Reading outside our genre and learning from our past

I'm reading The Book of Spies by Gayle Lynds (Review to follow on Mostly Fiction). It's an excellent, fast-paced spy thriller. Yes, that's right, boys and girls, not science fiction. But how much you wanna bet the intrigue and suspense in my science fiction will improve from the exposure? Lynds knows how to weave an intricate plot with non-stop action and suspense. My science fiction could use a little of that.

Good science fiction has elements of mystery, suspense, intrigue, history, romance, comedy and yes, maybe even westerns (think Allen Steele's Coyote universe or Firefly). Even the occasional best-seller can expose us to new ways of looking at our world and applying those ideas to our alien or future worlds, especially when the protagonist is out of his or her element or steeped in one that is foreign to most readers.

So, here's your call to action. Run out and buy a book that is not in the genre you write in. Readers can benefit too, from broadening their horizons with a different framework to their fiction.

And also for you readers (and you writers had better be readers), how many out there have actually written to a writer to say how much you enjoyed his or her book? Or posted a review on Amazon? We writers thrive on strokes, and most of us are open to hearing from our fans directly. Some will even give aspiring writers advice or point them in the right direction. I have reached out to writers after reading their book or story on many occasions. The responses I've received have invariably been positive and the feedback appreciated. Very few writers will ignore an email from a fan or hide (behind a publicist) from the fans that make their career possible.

Now a word (eventually) about character development.

I have several reunions this summer. I'm skipping my high school reunion because it's two states away. There is also a family reunion on my Dad's side. It's only cousins left now and it's darn hard to get them all together in spite of the fact that they're mostly in one state (California, folks, not mental). When I was growing up, I was the youngest of all the first cousins and the spoiled one. I've been kicked around a bit since then and I'm not the little brat I used to be.

One of my best friends from high school will be visiting, too. Another reunion. We haven't seen each other since we graduated.

Why am I mentioning all these reunions? It's interesting to measure our progress, ponder the choices we've made and the people we've become. When we see friends or family who haven't seen us for so long, we are reminded of who we used to be and how our goals have changed or how much we've accomplished.

In fiction, we need to know what makes the main characters tick, they're background and how their choices and experiences have shaped who they are and their choices and actions moving forward.

Just as people-watching, and active listening (even to the other people's conversations) can enrich our character's development, so too, can examining the progression of the lives of people we know. If we can't understand the people around us, how can we create believable characters?


vote it up!

Why do I read more male SF writers?

I've been wrestling with an interesting dichotomy for a while. I'm hoping to stir some good non-healthcare related debate here. I belong to an organization which has as its sole purpose, the advancement of female-written speculative fiction, Broad Universe. I love my club. I have participated in it on many levels throughout the three years or so I've been a member.

Here's my problem. I'm an advocate of women writing speculative fiction because, well, I'm a woman, and more importantly, a woman who writes speculative fiction. But if I'm such an advocate, why do I read novels by men far more than those written by women?

Perhaps it's because I know I won't get any romance in my science fiction. Mind you, when I find romance, I get sucked in like any other warm-blooded female, but afterward, I feel cheated. I chose the book because it promised science fiction or fantasy. And I'm not your typical female. I don't like to shop. I don't like attending baby and bridal showers and Tupperware parties.

We know that men and women think and act differently, overall. Why assume that they will write the same? There have been a few women writers whom I've read that have managed to write a good story without the romance derailing the plot, but it seems like they are few and far between. When men do throw romance in, it's more like how I shop: get in, get out, go back to more important tasks. When men—and the few women who can pull it off like men do—write romance, they do it to add an additional layer to the plot, not to drive it. And when they don't throw in romance, I don't miss it.

From the beginning, when I first started writing science fiction, I assumed that men would comprise the majority of my audience. I thought, and still do, that more men read science fiction than women. That may not be true of fantasy. But I prefer science fiction with a few very special exceptions. Like I said, I'm not your typical female. I have always gravitated to the male conversation at a party. I don't want to talk about diets, shopping and fashion. Maybe it's not just the romance at all. Maybe it's because I prefer talking with men, so I prefer reading from their perspective.

Women are inherently more concerned with relationships. We have to be. We have historically been the ones nurturing the children. It's how we (well, most of us) were made. If you're a female spec-fic author, is it a constant struggle for you to write for a male or mixed audience and keep the romance at bay?

Or could it be that I read more male writers because the women aren't getting the same exposure? Many of the male writers I read are well-established, not an unknown quantity. Are there fewer women writing science fiction? Are there fewer of them getting published?

I want to hear from you. Tell me there are plenty of women who can write without including romance. And please, oh please, tell me who they are. Tell me I'm an unromantic cold-hearted woman. (I love romance out in the real world, by the way.) Or tell me you know what I mean. But don't be silent. Let the discussion begin!

PS – Tomorrow, an interview with a speculative fiction writer. ;)




vote it up!

Radcon recap #1

What a trip! I flew to Portland and had lunch with family. Then I had a cuppa with M.K. (Mary) Hobson. I also interviewed her using my Blackberry to record the interview. We had a great time talking about writing and the industry. Afterward, she showed me the church of Elvis. Apparently, you can feed it money for a fortune and call a number to have an Elvis impersonator marry you. She said this little shrine has moved all over Portland over the years.



