Kate Forsyth's Blog, page 59
April 3, 2013
INTERVIEW: Ian Irvine, author of 'Justice'
Ian Irvine is one of Australia's bestselling fantasy authors, and was recently a guest at the Speculative Fiction Festival at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle.
Here, Ian answers my five flash questions:
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What is your latest novel all about?
Only one person can prevent Hightspall from running with blood – an escaped slave called Tali who, as a girl, saw her mother murdered for the magical ebony pearl secretly cultured inside her head. Tali is determined to bring the killers to justice, but then she discovers that she too has an ebony pearl in her head – the master pearl, in fact. And every scoundrel in the land wants to hack it out of her, including the killers.
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How did you get the first idea for it?
As a rule, I don't give much thought to a theme before I begin my books, or even during the writing process. I simply allow a subtle theme or themes to be expressed through the behaviour of the characters.
However in The Tainted Realm I wanted to explore the theme of justice. How far one is entitled to go in the pursuit of justice and, in particular, the point at which its single-minded pursuit tips over into obsession and vengeance. When the character who professes to want justice at all costs begins to act as unjustly as the original perpetrator.
It's been a fascinating exercise.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
That I can write about anything I want, in any place, on any world, in any universe.I love taking my readers to places they've never been before, not even in other fantasy novels, and giving them experiences they've never had before, or even imagined. So in one sense it's the world-building I love though, when it comes down to it, a good story is really about the characters, their seemingly impossible goals, and all the trouble, heartache and pain they experience as they give everything to achieve those goals.
And sometimes succeed … though even when they do, they never get everything they're looking for.
What are the top 5 books you've read recently?
Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project. A professor of genetics with Asperger's Syndrome sets out to find a wife using logic and questionnaires. A very funny and moving book. I loved it.
Michael Benson – Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle. The universe in a series of stunning photographs.
Janet Evanovich – High Five. The fifth in the Stephanie Plum series about a lovable but incompetent bounty hunter.
CJ Sansom – Sovereign. Third in his series about Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer detective in the time of Henry VIII. A masterly storyteller who gets better with each book.
Richard Harland – Liberator. The second book in the series that began with Worldshaker. A brilliant effort.
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
It's the daunting challenge of going back to the world of my first quartet, The View from the Mirror, which I started writing way back in 1987 and worked on solidly, draft after draft, for the next 12 years. It's a much loved series and my most frequently asked question is, 'When are you going to write the sequel you promised well over a decade ago?'
Writing the sequel presents many challenges. That series was written in a more elevated high fantasy style than any of my more recent works, so marrying the new to the old will be tricky. And there's the sequel problem itself. It's hard enough to write good sequels within a series, and there are a lot more bad ones than good ones. But it's far, far harder to write a new series that's a sequel to an existing series.
It's going to be a very interesting year. Actually, three.
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - i LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
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Here, Ian answers my five flash questions:
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What is your latest novel all about?
It's called 'Justice', Book 3 of an epic fantasy trilogy called The Tainted Realm, and it's set in a land, Hightspall, that has been forever tainted by the brutal way it was colonised two thousand years ago (I'm not trying to draw a parallel with Australia's colonial history here). But now the land itself is fighting back with one natural disaster after another, and the long oppressed Cythonian natives know that it's time to take back their country.
Only one person can prevent Hightspall from running with blood – an escaped slave called Tali who, as a girl, saw her mother murdered for the magical ebony pearl secretly cultured inside her head. Tali is determined to bring the killers to justice, but then she discovers that she too has an ebony pearl in her head – the master pearl, in fact. And every scoundrel in the land wants to hack it out of her, including the killers.
In Book 1, 'Vengeance', Tali pursues the killers, and is herself pursued, through a land at war. To avenge her murdered mother she has to take on a wizard-king, Lyf, who first died two thousand years ago.
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In Book 2, 'Rebellion', the enemy have won and are tearing down Hightspall to restore their ancient realm of Cythe. But when Tali discovers that her people face genocide she must confront her darkest fear, a return to slavery, before she can hope to save them.
In Book 3, 'Justice', to give her country a chance of survival, Tali has to choose between gaining justice at any cost, or abandoning her quest and supporting her mother's killer in his darkest hour.
How did you get the first idea for it?
As a rule, I don't give much thought to a theme before I begin my books, or even during the writing process. I simply allow a subtle theme or themes to be expressed through the behaviour of the characters.
However in The Tainted Realm I wanted to explore the theme of justice. How far one is entitled to go in the pursuit of justice and, in particular, the point at which its single-minded pursuit tips over into obsession and vengeance. When the character who professes to want justice at all costs begins to act as unjustly as the original perpetrator.
It's been a fascinating exercise.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
That I can write about anything I want, in any place, on any world, in any universe.I love taking my readers to places they've never been before, not even in other fantasy novels, and giving them experiences they've never had before, or even imagined. So in one sense it's the world-building I love though, when it comes down to it, a good story is really about the characters, their seemingly impossible goals, and all the trouble, heartache and pain they experience as they give everything to achieve those goals.
And sometimes succeed … though even when they do, they never get everything they're looking for.
What are the top 5 books you've read recently?
Graeme Simsion – The Rosie Project. A professor of genetics with Asperger's Syndrome sets out to find a wife using logic and questionnaires. A very funny and moving book. I loved it.
Michael Benson – Far Out: A Space-Time Chronicle. The universe in a series of stunning photographs.
Janet Evanovich – High Five. The fifth in the Stephanie Plum series about a lovable but incompetent bounty hunter.
CJ Sansom – Sovereign. Third in his series about Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer detective in the time of Henry VIII. A masterly storyteller who gets better with each book.
Richard Harland – Liberator. The second book in the series that began with Worldshaker. A brilliant effort.
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
It's the daunting challenge of going back to the world of my first quartet, The View from the Mirror, which I started writing way back in 1987 and worked on solidly, draft after draft, for the next 12 years. It's a much loved series and my most frequently asked question is, 'When are you going to write the sequel you promised well over a decade ago?'
Writing the sequel presents many challenges. That series was written in a more elevated high fantasy style than any of my more recent works, so marrying the new to the old will be tricky. And there's the sequel problem itself. It's hard enough to write good sequels within a series, and there are a lot more bad ones than good ones. But it's far, far harder to write a new series that's a sequel to an existing series.
It's going to be a very interesting year. Actually, three.
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - i LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
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April 2, 2013
BOOKS I READ IN FEBRUARY
I read 10 and a half books in February, bringing my yearly quota to 24.5 books. There's a lot of romance in the list - my favourite was 'The Autumn Bride' by Anne Gracie - plus one of my all-time favourite children's classic, 'The Stone Cage' by Nicholas Stuart Gray, which I have read at least a dozen times (but it never wearies me).
The two stand-out titles for me were 'Scarlet in the Snow' by Sophie Masson and 'The Year of Ancient Ghosts' by Kim Wilkins (both due to be released in May 2013 - lucky me got advance copies!) I also really enjoyed the medieval murder mystery, 'The Queen's Man'by Sharon Penham.
