What would happen if, instead of me popping into my own story, characters from my story jumped into other stories?
That's a fun one
Let's just start with Lara. I'm the most bonded with her, I think. I know way more about her than I'd like to. Hell, I know more about her than SHE does, because I actually know the whole Ansamari curse story AND the origin of the inhumans better than James did when he told her the family story. So... HA!
Insertion into a couple of my stories?
Well let's see... there's the Secret Weaver story... I thought this would be an interesting one primarily because Lara herself can change the experiences of people around her by projecting emotion. The difference is that the Secret Weavers "weave" a "thread" into someone else's thoughts, while Lara simply projects her own memories externally onto others. Plus, it's modern times, real world, and all the Secret Weavers are technically human. Thus, she'd be at a complete loss for understanding where she was, what's going on, and why people are using gifts who have no inhuman traits whatsoever. And she'd probably shrivel up and become a quivering nobody.
Vampire Chronicles? Ooooh boy she'd HATE Collin... HATE HATE HATE Collin. She would probably go psycho bitch on his ass and lock him up in his room, take over his apartment, figure out what vampires are, and seek personal vengeance on all of vampire kind worse than even Clara could dream up. Becaaaause... Lara is badass, when it comes down to it
How about just plain old real world insertion?
I'm imagining her just popping up on the street in front of my house. Such things would occurr as "where am I?" "what am I doing here?" "why are there all these little houses attached to each other?" and "why are there vehicles sans horses?"
She wouldn't adapt. Because Lara hates adapting. It's one of her aggravating traits. It took her half the fucking story to adapt to James at all. And even then, it's pretty much the only thing she adapts to. But, she'd probably willingly put on jeans and a t-shirt, because she's worn men's clothing for the sake of travelling before... she'd be grateful for nail polish, since it kinda doesn't exist in her world, and she resents the visibility of silver in her nails. In a world without inhumans, she'd try even harder not to stand out, sooo... yeah, nail polish galore for her. She probably wouldn't go anywhere alone. She's used to having trees to hide in, bushes to sleep behind, and secluded trails to take by herself. Even though in theory it's easier to hide amongst lots of people, she'd be paranoid and feel put on display, so she'd never want to try to figure out how this world works by herself. Plain and simple.
Oooother authors' stories?
First thing that comes to mind is Obernewtyn... I think she'd fit right in with the Misfits. I mean, she doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere. She knows she's not human, but being an Ansamari, she doesn't identify with other inhumans, and her inhuman gifts kinda make her feel like a freak. Sooo having some special abnormal traits, plus her inability to conform to society would equal automatic Misfit... plus, the concept of computers is a bit new to the Obernewtyn characters anyway, so she wouldn't feel totally clueless and unique in discovering all this stuff for the first time! Basically, Obernewtyn is actually a good fit for her as a character. And that's unintentional, because I wrote Bound by Blood YEAAARS before reading Obernewtyn.
Erm... His Dark Materials. If she were to bump into Will or Lyra or someone, they'd just assume she walked in from another world anyway, so she'd be greeted normally (depending who she ran into)... although, if this were post Amber Spyglass, there'd be demands as to how she managed world crossing of course. And she wouldn't really fit in anywhere anyway, 'cause all those worlds are so very established and stationary, and so is she. No real room for adaptation on either side.
That's all for now!
I blame the new boyfriend
Anywho, after reading Inkspell, my thoughts have now turned to.. what the hell would happen if I could appear in one of my own stories?
I kinda wanted to ignore The Vampire Chronicles since it is very much in the real world, buuuuut hey... if I did randomly show up in the midst of the characters, I'd SO go shopping with Janelle... and since I'm the writer, I'm sure I could persuade her to share her riches with me... yaaaaay for rich, fashion obsessed character.
But mainly, the premise I was thinking of was if I could somehow appear in the midst of Bound by Blood or The Red Book
So... in either era, I'd probably be mistaken for an inhuman at first glance, because not many humans have blue eyes, but I'm sure people would eventually look at my hands and figure it out
If it was Bound by Blood era, I'd freak the hell out and head straight for Zhasgradt, because quite frankly, I'd rather not killed by the overly gruesome, maniacal characters I've made up.... let's see... my name would be considered really strange in that generation, so people would assume I was foreign. It would be pretty obvious in my actions that I was low class (as a side note, the low class in these stories is VERY much the same mindset as the modern day middle class, but considerably less money.... so yes, personality wise, I would come across as their low class), but could still probably seek refuge in the palace. I'd definitely try to befriend Lara and convince her of what had happened to me... surely she'd be crazy enough to actually believe it. If not, she'd probably just hate me, like she hates... er... everyone.
If it was Red Book era, I could probably get away with wearing my own clothes, assuming I was wearing one of my longer skirts and some sort of a blouse. Would definitely pass for middle class, although with how much coffee I drink, people would assume I was filthy rich (considered a delicacy to them). My goal would be to go to the hotel and hunt down Isabel, the most outrageously open minded character in the whole damn story, and very loyal to and overprotective of her friends. She'd have my back, I'm sure.
So last night, I had a dream that's just begging to be included in a story. The dream itself was creepy. I can't remember where I was when it started out, but at a point, I had a meeting with these two men who were supposed to lead me to some sort of initiation thing. They were both older, and I was slightly weirded out, but not so much until one first asked if I was single, then proceeded to pick me up and carry me. We were in a mall. I kept screaming for help, but soon came to learn that most of the shopkeepers were part of this thing I was supposed to be initiated into.
I remember distinctly passing this strange sort of wall which was supposed to lead into an Asian restauran that was actually a cover for a prostitute/mafia ring. We finally came to a big fancy department store at the end and proceeded to attempt the initation, but I somehow knocked the guy out and started to run away. I knew he was chasing me, so I ducked into a shop where I knew he had control over the girl working there, but decided to risk it anyway. It was some sort of import gift shop. When I got in, I remembered being told I had an unusually strong skill in whatever it was these people could do, and I somehow willed myself to not be found. I could still see myself clearly, but the girl running the shop came over, grabbed my neck and said "you're invisible right now, but I can sense people's body heat... you're safe with me, I won't tell him you're here." So finally, he came into the shop, and the invisibility started to waver, so I started to run for it again, willing myself to go back to being invisible, and ran to hide behind the wall in front of the Asian restaurant. When I saw the man pass by, I took off into this side alley thing that led me to a trail, and I didn't know if I was still invisble or not, but suddenly, all I could do was pull myself along on my hands and knees.
