#giving the reader some space in the narrative to step back and view the fictional society from afar

[gwarden123]

I do have some thoughts about how quickly and easily they all get metal and carbon lead for pencils out of the ground and into a usable shape when they textually have not built a kiln to fire pottery in Freedom’s Landing. I feel like Anne McCaffrey has a weird understanding of what is and isn’t an easy thing to make. Like the soap thing (other stories have this problem about what would or wouldn’t be historically accurate in terms of cleanliness). They’re cooking with fire and have meat to render fat from, all these highly educated, highly specialised people (another thing I have Thoughts(TM) on) and yet they have to resort to a plant pod to use for soap instead of mixing fat and ash together to get make a crude, and scientifically accurate, soap. It’s like the way there’s (so far) no mention or concern of agricultural runoff in the water. This is an industrial scale farm (my beloved). Cow shit and pesticides have to go somewhere. Maybe the mysterious Farming Aliens thought of that... But still. What about the sewage waste and pollution around their base camp? They have latrines, so it’s clearly been thought about somewhat. Are they mucking out the shit of... however many people are there? Are they just leaving it in holes to rot?

(It’s good to know I can ruin my own enjoyment of something I’m generally liking)

(To be clear, I’m mostly being critical because the story is this sort of survivalist, planetary colonising fantasy. The fun of this kind of story, like The Martian, is having some degree of realistic detail that the reader can take and feel like they’ve learned something. Like a murder mystery engaging the reader in the puzzle of solving the plot. I do also think some of this might just stand out more when you’ve had to think about them for fics or other creative type projects? Like seeing your own flaws reflected back at you)

The point that I really set out to make, before I got sidetracked, was that it was interesting to see... See, a thing I noticed in some of the newer science fictiony books that I read was that it felt like there’d been a shift from science fiction being written by people with more scientific, technical knowledge and interest, to people with more, I guess literature degrees. People who are into books and stories rather than rocket ships and history, that sort of thing. And this made it so a lot of the character work and plotting was more competent but that the science fiction side was more boring? Like, you’re not going to get something where you can feel just how much the author loves, like, railway systems or astronomy or whatever. And (at least in the books I read, this might not be a widespread problem) it felt like something unique to science fiction had been lost, this passionate love for something completely inhuman and intellectual. Like being taken out of your own life and being captured by the beauty of a flower or the night sky.

Anyway, I’ve been noticing the reverse of this problem with Zainal having zero internal conflict over having been stuck with his people’s oppressed class and seeming to have no urgent desire to call home and get a lift. Maybe having people with literature degrees write books is not such a bad thing after all.

[wackygoofball]

Gwenspiration: The Wacky Version Vol. 1 - The Fanfics

As threatened/promised, I am tooting the horn in a number of posts, following the most kind call of @jaimebrienneonline.

I decided to begin with fanfic as JB fanfiction was my way into the fandom when a kind voice, long time ago, lured me over to the wonderful world which is JBO. And ever since that day I found both my home and my people. 

I am not going in a particular order because like my non-existent children, I kind of love and love to hate all of my fics equally.

But, for matters of scrolling convenience, I will put this list below a cut:

Childhood Friends has a special place in my heart because it is one of the two fics that got me into the fandom, and it is of the rare species of completed Wacky WIPs. The story marked my first tender steps in the canon as I was still catching up on show and book knowledge but got instantly hooked on the JB dynamic and just *had* to write fanfiction about them, albeit not yet knowing just what the frack Westeros even looked like on a map. I simply was intrigued by the idea of how the lives of our OTP may have played out differently if only they had met at a younger age, only to run into one another time and time again over the years, until at last, the circumstances seem to be in their favor. Writing that fic was a challenge because, for one, it got finished, which is incredibly hard for me to to do, and it is a coming of age story of sorts, which is not necessarily what I am used to writing. Nonetheless, it was a project that got me firmly into the fandom, which is why I am always remembering the process (and the writer’s panic) somewhat fondly, and always smile like an idiot when someone finds that old fic of mine and leaves a kudo or even a comment, reminding me of those early beginnings of my JB shipping career.

Choices likely has to be mentioned in the same vein, despite its crucial difference being that it went on a very, very, veeeeeery long hiatus and yet has to awaken (some prince wanting to give it a smooch to maybe bring it back to life? Would be much appreciated!). It was born out of the wish of exploring the infamous what if of Jaime and Brienne already getting intimate while on the road back to King’s Landing - as a matter of necessity/convenience, only for the misfortunate/very fortunate circumstance that Brienne winds up pregnant after their one time together. I enjoyed/would very much to enjoy again to write the character studies on how they deal not just with the issue of parenthood but also with their insecurities regarding their feelings for one another, which inspires more than one ill-made choice (*roll credits*) for either one of them as neither one dares to call love what actually is just that, hiding instead behind missions and honor, parenthood and duty, and fractured pasts that leave them wondering just who they became thanks to each other.

Colour Verses is a series that was born out of my first ever (I believe) JB Appreciation Week. OMG, it’s been so long. The theme of colors really had me inspired, which is why those pieces, which can be read in succession and independently, have a soft spot in my Wacky heart.

The Shredding Project, I believe, deserves an honorary mention despite its utter lack of completion for some of its parts and a happy ending for some of the tales shredded in this part of the fandom. I have a great passion for fairytales and deconstructing them, which inspired this undertaking of twisting and turning aka shredding all those stories into new models to fit Jaime and Brienne into. In fact, the Shredding Project is much larger than it currently is on AO3, as most of the shredded stories still reside in a large, very large Word file on my computer (42 shreddings up to date with a total of 414k words *whispers* 414k mkaaaay, yes I *am* obsessed), and can be found in the respective thread on JBO, where one can read perhaps not an eloquently put-together retelling of favorite fairytales (and some Disney movies) but at least find a conclusion to every story and thus a happy ending, as befits a fairytale.

Bow Down is another story I would mean to include in this list. It came to mean a lot to me personally because I worked my way through it at a time when I was not really having the time of my life for a number of reasons. Thus, finishing that fic did a lot of things for me - and hopefully also with my oh so patient readers. The basic premise is how things would have developed, had Brienne failed to find Sansa and thus fully dedicate herself to the cause of the Blackfish during the Riverrun Siege whose bitterness is clouding his judgment, leaving Jaime in a tough position to choose between his family and the mannish woman he can’t help but care about as much as he does.

A Tale of Spring is one of those fics I wish to include in that already way too long tooting because a) it is a finished story, which is always a rarity in my Wacky world, and b) it is still a kind of headcanon I would have loved to come about in some capacity, as it leaves room for not just happy endings while at the same time giving space for futures to grow for JB as they are cautious to dream of their future past the Long Night, edging on a Dream of Spring.

Paths is one of those stories I am, yet again, very desperate to get back on track with (I mean, it is supposed to lead somewhere, title has it). This story means a lot to me because I just have so much in my head for how this is meant to conclude and just have to get over that one edge to finally ebb into the narrative direction I need this to go (aka follow the path *badum tssssss*). I suppose the story was very much fuelled by my love for G.I. Jane and the dynamic between Jordan O'Neil and John James Urgayle (and Viggo in those short shorts... way too short shorts... damn). At the same time, my aim with this fic is to show not just how tough JB can be and how much ass they can kick together but also how insecure they are beneath the tough surface and how they actually long for something way outside the line of fire.

Train Acquaintances, by contrast, is a rather self-indulgent fic I started to write and was surprised to have found an audience rather fast. I just really liked the theme of trains as a way for two people to meet while at the same time playing with the overly romanticized notion of trains and deconstructing it somewhat. They are a curious means of transportation, to put it mildly. And to then throw in Jaime trying to act smoothly when he is just acting like a dork most of his time was just too delicious to resist. While it’s been a long time (because my computer ate part of a chapter I found really important and that has frustrated me so much, I can’t even tell you), I remain intrigued writing this story because it has a rather distinct mood from what I normally tend to write. And awkward Jaime is just so much fun to write.

Washed Away is one of those fics I am so desperate to get back to that you woudln’t even believe - because it is the one fic most closely tied to the book canon. Its premise is the Lady Stoneheart situation yet to be resolved, wherein Brienne makes a dangerous gamble to save the man she knows is not guilty of the crimes Lady Stoneheart accuses him of, leaving them both to wrestle not just with the dilemmas of this overall situation but also their conflicting vows and feelings for one another.

In the Eyes of the Seven is one of those fics I am yet again very desperate to get back to (yes, I realize I type this sentence far too often, but it is the truth!) but have not yet found a way to bridge between two important plot points, currently creating a gap that keeps me from moving on to the next chapters. It is one of those narrative places where I nerd around freely and explore some mad medley of historical fiction inserted into the history of Westeros, taking up on the runaway nuns of the Reformation period and re-applying it to the Westerosi context by making it about septons and septas instead. While perhaps not a particularly popular story of mine, it is a story I very much enjoy writing as it gives opportunity for lots of introspection, insecurities, and the wish of both characters to break out of the boundaries of the norms set by a static system leaving no room for the likes of the Kingslayer and a woman fancying herself a sword as much as a book or a dress. In general, there are just so many ideas for it inside my head that I really hope to get back on track with that story because there is just so much more I want to tell the readers about in this strange tale.

May the Norns Bind Their Fate strikes a similar tune for me, as I get to gush about my mediocre-at-best knowledge of Norse mythology (albeit a great interest) and yet again change Westeros to my liking to insert the political system of the Viking era into this society (or rather my wacky interpretation thereof). For me, it is both an experiment in terms of perhaps (big perhaps) turning things a bit more heated than I am used to (for Wacky writes no smut, unless it is a literal accident, which only happened, like, once) and diving deep into aspects such as trauma and grief as well as fate and determinacy, since the idea of seers knowing your future has a very distinct appeal in my view, and how knowing one’s “fate” may affect the outcomes of the events. Thus, taking up on the challenge to deal with that in this fic still has me hooked - and I hope I am not the only one.

Last but not least...

An Honorable Man and a Just Woman is a story I am happy to have found an audience because it really gives me something personally to write it. Considering how sadly things played out in the show, I was in dire need of my own little fix-it and have since taken up on the challenge to entertain those questions of what would have changed had Jaime survived, what would be if he were declared King of the Six Kingdoms. Not only does that leave a humbled Jaime trying to find his place in a world he never thought he would see, having seen his ending long before he rode away from Winterfell, but it also leaves him and Brienne with the reality of what it is like to survive when so many died, and how to cope with how they parted and why. And while there are still so many things left unsaid and feelings left unexpressed, one can only hope that those two honorable and just people will eventually find their way around in the new world they are meant to build.

So yeah, I tooted a lot, and I still left out a whole bunch of my weird fanfic children, but those are the ones I feel a great deal of dedication to, even if, admittedly, a lot of them haven’t seen an update in ages. But rest assured, anyone reading this who dared to jump the Wacky train and read along, knowing very well that this strange woman struggles finishing a WIP most of her days, that I am still dedicated to each of those stories (as I am to any story I write). There are simply technicalities and real life not letting me dedicate as much of my time to it as I would need to finally get that final push ahead on a lot of them.

Be it as it may, in the spirit of Glorious Gwendoline Christie, here’s to my shameless self-promotion!

Stay tuned for the next post about the wackiest of Wacky’s wacky creations.

Until then...

Much love! ♥♥♥

[quietdaysco]

The Process: Research

Ever wanted to make something, but didn’t know where to start? We too. In this second installment of The Process, we’ve finished forming our idea and now it’s time to inform it. 

2. Research 

Mind you, this isn’t a “step two” per se. Here’s the big kicker on what we soon discovered about this part of development:

Research is an active, ongoing process, whose goals change throughout pre- to post-production.

We may have created the idea of Primrose Path but our research didn’t stop at the end of pre-production, as if to say we’ve got everything we need and now it’s time to dive into making it. During production, we still had questions. Research is the only reason that, if you stopped us on the side of the street, the topics of future biomaterials and methods, dynamic UI design, and historic architectural eras could all pop up in the same conversation.  

And all of that is valuable information to us, because researching is relevant in every area of the process! But what kind of information did we look for? 

Our five categories are Community Canvassing, Story & Character Development, Team Management, Game Design, and Marketing. 

Let’s break it down:

A. Community Canvassing

Identifying and learning our target audience.

Identify personal wants from our game.

We have to stop and think: what kind of game do we want to play? If you want something, chances are, there’s a group of people out there who want the same thing. They are our audience.

Identify the type of media and genres relevant to our game.

Our video game is a visual novel, and its market genres are predominantly adult, drama, and romance. Because the medium of visual novels originated and is popular in Japan, we use the term otome (Japanese for “maiden” or “girl”) or otoge (portmanteau of “otome” and “game”) in our genre list. So, our game is an adult, drama, romance, otome—or focused on a female main character who deals with a cast of potential male partners.

Case any census data and statistics on target and related communities’ research blogs.