Sharon Penham is best known for her magisterial novels set during the Middle Ages - I haven't read any yet, though I hear they are utterly brilliant - I do plan to get to them eventually. In the meantime, I've started with Sharon Penham-lite. 'The Queen's Man' is the first in a series of mystery novels set during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a figure who has always fascinated me. I enjoyed this a lot, and plan to read more - the world is vividly and accurately portrayed, the characters and the relationships ring true, and the mystery was satisfyingly mysterious. Lovely to find a new medieval mystery series to devour!
(See my Spotlight on Ellis Peters, author of the Cadfaely medieval mysteries, and my interview with Karen Maitland, who writes brilliant medieval supernatural thrillers).
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PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
The two stand-out titles for me were 'Scarlet in the Snow' by Sophie Masson and 'The Year of Ancient Ghosts' by Kim Wilkins (both due to be released in May 2013 - lucky me got advance copies!) I also really enjoyed the medieval murder mystery, 'The Queen's Man'by Sharon Penham.
1. The Lost Duke of Wyndham – Julia Quinn
A frothy Regency romance that was marred for me by being a companion book to an earlier title which I had not read, and so it contained lots of references to things I was obviously meant to know. A lesson in how NOT to write a sequel (or perhaps a lesson in making sure you read books in a series in the order in which they are published.)
2. Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed – Anna Campbell
A very sexy Regency romance with appealing characters and a dash of adventure. I enjoyed it hugely, and have ordered another by this author (who is Australian and so bolsters my reading of Australian Women Writers in the AWW2013 challenge - yay!)
3. The Stone Cage - Nicholas Stuart Gray
A wonderful classic children's fantasy which retells the Rapunzel fairy tale from the point of view of the witch's cat. The book which first made me think about writing my own Rapunzel retelling, when I was only 12.
4. The Autumn Bride - Anne Gracie
My favourite living romance writer, Anne Gracie never disappoints. This is beautiful, old-fashioned romance, driven by character and situation and dialogue, and, as always, is filled with wit and charm and pathos. Love Anne Gracie romances!
5. Scarlet in the Snow – Sophie Masson
I just loved this retelling of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, told with flair, dash, and panache, by one of my favourite Australian women writers (yay! Another AWW2013!) Sophie Masson has really found her niche with these books ('Scarlet in the Snow' is set in the same alternative-world Prague as Sophie's previous novel, 'Moonlight & Ashes', which was one of my BEST BOOKS READ IN 2012.) This is YA fantasy at its best - filled with magic, adventure and just a touch of romance. Loved it!
6. All That I Am – Anna Funder
I am very ashamed to admit that I could not finish this book, the most awarded and lauded Australian book of 2012. And another AWW! Was I too tired? Am I too frivolous? Or was the book just too slow and self-aware for my tastes? It should have ticked all my boxes. Historical fiction - yay! Set in Nazi Germany - yay! About a brilliant, independent woman mostly forgotten by history - yay! I really, really wanted to love this book, but it just put me to sleep every night. I've left it on my bedside table and will hopefully return to it once I'm not so tired. Maybe in my next life.
7. To Wed A Rake – Eloisa James
A delightful Regency romance novella, razor-sharp and not a word wasted. Bought it on my Kindle as I was waiting for my ferry and had read it by the time my ferry had come. Not a yawn in sight.
8. The Scandalous, Dissolute, No-Good Mr Wright – Tessa Dare
Another Regency romance novella, not quite as light on its feet as the one by Eloisa James, but still light, amusing and a wonderful way to pass by ferry ride home. I enjoyed it so much I tried another by the same author:
9. A Night to Surrender – Tessa Dare
I really enjoyed this deliciously frothy and amusing Regency romance, with likeable characters and a great premise. A lovely way to while away and hour or two.
10. The Year of Ancient Ghosts – Kim Wilkins
I LOVED this book! Kim Wilkins is one of my all-time favourite writers, spinning together suspense, romance, history and mythology into books that are utterly unputdownable (is that a word?) However, she's been busy the last few years writing parallel historical/contemporary books under the name Kimberley Freeman (still uputdownable but with a greater emphasis on family drama than mythology and fairy tale - read all about Kimberley Freeman's books HERE).
So I was very excited to be sent an advance copy of her first Kim Willkins' title in a few years. 'The Year of Ancient Ghosts' is a collection of novellas and short stories - brave, surprising, beautiful, frightening and tragic all at once. I WANT MORE!
11. The Queen’s Man – Sharon Penham
Sharon Penham is best known for her magisterial novels set during the Middle Ages - I haven't read any yet, though I hear they are utterly brilliant - I do plan to get to them eventually. In the meantime, I've started with Sharon Penham-lite. 'The Queen's Man' is the first in a series of mystery novels set during the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine, a figure who has always fascinated me. I enjoyed this a lot, and plan to read more - the world is vividly and accurately portrayed, the characters and the relationships ring true, and the mystery was satisfyingly mysterious. Lovely to find a new medieval mystery series to devour!
(See my Spotlight on Ellis Peters, author of the Cadfaely medieval mysteries, and my interview with Karen Maitland, who writes brilliant medieval supernatural thrillers).
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PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
April 1, 2013
THE PAGAN ROOTS OF EASTER
Easter is, at heart, a pagan festival. Easter’s roots go far back into our history, predating Christianity by thousands of years.
Its key symbols – the egg, the bunny, even the hot cross bun – all have their origins in ancient, pagan traditions.
Many different cultures celebrated the spring equinox – a time when day and night stood in perfect balance, before light and summer once again won the age-old battle against darkness and winter.
The name itself comes from that of an ancient spring goddess, Eostre. Her name comes from the same root as 'east' or 'shining'. A hare was one of her key symbols, and so too was the egg.
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The Venerable Bede, who lived in the 7th century, was the first to record her name as the source of the new Christian festival. Like many other pagan traditions, the festival of Eostre was adopted by the early Church in an attempt to convert followers of the old religions to their ways.
Other goddesses traditionally celebrated at this time include:
Aphrodite, in ancient Greece
Ashtoreth, from ancient Israel
Demeter from Mycenae
Hathor from ancient Egypt
Ishtar from Assyria
Kali, from India
Ostara, a Norse Goddess of fertility
The story of Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, is quite striking in its similarity to Christian mythology.
Gerald L. Berry, author of "Religions of the World," wrote:
"About 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name). He was a god of ever-reviving vegetation. Born of a virgin, he died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection."
This is the reason why Easter was condemned during the Protestant Reformation as a ‘pagan’ celebration, and was banned by many religious movements including the Baptists, the Quakers, and Congregational Protestants.
Wiccans and Neo-pagans celebrate the Spring Equinox as one of their eight holy days of celebration. It’s all about recognising the natural rhythm of the seasons, and the circular nature of life and death, summer and winter, light and darkness.
Work in your garden, cook a feast of spring lamb and fresh herbs, light candles, and devour eggs decorated with flowers and stars (even if they are chocolate) … and now you are continuing a tradition that began many millenniums ago.
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Its key symbols – the egg, the bunny, even the hot cross bun – all have their origins in ancient, pagan traditions.
