Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 119

FF: Space, Stairs, and More

My options for audio book downloads from the library have just been cut in half due to something to do with Microsoft and DRM encrypting.  I am VERY unhappy.

Silver in Contemplation Mode

The Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. Audiobook.  The setting is the star in this one.  The plot is solid and satisfying, except for toward the end when our smart protagonist seemed unable to figure out things I’d figured out long before.  Still, enjoyable.

Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Sammy is blackmailed to find a missing dog.  She not only finds the dog, but learns some valuable things about how bitterness is beginning to sculpt her inner landscape.

A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt.  Alan and my discussion of McDevitt’s work led me to re-read this, the first of his Alex Benedict novels.  It held up very well to fond memories.

In Progress:

Bridges of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Just started.

Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. Book one of his “Safehold” series.  I read it when it first came out and decided to dip in again.

Also:

Here’s a link to an interview with Gerry Hausman, whose poetry collection, Island Dreams, was part of my reading these last several weeks.

TT: Jack McDevitt: Guide to Cosmic Wonder

ALAN: Recently I came across Cryptic, a collection of short stories by Jack McDevitt. It was a bit of a surprise – I think of him more as a novelist rather than as a short story writer, and I’m not sure I’ve even seen any of his short stories before. He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?

A sampling of McDevitt’s Wonders

JANE: I’d like to think so.  We met Jack when he was GOH at Bubonicon back in, I think, 1999.  He had such a good time, he came back a year or so later.  Then we spent time together when I was GOH at Oasis in Florida back in 2005.  I think those may be the only time we’ve met in person, but we stay in touch.

But then, as you and I know, physical proximity is no longer a requirement for friendship!

ALAN: Oh, indeed. In my opinion, physical proximity is over-rated. You have to take far too many showers.

JANE: Ick!

As you may remember, I interviewed Jack for my Wednesday Wandering back in December of 2014.   I think a lot of his enthusiasm for what he does, as well as his sense of humor, comes nicely across there.

What did you think of his short stories?

ALAN: Reading the stories as a whole, one after the other, I felt quite strongly that McDevitt shares with Arthur C. Clarke an almost mystical appreciation of the awe and wonder of the universe. Even in the slightest pieces (and some of them are very slight), there is always the feeling that lying just out of sight behind the words is something numinous, something wonderful. At times the feeling is elegiac. To me, this is the true purpose of science fiction, this is the whole of the law. The stories reinforced my conviction that Jack McDevitt is a writer who deserves to be better known that I suspect he is.

JANE: Well, certainly I’d like Jack’s books to be on every SF reader’s shelf, but although he is not a household name, his works have frequently been nominated for various awards, including the Nebula and Hugo.  He’s won some major awards, too.

Seeker won the Nebula Award.  Omega won the Campbell Award (not the award for best new writer; the one for best SF novel in a given year).  He was also the 2015 winner of the Robert A. Heinlein Award.  This last is given to science fiction and technical writings which inspire the human exploration of space.

ALAN: I think the awards prove that his talents are well recognised by his peers, but his name seldom if ever comes up in conversation among SF fans and his books don’t seem to sell particularly well. I think that’s a pity. After I finished the short story collection, I went and re-read The Hercules Text. It was his first novel and I remember buying it simply because it was the book that Terry Carr chose to open his new “Ace Science Fiction Specials” series. I’d never heard of McDevitt at the time, but Terry Carr’s recommendation was enough for me.

JANE: I can’t speak to Jack’s sales, but I agree that his stories are worth re-reading.  Did you find this was the case with The Hercules Text?

 ALAN: Oh indeed, it’s a wonderful book. The basic premise is that the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence has succeeded and we have a message from the stars. We will never be able to communicate with the aliens – the message has come from more than a million light years away and presumably the senders of it are long since dead. But we have proof positive now that we are not alone.

The novel goes on to explore the implications of that knowledge, partly by means of the scientific advances that are made possible by our understanding of the content of the message, but mostly by examining the psychological impact of the knowledge on the protagonists. It’s a deeply thoughtful novel, very concerned with trying to define our place in the universe. I loved it.

JANE: I haven’t read The Hercules Text and now I see I need to find a copy.  I can’t precisely recall which of Jack’s novels I read first.  I do know it was in anticipation of his appearing at Bubonicon.  Whenever possible, I try to read at least one work by a Guest of Honor.  It makes doing panels with them so much more interesting.

