Deborah J. Ross's Blog, page 114

NaNoWriMo Resources!

Here's a great collection of writing books, from "hot-to" for beginners to the finer points of specific elements, all at a fantastic price. Not only that, but you'll get two of my own essays in Book View Cafe's Brewing Fine Fiction -- one on writing when there is no time, and another on surviving being reviewed!






Book View Cave is delighted to be included in StoryBundle’s 2015 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle. Not only is ourBrewing Fine Fiction anthology part of the bundle, so are two additional guides by BVC members: Writing Horses by Judith Tarr and Writing Fight Scenes by Marie Brennan.

Never heard of StoryBundle? It’s where you can get fantastic ebooks at one low pay-what-you-want price. DRM-free means you can read them on just about all the devices you own, no matter who makes it.

– Pay the minimum $5 and get Brewing Fine Fiction plus five other great titles.
– Beat the bonus price ($13), and get seven more books including Writing Horses and Writing Fight Scenes.
– Opt into the 2nd tier bonus ($25) and get the 2014 NaNoWriMo bundle as well, for a total of twenty-five fantastic writing books!

Plus Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of their proceeds to charity.

National Novel Writing Month happens every November. Thousands of writers all over the world take up the challenge to produce a novel in a month.

This toolkit offers great advice from a multitude of seasoned professionals including Kevin J. Anderson, Lawrence Block, Algis Budrys, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, and Al Zuckerman. Curator Kevin J. Anderson writes:

Here, to get you ramped up for the marathon, I’ve curated a baker’s dozen of instructional books on all aspects of writing, from craft, to productivity, to business, to career advice, to specific areas of expertise. Presenting, for the second year in a row, the NaNoWriMo Writing Tools StoryBundle: a massive batch of useful books that will help you survive—and thrive—during National Novel Writing Month—the full spectrum of useful information. You name your own price, whatever you feel this batch of books is worth, and part of the money you pay goes to help the supportive non-profit NaNoWriMo organization.

I put together these books from the general to the specific, a treasure chest of books vital to your success—not only in writing your novel but in launching your long-term career as a successful writer. This is a toolkit, a drill sergeant, a mentor, and a cheerleading section, all in one.

For complete details and to pick up your bundle, visit 2015 NaNoWriMo Writing Tools Bundle.

GUEST BLOG: Transgender Genetics

From Open Minded Health, early research on the genetic differences between cis and trans men and women. We don't know what these findings mean...yet.









The science of transgender is still in its infancy, but evidence so far points to it being biological. Differences in brain have been seen, and I’ve covered them before here on OMH. However, genetic evidence is also being published!This week, let’s take a look at CYP17. CYP17 is a gene that makes enzymes that are part of sex hormone synthesis. Mutations in CYP17 have been noted in some intersex conditions, such as adrenal hyperplasia.Now, there’s a SNP that’s been noticed in CYP17. SNPs are “single nucleotide polymorphisms”, which takes some explaining. SNPs are very, very tiny mutations in genes — just one letter in the DNA alphabet changes! SNPs don’t usually change the protein that the gene makes very much.So we have this gene — CYP17, that is involved in making sex hormones. And we have this tiny mutation, this SNP. Now let’s look at the science!Specifically, let’s look at this one study that was published back in 2008. They looked at the CYP17 gene in 102 trans women, 49 trans men, 756 cis men, and 915 cis women. They compared the CYP17 of trans women to cis men, and trans men to cis women. Unlike many studies, this comparison makes sense. We’re talking about the DNA in the genes here, not something that’s changed by hormonal status.They found multiple things:There was no difference between trans women and cis menTrans men were more likely to have a SNP in their CYP17 than cis women were.Cis men, trans women, and trans men all had the SNP more frequently than cis womenWhat does that mean?We don’t know yet. But it does appear that CYP17 is a gene that it might be worth looking deeper into to find potential causes for transgender.Want to read the study for yourself? The abstract is publicly available.

Kobo Storewide Ebook Sale

Check out my ebooks at the Kobo Storewide Ebook Sale! Here's the link to my books.

Kobo is a multinational ebook vendor and for the next few days they’re offering indie-published ebooks at 50% off. Be aware that Kobo ebooks are in EPUB format only, so you’ll need a compatible e-reader or app.

