#PennedPossibilities 303 — Is your SC one to be haunted by adversity, or to use what they've gone through to become stronger?
I was going to answer only stronger, but because it is true, I'll answer haunted. She calls him /The Monster,/ and he savaged her, but from that experience she learned she could fight, and win, and never be chattel again. She refers to The Monster often, comparing her current actions to that paradigm of evil, and sometimes finding herself wanting. She's not what is often called /good./ Those who know her say she has a death wish. Once, when she thought she'd murdered in an act of enraged vengeance, she tried to stab herself at the source of her magic in her guilt. She's since then experienced and reacted to other things. Bad, things. She remembers. When she encounters situations in the current work that remind her of how she became stronger, they haunt her as she fights to make surviving her past worthwhile to those she helps in the present.
#WordWeavers 2405.02 — What are your MC’s living conditions like? Are they better or worse than average?
Wow, this question! A bit of background: I wrote the original novella, then wrote a prequel novel based on the history in the first story, then retconned the novella, worsened the situation and followed it with new events to make it a novel, /then/ wrote the sequel. It's her life story, now.
In this last story, the answer to this question is the running joke. The new work takes place over three days. She starts having been living with a fellow student, an ever-seeking-male-companionship elite who months ago offered her a free roommate situation—so long as the MC slept with her in the same bed (and her new roommate only sleeps well being held). The next day it's the couch after the MC is reunited with a former coworker (bodyguard) whom she introduces to her elite roommate. They hit it off. Noisily. All night long! The next night, not wanting a repeat performance, she connives to spend a (satisfying) night with her new boyfriend in "palatial" digs in the Residency where the main antagonist lives, but is currently out on a military adventure. Having reconciled with a childhood friend, the subsequent night she ends up on his bed, in a Residency guest suite, sleeping with him and a pile of thaumaturgy books they nerded out over. She regrets not having had more fun with him, but he's too sweet and obviously not ready for that. The next day, she's fighting for her life in a hospital.
Her living conditions are way above average, arguably superior.
Previous Living Conditions
Born in a nice house in an obscure village
Raised in a newly built mansion for a newly titled elite (her)
Homeless for months, having run away, living in encampments and wandering the east coast
Big city hostel for over a year
Gangland trainer's nice apartment with separate beds
Boarding house with aspects of a brothel, where she must defend herself
Leased a one room dance studio where she sleeps on a mat between a wall of open windows and a wall of mirrors, having no need of further furniture
A series of high line hotel and mansion rooms owned the Doña she works for
As for the homelessness, she was moving around without money while hiding her identity, and rarely stayed long. The worst was trying to sleep under eaves in the city during storms; she didn't always have a tent. Regardless, it qualifies as below average living conditions for a total of about a year. It did focus her like of asceticism.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 9: The Writing Duds of May Nbr 01 — OMG! What happened to your MC's parents?
Well, after nearly 300K of story, you'd think I'd have noticed a minor plot hole, but noooo. I'll retcon if necessary in later stories what the public knew versus what the MC said in the stories (which would be secret). Background: MC's mother was an international singer and theatre actor; her father is her manager.
Publicly, while on an overseas musical tour, the pair were on a privately chartered day cruise when their small ship got caught in tropical squall (shades of Gilligan's Isle). Wreckage was reported as found, but no bodies.
At their private funeral, the ruler of the nation posthumously named the MC's parents as heroes of the nation. Her mother was a powerful thaumaturge and together they were spies. They'd "died" on a mission that saved uncounted lives.The MC wasn't yet five years old and blames the ruler for their death. How the ruler treats the MC at the funeral (spoilers) cements her in the MC's mind as the main antagonist.
Revealed a decade later, intelligence indicates that the MC's father was captured by a hostile nation and is being kept as a bargaining chip against invasion. That the MC might get the opportunity to rescue him is part of the reason the MC has made a deal with the main antagonist in the most recent novel.
As part of the reveal of the father above, her mother is thought to have received a severe head injury, but used her magic to escape anyway. Her whereabouts are unknown. Not canon until I use it is that the MC's mother can magically put herself elsewhen (future) and elsewhere. This part is substantiated in the Reluctance version of the character in that the civilization has achieved interstellar travel. How you ask? Spoilers. Regardless, elsewhere could be anywhere.
Bonjour les Mastonautes. La journée sera consacrée aux corrections de mon prochain roman #SF#SpaceOpera pour les #editionsdu38. Je prendrai quand même un peu de temps dans la journée pour m'occuper de la maison, après tout le printemps est là. Un petit café ☕️ avec moi? #bonjour#cafe#mastolivre
#PennedPossibilities 300 — How does your MC or SC react to change? Do they struggle to adjust or go with the flow?
Like her reactions to stress (299), my MC leans in. She was raised to be responsible, and if the change is posed as helping or saving people, or helping the MC reach goals she has or would find desireable, she'll often agree. (This is how she ran away from home to learn magic, to train to be a prizefighter, and later become a bodyguard for the mob.) She hates she does this, though, and change often makes her life difficult. Let's say that good reactions to stress and dealing well with change aren't necessarily a good thing!
How many times now has she nearly died? As of the current novel in serialization?
Stress is almost always due to problem she hasn't solved or a situation she isn't in control of. Whereas running away was a solution she's employed a few times, it was to take control of her life again not giving up. She does tend to become tense and irritable, visibly worrying. Since she discovered her love of physicality, having discovered she likes to fight despite the pain, and that training herself makes her better than just physically, if she can't find her solution, she'll hit the heavy bag and the speed bag. Better, if she can find someone who's a better fighter than her, she'll fight until she learns something. Sparring with equals or teaching makes her feel like she's trying to procrastinate. In tense situations, she may end up bullying to see if she can shake alternative solutions out of subordinates or gatekeepers. Lastly, she'll act out doing things that are clearly not solutions hoping that by trying, she'll blunder into something effective, or someone will find it to get her to stop.