Anyhow, I think it was Eternity Road, which at that point was a stand-alone.  It’s atypical McDevitt in some sense in that it’s post-apocalyptic, rather than set in a future of our world that has managed to happen without major disaster.  However, it shares McDevitt’s recurring interest in searching for knowledge, and the belief that the search will also help the seekers learn about themselves.

ALAN: I tend to prefer stand-alone novels rather than series novels, and I think my favourite novel of Jack’s is Ancient Shores in which a farmer and his son discover a boat buried on their North Dakota farm. It seems that this boat may have been used to sail on a pre-historic lake that existed in the area more than 10,000 years ago…

JANE: I like Ancient Shores, too!

These days, most of Jack’s novels feature either Priscilla “Hutch” Hutchinson or the team of Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath.  Do you have a preference for one or the other?

ALAN: I actually like both of those series, which sort of contradicts what I just said about preferring stand-alone novels over books that are part of a series. However, in my defense, the first books of each series (Engines of God and A Talent for War respectively) did once exist as stand-alone novels, and that’s when I read them. It’s just that Jack found more things to say about the characters and the themes and so, like Topsy, the stories just grew.

On balance, I think I prefer the  Priscilla Hutchinson books because they concern a universe that once teemed with intelligent life. However by the time humans arrive on the scene the aliens are long gone. All that remain are their abandoned artefacts.

The exploration of that theme somehow just gives me the spine-shivers. The awe, the wonder and the mystery are brilliantly evoked. And there’s a sense of great loss underlying the whole thing. Wonderful stuff!

JANE:  And yet they’re solidly grounded, too.  Jack gives glimpses of an entire future history through small news items included in each chapter.

Like you, I enjoy the “Hutch” books but, if I had to pick, I’d slightly favor the Alex Benedict books.  They include a mystery element that appeals to me, usually centered around something that Alex has come across in his work as a dealer in antiquities.

Often the search is not simply for an item, but for the truth behind a historical event or person.  I’m a sucker for these.  Jack has said that he’s not interested in stories motivated by fighting a villain, he’s interested in problems – and sometimes these problems are very big indeed.

ALAN; I agree with Jack. Villain fighting doesn’t do much for me. All too often the authentic sense of wonder vanishes into the dull minutiae of combat.

JANE: Since you mentioned A Talent for War, let me go into it with a little more detail.  In this novel, Alex’s uncle is lost when the spaceship he’s travelling on simply vanishes.  Alex inherits not only a fortune, but a mystery.  His uncle (an avocational archeologist) had been researching Christopher Sim, a war hero from 200 years before.

When his uncle’s house is broken into and his files searched, Alex realizes that someone does not want the research to continue.  What can be important about a 200 year old secret?

Yum!

ALAN: Yum, indeed!

JANE: I grabbed another Alex Benedict at random off my shelf, because I wanted to show how these quests don’t become boring.

In The Devil’s Eye, Alex receives a message from a celebrated writer, Vicki Greene, asking for help.  When they follow up, they discover that Greene’s memory has been wiped – at her request.  She doesn’t even remember why she’d contacted Alex.

But before her memory wipe, she arranged for Alex to be sent a large sum of money.  Alex doesn’t need it, but the challenge is too much for him to pass up.

Sheesh!  I have a reading list a mile long and now I’m going to have to re-read at least A Talent for War.  See what you get me into?

ALAN: Guilty as charged. But don’t expect me to be repentant…

JANE: Don’t!  I started re-reading this weekend and have been very much enjoying.

 But going back to what you said earlier, whether he’s writing a series novel or a stand-alone, Jack’s characters always are awake to the marvels around them.  Although his novels are very solidly grounded in believable events, to me, they are a great illustration of what “sense of wonder” is all about.

ALAN: We’ve both just used that same “sense of wonder” phrase. I wonder if we can come to grips with exactly what we mean when we say it? Next time, maybe?

JANE: Absolutely!  “Wonder” what we’ll come up with?

Not Just Crossplay: Female Characters

Over the last several weeks, the issue of female main characters – especially the lack thereof in all but YA Science Fiction and Fantasy (and even complaints about how female characters are handled in much YA SF/F) – has come up in several different contexts, including fiction, comic books, and movies.

Crossplay Across the Genres

Needless to say, I rather disagree that they’re missing, since I’ve written a lot of novels with female main characters, younger, older, and in between. But that’s not what I want to talk about.

