Kim Fielding's Blog, page 84
April 24, 2012
Feelings
I’m not someone who spends a lot of time telling people about my feelings—although certain family members certainly are well aware when I’m pissed off. But you know who generally spends even less time talking about their feelings than me? Men.
Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t men out there who openly share their thoughts and emotions with the people they’re close to. But most don’t, at least not often and, usually, not easily. I’ve read some works that suggest that this state of affairs is tied with our society’s views on masculinity; that a real man does, not feels; that manly men should be tough and stoic and bullet-biting. Childhood socialization undoubtedly plays a part: girls tend to play games that involve sharing and cooperative interaction, whereas boys are encouraged to play games that involve physical action and competition. Other factors may be involved as well.
Whatever the causes, in my experience few men—gay or straight—talk about their feelings very much, whether to women or to one another. When I read gay romances, one thing that never fails to pull me out of a story is when the two guys sit down (or lie down) and have a long, deep, carefully thought out discussion of how they feel. These scenes just ring false most of the time, especially when the characters are generally macho or taciturn types to begin with.
For example, I just cannot see the protagonists in my novel Good Bones having this kind of talk, at least not until their relationship is very well established. Neither of them is especially chatty, Dylan’s used to hiding things about himself and unused to intimate company, and Chris has some pretty major self-esteem and abandonment issues. When I was writing Good Bones, there were plenty of times I wished I could tie Dylan and Chris to chairs and not let them go until they were completely open and honest with another. I bet Kay would gladly tie them up for me. Ditto with Miner and Ennek in the Praesidium trilogy.
Instead, my characters and others have to show their feelings in more subtle ways. When Chris cooks dinner for the two of them, or when Dylan in wolf form pisses around Chris’s house, that says something about how they feel about one another. I think there are some really excellent authors who can convey a character’s emotions and thoughts with a good description of a body movement. Sometimes even what the characters don’t say can be very telling.
What do you think? Am I on the right track with this or totally off?
Now, I’m not saying that there aren’t men out there who openly share their thoughts and emotions with the people they’re close to. But most don’t, at least not often and, usually, not easily. I’ve read some works that suggest that this state of affairs is tied with our society’s views on masculinity; that a real man does, not feels; that manly men should be tough and stoic and bullet-biting. Childhood socialization undoubtedly plays a part: girls tend to play games that involve sharing and cooperative interaction, whereas boys are encouraged to play games that involve physical action and competition. Other factors may be involved as well.
Whatever the causes, in my experience few men—gay or straight—talk about their feelings very much, whether to women or to one another. When I read gay romances, one thing that never fails to pull me out of a story is when the two guys sit down (or lie down) and have a long, deep, carefully thought out discussion of how they feel. These scenes just ring false most of the time, especially when the characters are generally macho or taciturn types to begin with.
For example, I just cannot see the protagonists in my novel Good Bones having this kind of talk, at least not until their relationship is very well established. Neither of them is especially chatty, Dylan’s used to hiding things about himself and unused to intimate company, and Chris has some pretty major self-esteem and abandonment issues. When I was writing Good Bones, there were plenty of times I wished I could tie Dylan and Chris to chairs and not let them go until they were completely open and honest with another. I bet Kay would gladly tie them up for me. Ditto with Miner and Ennek in the Praesidium trilogy.
Instead, my characters and others have to show their feelings in more subtle ways. When Chris cooks dinner for the two of them, or when Dylan in wolf form pisses around Chris’s house, that says something about how they feel about one another. I think there are some really excellent authors who can convey a character’s emotions and thoughts with a good description of a body movement. Sometimes even what the characters don’t say can be very telling.
What do you think? Am I on the right track with this or totally off?
April 19, 2012
Good Bones is here!
I'm very excited to announce that Good Bones has been released by Dreamspinner Press! You can buy it now in ebook or print versions. The first 20 or so print copies purchased directly from DSP are autographed. :-)
Click here to buy directly from DSP. The book should also be available from Amazon and other booksellers in the next day or two.
Click here to buy directly from DSP. The book should also be available from Amazon and other booksellers in the next day or two.
