Daley Downing's Blog, page 2
September 2, 2024
The Death of Artistic Integrity?
I wasn’t going to post this. I’m going to be making some pretty bad assumptions, and some people will probably be mad. And I wanted to make sure I had some sort of evidence, more than just a niggling feeling. But very late last night something broke on social media that really helped confirm my theories, and now I feel this subject is getting out of control, and it’s beyond time to talk about it. So, here we go… Deep breath…
I believe major publishers have been using AI to finish writing authors’ manuscripts for at least the past 5 years.
There, I said it. Luckily for me, I’m a small enough blogger/author/social media presence that I’m not about to be cancelled. And I’m with an independent press that 110% supports authors and artists creating their own work, no AI. And I absolutely write my own stuff (using an encyclopedia and thesaurus hardly counts as stealing or cheating). Anyway, the (quite dangerous) point is, I do firmly believe this is actually happening, and I think it’s already left a major stain on the industry, one whose impact we may only be at the beginning of experiencing.
How did I come to this conclusion? That’s a 3-part thesis.
Part One: Since about 2018, I noticed that the quality of genre fiction was going down. Whether it was the same authors releasing their 20th, or even 30th, novel (either in a series or in total), and bunches of readers saying it all felt the same after book 12 or so; or the hot new names publishing a 450-page tale less than a year after their debut, which many people believe felt rushed; there’s completely been something off in contemporary romances, typical who-dun-its, thrillers, modern fantasy, lots of YA, and even a fair amount of MG chapter books for a while now. And I was far from the only one saying this — just go to Goodreads or review blogs or BookTube and read/listen to some of the negative comments on a handful of the major bestsellers in the last decade, and you’ll see it: Flat characters. Unrealistic dialogue. Ridiculous plot that makes no sense. Story resolution felt forced and not plausible. Book went on about 70 pages too long.
And these things apply to a number of authors, a variety of genres and titles, across more than one (two, three, or even four) publishing years. So you can’t say it was simply an “off” year for the industry. For example, remember when everybody was trying to copy the success of The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner, and many of those series, while unique in premise, did seem to have sacrificed more original characters and settings in favor of hoping to jump on the reality-TV or zombie-inspired dystopia bandwagon. That felt…different to the current climate of publishing.
My niggling began when I read about a hundred times in Goodreads reviews: “It was like the author ran out of ideas, so they copy-and-pasted some random paragraphs from an abandoned draft and called it plot advancement.”
Now, if we’re writers as well as readers, we’re very aware that running out of steam before finishing a project is going to sometimes happen. It doesn’t mean we’re bad writers; it means we’re human, and that our brains might need to recharge in order to put together that really dazzling finale. As I mentioned, I belong to an independent press, and my deadlines are my own; the “top brass” will genuinely understand if I say I’m not ready to publish, for whatever reason, by such-and-such a date. I feel blessed to be in this situation. Many authors are probably not.
Because, as we all know by now, publishing has become much, much less about sharing the art of literature with the world — and much, much more about making money.
And what creates sales? New books. On store shelves. Consistently.
So the pressure to hand in a completed manuscript, in a set amount of time, is, realistically, intense.
And the definition of “completed” means there’s an “The End” printed on one of the last pages of the document.
Not that the plot is cohesive, the characters are fleshed out, their motives sound believable, or that rambling tangents lending nothing to the story have been removed.
And it seems that editors no longer care about these things — as long as a chunk of paper with words on it goes to print by the date whichever publisher has set in stone.
Is this true across the board? No, of course not. In the last several years, I’ve read a few novels where everything felt perfectly trimmed, the characters reminded me of real people, the story flowed, the ending was possibly predictable but definitely satisfying. There are lots of newer authors out there making a name for themselves with works plenty of readers and critics agree are unique and heartfelt. To claim “everybody” in the industry is taking dodgy shortcuts would be wrong.
But I do believe these dodgy shortcuts do exist, and that they’re more widespread than publishers want readers to think.
Part Two: A couple of weeks ago, I watched a YouTube video about how tech bros and advertisers want us to dive into using ChatGPT and such, for everything from brainstorming an outline to writing a script or a short story or even a whole novel. This camp is pushing AI-generated art as the “future” of film and even content creator videos. This discussion isn’t new to those of us who have been following it; this commentary was posted about 12-16 months ago, when this trend was considered a bit more groundbreaking. Anyway, the commentator used an AI platform to help formulate the script for a YouTube video, purely as an experiment, not to advocate choosing this method.
The result of the AI-produced script was that about 70% of it sounded plausible — but then it suddenly veered off course, nearly derailing the entire premise of this hypothetical video, and even the commentator was pretty shocked and a bit disturbed. And before you say YouTubers are half-actor, anyway — that’s also not true, not for every single YT out there. Many of them have a professional demeanor on camera, but their opinions and reactions don’t change based on who’s sponsoring them or the rep they’re hoping to build. And this particular YT, by general rep, falls into that category. So I believed him that he’s not pleased with AI becoming more prevalent. (Especially since about 6-8 weeks ago, he released a new video slamming AI being employed frequently now by social media platforms and influencers and big tech companies.)
So, all of this is leading up to: The abrupt derailment reminded me STRONGLY of most of the recent genre fiction I’ve read, where everything was going well till about the third act, then without warning the story took the weirdest turn, and it all collapsed. And then it all made sense when I saw in the video that the AI site he selected for the experiment happened to include Harper Collins — which is one of the Big 5 publishing houses — as one of their clients.
Let that sink in. Harper. Collins. A publicly acknowledged client of an AI company. That proudly offers services like creative writing.
Combine these findings with my earlier musings, and…it’s not good. It does make the notion that there’s a concrete reason behind all the crappy books lately a lot more solid. But that does not make it easier to swallow. The idea that an author contracted to write a 400-page novel produces 310 pages of tight, concise plot and relatable characters, and feels the story has reached a natural end, would then be forced to somehow come up with 90 additional pages…and maybe an editor suggests a ghostwriter to help…except the “ghostwriter” is an AI tool…which doesn’t have the human eye for plot holes or inconsistent motivations…but there isn’t time to edit it before the deadline, and… All of this is a slight leap, but…it’s also terrifically unsettling, if it’s even the slightest bit true.
