Listify Life: Week 2

Books I'd Like to Live In For a While:

1) My Family and Other Animals series by Gerald Durrell. These are some of my most beloved books from childhood, and my frequent comfort reads. I would love to live for a while in the daffodil-colored villa on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930's, having breakfast on the veranda with the charmingly eccentric English expatriate Durrell family and their never-ending parade of kooky houseguests, and marveling at Gerry's menagerie.

2) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I ask you: who would pass up a chance to visit Le Cirque des Reves? No one I want to hang out with, that's who.

3) Elemental Blessings series by Sharon Shinn. The belief system and magic in this world are just gorgeous. I want to pull my own blessing coins!

4) "A Fisherman of the Inland Sea" by Ursula K. LeGuin. Slightly cheating since it's a novella and not a novel? Whatever, it's LeGuin, so chyeah I want to live in one of her worlds. Planet O is a fascinating place: agrarian yet devoted to education, clannish yet pacifist, with foursome marriages and a religion with no gods. I'd want to live among them and produce the definitive anthropological study of their culture.

5) Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. For real, I could bring my family here and live happily for the rest of my life.

State of the Writing

So. Writing. Yeah.

This past fall I was actually writing a lot, but suffering from commitment issues. I kept switching between three different projects, and dithering over which was the "real" one to focus on. I see now that I was feeling a little gun-shy. Now that I've finished a novel, I know what a long, hard haul it's going to be. I see people going through something similar when they're deciding to have a second child.

In January my life fell apart a little bit and for a while there writing was the last thing on my mind. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say that the following shit all happened within a two-month span:

*long-estranged family member re-entered my life
*The Husband's illness flared, he went on disability for a month, and contracted c.diff
*The Son had strep
*my car died and we had to buy a new one
*the first floor of our house flooded in a freak winter rainstorm
*our sewer line stopped functioning and we had serious water issues for over a month, leading to laundry and personal hygiene issues that are best glossed over
*more family drama

The upside is that in the middle of all this I was pretty much desperate to escape the stress/disease/filth, so dove back into writing head-first. I've been working away on Mender for the last two weeks. I have 7,500 words so far, and (fingers crossed, knock wood) I'm pretty stoked about how it's unfolding so far. I'm definitely writing the exact book I'd like to be reading right now, which is never a bad thing.

I'm not setting word count goals at the moment. For one thing, I'm still dicking around with the outline and making changes. As usual, the first 1/3 or so of the story just poured out of me when the idea for the book solidified; if past experience is any indictor, this chunk of the book won't change much in future drafts. But, also as usual, I'm floundering around trying to figure out the rest of the story. I tend to jam way too many events into my plots, I think because I'm nervous about Not Enough Happening, which can lead to sagging middle syndrome. But instead, I wind up with Too Much Happening, which leads to not having the space to fully develop all my story threads. In the case of Mender, this is further complicated by the fact that it's the first book in a quartet. If I manage to sell this one, I'll have to live with the consequences of plot decisions I make now for three more books. And I recently figured out that I'd stuffed a whole story line into this book that really belongs in the next one, which means I've had to dismantle the plot yet again and try to put the pieces back together into something that's a gripping, action-packed yarn, yet fits into a book of 100-120 K.

The other reason I'm not rushing at the moment is that I'm trying to get the tone right. The tone of Mender is quite different from the tone of The Owl Bearer. I recently read 2K to 10K by Rachel Aaron, and she says that one of the things she has to have nailed before she begins the book is the voice of it. "Nothing is more pervasive than tone," she writes, and oh my dog is that ever the truth. The approach I took with TOB-- just getting the story down and worrying about making it "sound good" later-- was fine in theory but in practice led to more extensive revisions than I ever want to do again. So I'm fussing over the opening chapters of M, trying to make sure I've nailed the sorta-historical Fantasy tone I'm going for.

And that is the State of the Writing. Peace out.

Slinking Back

Lord, I've been terrible with keeping up with the blog this year.

So I'm writing a new book! Mender. I should say some stuff about that.

Continuing to query The Owl Bearer. I should say some stuff about that, too.

But for today, I will return to blogging by participating in this "list" challenge. I think it's meant to go on instagram, or some other Mybook/Facespace nonsense I am too old and cranky to learn about. So I'm doing it here!

Week 1: Spring for me is...

1) Inevitable late-March/early-April snowstorms.

2) Dirt roads turned to mud.

3) Pails hanging on sugar maples, and smoke curling up from sugar shacks in backyards.

4) Crocuses pushing up through dead leaves.

5) Fawns left to nap in our ferns.

6) Easter egg hunts in the woods.

7) Waking up one day to a haze of green buds on all the trees.

8) College students sunbathing in bikinis on the green in 60-degree F weather.

9) Tulips in the window boxes in town.