Many different cultures celebrated the spring equinox – a time when day and night stood in perfect balance, before light and summer once again won the age-old battle against darkness and winter.
The name itself comes from that of an ancient spring goddess, Eostre. Her name comes from the same root as 'east' or 'shining'. A hare was one of her key symbols, and so too was the egg.
[image error]
The Venerable Bede, who lived in the 7th century, was the first to record her name as the source of the new Christian festival. Like many other pagan traditions, the festival of Eostre was adopted by the early Church in an attempt to convert followers of the old religions to their ways.
Other goddesses traditionally celebrated at this time include:
Aphrodite, in ancient Greece
Ashtoreth, from ancient Israel
Demeter from Mycenae
Hathor from ancient Egypt
Ishtar from Assyria
Kali, from India
Ostara, a Norse Goddess of fertility
The story of Cybele, the Phrygian fertility goddess, is quite striking in its similarity to Christian mythology.
Gerald L. Berry, author of "Religions of the World," wrote:
"About 200 B.C. mystery cults began to appear in Rome just as they had earlier in Greece. Most notable was the Cybele cult centered on Vatican hill ...Associated with the Cybele cult was that of her lover, Attis (the older Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, or Orpheus under a new name). He was a god of ever-reviving vegetation. Born of a virgin, he died and was reborn annually. The festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday and culminated after three days in a day of rejoicing over the resurrection."
This is the reason why Easter was condemned during the Protestant Reformation as a ‘pagan’ celebration, and was banned by many religious movements including the Baptists, the Quakers, and Congregational Protestants.
Wiccans and Neo-pagans celebrate the Spring Equinox as one of their eight holy days of celebration. It’s all about recognising the natural rhythm of the seasons, and the circular nature of life and death, summer and winter, light and darkness.
Work in your garden, cook a feast of spring lamb and fresh herbs, light candles, and devour eggs decorated with flowers and stars (even if they are chocolate) … and now you are continuing a tradition that began many millenniums ago.
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March 23, 2013
SIX THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE A STARVING AUTHOR TODAY
Writing can be a tough game.
Authors like me can spend years working on a novel, sacrificing our social lives, our peace of mind, and our health.
The rewards can be small. Few authors become a cultural phenomenon like J.K.Rowling or Stephanie Meyer. Many need to have a second or even a third job in order to make ends meet (not me, thankfully!)
We do it because we love it. We do it because its necessary to us, like breathing.
Yet forging a career as a writer has never been more fraught with difficulties than now. E-books, self-publishing, print-on-demand, global rights, book pirating, multi-media narratives, reader-assisted authorship ... The world of literature has never seen such sudden and earth-shaking changes.
Many authors are struggling to be able to afford to keep on writing.
So what can YOU do to help save a starving author today?
1) Buy an author's book.
Yes, I know this seems self-evident but, thanks to financial worries & busy lives, some people rarely buy books at all. We need to create a thriving literary community by buying books often. Buy books for yourself, for your partner and your children, as birthday and Christmas gifts, as rewards for good behaviour, as prizes for good work, as a special Friday afternoon treat, for any reason whatever. You can buy them in any format - e-books or p-books (traditionally published books) or audio books - the format doesn't matter, as long as you buy a book today!
2) Read an author's book.
If we all read every day as a matter of course, then we would all read many more books and so, as a matter of course, we'd all need to BUY many more books. That would, of course, be a great support to all the struggling authors out there. But reading every day will also enrich your life, set up new neural networks in your brain, stimulate your imagination, deepen your sense of empathy and compassion, and widen your knowledge of the world.
3) Listen to authors speak about their work
With more writers' festivals and conferences and literary events than ever before, you can go and listen to a writer speak about their inspirations and influences, their creative processes and creative challenges, more easily than any other time in history. Don't expect that these events should always be free - writers need to feed their children too! Speaking engagements can help supplement a writer's income, and allow them to keep on writing. Many writers are engaging and entertaining speakers, and their words can help set your own imagination on fire.
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4) Tweet about what you are reading
Social media is one technological innovation that can quickly & efficiently spread the word about an author's work. I tweet about every book I read - the title, the author's name, a quick glowing comment if I like the book, the publisher's twitter handle ... as much as I can fit into 140 characters. If you aren't a tweep, post on Facebook. Share your thoughts via Google +, pin the author's cover to Pinterest, post a pic of it to Instagram, do anything you can to put the author's name and the book's cover out into cyber space. You have the power to create an internet meme - do it!
5) Write a review about an author's book
Nowadays you don't need to be a literary critic to write a review of a book you've loved. Reviews of books on reading sites like GoodReads, The Reading Room, Shelfari, LibraryThing, or on internet booksites such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Booktopia, The Nile, Fishpond, or Dymocks can help other readers decide whether to buy an author's book or not, and creates a lively online reading community. Start your own book blog, and visit other people's book blogs. It is easy enough to write a short review of a book you'v loved, upload it, and then cut and paste it to a number of different sites. Many internet bookshops offer incentives to readers to review what they have read. Remember to be kind. Writers are people too, and a cruel review can wreck their day. Be thoughtful and respectful as well as honest ... and maybe you could make a writer's day.
6) Talk, TALK, TALK about an author's book
Tell your friends, your family, your workmates, your friendly local bookseller about any book you've loved. Push it into their hands. Say 'you must read this book!' Start conversations with people on buses if you must. But talk about the book at any given chance you can. Because word of mouth is still the most powerful of all selling tools for books and it can't be bought, or manipulated, or faked.
Now go forth, my friends, and see what you can do to save a starving author today!
PLEASE LEAVE ME A COMMENT, I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
March 15, 2013
BOOKS ON FAIRY TALES: My Seven Favourite Academic Studies of Fairy & Folk tales
Today, at the Speculative Fiction Festival at the NSW Writers Centre, I am talking about fairy tales with Juliet Marillier, Sophie Masson, and Kim Wilkins, three of my all-time favourite authors who all share my passionate interest in fairy tales.
I thought I'd celebrate this happy day by compiling a list of the best books to read if you are interested in learning about the history, meaning and purpose of fairy tales. I’ve tried to pick books of general interest, and which I personally have found illuminating. There are many, many more, of course, and no doubt I’ll kick myself later for forgetting one of my favourites but, for better or worse, here’s my Favourite Seven Books on Fairy Tales.
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1. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning & Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim
First published in 1975, this is one of the most important early books on fairy tales. It is stuffed full of ideas, but must be read with a caveat in mind. Bettelheim was a Freudian psychoanalyst which means that some of his interpretations seem very out-of-date nowadays. Also, he was drawing on limited scholarship because he was essentially the man who sparked the later intense academic interest in the subject. His reputation has also been tarnished by his suicide and the accusations of child abuse that followed. Nonetheless, he was a man of vision that helped rescue fairy tales from the dust balls under a child’s bed. He says that fairy tales teach us ‘that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable … but that if one … steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious.’
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2. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of A Genre by Jack Zipes
All of Jack Zipes’s books are eloquent, insightful and cleverly argued, but this is my favourite because it is so accessible to people outside arcane academic circles. He has the ability to communicate clearly and yet with great depth of scholarship. And he is interested in the socio-historical background of the tales as well as what they may mean. He says: ‘As we know, tales do not only speak to us, they inhabit us and become relevant in our struggles to resolve conflicts that endanger our happiness.’
