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Messages - becroberts

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Author Craft / Re: Science Fantasy worlds
« on: March 01, 2007, 08:54:20 PM »
Quote from: Dom on March 01, 2007, 06:54:27 PM
You know, I just realized I never quite defined how I'm using the word "science fantasy".  To me, a science fantasy is a novel set on a world that technically has sci-fi origins (ie, colonized by a ship from earth), but said people on the world have forgotten everything about that past, and usually have regressed to a mediaeval level of technology, so the story itself generally plays out more like a fantasy, with ancient complex machines sometimes taking place of ancient complex magic.

That actually makes me think of the Samaria books by Sharon Shinn, which initially look like religious fantasy about angels but are actually about a group of people brought from a dying world in a spaceship that they think is their god. There's a solid romance angle but to me, the most fascinating part is reading about the various human peoples and the angels slowly coming to realise their origins, about the few scraps of technology they still have, and why creating new technology is frowned upon.

So while I can't compare to the books you've listed, as I haven't read them, I think you're on to something about science fantasy worlds being intriguing.

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Author Craft / Re: Your Writer's Place
« on: January 04, 2007, 06:45:16 PM »
Quote from: blgarver on January 03, 2007, 10:47:59 PM

I think most effectively in the shower.  Something about the running water.  I usually end up falling asleep in the bath.

I would, but when I'm in the shower I spend entirely too much time trying to get the water temperature right to let my mind wander.  :D

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Author Craft / Re: Your Writer's Place
« on: January 03, 2007, 08:45:27 PM »
When I'm working on novels, I'm generally sitting at my dining room table, slaving over a hot laptop. ^_^ For general plotting, snippets and fanfics, I could be anywhere. At work, in bed, on the couch in the lounge. I have notebooks for all occasions and a handy stash of Parker pens, so I'm prepared for sudden inspiration. Music is optional, but if I'm listening to it then it has to be right for the scene. For example, if I need to write angst, I'll listen to R.E.M.

Of course, this doesn't help when inspiration strikes while I'm in the bath, which happens quite a lot. I wind up juggling a couple of pages worth of dialogue in my head until I get out, get dried and dressed and grab a notebook. I figure lying back in the water has to be good for letting the imagination fly free, or something like that. Same with going for walks.

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Author Craft / Re: Writing every day
« on: January 03, 2007, 08:39:08 PM »
I agree that every little bit you can do is an achievement. Unless you're lucky enough to be able to devote all your waking hours to writing, life is inevitably going to get in the way. My productivity during the week has gone down immensely since I started working full-time, and I don't even have to cope with kids/pets/studies. I'm happy if I can get in a 1000 on a weekday evening, though if I have more than a few hours, I can generally produce anywhere from 3000 to 5000. (And if I try for more than that my fingers start cramping, so I know it's time for a break!) Yes, I might be producing utter rubbish by looking at my word count, but I rather like looking at the count and seeing what I've accomplished. I always go back over the most recent parts anyway and make any necessary changes, and I haven't had to fix too much. (Except on the odd occasion where I accidentally move the action outside when the characters are still inside, but never mind...)

As for those bouts of fiendish plotting, I don't count them towards actual writing but I do consider them an important part since they usually involve working out roughly how the next chapter or so will go. I'll occasionally scribble down some scenes in script format to include later, but mostly it's making notes on the sequence of events.

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Author Craft / Re: Readers--what would you like to see?
« on: October 14, 2006, 03:01:32 PM »
Quote from: Kali on October 14, 2006, 01:10:00 PM
A fantastic blend of high fantasy, police procedural, and horror ('cause some of her crimes are graphic and all of 'em are brutal) is the trilogy by Tamara Siler Jones.  Ghosts in the Snow is the first, Threads of Malice is the second, and Valley of the Soul is the third. Valley is due out at the end of October.


These sound like the sort of books my mother and I would both love! *notes down titles and prepares to go hunting*

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Author Craft / Re: Readers--what would you like to see?
« on: October 14, 2006, 08:18:01 AM »
Quote from: Richelle on October 14, 2006, 07:42:13 AM
Oh hey, meant to ask this since we're talking about alternate genres.  Has anyone heard of any books that are mysteries set in a high fantasy world?

I haven't read any, which is why I'm writing some.  :D

My main character is a police detective in a fantasy world where forensic mages are sent out to cover crime scenes and a man is just as likely to have died from a gunshot wound as being swiped by a dragon's claws. (Yes, my dragons are actual dragons. No human forms allowed.)

Actually, come to think of it, there's one Mercedes Lackey book that might fit your description. 'Four and Twenty Blackbirds', if I recall correctly. A police constable investigates a series of murders that are being carried out by magic.

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Author Craft / Re: Hark! (Characters)
« on: October 13, 2006, 10:56:29 PM »
Sometimes I'll have a great-sounding idea for a character name and their personality and background automatically fills itself in based on that name. Other times I'll have a need for a particular type of character first, and the name and other details come in later. Courtesy of wacky RPG-creating with my brother, I have a stock of a hundred or so characters with names, looks and personalities that I draw on and adapt to suit my purposes in a story. There's a certain amount of mixing and matching involved, of course, and I do occasionally throw in personality quirks or history inspired by RL people and events. That's one of the great joys of writing fantasy - it's okay for characters to be as offbeat and strange as you need them to be!

