Thursday Thoughts - The importance of reading to an author

Authors write books. That's pretty obvious. What isn't so obvious is that we writers should also be reading books. Not just books in our genre, but books outside our area of expertise. Anything and everything we can get our hands on we should be reading.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a picky reader. I tend to stick to my genres, even going so far as to stick mostly to fantasy since that's what I write. I have a hard time picking up anything else because I don't like taking risks. But I've started reading a friend's BDSM erotica series (and it's awesome...her first book is already out and I'm the beta reader for all of the rest of them). I've read a few non-fiction books lately too. I'm listening to an audio book I got through Audible that's science fiction from one of my favorite authors.

But I'm also trying to work my way through the Song of Ice and Fire series. I've reread a bunch of Tamora Pierce's books. I'm reading a bunch of free fantasy books I've downloaded from Amazon.

I've also gotten a couple of paranormal/urban fantasy books from a friend. I'm reading those. I'm rereading 1662 and 1663, which I suppose are science fantasy because what happens to them is explained using science but it's still fantasy to me.

I'm not saying that we should go out and buy every book on the shelf. I'm just saying if you're a writer, you need to broaden your horizons. I know I do. I need to be more open to other books and other genres. Every book you read is a learning experience. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or encyclopedia. Open your eyes and your mind and read.

Writing Wednesday - Favorite Author: Tamora Pierce

This week, I want to talk about one of my favorite authors and the one who inspired me to start seriously writing fantasy, though I'd been writing silly little stories for a few years by the point I first found her books. Her name is Tamora Pierce.

Tamora Pierce was born in 1953. She started writing at six. Her interest in science fiction and fantasy started, like I'm willing to bet it did for several of us, when she first read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. She began writing books like the ones she was reading and progressed from there.

The books that would become her first quartet, The Song of the Lioness, was written while she was still in college at the University of Pennsylvania. She has since written 28 books and several short stories.

The first books I found were that first quartet: Alanna, The First Adventure, In the Hand of the Goddess, Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and Lioness Rampant, though I didn't read Lioness Rampant until several years after I'd read the first three. I loved Alanna. I loved her story. I loved the character. I loved how tough she was and yet the fact that she showed great compassion as well. I loved the love triangle that formed between her and the prince and the king of thieves. I loved all of it. I wanted to write interesting and captivating books like that.

So I started writing more fantasy. I wasn't very good, but what 12 year old is? I didn't give up. Several years later, I stumbled upon her Immortals quartet. Once again I was sucked into the world of Tortall, this time through Daine. Daine was a teenager who'd survived a terrible tragedy to go on to help save the world. The path that she took to get there was amazing and full of wonderful adventures. I loved it.

I've only read the first book in her Protector of the Small books, and I haven't touched any of her others. Though they are on my TBR list for sure. I would highly recommend anyone who likes YA fiction to check out her books. They're a fun read.

You can find Tamora Pierce here or connect with her on Facebook here.

Tuesday Teaser - Faerie Tale

Well, I thought I'd throw out a bit of a challenge. This is the beginning of one of my rewritten faerie tales and I'm curious to see what people's guesses are as to which one I'm rewriting.

Lord Gaelan Sexton kicked his horse into a gallop. Behind him, two of his soldiers rode close on his heels. Flames flickered to one side of them and the cries of dying men filled the air. Jokiya, please be safe, Gaelan thought as he rode through the night.

The war between King Royston and Queen Anthousa was in its fifth year. It was only natural that it would reach even here, this isolated part of Anthousa’s kingdom where Gaelan kept his estate. Royston’s soldiers were killing and burning everything in sight, hoping to steal Anthousa’s strength.

The hooves of Gaelan’s horse crunched on the gravel drive up to his estate. A single light burned in the nursery window. The front door was broken off its hinges. Three dead servants lay just inside the door. Gaelan handed the reins of his horse to one of his guards. “Stay here,” he said. The second guard followed Gaelan in. Both men drew their swords.

