Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 131

To Talk or Not to Talk?

News Flash: The anthology Fantasy for Good was officially released yesterday.  In addition to my short story “Knight’s Errand,” it features a wide variety of both reprint and original stories.  All — and I mean every penny — earned by the anthology goes to the Colon Cancer Alliance.

At a loss for what to buy someone for Christmas? Consider doing good on many levels.  Your gift recipient will get a great book and you’ll help raise money to find a cure for colon cancer, a disease which robbed our field of both Jay Lake and Roger Zelazny.  Seriously…  What’s not to like?

And now, back to our regularly scheduled Wander…

Right now – well, not exactly “right now” because I’m writing this – I’m working on a short story to submit to the Shadows and Reflections anthology in honor of Roger Zelazny.

Storming the Brain

The deadline is the end of the year.  This sounded comfortably far off until it suddenly wasn’t far off at all, especially since my mom is coming for Christmas (yay!) and I plan to spend her visit with her and Jim, cooking a wide variety of good things and talking, not hidden in my office struggling to meet a deadline.

(There’s also the possibility that my kitchen is going to get torn up right before Christmas, just to add to the chaos factor.)

So last week I put all my other projects on the side and turned my attention to the projected story.   I wanted to set story in one of the two universes that Roger invited me to share with him: that of Donnerjack or that of Lord Demon.  Lord Demon won because it would also give me a chance to play around with Chinese material again – something I haven’t had a chance to do since I concluded Five Odd Honors some years ago.

As those of you who read my Friday Fragments may have noticed, I re-read Lord Demon a couple of months back, rather surprising myself when I realized that enough time had gone by that I could read the novel without remembering writing it.  It’s a very odd experience to find yourself getting lost in a story you helped to write, but one I completely enjoyed.

While I was planning for this story, I was also getting Wanderings on Writing ready for press.  (In case you were on another planet and missed my happy dance and songs of joy, it’s now available as both an e-book and a POD.)   And I started re-reading my short fiction for the collection you folks requested.  Then the proofs for Artemis Invaded came in…  Suddenly, it was late November and my self-imposed somewhat before the end of the year deadline was looming.  I resolved to shift my priorities.

I started last week by re-reading the notes I’d written to myself when re-reading Lord Demon.   During the last week in November, I read Lafcadio Hearn’s book Some Chinese Ghosts.  This gave me some interesting ideas.  I decided that I wanted to set this story in Kai Wren’s past – before he became known as Godslayer and Lord Demon.  I did some calculations and worked out when this would be on the timeline of Chinese history, so I wouldn’t stumble into anachronism.

By last Wednesday afternoon, I felt as if I had a jigsaw puzzle spread out before me.  However, some mischievous imp had stolen the box, so I had no idea if I had all the pieces or even what the picture was.  That there was a picture, I felt certain.

I was sitting on the sofa, eyes half-shut, when Jim (who was at home that day) quit work and came out to join me.

“Everything okay?”

“I guess, I think… I can’t seem to get the story started.  I feel as if I’m missing some little bit that’s going to make it all fall into place but…”

“Want to talk about it?”

I almost said, “No, thanks,” since most of the time I find it best to keep my ideas under wraps until the words start flowing on the page (or computer screen).  This time, probably because I’d been fussing with various elements for months, I decided talking couldn’t hurt.  At the very least, I’d find out if Jim thought I needed to research some more.

So I started talking.

Have you ever tried to tell someone about a dream and found yourself unconsciously linking various elements, even though those elements weren’t actually linked in the dream?  Dreams were the first stories I ever told, my audience being my younger sister, Ann, who never seemed to tire of these twisted, inconclusive tales.

I had a similar sensation as I started talking to Jim.  When the cascade of words ended, he nodded enthusiastically, “I like it.  I think you should go with it.”

“Really?”  I considered for a moment.  “I think that helped.  Some of the things I said to you – I hadn’t thought about them that way.”

So the next morning, I started writing.  I got more down on Friday.  As word count goes, my production wasn’t anything to brag about, but it was a start.  Over the weekend, I considered where to go next and came up with a solution for…  Well, I won’t go into details.  I wouldn’t like the ideas to lose their freshness.

To talk or not to talk about an idea – whether for a short story, a novel, or any other creative venture – is a perennial question among writers.  Some swear by these “brainstorming” or “plot-busting” sessions, saying that the combined energy of the participants adds to the writer’s enthusiasm for the project.  Others tell cautionary tales about how talking too much can denature a story, robbing it of its freshness, sometimes to the point that the writer no longer feels any desire to write the piece – after all, the story has been told, worked out to the finest detail, so why bother?

I’m curious as to what you think.  Usually, I’d come down firmly on the “Don’t talk the idea to death” side, but my recent experience reminded me of the value of giving an idea – especially one that is hesitating to take shape – at least a little outing.

Thoughts?

FF: Older Space Opera, New YA Fantasy

Again, a really busy time, so I’ve been “reading” more via audio, but I can’t give up stories!

For those of you new to this…  The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  They are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website.

