Sable Aradia's Blog, page 35
July 15, 2018
Once Upon a Time in the Wyrd West Kickstarter!
Today I launch my first ever Kickstarter! Tell all your friends! And make sure to get your copy of the book, or collect some of the other great rewards I’m offering! Here’s the blurb from the Kickstarter page:
Hi! My name is Diane Morrison, and I’m a hybrid author (which means I’ve been both traditionally and independently-published.) I write science fiction and fantasy, and Pagan non-fiction under the pen name “Sable Aradia.” I recently received an Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future competition.
Last year, in addition to publishing a print novelette and getting a couple of stories published in magazines and anthologies, I indie-published to ebook six novelettes and novellas in a science-fantasy serial called the Wyrd West Chronicles. What I’d like to do is publish these stories as a print collection with an intended release date of September 1st.
Wyrd West Chronicles on Amazon
The Wyrd West is a fantasy “Weird Western” serial that takes place in a post-apocalyptic cattlepunk Canada. It’s like Tolkien meets Tombstone. A reviewer enthusiastically described it as “like Firefly meets Fallout meets Supernatural meets Shannara.” My stories center on a family of Gunslingers — paladins of the people, imbued with mystical powers. The gritty reality of post-apocalyptic Western is leavened by all the mystical elements of high fantasy. So it’s weird, and wacky, and a whole lot of fun to write in, and probably sounds like a pulp fiction mashup nightmare. But somehow, I feel it really works, and at heart, it remains a story about family, identity, and people.
All of my reviews have been quite positive, some have been glowing, and I’ve even picked up a few dedicated fans of the series. If you want fantasy adventure stories with a twist, this is your thing. If you ever read The Dark Tower and thought, “I wonder what the Gunslingers were like before everything went sideways?” this is your thing.
Want to know more about the series? Check out my book trailers here!
Because I published these stories to ebook as a serial, they’re already written. I’ve even made the cover design already. All I have left to do is format the book for print, order it, print it, and get the word out.
An indie author has to cover all the stuff your publishing company does herself, including editing, marketing, formatting, and publicity. I’ve been around long enough in indie publishing now to know exactly what’s involved, and I’ve got the friends and connections now that I really believe could help make this a great success!
I want to publish with IngramSpark, which offers bookstore distribution to indie authors. I also want to make the book available through CreateSpace to give my readers options. Formatting for print publication also requires some skill, so if I want to do it right, I have to pay someone to do that. Here’s the breakdown of where the money would go:
$75 – IngramSpark startup fee, adjusted for exchange rate, fees & taxes
$250 – Formatting, adjusted for exchange rate
$100 – Proofing
$300 – Initial purchase of first printed books, plus shipping, adjusted for exchange rate, fees and taxes
$100 – Marketing
Everything else is a buffer for reward fulfillment and Kickstarter’s fees
With your help, I believe I can offer a really great book that science fiction and fantasy fans would truly enjoy! I’m asking you to be a part of it! Most of the rewards I’m offering are about being a part of the experience. Will you ride with me, pardner?
July 12, 2018
Your Protagonist’s “I Want” Song
By Kathryn Craft
Today’s mad skill comes to us via Stephen Schwartz, who wrote the music and lyrics for one of my favorite musicals, Wicked, based on Gregory Maguire’s bestselling novel of the same name. The show tracks the early life of Elphaba, the girl who is destined to become the Wicked Witch of the West. On an episode of American Songbook at NJPAC (full episode here), Schwartz spoke of including, early on in his musicals, what he calls the “I want” song. I think we novelists can learn something from contemplating the intent of this song, which in this case is the protagonist’s first.
Read the full article at Writer Unboxed.
July 9, 2018
Book Review: A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle
A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Read for the Big Fun in a Little Package Novella Challenge and the Women of Genre Fiction Challenge.
I read this book as a child (obviously I don’t remember what day, but I’m guessing based on the age I was and time of year when I read it). And again, like the first book, I got so much more from it as an adult. This is a book about growing up, and accepting the things you cannot change, as well as about the deeper themes of good and evil and the interconnectedness of all life. It suggests that evil is more often perpetuated out of selfishness than conscious malice. And it’s beautifully written. I had forgotten what a simply beautiful book it is!
