Thaddeus Nowak's Blog: Thoughts and Observations, page 25

Twitterview of Me on 21 May 2013

I was interviewed by Novel Publicity on Twitter last Tuesday.  Here is a copy of the transcript:

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Photo Contest

For the last part of my blog tour for Mother’s Curse and Daughter’s Justice we are having a photo contest!

All the blogger and fan support this week has been excellent!  And to say thank you, we are wrapping up things with a chance to win a Kindle Fire or one of two $50 Amazon Gift Cards.

The details can be found on Novel Publicity’s blog.

Just as an example, earlier this year, Dollar was caught reading the back of Daughter’s Justice.  He told me with carrot breath that he really liked it.

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The Ancients Foretold the Coming of This Post

I have always loved the fantasy genre. Ever since I first started reading books of my own choosing, I read fantasy and SciFi novels. Perhaps I loved the idea of being transported away to another world or to another time and place. Maybe I was fascinated by learning about beings who are different from myself. Whatever the reason, these stories felt and still feel like home to me.

Happily, today there is less social awkwardness attached to these genres. In fact, shows like The Big Bang Theory on CBS are helping to make being a geek mainstream. So when I hear people tell me they do not like fantasy novels, I always want to understand why. Deep down I hope it might just be a simple misconception that I can resolve; I really want others to embrace my beloved genre as much as I do.

However, the more people I talked to, the more I started to notice there are some common complaints, and honestly, I don’t entirely disagree with some of the criticism of the genre. Of course, these flaws are by no means limited to fantasy novels, but some of them are more common in fantasy.

The big issues I tended to hear include:

Over-the-top story lines.
Tired clichés.
Heavy use of prophecy.

Of these, the one I find the most difficult to get past is the prophesying. Yes, the farm boy who in five minutes learns to swing a sword and ride a horse is very hard to swallow (learning to do either takes a long time). However, so is anyone who can guess a password in three tries or the couch potato who can outrun a car and does it without breathing too hard. Those plot issues often come from a lack of the author’s knowledge of given subjects and while distracting, they tend to get mentioned and then the story goes on to something else. The prophecy issue I feel is deeper and can go on through the whole story. If done wrong, it can show some fundamental flaws in the overall story design, not just a lack of research into a topic.

I do want to say that not all stories with prophecies are done badly, but as with anything, there is always a certain percentage that fail. Coupled with the fact that plots featuring heavy use of prophecy are more likely to show up in fantasy novels and you’ll statistically end up with a higher chance of reading a poorly done prophecy story in this genre than the others genres.

So what is a writer to do? What makes using prophecy bad?

Well, for the story to be solid, the main characters should be the driving force in the plot. Their actions, and most importantly their decisions, need to progress the story forward. If the prophecy is the driving factor, simply sweeping the characters along for the ride, then the characters are not really the protagonist; the prophecy is. We as readers want to be able to identify with someone, to imagine ourselves in the character’s life. It is much harder to like a weak character who cannot make decisions for themselves than it is to identify with a strong character.

Star Wars I, The Phantom Menace, I know it is SciFi, but I think it is a perfect example of a story done badly. I did not like the movie (and not just because of the floppy eared fellow) but because the characters were uninspiring as a whole. The reason for my dislike was even summarized within the movie itself. It was the scene when they were underwater in a ship and a sea monster tried to eat them. Did the characters do anything to effect their escape? No. They sat there and allowed fate to save them. The line went something like: “There’s always a bigger fish.” When I heard that in the theater, I wasn’t sure if the movie was making light of itself or if it was supposed to be a serious line.

The other problem with prophecy is that it reinforces the first two issues that were mentioned. So many stories already have heavy prophecy that a new one is going to struggle to be original.  And readers want something new.  Based on my unscientific survey, there is an almost universal request for no more farm boys (or girls as I would prefer) that are fated to go from having no skills and position in society to being dragged around and bumble their way into saving the world to end up king or queen.

But I love the idea of fate and prophecy? Any Advice?

Well, if you do and you are a writer, I do not want to discourage you completely, but know that making it fresh and original will be an uphill battle. My suggestion would be to make sure the prophecy is simply part of the background, a minor character. Remind yourself that the story is really about the lead characters. Make them central to the plot and have them drive the story forward through their choices, not their reactions to other drivers. Make sure the reader knows it is the character deciding to act because of a personal motivation, not because some other power said they had to. A strong character does not have to be physically strong, instead they must have a strong personality and be willing to make the tough decision when it counts. When a character is instrumental in their own lives, we are more able to identify with them; want to be like them. And very importantly, we want to see them again in subsequent stories.