In a sense, stress makes her keener. That said, she doesn't like it. Her ideal life would be as an ascetic, practicing her miracles and martial arts, studying new ones, and reading a lot. Oddly, she doesn't think of relaxing with a good book to clear her mind. Maybe I'll have her discover that one day.
Now that's she's discovered male companionship, I may have her think of that as a stress reliever, but that'll be in sequels.
In case you missed it, my #solarpunk short story collection is now available in print and ebook!
These hopeful #climatefiction stories take you from the bottom of the sea to the towers of a bot-filled city, from sparkling labs to flooded lighthouses, all imagining futures halfway to a better world.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 8 Nbr 29 — Do you share your name with other writers?
Now, in publications or on the Internet, no. People do call me R.S. I first used this pen name when I went to Clarion. I used it to obfuscate my gender in email before the workshop for reasons of what I write. The gender of the author adds subtext to gender fiction. Statistically, most people guess wrong. In person, and when money is involved, it's inescapable and I share my name. I use a different name in photography and a different ungendered pen name when writing non-speculative fiction. Who I am isn't hidden, but I'd ask you not to investigate or reveal it for the reasons stated above.
Seen elsewhere: name 10 authors of whose books you've read more than 5:
Elizabeth Moon >5
Margaret Atwood =5
Stephen King >5
Dean Koontz >5
Jennifer Roberson >5
Anne Rice >5
CS Lewis >5
Octavia Butler =5
Susan Cooper =5
JRR Tolkien >5
Thank you @courtcan, I like reading these lists. My five or more books/or stories read by #author list. This isn't all of them; I haven't got to the attic bookcase, yet. A pattern emerged. Can you see it?
Lissanne Norman
Patricia Briggs
Clare Bell
CJ Cherryh
Andre Norton
Lois McMaster Bujold
Joan D Vinge
Connie Willis
Anne McCaffrey
Tamora Pierce
Nancy Kress
Nicola Griffith
Barb Hendee
Julie Kenner
Diana Rowland
Agatha Christie
Phyllis A Whitney
Danielle Steele
I hope everyone takes this #challenge to write up their list, too.
#WordWeavers 2404.28 — Do you have an irrepressibly good-humoured character? How do others react to them?
Not entirely. The devil-girl is autistic to start with, and whilst she was well trained to host major parties and lead people, dealing with people isn't her favorite thing to do. In one story, she meets a very cheerful fellow she has no real choice but to deal with. He was mid-level gangster (and a smooth operator) who was a gatekeeper to her becoming a transporter. She didn't kill him, though she wondered if she might. An irrepressibly good-humored person quickly gets on her nerves because she can't fathom what makes such a person tick, or properly predict how they'll behave.
Yes. My MC. One of the times she nearly died, her opponent threw her into a book case, shattering the bones in her lower leg and foot. It was so bad, they were replaced—but damaged nerves couldn't be replaced. Parts remain numb. She was told that though she might walk again, not to expect much more. She didn't accept this. As a former championship prizefighter and a now injured bodyguard, she was no stranger to intense training. She relearned walking, running, and her martial arts.
It took the better part of a year for her to feel she was back in fighting trim. (She's obsessive about being able to protect herself.) That doesn't mean she isn't handicapped, however. She must constantly pay attention lest her leg and foot do something she doesn't expect: Her foot suddenly drags. It trips her up.
She doesn't have a high degree of tolerance for those that claim a disability as an excuse that she judges isn't trying. This creates a major conflict when she excoriates an officer, then later not understanding her actual disability (it was hidden), becomes convinced she caused the injury through her selfish pride and lack of empathy.
Nous y sommes! Retrouvez-moi aujourd’hui et demain au salon Imagina’Livres à Portet-sur-Garonne pour faire dédicacer vos livres ou refaire le monde littéraire avec moi! J’aurais également quelques goodies à vous distribuer grâce à la générosité des #editionsdu38 #salon#livres#sf#fantastique#occulte#occitanie#toulouse
#WordWeavers 2404.27 — Who's blaming who in your story?
The MC blames herself. She either didn't solve the problem, misjudged her superior, didn't delegate properly, or taught others inadequately. She's good at getting rid of incompetents, which is anyone who repeats the same mistake twice. In the big picture, she does blame the main antagonist for making her life intolerable and causing her to run away from home. (This is not a relative.) She owns running away as her choice, however, including that she got savaged because she was naïve and took too many chances as a result. She looks back at her mistakes only to ensure that the next time it's a new mistake.
This resilience and self-reliance doesn't make her Buddha-like. She deals with people mechanically though efficiently. She doesn't let people into the shell this allows her to make because she doesn't trust easily.
Even in our litigious world, changing over 10% of an idea makes it derivative, though how would we quantify it for a story? Really, there aren't any unique ideas, only our approach to the idea as well as our characters and world building that make our writing unique in fiction. In non-fiction, some very high-profile people have recently been caught copying passages (or more likely having copied for them) and passing off as their own ideas. With people not learning enough to cross-check, and especially now with the advent of AI that plagiarizes by design, I expect a lot more people are going to find themselves outed as stupid or ignorant.
Clichés are a minefield. Someone coined them. Some of them are actually quotes, and if you happen to remember one and write it down perfectly, someone could point to you and say the p-word. I have inadvertently done this, and I hope I've caught all my instances during revision. If not, it's been /much ado about nothing./