Jim C. Hines's Blog, page 143

Diana Pharaoh Francis Talks About, Well, Me…

Diana Pharaoh Francis (Twitter, LJ) lies! You can’t believe anything she says here. She’s one of those fiction writers. She lies professionally! (Her next book Blood Winter [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] will be out around Christmas of this year.)  She informs me that she is not particularly dangerous and I escaped from nowhere and so no one is hunting me down to drag me back to any sort of asylum. Really.

I am very much amused…

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to Jim’s blog. I’m here today to lay out some facts for you, facts you’re likely highly unaware of, and you should be. You must be able to make informed decisions.

First, I’m very sorry to have to inform you, but Jim has lied to you. Constantly and relentlessly and on a variety of subjects. Let’s start with the basics. He isn’t really human. What he is, isn’t certain. Some scholars have postulated that he’s some sort of alien with few bones, as evidenced by the cover pics he did demonstrating how real female poses on Urban Fantasy covers could be. As you can tell from those pictures, no human could actually manage them, and someone with either few bones or other magical properties could only manage to twist himself (or herself—it’s still debatable what gender Jim really is) into such positions. The fact that Jim reasonably accomplished these poses, is proof positive that in fact, he is not human.

Other scholars, incidentally, have suggested that he’s a shapeshifter (unlikely, given the shape he’s chosen for every day life is so very innocuous), that he’s a djinn (highly possible, given that he does fit into small bottles and it would explain the contortions in the cover pics if he was actually made out of smoke, plus Djinns are frequently not so attractive), it is also possible he’s some sort of serpent creature covered in human skin as a disguise (a la V or so many bad SciFi channel movies.) This latter possibility brings us to the next dreadful truth.

Jim Hines is the ghost writer for almost all of the SciFi channel movies involving snakes, piranhas, spiders, gators, octopi, and sharks. Yes. I hate to be the one to have to tell you this. He is responsible for not only writing, but casting and funding these movies. He himself came up with the brainless pepto-bismol pink spiders that farted fire (I mean, what a dead give away!) in Arachnoquake. Sorry Jim, you can’t fool us with the pink. You’ll have to do better than that. And Megapython vs Gatoroid was another of his babies–who else would have chosen his favorite singers Tiffany and Debbie Gibson for the parts? You now know what he does when he disappears and leaves someone else to blog.

Third, he doesn’t really have diabetes. I know what you’re thinking—he’d never lie about that. But I’m sorry, he has. Really, his blood is some sort of highly acidic goop that burns through steel. Yeah, you got it. His great, great, great, great aunt Martha was the alien in Alien. Though that was a disguise as well, so we still don’t know exactly what Jim is. The diabetes thing is just a cover up to allow him to stab himself periodically with needles full of some concoction that is believe to be a ‘happy’ drug. Quaaludes for aliens or djinns. Though the little baby aliens in Alien and Aliens bear a remarkable resemblance to a certain fire spider and also to all the spiders in his SciFi movies . . . . I sense a theme here, a Freudian slip of epic proportions that clues us in on not only what he is, but what a danger he presents to the public.

Folks, I’m telling you. Be careful when encountering Jim. He’s been killed before and risen up. I know. I killed him in Crimson Wind. But he’s back. Dare I say from outer space? Did you just walk in to find him here with that sad look upon his face that makes it so easy to like him? So easy to fall for his charms? So easy to believe that he could just be a normal human and not a secret weapon for some evil force intent upon taking over the world? Over your souls? Over your minds and your children?

There’s really only one thing to do to. Go now. Get yourself armed. Flamethrowers, RAID, Skittles, chocolate, Scotch, Dr. Who, Firefly—whatever it takes to bring this monster to a standstill. Save yourselves. Save your children. Save the dog. (don’t worry about the cats. Cats are much smarter and more powerful than anything Jim might be).

I beg you. Take precautions now.

Uniform in the Closet, by Myke Cole

I’m home from Fandom Fest (which was a lot of fun!), and will be heading up north for vacation tomorrow morning. So I’ve handed the blog over to a number of guest authors, starting with Myke Cole. Have a great week, and I’ll catch y’all when I get back!

Myke Cole (Twitter, Facebook) is the author of Shadow Ops: Control Point [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], a military fantasy novel I reviewed here. He’s also the dungeon master who, with the help of Saladin Ahmed, made me fight goblins in our game at ConFusion earlier this year. He also got to be a fighting extra on The Dark Knight Rises, making him far cooler than I will ever be. This piece is an expansion of an essay he wrote for The Qwillery.

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Uniform in the Closet: Why Military SF’s Popularity Worries Me

Myke Cole

We’ve got this problem, and I think it’s pretty serious. There’s a growing gap between those who serve in uniform and those who don’t. It’s the worst kind of gap: experiential, cultural. It’s the kind of gap that gives rise to rumor and suspicion. The kind of gap that endures.