I’ve become frustrated by the underlying implication in these discussions that including female main characters is easy.  Even when writing in an imaginary world setting, putting a female character on center stage isn’t simple.  When writing a story set within the “real world,” the issues become more complex.

Writing female main characters involves more than what cosplayers call “crossplay.”  It involves a lot more than just transforming Aragorn into “Aragorna.”  Don’t believe me?  Let’s take a look, starting with minor characters and working our way to center stage.

Sometimes, when I’m running a game, my players will do something that requires me to quickly invent a character – a shopkeeper or innkeeper, for example.  Since the world in which I’ve set the game is largely gender equal, I toss a six-sided die.  “Odd,” the character is male; “even,” she’s female.

(No, I’m not saying guys are “odd.”  It’s just a convenience!)

Next, I’ll toss a couple more dice to get an age range.  After that, I take into account various social conventions, add in how people tend to react to certain characters, and I’m good to go.

You can do something similar when writing.  However, for this to work, you must keep the realities of your world in mind.  Is the society truly gender equal or do certain jobs fall more commonly to one gender or another?  For example, in a story set in the twenty-first century U.S., a female garage mechanic would be a matter for comment.  A male selling cosmetics would also raise an eyebrow or two.

Often, subconsciously, the writer tries to “course correct” to gender norms.  The female garage mechanic become hearty and butch, with a bunch of tattoos.  The male cosmetic seller becomes stereotypically swishy.  I’d much prefer that the female garage mechanic have learned the trade because her older brothers were really into cars and she learned a lot from them.  Or maybe she’s a widow who always helped her husband.  The male cosmetics seller might be an actor with a side interest in special effects makeup  or someone who put himself through college doing Mary Kay parties with his girlfriend.

And these are just “walk on” parts…  See how complicated it can get?

Now let’s move to secondary characters…  The best friend, the secretary, the boss… Or, in a more Fantasy setting, the patron, the healer, the bodyguard…  Or in Science Fiction, the ship pilot, the scientist, the commander, the doctor…

The toss-the-dice technique works to a limited extent here.  But when a character is going to be more than a walk-on, the question of gender will become an issue.  Best friends are usually same gender…  When they are not, the issue of romantic interest immediately comes up.  Let me grab two quick examples from my recent reading…

Kit and Nita from Diane Duane’s “So You Want to Be a Wizard” and sequels are around twelve when the series starts.  Nita, who is the point-of-view character, thinks of Kit (who is a year younger) as a buddy.  However, her parents wonder (after all, Kit and Nita are in junior high and everyone knows that hormones kick in about then) if they’re “experimenting” a bit.  Nita’s little sister openly teases Nita about “liking” Kit…  And, while the reader is in Nita’s head and knows she doesn’t have any romantic feelings about Kit, still, the question “But will that last into the future?” is present in a way it wouldn’t be if the pairing was Nita and Maria, or Kit and Bob.

In Robert Jackson Bennett’s City of Stairs, Shara Thivani, the main point-of-view character, is accompanied from the start by Sigurd.  She introduces him as her “secretary,” but big, hulking brute that he is, he clearly does more than push paper.  Is he also her boyfriend?  Apparently not, but when, in the last portion of the novel, cataclysmic events lead to the two being separated, their mutual level of concern for each other is high enough that this reader, at least, found herself wondering if each cared more for the other than they were admitting.

Again, this wouldn’t have even crossed my mind if I were reading about Spenser and Hawk (Robert Parker’s PI and his frequent sidekick).  Gender makes a difference.

Now let’s expand this question into the sort of world you’re working in.  Is it one where the relationship “default” is heterosexual?  Is it one where, as in ancient Greece, same sex relationships between men were an accepted part of the landscape?  Or how about one where who you can court depends on your birth order?

How about one modeled on the Navajo, where clan affiliation mattered more than actual blood relationship?  Tony Hillerman did an excellent job of including this in one of his “Jim Chee” novels, where Jim is falling for a young woman of Navajo heritage but raised in the “Anglo” world and apparently unaware of her clan.  Before he can actually propose, Jim has to find out if Janet is as “off-limits” to him as she would be if she were his sister…

Gender plays into the picture in ways that have nothing to do with relationships.  One of my favorites is how perception of age and aging shifts according to gender.  These days, a man is considered in his prime in his fifties or even sixties.  By contrast, a woman is considered distinctly middle-aged, if not verging on elderly!

