Wednesday, September 28, 2005
 
Found this very poignant post in a link from Derryl Murphy's blog. An excellent, yet depressing read to get one grounded in reality.


Tuesday, September 27, 2005
 

Yes! Craig Bowlsby has agreed to have a look at some fighting scenes in Righteous Anger. Found a bio link for him on movie database site called IMDb that states he was five times Western Canadian Fencing Champion (Foil). He never mentioned that at Cascadia Con! Wow. Now I have three martial arts advisors: Alison, John and Craig. This bodes well for Horth. :-)



Monday, September 26, 2005
 

I received an e-mail today from Howard Johnson, an author who compiled internet messages following 9-11 to capture feelings from across the world in a book. I gave him permission to use one of mine and he tracked me down now he is getting back into the writing thing again, to say hi. Looks like I used "Lynda J. Williams" instead of "Lynda Williams" in my tagline at the time, which made it hard for him to find me: yet-another-example to authors who wish to be found that it is best to stick to one form of your moniker.


You can find a sample of the comments Howard compiled at http://imagepain.blogspot.com. I also reproduce my comment from 2001 at the end of this entry to the Reality Skimming blog.

Howard Johnson's homepage is at http://hobarb.com and while I find his advocacy of Biblical values as the only proper moral base for government and education to be plain blood-chilling scary, we can agree that people the world over needs to take our moral obligations to each other far more seriously.


But here's the part that qualifies this post as something with an Okal Rel Universe connection. While reviewing imagepain.blogspot.com, I was blown away by catching, on the rebound, the comments of contributor John Koehler (Pacific Northwest). Koehler said (source: http://imagepain.blogspot.com, accessed Sep 26, 2005)



My challenge to Science Fiction Novelists is to take the tradition of SF and address the question of combating terrorism, in all its forms. (John Koehler, 2001)

Now, I swear, I don't remember reading that at the time. In fact, my idea that the problem of surviving for the next millenium is all about how to limit the arms we bring to bear on even the most grievous conflict, predates 9-11. I started thinking about the overkill problem in connection with nuclear war and terrorism of the IRA and PLA sort. But wow! Talk about mining the record. Addressing the question of how cultural restraints can prevent terrorism (of the ad hoc or nation-blessed sort) from trashing civilization, is exactly what Okal Rel is all about. :-) And it is science fiction, of course.


This isn't something that I made a point about at the time. I remember thinking that it might be disrespectful to connect Okal Rel with anti-terrorism in any of my comments about 9-11. People's feelings were raw. My little ideas about fictional ways (Okal Rel for the Gelacks and the Arbiter Administration for Reetions) to hobble our fire power, on purpose, felt utterly unimportant in the face of so much grief and shock. But maybe I should have read farther down the list of submissions I contributed to, and Howard Johnson compiled, because I agree with John Koehler from the Pacific Northwest. It is high time science fiction got past its fixation on how big a bang can we make if we get to be commander of the mega-fleet (or nanotech, biotech or other variations on that boyhood fantasy) and addressed what might be THE most important question of our time: how do we stop ourselves from throwing everything we've got into a conflict when everything we've got is WAY, way too much.


It is unrealistic to believe that we will cease to fight (I wish I thought otherwise!) or even that we will learn to settle short of using deadly force. But if we can't put some bounds around the means we use, it escapes me how we're going to survive as a species in the long run. I therefore assume, in the Okal Rel Universe that both the Sevolite Empire and the egalitarian Rire have solved this problem in their own, very different ways, just because they're still around! The danger lies in the culture conflict that arises when they run into each and discover that their respective methods of self-restraint are incompatible.





9-13-01 9:31am


Students at UNBC in Northern B.C. have been clumped around TV cameras in the lounge and pub and even classrooms since Tuesday's disaster. A huge card headed "Hope for World Peace" is posted in the Winter Garden (internal courtyard - lots of snow in PG in winter) and an interdenominational service was held yesterday. We've heard quite a bit about the commercial travelers routed to a city north of us and places where the number of incoming, dislocated travelers outnumbered the local population. All the faculty seem to know some colleague who lives or works in New York, and national news coverage confirms Canadians died in the towers. Who would have thought Prince George, in Northern B.C., would be affected by terror in New York. But it has, just like every city in the Western World. I take this as proof that we are one world, now, by means of bonds as intimate as personal connections. And as one world we can find the will to cooperate in a successful, zero tolerance stance toward terrorism and the use of any weapons destructive to all we've built and cherish as a civilized species.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Lynda J. Williams, Computer Science, University of Northern B.C.




 
[Posted with Craig's permission.]

