The Scottish Prisoner
12 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
I distinctly remember the first time I read Outlander. I didn’t feel well, it was snowing, and a box of books had arrived from the book club. Outlander was one I picked at complete random, even the cover small and difficult to make out in the advert. The book revealed itself to have a clock upon it, though. A clock with a broken crystal. A string of pearls, a red plaid, and wilting roses. I wasn’t quite sure what awaited me. “Scottish time travel romance” surely oversimplifies the entire book and the series which follows. While it’s certainly that, it’s more, too, with some of the most enjoyable characters I’ve ever run across in fiction.
Gabaldon took one of those characters, Lord John Grey, and gave him his own series. I tried to read those books but they didn’t capture me the way the Outlander books did. Until The Scottish Prisoner. The title made it clear, at least to me, that this book would likely involve one Jamie Fraser, a main character of the Outlander books. Not only was I right, I was happy to discover it covers a stretch of time we’ve seen only a little of, when his wife Claire has gone back to her own time and Jamie is prisoner at Helwater. (Read through Voyager, before you read this book.)
I’ve seen plenty of people complaining that Jamie takes this book over, that it’s more his story than it is Lord John’s (and well, look at the title!), but for me, I felt it was a good balance. It was wonderful to see these two finding a way to work together that didn’t involve them killing each other. The other thread of story exposed here is Jamie’s developing relationship with William, the son he cannot wholly claim as his own. Watching Jamie with toddler William was a treat, especially when Jamie learns he does (and can) love William as his own, even if in secret.
William has come of age in future Outlander novels, and the next volume (Written in My Heart’s Own Blood) should contain more of his story. It will also cover more of the Claire/Jamie/John doings, as An Echo in the Bone took that whole triangle to an unexpected (for me) place. This book fills a great gap and includes teasers from the next Outlander novel. It was an unexpected treat that I could not put down.
Never Gets Old
26 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
“Selling a story never gets old.”
Koi, by Klyph (DeviantArt)
Someone told me this, long ago and far away, and I thought “yeah, right,” but you know…they were right. Every sale is as delightful as the first one was.
Today, I (and you!) have the pleasure of experiencing my first audio podcast, “The Lady of the Lake” (Beneath Ceaseless Skies #86), read by the editor’s uncredited wife (secret agent? One has to wonder!).
I haven’t given audio fiction a lot of consideration over the years. I’ve certainly enjoyed listening to stories, but never imagined my own read in such a manner. I was surprised and pleased when Scott asked for the audio rights here; it’s a story that contains mouthfuls of strange names, a story of complicated transformations, a play of Japanese myth twined with a story I wrote long, long ago.
As I listened to “The Lady of the Lake,” though, I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. Certain phrases caught me off guard, because a story has a different sound when read aloud. Had I written that? Clearly I had, but it was different, given a new life.
After the finishing the story, iTunes shuffled on to “I Will Survive,” covered by Cake, which amused me to no end, based on the content of “The Lady of the Lake.” Sometimes, it seems like there’s a sentient DJ inside my iTunes, knowing exactly what needs playing.
No, selling a story never gets old. In any form.
The story is downloadable from the story’s various pages within the magazine, but it’s also streaming on the forums: http://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=853 And it’s on iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/beneath-ceaseless-skies-audio/id295833491
Ladies in Lakes
12 Jan 2012 2 Comments
in Writerly
Long ago and far away (August 2006) “Indigo With Distance” appeared in Realms of Fantasy. It’s a curious story and one that had a difficult time finding a home. I always felt there was more to tell there, so in recent months, started poking around with the story that became “The Lady of the Lake.” Not a story of Camelot, unless Camelot were in Japan, and populated by Japanese gods and goddesses.
“The Lady of the Lake” appears in the current issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies (#86; and will also soon be podcast there, too). It tells the story of Min from “Indigo With Distance,” and what happened after her mother strangled her and dropped her into a lake. Water is powerful; water takes a person where they never quite expect to go.
Cover art is: Tower of Babel, by Zack Fowler. Super striking image!
Anywhere But Here
04 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Me
Many years ago, a friend send me a mix CD called Anywhere But Here (For February is Cold), and it remains a favorite of mine, a collection of music that really takes you elsewhere, and often some place warm. It’s a nice escape.
Returning to the gym this week, Monday was deserted but today was packed — and another girl took my usual locker. Insanity! As I ran my miles this morning, I watched the people in the gym and discovered a uniting thread. (Other than the one that says these are all new people and will be gone by next month.) I started looking at the shirts people were wearing. In and Out Burger. Oregon. JRS Track. Maui. Faded rainbow. Even my own shirt calls to the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas. It felt as though we were all thinking of being elsewhere and not in the gym where we actually found ourselves. Or maybe we wanted proof that we had been elsewhere and wouldn’t always be between these yellow and purple walls.
