The Wordsmith's Forge

Diversity in Publishing

2012-05-23T03:10:45Z

Watch for these young adult books with diverse heroes.

Remember, if you don't see what you like in literature, you can do something about that. Write it yourself. Publish it yourself. Send money or boost the signal for other people who are. Because speculative fiction writers change the heart one world at a time.

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The State of Science Fiction

2012-05-23T00:27:17Z

So I read this article about the death of science fiction ... and it made me laugh.

The genre isn't dying or stagnating. It's just moving. A lot of the really cool stuff is happening online, some of it in crowdfunding, some of it elsewhere. This is the genre of innovation. You can't really expect it to stand still. If the part you're looking at is not moving, you're looking in the wrong place.

I'm not the only one looking at science articles and getting ideas out of them. I'm also not the only one networking with an audience and getting awesome, unique, fascinating ideas that way. It's just that the big houses are busy having a big collective panic attack and I'm really not into the farming of drama llamas. I'll be over here writing until they find a paper bag and calm down.

I'm really happy that some of my newer series deal with science. Lacquerware, that's really hard science fiction, just set in a different time and culture. It's pure story-of-idea, which I almost never do; there aren't even any continuing characters. It's all about how technology would turn out differently growing from Edo roots. Kung Fu Robots uses hard science to explore philosophy and spirituality -- quintessential questions of identity and meaning, confonted by robots and the people who are working with them. The Steamsmith is steampunk, and people generally think of that as fantasy; but pop the cover off that series and I am up to my elbow grease in atomic physics and biology and chemistry. It's all about scientific method and principles, even though most of the answers are different. Plus of course the soft sciences of sociology and such on top of the shiny gears and rivets.

For me, science fiction is about how and why as much as what if. It's about what next. It's about who we are, who we choose to be, who we become when we change the world according to our desires. I never want to lose sight of the implications of science, because that way lies doom and disaster. I like to think about these things, what they mean and where they're going, before we get there and maybe get into trouble. Suppose we made sentient robots, what would we do with them? Well, based on history, we'd probably make them slaves, soldiers, and/or whores. But maybe some of us would at least try to make friends instead. Maybe we'd think about right instead of just might. Maybe we'd just think.

That's never going to get old, and so science fiction is never going to die.

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Nature Photos

2012-05-22T07:35:30Z

Horses and birds.

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Superhera Movies

2012-05-22T07:34:13Z

This article talks about the need for movies about female superheroes. I'll tap that. I would totally watch Black Widow. ("You CAN'T pull me out now, I'm in the middle of an interrogation -- this guy is telling me everything!") I still regret losing Joss Whedon on Wonder Woman, because that would have kicked ass.

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Ebook Pricing

2012-05-22T02:01:47Z

Here's an article about ebook pricing across different business models.

Now compare crowdfunding and self-publishing: the author keeps ALL the money, minus whatever they decide to spend on editing, cover art, etc.

No wonder publishers are sweating.

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Three Kickstarters

2012-05-21T22:10:22Z

Here's a post about three crowdfunding projects.

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Writing Across Cultures

2012-05-20T21:23:00Z

This article talks about the challenges of writing other cultures. It's good as far as it goes, in that exploring can be good inspiration and it's important to do your homework so you don't write stupid things.

But it's also staring at a wall that isn't entirely real. It makes a huge gigantic deal out of that wall, as if humanity is all about being "us" or "them."

It's not. Racial distinctions are illusions, cultural fabrications not backed by science. Social boundaries can be real, but even those are thought a great deal more than they're done. As soon as people meet, they start swapping ideas and usually genes. Consider the fact that global travel means fewer and fewer people are "pure" anything these days. This is especially true in America but also true throughout most of the rest of the world, barring a few obsessively endogamous groups.

So don't assume that you are "other," that you have no connection with some society or ethnic group that interests you. Look for common ground. Better yet, take a detailed look at your family tree and see how much diversity you can find in there. Then go explore some of that stuff.

People are people. We all have a lot of common experience just by sharing a species and a home planet. A story that focuses on that has a much better chance of working as a story and not devolving into stereotypes. Consider the success of "Roots," which was at its heart a story about family, not just a black family coming into and out of slavery.

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Addiction in Science Fiction

2012-05-20T20:16:38Z

One of my writer-friends, Joan Slonczewski, posted an interesting essay about addiction in science fiction.

I've touched on this occasionally in my writing. For instance, in "Good Help Is Hard To Find," the supporting character is a drunk and the main character is having a difficult time switching from Evil to Good. One of my unpublished stories, "Pebbles from the River Lethe," is primarily about post-traumatic stress disorder but that arcs into a major thread on addiction. Or threads, if you count the protagonist's early attempts to self-medicate with alcohol.

I look at addiction as an adaptive malfunction. So my sorting process goes like this:

* Is there an underlying problem that you're trying to alleviate? If yes, then you have a valid reason to explore substances or practices to that end. If not, what you're doing is recreational and should be kept at a lower level.