I'm still kicking myself that I didn't have someone take our picture at Backspace. It's a gamer coffee shop, complete with LAN room in the back.

The train was on time and I had a little bit of daylight to see the view over the river, but I was so tired that I started nodding off looking out the window. Of course, I got my second wind when it was dark with nothing to see. I did manage to get some reading done and start on a new story for an anthology.

I had dinner in the hotel restaurant around 10PM. Then crashed as it was an early day in the morning. 8AM found me off to the airport where Washington State University has labs set up for the United States Transuranium & Uranium Registries.


Yes, that's what's in the freezers.


And more in the boxes.


And they're eventually burned down to get at the metals.



And then the chemical separation occurs here.

I wonder if you can guess what's in this well-traveled trunk?


The first panel was on writing non-human protagonists. Larry Niven was on this panel, as was C.S. Cole, Christina York and Katherine O'Kelly.

I shared the Short Story Markets panel with Jennifer Brozek, Bobbie Benton-Hull, Harold Gross and DiAnne Berry. So many aspiring writers were whipping their pens across their notepads. I managed to plug Broad Universe and Other Worlds Writers' Workshop, too.

I was drafted to participate in the Opening Ceremonies. The list of GOHs for this con was ever changing. Originally, Ben Bova was the Guest of Honor. Sadly, his wife passed away recently. Also, Jay Lake was to be the Toastmaster. His health prevented him from attending. And Gaye Haldeman was to be the fan guest of honor and bring her writer husband in tow. Joe Haldeman has also had health issues of late and couldn't make it either. Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith came to the rescue. Another writer that was slated to appear was Ken Scholes. He also could not make it, but stayed home with the little ones while his wife went. In a warped ghost of Radcon future scene, Sue Bolich and I were his grown daughters.

That brings us to the rousing game of writers vs. artists game of pictionary. The writers were Lizzy Shannon, Rhiannon Louve and myself. We competed with and dominated (at last amended count) the artist Joey Jordan and others. The artists were great at guessing.... >evil grin<

I finished up the evening dancing with my Broad Universe buddy, Carol (C.S.) Cole. At one point the DJ put on Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and the whole room was belting it out. All 200 or so of them.

I'll cover Saturday and Sunday tomorrow or Thursday.

And here's what was in that trunk. It's a leg bone encased in a substance that is the same density as human flesh. It's used to calibrate radiation measuring devices.




vote it up!

Speaking of Speaking...

If you missed my talk on public speaking/reading at the Redwood Writers Club meeting last Sunday, go to this RWC page and it will be like you were there. Except you won't have an opportunity to read "Sing a Song of Sixpence" as a candidate's campaign speech, or practice diction, pace and eye contact with "Three Blind Mice". Everyone had fun with those.

I'm still pulling my costume together for the upcoming RWC Odd Month Reading: The March Hare's Literary Tea. I have my hat, complete with ears and a vest, a bow tie and a tweed overcoat. The Tea (BYOT -Bring Your Own Tea) will be held at the Sebastopol branch of the Sonoma County Library on March 22nd from 2-4PM.

Sonoma County Literary Events, Odd & Ends

I just updated the calendar for local events. Scroll down and check it out. There's lots going on in the literary slice of Sonoma County.

I finished that Allen Steele serial, Galaxy Blues, and see that it is indeed available as a novel. Excellent character driven story with expert treatment of first contact issues. I recommend it.

Robert Sawyer has some helpful tips on getting good press.

For any Blues fans out there, might I recommend Tommy Castro to you? He's local, but destined for big things.

I'll post some excerpts of Under the Suns of Sarshan this week. I updated my bio and website. If you haven't visited yet, please do.

The Wayfarer Saga Continues & Terry Pratchett

Well, I guess there is justice in the world. The magazine's website is suspended. I ratted them out to Speculations' Rumor Mill, Absolute Write and Ralan. I don't know who's responsible, but at least they won't be extolled as this great magazine on the Christian SF/F blog tour and trapping more unsuspecting writers. Could be another (yes there's probably more than 2 of us) stiffed writer who reported her to her webhost. Ralan suggests this is one thing writers who are victims of piracy or non-payment can do in response. The hosts don't want to be in the soup along with the editors. Or maybe she stiffed the host, too.

I just read about Terry Pratchett on Neil Gaiman's blog. Pratchett has early onset Alzheimers. Let's all hope that its progression is slow. Better yet, that they find a cure. He has a platform (his mighty pen that we count on for our next fantasy fix) to draw attention to the disease and to finding a cure.

"Immunity Project"

I just found out today that I'm not the only one who wasn't paid for my story at Wayfarer Journal. Not only were we not been paid, but the stories were rejected, then published. I found "Immunity Project" on the web after it had been there for a month. That makes it a reprint, whether I like it or not. Not all magazines accept reprints. It just cut my chances of getting it published elsewhere drastically. It was, as it happens, sitting in another magazine's slush pile when this happened.

