Avon Van Hassel's Blog, page 7

The Storybook: Mermaids

Ooh, it’s been a while since we had a Storybook post, isn’t it? About time, I thought.

So, the last Storybook post was Jack and the Beanstalk, back in 2016. (I think it’s time for another Cauldron, too, don’t you?) I’ve done so much coaching and showcasing writing that I’ve strayed too far from storytelling. So, this month, we’re doing mermaids.

I’m doing mermaids for this post because it’s MerMay on Tumblr and Instagram and other places where people post art. Is Deviantart still a thing? Basically, artistically talented folks draw mermaid-related art every day during the month of May, like NaNoWriMo, but drawing mermaids.

It’s also to tie in to the story I’m working on, the third book of the Beanseller Saga, Siren Song. I’m cooking along, getting the edits in order, combing out the snags, patching the plotholes, and polishing up the words. It’s slow going, but it’s going.

So, let’s dive in, shall we?

[image error]Get it?



Appearance

The first thing I want to address I’m only going to address halfway because I want to come back to it again at the end: fish-women. FISH. WOMEN. Both are equally important. That may seem obvious now (I mean, what else are they? That’s literally what they are), but it’s so layered and complicated, and messed up but inspirational. It starts off, like, ‘Of course, they are,’ and then, when you study them more, it becomes, ‘OF COURSE, THEY ARE!‘

I’m speaking here of the modern version of mermaids, specifically. In the mailing list going out later this month, I’ll discuss Mami Wata, selkies, nixies, yawkyawks, merrow, finfolk, Grimm-Fosse, the sirens of Greek mythology; but today, we’ll only speak of those lovely ladies with the long graceful fish tails.

So, first thing, obviously, they’re gorgeous, right? What’s the sense in being a Plain Jane mermaid? You’re not going to catch the obsessive eye of hard-up sailors that way. They’re all hot, they’re all perfect. They have long, flowing hair which they comb constantly (yet, it’s never stiff and sticky like human hair gets when exposed to saltwater, nor does it ever seem to get greasy, despite the lack of shampoo in the ocean). Sometimes, they’re nude up top (obviously adhering to the human beauty ideals of the day, regarding breast size and shape), sometimes they have some sort of ocean life or human detritus to cover their modesty, especially when they’re being marketed toward children.

[image error]Tasteful cropping, Disney

Often, they’re depicted as being greenish, bluish, purplish, or other watery complexions with hair ranging from white to black, and everything in between. Sometimes, they have webbed hands, sometimes they have gills.

Now, I’m not a big fan of call-out culture, but one thing I will call out every damn time I see it, is bad research and bad scholarship. One source I used in the organising of notes for this post was a book called, Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, by Skye Alexander. This is a beautifully formatted and illustrated book clearly aimed at a New Age audience, and so cannot be considered an academic source, YET, as it is largely non-fiction (I do consider books studying folklore to be non-fiction), and includes a bibliography, I hold it to a higher standard than other such ‘light reading’ books. At one point, Alexander references a writer called Water Mage Ge Wonderwed of Carmalad. If you can’t quite place where on the map Carmalad is or may have been in the past, the reason is because Carmalad is a city in the Enthronia region of Santharia, a large kingdom in the southern Sarvonian Continent. If you’re still stumped, it’s because Sarvonia belongs to a world called Caelereth, the setting of a collaborative online RPG called The Santharian Dream. So uhh, it’s not real. Whether or not mermaids are real (some of the first hand accounts are interesting, if not convincing), this source is literally fantasy, and yet Alexander is not the only person copy-pasting (literally whole phrases, sometimes) Water Mage Wonderwed’s work as earthly scholarship. And what’s arguably worse, she didn’t even credit them in the bibliography. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, back to the real science, mermaid physique varies wildly in ancient sources, even if we’re just talking about half-fish-half-women versions. Some of them have long smooth tails like dolphins, whales, and other aquatic mammals. Some have long, graceful scaly tails like the most common depictions in popular culture today. Some are savage and brutish-looking, some depictions have a tail and two legs (which solves the problem of how human men can mate with them), and some depictions give them features of other undersea creatures.

[image error]My favourite of Doodelbuggy’s designs

Many of them have the ability to change their bodies, or shapeshift, which I’ll get back to in a moment. Also, they are very often depicted with combs and mirrors. There are a few theories for this. One is that they’re exceptionally vain creatures. And, I mean… maybe? That, of course, comes from the almost universally pervasive notion that a woman’s beauty is only useful for ensnaring, and ultimately, destroying a man. I mean, we can’t just look like this coincidentally!! And for a woman to actually think herself attractive? Then, obviously she knows what danger her beauty is and knows how to weaponise it. There is no other explanation.

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Behaviours

A lot of these details are interwoven. Shapeshifting, while literally involving physical appearance, can still can classified as a behaviour. They seem to be just as fascinated by us as we are by them though the reasons differ. This gives rise to the stories of mermaids taking human lovers (or, more often, get tricked and held captive by humans). One variety of merfolk, the Ondine, can only gain a soul by bearing a child by a human male (which, yikes)–or, alternatively, can lose her soul by bearing a child by a human male (double yikes).

They are said to build their homes in underwater caves, kelp forests, or…*heavy sigh* Atlantis.

