Stephen Kozeniewski's Blog, page 59
August 3, 2015
Reading Outside the Lines
I've been thinking a bit lately about meta-text. I think this might be a result of indulging in last night's episode of "The Strain" which featured a fairly extended prologue which consisted of what seemed like a real-time playing of an old luchador movie.
I've never watched a luchador movie before. I have no idea what they're like. I have no idea why such a grainy black-and-white spectacle should take over the airwaves on a Sunday evening. The "movie" alone was opaque enough in its meaning not to make an argument for itself to exist.
Compare this with, say, a flashback. A few weeks ago "The Strain" opened with a flashback to 19th century Hungary or some such place. I didn't have to think hard about it. Although we were not in the usual, modern timeframe of the story, we are well aware that vampires are immortal and one particular vampire greatly resembles the hulking giant we are first introduced to in the flashback. And the filming style was identical to our normal "Strain" episodes. No further thought required. This is immediately apparent as a flashback to fill us in on the background story of our show.
But back to this week's luchador movie. I found myself doing a different kind of thinking. I thought to myself something along these lines: "Okay, without explanation I might assume this is a fictional film within the 'Strain' universe - a play within a play. But why am I, the viewer, being exposed to it directly? Okay, perhaps one of the characters is watching it. Okay, the film is being fast forwarded through boring parts - so there is someone watching it. What is the purpose of this film, though? It's obviously something of a takeoff on vampires, but these are traditional Dracula-style vampires, not our 'Strain' virus vamps. So we're not learning anything 'real.' We're learning something cultural. About Mexican wrestling. Oh, but you know what? Guillermo del Toro wrote this book, and he's Mexican. Perhaps he grew up on wrestling and wanted to direct an homage to those kind of films. And I know from the episode two weeks ago featuring Nigel Bennett from 'Forever Knight' that he likes paying homage to older vampire stories. So that's probably what's going on here."
See the difference between the two thought processes? One examines the text, or possibly even the subtext, for clues. The other ends up examining the meta-text. Here's a simple breakdown if you're unfamiliar with those terms:
Text - what is actually written
Subtext - what is not written but is implied or suggested
Meta-text - what is neither written nor implied but you know about the work
For instance, you could write, "They had sex." That's in the text.
Or you could write, "They closed the shades and the light went out. The next morning Jim woke up feeling exhausted, but refreshed." You could probably infer from that they had sex. Or you could infer something different. That's your right as the reader, and that's why it's subtext - it's not spelled out.
Or there could be nothing at all in the book about sex of any kind but you know that the author was Jenna Jameson, a famous porn star, so you start to wonder if there was some sex going on with the main characters during the chapter breaks.
Here's another example. (SPOILER ALERT, I guess.) I guessed the ending of ENDER'S GAME. I didn't guess it because it was telegraphed. I don't think the ending was telegraphed, but if it was, I missed the signal. And I didn't guess the ending because of any of the implied themes or subtext or anything like that.
I guessed the ending of ENDER'S GAME because when I reached the point where Ender was supposed to graduate from battle school after a huge simulation, there was about thirty pages left in the book. I was following along, duped just like everyone else, and then I simply realized that there wasn't enough sheer paper left in the book to allow Ender to go out and defeat the aliens in any kind of satisfying sense. And I knew from having read a million books before that they wouldn't leave it with a cliffhanger. And I remember sitting there going, "Damn it. There's only one way this can end. The simulation must have been real. That's the only thing there's enough time left for."
And I was right, of course. The more we learn about the way stories are told and who tells them, the more we're able to look at fiction from a different viewpoint. Knowing who the author is, why he chose his pen name, what's on the cover of the book, how thick a book is, how long a movie is, whether it already has a sequel or not...these are the kinds of things that can affect our experience. Meta-textual things.
I knew "Pirates of the Carribean II" would be a cliffhanger because Pirates III had already been announced, and the last time that had happened, with "The Matrix II," that had been a cliffhanger.
I knew the ending of "Guardians of the Galaxy" because Marvel (thanks a lot, Marvel) had released a cute little clip of a baby Groot dancing. When that never happened during the course of the movie...I realized, "Oh, Groot's going to die and come back as a sapling."
Or here's a (formerly) super common one: if you go to see an M. Night Shyamalan movie, how much time do you discuss in the car on the way to the movie theater what the twist is going to be? I had guessed the ending to "The Village" within five minutes, because I knew Shyamalan's M.O.
What about you? Have you had your knowledge of meta-text affect your viewing/reading experience?
I've never watched a luchador movie before. I have no idea what they're like. I have no idea why such a grainy black-and-white spectacle should take over the airwaves on a Sunday evening. The "movie" alone was opaque enough in its meaning not to make an argument for itself to exist.
Compare this with, say, a flashback. A few weeks ago "The Strain" opened with a flashback to 19th century Hungary or some such place. I didn't have to think hard about it. Although we were not in the usual, modern timeframe of the story, we are well aware that vampires are immortal and one particular vampire greatly resembles the hulking giant we are first introduced to in the flashback. And the filming style was identical to our normal "Strain" episodes. No further thought required. This is immediately apparent as a flashback to fill us in on the background story of our show.
But back to this week's luchador movie. I found myself doing a different kind of thinking. I thought to myself something along these lines: "Okay, without explanation I might assume this is a fictional film within the 'Strain' universe - a play within a play. But why am I, the viewer, being exposed to it directly? Okay, perhaps one of the characters is watching it. Okay, the film is being fast forwarded through boring parts - so there is someone watching it. What is the purpose of this film, though? It's obviously something of a takeoff on vampires, but these are traditional Dracula-style vampires, not our 'Strain' virus vamps. So we're not learning anything 'real.' We're learning something cultural. About Mexican wrestling. Oh, but you know what? Guillermo del Toro wrote this book, and he's Mexican. Perhaps he grew up on wrestling and wanted to direct an homage to those kind of films. And I know from the episode two weeks ago featuring Nigel Bennett from 'Forever Knight' that he likes paying homage to older vampire stories. So that's probably what's going on here."
See the difference between the two thought processes? One examines the text, or possibly even the subtext, for clues. The other ends up examining the meta-text. Here's a simple breakdown if you're unfamiliar with those terms:
Text - what is actually written
Subtext - what is not written but is implied or suggested
Meta-text - what is neither written nor implied but you know about the work
For instance, you could write, "They had sex." That's in the text.
Or you could write, "They closed the shades and the light went out. The next morning Jim woke up feeling exhausted, but refreshed." You could probably infer from that they had sex. Or you could infer something different. That's your right as the reader, and that's why it's subtext - it's not spelled out.
Or there could be nothing at all in the book about sex of any kind but you know that the author was Jenna Jameson, a famous porn star, so you start to wonder if there was some sex going on with the main characters during the chapter breaks.
Here's another example. (SPOILER ALERT, I guess.) I guessed the ending of ENDER'S GAME. I didn't guess it because it was telegraphed. I don't think the ending was telegraphed, but if it was, I missed the signal. And I didn't guess the ending because of any of the implied themes or subtext or anything like that.
