Ask the Author: C. Drying

One of the inspirations I had for writing Contingent Upon Magenta came from my knowledge of a present-day matrilineal society in northeast India.  The word “matrilineal” has sometimes been confused with “matriarchal.”  A matrilineal society is one that is structured such that inheritance and descent is recognized through mothers.  Westerners (and most of the world) follow the patrilineal pattern, which is plain to see in our surnames; we are named after our fathers.

Matriarchal societies are those that recognize a woman as the normal authority of a household and tribe, and, well, there may be some obscure tribes left in the world today that are matriarchal, but mostly matriarchies exist in works of fiction, especially science fiction, and my novel follows that pattern.  The Khasi people and the state of Meghalaya in India are referred to in Contingent Upon Magenta, and I do try to make the distinction between matriarchal and matrilineal systems.