Kel and Ruby Stole My Book!

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

Recently Completed:

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. Audiobook.  The reader is excellent, capturing the main character’s twisted but essentially good-hearted personality well.

The Stainless Steel Rat’s Revenge by Harry Harrison.  Audiobook.  Also fun, but time for a break before I start finding the idea a life of crime appealing.

In Progress:

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater.  Third in the excellent “Raven Boys” series.  So far, living up to the previous two…

The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  My friend Rowan mentioned recently that our library had most of his series as audio.  I’d always meant to read more, so I’m giving this a try.

Also:

A variety of shorter Chinese material.  The trick is knowing when to stop!

TT: Folkie into Glam — David Bowie

JANE:  We’ve been talking about the close connection between folk and rock.

It would probably shock those who are familiar with David Bowie as the wildly-costumed, makeup-wearing  glam rocker to realize that many of his earlier songs were solidly folk.

ALAN: I didn’t know that. Tell me more!

Changes…

JANE: Once it’s pointed out, the relationship is obvious.  “Changes,” which appeared on the album Hunky Dory, sounds very much like something Bob Dylan might have written.  In case anyone might miss the influence, the “B” side of the album includes the ironical “Song for Bob Dylan” which begins with a salutation to “Robert Zimmerman” – which was Bob Dylan’s actual name.

ALAN:  I know the song “Changes” but I’ve never heard of the album. But from what you say, the influences are clearly there.

JANE: It’s a good album.  You might want to try it.

A good place to find Bowie the Folkie is the compilation album Starting Point.  It includes songs like the chart topping “The Laughing Gnome,” the creepy “Please Mister Grave Digger,” and the plaintive and eerie “We Are the Hungry Men” and “London Boys.”

Are you familiar with these?

ALAN: I certainly know “The Laughing Gnome.”  There was a time when it was never off the radio. But I haven’t heard of the others. In the extras on my DVD of the movie Labyrinth Bowie says, somewhat ironically, that he probably got the part of Jareth the Goblin King on the strength of “The Laughing Gnome.”

JANE: “The Laughing Gnome”’ is quite silly, perhaps showing the influence of the British music hall tradition more than folk.  It reached number three on the UK charts in 1973.  Bowie, however, tried to play the song down for many years.  If it got him the role of Jareth, well and good.  I love Labyrinth.  (But really, the two characters are nothing alike.)

As I mentioned, the songs on Starting Point show both the influence of folk and the British music hall tradition.  Bowie’s next piece to get widespread recognition, “Space Oddity,” begins with a very folkie strummed guitar.   Interestingly, despite the song’s folk roots, Major Tom would begin Bowie’s journey away from folk and into rock – though it would not be a clear break.  The album Space Oddity is very folk-influenced, and the album I mentioned above, Hunky Dory, post-dates this transition.

ALAN: I never liked “Space Oddity,” though I seem to be in a minority of one in that opinion. I find the lyrics almost embarrassingly naive. However, I absolutely love “Ashes to Ashes” in which we meet Major Tom again and find out a bit more about his motivation (…we know Major Tom’s a junkie…)

JANE: “Space Oddity” is not one of my favorites either, though I don’t dislike it.  “Ashes to Ashes” – or so I have read, although I can’t remember where – grew out of the urban legend that in the opening countdown, Bowie was not referencing a space ship launch but a junkie counting down until the drug hits.  (According to what I read, they do this.  I have no personal experience.)

However, Bowie is the ultimate trickster.  If he says something directly in a song, then I’m going to look at it sideways and wonder…

ALAN: Trickster is a very good word. I think it sums him up well – you never really know what he’s thinking. He looks at the world in an odd way. But whatever is on his mind will generally turn out to be clever, and often quite funny as well.

JANE: Agreed!  One of the things I love about Bowie’s work is the same transitions and changes that seem to (at least based on my reading) annoy both many of his fans and music critics alike, all of whom want him to stay in one place, one time.

This isn’t to say I like each stage equally, but I respect Bowie as an artist who will not let himself get stuck.

And, one element remains a constant…  Want to guess what?

ALAN: Bowie reinvented himself so many times that I’m not really sure what you mean by this. Surrealism, perhaps?

JANE: Close, but not quite…  The unifying element is science fiction…  Early on there was the futuristic dystopia of “London Boys” – a theme that would be picked up in the later Orwellian album Diamond Dogs and in many of the songs in his three Berlin albums.

The title of one of Bowie’s albums, The Man Who Sold the World, seems a clear allusion to Heinlein’s story, “The Man Who Sold the Moon.”  Bowie was considered to play the part of Valentine Michael Smith in Heinlein’s novel Stranger in a Strange Land, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume he was familiar with Heinlein’s work.

Major Tom from “Space Oddity” resurfaces in “Ashes to Ashes.”  Ziggy Stardust – the persona even non-Bowie fans have heard of – is a space alien and the albums from those years are full of SF references.