Here's the skinny:

Customers will be able to redeem 50% off of any title published by KWL using the promo codes below an unlimited number of times—so please, let your readers and fans know about this incredible opportunity to stack up on eBooks while they can! Unlike last time, the sale runs in different dates by territory, and each territory has its own promo code. See below for the full details.

Canada: October 28th – October 31st
Promo Code: CA50SALE

United States/Australia/New Zealand: October 27th – October 30th
Promo Code: GET50SALE

United Kingdom: October 30th – November 2nd
Promo Code: UK50SALE

Promo code is valid for 50% off select eBook purchases from this list. Discount will be confirmed at checkout. Offer valid from October 28, 2015 at 12:00 AM EST through October 31, 2015 at 11:59 PM EST. This offer is not valid in conjunction with any other offer or promotion and cannot be used to adjust amount paid on previous purchases. Promo code must be entered at time of purchase to qualify for this discount. Discounts cannot be applied nor the discount value refunded once a purchase is complete. Rakuten Kobo Inc. reserves the right to change or cancel this offer at any time without notice.

Realms of Darkover Table of Contents

I'm thrilled with this lineup, if I do say so myself, says the editor. Realms of Darkover will be released in May 2016. I'll be posting interviews with the authors and other tidbits as the time approaches.


Tainted Meat, by Shariann Lewitt           Snow Dancing, by Jane M. H. BigelowImpossible Tasks by Marella SandsThe Snowflake Fallacy, by Michael SpenceOld Purity, by Leslie FishA Walk In The Mountains, by Margaret L. Carter and Leslie Roy CarterThe Fifth Moon, by Ty NolanSudden Tempest, by Deborah MillitelloHousebound, by Diana L. PaxsonSea of Dreams, by Robin Wayne Bailey                                      Stormcrow, by Rosemary Edghill and Rebecca FoxFiona, Court Clerk in Training, by Barb Caffrey

Pearls of Fire, Dreams of Steel Story Notes

I love reading "the stories behind the stories," so here are some background musings from the stories
in my new collection from Book View Cafe, Pearls of Fire, Dreams of Steel.

Introduction

As I put together this collection of short fantasy fiction, I realized it comprises a retrospective of my writing career. Although it does not include my very first professional sale (“Imperatrix” in Sword & Sorceress), it spans the decades from novice to seasoned writer. To my delight, I found many of those early stories still spoke to me—delighted me—as much now as when I labored to create them. Often the output of a young writer will be justifiably relegated to the Trunk of Doom (hence the term “trunk stories”). When we’re learning new skills, we need to practice, and not all of those early experiments succeed. More than that, in order to grow as artists, we need to take risks, to “push the envelope,” even if it means falling flat on our faces, so to speak. But it does not follow that every early effort is best forgotten. Stories ignite within us, waiting to take shape on paper. Once we have acquired a certain basic level of craft, it no longer matters if this is our first sale or our fortieth. And one of the gifts of new publishing technologies is the ability to revive those stories, even from decades ago, so that new generations of readers can enjoy them.
“Storm God,” “Fireweb,” and “Dragon-Amber” all come from those early years, when I was trying out lots of new ideas. Astute readers will recognize a touch of a well-known American folk tale in “Storm God.” “Fireweb” was an early exploration of the “wounded healer” theme, and also taught me that whatever I thought a story was “about” when I started writing it, I was sure to be wrong; I developed the wisdom to let the “underneath” story tell itself. When I wrote “Dragon-Amber,” it seemed as if everyone and their cousin was writing stories based on Anne McCaffrey’s “Pern” series. True to my contrary nature, I insisted on something different. No oversized fire-breathing flying reptiles here, but a creature of magic nonetheless.
“Bread and Arrows” and “Nor Iron Bars A Cage” were written within a couple of years of one another. Both stories arose from a turning point in my life. When I wrote it, I had just moved from a large city to a redwood forest. I’d started a full-time day job to support myself and my younger daughter. It’s about new beginnings, and also making choices that close off other avenues. “Bread and Arrows” echoes “Summoning the River” ( Transfusion and Other Tales of Hope ) in its journey into a dark place, grappling with loss and mortality. I also wanted a different role for the charismatic, sexually attractive stranger; Celine looks beneath the handsome exterior to the suffering man, and draws compassion from her own struggle. And the bakery salamander was irresistible!
Sometimes readers ask where I get story ideas, and often I honestly have no idea. I suspect the Idea Fairy leaves packets of them under my pillow at night. For “A Hunter of the Celadon Plains,” however, I had been thinking about the place of women warriors in peoples of the steppe or plains. In Azkhantian Tales (later developed into The Seven-Petaled Shieldtrilogy), women used horsemanship and archery to compensate for lesser physical strength. In thinking of how the North American Plains peoples were able to hunt buffalo on foot, I kept the arrows but substituted long-distance running and superb tracking skills for the advantages of horses. Where the rat-thing that gnaws the bonds between worlds came from, I am not at all sure. Probably a nightmare.
Likewise, “Poisoned Dreams” came from a specific idea and then took off in its own direction. The Greek general Xenophon wrote (Anabasis) about a honey that intoxicated his soldiers: “A small dose produced a condition not unlike violent drunkenness, a large one an attack very like a fit of madness, and some dropped down, apparently at death's door.” How could an author resist? But one idea, not matter how bewitching in itself, does not a story make. Hence, the fairy who is crippled in body but not in capacity for malice. I leave it to the reader to decide whether she has just cause.
“Under the Skin” also explores the effects of festering hatred. I wrote it not too long after my mother had been raped and murdered, and I wrestled daily—sometimes hourly—with raging fury. I remembered Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot saying that if you invite evil into your heart, it will make a home there. The story first appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine and when Marion selected it for The Best of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, I sent her background notes for the introduction. “Are you sure you want to make such a personal issue public?” she asked, for the murder was not referenced in the original publication. I did and I do. The seductive nature of hatred thrives when kept in the dark. By putting words to page, the pain and anger lose their power over me, and others who suffer similar tragedies are invited along the healing journey.
“Silverblade,” like several other stories in this collection, began as a dream. The scene with the land-crabs approaching and a child running to open the gates woke me in a cold sweat. Following the advice of Octavia Butler, I took what really frightened me and spun it out into a story. After its publication, a fan composed a “filk” song based on the story and sang it for me at a convention. Until then, I’d had no idea how deeply the story touched my readers.
“The Sorceress’s Apprentice” is just plain fun.
“Our Lady of the Toads” had its origins at a late-night gathering at a science fiction convention. I was hanging out with Mike Resnick (who also wrote a blurb for my first published novel, Jaydium) and he’d just signed to edit an anthology of the “Fantastic” series for DAW. An invitation for Witch Fantastic ensued, and this is that story.
Ah, “Pearl of Fire,” for which this collection is named: another dream, this one of looking into a mirror and seeing the reflection of a brass dragon instead of my own face. What to do with this image? By this time, I had 40 or 50 short story sales, and I realized that the story wasn’t about an outside dragon, an independent creature, but an inside dragon. I also needed something that affirmed joy and life itself as a foil for the becoming-a-dragon theme: the love story. A few years after publication, the Pearl still had me in its clutches. The untold part of the story demanded with increasing urgency to be told. The heartbreak that conquered the dragon wanted its own space, and so “Pearl of Tears” came about.
When I wrote “The Casket of Brass,” I was heartily tired of pseudo-medieval Western European fantasy. I had loved (a children’s version) of The Arabian Nights (the original version being judged much too violent, not to mention erotic, for young minds). While flavored by those stories, this one takes off in its own direction, and certainly features stronger, more active women than Scheherazade described.
The last tale in this collection, the capstone, is one of my personal favorites. I have loved horses since I knew what they were. When editor Gabrielle Harbowy asked me to submit a story to When The Hero Comes Home 2, I knew at once that my hero must be a horse. I won’t say more about it lest I spoil the deliciousness of the unfolding. Consider it a gift, to be savored as it is unwrapped.

So I offer you a potpourri — or bouquet, if you like — of tales of dragons and toads, horses and thieves, mothers and daughters, lovers and villains. Enjoy the journey!

