Christiane Knight's Blog, page 4

Xiane’s Blog [091724] a hundred birds take wing

In the space before the rain comes, there’s a great gathering of birds above me; in the trees I hear the clatter and chatter and rustling of feathers and wings of the starlings have come to rest, if anyone can call a chattering of starlings a thing at rest.

I wait patiently for them to move on. They won’t stay roosted for long. Perhaps if I’m lucky they’ll murmurate for me.

I’m at rest where they are not, although my rest is also suspect because my fingers are moving across the keyboard, my mind is moving across my threads of thought.

The delight and sorrow of being a thinking person is that it. never. stops. My brain is constantly turning over thoughts and dreaming up connections. I’m telling myself stories non-stop. There’s an internal monologue that fills every moment, analyzing and commenting and sharing secrets with myself, like there’s more of one of me in there when there certainly is not.

At least I never feel alone. I am my own best company.

Despite that, I still long for someone I could spill all these random sparks of idea and correlation and song lyric and storyline to, free from context or connection, and have them just get it. You know? It’s a pipe dream, I understand that. I can’t just open my head like a cauldron and pour my thoughts over someone’s head. But what a relief it would be.

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A Map of the Eleriannan

Have you wondered where in Baltimore that one scene took place? You know, the fight scene at ArtPark or where Denny met Dorcha or that club where The Drawback played their first show?

Wonder no more! Here is a map that will show you all those locations and more! Please keep in mind that because the Baltimore where the Eleriannan and Gwyliannan live is laid over the one most of us live in, you may see something very different on this map than what is actually there for Merrick. Luccee, Denny and friends.

If you click through to the page where the map is hosted you’ll see a clickable navigation list. You can also access it here through the icon at the top left. If there’s a location I haven’t added yet that you want to see, just let me know.

I hope you enjoy this exploration of both mundane and magical Baltimore!

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Reading is Fun! (damental)

I started reading so early that I have no functional memory of life without it.

My family was poor but we had full bookshelves and both my mom and gran [who we lived with] were voracious readers. Mom read to me and had books for me from the very beginning, and I took to reading easily and with much excitement. I think being curious and having a deep desire to know helped, but having a reading culture modeled for me was the most important part of the equation.

Mom knew that she could get toddler me to behave when we were out in public by offering to buy me a Little Golden Book. My relatives were encouraged to buy me books as gifts, and when they saw how happy that made me, they were thrilled to keep up the tradition. My beloved Aunt L, who had more money than we did and was always kind and generous, bought me some of my most treasured books–ones that Mom would have struggled to afford, like sets, collections, and encyclopedias of knowledge. I think she loved doing it because she understood what an impact her gifts made on me.

I mention money here because books are expensive, always have been, and it takes money to have one’s own library. As a kid I had more books than some adults I knew! I treasured my Collier’s Junior Classics, where I got a taste for folklore and mythology that would fuel further exploration and then the books I write today. I had an encyclopedia set of animals [bought by Aunt L] that sparked my obsession for wildlife and helped me spout facts at my partner whenever we watch animal videos or go to the National Zoo. All those books I owned helped form who I am today.

And don’t get me wrong, I went to the library religiously and would emerge with armfuls of books every time. I am an extremely fast reader so I would blaze through my pile and then read everything that Mom took out, too, even if it was “too old” for me. If I had questions, I’d ask Mom or use the dictionary to help me. My intellectual curiosity was fueled by not being restricted in what I could consume, and not being shamed if I asked a question that might be uncomfortable or that others might brand as too advanced for my age or experience. I had a safe home, in that way. I was encouraged to learn everything I wanted to, at my own pace. [This was a problem for me in school, unfortunately, and I was often bored and frustrated, forced to adhere to the pace of my peers. Not that I was any smarter than them, I just had an insatiable curiosity and lightning fast reading speed.]

Thing is about the library: it is an important–crucial!–resource, but having books in the home, at one’s fingertips whenever wanted, is important for keeping young minds invested in reading. These days, we’ve got the Internet to answer all our questions, but when I was a kid, having a big dictionary and encyclopedia was formative for me. I spent a summer reading the entirety of them from front to back, which explains a lot about me if you know me in person. You can’t force that kind of obsessive need for info, you can only nurture it. Getting an early start at reading, in a home that valued education, was vital.