This one was important to us because we like considering quantifiable data that gives us the bigger picture. Statistics blogs and databases helped us get a clearer view of different demographic subsets of the visual novel community. It’s also important that we read material about sister media like the general interactive fiction community, as both deal with reader input and resultant story-branching.

Inquire fans in those genres for game recommendations and any opinions.

Community hubs are a click away. We connected with others via forums like Reddit and instant messenger servers like Discord that specifically revolve around fans and game developers of the visual novel medium.

Read game reviews in those genres by other fans and critics.

The most interesting thing for us when we read these reviews is not so much what someone did or didn’t like, but what aspects of the game they focused on, and what other topics they decided to connect to their original answer. You may be surprised how people decide to expand on their answer and where tangents lead, which is very telling, valuable associations.

Connect with other developers for support and networking.

The Western visual novel community is a small community, but commercial success is not confined to said community. Building a rapport with other hardworking devs is important, as it follows us in such a small space—for better or worse. There’s a lot to learn from the wider indie development community, too.

B. Story & Character Development

Creating an organic experience.

Real-world parallels to inspire for or reference in game direction.

Whether we take a trip to the city with a camera and sketchbook, rent and buy books from libraries and bookstores, or visit Google Maps in satellite view, we are pulling up everything we need to inform our game’s locations, people, and events.

Observe and converse with people.

The behaviors, quirks, appearances, opinions, and feelings of people are abundant, and it’s not until we observe and sometimes familiarize ourselves with others that we catch some of the concerted expressions that create a nuanced individual. 

Interacting with others is first-hand experience, and listening to or reading others’ experiences is second-hand. If we can't write from first or second-hand experience, we must inform ourselves with other sources, as it’s crucial in writing characters with whom we may not directly or easily identify. We often defer to interviews and documentaries to start.

Psychology and sociology research.

Sometimes reading from experts about general trends and triggers of the human condition makes it easier for us to understand, verify, and better portray things like addictions, behavioral disorders and mental illnesses, fetishes, and cultural stigmas for our character development and world-building. Though this isn’t limited to negative or abnormal things we cannot identify. It can also be in what ways the values of a person or society evolve, or how players interact with video game avatars!

Read and deconstruct critically-acclaimed novels in our genres

It’s understood that if people want to become better writers, they have to become better readers. Being able to settle down with some traditionally-published, well-received books relevant to our interests will help us build on our knowledge of suitable writing conventions, as well as analyzing broader narrative elements, like plot pacing. We even have a list of writing resources saved to help us break it all down!

C. Team Management

Standardizing ways to increase workflow efficiency.

Pipeline development.

Know a general end-date to keep in mind for the finished product. Setting a scope for our project and a timeline for production challenges us to keep on task as we work towards that date. We’ve set ours up by month and refer to that document for phase estimation.

Time management, task delegation, task tracking, and work logs.

Whether your team is me, myself, and I, or made of employees and contractors, it’s important to stay synchronized and keep record of that progress. Quiet Days has our own GitScrum board to help us with assigning tasks, timing how long a task takes us versus the amount of time we expected it to take, and streamlining the process from start to finish. It also keeps track of percentage of overall project completion and key performance indicators (KIP), or the metrics of a user’s personal contribution and work ethic over a period of time. There are a plethora of other task management sites and apps available to use too.

Style guides to standardize writing and art.

Between the two of us at Quiet Days, we both work on the 2D art and writing, and we both default to different visual and writing styles. So, we’ve set up and continue to add to our respective guides, keeping the art style and narration and character portrayals consistent. This is especially helpful should we take up other artists or writers, so that they can easily assimilate into our workflow. 

Account delegation for social media and company correspondence.

Understanding who does what for cohesion under a company brand is important for its image. We share all accounts under the company name, so technically both of us have access, which works well for our team of two. It’s early, but so far “delegation” seems to have taken on a natural division between Coda and Elm—the former taking to micro-blogging, and the latter to streaming and forum correspondence. While this dynamic may change in the future, we both refer back to each other under the Quiet Days brand.

Potential for contracting help.

We’ve considered that there may be a time in production where a helping hand is needed. Additional considerations like the freelancing market and pricing are kept in mind for the future. 

D. Game design 

Scrutinizing game elements from a developer’s lens.

Consider for which platform to design.

PC? Mobile? Console? Cross-platform? While we are primarily designing our game to be played on PC, should we want to capitalize on popular handheld consoles like the Nintendo Switch, for example, things like game engines and builds, game optimization, resolution, encryption, touch capabilities, and content guidelines for their private company platform all need to be considered. These things change between platforms.

Consider designing globally.

There are people different from us who would like to enjoy our game too. We consider the user experience (UX) for things like the possibility of game translations and using fonts types that read well for different language characters like Chinese or Russian. We also consider how to customize the experience to accommodate for players with different cognitive abilities, which falls under accessibility features.

Play what’s commercially un/successful and community-recommended.

We can learn a lot from both good and bad game design, and what the community mostly consumes. We engage with these games and take notes on graphics, accessibility features, user interface (UI) designs, game mechanics, soundtracks, and overall presentation and aesthetic. What did we like and what would we have preferred?

Stay updated on game design development tips from industry heads

There are people who have been doing it much longer than we have, and a number of them are setting industry standards. We can learn a thing or two in how they handle a problem and find solutions.

E. Marketing 

Methods for optimizing outreach and return of investment.

Social media strategies for engaging and involving our audience.

We’ve laid the groundwork for character accounts on social media to launch as a way for our audience to interact with characters from our game. While role-playing is a fun marketing and meta world-building device, we’re exploring other cool avenues like exploitable images and audience challenges to drum up future participation. 

Types of advertising and promotional materials.

There may come a time when word-of-mouth may not be enough. Would we consider purchasing ad space on different sites for greater visibility, or spend money on “promoting” features on social media? Would we commission or create and sell promotional merchandising for our audience?

Crowdfunding platforms and prospects.

Popular ones like Patreon, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo all have their draws and their drawbacks for creators and supporters alike. For what expenses would we crowdfund? What additional rewards would we provide for the financial support, if any? Do we want financial support for our project, or continual financial support as a company creating content? Some developers don’t actually use these platforms to request funding, but as another way of advertising their game. Would we do that?

Cross-exposure with other devs.

Interviews, public events, and collaborations with other game developers is a win-win situation with everyone involved. We want to be able to not just network, but allow each other to introduce our products and skills to a greater audience, creating and sharing a unique, dedicated fanbase in the overlap.

The Takeaway

At the time of this post, we’re still in the production phase, so some of this information isn’t applicable right now, but no knowledge is wasted: these things will always be handy to know and consider for later. We’re making our decisions in lieu of—and even despite some of—our research, in order to create a game that we’ll love and hope others will too. It’s important that as a game developer, you too keep yourself informed!

Speaking of ongoing research, Western otome is a largely indie market with many small, tenacious teams and hardly any corporate studios. If you are a Western otome developer, please contact us! We’d love to interview you in a Q&A, get your input on your process, and feature your story on our blog! 

[shiraglassman]

Jamaican lesbian romance rec

Review originally posted on The Lesbrary. Bliss by Jamaican-American author Fiona Zedde is a finding-your-place story as much as it is a love story; or you could say it’s a love story between a woman and the self she’s supposed to be or the type of life she’s supposed to be living. It’s also highly erotic, reveling in the sensuality of its characters’ bodies, but in a respectful and almost reverential way that elevates ordinary body parts to a sort of glowing, visceral divinity.

Bliss Sinclair, a Jamaican-American woman who goes by Sinclair in honor of her dead mother’s surname, has been living a fairly tropey “money can’t buy you happiness” existence as a high-powered accountant on the gazillionth floor of a fancy building. She doesn’t really have friends who mean anything to her and she tolerates her boyfriend’s affection because it’s what you do. Lesbian identity is sitting on her emotional front porch stoop playing on its phone but she hasn’t quite had the courage to open the door yet.

When she finally does get a chance to figure out that she’s really only attracted to women, she gets taken advantage of by a woman who is pushy and misleading. The inevitable happens, at which point she heads back to Jamaica for an extended vacation to see her father and meet his new wife and kid. She quickly winds up introduced to the local lesbian community and has to learn everybody’s old drama as she’s also getting used to being around her family again.

I found most of the supporting characters and the relational world Zedde sets up for this story really appealing–there’s an immense sense of interconnectedness that includes the dead characters we never get to meet in person as well. Zedde also gives us a rich, vivid, and easy to picture world of tropical plants, Jamaican food, what kinds of things there are to do in Jamaica if you’re there on vacation, and what kinds of jobs the locals do. Whiteness hovers in the background as a clueless, absent employer but is never really present on-screen.

There is a lot of sex in this book, but there are also a lot of scenes of the main character playing tourist on beaches and historic buildings, going to parties or restaurants, enjoying time with her family, etc. I just feel like if I had been counting the sex scenes I would have run out of fingers (and yes, I phrased it that way on purpose :P )

This is not a book that ignores the violent reality that anyone visibly queer in Jamaica may encounter, but because Zedde is writing from the inside and not from the point of view of some privileged white non queer writer, both the book’s scenes of attempted sexual violence from the hands of multiple strange men are:

1. foiled, completely and utterly

2. take up a very brief space in the narrative; they occur over the course of a page or two, are fended off, are processed emotionally with tears or a day of quiet or whatever else is necessary, and then we move on

3. they are not intended as a rejection of Jamaica. This is important. Over at @writingwithcolor, we all get questions from people outside various marginalized groups trying to write about the ways that group mistreats vulnerable folks within its own LGBT community. I prefer to leave this narrative to people in the overlap of both groups, because comparing what Zedde writes to what some of these privileged writers write you can see the difference – at one point, one of the Jamaican lesbians even says “you have to love Jamaica anyway.” This is home; the food, the culture, the scenery, the history, the music. The problem is recognized but it’s not enough to drive them out and away into other places that may very well be just as physically dangerous.

I found the main character herself more appealing as a person than any of her love interests, honestly – obviously the first one was pushy beyond belief, but one on the island came on really strong as well and I had to just believe in Sinclair’s immense attraction to her being what wore down her initial “I have a broken heart and you come on super strong, meep” feelings.

Another topic about which Zedde writes much better than a privileged person trying to write about a marginalized community further marginalizing its LGBT members, is Sinclair’s father’s reaction to her lesbianism. I was stunned at how well this was pulled off because I’d never seen a character come around so realistically and so quickly. He’s upset, but a few pages later he dials it back and says that a lot of his upset is probably unfair. Can white, non-queer people trying to write about “oppressive” non-white or non-American parents please take a lesson from this book? 

Anyway, aside from that issue I thought it was a great and realistic and familiar depiction of what happens when a parent who loves their child has discomfort with their choice of partner or sexuality but is trying to work around it. We don’t see too much of that in LGBT fiction; I’ve seen a lot of either ultra-acceptance (realistic for some of us, and even those who aren’t need some wish fulfillment) or ultra-disgustingness (cathartic and important to write from the inside; tragedy porn and sometimes not even written in a way that rings true, when writing from the outside.) A family that invites a girlfriend over for dinner and no horrible “I knew you’d ruin the evening!” argument happens even though one of the members feels negatively about the idea of a gay daughter is another way to be realistic, and belongs on the page. And it’s not like you as a reader are constantly made aware of his negativity, either. 

Some choice quotes, so you can get a feel for the book’s snappy dialogue and evocative descriptors:

Sinclair: “Do you come downtown often?” First girlfriend: “If you’ll let me, I’ll come at least two times today.”

Waitress: “Can I get you two anything to drink today?” One of the main characters, about the other main character: “Some manners for her.”

Island love interest about the first girlfriend: “If she was worth half your sighs she would have been here with you on her knees apologizing for hurting you.”

Description of main character’s young stepmom: “short reddish hair that stood up around her head like a tamed flame”

Overall, the story tells itself; it flows really well and makes you want to keep reading. This isn’t the kind of book where you read a paragraph and then have to read it again because you didn’t catch what happens. In other words, Also, kudos to Zedde for using the phrase “maggot-white penis” to refer to a naked white guy in a BDSM club, because it reminded me of those posts pointing out how nobody talks about whiteness with the kind of evocative overscrutinizing detail usually afforded to darker skin in fiction.

Trigger warnings: two foiled attempts at sexual assault by multiple men in the Jamaica half of the book. The second time the women beat up the men pretty badly; it’s over quickly and you can skip the second time if you nope out for a couple of pages when they get to a place in the woods with tons of pretty tropical flowers. 

Also, the first girlfriend’s behavior is borderline abusive in the sense that she puts Sinclair in situations she doesn’t want to be in and basically demands a veto as negative consent instead of asking if things are okay beforehand, and I’m talking big deal things like surprising her with orgies or kink clubs. Sometimes they are okay and sometimes they are not and Sinclair takes steps accordingly each time. Plus, she’s the kind of person who says “You’re an incredible fuck. Yet you’re so naïve. You’re like my lost childhood. My virginity.” which I know someone who had that said to them in real life and I've always found it super creepy (so does Sinclair.)