From: craig bowlsby
Sent: September 16, 2005 12:02 PM
To: 'williaml@unbc.ca'
Subject: cascadia-con stuff

Hi Lynda. I read the Lorel Experiment. I liked it. I especially liked how it
became more complex as it went on, including the thoughts and motivations of
the principal characters. You do that well. Very real. But Sandrine didn't
have to kill herself! It did work, in the story, but, I mean from a personal
viewpoint, I would have liked to see her do a bit more shepherding. (And
live. I don't like it when people die. I guess that's a testament to your
character.) I know, I know, she made a pact with herself, because she felt
she was betraying Damien, and it's a very strong statement. But now she's
got kids. Anyway, that's a bit immaterial, because the show has started, and
the real story takes place a thousand years later. Very topical stuff
nonetheless. And probably not that far away.


Wednesday, September 21, 2005
 
They aren't tidy, but pictures from the con in Seattle are up on the ORU website under News -> Cons Attended, at last.


Vrellish Manners
 

The outtake below will probably not appear in Righteous Anger, book two of the Okal Rel Universe saga. It just sort of happened while I was beavering away at a draft, but doesn't have the right tone for the passage it cropped up in. The dynamic does, however, illustrate an aspect of Vrellish propriety that I find entertaining to portray--namely the "rules" about who is taking advantage of whom when a lower status woman seduces a higher status male. It is all about breeding outcomes and possibilities, of course, which is why the Vrellish call it fertility manners. Taking ferni would offend the Watching Dead, in religious terms. In practical ones, for the race, giving Vrellish sex drive the "out" of avoiding reproductive consequences would probably lead to even lower birth rates. Like many religious prohbitions, Vrellish fertility manners serve the society at large, although not, necessarily, the individual. Not that Vrellish, male or female, are self-conscious of all this at all levels. :-)




Horth was disinclined to listen if they were going to start speculating about the purpose behind the pornography on the silver box, again. He was more interested in the second woman, who was smiling at him with obvious interest; and in more than fencing, Horth felt sure. Bryllit's warnings about the risks of a easy reputation for a highborn male who stooped to entertaining lesser women without stooping, at the same time, to frustrating the Watching Dead with ferni, were doing their best to assert themselves; but he was having a hard time remembering specific reasons why breeding down indiscriminately wasn't a desirable idea.


"Horth?" said Branst, and followed up with a jab in the ribs, of necessity. "Horth! Will you pay attention? You know, someday, some woman you are too busy ogling is going to put a sword through you when you're distracted. Get a grip!"

"Show some respect," the Black Hearth veteran snarled at her female partner, at the same time. "He's Black Hearth family! And he's just a kid!"

Horth resented that remark. He was twenty years old! How old was she? Thirty, maybe? Forty? It could be almost as hard to tell with nobleborns, who aged more slowly than commoners, as it was with ageless highborns. But she couldn't be anything close to his father's age. Or even Di Mon's.



Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Tinkerbell Stuff
 

All my life I have written for the pleasure of the feedback from a few friends, and the gratification of knowing what happens next, myself. Since becoming published I have learned a lot about many things, from craft (a skill) and theme (a sign of intellectual maturity), to all the complex social pressures exerted on publishers and writers on many, simultaneous fronts (facts of life); but sadly, the sheer joy of the act of writing has suffered for the sake of all the deathly seriousness.

So, after wrestling the worst writer's block of my life for months, I have finally realized the problem. And I am going to start reporting, here on Reality Skimming, as if my readers are a few friends who want to know about developments--which is pretty much the truth from my perspective, whether I know each of you personally or not! I won't include what people call 'spoilers' but I might include bits of works in progress that may or may not make the final cut. And I will enjoy myself again. Live long. And prosper. Stand by for developments ...


Friday, September 16, 2005
 
Checking in at Penmachine.com, I found an announcement for the second Canadian Blogging Conference, Northern Voice, next February in Vancouver. I found out about the first the night before, after the last ferry had left, and the idea of catching the seaplane didn't occur to me until the middle of the next morning. And it was just a one day stand. But I will probably attend this one, if I am not travelling at the time. Anyone else?


Sunday, September 11, 2005
This and That Including WACK
 
WACK (Women's Awesome Creativity Kiosk) organized by Si Transken and friends, took place last night at Books & Co. I donated books and read from chapter two of The Courtesan Prince. Christina, a colleague I have worked with at UNBC on web-based projects, made a point of telling me she recognized the chapter and was waiting to go home to read some more. I know how busy she is, so it was particularly nice to know The Courtesan Prince was something she was fitting in for pleasure. Such things continue to please the muse. Thanks Christina. And everyone else last night who expressed interest in ORU books in general. (I had a nice comment from the winner of Kath, from our book launch in P.G. earlier this month.)

