What fantasy authors do in their spare time, part #354:

/ 19 Comments / Guestblogs, Natter, Thinkythoughts / By

Talk about deep stuff. Like, why are there Chosen Ones, and why aren’t more of them jerks? In private email, got to conversing with Sam Sykes, a fellow debut fantasy author of Tome of the Undergates, about the whole concept of the Chosen One and the trope’s not-so-subtle inherent message that birth matters more than effort. He’s got the whole discussion up on his website, but here’s an excerpt from, well, myself: I mean, yeah, Chosen Ones are problematic as hell, and it’s creepy and depressing that the fantasy readership rewards this narrative with bestseller sales without seeming to question […]

What fantasy authors do in their spare time, part #354: KEEP READING

Bestseller!

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For those of you who’ve seen the January 2011 print issue of Locus, this will not be news. But for the rest of you — The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms made the bestseller list! Specifically in ninth place, and specifically on the “paperbacks” (mass market) subset of the list, based on data from October 2010. Details, details. MY BOOK IS A BESTSELLER, YA’LL. Dance with me!

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BLADDOW!!

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Y’know, sometimes I just have to stop and contemplate how lucky I am, ya’ll. I mean, there are times when it gets to me: the performance anxiety, the fear of failure, the Bookscan/Amazon/etc. numbers, the deadline pressure, the financial struggle. I’m a “big picture” kinda gal, but I’m also human, and in this business it’s easy to get bogged down in the details. But every so often, something happens that smacks me out of my navel-gazing, and makes me notice the forest, not the trees. That thing is this: Whassat, you say? A little zoom-in: Ahem. BLADDOW! (Because every writer

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Comforting Futures, and Whether (or Why) We Should Avoid Them

/ 4 Comments / On Writing, Thinkythoughts / By

Meant to post this yesterday, but was traveling for the weekend and got home exhausted. So this continues my one-year-long “tradition” of writing anti-oppression-related posts on MLK Day; it’s just late, sorry. I’m working on a dystopian short story right now. It’s tough going; those of you who follow me on Twitter have probably seen me whining about it, until fellow SFF writer Nnedi Okorafor told me to stop whining and write! So I’m writing. But one of the problems I’m having with this story is the fact that I keep pulling my punches. It’s set in the future, after

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Even if I tell you, you won’t know.

/ 4 Comments / On Writing, WTF World? / By

That raspy, too-sweet voice. Lil was in my home, making me breakfast, after eating some Orderkeepers that Shiny had murdered. “What in the Maelstrom are you doing here?” I demanded. “And show yourself, damn it. Don’t hide from me in my own home.” She sounded amused. “I didn’t think you liked my looks.” “I don’t, but I’d rather know you’re not standing there slavering at me.” “You won’t know that even if you see me.” But she appeared, facing me in her deceptively-normal form. (A bit from The Broken Kingdoms, chapter 4.) As I mentioned in the FAQ post a

Even if I tell you, you won’t know. KEEP READING

FAQ you, you FAQing FAQ!

/ 8 Comments / 100K, Natter, Spoilerrific / By

As some of you may know, I started a new full time job recently. Yay, regular income and cheap health insurance! And the job itself is great so far, but since I’m still kind of a full time writer, time has just become my most valuable commodity. So to maximize my free time — so I can use it on writing, natch — I’ve decided to put together a Frequently Asked Questions. Much of the FAQ will refer back to questions I’ve already answered here, in posts and comments. I’m also going to tackle a few questions that I seem

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Character Study: Itempas

/ 6 Comments / 100K, BrightGod / By

OK, this got prematurely posted a few days ago thanks to the unmiracle of scheduled blog post publishing; I clicked “OK” when I should’ve clicked “Save for later”, basically. Took it down a few minutes later, but those of you on the RSS feed might’ve seen it already. Sorry ’bout the confusion. Anyway: I spent a lot of time trying to decide whether it was safe to do a Character Study for the big guy yet, given that his role in the trilogy isn’t yet over. (Not a spoiler; if a god’s not dead, s/he’s not done.) Spoilers for both

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Award Strategizing

/ 30 Comments / 100K, Awards / By

So now that 2010 is done and other authors are starting to put out their not-quite-solicitations for Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy award nominations, I suppose I’ll jump on the bandwagon. Sorta. Because I’ve got an odd request. See, I’ve got two eligible short stories (“The Effluent Engine” and “On the Banks of the River Lex”) and two eligible novels this year. I’ve actually published three shorts, not two, but the third, “Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters,” is ineligible for a Hugo or Neb due to being published in the UK rather than

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Postmodern Epic Fantasy?

/ 26 Comments / On Writing, The Industry / By

Spotted an intriguing line in io9’s Power List of 20 people who rocked SF/F in 2010. I’m not one of them, alas, though I noted a great blurb there about Orbit’s publishing director Tim Holman. Tim rightly deserves the spotlight in that article, but, well, I’m just gonna own my narcissism here. What caught my eye was this: Looking at Orbit’s 2010 titles, too, you’re struck by their range, from hard science fiction icon Greg Bear to space opera master Iain M. Banks, and from postmodern epic fantasy author N.K. Jemisin to steampunk innovator Gail Carriger. So now I’m thinking,

Postmodern Epic Fantasy? KEEP READING

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