[mthvn]

Metahaven in conversation with Jen Kratochvil, Prague, September 2017

JK Fotograf Festival is proposing in its 7th iteration named “Eye in the Sky” a condensed timeline of understanding and analysis of a rapid technological development of our times and its social and political implications. In this respect your work stands at the forefront of a possible vision of days to come, considering work of Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige addressing from current perspective almost historical form of digital manipulation through spam emails, which they were archiving and analyzing since the late 1990s, transferring their findings into a complex exhibition set up and a publication, then going one step further to Trevor Paglen’s tendency to uncover deliberately hidden veins of technological superstructure forming our daily digital experiences and their shadows, thus uncovering the other side of the given status quo. Information Skies, your latest film, presented as a sequel to The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) and a middle point for your upcoming cinematic experience Hometown, formulates a futuristic vision almost in a sci-fi character and enclosing this proposed timeline not that far from our now.

MH Thank you. To be honest, time appears to be mixed up to the point where past, present and future have become quite randomly compressed into a single “now.” In any case the trajectory that we started with our documentary The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) is about the experience of inhabiting the current technological-political superstructure from within. Both Information Skies and also Hometown are focused on the emotional remainder, perhaps more so than ever, that characterizes that condition of inhabitation.

JK Judging from The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) and Information Skies, this future trilogy also narrates a certain timeline. How would you describe the mutual genealogy of these three films?

MH Whereas The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) led directly to Information Skies, with the same lead actress, Georgina Dávid, playing in both films, Hometown and Information Skies are like twins in their fictional rendering of the condition of living with fluid truth and contradictions. Both projects are inspired by what remains as a base below and throughout the tech superstructure. It’s important to note that Hometown shooting was only just completed in Kyiv. All three projects are intended as time-based artworks, meaning that their installation in an art space allows viewers to experience their narratives intuitively and in a less linear way than cinema allows for.

JK In his manifesto “The New Normal" for a current Strelka Institute program your friend Benjamin H. Bratton mentions that results of their practice aim at the year 2050 as a target. Saying that 2050 is for them not a vague vision of a future, where our current problems are deferred, but that designing for 2050 is happening now. What does the future entail for Metahaven?

MH The Strelka School mission statement for The New Normal is driven by its agenda as an architecture and design-led project. It is necessary to bring back a sense of future-oriented “grand design” that is nevertheless working with mistakes, accidents, and glitches, rather than some perfect and smooth implementation of a plan or ideology. Within this program we focus on the role of visual and linguistic texture, image, poetry, and narrative, that may give these iterations of future thinking their character. More concretely, we have been focusing on the poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva and Ariel Dorfman, and on Andrei Tarkovsky, as an influence to our work, whose ideas on duration and time can be developed and extrapolated into today’s digital culture. We recognize the way duration impacts our ability to imagine the future.

JK Our society is historically based on narrations predicting possible further developments. In last years we hear more and more often from different sites that we reached a stalemate point when predictions are no longer possible. Adam Curtis is saying that “no one has any vision for a different or a better kind of future”, Bifo Beradi defines our present as an era of impotence, when we collectively lost an ability to critically judge and thus formulate our next steps on a path to the future. Do you see this as a pessimism of older generation of thinkers growing up during the Cold War or a genuine concern applicable to all of us?

MH The impossibility to think ahead and to plan ahead is striking everyone in a very practical sense. There are real, and huge problems, with employment, with livelihood, with pay, with pensions. It is today considered utopian to demand decent living conditions and decent pay. Indeed, the collapse of Leftist future politics and their fracturing into various identitarian, green, and pirate factions on one hand, and a “center-left” on the other, presents a perpetual crisis, but it can be made worse by nostalgia for futurism. It seems most important to, in the face of these huge issues, find something concrete to work on and to believe in, and express what is necessary. The future begins by being not always reactive.

JK That leads us to Information Skies itself and its visual character. You’re depicting a future with very minimal means, it’s a sci-fi without an overwhelming landscape of distant cosmos, interstellar vessels and techno-fetish. In some of your youtube presentations, you are referring to Tarkovsky. Probably that’s already an answer. Can you explain it further, please?

MH We are interested in the tradition of sci-fi by minimal means, applying psychology to the situation, rather than props or special effects. This tradition received a significant boost when Tarkovsky, with Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, reworked the novel Roadside Picnic for the screen, resulting in Stalker. Information Skies with its yellow subtitles uses elements of “art-house” cinema on the level of visual texture, but it is really a hybrid project that also uses animation sequences and garment design. We are interested in the combination of cinematic texture and duration with digital video, where one condition of image can inhabit the other. So our admiration for Tarkovsky has little to do with a return to an appreciation for extraordinarily long films or “serious cinema.”

JK Your adoration for Tarkovsky is naturally entangled in Information Skies, what other references to the tradition of cinema are you referring to?

MH The animated sequences further develop our interest in anime as a sort of “international style” of propaganda. The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) featured two Russian anime sequences, Katyusha and Nyash Myash, and it was important for us to continue this trajectory in Information Skies.

JK Your practice is gradually evolving over the years from research and design oeuvre to the politically engaged artistic practice of objects and installations. What about a shift to the film medium? Not necessarily a video, but a feature film and a documentary practice?

MH While indeed there is an evolution of the form of practice and the way we treat its main narrative, there are also some consistencies. We still practice graphic design, but it is no longer the final or dominant container of our work. Apart from designing books, websites, album art, and so on, which is ongoing, over the years we have as designers pro-actively engaged with organizations that we admired and identified with politically. In some cases we were able to develop, through their story, a new story, but in some other cases this didn’t work out. Even though all design and art have their content in the treatment more than in the subject matter, it became gradually necessary and also “natural” to develop our own scenarios. Our interest in moving image came concretely from a YouTube addiction, as well as from an interest in how YouTube algorithms and general behavioral online data mining tend to drag one further into tunnel vision.

JK Your current film works were shown in cinemas, film festivals, in installation set ups and also in the environment from which they originate and which they refer to, the internet and youtube channels. What is for you an ideal format for showing films, if there is one?

MH Whilst in principle online viewing should be a viable option for every moving image work, in practice there still is a bit of a shortage of platform alternatives to facilitate this in a way that is responsible to artwork, audience, and artist. Most if not all online art video environments are built on a Vimeo backbone. YouTube and Facebook video fill the rest of the space—that is, the vast majority of online video space—apart from the monetized content platforms like Netflix which themselves have a huge influence on how story and duration are seen by mainstream audiences.

We don’t necessarily believe that, in the offline world, a cinema is the only right space to experience longer films. As said we are interested in re-exploring the physical space of art as a container for longer films, using the possibilities of viewers experiencing works in a circular rather than a linear manner, walking away and returning to, rather than being fixed in front of a timeline.

JK In The Sprawl and Information Skies you emphasize a role of literature and philosophy for an understanding of our times, why particularly Tolstoy? How is this interest going to evolve in your upcoming film Hometown?

MH The essay that influenced The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) is Tolstoy’s 1897 What is Art?, a provocative and highly necessary assessment of the question that is the title. In his appreciation for folk art, ritual art, peasant songs, etcetera, and his denunciation of Wagner and Shakespeare, Tolstoy sets himself an impossible task, entrapping himself and the readers in contradictions, but his search for the honest and irrepressible core of the art expression, of art, moreover, as a transfer of a relatable emotional core message uniting sender and receivers in a mutual union (which is for him a union with God), is one that enormously influences and inspires us. Why and how this influence has come about is a longer story. It has also left its influence on the Information Skies and Hometown scripts.

JK You are showing Information Skies with English and Arabic subtitles, the original version was accompanied by Korean/ English subtitles and the voice over in Hungarian. The Korean language was introduced for the audience of Gwangju biennial where the film was presented for the first time, how do those other languages refer to the concept of your film?

MH Information Skies is in Hungarian because the main character is Hungarian. We wrote it as a sequel to The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda) and for the same central figure. In Information Skies the voice shifts from voice over to acting as in the second half of the film Georgina turns out to be the narrator. Subtitles are often seen as a nuisance, but as designers by training, we absolutely love them. The subtitles have been purely functional to the languages spoken in the viewing contexts of the Gwangju Bienniale (2016), Mumbai Art Room (2016), and Sharjah Biennale (2017). In addition, they perform a kind of doubling or tripling of the spoken content, as all subtitles do.

JK If I’m not mistaken, you’re showing your work for the first time in the Czech Republic, does this have any specific significance for the message given by your work?

MH Former Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Yugoslavia, used to hold a special position in relation to Western Europe because they represented the eastern frontier of its democratic and capitalist regimes and a transitional zone to the USSR and beyond. With the inclusion of the Central and Eastern European countries into the European sphere the line has been redrawn, but the question is for how long and in what way the unified body of the EU holds out against nationalist, regionalist, and other currents which have arisen in the past years. We find it exciting to be showing this work in Prague and hope for a lively reception.

JK Your work shows a strong interest in Eastern Europe, can you please pin point some reasons why is that so?

MH This interest is older than may seem. As you may know some of our work in Metahaven’s early days was focused on questions of territoriality in relation to information networks and especially representation through online means. Then already we were interested in the entities in the post-Soviet space that were these spaces of exception and geopolitical black holes, existing in a legal vacuum, such as Transnistria on the border of Moldova and Ukraine. It is then and at these kinds of apparently marginal places that the “breakdown of the international order” begins with a series of historical land claims based on majority-Russian speaking populations, and so on, offering a blueprint for what happens in Ukraine in 2014. From a point of view of culture, literature, and poetry, we are very interested in the emotional spectres of Russian literature and music, and, as said earlier, in the notion of duration as it gets developed through ideas of long timespans and vast territories.

JK Referring to the global art world and perpetuated gap between East and West, it could feel quite precarious to work under conditions of undervalued Czech art field. How does such an experience feel coming from economically much more stable western context?

MH We are not interested in art as a luxury product, but in giving an audience the best possible experience of an artwork. It doesn’t matter where that happens.

This conversation took place in September 2017 in the framework of Metahaven: Truth Futurism at Futura Gallery, Prague, curated by Jen Kratochvil, part of Fotograf Festival #7 Eye in the Sky.

[terramythos]

Review: The Prestige by Christopher Priest

Genre/Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Split Narrative, Unreliable Narrator, Memoir, Journal, Stage Magic, Historical Fiction, Horror

Warning(s): Child death, miscarriage (unrelated), suicidal ideation, self-harm

My Rating: 3/5 (Somewhat Recommended)

**Minor Spoilers Follow** (Unusually long review!)

“I step forward to the footlights, and in the full glare of their light face you directly.

I say ‘Look at my hands. There is nothing concealed within them.’

I hold them up, raising my palms for you to see, spreading my fingers so as to prove nothing is gripped secretly between them. I now perform my last trick, and produce a bunch of faded paper flowers from the hands you know to be empty.” -Alfred Borden

An Aside: The film The Prestige (dir. Christopher Nolan) was based off of this book! The movie is honestly one of my favorites ever and certainly my favorite Nolan film; it’s a concise and harrowing tale of obsession and revenge and how it consumes the two main characters, all wrapped together with a strong cast, interesting twists, and a good nonstandard setting. Definitely my kind of story.

Obviously it’s impossible not to compare the two, and I know some of that will come across in my review. That being said, I strongly believe that adaptations are different for a reason and should be judged on their own merits, so my base review will only cover the book and my impressions of it. You can probably tell, however, that I preferred the film purely from the rating. I will write more about how the two compare near the end. This review is a bit longer than usual for it. 

My Summary: An investigative journalist named Andrew, adopted at a young age, is sent to research a local cult holed up in an abandoned estate owned by the Angier family. In doing so, he meets a woman named Kate Angier, who recognizes him from childhood. It turns out their ancestors, Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden, were two feuding stage magicians in the late 1800s, and the bad blood between the two families has spilled out into modern times. While Andrew doesn’t particularly care about the family that abandoned him, he gets the sense that his long-lost twin is calling out to him from somewhere and compelling him to stay, and he learns the history of the feud.

From there the narrative shifts to a memoir by Alfred Borden which exposits notable facts of his life, including what got him into stage magic and an immense secret which influences everything he does, including how he pulls off his most famous trick, The Transported Man. He also documents an ongoing rivalry between himself and fellow magician Rupert Angier, and the latter’s constant attempts to one-up him, leading to a climactic and uneasy final encounter between the two, with supernatural elements to it.

An interlude narrated by Kate comes in the middle which reveals an Uncomfortable Detail about her childhood and connection to Andrew. Some supernatural stuff is implied.  Then, the story shifts to a narrative from the point of view of Rupert Angier, this time in the form of a journal. Similar to the first half, it goes over Rupert’s life and history, and the circumstances the rivalry between him and Alfred. It documents his attempts to surpass The Transported Man, a trick he obsesses over. It is also noteworthy in that mutual scenes between the two are not the same, implying unreliable narration on part of one or both men. Their rivalry eventually comes to a head.  