In May of last year, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told the graduating class of West Point cadets that he was concerned about the growing gap between civilians and the military. In the United States, around 70% of youth are ineligible for military service due to health problems, criminal records, or other reasons. Of the remaining 30%, 99% elect not to serve. Currently, less than 1% of Americans serve in uniform. In a sour economy, recruitment soars, with a corresponding bump in educational and fitness standards, especially among the leadership. This makes the military, as it becomes more separate, more elite.

MSNBC’s Rachael Maddow addresses this question in her recent book, Drift. The New York Times’ Scott Shane summarizes her perspective:

“Only a tiny fraction of the American population serves or sends a family member to war, permitting a majority to remain oblivious to its grisly human price. . . . Contractors supply the battlefield support that once was the work of soldiers. A bloated security industry profits from the near-permanent state of conflict, sharing proceeds with pliable members of Congress. And now robotic drones carry out combat from an antiseptic distance.”

This is a serious problem, because America’s military is a citizen military. Our service members serve under the authority of civilians who are supposed to ultimately dictate policy derived from the vox populi of the American people. When the military fights, it does it for the royal you. That’s not the case in many countries. Look at Egypt or Burma, Guinea-Bissau or North Korea.

This is what has both Mullen and Maddow concerned. We don’t want to live in a country like that.

More importantly (as Maddow points out), having a military deeply integrated with the civilian population reminds everyone of the price of going to war, making it far more likely that we will do so only as a last resort. The bigger that experiential/cultural gap, the more likely Americans will simply shrug and accept that it’s time to lay down some ordnance. When the vast majority don’t have to buy war bonds, accept rationing, or offer up a family member, it’s an abstract, distant thing. A news item.

So, yeah. A problem. The genesis of the problem is a topic of much discussion in both civilian and military circles. The answer is complex, and like all cultural issues, will take a long time to resolve, but I am discouraged to see that the military’s own culture isn’t being examined in addressing it.

Let me get at it this way: We see members of the National Guard in their battle-rattle guarding train stations and airports. They are hidden behind tac-vests and magazines, Oakley Flak-Jacket sunglasses hiding their eyes. They look busy, alert. And they should. They’re guarding against threats. But when was the last time you saw a member of the military out to dinner, or the theater, or some public event in their dress uniform? Without a weapon? Not on Veteran’s Day or Memorial Day? Showing their service pride right alongside you?

There’s a great scene in a recent episode of Mad Men where Greg Harris (played by Samuel Page) has dinner out with his family. He sits in a crowded restaurant in his “Alphas,” (his service dress uniform) and tensely fights with his mother about his imminent return to Vietnam. It’s just a TV show, to be sure. But it’s one case where folks got the zeitgeist right. My parents regale me with stories of how service members used to wear their uniforms on every occasion that normally required a suit: Going out to the theatre, a fancy dinner, a formal party. Old movies feature plenty of scenes of servicemen donning dress uniforms to hop on a bus or plane.

You might still see that in Arlington, Virginia or Washington, DC. But what about in New York City? Or Billings, Montana? Or New Orleans? People never hesitate to thank me for my service once they find out that I have served. It’s inevitably followed by a slew of questions, interest and compassion. But finding it out in the first place is getting harder and harder.

And here’s where military culture comes in: There is a climate evolving that seeks to hide military membership. It’s largely driven by two concepts, both pushed to the forefront by the 9/11 attacks; “OPSEC” and “Force Protection.” It would put you to sleep to try and define them fully here (and hey, you’ve got Google and Wikipedia), but suffice to say that OPSEC culture attempts to protect sensitive military information (troop movements, ship and air schedules, etc . . .) and Force Protection tries to protect service members from terrorist attack (think, the USS Cole bombing). Both are genuinely important, both are needed.

Unfortunately, both are engorged by the panicked post 9/11 morass, the Clausewitzian fog of war that has us seeing terrorists and spies in every shadow. Both OPSEC and Force Protection seek, first and foremost, to protect the military by hiding it. Keeping a low profile is central to both cultures. OPSEC is centered around the concept that, if you are identified as a military member, you will be immediately targeted by those seeking sensitive information (state based spies, criminals, anti-government activists), smooth-talked, elicited from, eavesdropped on, blackmailed. Force Protection posits that a person in uniform will be grappled by a suicide bomber, knifed in a dark alley, pulled into a waiting van with blacked out windows. OPSEC forgets that sometimes the attractive foreign woman is chatting you up at a bar because she genuinely finds you attractive and is curious about you. Force Protection forgets that sometimes people take pictures of bridges and trains because they find them aesthetically beautiful.

