Kyell Gold's Blog, page 4

Get signed books from Sofawolf!

Just a heads up, all! I’m going to be flying out to Sofawolf HQ to sign a bunch of the Waterways Tenth Anniversary hardcover so as per usual there will be a chance for you to get ANY of my books, issues of Heat I’m in, books I’ve edited, etc. signed! If you’ve been holding off on getting print copies of the Out of Position series, the Dangerous Spirits books, In the Doghouse of Justice, the Argaea series, or any of my other Sofawolf titles, keep an eye out for the upcoming announcement from Sofawolf (where you will also be able to pre-order the Waterways hardcover).

Of course, I’ll also be at MFF and you will be able to pick up the Waterways hardcover there if you’re going (or if someone you trust is going).

For signed FurPlanet/Argyll books, it’ll probably be another few months, but when I’m down there for TFF we’ll see if we can’t do a signing event as well.

Interview with Douglas Smith #SFWAStoryBundle

Douglas Smith is the author of “The Wolf at the End of the World,” one of the dozen books included in the SFWA Fantasy Bundle (set your own price!) along with my own “Black Angel.” Let me say up front for my readership that there is a lot in “Wolf” for furries: it’s about a race of First Nation shapeshifters, who also have familiars (of a sort). What’s more, the trickster god Coyote figures prominently in this book (as Wisakejack). He’s very well written, and you can totally imagine him as a coyote throughout. Besides all that, the book is fun and engaging with a social conscience and I would happily recommend it to anyone.

Doug was kind enough to answer a few questions about his book. Read on:

What are you proudest of about “The Wolf at the End of the World”?

I’d say I’m proudest that I finished and published my first novel, especially since it was a book that required so much research. Looking back, I must have been insane to make that sort of book my first.

I write in the afterword to the book of the extensive research I did to make sure I got the Cree and Ojibwe stories, culture, and current challenges correct. I didn’t mind doing the research, because I fell in love with those stories and that culture, and found in them the same core truth that’s the theme of the book and the same vitality that drives the Heroka. But writing about another culture was a constant source of worry, as I wanted to do my very best to get things right and as accurate as possible and to treat that culture with respect.

But the research didn’t end there. I also had to research, among other things, hydroelectric dams, power generation and transmission; impact on animal habitat of logging, mining, and dams; wolves and their behavior; animal rights and activism; forensic DNA sampling, legality, processing procedures, and timing; what DNA evidence could be extracted from a two-week old exhumed corpse of a murder victim; Cree and Ojibwe language; police procedure in a small northern town and on First Nations reservations; the Windigo psychosis; as well as local flora, fauna, geography, weather, and life in a small Northern Ontario town.

What’s one interesting story or fact you discovered that didn’t make it into the book?

I just went back to check my research file. I have fifty-two pages of single-spaced notes on these topics, with references to the original source material. The vast majority of that research did not make it into this book. But I’m planning sequels, so some of that research and especially the other stories will get their chance to appear in one of those.

Something I found fascinating in Ojibwe stories and traditions is what I’d call the “theme of four.” Everything seems to occur in fours: primal elements used in cleansing before a vision quest (water, fire, stone, wind), aspects of physical world (sun, moon, earth, stars), orders of life (earth, plants, animals, man), species of animals (four legged, birds, insects, fish), seasons, directions (each of which is associated with a color), the stages or “hills” of life (infant, youth, adult, elder), stages of vision (preparation, quest, vision, fulfillment), orders of the Midewiwin, number of days of a vision quest, judges of each gender for Midewiwin judging; days that a corpse is left exposed on burial platform to let soul-spirit leave; days a fire is left burning beside death post of deceased; symbol for Kitche Manitou (circle with four projections); sons of Winonah (human mother of Nanabush); number of processions around the Midewigun before a Midewewin ceremony; aspects of health and sections in medicine wheel (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual).

I make reference to this pattern of four in one of the stories that Wisakejack tells Zach, about the four orders of life, but as you can see, there is so much more. I expect to make use of that in future books, as well as more of the stories I couldn’t find a place for.

 

I do recommend that everyone read your Afterword; the amount of work you put into the research is impressive. Is there anything you’ve learned in the years since this book was published that you would like to add or change or simply share with readers?

Nothing that I would change. I continue to be grateful for the response to the book. Unfortunately, I also continue to be surprised by encounters with non-First Nations People who still remain ignorant of the abuses perpetrated on generations of First Nations children in the residential school system. So if I would share something with non-Native readers of THE WOLF, it would be to point them to some resources where they can learn more about the sad and shameful history and legacy of residential schools in Canada. In 2015, the federal Truth and Reconciliation Committee completed its multi-year investigation and hearings, publishing its final report and recommendations. The full reports are available here, as well as a timeline and history of residential schools, together with a set of learning resources for educators and students. Similar abuses took place in the US, and sadly in every country in the world “colonized” by a European power. If you’re unaware of this history, take the time to check out these resources.

