Rabia Gale's Blog, page 17

book cover art: strong females, no weapons

Several weeks ago, when I posted book covers that featured strong female characters, Kelly at Stacked Books asked a good question: Does a woman need to have a weapon in her hand in order to be considered strong?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: When I put together my earlier post, I focused on the genre I am most well-read in–fantasy–which has a disproportionately higher number of warrior women than (say) your cozy mysteries. Also, I wanted to post alternatives to covers of warrior babes where the emphasis is on the babe, not the warrior. The sword/gun/dagger in those women’s hands is not to display their strength, but their sexiness. Add skimpy clothing, come-hither looks, and poses that show off womanly assets, and the weapons become nothing more than accessories.

But, Kelly has a good point. Strength is not all about fighting prowess. So I went looking for covers that showed strong women without a weapon in their hands.

 

Joy. Optimism. Zest for life, hope for the future. That’s what I think of when I see this woman. She looks to have a strong spirit and a happy disposition.

Woman. No weapon. Pretty dress/robe. But she doesn’t look like someone who puts up with nonsense. The tilt of her head, the direction of her gaze, the hands on hips pose…yep, not a weakling this one. Sorry I couldn’t find a larger image.

 

 I like to see women in action, rather than just standing around looking pretty. So this spelunking-with-robotic-snakes(?!) scene works for me. Also, the woman on the cover is refreshingly different from the pretty waifs or sultry temptresses. She looks older and tougher.

I debated about this one, because the girl looks scary. But she also looks strong (and scary, don’t forget that) while wearing a typical YA fantasy white dress, so she gets points for overcoming the languishing waif girl stereotype. Plus, I love the red hair blending into the fire.

Another YA princess in a gorgeous dress, but she looks like she’s up for some fun. Or mischief. Or both. I like that stance, that sideways look out of the corner of her eyes.

This is not a comprehensive list, of course, but it’ll do for a start. I was very tempted to include this lovely cover for The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan, but I think the glowing ring in Moiraine’s hand probably counts as a (magical) weapon.

Any other covers you can think of that fit the strong woman, no weapons criteria?

Friday edition

This has just been one of those weeks. I lost two writing days and eked out a miserable few hundred words on a third day.

But School Happened (yes, even when the public school kids got two days off, which did not go unnoticed by mine). We read Shakespeare retellings, made a “blubber” glove for science, plowed on through math.

And also! I’m at two other blogs this week, answering questions about writing, life, and Rainbird:

At Forego Reality, I talk about finding time to write as a homeschooling mom, the inspiration behind the sunway, and my commitment to quality as a self-publisher.

And today, I’m at Liv Rancourt’s blog, discussing where I picked up my style, how a girl from Pakistan ended up in Northern Virginia, and the YA elements in Rainbird.

And, thirdly, I’m strongly leaning towards joining the slow blogging movement. I’m a fiction writer with limited time. I enjoy blogging, but I cannot put out three or more high-quality posts every week. I have to drop down to one longish post and (maybe) one shorter, quick-to-put-together post like this one per week. I’m still thinking about this, so if you have any opinions about this change, let me know!

dragons I have known

When I first started writing fantasy, I swore that I would never ever include something so cliched, so stale, so overdone, as a dragon.

Riiight.

Whether I wanted them or not, dragons crept or stormed into my fiction anyway.

The sleeping dragon whose awakening would restart an ancient war. The cultured dragon who likes books and foreign travel. The continent-sized space dragon whose skeleton is home to humans and humanoid species.

And these are all in some way influenced by the dragons I have known, and fall in one of the categories below:

Force of Nature/Actively Evil

The dragons of Western literature dragons are seen as forces of nature–like a destructive storm–or actively evil. These are the dragons that Beowulf and St. George battle. These are the dragons from the movie Reign of Fire. The ones that are intelligent as well as malevolent are the most compelling and frightening of all–from Smaug in The Hobbit to the transformed Maleficent in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

Loyal Companions

Two words: Pernese dragons.

Admit it, you were thinking about Pernese dragons too when you saw the “Loyal Companions” heading

These telepathic dragons are genetically engineered to bond with human riders and fight Thread. They are sentient, but they are also totally, irrevocably loyal to and protective of their riders. These dragons fulfill a powerful human fantasy to command the utter devotion of such fearsome beasts.

They’re also from my grown-up perspective, a little boring. (I wonder what would happen if a genetic mutant in that sort of world didn’t bond with a human, didn’t die from lack of such bond, and grew up wondering what made humans so special that dragons had to obey them?).

Cute and Cuddly

These abound in children’s books, from the little kitten-sized dragon in There’s No Such Thing As a Dragon to the three, darling troublemakers in Good Night, Good Knight.

See, dragons just want to be cuddled and petted. Hmm, also sounds like Pernese fire lizards.

Very cute story. And look at those adorable little dragonlings!

Just Like Us

They may have sharp teeth and be overfond of princesses and sparkly stuff, but they are like us. They talk, they give dinner parties, they form governments. They argue and form alliances. Some of them are inquisitive and question everything. Others would rather read poetry than fight. They are easy to identify with.

Who are your favorite dragons? Any dragon categories I might’ve missed?

linky-links

My guest post, Balancing Act: On Raising Both a Family and a Writing Career, is up on FableCroft Publishing’s blog. Come share your tips on fitting your writing into your family life!

Also, I’m working with Kellie of ReaWrite Reviews to get some more publicity for Rainbird. If you’re interested in receiving a review copy, please fill out this form.

