Although I have some big projects coming up soon that will prevent me from finishing Gods of Talera, the sequel to Wraith of Talera, I've begun doing some writing on it until I know exactly what those other projects will entail. I've only done the first couple of chapters on "Gods" but last night had a dream about Talera that essentially gave me the ending to the book. A very nice twist that I don't think anyone will see coming. Jotted it down and now I have to write toward it. Thank you unconscious!
In other news, faculty return to school at Xavier tomorrow. I don't know how the Christmas break got over so fast. I got some writing done, and a lot of reading, so it wasn't unproductive. I finally got to see my son, Joshua, yesterday. He'd planned on coming up earlier but got the flu. We went out for Sushi, and Lana accompanied us. Then had peameal bacon and eggs for supper.
With school starting up, I'll be blogging today but probably not tomorrow. We'll see how much work is piled up Thursday and Friday to see whether I have a chance to blog or not.
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Showing posts with label Talera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talera. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 07, 2014
Monday, January 26, 2009
Who Are You Trying to Impress 4
Thanks to everyone who has managed to stay with me through this series, and who have thrown in their two cents. I do think my points have been misunderstood on occasion. My whole focus is on knowing your audience. I’m not saying that using words like argent or lavender is pretentious. Far from it. I’m saying that some audiences will care and others won’t. I’m not indicating that one of those audiences is somehow better than the other, only that they are different. And I’m not saying that there isn’t a market for fine writing. I sure hope there is. I’m saying that different kinds of writing are directed toward different audiences. I’m not trying to indicate that one of those audiences is somehow superior to another. Anyway, here are my closing thoughts on the topic, though such thoughts are always subject to revision.
First, a writer doesn’t have to pick one audience to write for. They may write different things for different audiences. Jack London wrote work directed at the most literate of readers and also churned out potboilers to make money. And, a writer may in fact write for more than one audience at the same time. I think a lot of writers write for readers but also find they have to please themselves first. And, as several folks have pointed out, the readers we writers have the most experience with is ourselves, so if we’re writing for “readers” we often use ourselves as a model. We could easily have two audiences, which don’t have to be incompatible.
Second, writers can, over time, change the audience they are directing work toward. When I wrote Swords of Talera it really was for myself. Although in the back of my mind I had some thoughts about becoming a published author, I never gave a single thought to audience in the first go through of that book. I wrote it purely and simply because it was fun for me and I wanted to know what happened next. As a result, it rambled. When I rewrote it in an attempt to published it, I took out the rambling parts and tried to focus primarily on the story, because I felt that was what the reader wanted. My main audience was no longer myself, although I still wanted to please myself too.
When I wrote Cold in the Light, I tried to keep the “reader” in mind every step of the way as far as story and action went, but I personally adore beautiful language so I tried to keep the prose at a little bit of an elevated level, both for myself and for my writer peers. But I’ll tell you honestly that when I wrote that book I wanted readers, as many as I could possible get. (I didn’t get nearly as many as I wanted.)
Wings over Talera was a hybrid. I wrote the first chapters right after finishing “Swords,” and it was still written solely for myself. But after “Swords” was serialized and I went to finish “Wings,” I tried to keep in mind the readers from the magazine who had liked “Swords.” I wanted those same readers to be happy with the new book. I knew that readers outside of fantasy probably wouldn't care.
Witch of Talera was written, from the first, for readers, the same folks who had enjoyed the previous ones in the series. Of course, I wanted to please myself as well, but I wanted, needed perhaps, to hear people tell me they really liked that book. I’ll tell you, for me, it is truly a great feeling to hear someone say they spent some of their precious time reading a story that I’ve written, and that they liked it. And I’d much rather have that than have a critic discuss the deeper meaning of my prose. The most wondrous gift that any book could give me as a kid was to fire my imagination. And that’s exactly the gift I’d like to give to others.
So who do I write for? Not for critics at all. And not so much for peers, except for the fact that I am one of those peers. I have to please myself in any writing project, or else I can’t go forward. But because I really want to be “read,” I can’t say that I’m writing primarily for myself. My main audience is the kind of reader who likes to read the same stuff I do. And I’d like to have a lot of them. Unfortunately, many readers just aren’t going to like the genres I like so I limit my potential audience by that very fact. Any time you select an audience there are likely to be tradeoffs. In writing, I don’t think you can have it all.
So, some of you have already answered the question of who you write for, but if you’d like to share feel free. And even if you don’t want to tell me, I think you should always tell yourself.