The Good:

Features a strong voice. It felt like both halves of the story were solidly rooted in their time period and I never felt “taken out” by the phrasing and language of the two protagonists. It ultimately felt interesting to read.

Parallels between the two halves of the story are interesting and satisfying when they occur. It was interesting to flip back and forth between certain scenes and see what was different between them, and try to piece together who was telling the truth. I haven’t run into many books that do that.

The story is obviously well-researched; Priest has a working knowledge of stage magic and the general economic climate of late-1800s London (and, to my surprise, Colorado history, which I’m familiar with). When the characters describe their acts, it has a lot of depth which makes them come across as convincing professionals.

The core concept itself is really quite interesting; it’s an odd conflict and time period to pick, but it pays off in a lot of ways. The choice to use unreliable narrators in a story about stage magic is brilliant.

Of all things the story reminded me heavily of Frankenstein, particularly the way the book describes the supernatural/science-fictioney elements and how it plays into the lives of both men. I could appreciate the references it dropped.

The choice to do a pure half-and-half split narration was risky, but I think it paid off and ended up more effective than just threading the two stories together in alternating chapters. As I mentioned above, I liked that I had to flip between the two. You take what Borden says in the first half for granted– after all, why lie about it?– but the inconsistencies between him and Angier are an intriguing and come much later. (I’d prefer it if the book DIDN’T mention this directly, but unfortunately…)

The Mediocre:

While I liked the split narrative, having the halves be purely autobiographical or journalistic ultimately bogged the story down. By its nature a journal contains a lot of fluff that doesn’t necessarily connect to the story. It felt like Priest was trying to be “authentic” by including a lot of life details that end up… ultimately irrelevant? It detracted a lot from my experience because I had zero reason to care about those things and they served no purpose to the story.

As a result of the above issue, the events of the story felt episodic and disconnected, not a part of some overarching and connected feud. Especially in a story that relies on subterfuge and deception, things that might seem irrelevant should reflect in a new light as the story progresses. The first half accomplishes this in some ways, but it falls apart in the second half.

It had an annoying tendency to foreshadow a twist, reveal it, backtrack and reveal the twist to be “impossible” then… go back to it? Just kind of an irritating bait and switch, generally. Twists work with this type of story due to the whole stage magic thing but that gimmick completely goes against the attitude of it.

The framing device with the modern characters seems ultimately pointless. The story would have been fine without it. It would also prevent that… ending. See the final point under “The Bad”.

The Bad:

The characterization was lacking. There are a lot of people that come into the story and leave virtually no lasting impression on it, which isn’t a good sign. The big problem here is with this type of story, characters SHOULD be the driving force, and they simply aren’t. I get that the story focuses on the main two, but it shouldn’t be to the exclusion of all else.

And I really hate to say it, but the main characters were not especially interesting. A memoir and a journal by nature have a laser focus on one specific person, and while that was true enough, the characters don’t really change all that much. Both Borden and Angier are self-important assholes. That’s fine. The problem is they stay that way the entire story and refuse to examine themselves or develop in any concrete way until the very last second. Even when a character has a moment of reflection, like “this feud is stupid we should just end it”, something contrived keeps it going and neither character grows or matures from the insight. If this is intentional, it’s a frustrating position to put your reader in.

The conflict ultimately makes no sense. The feud is founded on stupid reasoning, and the way it sustains itself seems unrealistic. Even when a spoiler event happens that gives a character EXCELLENT motivation to push the story along and solidify the feud (possibly justifying this story built, ultimately, on miscommunication), it gets resolved in three pages and then the feud just… continues for no reason? If the feud is intentionally pointless, then play that up more! Show it through the side characters, or the modern framing device, or something. It feels bad otherwise.

I’m just going to say it. The ending is stupid as hell. Just really fucking dumb. Yeah, let’s turn this into a supernatural horror story… randomly? It makes no goddamn sense with the rest of the book. It felt like a joke ending. Nothing really set it up beyond the science fiction elements of some of Tesla��s stuff and even then it went in a way different direction. If the rest of the book had been like that, sure, but it wasn’t.

Final Thoughts: The Prestige is a book that features a fascinating core concept. Rival stage magicians at turn-of-the-century London trying to one-up each other and how they ultimately go too far? Frankenstein style science fiction? Nikola Tesla features prominently? But to me it fell short– it’s the type of book that could be great with a stronger editorial hand clipping out unnecessary fluff and bolstering the characters. The movie accomplishes this! It’s just a shame it couldn’t happen with the… book it’s based on.

That doesn’t mean the book is bad– far from it. It obviously came up with the framework that made one of my favorite films, and I liked seeing connections between the two. Again, I have to stress that it’s well-researched and an interesting idea, and the writing quality is good even if it falls short on storytelling. The idea of having unreliable narration for a story about stage magic is goddamn brilliant and I’m glad the author went for it. I just think he jumped the shark.

A lot of my complaints with the book are solved in the movie adaptation. It’s ironic that a book that has so much more time and space to develop characters falls flat, but the shorter movie version doesn’t. A story about obsession, one-upmanship, and how revenge destroys a person when they go too far should be character-driven and the movie understands this. The feud between Angier and Borden is caused by a stronger and more personal event, and you start off rooting for Angier. However, as the story progresses, Angier’s willingness to go to further and further extremes switches sympathy to Borden. Even more important are the side characters, their arcs, and seeing how they react to each man’s obsessiveness, and how it tears everyone apart on an interpersonal level. It’s raw and it’s structured well; everything is relevant, which makes the twist at the end all the more satisfying. You get a more concise and philosophical story overall, and I feel it’s way more appealing that way. The ending is also much different and much, much less stupid– I cannot stress this enough.

So ultimately I’m glad this book exists because it gives us an excellent story– one that only reaches its full potential in the adaptation. If it weren’t for that egregiously bad ending then maybe it would be a 3.5 (I’d penalize it more based on that but… ehh). You can certainly read it if you want to for the good aspects of it, but you should probably just watch the movie. If you want a story about rivalry gone too far, I’d recommend Vicious by V.E. Schwab or Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, both of which are character-driven with fascinating (and consistent) premises.

[lgbt-ya]

Unboxed by Non Pratt

Published by Barrington Stoke on 15th Aug 2016

Genres: contemporary, LGBT, YA

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Waterstones | Book Depository | Foyles

Blurb:  Unboxed is about four teenagers who come together after several months apart. In previous years, they had put together a time capsule about their best summer with a friend who was dying. Now that their friend has passed, they reunite to open the box.

Interview: [I did this interview with Non @nonthepratt last year and just realised I never posted it here!] 

Unboxed is an incredibly personal story of a group of friends reuniting to mourn the member of their group who died of cancer. Unboxed is one of the only books I’ve ever read which made me cry BUCKETS. So I jumped at the chance to interview Non about it!

The characters in Unboxed are out of school, and at a different place in their lives than is usually found in Young Adult fiction, yet it is the perfect YA novel in every way. Do you think that YA as a genre should be judged by the ages of the characters? What is YA? [Just an easy question to start with!]

Thanks for leading me in gently…! To me, YA is not a genre. SciFi/Fantasy/Contemporary arise from what is within the book, but categories like 9-12/YA/Adult are dictated by the readers. For a book to fall into the YA category, the only rule is for it to address the issues that affect and interest young adults (and the teen-minded) the most. As characters age their focus changes (Mortgages! Childrearing! Mid-life crises!) so that’s why most YA features teenagers. In Unboxed the characters’ are eighteen, but the focus is on their history as younger teens, so maybe that’s what keeps it feeling youthful?!

Alix’s coming out experience is very unique from anything I’ve read before, as she’s out at college and has a girlfriend, but feels closeted amongst her old school friends, who only ever knew her as a young teenager. Do you think that coming out is a continual process over a lifetime? Why is it so important to show these experiences in YA?

Much as I would like us to live in a Utopia where everyone accepted each other as people, we don’t. We live in a heteronormative society laden with gender prejudice (and the rest…) which means that anyone who deviates from what is perceived as ‘normal’ must constantly state their position as ‘other’. 

Having talked to people with more experience than me, you never stop coming out, and yet (understandably) most YA focuses on that first big step. But not everyone comes out to their first friends, first – Alix skipped that step, because she found it too hard… and because of my obsession with slipping back into certain roles amongst certain friends I wanted to look at how that might affect her.

Unboxed is one of Barrington Stoke’s ‘readable YA’, and the print edition has a special font and printing background to make it more readable for people with dyslexia. Did you know this was going to be published in this way before you started writing – and did that have any effect on the style in which you wrote it?

I’ve long been a supporter of Barrington Stoke since my Catnip editorial days so I knew exactly how the book would be formatted on the page. A well-spaced serif font is easier to read and the yellow paper offers a less jarring contrast that your usual black/white as well as the paper being thicker to avoid what’s called ‘ghosting’ of words printed on the other side of the paper. Barrington Stoke’s brief to all the authors who write for them is to write in your usual style. Any grammatical quirks that make it hard for a slower reader to process are taken out in a special language edit.

If you think about it, someone who is dyslexic or less-confident in reading must hold phrases in their heads longer than someone who reads faster, which means overly long sentences with lots of sub-clauses (like this sentence – on purpose!) is unnecessarily hard to read when it could be edited to be several shorter sentence containing the same information. Most writers (me included) haven’t got a clue about sub-clauses and hanging participles so there’d be no point worrying about them as you write.

Having said all that, first person present tense does lend itself to shorter sentences and when I chose Alix as my narrator, I deliberately chose someone who isn’t especially chatty, who is more practical than imaginative and keeps her thoughts naturally brief. The language edit wasn’t too heavy as a result.

What made you decide to make this story in particular a novella?

Actually it was the other way around in that I was asked to write a novella and this was the idea that came to mind! I sat down at my desk on a Wednesday morning and hunted for all the things I’m most interested in that would work over a single night/day and by lunchtime I had Unboxed.

Which is your favourite member of the group: Alix, Dean, Zara, Ben or Millie? 

Sorry, but the answer is easy – it’s Dean. When we first meet him, Alix tells us “He could riffle shuffle a deck of cards, skim a stone up to five times across the surface of the sea and raise one of his eyebrows into a perfect arch. He was everything I wanted to be…” That’s me talking as much as Alix.

Please tell us about your own ‘time capshoole’ mentioned in the dedication. What did you put in it? What would you put in a time capsule now?

So a group of about nine or ten of us made a time capsule (a word I didn’t pronounce correctly and got mocked for mercilessly, hence the spelling) when we were fifteen. I can’t remember much of what went in there, other than a tape of us singing “Basket Case” in the Hollywood Bowl and letters we wrote to our future selves. 

The thing about time capsules is that you should put something precious inside, but I’m so attached to all my precious things that I wouldn’t want to give any of them up! Assuming that I might sacrifice my favourite things, here are some of them – I’d also print some photos and pop in a memory stick of my favourite songs and a letter to my future self for good measure.

Are you still in touch with your friendship group from school? How do you find your friendships are different now to as a teenager?

I went to an all-girls’ school and six of us are still close, even though one of us has been living in Canada, one just moved to Australia and one is in the Navy and keeps going off to sea for ages. About a year ago I had an epiphany that these are the friends I will have for life, whatever happens. 

We all see each other at least twice a year, maybe not all at the same time, but in some combination or other.I am easily the worst at staying in touch and yet they’ve made the effort to travel to London for both my launches… In some ways we’ve changed, closeness and allegiances evolve with who you see the most, but when we’re together, I think all of us revert to how we were. Friends I’ve made as an adult think I’m enthusiastic and friendly, but the people who’ve known me since I was a teenager think of me as the anti-social sarcastic idiot most likely to get on the dancefloor and do my Ally McBeal dance. I’m both the same person, and yet someone entirely different.

As someone whose best friend died at the age of nineteen, I found the portrayal of young death almost painfully realistic, to the point where I don’t think I would have been able to read this book a few years ago. Was it daunting to write about such an emotional topic? Did you do any research into this? Are there any books/articles/websites you would recommend for people in this situation who might be struggling?

This question made me cry because it’s a huge honour for someone to say that I’ve got this right. Also, I’m a bit horrified by how undaunted I was by this considering how big this issue really is. 

I’m very lucky in that the only loved ones I’ve lost have been significantly older than me, but I’m a watcher, and I remember one of my closest friends at university grieving for the loss of one of their home friends.The thing about loss is that there’s no one way to process it – only your way of grieving will give you what you need. 

My best advice is actually for those supporting someone going through this: grief is private and necessarily selfish and you have no right to tell someone how to do it. Need trumps want: be there in the way they need, not the way you want. I’ve not always got that right. As for a helpful website, my recommendation in any situation is to check out TheMix.org.uk – a magazine-style website with a wealth of well-written, funny and relatable articles for any issues that might affect under-25s, or perhaps the NHS website for more clinical language and support.

Throughout the book I was desperate to see the events from Millie’s point of view. I think it was a really strong decision to keep that back, as it intensifies the reality that Millie is gone, and we will never know what she was thinking before she died. Was this why you decided not to include flashbacks? Why did you decide not to?

