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Lurking Musings

~ Musings of a newly published writer

Lurking Musings

Tag Archives: writing

New Year post (belated)

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

brexit, carrie fisher, celebrity deaths, donald trump, Gods of the Deep, Happy New Year, Photography, writing


warriorprincess

I’d like to say that this first post of the new year is late because I have only just finished partying. That would, however, be a lie. It is late because I have just been so busy doing other things.

No, that is also a lie.

I have simply not been sure what to write.

Which is odd for me because I am not usually that bad at thinking of things to write about. The main reason this blog gets neglected is usually because of one of the other two things mentioned above. OK, I admit, mostly the second one – I get too busy with other things, my days of constant partying are I feel in the past :). However, the nature of 2016 has been such that I am overall not sure what to think about it and I do not feel I am alone in this.

It was the year of celebrity deaths. A year in which when we thought George Michael might be the last of the shocks*, it hits us with the sad passing of Carrie Fisher and then William Christopher (of M.A.S.H fame). Though, it is worth pointing out that the Wikipedia page on celebrity deaths does have Robert Taussat (French historian and author) listed last for December 2016. However, I am not sure if this means he was the last one to go or if the list is in no real order.

D.A Lascelles, Alex Campbell, NinfaHayes and Dianna Hardy

The Urban settings panel at Sandbach

On the subject of Carrie Fisher, I did spend a lot of time browsing through this site of tributes by artists. I was first of all amused by the fact it is actually a hell of a lot more than 10 tributes (last I looked it was over 100) and also by the many different views artists have of her. There are ones here that play on her famous quote (“No matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.”  which was her response to George Lucas’s quite sexist remark about there being no underwear in space because of some nonsense about pressure), ones that show her love for her dog and ones that show her as she was before she died – i.e. not just focussing on her as she was in her best known role. I am not linking or showing any of the art here as I wish to respect the copyright of the artists but I do encourage you to go check out that page and wallow in all the bittersweet.

This was also the year of politics gone wrong with Brexit and Trump throwing the UK, US and a chunk of the rest of the world in to shock. We are now facing a year in which we have to deal with the consequences of those decisions, good or bad. There are naturally concerns about the rise of the right in both cases and I am not sure that those who voted for either will actually get what they were expecting to get.

On a more personal note, this was a mixed year for me. In terms of my real world job I lost one not very secure position that I was hoping to make more permanent by December but very quickly gained one that is, while technically less secure, still seems to have more promise of permanence in the near future. So, overall not too bad, if a little uncertain on the career front.D A Lascelles Gods of the Deep Kindle Fantasy Swashbuckling

In terms of creative stuff, I have been really ramping up the photography in the past year and feel I am improving massively in both taking photos and editing them. This has been partly down to some epic mentorship from Ste Manns of Quattrofoto on the ins and outs of photoshop and partly down to the efforts of the JW Creative network – a group of photographers, models and make up artists who collaborate on some crazy projects. They have given me the chance to practise shooting with experienced models and photographers in an open and friendly environment where I can get helpful advice and support. I have posted one of my favourite shots from these gatherings here and you can see the rest on my Flickr account…

Finally, in terms of writing this has been a good year. I completed Gods of the Deep (finally… its only taken 6 years from conception to birth…) and attended a number of events including EasterCon, the Manchester Author signing and the Sandbach author signing. All of these I considered successful events in terms of my personal goals and I am looking forward to more of the same next year. Not only that, but I have had at least two people tell me how much they enjoyed reading Gods of the Deep which was a real boost to my ego.

I guess the one downside to my creative year was not doing what I promised to do and revamp this website… I’ll get round to that soon, I promise…

So, I am not usually one for resolutions but I am going to make myself a promise for the coming year. That is to do more creative things – try to advance at least one creative project, even if only by a little, each day. Whether it is take a photo, edit a photo, write more of a story or edit more of a story. At the moment, in terms of writing projects, I am currently skating on the edge of the void that is about to become ‘The Silver Tower’ – a SF tale set in Manchester which is looking like it may well be aimed at a YA audience. I’ll keep you all posted on that and hopefully this one won’t take six years to write…

*In what is possibly the most ironic timing of all time – the artist famous for ‘Last Christmas’ dies on Christmas day… even in death the man had a talent.