It was clearly a very interesting mini portion of a much bigger story, but here's the question.
Should it be its own plot, or should it be incorporated into a story I'm currently revamping?
Let me set the stage for revamped story. This was originally a vampire story, it's now about a new "paranormal"... Secret Weavers (thanks to Julia for supplying random words that became inspiration)
In the story, a single mother visits her therapist, who specializes in paranormal occurrences, to tell about the strange events that led up to her being who she is. The story is told through what happened in the past.
A once popular girl who has hid her OCD from her friends has her life come crashing to a halt when her best friend and ex boyfriend start up a relationship behind her back. At the same time, the neighborhood freak becomes the only person she can confide in, and when her friends drop her for talking to him, he becomes the only friend she has at all. Without even meaning to, she is sucked into a dangerous world where people with special skills can weave a version of reality into other's minds (though not without much difficulty), and is attacked by the gang that once killed her new friend's father, simply for never being "woven" into their world.
Part cliche teen novel about not judging others by their appearance, part "dealing with disorders", part intense fantasy
It's a story I'm particularly proud of, and it's hard to decide if I want to bring in the new elements from the dream, but it could very well be cool.
I'm really picky when it comes to what I read, and what I'll write
I primarily only write fantasy, because that's my way of putting an original twist on things
I do read a mix of fantasy and standard fiction, be it modern or historical... but fantasy tends to come up as the one I read the most of
I believe this genre has soooo much potential, and most of it is so wasted
I see book after book of ridiculous overused cliches, the right fantasy creatures, the overkill amounts of sex, the way that it's so completely out of our world it's obviously meant for people who can't connect to reality at all...
One of my biggest problems, predictably, is adult fantasy. Scan the titles in a fantasy department, and you see an abundance of cliche elves doing cliche things, you see space age robots blasting people with super cool weapons that you've seen 500 times already, you see cheap trashy erotica in the guise of something out of this world enough to be labelled fantasy or sci fi... give me a break!
I will, however, concede to having respect for Robin Hobb, Jacqueline Carey, Juliet Marillier, and Cecilia Dart-Thornton (and Tanith Lee, but she falls into both adult and young adult...)
Young adult fantasy seems more geared to taking real people and putting them in comprehensible situations, bringing actual social issues in a recognizable form into unbeliable situations... whether this be invented worlds with very real seeming characters (Tanith Lee's Claidi Journals, for instance... deals with emotional issues in abundance, as well as social status, experimentation with human lives, and how people in many different places are tied together... all through the diary of someone who is so clearly not from the real world that you would never recognize a single place she goes)..., or real life which introduces to us fantasy elements in places we already know (Gabrielle Zevin's Elsewhere, while technically in the land of death, deals directly with a very much real world experience, and only shows fantasy in the life after death concept and how it affects the living conditions of those already dead). Then, there's those ones that cleverly mask the real world in a place so fantasy it takes several books to grasp that act (Obernewtyn, a world so torn apart by war and technological mayhem that it has come full circle to be somewhat of an old fashioned society, with place names changed over the years, a very different form of society in place, and supernatural abilities a driving force in nearly all the social issues mentioned)
In my own writing, I tend to do a lot of real world turned supernatural (Vampire Chronicles, plus two unnamed in the works projects), balanced out with some nice complete fantasy (Bound By Blood, which I have done everything in my effort to make about real people, social issues, and philosophy, despite the world and the world's rules being far removed from our own)
1) What author do you own the most books by?
J.K. Rowling... I'm ALMOST embarrassed to admit that, but it's true.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I can only answer this question if foreign language copies count. I own two copies of two books... one is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban... I own the original British print (because the U Bookstore did a sneaky advance sale before the American print run ever happened), and the French version (because I was studying French at the time...)
I also own The Amber Spyglass in both English and Japanese
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not remotely
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Rushton from Obernewtyn
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
One of the first 4 Harry Potter books, or Son of the Shadows... I'm not sure which
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Definitely Harry Potter... unless that's when I read those unicorn books... ah screw it, I can't remember
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
The Naming... I feel bad about that, because it came strongly reccomended by a friend, but I was so utterly let down and bored by it
8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Oh jeez, I can't decide... I'm fairly certain I've read all 6 existing volumes of Obernewtyn in less than a year, so it would be down to decided a favorite of those... probably either Ashling (which I know I read in August, it's only the first two I can't remember) or The Stone Key...
9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
(Obviously no tags...) THE WHOLE FREAKING OBERNEWTYN SERIES!!!!
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
I dunno!
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Um... well after reading all the Obernewtyn fan musings about a movie with Ben Barnes playing Rushton, I totally got hooked on that idea. But I dunno, really. I think the best book to movie adaptation possible has already been made (Stardust), so I don't really think too much about it anymore
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
The Golden Compass... stupid assholes for actually doing it -_- Only because of my personal attachments to it, though
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I'm fairly certain I had nightmares when I finished the first Obernewtyn, but mostly my dreams involving fictional characters have just been from movies...
14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
Um... I don't know!
15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
To me, the only thing that makes a book difficult is if it's too boring to get through to the end. I've erm... never exactly had trouble with advanced English, so "difficult" books don't really phase me, and so it's hard for me to judge that answer. However, we could expand on that and discuss themes and interpretation, and rank difficult as most confusing to define with anything absolute, and most frustrating in terms of trying to get easy meaning back... in which case I'd actually say His Dark Materials
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
I don't actually WATCH Shakespeare so much... but I now have a brilliant Shakespeare anthology, so as for reading, that remains to be seen!