They can be helpful or hurtful, depending on the legend, and the type of mermaid. I always heard that mermaids were the helpful ones and sirens were the ones who crashed ships, but the nuance is much more complicated than that. as I’ll discuss in the newsletter, the original creatures called sirens bore little resemblance to mermaids as we know them now. It seems that sometime between Homer’s Odyssey and The Little Mermaid, the siren began to be absorbed by the mermaid myth.

It is said that mermaids can cause storms, and so wearing an amulet featuring a mermaid could keep you safe at sea. Alternately, a friendly mermaid, treated with respect and kindness, might warn passing sailors of storms coming, giving them time to prepare or alter course. Occasionally, a mermaid may even rescue sailors from shipwrecks.

Which brings us to the mermaid’s most famous ability: the siren song. Mermaids are said to have the most beautiful voices of any creature alive, capable of enthralling all who hear it, even to the point of driving men to willingly go to their deaths. It is claimed that sometimes, a mermaid’s song may mimick the sounds of a drowning woman, and so sailors jump overboard to save her. Either way, the sailors end up drowning and/or being eaten. Hans Christian Andersen, author of the fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, tells us that the mermaid sang to the drowning sailors to calm them as they died, singing songs of the beauty of the ocean and how it isn’t so bad going under the waves. The tv show, Siren, on Freeform, uses the siren song two ways: one, to pacify and obsess; one as a song of love.

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I love that show, you guys. They do so many cool things with mermaid lore. They get a little too close to my twists, but I’ll forgive them because Oh My God.

Mermen

I’m not going to leave the merlads out, don’t worry. However, there is little information out there about them. From what we have been told, they’re more feral and predatory than mermaids, or else they stick closer to the colonies. They can sing, but their voices aren’t as enthralling, and they are reportedly otherwise totally unappealing, with sharp, uneven teeth and long matted beards. Which either explains why mermaids go for humans, or is a human smear campaign.

Where Did They Come From?

So this brings us to the why of mermaids. What are the origin myths , surrounding them, and if they’re not real, why are there so many stories about them?

The first is the easiest to answer, as there are many explanations. Ovid says the mermaids come from the ships fleeing Troy that sank. The merrow of Ireland are said to have been pagan women driven into the sea, and the Estonians supposedly say that the children drowned by Pharoah became the nakineiu. Of course, there are those who say that they’re simply aquatic humans who evolved to life in the sea.

In my opinion, while I’d love them to be real, I subscribe to the hypothesis that sailors saw manatees, dungongs, and the now-extinct Steller’s sea cows with their whale-like tails, knobbly knees, and I guess vvaagguueely human faces, and after months at sea, thought they looked enough like human women to want to get a closer look. And then drowned. Christopher Columbus is said to have seen one, and remarked on how ugly they were, noting big eyes and a moustache. Now, of course, these animals are not native to places where these sailors came from, so you can’t expect them to see one and automatically know what it is, but you might think they know what a human woman looks like, especially considering that the superstition of women being bad luck on ships is a myth, and there would have been many women nearby to look at for reference.

So where’s is the mix-up? Well, in my opinion- and this is where the foreshadowed Feminist Agenda comes in- sometimes, dudes can be gross. Almost all stories, songs, records, and myths of mermaids involve some degree of intermingling between them and humans in a way not often seen with other humanoid mythical creatures. Mermaids are the ultimate tease: beautiful and completely unattainable, because of both the treacherous water and her violent, feral nature. And if you manage to get to her and survive, how do you do it? She has the lower half of a fish, one long tail with no obvious…well, you know. The solution is often imprisonment, which more often than not ends in her untimely death. That’s gross, guys.

[image error]I mean, 9 times out of 10, the story literally involves a beautiful woman *existing* and a man jut has to pursue her, and then he dies, and she’s labelled something awful.

However, I think the image of the mermaid as a source of inspiration is on the rise among women these days for much the same reasons. The mermaid is often just sitting there, minding her own business. She is unabashedly vain, but her beauty is for herself, she only uses her weapons to defend herself. She can be kind, she can be helpful, if she’s treated with respect. But if you come at her with ill intentions, she will crash your ships and eat you.

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So that’s something to think about when considering myths. Who is it telling the stories? How could their cultural baggage affect their perception of phenomena and how they relate it back? What other sides are there to be considered.

Of course, I only really covered what we call mermaids, here. This month’s newlsetter, coming out hopefully in the next few days, will discuss some similar myths from other cultures, and how they relate to mermaids. Sign up for my mailing list here, and grab the first chapter of Magic Beans free, as well!

The Reading Nook: Alice Hearts Welsh Zombies, by Victoria Dunn

My sister gave me this book a couple of years ago because she met the author and I, well, I fucking heart Wales.

Characters

Alice is a sensitive with a sensible new haircut and knock-off Doc Martens. Wellington Wolfe is an Enhanced Agent who only ever swears in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet. Mick is a…well, I won’t spoil that for you. Let’s just say he’s a mad scientist. And Ken is the zombie-friendly head of the Mailroom, and staunch advocate for zombie rights. They work for Odyssey International, a shadowy organisation that deals with supernatural happenings all over the world.

Plot

The story begins when a call is put in to Odyssey about a zombie outbreak in Wales that has the potential to be awkward for the annual Bog Snorkeling Championship. What follows is a madcap wobble through a disastrous plane crash, zombie virus outbreak, wander over the hills and vales of the unspoilt Welsh countryside, pub crawl, science time, and even a zombie coronation.

