Michael Swanwick's Blog, page 83

The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein

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I haven't the time to review  Farah Mendlesohn's crowdsourced book, The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein, alas. But I wanted to at least note its existence. Mendlesohn's stated intention was to examine everything that Heinlein wrote and find out what he was really up to--what his intentions were--rather than by her own criteria.

I think it's a terrific book.

The single most important insight Mendlesohn has is that while we all thought of Heinlein as being a science fiction writer, he saw himself as being a satirist in the tradition of Mark Twain. This explains so much! It explains why he and the SF community were so often at odds, the frequency with which he confounded our expectations, and that strange drifting-away into bestsellerdom at the end of his career.

The problem was (and this is me speaking now, now Farah) that as a science fiction writer, Heinlein rocked.As a satirist, not so much. Ah, well. The man invested his life as he saw best. Second-buessing him at this point avails us nothing.

Most of Mendlesohn's findings or conclusions are, I think, solid. The emphasis Heinlein put into creating families is close to undeniable. Once or twice, I think the book succumbs to thesis-creep. I honestly don't think that Heinlein saw the protagonists of T unnel in the Sky and Glory Road as failures because they don't wind up creating families at the ends of their novels. A writer doesn't have to fit all of his thematic obsessions into every book he writes.

But that's just my two cents and you needn't take it too seriously. As I said, I haven't the time to seriously review tis book. At any rate, I recommend it highly.


And today's page from the Image Book .. . .




This one has to be from a fashion magazine rather than an art mag. It's just too weird. Whoever it is--Fata Narcisse, maybe?--she's definitely high elven.



Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 50 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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Sunday's Page from the Image Book

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Things are starting to move! This is a publicity photo of Helen V. from her younger days. Back then, she was a vibrant, exciting woman who had her share of men and made her share of mistakes. But she wasn't glamorous looking. She didn't need to be. She was on the production side of the camera.

(When I identify a character, I should mention, the picture isn't supposed to be taken literally. Helen may or may not have looked like this. But the picture says something about her character, her inner self, and that's useful to me when the time comes to write about her.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 51 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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Saturday's Page from the Image Book

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There was always a possibility that Caitlin (the final name for the protagonist; the first several just felt wrong; but that's all in the future at this point) would have a drinking problem. A lot of likable people do. But in the actual writing that never came up and good for her. The other image was of a possible friend. She may have ended up as one of Caitlin's fellow dragon pilots.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 52 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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Friday's Page from the Image Book

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Ive started falling behind again. I can only plead busy-ness, the details of which are probably more interesting to me than they would be to you. So let's cut right to the chase.

The snake was pasted into the notebook because it looked so much like an alchemical symbol--for infinity-and-a-half, perhaps. I wanted the fictional metaphysics of the novel to go beyond the metaphysics of our own world.

This image, perhaps, inspired the later relationship between Faerie, the Empyrean, and Aerth.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 53 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.

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Yesterday's Post: Another Scribbledehobbledehoyden Hits the Shelf

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I finished a notebook the other day and, for the sake of those who enjoy trivia, thought I'd share it with you. Long ago, when I was young, I named my notebook Scribbledehobbledehoyden because James Joyce's notebook was named Scribbledehob and I was young and pretentious. The plural of my coinage is Scribbledehobbledehoydenii just because that makes the whole thing even more so.
I have no idea how many notebooks I've filled in my time--hundreds, probably. And when I finish them, if I remember, I give each one an individual name. So this particular Scribbledehobbledehoyden, which runs from March 18, 2019 through April 27, 2019. It's named  The Devil's Own Day.
And that's all, really. Now the thing goes on the shelf, waiting for the day when muster the energy to fill a cardboard with notebooks and put them in the attic with their brethren.

Murder in the Spook House... A New Mongolian Wizard Story!

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It's been too long since one of my Mongolian Wizard stories has appeared. But the long drought is over! "Murder in the Spook House" is now live at Tor.com.

This one is a simple murder case--an isolated locale, a limited number of suspects, and an annoying character from one of the earlier stories. Ahhhh, but wait 'til you see who's been killed.

You can read the story here. Or, if you're new to the series and in the mood to binge, all the stories can be found in order here. Every word of 'them free.

And every one of them illustrated by Gregory Manchess. I love his work and I'm grateful for that.


Meanwhile, back in the Image Book . . .



This is a lovely image. I admire the gentleness of it. There are aspects of this world that are very appealing.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 55 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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The Thin Man

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Slenderman. He didn't make it into my novel because I'm not big on celebrity cameos.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 56 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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Rabbit Redux

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Rabbit again. I suspect he's some variant of trickster. He keeps popping up up where he's not expected.

Or invited, for that matter.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 57  days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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Flight

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An early attempt to establish what it's like to fly an iron dragon through Hell Gate. From the perspective of the pilot or the dragon, it makes no difference.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 58 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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Another Collage

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Another collage. I folded the woman's face to make her stranger and pasted her over a secondary image to suggest an internal double nature to her. Not a good/evil dichotomy sort of thing. More the contradictory personalities we all hold within ourselves.

At this point, I still haven't found a character for the novel yet, though.


Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 59 days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.


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