And let me be clear here: my family was lower class blue collar. Until my mom and I went to college [at the same time!] we didn’t have anyone in the immediate family who had done the same. When I learned to read, I lived in an apartment with my mom, her sister, and their mother–my grandmother. We struggled, and I even shared a bed with my gran for years before my mom got married and we moved up in status a bit. But there were always books, always reading, always great value placed on learning things.

What’s my point in all of this?

We need to start kids reading early and enthusiastically foster the love of it by modeling a reading culture. Doesn’t matter if it’s a paper or electronic book; what matters most is the unfettered access to reading material and an unfaltering support for exploring whatever sparks a child’s curiosity. Don’t depend on your kid’s teachers to do this for them! It needs to start well before they hit their school years. If you’re like me and don’t have kids, gifting books or reading to young people is a good way to help. I think of my Aunt L, who invested in a kid that wasn’t her own, and what it helped to support. You can make a difference.

Also, there are programs like RIF – Reading is Fundamental – which make sure that kids, especially kids in less secure financial circumstances, get access to books in their own home. You can donate money or time to them, or organize a book giveaway with their help. They’re not the only organization that does this! A quick online search will reveal many more.

Investing in our future means investing in kids, because they are the future. One way to do that is to encourage curiosity. Reading opens so many doors. Let’s give kids every opportunity to walk through those doors with all kinds of possibilities in front of them.

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The Author Gets Nostalgic for…

Diary-style blogs, of all things.

What do I miss? The kind of personal blogging that hit its height in the early 2000s, on Blogger and Diaryland and Livejournal, where people would pour their hearts and thoughts onto an electronic page in equal parts of honesty and cringe, or would write banging, impassioned long-form essays about both the most important and trivial of things.

Dear reader, I was one of those folks and I loved it.

Did I overshare, whine, and ill-advisedly spill my feelings in ways that had personal blowback for me? Oh yes.
I also wrote some of the best things of my life, met people I’m still friends with thanks to bonding over our overly-honest shares, and felt more connected online than I have at any time – thanks to my blog.

I was real and messy and complicated and so were most of the other people on those platforms. For every moment that I can look back at with some regret there are a hundred other ones that I treasure.

Everything online feels fragmented these days. Formats get shorter and people breeze by each other in the faster-moving platforms that are popular now. It’s not just nostalgia that moves me to feel like this. I pose that deep connections are much harder to come by online, and that didn’t used to be the case. We have shorter attention spans, too, and that’s showing up in a lot of ways. [I miss songs that are over three minutes long!]

The reality is this: I can bitch about it, or I can do something about it. Well, in this case I’m gonna bitch and do something about it, ha. I can’t necessarily influence the world into changing with me, but I can put out into the world what I want to see. That’s been my driving principle for everything I do! You want it, you make it happen. So here’s my plan: I’m going to start old-school blogging here, along with my regular posts. Welcome to my blog!
What I write about won’t be as uncensored as I’d like, for obvious reasons. But I want to share more of me in ways that people don’t do as much anymore, and a “micro-blogging” or newsletter-based subscription service just ain’t gonna cut it. Also, I’m not dependent on algorithms or support from platforms that throw their hands in the air when it comes to hosting fascists.

I’ll tag everything with #xianeblog and put it in its own category, XianeBlog. That way it’s easy to read in order or ignore!

If you’d like to join me, let me know! Maybe we need to bring back Ye Olde BlogRing, hahahaha…oh no I’m going to turn into dust soon, aren’t I.

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Writing the [Mostly] Real World

One of the things I always mention about my stories is that they’re set in Baltimore, MD, USA. I was born, raised, and lived a chunk of my life in Baltimore. It’s a vibrant and delightfully weird city, oft-maligned; it definitely has problems but also has some great people and energy. It’s been struggling to find it’s footing for a while and has slowly been shifting in personality – yes, cities have personalities – and growth is rarely easy, which can make the more skeptical folks think everything’s a mess, when really, it’s change happening. All of these things make for a compelling backdrop and character to use in my stories!