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First, a writer doesn’t have to pick one audience to write for. They may write different things for different audiences. Jack London wrote work directed at the most literate of readers and also churned out potboilers to make money. And, a writer may in fact write for more than one audience at the same time. I think a lot of writers write for readers but also find they have to please themselves first. And, as several folks have pointed out, the readers we writers have the most experience with is ourselves, so if we’re writing for “readers” we often use ourselves as a model. We could easily have two audiences, which don’t have to be incompatible.
Second, writers can, over time, change the audience they are directing work toward. When I wrote Swords of Talera it really was for myself. Although in the back of my mind I had some thoughts about becoming a published author, I never gave a single thought to audience in the first go through of that book. I wrote it purely and simply because it was fun for me and I wanted to know what happened next. As a result, it rambled. When I rewrote it in an attempt to published it, I took out the rambling parts and tried to focus primarily on the story, because I felt that was what the reader wanted. My main audience was no longer myself, although I still wanted to please myself too.
When I wrote Cold in the Light, I tried to keep the “reader” in mind every step of the way as far as story and action went, but I personally adore beautiful language so I tried to keep the prose at a little bit of an elevated level, both for myself and for my writer peers. But I’ll tell you honestly that when I wrote that book I wanted readers, as many as I could possible get. (I didn’t get nearly as many as I wanted.)
Wings over Talera was a hybrid. I wrote the first chapters right after finishing “Swords,” and it was still written solely for myself. But after “Swords” was serialized and I went to finish “Wings,” I tried to keep in mind the readers from the magazine who had liked “Swords.” I wanted those same readers to be happy with the new book. I knew that readers outside of fantasy probably wouldn't care.
Witch of Talera was written, from the first, for readers, the same folks who had enjoyed the previous ones in the series. Of course, I wanted to please myself as well, but I wanted, needed perhaps, to hear people tell me they really liked that book. I’ll tell you, for me, it is truly a great feeling to hear someone say they spent some of their precious time reading a story that I’ve written, and that they liked it. And I’d much rather have that than have a critic discuss the deeper meaning of my prose. The most wondrous gift that any book could give me as a kid was to fire my imagination. And that’s exactly the gift I’d like to give to others.
So who do I write for? Not for critics at all. And not so much for peers, except for the fact that I am one of those peers. I have to please myself in any writing project, or else I can’t go forward. But because I really want to be “read,” I can’t say that I’m writing primarily for myself. My main audience is the kind of reader who likes to read the same stuff I do. And I’d like to have a lot of them. Unfortunately, many readers just aren’t going to like the genres I like so I limit my potential audience by that very fact. Any time you select an audience there are likely to be tradeoffs. In writing, I don’t think you can have it all.
So, some of you have already answered the question of who you write for, but if you’d like to share feel free. And even if you don’t want to tell me, I think you should always tell yourself.
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
Back on Track
I solved my problem with Wraith of Talera and am back on track. I realized that I’d started too “late” in the story and needed a new chapter 1 that takes place before the original chapter 1. I had the idea for the scene already in my head so it practically wrote itself. Today I’m going to go through the rest of the completed chapters and tweak here and there to fit the new stuff I’ve added. That should be pretty easy.
I have a question that mainly is directed at those who’ve read Swords of Talera. In that book, primarily as an homage to previous Sword & Planet writers, I put in fictional “footnotes.” These were little tidbits of information that were separated from the text like regular footnotes. So far, I’ve heard from one reader who thought these were actually pretty awkward. I used fewer “footnotes” across the three books and am trying to decide whether to include them in this new book. I certainly don’t have to do so. Did anyone else find them troublesome at all?
Another thing I’m doing, which I always figured I’d do if the series ran more than three books, is I’m leaving out the introduction where “Charles Allen Gramlich” comments on his meetings with Ruenn Maclang. I used this as a frame for the first trilogy but I think it’s served its purpose. So in the new book we kick right in with Ruenn from page one, although I do have a “What Has Gone Before” piece of two paragraphs telling the reader basically where this book is starting from.
I’m reading an excellent book by Joe Lansdale called Rumble Tumble. For those of you who know something about Lansdale, it’s one of his Hap and Leonard stories, which are straight suspense tales without any overtly fantastic elements. This is one of the better ‘uns in that series.