ALAN: Oh! Of course. Silly me. There’s a lovely scene in the movie of Ziggy Stardust’s last performance where Bowie is in the dressing room putting on his Ziggy persona, ready to go on stage. His (then) wife Angie is fussing around helping him. Eventually Bowie sends her away and turns back to his mirror. “What do women know about makeup?” he mutters to himself.

I love many of his songs, but it’s his personality that really appeals to me. All his interviews (except the early, incoherent ones where he’d ingested so many drugs that he wasn’t really there) show a delightful sense of humour and a charming ability to laugh at himself. The makeup comment is absolutely typical. I saw him in concert a decade or so ago and, while I enjoyed the songs a lot, I also found the informality and humour of his performance irresistible.

JANE: You’ve seen him in concert?  I envy you…  I was always either too poor or too far away, so I’ve missed that pleasure.  My sister, Susan, did give me her program from the “Glass Spiders” tour.  It’s one of my treasures.

ALAN: I don’t normally go to concerts because I hate crowds – I get claustrophobic and I have anxiety attacks. But hey! This was David Bowie. It was an open air show and, of course, it was pouring down with rain. The backing band was huddled under an awning, but Bowie was prancing about on a proscenium that stretched out into the crowd, and despite the weather, he was obviously enjoying himself hugely, laughing and joking between songs.

“Come on in,” he said to the band, “the water’s lovely!”

They shook their heads and stayed under their awning. At the end of one song, someone brought him a large towel. He stretched it out and pretended to strum it like a guitar. “Oh, look,” he said. “It’s an air towel.” Then he rubbed it over his soaking wet hair. “Now it’s a hair towel!” He laughed hugely.

It was a wonderful concert.

JANE: Sigh…

“Glass Spiders” starts like a story, “Up until one century ago…”  The concert (I do have the video) was full of SF images blended into surrealism.

Even later albums include SF material and themes.  Heathen – which is my favorite among Bowie’s later albums – contains “Took a Trip on a Gemini Spaceship.”  His most recent album (not counting re-releases), The Next Day, has the bouncy “Dancing Out in Space.”

It’s rather nice to think that if I even met David Bowie, we could find a common ground in books…

ALAN: And of course he isn’t the only musician with an SF interest. Perhaps we can explore that next time?

Speak Now

NEWS FLASH: Wanderings on Writing is now available as both a paperback  (from Amazon Create Space) and e-book.   Now to our regularly schedule Wandering…

“Can I help you find something?”  That was my opening line as I took part in the Indies First promotion this past Saturday at Page One books.  Most of the time the response was something along the lines of “No, thanks.  I’m just browsing.”   I did have a few “hits,” though.

On lady said hesitantly, “I’m looking for Things Fall Apart by Ch…”  She stopped, obviously uncertain.  I finished for her, “Chinue Achebe.”  She brightened.  “That’s it!”  I snagged one of the regular booksellers, who knew where to find a book, and handed her off.

Missed and Opportunity

I had a few other good chats.  One young woman said she was “Just browsing,” but seemed to invite further conversation.  I said, “What do you usually read?”  She said, “I used to read a lot of things, but now I’m an engineering student and I don’t have much time.  I did just read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and now I’m reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.”

Greatly cheered, I asked her if she knew that the translator of those books lived right here in Albuquerque.  When she said she didn’t, I went on, “I can give you a great piece of trivia I learned from him.  Do you know what the original title of that book was?”  She shook her head.  I grinned, “Men Who Hate Women.  For some reason, they didn’t think that would sell here.”  The young woman laughed, “Having just finished the book, I can understand that title, but I never would have read the book if it had been called that.”

We chatted a little more, then she drifted off to continue browsing.   I got a break from inflicting myself on perfect strangers when two people I’d met at my signing for Artemis Awakening came in.  We recognized each other, and fell to catching up.  Both are avid readers.  Later, one of the booksellers – Craig Chrissenger, who is also one of the con chairs for Bubonicon – joined us.  He convinced the couple that they needed copies of my Changer and Changer’s Daughter (aka Legends Walking).

While I was signing their books, the woman said, “I can’t believe you’re here, just talking to people.  I have an urge to jump up and down and say ‘This is Jane Lindskold!  Come and talk to her.’”  Later, as they were leaving, she actually snagged a woman I’d seen, but hadn’t spoken to because she seemed a little shy, and said, “This is Jane Lindskold!”  The woman smiled broadly, the shyness leaving her face.  “I know.  I have some of her books and we talked once.”  I grinned back.  “I though you looked familiar!”

On the way home, I found myself thinking about shyness and how being shy created a couple of missed opportunities for me.  I grew up reading Andre Norton’s novels.  However, the one time I could have spoken with her, I was too shy.  It was at a World Fantasy convention.  I’d sold some short stories and had a novel in the pipeline, but I wasn’t really used to the whole convention environment.

Andre Norton was sitting somewhere – it’s been a long time, but I have a vague impression she might have been waiting to go be on a panel or had just finished one.  Anyhow, Roger Zelazny, with whom I was hanging out, went over to speak with her.  In addition to being long-time writers, they had the connection of both being from Ohio.  I hung back, feeling as if I’d be intruding.  In the back of my thoughts, I also figured there would be another place, another time.  There wasn’t, though.