I guessed the ending of ENDER'S GAME because when I reached the point where Ender was supposed to graduate from battle school after a huge simulation, there was about thirty pages left in the book. I was following along, duped just like everyone else, and then I simply realized that there wasn't enough sheer paper left in the book to allow Ender to go out and defeat the aliens in any kind of satisfying sense. And I knew from having read a million books before that they wouldn't leave it with a cliffhanger. And I remember sitting there going, "Damn it. There's only one way this can end. The simulation must have been real. That's the only thing there's enough time left for."
And I was right, of course. The more we learn about the way stories are told and who tells them, the more we're able to look at fiction from a different viewpoint. Knowing who the author is, why he chose his pen name, what's on the cover of the book, how thick a book is, how long a movie is, whether it already has a sequel or not...these are the kinds of things that can affect our experience. Meta-textual things.
I knew "Pirates of the Carribean II" would be a cliffhanger because Pirates III had already been announced, and the last time that had happened, with "The Matrix II," that had been a cliffhanger.
I knew the ending of "Guardians of the Galaxy" because Marvel (thanks a lot, Marvel) had released a cute little clip of a baby Groot dancing. When that never happened during the course of the movie...I realized, "Oh, Groot's going to die and come back as a sapling."
Or here's a (formerly) super common one: if you go to see an M. Night Shyamalan movie, how much time do you discuss in the car on the way to the movie theater what the twist is going to be? I had guessed the ending to "The Village" within five minutes, because I knew Shyamalan's M.O.
What about you? Have you had your knowledge of meta-text affect your viewing/reading experience?
July 31, 2015
The Quintessential AT HELL'S GATES III: BOUND BY BLOOD Post
AT HELL'S GATES III: BOUND IN BLOOD, featuring my no-shit BRAINEATER JONES sequel story, "The Old Man and the Seesaw," is now available in paperback and Kindle:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Here are some other places around the net you can learn more about it:
Goodreads
A spotlight on Descent Into Slushland
A spotlight on The Sity
An acceptance post on Chris Philbrook's blog
A spotlight on Patrick D'Orazio's blog
A spotlight on Sean T. Smith's blog
A pre-order announcement on Chris Philbrook's blog
A pre-order announcement on Christoph Fischer's blog
A pre-order announcement on The Sity
A pre-order announcement on Patrick D'Orazio's blog
A spotlight on Risingshadow
A spotlight on Sharon Stevenson's blog
Videos
July 29, 2015
"Z" is for "Zero Hour"
"I packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m."
- Elton John and Bernie Taupin
In a strange way I never thought this moment would come. Intellectually, yes, when I agreed to take on this 26 Week Blog Challenge some five-odd months ago, I knew that July 29th would be my final post. There was even a point in time where I was planning posts well in advance. I knew, for instance, that for R I would want to cover "Red Adept" and for F I would talk about "Fat Zombie" and so forth. But Z? Z seemed like a cipher.
Z is a cipher. Not quite the cipher that X is. X is the great unknown, the variable. The X-Factor. The X-Files. But Z is similarly odd. Stationed at the end of the alphabet, rarely used (except, like it's pluckier, cruciform brother, in algebra) Z is kind of a strange animal. It's not useless. Z is a distinctive sound, unlike, say, it's bastard cousin C who serves literally no purpose. All the heavy lifting that C does could be done by S and K, without the added confusion of having to guess which it is. So, in a way, C is a liability to the alphabet rather than an asset.
Not so with Z. Z is distinct, albeit, rarely used. Maybe that's for the best.
Sigh...
I suppose I'm getting off track. Not that there really is a track for blogposts. Sometimes you want them to be short and concise. Sometimes you want them to be endless and rambling. That's part of their beauty and their mystique, I suppose. Sometimes I click on a link and get hit with a one-two punch. Other times I get slowly drawn in to a lengthy, morphia-laden argument. Other times I don't get drawn in and give up after a paragraph or two.
But this post is supposed to be about endings. Zero hour. Launch day. It's a beginning and an ending. The 26 Week Blog Challenge is at an end. I am, as far as I can tell, the only survivor. I have been for quite some time now. By rights, I suppose I could have just thrown in the towel once I was the last participant left and claimed my "prize" (which I assume to be a Highlander-style super-Quickening.) But I really liked having this challenge to keep me on track for my blogging this year, as I've talked about ad nauseum in the past.
Now it's kind of like there will be a hole in my schedule. What am I supposed to do on Wednesdays from now on? I mean, sure, it's nice that if I feel like throwing in a laughing chicken meme or something, I don't have to worry about cranking out 500 words on the meaning of humor. But on the other hand, I'll have no structure. Structure is constricting but it's also freeing in a way. I never had to worry about, "What post will I do on Wednesday?" I just had to worry about "What will I write about for the challenge this week?"
Sigh...
I suppose I'm getting maudlin. That's the way I get at the conclusion to things. Thanks for sticking with me for these past 26 weeks, everybody. We'll be back next week of course, but with something...different. And as for me, I'm off back to Hobbiton. Take care!
Zero hour nine a.m."
- Elton John and Bernie Taupin
In a strange way I never thought this moment would come. Intellectually, yes, when I agreed to take on this 26 Week Blog Challenge some five-odd months ago, I knew that July 29th would be my final post. There was even a point in time where I was planning posts well in advance. I knew, for instance, that for R I would want to cover "Red Adept" and for F I would talk about "Fat Zombie" and so forth. But Z? Z seemed like a cipher.
Z is a cipher. Not quite the cipher that X is. X is the great unknown, the variable. The X-Factor. The X-Files. But Z is similarly odd. Stationed at the end of the alphabet, rarely used (except, like it's pluckier, cruciform brother, in algebra) Z is kind of a strange animal. It's not useless. Z is a distinctive sound, unlike, say, it's bastard cousin C who serves literally no purpose. All the heavy lifting that C does could be done by S and K, without the added confusion of having to guess which it is. So, in a way, C is a liability to the alphabet rather than an asset.
Not so with Z. Z is distinct, albeit, rarely used. Maybe that's for the best.
Sigh...
I suppose I'm getting off track. Not that there really is a track for blogposts. Sometimes you want them to be short and concise. Sometimes you want them to be endless and rambling. That's part of their beauty and their mystique, I suppose. Sometimes I click on a link and get hit with a one-two punch. Other times I get slowly drawn in to a lengthy, morphia-laden argument. Other times I don't get drawn in and give up after a paragraph or two.
But this post is supposed to be about endings. Zero hour. Launch day. It's a beginning and an ending. The 26 Week Blog Challenge is at an end. I am, as far as I can tell, the only survivor. I have been for quite some time now. By rights, I suppose I could have just thrown in the towel once I was the last participant left and claimed my "prize" (which I assume to be a Highlander-style super-Quickening.) But I really liked having this challenge to keep me on track for my blogging this year, as I've talked about ad nauseum in the past.
Now it's kind of like there will be a hole in my schedule. What am I supposed to do on Wednesdays from now on? I mean, sure, it's nice that if I feel like throwing in a laughing chicken meme or something, I don't have to worry about cranking out 500 words on the meaning of humor. But on the other hand, I'll have no structure. Structure is constricting but it's also freeing in a way. I never had to worry about, "What post will I do on Wednesday?" I just had to worry about "What will I write about for the challenge this week?"
Sigh...
I suppose I'm getting maudlin. That's the way I get at the conclusion to things. Thanks for sticking with me for these past 26 weeks, everybody. We'll be back next week of course, but with something...different. And as for me, I'm off back to Hobbiton. Take care!
