Sometimes I stumble across things like A Second Judith's comments on male appropriation of Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (found via alg in her post on the matter), or the multitude of posts and commentary on the offenses of Twilight. And I think to myself, well, yes, that's true and you have a point there, except I like both of those things, so what does that say about me?

I love Jane Austen and I love zombies, so why wouldn't I love a book that incorporates the two. I also enjoy romance novels involving vampires. I am quite fond of entertainment for the sake of entertainment, which means that the book or movies doesn't have to be deep for me to enjoy it. Furthermore, I am quite capable of ignoring all kinds of factors (bad writing, weak plot, cardboard characters, problematic themes) for the sake of my ability to enjoy. And yet.

And yet, I can't help but be simultaneously aware that there are messages in that come across in movies and books whether or not the creator intended them or not. As a person who wants to feel and think about things like this, who wants to see the world change for the better, I do actually care what those messages are.

The result is that I end up in a state of guilt for enjoying movies and books that I recognize as deeply problematic thematically (wow, that's a mouthful of a phrase). And I begin to feel that I am somehow a bad person for enjoying movies or books like those above, even though in my everyday life I strive to be conscious of the feelings of those around me.

In approaching my own writing, this subject comes up again in that I do not want to duplicate these mistakes. I want to write books that are both entertaining and that challenge peoples assumptions. But sometimes I read the commentary like those mentioned above and I start to panic. I start to think, what if I'm one of those writers, just writing another shallow story full of stereotypes and ugliness, and then I freeze up and I can't write, because in the end I want to be weighed and measured and to be deemed good.

Not a good state to be in.

While I think its important to actively think about these kinds of themes and subjects as a reader and viewer, a writer cannot. A writer writer needs to hold their social consciousness in the background as they work toward presenting their characters as real people.

I strive to make characters as real as possible, since I'm of the belief that true to life characters are at the heart of avoiding stereotypes. I also try to push this (all of this) out of my head when I face the page (I clearly do not always accomplish this), since it's hard enough just getting a decent sentence and eventual story down without the information overload.

So, because I'm curious, how do you approach writing while maintaining your sense of social responsibility? Or do you ignore it and just deal with the process of writing? Do you go back in the editing stage and consider what messages are being portrayed then?

So a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I had won (Squee!) the Fantasy Medley Giveaway held by C.E. Murphy (aka mizkit). My advanced readers copy of A Fantasy Medley has arrived signed by Murphy. (Well, technically it arrived a week or so ago, but I was so busy reading it that I didn't get around to posting about it.) With the advanced readers copy, I didn't get to have the pretty cover that was included with the final version, but who cares. I'm thrilled.

A Fantasy Medley, published by Subterranean Press and edited by Yanni Kuznia, includes four fantasy stories. Each story is set in the worlds already created in the authors' novels.  Having never read an work by the other authors, I was most excited to be able to read Murphy's story because I already loved her Negotiator series, (about a mortal woman getting mixed up in the complexities of the Old Races).

"From Russia, With Love"  is a story of the Old Races and is about the rivalry between Janx and Daisani (two of the Negotiator series' most enigmatic characters) as they attempt win the affection of a barmaid, who happens to be Baba Yaga's daughter. As usual, it was fantastic. I most loved the protrayal of Baba Yaga, who is brutal and powerful and wicked, just as she ought to be. I also liked that this story presented witches, and therefore the possibility of other supernatural creatures that exist outside the restrictions of the old races.

I was quite please to discover that the other stories were wonderful, too.

Kelly Armstrong's "Zen and the Art of Vampirism" (set in Otherworld) is a sassy piece about Zoe Takano, a vampire forced to deal with two vampires who want to supplant her in Toronto, a city filled with supernatural creatures. Zoe is exactly the kind bad ass, fast talking heroine that I love. I expect that her novels in which Zoe appears will be just as fun and witty as this story.

"Riding the Shore of the River of Death" (I drool over this title), written by Kate Elliot, revisits the world of her novel The Crown of Stars. In this story, Kareka, the daughter of the of the begh of Kirshat, must succeed in the hunt in order to prove herself a man or she will be forced into the role of woman and wife forever. I love the gender play in this, how manhood and womanhood in this tribe can defined by what you do and how you act rather than sex alone. The culture of these clans is so detailed, even in this small space, that I feel they could be quite real. The tale is deflty weaved, presenting a fascinating look at a dark and brutal world.