This is the sort of practice that leads to the death of artistic integrity. If an author does not actually come up with all of their own book…but their publisher in fact encouraged them to use tools that have been accused of stealing copyrighted material from, among other sources, previously published titles… YIKES. Yikes, yikes, yikes.
Part Three: This is the aforementioned late-breaking. NaNoWriMo, which runs National Novel Writing Month (for those of you who aren’t familiar with the abbreviation), has taken massive fire recently for a staff scandal involving inappropriate and illegal conduct with minors. Most of us who formerly participated in NaNoWriMo’s events have stopped doing so. Early this morning there was a new viral post in my social media feed — NaNoWriMo is in the headlines again, for endorsing their participants to use AI.
Yes, endorsing! Not just looking the other way, but actively giving their blessing! To possibly steal from other artists! And then win a certification for it by reaching 50,000 words in 12 hours or some bullshit!
This is DISGUSTING. There are SO many of us who poured all we had into creating OUR OWN 50,000 words in 30 days — or 20! — or even less!! — working around full-time jobs, misbehaving kids, upcoming holidays, the first cold of the season, relying on OUR IMAGINATIONS and too much coffee and the cheers of our friends. The official statement from NaNoWriMo claims encouraging AI will help writers who are pressed for time, who might be disabled, who may not be in the best financial circumstances. That’s just horseshit. I have a learning disorder, I’m chronically ill, my bank account is in terrible shape, I certainly don’t have zillions of hours without other responsibilities, AND YET I MANAGED TO WIN NANO TWICE. AI won’t automatically level the playing field. Nor should it! This kind of event is meant to be a challenge!
Here’s how all of this ties into cementing my theory: Many prominent authors have been proponents of NaNoWriMo for years. What if some of them also belong to the publishers who might be — who are? — using AI behind the scenes of their own operations? Doesn’t this indicate a mutual interest? Involving corporate sponsorship?
Jeez louise on a freaking cracker. I really hesitate to say I’ve uncovered some sort of grand conspiracy. BUT.
It. Isn’t. Looking. Good.
I don’t even know how we fight this thing. Only buy indie or small press titles? Boycott the Big 5? But wouldn’t that hurt plenty of hardworking authors who’d never dream of plugging their draft into an AI app? And, unfortunately, there are lots of self-published personas who have, in fact, “created” all their books via AI.
We’re only now finding out that this has actually been going on for at least several years. It’s how some “authors” who produced dozens of titles in a matter of months got caught. If the Big 5 have been into this since, I don’t know, 2015 or something…that calls a HUGE amount of publications into question, and that’s intimidating, and horrifically unnerving for those of us who just like to read original fiction.
But how do we go up against major corporations with tons and tons of money? Could we make them stop just by asking nicely? What about authors who may have known their editors extended their works by AI, but were/are afraid to speak up because it might mean the end of their careers? AAARRGGHH.
I don’t have answers. I have no clue what happens next.
I’m just praying whatever it is will lead us to a way out of this mess.
August 12, 2024
I Have a Beef With Romantasy
Here’s the beef: That it exists.
If you enjoy this mixed-breed genre, and you’re loving its current explosion on the market, then please take this entire post with a grain of salt.
Personally, I am not.
I’ve read plenty of straight-up romance. I’ve read plenty of straight-up fantasy. I have even read fantasy that included romance — including graphic intimacy scenes. I don’t have an issue with any of it. Yes, you read that right.
Why, then, you might be inquiring of this moth, am I so opposed to romantasy? Very simply, because it is threatening to kill a genre I love — for no reason other than money. And it sucks.
Fantasy has worked hard to be taken seriously as a literary category. For decades, people who enjoyed reading (and writing) fantasy novels were deemed “basement dwellers,” and “non-adults who can’t deal with reality.” It took the rise of a boy wizard, sparkly vampires, and spicy reimagined fairytales to change that. But what did it change into? The idea that it was acceptable for grown-ups to read YA, that YA could get explicit, and interspecies relationships are okay (on paper), and that mythical creatures make fun pets. The notion that invented worlds with magic systems were actually legit forms of entertainment still wasn’t accepted by the majority of readers. Many fans of Harry Potter, Twilight, and authors like Sara J. Maas are more about the discussions on surviving trauma, and the relationship angst — and they like the portrayal of dragons as basically dogs you can ride. This does not mean these people truly appreciate the impact Lord of the Rings and Wheel of Time and Brandon Sanderson have had — as solid fantasy work.
So, now, we’re here, in the land of dozens of new romantasy titles being released every quarter, and it feels like the integrity of the genre is getting stripped away. Because, for those of you who aren’t aware, romantasy is the equivalent of Harlequin bodice-rippers — easy on the worldbuilding, heavy on the s-e-x. Want some vampire-human porn? Publishing’s got your back. Feel like wizards comparing more than just their wand lengths (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)? Yup, try the next shelf down. In the mood for some mermaid-centaur smut? They’ve got it alllllll!
And, yes, these books are selling like hotcakes.
And it is becoming ridiculous.
Again, I’m not against a romance plot in a fantasy-based world. After all, one of my favorite series ever is Maggie Stiefvater’s The Wolves of Mercy Falls, which is about werewolves falling in love. But a big part of the reason I like this story is because it takes its premise seriously. The major themes are about losing your human life, possibly your humanity, and what happens if paired wolves don’t shift at the same time, how that could affect them as a couple and individually; and how falling for a wolf when you’re not one changes your perspectives and the way you choose to live. It absolutely tackles the questions of how to explain away the times you can’t be at work/school/with your family because you’ve shifted into a huge furry creature and run into the woods; of how to deal with which humans you can trust, which ones to avoid, and trying to make sure you don’t eat anybody. Being a werewolf is not merely a sexy punchline in this tale.