I also read my first ever Raymond Carver story, “Feathers,” and I have to say I didn’t care for it. The dialogue rang false to me, though perhaps I’ve just never met folks like these. I thought the reaction of the characters to a peacock was all out of proportion to the fact of the bird itself. And nothing really happened. Such stories are always more about subtext than surface text but the subtext here wasn’t really that interesting to me. The style is very simple and unadorned, which I’m sure is intentional, but man it makes me pine for the beautiful prose of someone like James Lee Burke or Cormac McCarthy. I know there are some folks who really love Carver so it’s more likely me that’s the issue. Just not my horn of ale. But I will reserve full judgment until I’ve finished the story collection I’ve started, called Cathedral.
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I have a question that mainly is directed at those who’ve read Swords of Talera. In that book, primarily as an homage to previous Sword & Planet writers, I put in fictional “footnotes.” These were little tidbits of information that were separated from the text like regular footnotes. So far, I’ve heard from one reader who thought these were actually pretty awkward. I used fewer “footnotes” across the three books and am trying to decide whether to include them in this new book. I certainly don’t have to do so. Did anyone else find them troublesome at all?
Another thing I’m doing, which I always figured I’d do if the series ran more than three books, is I’m leaving out the introduction where “Charles Allen Gramlich” comments on his meetings with Ruenn Maclang. I used this as a frame for the first trilogy but I think it’s served its purpose. So in the new book we kick right in with Ruenn from page one, although I do have a “What Has Gone Before” piece of two paragraphs telling the reader basically where this book is starting from.
I’m reading an excellent book by Joe Lansdale called Rumble Tumble. For those of you who know something about Lansdale, it’s one of his Hap and Leonard stories, which are straight suspense tales without any overtly fantastic elements. This is one of the better ‘uns in that series.
I also read my first ever Raymond Carver story, “Feathers,” and I have to say I didn’t care for it. The dialogue rang false to me, though perhaps I’ve just never met folks like these. I thought the reaction of the characters to a peacock was all out of proportion to the fact of the bird itself. And nothing really happened. Such stories are always more about subtext than surface text but the subtext here wasn’t really that interesting to me. The style is very simple and unadorned, which I’m sure is intentional, but man it makes me pine for the beautiful prose of someone like James Lee Burke or Cormac McCarthy. I know there are some folks who really love Carver so it’s more likely me that’s the issue. Just not my horn of ale. But I will reserve full judgment until I’ve finished the story collection I’ve started, called Cathedral.
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Starting Over, Or So It Seems
I finally tried Monday to get started back on Wraith of Talera, and I realized that the layoff while I was in Cross Plains, and then taking the next few days off to do some other writing I had deadlines for, had brought me to a dead standstill on the book. In fact, reading over it I thought to myself, “man this sucks.” That’s probably not a completely accurate feeling, but I need to really hit it hard tomorrow and try to get back into the mood. Maybe I need to conceptualize the story a bit better. Layoffs are just killers for me, and take so long to recover from. Anyone else find the same thing?
Another of my pet peeves has raised its weary old head again, as well. A heroic fantasy story with an effeminate male villain was criticized. The person doing the criticizing assumed immediately that the villain was homosexual, even though it never said so in the story. The point that bothers me is that, so what if the villain was homosexual? You can’t have a homosexual villain? That’s ridiculous! Does every villain have to be a white, heterosexual male? I can see that it might be an issue if every villain was drawn as homosexual, or as black, or as freaking Irish for that matter. But it’s going to get pretty “vanilla” if you can’t occasionally have a villain of some non-white, non-male, non-hetero persuasion. The truth is that villains come in all flavors, and writers should be allowed to work with that variety.
Don’t forget that Book Roast is still going on. It’s been great fun so far, and I won Bernita Harris’s book.
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Another of my pet peeves has raised its weary old head again, as well. A heroic fantasy story with an effeminate male villain was criticized. The person doing the criticizing assumed immediately that the villain was homosexual, even though it never said so in the story. The point that bothers me is that, so what if the villain was homosexual? You can’t have a homosexual villain? That’s ridiculous! Does every villain have to be a white, heterosexual male? I can see that it might be an issue if every villain was drawn as homosexual, or as black, or as freaking Irish for that matter. But it’s going to get pretty “vanilla” if you can’t occasionally have a villain of some non-white, non-male, non-hetero persuasion. The truth is that villains come in all flavors, and writers should be allowed to work with that variety.
Don’t forget that Book Roast is still going on. It’s been great fun so far, and I won Bernita Harris’s book.
