especially if you can get someone else to do the fiddly bits. One of the most entertaining things we do as writers group* is sit around and brainstorm solutions to story problems. I always find that to be an electric experience. Dozens of ideas get thrown out in a matter of minutes, batted around, added to, twisted, knocked down, thrown out--it's like eight-way tennis with ten balls, some of which have really strange properties. And, if it's not my story we're talking about, I don't even have to make the implementation work.
So yes, I think idea generation is easy for a certain value of easy.
--------------------------------------
*at least for me.
My take on ideas as the easy part is that producing the basic idea isn't all that much work by comparison to the other parts of writing a book. It can take no more than a few minutes and sometimes happens as a subconscious process.
Doing the research, blocking out what to do with the idea, and writing and polishing the book can take anywhere from months to years of hard work. That's certainly been the case for me. The core of even the best of my story ideas have happened in a flash or the length of a dream. Crafting that idea into an actual story is what takes real time and major effort.
I'm a relatively fast writer--I've written a 5,000 word story that sold in single day and a novel that went on to be published in under six months. In that same six months I came up with dozens of new story ideas. Most of them were discarded, but a few went into the ideas file, a few got plotted out for possible later use, and one even became the next novel. I've had hundreds of novel ideas that I think are really cool and thousands that I've thought would make a decent book. I've only written a dozen because the writing is where the work and the effort go.
Is the production of the initial idea easy in absolute terms? I suppose that depends on the writer. In my case, I can't not produce story ideas in job lots.
Is it easy by comparison to taking the core of the idea and doing the research and reshaping needed to make it into something you could hang a book on? That's certainly been my experience. Is it really easy compared to the actual months long day-in-day-out effort of writing and polishing the actual novel? Again, that been my experience.
More than that, idea generation is pure unadulterated joy, especially if you can get someone else to do the fiddly bits. One of the most entertaining things we do as writers group* is sit around and brainstorm solutions to story problems. I always find that to be an electric experience. Dozens of ideas get thrown out in a matter of minutes, batted around, added to, twisted, knocked down, thrown out--it's like eight-way tennis with ten balls, some of which have really strange properties. And, if it's not my story we're talking about, I don't even have to make the implementation work.
So yes, I think idea generation is easy for a certain value of easy.
--------------------------------------
*at least for me.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Ideas
I'm not sure ideas are the easy part. There's a whole tradition in SF of neat idea stories, where the writing is competent at best, and the characters don't really matter, but the ideas are wonderful. Think of the best Heinlein: "All Your Zombies" and "The House That Jack Built."
These are the stories that C.S. Lewis talks about, when he talks about myth. What matters is not style or character or mood or whatever, it's the story itself. These stories retain power when you simply describe the plot.
I don't remember much about Fire on the Deep, the Vernor Vinge novel, except that the basic laws of physics varied by where you were in space, so fast interstellar travel was possible in some regions, but not others; and the entire galaxy had an Internet, so as the novel's action line developed, there was constant interstellar commentary on what was happening. Two nifty ideas. The plot is gone from my mind; I don't remember the characters; but I remember the ideas.
I need a reason to write a story, and a lot of times the reason is an idea, or several ideas. I don't usually finish or keep a story that doesn't have a point, which is also usually an idea.
I realize as I write this that I don't really know what Justine means by idea.
These are the stories that C.S. Lewis talks about, when he talks about myth. What matters is not style or character or mood or whatever, it's the story itself. These stories retain power when you simply describe the plot.
I don't remember much about Fire on the Deep, the Vernor Vinge novel, except that the basic laws of physics varied by where you were in space, so fast interstellar travel was possible in some regions, but not others; and the entire galaxy had an Internet, so as the novel's action line developed, there was constant interstellar commentary on what was happening. Two nifty ideas. The plot is gone from my mind; I don't remember the characters; but I remember the ideas.
I need a reason to write a story, and a lot of times the reason is an idea, or several ideas. I don't usually finish or keep a story that doesn't have a point, which is also usually an idea.
I realize as I write this that I don't really know what Justine means by idea.
The Sweetest Words...
The Sweetest Words in the English language: THE END.
