Patrice Sarath's Blog, page 29
July 16, 2012
Upcoming events
I’ve got a couple of local events I wanted to share:
July 19, 7 pm. Writer’s League of Texas Third Thursday Series
Past Tense: The Art of Crafting Historical Fiction
Panelists include Carol Dawson, Kathleen Y’Barbo, and Lynette Sowell
Come on out for a discussion on research and writing
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July 27-29, ArmadilloCon, Austin, Texas
Renaissance Hotel, Austin
I’m looking forward to both events. Hope to see you there!
July 12, 2012
Review: Heroic Fantasy Quarterly
I like a ripping yarn. In fact, I love a ripping yarn. This is what Heroic Fantasy Quarterly aims to provide. HFQ is, like Black Gate, dedicated to the old-fashioned sword-and-sorcery, epic, Conanesque-but-not-a-pastiche, fantasy. There aren’t many magazines that offer this kind of fantasy. I love fantasy in the real world as much as the next girl, but it doesn’t offer the same sense of wonder that those books gave me when I was a preteen and teen.
S&S has fallen out of favor and actually it’s for good reason — not because it’s silly or cliched but because it’s really hard to do well. We’ve gotten out of practice at both writing and reading these kinds of stories, especially in the short story realm, but we still do know a good one when it comes along.
I’m glad that HFQ is dedicated to the genre. We can’t just leave it up to Michael Moorcock, G.R.R. Martin, and Fritz Leiber reprints. We need newcomers to take up the gauntlet.
Here are my observations on the stories and poems in Issue 13.
A Game of Chess, by Dave Pillig. In this Arthurian tale, Sir Kay has to pull Sir Gawain’s fat from the fire when the rowdy knight gets in over his head. It has a pleasant, modern tone while telling a story that is wholly believable as a knight’s gest. The Fae are wicked and dangerous, exactly as the Good Folk should be. How Sir Kay fares in the chess game of the title I’ll leave you to discover for yourself, but the story conceals a crucial bit of information which, while not causing it to fall flat, made me wish that I didn’t have to wonder if I missed something.
Renegade, by Alex Marshall. A nihilistic dark fantasy, Renegade follows the story of Dyer, a mysterious stranger who approaches a blind priestess for help in finding a relic that will allow him to be forgiven for his misdeeds. This story didn’t work for me — it had the trappings of sword and sorcery but none of the heart. However it wins for some over-the-top description: “Dyer’s lips writhed back from his teeth and one eye twitched as he glowered about him.” If you love this, Renegade is your story. I kind of admire it, actually.
Dance Upon Sand, by Seamus Bayne. This is a sequel to Bayne’s Crown of Sorrows, in the previous issue. Ordwin has been made a beast-man by an evil king and seeks revenge. This carried me right along with good, solid storytelling with a setting that was reminiscent of Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser stories (frankly, these are the standard by which I measure all sword-and-sorcery). It felt right, although I did not like the ending. Authors, man. Sometimes I just don’t know what to do with them.
Poetry
“Advice on the Slaying of Wurms,” by Michelle Muenzler, stayed with me long after I read it.
“Advent of an Apocalypse” by Bethany Powell had a lyrical beauty.
HFQ is free to read and the back issues are up. Check it out — there’s good stuff there, including some gorgeous artwork in the banner across the top by Jonas Jakobsson.
July 10, 2012
The writing life — various and sundry
Sometimes I feel like I should start every blog post the way Jim Anchower does: (“Ola, amigos, it’s been a while since I rapped at ya…”) True fact: my former cow-orker had a photo of Jim Anchower in a picture frame on his desk; the very same picture frame that his five-year company award certificate came in.
Anyway.
I allowed myself to get sidetracked by a lot of things this month. In particular, marketing The Crow God’s Girl, which had been taking up a lot of energy. I finally resorted to the one trick that gets me producing words again — I cleaned my office. I had forgotten how that creates a new space for a new project. There’s a reason metaphors are powerful (clean sweep, etc.) Also, the office was an insane mess. I don’t know how anybody could have gotten anything done with all that crap just staring at you.
A few links: I had the privilege of reading an ARC of Beth Bernobich’s latest book Queen’s Hunt. You can find my review on Goodreads here. Beth is hosting a giveaway on her blog of both Queen’s Hunt and Passion Play. Help her spread the word and get a chance to win a copy of both books
Katy Stauber’s latest book, Spin the Sky, is out. I had so much fun reading Revolution World, her first novel, and I’m really looking forward to this one.
I’m going to have some giveaways and fun things coming up shortly so stay tuned.
