The MSU Method for Speculative Fiction Writers

Two full moons rising? I thought this photo was appropriate for Here Be Magic. I was photographing the rising full moon with a long exposure and accidentally jarred the camera. Couldn't have done it on purpose!

I'd love to write a story - or series of stories - about a world with multiple moons or suns, but I worry I'd go down a serious rabbit hole of figuring out the physics of such a thing. I always joke that I write fantasy in part because I can Make Shit Up. (MSU - a tool for every writer's toolbox!) I know this is a huge part of the fun for some science fiction writers, calculating how the scientific principles would function in an alien environment, and I can see the appeal of that. But I'm also enough of a perfectionist that it would drive me crazy to get something really wrong.

Then there's Change.

On the SFWA forums we've been discussing the announcement regarding a potential new planet discovered in our solar system. This would either bring us back up to ten planets or restore us to nine, depending on where you stand on Pluto's status. (Plenty of people are annoyed that this only-mathematically-detectable planet is being given that honorific when Pluto's was stripped away.) At any rate, several of the science fiction writers brought up that this is why they write stories set in completely fictionalized solar systems. Imagine having an entire series set in our solar system and repeatedly referring to the wrong number of planets!

Of course, plenty of books and movies become dated that way. I laugh every time at movies like My Best Friend's Wedding when Julia Roberts hauls out that shoe box-sized cell phone. Or, less amusing, when the World Trade Center twin towers appear in the background. Some of that is inevitable and the best of these become iconic of the time. Jane Austen's books continue to be classic partly because they give such an interesting glimpse of the constraints of that era.

So I have sympathy with the science fiction writers gnashing their teeth over Planet Nine (or Ten). And I think I'll continue with my MSU method as long as possible.

Speaking of SFWA, however - did you know there's a New Release Newsletter? It comes out every two months and lists new releases from SFWA members. Anyone can sign up here!

Wearing My Scarlet R in SFF Circles

Winter is an excellent time to discover the joys of curling up by the fire with a delicious book - either one we're reading or one we're writing.

Jackson, of course, is above both activities, as he needs to devote time to thinking Deep Thoughts.

I was having a conversation with a writer friend a bit ago about how I see my career, particularly as a cross-genre writer. For those who don't know, I have a Fantasy Romance series (Covenant of Thorns), one that's more solidly Fantasy, with romantic elements (The Twelve Kingdoms) and right now I'm working up a proposal for an Epic Fantasy with my agent. At the same time, I also write contemporary erotic romances (the Facets of Passion and Falling Under series). I also have a few books that even more gleefully blur these lines, being both erotic and fantastic (Master of the Opera, Petals and Thorns and the Blood Currency series).

Because of all this, I belong to both RWA (Romance Writers of America) and SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). I've been in RWA much longer, largely because I could join as a newbie, where SFWA requires stiffer publication credentials. So, I'm still learning my way around the SFWA community. While most everyone has been wonderful and welcoming, I am sometimes aware of the scarlet R on my chest. Nobody has openly scoffed or insulted my Fantasy books, but people have kindly said that they don't read books like that or that they don't read romance. With one male fantasy writer I've long admired and read, I screwed up my courage to show him a copy of The Mark of the Tala, telling him it's up for Book of the Year with RT Magazine. He didn't even read the back cover copy - admittedly, this was at an RWA event, so my scarlet R was blazing bright - and he handed it to his wife, saying that it might be the kind of book she'd like.

Yeah, okay - that made me want to kick him.

Still, I know that I can't go around kicking everyone who so blithely dismisses my books because of my scarlet R. I'm pretty sure that doesn't build relationships. I'm really okay with people reading my books and not liking them (I might sulk a little and weep into my whiskey, but I'm reasonably Zen about it), but it irks me to have my books dismissed out of hand. So, while I nursed the hope that The Mark of the Tala might be nominated for a Nebula Award, I wasn't all that surprised that it didn't make the final cut. After all, I'm pretty sure not many SFWA voting members read it.