The nature of myths

16 Friday Sep 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

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Tags

Greek myths, Homer, Iliad, Legends, Myths, Odyssey LRP, Photos of Egyptians, Photos of Greeks, Photos of Romans, Trojan war, Troy, Vampires, writing


This topic has been on my mind recently because a few weekends ago, the LRP event I used to be a major part of (Odyssey LRP – which I have talked about in the past on here) came to a satisfying end. Through seven years of ongoing story, many of the characters worked through story arcs which matched those seen in mythology. Several found themselves ascending to godhood or higher, others emerged as political leaders of their people. There was glory, honour and tragedy; with much of the plot driven by the inevitable heroic fatal flaw. All in all it was an emotional finale.black-and-white-stand

As part of the preparation for this event we listened to some podcasts on myths and legends. In particular, one on the Trojan war by Paul Vincent which I feel highlights the problem (or maybe the advantage) with mythological heroes – heroes are idiots. Seriously, have you actually looked at that story? They make massive mistakes in tactics and common sense which lead to what should have been a very quickly settled dispute into ten years of constant siege. I am fairly sure that they were suffering from the age old problem of the self fulfilling prophesy in that the gods decided that there has to be a war and it must last ten years so the mortals channel their stupidity to ensure that a) the war happens and b) it carries on as long as the gods say it should.

zodiacblurredfightBut that issue is only part of what I want to talk about here. The main focus of this post is that weird transition between myths and history. The events in the Iliad and Odyssey, for example, combine elements of both. Archaeological evidence points at the existence of Troy, there is a good chance that there was indeed a war there between Greece and Troy. There have even been attempts at working out the exact date of this war by use of dating techniques and evidence of bodies buried near the ruins of what is believed to be Troy. The podcast also talked about how many of the historic kings of Greece claimed descent from the (in)famous kings described in these myths. Though it is unclear whether they actually were descended from those people (assuming they even existed) or were just legitimising their claim to the throne.

I think the problem here is actually based on lack of actual historic evidence coupled with biased oral history reporting. Stories passed down for generations from a time when little was actually recorded which are embellished in each retelling by individuals who have a good reason to amp up the exploits of their ancestors or excuse them their sins by blaming them on fate or the gods. The result is a bizarre merging of myth and reality where the actual exploits of individuals get exaggerated to the point where they take on a supernatural air. Cultures like the  Celts have been  shown to have added  a creative and boastful bent to their oral storytelling – where a story of one man defeating two becomes the same man defeating ten and ultimately hundreds of enemies. The ancient Greeks would likely to have had the same tendency and it is easy to see how many famous warriors became demigods. Chances are they were good – good enough to make a name – and their fame spread and grew and their stories were embellished and added to until they were legends.

psychopomp

A character at Odyssey LRP enters the underworld (with a little help from photoshop).

 

 

So, how does this apply to a writer? Well, it is an insight into the nature of story in general and myths specifically and can be applied other things to0, such as faerie tales. Many Urban Fantasy novels play with ideas of myths and legends – whether they are vampires, werewolves, fey, wizards or similar. Thinking critically about the stories you are playing with can help to make these more believable, especially if it is removed to a modern setting. What is the real reason why vampires do not show up in mirrors? Is this even a real thing in your world or is it just a confused story based on the recollections of survivors of vampire attacks whose perception of the events may not have been fully reliable due to stress? What about all this stuff about garlic and crucifixes? If I were an ancient undead creature trying to survive, I’d probably consider spreading some rumours about things that can kill me in the hope that the prey would turn to them when attacked instead of investigating more reliable methods. Then I could laugh at their pathetic attempt to kill me with a spear made of garlic while killing them, making sure no one knows the garlic failed. Or maybe there was a vampire who was actually allergic to garlic or one who really hated the church to the extent of reacting badly to any symbol from it and the story grew from there?* What about all the legends of fey and the rules associated with them? Can we apply a rational rule to these too? Probably.

img_5056Also, I guess you can say there is precedent (Classical Precedent at that, you cannot get much more venerable that Homer***) for allowing your characters to be idiots. Always a good way to progress a plot and make readers shout ‘No! Don’t do that, you idiot!’ at the page while they read.