Also, even though I know the city well, writing about it has allowed me to learn even more beyond what I’ve known and experienced about Charm City, especially since it has changed a lot in my lifetime. I can’t just count on memories to fill out a scene, I either have to double check myself against what’s the truth now, or make a conscious choice to warp reality a little to fit my vision.

So now that I’ve said that…

If you’re from these parts, you might have guessed or recognized some of the locations I haven’t outright mentioned in the books. I name the neighborhood of Hampden, where Lucee and Cullen have a lovely date and then get into some trouble, and that’s pretty much exactly as it is currently in the non-book world. The Round Falls area also is the same, and that bit is actually based on a true experience I had there. The community garden that Vali does a mural for doesn’t exist outside the books, but that neighborhood around Greenmount Cemetery is pretty accurate otherwise. The thoughts that Vali mentions about changes in the neighborhood, positive and negative, are valid. Wyman Park Dell is more or less the same in both versions of Baltimore. I describe the building known as The Belvedere as characters pass by it, and I talk about Mount Vernon Place in great detail as it’s a big part of the setting in A Third Kind of Madness.

Writing about the farmers market under the JFX was one of my favorite parts in ATKOM, by the way. I’ve had people ask me if that’s a real market, and how could it be held under an expressway? Folks, it’s real, it is awesome, and you should definitely visit it if you’re in town. I actually used to vend there, selling my handspun yarn and handmade products!

And then there are places I invented completely, like the Frisky Bean. The Bean gets it’s believable feel from my deep experience with that kind of coffee house, but sadly there isn’t a place I can point out in the Mount Vernon neighborhood that matches that vibe. House Mirabilis and Tiennan House don’t have specific inspirations, but Baltimore has plenty of old houses that could stand in. The Compound has an address [sort of, I don’t really obscure where it’s located] and if you look it up using online maps, you can get a visual for the outside, at least. The interior layout, I based on judging from the outside and using my experiences from being inside similar buildings, with my own whimsical additions of course.

Some spots what I’d call book-analogues to actual places that exist, but under different names. Club Marcada on Charles Street is an amalgam of a couple of different clubs I’ve known, but it’s absolutely set in the same block as Club Charles and The Depot. [And The Depot certainly gets some quiet references in the description of Marcada, IYKYK] The Maithe also could be put in this category, but I think it needs it’s own, for reasons I’ll explain below.

The Maithe is special [duh]

First off, let’s discuss the one very specific thing I changed about my version of Baltimore: Park Street.

There is no Park Street in Mount Vernon.

There is a Park Avenue, and yes, I know someone from here might read the books and think “Oh, Xi doesn’t know what they’re talking about, they messed that up.” Nope, sorry, that was a deliberate choice that will mean nothing to people not from Baltimore but to locals [and me] it signals that we are stepping outside of the “real” world and into a different version of the city. Basically that entire street, which happens to house the Frisky Bean, Denny’s studio, and The Maithe, is a magical corridor that lies just slightly off from the world we move in. So if you’re in Mount Vernon and you happen to be walking down Park Avenue, you’re just a sidestep away from where so much of the story takes place!

How do you shift over to Park Street instead? Well that is a good question… isn’t it?

Trivia point: my very first apartment, of which I have no end of ridiculous tales, was on Park Ave. in Mount Vernon. Living there and observing a lot of the odd, amusing things that happened regularly was part of the inspiration for setting the story in that area.

That “slightly off” mirror world, the Baltimore that could be if we sidestepped through the veil unexpectedly? That’s where you can walk from the Bean and spy magical graffiti in an alleyway before you come to the end of the street and the great building that dominates it: The Maithe. Yes, The Maithe is inspired by a building I know, The Brexton, now known as a hotel. No, it’s not the same in this world…as far as I know. It doesn’t house a great, seemingly unending forest in its center courtyard. Indeed, there’s no courtyard at all, though in my opinion there should be! But the staircase? That’s there, and the triangular shape, and the towers on each end. I think The Maithe probably deserves its own post, because I have personal anecdotes I could share as well as a lot of background about how I envisioned the layout inside, which is quite different than the building it’s based on. And as time’s gone on, The Maithe has revealed secrets about itself and those are fun to talk about, too.