Other books by Zipes that I would thoroughly recommend are The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of A Genre , which builds on Why Fairy Tales Stick; and Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales.
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3 . From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and their Tellers by Marina Warner
I cannot tell you how much I love this book. I have read it so many times I know parts of it off by heart. It’s a massive work of scholarship that looks at the history and meaning of fairy tales with a strong feminist and revisionist slant. This is a must-read. She says: ‘The marvels and prodigies, the seven-league boots and enchanted mirrors, the talking animals, the heroes and heroines changed into frogs or bears or cats, the golden eggs and everflowing supplies of porridge, the stars on the brow of the good sister and the donkeytail sprouting on the brow of the bad – all the wonders that create the atmosphere of fairy tale disrupt the apprehensible world in order to open spaces for dreaming alternatives. The verb ‘to wonder communicates the receptive state of marvelling as well as the active desire to know, to inquire, and as such it defines very well at least two characteristics of the traditional fairy tale: pleasure in the fantatsic, curiosity about the real. The dimension of wonder creates a huge theatre of possibility in the stories: anything can happen. This very boundlessness serves the moral purpose of the tales, which is precisely to teach where boundaries lie.’
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4. The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales by Sheldon Cashdan
This book sets out to explore how fairy tales can help children deal with psychological conflicts by projecting their own internal struggles onto the characters in the stories. In this way, Cashdan is building on Bettelheim’s legacy. He divides the stories based upon vices such as vanity, gluttony, deceit, greed and lust, which is interesting but can sometimes be a little simplistic. Nonetheless, it’s a fascinating read. He says: ‘Beyond the chase scenes and lastminute rescues are serious dramas that reflect events taking place in the child’s inner world. Wheareas the initial attraction of a fairy tale may lie in its ability to enchant and entertain us, its lasting value lies in its power to help children deal with the internal conflicts they face in the course of growing up.’
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5. The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
Murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide and incest: the darker side of the Grimm fairy tales are examined in this fascinating book. She looks at the countless wicked women in a chapter entitled ‘Stepmothers and Other Ogres’ and the beastly men in ‘Bluebeard and Other Monsters’ – it’s a racy, clever, and intriguing read. She says: fairy tales are up close and personal, mixing fact with fiction to tell us about our deepest anxieties and desires. They offer roadmaps pointing the way to romance and riches, power and privilege, and most importantly, a way out of the woods, back to the safety and security of home.’
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6. Grimms' Bad Girls and Bold Boys: The Moral & Social Vision of the Tales by Ruth B. Bottigheimer
First published in 1987, this is a fascinating and insightful look at the history of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales, and some of the key motifs and story patterns that emerge. She also examines the various different editions and shows how the Grimm brothers had changed the stories over subsequent editions to better suit their devout, middle-class principles. She says: ‘People tell tales: peasants and artisans, lords and ladies, mothers and fathers, priests and preachers, girls and boys. The literate read aloud, the gifted recount. Over and over people tell tales whose contains seem the same but that nonetheless differs in profound ways.’
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7. Clever Maids: The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales by Valerie Paradiz
It was this book that inspired me to write my novel ‘The Wild Girl’. It tells the story of the forgotten women who were the primary oral source of the stories the Grimm brothers collected. The book is wonderfully accessible, and draws upon the tales themselves in a way which I think worked wonderfully. She says: ‘Few readers know that more than half of the 210 fairy tales included in the Grimm anthologies had a woman’s hand in them.’
I hope you find this post insightful! Please leave a comment - I love to know what you think
I thought I'd celebrate this happy day by compiling a list of the best books to read if you are interested in learning about the history, meaning and purpose of fairy tales. I’ve tried to pick books of general interest, and which I personally have found illuminating. There are many, many more, of course, and no doubt I’ll kick myself later for forgetting one of my favourites but, for better or worse, here’s my Favourite Seven Books on Fairy Tales.
[image error]
1. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning & Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim
First published in 1975, this is one of the most important early books on fairy tales. It is stuffed full of ideas, but must be read with a caveat in mind. Bettelheim was a Freudian psychoanalyst which means that some of his interpretations seem very out-of-date nowadays. Also, he was drawing on limited scholarship because he was essentially the man who sparked the later intense academic interest in the subject. His reputation has also been tarnished by his suicide and the accusations of child abuse that followed. Nonetheless, he was a man of vision that helped rescue fairy tales from the dust balls under a child’s bed. He says that fairy tales teach us ‘that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable … but that if one … steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious.’
[image error]
2. Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of A Genre by Jack Zipes
All of Jack Zipes’s books are eloquent, insightful and cleverly argued, but this is my favourite because it is so accessible to people outside arcane academic circles. He has the ability to communicate clearly and yet with great depth of scholarship. And he is interested in the socio-historical background of the tales as well as what they may mean. He says: ‘As we know, tales do not only speak to us, they inhabit us and become relevant in our struggles to resolve conflicts that endanger our happiness.’
Other books by Zipes that I would thoroughly recommend are The Irresistible Fairy Tale: The Cultural and Social History of A Genre , which builds on Why Fairy Tales Stick; and Breaking the Magic Spell: Radical Theories of Folk and Fairy Tales.
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3 . From the Beast to the Blonde: On Fairy Tales and their Tellers by Marina Warner
I cannot tell you how much I love this book. I have read it so many times I know parts of it off by heart. It’s a massive work of scholarship that looks at the history and meaning of fairy tales with a strong feminist and revisionist slant. This is a must-read. She says: ‘The marvels and prodigies, the seven-league boots and enchanted mirrors, the talking animals, the heroes and heroines changed into frogs or bears or cats, the golden eggs and everflowing supplies of porridge, the stars on the brow of the good sister and the donkeytail sprouting on the brow of the bad – all the wonders that create the atmosphere of fairy tale disrupt the apprehensible world in order to open spaces for dreaming alternatives. The verb ‘to wonder communicates the receptive state of marvelling as well as the active desire to know, to inquire, and as such it defines very well at least two characteristics of the traditional fairy tale: pleasure in the fantatsic, curiosity about the real. The dimension of wonder creates a huge theatre of possibility in the stories: anything can happen. This very boundlessness serves the moral purpose of the tales, which is precisely to teach where boundaries lie.’
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4. The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales by Sheldon Cashdan
This book sets out to explore how fairy tales can help children deal with psychological conflicts by projecting their own internal struggles onto the characters in the stories. In this way, Cashdan is building on Bettelheim’s legacy. He divides the stories based upon vices such as vanity, gluttony, deceit, greed and lust, which is interesting but can sometimes be a little simplistic. Nonetheless, it’s a fascinating read. He says: ‘Beyond the chase scenes and lastminute rescues are serious dramas that reflect events taking place in the child’s inner world. Wheareas the initial attraction of a fairy tale may lie in its ability to enchant and entertain us, its lasting value lies in its power to help children deal with the internal conflicts they face in the course of growing up.’