When I first started going to the gym (more than a year ago now), I crossed paths with a guy there. I still don’t know his name and he doesn’t know mine, though we often talk. He showed me how to use one of the machines way back when. This morning, he noticed I was wearing new shoes — he said that was a proper way to start a new year, and he also asked how long I’d been coming to the gym “Two years now?” he asked. And I said no, only one. But still, it was curious to be recognized as a regular now. To have made it that far. To not fail to show up in February, because this is part of what I do now.
Overs
30 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Writerly
I make goals every year. I’m sure we all do, especially if we write. So…how did I do? How did you do?
How can we do better in 2012?
Short Stories
Every year, I set a goal of twelve new short stories. Not revisions. Brand new words on brand new pages. This year, I wrote thirteen, with two more partially done. But partials don’t count, rawr! That’s about thirty-four thousand words of new short fiction. I have thirteen shorts in submission in various markets at this point, with five others in need of submission.
Submissions + Rejections + Sales + Publications
I made 86 submissions and had 72 rejections. I sold six stories. Of the thirteen new stories, five of those have sold. My longest wait time on a story submission in 2011 was 387 days — never again. My shortest wait time was ninety minutes! Publications that saw print this year: Historical Lovecraft, Candle in the Attic Window, Future Lovecraft, Cucurbital 2, Shimmer 13, Shimmer 14.
Novels
January-March, I wrote another fifty thousand words on the 2010 Nanowrimo novel (Anubis), and November-December, I wrote sixty-six thousand words on the 2011 Nanowrimo novel (Kelpie). Kelpie should wrap up in January (I can see the end!). Anubis is making agent rounds.
Groups
I returned to my online writing group, Codex, this year. I missed the friendship, but also the butt kicking. Apparently I need a little bit of that to keep going! Codex is an amazing group of people.
Next?
The partial stories need finishing, as does Kelpie. And of course, there are always more stories. I’m considering e-publishing a collection of short fiction, and am hoping to see three issues of Shimmer published in 2012. What do you have lined up for 2012? Best of luck with your own writing goals — let’s do this thing!
Choose Your Own Soup
28 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Cooking
Every time I make this soup, I think “I should blog about that,” and then I don’t and more time passes and the soup vanishes, and is made again, and I think “I should blog about that,” and well, you see how it’s an evil cycle, with lots and lots of soup and not much blogging.
You can pretty much do what you like with this soup. You can make it spicy, you can make it mild. You can add the meats or you can make it vegetarian. It’s basically a Choose Your Own Soup story!
This began with a recipe in a Rachael Ray magazine, I’m pretty sure, but I’ve tweaked it here and there along the way. My measurements are often vague — you can definitely make this to YOUR taste.
You need:
1 deep pot (I use a Dutch oven)
Into this pot, you shall:
Drizzle olive oil. To this, add some chili garlic paste if you’re making your soup spicy. If you’re not, you can easily add only garlic. If you want onions or shallot, this would be a good time to add them, too. Also toss in some ginger. You can do your ginger a couple ways: if you slice it, your flavor will be less spicy; if you grate it, you will get more zing. You want an inch or two of ginger, sliced or grated. Also toss in 2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar. Mix this up, let it bubble and get all delightful. You can also toss in other spices here if you like — salt, pepper, I’ve been known to throw in some steak seasoning, actually, because it’s such a nice blend of Stuff. I’ve also been known to add some hoisin sauce or teriyaki. Both will give your broth a really nice caramel color/flavor.
When this is all gooey and well blended, you’re going to add your liquid. Chicken or vegetable stock depending on your needs, plus 1-2 cups of water. I usually do 1 cup of water to 32 oz. of stock. Turn the heat up and let this all come to a nice boil
To this, you will add cabbage. I use either Napa or Savoy, depending on what the store has. I use a whole head of Napa or half of the Savoy (it’s much more dense in my experience). Remove the core from the Savoy, but you don’t need to with the Napa.
To this, you will add noodles. I’ve done this with both ramen and regular pasta. Not sure which I prefer. Up to 8 oz. of noodles, though (linguini is what I typically use). I cook the pasta separate, until it’s almost done but not quite. Leave it with a little bite, because it will finish its cooking in the soup itself.
