words

Why does realism matter?

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Something annoying: The author of this io9 article about a panel discussion on fantasy highlights a Lev Grossman quote, then goes nowhere with it. Here’s the quote:

“Why does realism matter?”

Simple, isn’t it? and nice.

But it’s true. Why is realistic fiction useful? If I want to understand the horrors of war, the pain of divorce, the disappointment of seeing a business fail, I don’t need to read fiction. There’s non-fiction on that very subject. I could read the real thing not a fake version made up by someone.

So forget about justifying the utility of fantasy. How do people justify the utility of realism?

Let me answer my own question: Because it’s beautiful. Because it’s powerful and affecting and we love it.

And that’s no different from fantasy. We’re comparing best to best, right? We’re not comparing the best examples of one genre to the worst of the other, right?

The best fantasy is powerful, affecting, and beautiful. (Maybe that should be “and/or” because sometimes the powerful and affecting parts are not at all beautiful.) It’s not all that different from other kinds of fiction. Sure, it contains elements that the author made up, but all authors make things up. Novelists aren’t trying to write non-fiction, and I don’t see any reason to force fantasy to justify it’s utility in ways that other genres don’t have to.

“Why does realism matter?” Because we long for it, the same way we do for fantasy.

In unrelated news, I broke the 9K mark on my epic fantasy, and the world is still collapsing around my main characters. In fact, there’s more collapsing to go. Fun! But I’ve already started worrying about how long the book is going to go (which is dumb but I’m a worrier).

Won’t someone think of the children?

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A fretful grownup has written yet another article complaining about grim subject matter in modern YA, this time published in the NY Times. It deserves to be refuted, but this shit is so tiresome I can’t work up the energy for it.

Luckily, Rose Fox has already addressed it, and done a better job than I would have. Phew.

TV Tropes has a story generator?

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It sure does.

I’ll never struggle with a story again, although I’m not sure if that’s because the generator will give me what I need or I won’t surface from TV Tropes long enough to write one.

Seen via Fred Hicks

My #FridayReads is still The Name Of The Wind

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Jeez, that book is slow.

Yesterday I sent a short story for an anthology over to the editor. It’s a little long, but maybe it will work for them anyway. At the moment I can’t see what else to cut from it, but in about two weeks I’ll probably think it’s twice what it should be.

Anyway, the story is called “Don’t Chew Your Food” and as I mentioned before it’s set in the world of Don’t Rest Your Head an indie horror rpg by the folks at Evil Hat. If you play with character sheets and dice, you should check out their site. My story is about a celebrity chef and… well… eating. Can you tell I’m reducing, as they used to say?

I was also paid for a short story I wrote for a different anthology, although I’m not sure if it’s meant to be talked about in public. It’s a shared world anthology with a growing background, and my story is about a mage who specializes in love magic.

Fun! Short fiction, it was nice to hang with you for a while. Don’t be such a stranger, okay?

Today I’m walking across the bridge to work on the new newest book, an epic (hopefully) fantasy with the working title A Blessing of Monsters (aka “Fantasy with gate magic”).

No, it’s not a Twenty Palaces book, but I can’t sit around doing nothing until I hear the official word, right? Must work work work.

Anyway, I’m turning off the internet for a few hours so I can get a long walk in, plus writering. And today I’ll remember my house keys. Happy October.

Jumping ahead of the usual NaNoWriMo question

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I’m not doing it.

I never do it. Some people actually seem offended when I say that, but NaNoWriMo doesn’t make sense for me. The daily wordcount isn’t that high and it’s what I ought to be doing anyway, right? Every month, not just November.

This isn’t a condemnation of the event itself. If you want to register and write along with other people, I think that’s great. Have fun and remember that you should keep going once December arrives.

But for me, no.

Apparently, I’m a “special snowflake”

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I just returned from NW Bookfest where, on a panel, author Mark Teppo referred to urban fantasy authors who make up their own monsters as “special snowflakes.”