April 18, 2012
Travel
So today I'm going to let you in on one of my not-so-secret loves: travel. Seriously, I love to travel. The actual travel part--schlepping myself via plane, train, or automobile--isn't the good part, although I do enjoy trains and boats, and I like the uninterrupted and guilt-free reading and writing time that a long plane rides gives me.
My favorite part is exploring Someplace Else. It doesn't particularly matter where the Someplace Else is. A lot of my favorite S.E.s are less than two hours from my house: San Francisco, Yosemite, Gold Rush country, the beach. But even better if the S.E. is more exotic.
Last year I was extremely fortunate and was able to live and work in Croatia for 5 months. I got to see lots of that beautiful country. Plitvice Lakes has to be one of the world's most beautiful locations, and Dubrovnik is like a dream, made slightly bittersweet by what happened there during the Homeland War. But during my European adventure I was also able to travel to Spain, Scotland, England, Italy (twice), Austria (twice), and Slovenia (many many times). I saw some fascinating things, met some wonderful people, and ate amazing food. I learned to decode menus and manage basic interactions multilingually. It was a blast. It was also exhausting.
So when I returned to the US and collapsed into my bed, how long did it take me to yearn for travel once again? Three weeks.
I'm not sure what it is about travel that so captures me, but I know one thing: it gives me endless inspiration for writing. My next novel will, I believe, be set in Venice, where I spent a wonderful week. And I'll be able to describe exactly how the fresh fish tasted, eaten raw or just lightly sauteed in olive oil. I can describe the sound of thousands of tourists in Piazza San Marco, the smell of the lagoon, the feeling of a vaporetto bumping into a dock, the way the local women blocked the narrow streets--some so narrow you can easily touch both sides at once--as they chat, and the way waiters made a fuss over my 8-year-old daughter.
Give me one day in a city not my own and I can give you a novel.
Now, there is one part of travel I truly hate, and that is packing. Hate hate hate it. I can barely decide what to wear each morning--how can I choose for a week someplace I've never been where the weather is unknown? I always give myself the Going to Mars Talk: "Pack lightly, as best as you can, and if you need something when you get there, you can buy it. You're not going to Mars." Actually, some of those purchases end up being fun souvenirs. My rainjacket will remind me of Edinburgh everytime I wear it (Edinburgh in June=cold and rainy), and my watch is a daily reminder of Trieste, Italy.
What travel do I have planned for the rest of this year? San Francisco, Yosemite, Cambria, Palm Desert, Portland, Croatia (and somewhere else in Europe TBA), Albuquerque, Mexico.
Where do you love to go?
My favorite part is exploring Someplace Else. It doesn't particularly matter where the Someplace Else is. A lot of my favorite S.E.s are less than two hours from my house: San Francisco, Yosemite, Gold Rush country, the beach. But even better if the S.E. is more exotic.
Last year I was extremely fortunate and was able to live and work in Croatia for 5 months. I got to see lots of that beautiful country. Plitvice Lakes has to be one of the world's most beautiful locations, and Dubrovnik is like a dream, made slightly bittersweet by what happened there during the Homeland War. But during my European adventure I was also able to travel to Spain, Scotland, England, Italy (twice), Austria (twice), and Slovenia (many many times). I saw some fascinating things, met some wonderful people, and ate amazing food. I learned to decode menus and manage basic interactions multilingually. It was a blast. It was also exhausting.
So when I returned to the US and collapsed into my bed, how long did it take me to yearn for travel once again? Three weeks.
I'm not sure what it is about travel that so captures me, but I know one thing: it gives me endless inspiration for writing. My next novel will, I believe, be set in Venice, where I spent a wonderful week. And I'll be able to describe exactly how the fresh fish tasted, eaten raw or just lightly sauteed in olive oil. I can describe the sound of thousands of tourists in Piazza San Marco, the smell of the lagoon, the feeling of a vaporetto bumping into a dock, the way the local women blocked the narrow streets--some so narrow you can easily touch both sides at once--as they chat, and the way waiters made a fuss over my 8-year-old daughter.
Give me one day in a city not my own and I can give you a novel.
