As mentioned before, I have an old car with no capacity to pair with my phone, MP3 player, Pandora account, etc. I don't like playing the radio because I don't know what I'm going to get, and for me, unfamiliar music while I'm driving is distracting. So what do I do? I put together themed CDs.
One theme I like to do every time is word association: moving from the title / concept of a song to another, to another ... sometimes by a keyword, sometimes by related concepts, sometimes by opposites, and sometimes by something else entirely.
Here's my most recent sequence:
Sweet As Whole - Sara Bareilles (... if you look this song up, do not play it at work)
America's Sweetheart - Elle King
New Americana - Hasley
A New England - Kirsty MacColl
Wonder English - Eisley
It's Not The Things You Say - DJ Tiesto
Say Goodbye - Katharine McPhee
Don't Say Goodbye - Paulina Rubio
Bye Bye - Alana Davis
By Chance - Sophie Ellis Bextor (... okay, this one is weak. Gimme a break, I really wanted this song on my list)
Lucky Me - Anne Murray
Trouble for Me - Britney Spears
Trouble - Leona Lewis
Queen of Peace - Florence + the Machine
Army - Ellie Goulding
Rangers - A Fine Frenzy
Warrior - Kimbra
Warpath - Ingrid Michaelson
The Road's My Middle Name - Bonnie Raitt
Last Name - Glee Cast version
Guitar String / Wedding Ring - Carly Rae Jepsen
Marry The Night - Lady Gaga
I Do - Idina Menzel
I Do What I Love - Ellie Goulding
I Do Not Hook Up - Kelly Clarkson
No - Meghan Trainor
I Don't Need A Man - The Pussycat Dolls
MANiCURE - Lady Gaga
Medicine - Shakira
Aftertaste - Ellie Goulding (... yes, I just got Delirium and I am deliberately trying to get a lot of it into this list)
Fade Away - Celine Dion
Disappear - Anna Sahlene
Already Gone - Kelly Clarkson
Lost Then Found - Leona Lewis
Find Me Here - Eisley
Here - Alessia Cara
Here With Me - Michelle Branch
Love is Here - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Now Is Here - Clannad
By Now - Sarah Brightman
Right Now - The Pussycat Dolls
Wait It Out - Imogen Heap
Best For Last - Adele
About Me
- Lindsey Duncan
- I'm a professional harp performer, chef / pastry chef, and speculative fiction writer from Cincinnati, Ohio. My contemporary fantasy novel Flow is available from Double Dragon Publishing, and my science fiction novel Scylla and Charybdis is now out from Grimbold Books. I've also sold a number of short stories and a few pieces of speculative poetry. I write predominantly fantasy, usually epic and/or humorous, with some soft science fiction. I play the traditional lever harp with a specialty in Celtic music - but I also perform modern and Renaissance tunes. And yes, you read that right - I have a diploma in Baking and Pastry and an Associates in Culinary Arts and am currently working in the catering field at Kate's Catering and Personal Chef Services (Dayton, KY). I am a CPC (Certified Pastry Culinarian) and CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine).
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Monday, March 06, 2017
Monday Meanderings
As a writer, I enjoy writing exercises, story sparkers, and fiddling around with structured forms. They're a different way to come at the creation of a tale; they change up your routine; they even force you to do problem-solving when you're trying to fit disparate pieces together. In sum: they're good for your brain!
Here's a self-designed exercise I like to use. Nothing too fancy, just a structure to eke out a plot:
The Wordhop - come up with a list of words through whatever means you like. 15 - 20 is a good starting point. You could poll your friends for favorites (... some of you may have seen me do this). You could an entire list of words that start with the same letter. You could browse the various dictionary sites and grab their word of the day for a week, though see my caution below. Jumble the list.
Then ... well ... you start writing. In the first hundred words, incorporate the first word on your list. The second hundred words should contain the second, and ... you get the idea. The words don't have to be equally spaced out; that's a way to make yourself crazy. My word processor has a running tally, so it's easy to keep track.
When you run out of words, keep writing as much as you need to finish the story at hand. (You could try "expert mode" where the story has to end where the words do; being a long-winded sort, I've never done this.)
Tips on the words - you want them to be interesting enough to require some thought to incorporate, but not so weird that they stick out like a sore thumb.
Proof of concept: Saplings (Mindflights, July 2011), in which the list of words was based on the letter H, as was the name of the protagonist; The Winter Queen (Golden Visions 2010).
Here's a couple more I've played with ...
Sentence String - this time, the starting fuel is a list of random sentences. 5-6 is a good number. I've polled friends or chosen randomly from books / trunked stories. Tense and pronouns can be changed, but otherwise, the sentence should remain intact. Play with the sentences; shuffle them around until connective threads start to suggest themselves.
Proof of concept: ... nothing published to point to, because these invariably run untenably long for me. Can't promise the same thing won't happen to you!
Picture String - using a randomizer on an image site, pick 5-6 pictures. In this case, they stay in the order originally generated. Now I admit, I had the most success with this when the art venue Elfwood was young: it was relatively easy to get a sequence of good quality fantasy art. Depending on your source, you may want to throw out things that just don't fit. You have two options from here: build the plot as a line from picture to picture or start with whatever concept / thought pops into your head with the first and dive in, changing pictures as the mood strikes.
Proof of concept: my very first publication - The Dreamweaver's Dispute (Leading Edge).
Finally, a plug: I love the book The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley. Besides being full of fun and engaging prompts, it's the only exercise book I've worked with where the majority of exercises can easily be worked in a secondary fantasy concept. Too many exercise books have very contemporary prompts; they can be converted, but sometimes that takes the spark out of the prompt.
Here's a self-designed exercise I like to use. Nothing too fancy, just a structure to eke out a plot:
The Wordhop - come up with a list of words through whatever means you like. 15 - 20 is a good starting point. You could poll your friends for favorites (... some of you may have seen me do this). You could an entire list of words that start with the same letter. You could browse the various dictionary sites and grab their word of the day for a week, though see my caution below. Jumble the list.
Then ... well ... you start writing. In the first hundred words, incorporate the first word on your list. The second hundred words should contain the second, and ... you get the idea. The words don't have to be equally spaced out; that's a way to make yourself crazy. My word processor has a running tally, so it's easy to keep track.
When you run out of words, keep writing as much as you need to finish the story at hand. (You could try "expert mode" where the story has to end where the words do; being a long-winded sort, I've never done this.)
Tips on the words - you want them to be interesting enough to require some thought to incorporate, but not so weird that they stick out like a sore thumb.
Proof of concept: Saplings (Mindflights, July 2011), in which the list of words was based on the letter H, as was the name of the protagonist; The Winter Queen (Golden Visions 2010).
Here's a couple more I've played with ...
Sentence String - this time, the starting fuel is a list of random sentences. 5-6 is a good number. I've polled friends or chosen randomly from books / trunked stories. Tense and pronouns can be changed, but otherwise, the sentence should remain intact. Play with the sentences; shuffle them around until connective threads start to suggest themselves.
Proof of concept: ... nothing published to point to, because these invariably run untenably long for me. Can't promise the same thing won't happen to you!
Picture String - using a randomizer on an image site, pick 5-6 pictures. In this case, they stay in the order originally generated. Now I admit, I had the most success with this when the art venue Elfwood was young: it was relatively easy to get a sequence of good quality fantasy art. Depending on your source, you may want to throw out things that just don't fit. You have two options from here: build the plot as a line from picture to picture or start with whatever concept / thought pops into your head with the first and dive in, changing pictures as the mood strikes.
Proof of concept: my very first publication - The Dreamweaver's Dispute (Leading Edge).
Finally, a plug: I love the book The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley. Besides being full of fun and engaging prompts, it's the only exercise book I've worked with where the majority of exercises can easily be worked in a secondary fantasy concept. Too many exercise books have very contemporary prompts; they can be converted, but sometimes that takes the spark out of the prompt.
Sunday, March 05, 2017
Song Styles
Earlier in the year (is it already March??), I commented that Sissel's Beyond Imagination was a song I adored, but couldn't find a character for ... turns out, I lied, because I had attributed it to Ioweyn, the heroine / prize of Who Wants To Be A Hero? - my novel-in-queries, which is best described as what would happen if skill-based reality television competition was invented by a Greco-Roman pantheon of gods. I was riffing off my personal vices in this TV genre: Project Runway, Top Chef, FaceOff, etc.
In any case, this necessarily involved a fairly large cast of characters, so I had to come up with quick ways to make them distinct, both for me and for the reader. On the former front, I gave them each an encapsulating themesong. For Paraneus, the blowhard self-proclaimed "perfect hero," I had to go with a classic:
C'est Moi - Camelot Soundtrack
The cap on this, of course, is the backdrop of him riding across the countryside, singing this at the top of his lungs. Pretty much a perfect snapshot of what I wanted for the character.
Bonus song of the day: shout-out to everyone who doesn't (or simply can't!) color between the lines. As a writer / creative who marches to the tune of ... a flute, I love the message. As a harper who is almost pathologically of playing exactly what's on the sheetmusic ... I also enjoy the lyrics on a literal level.
My Song - Alessia Cara
In any case, this necessarily involved a fairly large cast of characters, so I had to come up with quick ways to make them distinct, both for me and for the reader. On the former front, I gave them each an encapsulating themesong. For Paraneus, the blowhard self-proclaimed "perfect hero," I had to go with a classic:
C'est Moi - Camelot Soundtrack
The cap on this, of course, is the backdrop of him riding across the countryside, singing this at the top of his lungs. Pretty much a perfect snapshot of what I wanted for the character.
Bonus song of the day: shout-out to everyone who doesn't (or simply can't!) color between the lines. As a writer / creative who marches to the tune of ... a flute, I love the message. As a harper who is almost pathologically of playing exactly what's on the sheetmusic ... I also enjoy the lyrics on a literal level.
My Song - Alessia Cara
Monday, February 27, 2017
Monday Meanderings
Oh, the dynamic duo.
The archetypal fantasy novel is a cast of thousands; others succeed by focusing on a single character or thread. As satisfying as the lone hero(ine)'s adventures can be, however, there's added dimension when they have a counterpart, ally, friend or even adversary to provide another perspective. Get into three main characters and you start to have exponentially more combinations of plot and interaction, but two allows greater variety without diffusing focus. It's also a great opportunity for compare and contrast.
Even if the characters have a common goal, they come at it from different angles and seek different rewards from its resolution. Or two characters may mean two separate plotlines, dovetailing in location, antagonists, events, and/or origins, but not always intertwined.
From a practical standpoint, it gives the writer an excuse to have the characters talk to each other - or talk around each other - rather than weighting down the narrative with lengthy internal monologue. Even when one (or both) aren't the sharing type, characters convey a lot of information in what and how they choose to evade.
As a writer, I'm a fan of the duo. Flow shares roughly equal scene-time between Kit and Chailyn, though it is primarily Kit's story. Scylla and Charybdis is definitely Anaea's sole story, but throughout, she always has a traveling companion to lean on.
And the character I discussed in my Song Styles post yesterday? Well, confessedly, the only other details I have right now for that potential novel is a rough idea of her traveling companion, an introverted dreamshaper ... but the collision of those two people is enough to suggest a rich stew of possibilities. For me, it's a tantalizing spark that could some day become a novel.
The archetypal fantasy novel is a cast of thousands; others succeed by focusing on a single character or thread. As satisfying as the lone hero(ine)'s adventures can be, however, there's added dimension when they have a counterpart, ally, friend or even adversary to provide another perspective. Get into three main characters and you start to have exponentially more combinations of plot and interaction, but two allows greater variety without diffusing focus. It's also a great opportunity for compare and contrast.
Even if the characters have a common goal, they come at it from different angles and seek different rewards from its resolution. Or two characters may mean two separate plotlines, dovetailing in location, antagonists, events, and/or origins, but not always intertwined.