I did have later contact with Andre Norton, when I made a cold submission to one of her “Cat Fantastic” anthologies and sold her a story.  I still have the letter she sent, but I never did have the chance to tell her how much her works meant to me.

The second opportunity missed was also at a World Fantasy.  Diana Wynne Jones was attending.  I went to one of the panels she was on and so, when she came into a later panel, and sat down right in front of me, I was tempted to tap her on the shoulder and thank her for her wonderful books.  Cursed shyness reared its head again…  I didn’t, thinking “She’s ‘off-duty,’  just here to see this panel.  I shouldn’t bother her.”

Again, I never had another chance.  When Ms. Wynne Jones died a few years ago, my regret that there would be no more wonderful books from her was made stronger because I’d been handed an opportunity to tell her how much I loved her work and missed it.

I learned my lesson, though.  The last time I attended a World Fantasy, I noticed that several of the older “regulars” weren’t in attendance.  As the mass signing was winding down, I saw that Patricia McKillip, whose works I hugely admire, currently didn’t have a line.  Now, Ms. McKillip isn’t elderly or anything, but I wasn’t going to let chance pass by again.

Asking Jim to cover my spot and tell anyone who might happen by that I’d be back in a moment, I marched over to where Ms. McKillip sat.  I introduced myself, reminded her that we’d been on a panel back in 1995 (the fact that I remember the date shows what  big deal it was for me), then launched into a short speech about how much I admired her work.  I ended by saying, “I’ve always meant to tell you and now I have.”  She smiled with warmth and humor and replied, “And you’ve done a very good job, too.”

Sure, I felt a little silly, but I was glad I did it.  Now that I think about it, I’ve rarely regretted telling someone I admire what they do and sharing my enthusiasm.   I’ve even made a friend or two that way. What I’ve regretted is holding back.

And, you know, this doesn’t just go for authors or artists or the like.  As we wander into the darkness of winter, consider sharing the light of your joy with the people close to you.  You won’t regret it.

What Would Miss Marple Think of Charly?

It’s been busy, so I’ve been “reading” more via audio…  How do you handle the busy times?

The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  They are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website.

Guinea Pigs Don’t Read Books?

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

Recently Completed:

The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Lang.  Non-fiction.  A remarkably well-written and fascinating look at several American writers (Tennessee Williams, John Cheever, Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Raymond Carver) and the role of alcohol in their lives.  Neither preachy nor apologetic in tone.  The inclusion of medical information on how alcohol works on the brain – and why those workings would be particularly appealing to these men was a great element in the puzzle.

Fifth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones.  Audiobook.  Weak start.  Charly and Reyes’ sex life still annoys me.  However, the novel changed focus about half-way in, introducing some interesting prophesies.  I’ll probably continue on to Number Six.

4:50 from Paddington and A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie.  Audiobooks.  All my holds refused to come in – I’m now Number 1 on the list for three different audiobooks! – so I quickly downloaded a couple old friends.  I love Miss Marple.

Some Chinese Ghosts by Lafcadio Hearn.  Short but interesting.

In Progress:

The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. Audiobook.  Alan Robson’s mention in his wot i red on my hols column of a recent autobiography of Harrison gave me a desire to re-read.

Also:

Got the proofs for Artemis Invaded done and off to Tor.  I’ve been doing a lot of research reading, including an atlas so large I need to put it on a table to look at it.

TT: Hey, Hey…

JANE: First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to one and all.  Of course, for you, Alan, it isn’t Thanksgiving, so I’ll let you provide our opening gambit…

ALAN: Now, please don’t shout at me, but at this point I really feel that I have to mention The Monkees…

Underestimated Talent?

JANE: Do!  I like their stuff.  Have since I was a kid watching the show in reruns.  In fact, one of the CDs in my car right now is a Monkees compilation.

ALAN: Oh, I’m so pleased to hear you say that. There’s a tendency to sneer at The Monkees because they were a “manufactured” group, supposedly America’s answer to the Beatles. But actually I felt that they quickly transcended their origins and made a lot of interesting and clever music. Both Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith are very talented musicians, and both of them have a strong folk music background.

JANE: Yes…  Despite the marketing of them as “new discoveries,” both Nesmith and Tork had recorded prior to joining The Monkees.  Tork, the most downplayed member of The Monkees, was a seasoned performer.  Davy Jones came out of acting – including Oliver! – a show that demands singing talent.  Dolenz had mostly acted, but he had performed music on the side.

Would you like to hear a cool story about the song “Mary, Mary”?

ALAN: Yes please. I would.

JANE: “Mary, Mary” had been a hit for The Paul Buttersfield Blues Band and, when it was released by The Monkees,  including having it credited to them, there was much furor.  How could that horrible pop group make such a claim!

