Why Fantasy and Where I'm At

Fantasy is a genre with infinite possibilites.

Even more infinite than science fiction. SF has its roots in today, projecting forward from what is now (or rewriting history from some known point in the past). SF follows the known rules, even when it is making up new ones. When you write SF, you can make up new knowledge, new tech, new species, and new worlds, but there are still limits. I love reading (and occasionally writing) SF because there is no better medium to share an idea or raise questions. I love to catch a glimpse of something that has incredible implications and wonder about them for days.

But you can do anything in a fantasy (which is much more than medieval knights and dragons or trolls and dwarves and elves). Far from being a cheat, this makes it a challenging genre to write in, because whatever you come up with, you have to make it believable and relatable. But if you can do that, you can do anything, and that's a very freeing experience.

I like to write fantasy because I can make up worlds and magic that bring up possibilities that could never be imagined otherwise. I can make the intangible real, the ethereal tangible, the accepted ridiculous, and no one will think twice. I can create cultures and pit them against each other to explore humanity without having to draw on our sad, true past. There's no baggage in my new world that I don't put there. A distant, strange world is the perfect backdrop to magnify and explore the real problems in this world. If you aren't preachy about it, you can slip past the defenses and opinions everyone has to explore issues that would be too painful or controversial to talk about in the here and now.

Plus, how cool is a city inside a mountain and a forest full of man-eating plants? Or the ability to give bits of your life away, literally? (I mean, it's what we do anyway, but in my book it's so much more direct and cool. At least, I think so)

So where am I in the real world this week?

This new book is progressing, but it is progressing painfully. And slowly. In fact, I am wading through some sort of story quagmire, in the fog.

The words themselves are fine; once I decide what the scene is the sentences fall down just like they always have. I still love the concept and the characters. But the story itself is not forming up as nicely as King's Mark did. Things aren't just falling into place with that neat little click. It isn't a block, per say, since I am making some progress. But perhaps it is igneous rock, where little bits of story drip through but the majority is stuck on the other side.

Maybe it just needs more percolating time - I realized over the past week that I need another character in it from the beginning, so clearly I don't have it all formed up. Or perhaps I need to force it, sit down and outline it more concretely (although my attempts to do that for this story have not had satisfying outcomes). I don't know. But there is progress, slow though it is, and that is all I'm demanding of myself just now. It's spring, my job is crazy, I'm working on setting a new sleep schedule... maybe I'm just feeling tired. Anyway. That's where I'm at.

Everyday Amazing

This is the sky above my house around lunchtime today. The sunlight was filtered through thin clouds, creating this circular rainbow.

I was on my way out to run some errands, but I couldn't help but stop and look upwards for a while. It was beautiful, and I've never seen that happen before. Halos around streetlights, but not around the sun.

Understanding the physical laws behind the phenomenon doesn't take away that extra sense of more. Some things have meaning and impact to everyone, and even regular rainbows are somehow more than just split light. I mean, just look it up on youtube or google, and see how universal our fascination is. I believe they are a reminder of God's promise not to destroy the world with water again. On a more personal level, they're a reminder that He won't drown me with non-water challenges - even though sometimes it's hard to believe that.

It also got me into that wonderful wondering mood, like many things do (just be thankful most of my wonderings remain in my head!) - are there myths about the ring around the sun? Wouldn't that be an epic sign? Or a mysterious portent? A doorway, a connection, something evil or righteous? I'm sure someday my Wordslinger critiquers will see a ring rainbow appear in a story.

Even while I was running errands, I kept checking the sky. It stuck around for quite a while, and the colors even brightened a bit before it disappeared. But I didn't see anyone else looking up. People went about their business as normal, getting in and out of their cars, coming out of stores, and waiting for the bus. Maybe they did see it, and either didn't care much about it or got tired of looking up. Still, I suspect that if you asked most people underneath the rainbow ring, they would be surprised to learn anything had been out of the ordinary.

It reminded me that to see the amazing, I need to look for it. There are days I am so focused that I wouldn't notice if the sky turned orange or the grass turned purple. I have no doubt I have missed millions of amazing moments like that ring around the sun. But the world has no end of wonders, especially where we least expect to see them. If we can stop holding so tight to our worries and errands, if we can learn to look and listen and hold still sometimes, we might catch some of the beauty around us.

Updates

Well hi!

I've been a bit unpredictable recently, sorry about that. I intend to get back to posting weekly from now on, so hopefully the rest of life will fall in line.

Things have been crazy for the past month or so. Mostly that means harmless, fun things, like Norwescon or helping my dad get ready to move. There was also sickness, which thankfully has retreated so that only a lingering cough remains. Work is officially back in "summer" mode, which means I'm getting used to 5 8-hour days and fluctuating shift times again. Last week I took the rehab exam to hopefully get my name added to our permits. I'm pet-sitting a house full of animals, including a parrot, who just happens to be my best parrot-friend ever.

I planted a garden, and in an effort to distract myself from the one nasty thing that's been going on that I'm not able to tell you about here, I learned all about orchids and got myself one. Hobbies in general keep me from fixating on negative things, and new hobbies are like crack when I first start them up... I'm happy to report it was a highly effective distraction.

As for the writing, here's the rundown:

King's Mark is currently still awaiting agent response. I've got 4 rejections on it, which means I need to pull out the next 4 on my list and send it to them. However, I had some comments on my first chapter that I am attempting to incorporate, but I think I'm burned out on revisions. So I'm going to wait for a little while and hopefully recharge my revision batteries.