And of course, like everything else in the military, contractors swoop in. Jobs are created. Training programs. Force Protection and OPSEC literature, PowerPoint presentations, degrees, classes, departments. Bureaucratic entities that, once created, will fight to sustain themselves at all costs.

Remember the “Loose Lips Sink Ships” campaign form World War II? An October 2010 Straight Dope piece put paid to that notion. Turns out that loose lips didn’t actually sink any ships. This in the middle of a major, existential struggle against an implacable enemy dedicated to our destruction. Yet the culture remains.

So, we have a hidden military. Wearing uniforms is discouraged off post. Showing one’s military ID is believed to invite either creeping spies or bloodthirsty terrorists. Force Protection and OPSEC moves the military into the shadows. Service members work, live and play alongside their civilian counterparts, and many of them don’t even know.

Those not in the military might be able to pick a service member out by a t-shirt slogan or bumper-sticker (I have been warned off both, by the way, in Force Protection and OPSEC briefings). But they mostly see and hear about military members in fictional accounts, news stories about PTSD related suicides, homicides. YouTube videos showing snapshots of firefights. Sensationalized accounts form tabloids. Wikileaks.

And, not surprisingly, stereotypes begin to evolve and blossom.

All stereotypes work this way: Without familiarity, whisper and rumor replace reality. Fighting men and women become the stuff of legends. It works the same way all stereotypes do: singular, easily recognized characteristics get taken, blown out of proportion, used to define an entire class of people. I knew this had reached epic proportions when the Shit my Dad Says meme finally reached us and the YouTube video Shit People Say to Veterans went viral. It was poking fun, to be sure, but we’ve all felt that wonder at the cluelessness of a public who seems not to know us at all.

But the real danger lies at the crossroads of exoticization and ignorance: The fetishization of a group of people. For one thing, discrimination (both positive and negative) against people is always presaged by this. If you don’t believe me, go check out the wild distortions currently used as the justification for the relentless persecution of homosexuals in Uganda. But in the case of our military, it has more ominous implications. We have become the newest minority, with all the ignorant and dangerous stereotypes that status affords.

So what does all this have to do with military science fiction?

Military science fiction and fantasy, as a sub genre, is a mainstay. From Heinlein to Weber to Ringo to Haldeman to newcomers like T.C. McCarthy, genre books dealing with the military fly off the shelves. Heck, publishers like Baen practically stake their whole business on it. A lot of the newer, edgier fantasy hitting the market these days has a military cast to it (Joe Abercrombie’s work deals largely with medieval warbands, the military of their time. George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is a decidedly military epic in many respects). That’s not even counting the movies. Battle: LA, Lockout, Battleship, Act of Valor. Dynamite Comics recently released short digital novels by Chuck Dixon (of Batman fame). The topic? SEAL Team Six. The last time I checked, the first volume was #643 (out of over 700,00) in the Kindle store and #24 in the Action and Adventure category.

And I started thinking about why. Military stories have always been popular, but why are people buying them now? What is it about today’s military service that folks find so fascinating? The answer is deeply troubling. This is the culture gap in action. People are fascinated with the modern military precisely because they are disconnected from it. Like people flocking to the zoo to see the rare Siberian Tiger, they are drawn to military speculative fiction by the sense of wonder that comes from experiencing the rare, the different, the exotic.

And in this case, that’s a serious problem.

Familiarity and kinship with a military is critical to ensuring it remains a servant of civilian masters and their policy. All military members must remember that, they too, are civilians. When they get home from work and take off their uniforms, they shop and play and raise their kids in the midst of everyone else. Distance breeds fantasy and mistrust. A military punctuated by the uneasy humor of that YouTube video. A civilian population unsure of what a man or woman in uniform, suffering from PTSD, might do to them if they get too close.

I am a writer of military stories. I want people to be interested in them. But I can’t shake the unease that my readers are drawn at least in part from a fascination with a culture that seems exotic because it has been made distant by the measures put in place to protect its members.

The healthiest relationship between a military and civilian populace is one of tight integration. The message I’d like to see repeated is “We are you, and you are us.” It is the best way to ensure that the military remains an instrument of civilian policy, and never a force for setting it.

It’s my sincere hope that interest in military science fiction (and fantasy) will move beyond a fascination with the other. The real military is a cross-section of all of American society. We have mavericks and hidebound rules-lawyers. We have lockstep loyalists and anti-authoritarians. We have heterosexuals and homosexuals. We have artists, dreamers and intellectuals. If you see it out there, it’s in here. We are you, and you are us. That depth and complexity of character makes for the best writing in any genre. Here’s hoping we’ll see more of it in military speculative fiction, and that the sub-genre can be used as a tool to bridge the gap that Mullen and Maddow have described.

Fandom Fest and Vacation

This afternoon I’m heading to Louisville, Kentucky for FandomFest, which was kind enough to invite me to be one of their author guests of honor. My schedule looks like so:

Friday, 7:00 p.m. - Beckham Room. Exploring Genres: Fantasy

With Michael Williams, D. A. Adams, Laura Resnick, Carole Malcolm, and Robin Hobb.

Saturday, 1:00 p.m. - Beckham Room. Humor in Speculative Fiction

With Ernest Cline, John Scalzi, Laura Resnick, and Lee Martindale.

Saturday, 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. - Expo Area/Joseph Beth Booth. Guest of Honor Signing

An hour and a half of signing books, meeting fans, and hanging out.

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. - Jones Room. Spotlight: Jim C. Hines

Lee Martindale will be moderating a chat/interview/Q&A. There may or may not be cover posing.

Sunday, 3:00 - Expo Area/Joseph Beth Booth. Guest of Honor Signing, Part II

Apparently my Saturday signing is at the same time as the signing for some guy named Bruce Campbell. I’m told they gave me this extra spot so I wouldn’t steal all of his fans. At least, that’s the story I’m going with.

After the convention, I’ll be heading up north with my family for a week, which means yet again I’ll be away when one of my books comes out. (That would be the goblin omnibus, The Legend of Jig Dragonslayer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy]on July 3.) I’ll try to do something nifty and promotional, and maybe give away another book when I get back. But in the meantime, I’ve lined up some wonderful guest bloggers to talk about, well, whatever the heck they want.

So far, I’ve received and scheduled posts from Myke Cole, E. C. Ambrose, and Steven Harper Piziks, and I’m expecting about five more. My only worry is that last year when I did this, my guests were far too smart and interesting, and made me look bad. But that’s a risk I’m willing to take!

Internet will be intermittent, so I apologize in advance to everyone whose comments and e-mails don’t get answered right away. Have fun, and please don’t break the blogosphere while I’m gone!

Books on my TBR List

I am, as usual, shamefully behind on my reading. Trying to read and review all of the Hugo-nominated work has only exacerbated the problem. The following are some of the books waiting impatiently on the shelves for me to get to…

[image error]Wild Things [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Charles Coleman Finlay. Charlie is an amazing writer, and broke in years ago by essentially turning the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction into the Magazine of Charlie Finlay and Maybe a Few Other People. He was kind enough to send me his collection as a Christmas gift. I’ve read and enjoyed several of the stories so far, but haven’t yet finished the book, on account of I suck. Or maybe I just get cranky because he writes better short fiction than me. Jerk.

A Natural History of Dragons [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Marie Brennan. Come on. Look at that cover and tell me you don’t want to check this book out. It won’t be on sale until February of next year, but I have a copy of the bound manuscript right here, because my life is just that awesome! I’ve read and reviewed Brennan’s work before, and I love the historical detail she captures in her books. This one is described as “the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.”

The Kingdom of Gods [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by N. K. Jemisin. The final book of Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy. I talked about the first two books here, and now I have an autographed copy of number three whispering in my era, telling me to set aside those silly Hugo stories and come play. I’ve skimmed the first chapter, which is told from the point of view of the child-god Sieh. Sieh was one of my favorite gods from the first book and makes me want to read it that much more right now!

Pirates of Mars [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Chris Gerrib. I’m told that Gerrib named a ship after me. I have not been told whether it’s a Millennium Falcon type ship that runs circle around the imperials, or more of a “Did a piece just break off of my gorram ship?” kind of deal. Gerrib blogs a fair amount about piracy in the real world, and I’m curious to see how he’s applied that knowledge and research to Mars in what I believe is his first published novel.

Unless he blows up my ship, of course. Then all bets are off, and I’ll write him into one of my stories so the goblins can eat him.

Queen’s Hunt [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Beth Bernobich. This one comes out in mid-July, and is the sequel to Bernobich’s book Passion Play, which I talked about with Sherwood Smith over at Book View Cafe, discussing her portrayal of rape and its effects, her characterization, the Cool Stuff theory of fiction, and more. I also reviewed and enjoyed Bernobich’s YA book Fox & Pheonix here. I’m looking forward to seeing where she went with the story in book two.

2012: Midnight at Spanish Gardens [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Alma Alexander. I reviewed Alexander’s bestselling novel The Secrets of Jin-Shei back in 2007, describing it as a magical, masterful novel. (For some reason, I couldn’t find the review on my blog, but that link will take you to my Amazon review.) Her latest book is set “on the eve of the end of the world … in Spanish Gardens,” where five friends come to reminisce, to reveal secrets, and to make a choice presented by a bartender named Ariel, “the choice to live a different life, or return to this one…” I’m very curious to see what Alexander has done with this premise.

