Rekindling WISB: An Idea; Opinions Wanted
Yesterday, I was discussing some writing-related things with a friend of mine when she brought up a problem she was having with finishing her latest novel (second in a series, actually). One thing led to another and I suggested that maybe she could write some short stories in the same world so she could keep things fresh and interesting. She didn’t much care for the idea, but thought it would be a good one for me. And, I agree, sort of. One of my problems with The World in the Satin Bag and its sequel, The Spellweaver of Dern, is that I feel tired of both of them (not the blog, but the novels). Call it character fatigue, or world fatigue, or whatever, but whatever it was that had me clambering to finish The World in the Satin Bag isn’t there anymore. That’s not to say that I’m not interested, just that I don’t have the drive at the moment. So, my idea is to possibly write some short stories set in the world of WISB (Traea), to be posted here, of course. My question is whether any of you would be interested in that. The stories would probably not involve characters from the novels, but it’s possible. Let me know what you think of the idea in the comments section (hate it or love it, or indifferent, doesn’t matter). Anywho!
Out of Body Experiences…With Characters?
I had the most bizarre experience the other day. While doing homework I found myself suddenly speaking as one of the characters in a new project I’ve been working on. I started walking around the house, talking as though I was telling the story, albeit rather quietly. Then, it stopped. There must have been five minutes of this, and when I tried to write it all down, I found that I couldn’t, as if that part of me had simply been shut off. I’ve never had that happen to me. I don’t know if I’m insane or simply so fascinated by this character than talking as though I am that character is simply the way of the game. So, to determine whether my sanity has been compromised, I’d like to ask all of you whether you’ve ever had this kind of experience. Let me know in the comments! You can also tell me I’m nuts and should seek medical attention, if you so desire.
Good News: A Presentation Involving Fantasy
I recently submitted a proposal to present a paper entitled “Fabricated Histories and Non-Nationalist Identities” to a conference being held here at the University of Florida next month. Just a few days ago I found out that my proposal had been accepted. So, on November 13th, 2009, I will be presenting my paper in front of a bunch of people, probably fellow graduate students and faculty. This, I’m sure, will be a terrifying experience when I am questioned by people far more learned than myself. But, none of this seems relevant to any of you without context. This particular paper happens to spent quite a good deal of time analyzing The House of the Stag by Kage Baker, and fantastic fantasy novel from last year that I reviewed here; I also interviewed the author some time back. The paper also deals with an interesting book called In an Antique Land by Amitav Ghosh, which is not fantasy, but certainly worthy of your consideration. In any case, what I am most curious about in this paper are the relationships the characters in both novels have to history, particular that of fake or fabricated histories, and how their identities are formulated through their use of such things. It may sound dull, but the Baker text is particularly good at making this rather fascinating to a less academic crowd, since her use of a fabricated history is embodied by what you might call the “Dark Lord narrative.” I won’t go any further than that, since I have a presentation to work on, but I thought you all might find this fascinating indeed!
Science Fiction, Writing, and the Race Gap
I have recently been reading a unique book called Astrofuturism: Science, Race, and Visions of Utopia in Space by De Witt Douglas Kilgore (that name is a mouthful). One of the unique points he tries to make is that science fiction is, in some respects, racist; Kilgore does not argue that the fiction of writers like Clarke, or other more recent authors, supports racism, but that the very absence of people of color suggests, as he puts it, the extinction of non-white, non-European people. To put it differently, Kilgore makes the argument that science fiction in the past, and this is, I would argue, still true today, imagined the white European state as the continued dominant cultural pattern (think Star Trek, Star Wars, et al.). Plenty of other arguments are made in the introduction to Kilgore’s book, but this one is what struck me most. Kilgore’s take on race and how it has been perceived interests me because I have to lodge a disagreement. If RaceFail has taught us anything, it is that writing outside of one’s comfort zone is difficult, if not impossible, and that attempting to do so can lead you into a lot of trouble. One can attempt to write from a black perspective as a white male, but there have been few writers who have pulled off such a feat to the satisfaction of those most vehemently concerned with this issue. RaceFail pointed out the futility of writing PoC. But Kilgore takes all this a step further and hints at an intentional or unintentional extinction of non-white races by the fact that they are, for the most part, practically nonexistent (and when they are present, they rarely have good roles, and are, more or less, there to act as furniture, as if to say “see, we still exist”). This seems too simple. For example, to make such a claim, one must know the psychological conditions that produce these sorts of white-dominated works of fiction (some assumption is made on Kilgore’s part that all the things he has read have all been predominately about white people; for clarification, there is no assumption on Kilgore’s part that any particular author is racist, though some may be). How might where someone is raised influence one’s writing? Could we say that an author living in a predominately white area might automatically be inclined to write about white characters? And on the inverse, could we say that an author living in a more mixed place may be more inclined to write about characters of various races? They say “write what you know,” and I have to be