Ian Stewart** said that we are Pan narrans (the story telling ape) rather than Homo sapiens (the wise man). Telling stories is our strength but sometimes the way we tell them mutates them. Understanding this can help a writer produce more unique ideas, or at least present old ones in a new way.

*It is worth pointing out here that AFAIK (correct me if wrong) the earliest example of vampire being repelled by crucifix is Dracula but since then every single one seems to have that weakness. Could it be that Dracula merely had a personal grudge against Catholicism due to their perceived betrayal and other vampires are perfectly fine with it? What about atheist vampires or those of other religions?

**In The Science of Discworld series, which is well worth a read for many many reasons. It has been invaluable to me as a science teacher for the way it interprets and describes scientific theories and challenges preconceptions. They’re also great fun, and not in the way science teachers (like me) often say ‘this is going to be fun’.

*** Not that ‘Homer’ apparently existed. Evidence suggests it was a name given to a story teller so the Iliad and the Odyssey are actually collections of folk tales. Probably the most popular versions of those tales. So again we have the oral tradition getting involved.

Gods of the Deep

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Productivity, Publicity

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Tags

#MAEG2016, EasterCon, Friday 13th, Gods of the Deep, gods of the sea, GRR Martin, JF Holland, Kindle, Lauren C Waterworth, Paperback book, Pirates, Steampunk fair, swashbucklers, writing


Well, it has been a long time coming. It seems like I have been talking about a sequel to Gods of the Sea ever since the Pirates and Swashbucklers anthology first came out all those years ago. In fact, it was quite ominously Friday 13th April 2012 when I reported to you all that I had got an email from the publisher of Pirates and Swashbucklers asking me to do a sequel.

And now, four years and approximately three months later… you can buy the completed book in both Kindle and paperback formats. gods of the deep postcard

Ok, I admit I was slow in getting this done but this project has gone further than I imagined it would. Plus I think I can still claim a faster turnaround than GRR Martin at the moment. What started as an idea for a  relatively  small novella turned into a much longer work and now includes two bonus short stories that explore the wider world in addition to a newly edited and tidied up version of Gods of the Sea which now serves as what I describe in the foreword as being similar to that scene in a Bond film just before the theme music plays.

And that is not the only thing that is special about this release. In addition to the wonderful cover produced by fellow Steampunk market trader and artist supreme, Lauren C Waterworth, you also have internal illustrations derived from the sketches that she made when creating the cover to coo over. If you like the cover, by the way, you should totally check out her facebook page and see if you can buy prints of her artwork. .

The official launch will be taking place at the Manchester Author event on the 13th August 2016. You can buy tickets for this event here. There I will be signing copies of both Gods of the Deep and Lurking Miscellany. I am also attending another signing event in Sandbach in November and Chester in April 2017. Finally I am also an attendee at Inominate, the Birmingham run Eastercon in April next year where I am hoping to be on some panels again. If you see me at any of these events feel free to pop over and say hi. Also, if you want to pre-order a signed copy of any of my books you can order them using this handy form and they can be delivered to you at the event of your choice.

You can also expect to see me sneaking into some other peoples’ blogs and messing around in there, getting mud on all the furnishings. I’ll post links to these as they go up. In fact there is one here for the Addicted to Reviews blog which went up earlier today. Go check it out and give the owner some love.

Finally, I am staging a stealth raid on the Manchester Author event Facebook page this Thursday (21st June). I will be taking control of the mic around 1030 GMT and holding onto it like grim death until it is wrested from my cold dead hands at 11pm by JF Holland. Come to the page to check out what nonsense I will spout. If it is anything like my last page takeover, expect some musical links to my books and some extracts… If you are lucky there may even be dog photos.

Don’t forget… buy your copies of Gods of the Deep as soon as you can!