Net Impact [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy], by Donald J. Bingle. I met Don years ago, and have shared a ToC with him in a number of anthologies. He warned me that there are no goblins in this one, but I said I’d be willing to read it anyway. This is not SF/F, but a spy novel about Dick Thornby, described as knowing “a few tricks to help him get out of a tight spot, even if his boss accuses him of over-reliance on an abundance of explosives.” Which sounds vaguely goblinesque to me…

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Those are just some of the books looming over me from the bedside table, threatening to tumble and crush me in my sleep. Thankfully, I’ve got a vacation coming up very soon! If you need me, I’ll be on the deck up north, watching the lake and trying to catch up on my reading.

Your turn. What’s sitting in your To-Be-Read pile that you’re looking forward to? What releases have you impatiently counting down the days?

Korra Season Finale

Legend of Korra

1 x 11: Skeletons in the Closet

1 x 12: Endgame

Full episodes available at Nick.com

Episode Summaries (from the Avatar Wiki)

1 x 11: “General Iroh, grandson of the now retired Fire Lord Zuko, joins in the war against the Equalists. Mako and Korra go to take down Amon while the rest of the group heads to the airfield launching the strike force that will wipe out Bumi’s fleet. Korra finds out that Amon is Tarrlok’s older brother Noatak, an unusually skilled and experienced waterbender and bloodbender. “

1 x 12: “Korra decides to take on Amon. She discovers that Amon captured Tenzin and his family. Amon baits her and succeeds in taking Korra’s bending, except for airbending, since she had not yet unlocked the fourth element. Aang and the other past Avatars appear to Korra when she finally unlocks her spirituality. Korra regains her bending, and is given the ability to heal Amon’s victims and restore their bending abilities as well. “

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My Thoughts, Part 1: Um … so Skeletons in the Closet was one part cool airplanes, five parts not-so-great exposition. While I appreciated getting answers as to who Amon really was, the whole thing felt anticlimactic. Oh look, here’s Tarrlok, who will conveniently answer all of our questions in preparation for the next episode. And I just wasn’t feeling it. Amon is Tarrlok’s brother. Okay. But there wasn’t any real emotion to that revelation. Maybe it was too rushed, maybe there wasn’t enough groundwork, or maybe it’s just me.

I think a lot of my problem comes from Tarrlok, who got seriously shortchanged in the character development department. We’ve seen him as a total bastard in this show, and he was great there. But in the flashback he’s the kind-hearted, innocent kid. There’s no explanation for how or why he changed. It’s an Anakin Skywalker turning. Tarrlok could have been a much more tragic and powerful figure if his story had been better developed instead of infodumped.

Part 2: The final episode was stronger, but that’s not a terribly high bar to pass. My son was thrilled that his prediction about Korra getting her airbending and knocking Amon down was correct. Most of my own predictions were off the mark.

No Lin Beifong except at the very end? Boo!

I loved General Iroh vs. the squad of Equalist planes. I feel even worse for Asami, now that Korra and Mako have paired off. Why do the writers hate her so? Her fight with her father was the most emotional battle in the whole finale. Also, love for Bolin’s dramatic entrance and his criticism of Mr. Sato’s parenting.

Mako and Korra vs. Amon: When you’ve been told someone’s a bloodbender, wouldn’t it be smart to plan how to counter or combat that? I know Korra’s headstrong and impulsive, and I know they didn’t have much choice when they saw Tenzin and the kids had been captured, but still. I did like Mako managing to get off a lightning bolt in Amon’s face, though.

I had mixed feelings at first about Tarrlok blowing up the boat, presumably killing himself and Amon. (Most of the technology we’ve seen has been steam- or bender-powered. Have see seen any gasoline-type engines that would blow up like that?) But I think I like it. It captures Tarrlok’s pain at what his brother took from him, and gives his story a kind of redemption.

Love triangle resolution. Meh. Asami deserves better.

I really liked that Korra didn‘t connect with her spiritual side during the battle. Aang’s comment that it’s when we’re at our lowest that we’re most open to change made that part more meaningful. A lot of us suspected Korra would restore people’s bending, but it was still good to see.

Thoughts from the Seven-Year-Old: “I loved it! I loved the fact that, well, when Korra lost her bending in the end, Aang and all the other avatars, all the way to the first avatar, healed Korra! And then she healed the metalbender. I thought it was kind of surprising and weird that Amon was Tarrlok’s brother. I was like, ‘Whoa! Why did he blow up him and Amon?’” (I asked him what he thought about Mako and Korra being in love.) “It was kind of funny.”

Confused Newbie Says Huh? Firebenders can fly? Huh. Not sure exactly how that works, but it looks cool, if a bit too much like Iron Man.