honest in saying that I only just recently began to understand what it is like to live in a place where white is not the dominant color. Coming from California, my exposure to people of other races was limited, particularly in Santa Cruz. There were Hispanics and blacks and Japanese and Chinese, and a few Indians too. Mostly, however, Santa Cruz and all the places I had visited in California were populated mostly by white people. But here, in Gainesville, the story is different. I only realized how different when I actually came here and saw it with my own eyes. In looking back at my writing, this absence of exposure does show up in my fiction. It was never intentional, but the world that I had lived in did not make easy the process of writing about people considered different by skin color (I don’t agree with this, but dominant society does; I think race is a stupid concept anyway). Now, however, I imagine myself becoming more comfortable with the prospect of writing about characters of different colors. It’s not that I did not want to write such characters, but that I never knew how. You can’t tell someone “write a Chinese character now, and it has to be authentic” if that person is not comfortable with doing such things. We write in our comfort zones because those are the spaces we know well enough to remain close enough to reality to be accurate. But there is a lot of fear, too; after all, if you fail to properly portray a character of a certain race, you will have effectively committed career suicide. Once the mob knows you exist, it’s game over. Similar things happen if you don’t write PoC. Maybe this is isolated to myself, though. I can’t say. I know little about the biographical histories of science fiction writers, but I do know my own history. I write in my comfort zone because it’s what I know. I don’t presume to know the “black experience” or the “Japanese experience” or the “Irish experience.” I know my experience. That’s where I write from. And since that is true, then Kilgore would say that my futures are tinged with the extinction of people of other races. That seems unfair. Now it’s time for you all to chime in, because I like hearing your thoughts on things like this. Have at it!
Preliminary Cyberpunk Curriculum, and Other Considerations
I mentioned somewhere (maybe Twitter, though, to be honest, my online correspondence has largely become a blur in the last few months) that I am considering developing an independent study graduate course dealing with cyberpunk and capitalism. This interest follows my attempts to conceptualize cyberpunk as a genre and the pressing curiosity as to the capitalistic claims of the genre. With that in mind, I’ve started putting together a preliminary “reading list.” I am, of course, quite open to suggestions or modifications to this list. Your thoughts are most welcome here. So, here goes (new additions added at 7:12 PM on Sept. 28th, 10:17 AM on Oct. 1st, and 12:34 PM on Oct. 8th — more additions are on the way, I just haven’t been able to update yet). Novels:Neuromancer by William GibsonVurt by Jeff NoonDead Girls, etc. by Richard Calder (love him)Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. DickCrash by J. G. BallardThe Integrated Man by Michael BerlynThe Shockwave Rider by John BrunnerWhen Gravity Fails by George Alec EffingerMemoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw LemSpin State/Spin Control by Chris MoriartySpacetime Donuts by Rudy RuckerSnow Crash by Neil Stephenson Mirrorshades edited by Bruce Sterling Nova by Samuel R. Delany Moxyland by Lauren Beukes Babylon Babies by Maurice G. Dantec Theory, etc.:Postmodernism by Fredric Jameson The Communist Manifesto by Karl MarxMarx and Lenin (or works on them, at least)(This section is really where I need suggestions, particularly for books that are not Marxist critiques of capitalism) So, any thoughts?
Brain Freeze: Where to next?
I’ve come to a standstill on this blog. That’s not to say I don’t have anything else to say, just that I’m not sure where to go next. Having now finished the cyberpunk series, I’ve hit a point where I can offer nothing more on punk literature, primarily because I do not know enough about the other movements. Steampunk is something I’ve yet to spend considerable time reading, and all the newer punks (dieselpunk, biopunk, greenpunk, etc.) are either too new to have grown into established subgenres or unfamiliar to me. I also suspect that going on a long tear on capitalism in science fiction, particularly the critique of it, would be of little interest to all of you reading this blog. I do not want to come off as the radical Marxist science fiction guy, because I am not a Marxist by any stretch of the imagination. I simply see between the lines and readily admit that capitalism is like any other system: flawed and easily manipulated by people with “agendas.” But, I like capitalism; when regulated, it is one of the best economic models in existence. Unfortunately, this is getting away from the point of this post. In the course of writing the cyberpunk series, however, I found myself becoming remarkably out of the loop in the SF/F community. I used to have a good idea about the goings on, but it seems that has changed, or I simply find those things that are going on to be rather trite or meaningless. So, this is where I ask all of you a few questions: what are you interested in? What do you want my opinion on, or what do you feel is a pressing issue that needs addressing? Where do you think or want me to go next? I value your opinions and thoughts, which is why I am asking. Yes, this seems like I’m fishing for blogging ideas from all of you, but it is also to help me get a grasp on things that I otherwise would be unable to address. Graduate school and teaching, being what they are, does not lend one excessive amounts of free time for external research. That means, right now, I am focused on my studies, on what I intend to write about for my masters thesis, rather than on what is outside of that narrow world. I’d like you all to inject a bit of chaos into that mix (good chaos; I think I’ve had plenty of bad chaos lately, what with sick animals, broken computers, and all manner of teaching problems filling up the gaps). Push me in new directions. Leave a comment!