Returning to the Farseer world, "Words Like Coins," by Robin Hobb (I almost wrote Robin Hood *sigh*), looks at how precision of speach can mean all the difference in the world. Mirrifen is a failed hedge-witch apprentice, who has married for security, but her sense of safety is jarred by drought and the arrival of a pregnant pecksie. I love the folklore in this story, and how easily and quickly misundertandings and ignorance can lead to dangerous situtions.

I did get a feeling some times while reading the other three stories that I was missing out on some inside joke that only readers of the complete novels would get. But each of these stories made me want to go out and read the novels so that I could further explore the worlds in which they were set.  (which I think was the point). All around, I would say that this is a successful, if short, collection of fantasy story. It's just a pity that the books were given such a small run (and are therefore sold out), because I would definitely recomend this book to others.

Justine Larbalestier wrote an excellent blog post about book covers, race, and publishing, namely the tendency of publishers to white wash the covers of their books under the assumption that they sell better. More specifically she talks about the choice of U.S. publishers to place the face of a white girl on the cover of her book Liar, in which the narrator is black.

I'm often willing to forgive many choices in publishers or film producers on the premise that it's mostly innocent and they have a right to make money, because this is a business after all. But this concept of white washing that is so prevalent in book covers and in film, disturbs me to the core. It's ugly and cruel, denying an alternate form of beauty to be seen and heard, and it makes me sort of sick to the stomach (the blatant white washing of A Wizard of Earthsea for the TV miniseries comes to mind).

I don't think that those in charge of these decisions are intentionally trying to erase people of color. I'm sure they genuinely believe that's it's just business and this is the best way to succeed. Though in the long run I think these decisions will prove to their (the businesses) detriment.

I have never not read a book (or not seen a movie) based on the race (or gender) of the character on the cover. I want the cover to be interesting, of course. It needs to attract my attention and be visually appealing. But visual appeal is not determined by the race of the person pictured. Beyond that it is the story itself that I must find appealing. For example, I loved Ursula K. Le Guin's The Annals of the Western Shore trilogy, which features young people of color on their covers. Their covers in general are beautiful and appealing, and I would have picked them up regardless of who was place on the cover.

I'm glad that Justine Larbalestier spoke out about her frustration with this issue. The more people speak out about how offensive they find this kind of thing, the more likely those who enact white washing can begin to see that their assumptions are not valid. Then, maybe (because I have faith in the human race), maybe things can begin to change.

Edited to add:
A Publisher's Weekly article on this subject is here, which gives a little more of the publisher's point of view.

I am floating on a sea of joy right now. I would love to jump up and dance around and shout my joy...but I'm at work, and while it's slow enough for me not to feel guilty about being on the net, I think that kind of behavior would probably be frowned upon. :)

Why so happy? Well, I just found out that I won the FANTASY MEDLEY Give Away, held by C.E. Murphy (aka mizkit). To enter the contest, readers had to say, in 50 words or less, what Old Races story they would like to see told.

Don't know what the Old Races are? The Old Races are apart of the NEGOTIATOR TRILOGY, which includes Heart of Stone, House of Cards, and Hands of Flame. To make my life easier, I'll just quote from the back cover of Heart of Stone:

New York City defense lawyer Margrit Knight has finally met the perfect man...only he's a gargoyle, and wanted for murder. Caught in the strange world of the Old Races, Margrit finds herself in a race against the sunrise to clear Alban's name and keep them both alive....

The Old Races are dragons and djin, selkies and gargoyles, and vampires. I rather enjoyed the Negotiator Trilogy. All of the Old Races characters were fascinating in the way they interacted very inhumanly with the human world (Janx and Daisani are especially interesting), and Margrit keeps pace with them all quite well, while managing to stay convincing.

So I was very excited to hear about the contest when it came up. For my entry, I mentioned that I wanted to see a story from the point of view of a priest (a minor character in the trilogy). I like the idea of seeing the supernatural world from a very specific outside point of view.