July 27, 2015
A Person I Admire
I've always had trouble accepting help. We don't need to go into the psychosexual justifications for that now, though I'm sure it was a function of various elements of my upbringing. I was just always the sort of person who would rather suffer through on my own than ask for anything from anybody. One of the hardest parts for me of my military service was accepting the absolute necessity of accepting help from others, relying on others, depending on essentially complete strangers.
I can still recall with crystal clarity lying flat on my back in full gear when a battle buddy reached out a hand to help me up. My natural instinct was to roll over, force myself to my knees, and find my way up from there without anybody's help. But I took his hand - a literal helping hand - and was on my feet in an instant. It always stuck in my memory because, though tiny, it was quite symbolic for me.
Let me tell you a story about a person I admire. I don't often do this - in fact, I'm not certain I've ever done this - but I thought it might not be a terrible idea. A sort of an anonymous PROFILES IN COURAGE entry, if you will.
This person was (I believe) a lot like me. Refused to take help. Didn't want anyone to see her vulnerable. As a result, she got stuck in a very bad situation. I've been in one or two bad situations in my life, and I wouldn't wish something like that on my worst enemy. Well, maybe my worst enemy, but I digress.
This person decided enough was enough. She picked up her whole life, packed it into three pieces of luggage, and got on a bus. She'd never been on a bus before. Never been outside of an XYZ radius of her home before. And with nothing but three bags, a bus ticket, and the sheer grit of a fighter, moved across the country.
"In the clearing stands a boxer,And a fighter by his tradeAnd he carries the remindersOf ev'ry glove that laid him downAnd cut him till he cried outIn his anger and his shame,'I am leaving, I am leaving.'But the fighter still remains..."
I don't think I could do that. I still don't think I could do that. You know, not to make things political, but there's been a lot of talk on Facebook and social media these days about what constitutes "courage." There are people who would like you to believe that only a man being shot at in a war is capable of courage. And that is a kind of courage, and a tough kind of courage, and a very cinematic kind of courage, and the kind that lends itself to being used as an example.
But as a man who's been shot at in a war, I'm here to tell you that sometimes courage isn't sexy. Sometimes it doesn't lend itself to being made into a movie starring John Wayne. Sometimes the struggle is completely invisible. Sometimes it's just waking up in the morning, or putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it's a drama that doesn't seem like a big deal when you're on the outside of it. Sometimes it's just being who you are. And sometimes it's discovering where you belong. And for that I admire my friend and anyone who can be courageous in that way. That's a courage I don't have. Here's to you!
Two fight songs in one post? Yeah, that's right. You got two fight songs in one post.
I can still recall with crystal clarity lying flat on my back in full gear when a battle buddy reached out a hand to help me up. My natural instinct was to roll over, force myself to my knees, and find my way up from there without anybody's help. But I took his hand - a literal helping hand - and was on my feet in an instant. It always stuck in my memory because, though tiny, it was quite symbolic for me.
Let me tell you a story about a person I admire. I don't often do this - in fact, I'm not certain I've ever done this - but I thought it might not be a terrible idea. A sort of an anonymous PROFILES IN COURAGE entry, if you will.
This person was (I believe) a lot like me. Refused to take help. Didn't want anyone to see her vulnerable. As a result, she got stuck in a very bad situation. I've been in one or two bad situations in my life, and I wouldn't wish something like that on my worst enemy. Well, maybe my worst enemy, but I digress.
This person decided enough was enough. She picked up her whole life, packed it into three pieces of luggage, and got on a bus. She'd never been on a bus before. Never been outside of an XYZ radius of her home before. And with nothing but three bags, a bus ticket, and the sheer grit of a fighter, moved across the country.
"In the clearing stands a boxer,And a fighter by his tradeAnd he carries the remindersOf ev'ry glove that laid him downAnd cut him till he cried outIn his anger and his shame,'I am leaving, I am leaving.'But the fighter still remains..."
I don't think I could do that. I still don't think I could do that. You know, not to make things political, but there's been a lot of talk on Facebook and social media these days about what constitutes "courage." There are people who would like you to believe that only a man being shot at in a war is capable of courage. And that is a kind of courage, and a tough kind of courage, and a very cinematic kind of courage, and the kind that lends itself to being used as an example.
But as a man who's been shot at in a war, I'm here to tell you that sometimes courage isn't sexy. Sometimes it doesn't lend itself to being made into a movie starring John Wayne. Sometimes the struggle is completely invisible. Sometimes it's just waking up in the morning, or putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it's a drama that doesn't seem like a big deal when you're on the outside of it. Sometimes it's just being who you are. And sometimes it's discovering where you belong. And for that I admire my friend and anyone who can be courageous in that way. That's a courage I don't have. Here's to you!
Two fight songs in one post? Yeah, that's right. You got two fight songs in one post.
July 24, 2015
Five Concerns While Writing MIDNIGHT BURNING (Interview With Karissa Laurel, Author of MIDNIGHT BURNING)
Happy Friday, everybody! Today we have a very special present for you, a visit from our good friend Karissa Laurel! (Editor's Note: the statements of the owner and proprietor of Manuscripts Burn do not necessarily reflect the views of Manuscripts Burn.) Let's meet the author and then jump right into her post!
About Karissa Laurel:
Karissa lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky. Some of her favorite things are coffee, chocolate, and super heroes. She can quote Princess Bride verbatim. She loves to read and has a sweet tooth for fantasy, sci-fi, and anything in between.
Sometimes her husband convinces her to put down the books and take the motorcycles out for a spin. When it snows, you’ll find her on the slopes.
Karissa also crafts, paints, draws, and harbors a grand delusion that she might create a graphic novel someday.
You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and her blog.
Guest Post
1: Avoiding the Mary Sue.
Simply put, a Mary Sue is a character the author identifies with so strongly that the story is distorted by it. Another way to say it is that a Mary Sue is an idealized character, often but not necessarily a case of the author inserting himself/herself into the story, and/or wish-fulfillment.
If you research the Mary Sue topic, you start to wonder if it’s possible to write a character who doesn’t fall into some Mary Sue sub-category. It’s a long rabbit hole with no bottom and spending too much time dwelling on it means never finding the courage to write a single word. I wrestled a lot with whether or not Solina was simply an extension of myself, fulfilling some innate wish for adventure and magic. In defense of Mary Sues, to some extent all characters and stories are wish fulfillments, aren’t they? If writer’s had no wishes, would there be any stories?
The key, I think, is subtlety and balance, and that comes with practice, repeated trials and failures, learning from mistakes, reading a lot of other people’s writing, and listening to beta readers and editors. Solina was developed in layers, improving in each draft and revision of the story. Sometimes I tweaked, sometimes I performed major surgery, always trying to get her right. She’s probably still not perfectly written, but it’s a goal I always work towards.
2: Giving My Main Character Agency.
One of my favorite blogs is Terribleminds, written by Chuck Wendig. I credit him for introducing me to the concept of character agency. It’s something, as reader, I was probably aware of on a subconscious level, but he was the first to point it out in a way I really understood. His blog post titled, How “Strong Female Characters” Still End Up Weak And Powerless (Or, “Do They Pass The Action Figure Test?”) made me aware of considerations I needed to make, and probably hadn’t been making, when it came to empowering Solina to be a true Main Character.