To this, if you’re adding meat, you will add: half to one pound of thin sliced (raw) steak. I usually end up with a loin cut of some kind. Your other meat is half a pound of shrimp (cleaned, de-veined, etc!). I use raw. Neither takes long to cook. If you’re going veggie on this, you could easily add mushrooms instead of meats; I’m not sure how eggplant would work in this, as I’ve not tried it.
Your meats won’t take long to cook. Add your pasta near the end, let everything meld and blend and get happy, and toss in some chopped cilantro at the very end if you like such things (I do).
SOUP.
Cookies
23 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Cooking
Christmas usually means cookies around here; last year I made four different kinds and gifted bunches of them to neighbors along with the recipes, so they could enjoy them throughout the year as they wanted. This year, I cut back, and though I was making only half a batch of sugar cookies, cut into snowflakes, frosted, sugared.
I did that, but these cookies didn’t survive long enough to be photographed — I suppose snow does melt quickly sometimes. Boxes were taken to neighbors, the rest consumed here. And then…
I found the set of Linzer cookie cutters in the store, and thought hey, that looks fun. So, Linzers! (The cookies are apparently called Linzer eyes sometimes, for the cutout shape in the center. Neat.)
I’d never made Linzers before, so used the recipe that came with the cutters. It made a nice dough, though I have to say over the course of working with it, I don’t think I’ve ever used quite so much flour to coat my board and rolling pin. I’m not sure if the kitchen was too warm, but this dough turned sticky quick. The additional flour I used doesn’t seem to have impacted the way they taste — they’re tender and not overly floury.
And if I’m not a complete glutton, there will be some left for Christmas morning…
Reading 2011
22 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Book Reviews, Reading
I met my goal of reading 52 books this year and then some. Some aren’t in the Goodreads total because they were books I read in draft form. Lucky, lucky, lucky!
Last Christmas, I was gifted with a Kindle, so I was curious if it would change my reading habits. I don’t think it did — though there is certainly something magical about wanting a book and (generally) being able to get it within minutes. Some books, though, I still wanted a traditional copy of — and owning a Kindle certainly hasn’t meant I’ve stopped reading paper books. There’s still something equally magical about paper books. Being able to touch the pages, see the fonts chosen, study the cover art; it’s also certainly easier to flip back in a paper book.
Of the books I read, there were a few stand outs. There were only three books I couldn’t finish this year, and one of those was a reread. I had the curious reaction of really not liking Neil Gaiman’s American Gods on its reread. (Last year, the same could be said of Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. Whereas on first reads, I liked these books very much.)
The Empress of Mars, Kage Baker
I’ve been a Kage Baker fan for a while now and while the loss of her is awful, it’s a blessing that she left us so much to read and explore. Her Company books are extraordinary, blending history and history-yet-to-come in a way I’ve not otherwise seen. The Empress of Mars takes us to a bar upon the red planet, where the amazing Mary Griffith is ready for all comers. Mostly.
Shades of Milk and Honey, Mary Robinette Kowal
Everyone says if Jane Austen wrote about magic, this is the book she would write — and well, they’re right. This book is like a sugared pomegranate on a white linen table; one wrong move and Kowal might’ve ended up with bloody stains everywhere. But, she didn’t. It’s a quiet masterpiece of a book, with a beautiful romance at its heart. And more books in this universe are forthcoming!
The Bookman, Lavie Tidhar
I won this book in a Twitter giveaway and really didn’t know what to expect going into it. But, combine a steampunked London with V for Vendetta, Mars, lizards, true love, catacombs, pirates, and did I mention the lizards? While steampunk is likely approaching passe in some circles, it remains great fun for me, and Tidhar captures the spirit and flavor perfectly. Lizards! Pirates! True love! I’m there.
Saffron and Brimstone, Elizabeth Hand
My first exposure to Elizabeth Hand was via 2008 Nebula Awards Showcase (ed. Ben Bova), which reprinted her short story “Echo.” That story, I learned was part of the larger The Lost Domain: Four Story Variations, which also includes “Kronia,” “Calypso in Berlin,” and “The Saffron Gatherers.” Hand says these stories were born of an epistolary friendship (which also gave way to two of her novels), and were also inspired by Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. So…combine that and you’ve already hooked me. This volume collects four other shorts from Hand as well. I already want to reread it.
India Black and the Widow of Windsor, Carol K. Carr
This is book two in a series and a series that I, by all rights, may well have not liked. I think I burned out on mysteries in my youth (thank you, Agatha Christie). As much as I’d loved them. I’d had entirely too much. And then, along came the first India Black book, which intrigued me with its premise. Victorian London, a brothel madam, a curious Brit named French… Okay…okay…I’m in. Carr has a delightful way with India’s voice, turning these books into cakes which I just want to inhale. They move entirely too quick — I wish they were twice the length they are!