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Sunday, June 01, 2008
Series Fiction: Pros and Cons
As I work on the fourth Taleran book, I’m considering again the pros and cons of writing a series. For me, I know that quite a few people seem to have enjoyed the first few books and it’s a nice feeling to know that there are folks looking forward to reading more from me. I’m also finding it a lot of fun to revisit characters and settings that have meant something to me in the past. It’s also a joy to expand the world. No standalone novel could have explored the entire planet and I’m finding myself able to flesh out details that I had to gloss over in previous entries in the series. Plus, it’s a different kind of creativity when you can interweave new material with older material. I don’t quite know how to explain it but it allows you to develop more depth in the basic creation.
On the con side, it’s hard to know how much background material to include in order to orient new readers to the series without boring those who are familiar with earlier books. I’m struggling with this quite a bit right now. Do I need to explain the Taleran calendar again? How about the mechanisms by which the sky ships fly, or the characteristics of the saddle-birds? Do I need to give meanings for every Taleran word again?
Right now, I’m handling this problem by including a short “What Has Gone Before” section, and by having Ruenn give little narrational asides to explain certain situations, although I’m trying to keep these to a minimum and make them very tight so they don’t impede the pace of the story. For the language issue, I’m trying to use the Taleran words in contexts where their meaning is either clear or where it doesn’t really matter if the reader gets the exact meaning as long as they get the “feeling.” I’m toying with including a kind of appendix with the book which would give the meanings of the words and include some cultural elements. This would essentially be selected entries from my Taleran Encyclopedia. I’ve seen Sword and Planet authors do this before, most notably Ken Bulmer in his Dray Prescot series, and it can be kind of fun.
A last “con” about writing a series is, what do you do if you make an error in one of the earlier books? Do you perpetuate that error for the sake of consistency? Do you correct the error in the new book and acknowledge it? Or do you correct the error in the new book and hope no one notices? I’m re-reading the first three Taleran books as I work and have already discovered two such errors. In both Wings and Witch I mentioned that the Taleran dawn comes at the “fourth dhaur.” I realized this time that it should have been the fifth dhaur in order to be consistent with other things I’ve said about the Taleran light/ dark cycle. In Witch I also mentioned that the period of the day called “Mordai” comes at the twenty-first dhaur. Seeing as how I made it clear in Swords that there are only twenty dhaur in a Taleran day this seems a bit of a problem.
I also wonder, of course, how I could have possibly made these errors considering that I read every one of these books over and over and over again before they were published by Borgo.
For both writers and readers out there, what do you find as the pros and cons of a series?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Pocketbook Writer
I’m being a bit lazy on the blogging front today. I worked well yesterday and made good progress on the new Taleran book. I’m really starting to enjoy working on fiction again. The flow of ideas is coming back to me, and I spent a fair amount of time going through and updating my “Taleran Encyclopedia,” which lists all the characters, and various points about language, and calendars, and religions, and all the other exciting elements involved in creating a world like Talera. I have already added a substantial amount to that work and also needed to familiarize myself again with all the elements since it’s been a few years since I worked on Witch of Talera.
In being lazy this morning, I spent a fair amount of time on my deck reading a book by a friend of mine, Charles Nuetzel, who is a somewhat retired author of numerous books. The current book is Pocketbook Writer: Confessions of a Commercial Hack. It’s from Borgo Press, and published by Wildside, just like my Taleran books.
I met Charles many years ago via email and did a length interview with him, which is reprinted in the book. It’s certainly an interesting look at a bygone era in publishing. Charles lived through and worked in the early period of the explosion in paperback book titles. He wrote in all kinds of genres and under many pseudonyms, although I first came in contact with his work in SF and Fantasy. He was very much influenced in those areas by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the first books I found by him were Sword and Planet tales, Warriors of Noomas and Raiders of Noomas. These have been re-released by Borgo in a single volume under the title Torlo Hannis of Noomas, which Charles was kind enough to dedicate partially to me. He’s also written a new edition to the series, with a collaborator (Heidi Garrett), called Slavegirl of Noomas, and I believe there are plans for a further book as well.
I’ll make my blogging rounds later this evening. In the meantime, don’t forget that Ello is hosting Dr. Gigi Durham today for a discussion on the issue of the sexualization of young girls and the problems it is creating, for women, men, and society. I’m heading over there now.