Overall Rating: It felt like they were trying too hard, and as a result some of the action was emotionally flat. The best parts were the quieter scenes: Tarrlok and Amon on the boat; Korra running off to be alone after Katara failed to restore her bending. Maybe the earlier episodes raised my expectations too much. The finale did tie up all of the loose ends and bring closure to the season, and there were good bits, but it often felt mechanical and by the numbers.

Predictions: Korra is the Avatar. The Big Bad is ash. I’ve got no idea where they’re going for season two. But I’m looking forward to finding out!

Rape and Terrorism

According to the Global Terrorism Database, 3029 people were killed by terrorists in the United States between 2000 and 2010. That’s an average of 275 people per year.

According to the U. S. Department of Justice, there were a total of 52,470 rapes in 2008 (the most recent year for which I could find posted data). Women are victimized approximately four times as frequently as men. Even if you disregard issues of underreporting, that’s about 10,000 men and 40,000 women raped in a single year.

A 2011 Congressional Research Study estimates the ten-year cost of the war on terror at $1.28 trillion, or $128 billion per year.

I couldn’t find an estimate on how much (or how little) the U.S. spends fighting rape and sexual violence each year. However, the Office on Violence Against Women is requesting a total of $412.5 million for their 2013 operating budget. For comparison, the Department of Homeland Security is requesting $59 billion.

These numbers aren’t perfect. But they do help give us an idea about our priorities. Here they are in graph form.

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I’m not trying to argue that the budget for fighting sexual assault should necessarily be 190 times the budget for fighting terrorism. But imagine the difference if even a fraction of the money we spent on color-coded terror charts or airport security theater went into preventing sexual violence.

I debated for a long time before writing this post. Both rape and terrorism are important, powerful, and emotional issues, and I don’t want to trivialize either one. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me to discuss rape in the context of terrorism. The goal of terrorism is to create fear in a population. 9/11 succeeded in creating that fear.

So does rape.

The difference is that in the United States, the terror created by rape is a far more realistic day-to-day fear, especially for women. You have less than a one in a million chance of being killed by terrorists this year in the U.S., but according to a 2007 study by the Medical University of South Carolina, roughly 1 in 20 of college women were raped in a single year. (The study notes that only about 12% of these rapes were reported to police.) A National Institute of Justice study found that 18% of women–almost 1 in 5–experienced a completed or attempted rape at some point in their lives.

The prevalence of rape and violence against women creates an atmosphere of terror and the awareness that strangers, friends, even family members could be potential attackers. Phaedra Starling wrote about this in a 2009 essay titled Schrödinger’s Rapist:

“Is preventing violent assault or murder part of your daily routine, rather than merely something you do when you venture into war zones? Because, for women, it is. When I go on a date, I always leave the man’s full name and contact information written next to my computer monitor. This is so the cops can find my body if I go missing. My best friend will call or e-mail me the next morning, and I must answer that call or e-mail before noon-ish, or she begins to worry. If she doesn’t hear from me by three or so, she’ll call the police. My activities after dark are curtailed. Unless I am in a densely-occupied, well-lit space, I won’t go out alone. Even then, I prefer to have a friend or two, or my dogs, with me. Do you follow rules like these? … When you approach me in public, you are Schrödinger’s Rapist.”

Not every woman follows these rules. But many follow at least some, and most of the women I’ve talked to live their lives with this kind of awareness. With the knowledge that rape and assault are a real danger. They make choices based on a risk assessment and constant, underlying kind of fear that’s utterly alien to most men. Not slaves to that fear, but always aware.

How then is sexual violence not a form of terrorism, at least in its effects? But because this kind of violence is seen as a “women’s issue,” we deem it unimportant. We shift our resources to other problems. We play political games with laws like the Violence Against Women Act.

You want to fight a war against terror? Try putting money and resources into the backlog of rape kits. Try funding sexual assault counseling and women’s shelters and SANE nurse programs. Try teaching people at a young age what rape really is. Try teaching men to hold themselves and each other accountable, and to intervene when they see signs of sexual coercion and abuse. Try providing training to prosecutors and judges and police departments.

In other words, try taking the problem seriously.

Winners and Other Stuff

Announcement: I’m delighted to say I’ve been invited to be the Toastmaster at ICON in Iowa this November. ICON was my very first Guest of Honor gig back in 2009, and I guess this means I didn’t do too bad a job

Boundaries and “No”: One Shade of Grey: A Feminist Fantasy (from Sinfest).

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My thanks to everyone who entered the Libriomancer [Amazon | B&N | Mysterious Galaxy] giveaway. I very much enjoyed reading your entries, both the serious and the silly!

Selecting the winners proved to be surprisingly difficult. There were roughly 150 entries. I picked one at random, then started reading through them to choose my favorite as the other winner. Y’all made me want to laugh and cry and eventually gnash my teeth in frustration.