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Henton’s Family

Henton is the third son, and “a second spare” as he likes to refer to himself.  While he does not hate his family, he has kept only a distant relationship with them stemming from events around his fifteenth birthday.

In Cothel, the oldest male child of a family is required to serve in the army for at least one year.  If a family is willing to provide their son for a two-year commitment, instead of serving in the army, they can serve in the Navy.  To compensate for the extra year, the family will receive a reduction in their taxes.  Any additional sons enlisted in military service result in tax reductions for the family for either one or two years of commitment.

Henton’s father, Vern, committed his oldest boy, Earnest, to the army for one year when his son was seventeen years old.  His second, and admittedly favorite son, Philip, he could not risk placing in military service.  However, when Earnest returned to help in the family shop, Henton’s father decided to enlist Henton in the navy for two years to get the largest tax reduction.

This is what put Henton on the path to becoming a Sergeant in the Navy, which eventually led him to meeting Stephenie in Mother’s Curse.

Henton’s immediate family members:

Father: Vern, born in year 390 and married at age 14.
Mother: Wilma, born in year 390 and married at age 14.

Brother: Earnest, born in year 405.
Brother: Philip, born in year 406.
Henton, born in year 408.
Sister: Melisa, born in year 410.

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The Love of Good Sawdust

It was many years ago that I started riding horses.  My wife and I leased a mare for a while; she was barely bigger than a pony and my legs dangled down pretty far.  Then we started leasing Dollar (the “Big Guy”) and never really looked back.  He’s a solid 16.2 hands, which is pretty tall for a quarter horse, and he’s built like a bulldog.  His trot is like riding a pogo stick, but he has a nice canter and a pretty fast gallop.  His walk is incredibly slow if you don’t keep him moving with your seat (he doesn’t like to waste any extra energy), but if you get him interested in learning something new, he gives it his all.

Before these horses, I had only ever rode a few trail horses from time to time at summer camps.  I can say it was quite a different feel getting into an english saddle and jumping and flying around the arena instead of meandering along on a sedate and bored horse who had lost most of his will a hundred riders before me.  Of course, I should say that I didn’t start jumping day one.  The jumping and flying about took a little time.  My wife, who had been around horses for years, wanted to make sure I learned the proper ways of riding and established a good relationship on the ground before ever getting into the saddle.

If he doesn’t respect you on the ground, he won’t respect you in the saddle.

Those are words to live by.  Fortunately, we’ve always had a good relationship with Dollar and he’ll go out of his way to avoid hurting us.  However, he will also stand over you and laugh at you if you do something stupid.

Which brings me to the point of this story.  When I say “flying about the arena”, I literally mean flying about the arena.  When I first started jumping 2’6″, I really wasn’t that good of a rider.  We had picked up a trainer who thought that everyone wanted to jump right away, but I had not spent the time in two point I needed to and my legs bounced about way too much.  Poor Dollar, he probably wanted to toss me off for banging on his sides and not giving him enough rein to go over the jumps.  (For those who don’t know, you need to slide your hands forward as the horse stretches his nose out and arches over the jump, otherwise, you pop him in the mouth with the bit and that hurts them.  Doing it right takes practice and muscles.)

Well, here is where the sawdust comes in.  I was doing okay with a single jump, so they said, hey, do an in-and-out, and being brave and daring, I did.  I trotted up to the first jump, sailed over it just fine, Dollar decides to canter out, which throws me forward, one long stride later, he pops up and over the second jump, then turns sharply left (since the arena wall is directly ahead) and I do my best impression of superman, but gravity wins and I land head first into a nice soft pile of sawdust.  Tastes a bit fibery.

As I said, Dollar always worked to keep us safe, so he stopped immediately, looked back over his shoulder at me, covered in what he would later use for a toilet, and I could see the laughter in his eyes: “What a moron, you’re suppose to say IN the saddle—give me a treat.”

Undaunted, I try again, this time on the other side of the area and manage to do a face plant in the other sawdust pile (I was very grateful that the barn we were at kept two large piles in the arena to keep them out of the rain.)  The monkey act went on for a while until this monkey learned to sink his heals lower into the stirrups and hold with his thighs.  (I won’t go into the other things that were crushed on the pommel, which also usually left me laying on the ground.)

