S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 162
May 16, 2012
Balloons
When I was in my last year of high school, my divorced mother couldn't afford to pay for frivolities like senior pictures or a class ring. All the money I earned at my after-school job went to Mom to help pay for the mortgage, groceries and stuff for the younger kids.
Naturally I was too proud to tell anyone about our unhappy financial situation, so instead I avoided all the senior class stuff as much as possible. The indignity of being photographed at school was always an ordeal for me -- even back then I was painfully unphotogenic -- so I was also quite delighted to skip going to the photography studio that handled senior pics that year. If I remember correctly the only traditional event I attended was my senior Prom, and only because my boyfriend at the time bought the tickets and the dress and made me go.
I don't miss high school or any of the class souvenirs I couldn't afford, but as I've grown older I have wondered how they handled the yearbook listing for me (when it came out that year I didn't look through any of my friends' copies; again the pride thing.) I convinced myself that the yearbook staff had probably done something really lame, like put up an empty gray space above my name, or list me as "No photo" at the very end of the senior class pics.
Over the years I've kept in touch with a few people from school, and truth is I could have found out how I was listed, but that silly pride thing wouldn't let me. Of course by then I was so sure that whatever they did had been so wretched and embarrassing that it wouldn't help me to know. As time rolled on that feeling just ballooned until I couldn't think about it without feeling sick.
An old school friend I hadn't heard from since we graduated got in touch recently, and on impulse I asked if he still had his yearbook. He didn't, but he sent me a link to a copy of it that someone had scanned and put online on one of those alumni sites. One click and I'd know. Finally I could see what they'd done to me.
Of course I went and looked; I was tired of my huge hot air balloon of hopelessness. The guys who at seventeen I'd thought were cute looked a bit goofy now. I didn't remember that half the girls in my class had Farrah Fawcett Fail hair, and the other half Dorothy Hamil Wacky Wedges. And all that lip gloss we used to wear, oy -- even in black-and-white, it's blinding.
Everyone from senior class was there, though. Except one person: me. No gray square, no photo from a previous year, no missing-in-action name listing. There's exactly zero for me.
They skipped me.
I have the diploma, of course, and a single blurry photo of me being handed it the day I graduated, but otherwise it's like I never existed. Which is the most perfect thing of all. All those horrible indignities I've imagined never happened. I'm safe, and I've been safe all this time. Which made me laugh at myself. A lot.
Writers are hard-wired to imagine anything and everything, which is probably why we are so often victims of our own creativity. We fill in the gaps of what we know with what we convince ourselves must occupy that space: That manuscript was rejected because [my writing stinks]; the editor didn't return my e-mail because [my idea stank]; my entry to the contest didn't win because [I stunk]. The frustrating thing is that we often never know what actually fills in those blanks. The sad thing is when we start to believe what we imagine, and begin blowing up those balloons with a lot of nothing.
So the moral of the story is: Don't imagine, find out. If you can't find out, let it go. Like any balloon, if you really turn it loose eventually it'll float away or pop.
Naturally I was too proud to tell anyone about our unhappy financial situation, so instead I avoided all the senior class stuff as much as possible. The indignity of being photographed at school was always an ordeal for me -- even back then I was painfully unphotogenic -- so I was also quite delighted to skip going to the photography studio that handled senior pics that year. If I remember correctly the only traditional event I attended was my senior Prom, and only because my boyfriend at the time bought the tickets and the dress and made me go.
I don't miss high school or any of the class souvenirs I couldn't afford, but as I've grown older I have wondered how they handled the yearbook listing for me (when it came out that year I didn't look through any of my friends' copies; again the pride thing.) I convinced myself that the yearbook staff had probably done something really lame, like put up an empty gray space above my name, or list me as "No photo" at the very end of the senior class pics.
Over the years I've kept in touch with a few people from school, and truth is I could have found out how I was listed, but that silly pride thing wouldn't let me. Of course by then I was so sure that whatever they did had been so wretched and embarrassing that it wouldn't help me to know. As time rolled on that feeling just ballooned until I couldn't think about it without feeling sick.