I’m seeing a lot of recipes from my fellow WANA bloggers in my RSS feed. Like for instance, these salmon, lime and mint patties (gluten-free) and this yummy pecan-topped dessert (not gluten-free and probably not the most health-conscious *grin*).

I’m most of the way to my 1500-word goal for today. How are the rest of you NaNo and NaNo-lite peeps doing?

NaNo-lite

It’s November 1st.

And we all know what that means, right? National Novel Writing Month!

Yep, it’s time for that annual madness when thousands of writers from all across the world attempt to write a 50,000-word novel (or part of a novel) in 30 days. If you listen carefully, you can hear the click-clack of thousands of fingers flying over thousands of keyboards.

It’s an exciting, heady time.

Once upon a time, before I homeschooled… or had children… or a big house to clean… or a job… I attempted and won NaNoWriMo (and I will forever love the book I got out of it: my first novel, The Changeling). Nowadays, though, NaNo just seems a recipe for burnout and exhaustion.

However, I am inspired to set and reach for some personal writing goals this month–just not as crazy as NaNo’s. Liv Rancourt calls this NaNo-lite. It sounds healthier, at least.

The goal: 25,000 words on my current WIP

The daily breakdown: David’s handy self-adjusting wordcount tool (WriteTrack) tells me that I only need 800 words a day, with 1500 words on Saturdays and Thanksgiving Day off (I rounded the numbers). I got 872 words today, which puts me a wee bit ahead.

The project: Rafe and Isabella are baaaack! Flare is the sequel to Quartz, picking up two years after the end of the first book. I’ve never written a sequel before (yes, True Confessions of a Fantasy Writer). I figured I could use the exercise–plus I need to know how these kids are going to save the world! (Okay, they’re not kids, but I’m the lofty writer, so I get to call them whatever I want… er, hi, Isabella *grins nervously*).

Who’s doing NaNo? Who’s doing NaNo-lite?

And who wants some Halloween candy? I have plenty left over. *eyes heaping basket warily*

Sandy, hurricane prep, and this week

A brief note to let you know that this blog is probably going to go on an unplanned hiatus this week.

As you’ve no doubt seen in the news, Hurricane Sandy is barreling up the East Coast. I’m in Northern Virginia, and we’re likely to experience high winds, lots of rain, and power outages in the next 48 hours. We’ve stockpiled non-perishable food, filled up bottles and jugs and the bathtub with water, charged our phones.

Now we wait.

Everyone in Sandy’s path–stay safe! My prayers are with you all.

Came across this Judy Garland quote:Be a first rate vers...

Came across this Judy Garland quote:

Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.

Do you wish you were like someone else? Does it spur you on to do better, or make you miserable and insecure?

a list for wednesday

1. I have a guest post on atypical fantasy protagonists up at the Turtleduck Press blog. Come check it out!

2. Also,  you might’ve noticed I’m doing interviews and guest posts recently. This is my Low-Key Sorta Blog Tour for Rainbird’s release. I’m happy to do more of these, so if you have an open spot on your blog that you want to give me, feel free to ask. I’d appreciate it.

3. Remember that last week I shared the Peter Hollens and Lindsey Stirling version of the Game of Thrones theme music? Well, their Skyrim rendition is even better! I am hooked on this.

 

How’s your week going?

weird worlds in fantasy and science fiction

I love weird worlds. Tempt me with a clockwork universe, a planet with two suns, or a moving city. Immerse me in the details of how life works in such a bizarre place. Entrance me with your imagination.

Give me a weird world, and I’m halfway there for your book.

Some of my favorite strange worlds are:

Upon Another Living Creature

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld rests on the back of four elephants which stand upon the shell of Great A’Tuin, the cosmic turtle. In Martha Wells’ The Serpent Sea, a large part of the action takes place in a city built upon the back of a sea creature magically compelled to swim at the water’s surface (and you can just tell what would happen if that compulsion failed, can’t you?). In Leviathan, Derryn Sharp is a midshipman on a living airship engineered from a blue whale, with its own ecosystem of flachette bats, strafing hawks, hydrogen-sniffing canines, and many other (fun!) creatures.

Non-Earth-like Planets

Kim Stanley Robinson’s Green Mars (second in the trilogy) has delightful sections on the terraforming of Mars and the creation of colonies on other planets and moons. A giant umbrella shades Venus. The human settlement on Mercury is on a moving train. Denizens of the moons around the gas giants genetically alter themselves to survive the environment.

Life on the Edge

Living in extreme yet Earth-like environments also works for me. Kat Falls’ Dark Life takes place on Earth–but in human settlements built undersea. Brandon Sanderson’s world of Roshar is battered by massive storms and much of the natural life, including botanical, is able to retreat into shells.

In the Air

Flying cities show up in games, movies, and books. From Skies of Arcadia to Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky to The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier, habitats in the air are toe-curlingly wonderful to this reader.

Build Your World

Some habitats, notably in science fiction, are entirely man-made. Space stations and generation star ships are good examples. An interesting megastructure is Larry Niven’s Ringworld, an artificial ring orbiting around a star like our own sun.

 

Weird worlds also creep into my writing. The world of Quartz is a disc in a mechanical universe. The world of Riven is folded, like a paper fan. And in Rainbird, an entire community lives upon the skeleton of a continent-sized dragon.

What are your favorite weird worlds and environments, in fiction and out of it?

interview and music video

Two things:

1. I’m over at Ellen Gregory’s blog today, talking about Rainbird, the fantasy genre, and some of my recent favorite reads.

2. One voice, one violin, one soundtrack: