Myth, the Universe, and Everything

I've been building up links to share in my e-mail (I always e-mail them to myself until I have enough for a post). I was thinking about reviewing Breaking Waves, which I've just finished, but that may wait until tomorrow. Short version: really worthwhile anthology with a wide variety of stories.

But here are your links for digestion:

• Apparently, the Man Booker Prize committee has a thing against books in the present tense, according to an article in Salon. I tend to prefer books in the past tense, myself, but every so often there's a present tense story that proves me wrong. (As I explained to a friend, if it's written in present tense, the narrator can't die -- or the book would just stop. Which, I suppose, would be an interesting conclusion to a first person present tense story.)


• Josh Jasper at Genreville, among others, has blogged about Sir Terry Pratchett's sword made of star metal. That he forged himself. No, really. I salute you, Sir!


• I'm, of course, posting behind the ball on this, but Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is under attack. It looks like yet another case where the person trying to censor the book didn't even bother to read it.


• An impressive statistic: one in ten Americans uses an e-reader.


• PW did an excellent long article about Top Cow's new book, Artifacts, which I reviewed at Flames Rising.


• Comics and lit crit intersect with American Vampire, by Scott Snyder, who teaches courses like "The Monster Under Your Story." Sounds like fun, no?

I had the good fortune to work with Stacy Whitman back when we were both at a Barnes and Noble in Boston. We discovered a mutual love of children's and young adult fantasy (she was in the process of getting a graduate degree in children's literature; I, then as now, just love reading from the kids' department). Stacy left Boston for Seattle, where she worked as an editor at Mirrorstone, the YA imprint of Wizards of the Coast, where she edited the "Hallowmere" books by Tiffany Trent (tltrent) and co-authors Amanda M. Jenkins, Paul Crilley, and Angelika Ranger (dragonegg). Now, she's started a new endeavor: Tu Publishing, a house for multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults.

I asked Stacy to pop by the blog and talk to us about Tu, asking her some questions in my initial e-mail. Happily, she responded to all three. So now, I'll turn it over to Stacy. (If you'd like to contribute to getting Tu off the ground, you can visit the kickstarter page to make a donation.)

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One of the things I love most about fantasy and science fiction is that you can imagine yourself, the reader, in the characters’ shoes in these fantastic worlds and epic stories. What I love most about reading SFF stories set in cultures I’m not a member of is that I can do not only that, but also see things through the eyes of someone very different from myself, yet still identify with that character and feel the human connection—that perhaps we’re not as different as outward appearance might imply.

This is why the small press I’m starting, Tu Publishing, will focus on multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults. And there’s another reason, too: serving underserved readers, opening up FSF to readers of color who might not have felt like FSF reflected them. Think about it: how many fantasies have you read in which the mythos is NOT based in Celtic or Western European folklore? How many fantasy feature protagonists who are Asian, African American (or black, if in a world that doesn’t have an “America”), or mixed-race?

They exist. But there aren’t that many of them. After all, that’s why Racefail was such a huge discussion.

There are SO many cultures, fairy tales, myths, and legends from all over the world that writers can tap into, so when we open for submissions (which I hope will be in January, if our Kickstarter campaign is successful), there are a few cultures I’ll be looking for more actively because I’m more familiar with them, but I also love to just be surprised by a dang good story. For example, I’ve only read one YA fantasy based on Japanese mythology—Little Sister by Kara Dalkey—and would love to see more. I also love Chinese, Lao, Thai, and many other Asian stories, and would love to see more stories here in the States that draw upon those cultures.

I also think that there is a largely untapped amount of African American and African folklore. One of my first books with Mirrorstone, for example, grew out of the author wondering what kind of story she might get from mashing Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Marsh King’s Daughter” with Gullah culture, one of the cultures that grew up among African American slaves of the South. The reason I jumped on that story was because I’ve never seen a fantasy story set in Gullah culture, that truly researched hoodoo and voodoo and other religious beliefs and treated them in a non-“magical Negro” sort of way, but rather approached it from inside the culture. Nnedi Okorafor’s The Shadow Seeker does this, and there should be more books like this out there.