Though most of his household lay dead on the floor, he could see the uniforms from Royston’s soldiers as well mingling with his servants. He crept up the stairs, listening intently to the silence around him.

As they progressed up the stairs, Gaelan checked every room. He and his guard looked for survivors but found only the dead. They reached the nursery. The door was partially ajar. Gaelan pushed it all the way open. He peered into the room.

“No,” he moaned. He rushed into the room and scooped the body of a pale haired woman into his arms. “Jokiya.”

“My lord, we must go,” the guard said. “Queen Anthousa must be made aware of King Royston’s attack here.”

Gaelan rocked back and forth, holding the broken body of his young wife. He buried his face in her neck and sobbed. Suddenly, from the tipped over cradle, there came a thin wail. Gaelan carefully set his wife down. He picked up the flickering lamp and made his way over to it.

There, half covered by the blankets, was an infant. Large blue eyes peered up at him, full of tears. The infant opened its mouth and let out a pitiful cry. Gaelan gasped as he dropped his sword. He carefully lifted the infant into his arms.

“Yulianna,” he breathed, holding the infant close to his chest. He looked at the guard. “We’re taking her with us.”

“My lord, a flight across the contested area with an infant will be too dangerous,” the guard said.

“I am not leaving Yulianna behind,” Gaelan said. “I should have taken Jokiya and Yulianna with me when I left this last time. I didn’t, and Jokiya is dead. I’ll not leave my daughter to the same fate.” He glanced out the window. “We’ll take the path through the Wyrmwood.”

“My lord, you must be mad. We’ll never make it out of the forest,” the guard said. “It is more treacherous than the road through the contested area.”

“We’ll be perfectly safe in the Wyrmwood,” Gaelan said. He set down the lamp and picked up his sword. He sheathed it and wrapped his daughter tightly in her blanket. He grabbed a small satchel and filled it with her clothes. He handed the baby to the guard for a moment. He scooped Jokiya’s body back up into his arms.

Gaelan kissed her cold lips. He reached behind her neck and unfastened a strange glittering pendant that shone with green fire even in the dim light of the lamp. He tucked it into his pouch and took his daughter back. The guard led the way down the stairs and back to the horses.

“My lord, we must leave quickly before Royston’s soldiers return,” the second guard said, holding the lord’s horse steady.

Gaelan laced Yulianna into his tunic. “They won’t return tonight. They have no reason to,” he said.

“Where to?” the second guard asked.

“The Wyrmwood,” Gaelan said. “It’s our only passage out of the contested region.”

“My lord you’re mad,” the second guard said. “No one has ridden through the Wyrmwood and made it out the other side.”

“Jokiya and I have made the trip several times,” Gaelan said. “I know the path.” Yulianna cried out again. “We don’t have a choice. The main road is too dangerous.”

“Yes my lord,” the second guard said.

“Seth, Connell, have I ever led you down the wrong path?” Gaelan asked.

“No my lord,” Seth said. Connell echoed him.

“Then trust me. We’ll make it through the Wyrmwood,” Gaelan said. He pulled himself onto his horse.

They rode back the way they came. When they reached the fork in the road, they turned right. The massive forest known as the Wyrmwood loomed in front of them. Gaelan led the way onto an unseen track beneath the trees.

For several hours they rode slowly through the shadows. Strange noises often spooked the horses and the men held tight to their reins. “My lord, are you sure you know where you’re going?” Connell asked. “I can barely see my horse’s ears in this darkness.”

“I’m sure. We’re on the right path,” Gaelan said. “Just be patient.”

There was no warning. Darkness turned to day and several shapes materialized from beyond the trees. “Lord Gaelan, why have you come to the Wyrmwood? Where is Jokiya?” A fair haired man with a long sword stepped forward and took hold of Gaelan’s reins.

“She’s dead, Tiedenn,” Gaelan said. “The mad king’s soldiers killed everyone in the house.”

“Why do you carry Jokiya’s heart then?” Tiedenn demanded.