(The Nebula Awards are different in that we can't enter our books for consideration. They have to be nominated by other members, and then receive enough nominations to make the top six. Unlike RWA's RITA awards, where we pay to enter our books and judges receive a stack to read and score.)

So, as my friend and I sat and drank wine, talking about our writing careers, she suggested to me that I'd have an easier time of it if I downplayed the romance in my fantasies. Or took it out altogether. Believe me, I know plenty of women SFF writers who've done this, in order to be taken more seriously. Oddly enough, I don't know any male writers who've felt they had to do this.

And I think she's right. I could do that. But I'm not going to. People who know me well will tell you I'm stubborn. They'll say it with both love and exasperation. More than once it's been suggested to me that I should be less stubborn. I'm stubborn about that, too. Being stubborn means sticking to what I believe is right, to how I want my books and my stories to be. I see absolutely no reason why I can't have romance in my fantasies. I think men could read my fantasies and not have their masculinity or SFF integrity reduced. I think a man can do better than glance at my book and hand it to his wife before the girl cooties rub off on him.

Thus, I wear my scarlet R openly on the SFWA forums. I refuse to apologize for it, or even downplay that aspect of my work. Yes, it's a more difficult path, but I feel anything less is admitting to some kind of shame or embarrassment - or that romance is somehow a lesser genre. I know some people think that. I don't.

When I explained all of this to my friend, she said, "You should write a blog post about this."

So I have, here at Here be Magic - where romance and SFF meet, blend and have a helluva party. 

A Call to the Fathers of the World

Those of you who follow the SF/F genre may be aware that SFWA, the Science Fiction Writers of America, has had quite the explosive last couple of weeks with controversies surrounding sexism in the genre--and some authors who've been particularly virulent in expressing their opinions. I've been following the explosions with interest, and have even had to put on my rantypants about what's been going on. And I'm here to tell you, people, rantypants are not particularly pleasant to have to wear. I'd much rather be breaking out the comfypants, myself.

A lot of this, too, is going to sound very familiar to romance writers who're used to having their work sneered at and dismissed as "chick books", particularly writers who have one foot in SF and the other foot in romance. Because hi yeah, that'd be me. And it'd be several others at Carina, including several who post right here on this very blog.

Since I've been posting about this in depth over on my own site, I'm not going to repeat myself too much here. Instead, since it's Father's Day, I'd like to come at this from another angle: i.e., a call to the fathers of the world.

Gentlemen, I'd like to challenge you to read a book written by a woman. Maybe even a romance novel. Go in with an open mind, and who knows, you may actually enjoy it. If you're feeling particularly ambitious, post about it! I commend to your attention the efforts of DocTurtle and Patrick, as featured over on Smart Bitches, Trashy Books in the category of Dudes Reading Romance.

But if you're not up to tackling a romance novel, try an SF/F one. Try one of those urban fantasies with a badassed or grim-looking woman on the cover, or something steampunk, or how about epic fantasy? Kat Richardson, C.E. Murphy, Cherie Priest, Martha Wells, and N.K. Jemisin are some names that can get you started.

Or how about some books that have a foot in romance, and another in SF/F, and another in mystery/police procedurals? (Yes, that's three feet.) I first discovered Nora Roberts in her guise as J.D. Robb, and the long-running Eve Dallas series has plenty of action in a futuristic setting. It also stands out for me as one of the best examples of a long-running married relationship between the two lead characters, as well as the developing relationships of all the supporting cast. Some of the best books in the series raise questions that would be absolutely at home in any SF novel--like Born in Death, which features cloning.

If you have sons, encourage them to follow your example. Teach them not only that reading is awesome, but also that reading books about people who aren't exactly like them, written by people who aren't exactly like them, can be fun too.

If you have daughters, teach them the same--but I'd like to ask you as well to be ready to show your daughters that you support what they like to read. Especially if that means books with a woman on the cover, books where a woman is the main character, and books that are written by women.

Far too much of the publishing world is oriented around the idea of books by and about women--"chick books"--being inferior. Changing this starts with you. Thank you.