And, no, we don’t have to take everything deadly seriously in a genre that’s designed to poke fun at itself — I mean, we’d all secretly like to ride dragons to work, and date some buff and witty immortal hottie, and have a more exciting life than paying bills and getting groceries and folding the laundry. But this is part of what’s sacred about fantasy — we want to strive after something less expected, more magical than the everyday; and that shouldn’t just be turned into an escapist double entendre.
Am I possibly thinking too hard about this? Yeah, maybe. But I also feel like there’s precedence for this discussion. For example, I do believe historical fiction authors and readers were initially concerned about bodice-rippers ruining serious literary forays into the past. Many parents are, rightly, worried that “YA” being marketed to 27-year-olds will expose their tweens to content they’re not ready for. Just like many other industries, publishing capitalizes on trends, and when a niche market takes over (and for how long?), it can be very difficult to return to a broader sales strategy. So, what happens to the now-floundering actually-for-kids magic-and-mysterious-beasts books (that struggled to get a foothold among parents and librarians to begin with)?
Many devoted fantasy fans are already starting to complain that BookTok and Bookstagram are ruining spoiler-free TBR curation for them — because they’ve been burned so many times by a popular impending release turning out to be romantasy — when they were after more worldbuilding, more plot, less smut — that they feel they have to do a deep dive into the summaries of all new titles marketed as “fantasy.” They don’t even feel they can trust the label anymore: they’re starting to feel betrayed by publishers, who apparently no longer understand the difference between a faerie bodice-ripper and a genuine fantastical adventure.
This whole situation is probably going to have additional unintended consequences as well. I wonder how many hopeful authors will, in the next couple of years, submit manuscripts along the veins of Percy Jackson and Mistborn, only to be told it’s a no, unless characters take off all their clothes at least 5 times in 420 pages. And then, what if this bubble bursts, publishers find they don’t have enough Actual Fantasy Authors on contract? What if the people they rejected have given up writing to become psychologists and IT specialists and cafe managers?
I’m going to stand on my beef. This doesn’t feel like an irritating phase; it feels like the tip of an iceberg.
August 6, 2024
Fogbound: An Unusual Sort of Review
The reason this will be a bit outside the box is because I didn’t do my homework, and had no idea until I received a copy of this from the author that the names and places in this book are totally invented — and this is BAD, according to my dyslexia. So, I spent a lot of my reading time coming up with replacement names for the characters and cities that I could pronounce in my head. I had this idea about writing my review applying this method, and I’ve already cleared it with the author, so, special disclaimer as we get started here: My description of the plot and themes will be accurate, but I’m not going to use the real character/place names. So, if you choose to read Fogbound (and you should, by the way), just be aware that it’s not really about Steve and Bob from Townsville.
(From here on out, the * after the introduction of a character means that’s what I’m calling them.)
Fogbound is a fantasy in the epic style — think Middle Ages/Europe-inspired setting, vast tracks of land, great war, no modern technology — focusing on the accidental soldier who’s really called Zercien, and his best friend Evuard, and they’re from the city of Entervia. Hence, why I will be referring to them for the rest of this post as Steve and Bob from Townsville. (Thank you again, Nick!)
So, anyway, in this traditional epic fantasy setting, a war has been raging, for a long time, and Townsville isn’t doing so great at winning it. Steve is a history teacher at a school for the children of the nobility, and he absolutely isn’t the person you’d expect to willingly enroll in the army — and even more so, turn out to be a star recruit. That’s because Steve is actually being influenced by the spirit of a long-dead military hero, Holunt (real name!).
Bob is a little miffed when Steve aces his entrance exams and is rushed off to basic training, as Bob is the one who’d really like to be off defending Townsville. Steve doesn’t understand how the spirit influence really works, and none of this is his idea — he’d much rather keep teaching from textbooks and hang out at home with Lila*, his beloved other half. Of course one of the hardest parts of his alter-ego-with-a-mind-of-its-own landing him in the war is the fact he might very well die and never see Lila again.
Steve and Lila’s relationship was honestly one of my favorite things about this book. They’re an established couple, so there aren’t any awkward will-they-won’t-they scenes, and the romance runs smoothly on their connection. Lila can tell when Steve’s hiding something from her; he doesn’t want to let her down, but also hates to lie to her; his driving motivation to get out of this army stint as fast as possible is coming home to her. They behave like a pair who have been together a while, and are just in love and want a peaceful and happy life together. It was refreshing to read a fictional romance without any unnecessary angst.
So, after Steve’s secret advanced skills are discovered when he arrives at the barracks, he’s immediately assigned to a special mission under the command of General Tom*, and when that goes horribly awry, the King of Townsville decides to put Steve on a particular task force, with the goal of neutralizing the unexpectedly super-extra-perilous threat they’re now facing.
Steve is allowed to choose his companions on this incredibly-secret-task-force, and naturally Bob is his first choice. Bob’s significant other, Kelly*, runs a market stall and is friends with Lila. The ladies are ready to stand up for themselves while Bob and Steve go forth for the King.
The boys also select Fin* (actually pretty close!), a local scholar raised by a priest after his father went missing; and Lloyd (REAL NAME!), who’s a totally badass mercenary known to the Townsville army. They’re joined by the Captain of the City Guard, Aiden* (again, pretty close!) — who, I have to say, was my FAVORITE character. Aiden made me think of Alucard from Castlevania, for some reason, of his desire to do the right thing and stick to his duty, even when his personal demons were threatening to overwhelm the sense of obligation. Without going into spoiler territory, there’s a part where Something Bad Happens, and the group Gets Split Up, and Aiden won’t stop not just until he’s back with everybody else, but until he’s found reinforcements to protect the people of Townsville. He even has to give this speech about heroism and what’s worth fighting for and why you keep going when it’s bleak and GAH! I love this man!
The subplot of Fin and what happened to his father and how that tied in to the Bigger Picture of the Epic/Vast Lands/War and magic system of the world added a lot of depth and excitement to the premise as well. The first half is a bit slow, and there’s a fair amount of exposition, but it sets the stage for the action that ramps way up from about 70% on. There is definitely blatant violence — think Game of Thrones-ish in terms of stabby-slicy and gore — so just be prepared for that. (That one part early on with the Boil-Faced Man almost did my sensory dysphoria in, sir!) And there are a few twists that I have a feeling some readers may be shouting at Mr. Alexander for… (It’s all about the character development. I get it. But I still gasped in shock.)