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
All my favorite authors are Aussies, dammit!
18) Roth or Updike?
Haven't read...
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
See above
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
I'm a Shakespeare geek
21) Austen or Eliot?
And after years of being lulled to sleep by it, developed a weakness for Austen
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
I kinda stopped reading for fun throughout my senior year of high school. And let's face it... ANY gap in reading is an embarrassment to me, because knowing books is part of my job...
23) What is your favorite novel?
Oh god... wrong person to ask this question of... there's always His Dark Materials, close to my hear since I finished just before 8th grade. There's Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, positively riveting, eye opening, and much more real to me than most teen novels. And of course, There's Obernewtyn.... best obscure Aussie books EVER
24) Play?
I dunno... I always liked that Russian Cinderalla script we did at Studio East when I was a kid
25) Poem?
I tend to appreciate poetry as a whole and not focus on specific ones, oddly
26) Essay?
The only one that's ever stood out in my mind was about sensitivity censorship, which we read in 8th grade English...
27) Short story?
There's this thing I read in a magazine when I was a kid that stayed me with for a very long time, but I cannot for the life of me remember the name... in theme it reminded me very much of Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day", but it was about a flower that opened for all of one hour and gave the only known form of music to these people trapped in silence... it was really eerie and I had no idea what it was doing in a kid's magazine, but it was wonderful
28) Work of non-fiction?
I don't really read non fiction?
29) Who is your favorite writer?
I have several... Juliet Marillier held my attention for so long that I feel she can't be ignored, but the woman needs to stop going back to Sevenwaters... The Bridei Chronicles showed how far she'd come as a writer, then she jumps back and tacks on a fourth book to what was supposed to be a trilogy she finished years ago?
Gabrielle Zevin, while not having many books under her belt (three plus a screenplay), is wonderful, thought provoking, and has this way of bringing the rawest, most honest human emotions into totally absurd, and sometimes borderline fantasy concepts. She's brilliant and better write more books
And Isobelle Carmody just rocks intensely for managing to create Obernewtyn
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Christopher Paolini
31) What is your desert island book?
Huh?
32) And ... what are you reading right now?
Forest Mage by Robin Hobb
And first, a gripe
Nothing irks me more than something like "Oni demons"... seriously, to anyone who reads Japanese, that comes across as "the demon demons", and I'm like "f'real? WTF?"
And second, my brain following along the awesome train of thought apparently shared by Cassandra Clare...
So I'm reading chapter 9 and thinking "why do so freaking many plot lines involving angels or references to angels, or fallen angels, or whatever... HAVE BROTHERS AND SISTERS FALLING IN LOV
And then in chapter 10, someone was reading the manga Angel Sanctuary, and I just about busted up howling with laughter, because that's exactly what I was thinking of when Jace and Clary were busy making out in chapter 9...
For the ignorant, Angel Sanctuary is about the human reincarnation of the angel Alexiel, and her guardian angel Gabriel... in one form, they're incarnated as brother and sister in Japan, and, growing up with no memories of heaven, no idea what they really are, fall madly in love, and incidentally want to stay in their human brother/sister forms and have a relationship that way. It's also by my favorite manga-ka EVER (Kaori Yuki, known for actually putting thought into her manga rather than cheesy nerd stuff, and for being a true artist who does watercolors in her spare time...), and is one of the few manga that could actually be put into novel form without boring me to sleep... in fact, that would probably make it make MORE sense, so that the rest of us don't have to get a headache over the Lucifer plotline
I love this excerpt
This scene already exists within the original, Lara's POV narrative. As a writing exercise/developing other characters project I was doing (which also includes some Ari background, will get to those later, as they don't appear in the actual story at all!), I wrote it from James's POV.
Setting the scene: Lara has just run away from her safe hiding place in Zhasgradt because she told Nadea the truth, and couldn't stay there and endanger everyone. She still doesn't have her memories, but has accepted that James is being honest that Nadea is her mother and Ari is just a filthy whore. Lara is in pain/getting sick because of a cut she got when attacked by outcasts several months before. James explains that inhuman poison combined with malicious intent of inhuman gift will not heal unless completely extracted, and the victim will just keep getting sicker and sicker, and a woman, especially with a wound on the stomach like Lara has, will most likely become infertile. So he removes the poison from her and it culminates in a somewhat awkward romantic encounter.
Aaaaand... here's the scene.
The wind blew against my face, catching my hair and pulling it through the crisp night air. She was inside, and that was enough to drive me out here. Defeat and longing are never good to a man’s pride.
I wondered how much time would pass before she figured out what she was, if she even felt inhuman with the blood curse. I had lived for my whole eighteen years with the knowledge of what I was and what that meant. The intermittent feeling of the gift was always there, and I could not imagine even breathing if I were unaware of the power I held. Even as children, she’d spoke of not knowing what her gift was, and so I wondered if it was possible for one of our kind to feel human through and through.
Someday, she would remember. I was determined for that. Child I may have been, but none could deny that I loved her then and still did to this day. A strange feeling passed through me as I recalled her tearing the dress off after swearing she would not let me touch her as David had. I had tried, truly, I had kept myself composed long enough to heal her. But why had I kissed her? And why had she allowed it? Out of fear? Had David destroyed her so completely she wouldn’t even push me away when I was taking horrible risks? But it had felt so good to touch her, even if only for a moment, and even if it had only filled my mind with all the things that could have been if our world were different.
“What are you doing?” a delicate voice asked, her words as good as music when not filled with anger. It was intoxicating. But I would keep myself in check, I would never hurt her. I loved her beyond all reason.
“Have you ever looked at the most beautiful thing in the world?” I replied, fighting to keep calm. “Is there something you would die to have as your own, but you can’t, because some whore saw fit to change the world? I came out here because I couldn’t stand it anymore. I couldn’t look on the face of my wife to be and know that she hates me with every fiber of her being.”
Her face was unreadable, and I realized I was fast losing control of myself and my emotions.
