Not a model of speed, really (work plus writing leave me with little spare time). At least I’ve finally managed to learn the basics for the family unit (which also double as pronouns for most of them, so pretty useful). Of course, it only occurred to me after I finished that I probably wasn’t going to need the ones for the paternal side of the family (unless I was referring to them in a conversation with a Vietnamese)…

The book I’m using is good for getting some of the basics right (in addition to the semi-weekly pronunciation/vocabulary lessons taught by Mom/Grandmother), but I have to be careful with the pronunciation, which is the “standardised” one (read “mostly Northern”, as opposed to my Southern maternal family). Their use of pronouns is also problematic: they overuse the first person tôi (which draws a little too much attention to itself), and of course they fail to take into account the fact that the learner of the language could be Vietnamese or related to Vietnamese, which means they cheerfully skip the modes of address specific to relatives–which I’m likely to need, and fast, as the whole maternal family now knows what I’m up to.
That’s what I can spot; it leaves me a little worried about the stuff I can’t spot…

I was also reading a book on the history of Vietnam, which I thought was going to give me a more formal idea of the subject, but I stopped when I got to the part which described the fall of Saigon as a moment of rejoicing for the whole country. Er, no? I very much doubt all the inhabitants of Saigon were very happy to be “freed” from “the tyranny of a Western-controlled government”… [1]

[1]I’ll freely admit I’m not very objective either about the time period, but then again it’s not exactly easy, considering my family history.[2]
[2] And I’ll stop there, because this is getting a little too close to heart and too personal to be unpacked on a blog.

Via Andy Cox, the upcoming art for “The Shipmaker”, which is going to be in the next issue of Interzone (out November 12th).

Art by Richard Wagner.

Isn’t it pretty?

Aside from the obvious (though you’re going to laugh, but it took me a while to notice the pregnant woman at the top-right), notice that the background on the left is a traditional Chinese brush painting of trees; the top part has the same traditional brush rendering of mountains; and the bottom part has schematics of electronics. Since the story is about using traditional elements of Chinese art and Chinese literature and applying them to ship design, that’s awesomely appropriate.

BTW, the November issue is a Jason Sanford special (three stories and an interview with Jason); and you can get it for free if you subscribe to Interzone, or Interzone and Black Static for two years:

To receive this special offer, simply order a 12 issue (two-year) subscription to either Interzone or the Interzone/Black Static combination through the TTA Press online store. Then, in the Shopper’s Reference box, enter JASON SANFORD. That way you’ll receive the special issue for free.

(quoting Jason because I’m lazy)

It’s probably a testament to my general disorganisation that I’ve managed to confuse dates again: I was for some reason convinced that my Aztec noir novel, Servant of the Underworld, was scheduled for release Wednesday.

I just glanced at the date on my desk’s phone, and realised that, er, no, it was today. Cue panic and disorganisation.

I’m stuck at work, of course, with a zillion other things I should really be doing–but my first US book release is definitely worth a celebration. So feel free to party in my name, wherever you are. Virtual champagne and other delicacies appreciated from this side of the trenches 🙂

Extras, aka party over the blogosphere:

-Janice Hardy lends me some blog space to talk about outlines and novel planning.

-My French fantasy “Melanie”, originally published in Realms of Fantasy, is up on the World SF blog, as part of their new fiction feature. Look out for more great stories there!

-The book trailer, for those who want to get into the spirit of things:

-And, wow, amazon is already shipping it!!

So, the promised guest blog: WIB pal Janice Hardy is here to talk about that all-important wordcount. For those of you who don’t know Janice: she lives in Florida, holds a dayjob as a graphics designer, and juggles I don’t know how many things–including her awesome blog, The Other Side of the Story, where she gives writing advice for everything from rewrites to snagging an agent. Her middlegrade trilogy The Healing Wars, medieval fantasy with an edge, is currently in progress (vol. 1 was The Pain Merchants/The Shifter, depending on whether you’re UK or US, and vol 2 is Blue Fire, which is out on the shelves now). Janice’s also been translated into German.

Without further ado…

The Long and the Short of it

I’ve always admired short story writers. My favorite writer, Harlan Ellison, is a short story writer and I grew up wishing I could write like him. (For the record, I can’t my style is different, but I can see his influences on my work) I’ve tried to write shorts, but they usually end up feeling like opening chapter of a book.