Wendig says agency is a character’s power to make decisions (i.e. “choices”) that affect the direction of the story. In my own words, it means putting my character behind the wheel and making them do the driving. In the early drafts of MIDNIGHT BURNING, Solina was a lot more passive. Often things happened to her without her say, and she trundled along behind the plot or the other characters like a dutiful caboose. Instead of acting, she was frequently reacting. Over the course of many revisions Solina crept forward and eventually took control of the engine, and the story is so much better because of it.
3: Passing the “Bechdel Test”
My career, both as a writer and in my “day job” has depended a lot on the coaching, mentorship, and teamwork of other women. Portraying positive female relationships (as opposed to “catty” women fighting over a man) was an important feature I wanted to include in this book.
Passing the Bechdel test means having at least two female characters; who talk to each other; about something other than a man. Solina wouldn’t have lasted long without her loyal friend, Skyla Ramirez, an ex-marine. These two women make a pretty unstoppable duo. I won’t say Solina and Skyla never discuss the male characters in the book (sometimes in romantic terms, even), but they are primarily focused on achieving their goal, and their goal is to find whoever killed Solina’s brother and bring that person to justice. I think I can safely say the majority of the interactions between Skyla and Solina exist for that purpose.
4: Respecting the Mythology
World building is so much more than creating imaginary, magical lands in long ago or faraway places. It is not simply a collection of maps and geography. At its heart, world building is the establishment of rigorous rules and parameters that the plot and characters will interface with throughout a story. The more consistently these rules are applied and enforced, the better the story as a whole. Plot holes often result from not respecting those rules, and if not plot holes, then angry readers who don’t appreciate convenient rule-breaking to get around plot problems.
The world I built in MIDNIGHT BURNING relies a lot on Norse mythology. A reader does not have to know the mythology to follow along with or enjoy the story, but for me it was the basis of the law, the rules, the parameters by which I built the world Solina lived in. As much as I possibly could, I stuck to the original myths and tried not to take too many liberties or broad interpretations. When I faced plot problems, I went back to the myths to look for solutions.
I will admit, however, that sometimes the myths were vague, and in those instances, I used them in the way that benefited my story. Once it was written in, though, I tried my best to never change it.
5: Handling Male and Female Relationships
As I said before, the way Solina interacted with Skyla was important to me. Almost as important was how Solina interacted with the two main male characters, Val and Thorin, and how they interacted with her. Okay, yes, the men are both two sides of an Alpha Male coin, but I wanted to avoid overtly negative male and female interactions, unless it was strongly supported by character and plot. And most of the time, I found that plot and character rarely supported it.
Specifically, I wanted MIDNIGHT BURNING to shun sensational violence, especially sexual violence, perpetrated by men against women. And by sensational I mean violence used only to manipulate a reader’s emotions. I also wanted to have Solina’s interaction with her male counterparts, over time, reach a level of mutual equality, if not respect. They may not always get along or agree, but they’ll face each other as equals as often as possible.
I want to say more about how male and female relationships develop as Solina’s story progresses (and as this series progresses in forthcoming books) but I don’t know how to do it without spoilers. There will be a lot of growing and changing and evolving. But if you want to know what influences my thoughts on this issue, see Kameron Hurley’s WE HAVE ALWAYS FOUGHT which changed a lot about how I perceive and write women characters.
I know I haven’t gotten it all exactly right, but writing is a living, breathing, changing pursuit. I hope to continually improve and progress. I expect to never stop trying to be better.
About MIDNIGHT BURNING:
Solina Mundy lives a quiet life, running the family bakery in her small North Carolina hometown. But one night, she suffers a vivid nightmare in which a wolfish beast is devouring her twin brother, who lives in Alaska. The next morning, police notify her that Mani is dead. Driven to learn the truth, Solina heads for the Land of the Midnight Sun. Once there, she begins to suspect Mani’s friends know more about his death than they’ve let on. Skyla, an ex-Marine, is the only one willing to help her.
As Solina and Skyla delve into the mystery surrounding Mani’s death, Solina is stunned to learn that her own life is tied to Mani’s friends, his death, and the fate of the entire world. If she can’t learn to control her newfound gifts and keep her friends safe, a long-lost dominion over mortals will rise again, and everything she knows will fall into darkness.
Purchase it now on the publisher's website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, kobo, or the iBookstore! And make sure to tell your friends about it on Goodreads!
About Karissa Laurel:
Karissa lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky. Some of her favorite things are coffee, chocolate, and super heroes. She can quote Princess Bride verbatim. She loves to read and has a sweet tooth for fantasy, sci-fi, and anything in between.
Sometimes her husband convinces her to put down the books and take the motorcycles out for a spin. When it snows, you’ll find her on the slopes.
Karissa also crafts, paints, draws, and harbors a grand delusion that she might create a graphic novel someday.
You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and her blog.
Guest Post
1: Avoiding the Mary Sue.
Simply put, a Mary Sue is a character the author identifies with so strongly that the story is distorted by it. Another way to say it is that a Mary Sue is an idealized character, often but not necessarily a case of the author inserting himself/herself into the story, and/or wish-fulfillment.
If you research the Mary Sue topic, you start to wonder if it’s possible to write a character who doesn’t fall into some Mary Sue sub-category. It’s a long rabbit hole with no bottom and spending too much time dwelling on it means never finding the courage to write a single word. I wrestled a lot with whether or not Solina was simply an extension of myself, fulfilling some innate wish for adventure and magic. In defense of Mary Sues, to some extent all characters and stories are wish fulfillments, aren’t they? If writer’s had no wishes, would there be any stories?
The key, I think, is subtlety and balance, and that comes with practice, repeated trials and failures, learning from mistakes, reading a lot of other people’s writing, and listening to beta readers and editors. Solina was developed in layers, improving in each draft and revision of the story. Sometimes I tweaked, sometimes I performed major surgery, always trying to get her right. She’s probably still not perfectly written, but it’s a goal I always work towards.
2: Giving My Main Character Agency.
One of my favorite blogs is Terribleminds, written by Chuck Wendig. I credit him for introducing me to the concept of character agency. It’s something, as reader, I was probably aware of on a subconscious level, but he was the first to point it out in a way I really understood. His blog post titled, How “Strong Female Characters” Still End Up Weak And Powerless (Or, “Do They Pass The Action Figure Test?”) made me aware of considerations I needed to make, and probably hadn’t been making, when it came to empowering Solina to be a true Main Character.
Wendig says agency is a character’s power to make decisions (i.e. “choices”) that affect the direction of the story. In my own words, it means putting my character behind the wheel and making them do the driving. In the early drafts of MIDNIGHT BURNING, Solina was a lot more passive. Often things happened to her without her say, and she trundled along behind the plot or the other characters like a dutiful caboose. Instead of acting, she was frequently reacting. Over the course of many revisions Solina crept forward and eventually took control of the engine, and the story is so much better because of it.
3: Passing the “Bechdel Test”
My career, both as a writer and in my “day job” has depended a lot on the coaching, mentorship, and teamwork of other women. Portraying positive female relationships (as opposed to “catty” women fighting over a man) was an important feature I wanted to include in this book.