“I don’t hate you,” was her reply. Her voice was small, confusion and hurt lacing her words. She sounded miserable. It made me want only more to be able to comfort her. “I wanted to, but I can’t. I’ve tried so hard to ignore it, but I suppose it’s my heart remembering what my mind cannot. Every time I tell myself I hate you, I realize that’s exactly opposite of the truth. I didn’t push you away. It’s not because I was frozen in shock. It’s because you don’t scare me. Not like David. If I was afraid of you, I’d never find the courage to yell at you like I do.”
That was all I’d needed to hear. She hadn’t pushed me away because she hadn’t wanted to. If she said it wasn’t fear, I would believe her, for she swore she would never go back on the Blood Bond. She would not lie to me now. She had wanted it. Perhaps not as much as my body burned in need, but she had wanted that kiss nonetheless. And somehow, it gave me the courage to tell her what it meant to be an Ansamari.
In the meantime, current book rant:
Still reading Heir to Sevenwaters at the moment... and wow. JOHNNY IS GAY??????????? I take back Juliet Marillier not surprising me with who people end up with... I mean, Johnny has been a character in the series since he was freaking BORN halfway through Son of the Shadows... he's the child of my absolute favorite couple from the whole series. And I never, never, never in a million years would've guessed he was in a relationship with a man. When that revelation was uncovered, my brain seriously pulled a nice little "what the fuck?"
And Cathal is starting to remind me a lot of Bran... the whole mysterious parentage, muddled, secretive past, mother dying at a young age, defensive and doesn't belong in polite society thing. Obviously there's a bazillion differences... such as him clearly being a bit more of a pansy when it comes to having sex, him not having an entire half of his body covered in tattoos, and him not being a previous outlaw mercenary... plus he's infinitely less cool than Bran, primarily because Bran was from Son of the Shadows and that's my favorite book (AND HIS FREAKING SON IS GAY! Still not over the shock from that one yet... no, I am not bothered by it. Just EXTREMELY surprised)
Sometimes, you just know who will end up together. Sometimes, certain authors have patterns that you latch on to, and you just plain know. Sometimes, it eludes you until the damn end.
So let's start with a "you just know"
Juliet Marillier. It's been too long since I've read Wolfskin and Foxmask to remember, but I'm pretty sure I called it spot on in Foxmask. Unfortunately, I don't actually remember the characters... at all... so yeaaaah, doesn't help
Sevenwaters... so obvious it's ridiculous. Sorcha and Hugh... you knew from the second she got to England... Liadan and Bran... no shit! Eammon was an obvious out from the beginning, no matter how much he wanted her, and you could tell almost as soon as he was introduced that Bran wasn't as big of an asshole as you're supposed to believe he is. Fainne and Darragh... well it's been a while, but I remember it being predictable. And Clodagh and Cathal? I only just started reading Heir to Sevenwaters YESTERDAY, and she liked a different guy, and it was still so obvious that I cheated and read the ending and was like "boom, called that"
However, she did throw me for a loop with book two of the Bridei Chronicles... Bridei ending up what's her face was predictable... creepy, in a sense, since they were raised together, but I never had a doubt. But no, it was Faolan and Ana that totally broke the pattern. They should have ended up together, it was OBVIOUS, they totally needed to be together, and they never did, and Ana got with some guy just 'cause he was hot, and I was actually mad by the time I shut the book. I don't own book 3 so I can't remember the name of whoever Faolan actually did end up with, but seriously... they didn't even seem right together, 'CAUSE IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANA!!!!!!
Then there's ones that make you go "wait, what?"
Tanith Lee...
I, of course, can't remember character names from Biting the Sun, buuuuut I do remember that the guy who stole her appearance and proclaimed love for her and got her pregnant at the end was so ANYTHING but what I would have expected... you knew all along they liked each other, but it was just... woah... them actually being together was not so predictable.
I don't remember who ended up together in Piratica, so no comment
And then there's The Claidi Journals... at a point, Claidi and Argul were obvious. And they were introduced fairly early on (end of the first book, I think? I dunno, I only have 3and 4...)... nonetheless, you spend the entire first book totally in the dark, book 2 thinking "meh, they seem to be separated by circumstance, not a chance", the third book wondering what's going on until he suddenly reappears and you're like "WAIT, WHAT?", and book 4 thinking he's going to leave her. So all in all, a bit of a shocker!
Neil Gaiman, too, seems to have a pattern... you can guaruntee that if a love interest is mentioned in the beggining of the book, they won't be together at the end. While it is often extremely unpredictable if the characters will end up with anyone or not, one thing's for sure... Tristran and Yvaine was soooo obvious. Following the Neil Gaiman flawless pattern, Victoria was clearly not meant for Tristran... but Yvaine was definitely, definitely, DEFINITELY obvious
Harry Potter was so obvious it was painful... if you somehow managed to make it to book 7 (hell, to book 4!) without knowing that Harry would hook up with Ginny and Hermione would finally jump Ron's bones, then you were reading waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much fanfiction that suggested otherwise.
And the one that's bugging me to no end... Obernewtyn... freakin' Elspeth and Rushton!
I mean, it's obvious that they're meant for each other. But they've already had too many plot twists in their relationship, and I don't think they could survive another. I'm about as on edge about the future of their relationship as I was for Jude and Tommy during season 4 of Instant Star. And if there is a bad ending on their relationship, I will have a very similar emotion to that at the end of IS (want to break something...)
So.... this week marks the announcement of the start of a project I had an idea for a while back... Janelle's diary!
I feel like, aside from Collin and Riley, she's become one of the more important characters (as a note for future reference... Emily will be featured as a strong character in Vol. 2 but will never really achieve main character status, and Clara will remain a minor character until Vol. 3, whereas Riley will continue to be a main even after she and Collin break up), and that she has a lot of past that isn't revealed. Writing her diary, skipping about all over her life, gives me a chance to look inside the mind of the girliest and most charming of the Jenkinson vampire family.
It will begin next Tuesday, as I will hopefully be out my hand brace by then.