Before I close, I’d be remiss not to mention the subtle undertones of the importance of mental health that’s woven throughout this story. Since Steve isn’t really in control of the spirit of Holunt, there are many times when he’s basically forced into actions he normally wouldn’t take, and the longer he goes with his alter-ego taking the reins, the more he starts to become unsure of how much of his own life he’s in fact living. This situation does come to a head, and I can’t say anything about how that goes without dropping big spoilers, but the prevailing theme is not losing yourself when circumstances drastically change, and coming to understand what that deep, down core of YOU is, no matter the external influences. Most of my life, I was encouraged to cover up or tone down or flat out change what made me ME, and the message in the last act of Fogbound that no one but YOU gets to make the choice of who you’ll become was so very appreciated.
If you’re interested in N.J. Alexander’s debut, it is available on Amazon, paperback or digital!
August 2, 2024
The Secondhand Book Scene Sure Has Changed
I know I don’t get out much, but I feel like the entire secondhand/used book market has shifted, pretty quickly, and I didn’t get the memo until now. I was aware the traditional brick-and-mortar shop housing inventory of former mass printings or collectibles was definitely in decline. But the last time I went to a thrift store, I noticed the majority of the books on offer were discarded celebrity/political memoirs, children’s titles so outdated they’re now considered offensive, and a million varieties of who-dun-its with cookie-cutter trope characters and interchangeable plots.
A few months later, I went to the biggest Friends of the Library book sale in the area, and was rather disappointed. I did find a few gems, by my standards (older editions by favorite authors I hadn’t read yet, and a couple new graphic novels for Muffin); but 95% of the fiction/DVDs/kids’ stuff, I/we had either already read/watched, or have no interest in. And the lack of more recent titles was just shocking to me. Haven’t people read anything published in 2021-22 that they didn’t gel with and would have given to, say, a used book warehouse?
I don’t spend a lot of time browsing the internet these days (now that I’m well over 40 and my free time feels much more limited), but I have been around enough to get an impression of online used book selling. And it…isn’t good.
Ebay and Mercari are crazy, with people bidding through the roof for subscription box special editions of fantasy romance titles that didn’t even make the bestseller lists. Chain stores like Books A Million and Half Price Books are offering tons of yesterday’s genre fic hits with shipping deals that could cost less than the gas to the nearest library. In the vein of Book of the Month club, there are now services that mail you a bundle of read-once copies from all the genres.
When did the secondhand scene become so…saturated? Weren’t we all being told just 20 years ago that digital editions of everything would put used bookstores out of business? These same thrift shops and charities that are literally unloading piles and piles of inventory onto Amazon, just to clear out their storage space?
The other thing I’m noticing is that the influencers of BookTube and BookTok and Bookstagram seem to be driving a lot of impulse sales for the authors and genres and subjects we all “can’t live without.” Many bookworms will create a whole year’s TBR this way…and then by the time we finally get around to reading these now-not-so-hot releases, we’re…underwhelmed. Because the painful memory of paying $21.99 for a new publication is still fresh, though, we hurry to recoup some of our losses by listing…bunches of gently used hardcovers on Amazon and the like, and…this means we end up contributing to the problem?
I don’t know that I have any answers or even thoughts on how to change this multi-layered complex situation. As an author myself, I kind of want my books to keep getting passed from owner to owner, being discovered and enjoyed by more and more people. As a reader, however, I’m…bored, and…tired.
And, at the moment, at least, there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight.
July 25, 2024
Who Gets to Tell Which Stories?
Recently I finished reading Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, and to say I had questions was just the tip of the iceberg. It’s pitched as “a deep-dive exploration into the world of publishing,” but it’s…really…not. The main character, June, is supposed to be unreliable and unlikeable, but…I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, and understand her actions. According to the high-star reviews, it’s a “keen satire on online book community drama” — except, it’s really just an author lashing out at her own critics and trolls. And at the end of an inconsistent and pretty icky narrative, there are so many things Yellowface totally missed the mark on, when it had the platform to cover a lot of topics we actually do need to talk about in publishing, and in general.
Warning: Alllll the spoilers ahead, even for the ending.
So, the premise is June, a hopeful author who was published, but her debut kind of flopped, is hanging out with her sort-of rival, Athena, who’s a wildly successful author. June inwardly complains about how clueless and privileged and stuck-up Athena is, but here June is, letting Athena buy cocktails at a very fancy bar in Washington, D.C., and letting Athena ramble on about a promotion she’s doing, or a newspaper that wants to interview her, or how her fans just looove her work. And within the first couple of chapters, two things are made very clear: Athena is a jerk, and June is a doormat.
The inciting incident of the story comes pretty quickly: Before this night of partying is over, the pair go to Athena’s (very fancy) apartment, where they engage in a liquor-fueled pancake eating contest, and Athena literally chokes to death on a pancake. No, I’m not kidding. The scene is actually pretty realistic — Athena starts choking, June tries to help, calls 911, but Athena collapses and dies before the paramedics arrive, and June has to sit there, stunned, watching as the EMTs put Athena in a body bag, and stumble through the police asking her routine questions about what happened.
All of this sets an excellent stage for the narrative to come: Because June just watched someone die, she’s traumatized, and it would make sense that a lot of what she does in the next few chapters is basically a trauma reaction. Buckle in and get yourself a coffee, or a scotch, everybody, because I am going deep.
Before Athena dies, she shows June the completed first draft of what she hoped would be her next published work. It’s about Chinese laborers brought to Europe from Canada in WWI, and the struggles they faced, of course in war but also, of course, in terms of racism. (All criticisms of the rest of the story aside, this is absolutely something that many people — not just in the West, but I imagine the East as well — probably won’t have heard much about, and it is great that Kuang mentioning it will hopefully encourage folks to look up the history.) Anyway, somehow — the text literally never states how this occurs — the bundle of papers winds up in June’s bag. Duh that she took it, but I mean, it happens off page, which I found extremely disappointing, since getting into June’s head in that moment would’ve been quite valuable to the reader.