Finally, it’s raining in Texas, a long slow soaking rain. We walked to Black Star Co-op to eat and had a great time visiting with friends, and then it just kept raining so we walked home and got drenched. You don’t know how truly marvelous that feels. Rain. in July. In Texas. I almost got a little cold.
I’ll try to blog long before the next rain. Because having to open with Jim Anchower is a little embarrassing.
July 3, 2012
Brave — a review
Finally, a fairy tale for girls. And their mothers.
I’ve been thinking a lot about fairy tales, partly because of the Snow White panel at ApolloCon and partly because fairy tales are such an archetypal form of storytelling that I’m always thinking about them just because. Some of the concepts we batted around on the panel come up over and over in literature and in literary criticism. After all, what is Snow White but the fairy tale concept of “fridging” told from the girl in the refrigerator’s point of view? (Not that fairy tale princesses really have a point of view.)
I’ve also been thinking a lot about mothers and daughters. The more I consider fairy stories, especially the princess stories,the more I see they are profoundly and deeply about mothers and daughters and passing the torch. In fairy tales, that passing is ugly and bitter. I believe it is Bruno Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment that points out that the mother in fairytales is the same as the stepmother. The loving mother disappears and the witch, the enchantress, the crone, takes her place. The evil woman jealous of her daughter’s youth and beauty and vibrancy seeks to take it away, eat her heart, kill her rival.
But in Brave, the story doesn’t go there. The mother-daughter bond must be broken so Merida can grow up, but her mother, Elinor, is not jealous of Merida’s pending independence. She is trying to foster it. She knows her daughter is on the cusp of growing up and taking her place in the world, and she wants to guide her on that journey. Now, like many mothers (cough cough) she thinks Merida’s path is the same as hers, and it is only through the events in the movie that she comes to realize that Merida needs her own path. The scene where Elinor is signing to her daughter what she needs to say to the lairds is so sweet and heartfelt — she figuratively hands over to Merida her power.
And note what Elinor wants for Merida. She doesn’t want her to be a princess. She wants her to be a queen. She wants Merida to have her power. If we see this as controlling and imprisoning, we aren’t really seeing what her mother has accomplished. Elinor is powerful (and no wonder her name is Elinor; a nod to that greatest of Eleanors, of Aquitaine). In Catherynne Valente’s Deathless, this theme comes up too — the protagonist Marye is swept away by Koschei, the Tsar of the land of the ever-living, but she is always a princess, never a queen. Queens have power; princesses don’t.
Brave is such a hopeful, nurturing fairy tale and it’s a fairy tale for our time, for the women we are and the women we want our daughters to become. When the time is right, we want to do what mothers do now and forever — make our children ready for their lives as adults, even if it means they have to follow their own path and not ours.
July 2, 2012
The Crow God’s Girl 75% off at Smashwords
Hey readers, use coupon code SSW75 to get The Crow God’s Girl for a dollar at Smashwords. This is for the month of July only.
What I liked: Kate goes through a beautiful transformation from a young girl struggling under the rules of a patriarchal society to a strong woman who makes her own path. I love seeing how her understanding of her new world changes, and particularly the way in which her view of the crows changes. Most of all I love how everything weaves together in the end of the book. As I said above, I couldn’t put it down.
The Crow God's Girl -- 75% off coupon
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
June 30, 2012
The Crow God’s Girl giveaway on Black Gate
Hey readers,
Check out my post on Black Gate’s web site and comment over there for a chance to win a copy of The Crow God’s Girl.
Going Digital with The Crow God’s Girl
An excerpt:
The Crow God’s Girl isn’t just a sequel in the Gordath Wood cycle. It’s a standalone novel that can be read first without having to read the other books. The cover helps establish that relationship.
I also wanted a paperback edition. E-readers have changed the landscape of publishing, but there are many readers, such as myself, who still want physical books.
I own a Kindle, but now I enjoy buying books for my bookshelves, the books I know are going to be keepers. So I went with Lulu to self-publish the POD edition.
June 27, 2012
A new word for the writer’s lexicon
Fanfix. N. When fans take it upon themselves to restore order to a beloved (or not so beloved) universe by writing or creating their own work. See, Phantom Edit.
Thanks to Melissa Mead Tyler for her brilliant sugggestion.
It came about because Katherine Sanger was bemoaning the sad sad movie that was Chernobyl Diaries. I suggested that she write a better screenplay, correcting the original’s myriad mistakes. You can read her review here.