An old school friend I hadn't heard from since we graduated got in touch recently, and on impulse I asked if he still had his yearbook. He didn't, but he sent me a link to a copy of it that someone had scanned and put online on one of those alumni sites. One click and I'd know. Finally I could see what they'd done to me.
Of course I went and looked; I was tired of my huge hot air balloon of hopelessness. The guys who at seventeen I'd thought were cute looked a bit goofy now. I didn't remember that half the girls in my class had Farrah Fawcett Fail hair, and the other half Dorothy Hamil Wacky Wedges. And all that lip gloss we used to wear, oy -- even in black-and-white, it's blinding.
Everyone from senior class was there, though. Except one person: me. No gray square, no photo from a previous year, no missing-in-action name listing. There's exactly zero for me.
They skipped me.
I have the diploma, of course, and a single blurry photo of me being handed it the day I graduated, but otherwise it's like I never existed. Which is the most perfect thing of all. All those horrible indignities I've imagined never happened. I'm safe, and I've been safe all this time. Which made me laugh at myself. A lot.
Writers are hard-wired to imagine anything and everything, which is probably why we are so often victims of our own creativity. We fill in the gaps of what we know with what we convince ourselves must occupy that space: That manuscript was rejected because [my writing stinks]; the editor didn't return my e-mail because [my idea stank]; my entry to the contest didn't win because [I stunk]. The frustrating thing is that we often never know what actually fills in those blanks. The sad thing is when we start to believe what we imagine, and begin blowing up those balloons with a lot of nothing.
So the moral of the story is: Don't imagine, find out. If you can't find out, let it go. Like any balloon, if you really turn it loose eventually it'll float away or pop.
May 15, 2012
Virtual Safeguards
I was putting together a proposal the other day when I realized something. Thanks to the internet, social media, e-readers, smart phones and digital cameras virtually all of my work has become, well, virtual. I'm sure it's the same for most of you. Technology allows us to communicate in an instant without paper or ink; in a sense we've all become electronic writers.
Publishing also now conducts most of business with writers virtually; correspondence, contracts, manuscripts, cover art, copy-edits and even some galleys are created and worked on in electronic form. This is not a bad thing, either. After fourteen years of wrestling with six to eight pound manuscripts and waiting on the postal service during production, I'm quite happy we've gone virtual.
What occasionally gives me nightmares is what would happen if some manner of catastrophe silenced or erased all the things we've entrusted to virtual form. In a way this has already happened to me once; many years ago I lost three computers on the same day, and eight years of my writing, art and photographs simply vanished. That included about fifty manuscripts I'd never bothered to print out. Eventually I recovered everything, but it taught me a valuable lesson. Ever since that disaster I've been making multiple back ups and hard copies of everything I do, and storing other virtual copies on flash drives elsewhere. Naturally that's no guarantee it will survive a major catastrophe, but it's the only creative insurance we've got.
Btw, have you backed up your files lately? If you haven't, do it now, and make a commitment to doing the same at least once a week. Trust me, you never want to face losing any work, much less eight years of it.
It takes time to put things into physical form, time no one seems to have anymore -- even me. Whenever I visit an old internet bookmark and find a site with content that I used or liked has vanished, it's almost always one that I never bothered to print out or save in electronic form or hard copy. One of my favorite sites of all time recently disappeared, and I tried to e-mail the owner to see if I could get copies of the content. The e-mail bounced back, unread, and since the owner lives on the other side of the planet I can't exactly go over, knock on his door and ask what happened.
While the virtual world is fast and convenient and hardly any trouble at all, it's also vulnerable. As busy as we are these days, we tend to forget this. Depending solely on it to preserve our voices, our writing, our art and all the things we create and love is dangerous. For the things that exist solely in virtual form, the things that are important and/or can't be redone from scratch or replaced, everyone needs a backup plan.
So what are you doing to protect yourself and your virtual property? Have you used any online services that you've found helpful (and free or cheap?) Let us know in comments.
