Welcome to the open mic post! Instead of me blathering on, it’s your turn! Got some good news? Just starting something? Need to complain about your characters? Let us know.
I plan on keeping this fairly loose, meaning that I don’t intend to limit the conversation to books and writing as long as it stays civil. If all goes well, I expect to do this about every six weeks. It is a bit of an experiment, so suggestions and ideas for improvement are welcome. (And does anybody know whether it should be “open mic” or “open mike”? They both look wrong to me.)
And with that, the floor is yours.
I just want to say that I re-read The Raven Ring last week, and I love it so much! I picked it up right after reading a book that I didn’t really like, and settling into these characters and this plot felt like coming home. Even with the tenseness of investigating what’s going on with the ring, it’s funny and somehow comfortable, and there are a lot of thoroughly likeable characters – both the main three and the major supporting characters like Climeral, Prill, and Commander Weziral.
SPOILER for anyone who hasn’t read this book:
One of my favorite touches is that Eleret chooses the short, funny young man over the tall, dashing one. Karvonen is by far the better option, of course; he understands both the Cilhar and Eleret herself in a way that Daner, well-intentioned as he is, was never going to manage.
Oh, my goodness, yes. Daner is limited by the blinders of the culture he grew up in, wherein women (or, anyway, ladies) are helpless bits of frou-frou whose only function is to be ornamental and get their cards read, and who must be protected from (give or take) everything in the world.
Karvonen, on the other hand, knows not to block Eleret’s sight lines.
I’ve read all the Lyra novels, but The Raven Ring is the only one I still reread every six months or so, and come to think of it, it’s getting to be that time.
Switching topics (SFX: gears grinding), is it okay to mention that after five years I’ve finally finished writing _The Golden Road_? It’s out to beta readers now, but I haven’t heard back from any of them yet.
Yes! Daner never really gets his head around the idea that what he sees as chivalry toward a lady is downright insulting to a Cilhar woman.
Speaking of favorite re-reads…Mairelon the Magician is one of my comfort reads and now might be the perfect time for it. Mairelon and Kim are such great characters, each great alone, and doubly fantastic together. 😀
Mairelon — good idea! I’ve been thinking about rereading those stories too.
I just finished rereading both of the Mairelon novels and enjoyed them again. I also just finished rereading “The Seven Towers”. That is also one of my favorites. And “The Raven Ring” is definitely the best of the Lyra novels. I expect I will be rereading it before too long.
Of course the best is the Frontier Magic series.
Congrats on finishing, Dorothy!
In reverse order – congratulations on the finished manuscript, and I hope the beta readers have useful comments! (…and once I’m done procrastinating by writing this, I need to go work on the piece which is now, uh, almost eleven years old and I-have-no-idea-how-many-words away from being finished.)
Although I’m glad that my local library is very sensibly and appropriately closed right now, I’m now regretting that I don’t own a copy of The Raven Ring; I checked it out of that library multiple times as a kid, and didn’t really expect a situation where I wouldn’t be able to do that. (I should buy a copy!)
Thank you. And:
https://www.amazon.com/Raven-Ring-Lyra-Novels-Book-ebook/dp/B006BPL29G/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Wrede+the+raven+ring&qid=1588292615&s=books&sr=1-1
Or to put it in terse mode, Amazon has copies in several different formats.
I love the Eleret/Karvonen/Daner love triangle? (it doesn’t feel like a love triangle.) So often in love triangles, one member is just a jerk, if not downright evil. But Karvonen and Daner are both good guys; one’s just more compatible with Eleret. It’s quite refreshing.
I’m doing some writing for the Doctor Who site Blogtor Who. So far, one book review. I’ve made it!! I’m a great author!! Move over, Will Shakespeare!!
Haha, if only. But I get to read books on a subject I enjoy, do some analyzing, which I enjoy, and do some writing, which ditto. Fun all around. 🙂
It has long been said that a writer has a million words of crud inside him/her, and can’t write anything worthwhile till they’ve all been written out. I did my million words on Star Trek TOS fanfic. Who fanfic may do the same for you; keep at it.
I spent thirty years as a technical writer, I’ve long since gotten my million words out!!
Anyway, I won’t be writing any fanfic for the site, that’s not what it publishes. Critical and opinion pieces, analyses, announcements, reviews, that sort of thing.
Hey, it’s an open mic, so pardon me while I go on too long.
It’s an interesting situation for those of us who (mainly) self-publish. There’s, as Dorothy Heydt says above, a lot of those million words out there, from people still figuring out what they’re doing. For those of us with experience, how can we show we’re good?
The easiest way, of course, is to stop self-publishing and get published. Now, I am actually published, although not in any major way. (Mostly the award-winning biography I remain proud of.) But a published author buddy of mine once told me not to sweat rejections, because you could never tell what an editor’s taste is.
That’s when I decided I didn’t care what some editor happened to like or want. Their taste and their venue’s preferences and quality don’t intersect. People I trust who ought to know (including that writer buddy) have been positive on the quality of my work, and, being retired from my day job, I can make my own way.
But I’m a special case, I think. I’m satisfied with my own answer to the quality question, but how someone who self-publishes can demonstrate their ability to a crowded marketplace remains open. At least to me.
The million words of crud used to get published in fanzines — the kind mimeographed on soft paper in strange colors — or not at all. Now, of course, everybody and his cousin Fred has a website.
I recently re-read The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs, and this time I particularly noticed the wonderfully baroque descriptions. I’ve been thinking that I could use a bit of that in my own writing.
I’m skeptical of the school of thought that calls for lean and laconic prose, but going the other way does have risks that I’d need to dodge.