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5. The Hard Facts of the Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar
Murder, mutilation, cannibalism, infanticide and incest: the darker side of the Grimm fairy tales are examined in this fascinating book. She looks at the countless wicked women in a chapter entitled ‘Stepmothers and Other Ogres’ and the beastly men in ‘Bluebeard and Other Monsters’ – it’s a racy, clever, and intriguing read. She says: fairy tales are up close and personal, mixing fact with fiction to tell us about our deepest anxieties and desires. They offer roadmaps pointing the way to romance and riches, power and privilege, and most importantly, a way out of the woods, back to the safety and security of home.’
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6. Grimms' Bad Girls and Bold Boys: The Moral & Social Vision of the Tales by Ruth B. Bottigheimer
First published in 1987, this is a fascinating and insightful look at the history of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales, and some of the key motifs and story patterns that emerge. She also examines the various different editions and shows how the Grimm brothers had changed the stories over subsequent editions to better suit their devout, middle-class principles. She says: ‘People tell tales: peasants and artisans, lords and ladies, mothers and fathers, priests and preachers, girls and boys. The literate read aloud, the gifted recount. Over and over people tell tales whose contains seem the same but that nonetheless differs in profound ways.’
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7. Clever Maids: The Secret History of the Grimm Fairy Tales by Valerie Paradiz
It was this book that inspired me to write my novel ‘The Wild Girl’. It tells the story of the forgotten women who were the primary oral source of the stories the Grimm brothers collected. The book is wonderfully accessible, and draws upon the tales themselves in a way which I think worked wonderfully. She says: ‘Few readers know that more than half of the 210 fairy tales included in the Grimm anthologies had a woman’s hand in them.’
I hope you find this post insightful! Please leave a comment - I love to know what you think
March 14, 2013
INTERVIEW: Melina Marchetta, author of 'Finninkin of the Rock'
Melina Marchetta is one of Australia's best loved authors and I'm incredibly pleased and proud to have her part of a stellar lineup at the SPECULATIVE FICTION FESTIVAL, at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle this weekend - 16 March 2013.
Melina is probably best known for her contemporary novels for young adults, but she has also written an amazing fantasy series, which begins with 'Finnikin of the Rock.' She has been kind enough to spare me some time in her busy schedule to answer my questions:
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What is your latest novel all about?
I'm kind of not acknowledging that I'm writing one just yet, but I am jotting things down and thinking of it over and over again so all I can say is that it comes from the Hugh Latimer quote: Tell the truth. Shame the devil (which is also expressed by Hotspur in Henry the IV Part 1).
How did you get the first idea for it?
I've always had this story in my head, but what made me feel as if I could write it now, is having read a bit of crime fiction lately where writers use multiple narrators or omniscient narrators which is the only way I can tell this particular story. I played around with multiple narrators in The Lumatere Chronicles but I'm ready to really let loose with this one.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
I love being able to express really big emotions in really big dramatic ways. I felt as if I could take the characters to the pinnacle of their emotions which I probably wouldn't have got away with as much with contemporary fiction. Having Froi drop to his knees and almost tear his hair out with despair is quite liberating to write.
What are the best 5 books you've read recently?
It's being a combination of crime, spec fiction and YA. When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson; The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill; Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold ; Wildlife by Fiona Wood; The First Third by Will Kostakis (the last two are coming out this year)
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
I think (fingers crossed a thousand times over) that it will be the year of the On the Jellicoe Road film being shot. My part is pretty much over with the script, but I'm fortunate enough to be an up-close giddy spectator of how other people interpret my words.
Melina is probably best known for her contemporary novels for young adults, but she has also written an amazing fantasy series, which begins with 'Finnikin of the Rock.' She has been kind enough to spare me some time in her busy schedule to answer my questions:
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What is your latest novel all about?
I'm kind of not acknowledging that I'm writing one just yet, but I am jotting things down and thinking of it over and over again so all I can say is that it comes from the Hugh Latimer quote: Tell the truth. Shame the devil (which is also expressed by Hotspur in Henry the IV Part 1).
How did you get the first idea for it?
I've always had this story in my head, but what made me feel as if I could write it now, is having read a bit of crime fiction lately where writers use multiple narrators or omniscient narrators which is the only way I can tell this particular story. I played around with multiple narrators in The Lumatere Chronicles but I'm ready to really let loose with this one.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
I love being able to express really big emotions in really big dramatic ways. I felt as if I could take the characters to the pinnacle of their emotions which I probably wouldn't have got away with as much with contemporary fiction. Having Froi drop to his knees and almost tear his hair out with despair is quite liberating to write.
What are the best 5 books you've read recently?
It's being a combination of crime, spec fiction and YA. When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson; The Woodcutter by Reginald Hill; Captain Vorpatril's Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold ; Wildlife by Fiona Wood; The First Third by Will Kostakis (the last two are coming out this year)
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
I think (fingers crossed a thousand times over) that it will be the year of the On the Jellicoe Road film being shot. My part is pretty much over with the script, but I'm fortunate enough to be an up-close giddy spectator of how other people interpret my words.
March 13, 2013
INTERVIEW: Garth Nix, author of 'A Confusion of Princes'
I'm very happy to welcome Garth Nix, one of my favourite fantasy authors, to the blog today. Garth is appearing this Saturday (16 March 2013) at the Speculative Fiction Festival at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle. I hope you'll come along to hear him speak!
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What is your latest novel all about?
My latest novel is A CONFUSION OF PRINCES. As to what it's all about, I'm not really sure, I expect some readers will tell me in due course. But in general terms, it is a science fiction adventure story, set in a vast galactic empire which is ruled by ten million genetically, psychically and cybernetic ally enhanced princes. It is a coming of age story about one such prince, Khemri, who has been raised to rule without being told that all the princes are in ruthless competition with each other and that assassinations, machinations etc are rife. It is also a becoming human story. Khemri is superhuman in many respects, but essentially nonhuman in others, particularly what we might describe as ethics. And it is a love story, both for Khemri and a young woman called Raine, and to a lesser degree the love of a family, even when you don't really know what a family is . . .
And it has space battles, pirates, duels, things blowing up, horrible parasitic aliens and more!
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How did you get the first idea for it?
I'm not really sure, as it was a long time ago. Unusually, I also used some of the background to the novel in the online game Imperial Galaxy www.imperialgalaxy.com, intending game and book to come out at the same time, only the game got there first by several years (albeit in a truncated form). So I get a bit confused about what happened when. Looking back through my notebooks, I see that I wrote a prologue in about 2004 or 2005, which wasn't used in the actual book, but did give some of the flavour of the setting. I had been wanting to write a space opera for some time, so that would also have something to do with it.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
I like to be able to draw my own boundaries. Sometimes people think that with speculative fiction you don't need boundaries because you can just put in anything, but that doesn't work: whatever world or universe you create must have an internal consistency to create the illusion of reality.
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
I'm finishing up CLARIEL at the moment, a book set in the Old Kingdom, about six hundred years before the events of SABRIEL. It's been fun to return to that setting, though it has also been hard work -- again making sure I stay within the boundaries I drew long ago, which contain a history and mythology that I have to work within. As with the others, it will be published as YA but like all the best YA (I hope) it will be for adults of any age.