I wrote them last night on the first draft of Dead If I Do (which is due at the publisher at the end of this month.) Now it's off to my beta readers, who will no doubt give me lots of suggestions for improvement, which I will follow. Then my partner reads it last, and I make final changes and usually copy edits.
So, it a way it's not an ending, but the beginning...
I wrote them last night on the first draft of Dead If I Do (which is due at the publisher at the end of this month.) Now it's off to my beta readers, who will no doubt give me lots of suggestions for improvement, which I will follow. Then my partner reads it last, and I make final changes and usually copy edits.
So, it a way it's not an ending, but the beginning...
Friday, May 09, 2008
Head Full of Goo
This is my official apology to all allergy sufferers for any lack of sympathy I might ever have shown on that front. Never before in my life have I been in the position of hoping that I was coming down with a cold. Unfortunately, at the moment I don't think that I am. I think instead that I have developed some sort of pollen allergy after 40 blissful years of not being significantly allergic to anything. My head feels like it's packed with cotton, I can't stop making typos, my left eye keeps tearing up, and my nose is doing an amazing impression of a faucet with a bad washer. Since it's all naso-sinal (or however that should be expressed) even the eye thing and there are zero secondary symptoms I'm afraid that I must assume the worst. Bleah. Bleah! BLEAH!
Calling all WisCon authors
Attending Wiscon this year? Have books in print? Let Elizabeth at Dreamhaven know...yesterday would be best.
Doing a panel at Wiscon and have books you're planning to recommend? Likewise
Email address to use for both these things is:
wiscon (at) dreamhavenbooks.com
Any assistance in passing the word along is greatly appreciated.
Elizabeth needs to order books NOW (actually, last week would have been better) and she doesn't know who's going to be there.
Doing a panel at Wiscon and have books you're planning to recommend? Likewise
Email address to use for both these things is:
wiscon (at) dreamhavenbooks.com
Any assistance in passing the word along is greatly appreciated.
Elizabeth needs to order books NOW (actually, last week would have been better) and she doesn't know who's going to be there.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Smart Things--Genre Feuds
So, PNH at Making Light had a link to Charles Stross's tongue in cheek manifesto on the The New Eclectics, which is in and of itself a smart piece of work critiquing the whole manifesto thing and carrying a lot of water in very light bucket. In turn, the Stross piece seems to have been generated by a comment thread on Elizabeth Bear's lj which came out of a very brief post and link to an incredibly smart piece by Richard Morgan on the wasted energy involved in F&SF genre feuds.
All very fun and very smart and part of why I try not to get involved in comparisons of the relative merits of genres and sub-genres. I do do it occasionally, but I invariably regret it.
All very fun and very smart and part of why I try not to get involved in comparisons of the relative merits of genres and sub-genres. I do do it occasionally, but I invariably regret it.
Smart Thing--Ideas=Cheap and Plentiful
Justine Larbalestier is saying smart things about ideas being the easy part
Re-Direct: More on SF Publishing Woes
Though not directly addressing the issue of why fantasy outsells science fiction, John Scalzi has an interesting take on adult SF vs. YA: Who Lost Scott Westerfeld?
Regarding the Wombat
(Originally posted in December 2006.)"[The wombat] burrowed in the ground whenever it had an opportunity, and covered itself in the earth with surprising quickness. It was quiet during the day, but constantly in motion in the night: was very sensible to cold; ate all kinds of vegetables; but was particularly fond of new hay, which it ate stalk by stalk, taking it into its mouth like a beaver, by small bits at a time. It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to those to whom it was accustomed, and who were kind to it. When it saw them, it would put up its forepaws on the knee, and when taken up would sleep in the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, and when it bit them did not appear to do it in anger or with violence."
—Everard Home (1809)
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Platypus Unbound!
They have sequenced Senor Platypus!
Just because that creature is the effective outcome of the four blind men/elephant story.
Bad Reviews
I don't know how Lyda and Tate manage to be so even tempered about bad reviews. They go into me like a knife.
The really bad ones are usually by readers, Critics usually treat me more gently, maybe because they know how sensitive I am; and I think most critics have better manners than many readers. They know they are going to have to meet writers or the friends of writers at cons.
