Yesterday I was having trouble with my blog, which are still a mystery. Basically, my RSS feed looks fine everywhere except Google Reader.  While trying to figure out which plugin was causing that, I did a series of test posts, about 30 of them and was tossing a single line of fiction into each by way of apology to the people who had to endure them.

I’ve pulled all the test posts off the website, so they aren’t cluttering my site or LJ friend pages.  But, by request, have assembled all of the fiction into a single post.  It does, by the way, stop abruptly.  Sorry about that. I’m planning on finishing it, but after the novel is done.

Untitled Werewolf Story

The bottle of blood lay on its side on the hardwood floor, nearly empty. Two splotches stained the wood next to it in the pattern of human toes. When Kuang-yu knelt to touch it, the blood was still sticky and bright red. This close, she could spot the fine gray hairs trapped in the blood. She nudged the bottle so it rolled to reveal the white label, stained with red fingerprints. “Paramount Stage Blood.”

That would be reassuring, except the blood on the floor was real and still relatively fresh.

Kuang-yu sighed and wiped the blood off on her jeans before she turned to the man hovering in the doorway. “My best guess is werewolf.” Continue reading The werewolf test posts

One of the links that I posted as something to consider was A Mist of Vague Cliches by K. Tempest Bradford. Now, Tempest and I were in a writing group together and the generic European setting was one of her pet peeves. So, when I started work on this story “On the Edge of Dying” I set it in fictionalized version of Croatia. Did the research on castles and everything.

To my surprise, it still got the “generic European” complaint. Here’s the first segment of it.

Cojko peeked over the edge of the parapet at their retreating soldiers. The last tattered riders galloped toward the drawbridge showing every signs of panicked retreat in front of the advancing Gennardians.

And the Gennardians, fools that they were, believed what they saw and chased the soldiers toward him.

At the time, I grumbled that it wasn’t generic, it was Croatia, darn it.  Look! They have Croatian based names!

And then I got this rejection note:

It’s fast paced, exciting, and splendidly written. I was also very intrigued by the unusual aspect of your magic system.

However, it’s not as original in character or setting…

After much more grumbling I sat down and really looked at it. Even though I had carefully set it in a fictionalized Croatia, the fact is that the markers weren’t significantly different than if I’d set it in Italy or the south of France. Since so many fantasies are set in Western Europe and borrow liberally from the range of cultures it’s really hard to set a story in Western Europe without it seeming familiar.

So, I took the story apart and moved it to a fictionalized Hawaii. Here’s that opening again.

Kahe peeked over the edge of the earthen trench as his tribe’s retreating warriors broke from the bamboo grove onto the lava field. The tribesmen showed every sign of panicked flight in front of the advancing Ouvallese. Spears and shields dropped to the ground as they tucked in their arms and ran.

And the Ouvallese, arrogant with their exotic horses and metal armor, believed what they saw and chased the warriors toward him.

Different look and feel, yes? But here’s the thing that’s important. If I had just moved it to Hawaii and painted all my Croatians brown, this story would have failed. When you change one thing, everything else changes. I had to go through line by line and change how my characters responded to things because they were looking at things with a different lens than they would have in Europe.

When working in puppetry, we talk about defining parameters and the design of the characters is one of the biggest.  I was trained to think about why a particular character looks a particular way.   Honestly, until this story, I had not applied that thinking process to the casts in my fiction.

How does that casting choice support the story?  It wasn’t enough for me to  just pick the setting because it was more exotic.  I had to think about why. What about moving it to Hawaii would allow me tell the story I wanted to tell.  What about the story meant it had to be there?

Okay. Hawaii is an island nation and it got over-run by colonialists with superior technology,( oh, and disease.)  With that in mind, I made the decision to keep the enemies European-based and put more emphasis on the invasion aspect. This immediately changed the tension in the story, changing it from being one in which there was a generic war, to one that deals with colonialism.

Here’s a scene from the original, followed by the one I sold to Clockwork Phoenix. Continue reading Learning to be specific with culture

I’m going to start today by just linking to things I find helpful or thought-provoking.

Excellent article on Describing Characters of Color by N. K. Jemison

Open Letter to the SF community by the Carl Brandon Society

Context by David Levine

A Mist of Vague Cliches by K. Tempest Bradford

Mary’s webmaster here.  Please excuse the test posts.

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So, I’m afraid you’ll have to endure me doing a whole bunch of test posts to see if I can figure out if any plug-in is interfering.  Sorry about that.

