Michael Swanwick's Blog, page 84
April 26, 2019
Read the First Chapter of the Iron Dragon's Mother--Free!
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The promotional season (had you noticed?) for The Iron Dragon's Mother has begun! Over at Tor.com, they've posted the first chapter for anyone who wishes a taste to read for free.
But before you do... I should say here that my novel is filled with flying mechanical dragons, fights to the death, the birth of a locomotive, passion, intrigue, excitement, and adventure..
I mention this because the first chapter is a careful depiction of an old woman dying in the hospital. When I told this to Paul Park, he smiled in that gentle, tolerant way of his, and said, "You really know what the fans want, Michael."
By which he meant that it might not be the most commercial possible opening to a novel.
Touche. Also mea culpa. But when your chief goal is not money but too simply write the best book you are capable of writing, you have to go where the muse leads. And in this case, she told me to let the reader know what a remarkable woman was dying and how deserving or not she was of the adventure she was about to find herself in. So I set out to bring Helen V., the dying woman, as vividly to life as possible. I hope I succeeded. But that's a judgement for the reader to make.
Now that you know all that, you can if you wish read the first chapter here.
And today's picture from the Image Book is . . .
This particular collage, I think, speaks for itself. I hope so anyway because I tried several times to explain it and finally had to give up.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 60 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.
*
The promotional season (had you noticed?) for The Iron Dragon's Mother has begun! Over at Tor.com, they've posted the first chapter for anyone who wishes a taste to read for free.
But before you do... I should say here that my novel is filled with flying mechanical dragons, fights to the death, the birth of a locomotive, passion, intrigue, excitement, and adventure..
I mention this because the first chapter is a careful depiction of an old woman dying in the hospital. When I told this to Paul Park, he smiled in that gentle, tolerant way of his, and said, "You really know what the fans want, Michael."
By which he meant that it might not be the most commercial possible opening to a novel.
Touche. Also mea culpa. But when your chief goal is not money but too simply write the best book you are capable of writing, you have to go where the muse leads. And in this case, she told me to let the reader know what a remarkable woman was dying and how deserving or not she was of the adventure she was about to find herself in. So I set out to bring Helen V., the dying woman, as vividly to life as possible. I hope I succeeded. But that's a judgement for the reader to make.
Now that you know all that, you can if you wish read the first chapter here.
And today's picture from the Image Book is . . .
This particular collage, I think, speaks for itself. I hope so anyway because I tried several times to explain it and finally had to give up.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 60 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.
*
April 25, 2019
"The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin"
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Some time ago, I contributed a story to Shadows of the New Sun, a festschrift honoring Gene Wolfe. I began "The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin" by taking the first paragraph of Gene's novella "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" and performing a reversal--turning the two brothers into sisters, summer into winter, north to south, and evening to morning. Then I proceeded to write what I think of as a feminist Gene Wolfe story. If a rather horrific one.
I was quite pleased with how it came out.
Now Lightspeed Magazine has reprinted my story. You can red it online here. Or (and I think this would be the wisest course of action), you can go to the magazine here and wander about.
The magazine's editors asked me to "also remind readers that the entire issue is available for purchase for just $3.99, and/or that you can subscribe for just $35.88/year." So... done and done!
And today's extract from the Image Book is . . .
"Giantess"
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 60 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.
*
Some time ago, I contributed a story to Shadows of the New Sun, a festschrift honoring Gene Wolfe. I began "The She-Wolf's Hidden Grin" by taking the first paragraph of Gene's novella "The Fifth Head of Cerberus" and performing a reversal--turning the two brothers into sisters, summer into winter, north to south, and evening to morning. Then I proceeded to write what I think of as a feminist Gene Wolfe story. If a rather horrific one.
I was quite pleased with how it came out.
Now Lightspeed Magazine has reprinted my story. You can red it online here. Or (and I think this would be the wisest course of action), you can go to the magazine here and wander about.
The magazine's editors asked me to "also remind readers that the entire issue is available for purchase for just $3.99, and/or that you can subscribe for just $35.88/year." So... done and done!
And today's extract from the Image Book is . . .
"Giantess"
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 60 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.
*
April 24, 2019
Lady Moon
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I collaged two images to make this one. Lady Moon isn't in the The Iron Dragon's Mother but she's definitely somewhere in that universe. It's pleasant to see her in an interior for a change.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 60 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.
*
I collaged two images to make this one. Lady Moon isn't in the The Iron Dragon's Mother but she's definitely somewhere in that universe. It's pleasant to see her in an interior for a change.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 60 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.
*
April 23, 2019
Pinup Girl
.
The trouble with looking for images of women in art magazines is that most of them are made by men, so they tend to be sexy and/or glamorous, rather than profoundly disturbing. So I pasted an animal head over the picture, changing it rather a lot.
And why, you ask, was I specifically looking for images of women? I was thinking about the fact in the fiction, I grew up reading, both genre and mainstream, the default gender was male. If there was a reason for a character to be female she was. Otherwise, the stained glass artisan, doctor, chemist, or baker was male. This resulted in fictional worlds where, inexplicably, there were many times more men than women.
So I decided to reverse that and see what happened. I determined to make the default gender female.