So — really, no shocker — eventually June decides to read Athena’s draft. And as she’s reading, she starts making notes, thinking like an editor (an easy force-of-habit for a writer), considering how some passages could become more affective, and how some just don’t add anything to the tale. Remember, June saw Athena as a rival, not really a friend, so it makes sense that as she reads, June can totally agree with all the critiques she’s heard of Athena’s style. After she’s made extreme use of her red pen, June makes a very bad decision — she hasn’t written anything new herself in years, so she cleans up Athena’s draft and submits it as a WIP to her own agent.
This is where the waters get muddied — in the story of Yellowface, and in the writing by Kuang. Intense breakdown time.
One: Yes, June should not have done this. It is stealing Athena’s work. Does this rightfully create the impending controversy/downfall for June’s character, that we kind of expect as the reader, or wonder if she’ll get away with it? Yes. There are many layers to this, though, and the fact is, June is not the only person to blame for the way the fictional readers feel duped. June’s publisher and marketing team deliberately set her up with a pen name that sounds Asian, and never encourage her to come straight out with, “Hey, yeah, I’m white as milk, but I was drawn to the shared human experience of this subject.” (Which, by the way, is one of June’s defenses — that we all can relate to being far from home, feeling alone, feeling forced to do something we really don’t want to, missing family and familiar environs, and hoping to just get the task done and go back to what we know and love. And whether we’re talking Chinese laborers in WWI, or soldiers in a foreign land in any era, yes, this is quite relatable.)
Here’s where it gets even stickier, however: When June first receives backlash for “her” book, it’s because she’s a white woman writing about Asian history. NOT because she stole Athena’s draft. That’s a secret, of course, but when the accusation of that does come out, the criticism for that is waaay down the line…after the racial stuff. When the fact is, June never wanted to deceive anyone about her own heritage and life experiences. She wants to hide from people that Athena came up with the manuscript concept and characters. Again, not defending the crime June does commit. But I do find it necessary for the fictional crowd to get their priorities straight.
And this is where, for me, the real-life readers of Yellowface completely missed the point. I read several reviews — high and low-starred — of this novel, and the low-ranked ones all agreed: The text purposefully portrays June buying into cliches and stereotypes as her being “racist,” so that it can push the idea that a white woman writing about Asian history is “more” wrong than…outright plagiarism.
Especially since the twist in this novel is that Athena never wrote anything original in her life. All of her previously published essays, articles, short stories, and even full-length books were based on history texts, interviews she did with other people, or — and this is tremendously concerning — even from somebody else’s actual trauma. Exhibit A: When they were in college, June was sexually assaulted, and she told Athena about it, and Athena turned this real incident into a narrative for a school magazine. June KNOWS all this, and, yet, for some reason…SHE NEVER TELLS ANYONE THE TRUTH. June sits back and hides in her apartment and lets the social media trolls leap all over her about the “racism” debacle, INSTEAD OF TELLING ATHENA’S AGENT THAT ATHENA WAS A PLAGIARIZER.
Kuang keeps writing June as an unreliable protagonist, paints her as an unlikeable person, as someone who refuses to admit what she did wrong…while never making Athena have to face some consequences for her truly heinous actions. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Who in Kuang’s publishing house decided it was acceptable to make the SA survivor the villain? WTF?! How did this editorial choice not result in someone being fired? Especially after the #MeToo movement?! How did Yellowface even get published without this twist being removed?! And, sure enough, the high-starred reviews GLOSSED RIGHT OVER this part of the plot, as if it “doesn’t matter, because June is still a white woman writing about Asian history, how racist!”
I repeat: WHAT. THE. HELL.
As a reader, when you come across this big reveal about June’s and Athena’s pasts, how can you NOT help but side with June? As I read the last quarter of the book, I was continually shocked that we were given more and more evidence Athena was a terrible person, that she basically ruined June’s life, and yet, somehow, we’re expected to support Athena and completely vilify June. I had to wonder: what in the literal f*** is wrong with R.F. Kuang, that she thought it was more important to make the white woman the bad guy, to re-create social media troll drama for a good portion of the novel, stirring up all this debate in real life reading communities about “gatekeeping”…even at the expense of gaslighting the valid and intense trauma of her main character?
Given the very real and important concern around a hopeful author stealing their work of an established author, why did June’s SA even have to be a thing? Couldn’t Yellowface have just focused on Athena’s death, June’s taking the draft and passing it off as her own, and then later June discovers — yes, if she hadn’t known to begin with, that would’ve worked SO much better — Athena’s own theft/posing. That would’ve meant the plot and protagonist was complex, layered, and June needing to admit to her own wrongdoing, while exposing Athena, and the kind of moral and personal confusion that would cause — and the amount of character development that could come from it — would’ve made a terrific book.
Following this same idea, did the racial debate even have to be included? If Yellowface had been titled something different, if both June and Athena were the same race, but from varied socio-economic circumstances, and June was still a flop and Athena a success, and the draft posing still occurred — again, this is a deep and complicated literary conversation. Because a major thread being the notion that June “fakes” her Asian connection means readers focus almost exclusively on the race factor — not on June’s motivations for taking the unfinished manuscript from Athena’s apartment. And, in fact, there is no indication in the narration that June ever cared about Athena’s Chinese roots.
The only grudges June holds against Athena are her success, her wealth (both inherited and from her career), her attitude towards less accomplished peers, and her total cluelessness about the reality of struggling with a day job. These are all things that make June easier to connect with, and Athena more the antagonist. Yet Kuang’s ongoing insistence that June is unreliable and unlikable pushes through to the end of the novel.
This is one of those books that gets more and more convoluted the longer it goes on, and it easily continues on 50 pages after a natural ending. (Seriously, what’s up with this trend?) Why didn’t the author and editors find a tangible thread to follow for that span? For example, this notion that Athena wasn’t a genius writer, but rather a rich kid with an expensive college degree who could afford to basically buy her way into publishing?