10) Having to worry about bears.

Books Read in 2015

I'll be back later with a post about writing, but for now, here's the annual book post.

This year's tally: 85.

Middle Grade: 18

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue! by Tom Angleberger

The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Timmy Failure: Now Look What You've Done by Stephan Pastis

The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: The Unmapped Sea by Maryrose Wood

The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus by Tom Angleberger

Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan

Young Adult: 4

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Jackaby by William Ritter

The Far West by Patricia C. Wrede

My True Love Gave to Me edited by Stephanie Perkins

Adult Fiction: 35

Never Let You Down by Joely Sue Burkhart

The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes

The Billionaire's Ink Mistress by Joely Sue Burkhart

Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

Naamah's Blessing by Jacqueline Carey

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

Killed at the Whim of a Hat by Colin Cotterill

Venetia by Georgette Heyer

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

Grandad, There's a Head on the Beach by Colin Cotterill

The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill

Angelica by Sharon Shinn

Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik

Deep Desires by Charlotte Stein

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn

Dark Moon Defender by Sharon Shinn

Reader and Raelynx by Sharon Shinn

The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison

Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

The Billionaire's Christmas Bargain by Joely Sue Burkhart

Penric's Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Fortune and Fate by Sharon Shinn

Beta Reads: 3

Callisto's Ghost by L. Blankenship

Wellspring by Tae McDaniel

They Chose the Stars by Jennifer Austin

Non-Fiction: 9

Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maass

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Thanks, But This Isn't For Us by Jessica Page Morrell

The Art of Slow Writing by Louise DeSalvo

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Writing the Fiction Synopsis by Pam McCutcheon

Plot Perfect by Paula Munier

Colonial American Holidays and Entertainment by Karen Helene Lizon

In Real Life: Love, Lies, and Identity in the Digital Age by Nev Schulman

Graphic Novels: 12

Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown

Jedi Academy: Return of the Padawan by Jeffrey Brown

Amulet: Escape From Lucien by Kazu Kibiushi

Saga Vol. 4 by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples

Ms. Marvel: No Normal by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona

Rat Queens Vol. 2 by Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch, and Stjepan Sejic

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Jedi Academy: The Phantom Bully by Jeffrey Brown

El Deafo by Cece Bell

Saga Vol. 5 by Brian Vaughn and Fiona Staples

Ms. Marvel: Generation Why by G. Willow Wilson, Jacob Wyatt, and Adrian             Alphona

Ms. Marvel: Crushed by G. Willow Wilson, Elmo Bondoc, and Takeshi Miyazawa

Web Comics: 4

Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell

Dicebox by Jenn Manley Lee

Stand Still. Stay Silent. by Minna Sundberg

Vattu by Evan Dahm

So many good reads this year! I continued with a lot of my favorite series: Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus, Origami Yoda, Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Samaria, Twelve Houses, Temeraire, Dr. Siri Investigations, and of course the graphic novels and web comics.

Notable new discoveries this year:

Ancillary Justice and Ancillary Sword. Deep, complex, amazing Science Fiction. I can't wait to read the third book this month!

The Jimm Juree Mysteries by Colin Cotterill. I love Cotterill's Siri books, and I loved the hell out of these, too. They are hilarious and action-packed, and I devoured all three in a matter of days. 

Better Nate Than Ever. The Son and I both loved this book so hard, maybe because we listened to the author read it on the audiobook and his voice is just perfect for the character. 

Doomsday Book. Time travel, Christmas, academic bureaucracy, and the plague. Four things that don't sound like they should go together, but do.

Wonder. So beautiful and deep and sad and hopeful.

Cosmic. Hilariously implausible plot completely pulled off.

Gearing Up For NaNo

Hey there. Long time, no post.

I've been busily prepping Mender for NaNoWriMo-- or I was until last week, when I realized I was in danger of over-prepping and spending all my enthusiasm for the book before I start writing. It's tricky, because there is so, so much research to do-- it's alternate history, but I feel like I need to know as much as possible about the real history, culture, and customs of the period so that all my deviations are intentional rather than the result of ignorance. Add to that the pressure of writing non-white main characters for the first time, and writing a polyamorous romance when I have no personal experience with it, and I know I have a lot more to read and learn and ask about.

But I also know I need to get a draft of this story down while the heart of it is still beating, if that slightly melodramatic metaphor makes sense.

A week ago, feeling myself starting to get overwhelmed and fatigued by all the prep, I actually forbid myself to do any more of it. Instead, I've been reading a ton*, searching for old paintings and maps of Boston, and picking songs for the book's soundtrack. So far, the songs I've picked are selections from the soundtracks to the movies The Last of the Mohicans, Lincoln, and Belle, as well as the miniseries John Adams, plus a bunch of Chieftains tunes. A pretty good reflection of the mood I'm going for.


