Charlie Jane Anders's Blog, page 29
January 8, 2019
Charlie Jane Anders Is Seeing Stars | Macmillan Library
So yeah, it turns out @publishersweekly gave The City in the Middle of the Night a starred review… which makes FOUR starred reviews in total. This has never happened to me before, and it still doesn’t entirely feel real.
December 17, 2018
7 Trans Performers Share the Challenges They Still Face and Their Hopes for the Future
I talked to seven young trans actors, musicians and dancers for @teenvogue about what it’s like to be openly trans on stage and screen. What I
learned made gave me a new dose of optimism about trans representation,
but there’s still a long way to go. This was super inspirational and made me super happy and also gave me a new window into what it’s like to be super-publicly trans in 2018
December 11, 2018
Bookstore & Chocolate Crawl
We’re just about one month away from the next BOOKSTORE & CHOCOLATE CRAWL. This time, we’re hitting the Castro and the Mission. Eat all the chocolate, buy all the books, live your best life!
Tickets not required but you can RSVP at the link above!
December 10, 2018
See Charlie Jane Anders on Tour for The City in the Middle of the Night!
I’m going on a big fun tour in February for The City in the Middle of the Night! All the tourdates have just been announced, and it includes lots of cities I’ve never done a book event in before. Check it out and please mark your calendars!
November 12, 2018
Book giveaway for The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders Oct 22-Nov 12, 2018
There are just TWELVE HOURS LEFT to win a free copy of my next novel, The City in the Middle of the Night on Goodreads. This is the one about the girl who gets banished into permanent darkness and learns to make friends with the creatures who live there.
October 21, 2018
Never Say You Can’t Survive
It’s easy to feel helpless when bigotry and bad science are becoming the law of the land, and our government is trying to dehumanize so many of us. But we have the power to make noise, to make ourselves heard, and one of the most powerful ways we can do that is thru storytelling.
I wrote a talk a while back called “Never Say You Can’t Survive” which I’ve been delivering at colleges and writing conferences all over the place. (Named for the inspirational Curtis Mayfield album/song.) Basically, it’s about using storytelling to survive scary times.
Today seems like a good day to share some of it.
In a nutshell the talk is all about how making up stories and creating worlds is an act of survival.
Especially right now, seeing people of color, trans folk, queers, disabled people, immigrants, non-neurotypical people and others in stories can help combat this dehumanization.
Imagining the worst that could possibly happen is powerful because you can imagine SURVIVING the worst possible situation.
Stories about triumphing over the monsters, stories about escaping from scary situations. Stories about building a community that doesn’t throw people away.
We need to be honest about trauma and fear and pain and how they affect us.
We also need to model kindness and courage and generosity.
We also need to understand why “decent” people take part in atrocities, and how people can justify becoming instruments of hate.
Getting lost in telling a story can also be hella therapeutic because it disconnects you from the here and now, and connects you to that inner voice that’s always standing back and making wry commentary.
Your imagination is naturally resistant to external domination. Use it.
Anger makes good stories. Channel your anger into creating the most fierce, beautiful narrative you can.
Make bigger and more elaborate worlds. Lose yourself in inventing a ton of complicated parts of your society, with a long and intricate backstory. Nerd out.
Most of all, use your writing to build community, both fictional and real. Include meaningful communities in your writing. Read your work aloud as much as you can. Make chapbooks. Share your stories. Tweet your fiction. Read and signal boost other people’s stories.
There’s tons more. This talk has a 15-minute version and a one-hour version.
But it ends by saying, “You have the power to create worlds and the monsters are scared of you.”
October 19, 2018
The City In The Middle Of The Night by Charlie Jane Anders exclusive cover reveal and excerpt
Here’s the reveal of the UK cover of The City in the Middle of the Night! Plus an excerpt that was not previously online! (It comes right after the excerpt that was published at @tordotcom a while back, FYI.) So excited for people to see more of this book!
October 3, 2018
OMG you guys Sparrowhawk by Delilah S. Dawson (plus Matias Basla...
OMG you guys Sparrowhawk by Delilah S. Dawson (plus Matias Basla and Miguel Mercado) is my new favorite comic book. A gorgeously illustrated story of faerie, broken families and magical creatures, this comic will ROCK YOUR WORLD.
October 2, 2018
The Big Idea: Charlie Jane Anders
Hey so I wrote a “Big Idea” essay for @scalzi’s “Whatever” blog, to celebrate the release of my novella Rock Manning Goes For Broke. It’s all about physical comedy—and why fascism manages to be ludicrous without being funny. Check it out!
What even is “literary fiction”??
The other day at the Baltimore Book Festival I was on a panel about literary SFF with Sarah Pinsker et al., and I said the things I usually say. Like:
1) What’s considered “literary fiction” changes over time as fashions change.
2) Literary fiction is like porn, you kinda know it when you see it.
3) But there are certain topics, tropes or stylistic devices that usually mark something out as belong to the “literary fic” genre.
4) Also, “literary fiction” is a sweeping umbrella term that covers everything from tiny experimental works to ultra-popular thinky beach reads.
But thinking about it some more, I have a couple more thoughts.
First, I find it more useful to say a work “has literary aspirations” rather than that it “is literary.” The former is more descriptive: you can identify stylistic and storytelling choices that show literary intent.
Whereas who the hell knows if something actually “is” literary. Like I said, it’s like porn: you know it when you see it. And we can all think of books that were acclaimed as especially “literary” that seemed to have very little claim to the label.
Second, I’ve thought of an easy way to explain the murky distinction between “pulp” and “literary” storytelling. Just watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Logan back to back. It’s easy to see that Logan has more literary aspirations than Origins, though they both have pulp elements.
Logan tries harder to chart a real character arc for its characters, and tackles themes like growing old and losing your mojo, and facing up to your responsibilities. So the next time someone asks me to explain pulp vs literary, I’ll suggest a Wolverine double feature.