Tone

This book reminded me a lot of a book last year, called The Rook, by Daniel O’Malley. It involves a female protagonist with a tenuous grasp on her identity and some vague powers, who works for a government agency devoted to keeping the supernatural world–if not secret–at least quiet. Alice, however, is much more silly, much more irreverent and light-hearted.

A few of the jokes fall a little flat for me or go on a bit too long, and the pacing is a bit slow, but aside from that, it’s a very fun read.

Reading Nook: Daughters of the Lake, by Wendy Webb

I read this book, I think, in January, but because of, you know, life, I’m just now getting round to reviewing it.

Daughters of the Lake was recommended to me by Kindle directly in November, and the description hooked me immediately. It was pitched as a Great Lakes Gothic murder mystery with time travel and supernatural howdydo, and all kinds of things and that sounded wild and I wanted every part of that.

But I get reading fatigue real bad. I can’t say what it was that put me off at first. Honestly, probably just me, because, looking back, the pacing was good, the hook was good, the foreshadowing was obvious to the trained eye but not groan-worthy, and it hits you in the face with action right at the off.

I honestly think it was me. I don’t think any book holds my attention very well at the beginning, since I’m still building up my reading stamina. So that’s my attempt at making excuses. Did it work? No? fair enough, moving on.

So overall impression? I loved it! Once I knuckled down and told myself, ‘we’re not moving on until you finish this book you actually like and don’t have a reason not to finish,’ it went like a runaway train. I haven’t read for hours at a stretch in a long time, and I did with this one. I had some of the only late nights I’ve had since college, trying to pound it down.

I won’t go too much into plot, as usual, because pretty much any detail I give away is a spoiler because it’s so intricate and complex. Essentially, we follow two timelines; Addie Cassatt in the early 1900s and Kate Granger in the modern day. Kate gets these visions that she can’t explain to herself, but she’s convinced they will help to solve the murder of a woman whose body washes up on shore with a baby in the folds of her nightgown. Addie’s story is a poignant and bittersweet love story about growing up, identity, loyalty, secrets, friendship, and betrayal.

There’s a whole cast of characters, each with their own complex feelings and personalities and agendas who push the plot forward or drag it down. I want to say I don’t have a favourite, but I’d be lying, because it’s Simon. He’s an absolute doll.

In a way, the town of Wharton and Lake Superior are more than settings, but characters as well. We see them evolve between the timelines–what changes and what stays the same. Of course, there’s a reason for that, as well, but you won’t hear it from me

The Writing Desk: Inspiration

This month, we’re looking into inspiration, how it influences my writing, and how you can use it to best effect.

Music

#1 for most people, and certainly for me, is music for setting a mood. In my family, I’m by far the least musical, in terms of talent and interest–I balked at marching band all through school and most of my music is from the early 200’s or earlier–but even I won’t deny that there’s nothing like the right playlist.

Each book I write has a carefully cultivated playlist with instrumental and lyrical songs to keep me focused and in the world of the story. Usually, I pull from my own library, but the last few years, I’ve been heavy into 8tracks.com to find playlists, and then cycle through them. Yes, the same ones, over and over. Because I’m like that. So far, the stories that have yielded the funnest assortment of playlists has been Dollface, my 1930’s noir murder mystery, and Huff and Puff, Book Six of the Beanseller Saga. Who knew there were so many songs about werewolves?

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Not that Huff and Puff is about werewolves, mind. Stop searching out spoilers :-p

Imagery

What do I mean by ‘imagery’? It could be anything from a moodboard to a poster to a figurine or statue, even a font. My character, Johanne, was inspired by a font called Caviar de Diane.

After playlists, visual inspiration is my next biggest source. I bought my new writing desk largely because it has a lovely cabinet with glass doors where I can put what used to be in the corner of my old desk. It’s my Inspiration Shelf, now. On it, you’ll find crystals to inspire creativity and focus, a replica of Cutty Sark, an alabaster statue of a merman, a porcelain figure that reminded me of Johanne, a couple figurines of Sasha Williams from The Walking Dead (one of my many inspirations for Sulat), a bunch of spider, and many harps and golden eggs.

[image error]There is actually a coffee mug and a bottle of brandy on top of my desk that symbolises him, but they don’t fit the aesthetic

Points to you, if you spotted that there’s nothing specifically for Alois. Don’t think he doesn’t remind me. I have some, but they don’t fit on the shelf, and anyway, there are so many ENFPs in my life, I need only open a chat window and get all the material I need.

I also have numerous inspiration boards on Pinterest, an actual Dream Board on my wall to inspire myself more generally to stay focused, a chalk sign that I made, quite literally saying, ‘Focus, Darling,’ and the figurehead of Cutty Sark, named Nanny the Sea-Witch, as my laptop wallpaper.

Scents

Some of you may know that I once had a catastrophically unsuccessful side business making and selling soaps and candles and such on Etsy. Who hasn’t, right? I’ve always had a thing for how scents and fragrances mix and blend and layer, so it was only natural for me to experiment, mad scientist style.

So, since scent is one of the senses most closely linked to memory and other brain functions, I use candles and perfumes to evoke a mood or get into the character.

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For instance, for Siren Song generally, I’ve been burning Ocean Star, by Yankee Candles. Because Sulat is the main character of this one, I’ve concocted a perfume combination, using Beach Walk by Replica and Sugar Lemon by Fresh. It’s very different from the perfume oil rollerball I designed for her last year, which was smoky and tobacco-y, but I like the salty freshness of it. She evolves as a character, why shouldn’t her scent profile?