Dear Head Beagle,

Please let me win the lottery tomorrow so I can send books to EVERYONE who hangs out here!

Love,

Jim

I eventually narrowed it down to a few funny ones, a few clever ones, a few heartfelt ones, and two very tempting bribes. I then found myself utterly unable to decide between the finalists, so I made a list of the top contenders and went back to random.org, where I used the amazing technological advancements of the 21st century to essentially roll a die.

The winners are:

Steven Schend and sylvanstargazer.

For everyone who didn’t win, you’ve got a few days left to put your name in for one of the 20 copies available over at Goodreads.

Bunheads and “Message” Stories

Giveaway Note: I’ll be picking two winners in the Libriomancer Giveaway tonight, so if you haven’t entered yet, this is your last chance.

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Blame Charlie Finlay and his friend Jessie for this rant. They’re the ones who brought this interview with Bunheads and Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino to my attention.

Context: Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, posted on Twitter, “Hey… Bunheads: really? You couldn’t cast even ONE young dancer of color so I could feel good about my kid watching this show? NOT ONE?”

Unfortunately, the interviewer seems more interested in talking about what a shame it is women can’t support each other, and how Rhimes was oh so wrong to criticize a fellow woman. Sherman-Palladino indirectly addresses Rhimes’ question around the 3:05 mark, when she starts talking about all of the pressures of making a pilot episode, how she had to find dancers who could also act, and she didn’t have a lot of time, and “I don’t do message shows. I don’t give a shit who you learn your life from.”

Wait, what? The original question is why nonwhite characters aren’t represented, and you’re talking about “message shows”?

Every story has a message. Some stories are blatant and clumsy about it, but as the author of some rather silly stuff, I can tell you that even the the fluffiest, lighthearted tale has meaning. When someone like Sherman-Palladino chooses to limit diversity in her stories and justifies it with this kind of rationale, she’s damn well sending messages. Messages like:

White people are normal. Nonwhite people require justification to exist.
My target audience does not include people different from myself.
My world is small and narrow.

Amy Sherman-Palladino has the right to create whatever kind of story she wants, and I don’t believe for a moment she intended to send those messages. Having watched a number of Gilmore Girls episodes, I think Sherman-Palladino has done some very praiseworthy things. I loved her characters, the dynamics and banter and conflict and love between them all.

None of which makes Rhimes’ question any less valid, or Sherman-Palladino’s answer any less weak.

I’m singling her out because the attitude and response here are so common. How many times have we seen authors and editors challenged for their lack of diversity, only to have them reply, “I refuse to bow to the bullies of the PC movement” or “I don’t believe every story has to be a Lesson about diversity” or “I have too much integrity to change my story just to meet your arbitrary quotas.”

I don’t care about quotas. I object to whitewashed stories because they’re dishonest. Because they perpetuate a long pattern of sidelining or erasing those who aren’t like me. Because our world is bigger than that.

Korra 1×10: Turning the Tides

Legend of Korra 1 x 10: Turning the Tides

Full episode available at Nick.com

Episode summary (from the Avatar Wiki): “Korra works to recover from her time spent imprisoned by Tarrlok, but when she is interrupted by Republic City coming under attack from Equalists, she is forced to take action against the evil group and their mysterious leader Amon.”

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My Initial Thoughts: So much love for Meelo and combat fartbending and “Not now, baby!”

Even more love for Lin Beifong’s quiet determination to help Tenzin and his family, her reaction and facial expressions when she gets stuck taking care of the kids, and her heroism and sacrifice at the end of the episode. “That lady is my hero.” (She even inspired me to make a LiveJournal icon.)

I love this part of a story, the do or die turning point when everything is coming together, the stakes are reaching their apex, and everyone is fully invested.

Oh look, Amon captured most of the council. Will anyone notice? All they did was sit around and agree with Tarrlok.

Loved seeing Tenzin thwart that initial attack, and the rest of Team Avatar coming along to kick butt. It was nice to see Mako turn electricity back against the Equalist mech, and Asami taking out another one with the car. Asami struck me as the most badass in that conflict. I imagine she’s working off a lot of anger.

The battle on the island was great too. I really enjoyed seeing the kids come to Beifong’s aid, even if it was predictable. And those poor benders who stayed behind … you know they faced the same fate as Lin Beifong

Still not invested in the love triangle. Also, getting more annoyed with Mako. I get that this is pretty realistic for a lot of teenage romance, but … I dunno. Maybe I’m just too old and cynical and lived through too much of this drama.

In the end, we’re left with Tenzin and his family safely away in one direction, and Team Avatar hiding near the city: a breather before the hour-long finale.