Fanfic is touchy, as we discussed at ApolloCon on the fanfic panel. Rie Sheridan Rose and Rhonda Eudaly Simpson and I all agreed that fanfic is a great way to learn the craft but not if a fan is so eager they expect to or try to make money from it. And at some point, a writer has to move out into the world and stand on their own, so their work can in turn be ficced.
June 25, 2012
ApolloCon wrap-up
Me, Cat Osborne, and Katy Pace
As always, I had a blast in Houston this past weekend. At this point I know the drill. After an uneventful drive down 290 to Houston — and it would have taken less time but for the state trooper who apparently decided to drive the entire way alongside me — I checked in and headed for the pool. It felt soooo good. I needed a dip after the long drive and I wanted some exercise to clear my head before my first panel that evening.
Which was — “I Don’t Think I Bend that Way,” a look at the current covers and the wonderful series of posts that Jim Hines (fine fantasy author and all around good guy) did on women on fantasy covers (see Striking a Pose). Katy Pace and Cat Osborne and I and a few early bird guests batted around cover concepts, cover trends, and cover poses, and talked about the role of the cover in selling books and picking up readers.
Meeting author guest Tanya Huff was also a wonderful experience. Tanya’s so nice and professional and funny and smart and thoughtful. We were on the Snow White panel, which was lively to say the least, and very enjoyable. Why fairy tales? Why Snow White? What is the role of fairy tales in the modern days? These are the best kinds of convention panels, the ones that ask the big questions.
Another thoughtful discussion was had on “If I were a rich fan.” If money were no object, what would you fund? Answers ranged all over the place, from genius grants for writers, to workshops for writers to understand the workings of the world, to waste recycling to health care and education. Allocating resources is a huge issue.
Astronaut Stan Love gave a fascinating presentation on going to Mars, and the implacability of the laws of the universe. As he so eloquently illustrated, Nature is a harsh grader. Get 99/100, and you still fail. Miss the transit point and you die a very sad and lonely death in a useless elliptical orbit. You might get a high school named after you, if you are lucky.
After the convention, I stayed around to meet some friends from the city. If you’ve read Gordath Wood, you know that it’s dedicated to my friend Valerie Bullitt, who passed away far too young on a grand adventure. Seeing her family was a wonderful opportunity to catch up. 
She’s never far from my thoughts, and being with her family was a bittersweet moment.
June 21, 2012
My ApolloCon programming schedule for June 22-24
Here's my schedule for the weekend:
Friday 6PM Scottsdale I Don’t Think I Bend That Way
Speculative Fiction art, including comic books and book covers, often
portrays our heroes and heroines in battle poses that emphasize their
sex appeal instead of any practical battle use. Panelists discuss and
demonstrate the impractical and impossible poses we put our characters
through. Osborne, Sarath, Pace
Friday 8PM Seattle I Of Blood Spatters and Fingerprints
No one wants to guess the end of the story after the first few pages.
A satisfying mystery gives you clues that are insightful but not
overly obvious. Logical, but still fantastical enough to thrill the
reader. Our panelists discuss how to walk the fine line between
believability and predictability. Sarath (M), Wells, Crider, Ramirez
Saturday 10am Seattle I Fairest of Them All: The Enduring Allure of Snow White
Lips as red as blood, hair as black as coal, skin as white as snow.
She has graced movie and television screens for decades, and is as
popular as ever, with a television show and not one but two movies
this year alone. Our panelists discuss the draw of Snow White, and
why her legacy has stayed so popular.
Huff(M), Sheridan-Rose, Sarath, Jones
Saturday 2pm Autograph Patrice Sarath, Rosemary Clement-Moore
Saturday 4pm Rm 720 Reading: Patrice Sarath, Rosemary Clement-Moore
Saturday 5pm Seattle I If I Were a Rich Fan
There are thousands of ideas out there, ideas that would revolutionize
our world, which only lack funding. If you were one of the Warren
Buffets, Elon Musks, or Tony Starks of the world, with access to vast
resources, how would you prioritize your funding: helping humanity or
finally getting that flying car? Sarath (M) Dyson, Hale, Simpson
Sunday 10am Seattle II Someone Else’s Sandbox
Panelists discuss the draw of fanfiction as both a desire to explore
more of their favorite fandoms and as a place to hone their writing
skills. Sarath (M), Sheridan-Rose, Eudaly
Sunday noon Scottsdale Best YA You Aren’t Reading
The YA world is full of books and series that at times seem to be
nothing more than clones of one another. But there are also tons of
gems that may not be as easy to find in that sea of sameness. Our
panelists discuss the YA novels that stand out in the crowd, both in
quality and in uniqueness.
Sarath, Hale, Clement-Moore (M)