Then I also have to write the fourth book in the TROUBLETWISTERS children's series, co-writing with my friend Sean Williams. The third book, TROUBLETWISTERS: THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN CARD will be out in early May I believe. I also have short stories (for adults) coming out later this year in ROGUES edited by George R R Martin and Gardner Dozois, RAGS AND BONES edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt, and one for Tor.com. The first two of these feature my recurring short fiction characters Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, soldier and sorcerer puppet respectively, up to their usual god-slaying activities.
Apart from the writing, I'll be at Conflux in Canberra in April; at Reading Matters in Melbourne in May; and the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, UK in late October. And maybe a few other places!
What are the five best books you've read in the last year?
Five best books in the last year probably means the five books I enjoyed the most over the Christmas break because I can't remember everything I read last year. In no particular order, they're all great:
1. A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (I loved this too - here's my review)
2. Whispers Underground (Rivers of London #3) by Ben Aaronovitch
3. Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
4. The Thirty Year's War: Europe's Tragedy by Peter H. Wilson
5. The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
[image error]
What is your latest novel all about?
My latest novel is A CONFUSION OF PRINCES. As to what it's all about, I'm not really sure, I expect some readers will tell me in due course. But in general terms, it is a science fiction adventure story, set in a vast galactic empire which is ruled by ten million genetically, psychically and cybernetic ally enhanced princes. It is a coming of age story about one such prince, Khemri, who has been raised to rule without being told that all the princes are in ruthless competition with each other and that assassinations, machinations etc are rife. It is also a becoming human story. Khemri is superhuman in many respects, but essentially nonhuman in others, particularly what we might describe as ethics. And it is a love story, both for Khemri and a young woman called Raine, and to a lesser degree the love of a family, even when you don't really know what a family is . . .
And it has space battles, pirates, duels, things blowing up, horrible parasitic aliens and more!
[image error]
How did you get the first idea for it?
I'm not really sure, as it was a long time ago. Unusually, I also used some of the background to the novel in the online game Imperial Galaxy www.imperialgalaxy.com, intending game and book to come out at the same time, only the game got there first by several years (albeit in a truncated form). So I get a bit confused about what happened when. Looking back through my notebooks, I see that I wrote a prologue in about 2004 or 2005, which wasn't used in the actual book, but did give some of the flavour of the setting. I had been wanting to write a space opera for some time, so that would also have something to do with it.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
I like to be able to draw my own boundaries. Sometimes people think that with speculative fiction you don't need boundaries because you can just put in anything, but that doesn't work: whatever world or universe you create must have an internal consistency to create the illusion of reality.
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
I'm finishing up CLARIEL at the moment, a book set in the Old Kingdom, about six hundred years before the events of SABRIEL. It's been fun to return to that setting, though it has also been hard work -- again making sure I stay within the boundaries I drew long ago, which contain a history and mythology that I have to work within. As with the others, it will be published as YA but like all the best YA (I hope) it will be for adults of any age.
Then I also have to write the fourth book in the TROUBLETWISTERS children's series, co-writing with my friend Sean Williams. The third book, TROUBLETWISTERS: THE MYSTERY OF THE GOLDEN CARD will be out in early May I believe. I also have short stories (for adults) coming out later this year in ROGUES edited by George R R Martin and Gardner Dozois, RAGS AND BONES edited by Melissa Marr and Tim Pratt, and one for Tor.com. The first two of these feature my recurring short fiction characters Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz, soldier and sorcerer puppet respectively, up to their usual god-slaying activities.
Apart from the writing, I'll be at Conflux in Canberra in April; at Reading Matters in Melbourne in May; and the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, UK in late October. And maybe a few other places!
What are the five best books you've read in the last year?
Five best books in the last year probably means the five books I enjoyed the most over the Christmas break because I can't remember everything I read last year. In no particular order, they're all great:
1. A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (I loved this too - here's my review)
2. Whispers Underground (Rivers of London #3) by Ben Aaronovitch
3. Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
4. The Thirty Year's War: Europe's Tragedy by Peter H. Wilson
5. The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT - I LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
March 12, 2013
INTERVIEW: Lisa L. Hannett, co-author of 'Midnight & Moonshine'
Yesterday, on the blog, I interviewed Angela Slatter, co-author of the brilliant 'Midnight & Moonshine', a dazzling retelling of old Norse myths, as part of a week-long celebration of the SPECULATIVE FICTION FESTIVAL, held this Saturday - 16 March 2013 - at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle, Sydney.
Today I am interviewing Lisa L. Hannett, her co-author:
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What is your latest book about?
I’m currently working on Lament for the Afterlife, a mosaic novel that follows the story of Peytr Borysson, a young soldier whose family – and life – are in the process of disintegrating under the stress of war. This isn’t a post-apocalyptic story; instead, it’s an apocalyptic one. All of the action takes place during a world war against a crafty and often invisible enemy, which shows no signs of abating. Magic and mutations are the cause and effect of the conflict, so they are main factors in each character’s story; but mostly, this is a book about human faith and uncertainty in the face of major global upheaval. It’s about regular people like Peytr being thrust into horrible situations and surviving the best they can – even when it seems like their best can never be good enough.
How did you get the first idea for it?
This book sprang from a short story, ‘The Good Window’, which first appeared in Fantasy magazine (online) – and this story itself had a few catalysts. The first was a typo, which created a new word that launched my imagination into a hundred different directions (I get lots of ideas from typos, actually!). The second was a particularly hot day in Adelaide during Writers Week, when, walking from the festival to the Adelaide University Library to soak up some of their air-conditioning, I passed a bunch of business people in suits and ties lying on the grass, taking snoozes on their lunch breaks out in the park. Because my mind usually has a macabre bent, I looked at all these dozing people and wondered what it would be like if, actually, they were all dead… and what would a little kid think in that situation? Another was a particularly steep descent I once experienced flying into Tasmania… And yet another inspiration came when I was thinking about how people commemorate special events: what things they do to mark and remember significant occasions. All of these influences came out in ‘The Good Window’, but I’ve expanded on them in the larger narrative of the novel.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
I love bending reality: making worlds that are often like our own, but off in weird and magical and horrible ways – and then exploring how ordinary people cope with these extraordinary circumstances. Many fantasy narratives focus on people who are way cooler, way more magical and way more talented than the rest of us – and while I absolutely love reading those stories, I often find myself writing about regular schmucks who aren’t always equipped to face tough magical worlds, situations or challenges. Often, it’s getting them through these challenges that makes writing speculative fiction so exciting!
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
Finishing Lament for the Afterlife is first on the cards. Then I’m going to focus on redrafting my fantasy novel, The Familiar (which is about witches and shapeshifting lunatics) while also working on a few short stories I’ve had percolating for a while, and are just about ready to be poured onto the page. In the meantime, I’ve started my new role as Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Flinders University – but I’ll also be running short story workshops at the SA Writers Centre again this year. And of course, there are the conventions and festivals! The NSWWC Speculative Fiction Festival in March, Conflux in Canberra this April and the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton (UK) at the end of the year – all of which I’m really excited about!