From a practical standpoint, it gives the writer an excuse to have the characters talk to each other - or talk around each other - rather than weighting down the narrative with lengthy internal monologue. Even when one (or both) aren't the sharing type, characters convey a lot of information in what and how they choose to evade.
As a writer, I'm a fan of the duo. Flow shares roughly equal scene-time between Kit and Chailyn, though it is primarily Kit's story. Scylla and Charybdis is definitely Anaea's sole story, but throughout, she always has a traveling companion to lean on.
And the character I discussed in my Song Styles post yesterday? Well, confessedly, the only other details I have right now for that potential novel is a rough idea of her traveling companion, an introverted dreamshaper ... but the collision of those two people is enough to suggest a rich stew of possibilities. For me, it's a tantalizing spark that could some day become a novel.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Song Styles
Most of the time, when I attach music to characters, it happens after their creation. Sometimes it's the last entry on my character profiles; sometimes it happens months or years later, often spontaneously as I stumble across just the right song.
However, sometimes a particular tune is so evocative that it suggests a character in my mind. I come up with a lot of my concepts through a collision of two unrelated ideas, so I have a character in my files who resulted from the dual inspiration of these two high octane songs:
13 Little Dolls - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
America's Sweetheart - Elle King
(This is one of those where this is the first I'm seeing the music video. Roller-skating, huh?)
The character who resulted is a blunt, impulsive frontier girl who inherited her family's set of old-world sorcerous dolls ... totally unaware of their powers and with no idea how to use them. Each was crafted by a different ancestor, reflecting a different time period and often area of the world ... so that gives me a lot of room to explore the worldbuilding without bonking people over the head of it.
Does she has a story (or even a name)? Not yet ...
However, sometimes a particular tune is so evocative that it suggests a character in my mind. I come up with a lot of my concepts through a collision of two unrelated ideas, so I have a character in my files who resulted from the dual inspiration of these two high octane songs:
13 Little Dolls - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
America's Sweetheart - Elle King
(This is one of those where this is the first I'm seeing the music video. Roller-skating, huh?)
The character who resulted is a blunt, impulsive frontier girl who inherited her family's set of old-world sorcerous dolls ... totally unaware of their powers and with no idea how to use them. Each was crafted by a different ancestor, reflecting a different time period and often area of the world ... so that gives me a lot of room to explore the worldbuilding without bonking people over the head of it.
Does she has a story (or even a name)? Not yet ...
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Song Styles
When I was writing Flow, I didn't have a soundtrack, character themesongs, or any such musical underpinnings. There was, however, one song, which I felt mapped to Kit and her life without any literal connection - but it conveyed the confusion, uncertainty, and strangeness of her new life:
Ghost In The Machinery - Sarah Brightman
(For those of you familiar with Brightman from her floaty, theatric opera music, this song - and the rest of Fly, the album from which it comes - is somewhat different, more off-beat, more electronic, and more than a little weird. In fact, I highly recommend Fly if you can get ahold of it, which is difficult to do. It mixes up Sarah's opera tendencies with rock/pop and electronica.)
Ghost In The Machinery - Sarah Brightman
(For those of you familiar with Brightman from her floaty, theatric opera music, this song - and the rest of Fly, the album from which it comes - is somewhat different, more off-beat, more electronic, and more than a little weird. In fact, I highly recommend Fly if you can get ahold of it, which is difficult to do. It mixes up Sarah's opera tendencies with rock/pop and electronica.)
Monday, February 13, 2017
Monday Meanderings
If you're a fiction writer, chances are, you love language - or at least have a fleeting crush on it. That doesn't necessarily mean playing with artistic flourishes of imagery, alliteration and metaphor, but it does mean understanding how to use the tools of language to paint a picture broader and wider than the words themselves. Small choices of synonyms and word order can create a completely different mood/scene, even when the substance of what's being described is the same.
I admit, I enjoy the formal structure of language. I'm a stickler for appropriate punctuation, for clarity, for rhythm and flow, and even simply for consistency. I'm a self-titled Comma Queen, and the recent trend of minimalism in commas pleases me not at all. They serve a purpose beyond clearing up confusion. As far as I'm concerned, "alright" will never be all right, okay? (Stop using the abbreviation in fiction, too. Just. Stop.) "Bae" also drives me bonkers and I don't understand why it caught or where it came from. The only explanation I can come up with is someone typoed the word "babe" and was too lazy to correct it.
I also text in complete, grammatically-correct sentences. Yes, I am that person.
At the same time, I recognize that part of what distinguishes a living language is an ongoing negotiation of words and meaning. I don't think anyone would argue that "Google" is now a verb. (Some people might argue that "typoed," as above, is not an appropriate use.) We regularly use words that had a very different meaning a few centuries ago ... and a whole grab-bag that were actually invented by Shakespeare and didn't exist before his time.
(There's a lot of debate in the fantasy field about the use of words that recognizably reference *our* world, such as "spartan," which refers to the Greek city-state and doesn't necessarily parse in a world that never had a Greece, much less a Sparta. Even words that don't obviously signal our world to readers may feel anachronistic because they were invented later. Or ... they may be much, much older than you'd think! But that's a whole blogpost - there's another new word - in of itself.)
So for me, there's a tension and a negotiation between formalism and fluidity in language. There are some things I've chosen to adopt; there are others that just feel like language-butchery to me, but I have to admit that some are purely subjective. And maybe that's how the evolution occurs. We're creating the changes ourselves every day by an unrecognized consensus. Some of us "win" when our preferences are adapted or "lose" when something we detest becomes part of the formal lexicon.
And, of course, there are those quirks that are poor grammar, but are just fun. I'm a big, irrational fan of the whole "because reasons" thing, where the string of connecting words is truncated to "because noun." My favorite one these days is usually weather related: it's sixty degrees today, because (this is) Ohio. (True story. Saturday. I don't understand.) Something about it feels both more arbitrary and more exasperated, which is perfect for an informal expression of "why is this happening?"
But please save the endangered Oxford comma. Because otherwise, you get this:
I admit, I enjoy the formal structure of language. I'm a stickler for appropriate punctuation, for clarity, for rhythm and flow, and even simply for consistency. I'm a self-titled Comma Queen, and the recent trend of minimalism in commas pleases me not at all. They serve a purpose beyond clearing up confusion. As far as I'm concerned, "alright" will never be all right, okay? (Stop using the abbreviation in fiction, too. Just. Stop.) "Bae" also drives me bonkers and I don't understand why it caught or where it came from. The only explanation I can come up with is someone typoed the word "babe" and was too lazy to correct it.
I also text in complete, grammatically-correct sentences. Yes, I am that person.
At the same time, I recognize that part of what distinguishes a living language is an ongoing negotiation of words and meaning. I don't think anyone would argue that "Google" is now a verb. (Some people might argue that "typoed," as above, is not an appropriate use.) We regularly use words that had a very different meaning a few centuries ago ... and a whole grab-bag that were actually invented by Shakespeare and didn't exist before his time.
(There's a lot of debate in the fantasy field about the use of words that recognizably reference *our* world, such as "spartan," which refers to the Greek city-state and doesn't necessarily parse in a world that never had a Greece, much less a Sparta. Even words that don't obviously signal our world to readers may feel anachronistic because they were invented later. Or ... they may be much, much older than you'd think! But that's a whole blogpost - there's another new word - in of itself.)
So for me, there's a tension and a negotiation between formalism and fluidity in language. There are some things I've chosen to adopt; there are others that just feel like language-butchery to me, but I have to admit that some are purely subjective. And maybe that's how the evolution occurs. We're creating the changes ourselves every day by an unrecognized consensus. Some of us "win" when our preferences are adapted or "lose" when something we detest becomes part of the formal lexicon.
And, of course, there are those quirks that are poor grammar, but are just fun. I'm a big, irrational fan of the whole "because reasons" thing, where the string of connecting words is truncated to "because noun." My favorite one these days is usually weather related: it's sixty degrees today, because (this is) Ohio. (True story. Saturday. I don't understand.) Something about it feels both more arbitrary and more exasperated, which is perfect for an informal expression of "why is this happening?"
But please save the endangered Oxford comma. Because otherwise, you get this:
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Song Styles
Something a trifle different this week ...
This is a recording, with fractal accompaniment, of me performing two Welsh tunes:
Ambell i Gan / Y Dydd
("A Song Now and Then" or more, literally "An Occasional Song," and "The Day.")
For those in the Cincinnati area, I am available for weddings, parties and other special events. I can also do concert sets, with educational (Celtic music / harp history) as an option ... or even, "You never thought you'd hear that on a harp," with selections such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, "Under The Sea" (The Little Mermaid) and the theme from Jurassic Park.
This is a recording, with fractal accompaniment, of me performing two Welsh tunes:
Ambell i Gan / Y Dydd
("A Song Now and Then" or more, literally "An Occasional Song," and "The Day.")
For those in the Cincinnati area, I am available for weddings, parties and other special events. I can also do concert sets, with educational (Celtic music / harp history) as an option ... or even, "You never thought you'd hear that on a harp," with selections such as Andrew Lloyd Webber, "Under The Sea" (The Little Mermaid) and the theme from Jurassic Park.
Monday, February 06, 2017
Monday Meanderings
Yesterday, I mentioned brain styles and evolution in my post, in the context of romance - do opposites attract, or does like call to like?
The answer is ... yes.
First of all, the brain styles aspect. Most of you are probably familiar with the concept of Left Brain (Logical Brain) and Right Brain (Creative Brain). It's a bit more nuanced than that, but it will do for the purposes of this post. The brain is further divided into Frontal and Basal regions. The Frontal portion of the brain deals with intellectual and abstract thinking. The Basal portion deals with emotional and concrete thinking.
So we end up with four quadrants: Left Frontal (Scientist), Right Frontal (Artist), Left Basal (Administrator) and Right Basal (Counselor). Most people have a preference for one quadrant or two adjacent quadrants. Rarely, people will have a preference for three (leaving a deficiency in the fourth quadrant) or will be whole-brained. That doesn't mean, of course, that you can't work in the other areas, just that you naturally gravitate towards certain kinds of thinking.
(For those of you into Tarot: Swords = Left Frontal. Wands = Right Frontal. Pentacles = Left Basal. Cups = Right Basal.)
If you picture this, it's pretty obvious to see that each quadrant has an opposite. For instance, Left Frontal is the opposite of Right Basal. And the opposites usually drive each bonkers because they have little common ground.
On to the evolutionary aspect. Obviously, each quadrant has its strengths and weaknesses. From an evolutionary standpoint, then, when people are younger and in survival mode, they instinctively seeking out an opposite brain - someone strong where they are weak and vice versa. Together, these people make a whole brain. As a strategy for taking on the world, it's a good one ... but what happens when the problems start fading away and these opposed couples no longer have a common "foe" in life?
Later in life, when finances, career, family, etc are more stable, the brain shifts from seeking survival to seeking companionship. Instead of an opposite brain, it wants a similar brain - someone in the same quadrant or with whom there is overlap.
So opposites attract ... *and* like calls to like. It all depends on where you are in your life (if you buy into the theory, of course).
Do I consider this in my writing? Perhaps not consciously, but as I get older (hush!), I've noticed a shift in pattern in the romances I choose to write. My earlier works featured a lot more pairs that were opposites. Now, I tend to set up characters who - though they may clash over specifics - think more alike. Proof, self-fulfilling prophecy, or coincidence? Who knows ...
The answer is ... yes.
First of all, the brain styles aspect. Most of you are probably familiar with the concept of Left Brain (Logical Brain) and Right Brain (Creative Brain). It's a bit more nuanced than that, but it will do for the purposes of this post. The brain is further divided into Frontal and Basal regions. The Frontal portion of the brain deals with intellectual and abstract thinking. The Basal portion deals with emotional and concrete thinking.