Now, there is one part of travel I truly hate, and that is packing. Hate hate hate it. I can barely decide what to wear each morning--how can I choose for a week someplace I've never been where the weather is unknown? I always give myself the Going to Mars Talk: "Pack lightly, as best as you can, and if you need something when you get there, you can buy it. You're not going to Mars." Actually, some of those purchases end up being fun souvenirs. My rainjacket will remind me of Edinburgh everytime I wear it (Edinburgh in June=cold and rainy), and my watch is a daily reminder of Trieste, Italy.
What travel do I have planned for the rest of this year? San Francisco, Yosemite, Cambria, Palm Desert, Portland, Croatia (and somewhere else in Europe TBA), Albuquerque, Mexico.
Where do you love to go?
April 16, 2012
New story!
Dreamspinner's "Time Is Eternity" anthology will include one of my stories. You can wait until June and buy the story on its own, or you can buy the entire anthology--a story a day in June. If you preorder the package now the price is lower. My story, "Violet's Present," is an angsty one set partly in the 1940s. More information here.
Here's the blurb for my story:
When Matt’s Great-great-aunt Violet dies, she leaves him a precious gift: a photo album he loved as a child. Then Matt starts having dreams—very good dreams—about Joseph, one of the men in the pictures from the 1940s. One morning when Matt wakes up, the bruises are still there. Could there be more to Violet’s present than he thought?
Here's the blurb for my story:
When Matt’s Great-great-aunt Violet dies, she leaves him a precious gift: a photo album he loved as a child. Then Matt starts having dreams—very good dreams—about Joseph, one of the men in the pictures from the 1940s. One morning when Matt wakes up, the bruises are still there. Could there be more to Violet’s present than he thought?
April 10, 2012
Sale
Now through April 17, Men of Steel in paperback is 20% off at Dreamspinner Press.
April 9, 2012
Men of Steel is out
"Men of Steel" was released today! And today and tomorrow the ebook version is 20% off. It's available from Dreamspinner Press right now and should be up on Amazon soon.
Here's a brief excerpt from my story, "Act One."
He ended up with only a fifteen-minute break instead of the half hour he was due. That would give him barely enough time to wolf a sandwich and gulp a Coke, but a desperate Brittani promised him an extra hour on his time card in exchange. She even gave him a brief smile when he agreed.
The back room was crowded with boxes and smelled like leather and rubber, so Garret took his break on the walkway outside. He chewed his ham on sourdough and leaned over the railing. If he angled his head just right he could look through the mall entranceway and catch a glimpse of Nourish-Man. Sometimes the superhero posed for photos, but mostly he stood and waited as people passed him by in favor of Captain America, Superman, and Ironman.
Not for the first time, Garret wondered why the guy had chosen such an obscure character to portray. The Nourish-Man cartoon had only lasted a season or two back in the late eighties, maybe three dozen badly drawn episodes of a guy in green and orange who admonished children to eat healthily so they would grow up strong like him. Garret used to watch the series now and then, but even his eight-year-old self—seated in front of the TV on a Saturday morning and munching on a Pop-Tart—had realized the cartoon was only a thinly disguised message to eat more broccoli.
Now, Garret took one last look at Nourish-Man before wadding up his paper lunch sack and tossing it in a nearby trashcan. The guy certainly looked the part of a superhero. He filled out his costume very well with what Garret was fairly certain were real, hard muscles—not padding. His carrot-colored tights stretched nicely over a magnificent ass and impressive package—assuming that wasn’t padding either. Most of his face was obscured by his mask, but a square jaw, cleft chin, and plump lips were left uncovered, as were his flashing brown eyes.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Garret said out loud, startling a woman with a baby stroller. Here he was with his sad little life, reduced to mooning over third-rate costumed characters. He turned and headed back into Shoe Starz to finish his shift.
Here's a brief excerpt from my story, "Act One."
He ended up with only a fifteen-minute break instead of the half hour he was due. That would give him barely enough time to wolf a sandwich and gulp a Coke, but a desperate Brittani promised him an extra hour on his time card in exchange. She even gave him a brief smile when he agreed.
The back room was crowded with boxes and smelled like leather and rubber, so Garret took his break on the walkway outside. He chewed his ham on sourdough and leaned over the railing. If he angled his head just right he could look through the mall entranceway and catch a glimpse of Nourish-Man. Sometimes the superhero posed for photos, but mostly he stood and waited as people passed him by in favor of Captain America, Superman, and Ironman.