And yes, I have fragrances for most of my characters and almost all of my books.

On location

A lot of people, like my sister, find it helpful to get out of the house to write. A coffee shop, a library, some place away from home where the atmoshpere is creative. I am not one of those people. I am fanatical about needing my room, my pajamas, my cat, etc. But if it works for you, it works for you.

What does work for me in other ways is being someplace that inspires me and then taking that feeling with me. Having a break in someplace interesting and letting my mind wander and soak up the place. The beach is a good one for feeling inspired and creative generally, if not toward a specific project. When I can travel, I like to go to places that are related to what I’m working on or might spark a different idea: Bath in England is a big one, especially for this series. My father’s home country of Guatemala is another one.

[image error]Whoo boy, look at that unflattering picture of me writing at a desk in the Jane Austen Centre. Still, it was a wonderfully nerdy experience.

Sometimes just getting out and seeing different things differently can jog something loose.

People and Events

This is another big one for me. I always need a touchstone, I’m not good at pure creation. I need lines to colour inside of. Now, fairy tale retellings used to be super gross to me until I got bit by the bug, but historical fiction has always been my thing. And they’re not so difficult. One big feature of hist fic is using real life figures–so what’s the difference between using Shakespeare and using Cinderella?

GATEKEEPING AND SNOBBERY.

But that’s a rant for another day.

Real people and real events are a great source of inspiration and can give your world a heavy dose of realism. Why does this event feel so believable? Because it really happened. Different names, different times and places, but it happened in real life.

An example of this is King Bertold, who is based on two kings of England, George I and George II, while Prince Bertold is based on George II and his son who died before he could become king, Frederic. And a couple of characters coming up are based on Parvati Shallow and Amanda Kimmel from Survivor, so it’s not all Easter Eggs for the history buffs.

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So, now it’s your turn. What inspires you and how do you use it to your advantage?

The Reading Nook: Roses in the Dragon’s Den, by Jacob Devlin

Boy, do I have a treat for you guys, today–an advance review of a book still available for pre-order, here!

So a little while ago, my good buddy, Jacob Devlin, put out a call for ARC (Advance Reader Copy) readers. Basically, a few copies go out before the official launch and we read and review it to boost awareness and drum up some buzz.

So, what are my thoughts? Let me break it down.

Characters

Karina and Charlie

Karina and Charlie Rosas are the primary main characters, teenagers on a European holiday with their adventurer uncle. They have a solid Dipper and Mabel Pines feel, with neither of them being the dominant twin, and both have their own arcs and personalities. Karina is warm, friendly, and resourceful, with a big heart and an iron spine. Charlie is more emotional, he can be a little unforgiving, but he’s brave and quick thinking. They work well as a team as they navigate the confusing and chaotic world where they find themselves.

Diego

Diego Rosas is a tv celebrity famous for travel and survival shows, where he goes around the world and has amazing adventures. He is handsome and dashing, with a carefully preserved sense of wonder and an unshakable respect and reverence for nature. Even after the traumatic and bizarre things that happen to him, he never loses his nerve or principles.

Niraya Storm

Niraya Storm is the pirate captain of the ship The Red Hood. She is fearless, strong, and loyal. She’s both a guardian for the kids and a helper, taking her cues from them as often as giving the orders. She is full of stories, and a little birdie tells me that we have more to look forward to…

Other Characters

Roses in the Dragon’s Den is also full of lots of other familiar faces to fans of the Order of the Bell series. I personally feel very attached to a number of them (I won’t say who, it’s a surprise

The Writing Desk: Lore

The Deathly Hallows. The One Ring. The Heart of Te Fiti. One of the funnest things about diving into a good story is getting to explore the culture or cultures, and one of the most important part of culture is lore.

Imagine someone you don’t know, a total stranger. They have dark hair, amber eyes, medium skin. Maybe they’re average-looking, well groomed, dressed according to the style of the area and era where you live. Not much about them stands out to give you an impression of what kind of person they are, how old, how well off, political affiliation. Now this person reaches for something and the sleeve of their jacket pulls back and you spot a tattoo on their wrist: HAKUNA MATATA.

Instantly, you know something about this person. Disnerd, possibly literature nerd because we all know The Lion King is a gateway drug to Shakespeare, Millennial (assuming you’re not good at guessing ages, or think ‘Millennial’ applies to all young people), probably a pretty chill person. After all, Hakuna Matata, as we all know, means, ‘no worries.’

[image error]I did search for the actual gif, but…

This person, by the way, is real, though the tattoo is on his elbow. He’s a barista at my local Starbucks. While I think he’s adorable anyway, the Disney interest is an instant connection, because I too love Disney. Another barista I’m casually acquainted with has ‘Ohana’ on her (I believe it is) wrist.

[image error]Or forgotten.

The politics of billion-dollar mega-corporations aside, Disney is a big part of a lot of the lives of people alive today. It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been touched by Disney or a franchise that they own, and each franchise, whether theirs or one they acquired, adds to the canon, or their lore.

Lore, as I define it, is a segment of a culture that serves to entertain, teach, or inspire the people. I would classify it differently from mythology in that I believe that mythology falls under Lore, along with works of fiction. The main distinction being that many people believe mythology of a religious nature to be factually true, and its inherent provability doesn’t change that. To phrase it differently, I’m not here to debate whether or not pagan myths or the Bible are ‘true’, but the fact that they are stories used to teach, inspire, and entertain put them under lore, along with theatre and fictional storytelling. It’s the STORY and its impact on the culture that affects the classification, not the legitimacy of the story.