So we end up with four quadrants: Left Frontal (Scientist), Right Frontal (Artist), Left Basal (Administrator) and Right Basal (Counselor). Most people have a preference for one quadrant or two adjacent quadrants. Rarely, people will have a preference for three (leaving a deficiency in the fourth quadrant) or will be whole-brained. That doesn't mean, of course, that you can't work in the other areas, just that you naturally gravitate towards certain kinds of thinking.
(For those of you into Tarot: Swords = Left Frontal. Wands = Right Frontal. Pentacles = Left Basal. Cups = Right Basal.)
If you picture this, it's pretty obvious to see that each quadrant has an opposite. For instance, Left Frontal is the opposite of Right Basal. And the opposites usually drive each bonkers because they have little common ground.
On to the evolutionary aspect. Obviously, each quadrant has its strengths and weaknesses. From an evolutionary standpoint, then, when people are younger and in survival mode, they instinctively seeking out an opposite brain - someone strong where they are weak and vice versa. Together, these people make a whole brain. As a strategy for taking on the world, it's a good one ... but what happens when the problems start fading away and these opposed couples no longer have a common "foe" in life?
Later in life, when finances, career, family, etc are more stable, the brain shifts from seeking survival to seeking companionship. Instead of an opposite brain, it wants a similar brain - someone in the same quadrant or with whom there is overlap.
So opposites attract ... *and* like calls to like. It all depends on where you are in your life (if you buy into the theory, of course).
Do I consider this in my writing? Perhaps not consciously, but as I get older (hush!), I've noticed a shift in pattern in the romances I choose to write. My earlier works featured a lot more pairs that were opposites. Now, I tend to set up characters who - though they may clash over specifics - think more alike. Proof, self-fulfilling prophecy, or coincidence? Who knows ...
Sunday, February 05, 2017
Song Styles
One of the key elements in the past-story section of Surgeburnt - and one that echoes strongly in the current-story - is Maren's failed romance with Archer, the proverbial one who got away. At the beginning of the novel, it's not clear what exactly happened between the two, because she's clearly still hung up on him ... so I will be a mysterious author and not provide any more information.
For these two, however, this song seemed particularly fitting:
Until The Stars Collide
As the story progresses, Maren develops a fractured, contentious relationship - can you really call it a romance? - with an adversary/co-worker. And while I have a more "serious" song selection in my list, I couldn't quite resist throwing this in:
Genghis Khan
If you have not seen this music video, please take a few minutes and watch it. It's a really fun story in the James Bond / supervillain vein. I'm taking my character inspiration from the music, not the video, but maybe it matches just a little ...
One of the fun parts about being a writer who is a quasi-pantser (I do most of my planning in the world-and-character elements, leaving the plot free to develop out of those) is the fact that I don't necessarily know what's going to happen in every aspect. Is a perfect love doomed? Can a love-hate relationship go anywhere but hate-hate? Do opposites attract, or does something more lasting build between people who think alike? (There's actually a brain-styles / evolutionary answer to this, but that's for another post.)
Only time will tell.
... and I'll have to find a song for it.
For these two, however, this song seemed particularly fitting:
Until The Stars Collide
As the story progresses, Maren develops a fractured, contentious relationship - can you really call it a romance? - with an adversary/co-worker. And while I have a more "serious" song selection in my list, I couldn't quite resist throwing this in:
Genghis Khan
If you have not seen this music video, please take a few minutes and watch it. It's a really fun story in the James Bond / supervillain vein. I'm taking my character inspiration from the music, not the video, but maybe it matches just a little ...
One of the fun parts about being a writer who is a quasi-pantser (I do most of my planning in the world-and-character elements, leaving the plot free to develop out of those) is the fact that I don't necessarily know what's going to happen in every aspect. Is a perfect love doomed? Can a love-hate relationship go anywhere but hate-hate? Do opposites attract, or does something more lasting build between people who think alike? (There's actually a brain-styles / evolutionary answer to this, but that's for another post.)
Only time will tell.
... and I'll have to find a song for it.
Monday, January 30, 2017
Monday Meanderings
I'm writing again.
The words are tumbling, toppling, sputtering out over each other, even sometimes when I need to step away to do something else.
I don't know if it's because of the enforced break I had over the insanity of my holiday work, or because that same break gave me plenty of time to incubate when I couldn't be actively writing. I don't know if it's because I finally hit that point in Surgeburnt where I feel sure of the course of events. I don't like to talk about my personal life on here, but I have had a medical development in the past few months, so maybe the treatment has helped.
Who knows? It has been a great development, for reasons including the fact I can now tackle a number of short stories that have been brewing on my brain. In slower periods, the top candidate invariably gets the attention; others fall by the wayside, and are often permanently buried by new concepts.
Of course, the downside to this is I now have heaps of editing to do, including a flash fiction piece finished right before the end of the year, two "cliff-hanger" stories (... one which takes the idea literally), a reprint I wanted to improve before submitting it again, and ... augh ... this doesn't even include my novel Unnatural Causes, which needs its next pass, and I haven't even touched Undertaking Chances, which title may be the most terrible pun I've inflicted on my fiction ...
Can I clone myself and make the other one do the editing?
The words are tumbling, toppling, sputtering out over each other, even sometimes when I need to step away to do something else.
I don't know if it's because of the enforced break I had over the insanity of my holiday work, or because that same break gave me plenty of time to incubate when I couldn't be actively writing. I don't know if it's because I finally hit that point in Surgeburnt where I feel sure of the course of events. I don't like to talk about my personal life on here, but I have had a medical development in the past few months, so maybe the treatment has helped.
Who knows? It has been a great development, for reasons including the fact I can now tackle a number of short stories that have been brewing on my brain. In slower periods, the top candidate invariably gets the attention; others fall by the wayside, and are often permanently buried by new concepts.
Of course, the downside to this is I now have heaps of editing to do, including a flash fiction piece finished right before the end of the year, two "cliff-hanger" stories (... one which takes the idea literally), a reprint I wanted to improve before submitting it again, and ... augh ... this doesn't even include my novel Unnatural Causes, which needs its next pass, and I haven't even touched Undertaking Chances, which title may be the most terrible pun I've inflicted on my fiction ...
Can I clone myself and make the other one do the editing?
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Song Styles
Sometimes, as a writer, you come across a song that almost perfectly encapsulates a character. This is one of those songs for me. It makes me squirm a bit in happiness because it feels so much like Maren, the narrator of Surgeburnt ... not just the lyrics, but the dark, eerie nature of the melody and instrumentation.
Fair warning - language.
Control - Halsey
"I'm meaner than my demons; I'm bigger than these bones ..."
Fair warning - language.
Control - Halsey
"I'm meaner than my demons; I'm bigger than these bones ..."
Monday, January 16, 2017
Monday Meanderings
During the Christmas craze, I binged the first season of Westworld in about four days. I thought even the subtle details were very well done. Taken objectively, the concept of a massive park populated by synthetic flesh androids requires significant suspension of disbelief, but I found it easy to become immersed in that world. Until one thing jarred me.
The employees in management and supervisor positions swore like sailors, often directing curt profanities at each other. More than once, I found myself thinking, "If you talked to your boss like that, you'd get fired."
That got me thinking (always a dangerous thing). When you're building a world that requires people to imagine circumstances far outside their own, what often determines whether the reader can suspend disbelief is not the fantastic element so much as the mundane details surrounding it. The weirder the fantastic realm, the more important it is that the people act in ways that make sense; that clothing rips; that cobwebs gather in disused corners.
I considered another show I watch, this one grounded (mostly) in our reality: Suits. Suits arguably has a similar corporate environment with an almost equivalent amount of cursing. (I will credit the disparity to the difference in network: you can get away with a lot more on HBO than you can on USA.)
So why haven't I ever questioned the cursing in Suits? The answer might be that since the world of Suits is otherwise much like our own, my suspension of disbelief doesn't get as much of a workout. In this mode, the cursing is essentially a fantastical element. In the end, Suits is an imaginary version of our world - it's just that the differences are less drastic and obvious.
Just in case I had drawn any firm conclusions, I commented about the cursing disconnect in Westworld on Facebook, and someone jumped in to comment that in their corporate environment, such cursing was common. This surprised me ... and got me thinking.
How much is suspension of disbelief based on truth, and how much is based on what we *think* is true? This comes up a lot in historical / alternate history, I imagine, where many popular misconceptions influence what we'll believe in a historical novel.
Every time we're making a claim against popular knowledge, we're spending a kind of "belief capital," and the amount a viewer/reader has varies from person to person. Another way to phrase this is "imagination overhead." As a society, our imagination overhead has grown a lot over the past few decades; it's what makes fantasy-based shows possible and even viable on regular network television. The ones that succeed make sure to do everything else right: to show that people are people, no matter how exotic.
The employees in management and supervisor positions swore like sailors, often directing curt profanities at each other. More than once, I found myself thinking, "If you talked to your boss like that, you'd get fired."
That got me thinking (always a dangerous thing). When you're building a world that requires people to imagine circumstances far outside their own, what often determines whether the reader can suspend disbelief is not the fantastic element so much as the mundane details surrounding it. The weirder the fantastic realm, the more important it is that the people act in ways that make sense; that clothing rips; that cobwebs gather in disused corners.
I considered another show I watch, this one grounded (mostly) in our reality: Suits. Suits arguably has a similar corporate environment with an almost equivalent amount of cursing. (I will credit the disparity to the difference in network: you can get away with a lot more on HBO than you can on USA.)
So why haven't I ever questioned the cursing in Suits? The answer might be that since the world of Suits is otherwise much like our own, my suspension of disbelief doesn't get as much of a workout. In this mode, the cursing is essentially a fantastical element. In the end, Suits is an imaginary version of our world - it's just that the differences are less drastic and obvious.
Just in case I had drawn any firm conclusions, I commented about the cursing disconnect in Westworld on Facebook, and someone jumped in to comment that in their corporate environment, such cursing was common. This surprised me ... and got me thinking.
How much is suspension of disbelief based on truth, and how much is based on what we *think* is true? This comes up a lot in historical / alternate history, I imagine, where many popular misconceptions influence what we'll believe in a historical novel.
Every time we're making a claim against popular knowledge, we're spending a kind of "belief capital," and the amount a viewer/reader has varies from person to person. Another way to phrase this is "imagination overhead." As a society, our imagination overhead has grown a lot over the past few decades; it's what makes fantasy-based shows possible and even viable on regular network television. The ones that succeed make sure to do everything else right: to show that people are people, no matter how exotic.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Song Styles
We interrupt our regular Sunday program of themesongs to make a recommendation of music for fantasy readers, writers and anyone else who doesn't mind a dash of the fantastic in their listening.
Dark, reflective, powerful, yet driven by the artist's dance music roots, Sophie Ellis-Bextor's album Wanderlust adds a liberal dash of fantasy into each song. I'm convinced that the track "Young Blood" is actually about vampire romance, but that's not the most obviously arcane selection. If you try out only one song to see what I'm talking about, check out:
Love Is A Camera
Even before I saw this music video, I was convinced that the mysterious woman was the protagonist of Helen Reddy's "Angie Baby" all grown up.
Sophie has a strong, clear voice with a hint of rasp. She's equally at home with the upbeat pop that is her signature style and with more powerful ballads.
For the record, my favorite from the CD:
13 Little Dolls
(Ignore the transcribed lyrics; they're entirely inaccurate.)
Other albums I've been grooving on lately:
idina. from Idina Menzel. Most of you probably know her as "that singer from Frozen," but my first encounter with her was as Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) in Wicked. Her voice is phenomenal; she's a powerhouse, without having that overwhelming vibrato that seems to be a signature of opera-style singers. This is solid, quality pop music. What sets this album apart is not so much the songs or instrumentation, but the singing. Her vocal acrobatics have shades of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, but she does it much, much better.
I'll even forgive her the e.e. cummings style title.
Stand-out track:
Queen of Swords
Joanne from Lady Gaga. Yes, I do listen to Gaga. I'm not one of those superfans who adores everything she does, but I enjoy her voice and her evolution from album to album. (I also appreciate her willingness to put herself out there. Now that she's out of the meat-dress stage, it seems very genuine.) In that respect, the songs in Joanne do the best job so far of standing back and showcasing her voice: raw, powerful and deep.