In being lazy this morning, I spent a fair amount of time on my deck reading a book by a friend of mine, Charles Nuetzel, who is a somewhat retired author of numerous books. The current book is Pocketbook Writer: Confessions of a Commercial Hack. It’s from Borgo Press, and published by Wildside, just like my Taleran books.
I met Charles many years ago via email and did a length interview with him, which is reprinted in the book. It’s certainly an interesting look at a bygone era in publishing. Charles lived through and worked in the early period of the explosion in paperback book titles. He wrote in all kinds of genres and under many pseudonyms, although I first came in contact with his work in SF and Fantasy. He was very much influenced in those areas by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the first books I found by him were Sword and Planet tales, Warriors of Noomas and Raiders of Noomas. These have been re-released by Borgo in a single volume under the title Torlo Hannis of Noomas, which Charles was kind enough to dedicate partially to me. He’s also written a new edition to the series, with a collaborator (Heidi Garrett), called Slavegirl of Noomas, and I believe there are plans for a further book as well.
I’ll make my blogging rounds later this evening. In the meantime, don’t forget that Ello is hosting Dr. Gigi Durham today for a discussion on the issue of the sexualization of young girls and the problems it is creating, for women, men, and society. I’m heading over there now.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Ghosts of Talera?
Now that grades are in my mind has finally been able to turn toward writing, but I’m largely in the pre-writing phase at the moment. I’ve pretty much committed myself to writing a new Taleran book and so for the last couple of days I’ve been running over scenarios and plans and titles in my mind. Thinking back to the original trilogy of books there is one obvious setup for a second trilogy. I won’t give it away here, though. And there are a few items from the first trilogy left over that have to be dealt with. I have the opening for the new book laid out and already know the basics of what I want to work toward. But, for me, titles are important and I’ve been mulling this one over a lot. I don’t know if I’ll actually write a second trilogy, and any book I do will be a complete story in and of itself, but I would like to have the basic titles for a possible trilogy laid out now because the titles help me organize my plotting.
I had originally thought that I’d call book four Warlord of Talera but thinking about the possible sequence of stories I might tell I’ve decided that would be appropriate for a possible end book in a trilogy. Right now I’m thinking, Ghosts of Talera, Gods of Talera and Warlord of Talera . I’m thinking “Ghosts” because there will be an apparent one, if not a real one, in the new book. Another name I’d considered for this book is Assassin of Talera because it will involve one of those as well. For some reason, though, “Assassin” doesn’t light my fire and “Ghosts” seems more evocative. Mostly I’m thinking aloud here, but, as always, feel free to share your opinions.
In other news, we were at our local Flatwoods preserve today and the Pitcher Plants are out in full force. We also saw a Barred Owl, which was a wonderful experience. I’m sure Lana will post a pic of it on her blog soon.
I had originally thought that I’d call book four Warlord of Talera but thinking about the possible sequence of stories I might tell I’ve decided that would be appropriate for a possible end book in a trilogy. Right now I’m thinking, Ghosts of Talera, Gods of Talera and Warlord of Talera . I’m thinking “Ghosts” because there will be an apparent one, if not a real one, in the new book. Another name I’d considered for this book is Assassin of Talera because it will involve one of those as well. For some reason, though, “Assassin” doesn’t light my fire and “Ghosts” seems more evocative. Mostly I’m thinking aloud here, but, as always, feel free to share your opinions.
In other news, we were at our local Flatwoods preserve today and the Pitcher Plants are out in full force. We also saw a Barred Owl, which was a wonderful experience. I’m sure Lana will post a pic of it on her blog soon.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Fantasy Heroes: Sword and Planet
The Sword and Planet hero lies somewhere between the extremes of Sword and Sorcery and High Fantasy. The archetype is Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars. The character of Ruenn MacLang from my Taleran books is meant to fall into this general category. Here are the characteristics of this type of hero as I see them.
1. They are bigger than life but not to the extreme of the Sword and Sorcery hero. They are fast and strong but not typically described as being as big or muscular as the Sword and Sorcery hero.
2. They also have an indomitable will to survive and can tolerate great pain and fight through serious wounds.
3. They typically do not face much sorcery. Their enemies are primarily physical enemies, although not always human.
4. They do not like violence and generally crave peace, but they are very good at violence when it is forced upon them.
5. They are much more likely than the Sword and Sorcery hero to enjoy philosophical debates and activities.
6. They are comfortable alone but are not loners. They usually make some good friends and they always have a love interest, who is usually a princess or noble of some type. They are immensely loyal to their friends and families.
7. Far from being an anti-hero, the Sword and Planet hero is always honorable and would typically be considered a gentleman.
8. The goal of the Sword and Planet hero generally lies between the extremes of Sword and Sorcery and High Fantasy. They are never out to enrich themselves, but they also are not as likely to be involved in saving the world. Instead, they must save their families, their loved ones, their home cities and home lands.
Note: In addition to John Carter of Mars, there is Dray Prescot of Kregen, a creation of Kenneth Bulmer, and such characters as Jandar of Callisto by Lin Carter and Harry Thorne of Mars by Otis Adelbert Kline.
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BTW, Miladysa has a very nice review of Swords of Talera on her blog. I very much appreciate her kind words. It's always such a pleasure to know that someone enjoyed my work.
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1. They are bigger than life but not to the extreme of the Sword and Sorcery hero. They are fast and strong but not typically described as being as big or muscular as the Sword and Sorcery hero.
2. They also have an indomitable will to survive and can tolerate great pain and fight through serious wounds.
3. They typically do not face much sorcery. Their enemies are primarily physical enemies, although not always human.
4. They do not like violence and generally crave peace, but they are very good at violence when it is forced upon them.
5. They are much more likely than the Sword and Sorcery hero to enjoy philosophical debates and activities.
6. They are comfortable alone but are not loners. They usually make some good friends and they always have a love interest, who is usually a princess or noble of some type. They are immensely loyal to their friends and families.
7. Far from being an anti-hero, the Sword and Planet hero is always honorable and would typically be considered a gentleman.
8. The goal of the Sword and Planet hero generally lies between the extremes of Sword and Sorcery and High Fantasy. They are never out to enrich themselves, but they also are not as likely to be involved in saving the world. Instead, they must save their families, their loved ones, their home cities and home lands.
Note: In addition to John Carter of Mars, there is Dray Prescot of Kregen, a creation of Kenneth Bulmer, and such characters as Jandar of Callisto by Lin Carter and Harry Thorne of Mars by Otis Adelbert Kline.
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BTW, Miladysa has a very nice review of Swords of Talera on her blog. I very much appreciate her kind words. It's always such a pleasure to know that someone enjoyed my work.
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Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Sheer Creation
Writing is the closest we humans can get to experiencing an act that we usually associate with God. That is, sheer creation. It is certainly the most enjoyable part of writing for me, and is one reason why I’m particularly drawn to fantasy. No genre allows, nay demands, so much creation.
You may create characters and events in historical fiction, but the world itself is precisely successful to the degree that it evokes a world that really existed. You don’t “create” 1870 London, for example. You recreate it. You don’t, in horror, create the haunted malls and the lonely highways as much as you “adapt” them from actual experiences you yourself have had. In science fiction, the sun is the real sun, Mars is the real Mars. Of course, there is creation all through any type of fiction, but with real-world based fiction there are limits, for example, to what can you do with plants and animals.
I don’t mean to imply that there are no limits in fantasy. The fantasy world has to make sense and has to evoke a sense of realism, but the limits are broader. I’m reminded of what Morpheus said to Neo in The Matrix. It was something like: “Some of these rules can be bent. Others can be broken.” Well, you can bend and break more rules in fantasy than in any other genre, and that sheer imaginative act feels so powerful. At least to me.
I remember how much absolute joy I felt in writing Swords of Talera, and a lot of it was the first creation of the world itself. Even before I started writing “Swords,” I started creating the world, and I kept all that information in what I called, perhaps a bit melodramatically, my Taleran Encyclopedia. I’ll end this post with a few entries from that file.
Kahurra: a plant that may produce a kind of natural steroid. It is used by gladiators and often by assassins. It increases strength and aggressiveness but sometimes creates violent, uncontrollable rages.
Tris: Also called candle-bugs. Small, light giving insects. They live in many underground places, such as sewers. They are smaller than a lightning bug but their light is pretty much constant, only occasionally dimming or brightening slightly. They are also flightless and move in large masses. They give off a turquoise light.
Moons: Talera has four large moons. They do not wax or wane but always present their full face and the same face to the planet’s surface. They are, in order of appearance:
1. Nimeru – The smallest. It’s name means “The Dreamer.” It rises at dusk. It has a delicate blue color. In some cultures, Nimeru is the goddess of love, and in others the god or goddess of poetry.