I keep promising a video tour of the Eleriannan’s version of Baltimore, and I promise it’s coming soon! The weather’s been too hot and unsettled for your pal Christiane, but as soon as I’m feeling up to it, you’ll have it. Part of the joy of writing these stories is sharing my city with you through my eyes and imagination, and can’t wait for you to see the places that inspire me.

More to come, including in-depth details about The Maithe!

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New Mugs, Straight from The Maithe’s Library to You

Getting coffee from the coffee bar in The Maithe’s library is always an experience: first off, it might be coffee, it might be tea, or cocoa… or even a comforting broth in your mug. And the mugs themselves? Let’s just say that they are an eclectic collection and quite representative of the personality of the “sentient, triangular stack of bricks” as Sousa lovingly calls his home.

Denny finding a seemingly endless selection of odd and silly slogan mugs is one of my favorite funny bits from A Third Kind of Madness, and I wanted to bring a couple of my favorites to life for myself. And since I was making them for me, why not offer them to you for your own library coffee bars or whatever your [probably] non-sentient home has going on?

Virtually Indestructible, just like Denny.

The tardigrade, that is, not the mug itself. Don’t use it in fights or to try and scoop up water elementals, that’s a foolish idea!

A white mug, the kind you might find at a diner or ramshackle coffee shop – not the Frisky Bean, of course – with an illustration of a tardigrade and the text “Virtually Indestructible” on both sides. Designed by me, take that as you will, I Am Not A Graphic Designer.

You can purchase this through Bonfire, a print on demand business that I like and use often. I make a small amount per sale, you get a cute mug!

Order Here Go Juice: second favorite beverage at The Maithe

I don’t think anyone would argue that the most popular drink at The Maithe is Sousa and Sheridan’s home brew. [At least if you ask them, anyway.] The second most popular bev in house would be coffee.

No one’s exactly sure where the “go juice” moniker originated but suspicions are split between Vali and Merrick. Either way, The Maithe liked the term and immortalized it on one of its white mugs. Or in this case, I did, putting the design on both sides as carefully as possible, because remember: I Am Not A Graphic Designer.

You can purchase this through Bonfire, a print on demand business that I like and use often. I make a small amount per sale, you get a cute mug!

Order Here If you’ve got questions, comments, or ideas, send them my way! The Maithe needs more mugs and so do you!

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The Merits of Being Honest

I’ve talked about this before, in other ways and places. It’s a core tenet of who I am and I think about it so much that I find it necessary to expound on it at length often. Honesty is so deeply at the center of my moral compass that it weaves its way into my stories, my relationships, my whole way of moving through the world.

One of the things I talk about when it comes to how I present on social media and other public places is how important it is to me to be open, vulnerable, and honest. If I have any personal “brand” – such as it is, I really hate that concept – it’s being authentic and real. It’s been suggested that maybe that’s oversharing, and that it conflicts with my warning to folks to be careful with what personal info they share on social media.¹ And sure, I probably do “overshare” in some people’s eyes, and I’m not sorry about that. I purposefully talk about things that may be considered uncomfortable, like my chronic disease and its unpleasant effects, or being an older writer getting a late start, or abusive relationships, or being fat and queer and wanting representation in media, etc etc etc. I’m absolutely transparent about what I go through and the steps I’ve taken to be an independent, self-published author. I give away a lot of information and research I’ve done for free. I do also have a Ko-fi where people can get more of these things in exchange for monetary support, but I’m extremely generous with my experience and time. I try to give to others what would be valuable to me in return.

I don’t do any of this for any other reason than it’s who I am.

I come from a DIY, community-oriented punk background, where if there wasn’t something that you wanted or needed, everyone came together to make it happen. I think it’s community at its best, and you can see it show up in my stories too. In fact, that whole “Together we are stronger” attitude is the backbone of my Eleriannan stories. It overshadows every magical ability and is the glue that makes the characters and stories work.

In my personal life, it’s the bar I set for letting people close to me: you must be honest with me, and I will do the same for you. I’ve ended friendships and relationships over the ongoing inability to be crystal clear and not obfuscate the truth. Yes, even to spare my feelings, because the truth always comes out and lies are the insulting icing on top of the shitty deception cake. In return, I offer the same. You’ll always know where you stand with me. I’m not mean or brusque; you can be honest without being brutal. I’m forthright but not cruel. People get that twisted and it doesn’t need to be that way.

