…except I don’t really feel like it. This year has been both heaven and hell in various ways. I got a day job which has made me financially stable — and it’s been eating into my ability to write. I published one book and am looking forward to two more next year… but I recently realized I’ve sold only one short story, and had none published this year — a record low since I started writing seriously. I threw a bigass party on the other side of the country, and attended a bigass party on the other side of the world — and both left me exhausted. My work has been nominated for every major award in the industry. I only won one, and I’m perfectly OK with that — “nominated for every major award” is a cool enough thing to say on its own. But it was still an emotional roller-coaster for awhile.
I’m tired, in other words, and I’m taking a vacation. I’ll be back next year, don’t worry.
In the meantime, I see other authors posting blog stats and such, so I guess I’ll do that too. I’m kind of surprised to realize there were almost 50,000 unique visitors to this site over the course of last year, 46% of which were completely new people as opposed to repeat visitors. Hiya, folks. Had no idea so many of you were out there! And here are the top blog posts of 2011 you looked at, in order by pageviews from top down:
- “Feminization” in Epic Fantasy?
- The limitations of womanhood in epic fantasy (and everywhere else, but for now, epic fantasy)
- Go@#$% Hollywood
- Dear Hollywood: How’s That Bigotry Working Out For You?
- A Brief Public Service Message
- Is There a “Rule of Three” in SFF?
- If Tolkien Were…
- Considering Colonialism
- Why is Oree Shoth Blind?
- Anime recs please!
The “feminization” post was stunningly popular — over 6000 hits at this point. And I’m leaving out things that aren’t blog posts; apparently the sample chapters of 100K and The Kingdom of Gods still get lots of hits. I also limited this to 2011, even though some older posts of mine continue to get a heavy hit-count, like this one and this one.
So by this highly informal and statistically suspect measure, you guys like it when I talk about feminism, racism, and anime/manga.
Hmm.
…Okay, then. Duly noted.
Have a great new year, ya’ll! I’m gonna go relax.
It never ceases to amaze me when I read a book by a “NEW LITERARY GENIUS”, as every author seems to be these days, but as an older reader I try to sift through the biased reviews by simply compiling World Fantasy Award winners and contenders hoping for ORIGINALITY and EXCELLENCE. By using this technique your book The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms became known to me and I have just read it. One question burns in my mind after this reading so here goes. Have you ever read Lord of Light? The (hopefully) obvious reason I ask is because your character Nahadoth is as close a copy of Lord Yama that I am surprised copyright laws were not broken. Gaiman does the same thing. So entranced am I that I am going to go back to the beginning and hope I lose interest before all the copying(and not the flattering kind) becomes too much to overlook. Originality seems to be dead in your trade, what a shame. Bring on Al Bester!! Good luck with your writing, try to be original and maybe veteran readers such as myself will be compelled to read more of your work; I personally have no interest in book 2,3 etc.
You do what you do so well. Don’t beat yourself up too much. Also, don’t forget that there is a creative cycle. You have to have some down time or the muse (simply a name for our creative juices) can’t perform. The best of anything (you name it) has to take a rest and let the creative energy build again.
May the best of 2011 be the worst of your 2012.
Mr. Bennett,
You do realize that the character you’re referencing, that Lord Yama, is based on an actual god from Hindu/Buddhist mythology, correct? Are you suggesting that, somehow, Roger Zelazny was being original by appropriating the gods of another religion for his own purposes, while Ms. Jemisin, who most certainly did her own research on gods and goddesses before building her own pantheon, is ripping him off? You can’t copyright a god.
Marina et possible al,
No need to defend me. When someone is so ill-informed and in such a lather, there’s really no point in arguing. (And Mr. Bennett is forgetting all the other people who’ve used the same mythological base for their fiction: Edgar Allen Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Rudyard Kipling, Frank Herbert, Tanith Lee, Louise Cooper, C. S. Friedman, D.C. Comics, and several thousand years’ worth of writers and mangaka in Asia. It would be nice if, in his froth over my unoriginality, he would at least do me the courtesy of acknowledging everyone I “stole” from. Ah, well.)
Better to just nod and smile and wish him a happy new year, and otherwise focus on more interesting things.
hiya, sorry to be off topic but I saw your PLG list on Yelp and just wanted to say hello to a fellow nerdy black girl in the hood. i’m fairly new to the area and still trying to figure out what’ where, so thanks for yelping. i’m subscribing to your blog right now. have a happy new year!
Will gladly do so then. I apologize if I’ve caused any trouble.
I got One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms for Christmas and I’ll be looking for more of your stuff. I love it when authors do their research, especially if they’re taking on something as old and familiar as gods and men. And since I over-indulged in myths and fairy tales as a child I get an extra-special thrill when I can (or think I can) trace the lineage of a god. They’ve been with humanity for so long it just seems disrespectful to reject all the lore that’s already in place.
BTW, I read your Dec. 14 post and you were wondering what volcanoes smell like. Haven’t been near an erupting one, but the tops of the active Cascade and Andean volcanoes I’ve climbed smelled like rotten egg. They tend to sprout steam vents on the crater rim and that’s where the reek comes from. Most had snow in their craters; the rims are pretty rocky and as the summer progresses the snow melts and you get something that looks like a dish filled with snow. However, Cotopaxi has this crater-in-a-crater thing going on and though the peak is covered in glaciers the inmost crater is bare, black rock. A gate to hell, closed but not locked. Not sure that was useful, but since I like your diligence I thought I’d offer that.
Have a wonderful vacation! My spouse and I both love your books and have already pre-ordered the first two Dreambloods — really looking forward to more of your wonderful storytelling.
I don’t recall K?lauea Caldera having a distinct odour but every time the wind shifted towards KMC it felt like someone was scooping my lungs out with a scoop.
This is a handy post for me to have come upon in my first visit, since it gives me a starting point for wandering around. I just finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and I wanted to mention that I thought it was truly great. I find that it is still nagging at my brain around the edges, six hours later, like the best books do.
I was also heartened to see you mention critters.org in the acknowledgements, as I feel as though gotten quite a bit out of that myself – maybe it isn’t just wishful thinking.