We cannot bring up the fact that class matters in the publishing industry and then not discuss the ramifications of this. Kuang never explores the very social media posts she created for the story, that accuse Athena of kissing up to whites, of only writing Asian experiences categorized as “trauma porn,” instead of books that would humanize a whole marginalized culture. Some of these posts are vile, using very vulgar language to say the poster doesn’t agree with Athena dating a white man. It’s intense. And exploring more of that would lend credibility to Athena being a conflicted anti-hero. But it doesn’t take place on the page. It’s all treated as internet trolls who don’t know what they’re talking about. What purpose in the storytelling does that serve?
And when I reached the final words of Yellowface, I realized it doesn’t in fact answer the question put forth in its own premise: Who gets to tell which stories?
Is it all right for a white woman to write a historical fiction novel about Chinese immigrants serving in WWI in Europe? Why would it be racist if the author’s intent is to portray a shared human experience? If she doesn’t depict the Canadians and Europeans as being superior to the Chinese? If her goal is to share this little-known piece of history with the world?
If a popular author suddenly dies, and it comes out that she actually stole everything she ever wrote from other sources, I have no doubt the cancel culture folks would be screaming for her head.
In the end, Yellowface was hard to read — not because of the punch it packed, but because of how widely it missed the mark it should have been aiming for.
July 14, 2024
Dear Everyone Who Has Read and Loved My Books
Dear everyone who has read and loved my books:
As many of you know, the process to get Volume 4 to publication has been a long and challenging one. The final hurdle I face is paying for the formatting of the paperback’s manuscript to be completed and ready to print. After the universe tossing repeated obstacles in my way on this front, the plan has come to crowdfunding. If you’re one of my readers (THANK YOU!!!), someone I know personally, or a social media mutual who loves to help support indie creators, and would like to assist getting Volume 4 at last over the finish line, there are a few things you can do.
Obviously you can buy my existing work! (Link below!) You could also make a donation through my Kofi page. (Link also below!) If you have read and did enjoy what I’ve already released, you can post a glowing review on your blog or social media. You can share this post with your own friends and subscribers and community folks who like fantasy fiction and think indie authors are awesome.
The goal is to raise $90 and aim to have the release date scheduled before the end of the summer. This is not an insurmountable goal (she says while pasting on a veneer of unflagging hope, because what else do I have at this point). On the one hand, I’m sorry for the blatantly “give me moola” message of this post; on the other, I am forever grateful for all the support I’ve received over the years, to even get me from having no books out to actually having a back-catalogue on an international website.
The biggest gratitude this round goes to Haydes and Laurie for their everlasting patience, understanding, and belief in me as an author. Anybody who works with them at the NE1 World will know just how accurate this is, and how lucky we are to have them!
The previously mentioned links!:
https://asapimagination.com/collections/the-daley-downing-collection
July 1, 2024
Review: His Ragged Company by Rance D. Denton
Good morning, everyone! Another review so soon? Well, I just finished this one a few days ago, and I have a lot to say about it, and…let’s gooooo.
I received a free copy of this book from the author. I was in the mood for Western fantasy, and intrigued by the cover.
I had NO idea what I was in for.
His Ragged Company is a tale of Marshal Elias Faust, in a small town called Blackpeak, during the Wild West, and on the surface, it’s just what you’d expect — sand, heat, guns, lawlessness, a hard-scrabble life, the kind of language that makes sailors blush. There’s a freed black woman named Miss Garland who runs a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff. (More on her later.) Through a series of unexpected events, Faust gains himself a deputy called Grady Cicero (more on him later). At first, although there are several hints something unusual — or even unnatural — is going on in Blackpeak, despite an action banger of an opening scene, we get a slower, relaxed introduction to our characters, and a chance to really settle in with Marshal Faust.
I do need to say: This is 110% a mature read. The violence is R-rated. The language is — well, see above, and let your imagination spare no expense. Nobody shies away from the fact there’s a brothel in town. If you aren’t a fan of reading detailed descriptions of what happens to bodies that have been shot or stabbed or punched or…really anything, then this may not be the book for you. But. If you don’t mind that, then buckle up, and get ready for a hell of a ride.
This will be really hard to do without spoilers. I’ll try my best.
So, we have Marshal Faust, generally a good guy, wanting to protect innocent people and let the town pretty much carry on with its miners and farmers and permitted brothel and saloon. This includes turning a blind eye to the fight club Miss Garland runs, which is how Grady Cicero enters the picture, bursting into town one night and demanding to be allowed into the ring. (No, I will not elaborate! I said no spoilers!)
As we go forward, we find out there are dark and dangerous elements afoot, and that what little Faust discovers in the first several chapters is realistically just the tip of the iceberg as to what’s really happening under his radar. (Yes, it is just the tip.) Starting at about the halfway point, the action really ramps up, along with the mystery, and we get to meet my other favorite characters.
I SAID NO SPOILERS. But. BUT. Nycendra is AWESOME. I can’t stick to my oath and go into too many particulars about Nycendra, so I’ll leave it at this: Arriving suddenly on a literal falling star, Nycendra is the bloody best unexpected supernatural addition to a Wild West tale. The early passages describing her abrupt entrance to Blackpeak and exploring her personality reminded me strongly of Neil Gaiman’s writing from the late 90s-early 00s, and the strange and magical and enchanting tone that accompanied her first scenes just thrilled my heart. She doesn’t just vanish from the story, she does have somewhat of an arc (which is lucky for Denton, since her return, leading to her excellent part in Act 4 and the climax, means I don’t have to punch him).
As Faust is led out of Blackpeak, chasing the mystery, he encounters new terrors, new enemies, and new allies. Annnnd…this is about all I can say here, because I want to just OVERFLOW with spoilers.
EXCEPT. Except I can’t NOT mention the coyotes. THE COYOTES. Constantpaw and Spitjaw and Rat! RAT! And their leader, the Quicktooth — just, INCOHERENT SCREAMING of the very good variety. There was one part with the pack that reminded me SO MUCH of The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater, which is one of my favorite trilogies ever. And I CRIED. (And I have already hollered at the author about that.)