GUEST BLOG: Brenda Clough on "Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?" (part 4)

Writer and Book View Cafe member Brenda Clough shares insights on how she comes up with names for characters, places, and more!


Shakespeare mavens know that the question in the blog title does not mean, “Where are you, Romeo?” (Clue: there is no comma between ‘thou’ and ‘Romeo’.) Juliet is asking, “Why are you Romeo?” Why is a person or a character named what he is named?

Names, even in real life, tell us far more than you would expect. Have a look at this:
Does this mean that your Republican hero from Decatur, Georgia really has to be named Duane Bailey? Oh, I hope not. Remember what Juliet tells us in the very next line: that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. People are amazingly sensitive about names, although IMO
You can’t pick the name for your hero off a list. (More football coaches are named Michael than Gordon. But not every football coach is named Michael, and there’s probably a Coach Gordon on a gridiron somewhere.) You should think about it. Ponder all the implications well, because now the big data researchers can tell you precisely why it’s not convincing when you change Romeo’s name to Duane..

Brenda W. Clough spent much of her childhood overseas, courtesy of the U.S. government. Her first fantasy novel, The Crystal Crown, was published by DAW in 1984. She has also written The Dragon of Mishbil (1985), The Realm Beneath (1986), and The Name of the Sun (1988). Her children’s novel, An Impossumble Summer (1992), is set in her own house in Virginia, where she lives in a cottage at the edge of a forest.Her novel How Like a God, forthcoming from Book View Cafe, was published by Tor Books in 1997, and a sequel, Doors of Death and Life, was published in May 2000. Her latest novels from Book View Cafe include  Revise the World  (2009) and Speak to Our Desires.

Pearl of Fire, Dreams of Steel Table of Contents

Here's the lineup for my forthcoming (October 27) collection of short fantasy stories, from Book View Cafe. Many, but not all, of these stories made their first appearances in the anthology series Sword & Sorceress, many of them under my former name, Deborah Wheeler. For some, this is the first time they've been reprinted anywhere and the original volumes are hard to find. One of the things I love about epublishing is the opportunity to keep gems from the past available to today's readers. 






Bread and ArrowsA Hunter of the Celadon PlainsStorm GodNor Iron Bars A CagePoisoned DreamsSilverbladeThe Sorceress’s ApprenticeFirewebUnder the SkinOur Lady of the ToadsPearl of FirePearl of TearsDragon AmberThe Casket of Brass The Hero of Abarxia

Pearls of Fire, Dreams of Steel Cover Reveal

On October 27 -- that's next Tuesday -- Book View Cafe will release my latest short story collection, Pearls of Fire, Dreams of Steel. I've drawn together short fantasy fiction from over the (many) years of my professional career, choosing stories that still delight me. Here is the cover, designed by Amy Sterling Casil (and I'll post the ToC in just a bit):





What do you think?

BVC's bookstore doesn't permit pre-orders, alas, but I will remind you as the day arrives!

NaNoWriMo Thoughts

National Novel Writing Month will soon be upon us. It's an international month-long event in which
folks pound out the first draft of a novel, posting the progress, getting lots of cheers every step of the way, and exchanging writing advice. Lots of friends will be doing it, many of them regular participants.

Alas, or perhaps not alas, not me.

I always have specific reasons. This year, I'm very close to finishing a revision of an on-spec novel that I've been working on for some years now, in the time gaps between contracted projects. I'm on the brink of the climactic scene, which spans 4 or 5 chapters and brings together everything that has gone before with a bang and a few nifty twists. If I nail it, the book works. Needless to say, this book not only haunts my every waking hour but has inveigled itself into my dreams. Not the story, mind you -- the writing and revising of it.

I began this book back in 2013 on a lark, one of those what-if ideas that just takes off on its own. It had been a long time since I'd embarked upon an unoutlined, unplanned, seat-of-the-pants story, especially one of novel length. I had not realized how much my creative spirit needed what I call taking a flying leap off the cliff of reality. Working on my netbook, I continued the draft while taking care of my best friend as she died of cancer. The story, with all its open possibilities -- and it had quite a few surprises for me -- gave me an emotional refuge so that I could return, "batteries recharged," to be present with my friend and her family.

Am I going to set this aside and lose all the momentum I've regained during this revision?