Here's the funny thing. I posted my entry...and then completely forgot about it. Completely. I blame the Wedding that ate my brain. No, really, my brain could not think about anything else in that time period.

So today I received a rather polite *poke* today from mizkit reminding me that I won the contest and would I still like to receive my prize of an advanced readers copy of A FANTASY MEDLEY (which features a story of the Old Races, called "From Russia, With Love"). I replied with and immediate, YES!

I guess I can't say "I never win anything" anymore. :D

As soon as I heard that there was supposed to be a zombie pub crawl in my local area last night, I knew I had to be there. I was so excited at the prospect of seeing zombies out in the wild. It took a while to track them down, however, and in the end only two zombies were spotted. I had hoped to see more, but I suppose that if I had come dressed in zombie attire, there would have been more. Next time, I suppose. (I get shy about dressing up in costume alone. I would totally be down if a few friends were willing to get costumed with me. Hint. Hint.)

I was able to get evidence of the zombie sighting in the form of a photograph.





She seemed a little embarrassed about being asked for a photo op, but was gracious enough to pose with me. (Her sign reads: "Is it necrophilia if you're both dead?") Though, by the snarl on her face, there's always the slight chance that she might be thinking of eating my brains, or something. Though maybe not.

The zombie crawl was held as part of a book reading/signing event for Breathers: A Zombie Lament, which is about a Adam, who joins a group called Undead Anonomous to help him cope with the challenges of living life as the recently deceased. It's described as a romantic zombie comedy, which just sounds awesome from the get go. (I'll have to post a book review up here once I'm done reading it.)

The author S.G. Browne read from his book, answered some questions, and then signed books. Browne is an excellent reader, and I laughed out loud at some of the passages he read. He was also very easy to approach when signing the book, which is a good thing for me, because I always feel so awkward when I go to have a book signed. I don't know why. But he seemed a very easy going guy and was easy to chat with. I suggest going to his webpage to check out his book, if you are at all interested. It should prove a good read.

Then I wandered off with my girls (who were so wonderfully kind as to attend this with me *grin*) and we went back to Rosie McCann's to get some dinner, and then dance the night away. A great evening all around.

I just found out that LibraryThing has created a feature that compiles lists of whether authors in your personal library are dead or alive.

83 authors in my list are Dead
226 Alive
5 Not a Person (Anonymous, Time Life Books, etc.)
258 are listed as Unknown, which means that LT does not know whether they are dead or alive. I'm sure there are technical reasons for this, but it still amuses me that this is a category, since it seems like it should be rather clear cut

The funniest category has to be Zombies (listed under Not a Person). Currently non of my authors are listed as zombies, but I postulate that it's only a matter of time.

I found an interesting article in the New York Times about how video games are being used to bait and hook young readers (read the article here). Some authors are creating games that goes along with their books. The games expand upon the information already in the book, which is an interesting idea in terms of marketing.

“You can’t just make a book anymore,” said Mr. Haarsma, a former advertising consultant. Pairing a video game with a novel for young readers, he added, “brings the book into their world, as opposed to going the other way around.”

I'm a big fan of games and love to play RPGs myself, but I don't know that it will actually get young adults to read more, as there are certainly a lot of young people who will go straight to the game instead of reading the book. But as the article mentions some games teach other skills, and often gamers will read text on the screen and on the net (tips and cheats sites) to supplement their gaming experience.

Still, avid readers who have compared the narrative arcs of video games with books sometimes find the games wanting. When Jacob Bagley first arrived as a freshman at Brown University, he was rapidly sucked into “World of Warcraft,” an online game set in a medieval landscape where players collaborate to slay monsters and complete quests.

...

Video games, said Mr. Bagley, 21, “certainly don’t have the same degree of emotional and intellectual complexity of a book.”

Okay, for the most part, yes, games tend to have less narrative arc than novels, but really it depends on the type of game and gaming experience that one is looking for. RPGs, for example tend to be more story focused (Final Fantasy, Fallout, etc.). You "role play" the character, following the story, and making various choices that have an effect on the outcome as you go along (some follow a storyline more strictly than others). It's feels more like a novel or kind of like one of those choose-your-own-ending books, which I suppose is why I like them. It's the characters that draw me in.