The recent Wrinkle in Time movie borrowed many elements from this story as well as the titular book to make their story. It was cool, but it was in no way as deep or intense as this book.
I found this in my friend’s library when I was visiting her for the summer. This is actually the second Wrinkle in Time book that I read (A Swiftly Tilting Planet was the first). I devoured it whenever I had the opportunity, and it stuck with me forever. Please do yourself a favour and read it. I think that unlike a lot of fantasy and sci-fi this is something that can be appreciated by anyone.
July 5, 2018
How Asteroid Mining Will Save Earth
I’m not sure I agree it will “save the earth” – still gotta worry about that climate change stuff. But it should help! And certainly, asteroid mining will bolster our access to technology and open up opportunities.
Asteroid mining figures prominently in my work in progress, The Cloud.
July 2, 2018
Book Review: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Read for the Women of Genre Fiction Challenge and the Space Opera Challenge.
I last read this book when I was still a child. I was prompted to a re-read because of the release of the movie, so I could compare and contrast.
While I believe the movie was worthy in its own right, it really shouldn’t be taken as representative of the book, which deals with deeper and more complex themes than Disney would dare to touch.
My child-self identified strongly with Meg, who was becoming what she would be and was stuck in an awkward stage between. My adult self resonated with the deeper themes; the interconnectedness of all life, the need to reach out in love against hate, the cosmic consequences of doing so.
And not in that vague New Agey kind of way, either. The kind of way that realizes that compassion actively practiced changes the landscape, and makes the world a better place for everyone.
If you think watching the movie is sufficient, I’ll just point out that in no way did the movie even touch on the beauty of the self-sacrifice of a star, giving its life to fight Darkness.
Give this book to your children when they start asking you about good and evil. Give this book to your children when they start picking up racism or other forms of prejudice. You’ll change a life.
And if you read it as a child, do yourself a favour and read it again.
June 28, 2018
June 21, 2018
Book Review: Beasts of Tabat by Cat Rambo
Beasts of Tabat by Cat Rambo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read for the Women of Genre Fiction Challenge.
I read this book in part because I’ve come to know Cat Rambo through my work with the SFWA YouTube channel (for those who don’t know, she’s the current President of SFWA.) I heard she had a new book coming out, hadn’t read her stuff yet, and wanted to check it out. This book was the first in the series, so I decided to check it out first.
Of course, that’s a bit of a misnomer, to say it’s the first book in the series. She has said herself that she’s written parallel stories about different people, so either this one or the “sequel,” Hearts of Tabat, would make a good entrypoint into her world.
It was excellent, but hard to read, so it took me a long time. I felt like I was hiding under the blankets and trying to cover my eyes at intervals. This is a dark world Rambo has created. And I mean dark. I told her the cover was not entirely fair to the reader. What she needs is a severed unicorn head lying on a cobblestone street in the rain.
Tabat is a magical fantasy kingdom at about a tech level that’s around the Enlightenment, perhaps? Just pre-Georgian, maybe. It is also a world where humans hate magical creatures – called “Beasts,” – and they not only enslave them, they inflict horrible atrocities upon them, such as burning Dryad trees (which kills the Dryad in a slow and agonizing way) to power vast rail systems and artificial lights. But it’s made clear that they are sentient creatures, with their own thoughts and hopes and dreams, who think like humans but aren’t human (just like Campbell asked for.) Rambo does not spare us any of the horror, either. She wants you to feel their pain, so that you will get angry and want to fight for them.
Neither Beasts nor Humans trust Shapeshifters. Shapeshifters are, of course, technically Beasts, but Beast in disguise, so not easily marked as such and so Humans have trouble finding them. Hence, they’ll just kill them when they are discovered. Beast resent shapeshifters because they can “pass” and are liable to beat them senseless when they find them. As a bisexual woman who came out in the early 90s, I am old enough to remember how that sort of resentment was once levied upon us by the gay and lesbian community, who thought we ought to bug off and stick with the opposite gender so we would stop drawing from their limited pool of potential partners. Of course, the resentment was not nearly as violent as it is towards Shapeshifters in Tabat. And to be fair, as long as they’re willing to subject themselves to the erasure, Shapeshifters are in a much better position than other Beasts in Tabat, because they won’t usually be killed or enslaved on sight. So just like bisexual people who happen to be in a relationship with someone of the opposite gender, they can (and sometimes do) benefit from their invisibility.