What are the best 5 books you've read in the past year?
It is totally impossible to narrow it down to only five! So I’ve cheated a bit... This year I’ve been reading all over the place, so half of these aren’t new books, but they are all incredible: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, Among Others by Jo Walton, Still She Wished for Company by Margaret Irwin, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, Osama by Lavie Tidhar, and Galore by Michael Crummey (which was a re-read, but so amazing it is still – and always – worth mentioning!)
Want to know more? You can read a long interview by me with both Angela and Lisa in the latest issue of Aurealis Magazine or come along and hear them speak at the festival this weekend. Hope to see you there!
(And don't forget to leave a comment - you know I love to hear your thoughts)
Today I am interviewing Lisa L. Hannett, her co-author:
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What is your latest book about?
I’m currently working on Lament for the Afterlife, a mosaic novel that follows the story of Peytr Borysson, a young soldier whose family – and life – are in the process of disintegrating under the stress of war. This isn’t a post-apocalyptic story; instead, it’s an apocalyptic one. All of the action takes place during a world war against a crafty and often invisible enemy, which shows no signs of abating. Magic and mutations are the cause and effect of the conflict, so they are main factors in each character’s story; but mostly, this is a book about human faith and uncertainty in the face of major global upheaval. It’s about regular people like Peytr being thrust into horrible situations and surviving the best they can – even when it seems like their best can never be good enough.
How did you get the first idea for it?
This book sprang from a short story, ‘The Good Window’, which first appeared in Fantasy magazine (online) – and this story itself had a few catalysts. The first was a typo, which created a new word that launched my imagination into a hundred different directions (I get lots of ideas from typos, actually!). The second was a particularly hot day in Adelaide during Writers Week, when, walking from the festival to the Adelaide University Library to soak up some of their air-conditioning, I passed a bunch of business people in suits and ties lying on the grass, taking snoozes on their lunch breaks out in the park. Because my mind usually has a macabre bent, I looked at all these dozing people and wondered what it would be like if, actually, they were all dead… and what would a little kid think in that situation? Another was a particularly steep descent I once experienced flying into Tasmania… And yet another inspiration came when I was thinking about how people commemorate special events: what things they do to mark and remember significant occasions. All of these influences came out in ‘The Good Window’, but I’ve expanded on them in the larger narrative of the novel.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
I love bending reality: making worlds that are often like our own, but off in weird and magical and horrible ways – and then exploring how ordinary people cope with these extraordinary circumstances. Many fantasy narratives focus on people who are way cooler, way more magical and way more talented than the rest of us – and while I absolutely love reading those stories, I often find myself writing about regular schmucks who aren’t always equipped to face tough magical worlds, situations or challenges. Often, it’s getting them through these challenges that makes writing speculative fiction so exciting!
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
Finishing Lament for the Afterlife is first on the cards. Then I’m going to focus on redrafting my fantasy novel, The Familiar (which is about witches and shapeshifting lunatics) while also working on a few short stories I’ve had percolating for a while, and are just about ready to be poured onto the page. In the meantime, I’ve started my new role as Lecturer in English and Creative Writing at Flinders University – but I’ll also be running short story workshops at the SA Writers Centre again this year. And of course, there are the conventions and festivals! The NSWWC Speculative Fiction Festival in March, Conflux in Canberra this April and the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton (UK) at the end of the year – all of which I’m really excited about!
What are the best 5 books you've read in the past year?
It is totally impossible to narrow it down to only five! So I’ve cheated a bit... This year I’ve been reading all over the place, so half of these aren’t new books, but they are all incredible: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, Among Others by Jo Walton, Still She Wished for Company by Margaret Irwin, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, Osama by Lavie Tidhar, and Galore by Michael Crummey (which was a re-read, but so amazing it is still – and always – worth mentioning!)
Want to know more? You can read a long interview by me with both Angela and Lisa in the latest issue of Aurealis Magazine or come along and hear them speak at the festival this weekend. Hope to see you there!
(And don't forget to leave a comment - you know I love to hear your thoughts)
March 11, 2013
INTERVIEW: Ben Chandler, author of 'Quillblade'
This week on the blog I'm featuring just a few of the amazing authors that are appearing at the Speculative Fiction Festival this weekend - 16 March 2013 - at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle, Sydney.
Today my guest author is Ben Chandler, the up-and-coming author of 'Quillblade.'
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What is your latest novel all about?
My latest novel is a Kung Fu / Western mashup based (very, very loosely) on an ancient Chinese legend about 108 outlaws who had some amazing adventures. It (my version) tells the story of a young girl named Mei, who is burdened with a crushing fate, and the 108 heroes who are destined to help her achieve it. The gods have forsaken the war-torn Cursed Lands, and only the Blessed Maiden can save the people from centuries of fighting. Mei heads to the lawless Frontier to recruit her army of 108, but the Frontier holds more dangers than she imagines, and her 'heroes' are not exactly what she expects . . . Readers can expect Kung Fu monks, slow-talking cowboys, magic stones, and a rather peculiar mystical dragon.
How did you get the first idea for it?
I love the Frontier. The 'Wild West' is such a wonderful imaginative space, and I've been wanting to tell stories about it for a while. Not the real wild west, mind you, but a fantastic version of it. That point on the map labelled 'here be dragons' but with plenty of ain'ts and y'alls thrown in - that's the place. I also love Kung Fu action films. These genres blend so well together, but a genre mashup is hardly a place to start a story. I stumbled across the legend of the 108 outlaws quite by accident and fell immediately in love, not so much with the actual tales, but with the notion of a small army of one hundred and eight individuals, each with their own interests and personalities, all striving towards a common goal. I've been wanting to tell a story based on that concept for about as long as I've wanted to write a Kung Fu / Western mashup. Then one day the image came to me of a crystal palace. I mean a literal crystal palace. One where the walls are perfectly clear so that no one living inside of it has any privacy at all, ever. Who would live here, I wondered. It occurred to me that this was exactly the sort of place you might stick someone you didn't trust, perhaps someone of whom you were even a little bit afraid. So, I had all of these different elements, each of which belonged, I was convinced, to a separate novel, but then something wonderful occurred - I met Mei (by 'met' I mean 'imagined', but you get the idea). Mei was a young girl living in a crystal palace. All of the other young girls lived there, too, because the patriarchal rulers of the Cursed Lands feared a prophecy handed down by the last Dragon Sage - that one day a Blessed Maiden would rise up to lead an army of one hundred and eight heroes, and together they would conquer the Cursed Lands and pave the way for the return of the gods. So there it was. A lone girl in need of an army. A lawless Frontier. Kung Fu. Oh, and the aforementioned rather peculiar mystical dragon. It all just seemed to come together after that, but Mei was the key.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
Oh, so much, really! I guess, in line with my answers to earlier questions, I love the frontier-iness of it. That question, 'What lies over that hill over there?' truly fascinates me in speculative fiction. Maybe over that hill is a lake with a sea serpent living in it. One who was trapped there aeons ago and worshipped as a god before being forgotten, only to be found one day by a very special brother and sister. Or maybe not. Maybe there's a village over that hill, one in which a young queen will be born with the power to see the future, but only five minutes before it occurs, and each time she uses her power she loses a lock of her hair. Or maybe not. Perhaps there is a crater there, left over from some great calamity that caused all magic to be expended in an effort to protect the world from destruction at the hands of a man who was supposed to have saved it. Or maybe not. That's what I love about writing speculative fiction. Anything - anything - could be lying just over that horizon, on the other side of that hill, and I can't wait to find out what it is!