And last week's HDM gushing session gave me a new idea, completely inspired by the fact that I've read hundreds of books, and can probably only gush endlessly about 10 or so authors.
With how regularly I read, though, I never run out of new books to think about, while the amount of times I'm inspired to faithfully follow an author to the end is much more limited.
So, I'm going to mix it up a bit, and do two different book gushing sort of things for Mondays... when I can think of a good author, I'll gush about an author. Aaaand when I can think about some fantastic personal meaning a book and/or series has for me, I'll gush about that instead.
As I'm kinda torn about which to do today, I'm gonna go for killing two birds with one stone... (hey, it IS technically Monday right now)
Cecilia Dart-Thornton, and most specifcally, The Bitterbynde.
I am extremely skeptical of fantasy authors who do adult writing, as I discussed with a customer the other day. There's cliches abound, tons of roleplay-esque books, and so many god damn dragons that I kind of want to strangle someone. YA fantasy seems so much more varied. However, every once in a while, there is an adult fantasy writer who really jumps out, pulls you in, and uses writing techniques other than "dragon tamer got laid, the end". (And, to be fair, Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy is one of my favorite adult fantasy novels, and it does involve dragons... cool, unique dragons whose coccoons got made into boats) Cecilia Dart-Thornton is one of these stupendous authors.
She is, like two of my other favorite authors, Australian. I dunno what it is about Australians and writing books. One such author is Juliet Marillier, who sometimes tends to lean towards romance novel cliches in the "let me punch you, you horny old female" manner, but I adore most of her work nonetheless, Son of the Shadows is one of my all time favorites (LOOOOOVE), and she wrote a love triangle in the Bridei Chronicles that made me mad at myself, it was that well depicted. My other Aussie favorite is the brilliant Isobelle Carmody, who I gushed about the week before last, who invented pretty much the greatest work of brilliance to ever grace the YA bookshelves with a crossover between old fashioned fantasy and post apocalyptic sci-fi (Obernewtyn junkieeeeee!).
Anywho, she has only two series out... one is the Crowthistle Chronicles, which is kinda hard to explain because it's so... intricate, and it's been a while. It's a really well patterned story that gives a lot of history to the characters, strongly ties everyone together because of mistakes of the past, and invents a totally believable world that sucks you in and develops personalities aplenty. I admire this series greatly.
Even more wonderful is my excess gushy series of the week... The Bitterbynde
In the Bitterbynde, you are introduced to the amazing lies that have bridged the gap between the faeran and the real world, the closed doors and strange technology built on their magic. An infamous and often incorrectly answered riddle is explained in stupendous detail (there are two brothers guarding two doors. They can only say yes or no. One can only lie, one can only tell the truth. You get one question. How do you phrase it, and which door do you choose? I once attempted to explain the answer to someone who claimed it was "Is your door the right one?" and berated me for thinking my "much too complicated" explanation was the right one... and here goes... the question you must ask is "if i ask your brother if your door is the right one, what will he tell me?" If the answer is "no", you choose the door of the brother you asked. If the answer is "yes", you choose the other brother's door... there is no way to make it any more simple, and the series even explained WHY that answer is correct... thank you, awesome books!)
There is intensely passionate love, lies, secret lives, complete loss of memory, an epic journey, magical chess to kick Harry Potter in the ass, a cave full of epic treasure, and references to classic stories aplenty...
I was inspired, riveted, fell in love with characters, felt backstabbed, saw the act of retrieving memories, felt the punch in the gut of the ending, and so much more besides. Definitely a favorite in the extreme.
I rewrote the scene and had James come in and display excellent inhuman fury and drive David out before he could actually... erm... get it in (that sounds so immature when talking about a delicate and depressing matter, but yeah). But I am posed with problems on all sides.
One is that Lairene needs to be at least severely emotionally scarred by him. This could be accomplished prior to the act of course, but he'd have to be a real creep in that moment before he actually accomplishes sex for it to damage her that much.
Also, there's the argument that it's just a little weird that incest has shown up in this story twice. I mean, gross much! But I can't rewrite it so that David isn't her brother or else I change the ENTIRE plot of Jonathan turning his life around and raising a child, and then history repeating itself while a man named David Ansamari repeats the crime of his father. They have to be Jonathan's children or I have to rework a massive chunk of the plot
Then there's the fact that it's creepy incest references whether David succeeds or not, so does it make a difference?
Then of course, there's the times that Lairene wonders how James feels that someone else took her virginity, and wonders if that depresses him. But she could just generally wonder if he feels guilty for not suspecting the deep seated evil in David first.
GAH!
So... should David rape her, or should David attempt to rape her and get the shit beaten out of him by James? And will it actually be less creepy if he doesn't fully succeed?
Anywho, as I said... was thinking about Obernewtyn, and was suddenly brought back to something I wrote for my 7th grade English class. Now, this is probably hiding in my box of stuff from school I actually held onto, but unfortunately, I no longer have a record of it on my computer. During the great 1 am computer failure of '08, a lot of files were deleted that I could never get back. Including the original draft to one of my stories, the insanely old school story that sparked the idea for Bound by Blood, and a good deal of inspired but poorly written fanfiction from my geeky junior high days which could and has served as plot ideas for original fiction (actually, the training in the cave in Bound by Blood was taken from an old fanfiction I wrote and no logner have... go figure).
So the project was, to the best of my memory, writing about being a survivor of a nuclear attack. Either that or some sort of disaster and I picked nuclear war as my theme. But I think the first guess is more acurrate. We could do whatever we wanted with it... have just a city be destroyed, or have the whole world be destroyed. Be alone, be in a group, meet up with another wandering survivor. I wrote about having a huge chunk of some placed wiped out and finally finding a city and one of my classmates after weeks of wandering. I just thought that was kinda cool, because that's such an interesting question in fiction, and I've been asked that question before for the purpose of creative writing, and there's so much you can do with the concept of nuclear holocaust, and I think Isobelle Carmody presented us with one of the most unique. I love how when presented with the exact same idea... post nuclear holocaust world... there are so many different angles to take. The joy of writing! Yay
For Judith, we've gooot:
Shirt: http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/p
Pants: http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/p
Shoes: http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/store/p
I'm picturing the whole thing with a tiny little shamrock necklace and some black lace fingerless gloves. And actually, for once, I'd wear the whole outfit. I can't usually picture myself in Judith's clothes, but when I was hunting for stuff with color that she might actually wear, it works for me
Riley is a tad more decked out...