Passing the Bechdel test means having at least two female characters; who talk to each other; about something other than a man. Solina wouldn’t have lasted long without her loyal friend, Skyla Ramirez, an ex-marine. These two women make a pretty unstoppable duo. I won’t say Solina and Skyla never discuss the male characters in the book (sometimes in romantic terms, even), but they are primarily focused on achieving their goal, and their goal is to find whoever killed Solina’s brother and bring that person to justice. I think I can safely say the majority of the interactions between Skyla and Solina exist for that purpose.
4: Respecting the Mythology
World building is so much more than creating imaginary, magical lands in long ago or faraway places. It is not simply a collection of maps and geography. At its heart, world building is the establishment of rigorous rules and parameters that the plot and characters will interface with throughout a story. The more consistently these rules are applied and enforced, the better the story as a whole. Plot holes often result from not respecting those rules, and if not plot holes, then angry readers who don’t appreciate convenient rule-breaking to get around plot problems.
The world I built in MIDNIGHT BURNING relies a lot on Norse mythology. A reader does not have to know the mythology to follow along with or enjoy the story, but for me it was the basis of the law, the rules, the parameters by which I built the world Solina lived in. As much as I possibly could, I stuck to the original myths and tried not to take too many liberties or broad interpretations. When I faced plot problems, I went back to the myths to look for solutions.
I will admit, however, that sometimes the myths were vague, and in those instances, I used them in the way that benefited my story. Once it was written in, though, I tried my best to never change it.
5: Handling Male and Female Relationships
As I said before, the way Solina interacted with Skyla was important to me. Almost as important was how Solina interacted with the two main male characters, Val and Thorin, and how they interacted with her. Okay, yes, the men are both two sides of an Alpha Male coin, but I wanted to avoid overtly negative male and female interactions, unless it was strongly supported by character and plot. And most of the time, I found that plot and character rarely supported it.
Specifically, I wanted MIDNIGHT BURNING to shun sensational violence, especially sexual violence, perpetrated by men against women. And by sensational I mean violence used only to manipulate a reader’s emotions. I also wanted to have Solina’s interaction with her male counterparts, over time, reach a level of mutual equality, if not respect. They may not always get along or agree, but they’ll face each other as equals as often as possible.
I want to say more about how male and female relationships develop as Solina’s story progresses (and as this series progresses in forthcoming books) but I don’t know how to do it without spoilers. There will be a lot of growing and changing and evolving. But if you want to know what influences my thoughts on this issue, see Kameron Hurley’s WE HAVE ALWAYS FOUGHT which changed a lot about how I perceive and write women characters.
I know I haven’t gotten it all exactly right, but writing is a living, breathing, changing pursuit. I hope to continually improve and progress. I expect to never stop trying to be better.
About MIDNIGHT BURNING:
Solina Mundy lives a quiet life, running the family bakery in her small North Carolina hometown. But one night, she suffers a vivid nightmare in which a wolfish beast is devouring her twin brother, who lives in Alaska. The next morning, police notify her that Mani is dead. Driven to learn the truth, Solina heads for the Land of the Midnight Sun. Once there, she begins to suspect Mani’s friends know more about his death than they’ve let on. Skyla, an ex-Marine, is the only one willing to help her.
As Solina and Skyla delve into the mystery surrounding Mani’s death, Solina is stunned to learn that her own life is tied to Mani’s friends, his death, and the fate of the entire world. If she can’t learn to control her newfound gifts and keep her friends safe, a long-lost dominion over mortals will rise again, and everything she knows will fall into darkness.
Purchase it now on the publisher's website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, kobo, or the iBookstore! And make sure to tell your friends about it on Goodreads!
July 22, 2015
"Y" is for "Yes, I Almost Just Blew It"
You ever almost blow it?
You ever make it 24/26 of the way into something and then almost completely drop the ball?
I got nothing for you today. I got nothing, so I'm going to see if I can blather on about nothing for 500 words. If that's the kind of thing you come to my blog for, then God have mercy on your soul. If it's not, then I suggest you check out this video of a tuba player trolling the Klan.
Wasn't that great? I'm about 95% certain you checked out the video whether you kept reading or not. So, yeah. I got a good laugh out of that today. I almost couldn't stop laughing even when they kept doing it over and over again.
Yeah. So. Here's the deal.
I don't know how much I've ever actually sat down and talked about this challenge. Seven months ago (!) our good friend Tonia Brown proposed the 26-Week Blog Challenge. I'm pretty sure I had already declared 2015 the Year of Interviewing Dangerously. At that point I realized that bringing both on board would be a great opportunity to keep myself on track for blogging this year.
The first year I blogged, I posted every day.
Let me repeat that:
Every.
Day.
Seven days a week. Now, at that point (2009) I was still "burning" manuscripts, which some of my newer followers may not even remember. Every author has "trunked" manuscripts, that is to say, manuscripts which should never see the light of day or are in some other way unpublishable, and end up in the trunk at the foot of their beds. (Well, you know, back in the days when manuscripts were physical things instead of files on their computers.)
So I was posting a few of my trunked manuscripts, and since I had so much material to work with, I had no issue posting daily. I could even throw in multimedia days and a few other things, you know, like a regular blogger, and add a little bread to my meatloaf that way.
By 2011 things had fallen off. 2011 was my worst year for blogging, just as 2009 was my best year. And really I think the best schedule for blogging is three times a week.
So now in 2015 I'm trying to make it stick. We've got a bunch of upcoming releases this year, so those will make for ready-made posts. And even though the 26-Week Blog Challenge is coming to an end, I still intend to keep up posting on Wednesdays.
But I almost didn't today. I almost dropped the ball. It's nearly 10:30 at night. And my normal blogging schedule is for noon. I've just been stressed as hell this week. But I'm doing it. I'm struggling through. I'm going to get there.
You know who I really admire, though? I admire you. For somehow getting through this. You made it. I think we're almost up to 500 words. That was one of the limitations of the 26 Week Blog Challenge limitations. I don't think I mentioned that. But hooray! You made it through with me. There. We did it. A few sentences ago. Now get off of my lawn. One more to go.
You ever make it 24/26 of the way into something and then almost completely drop the ball?
I got nothing for you today. I got nothing, so I'm going to see if I can blather on about nothing for 500 words. If that's the kind of thing you come to my blog for, then God have mercy on your soul. If it's not, then I suggest you check out this video of a tuba player trolling the Klan.
Wasn't that great? I'm about 95% certain you checked out the video whether you kept reading or not. So, yeah. I got a good laugh out of that today. I almost couldn't stop laughing even when they kept doing it over and over again.
Yeah. So. Here's the deal.
I don't know how much I've ever actually sat down and talked about this challenge. Seven months ago (!) our good friend Tonia Brown proposed the 26-Week Blog Challenge. I'm pretty sure I had already declared 2015 the Year of Interviewing Dangerously. At that point I realized that bringing both on board would be a great opportunity to keep myself on track for blogging this year.
The first year I blogged, I posted every day.
Let me repeat that:
Every.
Day.
Seven days a week. Now, at that point (2009) I was still "burning" manuscripts, which some of my newer followers may not even remember. Every author has "trunked" manuscripts, that is to say, manuscripts which should never see the light of day or are in some other way unpublishable, and end up in the trunk at the foot of their beds. (Well, you know, back in the days when manuscripts were physical things instead of files on their computers.)