Well, the life lesson here is: Dollar wants more carrots.  And I’m far too hard-headed (I was wearing a helmet) to stop when things get tough.  It’s been said a million times before, but anything worth doing takes effort and practice.  It took me a long time, some bruises, and a bit of hurt pride before I learned to ride and jump, but I enjoyed it.  The same can be said for many other things I have tried in life and if you enjoy something, keep at it and hopefully there is a lovely, if not exactly tasty, pile of soft sawdust to land in while you learn.

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He likes the mares!

Our big boy, Dollar “The Scholar”, can charm a carrot out of most people’s hands.  He’s always (almost) been calm and mild-mannered.  However, a few years back, we had a summer of unusual behavior.  I’ll write it off as a midlife crisis, only he didn’t have the chance to go out and buy a fancy new automatic feed dispensing unit (he’s not into cars).

We were boarding him at another barn and his stall window was looking out at the mare’s pasture.  It had looked out at the mares pasture for a number of years, but something that spring had set him off and one day, he just went crazy in his stall: constantly calling out to the mares, pacing, and generally trying to get out any way he could.  You would have thought he was a stallion by the way he was acting.  However, his original owners gelded him many years earlier because he showed no interest in the mares.

Well, we closed the windows and took steps to keep him separate from the mares, but unfortunately for the barn owner, he didn’t listen to our request and Dollar plowed his way through two sets of live electric fences to get from the pasture he was turned out in to the mares.  (Yes, I’ve touched electric fences before, ouch, and no, I’ve not peed on one, though for some reason, people always seem to suggest it as something fun to try…)

After having to replace the fences, the barn owner decided to do as we asked and moved him to where he couldn’t see the mares.  Once that spring/summer was over, Dollar went back to his mild-mannered self and he’s not lost his mind over the mares like that since, though he’s kept a fondness for them.

Fast forward a few years and a new barn, one spring, he was turned out in the mares pasture, since he was deemed “safe” to be with he mares.  He instantly became one giddy pony: he had all the grass he could eat and his own personal herd of mares (who were not entirely interested in him).  Of course, when we tried to bring him in, he’d let us walk up to him with a load of carrots, bucket of grain, or any other list of treats and he’d eat them right out of our hand.  But make a move to lift a lead rope and his cow cutting days came right back to him and he’d dodge away as if he was a two-year old.  You could see the laughter in his eyes:  “Ya, right, stupid human, you’re not going to catch me.”

Many days later, they were forced to bring in all the mares in order to get him out of the pasture.

So I guess Dollar’s message is:

No matter how old you are, to be young again, go out and find something you enjoy and don’t let anyone try to stop you.

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The Evocative

There are certain things that when we see, hear, or smell them, they just put us into that proper state of mind where we are instantly transported to another time or place, or perhaps even another world.  For each person, it’s always something a little different.  However, I expect that history, tradition, and some instinctual programming in the back of our minds gives us all a fair amount of overlap.

I love spending time outdoors and I must admit that some trips are just more fun than others.  Often what makes something more memorable is the unexpected, when something that should by all logic and reason be unpleasant, actually turns out to be fun.  I’ve mentioned it before, but some of the best hiking I have done has been in the rain and for me a wet woodland road can easily send my imagination running wild.  Who else has traveled the road?  Where were they going and why?  Was someone chasing them?  Were they chasing some?  Were they on a simple afternoon stroll?  Visiting a friend? A colleague? A lover?  The road exists, so someone at some point made this journey before me, yet only the faded memory of their passage remains.

In fantasy novels, as well as today and throughout history, people living in a preindustrial world tend to live hard lives.  Though I expect human nature does kicked in and a leisurely stroll down a lane or a path occurs from time to time.  I think there is something built-in that drives us to find pleasure when we can, if only for a moment.

For me, a forest trail always gets my mind wandering and I start thinking about the next village or perhaps what is left of that village and the ancient civilization that created it.  That is another tenet of fantasy (as well as many other genres): the idea of lost civilizations and ruins that are left.  I believe we are drawn so strongly to them because we want to make a connection with the past; to understand those that came before us and what their lives were like.

It is a fun aspect of writing; the chance to create not only the present world the characters live in, but also all the civilizations that came before them.  It is rewarding to be able to add depth and history to the lives of those we create, even if only a fraction of that comes out in the stories.