So yes, I would put Hades and Persephone, the Book of Genesis, and Harry Potter under the same umbrella, because they’re stories, rather than such things as technology, systems of government, languages, etc, though they do certainly affect those things, as well. Everything is interconnected. Isn’t anthropology fun?

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But because they’re related, we can examine fictional lore much in the same way we can study religion. In fact, there are a number of indisputably fictional religions that are recognised officially: Dudeism, the Seven, Jediism, Pastafarianism, to name a few. So, it counts.

In order for something to be defined as a religion, it must fulfill 5 requirements:

Social Cohesion: It brings people together and gives them a shared set of values. (People who identify as Jedis)Social Control: People agree to live by a set code of conduct defined by what the religion deems is Right or Wrong. Also provides spiritual consequences for acting out of line. (The Three Fold Law: whatever energy you put into the universe comes back to you thee times as strong)Explain the Unexplained: Provides explanation for natural phenomenon. (Thunder is Zeus throwing a tantrum)Emotional and Psychological Support: Comfort the bereaved, provide guidance in one’s life, helps answer big questions. (The dead are in a better place, God has a plan for you, etc etc)Positive Social Change: Moral obligation to help the community according to their shared beliefs. (Charitable works)



[image error]Science is NOT a religion because it provides no moral compass, and whoo boy does it ever not care a fig about your feelings.

I would add that lore also provides history and entertainment. The story of the Deathly Hallows isn’t just a way to tie up a couple loose ends in the story, it gives a lot of background on the Wizarding World that doesn’t necessarily relate directly back to the main plot.

The story of Wakanda and their worship of the goddess, Bast, and the Heart-Shaped Herb provides meaningful insight into the plot of Black Panther, while also adding a layer of culture that makes Wakanda feel more real.

And that’s really the goal here. We, as writers, want to make our worlds feel more real, more lived-in; while you, as readers, want to feel like you could step into the world and explore.

[image error]And it gives some of you license to nitpick and gate-keep over who knows enough minutia to be considered a ‘real fan’

I remember a debate a friend of mine and I had once about the Prisoner of Azkaban film. I hhaatteedd it (still kinda do) because it deviated so sharply from the book in a lot of ways that I felt were fluff and distracting from the plot and just generally a big flashy waste of screentime by a director who was trying to distance himself from the style of the original director in the most ostentatious posturing imaginable. However, she LLOOVVEEDD it, and her logic was that while the first two movies captured the wonder and amazement of the first two books, the Wizarding World felt a bit shallow and a bit plastic. The darker tone, the little flourishes and grit and grime that made Diagon Alley, in particular, feel a lot older, like it really was thousands of years old, and all manner of humanity had passed through. Like the first two were meant to impress us as viewers, whereas the ones that followed were meant to portray the world through the eyes of the characters who lived there.

In short, they had done more with the lore, had given it some depth. It was saying, ‘we don’t just have the Knight Bus and Dementors, we also have Caribbean-accented shrunken heads. That’s something that we have that you didn’t know about and that has no bearing on the story. But that’s fine because it’s worldbuilding.’

[image error]I guess necromancy is ok if you use it to make puns

So, when you’re dealing with a fictional world, it’s not enough to describe the events of the story, the characters as they appear, the settings they encounter. Lore includes relevant events in history, superstitions, literature of the world, religion, etc.

For instance, my character, Alois, is an ex-soldier. He served in a conflict called the Ettin Wars that started about 7 years before the story takes place. Human encroachment into the mountains where the ettins lived, forced the ettins into the valley floor, where they encountered and fought with the humans there. The army entered into a number of engagements to push the ettins back into their own territory. The kingdom of Viehland (where the story takes place) had called to their neighbours, the kingdom of Vurdia, for help, but Vurdia, unbeknownst to the majority of the Viehlish, was dealing with its own internal struggles, so they couldn’t provide aide. This led to widespread resentment toward the Vurdence on the part of the Viehlish.

Then there’s The History of the Faithful, The Balcony of Tears, the Independence of Inchiajua, etc etc, not to mention the origin of magic in the world and why the poor believe in it and the rich have turned to science. It’s a Whole Thing.

[image error]Because the world is a complicated place and the people like drama.

So the next time you see a Superman tshirt or someone wearing a cross on a necklace, have a think about how the stories we tell affect who we are as a society and as people.

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What’s your favourite myth or legend, from the real world or fiction?

The Writing Desk: Writing Rituals

The practice of writing is an arcane and and mysterious art. The muse is fickle, the tap is sluggish, and the struggle is real. So, what do we writers do to keep the wheels turning–or get then going to start with?

Stephen King famously takes a multivitamin to start his writing day. Ernest Hemingway stood to write at his typewriter. Truman Capote never started or finished a manuscript on a Friday.

We’re a superstitious lot, what can I say?

I’ve known people who type with elbow gloves on, people who have to handwrite everything first before typing it up, people who need a cocktail or a cigarette to appease the gods.

I, myself, have a number of complicated rituals because I, myself, over-complicate everything as a rule. I’m pagan, also, so there’s a great degree of complicated ritual tied up with that.