Thing is, “Mary, Mary” had actually been written by Mike Nesmith (although Mickey Dolenz sings it on The Monkees’ album), a thing that somehow, mysteriously, The Paul Buttersfield Blues Band had failed to mention on their album.

ALAN: I never knew that. OK – my turn. Would you like to hear a cool story about the song “Randy Scouse Git”?

JANE: Absolutely!

ALAN: The song was written by The Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz after a visit to England where he saw a TV programme called Till Death Us Do Part. It was a comedy about a working class British man called Alf Garnett who held strongly conservative and racist views. Garnett spent much of the programme screaming virulent abuse at all and sundry. A very, very mild and watered down version of the programme appeared on American TV under the title All In The Family. A constantly recurring phrase in the show was Garnett’s description of his son-in-law as a “randy scouse git.” The phrase tickled Dolenz’ fancy and so he used it as the title of the song.

JANE: Uh, what is a “randy scouse git”?

ALAN: “Randy” means sexually excited. A “scouse” (or scouser) is a person from Liverpool (the Beatles were all scousers). And a “git” is an annoying and stupid person. So the phrase as a whole would probably translate into American as a “horny jerk from Liverpool.”

Obviously it’s not a polite thing to say, and certain strait-laced recording company executives objected to it and asked Dolenz for an alternate title. So he called the song “Alternate Title,” which is a joke that never ceases to amuse me.  Micky Dolenz was actually the lead singer on the song. Davy Jones, the usual singer, stayed in the background for this one. The lyrics are very clever (and often funny) and the music is pleasingly complex with some elegantly handled time changes. I think it’s probably my favourite Monkees track.

JANE: I also like it and, funny thing, the horrible phrase “Randy Scouse Git” never appears in the song.  I’m sure most Americans – if they thought about it at all – assumed it was the name of the narrator of the song.

I’ll argue with you about Davy Jones being the “usual” singer.  Certainly, he did most of the ballads and sappy love songs (“I Wanna Be Free,” “Daydeam Believer,” “Valerie”) but Micky Dolenz does the lead on some of their most well-known pieces, including their theme song, “Last Train to Clarksville,” and “Steppin’ Stone.” Oh…  and “Words” – possibly one of the nastiest break-up songs ever.

Dolenz also proves that he can sing “scat” in the brilliant and really insane song “Going Down,” which is the narrative of a man who, while inebriated, jumps in the river to drown himself when his girl tells “him to forget it” and then regrets his choice.

I can keep up with Dolenz’s singing for the first part, but then I fall behind.  It’s a running game with me to see how far I can go.  Jim is very tolerant.

Mike Nesmith sings lead less often, but does a good job on “Listen to the Band.”  Peter Tork does an interesting turn with Mickey Dolenz on “Words.”

Uh…  You triggered a waterfall.  Sorry.  Your turn.

ALAN: I’ll just go and dry myself off with a Bob Dylan song. Dylan, of course, was the most famous of the folk-influenced “rock” singers. There was an incident at the Newport Festival in 1965 when he was booed because he played a set with an electric guitar rather than the acoustic guitar that he’d always played previously. A section of the audience obviously felt that he was denying his heritage.

JANE: Yet the folk sensibility that Dylan brought to rock gave permission for American groups to sing about something more serious than 1) I love my baby 2) My baby doesn’t love me 3) variation on the same.

Without Dylan, Jefferson Airplane would never have convinced their studio to let them do pieces like “Volunteers,” “We Can Be Together,” or any of their other politically charged pieces.  But the times, they were a’changin’…

ALAN: Indeed they were. In England The Strawbs were making similar political statements. They had a hit record with “Part Of The Union,” a very clever song which the trade union movement unofficially adopted as an anthem for the working man. However, the lyrics can also be read sarcastically, and if you do that, it turns into a strong anti-trade union song. Now that’s having your cake and eating it too!

JANE: I love lyrics like that.

ALAN: Riding on Dylan’s coat-tails, we had Donovan. His first big song was the very Dylan-esque “Catch The Wind” and on the strength of it many critics began referring to him as the British Bob Dylan. There’s no doubt that Donovan was a talented singer/songwriter, but he couldn’t really hold a candle to Dylan and maybe the comparison did him more harm than good in the long run.  He seems to have fallen silent these days. I always liked him a lot, and I still listen to his album A Gift From A Flower To A Garden with enormous pleasure.

JANE: I’ve heard some Donovan and quite liked some of his songs.  He did one called “Fly Jefferson Airplane,” written to express his reaction to the San Francisco folk/rock scene. Later, Jefferson Airplane would incorporate Donovan’s song into their own performances.

Tangenting off for a moment…  You’re right that being compared to someone else like that is never good for artists of any sort.  If the artist tries to be the writer they’re compared to, they’re forever in the shadow.  If they don’t, there will always be those who are disappointed.