We had a book in the Hallowmere series (which is the same series that grew from “The Marsh King’s Daughter”), that featured a Hopi girl. Sadly, the series was canceled before that book came out, because I think that the writer blended well the world of the story—an original fantasy story that drew upon many cultures—and Hopi mythology. But I’m always wary of the line between cultural appropriation and creative inspiration, especially when the culture inspiring the author is not my own or the author’s own.

This is also an argument, though, for encouraging young authors of color and from minority cultures. Right now, most books that are set in “other” cultures (I hate to use the word “other” because it has a specific meaning, the “othering” of people being the opposite of being able to identify with them)—most books set in these cultures tend to be written by white authors. While it’s good that these cultures are getting more light shone on them, I think it’s equally important to keep an eye out for writers shining a light on their own cultures. I’m certainly not one to discourage a white author from connecting with a culture not his or her own and writing in that setting—a lot of great books have come of that, and I think it should continue. But I also think that when we’re aware of that issue, we can, as readers, start seeking out more diverse authors, as well.

The connection between myth, folklore, and modern fantasy

Fairy tales tend to be plot-driven. Rarely do you get a glimpse into the characters. They tend to be pretty flat—it’s just the nature of the storytelling form.

A good retelling explores the motivations that might drive a character to do the sometimes strange things that people do in fairy tales and legends. It becomes more character-driven—the plot hopefully starts to make logical sense within the world of the story. A good retelling should also flesh out a culture, the world that the character lives in. “Worldbuilding” is a term used by many fantasy authors that reflects the amount of investment in a setting that brings those cultural details to life—that allows us to see into the everyday life of the characters we care about.

One fairy tale retelling that stands out to me, that I always recommend to everyone I talk to as my favorite of her titles (which is saying a lot, because she’s one of my favorite authors) is Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale. Shannon takes a pretty thin Grimms’ tale and plops it down in a Mongolia-like fantasy world, then gives us the unique perspective not of the rich girl locked up in the tower, but that of the lady’s maid who got locked in there with her, a girl who in fairy tales is generally overlooked (unless she’s a third daughter off to prove her worth to the world, of course—but those tend to be farm boys, not ladies’ maids). This is one of my favorite kinds of multicultural fantasy—the interstitial and intercultural ways we “mash” worlds like Shannon did in this book.

My most recent read was Cindy Pon’s Silver Phoenix, which isn’t directly based on a folk tale, but the demons, the other supernatural beings, and the magic system all draw from Chinese mythology in new and interesting ways. Ai Ling goes on a quest to find her father—plenty of people go on quests in fantasy books—but that quest takes Ai Ling on a journey in which she has to navigate a culture very unwelcoming for a girl, and the story fleshes out supernatural beings, demons, and monsters inspired by Chinese mythology that readers might not be as familiar with as they might be with vampires, fairies, or werewolves.

The bottom line: characters and settings come alive in retellings in a way that the fairy tales themselves can’t, by their nature, flesh out.

Fangs-fur-fey: what comes next?

I think the pendulum is swinging more toward science fiction again, honestly, rather than more fairy tale retellings. But there’s always going to be a demand for good fantasy, for exciting quests, for scary monsters and heroic protagonists and bad guys to root against.

Young readers identify with the hero’s journey. They are in the same place in life, figuring out how to set off in the world to make their fortune.

Whether that means setting off from the only village you’ve ever known surrounded by zombies (Forest of Hands and Teeth) or saving your own life and that of your friend in a live TV death match (Hunger Games) or setting off to the capital to find your father, who has disappeared, and battling demons along the way (Silver Phoenix), each of the characters figures herself out along the journey—some better than others, of course.