I was having a conversation with a fellow writer about Justine Larbalestier’s post, “Why my protagonists aren’t white” and the fellow said that he rarely describes his characters, unless it’s important, so that the reader is free to imagine them at will.

I can understand this choice, because I’ve done it myself and for the same reasons.  But this isn’t as simple as it sounds.

It’s pretty well recognized that in the absence of other information, readers will default to assume a character is white, male and mid-thirties. When I pointed this out to my fellow writer, from my soapbox position of the newly enlightened, he said, “That’s the reader’s problem, not the writers.”

Now, let me ask you… Can you describe any other misinterpretation of a story, due to a missing detail, where that would be a good answer?

I can’t.

There’s two things going on here, 1) by only describing my characters when they aren’t white, or aren’t tall, or aren’t medium-build, I wind up reinforcing the idea that these are  the norm and everyone else is other, 2) because of the way reader perception works, I wind up creating more homogenous casts than I’d like. In other words, I’m being a sloppy writer.

My problem is that I don’t like reading a lot of character descriptions, so I have some serious resistance to recognizing the effects of my choice as a writer to not describe characters.  Granted, in certain short stories, slowing down to provide physical descriptions will mess with the pace, but as with any detail, what I ought to understand the consequences of what I chose to put on the page.  And, as importantly, the details I leave off the page.

I’m still trying to find a balance with this and can offer no answers.  Fortunately, there are people who have been thinking about this and have intelligent things to say.

Recommended reading: On Writing Identity, and the Need Therof

I was talking with a friend about racism and he brought up a thing I’d never thought about, in terms of why people go all frothy when told that they’ve done something racist.  For many people, especially those who grew up during segregation, being racist frequently was actively pursued and something that people were proud of.

When we think of racism, there’s a tendency to think of just the overt, violent sort.  “Oh, no! I’m not racist.” But racism is often quieter and more insidious.

So, here are some ways in which I have discovered that I am racist. It shames me.

• On tour in New Orleans, I came out of the hotel in the morning and a black man approached me. I didn’t hear what he said, but assumed he was looking for a handout, so I politely said I couldn’t help him.  He was another guest at the hotel and had asked if I could pull my van up to his car. He needed a jumpstart.  Had he been white, I wouldn’t have made that assumption and was horrifed that my brain had just gone, “click, black man = homeless.”
• I grew up in the South and for years, would have insisted that it was more integrated than the Pacific Northwest and that racism was dead. Then I came home for a tour.  At first I relaxed, because things felt “right.” Unlike the lily white places I’d been on tour in the PNW, there was a mix of people here. Until I realized that the “mix” was split down, ahem, “class” lines. All the janitors and cafeteria ladies were black.  Teachers and principals were predominately white.  It had been like that when I was growing up, but I’d never thought it exceptional.
• I had food delivered and the Latino delivery guy spoke perfect English. I was stunned.
• Being unsurprised at the fact that my friend plays violin beautifully, because she’s Chinese.  They’re good at things like that. Right?

Oh, there’s more, but that’s all I can face at the moment. I’m sure there have been other times where I’ve made decisions based on someone’s appearance and there will be in the future. That the fact that I don’t want to be racist doesn’t exempt me from racism. What I can do is learn to listen, and to examine my own expectations.

Recommended reading: How not to be insane when accused of racism (A guide for white people).

Here are the beautiful daughters of Ken and Jen Scholes. Rachel (5 lbs 3 oz.) and Lizzie (5lbs 6 oz.) were delivered this morning and all are doing well.

I’m so happy for my friends and can’t wait to meet the young ladies.

Through the magic of wireless, Ken snapped a photo of the girls and I’m posting it here, with permission, for your viewing pleasure.  They are about three hours old in this photo.  Ken reports that they are the most beautiful babies in the world.  I find it hard to disagree with him.

I’ve got some updates to my website which I hope will make it easier to navigate.

Largely this consists of shifting the navigation to the top and reserving the sidebar for things which I hope will be of interest. I’m still sorting out what to put over there, so expect things to change as I play with it.

And if you ever need webwork done, I highly recommend Jeremiah Tolbert.

This week is International Blog Against Racism Week and I spent yesterday reading about racism, but not writing anything because I felt like I didn’t have anything to add to the conversation. After all, as a white person, race doesn’t affect me.

Except that’s completely false. Race affects me every day.