Think about all the ways this colors character portrayal.  It’s considered “impolite” to ask a woman’s age.  Why?  Because that’s asking her to admit she’s over the hill.  A man, by contrast, unless he is particularly insecure for some reason – out of a job or otherwise severely underperforming – would not feel the need to say he’s “39.”  And, in fact, he would seem a bit stupid and shallow if he does.

Another great example is that if a man is in a relationship with a much younger woman, this is considered a sign of his virility and desirability.  By contrast, a woman in her fifties who dates a man in his twenties is tagged a “cougar,” and is considered a bit “off” or, at the very least, busy fooling herself that the man could actually be interested in her.

So, except when writing a very minor character – one who might not even be the equivalent of a “walk-on” role – merely flipping the pronouns isn’t enough.

Next time, I’ll get into some of the complexities that arise when writing a Conanna or an Aragorna!

Help Make Artemis This Summer’s Hot Destintation

Want to be part of making the planet Artemis this summer’s hot destination?  Here’s how you can do it!

Summer on Artemis… Ah…

Post a review of Artemis Invaded or Artemis Awakening to Amazon.com, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble.com, your blog or Facebook page.  Then submit the URL at the link below to be entered to win your choice of a signed, personalized, first edition, hard cover of either Artemis Awakening or Artemis Invaded.

Wait!  There’s more!

Already have both of these books?  Other prize options are available, up to and including: audiobook downloads, ARCS, copies of other of Jane Lindskold’s novels, or even something weird, wild, and wonderful. (The choice of this last is up to me.)

Multiple entries will be accepted but, to avoid confusion, a separate URL must be provided for each entry.  Open only to U.S. residents, unless the entrant agrees to accept an audiobook download as a prize.

You may enter by posting the same review to different sites.  However, you must submit separate URLs for each entry to qualify.

The initial period to enter will be from July 8 to July 21th.  However, entries will continue to be accepted through midnight Mountain Standard Time on August 10th.  Beginning on July 22nd, one winner a week will be announced on July 22th, July 29, August 5, and August 12.

If response is overwhelming, a special Final Week extra drawing may be included for those who posted two or more reviews.

Help make Artemis everyone’s “go-to” summer destination!  Words have power!  Use them!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FF: Change, Transformation, and Self-Discovery

One new author, but mostly continuation of series I’ve become interested in.

The Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

Kwahe’e Approves of Sammy

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth, edited by S.M. Stirling.  Although there are a fair share of “we’re just holding on and here come the bad guys” stories,” there’s a lot of thoughtful treatment of how people would react to “the Change,” whether immediately, a few years later, or even decades on.

Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane.  Audiobook.  Kit and Nita’s summer holiday becomes entangled with underwater magic.  Lovely use of non-human perspective.  Some very good material regarding making choices – even if those choices don’t benefit oneself.

Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy by Wendelin Van Draanen.  This time Sammy finds herself accused by a priest of stealing his treasured personal cross.  While trying to clear herself, she discovers a homeless girl and uncovers a monumental scam.  Includes a very well-rendered softball game and the first hints about Sammy’s absent father.

In Progress:

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. Audiobook So far, I’m enjoying a great deal.  The setting is richly detailed, so much so that it’s been easy to overlook that the plot is comparatively skimpy, and the characters fall into very familiar types.  Some interesting events do eventually happen – not plot twists, since I’d been expecting something along these lines, but intriguing developments.

Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf by Wendelin Van Draanen.  Sammy is blackmailed to find a missing dog.  Only part way in, but Nancy Drew never had such problems!

Also:

Beginning of the month magazines…  Good article in American Archeology about the possible impact of the bow on cultural development.

TT: The State of Flags

JANE: Do you folks have any other flags?  Perhaps ones representing regions, the way we have state flags?

New Mexico State Flag (outside Jim’s office)

ALAN:  No, we don’t. There aren’t any smaller divisions analogous to your states here. There are vaguely defined geographical areas such as Canterbury in the South Island and Hawke’s Bay and the Waikato in the North Island, but they certainly don’t have flags of their own.

However, having said that, I’ve discovered that Otago, an area deep in the South Island, does actually have a flag, though I have no idea why or what use they make of it. I doubt that anybody outside of Otago knows about it, though.

So tell me about your state flags. How does that work? What are they used for?