Bioshock is an example of a first person shooter game that has one of the greatest storylines that I've found in a game. It's also the only game that I have played to completion, and that it due in a large part to the fact that I was so fascinated by the story unfolding as I went along. I wanted to know what would happen next.

So I would definitely make the argument that games have the potential to create complex storylines, especially since it is still growing as a medium.

I got the chance to see Neil Gaiman read for the first time this weekend. He was as funny and charming as he seems to be in the interviews of him that I'd seen. He read from his new book, called The Graveyard Book, and I have to say that he is one of the best readers that I have ever seen, doing all the voices and reading with perfect pacing. He also showed some exclusive clips from the upcoming movie Coraline, answered some questions from the audience, and then read from another book coming out, called Blueberry Girl, which is an illustrated version of the poem that he wrote for Tori Amos' daughter. It was very sweet. My brother and I could hardly contain our excitement at getting the chance to see him (I bought him a ticket as a birthday gift). It's nice when people who write work that you admire turn out to be as awesome as you would hope they would be.

Have you had similarly good experiences with the author's you've had the chance to see in person? Or have you had the experience where you've gone to see someone you admire, only to be dissapointed?

* * * *



I saw today's topic and I couldn't help saying something on it. I would love to say that the answer is that poetry still can have the same impact, but I think the unfortunate truth is that poetry is loosing some of its power. It just doesn't have the impact that it had 50 years ago, which as a poet, makes me sad.

Yet, even as I write this I know that there are books out there like Crank, a novel for young adults written in poetry. I haven't read it, but it seems to be doing rather well in the market place, as far as I can tell. So maybe that's a sign that there's hope for poetry yet, because if the younger generation can discover a love for poetry, then maybe they will keep it alive.

Do you think there's hope for poetry?

My mom, sister and I had a really specially experience this Tuesday. My sister loves Jane Austen, and had just finished reading Emma, so I surprised her with tickets to the world musical version of the book at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. (I had her going and guessing all week as to what we would be doing that night, and she only found out at our dinner before the performance.)

Emma is a wealthy gentleman's daughter. Spoiled, manipulative, and arrogant, she meddles in the lives of others and makes unfortunate and her misguided attempts at matchmaking bring her fellow characters frustration and pain. Austen once wrote that in Emma she purposefully set out to write a character that no one would like but her.

( An aside. )

Paul Gordon's music and lyrics for the performance are spectacular, sitting firmly in a classic framework that moves from deeply powerful to delightlfully comic. Lianne Dobbs is charming as Emma and carries the performace with powerful vocals. And Dani Marcu is brilliant in the role of Harriet Smith, the bumbling victim of Emma's attentions. Her song "Humilitation" is a constant source of humor throughout the play.

In probably the most moving moment of the play Mr. Knightly, realizing his love for Emma, sings a song that features one of the best vocal performaces I've heard in a long time.

And after the performance all the actors came out front to mingle and take pictures with the audience. (My sister had to get her gumption up to go talk to Dobbs. She was feeling shy for some reason.)

Emma is great, and truely believe that anyone who loves theater will love this performance. I sincerely hope that this performance makes it to braidway as they see to be aiming for, because they definitely deserve it.

I recently subscribed to Bear Creek Haiku, the journal in which a poem of mine will soon be appearing in. It was only five dollars for the year, and I figured hey that's a damn cheep way to support a literary journal (something I always feel good about). Besides, I didn't really know much about this journal and I wanted to see what it was like and about. All this despite the fact that I knew I would eventually be getting two copies of the issue my poem will be appearing in.

In the mail today, I received my first two issue (back issues, I think), along with a note from the editor, letting me know that it was nice that I chose to subscribe, but that I did not need to have done so to be accepted. As I read it I kept thinking about how he imagined me this young naive poet, who doesn't really understand publishing yet. It made me smile, because I was grateful for the advice, even though I really did know all this before I chose to subscribe. (I toyed with the idea of writing back, explaining myself and my real reasons for subscribing, but every letter in my head began with I probably don't need to explain myself, but . . ., so I chose to let it go.)