Publishing also now conducts most of business with writers virtually; correspondence, contracts, manuscripts, cover art, copy-edits and even some galleys are created and worked on in electronic form. This is not a bad thing, either. After fourteen years of wrestling with six to eight pound manuscripts and waiting on the postal service during production, I'm quite happy we've gone virtual.
What occasionally gives me nightmares is what would happen if some manner of catastrophe silenced or erased all the things we've entrusted to virtual form. In a way this has already happened to me once; many years ago I lost three computers on the same day, and eight years of my writing, art and photographs simply vanished. That included about fifty manuscripts I'd never bothered to print out. Eventually I recovered everything, but it taught me a valuable lesson. Ever since that disaster I've been making multiple back ups and hard copies of everything I do, and storing other virtual copies on flash drives elsewhere. Naturally that's no guarantee it will survive a major catastrophe, but it's the only creative insurance we've got.
Btw, have you backed up your files lately? If you haven't, do it now, and make a commitment to doing the same at least once a week. Trust me, you never want to face losing any work, much less eight years of it.
It takes time to put things into physical form, time no one seems to have anymore -- even me. Whenever I visit an old internet bookmark and find a site with content that I used or liked has vanished, it's almost always one that I never bothered to print out or save in electronic form or hard copy. One of my favorite sites of all time recently disappeared, and I tried to e-mail the owner to see if I could get copies of the content. The e-mail bounced back, unread, and since the owner lives on the other side of the planet I can't exactly go over, knock on his door and ask what happened.
While the virtual world is fast and convenient and hardly any trouble at all, it's also vulnerable. As busy as we are these days, we tend to forget this. Depending solely on it to preserve our voices, our writing, our art and all the things we create and love is dangerous. For the things that exist solely in virtual form, the things that are important and/or can't be redone from scratch or replaced, everyone needs a backup plan.
So what are you doing to protect yourself and your virtual property? Have you used any online services that you've found helpful (and free or cheap?) Let us know in comments.
May 14, 2012
Found at B&N
Over the weekend I got a chance to visit the big Barnes & Noble store in my region, and in the process found a trio of interesting things:Creative Journal Writing ~ the art and heart of reflection by Stephanie Dowrick: I have plenty of books on journal-making and journal art, but not too many on journal content, so this caught my eye immediately. I'm working my way through it slowly, but from what I've already read it's a bit like a journal coach, in that it helps you get started, gives you reasons to keep going and offers some interesting directions to follow. I like the writers who actually journal are frequently quoted in the book; I tend to relate better to someone else who is actually working at the same thing. The author is an Australian writer who according to her bio is a #1 bestseller of fiction and nonfiction in her country ($14.95).
Tree-Free Journal: The cover of this blank book provocatively informs the buyer that it's made from recycled underwear and tee-shirt scraps (from a manufacturer of the same, so we can assume these clothing items were unused.) Although no trees were harmed during the making of this journal, it does look and feel just like a real book with real paper pages. This one was made in India by World Paper Inc., which supports traditional crafts through development and trade ($9.95).
The Writer's Chronicle Magazine: This is the Summer 2012 issue of a magazine for writers I've never before seen, so naturally I had to test-drive an issue. It's big and glossy and well put together, and there are pages upon pages of contests, grants, sub ops, conferences, etc. The articles were a mix of topics; one about author Shirley Jackson's distinguished and all-but-forgotten husband, an interview with a prize-winning literary author, and one pretty neat piece on modes of conveying emotion in writing. It's kind of a cross between The Writer and Poets & Writers minus the obnoxious bits, and I like the market listings most of all, so now I'm thinking about subscribing to it. Ironically, unlike every other magazine I buy or subscribe to, there were no mail-away subscription cards in the issue ($5.95).
What interesting things have you found at your local brick-and-mortar lately? Share some with us in comments.
May 13, 2012
Build Your World Ten
Ten Things About World-Building
Stephanie Cottrell Bryant's 30 Days of World building tutorial can be read online or downloaded in several different formats, and covers a range of topics interesting to world builders.
Denyse "Domynoe" Loeb's Alden.nu has five world-building outlines along with tons of other templates and lessons here.