People often do small social white lies to smooth out day-to-day interactions, and I don’t do that.² What I do instead is find other ways to communicate positively without being dishonest. Usually that means when I’m asked my opinion about something and I know my answer isn’t going to be taken well, I find a way to frame it that isn’t negative. Being asked for a review doesn’t mean that I need to shit all over someone’s work if I hated it–especially if it’s someone who is new to writing and is looking for support. In this case I might ask if they want a first impression or constructive feedback. Or I could say something like “This kind of story isn’t generally my cup of tea, but I ____” and name a few things that I did like in the story. Asking if I liked something isn’t the same as asking for a critique, and that applies for most things in life. [Just as talking about a problem isn’t opening the floor for advice!]

I can be honest and not crush someone’s dreams.

I can also recognize that my opinions are just that, and I may not be the right person to criticize another, and so I try not to unless expressly invited to do so. The older I get, the more I find that kindness goes farther than the need to be right or be an expert. Maybe that makes me less exciting to follow on social media, I don’t know. That’s okay. I’m always going to choose kindness. And I’m always going to advocate for honesty. The merits of that? You’ll always know where you stand with me, and I can feel good about how I move in the world.

¹Authenticity on social media doesn’t mean that you should give away clues about your personal life that could put you in danger. It’s up to you to decide where that line is. I talk a lot about very personal things but I keep hidden details like links to where I am at that moment for example, posting them after the fact if I want to give positive attention to the business. Usually I only give those kind of details in a timely manner for things like appearances, where I want fans to find me. Be careful with your address and other identifying info that could arm a potential stalker, okay?
² I used to, don’t get me wrong. I thought I was sparing feelings. That was a mistake born out of good intentions that thankfully someone I cared about addressed in a way that stuck with me. I learned my lesson.

Let’s Focus on the Wins

I’ve been working on what I think will be a short story for a bit now. [A Small Light in the Darkness: you can track my writing progress in the sidebar] It’s been slow going because it’s been hot outside, I haven’t been feeling my greatest, and it’s hard to concentrate while the world feels like it’s falling apart. Even as I’m typing this I’m feeling the sweet, seductive siren call of a nap pulling at me.

But that’s okay. Not the reasons why I’ve struggled with writing much, but that my output hasn’t been where I’ve wanted it to be.

Productivity comes in its own time. There are lots of reasons why you might struggle with the ability to create like you want to, from having to juggle a job and family to–like in my case–deal with a disability that often saps my strength and makes it difficult to focus. Add to that the weight of what’s been happening politically, possible financial struggles or a million other valid and pressing challenges, and it can feel like a real battle to get anything creative accomplished.

It doesn’t make me bad at my job of writing to need to go slower than some other authors do, or have less output. We’re all unique and contrary to the beliefs of some, this isn’t a race or competition of any kind. I write my best when I’m focused, well-rested, and unstressed. Trying to push through pain or exhaustion in order to meet some idea of how much I “should” be writing in a day won’t give me my best work. So instead, I try to set healthy and realistic goals for myself, because I acknowledge that I do perform better with goals of some kind, just not ones that make me feel like I’m in some strange literary footrace, except it’s fingers on keyboards.

When I do get down on myself for not living up to some arbitrary standard or goal that someone else dictated, I like to play the game of “But what have I already accomplished?” You can play along with me, if you like. July, the middle of the year, is a great time to play this game–but really, anytime you need to be reminded of what you’ve already done, no matter how small, this is a fun thing to do.

Mid Year Accomplishment List 2024Condensed entry: all the tasks that went along with finishing A Third Kind of Madness [editing, cover, layout, blahblah]Published my third novel, A Third Kind of Madness!Attended and participated at Balticon 58, including being a panelist and doing a reading from ATKOMVirtually attended the Nebula Conference and was a panelistParticipated in the Weeknight Writers: Editing event as a panelistI joined the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer’s Association as an Associate Member! Joining SFWA was a HUGE goalNow have all three of my books carried in my local library system as well as in some other librariesInvited to a SECRET [for now] project that I’ll get to tell you about SOON!