Now, in part because of my splurge on The Monkees, I’m going to need to stop before mentioning my favorite rocker who started in folk.  Let me save that for next time…

Talking with Emily Mah Tippets

Two of Emily’s Novels

News Flash!  Indies First is a promotion where writers step up to encourage book buyers to support their independent bookstores.  This year’s spokespersons are Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer.  As part of this, I’ll be at Page One Books here in Albuquerque from 1:00 to 2:00 on the afternoon of Saturday, November 29th, acting as a guest bookseller.  Even if  you can’t drop in while I’m there, other authors – and other bookstores – are taking part in the promotion.  I hope you’ll take advantage of it!

I thought it might be fun to introduce the readers of the Wednesday Wanderings to some of the other writers I associate with regularly, both from the New Mexico crowd and elsewhere.

This week I’m talking to Emily Mah Tippetts, author of Somebody Else’s Fairytale and its sequels, Nobody’s Damsel and The Hunt for the Big Bad Wolf, along with short stories that have been published in markets like Analog, and The Black Gate.  Once we’re done chatting, you might like to check out her websites: www.emtippetts.com and www.emilymah.com

JANE:  So, Emily, in my experience, writers fall into two general categories: those who have been writing stories since before they could actually write and those who came writing somewhat later.

Where do you fall in this spectrum?

EMILY: In the former. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I found out where books came from. There isn’t a time I can remember when I didn’t make up stories, and to put that in perspective, I clearly remember my first day of preschool, meeting my little sister for the first time, and so on. I have a very long memory!

JANE:   You do, indeed!  I know you have a law degree and have been involved in a variety of very interesting projects – including founding an afterschool camp back when you were a Girl Scout.

What made you decide to make writing a major focus in your life?

EMILY:  It was always my goal. I went to law school because it required me to constantly work on expressing myself in writing, and because it can provide a good income. But the moment graduation was in sight, I applied to Clarion West and got in. After graduation, I packed up my things and drove up to Seattle to attend.

JANE: That shows real planning!

I met you through the local SF/F community, so I know that’s one of the types of fiction you write.  What draws you to SF/F?

EMILY: Growing up in Los Alamos where everyone works in science and technology, I guess? I’m not really sure; if my younger self could see me now, she’d probably be a little shocked. The first science fiction movie I ever saw was E.T. and it gave me nightmares for years. Literally, years. So did the sand people in Star Wars. So, I’m not sure how I managed to fall in love with science fiction.

JANE: Are any of your SF/F titles available?

EMILY: I’ve only ever sold short stories in the genre, and yes, they’re available on Amazon. I’m adding each one as I get the rights back.

JANE:  We both have stories in Steve (S.M.) Stirling’s forthcoming “Emberverse” anthology: The Change: Tales of Downfall and Rebirth.  Can you supply us with a teaser for your story?

EMILY: Marc was finally enjoying life. He’d left his backwoods hometown, started building a social life online, and even had a chance at romance with a girl he met on his mission in Chile. His future was bright, until the lights went out for good.

JANE: That sounds interesting…   I like the contrast between “bright” future and lights going out.  The mention of “mission” reminds me…  Steve had already incorporated LDS into the “Emberverse.”  What made you decide to make your character a member?

EMILY: In SM Stirling’s Change universe, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains order in the Rocky Mountain corridor. While Latter-day Saints have appeared as secondary characters in his books, I figured it would be interesting to show the Change from the perspective of one. I’m LDS myself, so it made logical sense that I tell one of these stories.

JANE: Ah…  A classic example of “write what you know.”  Good use of resources.

 You write in other genres than SF/F.  I’m particularly fond of Someone Else’s Fairytale which turns on its head the hackneyed romance trope of girl meets unattainable guy and, against the odds, he falls for her.  In fact, I wouldn’t call it a “romance novel” at all – it’s a great book about what it takes to make and maintain a relationship.

What other sorts of fiction do you write?

EMILY: I’m not sure how to classify my other fiction. Fairytale is pretty representative of my style; I like to subvert romance tropes. I’m not a fan of love as destiny stories. To me, the best romances explain how it is the characters get to their happily ever after. Because of the ages of my characters, much of what I write would be YA and upper-YA.

JANE: I agree.  Love is important, but it’s what a person does with love that interests me.  A romantic relationship should be the beginning of the story, not the end.

One last question…  You’re a very busy person.  You’re married, have two children in single digits, run your own business, and still find time to write.

What advice do you have for those of us who sometimes find life taking over our writing time?

EMILY: I wish I had some! Honestly, I think it’s a matter of just making use of every second you have and putting things in priority. But sometimes even that breaks down. My business, EM Tippetts Book Designs  is structured so that most of the work (and money) goes to my contractor formatters, who are fantastic. I just manage the files and do the customer service. Whenever I take on something new, I make sure I have a plan for how to make it manageable.

But it’s still a balancing act! I never finish a day having done everything I wanted to.

JANE: Me either.  I’m beginning to wish that I could do without sleep!

Thanks for taking time from your busy day to let me interview you.  Now I’ll let you (and me) get back to work.

FF: Issues of Trust and Honesty

Welcome to my side of a book chat…

The Friday Fragments feature lists of what I’ve read over the past week.  They are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive list, you can look on my website.