Evidently pantsers can world-build, too, just in reverse: Kat Zhang's Backwards Worldbuilding .
Encyclopedia Mythica offers info and articles from A to Z on mythology, folklore and religion to help inspire and populate your fictional worlds.
How to Draw Nice Maps
Kathy Steffen's article Jump-Start Your Imagination: Creative Writing Exercises for Worldbuilding offers a list of questions you answer about your world as building exercise.
Loren J. Miller's Mythopoets Manual covers in exquisite detail the many things writers might consider when writing the multi-cultural fictional setting.
Orion's Arm states their manifesto as "...to inspire writers, artists and thinkers. To create a vision of the future that is plausible at every level, internally consistent and abides by the accepted facts and theories in the physical, biological, and social sciences." Some decent examples for hard SF world-builders.
For obscure words and vocabulary resources, you can't do much better online than The Phrontistery (warning, wordsmiths, highly addicting site.)
Charmaine Clancy's W is for World Building Workshop can be read online or downloaded in .pdf format.
Stephanie Cottrell Bryant's 30 Days of World building tutorial can be read online or downloaded in several different formats, and covers a range of topics interesting to world builders.
Denyse "Domynoe" Loeb's Alden.nu has five world-building outlines along with tons of other templates and lessons here.
Evidently pantsers can world-build, too, just in reverse: Kat Zhang's Backwards Worldbuilding .
Encyclopedia Mythica offers info and articles from A to Z on mythology, folklore and religion to help inspire and populate your fictional worlds.
How to Draw Nice Maps
Kathy Steffen's article Jump-Start Your Imagination: Creative Writing Exercises for Worldbuilding offers a list of questions you answer about your world as building exercise.
Loren J. Miller's Mythopoets Manual covers in exquisite detail the many things writers might consider when writing the multi-cultural fictional setting.
Orion's Arm states their manifesto as "...to inspire writers, artists and thinkers. To create a vision of the future that is plausible at every level, internally consistent and abides by the accepted facts and theories in the physical, biological, and social sciences." Some decent examples for hard SF world-builders.
For obscure words and vocabulary resources, you can't do much better online than The Phrontistery (warning, wordsmiths, highly addicting site.)
Charmaine Clancy's W is for World Building Workshop can be read online or downloaded in .pdf format.
May 12, 2012
May 11, 2012
Sub Ops
Got a trio of interesting sub ops for you guys today:
Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing has an open call for their Urban Green Man anthology: For this anthology we seek fantastic stories involving the mythology of the Green Man in any form (which includes the Green Woman). While the mythology is predominantly European, the setting is not limited to that region. Also, stories MUST be Fantastical, ripe with the magic of the archetype. We want urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy; no science fiction or steampunk please. And while Jack in the Green, the horned god and many other myths in conjunction with the Green Man are acceptable, the closer you are to using pure Green Man mythology the better." Length: up to 5K (shorter stories preferred); Payment: 3½¢/word, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: November 30th, 2012.
SFWA-approved market RedStone Science Fiction is reopening to subs on June 1st, 2012, and would like to see ". . . science fiction, anything from post-cyberpunk to new space opera. We do not want supernatural horror, urban or heroic fantasy. No vampires, sparkly or otherwise." [PBW: Sniff] Length 750 words to 4K (firm on max.) Payment: ".05 per word, on publication". No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.