Because I write mainly from a first-person perspective, it isn't often that other characters show up to demand that the story be all about them. The characters with the most extreme/memorable traits tend to be given smaller roles anyway, so they make the most of their moments to shine  :D

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Author Craft / Re: Beginnings
« on: September 27, 2006, 10:37:55 AM »
I'm another one that rarely pays attention to first lines, with the possible exception of Watership Down. It's not often I remember them and if I decide to give up on a book (rarely happens), it'll be because the first 30 or so pages didn't hook me, not the opening line.

That said, here's one of mine:

It looked like a suicide, right down to the bottle of imp poison on the floor and the suicide note on the coffee table. But the buzzing behind my eyes was telling me different.

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Author Craft / Re: Heroes/ines in Contemporary Supernatural Fiction
« on: September 16, 2006, 09:51:01 PM »
Quote from: fjeastman on September 16, 2006, 08:58:23 PM

Murder is first, then the kissing.


As it should be.  ;)  (Unless it's leading up to necrophilia in which case I'm not sure I want to know!)

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Author Craft / Re: Heroes/ines in Contemporary Supernatural Fiction
« on: September 16, 2006, 06:59:21 PM »
Quote from: Richelle on September 16, 2006, 07:47:02 AM
A lot of the female voices are starting to sound alike, so I like Jim's freshness a lot.  Makes me wonder if I really could even pull off the book I was talking about in the other thread with a male narrator.

Agreed. And most of them have much flashier cars, too.  :)

How about this: try writing a scene from a male POV but don't mention anything gender-specific, then give it to someone to read and ask them to identify the narrator's gender.

I prefer to write men, myself. I do so mostly in the third person and haven't yet had any complaints of feminising the narrator - of course that may change if I ever succeed in getting my books published! How much having a cross-gender author-narrator matters varies with the plot and what the author chooses to emphasise; if a female narrator spends a lot of time complaining about period pain, it will probably sound more realistic if the author is female.

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Author Craft / Re: Vampire Use In Contemporary Fantasy
« on: September 16, 2006, 06:39:24 PM »
Quote from: Cathy Clamp on September 16, 2006, 06:28:38 PM
I would personally like to see a couple of vampire novels in first person male. But a vampire story, sort of a noir detective thing, might be a lot of fun. Maybe even set in the 30's or 40's. That could be a kick. Sort of a "Mickey Spillane with fangs."  Heh. 

P.N. Elrod's Vampire Files series would be perfect for you, then. They were what turned me on to urban fantasy in the first place, and are still a constant presence on my bookcase. First person male, vampire reporter-turned-detective/nightclub owner/part-time mobster in the 1930s.

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Author Craft / Re: Vampire Use In Contemporary Fantasy
« on: September 15, 2006, 04:07:35 PM »
Quote from: fjeastman on September 15, 2006, 03:19:41 PM

I think the overall "image" of the market for these books is female ... and that the impression is all female readers desire a romance novel ... with added content. 


All the urban fantasy readers I know IRL are female, but yeah, based on the board demographics the genre is just as popular with males. What irritates me is the idea that female readers need romance (or more) in a book to enjoy it. I may be in the minority with this opinion but I really don't enjoy reading romance. Flirtatious dialogue is one thing; watching couples spar in a will-they won't they fashion is good entertainment and I enjoy writing it myself. But when a good chunk of the plot is dedicated to romance in some way, particularly when there's a lot of physical interaction, it bores me to tears.

I get round this in my own books by giving my protagonist a love interest who refuses to date him, as he would have to dismantle his partner first and he's not prepared to do that. This way I get to put in as much fun and flirting as I like, but save the angst for more important things.

(We seem to have lost the vampires somewhere along the way, don't we? This is an interesting topic, though, so perhaps we should start a 'Heroes vs. Heroines' thread or something.)

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Author Craft / Re: web expressions and semi-formal writing
« on: September 15, 2006, 10:26:28 AM »
Very occasionally when writing a letter to tech-friendly friends I'll use emoticons in my text, but I would certainly never do such a thing in a formal situation. But then, I'm one of these people who insist on chatting and texting in full sentences, whether my actual language is informal or not, and I'm less appalled by violent crime than by kids using text message English in their exam papers.


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Author Craft / Re: Vampire Use In Contemporary Fantasy
« on: September 15, 2006, 10:20:47 AM »
Quote from: Richelle on September 15, 2006, 02:33:02 AM
Would I be consigning the book to oblivion by having a guy tell it?  Or is the market ready for more of that kind of thing (Harry being a success)? 

I can't speak for the rest of the market but I'm certainly ready for more male narrators. Not that I won't read books with female narrators - I'm not that picky about my urban fantasy, provided there aren't too many gratuitous shoe references - but I simply enjoy male protagonists more. (Notably Harry Dresden and Jack Fleming.) Can't figure out why this is, mind you, unless it's because the men seem to get less sex (or less graphic sex when they do get it) and I prefer tasteful 'fade to black' type scenes.

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Author Craft / Re: Vampire Use In Contemporary Fantasy
« on: September 04, 2006, 10:23:45 PM »
Quote from: BigMama on September 04, 2006, 03:43:26 PM
Dom, I wonder if the trend will be away from the paranormal-- vamps, fairies and were's, and toward the supernatural--angel's, demons, ghosts. I think this may be the "new" genre that will become hot. I agree that the "spiritual" seems to be gaining some momentum.

Demons? Oh good. I can be trendy for once, then.  :D

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