So I was posting a few of my trunked manuscripts, and since I had so much material to work with, I had no issue posting daily. I could even throw in multimedia days and a few other things, you know, like a regular blogger, and add a little bread to my meatloaf that way.
By 2011 things had fallen off. 2011 was my worst year for blogging, just as 2009 was my best year. And really I think the best schedule for blogging is three times a week.
So now in 2015 I'm trying to make it stick. We've got a bunch of upcoming releases this year, so those will make for ready-made posts. And even though the 26-Week Blog Challenge is coming to an end, I still intend to keep up posting on Wednesdays.
But I almost didn't today. I almost dropped the ball. It's nearly 10:30 at night. And my normal blogging schedule is for noon. I've just been stressed as hell this week. But I'm doing it. I'm struggling through. I'm going to get there.
You know who I really admire, though? I admire you. For somehow getting through this. You made it. I think we're almost up to 500 words. That was one of the limitations of the 26 Week Blog Challenge limitations. I don't think I mentioned that. But hooray! You made it through with me. There. We did it. A few sentences ago. Now get off of my lawn. One more to go.
July 20, 2015
The Fable of the Fish and the Rabbits
Once upon a time there were ninety fish. The fish caught wind of a fine glass enclosure which they wanted to live in instead of the ocean.
As the fish were crossing the dry land they came across ten rabbits. They decided the rabbits would be useful in doing work around their new home. So they rounded up the rabbits and took them with them.
When the hundred animals reached their new home, they found it empty.
"It's beautiful," said the fish, "But we should fill it with seawater so we can be comfortable."
"We'd rather it stayed dry so we can be comfortable," said the rabbits.
But there were ninety fish and only ten rabbits, so the fish got their way. To add insult to injury, they even made the rabbits do the bulk of the work filling up the glass enclosure with seawater so that it would be more comfortable for the fish.
The rabbits had to find a way to live in their new home, so they paddled away, forever exhausting themselves just to stay afloat. They had to compete with the fish for the same food the fish ate, but of course a rabbit learning to dive is no match for a fish born to the water, so the rabbits had great trouble getting enough food. The rabbits were constantly struggling and barely scraping by.
The fish, by contrast, were having a delightful time of it. As they had suspected, the glass enclosure (now an aquarium) was a infinitely superior to the ocean. They had no trouble finding food, and frolicked about all day. You see, the fish were totally unaware of the water they were swimming in, and the advantages it gave them, and the disadvantages it gave the rabbits.
Over time things grew gradually better for the rabbits. They adapted, such as they could. Their legs became fin-like. They began to breathe through blowholes. The rabbits became dolphin-like creatures, better adapted to a life in the water. At that point, the fish no longer even acknowledged the issues of the rabbits.
When the rabbits would complain that they breathed air, not water, the fish would shrug and pretend like it wasn't an issue. After all, they breathed water. And if living in a watery environment put the rabbits at a disadvantage, well, they would just have to be the ones to continue adapting. The fish couldn't even see the water that they breathed, and that it drowned others.
And how does the fable end? Well, I hope. I hope the fish stop denying that they live in water. I hope the aquarium becomes a better place for the rabbits. But I can't be sure. We're writing the ending now.
As the fish were crossing the dry land they came across ten rabbits. They decided the rabbits would be useful in doing work around their new home. So they rounded up the rabbits and took them with them.
When the hundred animals reached their new home, they found it empty.
"It's beautiful," said the fish, "But we should fill it with seawater so we can be comfortable."
"We'd rather it stayed dry so we can be comfortable," said the rabbits.
But there were ninety fish and only ten rabbits, so the fish got their way. To add insult to injury, they even made the rabbits do the bulk of the work filling up the glass enclosure with seawater so that it would be more comfortable for the fish.
The rabbits had to find a way to live in their new home, so they paddled away, forever exhausting themselves just to stay afloat. They had to compete with the fish for the same food the fish ate, but of course a rabbit learning to dive is no match for a fish born to the water, so the rabbits had great trouble getting enough food. The rabbits were constantly struggling and barely scraping by.
The fish, by contrast, were having a delightful time of it. As they had suspected, the glass enclosure (now an aquarium) was a infinitely superior to the ocean. They had no trouble finding food, and frolicked about all day. You see, the fish were totally unaware of the water they were swimming in, and the advantages it gave them, and the disadvantages it gave the rabbits.
Over time things grew gradually better for the rabbits. They adapted, such as they could. Their legs became fin-like. They began to breathe through blowholes. The rabbits became dolphin-like creatures, better adapted to a life in the water. At that point, the fish no longer even acknowledged the issues of the rabbits.
When the rabbits would complain that they breathed air, not water, the fish would shrug and pretend like it wasn't an issue. After all, they breathed water. And if living in a watery environment put the rabbits at a disadvantage, well, they would just have to be the ones to continue adapting. The fish couldn't even see the water that they breathed, and that it drowned others.
And how does the fable end? Well, I hope. I hope the fish stop denying that they live in water. I hope the aquarium becomes a better place for the rabbits. But I can't be sure. We're writing the ending now.
July 17, 2015
I Appear on Zombiepalooza Radio!
Zombiepalooza is one of my interview stalwarts. I think this may be my fourth time on the podcast, although the first on their new YouTube format. There was a lot of love for a lot of my favorite people this week including:
Steve Rimpici
Zee Risek
Sylvia Bagaglio
Renee Conoulty
Nikki Howard
Brian Keene
And unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, my long pitch on RPGlory was lost to the aether, but make sure you go and check them out anyway!
July 15, 2015
"X" is for "X-Chromosome"
I don't speak to my mother.
It's been about four years since we last spoke. There are times I feel bad about our estrangement in a philosophical sense, but I wouldn't say I've ever felt bad because of it. My stated purpose (to myself) was to cut the poison out of my life.
I don't speak about this. Not in public. Rarely in private. I've alluded to it to some of my closer friends. My wife and my sister know the real story. Aside from that, it's generally too painful to even delve into. And it's not acceptable in society at large for a son to have issues with his mother.
I don't particularly feel like talking about it now. But I read this sloppy, sophomoric article.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion. A lot of opinions are just shit. And this is a shitty, shitty opinion piece.
If you haven't got the time or inclination to read it, I'll summarize it here:
Baby Boomers are awesome.
Our (as in, my) generation is a cantankerous gang of vainglorious narcissists.
If a child cuts off a parent, it's because the child is wrong, not the parent.
If you think I'm exaggerating...well, then read the fucking article. I'm really not.
I am not trained or even particularly well-read in psychology. Nor am I really qualified to give anyone advice unless their goal is to be a thirty-something civil servant with middling life skills. But I can assure you of this:
If both of your adult children, independently, have cut you off, you are the problem.
I haven't noticed my generation to be particularly narcissistic. If anything, I'd say we're hyper-aware of the power nostalgia holds over us, something I don't think our parents' generation has ever gotten over. (There's a whole boatload of Baby Boomers who seem to get furious at the suggestion that teenagers don't know all about the '60s. But ask them about modern pop culture and they'll say it's all shit.) But this is more just my snark defense than anything else. Painting millions of people with the same brush is a largely masturbatory exercise.