I've had readers go all frothy about about how I am a man-hating feminist. I am certainly a feminist, but I have never thought of myself as especially hostile to men. My partner is a man. My brother is a man, as are many cousins and a lot of my friends. These are all people I like a lot.
I don't like prejudice, and I don't like social hierarchies. I try to take individuals as I find them.
I got the frothing response to a story titled "The Garden," which is very sweet story about a hwarhath man who doesn't want to go into space like all the other men. He wants to stay home and tend his garden. I call it my Ferdinand the Bull story. How is that hostile to men? It's a story about how people ought to have the right to make decisions about their lives.
Anyway, bad reviews sear themselves into my brain.
The really bad ones are usually by readers, Critics usually treat me more gently, maybe because they know how sensitive I am; and I think most critics have better manners than many readers. They know they are going to have to meet writers or the friends of writers at cons.
I've had readers go all frothy about about how I am a man-hating feminist. I am certainly a feminist, but I have never thought of myself as especially hostile to men. My partner is a man. My brother is a man, as are many cousins and a lot of my friends. These are all people I like a lot.
I don't like prejudice, and I don't like social hierarchies. I try to take individuals as I find them.
I got the frothing response to a story titled "The Garden," which is very sweet story about a hwarhath man who doesn't want to go into space like all the other men. He wants to stay home and tend his garden. I call it my Ferdinand the Bull story. How is that hostile to men? It's a story about how people ought to have the right to make decisions about their lives.
Anyway, bad reviews sear themselves into my brain.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
What's your wish?
Everyone has a wish list. From from a shiny new toaster oven to world peace, from a finished draft of your new novel by your next birthday to that long-awaited phone call from your agent--from the mundane to the transcendental--what's on yours? Top five items only, please.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Q&A With Our Own Tate Hallaway
Tomorrow sees the launch of Tate's latest, ROMANCING THE DEAD.Tate Hallaway is the best selling alias of the award-winning science fiction author Lyda Morehouse. Lyda wrote a four book trilogy about angels, computers and the end of the world all of which are currently out of print, though she still writes and publishes science fiction/fantasy/horror short stories. Tate’s books are all in print with more in the Garnet Lacey series in the works. You can find both Lyda and Tate blogging all over the internet including places like LiveJournal, Blogspot, MySpace, Facebook, and even YouTube. “They” live in Saint Paul, Minnesota with five cats, a five year old son, and many, many fresh water fish.
Blurb for Romancing the Dead:
It’s been one heck of a week for Garnet Lacey. The Vatican witch hunters finally think she’s dead, the FBI has closed their file on her, she’s co-founding a new coven—and the gorgeous vampire she loves has just asked her to marry him. How lucky can one girl get?
Then, her fiancé goes missing and Garnet’s worried sick. Has he been kidnapped? Or could he have run off with that blonde from the coven? Now Garnet will have to seek the help of her future stepson—the same brat who turned her over to the witch hunters for a brand-new Jaguar. But there’s more bad news: the Goddess Lilith, who camps out in her body, has been making embarrassing appearances. And on top of that, some killer’s on her tail...
INTERVIEW
What was your inspiration for writing ROMANCING THE DEAD?
ROMANCING THE DEAD is the third book in my paranormal chick-lit Garnet Lacey series. People often ask me how I, as a writer, stay inspired when writing about the same characters. I think I could get pretty bored if I didn’t allow my characters not only to be human (and thus full of flaws), but also to change and grow.
A lot of the romance I read when I first started reading romances were “first blush,” as in the main point of the story was the excitement of meeting someone new. At the end of these novels, things faded very quickly into the nebulous (and unrealistic) happily, ever after. One of the things I’m trying to do in the Garnet Lacey series is promote the romance that can be found in a long-term relationship. I mean, Garnet is in love with a vampire, for goodness sake. You don’t get more “ever after” than that. I, myself, have been together with my partner for more than twenty years, and I don’t think those kinds of relationships get a lot of glory in romance novels, you know?
Plus, in every novel I like to take on one of the tropes in urban fantasy and do my own thing with it. In this book, I have Garnet meet someone who may or may not be a werewolf.
Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?
Currently my favorite authors are writing graphic novels. I’m in to Brian Michael Bendis’ NEW AVENGERS. I just finished reading NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI in preparation of the up-coming Secret Invasion. I’m also a huge fan of Ed Brubaker’s CAPTAIN AMERICA, particularly his WINTER SOLDIER stuff. Comic books haven’t been this fresh for me since I first picked up Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s FANTASTIC FOUR when I was a kid.
For more traditional fare, my favorites are Rachel Caine, who writes the Weather Warden series, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch who writes the Disappeared series, which is a kind of futuristic a police procedural set on Mars. When I was growing up my favorite authors were Katherine Kurtz and Anne McCaffrey.
What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?
The explosions.
Seriously, I was talking to a friend about this at a bar the other night, and I confessed that one of my favorite things about writing paranormal romances/urban fantasy is that you get to have all the relationship/girly stuff married to the high-octane adventure/boy stuff. That’s pretty near perfect for me.
Why did you decide to make Garnet a Witch?
Because I am.
And it can be very difficult to find realistic portrayals of Wiccan religion in novels. One of the things that drives me crazy in movies and TV shows like “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” is when a complete novice reads a spell they find in a dusty book and they conjure a demon without breaking a sweat.
Of course, because the Garnet Lacey series is fantasy, I take liberties, too. Real-life witchcraft can be pretty dull. The scope of Garnet’s power is a lot stronger than anything I’ve experienced in real life, but I try to show ritual as part of her daily practice as well. In other words, she doesn’t just cast spells, but she also prays to a Goddess and observes the cycle of the seasons, like the real witches I know.
What (besides writing) do you do for fun?
I’m an aquarist. I have four fresh water fish tanks in my house and have had over the course of a year: powder blue dwarf gourami, neon tetra, bettas (a spawning pair), a white cloud minnow, yellow tuxedo guppies, and several goldfish (comet and shubunkin). I’m so into it I read fish magazines and occasionally write long, boring blogs about my fish triumphs and woes on my livejournal: [http://lyda222.livejournal.com]. My betta Johnny/Giant-Girl is even a YouTube star: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Gg0mfEfTw.
What sort of research did you do to write this book?
Well, because I’d decided to play around with the urban fantasy trope of werewolves and the story takes place in Madison, Wisconsin, I did a little research and discovered that Wisconsin has its own werewolf myth: “the Beast of Bray Road.” There’s a book about it by Linda S. Godfrey called BEAST OF BRAY ROAD: TAILING WISCONSIN'S WEREWOLF.
Garnet loves astrology. Is that your favorite thing too?
One of them. Just like Garnet I’m an amateur astrologer. Yeah, we’re talking about predictions and horoscopes and stuff. No, I don’t think the stars rule my destiny, but, yeah, I think it’s all a very fascinating and entertaining way to look at life and relationships.
I love astronomy, too. My friend Rachel takes me and my four-year old out star-gazing on clear nights. The science fiction fan in me loves seeing the rings of Saturn and such.
What are you writing now?
There’s more Garnet Lacey in the works. I’m currently putting the wraps on book four, DEAD IF I DO, which I like to describe as “The Wedding Planner” meets “Night of the Living Dead.”
Did you always want to write? Or did you stumble into it? How did you get where you are now?
It took boredom to turn me into a writer.
True, I was an English major in college, but other than dabbling a little in fanfic as a teen I didn’t really do a lot of creative writing. After college, I had a series of dead-end secretarial jobs and really didn’t require a whole lot of my brain power. One of these jobs didn’t even come with a computer, but when I incessantly bugged my boss for work she taught me the art of the slack. She said, “Sometimes it’s important to LOOK busy.” So, I started typing letters home to friends. The letters turned into little silly stories, limericks, and finally, the beginning of my first novel, Sidhe Promised, which has never been sold.
Someone either a friend or my partner talked me into taking a science fiction writing class at the Loft http://www.loft.org I had an awesome teacher who taught us the art of critique and encouraged us to form writers’ critique groups outside of class. The one I formed from that class with my friend and fellow writer H. Courrage LeBlanc, Wyrdsmiths is still going strong today, nearly twelve years later. If you want to check out the "life" of a writers' group, we have a blog: http://wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com
Eventually, through a friend of a friend I got my second novel, Archangel Protocol, under the nose of an agent. The rest, as they say, is history.
What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing?
Well, I’m in crunch time now, so I write close to four hours a night, from about 8:00 pm to midnight. Normally, however, I tend to clock closer to only a couple of hours, if that. I have a full-time job as a mom, so my writing time doesn’t start until everyone is fed and tucked in their beds. When not writing under a deadline, I also take weekends off.
Hm, which may explain why I'm in crunch time now, eh?
Where do you write??
Wherever my laptop is. I tend to write propped up in bed or on the couch in the TV room.
What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?
I’ve always found dialogue the easiest to write. That’s probably because it’s the part I practice the most. Not only do I love to talk, but also when I’m falling asleep at night it’s the fictional conversations that I play with in my head.
As for hard, that would be plot. If I had my druthers, no one would do anything. They’d all sit around in a coffee shop and argue.
This isn't your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
Though all of them are meant to stand more-or-less on their own, there are two previous Garnet Lacey books: TALL, DARK & DEAD and DEAD SEXY. Both follow the exploits of Garnet Lacey, a Witch who accidentally drew in the dark and murderous Goddess Lilith to protect her coven from attack by Vatican witch hunters. When the stories start, she’s on the run and trying desperately to give up witchcraft, which Lilith (and, consequentially, she) crave like a drug. Tall, dark and dead Sebastian Von Traum comes into the bookstore the Garnet manages and, as they say, hilarity ensues.
And explosions… or at least zombies.
Linky Goodies:
There’s an excerpt of the first chapters of all three books available on Tate's website.
Buy Tate's books:
Romancing the Dead
Dead Sexy (Garnet Lacey #2)
Tall, Dark & Dead (Garnet Lacey #1)
Places to find Tate on the Web:
Website
Blog
Fangs, Fur & Fey (group blog for paranormal romance writers)
MySpace
Friday, May 02, 2008
One Star: Tall, Dark & Dead
Tall, Dark & Dead got several one star reviews, but this one is probably the "best." It's actually much longer than this, but these are the "money" quotes. Enjoy!
I can honestly say that I haven't read a more irritating book in a long time. I won't bore you with another synopsis, but I must tell you that even though I'm not a Catholic, I found the whole 'Vatican witch-killer" premise offensive on so many levels.
Regarding the hero... I like my heros to be of the alpha variety. I like them to be dark and fighting some inner demons. I like them to walk the border between good and evil. Unfortunately, this guy just left a bad taste in my mouth. He was ethically questionable, not terribly sympathetic, and... well... if I met him in real life, my instincts would have been to slug him. And then run like heck. And not in a good way.
And the heroine? Well, let's just say I like my heroines with a little more brains and self-respect. I don't want them to convince themselves that just because the sex is great, it must be love. I don't like it when they overlook MAJOR problems in their hero's character just because he's good looking.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
One Star Challenge: Archangel Protocol
Joining in the "one star review" challenge, here's the worst thing anyone had to say about Archangel Protocol. (I quote it here, in full) Interestingly, I had not read this until now:
I read a lot, of both science fiction and non-fiction (history, science, economics, theology, etc.). Of the 300-400 books I start each year, I finish all but a handful. This book was in that sub-elite company. It fails as science fiction, fails as religous commentary, and fails as character fiction.
The science fictional aspects of it remind one of a sad retread 1980's cypberpunk novel - the private investigator, the mysteriously competent friends, the decaying urban setting...but with none of the freshness that this trope used to display.The theological commentary was a sledgehammer being used to operate on china - yes, yes, extreme right wing patriarchal preachers are bad. Right, got it. Now, please stop ranting; it's page 14 and I'm already sick to death of it.
The characters are poorly drawn, and the dialogue is a bit embarassing to read.
I could not force myself to get beyong 150 pages, even though I tried several times. A friend bought the book at the same time that I did, because we'd both read the same good review (Locus?), and he couldn't even make it as far as I did.
In conclusion, I'm mystified at the good press this freshman attempt is getting Heck, I'm mystified that it wasn't left in the slush pile.
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