It was an interesting experiment, but since we're still in the pre-verbal stages of The Iron Dragon's Mother, I'll discuss what came of that at some later date.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 61days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.
*
The trouble with looking for images of women in art magazines is that most of them are made by men, so they tend to be sexy and/or glamorous, rather than profoundly disturbing. So I pasted an animal head over the picture, changing it rather a lot.
And why, you ask, was I specifically looking for images of women? I was thinking about the fact in the fiction, I grew up reading, both genre and mainstream, the default gender was male. If there was a reason for a character to be female she was. Otherwise, the stained glass artisan, doctor, chemist, or baker was male. This resulted in fictional worlds where, inexplicably, there were many times more men than women.
So I decided to reverse that and see what happened. I determined to make the default gender female.
It was an interesting experiment, but since we're still in the pre-verbal stages of The Iron Dragon's Mother, I'll discuss what came of that at some later date.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 61days. To draw attention to this fact, I'm serializing the Image Book I made to help me imagine a strange world for the book.
*
Another Page from the Image Book
.
Two more images. The top one is a painting by Linda Yuscavage.
Want to make a woman's face look creepy? Remove her mouth. Or, as in this case, her eyes. I posted that picture upside-down to slow down recognition because taken straight such an image tends to become allegorical. And I didn't want any allegorical imagery in my novel. I wanted funhouse mirror imagery, distortions that would make the reader think about their relationships to the original and derive their own conclusions. Because I respect my readers.
Spoon-feeding is for infants.
And as often . . .
I've lost track of how many requests I've gotten in the past week, all saying, "I apologize for the short deadline but..." So I may not be posting anything other than these images this week. I apologize for that and I'll try to make it up to you later.
After I get caught up.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 62 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.
*
Two more images. The top one is a painting by Linda Yuscavage.
Want to make a woman's face look creepy? Remove her mouth. Or, as in this case, her eyes. I posted that picture upside-down to slow down recognition because taken straight such an image tends to become allegorical. And I didn't want any allegorical imagery in my novel. I wanted funhouse mirror imagery, distortions that would make the reader think about their relationships to the original and derive their own conclusions. Because I respect my readers.
Spoon-feeding is for infants.
And as often . . .
I've lost track of how many requests I've gotten in the past week, all saying, "I apologize for the short deadline but..." So I may not be posting anything other than these images this week. I apologize for that and I'll try to make it up to you later.
After I get caught up.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 62 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.
*
April 22, 2019
Blood Rabbit
.
Of this image, all I can say is that the character is not the same as Rabbit in The Iron Dragon's Mother.
I think of the blood rabbit as being my spirit animal. I have a photo of myself with one somewhere.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 63 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.
*
Of this image, all I can say is that the character is not the same as Rabbit in The Iron Dragon's Mother.
I think of the blood rabbit as being my spirit animal. I have a photo of myself with one somewhere.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 63 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.
*
April 21, 2019
Fox and Tea
.
This is from the same art magazine as yesterday's image. I can't tell you which one, however, because I don't remember. It fits well within one of the themes of the novel, which is storytelling. (Also deceit, but pretty much all fiction trades in that.) I think even back then I knew that the overall plot would be of a fairy tale--though not in the way you might expect.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 64 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.
*
This is from the same art magazine as yesterday's image. I can't tell you which one, however, because I don't remember. It fits well within one of the themes of the novel, which is storytelling. (Also deceit, but pretty much all fiction trades in that.) I think even back then I knew that the overall plot would be of a fairy tale--though not in the way you might expect.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 64 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.
*
April 20, 2019
Two Hands
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This is taken straight from an art magazine. There is a suggestion of spirituality which fits well into the world I was building.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 6* 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.
8
This is taken straight from an art magazine. There is a suggestion of spirituality which fits well into the world I was building.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 6* 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.
8
April 19, 2019
Salamander and Flower Horse
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The top image is marked "Salamander." The middle left image is marked "Stone and eggs." The bottom image is marked "Flower Horse." None of them, I believe, made it into The Iron Dragon's Mother.
What I was reaching for here was not only characters but also items or creatures or situations that might fit into the novel. The images are still inchoate, still yearning to be transformed into word.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 66 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.
*
The top image is marked "Salamander." The middle left image is marked "Stone and eggs." The bottom image is marked "Flower Horse." None of them, I believe, made it into The Iron Dragon's Mother.
What I was reaching for here was not only characters but also items or creatures or situations that might fit into the novel. The images are still inchoate, still yearning to be transformed into word.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 66 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.
*
April 18, 2019
Inwit
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This image, taken from an art magazine I suspect, I titled "Inwit" or conscience. On the side, I wrote, "It is all faces and hands." Which is a crucial insight, maybe, into the art of characterization.
It's the white eyes that make this image so creepy.
And as always . . .
I'm on the road again. If anything happens, I'll let you know.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 67 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.
I
This image, taken from an art magazine I suspect, I titled "Inwit" or conscience. On the side, I wrote, "It is all faces and hands." Which is a crucial insight, maybe, into the art of characterization.
It's the white eyes that make this image so creepy.
And as always . . .
I'm on the road again. If anything happens, I'll let you know.
Above: For those who came in late, my latest novel, The Iron Dragon's Mother, will be published in 67 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.
I
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