For me, the idea of travel, especially in the backwoods away from civilization, is very evocative.  It makes me want to seek out the undiscovered and the ancient civilizations that have passed into history.  What about you?  Is there a specific thought, sound, or smell that puts energy into your very being?

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Our Big Guy–where’s my carrot?

Dollar “The Scholar” is our Big Guy, a Woolly Bear in winter, and sometimes goes by less pleasant names…but we can’t help but love him.  He’s always looked out for us; protecting us when riding or on the ground, so returning the favor is the least we can do for him.

This year, he’ll be 24 years old.  He doesn’t look his age, which is good, but turning 24 is also scary (so we won’t go any further on that topic).

He’s been retired for a number of years because of his legs, but some days you’d never know it the way he runs around and plays with the other geldings.  On the other days, (often after he’s been romping around) he definitely moves a bit slower, but he’s always happy to see us.For those who don’t know, he’s an appendix quarter horse and rather big at 16.2 hh, but we still call him a pony and squeeze on him.  That always makes him roles his eyes and we can tell he’s saying: “Hey, come on, the other guys are watching.”  Then he sniffs around for a carrot.

His official name is Silver Dollar, due to a silver dollar sized white spot on the left side of his withers.  When he bought him, back when he was 7, he ended up getting “The Scholar” added to his name because of all the mischief he managed to get into.  You could see it in his eyes, he was always working out the risk/reward for whatever he had planned and that’s not changed to this day.

I’ll gather a few more stories about him to tell over the coming weeks as aspects of his personality will be making their way into book 3.  I don’t write actual people into my stories, but I think I can make an exception in his case.

For any photographers out there, I took the shot back in 2010 with my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D lens at f/1.8, 1/250s, and ISO 100.  The camera was a D700 and I used Capture NX to process the raw image.

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Things I Learnd at Planet Comicon

I had a great time at Planet Comicon this weekend.  It was definitely worth going and I found that in addition to having fun, I learned a few things.  Here is my list.

There are a lot more geeks in Kansas City than I realized and most importantly, I am proud to be one of them.  Here I am sporting my new Jayne Cobb hat–long live Firefly:


Wil Wheaton is awesome!  Okay, I already knew that, but it is worth saying again. He’s very engaging and hilarious in the panel.  I’ve seen youtube videos of him at other Cons and he does not disappoint.  He is a must see for anyone at a Con he’s attending.


There are some very creative people who have made some amazing costumes.  This was created by “The T600” (don’t know his real name, but that’s his facebook link).


My wife, Sherri, will let me create my very own R2-D2!  Yes, it was even her idea! I want one…as soon as I find the time.


Next year, I think I will look into getting a table for my books. Bartle was busy and the crowd was friendly and engaging, so definitely something worth the time. I’ll be back next year and look forward to other Cons.

I also want to give a quick nod to all the other celebs, artist, and patrons.  Since I attended their panels, I’ll mention Adam Baldwin and George Takei specifically as having great panels.  Both have done amazing work and continue to do so.

If you have never been to a Con, it is worth doing at least once.  You might find yourself hooked.

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The birds, flying free, and on target

I was watching the birds last night and thinking about how free it would feel to fly about, drifting on the wind, and gliding through the branches to land precisely on target.  The birds coming to the feeders never seemed to miss, though I expect somewhere there is a nice blooper reel we’d love to be watching as birds learn this skill.

It made me want of a couple of things, first, I really want a 200-400mm f/4 lens.  My 120mm just doesn’t cut bird photography.  (I think you can see a cardinal in that shot.)  Of course, that is a big investment and it would be too heavy to carry up into the mountains, which is where I like to do much of my photography.  But…it would make a great trunk lens (one you carry in the back of the car, get out, use it, and put it back).

Second, I would love to fly as a bird.  Heights don’t bother me and even as a kid, I always dreamed of being able to take wing and see the world with a different perspective.  I know from climbing trees and being on a rooftops or with photography, getting down low to the ground, just the change from the normal standing height can have a big impact on the image and how we perceive it.  It’s something I like to do from time to time, wedge myself into a location most people don’t go, and just watch the world.

For now, I will have to content myself with giving flight to some of the characters in my books.  Stephenie’s enjoyment of it is one aspect of her character that is definitely straight from my own desires.

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