Shirt: http://www.wetseal.com/catalog/product.j
Sweater: http://www.wetseal.com/catalog/product.j
Pants: http://www.wetseal.com/catalog/product.j
Shoes: her lovely pine green converse which come up so often
I would not wear this, in part because I don't like the blouse, and in part because it's a little plain for me and I like to be sexy, if not go all out, when I randomly dress up for holidays
And Janelle's, always the fun ones to make
Dress: http://www.edressme.com/49a74.html (adorable... too bad the model has no boobs, 'cause Anna Sui looks SO much better on curvy girls)
Shoes: http://www.6pm.com/n/p/p/7240745/c/9040.h
Headband: Couldn't find a picture, but it's a patterned thing with multiple shades of green and scrunched up satin fabric that I found at Target... I know, I know, Janelle wouldn't go to Target, but it's adorable!
Picture the whole thing with black tights and a velvet ivory choker with a glass pendant. Cute much?
Would definitely wear. Janelle is like me with money and a better figure ^_^
I recently got done reading The White Mercedes.
Definitely an interesting, reccomended read. Totally different from what else I've read of his. Although, it is a bit unfortunately depressing, it's really cool seeing how the whole story ties together. Not wanting to give away the whole plot, but, to be fair, the description on the back does mention the girl dies so... yeah. It's a really weird plot leading up to that
Let's see... there's the ever so wondrous Sally Lockhart mysteries... got his usual necessary political themes, but they really are quite interesting for YA books. I think the first was the most interesting because it was more dedicated to solving the mystery than just the political uprising that was important in the third (I erm... skipped book 2 ^_^)
And, naturally, His Dark Materials.
I could gush up about these books almost as much as I can gush about Obernewtyn (and that's a lot), but for entirely different reasons.
Of course, the biggest complaint with these books tends to be the religion message, author being a known in your face atheist. Nonetheless, I firmly feel you have to be looking for that specifically for that to even be the main theme. In fact, the angels do a lot more to represent a modernized recreation of the rebellion in heaven than an actual anti-Christian message. He himself has said in one interview or another that despite his own beliefs, the whole thing with the angels was meant to be interpreted in any number of ways that makes the most sense to the reader. If only I could remember where I read that. And essentially, the whole book is like that. It's about figuring things out and interpreting it as an indivual. It's about human interaction, sacrifice, love, and the things that stay with you for all time. It's about regret, bold moments of trying to do the right thing after having been a horrible person. It's about knowing that you could be in the exact same spot as someone you once loved and never touch them again. It's about the moment when you have to absolutely grow up for good.
This series, to me, meant something no other book has been able to, regardless of how addicted I got to any others. This is the series I read as a kid and everything just made sense to me. This is the series I finished when I was 13 and realized when I closed book 3 that even though I wasn't really grown up yet, I was no longer a kid and nothing was ever going to be that easy again. This is the series I read again as an older teenager and tried to overanalyze it to the point I almost lost sight of the true meaning. Almost. And then I realized that is precisely what the book is about. Hitting that point when childhood ends and even though you're still a confused teenager, you're also part of the adult world, and you overanalyze things, and you need things to be so literal that something completely special now makes no sense.
These books are, regardless of your personal beliefs, regardless of the religious undertones, regardless of how you choose to interpret the vast events that put together the plot, about the journey of looking for yourself and essentially losing yourself on the way, and about how all the people in your life will touch you.
His Dark Materials meant more to me on a deeply personal level, because of when I read it, and because of the emotional struggles I've been through since, than any other piece of fiction truly has. That's the real reason I wouldn't see the movie. The movie glorified plot and entertainment above that importance of childhood and what it means to lose it.
Oh, and I'm now reading The Amber Spyglass in Japanese... painful O_O
Things I want to cover for story ramblings:
Parallels between Kait and me in The Red Book (only character I've ever named for myself... apologizing for the geekiness/Mary Sue-isms, but she was meant to be a projection of my negative aspects so I could face them head on)
Plot direction for The Vampire Chronicles
Deep ideas I want to cover for as of yet untitled witch story
The many, many things that went into making the skeletal structure of my un-named fantasy series thingamajig
And finally, my life as it is right now:
I've been catching up on a LOT of reading... this is what happens when you work in a bookstore, you just feel responsible for reading everything you see. And I do my best to keep up with the self imposed demands of my job
Another failed attempt at winning the lottery!
Last night, I saw The Academy Is... it was an absolutely brilliant accoustic set which made me a happy, happy Kathryn indeed. And William played my absolute favorite TAI song... Seed... AND covered Death Cab and Jimmy Eat World (I'm such a JEW fangirl it's not even funny ^_^)
I'm in need of losing some weight pronto. So my goal is to drop two pants sizes by my birthday, which puts me at a nice looking figure just in time for swimsuit season. (And no, I'm not a crazy weight loss obsessed girl... I want to be a nice size 5 with evenly spread body fat ^_^)
In fact, I admire a great number of cliches that show up in books and movies, and I actually like guessing what's going to happen before it does. It's kinda fun, really!
I mean, Harry Potter: I knew from the 1st book on that Draco was too whimpy to be evil, from the 2nd book that Harry was going to fall for Ginny, from the 3rd book that Hermione and Ron were destined from each other, from the 5th that the impactful character death at the end was going to be a recurring theme, and after reading the 6th, promptly predicted the whole explanation behind what Snape did minus the meeting Lily as young children that was totally stolen from a fanfiction subplot. Many other things were totally obvious except for, in all honesty, the vast number of awesome dead characters at the end.