I’m sure that I’m missing some things, but this is still an impressive list for a someone who has only been a published writer for a few years, if I do say so myself. Is it the powerhouse that some new writers have? No! And it doesn’t have to be! Accolades as a new writer generally happen because the writer is very good, AND very lucky. You can be the best writer out there but if you aren’t lucky enough to be spotted in the piles of other work, no one will ever know it. It takes a LOT of work–or luck–to be discovered. It takes even more to start to get recognition for what you’re creating and what you can offer to the reading and writing communities.

Looking over my list, I can feel assured that I’m not letting things slip through my fingers, and I’m on a good schedule. Three books in four years, as someone with an unpredictable chronic disease? I’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about!

If you are also struggling with feeling like you haven’t done enough, I recommend this exercise. It really does give one perspective on, well, everything. don’t forget to count the small successes, too. They’re just as important! And feel free to share them in the comments because I’ll definitely be cheering for you.

Themes, Tropes, and Undercurrents: Compelling Writing

Fiction writers build their stories around themes [nonfiction has themes too, actually!] and use tropes to give the reader a familiar touchstone in the story, something that can be understood and related to easily. Tropes give a sense of familiarity – then it’s up to the writer to turn them on their head or make them their own. A theme [or multiple themes] is the glue that runs under the story, holding everything together. 

Themes are usually discovered in the course of reading, and may become obvious after a certain point. My favorite kind of theme is one that sneaks up on you – where you’re deeply lost in the story and then BAM it hits you, this story is about something much deeper than the surface details of the story.

Themes and Tropes in my stories

In Sleep You Know at the bare bones is a story about an aimless guy who finds purpose after making a rash decision. The aftermath of that night changes his worldview and ultimately makes him a better person. 

The biggest theme in the story, and the series in general, is “we are strongest when we stand together” – it weaves itself through the narrative in so many ways. Before Merrick finds the Eleriannan he’s drifting; they give him purpose. When some of the Gwyliannan are angry and alone, they become vulnerable to Camlin and the Grimshaw’s influence. Until Vali meets Sousa, she has no idea that she has magic abilities, and with the care he gives her, she blossoms and thrives. I can draft a long list of these instances; each one reinforces that overarching theme.

I play a lot with tropes and references in ISYK, too, and have fun with them. The story opens with one of the classics of faery tales and ballads: someone blunders into a meeting with the Fae and is swept off their feet by an unnaturally beautiful and mysterious woman. Will she be La Belle Dame Sans Merci? The Faerie Queene? Merrick pledges himself to seven years of belonging to the Fae in return for gifts, a nod to both Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer. 

There’s found family, an enchanted forest, trees that attack, a magical house – honestly, a parade of faerie tropes. Loner in a big house, creepy beings who you’re grateful are on your side, and did I mention a training scene or two, a big ending battle, and betrayal?

My plan was to be referential to some of the stories that shaped me while turning my story into something a little different, and hopefully one that felt fresh and modern. Playing around with references to classic stories and Child ballads added to that.

What about undercurrents? What is that?

I mentioned undercurrents in writing and what I mean by that is the ongoing themes that aren’t the “main” theme but are still important – and not as obvious to pick out. Power and who should wield it is something that I address in both In Sleep You Know and Cast a Shadow of Doubt, and it’s in A Third Kind of Madness, too. Camlin has power and it destroys his life. Lucee gets power and struggles with how to use it, thanks to her self-doubt. The Ladies also struggle with power, both externally and amongst themselves. Fallon’s insistence on making decisions without consulting others is an abuse of her power that almost undoes House Mirabilis. 

Threading these three important parts of your story throughout the text in many different ways makes it stronger and much more compelling for the reader. But how best to do it? 

Some stories are meant to be taken at face value, and that can be quite appealing. Stories that concentrate on what’s happening in the tale’s world and to the characters, like action or adventure genres for example, absolutely have their place. Generally, I think a lot of readers in those genres aren’t looking for subtlety in those types of books – they’re there for excitement and suspense. Valid! And some amazing books are written this way. Expect themes and tropes to be more obvious and enjoy the ride.

Others are more character focused, and that’s the perfect place to think about adding undercurrents and more subtle use of tropes and themes. I mentioned previously how the concept of Power and who should wield it is an undercurrent in my first two books, and it comes more to the front in A Third Kind of Madness. That’s something I’ve slowly pulled to the forefront through the timeline of the books/series. 