I almost always have a drink, be it coffee, tea, soda, or *sigh* I’m trying to get better at water. But never alcohol, alcohol slows me down, even in small quantities I usually have some sort of snack, usually a mix of dried fruit, nuts, and jerky. I’m on a reduced-carb diet right now, so I try to keep cookies and cakes and such reserved for my reading in the afternoons. I work best when my cat is in the room I usually have a scented candle or incense going. The one I use for Martinette and Siren Song is something like Driftwood something or other from YankeeSometimes, I’ll have a dedicated playlist or a movie franchise that I know well enough that I won’t be distracted and more serves as background noise and ambiance. Right now, I’m playing the first 3 Pirates of the Caribbean films on a loopSometimes, I’ll put on a full face of makeup because it can make me feel more professional and put together, or I’ll just do a facial to wake myself up I also keep a planner that I fill out every morning to set the tone and schedule, even though I know there’s hardly no chance I’ll be able to stick to it. But t does help me work out what my priorities for the day are

Once I have all of that, then I can start writing! That’s a lot of work to go through before we even start, so why do we do it?

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My theory is that it’s hard to be creative when you have things hanging over your head, or at least, it is for me. I can’t let go of the world and think freely if I’m watching the clock or listening out or hungry, or whatever. So I have to get those things out of the way first. Do the schedule so I can see what exactly needs to be done, let the cat in so she won’t scream outside my door all day, grab some snacks so I can power through without hunger pangs.

Most of the other things are triggers. When I have my ambient noise, my mood scents, my clean or made-up face, that means it’s work time.

And then the drinks–especially the caffeinated ones–and the snacks are for focus, energy, and stamina. Plus, pausing every few minutes to take a nibble or a sip gives your brain a chance to catch up with itself and regroup. You can read over what you’ve just written, see if it flows, and then move on.

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Now, editing is a different kettle of fish, altogether. I don’t necessarily need really any of that. Yeah, the cat because she’s annoying when she’s needy; yeah, the tea because tea makes me less depressed; maybe the makeup because I see editing as the ‘work’ or ‘business’ side of writing, as opposed to the pure, primitive, messy affair that writing new stuff is. When I’m editing, usually, I can listen to music or watch other tv shows or movies (still things I’ve seen before because I still have to check continuity and flow of my story), I can take frequent breaks so I don’t need trail mix, and i can do it in chunks throughout the days and weeks, so I don’t need to get fully immersed and plan my schedule around it. Writing is a full sensory experience for me, and I do need to be mind and soul in my story, or I can’t do it properly. Editing is more about making sure it makes sense and sounds decent.

So, that’s what I do. Do you have any rituals that you use to get in the mood to write? Do you know of other interesting ones?

The Reading Nook: Red Queen, by Victoria Aveyard

This post is a looooong time coming, I know. If you can believe it, I was actually ready to do it within the second week of October, but what with my birthday trip to Vegas, then my birthday, Halloween, and NaNo prep, visiting Britain, and then…*sigh* most of December and January, it didn’t get done.

Excuses over. Onward!

Setting

I was going to start with characters first, but this book is so heavily dependent of worldbuilding that I kind of have to start here. In this world, there are Reds and there are Silvers.

Reds are like us, they have red blood, and they have no superhuman gifts. Or, at least, they shouldn’t. They never have before. Silvers are literally a different species of human. They have silver blood, like mercury, which gives them a white pallor to their skin; they have a variety of different superhuman gifts which run in families and are inherited through the male line; and they use these gifts to keep Reds basically as slaves. They perform in gladiatorial games, but less as entertainment for the Reds, and more to remind them what Silvers can do. There’s also a class of Silver which can heal, so their concept of life and death is a bit skewed, since they can be healed so easily. They don’t really fear death the same way the rest of us do.

That’s the important part, but there’s still quite a bit more worldbuilding to discuss. This world is really reminiscent of Killjoys and Firefly to me because in a lot of ways it’s got a high medieval Game-of-Thrones-esque social hierarchy, while at the same time being extremely high tech. The Silvers live in these palaces of windows that frost themselves for privacy, training rooms where the architecture fights you, Prince Cal has a motorcycle; while in contrast, the Reds live in the slums in shantytowns and ramshackle huts, being conscripted at the age of 18 to go fight a war that’s been raging for a hundred years and neither side really seems to be making any progress. And everywhere, there are cameras. There’s a constant hum and crackle of electricity, which is super important.

Plot *spoilers ahead*

Mare. *sigh* what do we say about Mare? Mare Barrow is a Red, so she’s not supposed to have powers. But she does, obviously, otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a story. Also, RED QUEEN– you see where this is going. Mare is from a long line of Reds, broken down and squashed underfoot like all the other Reds. She’s angry and bitter, especially since her favourite brother died at the front and her best friend loses his job and gets conscripted. She attempts to join a terrorist organization in exchange for smuggling him out of the city, which doesn’t work so she tries to steal from Silvers to buy his freedom. This unfortunately happens on the same day the terrorists lead a major coup, and that leads to a bit of violence, during which, Mare’s sister’s hand is broken, effectively ending their families only legitimate stream of income. Pretty shitty, right? 