*including The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton, a Fantasy/Polyamorous Romance that I thought was amazing. It was like Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series, but if the six main characters were in a group marriage.

Diversiverse: The Broken Kingdoms

This is me participating in the fabulous A More Diverse Universe reading challenge, in which a blogger reads a book by an author of color and then spreads the word about it. Simple, yet incredibly helpful for readers looking to expand their reading horizons. I know I'll be eagerly reading all these reviews to learn about more fantastic spec fic authors of color I should be reading.

I chose to read the Fantasy novel The Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemison, the second book in her Inheritance trilogy. I read the first book, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, a few years ago, and while I enjoyed it, I wasn't as impressed by it as I'd expected to be. I think that was less the fault of the book itself than how much I'd heard about it before I read it. THTK was nominated for a Nebula, and I'd read a lot of gushing reviews about how it was the most intense, dazzling original debut EV-ah, so when I read the book I was expecting to be totally blown away, and instead I thought it was a very well-written Fantasy novel with an interesting world and some fresh ideas, but also some re-hashes of stuff I've seen done better in other books, and a romance with way too much melodrama for my tastes.

But. The Broken Kingdoms. OMG. This book did in fact blow me away. The intensity here didn't feel at all like melodrama to me, maybe because most of the action is taking place on the mean streets of the city rather than high above it in a shmancy sky-castle. The violence and struggle of poverty becomes a backdrop for a struggle at the highest levels of human and divine power, and we see how the decisions made by kings and gods play out in the lives of those at the bottom of the power pyramid.

The main character, Oree, is a blind artist from a dispossessed people, and oh yeah, her ex-boyfriend is a god. The Inheritance novels explore the relationships between gods and mortals, but while in THTK that relationship was crashing, epic drama set against a backdrop of O Fortuna, in TBK it feels like experimental jazz fusion-- more casual and urban and complex.

Not that there isn't drama here-- the big stakes are classic Fantasy "entire world will be destroyed" stakes. But the littler stakes and story moments didn't feel overshadowed by that. Oree is a masterfully created protagonist: her identities as a blind woman, a black woman, an artist, a religious believer, and a possessor of strange powers all combine to make a character who felt fresh and totally un-stereotyped to me: passionate yet circumspect, determined to live independently yet longing for companionship, full of faith in her God yet having that faith shaken to the core when she actually meets him.

Lastly, I want to point to something I also appreciated about THTK: Jemison has created a Fantasy world in which race matters and racism is woven into the fabric of society. And not "race" as in "elves oppressing dwarves".I'm talking gulfs between humans with different racial characteristics. Light-skinned people creating a power structure that oppresses darker-skinned people. So often Fantasy flinches away from examining the everyday atrocities of racism, even while it has no issue with (and, some would argue, too eagerly embraces) depicting a male-dominated culture in which women are sexually brutalized. Racism and the challenges of cultural pluralism are some of the themes I'm most interested in writing about, so I'm always excited to read Science Fiction and Fantasy from the diversiverse.

Checking In

Well, it's the 14th of September and I've only done 6 hours of work on Mender this month. I'm going to be busy these next few weeks if I want to make it to 50 hours.

I've sent out seven queries so far, and gotten one rejection. Submitting a novel is more time consuming than I realized, what with the personalizing of query letters and tweaking of sample pages and crossing of fingers.

As I suspected, I didn't get picked for Pitch Wars. Then last week I threw my hat into the ring for Pitch Madness, a 12-hour twitter pitch event in which agents star their favorite pitches to invite the pitchees to query. (I joined twitter just to participate!) I was starred by two agents, both of whom were on my list, so I am thrilled and scampered to send them queries. It may well be that nothing comes of it, but it's nice to get a little encouragement.

Basically, I've been doing exactly what you're not supposed to do when you're submitting: obsessing over submitting rather than falling in love with a new project.

But no longer. Thanks to work I did on this project last year, I have the preliminary character work done enough. Now I'm moving on to two weeks of worldbuilding, which is where I really need to spend the hours. Alternate Historical is tricky-- there are major diversions in my story world from real history (England has been conquered by France, New England is the site of the exiled British monarchy, relations with the native peoples take a very different (but still problematic) trajectory... plus there's, y'know, magic...), but I still don't want to have anything really jarring with the time period (1850s) without a good reason. Plus there are a bunch of cultures making up my New England kingdom-- English, Dutch, French, Wampanoag, Abenaki, and Pequot.

It would be easy to get intimidated by the research and get hung up here, but I've learned from EN and TOB that you don't really know what in-depth worldbuilding you need until you've written a draft. So, two weeks to get the broad strokes down. Then two weeks for plot, and two weeks for whatever needs a little more attention. Then NaNoWriMo!