Not for the first time, Garret wondered why the guy had chosen such an obscure character to portray. The Nourish-Man cartoon had only lasted a season or two back in the late eighties, maybe three dozen badly drawn episodes of a guy in green and orange who admonished children to eat healthily so they would grow up strong like him. Garret used to watch the series now and then, but even his eight-year-old self—seated in front of the TV on a Saturday morning and munching on a Pop-Tart—had realized the cartoon was only a thinly disguised message to eat more broccoli.
Now, Garret took one last look at Nourish-Man before wadding up his paper lunch sack and tossing it in a nearby trashcan. The guy certainly looked the part of a superhero. He filled out his costume very well with what Garret was fairly certain were real, hard muscles—not padding. His carrot-colored tights stretched nicely over a magnificent ass and impressive package—assuming that wasn’t padding either. Most of his face was obscured by his mask, but a square jaw, cleft chin, and plump lips were left uncovered, as were his flashing brown eyes.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Garret said out loud, startling a woman with a baby stroller. Here he was with his sad little life, reduced to mooning over third-rate costumed characters. He turned and headed back into Shoe Starz to finish his shift.
April 5, 2012
Book is here!
Look what came in today's mail:
I think it looks great! My contribution to the anthology is called "Act One" and was inspired by a trip to Hollywood. You can buy your copy in print or ebook versions beginning April 9 from Dreamspinner Press or Amazon.
Men of Steel
I think it looks great! My contribution to the anthology is called "Act One" and was inspired by a trip to Hollywood. You can buy your copy in print or ebook versions beginning April 9 from Dreamspinner Press or Amazon.
Men of Steel
April 4, 2012
Guest blog
I'm guest blogging today at KoolQueerLit. Come check it out--and read an excerpt from Good Bones
April 3, 2012
Good Bones is coming soon!
I am really thrilled to announce that my new novel, Good Bones, will be available on April 20. It will be available in print and ebook formats, directly through the publisher (Dreamspinner Press) or through Amazon. It has a gorgeous cover by Christine Griffin.
March 30, 2012
Productivity
Today's blog subject is productivity--mainly because I've had very little of it for the past few days!
I've always been a fast writer. I wrote my first textbook in one semester, a pace that was assisted by my knowledge that I was due to have my second child at the end of that semester. There's nothing more inspiring than a deadline you know you can't get around! I write fiction pretty quickly too. In the last 6 months I've written 3 novels, 3 short stories, and several pieces of fanfic--on top of my regular academic and household duties. When I'm working on a novel, I average maybe 2000 words a day, but I can manage much more if it's a short story or if I have a particular reason to hurry.
Ironically, I think one of the reasons I'm so productive is that I'm also very busy. When I sit down for writing time, I'm fully aware that it's then or never. I rarely have the kind of day where I can futz around with all those little things that waste time without accomplishing much.
I wonder sometimes if I would be as productive if I were able to write full time.
And on a completely different note, I see that Men of Steel is now listed here under my books. It comes out in print and ebook versions on April 9. My story is called "Act One" and was inspired by a trip to Hollywood and a dream.
I've always been a fast writer. I wrote my first textbook in one semester, a pace that was assisted by my knowledge that I was due to have my second child at the end of that semester. There's nothing more inspiring than a deadline you know you can't get around! I write fiction pretty quickly too. In the last 6 months I've written 3 novels, 3 short stories, and several pieces of fanfic--on top of my regular academic and household duties. When I'm working on a novel, I average maybe 2000 words a day, but I can manage much more if it's a short story or if I have a particular reason to hurry.
Ironically, I think one of the reasons I'm so productive is that I'm also very busy. When I sit down for writing time, I'm fully aware that it's then or never. I rarely have the kind of day where I can futz around with all those little things that waste time without accomplishing much.
I wonder sometimes if I would be as productive if I were able to write full time.
And on a completely different note, I see that Men of Steel is now listed here under my books. It comes out in print and ebook versions on April 9. My story is called "Act One" and was inspired by a trip to Hollywood and a dream.