Appreciated Virginia's post in response to my soul searching, yesterday. Particularly the reminder that a post-con slump is a recurring theme for me. :-) Maybe it is partly due to my tendency to get overwhelmed by extended meet-and-greet situations and withdraw into the introvert side of my nature. Or the fact it takes me so long, sometime, to figure out what I wanted to say about something that came and went while I was doing mental isometrics. Or just the irritating fact that I am suffering through one of my bouts of wondering what I want to be doing with my life in five years. :-) I seem to be something of an introverted extrovert: either "on stage" or hiding in my den. At least the hiding in the den part has been useful for getting work done on Righteous Anger. Alison will be glad to hear Horth is alive and well and about to witness the climax of The Courtesan Prince from a Black Hearth perspective. (Righteous Anger begins with the marriage of Horth's parents, and ends with a critical descision about how Sevildom reactions to Reetions, post events in The Courtesan Prince, which can only be understood in the context of Horth's life to that point. The Horth at issue, of course, is Horth Nersal, who first took the ORU stage in Throne Price, the notoriously out-of-sequence book 4 of the series.)

I think Virginia and I both had a bit of a wrestle, at CasCadia, with the business of what publishing ORU works with Windstorm Creative means, if sales depend entirely on us drumming up orders. I had never anticipated wide distribution of the Fandom Press works to bookstores or other outlets, but I had initially been under the impression they would be put on shelves in a dozen or so places in and around Seattle without direct intervention on my part to achieve that exposure. Misunderstandings are the root of much evil in the publishing business. On the other hand, my friends at Windstorm Creative did reprint both Kath and Mekan?stan to get rid of the typos that were bothering me, and have promised to pay all anthology authors and Yukari (cover artist for The Lorel Experiment). Getting back to WACK, last night, where I donated a copy of the anthology and the Lorel Experiment, together with Throne Price, as gifts to reward volunteers at any of five very valuable Prince George services for women--having a book to work with is a good feeling, and makes it possible to reach readers. I anticipate hundreds of anthologies getting into the hands of readers over the next eighteen months or so, which is not much compared with what Edge has been able to achieve for me with books in the mainline series, but constitutes good numbers for small press and/or small academic publishing circles. And as the whole enterprise thrives, so shall all associated publications. One nice thing of being part of the ORU is that works have a longer shelf life than "one of" creations. As long as the larger enterprise thrives, any ORU publication is "current".

For the meantime, I think I will solve the communication problem, for myself, by calling the Windstorm Creative works hosted ones. That is terminology that Windstorm itself uses in some contexts, and a fair way of explaining how we work together. In all fairness, I must also point out that Fandom Press is only one part of what Windstorm Creative does, and a very new part that I think they are feeling their way along with much as we are. Our relationship gives me more control, editorially, than I might have in another situation, and that is a critical factor for me. It also includes options. For example, my contract with them includes exemptions for limited edition works sold for non-profit purposes, and once I get a couple more of the Edge novels put to bed, I think I might go that route with my next novella set in the ORU, and make that an option for others who wish to benefit ?Amel friendly? charities (with the possibility of their work becoming collector?s edition items) rather than play the publication-for-pay sweepstakes. In the meantime, there are cool developments on the votary author front in the form of Virginia?s Drops of Humanity, work planned by Brianna and Sarah, and a Windstorm Creative contact interested in developing a role playing game. Most of all, for long term prospects, interest in the ORU as a whole is evolving in a positive direction.

Enjoyed the pictures on your blog, Virginia! Must nag David to get ours up. And thanks for the interaction, here. I always feel better when I get things off my chest in an open, honest manner, however unwise that might be from some perspectives. It makes this whole business a journey with personal meaning, rather than one more chore in a busy life full of necessities and money-related anxieties. Which doesn?t mean one cannot be professional, but makes for less cognitive dissonance if one is a crazy artistic idealist. :-)


Saturday, September 10, 2005
Dude.
 
On less of a profound note, I agree you, Lynda. I'm sorry you were feeling bad about the whole thing. You do realize you come home from every con feeling this way. ;-) Next time: more beer, less market talk.
I had a wonderful time. For me, even though I was feeling less than enthusiastic about the appearance of the anthology, it was great to go and speak with many intelligent and charismatic people, also enthusiastic about the creative business. I think I see publishing in a more pragmatic view than Lynda, because her heart is wrapped up in her work, and my heart, so far, just wants something, anything to work.

I've posted a few pictures, including a fabulous one of Lynda, on my blog. Not to drag anyone away, but I don't have the energy to do it all again.