• When I go to a store, I don’t have to worry that someone might think I’m shoplifting.
• When someone asks me where I’m from, it’s not code for “what race are you?”
• When I want a cab, I can get one.
• When I ride the subway, the police won’t check my bag.
• No one is surprised that I am literate.

These are some of the simple, invisible ways my race affects me and though none of them does me harm, each item is a privilege that I gain by the pallor of my skin. For all that the Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” the reality is that we are still living in an Orwellian world were “some…are more equal than others.”

Recommended reading: Unpacking the Knapsack of Privelege (.pdf)

While looking up a detail about period pianos for Chapter Four of Glamour in Glass, I chanced across a comparison of a 19th century piano and a modern piano both playing the same piece, which was eye-opening in terms of the difference in sound. There’s no reason to convey that in the novel, but it’s still an exciting thing to recognize.

When writing a historical novel there’s a lot of time spent researching the odd bits of details. I tend to write things like, “He declined the opportunity to accompany her saying that he wanted to paint [bridge] and catch the morning light.” Later, I go back, search for the brackets and do spot research to fill in the gaps. In this case, it’s the Battersea Bridge.

Sometimes the detail is a word like “limelight.” If I have doubt, and I did, that the word is in use in 1815, I mark it with brackets rather than stopping the flow of writing. Later, I check the etymology to see if I can use it.

I can’t. Limelights don’t get invented until 1826.

Back in 1985, Leonard Nimoy hosted a show on Nicklodeon called Lights, Camera, Action. In this clip he talks about homemade special effects.

via Props

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I’m heading up to Montreal for Anticipation, the 2009 WorldCon. Here is my convention schedule.

Thursday

Twitter, Facebook, My Space: Social Media and Writing
14:00, P-513B
What’s all the buzz about the new social media? Writing short-short-short stories on Twitter??? Good grief! Is this networking or a new way to write? Can tweets and Facebook updates be about more than what you ate?
James Strauss, Jenny Rae Rappaport, Mary Robinette Kowal, Walter Jon Williams, John Picacio

Friday

The Campbell Awards (Not a Hugo, Honest!)
17:00, P-511A
Jay Lake and other previous winners explain why you should read and vote.
Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Mary Robinette Kowal, Wen Spencer

Saturday

SF and the Arts
10:00, P-524A
There is a wide variety of art in the genre that has nothing to do with paper or a computer….
Elaine Isaak, Frank Roger, Leigh Adams, Mary Robinette Kowal, Stephen H. Segal, Jill Eastlake

13:00, D-Vitre
Writing Workshop S
Critique session for previously submitted manuscripts
Jay Lake, Mary Robinette Kowal

15:30, P-513C
Puppetry Demonstration
Beginning with an overview of puppetry, we’ll talk about how it relates to SF. I’m planning on bringing some rehearsal puppets to let people try.

19:00, P-513B
Radio Theater – “The Cold Equations”
Two-time Aurora nominee Joe Mahoney directs a reading of his sf audio adaptation originally broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: Tom Godwin’s “The Cold Equations.”
Joe Mahoney, Mary Robinette Kowal

Sunday

9:00, Outdoors
Stroll With The Stars
A gentle, friendly 1 mile stroll with some of your favorite Authors, Artists & Editors. Leaving daily 9AM, from the Riopelle Fountain outside the Palais (corner of Ave Viger & Rue de Bleury), returning before 10AM.
Farah Mendlesohn, Lou Anders, Mary Robinette Kowal, Paul Cornell, Stu Segal, John Picacio, Felix Gilman

11:00, P-522A
Author Reading
Readings by me, Tony Pi, Daniel Duguay and Frank Roger. I’m planning to read “Evil Robot Monkey” and either something from Shades of Milk and Honey or Scenting the Dark. There are advantages to having a story that’s only 970 words long.

20:00, Location: P-517ABC
Hugo Awards
No description needed. I’ll have a pretty dress.

<h3>Monday</h3>

10:00, P-513C
Characterization Workshop for Costumers
Good costumes are better costumes when they have a character behind them. Use characterization to bring your costuming to the next level. Give your original design a backstory and personality. Our panel will discuss ideas and show you how.
Mary Robinette Kowal, Toni Lay

11:00, P-521A
Kaffeeklatsch
A chance to ask those burning questions.

I’m home from Orlando although I desperately wanted to stay longer. While I pack boxes for the Big Move, here’s another of my favorites from the Handmade Puppet Dreams series.

The Whole World and You by Tally Hall, directed by Frankie Cordero