[Guest post] Milford SF Writers’ Conference and Bursaries for SF Writers of Colour by Jacey Bedford

08 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

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Conference, Jacey Bedford, Learning how to write, Milford, SF/F writers, Writers of colour, writing


My fellow panellist from Eastercon, Jacey Bedford, is not only a skilled and popular writer but also secretary of Milford… she is here today to explain what that is and how a writer of colour could end up attending it on a paid for bursary.

Milford SF Writers’ Conference and Bursaries for SF Writers of Colour

VLUU P1200  / Samsung P1200

I can honestly say that if it wasn’t for Milford I wouldn’t have my book deal. When I attended my first Milford back in 1998 I’d only sold one story professionally (the minimum qualification for attending.) . I was totally wet-behind-the-ears yet all of the ‘proper’ writers there didn’t make me feel inadequate in the slightest.

What’s Milford? I hear you say…

It’s a peer-to-peer week in which fifteen published writers of science fiction and fantasy (and all subgenres) get together to workshop and critique works in progress. Established in the USA in 1956 and brought to the UK by James Blish in 1972, many famous names have passed through from Anne McCaffrey, George R.R. Martin, and Samuel Delaney to Alastair Reynolds, Neil Gaiman, and Charles Stross. Held annually, it now takes place in rural North Wales in mid-September.

It’s exhilarating to be in writerly company in such a gorgeous location. We have the run of Trigonos, an ethically run community business which provides accommodation, meeting rooms, and home cooked food. (You will never starve at Trigonos. Did I mention that 4.00 p.m. was cake o’clock?) Set in its own grounds looking up the valley to Snowdon, Trigonos even has its own lake, though you sacrifice mobile phone signal for the rural beauty.

VLUU P1200  / Samsung P1200

Critiques are professional level, strict but fair, and everyone gets a chance to be heard. To be honest you learn as much from critiquing as being critiqued. Post-crit discussions often happen after dinner or through coffee-and-cake breaks. It’s not unusual to plot-noodle or to work out the details of how to wipe out the population of a small planet over breakfast.

An exciting new development is happening in 2017. We have bursaries for two self-identifying SF writers of colour to attend Milford. Funding has been donated by the 8Squared Eastercon, held a few years ago in Bradford, and by a writer who wishes to remain anonymous. The bursary (value £610) covers all conference and accommodation costs for the week at Trigonos, but doesn’t include the cost of transport to and from the event.

Details of how to apply for the bursaries are on the Milford website (see below). Application is by letter to a maximum of 2,000 words, posted or emailed along with an application form (downloadable from the website). Applications are open from 1st October 2016 to 28th February 2017. Up to two successful applicants will be notified by the end of March. If potential applicants have any questions before making an application please email me for guidance.

The bursary opportunity is intended to be an encouragement and not a quota. We only have two bursaries available, and only for 2017, however we operate an equal opportunities policy so all SF/F writers who are ‘Milford qualified’ are welcome to apply for the full-price Milford SF Writers’ Conference places in any year, subject to availability.

Here are our upcoming dates:

  • 10th – 17th September 2016, (now fully booked with a short waiting list).
  • 9th – 16th September 2017 (booking open now).
  • 15th – 22nd September 2018 (booking opens16th September 2016. )

 

You can find out more on our website: www.milfordSF.co.uk. Anyone who needs additional information about Milford or the bursaries can contact me, Jacey Bedford, Milford secretary, at <jacey@jaceybedford.co.uk>

 

[Vampire Month] Are Writers Solitary or Social Creatures? by Rose Jones

24 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Vampire Month

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astrology, gemini, Mercury, Rose Jones, Rose Senior, Social writing, Solitary writing, Vampire Month, writing


So, here we have Rose Jones with her guest post… take it away Rose!M18146_Senior_MA-31sm

Any topic he said, well I mused for a while and came up with this.

Are Writers Solitary or Social Creatures?

No wonder the astrologers say that Geminis should be writers. It’s not just that Mercury, the messenger of the gods is our ruler, it’s the fact that there are two sides to us – twin aspects to our nature – and that is very true of writers.