The political situation is tenuous because the hereditary Duke is required by ancient fiat to give up his power to a democratic government very soon. New parties are forming and advancing their agendas, and interplay between the parties is not only background, but a story element and plot point. In the meantime, there are of course forces who wish to take advantage of the instability to liberate the Beasts, and some are prepared to go to greater lengths than others.
Rambo is brilliant at painting shades of grey. There are no real “good guys” or “bad guys” here, and sometimes even the people whom you want to support because you know their cause is the right one, are so invested in the idea that the ends justify the means to them, and she shows us the evils of that path too. If you’re looking for a muscle-bound white knight making things right by the power of his sword, you have come to the wrong place.
Actually, much of the action is character-driven. There is almost no real “action,” as we understand it in modern fantasy. The action is mostly personal and political. Does this mean it’s a less compelling story? Not on your life.
The tale follows two protagonists, each of whom are given equal page-time; a young late-blooming shapeshifter named Teo, and a middle-aged, tough-as-nails gladiatrix named Bella Canto. This approach is good writing, but I found it also creates a strange flip-flop in tone between an Ursula K. Le Guin style of YA that reminded me very much of A Wizard of Earthsea when I was reading about Teo, and a more backbiting, adult, A Game of Thrones style when I was reading about Bella. It took a few chapters to get into the rhythm. At first it left me feeling weird and off-base. By the end of the book, however, I understood perfectly why she felt she had to tell the story that way, but in the beginning I found it pulled me out of the story in places. So, there’s one point of criticism, if I had to nitpick.
Another is that the protagonists are both hampered by deep-seated flaws that leave you conflicted about them. I found myself getting very frustrated with Teo, because he had very little agency and exercised almost none. The story basically swept him along with it and in many places, he felt more like a narrator than a participant. I don’t know if that was intentional; I’m waiting to read the other books to see. On the other hand, he’s just a genuinely nice, innocent person, and often nice, innocent people are swept along by the course of events, so I can’t say it’s unrealistic. I just kept wanting him to do more. Maybe he will in future stories. This is, after all, intended to be a series, and sometimes you can’t tell a whole overarcing story in one book (else, why write a series?)
Bella has much to like about her. She strong, confident, fearless, and cheerfully bisexual and promiscuous (you’re not given the gory details, it’s not that kind of book.) Her bisexuality is not intrinsic to the plot because nobody seems to care about such things in Tabat, so yay, thank you for representation! She is also emotionally distant (that’s why affairs and not romances) and almost painfully self-absorbed. I won’t say self-centered because she does care about other people, but she has difficulty showing it, and maybe I found her challenging because I’m a lot like that IRL. (I might be self-absorbed too. Not willing to weigh in on that one right now.) Her back story totally explains why, and the deep damage and emotional wounds that cause her to be that way, and I hope her overall character arc, if we revisit her in other books, will be to develop more empathy. I’ll say she’s been given an opportunity; I won’t tell you why because that would be a spoiler. She also unconsciously benefits from a privileged position, and her unconscious privilege is rendered with painstaking detail in Rambo’s writing.
So again, because we see their flaws before we see their merits, I found the book difficult to get into. This is the thing that gives it four stars in my rating and not five.
Because otherwise, it’s amazing. This is a book that does exactly what I think fantasy is uniquely equipped to do; it examines the way we live by giving it some distance in a fantastical setting. The book ends where it needs to, but I now find myself on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what happens next. So much is going on all at once, and I can’t wait to find out how it evolves.
Not an easy read. But it’s worth it. Looking forward to Hearts of Tabat!
Power Causes Brain Damage
By Jerry Useem
If power were a prescription drug, it would come with a long list of known side effects. It can intoxicate. It can corrupt. It can even make Henry Kissinger believe that he’s sexually magnetic. But can it cause brain damage?