World Weaver Press has an open call for their Specter Spectacular anthology: "World Weaver Press seeks new and previously published short fiction in the vein of the classic ghost story for themed anthology, SPECTER SPECTACULAR, to be published fall 2012 as ebook and print edition with online distribution. Spirits, hauntings, specters, boggarts, poltergeists — give us your best ghosts and spooky whatnots! Scary or funny, tragic or redemptive — we’re looking for the full spectrum. We’ll be looking for at least one funny piece to end the anthology. Anthology will be published fall 2012, but stories don’t need to be Halloween themed. We hope writers will draw inspiration from such classics as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, A Christmas Carol, The Woman in Black, The Haunting of Hill House, Annabel Lee or others, but we are not (necessarily) looking for retellings of those tales. This is not an anthology for slashers, serial killers, zombies, vampires, or other undead creatures (their World Weaver Press anthology will come one day; this is not that day)." Length: 1K-10K; Payment: $5.00 advance against royalties; Reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: July 7, 2012
Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing has an open call for their Urban Green Man anthology: For this anthology we seek fantastic stories involving the mythology of the Green Man in any form (which includes the Green Woman). While the mythology is predominantly European, the setting is not limited to that region. Also, stories MUST be Fantastical, ripe with the magic of the archetype. We want urban fantasy or contemporary fantasy; no science fiction or steampunk please. And while Jack in the Green, the horned god and many other myths in conjunction with the Green Man are acceptable, the closer you are to using pure Green Man mythology the better." Length: up to 5K (shorter stories preferred); Payment: 3½¢/word, no reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: November 30th, 2012.
SFWA-approved market RedStone Science Fiction is reopening to subs on June 1st, 2012, and would like to see ". . . science fiction, anything from post-cyberpunk to new space opera. We do not want supernatural horror, urban or heroic fantasy. No vampires, sparkly or otherwise." [PBW: Sniff] Length 750 words to 4K (firm on max.) Payment: ".05 per word, on publication". No reprints, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details.
World Weaver Press has an open call for their Specter Spectacular anthology: "World Weaver Press seeks new and previously published short fiction in the vein of the classic ghost story for themed anthology, SPECTER SPECTACULAR, to be published fall 2012 as ebook and print edition with online distribution. Spirits, hauntings, specters, boggarts, poltergeists — give us your best ghosts and spooky whatnots! Scary or funny, tragic or redemptive — we’re looking for the full spectrum. We’ll be looking for at least one funny piece to end the anthology. Anthology will be published fall 2012, but stories don’t need to be Halloween themed. We hope writers will draw inspiration from such classics as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, A Christmas Carol, The Woman in Black, The Haunting of Hill House, Annabel Lee or others, but we are not (necessarily) looking for retellings of those tales. This is not an anthology for slashers, serial killers, zombies, vampires, or other undead creatures (their World Weaver Press anthology will come one day; this is not that day)." Length: 1K-10K; Payment: $5.00 advance against royalties; Reprints okay, electronic submissions only, see guidelines for more details. Deadline: July 7, 2012
May 10, 2012
First Look
Here's the cover art for Nightbred, book two in my Lords of the Darkyn trilogy, to be released in December (and can now be preordered at B&N.com here.)
May 9, 2012
Body Double & BAM Haul
I was reading an article about how we see our own body size that included a link to My Body Gallery, a site that shows photos of real women's bodies (not nude or lascivious in any way, just real-life gals.) The cool thing about it is that you can search the photos by height, weight, pant size, shirt size and body type (pear, banana, apple or hourglass) in order to find photos of women with a matching body type. This could be helpful when you're writing a female character whose physical stats don't match your own or anyone you know. With this site you can get a good look at real women who are a body double of your character, which will help you write more accurate, realistic descriptions.
Now if they only had one for real men . . . .
Yesterday I cured a minor case of the blues by making a run to BAM and finding a half-dozen books I wanted: two books as gifts for friends (which I'm not naming or showing you because both read the blog and they're just going to have to wait until the party), and four new releases for me: Mary Balogh's The Proposal, Gail Carriger's Timeless, Sofie Kelly's Copycat Killing and Shiloh Walker's Hunter's Rise. Should keep me curled up and happy through the weekend, which proves there is no better way to shop for prezzies and shake off doldrums at the same time than a visit to the bookstore.
Have you guys picked up any new releases you've been impatiently waiting on? Share some titles in comments.
Now if they only had one for real men . . . .
Yesterday I cured a minor case of the blues by making a run to BAM and finding a half-dozen books I wanted: two books as gifts for friends (which I'm not naming or showing you because both read the blog and they're just going to have to wait until the party), and four new releases for me: Mary Balogh's The Proposal, Gail Carriger's Timeless, Sofie Kelly's Copycat Killing and Shiloh Walker's Hunter's Rise. Should keep me curled up and happy through the weekend, which proves there is no better way to shop for prezzies and shake off doldrums at the same time than a visit to the bookstore.Have you guys picked up any new releases you've been impatiently waiting on? Share some titles in comments.