Everything we see of Millie is taken from Alix’s memories of her, because that is how people live on – we only cease to exist when there is no one left to remember us. 

(Also, and this is mundane in the extreme, my editors at Walker have always been so flashback averse during the editorial process that I’m now super strict with them in my writing! The only flashbacks/memories permitted were ones that served the present-day narrative and didn’t take up too many words.)

Review:  Non made me cry, goddammit. I never cry at books! It was so beautiful. She's done such a good job of making me really care about the characters in such a short length of time. Alix and Ben and Dean and Zara are just wonderful and complicated (and Ash is officially The Worst.) God I want a million sequels and a movie, that was so wonderful. I want to read it again from Millie's point of view. I want to go back to being 13 and make my own time capsule. I want to give them all a giant hug.

5 stars

[redscullyrevival]

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice: Mary Russell Rundown

Oh boy oh boy I do love a good bump and dig into Holmes canon - especially if it has the potential to ruffle male fans! @sonnetscrewdriver knows me so well.

Plot/Setting/Narrative

So what’s the live or die, sink or swim, aspect of a non-Conan Doyle Sherlock-like tale?

Surly its not Sherlock’s characterization.

A child can get Sherlock right.

Is it the mystery? Is it the logical detective steps or flights of barely believable deductive ability key to the kingdom? 

Nah. 

While the ride is important and a big draw most every Sherlock versed individual typically learns not to put their eggs in that widely inconsistent basket. 

How about the narrative expression explaining and driving the Sherlock-like things in the story? 

You friggin’ bet ya! That’s the important stuff.

And Laurie King can certainly write a Sherlock-like narrative!

Holy hell.

King is as close to emulating a Doyle style narrative I’ve ever personally read but injects it with a wonderfully feminine perspective. 

And not overtly flowery and romantic lyrical male-writing-feminine but feminine in the ways important to a Sherlock-like story; in the detail observations our Mary Russell is often to share.

 The cases I feel could be a bit tighter other than the Kidnapping of Jessica which was surprisingly moving and really when I started to connect to Mary. 

Mary Russell

The elephant in the room, “is Mary Russell a Mary Sue?”

I don’t really care but very brief digging has resulted in learning many people do. 

Personally I think the best and most important thing to know about Mary Russell and by extension her creator is that on the official website there is a downloadable PDF titled “Information for the Writer of Mary Russell Fan Fiction” and is 17 pages of free organized information for fic writers and fans.

That’s simply beautiful. 

Seems to me Laurie King knows what shes fuckin’ about and what she owes in debt. 

And I don’t care if Mary Russell is viewed as some sad woman power fantasy by a wider Sherlock fanbase - but I won’t necessarily argue that she isn’t that either. 

Mary Russell most certainly is a Mary Sue as viewed by some people and the argument is easily kindled. 

And that’s not inherently bad is it? A little frustrating as its pretty obvious female characters get labeled Mary Sue disproportionately to male ones, to the point where there is no doubt in my mind that if Mary Russell were simply Russell hardly anyone would question or doubt his ability or companionship with Sherlock. 

To get to the point: 

I think Mary Russell is many things and like Sherlock as a character is adaptable to many reader views and interpretations - and ultimately its the controversy and wider discussion of her that makes Russell “valuable”.

I also think a big clue into the author’s intent with the character has to do with how her gender is discussed and made pronounced in text.

If Mary Russell never questioned her abilities or strength or worth as tied to her being a female in a very (very) male narrative space both within the one presenting her as well as the history of the character(s) she is tied to then the “Mary Sue” argument would have a lot more ground to claim, but as it is I am of the opinion that Mary Russell is meant to be a bit much and slightly antagonistic to what readers understand and unquestioningly accept regarding Sherlock and Sherlock canon. 

I’m also pretty certain she is meant to be just a good time as well!

Lots of humor and love in this first book and it’s easy to like Mary, it really is, and while she initially comes off a bit pious as her story goes on she becomes more honest and open with her readers.

The first person narrative is uncharacteristically Sherlock and probably what drives a lot of “Mary Sue” arguments I’d imagine (“It reeks of self-insert!”) but works well enough and allows us insights into Mary we need. 

Sherlock Holmes

This is a good Sherlock.

Very much a woman’s Sherlock. 

And I mean that in the nicest way possible and not a comment on the impending romance. 

‘Cause it’s going to happen and I might as well come to terms with it.

I’m actually really upset how okay I am with it to be completely honest.

I’m a romantic turd and I’m a sucker for relationships rooted in trust and belief in the other’s abilities so for me the impending romance (which is more “Mary Sue!” fodder and actually probably the biggest sore spot for anti-Russell folks I bet) is a combination of irritate and excitement. 

Sherlock has always been an attractive figure for a lot of people - the age old “Smart is Sexy” at work. 

I am one such people.

Very much a Spock vibe with Sherlock amirte???

The aloof disengaged approach to viewing relationships and emotional response paired with the logic and brains makes those characters someone you’d reallllly enjoy seeing crack (hence how their common and intense pairing with their closest ((of happen to be male)) confidants is so deeply satisfying). 

The age gaps between Mary and Holmes is intense though innit? 

YIKES.

A part of me wants to wax and wane on how irritating that is but then another part of me is practical and knows I can a.) ignore it b.) can’t help BUT ignore it because Holmes has the permanent visual image of stinkin’ Jeremy Brett in my traitor mind and I’m cool with watching him snog just about anyone! 

So. 

Hard to get up in arms about that really. 

A third part of me also doesn’t give a shit.

Why am I so certain romance will bloom?

Because this is a woman’s Sherlock and I don’t mean that then obviously romance must present its self but what I mean is that this Sherlock isn’t alien and convinced that romantic feelings are unintelligent. 

Kind of hard to explain but know it comes from years and years of reading various Sherlock Holmes fan fiction from various Sherlock Holmes properties and I know a “female holmes” when I see one. 

Eh, I’m not explaining this well I’m loosing steam here but yeah.

*shrugs*

I’m not being negative!

Highlighted Passages 

“As both I and the century approach the beginnings of our ninth decades, I have been forced to admit that age is not always a desirable state. The physical, of course, contributes its own flavour to life, but the most vexing problem I have found is that my past, intensely real to me, has begun to fade into the mists of history in the eyes of those around me.”

So, yes, I freely admit that my Holmes is not the Holmes of Watson. To continue with the analogy, my perspective, my brush technique, my use of colour and shade, are all entirely different from his. The subject is essentially the same; it is the eyes and the hands of the artist that change.

He was, as the writers say but people seldom actually are, openmouthed.

It was none other than the long-suffering Mrs. Hudson, whom I had long considered the most underrated figure in all of Dr. Watson’s stories. Yet another example of the man’s obtuseness, this inability to know a gem unless it be set in gaudy gold.

“Youth does not inspire confidence, in life or in stories, as I found to my annoyance when I set up residence in Baker Street.”

“I suppose you know I was prepared to hate him,” I said finally. “Oh yes.” “I can see why you kept him near you. He’s so…good, somehow. Naïve, yes, and he doesn’t seem terribly bright, but when I think of all the ugliness and evil and pain he’s known… It’s polished him, hasn’t it? Purified him.” “Polished is a good image. Seeing myself reflected in Watson’s eyes was useful when contemplating a case that was giving me problems. He taught me a great deal about how humans function, what drives them. He keeps me humble, does Watson.” He caught my dubious look. “At any rate, as humble as I can be.”

Looking back, I think that the largest barrier to our association was Holmes himself, that inborn part of him that spoke the language of social customs, and particularly that portion of his makeup that saw women as some tribe of foreign and not-entirely-trustworthy exotics.

It was a mad time, and looked at objectively was probably the worst possible situation for me, but somehow the madness around me and the turmoil I carried within myself acted as counterweights, and I survived in the centre.

It was the same, but I was different, and I wondered for the first time if I was going to be able to carry it off, if I could join these two utterly disparate sides of my life.

“Thank you, Mr. Holmes, I hope—” She looked down. “If my fears are correct, I have married a traitor. If I am wrong, I am myself guilty of traitorous thoughts against my husband. There is no win here, only duty.” Holmes touched her hand and she looked up at him. He smiled with extraordinary kindness into her eyes. “Madam, there is no treachery in the truth. There may be pain, but to face honestly all possible conclusions formed by a set of facts is the noblest route possible for a human being.”

“Are you telling me the butler did it?” “I’m afraid it does happen. Shall we search the woods for the débris?”

“It is, I can even say, a new and occasionally remarkable experience to work with a person who inspires, not by vacuum, but by actual contribution.”

Somehow me Da’ had raised a drunken mob in this tiny place, had summoned thick voices in song, and was driving them down the lane with the goad of his mad fiddle—a magnificent Welsh chorus, singing Christmas carols, in English, in an infinitesimal Welsh village, on a warm August night. Suddenly nothing seemed impossible, and as if the thought had loosed the house from stasis there was movement within.

“Is it always so grey and awful at the end of a case?” He didn’t answer me for a minute, then rose abruptly and stood looking down the road towards the house with the plane trees. When he looked around at me there was a painful smile on his lips. “Not always. Just usually.” “Hence the cocaine.” “Hence, as you say, the cocaine.”

The amazed adoration in her eyes was too much. I pulled her to me so I did not have to look at it. Her hair smelt musky-sweet, like chamomile. I held her, and she began to cry, weeping oddly like a woman rather than a young child, while I rocked us both gently in silence. In a few minutes she drew a shuddering breath and stopped. “Better?” She nodded her head against my chest. I smoothed her hair. “That’s what tears are for, you know, to wash away the fear and cool the hate.” As I suspected, that last word triggered a reaction. She drew back and looked at me, her eyes blazing. “I do hate them. Mama says I don’t, but I do. I hate them. If I had a gun I’d kill them all.” “Do you think you really would?” She thought for a moment, and her shoulders slumped. “Maybe not. But I’d want to.”

“Yes. They are hateful men, who did something horrid to you and hurt your parents. I’m glad you wouldn’t shoot them, because I shouldn’t want you to go to gaol, but you go ahead and hate them. No one should ever do what they did. They stole you and hit you and tied you up like a dog. I hate them too.” Her jaw dropped at so much raw emotion aired. “Yes, I do, and you know what I hate them for most? I hate them for taking away your happiness. You don’t trust people now, do you? Not like you did a few weeks ago. A six-year-old girl oughtn’t to be frightened of people.”

“You were brave, you were intelligent, you were patient. And as you say, it isn’t really over yet, and you’re going to have to be brave and intelligent and patient for a while longer, and wait for the anger and the fear to settle down. They will.” (And the nightmares? my mind whispered.) “Not right away, and they’ll never go away completely, but they’ll fade. Do you believe me?” “Yes. But I’m still very angry.” “Good. Be angry. It’s right to be angry when someone hurts you for no reason. But do you think you can try not to be too afraid?” “To be angry and—happy?” The incongruity obviously appealed to her. She savoured it for a moment and jumped to her feet. “I’m going to be angry and happy.”

No, I refuse to accept gallant stupidity in place of rational necessity.

“I dislike the idea of a murderer employing children,” said Holmes darkly. “It is, I agree, bad for their morals, and interferes with their sleep.”

The more I thought about it, the curiouser it became. What kind of human being would need a refuge capable of sustaining life in a siege?

“Good God, Holmes, where have you been to pick up such a stench? Down on the docks, obviously, and from your feet I should venture to say you’d been in the sewers, but what is that horrid sweet smell?” “Opium, my dear protected child.”

“The admission then caused me some shame. But, that was half a lifetime ago, and since then I have learnt, slowly, and painfully, that time and distance can prove a powerful weapon.”

The thought of telling someone, and having to see their face afterward, had always clamped my mouth down on the words, but now, to my exquisite horror and relief, I heard the words trickle from my mouth.

“I was merely going to say that I hope you realise that guilt is a poor foundation for a life, without other motivations beside it.”

[cryptodictation]

Filmmaker Anna Muylaert, What time is she back ?, lana short story book

The principal Anna Muylaert had just had her first child when the feature Carlota Joaquina, by Carla Camuratti, started the resumption of national cinema in 1995. Graduated from the School of Communication and Arts of the University of So Paulo (ECA-USP), Anna had been working as she could in an area devastated by the public policy of the Collor era. He did film criticism, poetry, video clips, short films and was a bee reporter in the extinct TV Mix, TV Gazeta program. He also began to write fictional scripts for children's programs on TV Cultura, including the R Tim Bum Castle. With the resumption, he decided that he would dedicate himself to cinema and make a film. But when he faced the question “which film?”, He realized that he did not know how to write screenplays for cinema. To train, he started writing Tales. These are the texts that reach readers today in When the blood rises to the head, that the publisher Lote 42 launches this month.

Anna says that, at the time, she even sent the texts to some publishers. He received encouraging letters back, but no one wanted to publish the material. “We even looked at some letters from some publishers that I didn't even remember anymore and the opinions were good, they weren't bad, but no one knew me”, says the author, who is anxious about receiving the book. “I was reread scared to death and chose not to change almost anything, because 25 years later, if I moved, that book would end up not coming out. We change so much! And that is a record of a time. ”

In total, the director chose six stories whose structures she recognizes to be quite cinematic. “I thought it has a dynamic that already points to my narrative style, very visual, it has a cinematographic cut, very dialogue”, he notes. Writing, for her, became an exercise that took her to the scripts. The long Durval disks, for example, originated in the last tale of When the blood rises to the head. Suffering in paradise, she narrates the step by step of a birth and Anna understands that the film, in a way, is about the separation between Durval and the controlling mother. What time does she come back? originated in the writing of the novel Kitchen door, which never got published. A lot has changed between the book and the feature that ended up winning 19 awards, including at Sundance and Berlin festivals. “When the novel was ready, it became a script. At the time, I thought it was difficult to drive, it had some elements of fantastic realism, it was quite different ”, guarantees Anna.

In When the blood rises, the protagonists of the stories are always female characters. Some stories, Anna brought from her own family, but also from a time, as the stories were written in the 1990s. “One of the things that motivated me was a desire to enter this feminine zone. I decided I was going to do a book about women ”, she says. “At that time, it was completely different from now. In my memory, I chose at random, but it wasn't. I had just had a child, I spent the whole day with the baby, I was at the height of the discovery of the feminine. It was not a political choice at all, it was a bit of what I was experiencing and I thought I knew. ”

Political awareness of gender and feminism only came much later, when What time does she come back? it began to be successful and the filmmaker began to realize the differences in treatment during events in the cinema industry. In the next film, Club of the Businesswomen, the director will address the issue of gender explicitly. With Bruno Mazzeo in the lead role, the film will talk about a world dominated by women. “I'm still working on the script, but a world where the gender relationship is reversed, where the man is the weakest part and the woman is the strongest”, he warns.

In an interview, Anna Muylaert talks about being a feminist, about the role of writing in her life and about the difficulties of making cinema in a medium still run by men.

»Interview / Anna Muylaert What changes in your view of feminism from the time you wrote the short stories for today?

Today I have a more political view of the issue of women. At the time, it was more feminine. There was a 25-year career in the cinema and in the middle, there I was a little virgin in terms of the dynamics of women in the professional field. Over the 25 years, I understood that the issue of women is not only an issue. Today I understand women more as a political agent, I understand that I have to talk about issues that prevent us from having a more fluid life within the social organization. I think I was more naive. I was 30 years old.

And literature, are you still writing?

I have nothing triggered for two reasons. As I studied more and more dramaturgy, I became more specialized in the construction of the narrative for cinema. When the film is ready, the script goes to waste. In cinema, the focus is more on the construction of the narrative, while in literature, the word is the end in itself. I started to specialize in something that was different. When Flip started, I started to go and watch the tables. And I said ‘bro, I’m not literature, I’m not a library rat, I’m a cinematheque rat’. This does not mean that I cannot write again. lighter for me to write because it’s cheaper, but from then on I got more involved with cinema and didn’t have more time. Literature requires more silence.

What if the cinema cools down in Brazil, given the cultural policy of the current government?

I may come back, but since I've been working madly in the cinema, I don't have time. Now, if you asked me last week, it was one thing. This pandemic is putting everything in another perspective. What was going on, I think, in Bolsonaro's policy was something similar to what Collor did and that I have already lived and seen. But now, with this pandemic and the socioeconomic consequences that it will have, I think he may even fall because of the way he has been behaving, because he has been irresponsible.

Given the Brazilian reality, do you feel like writing or filming dystopia?

No, but we never know. Somehow, my next film, Club of the Businesswomen, is practically scientific because it will be the man in the woman's place and that generates a mess. Remember the science fiction because it puts you in indistinct mental spaces. When you see a man making protocols of a female life, you see much better how much weight we carry. I am a filmmaker, I take care of my career, I have a production company, I had relationships, I did yoga. And when you put that on a male character it looks like he's a poor guy. The film is a discussion of the power structures, more about women at work and the burden that women carry, which is greater than that of men in the contemporary world.

Do you think that in these 25 years there has been a lot of change in this gender issue?

So much has changed as there is something that does not change at all. But it will change. The UN has done a study saying it only changes in 200 years. I was born in the 1960s, I lived the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. But then there was a hiatus. I remember that, in college, we didn't have that agenda. I think it was half the world, it was a low ball. We managed to win big, have the right to sex, to have more important careers, but in the 1980s, it seems that we became more alienated.

In the cinematographic medium, are these differences still striking? You say you realized that when it was What time is she back? Why?

At school we don't understand, but when he leaves, he starts to realize that his male colleague has more opportunities, that his career in general helps his male colleague. At the time, I understood that earning less was my personal inability to negotiate cach. I only understood that it was a gender issue even in 2015 when What time does she come back? was successful. I realized that the treatment for me was not the same as the treatment for my colleagues with whom I had worked. The film industry is well prepared for the success of a man, but a woman is not. The distributor does not look you in the eye, the person who will give you the prize cannot pass you the microphone. I started to have a lot of embarrassment, people treating me like I was an assistant. And it started to hurt me. Upon contacting some Americans, they said that what was happening to me happens to all female directors in the world, an invisibility that even with the result does not change. And I understood that it was not a psychological issue of mine. He thought I was shy, that I didn't know how to speak.

And what has changed for you?

From 2015, I understood that I know how to speak, but people have difficulty listening. As long as you are an assistant, that's fine, but when you go to a leading role, it seems that the brains don't quite understand what's going on. I didn't have that clear until 2015. And my vision changed. Today I understand women's guidelines as exactly discussing these limits of power. What mechanisms make them believe that they have more power than us and that make us maintain it? My next film is a dive in this direction. What are the devices of machismo? Machismo is a system of power that the two practice, because when the woman stops accepting it, it ceases to exist. But there are limits that we don't even notice. I have done a great job of studying this both in cinema and in literature, reading theoretical books to prepare myself for this project.

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[writinggeisha]

Writing:  How to Describe a Room I’ve noticed lately in the stats that people have been actively searching for “how to describe a room.” Even though I had done a writing prompt that called for using the description of a room, I never did go over the particulars of describing locations.  So for anybody looking for some specific answers, here are my thoughts on describing interior settings, for fiction and prose.

First and foremost, you got to ask yourself, what importance is the room or setting to the story or characters? If the room is only there for a brief passing scene, it may just suffice to say “so-and-so went into the broom closet.  It was dark, cramped, and loaded with brooms.” That may be all you need.

For more significant settings, where you really do want to paint the picture in the readers’ heads and firmly establish a sense of space or ambiance, then of course you’ll want to dig into more details.  The key issue here is that you don’t want to overdo it.  Unless you’re typing out an architectural report or something, there’s no real need for a reader to understand the full dimensions of the space, or what the composition of the walls are, or anything technical like that.  You will want to cover the overall impression of space, color, mood, atmosphere, furnishings, props, and anything else, as long as it’s distinctive, relevant, and contributes to the story or image in some way.

The objects in a room - furniture and stuff - may or may not factor into your scene.  If you say that people are in the living room, chances are that the reader will automatically populate the room with their own idea of what a living room will have:  likely a sofa, a TV, etc.  So there may not be a need to describe what furniture is in that room, especially if such furnishings are not going to be actively used.  On the other hand, if the characters are going to use something, it may be necessary to establish such things early in the scene, so the reader can understand that the given thing exists and the characters aren’t just making it materialize.  For example, if characters are in a room with a gun on the table, and one of the characters grabs the gun and uses it, it’ll help to explain right away that there is indeed a gun on the table.  Otherwise, it’ll sound like the gun just magically appeared on the table.  It may not be necessary for some things (grabbing a knife from the kitchen would be self-explanatory), but this kind of thing should be set up for everything else that isn’t so obvious.

You’ll also want to describe things if they’re not usually associated with a given place.  For example, in Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land, some living rooms had expensive lawns in them, with actual soil and grass growing in the middle of the room.  It was important to describe them, because the characters used the indoor lawns, and even commented on them.  Later in the story, one of these lawns was ruined.  It serviced the story (plus, an average reader will not associate grass in a common living room).  For sci-fi and fantasy stories, where settings are imagined and re-imagined more vividly, more description may be necessary to paint a picture of a futuristic or otherworldly setting in the readers’ heads.

Another thing to consider will be what the items of a room, or its decor and layout, says about the characters.  If the room is messy, you can conclude that the character is disorganized, and thus you find another way to show a character trait.  Or, if the room has expensive art, you can infer that a character has refined tastes (or maybe he just pretends to).  The possibilities on this level are limitless; if a detail is relevant to a character, you will want to capitalize on it.

In the end, however, all of this will depend on your own personal writing style.  Different writers will write settings in different ways.  Wordy writers like Stephen King or JRR Tolkein could spend pages and pages talking about the stuff in their rooms; James Patterson never seems to describe any of his settings, especially if they’re common places.  Really, the best advice I could give is to simply approach the scene naturally, and write out the first things that come to mind.  If nothing comes to mind, just proceed with the scene in the given setting with sparse details; chances are that you don’t need details anyway.  If you’re compelled to say more about the setting, then try indulging in such details as your imagination allows, and see what comes out.  It should be a natural occurrence; if you’re stuck on describing a place, it might be best to just skip ahead, write the next scene, and go back in the rewriting session to see if you really need to add anything more.

And when it comes to your own writing style, there is no set way to describe a place.  It’s not like you go through a room step-by-step to introduce the walls, floors, furnishings, etc to a reader.  If anything, this will come off as dry, long, and uninteresting.  If you have to explain every little thing about a room, it would be better to break up the exposition with action or dialogue; you have to keep the story moving, and lingering on interior design may stall plot progression.   You also don’t want to make the language describing the room overly dry or overly flowery; just use your natural narration.  

In summary…

Do:

Keep it simple.

Talk about colors, patterns, decor, and unique architectural details, if they’re relevant.

Talk about furnishings and props, especially if characters use them.

Talk about anything in the room if it reveals something about the characters within.

Talk about space.

Talk about unique details that readers may not usually associate with a given place (especially for sci-fi and fantasy works, where the settings are purposefully different anyway).

Describe it naturally with your own personal writing style and sensibilities.

Don’t:

Get technical or overly-explicit.

Divulge in unnecessary details.

Tell about room’s atmosphere or impression; show it instead.

Overthink or overdo things.

Dump details in one long paragraph.

Describe things in a dull, dry, choppy, or uninteresting manner; use your natural narrative voice.

Describe things that the reader will already assume for a given place, especially if such things don’t contribute to the story.

For some examples, here are some excerpts from my own projects, with varying levels of description (not to mention varying levels of skill and nuance).  I think you’ll find that I’m very light in details, and just give just enough to keep things flowing.  Chances are that I may break my own rules above (I’ve always been pretty bad at “showing not telling”), because it’s as much of a learning process for me as it is for everybody else.

From Rider of the White Horse, Chapter 25

I wrote this story as far back as high school; I’ve always felt this was a very amateurish story with a weak writing style, but it’s serviceable and got the job done.  The description here is pretty bland, doesn’t say much, and quite understated.

Kurt walked towards the old man, and he followed him through the ruins of Tokyo to a squat abandoned building a quarter of a mile away.  There, the old man led Kurt into a relatively clean room with cupboards, a single mattress on the floor, and a low table.   The old man lit a candle that was on the table with a makeshift lighter.  The candle illuminated the room, revealing the old man’s face to Kurt.

The old man went to the corner of the room, where a tub of water sat idle.  Kurt noticed that the man rigged a purification system over the tub, allowing him access to relatively clean water.   The man took some water and some leaves he had stored in a cupboard.   Then he prepared two cups of tea, working diligently with trembling old hands.  Kurt sat at the low table and watched as the old man prepared the tea, observing the man’s technique as he mixed ingredients and stirred them in wooden cups.

From Perfectly Inhuman, Chapter 3

This is one of my most recent works.  I did take the time to describe this area in bigger detail, to give the reader a lavish and futuristic picture.  It reflects on the power and wealth of the Mayor and his government.  Hopefully, you’ll get the impression of wide-open spaces, luxury, and cleanliness.

At the topmost floor, the city became a mere map beneath Mary.  The doors opened, and the guards pushed her out.

She found herself in a large lobby.   The floors were made of colored tiles arranged in jagged patterns, and the walls were made of glass, revealing additional views of the city and the mountains to the east.  A frosted glass partition separated the lobby from a private office.  Silk banners hung from the ceiling.   Polished stone pedestals held golden and silver statues portraying nude men and women.  Everything in the room was rich and lavish; Mary found herself awed, and envious that she never had a place so luxurious.

The guards guided her through a set of glass doors in the frosted glass partition, and they passed into a wide open office space.  The office looked much like the lobby, only instead of statues and banners there were holograms and display screens.   Contrasting with the bright floors and the bright exterior view, there was a black desk on one end of the room, made of a rare dark organic wood.

