30 Days of Writing: catch up!

19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!

Sparrow Overbjorn- the supposedly dead younger sister of another minorish character in the Lotus Children series. I actually wrote my first NaNo novel about her :) She was originally just supposed to be dead, or maybe actually alive, but her real story became a novel unto itself. She's one of those poor character that you feel bad for having created because their life is such hell. She is ten when war breaks out on her home planet, and she sees her parents executed (and she thinks her older brother, Phoenix, is killed as well). As a prisoner, she rallies with other children and they escape to the wilderness. Unfortunately, a plague has been unleashed on the planet to kill anyone with DNA that is not of the human genome- and she is something like 1/8 alien DNA. But she has a photographic memory and is clairvoyant, and using her genius and an abandoned laboratory she develops a cure, kind of, that works for most of the infected children she is with (for the humans have been dying too- the virus mutated). She falls in love with the group leader, but in a final assault on the building they are holed up in, he is killed. She ends up joining a circus at some point and learning how to throw knives, perform aerial acts, ride horses. Aft that, she ends up disguising herself as a boy a few years later (she's rail thin and over six feet tall) and joining a militia that is hunting down the last of the men responsible for their quarantined planet's terrible fate. She's promoted quickly because of her skill with a knife, and makes enemies for it- then is is discovered to be a woman, and, well, you can imagine...

Also, when she turns sixteen, she begins to lose sight in both eyes. As it turns out, she's riddled with cancer, a side effect of her DNA having been altered by the plague. She goes blind and has only her clairvoyance into the spirit world to help her get by.

Sad face :(

20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?

Banter. Sometimes you just start having fun with your characters, probably more fun than you should, and you end up writing some hilarious crap that will probably be edited out in the second draft, but still... it's fun to write ;D

21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?

In my epic sci-fi series the main character from the first books ends up having children that he doesn't even know he has. They kind of become the main characters of the last few books. I think I write them pretty well, but I never write them as babies or anything- so I guess their like most "children" I write: young adults.

every corner and alcove of their cavern echoed with the sounds of their debauchery.

New chapter posted in The Poppet and the Lune!

Part IX, Chapter 14

Enjoy!

Commercial Fiction vs. mind-bending works of staggering genius

I just want to say flat out that there isn't really a question here as to what is the more "worthwhile" pursuit- to each their own is the only answer.

I had a conversation with an old friend at Scott's wedding, a writer. He's a pretty messed up guy (due to a series of uncontrollable events), and very intelligent. A very "artistic" type, with dark tendencies. He's the kind of writer who writes one book his entire life, but it's a book that literally almost kills him, and that will probably become a cult classic among the intellectuals and artists and people who are just so intelligent that they can't help but be in an constant battle with depression.

Recognizing that, I recognized something else that got me thinking: it seems to me there are two different kinds of writers- writers who write because they must, because it is a passionate love affair, because their stories sing in their bones and their characters are alive in their heads, and to give them life brings the writer joy; and writers who write because they feel they are the only ones who can say what they need to say, and even though it hurts, even though they have to suffer and bleed and drink for their words, for each page pulled from the depths of their soul, they will do it, and use it as their excuse to continue living in darkness, the darkness that feeds their mind-bending work of staggering genius.

Okay, I've obviously got a bias here, so I apologize. But bear with me, because here was the terrible thing I found myself thinking: "Those kinds of books are deep. They're intelligent, moving, the kind of books that are taught in college, but only people who are really alive get, and that people get tattoos of and that get nobel prizes. The commercial stuff I write isn't really important, is it? It's just entertaining."

I can't believe I thought that, even for a minute. The "commercial" stories I write are so rich with meaning I don't even see half of it until after I go back and read it; no, they might not be incredibly layered and complex, but that only means it can reach more people, and that doesn't mean they aren't intelligent. And you know what? The most commonly tattooed text from books come from children's books like The Velveteen Rabbit, Lord of the Rings, The Giving Tree, Peter Pan, etc.

I don't want to be an artist that's out to change the world with my magnum opus. I just want to do what I love, and... I guess move a few people while I'm at it. Entertain them, yeah, that too. Because a good story is a form of entertainment that does change you, that leaves a mark on you, broadens your perspective, fires up your imagination.

I dunno, I'm just rambling here I guess, reminding myself that there's a reason I am drawn to the stories I am, in reading and writing. These are the stories that changed me, and inspired me. I know that writing anything can be agonizing, but it shouldn't be, not all the time. I don't believe in that kind of writing. If the story you're writing doesn't bring joy to you when you write it, at least some of the time, why are you writing it?

Okay, I'm done. Hope I haven't offended.