So Mare is angrier than usual and is out and about, fuming, when she comes across a particularly well-dressed and savvy man outside a bar and basically unloads her troubles on him. The next day, she’s carted off to work as a servant at the palace. Turns out, Mr Wet Shoulder is the Crown Prince, Cal, and her first day is the Queenstrial, where all the eligible ladies from the big Silver houses compete to be chosen as his queen. But of course it’s rigged and they all know who’s going to win before it even starts. Mare is struggling all day, she’s just not feeling too hot, and suddenly she collapses into the pit where the girls have been competing, right on top of the electrical grid that is protecting the spectators from whatever is going on below. She’d shot through with like a thousand volts and not only lives, she manages to fend off the girl who is in the middle of her demonstration, who freaked out and attacked her.

Naturally, the royal families see all of this and Mare is whisked off to the palace for some damage control. She’s an honest-to-goodness anomaly, since Reds simply don’t have powers. But it’ll be hard to sweep her under the rug since all the big houses definitely saw a Red servant fall into an electrical grid, survive, and then shoot lightning bolts at the clear winner. So, how do we deal with that? The answer: say she’s a long-lost descendant of a dead house who had been taken in by Reds and raised as one of their own. That deals neatly with her not knowing Thing One about how to be a Silver, and also stops people asking too many difficult questions. To sweeten the deal, they engage her to the second son of the king, Maven, grant pardon to her friend, and send her remaining brothers home from the front.  But the deal doesn’t really need sweetening, because there’s always the threat of, if you screw up, you and everyone you love dies. So, there’s that.

So, after that, there’s a lot of plot that happens. She and her fiance get close, she gets close with Cal, she trains with all of them, and always in the background there’s this threat about the terrorist group. Plot-wise, there are a lot of interesting things that happen. I don’t want to go too into detail because I think there’s a lot that’s valuable and surprising. There are some pretty cliche bits that frustrated me because so much of it is innovative, at least for me. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, I have to say, but I did have a lot of fun with this one and I found it very evenly paced and easy to read and get into, which a lot of sci-fi isn’t for me. Maybe because it does have that High Fantasy feel in a lot of ways. It’s not all neon lights and ray guns and stuff, it’s a lot more intrigue-y.

HOWEVER, being YA, there are a lot of tropes that I find exhausting and I kind of wish she’d innovated more. I’m sure she’s Going Somewhere with a lot of it, but where it stands, I was frustrated because I saw these things coming miles away and hoped I’d be wrong…and I wasn’t.

#1 Poor Girl Meets Perfect Rich Boy, He Chooses Someone Else Who Is a Bitch.

Every silver female in this book is a raging bitch. I get that they’re rich and they’re entitled and Mare threatens their worldview and position, but honest to god, can we put this not-like-other-girls thing to rest, please? Listen, I come from a financially stable household, I’m entitled, I’ve met girls who guys I like were more into than me–I didn’t dig my fingernails into their arms. Sometimes, you’re in competition with other girls, it’s fine. That’s life. They’re not literally all bitches just because they’re rich an entitled. Especially since they knew going in that Cal was going to choose Evangeline because he had no choice. So then their beef wasn’t with Mare. And yes, she’s was given to Maven, which also wasn’t her choice. So there wasn’t ONE SINGLE rich girl who was like, ‘hey, so you’re new, lemme show you around’? No, they all hate her because she landed the spare that no one was interested in because they’re rich and pretty and catty.

Over it.

#2 He’s Not Like Other Boys.

Listen, again, he’s literally the crown prince. So sometimes he pulls a Princess Jasmine and walks among the little people, but he’s still the prince, and a Silver. He doesn’t Understand, how could he? Even with all the time he spends there, he doesn’t really feel what they feel because he doesn’t have the same soul-deep subjugation and desperation. And this business about the kiss–these people have no self-control in these books, it drives me nuts. He’s going to be king, right? He’s picked his queen, right? Who btw, is basically Magneto. And there are cameras eevveerryywhere. Would he honestly risk it? And her. Her literal life and the lives of everyone she loves is on the line if she doesn’t stick to the script. But Goddamn, Cal is so noble and hot!

#3 Conniving Queen is Conniving.

So the queen is actually the second queen. Cal’s mum died of a mysterious sickness, and then the second one swooped in and Mare’s fiance is her son. And boy, is she awful. And controlling, and probably behind the death of the first queen. And totally groomed her son to overthrow the kingdom and kill Perfect Prince Cal so he can be king. Cool.

#4 He’s Too Good to Be True.

Ok, this one cut me deep. Prince Maven, Mare’s fiance, was an absolute doll the whole time. He’s shocked by his engagement, but takes it like a champ. He shows her around the palace, is chaste and attentive, he defends her from those harpies, he listens to her like a person, they discuss politics. He resents his brother’s shadow, but the boys get a long very well indeed. He even joins the terrorist group because he had worked out what Mare was doing and well, he was all in.

Plot twist! He was doing all of that to keep her complacent because no one would suspect meek, quiet, milquetost Maven to be a mastermind! Haha, look how I manipulated you all into taking out my enemies and leaving me a clear path to kill my brother and take my father’s crown! Oh, but Mare you still have to marry me because I do actually love you and I’m willing to overlook that kiss if you’ll choose me

Merry Misfits Reading Challenge and Book Club

So, like with almost all of my blog posts this month, this one is CRAZY late. But it’s also good, because it gives me a chance to see if the damn thing works before I cast a net into the aether, and so far, it’s going well.

Earlier this month, in a reckless bid to make it look like I know what the hell I’m doing on the internet (lol, I don’t) I started a book club on Facebook. At first, it was just a handful of my nearest and dearest because Facebook is wonderfully functional and wouldn’t let me invite people, so it was word-of-mouth only.