Thieves is ticking along, slow and steady. I haven't been able to give it the time I want to, but I got some work done on it. I'll get the next chapter or two out to my critique group next week.

And that, my dearies, is all I have to report. Next week, I'll post something a little more fun and exciting - hopefully something wildlife related. Until then, stay sweet!

Norwescon 35

Hello all!

This is going to be a short update, since I'm suffering from a pretty nasty bout of influenza. I do apologize for any incoherent bits... my fever is still pretty high. But it's been 2 weeks since my last post and I didn't want to leave you hanging!

This past weekend was Norwescon 35, a SFF convention here in the Seattle area. I was lucky enough to be able to attend - my first con ever! It was all sorts of fun.

I spent most of my time in the writing panels, putting faces to names. There were lots of extremely talented writers there, including Mary Robinette Kowal, Jay Lake, Nancy Kress, Cat Rambo... all sorts of people that I've looked up to at a distance but now have physically seen. There were also publishing professionals there, and it was very interesting to hear magazine editors, small-press publishers, agents, and other "gatekeepers" talk about the industry as a whole (as well as give advice to us aspiring writers).

I think I had the most fun at the "one-on-one combat for writers" panel, where several accomplished martial artists and medieval reenactment folks put on a demonstration for us sit-on-our-bum types. The artist's exhibition was also amazing - so much creativity. I nearly bought a clockwork owl necklace, but someone else had already picked it up by the time I went back for it.

Of course, the main reason for going was the Fairwood Writer's Workshop, where I submitted the first three chapters of King's Mark for critique by 4 pro-level writers. It was extremely helpful, I was able to get some personalized advice on a few things that have been problematic recently, and their observations were spot-on. As soon as I'm able to think straight, I'll be working on incorporating their suggestions and getting my revised first chapters out to my next batch of agents.

Worst part of Norwescon - getting the flu of course!

See you all next week...

King's Mark Complete!!!

This is the one you've been waiting for. Or maybe it's only me that's been waiting for this one. But here it is. I've officially completed King's Mark!!

Writing a book is both more and less work than I thought. The things that scared me about writing a novel-length project were hardly blips on the radar - I didn't get bored with my characters or my story. I didn't have to write tons of boring connecting bits. I do have a large enough vocabulary, and my writing style isn't too elementary (I still get little pangs of inferiority when I read some of my favorite stuff, because comparatively I have a very simple style). But I was totally able to do it.

Some other things didn't scare me enough, it seems. I was pretty confident that I could get through revisions pretty quick - the story was solid, right? And I tend to turn out pretty clean first drafts. I expected quick little changes. No. On just this final revision, after tons of changes in the second revision, I tore out 7200 words of tossed scenes (it would be more if I counted all the little bits I deleted or rewrote) and added about 12000 new words. Compared to writing the book, it went quickly, but it was a much more agonizing process. It makes me want to outline, but although I've worked out some waypoints for Thieves of Moirai, it appears I need another demonstration to convince me it's necessary. Or possibly, this is just the way I'm going to work, forever and ever.

Anyway, it's 2:30am and I'm very sleepy, so any further analyzing will have to wait. Tonight, I sleep!

Tomorrow, I feast and celebrate with Coca-cola and a movie at the theater!

And Tuesday, I send it away to the first agents on my list!

Off the Rails

Well, this week went off the rails...

I planned to finish the polish of King's Mark by now, but that didn't happen. I managed to maintain steam through illness early on, but events later in the week sapped my energy. Sadly, I lost momentum.

Writing is different and enjoyable enough that most of the time it helps me divert my energy and focus off of things I would otherwise worry about. But although I could find the time this week, I couldn't summon the energy or focus I needed. None of my usual techniques helped - I just kept dwelling on things I couldn't change. So I guess I still need to develop discipline!

Last night I decided to bow before the onslaught. I went to bed early and ended up sleeping through my 3 alarms this morning and missing church (I thought at first the alarms hadn't gone off, and then they went off again - they were still on the snooze repeat). I didn't even try to write or edit today, instead I hung out with some friends and did mindless things like watch TV.

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new week, and I'll get back on the horse. I feel pretty good about that plan. I think sometimes the healthiest thing to do is to stop struggling against yourself and take some space to breathe.

Anyway, watch for the joyous announcement regarding King's Mark sometime this week.

Roseate Spoonbill and a Milestone

Well, this is one of my last wildlife videos from Florida. I hope to be able to gather some more soon! They probably won't be from Florida though :)

Anyhow, this is a Roseate Spoonbill (and you should recognize his Wood Stork companion), feeding in a pond in the Everglades. You can see his spoon-shaped bill - you'll never guess how it got its name. It uses the flattened part of its bill to sift through mud and muck to catch little aquatic invertebrates and hunts mostly by touch, like the Wood Stork. The bald head is something else they share, and although there are several theories, no one knows exactly why this is beneficial for them, although we suspect it has something to do with how it sticks its whole face underwater. The side-to-side movement is a very typical feeding behavior for this species. Like flamingos, the pink coloration is a by-product of carotinoid pigments (specifically canthaxanthin and astaxanthin, if you want to get all scientific) in its diet.

They're beautiful birds, and I was really lucky to see a few!

I hoped to have excellent news this week on the writing front - and I do! I've finished my list of changes for the King's Mark revision, and I'm on to the final polish. I plan to have it complete by the end of the week, so my dad can read it on the plane when he heads overseas next weekend. However, all this work means I haven't been doing much thinking about other things, like blog topics... so here's an alligator!

Distracted yet? No?

Now?