Well guess what? I am special, because I think UF has to open itself beyond the same stock supernatural characters if it’s going to survive long term.

I’m also a snowflake, in that I melt when you touch me with your tongue.

I hope that’s clear.

Friday quick notes

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1) I’m taking the family to see Steven Tobolowski live on our local NPR affiliate this morning. Exciting! My son loves his show (my son loves oral storytelling) and we can’t wait to see how it goes. And I don’t think I have to say that I’m also a big fan of Steve Scher, the interviewer.

2) I get a lot of people asking me about the status of the Twenty Palaces books, so I’m going to say: Please stop. I’m waiting to hear something official from my editor at Del Rey, but I’m not going to announce anything until I get the final word from them.

Believe me, when I finally hear, the first person I share the news with will be my wife. The second person will be the whole rest of the world. But it’s a stressful time right now, so please don’t keep prodding me. When I know, you’ll know, believe me.

3) After years of hearing about other writers receiving anthology invitations, I’ve started getting some of my own. The only one I’m sure I’m allowed to talk about is a book related to Evil Hat’s Don’t Rest Your Head rpg, which is being edited by Chuck Wendig. And I have a nasty little story idea in mind…

4) I sent a revised copy of A Key, An Egg, An Unfortunate Remark to my agent. New book! Hopefully soon.

5) I’ve been planning a large politics post for quite a while, and hearing that the U.S. government just killed a U.S. citizen without due process is prodding me to get around to it. Watch (or avoid) this space.

Randomness for 9/29

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1) The Dead Sea Scrolls are available online.

2) A flowchart guide to NPR’s top 100 sf/f books. “Enjoy stories about orphaned farm boys?” “No.” “Tough.”

3) M&Ms viewed through water drops.

4) How not to impress a publisher. And it’s all true, which won’t surprise anyone.

5) How to peel a whole head of garlic in ten seconds.

6) Photos of supers in their off moments. Of course Wonder Woman is the only one in a sexual activity and, um, considering the history of the character… Never mind. Love the Spider-man, though. Via Bill Martell.

7) Edible super-hero logos. Hellboy in chili is perfect, but I doubt the Punisher has ever gone near soy yogurt in his life.

Randomness for 9/26

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1) A die to cure writer’s block. It jingles when you roll it, so that has to be worth $45.

2) How many continents are there? Video.

3) Joe Lansdale beats the hell out of his son-in-law (in a martial arts exhibition). Video. As always, I’m a little dubious about this stuff, but it’s still cool to watch.

4) This is odd. via @mizkit on Twitter

5) Beautiful, anonymous paper sculptures being left at Scottish Museums.

6) Soon-to-be Father of the Year photoshops Ewoks into family photos to convince kids they are real.

7) A fantastic new webcomic.

“That’s the end?”

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That was my wife and son’s reaction when I read the final line of The Hobbit to them last night. (It was this edition, so we had to stop often to admire the artwork–although I can’t say I was fond of the way the elves were portrayed.)

As family reading time goes, this was a long one, or maybe it just seemed long because I was the only one reading it. Usually we trade chapters between the three of us, but there was no way I was going to ask my dyslexic wife to read all those dwarf names over and over. That would have been hell for her. And since my son is not enthusiastic about reading aloud at the best of times, I gladly took on the task myself.

The only problem: we were watching DVD previews of… something last week (not a good sign, eh?) and the LOTR blue ray was one of them my son was startled to hear Elijah Wood say the name “Gandalf.”

“Didn’t you know?” I said. “The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are set in the same world. They’re connected.”

“Oh. Let’s read those next.”

And my heart sank. I’m happy that he’s (finally) warming up to fantasy, but there’s no way I can ask my wife to read LOTR aloud, so all the books would be on me and me alone.

Not only that, but much of Fellowship… is freaking dire. I’m sorry; I know there are people out there who lurve the books so much they read them every year or whatever, but too much of the early travel stuff is just tedious. And Bilbo’s birthday party takes forever to get to.

I’m tempted to break the family rule and skip the books in favor of the movies.