 
Many good and even grand things befell me at Cascadia Con, early this month: enough that I have been wondering, hard, to myself why I haven't posted an article on Reality Skimming to share the wealth with those of you kind enough to care, and interested enough to read commentaries here. Amanda reminded me that people really do read Reality Skimming during coffee last week at the Kizmat Cafe, where I gave her a copy of The Okal Rel Universe Anthology I, edited by myself and Virginia O'Dine. Irene, a woman I met at Sandra's book club in Prince George about a year ago, reminded me of it when she showed up to the Courtesan Prince launch in Prince George, and told me she had been following progress with the series via the website. At Cascadia Con, people I had never met convinced me that my work means something to others, in a heart warming way I am always freshly grateful for when I encounter it. Brianna's affection for ORU characters, Brian's presence at Cascadia Con, Janice's encouragement, the contact I am negotiating with through Windstorm Creative about a possible role playing game design, and dozens of other gestures of support and interest, small and large, all give me cause to celebrate being a writer and doing what I do with the Okal Rel Universe, in particular, which is something of a fourth child and old friend, and always will be special to me no matter what else I do or don't succeed at in the literary realm.



But instead of talking or thinking about the good things that happened, I've been caught up in feeling grumbly and vexed, as if I had some sort of mental indigestion or spiritual flu instead of being energized by the experience. I didn't understand what was the matter. But after getting in some work on Righteous Anger, today (which was curative) I think I have finally figured out how to come to grips with my cranky muse, and therefore, in the spirit of honesty that I firmly believe real art and real scholarship proceed from, I decided to get it off my chest. If I do, maybe I can get on with what I love to do without it interfering again--at least not until the next time the world gets under my skin.


My problem is that I need to believe life is worth living in order to keep doing it, and for me that issue has never begun or ended with either status or money. Respect is important and requires some status to maintain. And money is certainly as necessary for living as oxygen, in a material sense, but I can't motive myself to contend with the world somely on the basis of being able to buy groceries or draw breath, unless, I suppose, either function was suddenly threatened.


In short, the question isn't how much money you can get hold of, for indeterminate reasons, but what use you put that money to in the service of your particular ideas. Mine don't revolve around who has the largest bank balance. In fact, it has been my experience that the larger the ego or checkbook, the less worthwhile the person, with the usual allowance for welcome exceptions. Similarly, I find obsessive focus on the selling end of writing so far from motivating (however important, useful, etc.) that it actually messes up my joy in writing. Selling books is part and parcel, for me, of wanting to be read and have an influence, not an exercise in finding out how "big" I can get as some sort of end in itself. The whole pro-speak, know-the-right-people and scorn-the-slush-pile-wannabes attitude that one gets from some (but once again, not all) professionals in the field feels like being force fed chalk and then pitied for failing to appreciate the flavour. I do not, never have, and never will rate writers on the basis of how many copies they sold or how much money they made. Some of the writers who have meant the most to me, all my life, have done considerably worse in financial terms than ones that stay on the bestsellers list for weeks. There are bestsellers I have liked, as well. And I have nothing against success. Success is great! It gets you more readers, expands the reach of your voice and supports a writer's quality of life on the bread-and-butter side of the equation. But if the size of my check was my only concern, I wouldn't write. I wouldn't even be myself. And it saddens me that the world seems increasingly obsessed with pressuring people like me to feel sheepish or apologetic about it, as if failing to worship at the shrine of wealth and fame was not only a material mistake, but some sort of back-to-front error of moral judgement as well. For the sake of all I feel and believe in, and the weight my voice may lend to those things, I hope I succeed beyond my wildest dreams. But my motive for writing does not depend on it. To the contrary, I do not understand how to operate if I am meant to desire success for its own sake. I don't see the point of doing something as labour intensive and chancy as writing if you don't have more profound motives than getting paid. Given the hours invested over a lifetime, versus the fiscal rewards, the vast majority of writers would be better off selling french fries, financially, unless they rake in money on the side through some related activity. That does not persuade me to think less of them or to consider writing a less worthwhile activity than more profitable activities. (Selling drugs is pretty profitable, but isn't generally admired, for heaven's sake!) Life is complex, and it is certainly true that well paid writers are typically excellent craftsmen. It is true that full-time writers must earn a living and ought to be able to do well at it, if (which is a fair question to ask) we choose as a society to honour writers in financial terms. But as far as a one-to-one correspondence between Big Name Success and Quality Art, it just isn't that cut and dried. Not for me, in any case. And not for anyone who reads or writes for her own reasons--just as Ann advises young Gadar, the crack Reetion pilot disillusioned to discover that Sevolite highborns can out-fly her, about the importance of being a pilot for her own reasons. Sevolites may fly faster and last longer, but they aren't going where you need to be.


Now back to work on Horth and his own struggle with opportunity vs. integrity, despite--in his case--plenty of will and ability to succeed in the contests of status his own society offers him. :-)


And next time I post, I will dwell on the positive. But I must ration myself or I'll never get to the end of Righteous Anger by Oct 1, which is when I have promised the first draft to Brian.



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