The editor apologized. But she's apparently not sorry enough to pay me, or put the correct name and put the blurb and link back up on the "Stories" page. I had asked her to take the story down for "repairs" as it had formatting problems. Most of the formatting issues were fixed eventually, but the links and blurb didn't go back up as they were. I feel like my story has been sent to the corner. Or is being treated as an afterthought.

I hesitated to name the magazine. Finding out that I'm not the only one they did this to changed my mind. Writer beware!

The blurb, if there was one, would go something like this: A far future space faring civilization experiments on the unsuspecting survivors of the wartorn planet of Kradon. Will Donard let the Krads know they're being kept in an intentionally radiated zone? Will it help them, in the end?

Let me know what you think of my story. Writers love strokes. :)

Greetings from Napa

Hubby and I are spending a few days in a timeshare in Napa. It's been great. Today's a bit on the gloomy side, but I won't be bothered by that while I'm having my massage in the "cave". I think I'll taste some wines in the wine cellar before I go to the spa. Hubby, unfortunately, had to go into work today. We'll meet up later for dinner.

Meantime, I finished the Paul Park book, A Princess of Roumania. I enjoyed it. I do have a beef, though. Not enough of the loose ends were tied up in the end for my taste. I know that there's a book that comes after it, The Tourmaline, but I would have liked more closure with this one first. But, alas, he didn't ask me. ;)

I also brought the galley with me. I think I'll work on that a bit this afternoon. Either that, or get in some Christmas shopping. Of course, both of these ideas sound too much like work to me. Maybe I'll drag out one of my short story rough drafts instead. Or write a new one.

I also read some good stories in Asimov's. I especially enjoyed "Strangers on a Bus" by Jack Skillingstead. It's his 13th story for Asimov. He must be doing something right. It's in the December 2007 issue. In the January issue, there's a good article by James Patrick Kelly about SFWA. The stories by Mike Resnick and Deborah Coates were worth a look, too. I'm trying to catch up on my reading. I decided to read one story per day in addition to reading novels. More grist for the mill.

The sun's starting to peek through the clouds. Perhaps I'll take a walk in the vineyard this afternoon. :)

Alan Alda on writing

I found this article while blog slogging.

Learning to Write with a Sledgehammer by Alan Alda

It's at The Internet Writing Journal, another great find. And I found that from Writers Write. I thought any writers out there would enjoy these goodies as much as I did. Make sure to look at Alan Alda's photo at the bottom of the article. Doesn't it make you smile back at him? Dan Simmons discusses author photos at length in Installment Seven of his Writing Well.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Without Further Ado -- Ugh!!!

How many times must we here this three word "uh"? It's a space saver for masters of ceremonies who aren't really masters. It happens to be one of my pet peeves. If you're at a function in which someone screams after the MC says "So, without further ado...", you'll know I'm in attendance.

Of course, like most of you, I learned at a tender age that when you point your finger at someone, you have three pointing back at you. And I must admit, I have said those words myself, in my early days of public speaking.

We know when speakers are stalling or marking their place because we hear the "uhs" and "ums" and "you knows". Writers do it, too. We hold our place with things like: seems like, were going to be able to, wondered whether he might possibly be, suddenly became aware of, just, so, a little bit, etc. If you can cross out a phrase from a sentence, reread it and lose no meaning, chances are, you were stalling and need to lose said phrase. Did I need the phrase "chances are" here? Should I have started a new sentence after stalling and gone with the more direct: Lose the unnecessary phrase? Direct is always better. Rewrite, rewrite and rewrite. Am I harping?

In case you haven't heard, word economy is in. With so much special-effect-filled media popping at us at an adrenaline pace, we expect things to happen constantly. We can't be bothered with two page descriptions of the garden. Our attention spans are shrinking and so our fiction must make every word count. All our words have to earn their keep or get the axe.

It's a brave, new, minimalist world out there.

Where Does Inspiration Strike?

Muses are fickle beasts. Inspiration flies in when I'm least expecting it. I have no quarrel with its frequency. I'll never run out out of ideas for the next book or story. The problem is that it flies into my head when I have no computer or pen and paper handy. Must I keep a waterproof notepad in the shower? Bring a clipboard when I'm out walking the dog?

I still haven't gotten into the habit of keeping a notebook by the bed. And I'm usually too stubborn and comfortable to go get one. My poor brain being a sieve, I concentrate on the ideas that arrive when sleep eludes me; I dwell on them and spin them this way and that. Then I hope that something sane survives my eventual slumber. Not terribly effective.

I have written down ideas on napkins (not very original, I admit), on the back of grocery receipts and even a few cryptic words to jar the memory on the back of a business card. Of course, if these scraps sink to the bottom of my purse for too long, I'm not be able to read my writing or decipher what my clever key words meant.

My last plot idea got dashed less than 24 hours after it came to me. It hadn't come to me first. It was a two-timer. Or maybe a promiscuous little so and so. The very next evening I found it woven through the plot of an upcoming movie. Bummer! I'll have to sit on it a while now, and make it different enough to get by as an original idea or at least an original way of weaving old ones together.