I'd rather just paint Elizabeth Vagnoni, the author of this article, with a brush. I have a whole lot of feelings about her. But I won't. I suspect her pain is genuine. Hell, I suspect her bafflement is genuine. No one likes to look at their own behavior and find fault. No one especially wants to look at eighteen years of childrearing and find fault.
But the fault is hers. If you're reading this, Elizabeth, I'd recommend you conduct what they call a "fearless moral inventory" in AA (which, incidentally, is usually followed by making amends.) And I don't bring up AA to accuse you of alcoholism, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if that was involved in your troubles somehow.
The greatest hurdle I usually find in addressing this issue is that it is one of the last great taboos. You don't even realize it's a taboo until you find yourself estranged from your mother. But mothers are sacred. Mothers are beloved. Mothers are saints and perfect and gave up everything for you, including their bodies, and you ought to get down on your hands and knees and kiss the ground that they walk on, as far as society is concerned.
And I've known mothers, plenty of mothers, hell, most mothers who deserved all of that treatment and more. I could rattle off a few now, but you don't know any of them. Just think of your own mother. She's probably pretty goddamned great.
Some of us, though, not so much. And society is not very accepting of the idea that a mother can be bad. So unaccepting, in fact, is society of that very concept, that Elizabeth Vagnoni is totally unable to even comprehend that she might have done something wrong. Surely, it was the narcissism of the younger generation which caused two grown adults to sever ties with her, and not anything she may have done.
Nope. Not so. There's such a thing as a bad mother. And I don't just mean a sneering, mustache-twirling villain like Cersei Lannister. They can be just as scary as Cersei Lannister when you're in their absolute power. Most mothers hold that absolute power over their children with aplomb, and dignity, and love, and affection.
But not all.
It's been about four years since we last spoke. There are times I feel bad about our estrangement in a philosophical sense, but I wouldn't say I've ever felt bad because of it. My stated purpose (to myself) was to cut the poison out of my life.
I don't speak about this. Not in public. Rarely in private. I've alluded to it to some of my closer friends. My wife and my sister know the real story. Aside from that, it's generally too painful to even delve into. And it's not acceptable in society at large for a son to have issues with his mother.
I don't particularly feel like talking about it now. But I read this sloppy, sophomoric article.
Everyone's entitled to their opinion. A lot of opinions are just shit. And this is a shitty, shitty opinion piece.
If you haven't got the time or inclination to read it, I'll summarize it here:
Baby Boomers are awesome.
Our (as in, my) generation is a cantankerous gang of vainglorious narcissists.
If a child cuts off a parent, it's because the child is wrong, not the parent.
If you think I'm exaggerating...well, then read the fucking article. I'm really not.
I am not trained or even particularly well-read in psychology. Nor am I really qualified to give anyone advice unless their goal is to be a thirty-something civil servant with middling life skills. But I can assure you of this:
If both of your adult children, independently, have cut you off, you are the problem.
I haven't noticed my generation to be particularly narcissistic. If anything, I'd say we're hyper-aware of the power nostalgia holds over us, something I don't think our parents' generation has ever gotten over. (There's a whole boatload of Baby Boomers who seem to get furious at the suggestion that teenagers don't know all about the '60s. But ask them about modern pop culture and they'll say it's all shit.) But this is more just my snark defense than anything else. Painting millions of people with the same brush is a largely masturbatory exercise.
I'd rather just paint Elizabeth Vagnoni, the author of this article, with a brush. I have a whole lot of feelings about her. But I won't. I suspect her pain is genuine. Hell, I suspect her bafflement is genuine. No one likes to look at their own behavior and find fault. No one especially wants to look at eighteen years of childrearing and find fault.
But the fault is hers. If you're reading this, Elizabeth, I'd recommend you conduct what they call a "fearless moral inventory" in AA (which, incidentally, is usually followed by making amends.) And I don't bring up AA to accuse you of alcoholism, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if that was involved in your troubles somehow.
The greatest hurdle I usually find in addressing this issue is that it is one of the last great taboos. You don't even realize it's a taboo until you find yourself estranged from your mother. But mothers are sacred. Mothers are beloved. Mothers are saints and perfect and gave up everything for you, including their bodies, and you ought to get down on your hands and knees and kiss the ground that they walk on, as far as society is concerned.
And I've known mothers, plenty of mothers, hell, most mothers who deserved all of that treatment and more. I could rattle off a few now, but you don't know any of them. Just think of your own mother. She's probably pretty goddamned great.
Some of us, though, not so much. And society is not very accepting of the idea that a mother can be bad. So unaccepting, in fact, is society of that very concept, that Elizabeth Vagnoni is totally unable to even comprehend that she might have done something wrong. Surely, it was the narcissism of the younger generation which caused two grown adults to sever ties with her, and not anything she may have done.
Nope. Not so. There's such a thing as a bad mother. And I don't just mean a sneering, mustache-twirling villain like Cersei Lannister. They can be just as scary as Cersei Lannister when you're in their absolute power. Most mothers hold that absolute power over their children with aplomb, and dignity, and love, and affection.
But not all.
July 13, 2015
Identity is What We Share and What We Hide (Guest Post from Jay Wilburn, author of THE DEAD SONG LEGEND)
Hey there, flayed corpse lovers! I know we bounce around in focus here on the blog quite a bit, but today, we are getting back to motherfucking basics with a guest post from a zombie author I've admired for quite some time: the one, the only, Mr. Jaaaaaaaaaay Leno! I mean Wilburn.
Jay has come to us today with a new book and a new album. Let's meet the man and then jump right into the post.
About Jay Wilburn:
Jay Wilburn lives with his wife and two sons in Conway, South Carolina near the Atlantic coast of the southern United States. He taught public school for sixteen years before becoming a full time writer. He is the author of the Dead Song Legend Dodecology and the music of the five song soundtrack recorded as if by the characters within the world of the novel The Sound May Suffer. Follow his many dark thoughts on Twitter @AmongTheZombies, his Facebook author page, and at JayWilburn.com.
Guest Post:
I created a novel series that involved characters traveling back and forth across the apocalyptic, zombie infested landscape of America to gather recordings of the music of the various disparate groups of survivors thrown together and forced to survive together. The novels involved stage names, drag queens, roving gangs, and gay lead characters. I was then challenged to sum up the story in a sentence. It was a request unrelated to these particular novels, but the idea was that if you couldn’t boil the story down to one sentence then you might not truly know what it is about. It might have subtext, subplots, and multiple themes, but if a writer cannot see through all of that to the core of the novel, he or she may be too lost in those extra elements to see the real story. A paragraph summary is an action recap and can begin to sound like a five-year-old recounting his day to his parents in a rambling stream of consciousness regurgitation of events. The idea is that you have to know that single core sentence that gives the key heart of the story or none of that summary has any meaningful focus. It is a point that may be argued, but it is an approach that helped me see why stories that I write matter to be told and then to keep those stories focused. For the Dead Song Legend, I came up with “Identity is what we show people about ourselves, but it is also what we try to hide from them.”
The characters in the story withhold their true names each for his or her own reasons. This plays into who they are and who they are trying to be. The two most important characters are gay men. They have that in common, but not a lot else. Each has dealt with this aspect of identity before and after the apocalypse. One of the two is African American and the story explores how the apocalypse causes some people to leave behind prejudice as unimportant baggage for the needs of survival while others have their hatred laid bare by the stripping away of social guidelines and courtesy. One character goes by multiple names and even performs in drag along a circuit of clubs that continue to put on shows for survivors starved for entertainment.