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

Father Reads to Son

What are you reading?

Recently Completed:

My Real Children by Jo Walton.  Beautifully written, but I had the plot figured out by a third in.  Not a book with surprises.

Icefall by Matthew Kirby.  Audiobook.  I really liked this.  The material from Norse mythology is given a new freshness by being incorporated into this tale of a small group of Vikings, isolated and suspecting a traitor in their midst.

In Progress:

The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Lang.  Non-fiction.  A remarkably well-written and fluid look at several American writers (Tennessee Williams, John Cheever, Ernest Hemmingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Raymond Carver) and the role of alcohol in their lives.  Neither preachy nor apologetic in tone, just fascinating.

Fifth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones.  Audiobook.  I’m giving this series one more try, because there are plot elements that fascinate me, even as I grow increasingly annoyed with Charli’s messed up attitude toward any form of intimacy – emotional or physical.

Also:

Page proofs for Artemis Invaded.  Still.  I keep getting interrupted.

TT: Folk? Rock?

JANE: So, Alan, for the last couple of weeks, we’ve been discussing folk music.

ALAN: I’m sorry, perhaps I let my enthusiasm run away with me.

JANE: Not at all.   It’s been fun and I learned a lot – including that I like a lot more folk music than I realized!  One thing I found myself thinking about is how folk music has had quite an influence on modern rock. Do you agree?

A Little Bit Folkie, A Little Bit Rock n Roll

ALAN: Oh, indeed. Traditional folk music often made contemporary social and political comment and that’s a trend that overlaps with much modern rock music. My favourite example is perhaps Jethro Tull who sang one of my favourite songs in “Aqualung” (…sitting on a park bench, eyeing little girls with bad intent…).

That song goes on to extoll the virtues of a cup of tea, so it isn’t all bad! The band leader Ian Anderson was hugely influenced by the folk tradition (Jethro Tull  played several gigs with Fairport Convention). Just listen to Heavy Horses, and Songs from the Wood. Any song on those albums could happily have been played in a smoky bar on the folk club circuit, and often was.

JANE: Ooh…  You’ve punched a button here.  I hate the song “Aqualung.”   Positively.  Passionately.  The image you quote is simply too creepy.  Jim’s had trouble getting me to listen to any Jethro Tull because of that, even though I love the inclusion of flute.

ALAN: Oh it’s a creepy image, no doubt about that, but what the song is actually about is homelessness, not paedophilia. The whole album (which is also called Aqualung) can be regarded as a concept album whose theme is the distinction between religion and God. In many ways it’s an extraordinarily cerebral album. Nevertheless it was one of Jethro Tull’s bestselling works…

Ian Anderson (the singer and flautist) always denied that it was a concept album and as a direct reaction to the idea, he wrote and performed the concept album to end all concept albums Thick As A Brick which had only one song on it which meandered all over both sides of the record and which had a huge number of time and theme changes. I love its pretentiousness and it remains my favourite Tull album.

JANE: I guess I could give it a try…  I wonder why he didn’t call it “Thick as Two Short Planks.”  Never mind, it’s sort of obvious.

What’s interesting to me is that, if I had been asked to classify them, I would have said Jethro Tull was a rock band, not a folk group.  The truth is, there are a lot of groups – both American and British – that wobbled back and forth across that line.

ALAN: Exactly! I think we’re facing the same categorical problem that we struggled with when we tried to define science fiction and fantasy. While the mainstream examples of a genre are quite obvious, it’s on the borders where all sorts of disparate influences can be brought to bear, that the most interesting art takes place. Jethro Tull is perhaps the perfect example. Calling them a rock band is a valid label to hang on them, but it is by no means the whole story.

JANE: Based on what you’ve said – and the flute – I’d agree.

ALAN: One of the reasons that I find the music of my youth so exciting, pretentious though much of it was, is because of that genre crossover.

JANE: What’s interesting is how many groups that would come to be known as “rock” bands came out of folk.  Jim and I recently watched a DVD about Jefferson Airplane that led to us both reading what might be called a biography of the group.

Most of the musicians in the group were originally “folkies.”  Lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen was already an accomplished enough musician that he was teaching guitar.  He claimed that his audition with Jefferson Airplane was his first encounter with electric guitar and a desire to pursue that – rather than any actual interest in joining a band – was why he eventually signed up.

Airplane bassist, Jack Cassidy commented that when they first encountered The Who, whose stage antics included destroying guitars, they were shocked because, I paraphrase, “We came out of the folk  and jazz traditions, where your guitar was sacred, like the altar of your art.”

ALAN: You’re quite right when you say that Jefferson Airplane wasn’t the only group with that kind of background. You can see it, for example, in the music of both The Byrds and The Mamas and the Papas. By the way, do you remember how I mentioned that the British folk groups all knew each other and freely exchanged personnel?

JANE: You bet!

ALAN: Well, I always found it amusing that, to an extent, The Mamas and the Papas and The Byrds had a similar relationship. If you listen to the lyrics of “Creeque Alley”, it documents some of the backwards and forwards movements as they combined and recombined in a search for their musical identity.