 

One of the protagonists of “The Wolf at the End of the World” is blind, which I thought was well portrayed. How did you research blindness to write him?

I didn’t do formal research into blindness, so I’m glad you thought Zach’s situation was well handled. I’ve had blind friends and staff who’ve worked for me in the day job. Our youngest son is physically handicapped, but not blind, and I’ve written a lot of characters with physical challenges.

I’m a character-focused writer, which means I can’t start a story until I “know” my characters. I write scenes with a strictly limited point of view, so when I was writing Zach’s POV scenes, I just put myself into his headspace and imagined being in his circumstances but without the benefit of sight.

Those scenes were both interesting and fun to write. Interesting, because I know when I was in the flow of writing the first draft of a Zach POV scene I’d often find myself starting to write a visual observation of the setting before catching myself. But it was a fun challenge, and really forced me to be “in” Zach’s head and POV when writing him. That might be why he was probably my favorite character to write in the book. Well, he and the spirit Wisakejack, whose scenes together were much fun to write.

 

What other speculative fiction authors, classic or contemporary, have influenced you?

As a kid, I read Heinlein, Bradbury, and Asimov. And more, but those three were the ones where I read everything by them I could find. I’d say of those three, Ray Bradbury had the biggest impact, certainly when I started out writing short fiction. In university, I discovered Roger Zelazny, who I’d probably list as my major influence, although Charles de Lint would be a close second.

 

When people finish this book and naturally want more, where can they go?

Well, if they want more stories of the Heroka, I would point them first to the novelette, “Spirit Dance.” It was my first professional sale (so be kind) and takes place five years before the events of THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE WORLD. In it, you’ll meet many of the main characters in THE WOLF.

I also have two other Heroka short stories, “A Bird in the Hand” and “Dream Flight.” Both of these feature Lilith Hoyl, a female Heroka of the bird totem. Read them in the order listed, as “Dream Flight” is an immediate sequel to “A Bird in the Hand.”

All three stories are available as ebooks on all major retailers. See my bookstore for retailer links.

If readers want more Heroka beyond that, they’ll have to wait until I write the next novel, which will pick up things shortly after THE WOLF. The next book will feature all the same characters (well, the ones that survived the ending), as well as bring Lilith Hoyl into the mix. I’m planning two more Heroka books in the same arc.

But those books will have to wait until I finish my current project, a young adult urban fantasy trilogy set in Toronto (and Peru) and featuring dream walking, astral projection, lucid dreaming, rune magic, a lost expedition, and much more. I’m currently finishing up the second book in that series.

I’d also point readers to my two short story collections, CHIMERASCOPE and IMPOSSIBILIA. Retail links for all of my books (print and ebook editions both) can be found on my website bookstore.

Interview about Black Angel for the #SFWAStoryBundle

Lady Rowyn was kind enough to host an interview with me about Black Angel. She came up with several thoughtful questions that were fun to think about and answer. Check it out, and check out her book and mine (and ten others!) in the SFWA Fantasy Bundle!

A Little Teaser

Just a little something that happened on my screen this morning…oh, it’s only a working title. And it won’t be out until 2019.

(and if you read the newsletter you already knew this was coming)

SFWA Fantasy Bundle Includes Black Angel

SFWA–the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America–has been partnering with StoryBundle this year. They released a bundle of science fiction stories earlier this year, and this month, the fantasy bundle is available. I’m particularly excited about this because, well, my own Black Angel is one of the books selected for it!

The way this works is that you go to the above link (or click on the image below) and set your own price. To get all the books you have to go above $15, or just over a dollar a book. You’ll get all twelve in the e-book format of your choice. And if you already have Black Angel, check out some of the other titles–there are a couple furry books in there, or at least books with furry elements.

The collection was curated by SFWA’s president, Cat Rambo, who personally selected each of the titles. They look great and I’m looking forward to digging into them myself!

Waterways 10th Anniversary Edition

Hey, since I recently mentioned having finished a new story about Kory and Samaki, I thought I’d make a more or less official announcement about the upcoming re-release of Waterways at MFF.

Waterways originally came out in January of 2008 and we thought it would be nice to celebrate the tenth anniversary with a hardcover edition, since it remains pretty popular and it’s never had a hardcover release. So since we were spiffing up the outside, I thought I’d like to spiff up the inside as well. The prose is over ten years old and there are definitely places where I could clean it up. Don’t worry, I’m not changing the story or any of your favorite lines.