“Because Yulianna lives,” Gaelan said. “I intend to give Jokiya’s heart to Yulianna when she is old enough to wear it.”

There was a murmur like the sighing of wind through the leaves, yet no breeze stirred the air. “You would uphold the pact through your daughter?” Tiedenn asked.

“Yes,” Gaelan said.

“Then we will open the way for you,” Tiedenn said. “Do not forget your promise. We will watch Yulianna, and come to her aid if she ever needs us.”

“Thank you, Tiedenn,” Gaelan said. The strange beings parted and the light faded. A clear path spread in front of them. “Let’s ride. The path will only remain open until dawn.” He kicked his horse into a trot, his guards right behind him.

Monday Maundering - Random babble again

I don't really have a purpose for today's post, except to ramble along about whatever crosses my mind. You have been warned.

Let's talk the media - specifically news outlets. I don't get my news from the mainstream outlets anymore. At least not the ones here in the U.S. Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, CNN, ABC, none of them. Firstly, I don't have tv. So everything I do is online or via the radio. And even on the radio I'm listing to NPR and PRI (a lot from the BBC, especially at night). BBC is the only mainstream media I listen to. I get better reporting on what's going on in the world from them than I do from our own newscasters.

I also read Huffington Post. I'll admit that they can be a little one sided as well, but at least I'm more likely to be given the facts behind a situation than I am with the other media outlets. If someone posts a link to another online news site, I'll go read that too. I'm very ecumenical. I give everyone a chance to tell me their version of the same story - as long as it's not Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and the others like them.

Names. What's in a name? My friend Joelle got a lot of comments on one of her blog posts about how she has a male character who uses the name 'The Queen'. He's not a drag queen. He's a very dominant personality. He's actually a dom in her BDSM book series. He's a fascinating character and very complex. As of yet, I don't know how he got the name but I'm sure it would be an interesting story to learn.

What we call ourselves is our business. I have my real name, which I don't generally use online. And I have my pen name, which is what people online know me by. There was a transgender woman (male to female) at my work place who preferred to be called Michelle. She was a sweet, wonderful woman. But some people couldn't get past the fact that she'd been born Jeremy and continued to call her that and refer to her as a 'he'. It upset her so much she actually quit, citing harassment as the reason. The people who harassed her? Didn't get into trouble. At least, not that I saw. Two of them boasted about having driven the 'freak' off. I was livid for days after that.

What does it matter what we call ourselves? A name is just a label we give ourselves. Some of us choose to keep the labels we were given by our parents. Others choose to change that label as they grow up. We use nicknames as a different label as well. Respect those around you and use the name they prefer.

Sunday 'fess up - Anni's a little disappointed this week

Well, this week didn't end the way I intended it to.

It started out all right. I've been making progress on Cracked World, even though I pretty much started over from scratch because I didn't like how it was going. I like it well enough, even though I still think I'm taking too long with the beginning. I'll have to see how the story plays out.

I think I've made it pretty clear I was intending to go back to work. I've talked about it enough this past week. Well Thursday I went to my med doctor and got something to help with the anxiety that's inevitable at my job. Life was pretty good up to that point.

Then we got to Friday. Friday was the day I went into see my clinician. She'd fill out the paperwork and fax it in and I'd be all set to go back to work by the end of next week. Easy, right?

It didn't go that way. Because my clinician is an intern, and a summer intern at that, she's not "qualified" to fill out the paperwork. I now have to wait for someone else in the office who doesn't know me to fill out the paperwork. I don't know when that's going to be. I do know it has to be soon or I'm going to lose my job. They'll only hold it for so long and so long happens to be September 10th. After that date, I will no longer be employed at the bank. I'd rather not lose my job over something this stupid, so I'm going to keep hounding them to find out what's going to happen.

So that kind of derailed my plans for next week. If I haven't heard by Wednesday, I'm going to call and pester someone to get me an answer. Because I need them to fill out the form so I can go back to work.