Don't get me wrong. I think NaNoWriMo can be a wonderful thing. I've done writing challenges before, way back when, and learned a lot about JustKeepWritingNoMatterWhat. I also think I could use a reminder course from time to time, when I slog through a period of stopping every 5 minutes for another round of online Scrabble. The community support, the exhilaration posting each day's progress, is wonderful.

But every writer works in different ways, and I feel my hackles rise -- not a lot, just a tad -- at the "everyone's doing this, don't be left out" feeling. Maybe I'm creating that in my own mind, or it's an echo of being in the "out" crowd during my formative high school years. I need to remind myself to pay attention to what works for me, and that posting daily word counts does not fit most of the time. For me, daydreaming that leads to a deeper story, a connection between characters, a surprising turn of events, is time well spent. Sometimes, a single insight means a solid day's work, even if no words appear on the page. Other times, if I force that daily page or word count, I end up with something superficial and green, which is not necessarily bad as much of the real work for me happens in revision. But by working well, no matter how slowly, I can nurture that depth as I go along and be sensitive to the openings and connections that I might miss in my haste.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo, more power to you, and may its many gifts be yours! But if not, join me in writing "deep and true and slow."

GUEST BLOG: Brenda Clough on Naming Places (part 3)

[image error] Writer and Book View Cafe member Brenda Clough shares insights on how she comes up with names for characters, places, and more!


Whatever or whoever your characters are, they need a setting. A country, a town, a space ship, a country-western bar.As with other names, there is a major divide here — the ones that exist in the real world, and the ones that you make up. In this day of interconnectivity, it takes maybe five minutes to find the top-rated Chicago-style pizza restaurant in downtown Ulan Baator or the highlands just outside Luang Prabang. Just fish it up off of Yelp, and send your characters over for a pie and a brew. You can probably view the menu on the restaurant’s web site, look at the street facade through Google, and email the owner for permission to reproduce the sign on the book cover.

But sometimes it is preferable that a place not actually exist in the real world.

So you need a new country. You could begin by picking a language. Luang Prabang is the ceremonial capital of Laos, so it is a Laotian name. Or pick a region. If you know the thing is set in Brazil, start digging. It wasn’t always called Brazil, was it? Could you recycle an older name, or a version of an older name? Suppose instead of naming it Brazil you blended the name of two contiguous countries? There is no reason why it couldn’t be Eastern Bolivia, is there?

A place on earth should have a regional sound. South American countries sound different from ones in Asia. The time period also has its effect here too. Rhodesia was named after Cecil Rhodes, but they don’t call it that now. Think about why people named the place. Were they honoring the Queen (Virginia, Queensland, Victoria), naming it after home places (New York, New Brunswick, New Haven), trying to impress people with their intellectual chops (Memphis, TN, Cairo, IL, Athens. GA, Rome, NY) or what? I had a culture name a planet with a series of highly pacific names (Aloha, Caritas, and so on) because that was how they rolled; Klingons would do it different. Why is Provence called that? It is from the Romans — it is ‘province’. If you were a Roman the place was our province, the first and oldest one, that needs no other designation because it’s been ours for millennia.

This also applies to ships. Human vessels tend to be named after objects events, or persons that are respected or commemorated. Scope out existing
But the best names are tied to the thing or place or story itself. I loved it, in Heinlein’s Time for the Stars, when because of advances in quantum physics the very latest FTL spaceship is named the Irrelevant. That’s the rule: that all your names tie into the work and propel the story along. Do that (and shove all the names through Google, don’t forget) and you are golden.


Brenda W. Clough spent much of her childhood overseas, courtesy of the U.S. government. Her first fantasy novel, The Crystal Crown, was published by DAW in 1984. She has also written The Dragon of Mishbil (1985), The Realm Beneath (1986), and The Name of the Sun (1988). Her children’s novel, An Impossumble Summer (1992), is set in her own house in Virginia, where she lives in a cottage at the edge of a forest.Her novel How Like a God, forthcoming from Book View Cafe, was published by Tor Books in 1997, and a sequel, Doors of Death and Life, was published in May 2000. Her latest novels from Book View Cafe include  Revise the World  (2009) and Speak to Our Desires.