What are the best 5 books you've read recently?
Always a hard question to answer. Here's a list, and in no particular order:
Eon, Alison Goodman (I'm late to the party here, but I loved Eon - very much looking forward to getting into Eona!)
Midnight and Moonshine, Lisa L Hannett & Angela Slatter (Caveat: I'm not yet finished with this collection. I'm taking my time and savouring each story, as should you.)
Bitter Greens, Kate Forsyth (I'm not just saying that because this is her blog! I LOVED it - bring on Wild Girl!)
(Bless you and thank you, Ben! )
Buffy: Season 9, Joss Whedon and many others (After what felt like a mixed bag with season 8 - the first season to transition to the comic book format - season 9 feels more like the Buffy we all know and love.)
The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien (A re-read - the twelfth? the thirteenth? Who keeps track any more? - prompted by all the things I didn't like about the new film!)
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
A busy year! I'll be doing a few appearances and some school visits in and around SA, NSW, and VIC, and in April I'll be running a boot camp for teenaged writers who want to write fantasy. I'm about to finish a brand new manuscript, one which is very different from anything else I've written. It's not a book for children or teens, for a start, though it's still squarely in the speculative fiction genre. I'm also about to start re-writing a project I finished a couple of years ago about a boy and his very peculiar dog. That one's been brewing for quite a while and I'm finally ready to get back into it. Oh, and I'll be turning thirty this year. I'm told this means I will finally be an adult, and that there is no hope for reprieve. I will attempt to counteract this by watching even more cartoons and pointing out that that's exactly what they said about turning twenty.
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March 10, 2013
INTERVIEW: Angela Slatter, co-author of 'Midnight & Moonshine'
I recently had the great privilege of reading a review copy of Angela Slatter and Lisa L. Hannett's exciting new short story collection 'Midnight & Moonshine', which retells old Norse myths in utterly new and surprising ways. I told them it felt like "fireworks on the horizon", it was so original and sizzling-bright.
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I interviewed both Angela and Lisa for the latest issue of Aurealis Magazine and I hope you read my long interview there.
This following interview with Angela Slatter is simply a taster, to celebrate the upcoming SPECULATIVE FICTION FESTIVAL at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle, Sydney.
Here are Angela's answers to my questions:
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What is your latest book about?
Well, the one I'm working on now is called Hallowmass and it's the first part of an urban fantasy trilogy set in Brisbane. It sprang from my short story "Brisneyland by Night", which appeared in Twelfth Planet Press's Sprawl anthology a few years back. It's about a female PI who's trying to solve the interlinked mysteries of who is stealing children to make wine from their tears, why a golem made of garbage is attacking members of Brisbane's Weyrd community, and who is killing sirens of the Brisbane nest.
How did you get the first idea for it?
It was a mix of the old Hansel and Gretel fairy tale mixed with The Pied Piper ... and then all mushed together with a lot of Brisbane locations. I had ideas for other stories with these characters and quite a few people said they wanted to read a full-length work ... so, I'm three-quarters of the way through writing the first one and I've got the sequels, Vigil and Corpselight, all planned out.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
Oh, the challenge of inventing worlds and making them work. And creating characters that readers want to follow down the rabbit hole ... even if they don't necessarily like the character very much, but just can't bear not to know what they're doing!
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
Finishing Hallowmass and trying to sell it. Finishing a new collection called The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, which is a sequel to Sourdough and Other Stories. Starting work on Vigil. Travelling to the UK for World Fantasy Con in Oct. Teaching for the Queensland Writers Centre and doing some festival appearances (NSW Writers Centre Spec Fic Festival; Conflux; Gold Coast Literature Festival; GenreCon).
What are the best 5 books you've read in the past year?
Ooooh, only five. Off the top of my head: Karen Joy Fowler's Things I Didn't See; Megan Abbot's Queenpin; Curious Warning: The Collected Works of MR James (Stephen Jones ed); Sarah Pinborough's The Chosen Seed; Barbara Hambly's Magistrates of Hell.
I haven't read any of those! Oh goody, some books to add to my must-read pile!
I'll be interviewing other guests of the Speculative Fiction Festival this week in the lead-up to the big day. I hope you'll stick around .... we have some surprises in store!
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I interviewed both Angela and Lisa for the latest issue of Aurealis Magazine and I hope you read my long interview there.
This following interview with Angela Slatter is simply a taster, to celebrate the upcoming SPECULATIVE FICTION FESTIVAL at the NSW Writers Centre in Rozelle, Sydney.
Here are Angela's answers to my questions:
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What is your latest book about?
Well, the one I'm working on now is called Hallowmass and it's the first part of an urban fantasy trilogy set in Brisbane. It sprang from my short story "Brisneyland by Night", which appeared in Twelfth Planet Press's Sprawl anthology a few years back. It's about a female PI who's trying to solve the interlinked mysteries of who is stealing children to make wine from their tears, why a golem made of garbage is attacking members of Brisbane's Weyrd community, and who is killing sirens of the Brisbane nest.
How did you get the first idea for it?
It was a mix of the old Hansel and Gretel fairy tale mixed with The Pied Piper ... and then all mushed together with a lot of Brisbane locations. I had ideas for other stories with these characters and quite a few people said they wanted to read a full-length work ... so, I'm three-quarters of the way through writing the first one and I've got the sequels, Vigil and Corpselight, all planned out.
What do you love most about writing speculative fiction?
Oh, the challenge of inventing worlds and making them work. And creating characters that readers want to follow down the rabbit hole ... even if they don't necessarily like the character very much, but just can't bear not to know what they're doing!
What lies ahead of you in the next year?
Finishing Hallowmass and trying to sell it. Finishing a new collection called The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, which is a sequel to Sourdough and Other Stories. Starting work on Vigil. Travelling to the UK for World Fantasy Con in Oct. Teaching for the Queensland Writers Centre and doing some festival appearances (NSW Writers Centre Spec Fic Festival; Conflux; Gold Coast Literature Festival; GenreCon).
What are the best 5 books you've read in the past year?
Ooooh, only five. Off the top of my head: Karen Joy Fowler's Things I Didn't See; Megan Abbot's Queenpin; Curious Warning: The Collected Works of MR James (Stephen Jones ed); Sarah Pinborough's The Chosen Seed; Barbara Hambly's Magistrates of Hell.
I haven't read any of those! Oh goody, some books to add to my must-read pile!
I'll be interviewing other guests of the Speculative Fiction Festival this week in the lead-up to the big day. I hope you'll stick around .... we have some surprises in store!
