Suzette Haden Elgin's Blog, page 15

Writing science fiction; getting it all in there...

This new novel is huge. Scary huge. I have to fit into it, somehow, all of the following:

1. Enough of the backstory about USCOL [U.S. Corps of Linguists:] -- historical, descriptive, and more -- to make it real and vivid for the reader. [This is not made easier by the fact that the backstory is actually going on in the Real World right now; Googling for "National Language Service Corps" will fill you in on that, at least if the name holds still for a while. It started as "Civilian Linguist Res...

Personal note; contradicting myself...

I know that I have said in this journal, many times, that there was no point in my writing another novel because no publisher would consider a novel with my name on it. [For details, see http://ozarque.livejournal.com/2005/04/09/ .] And now here I am, writing another novel nonetheless. Contradicting myself.

I can explain this only by reminding you of my misery when I had no book-in-progress to anchor my days, after a lifetime spent anchored always by my books. Whether it's ever published or n...

Writing science fiction; the new novel...

I'm struggling with the problem of the form for the new novel -- the one about grammars of nonhumanoid ET languages. And I think I know how to begin, which is a Good Thing. It's going to be a USCOL novel [a U.S. Corps of Linguists novel:], and it's going to include the Brethandi [my ETs that look like Terran cattle:] and their languages. The context: A USCOL candidate has failed her horrendously difficult final exams, and as a penalty she is ordered to write a monograph on the grammars of those...

Links that might interest you...

There are two earlier posts on nonhumanoid languages in this journal that might interest you -- at http://ozarque.livejournal.com/620418.html?replyto=13559170 and at http://ozarque.livejournal.com/33721.html .

New anchor, new book...

Back on October 17th I did a post here complaining that -- after a lifetime of always having my days arranged around whatever book [or books:] I was writing at the time -- I was feeling totally adrift because I was bookless. No book in progress, no deadline; and it had me just wandering around aimlessly, fretting.

And zoethe commented:
"I have a very strong sense that somewhere in your subconscious an entirely different kind of book is brewing, and your feeling of being lost is based on your su...

Link that might interest you...

If you'd like to look at a "Guide to the Suzette Haden Elgin Papers" at the University of Oregon, go to http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/ark:/80444/xv57659 . It lists the contents of the collection from 1954-1999. It may or may not surprise you to know that there are many items listed there that I don't recognize; I have no idea what they are! It's humbling.

Remembering music...

I woke up this morning remembering what an important part of daily life music was when I was a child, long before MP3s and napster and [vamp till ready:]. And I thought maybe I'd post a baker's-dozen "let me count the ways" list...

1. Waking up in the morning hearing my father singing "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" while he shaved...
2. Singing around the piano after supper, with my mother -- who was a crackerjack honky-tonk and cocktail lounge pianist -- playing...
3. Loving the hymn-singing at ...

Poem; "Rainbow"...

Rainbow

The rain kept falling
all through the long dark nights,
and it kept falling

all through the dark days,
day after gloomy day.
Till the rivers filled,

till the creeks were full,
till the lakes ran over,
and all the rain flowed

to the brimming seas
that now began to rise
up onto the land.

Fearful humankind
moved away from the seas,
fleeing the flooding,

fleeing the water
now filling the buildings
and hiding the roads.

The Almighty spoke.
From out of the dark clouds
came the voice of God,

saying: "I promised
n...

Poem; "Keeping Up With The Times"; final, revised version...

Keeping Up With The Times

She could do magic
as well as anyone;
she was highly skilled.

She could make clutter
sort itself out and go
to its proper place.

She could make water
wash the dinner dishes,
with just a quick thought.

She could make the dust
gather itself in piles
and jump in the trash.

She could make the sheets
put themselves on the bed,
and the bedspread too.

She could make the mop
polish the kitchen floor
to a gleaming shine.

But all of this seemed
so quaint. So old-fashioned.
She prided herself

on bei...

All adrift...

I'm all adrift here without an anchor, and it's weird.

Ever since 1958, when I got the Saxton writing fellowship, my daily life has been solidly anchored in whatever book [or books:] I am writing. There has always been a book [or books:], with its deadlines and its launch schedule; there was a chaotic year when I had three book contracts at once and was writing all three of them at the same time. There were a lot of years when I had a book to write and a grant proposal to write and an institute ...