My theory about building up these complex and intertwined themes and knowing when to pull them forward or push them further back is that it has a lot to do with creating complex characters with a lot of work put into motivations and back story. Understanding both why your character would make the choices they do and how that shapes their personal stories is integral to writing meaningful prose. It’s also important to understand how each character’s choices affect the other characters and their choices. Saying that seems obvious, but it’s the difference between moving puppets around that depend on a storyline to make decisions and watching believable but imaginary beings interact and create the plot.

Believable characters create your story.

I’m sure you’ve heard writers say “I didn’t have any control over that scene, the characters were in charge.” That’s exactly what I mean. 

When you’ve got characters that are complex enough, they will start to direct where your stories should be going. Those undercurrents? They start to happen naturally, as personalities interact and fight or fall in love or pass each other in the street. It’s a natural process, just like life! 

So here’s how I do it.

First, I look at the basic plot I’ve got in mind. For me, it’s usually a situation that I come up with: what happens when a slacker musician crashes a Fae party and they decide to recruit him? What possibilities arise when the guy who tried to kill you shows up at your door begging for help? The girl you’ve been crushing on turns out to be your Muse, how do you react – and what are you going to do about all the other people who want to possess her?

Once I’ve got that “story spark” I sit down and think about the characters I have in mind. I write out full character sheets or backstories for them, including their relationships with other characters and some of the things that will shape who they are. I often will look for images that give me an aesthetic or better, a full visual for each character, so they become even more “real” in my mind. It’s important that I begin to think like they would when I’m writing them, or at least deeply understand their motivations and potential reactions.

Then I just begin writing. Believe it or not, I don’t think much beyond these things about tropes or themes; I let it develop along with the story. Once I have a few chapters I’ll stop and re-read, and begin to think about how I can see the plot forming. That is when I start to build up the potential for the deeper aspects of the storyline. 

At this point I’ll make a very loose outline. In it will be potential plot points, themes, and details I’d like to see happen as I write, and I may or may not stick to that outline. Chances are pretty good that once I get to about the halfway point things will start to go in quite unexpected directions!

This is the magic part of the process: let the story happen the way the characters are leading it.

Trust the process. Let the work you did in the beginning inform how the tale develops and grows. Believe that threads are forming and will come forward and retreat as you write, overt and discreet themes that weave the story into a beautiful tapestry. 

You probably won’t see it in the first draft. That’s all about getting the story down on the page, and that’s what you should concentrate on the most. The magic reveals itself when you go through and start tightening up the text, adding details and re-reading for cohesion and flow. Suddenly you’ll start to see the subtle bits that your characters added when you weren’t paying attention, and the connections that you definitely didn’t consciously make. 

This is when I sit down and take notes on all the character development that happened, and how it affects the story premise – and I check to make sure that each character has their own arc, no matter how small, and that each one makes sense and has some kind of resolution. I swear to you that often these arcs aren’t planned but will end up being perfect for each character if you allow that character to lead their development. They will surprise you! And later you’ll realize that the choices that they seemingly made without input from you are deep, moving, and real – and will add so much unexpected depth to your stories. 

Is developing and writing compelling characters and stories with depth something that you’d like me to talk more about? This is probably my greatest strength as a writer and I’d love to share or even do a workshop with y’all. Let me know in the comments!

This was originally posted to my Ko-fi subscribers. It’s shared here in a slightly modified form. If you’d like to read my thoughts about the craft and business of writing before anyone else, you can join here: https://ko-fi.com/threeravenspress

Fandom as Joy

One of the things that I find challenging about being me in this world is that I have an overwhelming sense of childlike joy when it comes to things that I enjoy. I am unabashedly excited about the things that I find delightful. When there’s something that makes me happy, I don’t hold back…and that makes some people feel uncomfortable.

To be fair, people who don’t show their love for the things that make their life better make me uncomfortable, too.

It’s why I love fandom so much. Not the ones that love to pick things apart and overanalyze the joy out of them – they’ve got every right to be who they are but they are not my jam – but the fans who are unafraid to wear that love of whatever makes their day better right on their sleeve. They’ve got the t-shirt, the action figure, the memes, and the cardboard cutout of their favorite character, and I love them for it. Touching base daily with something that enhances their life keeps them going, and I 100% get that, because I’m that person too.