So what’s the next big thing? I don’t know! My crystal ball often only starts to glow after I’ve read something that sets off my radar. That’s the caprice of being an editor. “I know it when I see it” might be a cop-out in many ways, but hopefully that also opens the door wider for writers, allowing you to be inspired, and allowing us all to take a little chance. If you can tell a good story that readers connect with, you’ll make that next big monster matter to me, even if I never heard of it before the day I read it.

This happened with Hallowmere. I don’t think I’d even heard of Gullah culture—at least, not by name—before the story was pitched to me. But now I find the culture fascinating. What kinds of sparks can you set off with your own story?

sartorias proclaimed it so, and tltrent put a snippet up on her lj as well, so I thought, hey, why not join the club?

Quick note about writing in general: after a long conversation with former guest blogger and my college mentor Mark Vecchio, I realized I need to make some changes in how I think about my writing work as opposed to my writing. They keep competing with each other, and the paid assignments win. So, they have to stop competing, and the fiction writing has to be its own priority or it won't get done.

This means I actually started following my own rules about sending first reader Arielle some fiction last Friday, and I've been spending more quality time doing fiction writing. I've actually started the WIP novel, and put a little more work into "Rodeo at Area 51," which is the snippet you're getting today.

Here's to the start of a new (and hopefully continually good) trend!

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"If you're offering me work, Mr. Hughes, you sure got a strange way of doing it."

He coughed, just slightly, as the dust from her gloves blew into his face. "Let's just say I've had to learn the hard way about distinguishing fact from fiction," he said. "If you are as good as your reputation suggests, I'm sure this opportunity will intrigue you and benefit us both."

She gestured over her shoulder. "I've still got two days of shooting."

Eddie shook his head dramatically. All right, there was a lot of money in this.

"I'm sure something can be arranged," said Hughes.

And now her manager was practically begging, clasped hands under his chin. If she didn't agree to this, he'd be prostrate soon. "I don't suppose it'd be top secret," she said, trying to keep her voice lazy.

"It would, in fact," Hughes responded, his voice just as tempered as hers. "You'll certainly be able to list us on your extensive resume, but I'm afraid otherwise, the information you receive will be classified."

"All right," she said with a quick nod, and Eddie flashed her two thumbs up. "Talk over the details with Eddie--I assume you've met him--while I get cleaned up. Shouldn't be more than a tic."

Hughes adjusted his jacket and grinned. "Do you always talk like that, Miss Cloud?"

Jo tried to throw Hughes's earlier smirk back at him, though she suspected he was more practiced. "Only in Hollywood, Mr. Hughes. It's part of my image."

This guest blog marks a first for me: I'm hosting part of an online author tour! To celebrate the recent publication of her third novel, Between Golden Jaws, Tiffany Trent (tltrent) has been giving interviews and posting guest spots on various blogs this week. Her post here delves into the mythological basis for her "Hallowmere" series, a ten book cycle for young adults published by Mirrorstone (and edited by the fabulous slwhitman). In addition to being a fantasy novelist, Tiffany writes nonfiction articles (she holds a Master's degree in Environmental Studies, as well as one in English and one in Creative writing) and is an English instructor at Virginia Tech. I'm very excited to welcome her to the blog (and spill a little insider information about "Hallowmere")!

Edit: Tiffany refers to next Friday's essay, and it occurred to me I should let you all know where that will be. Check out shvetufae on April 4th.

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Myth in Hallowmere

Anyone who’s read the Hallowmere books must know by now that I’m a myth junkie. There’s a reason, after all, that my fellow grad school classmates dubbed me the Mythology Queen, after all.

Hallowmere is based on myths of Celtic strain--Hallowmere itself is a derivation of Cerridwen’s Cauldron of Rebirth in which it was believed the souls of the dead were reborn, possibly reincarnated or resurrected, in other forms. I used this as the vehicle for Fey transformation because I am convinced that if Fey *were* real, they would not remain in a static form. Nothing in Nature is static, and it follows that the spirits of Nature wouldn’t be, either. (But that’s a topic for next Friday!)