* Is what you're doing causing a problem? If yes, then you need to consider the possibility of quitting and the relative cost. If not, then it's functioning as maintenance and not an addiction.

* Is the solution causing more trouble than the original problem? If yes, then you need to be doing something about that. If not, then at least you're ahead of where you were.

* Can you scale back or stop if you wish to do so? If yes, this is not an addiction. If not, it is, and the advisability of maintaining it depends on the risk/benefit assessment.

* Is there a level at which the benefits may be obtained without much if any negative side effects? If yes, it's maintenance. If not, that's a problem typical of many addictive substances, especially as habituation increases. Many things are functional at one level but dysfunctional at others.

By my definition, an addiction is something that you can't readily withdraw from even if it causes more trouble than it's worth. It's your own adaptive process working against you instead of for you.

This leaves out some things that cause physical adaptation but do not make trouble, such as some maintenance medications. Bear in mind that food, water, oxygen, and many other things are required for life; and some of those can trigger the habituation effect under some circumstances. This also goes against the sometimes fashionable idea that if any substance ever causes a problem, it's an addiction; well, no, if you can stop after a bad experience, that's just a mistake and you learned from it. People do that.

This also includes some things that society customarily excludes from consideration because they are recommended or required. Just because everyone thought it was dandy to smoke for decades didn't make cigarettes not kill people. Same with prescription drugs, it took a long time for anyone to admit that those can be as addictive and destructive as street drugs. So can religion, sex, and all sorts of other stuff. What matters is whether it does damage and whether you can stop; not whether or not something is "respectable."

In speculative fiction, we can look at different things that a society might excuse or condemn, or that might become addictive. Magic, new drugs, alien symbiotes, gods, artifacts -- all kinds of stuff can mess up a character's mind and life. Then we can explore positive or negative ways that society deals with that. (haikujaguar has a wonderful story about social response to addiction.) Sometimes that reveals new ways of thinking about a problem or looking for solutions.

What are some of your favorite stories that touch on this topic?

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Where to Look for an Editor

2012-05-20T07:12:08Z

Part 3 of the editing series by jessicasteiner.

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Art by Moonvoice

2012-05-20T07:01:11Z

Collie and leopard.

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Writing Prompts

2012-05-20T04:33:11Z

These prompts are from queer_bigbang for writers.

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Children as Caregivers

2012-05-18T16:59:28Z

There are children drafted as caregivers for unwell family members because nobody else will do it, which of course tends to ruin their education. America considers this more acceptable than actually providing health care and home support for its citizens.

Some days I just want to belt humanity with a convenient asteroid. I look at articles like this and wonder how many apocalyptic novels they've inspired.

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Crafts

2012-05-18T08:55:37Z

Nifty jewelry.

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Exploited Writers

2012-05-18T05:47:24Z

Here's an article about writer exploitation and the changing industry of publishing.

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Art by Moonvoice

2012-05-17T07:31:13Z

Sunset koi.

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Doll Photos

2012-05-16T07:21:36Z

Very pretty dolls.

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Bird Photos

2012-05-16T07:13:36Z

Cormorants.

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Instructions for Life

2012-05-15T21:40:40Z

The Dalai Lama explains how to live a good life. So listen to the guy who's done this before a bunch of times. He knows what he's talking about.

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Satanic Legos

2012-05-15T07:37:23Z

See the 9 circles of Hell, in Legos.

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Nature Photos

2012-05-15T07:31:21Z

Mourning cloak butterfly.

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Queer Superheroes

2012-05-14T23:11:00Z

Here's a list of superheroes who could be queer. Some of these are obvious, others a bit more of a stretch; but good and different cases are made for each.

My favorite pairings that aren't mentioned:

Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, especially in Smallville. Because hoboy I've seen farmboys crushing on each other and trying desperately to make it not so, and it looked very much like that. If the boys I knew could've wrecked a planet between them in superpowered romantic death throes, they would've done it. Clark and Lex's doomed relationship is well founded on their location: if you're bisexual in a small town, you're better off chasing girls.

Professor X and Magneto, deliciously played up in X-Men: First Class, hinted at in various other incarnations including a couple of cartoons. Most tellingly, they'll threaten each other all day ... but if you make a credible threat against one and the other finds out, bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. Charles and Erik are very much products of their time. When Erik comes from, being queer got you killed. Charles may be more optimistic, but he's not much less stuffy. It's the love that dares not speak its name.

Okay, over to you. Who do you think should come out of the closet?

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Creative Femslash

2012-05-14T08:07:56Z

Choose unusual times and places to throw heras together. Real life is weird. So keep your fiction real, and weird it out.

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Watercolor Art

2012-05-14T08:04:58Z

... is for sale. Some with soft colors, some with bright, nice delicate details over splashes of color.

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Marketing for Writers

2012-05-14T02:00:30Z

Cecilia Tan talks about marketing for queer writers and queer literature. Step outside the mainstream and learn how to find your niche. The audience is out there.

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Breathe Free

2012-05-14T01:59:02Z

Here's a list of cities with clean air.

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