My main complaint about Gaga's CDs is that the songs within each album are very similar - with Born This Way, the melodies blurred together. Joanne does not suffer from this problem, taking a number of different directions - they may not all succeed, but the songs are generally quite distinct from each other. There's a range here, from a few classic Gaga dance tunes - "A-Yo" and "John Wayne" - to slower and more contemplative.
Ironically, the title track is one of the weakest on the album. My favorite - I can't stop hitting repeat on it - is the haunting Angel Down.
Final CD and thoughts: Ellie Goulding's Delirium. I've been a fan of Ellie since I stumbled across "Lights" years ago, and I have to say that, if you're not familiar with Ellie ... pick up Bright Lights or Halcyon Days, not Delirium. (And do be careful - each of her CDs annoyingly has a regular and a deluxe version, and there's no other way to get the deluxe songs unless you buy them as individual MP3s.)
That's not to say Delirium is bad, but the tracks are much less varied than in the previous two. Especially if the only thing you know of her is "that song from the Fifty Shades movie" - that song is probably the weakest track on Delirium and it doesn't even do a particularly good job showing off her voice.
For those who already knew Ellie, Delirium showcases her lovely, floaty voice and her rhythmic quirks - she has a lot of fun playing with rhythmic variance in her music. It's a worthy addition.
My favorite track is on the second CD, aka the Deluxe part of the album:
Winner
Dark, reflective, powerful, yet driven by the artist's dance music roots, Sophie Ellis-Bextor's album Wanderlust adds a liberal dash of fantasy into each song. I'm convinced that the track "Young Blood" is actually about vampire romance, but that's not the most obviously arcane selection. If you try out only one song to see what I'm talking about, check out:
Love Is A Camera
Even before I saw this music video, I was convinced that the mysterious woman was the protagonist of Helen Reddy's "Angie Baby" all grown up.
Sophie has a strong, clear voice with a hint of rasp. She's equally at home with the upbeat pop that is her signature style and with more powerful ballads.
For the record, my favorite from the CD:
13 Little Dolls
(Ignore the transcribed lyrics; they're entirely inaccurate.)
Other albums I've been grooving on lately:
idina. from Idina Menzel. Most of you probably know her as "that singer from Frozen," but my first encounter with her was as Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) in Wicked. Her voice is phenomenal; she's a powerhouse, without having that overwhelming vibrato that seems to be a signature of opera-style singers. This is solid, quality pop music. What sets this album apart is not so much the songs or instrumentation, but the singing. Her vocal acrobatics have shades of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey, but she does it much, much better.
I'll even forgive her the e.e. cummings style title.
Stand-out track:
Queen of Swords
Joanne from Lady Gaga. Yes, I do listen to Gaga. I'm not one of those superfans who adores everything she does, but I enjoy her voice and her evolution from album to album. (I also appreciate her willingness to put herself out there. Now that she's out of the meat-dress stage, it seems very genuine.) In that respect, the songs in Joanne do the best job so far of standing back and showcasing her voice: raw, powerful and deep.
My main complaint about Gaga's CDs is that the songs within each album are very similar - with Born This Way, the melodies blurred together. Joanne does not suffer from this problem, taking a number of different directions - they may not all succeed, but the songs are generally quite distinct from each other. There's a range here, from a few classic Gaga dance tunes - "A-Yo" and "John Wayne" - to slower and more contemplative.
Ironically, the title track is one of the weakest on the album. My favorite - I can't stop hitting repeat on it - is the haunting Angel Down.
Final CD and thoughts: Ellie Goulding's Delirium. I've been a fan of Ellie since I stumbled across "Lights" years ago, and I have to say that, if you're not familiar with Ellie ... pick up Bright Lights or Halcyon Days, not Delirium. (And do be careful - each of her CDs annoyingly has a regular and a deluxe version, and there's no other way to get the deluxe songs unless you buy them as individual MP3s.)
That's not to say Delirium is bad, but the tracks are much less varied than in the previous two. Especially if the only thing you know of her is "that song from the Fifty Shades movie" - that song is probably the weakest track on Delirium and it doesn't even do a particularly good job showing off her voice.
For those who already knew Ellie, Delirium showcases her lovely, floaty voice and her rhythmic quirks - she has a lot of fun playing with rhythmic variance in her music. It's a worthy addition.
My favorite track is on the second CD, aka the Deluxe part of the album:
Winner
Monday, January 09, 2017
Monday Meanderings
The recent death of Carrie Fisher has brought up many tribute posts and memories. Some that catch my eye are from female writers who credit Leia as being the first time they saw a female heroine on the screen who could rescue herself. It was the lightbulb moment: women can be warriors, too.
For me, I don't consciously remember ever having this revelation. There wasn't one shining moment when I realized that girls could fight, too: it was simply something I never questioned or doubted. I took it for granted, and when I stopped reading "kid's books" (YA and MG, in current parlance) at a fairly young age, I was generally irritated by the paucity of heroines in "adult books." To me, the absence wasn't a societal proscription or prophecy: it was a lack on the part of writers that I just couldn't understand. Why wouldn't you write about awesome women, too?
One moment that sticks out in my memory where I stumbled into a different outlook was with a Reader's Theatre production of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. For those not familiar with Reader's Theater, it focuses on presenting books in script form, but typically without staging, etc - individuals read the characters seated. Or at least, this was the version I worked with at the time.
I was bound and determined I was going to read the titular role. Gender swap? Well ... Wilhelmina Wonka, of course. I was bitterly disappointed that the vote went against me, and my mother said that she thought the others had trouble imagining the character as female. I simply couldn't understand why that would be such a big deal.
So I guess I've been fortunate enough that I feel I've always been steeped in the "women can do anything" mindset to the point where not only don't I question it, there's always a tiny part of me that's bewildered when someone else has to make a point of saying it. Wait, doesn't that go without saying, like the fact that gravity works?
It should be noted that I'm in a traditionally male-dominated profession, but even my time in culinary school was often dominated by the girls. In savory classes, they were often half the class; in pastry classes, it would sometimes be all female. (In these latter classes, I tended to end up being the tallest person in the room, so I spent a lot of time getting things down from shelves and the ceiling.) I remember getting into it a bit with one of my (male) instructors for giving us extra credit work to write about five current up-and-coming chefs ... all of whom were male. I was polite, but to me, that was pretty much unacceptable.
Of course, I will admit that sometimes, I have the opposite problem. I had an editor request some changes to a male romantic lead because he suffered from love interest syndrome, where the character seemed to exist only for that purpose ... something usually only found in female characters. Whoops. (I won't name manuscript because some spoilers implicit.)
So I try to stay even-handed ... but I've got to admit in my mind, I'm always cheering on the ladies.
For me, I don't consciously remember ever having this revelation. There wasn't one shining moment when I realized that girls could fight, too: it was simply something I never questioned or doubted. I took it for granted, and when I stopped reading "kid's books" (YA and MG, in current parlance) at a fairly young age, I was generally irritated by the paucity of heroines in "adult books." To me, the absence wasn't a societal proscription or prophecy: it was a lack on the part of writers that I just couldn't understand. Why wouldn't you write about awesome women, too?
One moment that sticks out in my memory where I stumbled into a different outlook was with a Reader's Theatre production of Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. For those not familiar with Reader's Theater, it focuses on presenting books in script form, but typically without staging, etc - individuals read the characters seated. Or at least, this was the version I worked with at the time.
I was bound and determined I was going to read the titular role. Gender swap? Well ... Wilhelmina Wonka, of course. I was bitterly disappointed that the vote went against me, and my mother said that she thought the others had trouble imagining the character as female. I simply couldn't understand why that would be such a big deal.
So I guess I've been fortunate enough that I feel I've always been steeped in the "women can do anything" mindset to the point where not only don't I question it, there's always a tiny part of me that's bewildered when someone else has to make a point of saying it. Wait, doesn't that go without saying, like the fact that gravity works?
It should be noted that I'm in a traditionally male-dominated profession, but even my time in culinary school was often dominated by the girls. In savory classes, they were often half the class; in pastry classes, it would sometimes be all female. (In these latter classes, I tended to end up being the tallest person in the room, so I spent a lot of time getting things down from shelves and the ceiling.) I remember getting into it a bit with one of my (male) instructors for giving us extra credit work to write about five current up-and-coming chefs ... all of whom were male. I was polite, but to me, that was pretty much unacceptable.
Of course, I will admit that sometimes, I have the opposite problem. I had an editor request some changes to a male romantic lead because he suffered from love interest syndrome, where the character seemed to exist only for that purpose ... something usually only found in female characters. Whoops. (I won't name manuscript because some spoilers implicit.)
So I try to stay even-handed ... but I've got to admit in my mind, I'm always cheering on the ladies.
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Song Styles
I have not yet found a character who fits this song, but it's a very appropriate tune for writers, artists and other creators, sung by an artist with a gorgeous voice:
Beyond Imagination - Sissel
Highly recommended listen.
Beyond Imagination - Sissel
Highly recommended listen.
Wednesday, January 04, 2017
The Road To Dog Fostering
Today marks my one-year anniversary of having a rescue dog in my home as a foster parent (for LuvFurMutts rescue, if anyone is curious). It was a twisted road getting here, but the experience and sweet little Ami have changed my life.
Like many kids, when I was young, I was desperate for a dog. I couldn't have one, though, because of allergies. I also had other severe environmental allergies, so my parents didn't want to add to the strain. They finally decided something had to be done, though, when they caught me snuggling the hamster.
(Willow. Very friendly and gentle, but dumb as a box of rocks.)
So my parents did some research and discovered the Bichon Frise, a hypoallergenic breed. Most kids want a car for their sixteenth birthday. I was jubilantly happy to get a puppy - or more specifically, the promise of a puppy, for the litter hadn't been born yet. It came from a backyard breeder; at the time, my parents didn't know enough to be alarmed by this. When the litter was still only a few weeks old, I went to visit and chose a puppy. Since they were all little white puffs, the family marked the one I had chosen.
Fast forward a few more weeks, and my family goes to pick up the pup. We're watching them play in the yard. One pup detours off from the rest, and the others follow. Uhoh. The alpha.
My mother: "Which one is ours?"
"Oh, that one."
So that was Nimi (rhymes with Timmy) - short for Nimue, the Arthurian Lady of the Lake. As new dog owners, she ran the whole family ragged and knew exactly how to get what she wanted. She was also a cuddly sweetheart ... and then the problems started.
It should have been alarming that Nimi developed kidney stones at three years old. She had surgery to remove them, and for a while, all seemed well ... but then she started getting sick, involving multiple trips to the emergency vet clinic. Her system wasn't processing / flushing toxins properly.
She needed subcutaneous fluids for months. To do this, I had to gently pierce her skin with a needle and then massage in liquid from an IV bag. Because it would pool up, we used to call it "saddlebagging." It could not have been a comfortable experience, but she dealt with it valiantly. As for me, I swallowed my panic; I've always been deathly afraid of needles.
Again, Nimi recovered. When she took another turn for the worse, I knew she wouldn't last long, but I was thinking in terms of months. I was stunned when I took her to the vet and he indicated organ failure. We had to make the decision to put her down.
Our wonderful vet gave us - basically at cost - powerful anti-nausea meds so Nimi could have a few comfortable days with her family. We spoiled her, gave her car rides, ice cream and everything a pup could want. And then my mother and I took her in for her final journey.
She was just shy of her ninth birthday.
The experience broke our hearts. It also (then) firmly set my resolve: I would only buy a dog from a highly reputable breeder. I couldn't go through this again.
It was a little over a year before my family could find the heart to welcome in another dog. This time, we dealt with an approved breeder in the north of the state. There was a single female pup, pictures emailed back and forth, and even a name tentatively chosen: Sophie.