With Cerridwen’s Cauldron at the center and much Fey lore radiating out from it, Hallowmere becomes the perfect framework for infusing goddess-lore into a place one wouldn’t traditionally look for goddess mythology--the Civil war. A poet friend of mine who’s been reading the book said, “Leave it to you to weave the Goddess into the Civil War!” Which just means, I guess, that my friends have come to recognize my propensity for smashing together things that don’t seem to fit on the surface, but join perfectly underneath.

I had read a letter of apology dictated from a dying girl to her father who had run away from home and fought in the Civil War disguised as a boy. It moved me so deeply to think of a woman feeling that strongly for her country that she would take up arms against all mores of the time. It reminded me very much of the women warriors of the old Celtic battle colleges, Scathach and Maeve and so on. I wanted to give some girls from the Civil War era a chance to be more than their society allowed. It didn’t seem possible to have them all engage in physical battle (and I didn’t really see the point of that). But a magical battle, where the stakes were nothing less than the continuance of the world as they know it--that seemed eminently do-able. But the problem also was (and is)--do the girls *want* the world that Falston was part of? How might they reshape it and themselves to create the world they need? I think Miss Brown is the forerunner of many women who saw this and wanted a different life.

If, therefore, we are talking about the feminine power, who better to lead my girls than the Divine Feminine? I went back to the old goddesses—Brigid, the Morrigan, Cerridwen—looking for answers. I found them in spades, but saying much more than that, I think, would be spoilery. :) What was fun about it all was figuring out how the old goddesses would appear to the 19th-century mind. I feel quite certain that if such things appeared to us, our modern minds wouldn’t be able to grasp them in the same way as the ancient Celts or Greeks. Hence books like The Lightning Thief and other plays on myth through urban fantasy. The motifs that interested me most were finding the triple goddess, learning to master various states of being, and transcending one’s circumstances. (I suppose there’s more than a little Taoism and Zen in there, too, now that I think of it). I just had to find a way to make those work with the setting in the novels. So, keep your eyes open, because I think as you continue to read and see how all these threads are coming together, students of mythology and lore will be pleasantly surprised. I hope so, anyway.

Several fun/interesting links today.

First, Jennifer Estep, who is the author of Karma Girl (which I blogged about) and Hot Mama (a semi-sequel), is having a contest on her blog to give away copies of the books and t-shirts. She's also now on fangs_fur_fey, and will shortly be taking over the world. Just in case you wanted to prep for that.

PW blogger Rose Fox wrote an interesting post today about the weakening divide between YA and adult fiction, particularly in SF/F. She also quotes janni's recent rant about adult authors who are shocked by YA topics. If you've been following that conversation (or sartorias's recent blog on the same, which was also quite good), it's definitely worth the read.

I don't know that the boundaries are shrinking so much as that they were a little artificial to begin with. Many of the books that were shelved in the YA section I grew up with (which I loved and was very lucky to have) were probably originally marketed to adults, and many books about teens are shelved in adult fiction. I don't know that the distinction between the two needs to be bolder--but I think adults should make the realization that a lot of YA fiction might also appeal to them, which might make them less shocked at the content (or might help them understand modern teens a little better)...

Courtesy of Neil Gaiman's blog, we have a report from The Onion about the Novelists Guild of America strike, which has apparently affected no one. (It's a bit scathing in its satire, but funny none the less.)

Lastly, Stacia Kane posted a wonderful conversation with her six year old daughter that is just about the epitome of geek parenting on League of Reluctant Adults.

As for me, I got done with this round of editing my Serenity adventure for Margaret Weis (whose changes were all dead on--I only disagreed about one, she countered with reasons why it wouldn't work, one of which was roughly "Joss is boss," and I was convinced). Tomorrow, on to some Steampunk Musha work I've been putting aside for months (I'm still working on it Rick!) and some overdue reviews that I've been meaning to turn in. But for now, I'm going to go finish By Venom's Sweet Sting.