JANE: I hadn’t known that.  Janis Joplin eventually became the prototype of the screeching female rocker, sobbing out her pain to the world, but she also started out with a strong folk influence.  I’ve seen a DVD clip of one of the music festivals where Janis Joplin is up on stage wailing out her heart and Mama Cass in in the audience, awe writ large on her face.

ALAN: Oh! I’ve seen that clip. The look on her face is absolutely ecstatic!

There’s another band that I think fits perfectly into this discussion, but I’m afraid you’ll shout at me if I start talking about them…

JANE: I promise I won’t but, sadly, I need to go off and actually do some work.  Can you save it for next time?

The Sensual Writer

These past few Sunday evenings, I’ve been running a complicated “chapter” in my role-playing game.  The game’s title is Hostages in the Court of the Faceless Tyrant.  If I was going to give this particular chapter a title, it would be “The Challenge of Fear.”

Who Would You Cast?

Anyhow, the following morning, Jim and I were both still a bit “buzzed” from the conclusion of this chapter.  We started pretending that the game was actually a show we were watching, creating teasers for each of the three sections we’d already completed.

“What!  Father Beneficius and Pavel are missing?  What’s this about rainbows, mists, and mirrors?  And Damna’s with them?”

“We’ve found them, but it looks like our problems are just beginning.  [Olive voice over] ‘Why skeletons?  I thought the Minosians didn’t allow necromancy!’”

“Fire, rats, and snakes…  Someone knows us too well.  Let’s give it our best!  [Rafael voice over] ‘Damna, does this mean we’re breaking up?’”

I tossed in a teaser for next week’s game.

“Contradictio’s back and it’s time for Persephone’s Big Decision. [Persephone voice over] ‘Oh, no!  What should I do?’”

This made me think about one of the questions I have the hardest time answering as a novelist: “If your book was made into a movie (or television series), who would you want to play…?”

I’m always floored by this question and my usual reply is “Well, I haven’t watched a television series since Xena and Hercules, and we didn’t even finish those.  The last movie we saw in the theater was the final installment of ‘The Lord of the Rings.’  I’m just not up-to-date on actors.”

(Just in case you wonder, we’re not snobs who think any visual media isn’t worth watching.  It’s just that lately we’ve been watching anime or classic movies.)

While my “usual reply” is perfectly true, as Jim and I were constructing the “teasers” for our episodic game, I realized that the reason I have trouble “casting” my books is a lot more complicated.  People often talk about being “visual” writers.  I’m not, at least not in the sense this is usually meant, which implies stepping back and “seeing” the action as if you were directing a movie or play.

I’m more what I’ll term a “sensual writer.”  Especially when I write novels, I rarely use the omniscient point of view.  Whether I’m writing in first person or third person, I stay locked within the point of view of a specific character.  I “see” the action through their eyes, experience it through their senses.  This makes it a lot harder to visualize the characters as one thing or another, because different people see the same person completely differently.

When I was a kid, we had a book – I think it was part of a series on basic psychology – that showed a diagram of how differently the same person was seen by the people in his life.  The center of the picture showed a very average, middle-aged man.  Around the edges, were four pictures showing how this man looked to himself, his wife, his secretary, and his boss.

The man saw himself as younger than he was, his hairline not as receding, with fewer lines on his face.  His wife, by contrast, saw every line and a distinct weariness.  His secretary saw him with a slight leer.  His boss as hangdog.  What fascinated me was that each of these depictions were probably true to a point, reflecting different situations.  The one that was not true was how the man saw himself…

Something similar happens to me with my characters.  I don’t see them as generically “cast,” “Five foot two, eyes of blue…”  I see them through the eyes of the other characters.

Let’s take Adara, one of the main characters in Artemis Awakening.  Both Griffin and Terrell see Adara through the filter of their admiration for her, colored by a very natural sexual attraction.

 In contrast, Bruin’s view of Adara is colored by the fact that he’s known Adara since she was about five years old.   His view of her is a prism cut from the nineteen years that he has effectively served as her father.

 Kipper, Bruin’s newest charge, is young enough that he doesn’t see Adara so much as a woman as a role model.  In his eyes, Adara’s the heroic figure he hopes to be someday.

Adara would see herself completely differently…  And, like the man in the psychology book, her vision would be the least reliable.

I could keep going, with examples from other characters or other books, but I trust you get my point.

The funny thing is that, while I have trouble “casting” my characters, I have no problem at all in knowing when a depiction of one of them is right or somehow off the mark.  If I was working with one of those police sketch artists , I’d have no problem saying things like:  “No, the eyes are too wide.  The hairline isn’t quite that high.  Great cheekbones.  She’s slim, yes, but not that willowy.”

I’ve decided that if the day comes that anyone wants to make a movie or television series based on one of my works, I won’t even try to cast it myself.  I’ll come to my readers and ask them for their opinions.  It would be fun to learn how they see these people I know so well.