My mother and I drove up together. Besides the pup we had come to see, there was a second puppy who had been a stud pick. (That is: the breeder's dog was the sire of another breeder's litter, and her payment was a pup from the litter.) While the female we had come to see bounced happily along, this second pup immediately tried to climb into my lap.
The breeder pushed her aside. "Oh, this one's needy," she said.
Well ... needy was exactly what we wanted. It took the whole drive home before the new addition had a name: Lexi, a Greek name which means "protector of humanity." Pretty hilarious in hindsight, considering she plays guard dog ... and monitors both her younger sister and my foster dog, barking loudly if they act sick or are doing something they shouldn't be.
Speaking of her younger sister ... a few years later, I added Peri to the pack, and things were never quite the same. She was - and still is - a little diva. She's also never been quite as healthy as Lexi, but her problems are minor: ear infections, a cherry eye, etc.
Fast-forward five years more. My mother started this one: she had become interested in animal rescue due to the story of Caitlin the pitbull and started sending me pictures and success stories. I loved seeing the dogs flourish and find homes, so on Facebook, I added a local rescue to my feed.
Then a tiny boy chihuahua mix popped up and I fell in love. "Oh, my gosh, I want him!" I gushed ... and my mother egged me on, so I applied. It was pure whim.
It was also the first of a handful of negative experiences I had with larger local rescues. My applications were either brushed off with "we got a ton of applications, so we will only be in touch if yours made it" or I was pushed to adopt right away. Considering I had two resident dogs to think about, I wasn't going to make any decision rashly. Lexi is fairly easy-going and I was pretty sure would be okay with a new dog, but Peri is an attention-seeking prima donna, so I wanted a trial before I committed.
What about the question of health, which so worried me? After my first whim-filled application, I did more research and found that often, mixed breeds are healthier than their purebred counterparts. And ultimately, too, I think seeing all the tough stories of the dogs and all they had been through showed me that there are no guarantees ... and all pups needed love and happiness.
After a few sincere disappointments - in particular, a pup I had fallen in love with, only to be informed that someone else had priority - I contacted another area writer, Laura Resnick, via Facebook. I had been watching her cat fostering posts for a while and asked her if she knew of something similar for dogs. She pointed me to LuvFurMutts.
Now usually, LFM's adoption events are/were on Saturdays, which is difficult for me since I work catering. By pure happenstance, though, the next upcoming event had been shifted to Sunday. I decided to go. I wasn't really interested in any of the dogs who were "attending" the event, but LFM had a litter of just-born puppies. It wouldn't hurt to feel out the rescue and meet folks.
That event went very well. I made some canine friends and just "clicked" with the LFM folks. The coordinator that day suggested that I foster until I decided to adopt ...
... and poor fool me, I applied.
Now, this was right around the holidays, so they were closing down intake and events until the new year. And when that year rolled around, the request came: could I take Ami?
At first, I thought I had made a big mistake. With a new dog in my home, I felt I had to be hypervigilant - not just because of her, but watching Peri and Lexi. Ami was frightened and clingy. And then ... she started to relax, and I started to relax, and it worked.
I've watched Ami grow and improve tremendously. I'm as proud as could be and looking forward to some day helping another dog. Now, after this long and winding road, I don't know if I would consider anything else but fostering and adopting.
Like many kids, when I was young, I was desperate for a dog. I couldn't have one, though, because of allergies. I also had other severe environmental allergies, so my parents didn't want to add to the strain. They finally decided something had to be done, though, when they caught me snuggling the hamster.
(Willow. Very friendly and gentle, but dumb as a box of rocks.)
So my parents did some research and discovered the Bichon Frise, a hypoallergenic breed. Most kids want a car for their sixteenth birthday. I was jubilantly happy to get a puppy - or more specifically, the promise of a puppy, for the litter hadn't been born yet. It came from a backyard breeder; at the time, my parents didn't know enough to be alarmed by this. When the litter was still only a few weeks old, I went to visit and chose a puppy. Since they were all little white puffs, the family marked the one I had chosen.
Fast forward a few more weeks, and my family goes to pick up the pup. We're watching them play in the yard. One pup detours off from the rest, and the others follow. Uhoh. The alpha.
My mother: "Which one is ours?"
"Oh, that one."
So that was Nimi (rhymes with Timmy) - short for Nimue, the Arthurian Lady of the Lake. As new dog owners, she ran the whole family ragged and knew exactly how to get what she wanted. She was also a cuddly sweetheart ... and then the problems started.
It should have been alarming that Nimi developed kidney stones at three years old. She had surgery to remove them, and for a while, all seemed well ... but then she started getting sick, involving multiple trips to the emergency vet clinic. Her system wasn't processing / flushing toxins properly.
She needed subcutaneous fluids for months. To do this, I had to gently pierce her skin with a needle and then massage in liquid from an IV bag. Because it would pool up, we used to call it "saddlebagging." It could not have been a comfortable experience, but she dealt with it valiantly. As for me, I swallowed my panic; I've always been deathly afraid of needles.
Again, Nimi recovered. When she took another turn for the worse, I knew she wouldn't last long, but I was thinking in terms of months. I was stunned when I took her to the vet and he indicated organ failure. We had to make the decision to put her down.
Our wonderful vet gave us - basically at cost - powerful anti-nausea meds so Nimi could have a few comfortable days with her family. We spoiled her, gave her car rides, ice cream and everything a pup could want. And then my mother and I took her in for her final journey.
She was just shy of her ninth birthday.
The experience broke our hearts. It also (then) firmly set my resolve: I would only buy a dog from a highly reputable breeder. I couldn't go through this again.
It was a little over a year before my family could find the heart to welcome in another dog. This time, we dealt with an approved breeder in the north of the state. There was a single female pup, pictures emailed back and forth, and even a name tentatively chosen: Sophie.
My mother and I drove up together. Besides the pup we had come to see, there was a second puppy who had been a stud pick. (That is: the breeder's dog was the sire of another breeder's litter, and her payment was a pup from the litter.) While the female we had come to see bounced happily along, this second pup immediately tried to climb into my lap.
The breeder pushed her aside. "Oh, this one's needy," she said.
Well ... needy was exactly what we wanted. It took the whole drive home before the new addition had a name: Lexi, a Greek name which means "protector of humanity." Pretty hilarious in hindsight, considering she plays guard dog ... and monitors both her younger sister and my foster dog, barking loudly if they act sick or are doing something they shouldn't be.
Speaking of her younger sister ... a few years later, I added Peri to the pack, and things were never quite the same. She was - and still is - a little diva. She's also never been quite as healthy as Lexi, but her problems are minor: ear infections, a cherry eye, etc.
Fast-forward five years more. My mother started this one: she had become interested in animal rescue due to the story of Caitlin the pitbull and started sending me pictures and success stories. I loved seeing the dogs flourish and find homes, so on Facebook, I added a local rescue to my feed.
Then a tiny boy chihuahua mix popped up and I fell in love. "Oh, my gosh, I want him!" I gushed ... and my mother egged me on, so I applied. It was pure whim.
It was also the first of a handful of negative experiences I had with larger local rescues. My applications were either brushed off with "we got a ton of applications, so we will only be in touch if yours made it" or I was pushed to adopt right away. Considering I had two resident dogs to think about, I wasn't going to make any decision rashly. Lexi is fairly easy-going and I was pretty sure would be okay with a new dog, but Peri is an attention-seeking prima donna, so I wanted a trial before I committed.
What about the question of health, which so worried me? After my first whim-filled application, I did more research and found that often, mixed breeds are healthier than their purebred counterparts. And ultimately, too, I think seeing all the tough stories of the dogs and all they had been through showed me that there are no guarantees ... and all pups needed love and happiness.
After a few sincere disappointments - in particular, a pup I had fallen in love with, only to be informed that someone else had priority - I contacted another area writer, Laura Resnick, via Facebook. I had been watching her cat fostering posts for a while and asked her if she knew of something similar for dogs. She pointed me to LuvFurMutts.
Now usually, LFM's adoption events are/were on Saturdays, which is difficult for me since I work catering. By pure happenstance, though, the next upcoming event had been shifted to Sunday. I decided to go. I wasn't really interested in any of the dogs who were "attending" the event, but LFM had a litter of just-born puppies. It wouldn't hurt to feel out the rescue and meet folks.
That event went very well. I made some canine friends and just "clicked" with the LFM folks. The coordinator that day suggested that I foster until I decided to adopt ...
... and poor fool me, I applied.
Now, this was right around the holidays, so they were closing down intake and events until the new year. And when that year rolled around, the request came: could I take Ami?
At first, I thought I had made a big mistake. With a new dog in my home, I felt I had to be hypervigilant - not just because of her, but watching Peri and Lexi. Ami was frightened and clingy. And then ... she started to relax, and I started to relax, and it worked.
I've watched Ami grow and improve tremendously. I'm as proud as could be and looking forward to some day helping another dog. Now, after this long and winding road, I don't know if I would consider anything else but fostering and adopting.
Monday, January 02, 2017
Monday Meanderings
It's been a crazy year, probably one of my most tumultuous and change-filled. I've been tested, frustrated, run mad, and come out stronger for it. I've finished numerous short stories, poetry pieces, and a novel(la), had a novel accepted for small press publication and begun edits, started a new part-time job, had a work location close, change in bosses, change in responsibilities, added a new student, minor car accident, unraveled a health mystery, chopped my hair and dyed it purple, started fostering for a canine adoption group ...
I'm not entirely sure that's the complete list.
Nothing has been simple or straightforward; it's all been complicated, twisty, and often piled atop each other in a way that no one would believe in fiction. "Come on, it just happened to occur in that order?" It may not have been easy on my nerves, but I think I'm stronger for navigating it all.
To those setting New Year's resolutions, I salute you. Sure, it's an arbitrary unit of time, but so are most self-imposed deadlines ... and deadlines can be liberating. I believe in concrete goals, no matter when you choose to set them.
For myself, at least on the writing front, I will not be setting long-term goals - not because I'm a hypocrite, but because achieving my goals ultimately depends on someone else (an editor, agent or publisher). I can take as many steps as I can find in the right direction, but success needs a green light from someone else. I'm thinking particularly that my next hopes are to get an agent and a short story in a pro-level anthology.
So I have ... hopes? Hopes for the New Year and new change.
But I'd take a calmer year, too.
I'm not entirely sure that's the complete list.
Nothing has been simple or straightforward; it's all been complicated, twisty, and often piled atop each other in a way that no one would believe in fiction. "Come on, it just happened to occur in that order?" It may not have been easy on my nerves, but I think I'm stronger for navigating it all.
To those setting New Year's resolutions, I salute you. Sure, it's an arbitrary unit of time, but so are most self-imposed deadlines ... and deadlines can be liberating. I believe in concrete goals, no matter when you choose to set them.
For myself, at least on the writing front, I will not be setting long-term goals - not because I'm a hypocrite, but because achieving my goals ultimately depends on someone else (an editor, agent or publisher). I can take as many steps as I can find in the right direction, but success needs a green light from someone else. I'm thinking particularly that my next hopes are to get an agent and a short story in a pro-level anthology.
So I have ... hopes? Hopes for the New Year and new change.
But I'd take a calmer year, too.
Sunday, January 01, 2017
Song Styles
When it comes to wishes for the new year, both this song and the accompanying video seem appropriate to me (and this song is fantastic by itself - I'm a bit obsessed with it):
Trip The Light
I need to know I can be lost, and not afraid ...
For me, personally, this song found me during 2016 and is a reminder I needed going forward:
Live It Up
Happy New Year, y'all!
Trip The Light
I need to know I can be lost, and not afraid ...
For me, personally, this song found me during 2016 and is a reminder I needed going forward:
Live It Up
Happy New Year, y'all!
Monday, December 26, 2016
Monday Meanderings
Happy Holidays to all! The days are (slowly) getting longer and sunlight is on its way.