This used to bother me until I realized that short stories and novels take different skill sets. Many of the same skills apply, but those who can put together a story in 3,000 words think differently than those who use 90,000. Some can do both (like my hostess, Aliette), but I’ve run into a lot of writers who prefer one over the other. Which made me happy, because I was a novelist.

Except…

I don’t use 90,000 words. My novels always came in around 60-70,000. And I write fantasy, which usually runs longer than your typical novel. So where did that leave me?

Turns out I’m a young adult author, which fits my natural tendencies to write shorter, as well as my style and voice. But it took me years to figure that out, and I tried a lot of different lengths and markets while finding my niche. And racked up a lot of rejections along the way.

I’ve run into many a writer over the years who was frustrated because they tried to do X but couldn’t. I wonder now how many were like me, trying to write what they thought they ought to be writing, instead of seeing if what they enjoyed writing fit anywhere. Short story writers whose novels fall flat after a chapter or two. Novelists who can’t get a short story to work. Teen writers padding their novels for the adult market. Finding where I belonged changed my writing life for sure, and I doubt I’d be published today if I was still trying to write for adults.

If you’re one of those writers, feeling like you’re stuck and don’t know why, maybe ask yourself if you’re writing the length or genre that suits you. Maybe it’s time to look at what you enjoy writing the most and where those talents might be used elsewhere. Who knows? You might discover skills you never even knew you had.

Blue Fire Blurb
Part fugitive, part hero, fifteen-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.

Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer—if she doesn’t destroy it first.

Janice Hardy Bio
A long-time fantasy reader, Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, and BLUE FIRE from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. She lives in Georgia with her husband, three cats and one very nervous freshwater eel.

Link to Blue Fire Online Retailer

Website

The Other Side of the Story Blog

-Currently reworking synopsis for book 3 of Obsidian and Blood, gearing up for Nanowrimo.
-Can haz first draft of story, temporarily titled “Starsong”, in the Xuya/Shipbirth/Shipmaker continuity (well, discontinuity, as so far it’s a little incompatible with previous episodes). Just in time for VD7.
-And battling with fiendish interview questions, too (not sure I’m allowed to go public with whom it’s for just yet, but they’ll recognise themselves 🙂 )

OK, I’m back, and slowly digging my way out of the morass of emails and related stuff. The weather is grey, cold, and overcast, and we’re having massive strikes in France. Sometimes, I swear, I do wonder why I ever come back from holiday…

Books read: Liz Williams’ Bloodmind, which was great but with what I thought was way too much backstory, until I figured out it was a sequel to Darkland. Sigh. Will go procure original.

Coming up this week, a guest blog by Janice Hardy. And, er, the US release of Servant of the Underworld, next Wednesday (I will not hyperventilate I will not hyperventilate)

Meanwhile, for the Romanian speakers among you, the SRSFF version of my Asimov’s article “The View from the Other Side”, courtesy of Antuza Genescu for the translation (and many thanks to Cristian Tamas for the offer, as usual).

My husband is possibly the only one who can go on holiday to Malta and bring back a ginormous oil painting with a dragon on it.
Current mood: amused

Congrats to fellow T-Party member Gaie Sebold, who sold her fantasy novel Babylon Steel plus two sequels to Solaris (it’s set in a brothel, which should make for a nice change).
And I see Patty Jansen has won WOTF for this quarter, which is awesome.

(on the not-so-great front, I also see ROF is dead. Blech. There goes a good market and a great source of fiction. Darn economic climate).

Andy Cox just let me know (he actually let me know much earlier, but I was away from internet and didn’t twig to it) that he’s buying my short story “The Shipmaker” for a future issue of Interzone.

It’s the story I was talking about here. There’s a snippet, too (the beginning has changed a bt, but not drastically).

Many thanks to everyone who critted it on OWW: Ruth Nestvold, Pete Aldin, Christine Lucas, Cécile Cristofari, Georgina Bruce, L. K. Pinaire, and Mark Hunken. (and yup, I do still owe some crits to some of you guys. Apologies. The wedding threw things off schedule pretty drastically, and I’m still struggling to catch up with various stuff).

This is the first published Xuya story that has Vietnamese main characters (and an alternative Vietnamese history, though I was forced to remove a lot of it to make the story comprehensible). It’s also a companion piece to “Shipbirth” (forthcoming in Asimov’s in Feb. 2011).

Is there a special name for the pane of glass on the front of an airplane (the one in the cockpit, where you can see where the plane is going), or am I just looking for something that doesn’t exist?

(it’s not quite for a plane, it’s for a spaceship, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the word)

Thanks in advance!