JANE: First of all, as to the origin of state flags… I’d always assumed that state flags – at least the earlier ones – were in some way associated with flags of the original thirteen colonies.  However, when I did some research, I learned that I was incorrect.

The tradition of state flags dates, in most cases, to the 1890’s when the World’s Columbian Exposition was held and there was a need to be able to provide a quick visual for each state.  So, in a sense, state flags grew out of the same impulse you outlined last time – a need to unambiguously identify specific areas.

ALAN: Very understandable. That’s a strong motive for having a flag.

JANE: State flag designs have changed over the years, in some cases, multiple times.  Georgia, in particular, seems to have a mania for redesigning its flag.

New Mexico, where I live, has had only one flag and apparently for good reason.  According to a survey done by the North American Vexillogical Association in 2001, New Mexico has the best-designed flag of any U.S. state, territory, or Canadian province.

Georgia, by the way, was rated worst, which apparently led to yet another re-design in 2003.

ALAN: What’s so special about the design of the New Mexico flag?

JANE: I really don’t know all the details that went into the judging, but apparently the Vexillogical Association likes imaginative flags.  Apparently, something like half the state flags have a design described as “seal on a bed sheet,” which is the state seal put on a solid background.  Since seal designs can be heavy on detail, I can see why they would be too busy to serve as unambiguous identifiers.

ALAN: Perhaps they should put a walrus on the bed instead of a seal. What does the design of New Mexico flag do to avoid that trap?

JANE: With great dignity, I am going to ignore your joke.  Walruses indeed!

The New Mexico state flag is simple and striking.  The field is brilliant yellow, rather than the more common blue.  The yellow field is emblazoned with a circle with four radiating arms, these consisting of three lines apiece, coming off it.  This symbol is called a “Zia,” after the tribe that used it in their work.

The colors were taken from the red and yellow of the Cross of Burgundy flag flown by the Spanish empire. Combined with the Zia, the flag represents both native and colonial elements.

Ask me what the Zia symbol means!

ALAN: What does the Zia symbol mean?

JANE: How kind of you!

According to Wikipedia, “Four is a sacred number which symbolizes the Circle of Life: the four directions, the four times of day, the four stages of life, and the four seasons. The circle binds the four elements of four together.”

Another site, devoted to state flags added a fifth element: “the Zia’s belief that with life comes four sacred obligations: one must develop a strong body, a clear mind, a pure spirit, and a devotion to the welfare of others.”

ALAN: That sounds very appropriate.

JANE:  There was even a little “pledge” that used to be said in New Mexico public schools, just in case anyone missed the point: “I salute the flag of the State of New Mexico and the Zia symbol of perfect friendship among united cultures.”

ALAN: Someone has obviously put a lot of thought into that design.

JANE: You’re right!  New Mexico didn’t have an official state flag until 1920.  As with your current situation in New Zealand, a contest was held to suggest designs.  The contest was won by Dr. Harry Mera.  Mera was an archeologist and adapted the Zia symbol from one he found on a nineteenth century pot.

He then combined this with the colors from the Imperial Spanish flag, creating a flag that acknowledged how New Mexico’s complex heritage includes elements from both Spanish and indigenous populations – and the hope that “devotion to the welfare of others” would help these work in harmony.

I asked Jim if he was familiar with Mera and he immediately became very excited. I quote: “H.P. Mera is the dean of New Mexico pottery studies (his pottery reports were just recently collected and republished, because they continue to be relevant).   Mera was responsible for the numbering system for sites in the state. Nearly all of the early numbers in the system are for sites that he visited, mapped, and collected pottery from. Very cool!”

ALAN: That would seem to make Dr. Mera perfectly qualified to design a state flag. I’m glad his talents were properly recognised.

JANE: It’s interesting but, while I’ve been aware of the New Mexico State flag ever since I moved here, those of some of the other states I’ve lived in aren’t so memorable.

Although I lived in both New York and Virginia for some years, their state flags made so little impression on me, I had to go look them up.  It’s no great surprise that both fall into the “seal on a bedsheet” category.

ALAN: If even the residents can’t call the flags to mind, it would seem that the Vexillogical Association’s criticisms are right on the mark!

JANE: Maryland’s flag is interesting though.  It’s quite colorful, using black, gold, red, and white.  It also looks more like a medieval banner than something you’d expect to find in the U.S.