Reading Lord Dunsany can teach a lot, even if “The First Terrible Fate that Awaiteth Unwary Beginners in Fantasy” does tend to induce a fit of writing very bad Dunsany imitations (because he’s so hard to imitate).
I don’t think I’d want to imitate Lord Dunsany even if I could do it well. The prose of John Bellairs felt light and lacy in its descriptive curlicues. Looking at Lord Dunsany on Gutenberg.org, his prose strikes me as thick and encrusted.
“(And does anybody know whether it should be “open mic” or “open mike”? They both look wrong to me.)”
As I understand it (and according to Wikipedia) either is acceptable, but “open mic” seems to be currently dominant. It comes from “open microphone” and both “mike” and “mic” are accepted abbreviations for microphone in general.
heh — yeah — I just recently convinced myself to switch from “mike” to “mic” because that seems to be the current standard — although I can’t help thinking it looks as if it ought to be pronounced “mick” rather than “mike.”
Absolutely seconded/thirded! I think I’ve always seen it written as “mic” after “open”; for some reason, possibly because of familiarity, my brain is all right with that, but (incorrectly) believes that “mic” is wrong in all other contexts.
I just wanted to say that I love your books and your blog and look forward to Wednesdays when a new post comes out. I’ve been doing National Poetry Writing Month, and one of the challenges was to write a poem using book titles. I managed to use two of your books in my poem. Here’s the link, if you’re curious:
https://silvergardenia.blogspot.com/2020/04/points-of-departure.html
I’m currently working on a speculative fiction story where the hero needs to destroy/demolish an underwater building. Any ideas of where I can find an expert on the subject? I’m hoping for demolition ideas and a fact checker. Google-searching for forums hasn’t been particularly helpful.
Yay, demolition! I have no idea where to find actual experts, but I’m happy to volunteer stray destructive ideas and undergraduate-level-physics fact-checking!
A few questions:
-Is the building currently flooded with water, air, or another substance?
-What material(s) comprise(s) the building, and how sturdy is it?
-How thoroughly does it need to be demolished?
I’m afraid I need to adjust the parameters a bit. ‘Underwater building’ is what I was using for a google search. Sorry.
It’s actually a huge pile of concrete/steel/other-hard-stuff rubble [at a convenient depth] in the ocean that is periodically uncovered by the tide. It has sat for long enough that you can’t move the individual pieces. The hero needs to get rid of about the top 20-30(?) feet of it.
My current ideas are hit it with dynamite (but don’t know how well that would work in seawater) and (long shot) wait for a really low tide and see if I can get a backhoe out there.
Hmm. I don’t know if prolonged direct contact with saltwater would be good for dynamite, or any other explosive, but TNT and RDX apparently work underwater:
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2015JEnM…33..116C/abstract
https://semspub.epa.gov/work/01/550560.pdf
According to the latter paper, someone used “nito-methane” (misspelled “nitromethane”?) underwater to explosively remove a platform (oil-drilling platform?), so probably-nitromethane might be a reasonable demolition choice? If not, searching for something like “explosive platform removal” may at least give you more information than a search for “underwater building.”
And dynamite may work as well:
https://ocean.si.edu/ecosystems/coral-reefs/fishing-dynamite
I hope some of that helps! (I think you have a decent range of demolition options; I’d choose based on how showy and/or surprising you and/or your characters want the demolition to be.)
Here’s the really, really bad option, if the pieces of the rubble pile are held together by calcium carbonate – mix a massive amount of carbonic or hydrochloric acid into that part of the ocean and let the calcium carbonate dissolve! (Carbonic acid is easy to make – all you do is fill the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and wait for it to react with seawater, and the whole ocean surface acidifies! (As I said, that’s the bad option, especially for a hero.))
Thanks for the suggestions. Very helpful.
Try looking up “Submarine blasting in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Removal of Tower and Corwin rocks” by John G. Foster, at archive.org. to see what it takes to actually remove rubble after you have drilled the holes for the explosives and blasted the rubble loose. Written in 1869, this was the standard treatise for 50 years.
Demolishing a building that isn’t a pile of rubble is different, since the resulting rubble will collapse into the interior spaces.
I’m finishing up the first draft of a fairy-tale-based novel. Somewhat like A Princess Seeks Her Fortune, but — rather longer, among other differences.
Ooh, what age range is it? I write fairy tales too (some original, some retellings), primarily for MG/YA.
Adult. But nothing really unsuitable for teens.
Awesome! Do you use beta readers? Do you have suggestions for finding them? I’m new to this, and I haven’t had great luck with the beta readers I’ve tried so far.
I’ve been working with a writers’ group that formed about a different site.
A million words, huh? That could be quite discouraging when one really didn’t start writing seriously until late in life. And is a slow writer to boot.
I’m currently at work on a fantasy in a world of my own making. Not exactly sure what fantasy subgenre it will fit in. I will know when it’s finished. Not sure it will ever be published or even read. I have some chapters out to a couple of alpha readers. But, as everyone knows, pandemic.
It’s uniquely scary and saddening to have a story (or stories actually) burning inside you and be cognizant no one may ever read them. Even when or if they are finished.
I don’t write for the sheer joy of it. I write to tell a story and to tell a story infers someone to tell the story to. My modest retirement income means I don’t need additional income. That would be the pat of butter on the mashed potatoes.
A million words? I’ll settle for a quarter of that. Like my age it’s only a number. At 68 it gives me a fighting chance.
Thank you for the open mic, Pat. I’ve been devouring every post, present and past, and cannot fully express how much I have appreciated each one of them. I think you should compile all the craft posts into a single volume. I’d pass them out to a number of writing friends.
>I think you should compile all the craft posts into a single volume.
Good news – she has!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18885487-wrede-on-writing
Done and done! Thank you.