From Ouroboros:  Demon-Blood, Chapter 11

This is one story I’ve worked with on and off; I’ve been a little wordier with this series of stories than with most others, to try and immerse the audience in a more detailed fantasy world.  Hopefully, you’ll get the feeling of seeing something different and fantastic (and possibly wicked) with this segment.  Note that the term Svartálfar comes from ancient Norse myth, referring to a race of Dark Elves.

In the middle of the woods, the Svartálfar had constructed a large settlement.  It was surrounded by a thick wooden wall, studded with huge wooden thorns and metal spikes.   The area around the wall was cleared of all vegetation, so that it could not be scaled with nearby trees.  There were trees on the other side of the wall, which had platforms and turrets for guards to stand watch on.  The settlement’s gate was a thick wooden door with iron supports; it swung open for us as we approached.

Inside the settlement, the Svartálfar used most of the trees as buildings; they were all hollowed-out to serve as homes, stairwells, storage, and stores.  They also had small wooden shacks and huts in between the trees.  Some buildings were also constructed on the sides of trees and on their branches.  There were scores of elves bustling around, trading with their craftsmen, mentoring their children, and practicing with their weapons.  When I entered the town, they all stopped to gawk at me; I met their gazes with my own look of contempt.

In the middle of the settlement, there was a larger tree, surrounded by a wooden wall with turrets all along it and a single gateway.  I was led through the gate toward the base of the tree, which had an expansive hall jutting out of its bark.  Passing into the hall, I stepped across a polished stone floor; the hall’s curved walls were ornately carved with elfin runes and mosaics.  Twisted pillars held up the ceiling.  At the end of the hall was the throne of the Svartálfar king, Lord Hygric.  It was a large throne ordained with pieces of gold, silver, gems, and there were skulls hanging above it.

[bern33chaser]

How to Write a Short Story: Six Crucial Steps

Short stories are tricky to write well. Every word counts – and you don’t have long at all to establish characters and get the plot going.

While most of my fiction-writing time goes into novels, I’ve written a bunch of short stories over the years (and even won an occasional prize).

There’s plenty to like about the short story form:

You get the satisfaction of completing something! I’ve often taken breaks from ongoing novels to write short stories, simply to be able to finish a piece of writing. If you’ve ever written a story of any length, you’ll know how satisfying finishing can be.

You can explore lots of different ideas – without committing a huge chunk of time to them. Maybe you want to write about a weird living spaceship in one story, a bullied teenage girl in another, and a character who never celebrates or even acknowledges his birthday in a third. You might not want to explore any of these ideas at novel or novella length … but you could enjoy fleshing them out into short stories.

You can have fun with structure and viewpoint. Things that would be unlikely to work for a whole novel (like writing from the point of view of an inanimate object, or writing in the second person, or having a whole story that builds up to a twist ending) can work very well in a short story.

You can enter competitions. This is a rather less artistic consideration than the others … but most competitions are for short stories rather than for novels. Having a deadline (and often a topic or prompt to work from) can be really motivating, and winning a prize – or even getting shortlisted – could be a great boost to your writing career.

Hopefully, you’re keen to give short stories a go. (If you’re not sure what sort of length you’re going to write to, check out my post Story Writing 101 for help with story-writing more generally.)

These are the six steps you need to follow to complete a short story:

#1: Decide How Long Your Story Will Be

This might seem like an odd place to begin – how can you know how long your story will be until you’ve written it? The length of your story, though, will make a big difference to how you plan and begin writing: a 800 word short story will be very different in nature from an 8,000 word short story.

Depending on your aims with your short story, the length might be pre-determined for you. If you’re entering a competition, for instance, there’ll almost certainly be a minimum and/or maximum word count.

If you’re not sure what sort of length to aim for, check out Maeve’s post How Short Is Short Fiction? to figure out what length your short fiction should be.

Tip: If you’re new to writing short stories, around 2,000 words is a good length – long enough to give your story a bit of breathing room, but short enough that you only need to develop a couple of characters and a single plotline.

#2: Come Up With Several Ideas

Unless you already have a clear idea in mind for your short story, I’d suggest coming up with several different ideas. This is especially crucial if you’re entering a themed competition: chances are, the first idea that you have will be pretty similar to the first idea that pops into other people’s minds!

In two decades of writing fiction, I’ve found that ideas can come at the oddest moments. You can definitely help the process along, though, by setting aside time to deliberately brainstorm. Write your topic, prompt or starting line on a piece of paper, and jot down anything that comes to mind.

If you don’t have a particular topic for your story, you might want to use a prompt to help you.

Tip: Don’t push yourself to write about an idea that doesn’t really interest you. Keep brainstorming until you hit on something you really want to write about … or step away altogether and wait to see if an idea comes to you out of the blue.

#3: Pick a Couple of Characters

Your idea itself might have brought characters with it (e.g. if your idea was “a young colleague is promoted above his older, resentful co-worker”)  … but if not, now’s the time to figure out the main characters for your short story.

In a short story, there’s only space for a small cast of characters. While there’s no “rule”, I find it works best to have one protagonist and one other main character (who might be supporting or opposing the protagonist).

If you try to have lots of characters, it’s tricky to introduce them quickly enough without confusing the reader – and continuing to follow several characters throughout can make your story seem muddled or slow. Focusing on two characters (even if other characters come in briefly) helps you to structure a satisfying story.

Tip: Sometimes, a fairly “normal” idea can be made into a great short story by shifting the perspective. The story of a wedding, for instance, might not be especially interesting on the surface – but it could be far more fascinating told from the point of view of the lively five-year-old flower girl.

#4: Plan Your Short Story

Every story needs a beginning, middle and end – I’m sure you’ll have heard that before!

There are two different ways to look at the beginning, middle and end though:

The chronological structure: this is how the events would look if you placed them in time order. E.g. the first event in the story might be the meeting between the protagonist and antagonist.

The narrative structure: this is how the events look in the order in which you tell them. E.g. the first paragraph of the story might show us the protagonist and antagonist in the middle of a fight.

One of the great things about short stories is that you can do some interesting things with structure. It might make sense to tell the story out of chronological order, for dramatic effect – for instance,  you might start a story with a mild-mannered grandmother being arrested, then backtrack to explain what happened, then return to the arrest and the events after it at the end of the story.

When you’re planning, think about the most effective way to tell your story. Chronological order will work well for many stories, but you still might want to bring in past information through summary, dialogue or even flashbacks. (Be careful with flashbacks, though; they can easily disrupt the pace of a short story.)

Tip: You might not hit on the perfect structure for your story first time around. You might want to write a rough plan, draft out your story, then think again about the order in which you want to present your scenes.

#5: Draft Your Short Story

This is perhaps the trickiest step – because it’s time to sit down and actually write your short story.

Hopefully, at this stage, you’ve got a clear idea in mind, plus a rough plan or outline for your story. That’ll make the writing much easier.

Viewpoint and Tense

You may still face some decisions at this stage, though, particularly when it comes to viewpoint and tense. Sometimes, there’ll be a particular choice that just feels right for your story – maybe you have a central character with an unusual perspective and/or voice, and you want to write in the first person from their perspective.

With viewpoint, you might write from:

First person (“I”) – particularly useful if you want to tell a story through letters, diary entries, text messages or similar

Second person (“you”) – this is an unusual choice but can be sustainable in a short story

Third person (“he/she”) – this is the most conventional choice and you can’t go far wrong with it

In a short story, I’d recommend sticking to one character’s viewpoint (even if you’re using third person), unless you have a good reason to switch between characters.

With tense, you might write in the:

Past tense (“[he] walked”) – the most conventional choice

Present tense (“[he] walks”) – often seen as a more literary choice; can work well with a first-person perspective in particular

Future tense (“[he] will walk”) – an unusual choice but not out of the question for a short story

Writing the First Draft of Your Story

As you write the story itself, try not to worry too much about getting every word right: you’ll have time to edit later.

It’s usefully helpful to:

Move the plot along quickly. You don’t have space for lots of introspection (characters dwelling on their thoughts).

Show, don’t tell. Because short stories are so compact, it’s very easy to slip into telling – but it’s better to paint a scene and trust that readers will understand it!

Use dialogue effectively. It should either advance the plot or reveal character … or both! Don’t have dialogue for the sake of it.

Tip: If you can, it’s helpful to get a rough draft of your short story written in just one or two writing sessions. Can you set aside a full afternoon or evening to focus on your writing? (If not, don’t worry, just work with what you have – but do try to get that draft done quickly, or you’ll spend a lot of time trying to figure out where you left off.)

#6: Edit Your Short Story

Finally, it’s time to edit your short story. Depending on how your first draft worked out, you might end up doing a lot of rewriting at this point – perhaps you’ve realised that your characters weren’t quite right, or you’ve uncovered a whole new layer to your story, or you want to tell it in a completely different order.

If you have major changes to make, get those done first before you start finalising word choices and sentence structures – there’s no point perfecting three paragraphs that you later cut completely.

Once you’re happy that your short story is in reasonable shape, with no more big changes to come, you can go through it and edit on a sentence level. For me, this normally means cutting out unnecessary words and flabby sentences, and paring the story back a little, in order to make what remains even more powerful.

Tip: However much editing you do, you’ll need to do a final pass through your story to look for typos and grammatical mistakes. It’s easy for these to creep in during editing – so it’s always good to do that final check. Many writers find it helpful to proofread on paper rather than on the screen.

 Short stories might look easy on the surface. They’re short, after all! But writing a good short story can be really tricky, because you don’t have long to make an impact on the reader … and every word needs to count.

Best of luck with your short stories! And for lots more help with writing stories of all lengths, from flash fiction up to novels, check out our ‘Fiction Writing’ archives.

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Original post: How to Write a Short Story: Six Crucial Steps from Daily Writing Tips https://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-write-a-short-story/

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     In this article you can discover some of the best books and you can find the top of the most popular books at this moment. What’s hot in books these days? Take a look at the below recommendations from the list and find the best books in literature, fiction and nonfiction. 

     Explore best sellers in books for romance, mystery, fantasy and thrillers, science fiction and biography.

Rediscovering Americanism: And the Tyranny of Progressivism

Hardcover – June 27, 2017

by Mark R. Levin

From #1 New York Times bestselling author and radio host Mark R. Levin comes a searing plea for a return to America’s most sacred values. In Rediscovering Americanism, Mark R. Levin revisits the founders’ warnings about the perils of overreach by the federal government and concludes that the men who created our country would be outraged and disappointed to see where we've ended up. Levin returns to the impassioned question he's explored in each of his bestselling books: How do we save our exceptional country? Because our values are in such a precarious state, he argues that a restoration to the essential truths on which our country was founded has never been more urgent. Understanding these principles, in Levin’s words, can “serve as the antidote to tyrannical regimes and governments.” Rediscovering Americanism is not an exercise in nostalgia, but an appeal to his fellow citizens to reverse course. This essential book brings Levin’s celebrated, sophisticated analysis to the troubling question of America's future, and reminds us what we must restore for the sake of our children and our children's children.

Turtles All the Way Down (Signed Edition)

by John Green

This is a signed edition. Limited quantities available. The wait is over! John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, is back. It all begins with a fugitive billionaire and the promise of a cash reward. Turtles All the Way Down is about lifelong friendship, the intimacy of an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and tuatara. But at its heart is Aza Holmes, a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. In his long-awaited return, John Green shares Aza’s story with shattering, unflinching clarity.

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

by J. D. Vance 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, NAMED BY THE TIMES AS ONE OF "6 BOOKS TO HELP UNDERSTAND TRUMP'S WIN" AND SOON TO BE A MAJOR-MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD

"You will not read a more important book about America this year."—The Economist

"A riveting book."—The Wall Street Journal

"Essential reading."—David Brooks, New York Times

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.

The Vance family story begins hopefully in postwar America. J. D.’s grandparents were “dirt poor and in love,” and moved north from Kentucky’s Appalachia region to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them. They raised a middle-class family, and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility.

But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister, and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty, and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. Vance piercingly shows how he himself still carries around the demons of their chaotic family history.

A deeply moving memoir with its share of humor and vividly colorful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. And it is an urgent and troubling meditation on the loss of the American dream for a large segment of this country.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It!: Simple, Scrumptious Recipes for Crazy Busy Lives

by Ree Drummond 

Delicious recipes for busy lives from the #1 New York Times bestselling author and Food Network host.

For home cooks, nothing beats spending a long, leisurely day preparing dinner for your family while savoring every flavorful step. But let's face it: Few of us really have the time to do that anymore, with school, sports, work, and activities pulling us in all directions. What busy home cooks really need are scrumptious, doable recipes to solve the challenge of feeding their families wholesome food that tastes great, day after day, week after week—without falling into a rut and relying on the same old rotation of meals.