We didn’t want to just release the same story with the same art in hardcover, so I’ll be adding two new stories–well, one that I wrote for my Patreon a couple years ago and one brand new one. The Patreon one is called “Turbulence” and follows Kory’s brother Nick after Kory goes off to college. The brand new one (which I was tweeting about) follows Kory and Samaki as they face some of the challenges of moving to college and learning more about each other. Both of these are short stories (10K and 6K words respectively), and John Nunnemacher has agreed to draw an illo for “Turbulence” to be included in this edition.

The book is being published by Sofawolf and will be available on their site after MFF, and at future conventions (though they tend to bring limited numbers of hardcovers to cons, so get there early if you want one after MFF). We haven’t discussed whether to update the paperback yet or not, but I’ll update the e-book sometime in December or January to include the new text, stories, and art. I don’t have plans right now to produce a new audiobook.

Anyway, hope you guys will all enjoy the nice new hardcover edition and the new stories and illo! I’ll be there at MFF for the release to sign copies for you guys, and also at FC in January.

(And btw, Camouflage is also coming out at MFF, from Argyll Productions/FurPlanet. More about that later.)

Ty Game illustrations will be drawn by…

I’m pleased to let you guys know that I’ll be working with Neverwolf (NSFW art) for the interior illustrations of Ty Game (the OOP spinoff novel coming out at AC next year). Take a look at his stuff and I think you’ll see why he’ll do a great job! If you want to see some of the interiors, WIPs, etc. before they get published to the public, take a look at his Patreon as well. And if you want to read parts of Ty before the book comes out, take a look at my Patreon too.

Football This Year

Kit and I have had a declining relationship with football for years. Watching his Broncos win the Super Bowl was probably the last highlight, because of his family and community history with the team and the incredible pageantry and spectacle around that game itself. But it’s harder and harder to ignore the injuries that mount up every year, and the NFL’s foot-dragging response to studying them and taking simple, easy steps to ameliorate playing conditions, let alone helping former players live with the injuries they accrued over years of providing entertainment.

And this year comes the outrageous blackballing of Colin Kaepernick, at the very least a capable backup quarterback in a market desperate for that skill set. A couple owners have flat-out said that they wouldn’t hire him because of his famous kneeling protests during the national anthem (to protest police violence toward black men, women, and children); the others have spoken with their inaction. Fortunately, those protests have been picked up by other players and are continuing, but they are continuing despite the NFL’s best efforts.

Many of my friends are giving up football this year, and I’m certainly taking a step back. I’ve run a fantasy league for over a decade and this year I closed it down. I haven’t watched a game yet and have barely read any content compared to my usual football reading in years past. I’m sure I’ll watch a game this year, but I’m surprised at how little I miss it. And in a month or so, basketball starts up again (Warriors!).

This doesn’t mean I’m not going to write another Dev and Lee book. After all, the UFL has a lot of problems, and owner exploitation of the players is universal even if skin color is replaced with fur color and species. And Ty Game is still coming out next year, though there’s actually very little football in that one. So you’ll still have the Firebirds and the Manticores and the Pilots and the Rocs and the Dragons.

This also doesn’t mean I’m going to judge you if you keep following the NFL, and I’ll even happily talk to you about football and so on (I’m sure there will still be great personal stories about the people in the league, the stuff I really love, that I will keep reading up on). I mean, for years I’ve been watching the concussion issues and the homophobia and it took this last straw for me to realize that I could better use my time. But that was a personal decision for me, and that doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone or even anyone else.

“The Time He Desires” ACLU Donation Made!

Hey guys! Remember how FurPlanet and I decided to donate proceeds from sales of “The Time He Desires” to the ACLU to help fight gross stuff like the Muslim ban and lots of other terrible threats happening in the country? We got the sales receipts together and they totaled very nearly a thousand dollars! So Fuzzwolf rounded up and today we were absolutely thrilled to send a $1,000 donation to the ACLU.

Thank you, everyone who bought a book or who spread the word about it. Thanks to all of you donating independently to the ACLU or any other group fighting to keep our country free and equal. This is a nice gesture but the fight keeps going.

Tower and the Fox at AC! (also ROAR 8)

If you are heading to AnthroCon this weekend, have a great time! You will not see me there, but you can purchase my newest novel, The Tower and the Fox, with Laura Garabedian’s lovely artwork (she will also be at AC; go say hi to her and get her to sign your book!) from the FurPlanet table. And while you’re there, check out ROAR 8, which has a story of mine in it (“Personal History”) that I’m quite proud of, which is in fact the story illustrated on the cover by BlackTeagan.

If you’re NOT heading to AnthroCon, you can still get in on the book action. The link above goes to FurPlanet; you can also pre-order it RIGHT NOW on Amazon. Regardless of where you get it, leaving a review on Amazon is super helpful, especially to this first-in-a-series book under a different name. The more notice it gets, the more we’ll be able to build on that for the next one.

Thank you guys for checking the books out, and have a great AC! I’ll make it back one of these years.