I thought it sweet of him, though, to take the time to give that piece of advice to a potentially new writer. Not every one would have done so.

I found the two issues he sent me quite enjoyable and inspiring (found myself wanting to write more Haiku), especially the work done by Dane Cervine, which appeared in both issues. You can read his poem "The Visitation" here.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty happy having my work up along side these other great poets.

If you are interested in subscribing to Bear Creek Haiku, send $5 to:

Bear Creek Haiku
PO Box 3787
Boulder, CO 80307

One thing about subbing that can be a little annoying is that I have the same class six times in a row, which means that I have to be exposed to the same short story each of those six times. It can get to the point where I begin to hate a story after a while in the same way listening to the same song over and over again can cause a person to hate the song they used to love.

Today and yesterday (because we are on block schedule), I've been having the kiddies read along to a reading by the author of "There Will Come Soft Rains," one of the many stories in Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. I brought the story in as part of an attempt to share some science fiction stories with my students, figuring if the students didn't love it, at least I would. It's been hit and miss -- some students found it interesting, some hated every moment of it (and said os very vocally), and some just didn't care less.

What ever the reaction, I found that, as I read the story over and over again, I came to love Bradbury's writing style more and more. I just love the way he describes this lonely empty house, the only house still standing after nuclear holocaust. He makes the house come alive, so that it works as the main character of the story.

He just chooses his words so well, for example in describing the little mechanical cleaning mice:

"Delicately sensing decay at last, the regiments of mice hummed out as softly as blown gray leaves in an electrical wind."

What great word choices. I love the way he compares these electronic devices to leaves blowing in the wind, giving this sense of random, chaotic, motion. And yet, the wind is electrical, pulling the image back from nature to the technological. And mice don't come out or move out of the walls, they hum. Each word is so perfectly selected for the strong visual image it creates.

And another of my favorite moments, later in the story:

"Now the fire lay in beds, stood in windows, changed the colors of drapes!"

He could of just said that the fire burned these things, but he gives the fire a personality instead (there a name for that, giving nonhuman things human traits ETA: found it, Personification, that's the word), almost as though the fire is taking place of the people, filling the rooms, as it burns the home.

And there are so many other examples of great writing in the story, so I suggest that you read it yourself, rather than take my word for it. Here a student is doing a close reading of the story, which is in the column on the left. There are also some great pictures to go along with the text.

Hope you find as much delight in it as I do.

It was an easy day at work today, buy Wednesdays are that way. It's a yoga class, so I do yoga with the kids. And it's a minimum day, so we get out a noon. I love Wednesdays.

In a desire to support my fellow author, I went out an bought C.E. Murphy's new book, Thunderbird Falls, the sequel to Urban Shaman, which I enjoyed greatly. I can't wait to sit down to read my new purchase (though it might take a while, because I have a huge stack of books to read).

And the best part about my day -- I just received an email from a small publishing company in San Fran. I've been asked to come in for an interview for the summer internship that I really want. I have had this feeling that if I could get myself to the interview then I could definitely get myself the job. I'm so excited to see what happens.

Oh yeah, and . . .

I just found out through nephele that Octavia E Butler has died. I remember buying Bloodchild and Other Stories, which my parents looked at, saw the title and cover, and instantly thought it was weird (but since they sometimes thought of me as weird, I didn't mind). In response, I just shrugged and then eagerly read through every story. They were fantastic.

Later, I had to read the book again for Literature class on Science Fiction. It was even better the second time around, because I had more knowledge and understanding of the genre. I was able to see things I didn't see before. I also read Parable of the Sower in that class (it was a great class). Parable of the Sower took me a long time to read, because I would go back and joyfully reread the chapter before moving onto the next.

I remember each of these moments clearly, and while I've only read a couple of her books, they have left their mark on me.

I'm so sad to find out she's gone.

marikochan is doing some research on author's sites for a study she's doing. I thought it was interesting, and since many of you on my friend's list are authors and readers, I figured you would be interested, too.

So, if you feel like filling out a poll in author's websites, click here.