2. Sieona – A little larger, and turquoise in color. It’s name means “The Storm Queen,” and many legends are told about its power to evoke storms. It rises at what would be about 10:00 on Earth.
3. Tisiminna – Golden in color, and larger still. The name means “The Beauty.” There are two smaller orbs that circle Tisiminna and these are sometimes called the “lovers” or the “courtiers.” There are whole story cycles about the relationship between the “beauty” and her “courtiers.” It rises at midnight.
4. Rath – The largest of the four moons, and red in color. Like Mars, it is often associated with war and battle and is called “The Warrior.” It rises at about 2:00 earth time.
Man, I love creating moons. How about you, what kind of creation do you love?
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PS, don't forget that there are still a few more days, until April 6, to enter my contest
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You may create characters and events in historical fiction, but the world itself is precisely successful to the degree that it evokes a world that really existed. You don’t “create” 1870 London, for example. You recreate it. You don’t, in horror, create the haunted malls and the lonely highways as much as you “adapt” them from actual experiences you yourself have had. In science fiction, the sun is the real sun, Mars is the real Mars. Of course, there is creation all through any type of fiction, but with real-world based fiction there are limits, for example, to what can you do with plants and animals.
I don’t mean to imply that there are no limits in fantasy. The fantasy world has to make sense and has to evoke a sense of realism, but the limits are broader. I’m reminded of what Morpheus said to Neo in The Matrix. It was something like: “Some of these rules can be bent. Others can be broken.” Well, you can bend and break more rules in fantasy than in any other genre, and that sheer imaginative act feels so powerful. At least to me.
I remember how much absolute joy I felt in writing Swords of Talera, and a lot of it was the first creation of the world itself. Even before I started writing “Swords,” I started creating the world, and I kept all that information in what I called, perhaps a bit melodramatically, my Taleran Encyclopedia. I’ll end this post with a few entries from that file.
Kahurra: a plant that may produce a kind of natural steroid. It is used by gladiators and often by assassins. It increases strength and aggressiveness but sometimes creates violent, uncontrollable rages.
Tris: Also called candle-bugs. Small, light giving insects. They live in many underground places, such as sewers. They are smaller than a lightning bug but their light is pretty much constant, only occasionally dimming or brightening slightly. They are also flightless and move in large masses. They give off a turquoise light.
Moons: Talera has four large moons. They do not wax or wane but always present their full face and the same face to the planet’s surface. They are, in order of appearance:
1. Nimeru – The smallest. It’s name means “The Dreamer.” It rises at dusk. It has a delicate blue color. In some cultures, Nimeru is the goddess of love, and in others the god or goddess of poetry.
2. Sieona – A little larger, and turquoise in color. It’s name means “The Storm Queen,” and many legends are told about its power to evoke storms. It rises at what would be about 10:00 on Earth.
3. Tisiminna – Golden in color, and larger still. The name means “The Beauty.” There are two smaller orbs that circle Tisiminna and these are sometimes called the “lovers” or the “courtiers.” There are whole story cycles about the relationship between the “beauty” and her “courtiers.” It rises at midnight.
4. Rath – The largest of the four moons, and red in color. Like Mars, it is often associated with war and battle and is called “The Warrior.” It rises at about 2:00 earth time.
Man, I love creating moons. How about you, what kind of creation do you love?
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PS, don't forget that there are still a few more days, until April 6, to enter my contest
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Thursday, January 03, 2008
Gift
A book was delivered to my door today. That’s not an unusual occurrence. But this one I didn’t pay for. That’s a bit more unusual. Michael Burgess, who generally writes SF and Fantasy under the name Robert Reginald, sent me a copy of his book Invasion!. This is actually a trilogy under one cover, and is basically a riff on H. G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. It continues and expands the story, and I have to admit this is one of those day dreams that I’ve indulged in quite frequently. What would I have done had such an event really happened in my life time. For some reason, I usually imagine that I’m in Graduate school when the war starts.
Frankly, when it comes to SF and fantasy, I enjoy when authors take beloved tales and play off them. Some are better than others, of course. So much depends on the writer. Rob is a professional and this book sings. Here’s a website that talks about the book.
You’d guess that I’d feel this way, I imagine. The Taleran books are very much influenced by the John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
How about you? Do you like it when an author takes a well loved theme and puts their own spin on it? Do you like to read that kind of thing? Or would you prefer everything new and shiny?