So, though Act 4 is rather long and there’s a LOT of action and the chapters quickly spool into their own movie — which is intense and literally bloody and gritty and grim and AMAZING — you feel pulled to keep going, to stay in Elias’ head and life, hopeless as the situation might seem with the stakes so high.
The payoff is there. It is deep. It is profound. It will make your heart swell. It will bring tears to your eyes and your throat.
It will also confirm two things for you: Miss Garland is a total badass. And Grady Cicero is the GOAT.
Miss Garland positively sways and sashays off the page. I could see every inch of her flowing skirts, her constantly appraising eyes, her swift reach for her gun; could hear her confident voice, feel her righteous anger and confusion over the evils that start taking over her town. She’s determined not to be messed with — completely understandable for a woman of color in that time period — but she also genuinely cares about this place she’s made her home, and all the reasons for the actions she takes come from within her soul.
And then there’s the former outlaw, former Shakespearean actor (damn it, I said no spoilers! Oh, well!), turned deputy Grady Cicero. I STAN GRADY CICERO FOR LIFE. Despite being a little unsure about his motivations early on — his introduction is as an unorthodox one as there ever was — I quickly grew to smile every time he was back on the page, and by the big ending, there was no one I was rooting for more. THE TALK HE HAS WITH ELIAS ABOUT HOW TO PROCESS GRIEF. Our Lord and Savior on a boat, that part rocked my world. Any character that causes me to stare into the ether for a bit gets a piece of my heart.
So, we have come to the end of the review of His Ragged Company. But this story will stay with me, and I’ll have an eye and ear pealed for anything else the author chooses to send our way. Thank you, Rance, for managing to pull together this release; it has been a pleasure.
June 28, 2024
Review: Thunderstruck by Daniel Quigley
So, I finished this…a while ago…but there was no way I wasn’t going to write a proper review. Full biases disclosed: The author and I are online friends, so I automatically put this book on my list, and I got all the inside jokes and many of the personal references he threw in, and anyway none of that makes any difference as to HOW MUCH I ENJOYED THIS STORY. Yes, it’s always fun to read a creation by someone you know and chat and laugh and opine with; but Thunderstruck is just a wildly engaging ride that anybody who likes adult modern fantasy should pick up.
Starting out with a unique inciting incident of a stolen steak, we’re quickly introduced to our protagonist and narrator, Zev O’Connell, who is the oldest young man I’ve ever met in fiction. Zev is the definition of a curmudgeon — he’s already world-weary, cynical, gives strangers the side-eye, and is convinced older is better (the number of classic rock references, omg). None of this turned me off our MC — I get it, and can roll with it, and this voice has been written so clearly I could feel Zev’s emotions and reflections and personality in my very bones.
Pretty early on, we’re let on to a major source of Zev’s miserly perspective — he has supernatural powers he has a hard time controlling, and his uncle, who was his mentor and a rock, went missing a while before the story starts. Zev’s been struggling to run his uncle’s antiques business and carry on, protecting his explosive secret, on his own.
This is a world where magic is real, and otherworldly creatures do exist, and many people completely believe it. Of course this has led to a number of problems — there are magic operators who really don’t want to be outed (understandable), a huge (highly dangerous) black market has developed, and there’s a federal agency trying to shut everything down (even the people who were born with powers they keep under control). In the middle of all these big stakes is Zev, who gets an intriguing — and threatening — job offer he really should refuse (but of course he doesn’t, because then we wouldn’t have much of a plot).
Thunderstruck moves along at a good pace, rises and swells of action, then relaxing for character development and dialogue that’s snappy and feels real; the crafting of the action scenes is intense and excellent (confessing I got a little jealous of this). Quigley’s intrinsic manner of drawing us into Zev’s head means we feel the excitement, the fear, the anger, the disappointment, the confusion, the humor in our chests as we go along on this journey.
Before the end of the book, we find out that, yes, there is a deep, dark bad guy at work, that not everything is as it seems, and that Zev has allies he didn’t expect ready to step up to his side. And everybody around The Invisible Moth knows I don’t do spoilers without warning, so, I will just say, AND THE ONE SCENE WITH THE RESCUE OF A CERTAIN KIDNAPPED OCEAN CREATURE MADE ME CRY. Do you hear that, Daniel? You made me cry!
While we do end with many questions answered and the major plot threads pretty neatly wrapped up, there is certainly enough material for a sequel, which I ABSOLUTELY hope we get (soon?). I just want to know more about some of the secondary characters we meet after the mid-way point, and more about this world in general. The Cryptid Protection Agency reminds me a lot of the premise and structure of my own fictional secret organization, The Order of the Twelve Tribes, so I already have a big soft spot for it.
Before I wrap this post up, I would be remiss not to mention my book-gifting angel friend who made sure Thunderstruck made its way into my hands during one of the harshest quarters of my recent life. There was no money at all in the TBR budget, and she made it happen for me, anyway.
So, in summary: Friends are great. And read Thunderstruck, because it’s great.
May 31, 2024
Here’s What Happened When I Tried BookTube For A Week
I have a hard time trying new things. I tend to stay in my comfort zone until I’m so bored with my regular go-to’s that my skin gets twitchy. Then I’ll try to deep breathe for a few days while I look for a new hobby or show to watch or author to read or… You get the idea.
Anyway, recently I realized it was becoming a bit tedious to be all caught up on all the YouTube channels I watch (and it’s under 10, and I binge everything I touch, so of course I’m frequently caught up). And last week it occurred to me: BookTube exists, and I like to read, so, why not?
After 5 evenings of scrolling/watching/screaming over BookTube, here’s what I learned.
Or, Why BookTube Is Not For Me.
(Disclaimer: This is all just my opinion. If you happen to like watching any of these folks, please just take my thoughts with a grain of salt.)
Because I didn’t know where to start, I just jumped on the first recommendation the algorithm threw at me — Haley Pham. And that happened because I really enjoy Ryan Trahan’s travel videos, and Haley Pham is his other half, and she has a BookTube/vlog channel, so I don’t blame the programming for thinking maybe I’d naturally branch out to her. And, at first, it was fine. Haley has an engaging onscreen personality, and she gives in-depth, spoiler-free reviews. (And their dog is adorable.)