Working on the edits for Scylla and Charybdis while writing Surgeburnt has made me aware of the similarities under the hood. Both are very different worlds with even more diverse characters and plots, but - of course! - they come from the same mind, so some of the sensibilities and the assumptions that lead to world developments are similar.
One of those has made me very aware that I'm a bit obsessed with the book as a physical, unchanging entity - paper and ink. I'm still a devoted reader of paper books: I don't own an e-reader and will read on-screen only when absolutely necessary. This is also partly why anthologies are my favored source for short fiction reading: printed magazines have become increasingly rare, but anthologies have, if nothing else, a solid niche with most major publishers.
In the first draft of Scylla and Charybdis, I had no clear thought of giving Anaea an interest in books: it was something that developed in the writing process. In later drafts, and especially now as I'm working with an editor, I've been pushed to truly examine the allure. Is it sensory, tactile, an experience beyond the words on the page? Is it the fact that the printed page cannot be altered - at least, not in one specific volume? A digital file can easily be altered. A book, packed away safely, will have the same words, the same font, the same look centuries later.
In the world of Scylla and Charybdis, bookcraft is a fringe endeavor - much like people today enjoy constructing period costumes and trying to replicate authentic instruments. It's a way of preserving the integrity of history.
As I did my worldbuilding for Surgeburnt, I knew I wanted to have ink-and-paper books in that setting as well - but perhaps more prominently. I followed a similar line of thought, the idea that the virtue of a book is the fact it doesn't change to whim and fashion. In the case of this setting, entertainment - television, movies, etc - became increasingly user-customized, with consumer input bombarding the system. The job of the scriptwriter became to incorporate these whims into divergent storylines.
Much of history, though, involves backlash - a process of thesis and antithesis, finally resolved in synthesis. (I used this idea in other parts of my worldbuilding as well. For instance, in some ways, the Empire in Scylla and Charybdis has regressed from our current societal tendency to be constantly connected. Being hard to reach / contact became a sign of status.) In this way, people in the Surgeburnt world came back to books.
... and thus, the Order of Librarians rose to prominence. A small group associated with the Library of Congress, their initial purview was merely preservation. When the market demand for printed books resurged, they were ideally poised to meet the need and expand across the country. They also formed a retrieval department tasked with hunting down and acquiring antique volumes by any means necessary.
With all of this, you might think I'm vehemently opposed to digital media. I'm not: I love the possibilities of internet research, and the fact that you can "shelve" a book in multiple categories offers huge possibilities for readers ... among so many other advantages. But I think a case may be made, on the other hand, that I am obsessed with the paper book.
Working on the edits for Scylla and Charybdis while writing Surgeburnt has made me aware of the similarities under the hood. Both are very different worlds with even more diverse characters and plots, but - of course! - they come from the same mind, so some of the sensibilities and the assumptions that lead to world developments are similar.
One of those has made me very aware that I'm a bit obsessed with the book as a physical, unchanging entity - paper and ink. I'm still a devoted reader of paper books: I don't own an e-reader and will read on-screen only when absolutely necessary. This is also partly why anthologies are my favored source for short fiction reading: printed magazines have become increasingly rare, but anthologies have, if nothing else, a solid niche with most major publishers.
In the first draft of Scylla and Charybdis, I had no clear thought of giving Anaea an interest in books: it was something that developed in the writing process. In later drafts, and especially now as I'm working with an editor, I've been pushed to truly examine the allure. Is it sensory, tactile, an experience beyond the words on the page? Is it the fact that the printed page cannot be altered - at least, not in one specific volume? A digital file can easily be altered. A book, packed away safely, will have the same words, the same font, the same look centuries later.
In the world of Scylla and Charybdis, bookcraft is a fringe endeavor - much like people today enjoy constructing period costumes and trying to replicate authentic instruments. It's a way of preserving the integrity of history.
As I did my worldbuilding for Surgeburnt, I knew I wanted to have ink-and-paper books in that setting as well - but perhaps more prominently. I followed a similar line of thought, the idea that the virtue of a book is the fact it doesn't change to whim and fashion. In the case of this setting, entertainment - television, movies, etc - became increasingly user-customized, with consumer input bombarding the system. The job of the scriptwriter became to incorporate these whims into divergent storylines.
Much of history, though, involves backlash - a process of thesis and antithesis, finally resolved in synthesis. (I used this idea in other parts of my worldbuilding as well. For instance, in some ways, the Empire in Scylla and Charybdis has regressed from our current societal tendency to be constantly connected. Being hard to reach / contact became a sign of status.) In this way, people in the Surgeburnt world came back to books.
... and thus, the Order of Librarians rose to prominence. A small group associated with the Library of Congress, their initial purview was merely preservation. When the market demand for printed books resurged, they were ideally poised to meet the need and expand across the country. They also formed a retrieval department tasked with hunting down and acquiring antique volumes by any means necessary.
With all of this, you might think I'm vehemently opposed to digital media. I'm not: I love the possibilities of internet research, and the fact that you can "shelve" a book in multiple categories offers huge possibilities for readers ... among so many other advantages. But I think a case may be made, on the other hand, that I am obsessed with the paper book.
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
GoodReads Reviews: Fight Like A Girl - ed. Roz Clarke
Fight Like A Girl by Roz ClarkeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
From the exotic depths of alien space to futuristic slums, from down-to-earth fantasy realms to those embraced by gods, this anthology features female fighters in all their forms. The worldbuilding and action scenes are highlights of these tales; the fights are tense and engrossing, and the worlds feel authentic and lived-in. (There were a few cases where the worldbuilding became heavy; too much information that didn't always contribute. I wondered if these were stories that attached to a novel or larger series.)
The stories range from traditional arcs to vignettes - snapshots of a day in the life that (generally) resolve in satisfying fashion, regardless of loose ends. A couple didn't work for me because they felt as if they ended too early: I was unhappy not having the answer to the question, "What next?" There were also a few brilliant twists.
Another facet of this anthology I appreciated was the organization of the stories. The first story shows the female character a distance; the second takes the reader closer ... and then we step into the skin of the lady protagonist. It's a great journey.
View all my reviews
Monday, December 19, 2016
Monday Meanderings
Here's a thought about experience, change and skills through the lens of roleplaying games, but applied to writing and life.
A few years ago, I was a staffer on an online roleplaying game. For those not familiar with RPG systems, the one involved here is point-based: everyone gets a certain number of points to build their character, buying skills (diplomacy), advantages (wealth), attributes (strength, intelligence), powers and other aspects. As the game progresses, the character is awarded more points to spend so the player can develop them.
So the staff of this game decided to have the game jump forward four years. I argued hard for characters to be awarded a lump amount of points to reflect their development. I was vetoed because the other staffers were concerned about character inflation. They pointed out that people could rebuild / restructure their current points. We finally compromised to allow people to spend a small amount of future points ...
But the discussion stuck with me. Was it realistic for an individual not to improve over four years - merely shift their focus? If someone focused on studying archery and fencing, would their academic skills degrade? To what extent do we get better, and to what extent do we simply move our points around? Can we really do it all, given enough time, or do we start dropping balls? Even if we find that balance, does the universe find ways to keep us within our point limits?
For the matter of that ... when do we level up?
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Song Styles
Even my comic zombie novel(la) has a themesong! Albeit with tongue firmly in cheek:
It's Good News Week
Just about says it.
It's Good News Week
Just about says it.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Holiday Reading
Looking to give the gift of reading to a friend, relative or enemy? (Hey ... who am I to judge?)
Consider my contemporary fantasy novel Flow, either in electronic format or print. Flow follows two characters: teenaged Kit, bitter in the wake of the death of her mother and unable to control her budding powers; and Chailyn, a water-witch raised in the underwater Vale and only now sent to the surface for her first mission. The pair team up to uncover who killed Kit's mother and find more than they bargained for: predatory fairies, a rival organization to the water-witches known as the Borderwatch, and secrets buried in both their pasts. They also find Hadrian, a bizarre young man with hyper-accelerated perceptions who invites himself along on the journey.
Looking for something shorter and even seasonal? Try X-Mas Wishes ...
Or enter the far-flung reaches of space with Taming The Weald. (No holiday connection.)
How about a few anthologies with some fantastic authors and one hack? (That'd be me.)
Unburied Treasures
Light of the Last Day
Trespass
For fans of Celtic music, Renaissance music, or just good ol' music-music, I offer my CD, Rolling Of The Stone, through my website, and can autograph the inside cover if desired.
Consider my contemporary fantasy novel Flow, either in electronic format or print. Flow follows two characters: teenaged Kit, bitter in the wake of the death of her mother and unable to control her budding powers; and Chailyn, a water-witch raised in the underwater Vale and only now sent to the surface for her first mission. The pair team up to uncover who killed Kit's mother and find more than they bargained for: predatory fairies, a rival organization to the water-witches known as the Borderwatch, and secrets buried in both their pasts. They also find Hadrian, a bizarre young man with hyper-accelerated perceptions who invites himself along on the journey.
Looking for something shorter and even seasonal? Try X-Mas Wishes ...
Or enter the far-flung reaches of space with Taming The Weald. (No holiday connection.)
How about a few anthologies with some fantastic authors and one hack? (That'd be me.)
Unburied Treasures
Light of the Last Day
Trespass
For fans of Celtic music, Renaissance music, or just good ol' music-music, I offer my CD, Rolling Of The Stone, through my website, and can autograph the inside cover if desired.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Monday Meanderings
Years ago, I attended the Somerset Folk Harp Festival (one of the first) - not actually a festival so much as a professional conference with educational sessions, vendors, and evening concerts. It was a wonderful event, full of positive energy and possibilities.
(There is a writing-related thought here. There's always a writing-related thought.)
One session that sticks out in my mind was taught by Kim Robertson, one of the more famous names in the field. The topic was performance: all aspects of playing before an audience that didn't involve the harp, from dealing with nerves, to proper posture, reacting to mistakes, and talking to the audience. Three things stayed with me.
First, the audience is on your side. They want to enjoy the music; they want you to succeed. I like to think this applies to writing, as well: our expectations may be higher, our reading time at more of a premium, but we still pick up every book hoping to be delighted and entertained.
Second, Kim suggested that rather than starting with a verbal introduction, you go right into playing a tune. This has become my practice. I'm very shy, so starting with a comfortable tune is far more relaxing than speaking. What's the writing analogue of this? Don't start with a description of a sunset, I suppose.
Third, humor is wonderful, but there's really only one safe topic that you can joke about without the risk of offending someone: yourself. Self-deprecating humor puts your listeners at ease.
And isn't that true in fiction as well? Some of the best, most memorable humor comes from the core of character and humanity - from (imaginary) people being themselves. Writers can poke fun at their own inventions in a way that lets the reader be free to laugh ... even if that invention is sometimes a veiled version of reality.
Humor based in pop culture fades and becomes dated, then incomprehensible; humor based in politics often requires the reader to share the author's outlook. But the humor of characters colliding is universal and can enliven any performance.
So authors: make fun of yourselves, or at least your characters.
(There is a writing-related thought here. There's always a writing-related thought.)
One session that sticks out in my mind was taught by Kim Robertson, one of the more famous names in the field. The topic was performance: all aspects of playing before an audience that didn't involve the harp, from dealing with nerves, to proper posture, reacting to mistakes, and talking to the audience. Three things stayed with me.
First, the audience is on your side. They want to enjoy the music; they want you to succeed. I like to think this applies to writing, as well: our expectations may be higher, our reading time at more of a premium, but we still pick up every book hoping to be delighted and entertained.
Second, Kim suggested that rather than starting with a verbal introduction, you go right into playing a tune. This has become my practice. I'm very shy, so starting with a comfortable tune is far more relaxing than speaking. What's the writing analogue of this? Don't start with a description of a sunset, I suppose.
Third, humor is wonderful, but there's really only one safe topic that you can joke about without the risk of offending someone: yourself. Self-deprecating humor puts your listeners at ease.