I did hear from my boss on Saturday. The problem there is she may not be my boss anymore. They did another shift bid while I was out on disability and if there isn't a position on her team, I'm going to have to go back to someone I don't know as well. At least, I hope it's someone I don't know as well. There are a couple of managers that I'd rather not get again. Talk about personality clashes. I'll know more on Monday. Another thing she told me was that we're losing the smaller accounts I was working with, probably going to another center, and gaining one large account to work with. Should be interesting when I go back.

So that's my week in a nutshell. How was your week?

Here's the music videos for your amusement.

Saturday Story Building - Genre and sub-genre/Science Fiction

Last week we talked the genre of fantasy and some of its sub-genres. This week I thought we'd take a minute to discuss another one of my well loved genres - science fiction. Sci fi is a broad genre that covers several sub-genres, some you may not even think are classed as sci fi.

One of my favorite versions of sci fi is the space opera. You know like Firefly and Babylon 5. In space opera, a good portion of the story takes place predominately in space and deals with space faring situations. Now, you might be able to give me a good argument that Babylon 5 is also military sci fi, and I wouldn't argue with you. But to me, those two shows epitomize space opera.

Then there's hard sci fi. This isn't a sub-genre I prefer, not being interested in the dry factual dissemination of technology. In hard sci fi, the science is meticulously described and could also be quite plausible based on the scientific standards of the modern day. The science in the Jurassic Park books is a good example of hard sci fi.

Then there's the punk sci fi. Two that specifically come to mind with this sub-genre is cyberpunk and steampunk. Yes, steampunk is classed as sci fi. Sci fi doesn't have to take place in the future. It can take place in an alternate past as well. Cyberpunk deals with computerization of people by fusing them with machines to create cyborgs. Cyberpunk also tends to be more dystopian in nature.

There are other sub-genres of sci fi, but I'll leave you to explore those on your own. Just know that science fiction, in its own way, is as broad a genre as fantasy.

Thursday Thoughts - Returning to work

I had originally not planned on doing this. I was going to stay on disability and write full time. But as the months have passed that I've been on disability, I realized that I felt like I was losing a little bit of myself every day. I've spent the better part of the last 20 years working outside the home. I've had some bouts of unemployment, and some of that I was working temp agencies. But I've been working outside the home most of my adult life. It felt like I had lost a portion of my identity.

So I've decided to go back to my old job.

I've still got a job there until September 10th, and I plan on going back before that cut off date. I have a vision of finally being able to afford life to the point I can get off public assistance. Where I can afford to pay all my bills and not worry about where the money is going to be coming from. I'm not worried about buying luxuries or toys or things like that. Right now, I just want enough to pay for the things I need and maybe a little extra to put towards getting into our own place.

I don't like my old job. But I can do it. And the pay and benefits aren't bad. It's something I know how to do and can do fairly well. I'll get to see some old friends I haven't seen in almost a year. I should be back under my old manager, who as far as I know liked me well enough.

Am I scared? Very much so. I stopped working because my mental illness was so far out of control that I couldn't even make it through a day at work without having a panic attack. And I've added the new complication of seizures to my repertoire of issues, so there's that as well. But I've been stable for a while and my seizures aren't all that frequent. I can tell my employer to be on the watch for my seizures but I'm still fit to return to work.

So now I have to go see my therapist to get some paperwork filled out so I can go back to work. I need to talk to my med doctor to get something to help with anxiety. And I need to talk to my general practitioner about adjusting my anti seizure meds. All of these things have to happen before I can go back to work. I have two of the three appointments this week. I haven't talked to my general practitioner yet but I intend to within the next week.

This is going to mean my writing is going to suffer. If I go back to work, I'll be working four 10 hour shifts. Those days I'm probably not going to get much writing done. On my days off though I'll be plowing on ahead with whatever project I'm working on.

I hope you'll all wish me luck as I embark on this new phase of my life. Because I'm going to need all the luck I can get.