Thoughts from the Seven-Year-Old: “I liked the scene where the boy was like, ‘Not now, baby!’ I think the council getting captured and Tenzin being the only one left wasn’t right, because his wife was having a baby and he had to focus on two things at once! In the next episode, I think that Korra should learn airbending right when she’s fighting Amon and then use it against him. I felt sad at the end because [Lin Beifong] lost her bending, and all of the other things.”

Confused Newbie Says Huh: I poked around to find out who the General at the end was supposed to be. Iroh is the grandson of Zuko, the villain from the first series? (We’ve started watching Avatar, so I’ve met Zuko now.) This bumped me out of the story, because it was obviously supposed to be a big dramatic reveal, and it meant absolutely nothing when I saw it.

“That explains how he can bloodbend without a full moon.” Huh? How did being Yakone’s son give Tarrlok that ability? I get that bending seems to be an inherited power, but unless I’m missing it, I don’t remember an explanation as to how or why Yakone could break that rule in the first place.

Predictions: When Lin Beifong lost her bending, I started to suspect Korra would find a way to reverse it. We’ve sees a scene in the preview where Amon appears to be taking Korra’s bending away. I’m guessing that’s what will finally push her into the Avatar state, at which point she’ll be able to counter/unblock whatever Amon has done. At least, I hope so. Lin Beifong is too awesome to lose her powers permanently. Damn you, writers!!!

Regardless of whether they restore her bending, and I’m not sure they will, I fully expect Beifong to bust out and play a part in kicking Equalist ass from within their stronghold during the final battle, because that’s how she rolls.

The show seems to be pushing Mako and Korra together, which makes me wonder what they have planned for Asami, who’s looking more like a fourth wheel by the end of the episode. I hope and trust they’ll do better than the “woman scorned” routine where she rejoins her father as a bad guy.

Beyond that, I’m just gonna steal a bit from Mythbusters: “My prediction? Mayhem.”

Counseling (Depression)

In some ways, talking to a psychologist was even harder than starting antidepressants. In both cases, I was admitting to a problem that comes with its own baggage of shame and stigma and perceived weakness. But with counseling, it felt harder. This was more than hitting my doctor up for a prescription. I would be walking into a stranger’s office and spending hours explaining how I’d lost the ability to deal with things in my life, how I needed help to figure out things I feel like I should already know how to do.

That’s what it all comes back to. I feel like I should be able to handle this stuff. I should know how to be a good father and husband, how to balance the demands of writing and the day job, how to maintain my emotional balance in times of increased stress, and so on. I know how deceptive and nasty the word “should” can be, but that didn’t stop all the crap from swelling back through my brain when I thought about making that first appointment.

[image error]I made it anyway.

Eventually.

I’ve had three sessions so far, and while I’m not going to go into as much detail about them, I’ll say it’s been helpful. The first session or two were mostly a get-to-know-you sort of thing. I got an official diagnosis of dysthymia. As I understand it, this is a milder form of chronic, long-term depression. I.e., I’m in a lousy mood most of the time, but I’m not jumping off the Mackinac Bridge.

The funniest moment came in the first session: I was describing my life, the jobs and the writing, taking care of the kids after school, the work I did around the house, and so on.

Doctor P: What do you do for fun?

Jim: …?

Doctor P: When do you take time to just get out and enjoy yourself?

Jim: …I’m sorry, I don’t understand the question.

I was amused, but it was a good catch on her part. She gave me homework to do something fun just for me. I actually managed to do it, too. The trick now is going to be incorporating that lesson into my life on a more regular basis.

Doctor P has also pointed out some areas where I could improve things at home. We both recognize there’s a lot I can’t change — realistically, I can’t quit the day job; I can’t magically improve my wife’s health so that she can do more at home; and so on — so we’re concentrating on things where I can make changes for the better.

This whole process scares me. Eventually, I’d love to get off of the antidepressants, and I think counseling is one of the things that will help me do that. But given how helpful the pills have been since April, I’m also terrified of losing that crutch and slipping back into the swamp of who-gives-a-crap-about-anything. I guess I’m not yet completely trusting that it can help — or that I can change enough to really make a difference — in the long run.

This experience has also made me recognize once again how fortunate I am to have decent insurance that covers most of the medications and my weekly sessions. As hard as it’s been to admit I need help, how much worse must it be to realize you need help and have no way of getting it? [Rant about U.S. healthcare deleted because the goal is to not depress myself further.]

I’m cautiously optimistic. I like my counselor. She feels pretty genuine, and seems to get me. The first few sessions felt a little open-ended, but we’re talking about more concrete goals this week. Apparently we’ll also be doing a bit more cognitive work, teaching me how to win at some of my head games. I’ve had some speed bumps at home and at work, but overall, so far so good.

My thanks once again to everyone who’s been so encouraging and supportive.