I figured out like half of Breaking Dawn the second I found out there was a character named Renesmee (before I actually read Breaking Dawn, by the way... perhaps why I didn't whine about it like everyone else did)
When I was reading the Liveship Traders, I guessed the entire thing about the dragons like halfway through book 2
Hell, even movies... thanks to some interview with Orlando Bloom in which he revealed absolutely way too much about his character, I had the ending of POTC3 pegged the second they said whoever stabbed the heart would become the next captain. Way to go, stupid but cute actor... (admittedly the ending of POTC2 did take me by surprise... Jack getting eaten totally went against Disney formula)
So what's irritating me?
The Obernewtyn Chronicles
Sure, there's been a few things I could figure out, like from the moment Rushton first appeared in the book moodily walking around with the animals, I was like "he and Elspeth, definitely"... even when he was being a pretentious asshole. Not that he ever really stops being a pretentious asshole (Although his adorable out of character-ness in The Stone Key made me giggle... from "I want to kill you" to "please allow me to pin you down and make witty banter filled with innuendoes while wincing in pain and not letting you take it easy on me"). And I never would've guessed his random being drugged thing.
And I'm fairly sure we're going to find out Cassy was cryogenically frozen and that's how she had such an absurdly long seeming life. I mean, everyone notes how long she lives, and she was asking people about cryogenics in the dreams. So that's a big flashing neon sign if there ever was one.
But so many things are driving me absolutely nuts, and it's entirely Isobelle Carmody's fault for being a good author.
Like there was the fact that I was so absolutely convinced that Ariel really had turned Rushton into a pawn that I actually couldn't sleep without sneaking a glance at the end of book 6 (while I was still reading book 5, at that) to make sure all was well
There's the fact she continuously hints that something is important without telling you why, and constantly hints that something is NOT what it has seemed for the past while without giving you alternatives.
Like what's this sudden hint that makes me wonder if Ariel isn't really the Destroyer, hmmm? And who is the girl with Maruman in the dream? And where the eff did Dragon go? And where, for the love of god, are the stupid computers that control everything? And what the hell was with Dell's vision saying Elspeth was going to leave everything she loved, and are we the fans SUPPOSED to accept the hint to tie that to Domick's mention of futuretellers not being able to see everything? Why do I feel like it would actually make sense for Elspeth to die, regardless of the fact that THAT CANNOT HAPPEN BECAUSE she and Rushton need to have some fun ^_^?
So I've read over the drafts for books 1 and 2 of the story I plan to rewrite
And I've realized that I like it, but like the original draft of Bound by Blood that I finished 3 years ago, these drafts can only serve as a skeleton. I even have room to change some things and rework the plot structure a bit. I'm also changing the name of the main character because I like her middle name better
So, allow me to explain the skeletal structure, the plot points that stuck out in my mind after all these years
First off are the absolutely most important characters...
The Sitaade family (Anika, Ametria (formerly a different name, oh well), Imitry, Metyo, Fahan), the tutor, William, Tukaya, Miuri, Khanya, Jeanette, Narita
There's the backstory about the masks and Griesha and the Circles (I actually need to refresh my own memory on those... oops ^_^)
There's the general flowing plotline I can use as the skeleton and recreate the details and fleshing out, and that is as follows:
Ametria has her birthday party, Metyo's first signs of selling out to the Black Magicians shows up, Ametria meets Tukaya and falls in love and has the premonition about the roses, Anika "dies" and has her funeral, the city is invaded, Ametria flees to try to discover Magic, save her family, meets Alandis, allies with William and stupidly sleeps with him, and is taken in by Jeanette, the plot between Narita and Metyo will be revealed, and Tukaya will eventually rescure Ametria, and Imitry will become a priestess and marry William... nice, solid plot
Then the second book, with such important characters being:
Meyan, Sevrin, Ametria, Tukaya, Lanni, Ietra, William, Khanya (second!), Jeanette, Narita (may need to change her name, I wrote this years before I knew that was an airport in Japan), Akal, Desra, girls in room 13, Miuri
So, skeletal plotline:
Meyan goes off to school and stays in room 13 because she's "different", becomes friends with Desra, is attempted to be married off to Khanya, leaves for the South after she has repeated premonition type dreams about roses, stops in the Marsh Islands to stay with her uncle William, meets Sevrin, makes it all the way to Emias, is nearly captured by Black Guards but warned by Lanni in time to be rescued by Sevrin who is leading double life as prison master and Magic supporter, is taken to Ietra for training at opening up her mind, sleeps with Sevrin, returns to Melina taking Ietra with her, realizes her parents are being controlled, runs away from her wedding yet again, meets Alandis and is guided to finding Sevrin, discoveres Anika is still alive, stays with foster grandmother Jeanette while plotting how to help her parents, returns to palace with Sevrin, rose premonition comes true, Black Guards are fought, Meyan fights for the right to marry who she wants (wild looking Sevrin) as opposed to who would be convenient and practical (Khanya the prince)
I feel there's a pretty solid story there.
My one concern is that because I felt I was done with this story that I should adopt some of the ideas from it and use them in another story, so there's some minor detail similarities to Bound by Blood... I feel the plots are far enough apart that it could be reworked and fixed, but they are things that would be noticed. My biggest concern is that it's going to start looking like I stick a lot of incest in my stories, because of the rape scenes in Bound by Blood (I'm actually considering changing it so all David does is beat Lairene, because I feel two brother/sister rapes is verging on fucked up, and Lairene doesn't technically need to be raped for plot advancement... Nadea did, because the whole point of Lairene's existence is that she comes from a forbidden union and was created in Ari's mind as the ultimate cursed sufferer purely of cursed Ansamari parentage), and in this story, there was a huge amount of importance to this one bloodline, and as a result, there were a lot of distant cousins marrying each other. Like... in Melina, if there is a woman to take the throne, they would, but the ruler has to be of a certain bloodline (the family name is Liton), and Tukaya is an only child so he would hold the throne to keep that bloodline in charge, except he marries Ametria whose ancestor was originally a Liton, so she's allowed to keep the tradition going properly.