This is because it’s derived from a combination of the Calvert coat of arms and those of the Crossland family, to which Lord Baltimore (who founded the colony) belonged.  His title was pretty medieval sounding too: “Cecil Calvert, Second Baron Baltimore, First Lord Proprietary, Earl Palatine of the Provinces of Maryland and Avalon in America.”

ALAN: I am speechless. What a wonderful title!

But weren’t you born in Washington D.C.? Does it have a flag, and if so what does it look like? Is it yet another walrus?

JANE:  No walrus, or even seal…  D.C. actually has quite a striking flag. It’s based around George Washington’s coat of arms, and features broad red and white strips, with three big red stars.  However, the city emblem gets lost in D.C., where the U.S. flag dominates, as it should, given that the city is the nation’s capital.

ALAN: In some ways that’s a shame – something so striking surely deserves to be more prominent.

JANE: Certainly, the residents of D.C. would agree.  So, of the four states I’ve lived in for any time (my birthplace, D.C., as I have repeatedly commented is not a state) two of the flags made an impression.

I wonder how our readers feel about their own state flags?

Help Make Artemis This Summer’s Hot Destination

Three topics this week: a signing, a contest, and the curious behavior of the toad in the nighttime…

Here we go!

Summer on Artemis… Ah…

This Saturday, July 11th, at 4:00 p.m., I’ll be at Page One Books in Albuquerque, taking part in a special event for Artemis Invaded.  Other of my books will be available as well.  I’ll give a reading and take questions – not only about the “Artemis Awakening” series!  Bring any questions at all.  If I don’t know the answer, I’ll guess!  I’m also making something sweet…  Haven’t decided what, though…

That’s the signing…  Here’s the contest!

Want to be part of making the planet Artemis this summer’s hot destination?  Here’s how you can do it!

Post a review of Artemis Invaded or Artemis Awakening to Amazon.com, Goodreads, Barnes and Noble.com, your blog or Facebook page.  Then submit the URL at the link below to be entered to win your choice of a signed, personalized, first edition, hard cover of either Artemis Awakening or Artemis Invaded.

Wait!  There’s more!

Already have both of these books?  Other prize options are available, up to and including: audiobook downloads, ARCS, copies of other of Jane Lindskold’s novels, or even something weird, wild, and wonderful. (The choice of this last is up to me.)

Multiple entries will be accepted but, to avoid confusion, a separate URL must be provided for each entry.  Open only to U.S. residents, unless the entrant agrees to accept an audiobook download as a prize.

You may enter by posting the same review to different sites.  However, you must submit separate URLs for each entry to qualify.

The initial period to enter will be from July 8 to July 21th.  However, entries will continue to be accepted through midnight Mountain Standard Time on August 10th.  Beginning on July 22nd, one winner a week will be announced on July 22th, July 29, August 5, and August 12.

If response is overwhelming, a special Final Week extra drawing may be included for those who posted two or more reviews.

Help make Artemis everyone’s “go-to” summer destination!  Words have power!  Use them!  Ready to get started?  This link will take you to the contest: a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now…   The Curious Behavior of the Toad in the Nighttime.

On Fourth of July, Jim and I heard fireworks going off, coming from the direction of our neighbor Therese’s house.  We wandered outside to find out what was up and discovered that Therese and Roberta (who lives across from Therese) were setting off fireworks.

They made us welcome with the gift of a very large sparkler apiece and a selection from a bowl of chocolates.  Then we sat down on Therese’s driveway to review Roberta’s selection.

Although she had a small selection compared to some of the extravagant displays we could see going off around us – one advantage of living in a place without many tall trees is that one can clearly see fireworks that are being shot off miles and miles away – Roberta’s display was quite elegant.

We were about half-way through, laughing about how a firework named “The Weasel” had, in fact, “weaseled” by refusing to go off, when we realized that our party of four had acquired a fifth member.

A medium-sized spadefoot toad had hopped out onto the driveway and settled down about two feet away from Jim.  It did not appear frightened or dazed.  Nor was there any water or insects to attract it.  By all apparent evidence, it simply wanted to watch the fireworks.

The toad stayed with us through the second half of Roberta’s show.  Then, after the grand finale, it slowly hopped out into the street, paused to inspect the spent fireworks, and then continued on its way, eventually vanishing into the shadows.