Music plays a major role in the story. We even recorded some music as if live from the world of the novels to help tell the story. The mash-ups from the world of Dead Song are the result of groups of survivors that would not normally build a community together being thrust together by the terrors of the apocalypse and forced to do so for their survival. As their musical styles blend, they form a new group identity that represents all of them together expressed through the new, invented style. The production of music also represents people seeking to do more with their lives than just survive. It is the expression of hope and faith that one day they will be able to rebuild and reclaim life together. Afterward though, they will not be the same people or the same nation they were before. Their collective experiences will change who they are.
As the stories progress, readers will learn more about the characters and their pasts. These details will have an impact on their individual futures, but the destiny of the entire nation and world too.
The Dead Song Legend tells the story of Tiny Jones. He will be a legend in the Recovery Era, but the truth behind his story is far more complicated than even the outrageous stories about his life could tell. The novels of the series unfold that truth behind the legend revealing who Tiny really was and why that mattered.
All of us are complex and full of contradictions. This is what makes us so frustrating to each other and so interesting in fiction. The crux of these complexities is that we show people what we want them to see. Sometimes that show is untrue or only partially true. Sometimes it is mixed in with the pieces of our personality that slip out at times we wish they would not. Who we are is also made of those parts that we hide. Sometimes we are able to hide them for a long time. Sometimes we are found out. Often, we are afraid to let people see those deeper, darker aspects of our person. All of these things are part of our identity and I hope I captured some of that with my characters in Dead Song.
About THE DEAD SONG LEGEND
In a world where Twilight has the balls to call itself a ‘saga’, I think it's time to take a step away from that word. I go to a book store and see a book proclaiming to be the first in a dodecology, I'm gonna buy that book just cuz the author decided to throw down that gauntlet from the start.—Indy McDaniel, author of Nady’s Nights: Road to Vengence
Truth is lost in legends and legends grow over time. They grow because we need them to be bigger and we need them to explain the things we fear. We write them for ourselves and for our world. The Dead Song Legend of Tiny “Mud Music” Jones has captured the imagination of everyone that survived the apocalypse even as he captured the music of the survivors and the music that helped us all to survive.—B.B. Tarmancula, Dead World Memorial Dedication.
About "The Sound May Suffer"
All songs recorded live during the zombie apocalypse by music collector Tiny “mud music” Jones. The sound may suffer.
Track Listings
1. Amazing Circle of Suffering
2. Don't Make Me Repeat It
3. Last Lullaby of the Wind
4. Replay the Life Incomplete
5. Undead Dinner Bell
Jay has come to us today with a new book and a new album. Let's meet the man and then jump right into the post.
About Jay Wilburn:
Jay Wilburn lives with his wife and two sons in Conway, South Carolina near the Atlantic coast of the southern United States. He taught public school for sixteen years before becoming a full time writer. He is the author of the Dead Song Legend Dodecology and the music of the five song soundtrack recorded as if by the characters within the world of the novel The Sound May Suffer. Follow his many dark thoughts on Twitter @AmongTheZombies, his Facebook author page, and at JayWilburn.com.
Guest Post:
I created a novel series that involved characters traveling back and forth across the apocalyptic, zombie infested landscape of America to gather recordings of the music of the various disparate groups of survivors thrown together and forced to survive together. The novels involved stage names, drag queens, roving gangs, and gay lead characters. I was then challenged to sum up the story in a sentence. It was a request unrelated to these particular novels, but the idea was that if you couldn’t boil the story down to one sentence then you might not truly know what it is about. It might have subtext, subplots, and multiple themes, but if a writer cannot see through all of that to the core of the novel, he or she may be too lost in those extra elements to see the real story. A paragraph summary is an action recap and can begin to sound like a five-year-old recounting his day to his parents in a rambling stream of consciousness regurgitation of events. The idea is that you have to know that single core sentence that gives the key heart of the story or none of that summary has any meaningful focus. It is a point that may be argued, but it is an approach that helped me see why stories that I write matter to be told and then to keep those stories focused. For the Dead Song Legend, I came up with “Identity is what we show people about ourselves, but it is also what we try to hide from them.”
The characters in the story withhold their true names each for his or her own reasons. This plays into who they are and who they are trying to be. The two most important characters are gay men. They have that in common, but not a lot else. Each has dealt with this aspect of identity before and after the apocalypse. One of the two is African American and the story explores how the apocalypse causes some people to leave behind prejudice as unimportant baggage for the needs of survival while others have their hatred laid bare by the stripping away of social guidelines and courtesy. One character goes by multiple names and even performs in drag along a circuit of clubs that continue to put on shows for survivors starved for entertainment.
Music plays a major role in the story. We even recorded some music as if live from the world of the novels to help tell the story. The mash-ups from the world of Dead Song are the result of groups of survivors that would not normally build a community together being thrust together by the terrors of the apocalypse and forced to do so for their survival. As their musical styles blend, they form a new group identity that represents all of them together expressed through the new, invented style. The production of music also represents people seeking to do more with their lives than just survive. It is the expression of hope and faith that one day they will be able to rebuild and reclaim life together. Afterward though, they will not be the same people or the same nation they were before. Their collective experiences will change who they are.
As the stories progress, readers will learn more about the characters and their pasts. These details will have an impact on their individual futures, but the destiny of the entire nation and world too.
The Dead Song Legend tells the story of Tiny Jones. He will be a legend in the Recovery Era, but the truth behind his story is far more complicated than even the outrageous stories about his life could tell. The novels of the series unfold that truth behind the legend revealing who Tiny really was and why that mattered.
All of us are complex and full of contradictions. This is what makes us so frustrating to each other and so interesting in fiction. The crux of these complexities is that we show people what we want them to see. Sometimes that show is untrue or only partially true. Sometimes it is mixed in with the pieces of our personality that slip out at times we wish they would not. Who we are is also made of those parts that we hide. Sometimes we are able to hide them for a long time. Sometimes we are found out. Often, we are afraid to let people see those deeper, darker aspects of our person. All of these things are part of our identity and I hope I captured some of that with my characters in Dead Song.
About THE DEAD SONG LEGEND
In a world where Twilight has the balls to call itself a ‘saga’, I think it's time to take a step away from that word. I go to a book store and see a book proclaiming to be the first in a dodecology, I'm gonna buy that book just cuz the author decided to throw down that gauntlet from the start.—Indy McDaniel, author of Nady’s Nights: Road to Vengence
Truth is lost in legends and legends grow over time. They grow because we need them to be bigger and we need them to explain the things we fear. We write them for ourselves and for our world. The Dead Song Legend of Tiny “Mud Music” Jones has captured the imagination of everyone that survived the apocalypse even as he captured the music of the survivors and the music that helped us all to survive.—B.B. Tarmancula, Dead World Memorial Dedication.
About "The Sound May Suffer"
All songs recorded live during the zombie apocalypse by music collector Tiny “mud music” Jones. The sound may suffer.
Track Listings
1. Amazing Circle of Suffering
2. Don't Make Me Repeat It
3. Last Lullaby of the Wind
4. Replay the Life Incomplete
5. Undead Dinner Bell