And since Meyan is their daughter, she'd naturally have the Liton bloodline, but that IS Sevrin's family name, and that can't change because a major part of his plot is being the master of the prison. Is that overkill? It's kinda one hell of an intermarried family, but they're all second cousins or further apart, so technically that's... NOT considered incest, right?
There was also the green eyes thing, which I included mostly 'cause I always liked green eyes. I've fixed that one already and given Ametria brown eyes, since Lairene has to have them as part of her plot (green is the mix of blue and yellow, Ansamari is the middleground between inhumans [blue eyes] and outcasts [yellow eyes]
There was also the whole having three countries share an island thing... I fixed that in the unnamed story by giving them unacknowledged territory on the same continent to north of the third country they visit regularly
I feel I've done a good job differentiating any special powers. In Bound by Blood, inhumanity is explained away as a genetic defect, a mutation creating a certain set of unnatural skills to go along with a certain set of looks. The only people who are considered inherently evil according to their type of power are the outcasts, and they're explained as a forced mangling of already existing genes, with a historical aspect explaining why they hate everyone else. In the other story, people who do magic are referred to as Magicians, and have different levels of power, with certain powerful Magicians basically having colored Magic "auras" (Ametria is considered Pure Magician because the color of her Magic matches the stone jade, which is the stone Magic is called forth from, and the stone set into the forehead of the God of Magic, who happens to be a tiger). Black Magicians are basically rebel Magicians who felt that original Masked Circles were frightening, and were afraid of their own power, so twisted their Magic auras in a way that they could put Magic in someone who doesn't have it. Because the nature is twisted, the aura turns to black as it is muddled with pure evil, and all who are gifted with it and henceforth inherit the twisted aura are influenced by the evil nature, keeping the fight against Magic going and keeping the Circles unable from operating. I feel that's totally different from inhumans ^_^
Another interesting thing I didn't realize about Bound by Blood until examining this other story. In the unnamed one, they have quite the well thought out religion. I've always squirmed away from using "the goddess" for everything, but their world does have a system set up with multiple gods/goddesses, entirely based upon faith. They only have proof of one, and he is really just a large immortal tiger with the stone powering the existence of Magic who basically uses that to call himself God of Magic. The others are entirely faith based, but help build up a culture and holidays. There's another set of gods entirely for the jungle tribes, something Sevrin introduces because he's half Imputu (the primary and probably only mentioned tribe I ever include)
So what I realized is... Bound by Blood is essentially faithless. No one ever speaks of a higher being. They talk about the rules of their government, and respecting and faithfully following the traditions created by their government. Everything is entirely about the treatment of humanity from other humans, and the only time anything akin to religion is viewed is with the Villagers in The Red Book who worship the statue of Lairene, and only because they were persuaded to believe she was their savior, so they built all their customs around her teachings, knowing full well she was a real person and she didn't do what Ari predicted she would do. I'm impressed with myself that I never even felt compelled to mention religion, however, in a story that clearly needed no religion.
Yes, 11
And wrote 2 complete stories by the time I was 13, plus had the begginings of a third in the works (the third actually being a prequel)
I think, given that I'm now nearly 20 and have probably improved leaps and bounds in terms of writing style, that it's time to crank out a rewrite of these.
It was the first time I've solidly tried to establish another world, invent a system of magic, invent a political system, invent cultural customs, invent a religion, and so much more. There are so many things in it that could be improved now, but reading back over my draft of the second story, I'm amazed how solid it is for how long ago I wrote it. I feel like it deserves a second shot at story life, and why not?
More details later
What I've wanted to do was rant a bit at how when people think of ideal fictional couple, these days it's ALWAYS: Bella and Edward. Let's not overlook some of the best of the best!!!
So, my absolute favorite fictional couples:
Tristran and Yvaine... and this goes whether you were reading the book or watching the movie... they're kind of perfect for each other, and they fight like an old married couple
Hermione and Ron, anyone? C'mon, you know you all cheered when they finally started making out hardcore ^_^
Elspeth and Rushton... goodness I'm an Obernewtyn junkie. But seriously, they're awesome. And have the kind of tension that makes you want to chuck the book at the wall if they can't get over themselves and just get laid already... (lame confession... I was so agitated during Wavesong last night that I actually had to read ahead in The Stoney Key to find out if Rushton stops being an ass... I get that into books -_-)
Claidi and Argul... they're a bit awesome. And he's a really snazzy character given that your impression of him totally changes in... let's say... each fucking book in the series? (There's 4, if anyone cares... refer to my Tanith Lee post)
And now, I figured I'd go for some... talking about my own couples! When you're writing your own story, and if you're one of those kinds of people who needs some sort of romance in just about everything, you have the power to create your ideal couples all over the place (although ya know... gotta have some shitheads thrown in for good measure!)
So for each of my stories/sets of stories... the absolute best!
Bound by Blood/The Red Book: I actually almost can't decide. And despite the fact that I've put all my efforts as a writer into developing the characters of Lairene and James, I'm quite tempted to say I like Kait and Brandon better... possibly because I don't know them as well. Possibly because Kait is more of a bitch than a hysterical spazz. Possibly because Brandon is so adorably naive. But, both couples positively rock
The Vampire Chronicles: Janelle and Michael, hands down. Sweet love story, side characters who don't dominate the whole relationship with satirical mockery, and an actual past together. They be awesome
This thing that I wrote ages ago for which the series does not actually have a title: Meyan and Sevrin... oh goodness they made me melt back when I was writing them. In fact, I'm strongly considering giving the series another shot at a rewrite... I have almost as much material for it as I did for Bound by Blood, and if I do say so myself, it was a very creative world that I'd invented
And then of course, there's my smaller stories... Jess and Sean were a fun couple to write, I kinda miss them... but their story died out and doesn't really have a shot at a rewrite. Jason and Angie, who I primarily love because of the whole massive twist and the fact that I actually managed to write an awesome short story. Lianna and Max are going to be awesome 'cause they're so different from my usual, and I'm hella excited to write them.
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