But… But. After a whole evening of watching her videos, I realized I felt overwhelmed. Not just overstimulated, but as if my entire brain couldn’t shut off. Like someone had pressed the fast-forward button somewhere inside me. I took a bit to try to nail down why. Since I couldn’t stop thinking about the content I’d just consumed, it came to me pretty quickly: Haley Pham’s videos are so fast-paced, so condensed (she’ll pack 20 or 30 titles into a half-hour vlog update), so continually progressing (this book, next, then next, then rinse-repeat) that NO WONDER I felt like I’d been dumped in a washing machine on the spin cycle.
So, day 2 was Lexi aka Newly Nova. Lord have mercy. If I thought Haley Pham was bad, Lexi aka Newly Nova was worse.
This BookTuber literally talks like a squirrel on crack. I don’t think she ever stops to breathe while filming. And she has an annoying habit of suddenly dropping very vulgar language into the middle of an otherwise civil and seemingly polite discussion on whichever book it is. I’m not opposed to swearing; I’m an adult and I understand that in grown-up conversations, depending on the audience, it won’t seem out of place or offensive. But in this instance, it was jarring; it would come out of nowhere, and totally shift the tone of the video, and made me feel like the rug had been yanked from under me. I lasted 3 or 4 videos, before I simply wanted to explode. Or get really drunk.
So this was another, concrete, NO.
Day 3 took me to Daniel Greene and Captured with Words — who, for a good change, are pretty level, comprehensive with their reviews and their reasons for liking or not liking a title, and they have good editing. But. (Sigh.) I found them covering the same series and authors in every.single.video. And I deliberately tried to find vids from across the last year, and that were supposed to focus on different topics. Sooo, why are they STILL going on (and on and on and onnnnn) about Brandon Sanderson? As if he’s the only prolific fantasy author in the entire world…
Then Gaming Beaver got caught up in an apparent conspiracy around fake “found Tasmanian Tiger” footage and released a new video and THANK GOD.
Anyway, after that palette cleanser, on Day 4 I stumbled across Answer in Progress, which is an interesting and fun channel about a lot of topics — including, but not focusing solely on, books. So, I attempted A Clockwork Reader (who lost me the second she said The Hunger Games was the “best series ever”), and then Jack Edwards — who is such a stuck-up know-it-all that I switched to Netflix in intense frustration.
However, nothing on my list was really grabbing me, so Day 5 meant carefully reopening my YouTube profile and…discovering CinemaSins had 2 new videos, so that temporarily solved my problem.
And because I had just been watching critiques of film, the algorithm started suggesting a bunch of those for me.
Though this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because last night I watched Friendly Space Ninja deconstruct book-to-screen adaptations and crocheted, and it was wonderful.
I still love reading, love chatting with other people who are into the same books, and I still want to find new ways to learn about upcoming releases and publishing trends. It is rather evident, though, that BookTube isn’t the spot for this moth.
Maybe…I could hope my favorite gaming channels start doing book reviews, too?
May 19, 2024
Trad versus Indie: The Struggle is Real
A couple weeks ago, I attended a talk that was part of a local literature fair. I had no idea what to expect from this particular talk; I’d never heard of the author or the title, but I wanted to at least go to one event, and this one was at a good time, and in a familiar location. I also brought Muffin along, since the book was an MG graphic novel, and I always like to find out more about this genre, since my child consumes it at a similar rate to Garfield and lasagna.
So, we found some free parking, walked to the hosting bookstore, and settled in for…what turned out to be a half hour of the author rambling on about how the pandemic had affected her (er, didn’t it affect us all??), before finally getting to discussing what should be this super cute book involving classic horror tropes and roller derby.
Eventually, we came to the Q&A, and I asked the author who her publisher was, and mentioned that I was curious because, despite being a novelist, I ended up with a distributor that focuses a lot on indie comics.
To this I got a distinctly cynical response. The author asked if this group was still functional. Uh, yeah, I said, completely current with a live store online right now. She literally asked if I was interested in changing who I worked with. I had to bite back a snarky laugh. I politely answered, no, I love my colleagues, the support I get, and the creative freedom I maintain. She pretty much ignored this, and started signing books for the other attendees. I slipped in a quick thank you — manners count, even if it’s just for one’s own karmic balance — then Muffin and I headed out.
The short version is that this encounter has been rankling me ever since.
In plenty of other industries, if you’re an independent contractor, it’s treated as a brave, badass move, going against the system, all that. Why is that people going their own way in literature and art that it’s treated as…not worthy?
Those of us who have the talent, passion, and drive to make our words and visions come alive, despite the stranglehold the traditional publishing industry has on the market, don’t deserve unfair criticism from people who are in the same field.
Maybe I’ve been tremendously lucky, but I’ve never come across this bias personally before. I knew it was a thing, I knew other indies have had to deal with it at shops and in social media; I wasn’t naive about the situation. But whenever I’ve shared my journey in self-publishing, either in person or online, I’ve received positive feedback, praise and respect. Occasionally I get a bit of a doubting side-eye, but nothing like what happened at this event.
It’s offensive. It’s arrogant. It paints trad authors in a bad light. It also insults readers who choose indie publications for a bunch of valid reasons.
It means I’ve spent a fair amount of time lately ramping up my own accomplishments. Reminding myself of everything I’ve done, how far I’ve come.
And seriously debating leaving a scathing, anonymous review of this person’s book. Hey, I’m only human.
I’m honestly not embarrassed that I chose self-publishing. I don’t feel like I “settled for less.” Some of the indie works I’ve read have profoundly affected me emotionally and as a writer. My own books have received some pretty glowing reviews.
I have nothing to be ashamed of. This person’s narrow-minded rudeness shows a lot more about her than it does about me.
The only thing I’m going to keep ruminating over on this matter is the sincere hope that she won’t share this perspective with someone who may decide not to self-publish because of it.
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