Jim and I have always felt fortunate in our neighbors and have often spent Fourth of July in similar informal entertainments.  However, this was the first time a member of the local wildlife community joined us.  As spectacular as the fireworks were, that was a special summer event indeed!

Hope your summer is special, too!  Join me at Page One or on Artemis!  I’ll be looking for you!

FF: Busy, But Still Managed to Read

This week was really busy.  Not only did Artemis Invaded come out, but I immersed myself so I could finish a rather long (14,000 plus words) “short story” about the further adventures of Stephanie Harrington and Climbs Quickly (the main characters in Fire Season and Treecat Wars).

Persephone Says, “Never change.”

The Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include either short fiction or magazine articles.

The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a few opinions tossed in.

Recently Completed:

So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane.  Audiobook.  Although this book is clearly intended for the junior high set, it doesn’t pull any punches with vocabulary.  If you read it wanting Harry Potter, you’re going to be disappointed.  If you read it with no expectations, there’s a lot to like.

The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham.  This was recommended to me by a six year-old friend.  Richly illustrated in vivid color, it tells of Princess Magnolia who fights monsters as the mysterious Princess in Black.  At first, I’ll admit, it read like a retake on SheRa, Princess of Power.  However, there’s a real sense of the how kids have rich inner lives.  Princess Magnolia’s just happens to be more than fantasy.  This, as well as a princess who looks like a little girl, not a super model, won me over.

Island Dreams by Gerald Hausman.  A strong sense of place and an almost magical ability to make the reader not only see, but feel, hear, smell, and even taste locations makes for a vivid poetry collection.  Some of the personal ones – especially on the death of family or friends – are like peeping into the author’s heart.

Naruto, issue 70.  Manga.  Since Jim and I are watching the start of the story as anime, reading as the story is building to the end is providing some fascinating thoughts on story development.

In Progress:

The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth, edited by S.M. Stirling.  I’m about half-way through this long collection.

Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane.  Audiobook.  Kit and Nita’s summer holiday becomes entangled with underwater magic.  So far, interesting.

Sammy Keyes and the Sisters of Mercy by Wendelin Van Draanen.  This time Sammy finds herself by a priest of stealing his treasured personal cross.  Just started.

Also:

No also, unless you count re-reading my manuscript.

TT: Contentious Flags

JANE: Alan, last week, you mentioned that there’s actually a Maori flag of sorts. How does that work?

ALAN: Yes – Tino rangatiratanga is a Maori phrase that probably best translates as “Maori Sovereignty.” It’s also the name of a flag that is sometimes referred to as the Maori flag. Personally I find it to be a very attractive design.  (You can find a discussion of Tino rangatiratanga as a political movement at this link).

Maori Flag

JANE: That’s a gorgeous flag. Why can’t you guys just use that one? It fills all your requirements and would look lovely on knickers.

ALAN: Indeed it would! Personally, I’m very fond of it. Unfortunately, it comes with a lot of baggage. Many politically radical Maori activists passionately promote the Tino rangatiratanga  flag. There have been requests to the government to have it flying alongside the New Zealand flag on significant dates such as Waitangi Day. Surprisingly, these requests have been quite effective and the flag is now often flown in that way. But its association with a set of sometimes rather extreme political views means that it is unlikely to be adopted as a national flag. In a very real sense, it’s seen as being divisive rather than as something that can promote unity.

JANE: I can understand that.  Pity.  It’s more than pretty.  It’s elegant and memorable.

Here in the U.S. we also have a flag that is still flown in some areas of the country, although it can stir up some negative reactions.  This is the flag commonly called the Confederate flag.  It’s gotten a lot of press lately because of the recent shootings in South Carolina, but as a Yorkshireman-born and naturalized New Zealander, you may not be aware of its actual history and origins.

ALAN: I’ve always just assumed that it was the flag under which the Confederates fought in your Civil War. I’ve never thought of it any more deeply than that. Is there more to it?

JANE: There is indeed.  Oddly enough, this flag was never used by the Confederated States of America – the “South” in the American Civil War.  Instead it was the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia commanded by General Lee.

Given the constellation that ornaments New Zealand’s current national flag, you might be amused to know that one of the nicknames for this flag is the “Southern Cross.”

ALAN: I love the nickname! I had no idea that the flag wasn’t actually used by the Confederate States. I suppose that’s what happens when you learn your history from the movies…

JANE: Or television.  I’ll get to that in a moment…

The Confederate flag had a resurgence in popularity in the early twentieth century as an emblem of the American South.  In World War II, some military units associated with the South carried the Confederate flag as a sort of identity marker.