And isn't that true in fiction as well? Some of the best, most memorable humor comes from the core of character and humanity - from (imaginary) people being themselves. Writers can poke fun at their own inventions in a way that lets the reader be free to laugh ... even if that invention is sometimes a veiled version of reality.
Humor based in pop culture fades and becomes dated, then incomprehensible; humor based in politics often requires the reader to share the author's outlook. But the humor of characters colliding is universal and can enliven any performance.
So authors: make fun of yourselves, or at least your characters.
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Song Styles
The editing of Unnatural Causes goes on hiatus again as I bury my nose back into Scylla and Charybdis, but I still have my fantasy-mystery novel on the brain. The narrator and main character, Vil, is an enchanter's familiar in a world where familiars are being summoned from another plane. As an outsider, many human customs seem incomprehensible to her ... including polite falsehoods, political lies, and other varieties of not speaking what one thinks. And oh, she does.
This cheerful (and very 80s) song was first on my list of themesongs for her:
Orange Express
"A toda maquina," at least as far as my research indicates, basically means "full speed ahead" or "at full speed," which is very accurate for this character. (Spanish speakers, feel free to elaborate / correct!)
This cheerful (and very 80s) song was first on my list of themesongs for her:
Orange Express
"A toda maquina," at least as far as my research indicates, basically means "full speed ahead" or "at full speed," which is very accurate for this character. (Spanish speakers, feel free to elaborate / correct!)
Monday, November 28, 2016
Monday Meanderings
I identify with certain aspects of my ethnic / cultural heritage more strongly than others. I've always inwardly described myself as a "European mutt." From my mother's side, I'm a quarter Welsh / English and a quarter Italian (actually an even split between mainland and Sicilian, if you want to get particular). I even have an ancestor whose surname was ffollows - yes, with two small letters. On my father's side, things get a bit more complicated, with Scottish, Scots-Irish, German and Norwegian.
I do connect a lot with my Welsh and Scottish heritage because of my musical background. I spent years competing at Highland Games through the Scottish Harp Society of America, and then a few more years as a competition judge. I even competed at a Welsh Eisteddfod. (Say that three times fast, I challenge you.)
Of the many Celtic lands, I've always had the most affinity with the Welsh music. I also feel quite comfortable with the language and names ... though the latter might have something to do with the fact that I cut my fantasy-reader teeth on Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. It was a weird experience reading a guide to where the Welsh language places syllable emphasis, because it turned out it was exactly how I tended to pronounce if left to my own devices. I don't feel the same pull from Welsh mythology, though I've read most of the Mabinogion and other sources.
As for the Scots, I love the "brawn" in Scottish music - a quality that is easier to feel than to describe. Turns out that I am named after two clans - Clan Lindsay and Clan Duncan - who have been feuding for centuries over ... I don't remember whether it was a goat, a pig or a sheep, but some brand of livestock.
This explains so much.
In the kitchen, I've been known to make jokes about the generous use of alcohol in cooking: "Of course I'm going to add whisk(e)y to that, I'm Scottish." I will also make fun of bagpipes at the drop of a hat, but that's another story.
The Italian is the food side of my heritage: food is love, the desire to feed everyone, and making too much of it all the time. And I talk with my hands. I also feel affinity for Italian cooking, even flavor profiles that I didn't encounter as a kid, for instance the use of fennel. There's something about it that always feels very familiar.
As for Roman mythology ... pfft. The Greeks got it right. Why mess with perfection? ;-)
I do connect a lot with my Welsh and Scottish heritage because of my musical background. I spent years competing at Highland Games through the Scottish Harp Society of America, and then a few more years as a competition judge. I even competed at a Welsh Eisteddfod. (Say that three times fast, I challenge you.)
Of the many Celtic lands, I've always had the most affinity with the Welsh music. I also feel quite comfortable with the language and names ... though the latter might have something to do with the fact that I cut my fantasy-reader teeth on Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. It was a weird experience reading a guide to where the Welsh language places syllable emphasis, because it turned out it was exactly how I tended to pronounce if left to my own devices. I don't feel the same pull from Welsh mythology, though I've read most of the Mabinogion and other sources.
As for the Scots, I love the "brawn" in Scottish music - a quality that is easier to feel than to describe. Turns out that I am named after two clans - Clan Lindsay and Clan Duncan - who have been feuding for centuries over ... I don't remember whether it was a goat, a pig or a sheep, but some brand of livestock.
This explains so much.
In the kitchen, I've been known to make jokes about the generous use of alcohol in cooking: "Of course I'm going to add whisk(e)y to that, I'm Scottish." I will also make fun of bagpipes at the drop of a hat, but that's another story.
The Italian is the food side of my heritage: food is love, the desire to feed everyone, and making too much of it all the time. And I talk with my hands. I also feel affinity for Italian cooking, even flavor profiles that I didn't encounter as a kid, for instance the use of fennel. There's something about it that always feels very familiar.
As for Roman mythology ... pfft. The Greeks got it right. Why mess with perfection? ;-)
Sunday, November 27, 2016
Song Styles
For my last few long projects, I've associated music / soundtracks with them in one way or another, whether it be assigning each character a song as I wrote up profiles, or - in the case of Scylla and Charybdis - coming up with a concept list during the writing process. Generally speaking, even those projects where it is a song (or songs) per character, I also have some that encompass wider aspects of the story.
I'm currently building a list for Surgeburnt - building in that my ears are still peeled for songs to reference specific characters or combinations. This was my first pick for overarching thematics and still tops the list:
Sum Of Our Parts
I keep trying to pick out specific lyrics to highlight, but the whole thing, from lines to atmosphere, fits perfectly.
Check out the alternate version, as well. Mary Lambert is amazing, and I am mostly irritated that she doesn't have a second CD out yet (come ooooon already).
I'm currently building a list for Surgeburnt - building in that my ears are still peeled for songs to reference specific characters or combinations. This was my first pick for overarching thematics and still tops the list:
Sum Of Our Parts
I keep trying to pick out specific lyrics to highlight, but the whole thing, from lines to atmosphere, fits perfectly.
Check out the alternate version, as well. Mary Lambert is amazing, and I am mostly irritated that she doesn't have a second CD out yet (come ooooon already).
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
So Much For Resolution
A few weeks ago, in my World Fantasy Convention recap posts, I ever so confidently declared that the next novel I would be tackling was my Helen of Troy project.
Oh, the best laid plans.
To explain, my Helen of Troy project is somewhere between a retelling and an inspired-by. I want to write in a secondary world so I have the freedom to expand the decisions I make to logical consequences that might not precisely fit the original tale. In almost every Helen of Troy version I've seen or read, authors minimize or eliminate the role of the gods ... which, while it may be more historical, seems wholly outside of the spirit of the myth. The trick, of course, is balancing the activity and intervention of the gods with human agency.
There are a lot of myths intertwined with the Helen of Troy story, heroes who are the stars of their own plot who make cameos in the battling armies. I want to take aspects and explore them in a different ways, whether it be a literal interpretation - the idea that centaurs were amazing horsemen seen by a culture not familiar with horseback riding - metaphorical, syncretic with other mythologies, or taking it into traditional fantasy territory.
But then ... I started to think about other projects, and I began to second-guess myself.
The first thing that came to mind was also a rewrite, but from my own stash - an old fandom storyline with sprawling characters and years of development. Now, for those familiar with fandom, you know it is based in another author's world, so to liberate it more than just filing the numbers off - which feels dishonest to me - I would have to come up with a framework and make changes that, in turn, would alter the context of the story. I've spitballed some of this, and to be honest, I'm excited about the possibilities ... and I know the characters like the back of my hand.
Now, these two projects share a lot in common - a huge cast, a partially predetermined plot, and reworking material to put it in a new context. Yet if I'm honest, I also find a lot of appeal in two smaller concepts, both of which also use familiar characters, but drop them headlong into a mystery story. I've been concerned that the two female protagonists of the first of these are too similar to Vil and Iluenn from Unnatural Causes, but I think the resemblance is largely superficial.
Why am I thinking about this now, when I'm only a short way into Surgeburnt? The latter three concepts here don't require a lot of pre-work, but the HoT project (isn't it ironic that "Helen of Troy" abbreviates to hot?) involves a lot of reading, from classical works to mythological treatments and scholarly randomnia. If I want to go this route, I should start reading soon.
So ... perhaps I let it set until the end of the year and see how I feel then. Goodness knows, life has been moving at a crazy pace, and what I want then may be completely different all together.
Oh, the best laid plans.
To explain, my Helen of Troy project is somewhere between a retelling and an inspired-by. I want to write in a secondary world so I have the freedom to expand the decisions I make to logical consequences that might not precisely fit the original tale. In almost every Helen of Troy version I've seen or read, authors minimize or eliminate the role of the gods ... which, while it may be more historical, seems wholly outside of the spirit of the myth. The trick, of course, is balancing the activity and intervention of the gods with human agency.
There are a lot of myths intertwined with the Helen of Troy story, heroes who are the stars of their own plot who make cameos in the battling armies. I want to take aspects and explore them in a different ways, whether it be a literal interpretation - the idea that centaurs were amazing horsemen seen by a culture not familiar with horseback riding - metaphorical, syncretic with other mythologies, or taking it into traditional fantasy territory.
But then ... I started to think about other projects, and I began to second-guess myself.
The first thing that came to mind was also a rewrite, but from my own stash - an old fandom storyline with sprawling characters and years of development. Now, for those familiar with fandom, you know it is based in another author's world, so to liberate it more than just filing the numbers off - which feels dishonest to me - I would have to come up with a framework and make changes that, in turn, would alter the context of the story. I've spitballed some of this, and to be honest, I'm excited about the possibilities ... and I know the characters like the back of my hand.
Now, these two projects share a lot in common - a huge cast, a partially predetermined plot, and reworking material to put it in a new context. Yet if I'm honest, I also find a lot of appeal in two smaller concepts, both of which also use familiar characters, but drop them headlong into a mystery story. I've been concerned that the two female protagonists of the first of these are too similar to Vil and Iluenn from Unnatural Causes, but I think the resemblance is largely superficial.
Why am I thinking about this now, when I'm only a short way into Surgeburnt? The latter three concepts here don't require a lot of pre-work, but the HoT project (isn't it ironic that "Helen of Troy" abbreviates to hot?) involves a lot of reading, from classical works to mythological treatments and scholarly randomnia. If I want to go this route, I should start reading soon.
So ... perhaps I let it set until the end of the year and see how I feel then. Goodness knows, life has been moving at a crazy pace, and what I want then may be completely different all together.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Monday Meanderings
Weekly post on a Monday? I can only cross my fingers and hope that doesn't mysteriously make my Mondays implode into a knot of chaos.
I mentioned in my recap of the World Fantasy Convention that I wrote several poems while there. Something about having my focus elsewhere freed up my subconscious to float into verse.
For me as a writer, 95-99% of the time, poetry has to be written to form - as opposed to free verse. I am fascinated by the repeated line forms: villanelle, pantoum, rondeau. When I don't use a historical form, I typically invent a structure for myself.
Why do I enjoy writing form poetry? For me, it's like a puzzle: getting the language to speak within the restrictions and winding labyrinth of the form. I often find that my best stories come from sending two unrelated ideas on collision course; in the case of poetry, the form is that second idea. Of course, as a lover of music and lyrics, it's probably no coincidence that form poetry shares much resemblance with lyrics; in some cases, they're interchangeable.
I find free verse difficult because for me, the line(s) between free verse, prose poems and lyrical short fiction are blurry. I'm not sure how to keep one from oozing into the next. I would welcome suggestions from other writers who might be reading this!
That aside, poetry is something I can't force. I can usually sit down and write on a story or novel unless totally exhausted, but for a poem, I need all the ingredients in place, some time to incubate beforehand, and the right mood. Maybe it's just a matter of practice: if I wrote more of it, I might hone the discipline to write poetry on command.