So far, I’ve chosen a theme, A Book You Were Gifted During the Holidays (whichever winter giftgiving holiday(s) you observe), and we got stuck in.

Since then, I’ve figured out how to invite a limited number of people a day, many of whom have become active in our discussions and gotten going on their own books. So, I’m pleased, and am willing to call it a tentative success.

If you want to join, find the Merry Misfits Book Club on Facebook and join! It’s that easy.

We haven’t chosen a theme for February yet, but as soon as I do, it will be announced there and here.

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January: A Book You Were Gifted During the Holidays

The Writing Desk: He Said, She Sat

Dialogue can be a tricky thing. The trend is against words like, ‘declared’ and ‘answered,’ but writing, ‘said’ too many times can be just as stifling and boring. So what do you do to inject some life into the scene? Action tags may be the answer.

Which sounds better?

‘Hello,’ Mark said.

‘Hi,’ Anne said.

‘I want to learn about how to make my writing pop,’ he said.

‘I can help you with that,’ she said.

or…

‘Hello,’ Mark said, clicking off his phone screen.

‘Hi.’ Anne waved and sat in the booth opposite.

‘I want to learn about how to make my writing pop.’ He leaned forward and fixed Anne with an attentive gaze.

‘I can help you with that.’ Anne smiled and pulled a book out of her bag.

The second one, right? Sure, it’s a lot more words, but if you’re not on the Word Count Diet, it’s well worth it. We learn more about the characters from their body language. Mark had clearly been waiting for Anne, probably because he thought she might have advice for him. Anne had clearly come to this meeting prepared to help.

It also adds another dimension to the scene. Rather than just ‘hearing’ the characters talk, we can ‘see’ their physical actions. Naturally, you wouldn’t put this much detail after every line of dialogue, that would get a bit dense and slow down the pace, but you get my meaning.

Sometimes you don’t even need a tag. Take my characters, Alois and Sulat. (You can get a feel for their personalities by getting my first chapter free, here). Alois is quite emotive with his words and actions, and he’s very physical and active. Sulat, is much tighter–she’s a woman of few words, and can be confused with a statue, on occasion. I often have long action tags following Alois’ dialogue (what he’s doing with his hands or his face), whereas Sulat often gets no tags at all.

For instance, in this scene they find themselves in a dragon’s lair:

‘Let me just have a quick look around.’ Alois wandered off around a corner and down an aisle made of gold piles and marble statues. Sulat picked up a pair of leather boots with intricate patterns cut into them and held the soles up to her own feet. ‘How often do you get to see inside a dragon’s lair. Come on.’ Alois dropped a hat on Sulat’s head with a dramatic flourish. It did suit her. ‘Isn’t this why you got into adventuring, to begin with?’

‘No.’

The trend right now is to avoid using any dialogue tag besides ‘said.’ Personally, it drives me crazy. I feel like a lot of these ‘rules’ are just fads, touted as rules to give people more reasons to be pedantic and condescending, like somehow a whole chunk of language (like adverbs) are only to be used by the inexperienced and sloppy writer. That’s rubbish, in my opinion. Words are meant to be used: it’s like telling a painter they can’t use the colour green, because only sloppy and inexperienced painters use green. You can get the same effect by using fewer colours and implying green.

As with anything else: if you’re going to do anything, do it well. Cutting out dialogue tags and adverbs are not going to make your writing better on its own.

Also, don’t use ‘said’ after a question. You don’t say a question, you ask a question. *hops down off soapbox*

I do agree, however, that many things can be implied in dialogue without explicitly saying it. If your line features an exclamation point, you don’t need to add, ‘he shouted’–that’s redundant (same goes for ‘asked,’ really. And ‘said.’ That’s why this gatekeeping is so stupid). I prefer action tags, or the complete absence of them, for this reason. They add so much more than the sum of their parts.

However, there are times when the tag is necessary. If there’s only one character speaking, or if it’s internal monologue, you don’t need one at all. If there are multiple people, especially of the same gender. You need to identify who is speaking, and he/she/they is not always enough. (Don’t get me started on dangling modifiers! That’s for another post). So then, if you have to use a tag, should it be a dialogue tag or an action tag?

I was going to make a flowchart for this, but it got too complicated, and really, it is very simple. I know that makes no sense, but stick with me a minute.

Firstly, is the character expressive? Don’t force your character to wave their arms around if they’re a staid and quiet type. That’s fine, it’s in character. (Though you could write, ‘They remained still, but for their moving lips.’)

Secondly, does it add to the scene? You can show that your character is prepared for a fight by writing, ‘she moved into a fighting stance,’ or you can have her say, ‘”I’m prepared to fight you,”‘ (if that phrasing is in character). She unlikely to say something like that from a casual nonchalant contrapposto. Though, if she would, that is definitely worth noting.

Things like this are a constant balance between what adds to the scene/character, and what just slows down the action. When the tension is high, only keep what is absolutely necessary to know. If something can be implied through dialogue, cut the tag, and stick with ‘said/asked.’

The exception is high-emotion slow scenes. These scenes can still have high tension, and the way you ramp that up is through action. Body language is subtle, so every detail counts.

Writing is a highly intuitive, highly subjective art. There’s hardly a rule without an exception, and the exceptions are almost always, ‘you know what’s best for your book.’ But my advice is ‘it doesn’t matter what you do, do it well.’