We need to be sociable, or at least out there in the world observing how things are, how people relate to each other and how they deal with the milestones (or millstones) of their lives. We also have to lock ourselves away from all that and look inwards, sitting alone with our note books or computers in order to create a fictional version of the experience alphabet soup we have ingested from the world outside.

White Thorn cover 1eAll writers have their own way of getting their ideas down on paper. Some plan their story structure in minute detail, while others myself included, prefer to paint with broad brush strokes and see where the ideas take us. But why do we feel the need to regurgitate reality into something that is fiction? I believe it is an integral part of what makes us human beings. Storytelling is a way of passing on knowledge and information. That information can come from a real experience or by the example of a creation, a parable to explain something in the world, or an example to follow. It is both a sociable and a solitary pursuit. It doesn’t have to be real, but it is very real to us, the writer.

To me, all the world’s a stage. I pick up snippets here and there. Sometimes I note them down or write snatches of dialogue that come to me as I’m driving to work. Maybe a character name will pop up when I’m writing an email, or something happens that gets a cathartic release in my writing. Sometimes I wake up in the night with a solution to a plot hole. It’s going on in my subconscious all the time, building and growing until I have enough to work with.

Sometimes these babies are easily born. I have been known to write a 5,000 word short story straight off, but more likely they are dragged kicking and screaming into the world. Sometimes they’re stillborn. There’s usually a reason for that. Some ideas never reach maturity and some never should.

When we are birthing a story we need to be alone, to enter our fictitious world and be embraced 51cc7ly30ol-_sx331_bo1204203200_by it; to get into the minds of our characters and to become them as they follow through with their lives. Once we’ve finished we need to get out there again, because no man (or woman) is an island. We need to polish, to hone and to share. This is where the writers group comes in. This can be a group of like minded people meeting in a pub and discussing each others’ work, but it can also be a group of people meeting in cyberspace, like the Dragon’s Rocketship, of whom I am proud to be a member. The best of these groups help each other out, the worst bitch and criticise because some egos believe they are writing profound literary fiction. Me, I just like telling a story. If your audience doesn’t understand it, you not they are missing the point.

However precious your babies are, you have to eventually let them fly the nest, otherwise why bother to make them in the first place? A story is for sharing, not just for keeping in a drawer. Like real children they’re a representation of you and don’t you want the best for them? This means making sure that what you release on the world is the best it possibly can be. This means getting your work checked over and edited, fixing the problems and presenting it in its best possible clothing. Most of all, you need to know when to say it’s ready and let it go. Then all you have to do is sit back and worry about all the marketing you need to organise to get it noticed. Oh, and hopefully you might eventually get paid something for all those late and sleepless nights!

Bio:

Rose has been putting pen to paper and fingers to keyboard all her adult life. She lives near Bath, UK with her ‘rocket scientist’ husband and a house full of books and quirky stuff. She considers herself to be a recorder of moments in time and is a keen photographer as well as a writer. The picture for the covers of her books were taken by her. She has a Masters in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology and a love of all things mythological, paranormal, really ancient and really futuristic. She loves to travel, both in body and mind. She doesn’t really mind where, so long as it’s interesting and there’s something to learn.

Amazon links: Shades http://tinyurl.com/qylkmgu

House of Lilith http://tinyurl.com/lamo3vp

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rose-Jones/e/B00ENITHNQ

 

 

[Vampire Month] Here we go again…

01 Tuesday Mar 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Vampire Month

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Ann Rice, Dracula, R.A Smith, Rachel Caine, Vampire, Vampire Month, Vampires, writing


Another year, another Vampire month. This feature is like the mythical creature it is named after, difficult to keep down. It certainly seems one of my more popular features with several articles from past years cropping up in my views stats on a regular basis. So, until such time as I run out of author/artist/academic victims to mercilessly interrogate in my spikey Vampire Month Questioning Chair, we won’t be putting a stake into this feature or serving the garlic sauce. Especially not after the wonderful R.A Smith (who I finally allowed to feature in last year’s event) said he was jealous of it…Vampire

Also, I am still waiting patiently for Ann Rice or Rachel Caine to get in touch…

For those new to this feature, Vampire month is where we dedicate the whole of March to all things Vampire. The usual format is to give over a week each to four people with an interest in Vampires and in that week two posts are produced. One is an interview so you can learn all about them, the second is a guest post on the topic of their choice. You can browse the previous years to see what has been posted before (just type Vampire Month in the little search box above) and prepare yourself for a month of interesting posts and interviews.