The great thing about fandoms is that there’s something for everyone out there. People who know me know that I’ve been “officially” involved in the SFF fandom world since I was 12, when I went to my first con, Balticon 13. [for those following along at home, that was in 1979!] I was – still am – a voracious reader and of course I had obsessions with both the popular and less known to the general populous SFF media. I loved Star Wars but also Logan’s Run, for example. One of my hall costumes for a couple of years was a Runner, which was probably a questionable choice for a teenager but it was the 70s and 80s and no one batted an eye. I mean, I saw that movie when it came out so I would have been 10? [puts aside discussion about what was considered age appropriate back then, la la la]

And of course, I just went to Balticon 58. If that doesn’t make me feel old…

Another fandom I’m deeply into is ARMY, the fans of South Korean musicians and all around entertainers 방탄소년단 or Bangtan Sonyeondan – otherwise known to the world as BTS. If you’ve paid attention to this blog at all I’m sure you’re aware of this! I’m often inspired by two of their songwriters, RM and SUGA, whose lyrics share so many of the same feelings and experiences I’ve had, despite our widely divergent life paths.

Being a card carrying member of ARMY is a deeply meaningful experience, filled with moving and uplifting moments so numerous that I can’t possibly begin to even scratch the surface of them in one blog post. Even though we live all over the world and many of us don’t speak Korean, we cackle over shared memes and jokes, we gush over new content and strategize to get it all the hype it deserves, and we plan fandom-wide events for celebrating the members of the group and to do things like fundraising. [look up some of the projects that ARMY has put together, it’s a real testament to our power]

Not that we’re always united, of course, because we’re a massive fandom and there will always be opposing ideas of what’s right to do or what direction we want to go – but we’re always trying to match the energy and commitment that BTS has shown us, and that’s what keeps us together. It also makes us one of the most feared fandoms around too, because if we decide that something needs attention, for either positive or negative actions, we will go after it with the power of millions. [40 million according to this article from TIME magazine back in 2020] We also work to keep our fandom focused and positive, even as it gets bigger and finds even more challenges. This time of mandatory enlistment for the BTS members has been one of those, but the members kept us fed with new music and content that they meticulously prepared before they enlisted and have done their best to check in with us as allowed. The amount of preparation they put into every endeavor is honestly quite astonishing and yet another reason that they have so many fans; very few other groups work this hard to maintain a relationship!

Also, BTS uses a LOT of SFF imagery and references in their work. You might be surprised!

I could go on and on about this, and I’m sure at some point you’ll hear more about why I love and am inspired by Bangtan. But…

You might be asking what my point is for bringing this up. Fair!

I look for people who match my energy. Probably you do, too. It feels good to have something to share with others that have the same fascination; it makes me feel less alone and brightens my world. It’s so important to me that I struggle with understanding people who don’t have that kind of thing in their life. [Many people have it, though, it just might not look anything like what I’m into, and that’s cool.]

I get extra excited when I inspire that in other people with what I create! How amazingly cool is that, to have people who are actively starting their own fandom over my characters and stories? It isn’t that many people yet, but they are there and I couldn’t be more honored or excited about it – both because there’s not a better vote of approval, and because I love them just as much as the fans do. It’s a perfect excuse for me to make side stories and merch and character illustrations and background content and not feel like I’m only doing it for myself.

As a creative person, this is the ultimate compliment.

Recently I’ve had my first fanfic writer! I dreamed of a day when that would happen! I’m waiting now for someone to make fan art so I can cry about it like the big ball of emotions that I am. People are recommending my books to their friends. It leaves me speechless every time I hear about it. You liked my world enough to tell others about it? That’s success, in my book.

To be a tiny creator of happiness and a sense of belonging is all I could ever ask for. When I build additional content about the books and characters, it’s always with the idea that I’m sharing more of what lives inside my head in a show of camaraderie: I love this, and I think you might too – let’s love it together!

If you’re reading this there’s a good chance you’ve already read my stories and enjoyed them, so tell me this: what can I bring to you? What would make you feel more connected? I want to share that feeling with you!

And what are your personal fandoms? I want to know more! Let’s geek out together. Let’s find joy.