I’m a guest blogger at Clarion. The topic is “Does It Matter If It’s Been Done Before,” thoughts on a panel I moderated at COSine.
COSine first day
For the Theology Building panel, Carol Berg had some great questions for Sharon Shinn, Cynthia Felice and me. Carol said that religion or metaphysics became a way to deepen her characters and world. Sharon commented that in an early novel, she’d had no religion at all and it had been hard to come up with ways for her characters to swear. Cynthia agreed her focus is more on developing the character, and how that person relates to religion reveals much about them. Religion, metaphysics, magic are all sources of tension and conflict, the essence of storytelling.
The dangers? Offending people, of course, but none of us has ended up with a fatwa on our heads. No cult followings either, although Sharon Shinn admitted to trying one of the rituals she’d created just for fun. She did not have a great revelation or see God face to face—or didn’t admit to it, anyway.
I mentioned a concept that I’d heard about at Denvention 3—soft vs. hard fantasy. Similar to soft vs. hard science fiction. Soft being making up your own religion or magic, which is what many people do. Hard being using traditions that exist in the world. Which is the best? That’s like asking if it’s better to plot a book first or use the discovery method. It just depends on what works for you.
Another BroadPod Up
The BroadPod is brought to you by Broad Universe, an international, non-profit
organization dedicated to promoting, celebrating, and honoring women who write
science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
This month is hosted byJustine Graykin, freelance philosopher and science
fiction author, among other things. In this offering for January 2011, we bring
you tales of Faith and Fear. Readers Larissa Niec, Kim Vandervort, Kathryn
Hinds, Rin Kintujo, and Phoebe Wray, question hallowed beliefs and probe the
depths of anxiety, from the mythic to the medical. Hold onto your amulet!
As you listen, you can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes by dragging it
into your playlist. Subscribe and spread the word – so that more women’s voices
can be heard across the globe.
Critter’s Best of Poll
Every year Critter’s Writing Workshop has a reader’s poll of the best published that year. This year I have a story in one of the anthologies listed: The Aether Age: Helios. If you’d like to participate, you may cast your vote here.
News about COSine
Tucson Memorial
We watched the Tucson Memorial service last night because we knew it could be a moment of national healing, a moment where our hearts would be uplifted. And we were right.
One of Congresswoman Gifford’s staff talked about her healing process, how she’s there, bringing the same courage and expectation of progress to recovering from a brain injury that she brought to her work with her community and fellow Congress members.
Dr. Carlos Gonzales opened with a traditional prayer with the permission of his elders, bringing our Native American heritage front and center. He reminded us of our less than perfect beginning, but of how America struggles constantly to realize her dream. Intern Daniel Hernandez refused the label of hero. But perhaps a hero is an ordinary person doing what needed to be done. He reminded us of e pluribus unum, that out of many we become one.
President Obama spoke quietly of each victim in words that could almost have been whispered into the ears of family members, but that everyone needed to hear. He spoke of tragedy, but then he pointed to the hope—how people saved more from being killed, how people helped those who were injured, how people immediately moved toward healing. He called for us to remember that dream of perfecting our union, of remaking the world in its image, but not through the violence that has marred our history too often. He said “it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” He challenged us to be as good and as deserving of respect as the child Christina Taylor Green thought we were. “I want us to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as she imagined it.”
The president of the University of Arizona ended with Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin’s “To the New Year.” The last lines reminded me of aging, oddly enough, of that dream we had as teenagers or young adults, when we were full of idealism and hope, marching for peace, for equality, for civil rights, for women’s rights. For that dream of a more perfect world, for justice. And now, forty years later, we see our nation in almost the same place, and yet not. Some of us have despaired. Some of us have given up. But Merwin’s words assure us that the dream is still there:
so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible
The dream we worked for is still there. Other generations worked for it in the past. Other generations have been born and taken up the vision. Everything is still possible.
Classes Starting and Books Cooking
Back to work, beginning on Friday with the annual Martin Luther King Breakfast at Metro State. Always inspiring. Classes start next week. No creative writing courses this semester, but a Native American lit class which is always fun. Two books being edited now. Looking forward to seeing the suggestions. My mystery is cooking.
Words Work
My condolences to the families of those who were killed in the shooting in Arizona, and prayers and positive thoughts for those still struggling to heal. As a writer, I can only marvel at people who advocate violence in their speeches and writings, then act surprised when it manifests. Words have power. Thoughts become actions. I watched the Kennedy brothers be assassinated, and King and other civil rights leaders, too. Let’s clean it up, people. Get conscious. Be honest.