I'm also disappointed when markets state a distaste for form poetry. True, the bad stuff is wince-worthy, but so is bad free verse (which can sound like normal sentences cut up at random) or bad flash fiction - or bad anything, for the matter of that. The good stuff is a joy. Is my poetry at that level yet? I don't know, but I love playing with the pieces.
I mentioned in my recap of the World Fantasy Convention that I wrote several poems while there. Something about having my focus elsewhere freed up my subconscious to float into verse.
For me as a writer, 95-99% of the time, poetry has to be written to form - as opposed to free verse. I am fascinated by the repeated line forms: villanelle, pantoum, rondeau. When I don't use a historical form, I typically invent a structure for myself.
Why do I enjoy writing form poetry? For me, it's like a puzzle: getting the language to speak within the restrictions and winding labyrinth of the form. I often find that my best stories come from sending two unrelated ideas on collision course; in the case of poetry, the form is that second idea. Of course, as a lover of music and lyrics, it's probably no coincidence that form poetry shares much resemblance with lyrics; in some cases, they're interchangeable.
I find free verse difficult because for me, the line(s) between free verse, prose poems and lyrical short fiction are blurry. I'm not sure how to keep one from oozing into the next. I would welcome suggestions from other writers who might be reading this!
That aside, poetry is something I can't force. I can usually sit down and write on a story or novel unless totally exhausted, but for a poem, I need all the ingredients in place, some time to incubate beforehand, and the right mood. Maybe it's just a matter of practice: if I wrote more of it, I might hone the discipline to write poetry on command.
I'm also disappointed when markets state a distaste for form poetry. True, the bad stuff is wince-worthy, but so is bad free verse (which can sound like normal sentences cut up at random) or bad flash fiction - or bad anything, for the matter of that. The good stuff is a joy. Is my poetry at that level yet? I don't know, but I love playing with the pieces.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Song Styles
As mentioned before, I create themed playlists for my car, and one of my favorite concepts is to do word association - chaining one song title into another by connections of word, concept, phrasing or pun. Here's my most recent creation:
Long Shot - Kelly Clarkson
Taking Chances - Celine Dion
No Second Chance - Blackmore's Night
Second Nature - Clannad
Natural Love - Anne Murray
Human Nature - Madonna
What Would Dolly Do - Kristin Chenoweth (to explain this next one, it should be explained that the chorus starts with "So take your truck and shove it ...")
18 Wheeler - P!nk
Big Yellow Taxi - Amy Grant
Taxi Taxi - Cher
Radio - Beyonce
Me and My Microphone - September
Me Against The Music - Glee cast version
Music - Joss Stone
Song of Sorrow - Elle King
Unfinished Songs - Celine Dion
Loose Ends - Imogen Heap
Till the World Ends - Britney Spears
Why Wait - Shakira
Time Waits - Gloria Estefan
Borrowed Time - Madonna
Livin' in These Troubled Times - Crystal Gayle
A Little Good News - Anne Murray
It's Good News Week - Hedgehoppers Anonymous
Here Comes The Weekend - P!nk
Here Comes the Rapture - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Come into My Head - Kimbra
Outta My Head - Leona Lewis
Headturner - Joss Stone
Turn The Beat Around - Gloria Estefan
Turn It Into Love - Kylie Minogue
Change - Kristin Chenoweth
Everything Changes - Sara Bareilles
You My Everything - Ellie Goulding
Everything Falls Into Place - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Learning to Fall - Martina McBride
Lessons Learned - Kristin Chenoweth
Big Mistake - Natalie Imbruglia
Your Biggest Mistake - Ellie Goulding
Bigger Love - Colbie Caillat
Everyday - Anne Murray (connection to prior - the concept is "love is stronger every day")
Lazy Days - Enya
Long Shot - Kelly Clarkson
Taking Chances - Celine Dion
No Second Chance - Blackmore's Night
Second Nature - Clannad
Natural Love - Anne Murray
Human Nature - Madonna
What Would Dolly Do - Kristin Chenoweth (to explain this next one, it should be explained that the chorus starts with "So take your truck and shove it ...")
18 Wheeler - P!nk
Big Yellow Taxi - Amy Grant
Taxi Taxi - Cher
Radio - Beyonce
Me and My Microphone - September
Me Against The Music - Glee cast version
Music - Joss Stone
Song of Sorrow - Elle King
Unfinished Songs - Celine Dion
Loose Ends - Imogen Heap
Till the World Ends - Britney Spears
Why Wait - Shakira
Time Waits - Gloria Estefan
Borrowed Time - Madonna
Livin' in These Troubled Times - Crystal Gayle
A Little Good News - Anne Murray
It's Good News Week - Hedgehoppers Anonymous
Here Comes The Weekend - P!nk
Here Comes the Rapture - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Come into My Head - Kimbra
Outta My Head - Leona Lewis
Headturner - Joss Stone
Turn The Beat Around - Gloria Estefan
Turn It Into Love - Kylie Minogue
Change - Kristin Chenoweth
Everything Changes - Sara Bareilles
You My Everything - Ellie Goulding
Everything Falls Into Place - Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Learning to Fall - Martina McBride
Lessons Learned - Kristin Chenoweth
Big Mistake - Natalie Imbruglia
Your Biggest Mistake - Ellie Goulding
Bigger Love - Colbie Caillat
Everyday - Anne Murray (connection to prior - the concept is "love is stronger every day")
Lazy Days - Enya
Friday, November 18, 2016
Radio Silence?
I haven't blogged in a while for one reason or another. First, my weekly post would have fallen right after the election, and I was nervous about either avoiding the subject or tackling it. Then, a grueling sequence of events at work that dumped me straight into a nasty stomach flu. Spent a couple days sleeping and then a few more recovering.
So here I am again, gearing up to get back to my regularly scheduled ranting. I am considering moving my weekly post day again. However, considering what happened the last few times I did, I'm afraid to. To be specific:
The blog post used to be Thursday Thoughts. Then, Thursday turned into the day I would complete the bulk of my office work. So I turned my post into Tuesday Thoughts. Then, I got hired at Receptions, where Tuesday was prep day. So I moved my post to Wednesday Wanderings.
... now all of a sudden, Wednesday is my prime work day at my other job ...
If I make it Monday Meanderings, will life somehow conspire to steal my Mondays, too?
So here I am again, gearing up to get back to my regularly scheduled ranting. I am considering moving my weekly post day again. However, considering what happened the last few times I did, I'm afraid to. To be specific:
The blog post used to be Thursday Thoughts. Then, Thursday turned into the day I would complete the bulk of my office work. So I turned my post into Tuesday Thoughts. Then, I got hired at Receptions, where Tuesday was prep day. So I moved my post to Wednesday Wanderings.
... now all of a sudden, Wednesday is my prime work day at my other job ...
If I make it Monday Meanderings, will life somehow conspire to steal my Mondays, too?
Friday, November 04, 2016
World Fantasy Convention 2016: In Sequel
As a result of the World Fantasy Convention, I made some realizations and resolutions:
There's always a next level of accomplishment. Newbie writers are in awe of the panelists. Panelists who are currently releasing book five in a series are in awe of those who have multiple series. Those writers are in awe of Mercedes Lackey. ... and Jane Yolen has topped Isaac Asimov's record, so I am not sure that anyone is insane enough to want to be Jane Yolen, but everyone respects her.
You could take this as a depressing thing, I suppose: it's impossible to ever feel you've "made it." Or you could take it as a positive thing: there are always new challenges ... and more importantly, no matter how high the peaks above you, there's someone looking up at *you* in awe of how far you've come.
2. Personal visibility and "brand" - even if it is simply the personality of the writer - help attract attention to books. I had resolved this in the past and fell away from it, but this time I mean it: the next time I decide to attend a conference, I will be applying to be on a panel.
And what is my brand? I've been chewing on it. I write such a broad range it definitely doesn't tie to a specific subgenre. I think a mythic element is the common thread, even if the story itself doesn't reference gods and higher powers or retell mythology. Scylla and Charybdis pretty much illustrates what I'm talking about: there are passing references to myth throughout (... besides the title, of course).
And purple. Because really, everything is purple.
Forcing myself into parties is never going to work. I really do just hover around like a loon and steal food, because food makes me feel better. This actually ties into the previous point - attending panels, meeting people that way, is also an opportunity to make acquaintances and form ties that I would be too shy to make with cold contact.
On the other hand, I would be ... well, I don't want to oversell myself and say that I would be comfortable being a panelist, of course I'd be shaky-nervous, but that particular kind of public speaking is something I'm very comfortable with. It comes of many years of harp performance and giving talks on the history of the music and instrument, as well as teaching ... and, believe it or not, working a carving station in catering work. You have to have many quick, friendly conversations with people in passing while performing a physical task - which was the hard part for me, given as talking tends to consume the rest of my brain space.
In light of that, sitting on a panel doesn't seem overly intimidating, as long as I know that I have something worthwhile to say.
I also made a decision about my next novel project: I am going to take the plunge and work on my Helen of Troy tale. It lies somewhere between an inspired-by and a retelling (I will explain in more detail in another post). It does hit all three major reasons to do a retelling, according to the panelists I heard last weekend: there are connected stories I love; others that really annoy me and beg for rethinking; and so many unanswered questions and apparent contradictions.
I am only about 11,000 words into Surgeburnt and this concept requires a lot of research and some refreshing of my mythological memory, so I am guessing it will be a year at minimum before I start writing ... but the long-term goal, the desire to get it right, energizes me. I'm looking forward to it.
Onward!
There's always a next level of accomplishment. Newbie writers are in awe of the panelists. Panelists who are currently releasing book five in a series are in awe of those who have multiple series. Those writers are in awe of Mercedes Lackey. ... and Jane Yolen has topped Isaac Asimov's record, so I am not sure that anyone is insane enough to want to be Jane Yolen, but everyone respects her.
You could take this as a depressing thing, I suppose: it's impossible to ever feel you've "made it." Or you could take it as a positive thing: there are always new challenges ... and more importantly, no matter how high the peaks above you, there's someone looking up at *you* in awe of how far you've come.
2. Personal visibility and "brand" - even if it is simply the personality of the writer - help attract attention to books. I had resolved this in the past and fell away from it, but this time I mean it: the next time I decide to attend a conference, I will be applying to be on a panel.
And what is my brand? I've been chewing on it. I write such a broad range it definitely doesn't tie to a specific subgenre. I think a mythic element is the common thread, even if the story itself doesn't reference gods and higher powers or retell mythology. Scylla and Charybdis pretty much illustrates what I'm talking about: there are passing references to myth throughout (... besides the title, of course).
And purple. Because really, everything is purple.
Forcing myself into parties is never going to work. I really do just hover around like a loon and steal food, because food makes me feel better. This actually ties into the previous point - attending panels, meeting people that way, is also an opportunity to make acquaintances and form ties that I would be too shy to make with cold contact.
On the other hand, I would be ... well, I don't want to oversell myself and say that I would be comfortable being a panelist, of course I'd be shaky-nervous, but that particular kind of public speaking is something I'm very comfortable with. It comes of many years of harp performance and giving talks on the history of the music and instrument, as well as teaching ... and, believe it or not, working a carving station in catering work. You have to have many quick, friendly conversations with people in passing while performing a physical task - which was the hard part for me, given as talking tends to consume the rest of my brain space.
In light of that, sitting on a panel doesn't seem overly intimidating, as long as I know that I have something worthwhile to say.
I also made a decision about my next novel project: I am going to take the plunge and work on my Helen of Troy tale. It lies somewhere between an inspired-by and a retelling (I will explain in more detail in another post). It does hit all three major reasons to do a retelling, according to the panelists I heard last weekend: there are connected stories I love; others that really annoy me and beg for rethinking; and so many unanswered questions and apparent contradictions.
I am only about 11,000 words into Surgeburnt and this concept requires a lot of research and some refreshing of my mythological memory, so I am guessing it will be a year at minimum before I start writing ... but the long-term goal, the desire to get it right, energizes me. I'm looking forward to it.
Onward!
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