As ever it is never really possible to predict the response to the call for posts I put out. Sometimes I despair of filling all the slots (though managed it somehow every year so far) whereas others I end up with more than I need. This year seems to be the latter as there are (at the last count) five authors on our line up… so there may have to be some wrangling of the normal schedule to fit them all in… Stay tuned to find out who they are and what they have to offer us.

Review: Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

03 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Review

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2014, amazon link, books, Centenary, Cuckoo Song, Downton Abbey, First World War, Flappers, Frances Hardinge, Jazz, Neil Gaiman, Oxfordshire, Self Publishing, The Great War, writing


You may recall way back in April that I went to the Fashionably Late World Book Night party with author Frances Hardinge in tow? Well, there was talk of there being copies of her latest book, Cuckoo Song, available for buying and signing but due to a post office snafu those books never appeared.

Of course every author wants Eddie to pose with their book now...

Of course every author wants Eddie to pose with their book now…

Well, not long after this I was contacted by her publisher and asked if I wanted a copy for review. Of course I said yes…

Unfortunately, being a very busy person, I have lately been very slow to get reviews out so here we are in September and I am only just getting round to putting my thoughts on this book down in a readable form.

Cuckoo Song is set in the fictitious English town of Ellchester, somewhere in Oxfordshire during the early 1920s. The post Great war vibe portrayed here is perfect for release in a year that sees the centenary of that war and the setting is vividly portrayed. Triss is a young girl who lives with her father (a famous architect credited with designing much of the town they live in), mother and younger sister (Penny). Her brother, Sebastian, died in the Great War leaving a fiancée and a grieving family behind.

The story begins with Triss having been rescued from almost drowning in a lake while the family are away on holiday. Following this incident, strange things begin to happen to her. She has gaps in her memory and a bizarre hunger that can only be satisfied by devouring her own toys and clothes. As time goes on, this strangeness tests her relationship with her parents and sister and her investigations into what has happened to her lead her to discover that there is more to her brother’s death than she had been told. She also delves into a hidden underbelly of the town ruled by a sinister being known as ‘The Architect’ and encounters the strangeness of that world, learning its secrets and dangers.

Hardinge deftly presents both the setting and the plot in a skilful manner, peeling back layers of world building and mystery in a way which has the reader slowly become aware of what is going on. This approach maintains the mystery as subtle clues you did not consider relevant slot into place and trigger small ‘ah ha’ moments at intervals. The setting starts out with a Downton Abby feel, all stiff gentlemen and upper middle class pomposity overlaid with a quaint olde worlde children’s book vibe, but soon develops hints of a world beneath that which is related more to Neil Gaiman’s Coraline – a dark, fey world of hidden evil and whimsy. The characters are also mostly well drawn and some, particularly Sebastian’s fiancée Violet and the Tailor Mr. Grace, are striking in their presence – the bold and adventurous, jazz loving  Flapper with the hidden sorrow and the quirky, friendly tailor with a sinister undertone. You come to care for Triss and the other characters, though Triss in her early appearances seems selfish and whiny she soon gains a backbone that turns her in to a true hero.

In all this was a very enjoyable read and one which I am sure children of all ages will enjoy.

D.A Lascelles is the author of Lurking Miscellany, Transitions (Mundania Press) and Gods of the Sea (Pulp Empires). He lives in Manchester UK. You can sometimes see him writing about Zombie porn on https://lurkingmusings.wordpress.com/ but he mostly blogs about books, vampires, science fiction and Terry Pratchett. He is inordinately proud of the fact that one of his Pratchett articles was referenced on the French version of the author’s Wikipedia page.