When various lawmakers lit into John Stumpf at a congressional hearing last fall, each seemed to find a fresh way to flay the now-former CEO of Wells Fargo for failing to stop some 5,000 employees from setting up phony accounts for customers. But it was Stumpf’s performance that stood out. Here was a man who had risen to the top of the world’s most valuable bank, yet he seemed utterly unable to read a room. Although he apologized, he didn’t appear chastened or remorseful. Nor did he seem defiant or smug or even insincere. He looked disoriented, like a jet-lagged space traveler just arrived from Planet Stumpf, where deference to him is a natural law and 5,000 a commendably small number. Even the most direct barbs—“You have got to be kidding me” (Sean Duffy of Wisconsin); “I can’t believe some of what I’m hearing here” (Gregory Meeks of New York)—failed to shake him awake.
What was going through Stumpf’s head? New research suggests that the better question may be: What wasn’t going through it?
Read the full article at The Atlantic.
June 17, 2018
So You Want to Have a War?
By Django Wexler
I am, I have to admit, a war buff. I read military histories for fun, the kind with fold-out maps covered in little colored arrows and notations like “Kollowrath (40,000)”. As I am also a fantasy novelist, the nature of war in fantasy fiction has always been fascinating to me.
And there is a lot of war in fantasy. Starting with Tolkien, it’s become practically obligatory that the epic fantasy saga, somewhere around the middle of book three, feature an Epic Confrontation Between Good and Evil with a Cast of Thousands. Various allies, painfully recruited over the course of the hero’s journey, turn up to lend a hand at the Final Battle. Various villains are dispatched, hapless orcs or equivalent humanoids are mowed down by the score, and just when things seem bleakest Evil is defeated forever. A beloved secondary character or two bites the dust, and…
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June 14, 2018
Call for Submissions: Gunsmoke & Dragonfire
A hybrid writer is calling for submissions for Gunsmoke & Dragonfire: A Fantasy Western Anthology. Submissions open immediately.
This is a collaborative project in which each contributor (writer, editor, etc.) will receive one share of profits, if any. Contributors are encouraged to make best use of their collective resources for marketing (social media, blog, YouTube channel, author promotionals, podcasts, contributions to the marketing fund, etc.) but no one is expected to contribute any specific resource. THERE IS NO READING FEE.
I’m looking for Fantasy Western stories up to a maximum of 15000 words. If you have a longer story that you believe really fits, query me first at Sable (at) sablearadia dot com. Please TYPE THE FULL WORD COUNT NUMBER in the Word Count slot, because the submission form will verify the number. They can take place in any setting (alternate world, alternate history, post-apocalyptic future, whatever.) Dark Fantasy and Fantasy Horror are welcome. YA is also welcome. I will consider sci-fi westerns as well, but fantasy will be given preference.
I welcome submissions from marginalized voices and writers of all income and experience levels. Please let me know in your Cover Letter if you fall into any marginalized groups.
I am looking for NON-exclusive ebook and print rights. Reprints are welcome.
Please submit, if at all possible, in the standard William Shunn manuscript format. I prefer submissions in .doc or .docx but will accept .txt and .rtf if I must as well. Submissions should be in English, but I’m not concerned whether that’s American, Canadian, Australian, UK, or other.
Submission deadline is midnight Pacific Daylight Time, October 1, 2018, with intentions to publish the ebook in January 2019 and the print version in March 2019. The print version will be printed via CreateSpace and contributor’s copies will be made available to you at a significant discount (more than industry standard.)
Indie writers: Your work will be edited. There is an industry standard in this practice: I will send you the edit, and you can approve or decline any changes. You will send it back for a second pass and then I will return it with a second edit. A final proof will also be made available for your confirmation. Either one of us may withdraw from our agreement to publish together at any time during this process. I will edit according to Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, which is the literary standard; not CMOS, which many indie editors are using.
On request, contributing writers can remove their story from the ebook version after a period of one calendar year from the date of ebook publication. We will arrive at a collective decision as to whether we should stick with KDP or go wide, but my preference is to go wide because this will give us a shot at USA Today bestseller status. Print rights will continue in perpetuity. If I should, in the future, decide to withdraw publication, all rights revert entirely to you.
To submit, please go here and fill out this Google Form.
If you have any comments or questions, don’t be afraid to post them!
*Image shown is concept art from Dino Storm, a fantasy western MMORPG. Illustrators are currently being queried.