May 8, 2012
World Sources
Most of my story ideas begin with a character, but occasionally something else sparks my imagination: music (Blade Dancer), dreams (If Angels Burn) and art (Nightborn.) Regarding the latter, every year I go to a particular art show to see John Galbo, one of my favorite artists. His work is a constant source of inspiration for mine, and it was one of his gorgeous photos of the French countryside, Le Mistral, that initially gave me the idea for Nightborn.
The three elements in Le Mistral are very simple but striking: a field of lavender ready to be harvested, a lovely old manor house, and a storm brewing over the mountains in the distance. Whenever I've looked at this print on the wall in my office, I've always wondered who lived in that house, and how many storms they've weathered. One day I decided to answer those questions, and wrote the first outline for Nightborn.
Finding inspiration with which you can build an entire world isn't difficult as long as you pay close attention to your reactions to it. Does the source invoke a strong emotional response in you? This is important, and it should be passionate enough to keep you from being distracted by other bright, shiny ideas. Also, your passion will translate onto the page and communicate itself to the reader; not something you ever want to be tepid. Are you curious about the source? For you to base a world on something, there should a significant storytelling opportunity already there, looking you in the eye, and you should really want to jump on it. And finally, are you willing to take the time to explore it? You can't build a world in one day or with one glance, so you have to make a commitment. Outlining, researching, drafting -- you're looking at months, even years of work here.
Revisiting the point about emotional response: you can build your world based on anything -- I once wrote a 100K+ novel inspired solely by the words carnival geek -- but if you're not passionate about the source of your inspiration, you're probably going to lose interest in it. If you think of world-building as a love affair between your imagination and the object of its affections, then you can better judge whether or not to dive in. You don't fall in love based on a nice, lukewarm, ho-hum response to something, nor should you world-build that way.
The three elements in Le Mistral are very simple but striking: a field of lavender ready to be harvested, a lovely old manor house, and a storm brewing over the mountains in the distance. Whenever I've looked at this print on the wall in my office, I've always wondered who lived in that house, and how many storms they've weathered. One day I decided to answer those questions, and wrote the first outline for Nightborn.
Finding inspiration with which you can build an entire world isn't difficult as long as you pay close attention to your reactions to it. Does the source invoke a strong emotional response in you? This is important, and it should be passionate enough to keep you from being distracted by other bright, shiny ideas. Also, your passion will translate onto the page and communicate itself to the reader; not something you ever want to be tepid. Are you curious about the source? For you to base a world on something, there should a significant storytelling opportunity already there, looking you in the eye, and you should really want to jump on it. And finally, are you willing to take the time to explore it? You can't build a world in one day or with one glance, so you have to make a commitment. Outlining, researching, drafting -- you're looking at months, even years of work here.
Revisiting the point about emotional response: you can build your world based on anything -- I once wrote a 100K+ novel inspired solely by the words carnival geek -- but if you're not passionate about the source of your inspiration, you're probably going to lose interest in it. If you think of world-building as a love affair between your imagination and the object of its affections, then you can better judge whether or not to dive in. You don't fall in love based on a nice, lukewarm, ho-hum response to something, nor should you world-build that way.
May 7, 2012
Winner
I appreciate all the terrific recs you guys offered on writing how-tos; there were several titles I haven't yet read, and I always think it's neat to see which books work for other writers.
We revved up the magic hat, and the winner of the Practical Guides giveaway is:
Anne V., who recommends How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card.
Anne, when you have a chance please send the title you'd like for your BookWish, your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com. My thanks to everyone for joining in.
We revved up the magic hat, and the winner of the Practical Guides giveaway is:
Anne V., who recommends How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card.
Anne, when you have a chance please send the title you'd like for your BookWish, your full name and ship-to info to LynnViehl@aol.com. My thanks to everyone for joining in.
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