He would like to point out that having Eddie pose with a copy of your book is a special privilege reserved for those who have met Eddie and given him a stroke.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DaLascelles

Twitter: @areteus

Buy Lurking Miscellany (paperback)

Buy Lurking Miscellany (Kindle)

Labyrinth Literary Festival

17 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Publicity

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Labyrinth Literary Festival, Readings, Signing, Stockton on Tees, Wonderful news from the North, writing, Xychler Publishing


On September 6th I will be in Stockton on Tees attending a book festival. Click the image below for more details. There will be readings both from Transitions and Lurking Miscellany and the chance to get signed books from a range of UK based authors.

If you are a UK based author and you want in on this festival, there are still spaces. Bring some books, some swag and prepare to do a reading to an appreciative audience.

literary festival

Why I blame Erica Hayes

29 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Guest posts

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Erica Hayes, guest post, Lurking Miscellany, Self Publishing, Transitions, writing


I did a guest post on Erica Hayes’ blog today… and I have to say that it is all her fault (in a good way).LurkingMiscellany-lg

http://erica-hayes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/guest-author-da-lascelles-on-why-its.html

Click on the link to go to the post and see why.

 

[Spoilers] Twisting the cliche

04 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Battlestar Galactica, clichéd, clichés, Cliche, Dwarves, elves, Fantasy, Game of Thrones, George Lucas, GRR Martin, Inigo Montoya, Lannister, Red Wedding, Robb Stark, Science Fiction, SF, Spoilers, Stark, Trial by combat, writing


I am guessing that most people out there have watched the recent episode (series 4, episode 8) of Game of Thrones by now? If not, you may want to look away and come back when you have as there may be spoilers ahead… I am delaying posting this blog a few days to help prevent this but I am worried there may still be those out there who haven’t seen it even then.

You see, I want to talk about clichés here. In particular, I want to talk about how they might be of benefit to a writer. They are often seen in a bad light – ‘don’t write that, it’s too clichéd’ is a common refrain. However, attempts to make things more original often fail to get anywhere. So, being clichéd is bad because it is too derivative of previous works whereas being original can also be bad because the readers do not connect with the material, finding it too strange or unfamiliar. There is also, of course, the very relevant truth that there are no new stories, only old ones retold. When you do find something you think is original, quite often it turns out to be derived from another source you maybe only barely remember* or coincidentally happens to follow the lines of a much older story.

So what is a writer in search of originality to do? How can you maintain the very fine balance between cliché and the familiar? The answer seems to be to twist the cliché in order to subvert the audiences’ expectations.

Now Game of Thrones as a series and as a set of novels is actually not all that original in terms of the fantasy concepts it throws up. It includes a lot of old standbys – dragons, quests, knights, barbarians, battles, pantheons of gods, young children going off on quests (actually it has several of these…), the list goes on. However, fantasy was for many years a very staid and static genre where everyone was trying hard to be Tolkien (so many elves living in forests, so many dwarves living in mines) so in many ways even small changes from these clichés is a bonus and GRR Martin’s does manage to do this very well, mostly by making the characters very realistic and three dimensional. He also manages to avoid Elves and his only dwarf is a human who just happens to have been born short rather than a member of an ancient, gold obsessed race. But he does more than this, he often twists expectations so that what you think is going to happen doesn’t. There are a few examples of this I could mention, one of which is this week’s big shock end (which I admit was not a shock to anyone who read the books).

Let’s take Robb Stark to begin with. In the second series his story looked like it was well mapped out in cliché land. He was the eldest son of a man executed for treason, raising an army to defeat those who had killed his father and fighting against a mad king to boot. In your old fashioned fantasy epic the conflict therefore becomes Stark vs Lannister and in that tale the only ending cliché would accept is Robb winning and becoming king. Subconsciously we all know this. Robb has to win, it is imprinted in everyone’s understanding of story. The hero prince sets out on a quest to avenge his father’s death… come on, we have seen this story a million times.