However, later the flag was adopted by radical racist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. This tarnished the flag’s image in the eyes of many.

ALAN: Yes, I can see how that must have poisoned the well.

JANE: Not all the uses have been negative.  There’s one that’s actually amusingly appropriate.  Did you ever watch a television show called The Dukes of Hazzard?

ALAN: Oh, yes! A friend of mine who was a keen motorcyclist once told me, with a perfectly straight face, that he was going to replace his leathers with a Dukes of Hazzard T-shirt. When I asked him why, he pointed out that they were constantly crashing into things and being thrown out of their vehicles and they never got so much as a scratch or a graze. He didn’t know what the T-shirts were made of, but the material obviously provided much better protection than a full set of leathers did!

JANE: Oh…  I’m laughing.  I read that to Jim and he’s bent double at the waist with tears coming out of his eyes.  You have seen the show!

On The Dukes of Hazzard, the main characters drove a car called The General Lee.  Painted on the car’s roof is the Confederate flag.  When you remember that this flag was the banner flown by the actual General Lee, it is nicely appropriate.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence, either.  According to one source I looked at, the car was originally going to be called “Traveler,” after General Lee’s horse, but the idea was dropped because they figured no one would catch the reference.

ALAN: Probably true. I only learned about Traveler when I read Connie Willis’ novel Lincoln’s Dreams. But I think I’ve always known about General Lee.

JANE: Hey, that’s where I learned about the horse, too!  See, reading SF is educational…

Anyhow, you can find lots of information about the Confederate Flag on-line, including some really loopy stuff, so I won’t repeat.  In a sense though, it’s become our Maori flag – a design that has acquired numerous negative associations that have nothing to do with its original creation.

ALAN: A striking parallel.

JANE: I actually have another flag-related question for you, but it could get complicated, so I’ll save it for next time.

Artemis Invaded Is Now Officially Released!

Why am I bouncing up and down in excitement?

June 30th marked the release of Artemis Invaded, the sequel to last year’s acclaimed novel Artemis Awakening.

Cover Flat Revealed…

There’s also good news for those of you who don’t buy hard cover books and don’t use e-readers.  Artemis Awakening is now available in paperback!

Cover Revised for Paperback!

So what’s all the excitement about?  For me, Artemis Awakening and Artemis Invaded embrace the type of science fiction that got me hooked on the genre.  Rather than dystopias that make you feel better when you close the book, here’s a world filled with wonder and the fulfillment of dreams.  Rather than characters you’re glad you’ll never meet, here are characters you wish you could be – and that you can be both while you’re reading and in your dreams thereafter.

Rather than being told everything you can’t have, Artemis is a world designed to make both inhabitants and visitors wiser, stronger, more alert to possibility.  And this isn’t limited to humans.  There are some very interesting animals.  And the planet Artemis herself…

Mystery.  Intrigue.  Romance…  It’s all there and more!

In Artemis Awakening, Griffin Dane achieves his long-held goal of locating the long-lost planet of Artemis.  Unfortunately, things do not go according to plan.  When a malfunction causes Griffin’s shuttle to crash on the planet’s surface, he’s rescued by Adara the Huntress and her puma demiurge, Sand Shadow.

Events cascade from there, including the revelation that many things that both Griffin and Adara held as established truths may not be true at all.

Artemis Invaded continues the on-rush of events triggered by Griffin’s crash – which may not, after all, have been a crash.  Old enemies and rivals are joined by new opponents.  Adara must come to terms with her bond with the planetary intelligence – and with the two men who are best friends, and rivals for her affections.

A new discovery reveals the actual reason the planet was created.  Obsessed with his finds, Griffin is in grave danger of alienating his allies, just when he will need them most.  And the invaders…  Let’s just say you don’t need to worry about this turning into same-old, same-old military SF!  This is much, much cooler.

Who says?  Well, I do!  The question SF/F writers are asked most often is “Why do you write ‘that stuff’?”  This is why, because it’s so much fun to take reality to the limits and beyond.

I hope you’ll join me on Artemis.  Also, if you like Artemis and want to be sure it’s there to go back to, help push out the signal.  Word of mouth is the best way to make sure you get more of what you want.  Don’t stay silent!