On the Line, S.J. Rozan
More mystery! A friend introduced me to these novels many, many years ago. This is one in a series focused on PIs Lydia Chin and Bill Smith. Rozan’s strength lies in her characters — absolute gems, e ach one. Each book comes from a different POV, either Lydia’s or Bill’s. This one is from Bill, as Lydia has been kidnapped and he finds himself in a desperate race to solve a handful of murders in order to save her. I consumed this in a weekend — could not put it down.
So Silver Bright, Lisa Mantchev
I had the honor of working with Lisa at Shimmer, and it’s awesome to watch her books go out in the world be amazing. In these books, Lisa combines many of my favorite things: cake, fairies, pie, pirates, cake, true love, cake, theater, pie, cake, glitter, humor, and oh, cake! In this, the last installment in her Theatre Illuminata trilogy, Lisa brings all of this and more, closing Bertie’s story in a way that involved tissues, cake, tissues, and oh, cake. Part of me wishes very much that I’d had this series when I was younger, but beig able to enjoy it now is still a gift!
One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
I haven’t finished this one yet, as books in need of review arrived, but! This is one to savor, I think, because each and every chapter is just remarkable. I honestly didn’t know what to expect when I picked it up. My only exposure to Márquez prior to this was his story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” From the first chapter, if you aren’t left gaping, I will have to wonder if you’re actually fit company. There is something utterly magical in these words. If you are a writer, this book may well teach you something, too.
What are your favorite books of the past year?
How is a raven like a writing desk?
20 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Writerly
Despite the title of this blog, it occurs to me that I haven’t said much about writing and pomegranates and the connection I see between them. I was peeling a pomegranate the other day, fingers staining up to look like I’d slaughtered something, and I started to think (again) of all the ways writing is like opening one of these seasonal fruits.
Glutton
For starters, I never get enough pomegranates. The season is too short. While writing doesn’t have a specific season–you can do it wherever and whenever inspiration strikes–I certainly never do enough of it. I always feel like I could have done more. This year, I wrote thirteen new short stories and have drafted 80% of a new novel. I hope to finish up another short, but still… I’ll be left wanting more.
Mushy
Pomegranate seeds are packed beneath those red skins, growing tight against their neighboring seeds. Sometimes, they’re hard to latch onto and when at last you finally do, they mash between your fingers, a muddy brown instead of brilliant crimson. For all that work, you’re left with mush in your hand. This happens with writing, too–chasing an idea you think is brilliant and taut, only to discover in the end that it’s a pile of mush. Let it go. It’s okay. There are more seeds.
Hidden
Pomegranate seeds can be packed so tight, they actually hide in the pulp. You twist and dig, breaking the pulp to expose a perfect seed. Hidden away from the light, how has it managed to grow into this small gem? Story ideas can be like this too. Maybe you have to work through the mushy seeds to find the one perfect one that is hidden away. Sometimes, you have to break a story to find its heart.
Solitary
I often come across one white seed as I break pomegranates. Just one. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pomegranate with more than one — though often I don’t get a white seed at all. It’s a nice thing to discover, one pale seed nested among the red. Writing is solitary, certainly, even when we commune with other writers. Each writer (each story) may well be its own white seed, different from any others in the group. Writers must go their own way, despite what everyone else does.
Stained
When you finish with a pomegranate, everyone will know by the color which stains your hands, which gets under your fingernails for days no matter how you scrub. When you finish a story or novel, everyone may well know from the glow that suffuses you, from the way you don’t seem to touch the ground as you walk. The work has been done, and it’s time to bask in the knowledge of a job well done. Of mushy seeds discarded, of hidden gems discovered. And then, it’s time to do it all over again.
Future Lovecraft
04 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Writerly
Future Lovecraft launched this weekend, and I wish I could have been in Toronto to see it (and to see dear friends who’ve recently moved there).
If you also missed out, don’t despair! Future Lovecraft is easily found at Books on Board, Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. It’s a superb collection of Lovecraftian fiction set in the future. (And the Kindle edition is dead cheap at $3.99!)
My story “Myristica-fragrans” takes place on a distant space station, where a load of goods has brought something unexpected into the hands of iyaloja Abeni Baba. This story was chiefly inspired by coming across a random photo of nutmegs — how anyone could look at them and not see the mace as its own horrible and unique creature was beyond me.
And of course that creature was Lovecraftian.
As always, this piece is for J., who encourages my writing in ways I never quite expect, but also for Mike, who never flinches from a good and horrifying tale. Or from one-eyed girls. But that’s another story entirely…