And yet that is not how things work out… instead Robb makes a political error, a very human one, and as a result is murdered during the infamous Red Wedding, leaving no one in a position to lead his rebellion which crumbles.

Another example is the trial by combat in this week’s episode. To be honest, I was a little sceptical of Tyrion managing to get away with the same trick twice.** Remember, he used trial by combat to get out of a previous murder rap and honestly no writer would allow a character to get away with something that audacious again. So I was sort of expecting there to be an ending that did not include Tyrion’s champion walking away unscathed. However, that combat threw another revenge based cliché at us – the brother of a murdered woman seeking vengeance on the man who killed her. Again the story imprinted in our bones screams at us ‘of course he is going to win!’ and I don’t know about you but I was certainly seeing good old Mandy Pantinkin in his most famous role as Inigo Montoya in that scene and we all know how that works out rather well. And for a moment it looks as if he will win. He actually does win, in fact. His enemy is down and helpless. Then there is a sudden change in fortune… Again, he makes a critical error, an error based on his human nature. Had he merely killed his enemy he would have won. Instead he had to gloat and therefore lost spectacularly.

Both examples given show how characters are being set up by the author (and in some cases the script writers of the series in some of the material that is newly added) to apparently be following a clichéd path. They even get some way down that path, enough for our minds as readers or viewers to spot the pattern (however consciously or subconsciously) and expect a particular outcome. Then something happens, often a very human mistake, which completely throws that pattern out of the window and the nature of the plot changes – we are horrified by this because the person set up as the hero cannot lose and yet they do. This, I feel, is the main reason these scenes cause such outcry. It is not just because of the gore, it is because of the cognitive dissonance of our well trodden clichés being suddenly wrenched from under us. This is also why it is seen as innovative, despite being riddled with tropes. The places where the expected outcomes are subverted are ones that stick in the mind and suddenly the writer is a genius for doing it. Even an occasional scene like this can be enough to plaster over the many occasions where the writer does follow the standard tales. These scenes also increase the tension because, dammit, even characters you previously believed safe because of some perceived ‘hero’ status can die. Its been happening in SF TV for a while now. A famous example is Mal’s innovative method of resolving the infamous Mexican standoff (clue: Mal definitely shot first, no Han Solo/Greebo confusion here) and recent series like Battlestar Galactica have been constantly violating our expectations with respect to the relative safety of those afforded supposed hero status.

All of this makes me somewhat concerned over the safety of other characters in Game of Thrones. After all, several of them are clearly on clichéd fantasy hero paths. For example, Arya and Bran Stark are each following slightly different classic versions of the typical child hero in a fantasy novel. They each quest to understand themselves and their abilities in order so that they may return some day to wreak revenge on those who murdered their families. A cliché that was old when George Lucas used it. The cliché says that they should succeed. This means that something nasty and fatal awaits them in their future.

Unless, of course, it is by now considered cliché to subvert the cliché which means that, now, it is perfectly fine to let things follow their normal course and let the children achieve their destiny. Sometimes fashions in writing can change so quickly and soon we may well be expecting the opposite to what the story should be… Thinking of such things can easily send someone insane.

For now, the best advice seems to be to be aware of tropes and clichés and try to figure out ways to use the expectations of readers to your advantage.

*This happened to me at least once that I am aware of. When I was writing the background and concepts behind one of the race of aliens in Waypoint I knew I was stealing from Celtic, Native American and Norse myth and was good with that. However, when I wrote about their attitude to technology I unconsciously inserted several ideas from an obscure Doctor Who short story (the People of the Trees), mainly the idea of them worshipping technology as religious icons capable of ‘magic’. I only became aware of this when I re-read that story several years later and the penny dropped. I did change it enough that no one can see where I filed away the serial numbers (and besides it is a common enough concept with primitive cultures in SF that I could just have easily stolen it from Return of the Jedi) but it was fascinating to see how my mind was working there.

** Plus my wife who has read the books as far as the current series knew it wouldn’t work either, despite her rants about all the changes they have made in this series so far, and although she tried hard not to reveal anything I can read her responses well enough to spot certain facial expressions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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