Frankly, when it comes to SF and fantasy, I enjoy when authors take beloved tales and play off them. Some are better than others, of course. So much depends on the writer. Rob is a professional and this book sings. Here’s a website that talks about the book.
You’d guess that I’d feel this way, I imagine. The Taleran books are very much influenced by the John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
How about you? Do you like it when an author takes a well loved theme and puts their own spin on it? Do you like to read that kind of thing? Or would you prefer everything new and shiny?
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sword and Planet Link
As a supporter of all things “Sword and Planet,” or “Interplanetary Romance,” if you prefer, I must refer you to the The Perils on Planet X Blog. This is a sort of production diary set up by Christopher Mills, who is writing the story for a three issue comic book series of this name. The series features an earthman named Donovan Hawke who ends up stranded in the past, on a planet named Xylos, which also happens to be the planet that once inhabited our solar system at the spot now known as the Asteroid Belt. Swashbuckling ensues, as I’ve seen from getting a glimpse of chapter 1 of the series.
There are certainly elements of Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon in the series, and a bit of Burroughs as well, but there are a lot of nice new touches that keep the story line fresh. As you could guess from the Talera series, I believe there is still tremendous potential in the general Sword and Planet genre, with plenty of room to respect what has gone before while still telling wonderful fantasy adventures that have never been told.
By the way, Christopher and I have different preferences for how to name this genre. He thinks Sword and Planet is clunky and prefers Interplanetary Romance, which is one of the earlier names for the genre. I stopped using “romance” myself because I found that if I tried to describe the Taleran books as Interplanetary Romance almost all non-fans of the genre were confused by what I meant. A term that I use sometimes is “Interplanetary Adventure,” although Christopher has suggested “Interplanetary Swashbuckler.” I like that, but for the moment may continue to use Sword and Planet as a parallel construction for Sword and Sorcery, which I also like to read and write.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Cover of Witch of Talera
A friend of mine, Steve Harris, found this picture of the cover to Witch of Talera at The Book Place here.
It looks great to me. Each cover is darker than the last, which is kind of true for the contents of the books as well. I'm happy.
In other news, I started and finished James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice yesterday, and now I'm into his Double Indemnity. Although the opening line of "Postman" is great, there are some snags in the first couple of pages. At one point it looks like the main male character is talking to some guy who has car trouble in the Kitchen but it turns out to be the main female character. And the main male character seems to jump to the conclusion that the woman is Mexican even though nothing is set up for this and she is married to a guy who is clearly Greek. But once I got through those relatively minor snags I was hooked and raced through the book. You can definitely see where Cain's influence on the development of noir fiction comes from. Personally, I didn't think his characters were particularly realistic, certainly not as realistic as John D. MacDonald's, say, but they were fascinating nevertheless.
I also finished reading The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx of the heavy metal band Motley Crue. It was pretty fascinating but I'd like to have heard more about how he still managed to write songs during his "gone to Heroin" days. It's basically the story of a year in Sixx's life when he was at the height of his drug addictions, and is taken from actual diaries he kept at the time. Interesting from a psychological perspective and very honest, even to the point where the reader is likely to say, "you dumb ass, what were you thinking?" I found it a worthwhile read, better than Tommyland but not as good as The Dirt, both of which were about the Crue.
Friday, July 27, 2007
As Signing Grows Nigh
My first signing for the Taleran Books is coming up this next Tuesday, July 31, at 6:30 PM in the Covington Branch Library. I know that most of you reading this aren't close enough to come, although I'd love to see anyone who can, but in case anyone is considering it the address is 310 W. 21st Ave, Covington, LA. The phone there is (985) 893-6280.
I will be giving a talk on writing before the signing, which will probably last about half an hour. My topic will be on writing, primarily on dreams as story prompts and on developing suspense. After that there will be time for questions before I do any signing. I'll have copies of "Swords" and "Wings," and also of my first book, Cold in the Light, and will be able to offer a slight discount on the Amazon cost to those who attend.
Please let everyone else know who might be interested and able to attend. I'm looking forward to a fun evening.
I will be giving a talk on writing before the signing, which will probably last about half an hour. My topic will be on writing, primarily on dreams as story prompts and on developing suspense. After that there will be time for questions before I do any signing. I'll have copies of "Swords" and "Wings," and also of my first book, Cold in the Light, and will be able to offer a slight discount on the Amazon cost to those who attend.
Please let everyone else know who might be interested and able to attend. I'm looking forward to a fun evening.
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