Ree Drummond provides readers with her very best make-it-happen dishes, pulled from her own non-stop life as a devoted wife, mother of four, food lover, and businesswoman. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It! includes more than 125 of Ree’s best solutions for tasty, nutritious meals (with minimal fuss!) for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

With a mix of flavors that will please everyone, Ree makes it easy to whip up delicious, simple, down-home recipes that go from stove without a lot of stress. Cooking should be a happy occasion!

Wonder Hardcover – February 14, 2012

by R. J. Palacio 

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, OWEN WILSON, AND JACOB TREMBLAY! Over 5 million people have read the #1 New York Times bestseller WONDER and have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. The book that inspired the Choose Kind movement. I won't describe what I look like. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse. August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. WONDER, now a #1 New York Times bestseller and included on the Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance. "Wonder is the best kids' book of the year," said Emily Bazelon, senior editor at Slate.com and author of Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy. In a world where bullying among young people is an epidemic, this is a refreshing new narrative full of heart and hope. R.J. Palacio has called her debut novel “a meditation on kindness” —indeed, every reader will come away with a greater appreciation for the simple courage of friendship. Auggie is a hero to root for, a diamond in the rough who proves that you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out. 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry 

Hardcover – May 2, 2017

by Neil deGrasse Tyson 

The #1 New York Times Bestseller: The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist.

What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.

But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.

While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive,Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.

The Handmaid's Tale

 Paperback – March 16, 1998

by Margaret Atwood

From the bestselling author of the MaddAddam trilogy, here is the #1 New York Timesbestseller and seminal work of speculative fiction from the Booker Prize-winning author. Now a Hulu series starring Elizabeth Moss, Samira Wiley, and Joseph Fiennes. Includes a new introduction by Margaret Atwood. Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…. Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and literary tour de force.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life 

Hardcover – September 13, 2016

by Mark Manson 

New York Times Bestseller

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F**k positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is f**ked and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn’t sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is—a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is his antidote to the coddling, let’s-all-feel-good mindset that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

Manson makes the argument, backed both by academic research and well-timed poop jokes, that improving our lives hinges not on our ability to turn lemons into lemonade, but on learning to stomach lemons better. Human beings are flawed and limited—"not everybody can be extraordinary, there are winners and losers in society, and some of it is not fair or your fault." Manson advises us to get to know our limitations and accept them. Once we embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, once we stop running and avoiding and start confronting painful truths, we can begin to find the courage, perseverance, honesty, responsibility, curiosity, and forgiveness we seek.

There are only so many things we can give a f**k about so we need to figure out which ones really matter, Manson makes clear. While money is nice, caring about what you do with your life is better, because true wealth is about experience. A much-needed grab-you-by-the-shoulders-and-look-you-in-the-eye moment of real-talk, filled with entertaining stories and profane, ruthless humor, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k is a refreshing slap for a generation to help them lead contented, grounded lives.

Camino Island: A Novel 

   Hardcover – June 6, 2017

by John Grisham 

A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is priceless, but Princeton has insured it for twenty-five million dollars.      Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money, though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts.      Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more mysterious company. A generous offer of money convinces Mercer to go undercover and infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close enough to him to learn his secrets.      But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s trouble in paradise as only John Grisham can deliver it.

Milk and Honey 

 Paperback – October 6, 2015

by Rupi Kaur

#1 New York Times bestseller Milk and Honey is a collection of poetry and prose about survival. About the experience of violence, abuse, love, loss, and femininity. The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

The Silent Wife: A gripping emotional page turner with a twist that will take your breath away 

   Paperback – February 24, 2017

by Kerry Fisher

Would you risk everything for the man you loved? Even if you knew he'd done something terrible?

'A heart-wrenching and gripping tale. I was hooked from the very first page.' Write Escape

Lara’s life looks perfect on the surface. Gorgeous doting husband Massimo, sweet little sonSandro and the perfect home. Lara knows something about Massimo. Something she can’t tell anyone else or everything he has worked so hard for will be destroyed: his job, their reputation, their son. This secret is keeping Lara a prisoner in her marriage.

Maggie is married to Massimo’s brother Nico and lives with him and her troubled stepdaughter. She knows all of Nico’s darkest secrets – or so she thinks. Then one day she discovers a letter in the attic which reveals a shocking secret about Nico’s first wife. Will Maggie set the record straight or keep silent to protect those she loves?

For a family held together by lies, the truth will come at a devastating price.

A heart-wrenching, emotionally gripping read for fans of Amanda Prowse, Liane Moriarty and Diane Chamberlain.

What everyone's saying about The Silent Wife:

'A compulsive read about secrets, lies, and the complexities of families' Bloomin' Brilliant Books

'What a great novel this is! A very moving story filled with deception, betrayal and, contrastingly, loyalty, love, caring and forgiveness... and it has a brilliant ending!' Splashes Into Books

'Well, this book is a firecracker!...you will experience a rollercoaster of emotions, with laughter, sadness and a satisfying ending that will bring a lump to your throat.' Many Books Many Lives

'A fantastic, thought-provoking story, told with pace and style' Laura Bambrey Books

The Letter: The #1 Bestseller that everyone is talking about 

   Kindle Edition

by Kathryn Hughes 

The #1 EBook Bestseller. Every so often a love story comes along to remind us that sometimes, in our darkest hour, hope shines a candle to light our way. Discover THE LETTER by Kathryn Hughes, the Number One bestseller that has captured thousands of hearts worldwide. Perfect for fans of The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. 'A wonderful, uplifting story' Lesley Pearse And if you love THE LETTER, you will adore Kathryn's second novel THE SECRET... Tina Craig longs to escape her violent husband. She works all the hours God sends to save up enough money to leave him, also volunteering in a charity shop to avoid her unhappy home. Whilst going through the pockets of a second-hand suit, she comes across an old letter, the envelope firmly sealed and unfranked. Tina opens the letter and reads it - a decision that will alter the course of her life for ever...

Billy Stirling knows he has been a fool, but hopes he can put things right. On 4th September 1939 he sits down to write the letter he hopes will change his future. It does - in more ways than he can ever imagine...

The Letter tells the story of two women, born decades apart, whose paths are destined to cross and how one woman's devastation leads to the other's salvation.

The Life We Bury 

Paperback – October 14, 2014

by Allen Eskens 

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder. As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?

The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List 

Paperback – August 18, 2015

by Leon Leyson  (Author), Marilyn J. Harran  (Contributor), Elisabeth B. Leyson  (Contributor)

“Much like The Boy In the Striped Pajamas or The Book Thief,” this remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest children to survive the Holocaust on Oskar Schindler’s list, “brings to readers a story of bravery and the fight for a chance to live” (VOYA). This, the only memoir published by a former Schindler’s list child, perfectly captures the innocence of a small boy who goes through the unthinkable. Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson’s life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory—a list that became world renowned: Schindler’s list. Told with an abundance of dignity and a remarkable lack of rancor and venom, The Boy on the Wooden Box is a legacy of hope, a memoir unlike anything you’ve ever read.

The Best Seller 

Paperback – May 27, 2016

by Dina Rae 

When Maya Smock writes her first novel, everything seems to go her way. Her book practically writes itself. She marries her gorgeous agent. Her name is on all of the best seller lists. Billionaire author Jay McCallister takes an interest in her meteoric rise to fame and invites her into his world of alien-believing celebrities. Her life changes forever when he tells her that they were both created inside of a laboratory. These authors are embedding an alien genetic code within the pages of their novels that originated from Nazi Germany because... The time has come. They are here.

When God Whispers Your Name (The Bestseller Collection)

   Hardcover – June 7, 2009

by Max Lucado 

Are you ready to hope again? Are you ready to let go of doubt and sorrow? Just listen carefully. God is whispering your name.

Somewhere, between the pages of this book and the pages of your heart, God is speaking. And He is calling you by name.

Maybe that's hard to believe. Maybe you just can't imagine that the One who made it all thinks of you that personally -- that He keeps your name on His heart and lips.

But it's true. In the Bible and in the circumstances of your life, He whispers your name lovingly. Tenderly. Patiently but persistently. Let these stories remind you of the God who knows your name.

Some of the stories are from the Bible. Some are drawn from everyday life. Most are about people who are lost ... or weary ... or discouraged -- just like you may be. If you let them, they will tell the story of your life. And the story of a God who speaks into your situation.

So listen closely as you turn these pages. Listen for the Father's gentle whisper that can erase your doubt, your sorrow, your weariness, your despair.

It really is your name that you hear, and the Voice that calls is more loving that your ever dared dream. Listen. And learn to hope again.

Ashes to Ashes: The Sunday Times bestseller returns with the most gripping book of 2017! (Detective Mark Heckenburg, Book 6) 

Kindle Edition

by Paul Finch 

The Sunday Times bestseller returns with his next unforgettable crime thriller. Fans of MJ Arlidge and Stuart MacBride won’t be able to put this down.

John Sagan is a forgettable man. You could pass him in the street and not realise he’s there. But then, that’s why he’s so dangerous.

A torturer for hire, Sagan has terrorised – and mutilated – countless victims. And now he’s on the move. DS Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg must chase the trail, even when it leads him to his hometown of Bradburn – a place he never thought he’d set foot in again.

But Sagan isn’t the only problem. Bradburn is being terrorised by a lone killer who burns his victims to death. And with the victims chosen at random, no-one knows who will be next. Least of all Heck…

A Man Called Ove: A Novel 

Paperback – May 5, 2015

by Fredrik Backman

Read the New York Times bestseller that has taken the world by storm! Meet Ove. He’s a curmudgeon—the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him “the bitter neighbor from hell.” But must Ove be bitter just because he doesn’t walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time? Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove’s mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents’ association to their very foundations. A feel-good story in the spirit of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Fredrik Backman’s novel about the angry old man next door is a thoughtful exploration of the profound impact one life has on countless others. “If there was an award for ‘Most Charming Book of the Year,’ this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down” (Booklist, starred review).

Firefly Lane 

Paperback – January 6, 2009

by Kristin Hannah 

From the New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . .

In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable.

So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives.

From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness.

Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she'll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she'll envy her famous best friend. . . .

For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test.

Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you'll never forget . . . one you'll want to pass on to your best friend.

Sister Sister: A gripping psychological thriller 

Paperback – May 23, 2017

by Sue Fortin 

USA Today bestselling author of The Girl Who Lied

‘Gobsmacked…a thrilling finale’ Rachel’s Random Reads

Alice: Beautiful, kind, manipulative, liar.

Clare: Intelligent, loyal, paranoid, jealous.

Clare thinks Alice is a manipulative liar who is trying to steal her life. Alice thinks Clare is jealous of her long-lost return and place in their family.

One of them is telling the truth. The other is a maniac. Two sisters. One truth.

What people are saying about SISTER SISTER:

‘I would definitely recommend this if you love psychological thrillers’ – Stardust Book Reviews

‘Sister Sister has everything – conflict, family secrets and betrayal, all of which go to make it thoroughly deserving of the five stars I’ve given it’ – Brook Cottage Books

‘A truly absorbing psychological thriller’ – Joan Hill, Reviewing Recommended Reads

The Secret Wife 

Paperback – November 8, 2016

by Gill Paul 

The USA Today bestseller

‘A cleverly crafted novel and an enthralling story… A triumph.’ DINAH JEFFERIES

A Russian grand duchess and an English journalist. Linked by one of the world’s greatest mysteries…

Love. Guilt. Heartbreak.

1914

Russia is on the brink of collapse, and the Romanov family faces a terrifyingly uncertain future. Grand Duchess Tatiana has fallen in love with cavalry officer Dmitri, but events take a catastrophic turn, placing their romance – and their lives – in danger . . .

2016

Kitty Fisher escapes to her great-grandfather’s remote cabin in America, after a devastating revelation makes her flee London. There, on the shores of Lake Akanabee, she discovers the spectacular jewelled pendant that will lead her to a long-buried family secret . . .

Haunting, moving and beautifully written, The Secret Wife effortlessly crosses centuries, as past merges with present in an unforgettable story of love, loss and resilience.

Perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Dinah Jefferies.

Ordinary Grace 

Paperback – March 4, 2014

by William Kent Krueger 

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE 2014 EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL WINNER OF THE 2014 DILYS AWARD A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2013 “That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word.” New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder. Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family—which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years. Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.

The Missing Ones: An absolutely gripping thriller with a jaw-dropping twist (Detective Lottie Parker Book 1) 

Kindle Edition

by Patricia Gibney 

The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror. The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. ‘I wonder which one of us will be next?’ When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how? The trail leads Lottie to St Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal. As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger? Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice. 

Top Best Seller Books To Read This Summer, Discover Best Books You Must Read Now

[joshua-gray-b2b2-jekyll-and-hyde]

Final Draft of Essay

An exploration on how animation could be used to explore the themes of Repression and Symbolism in a short story drawing inspiration from Jekyll and Hyde

The incident in the white room

“Imagine a white room” the voice encourages. “Think of nothing else, only the room, let everything else melt away.” I clear my mind but it feels as if there is a shadow looming over me as I try to conjure the view of this white room in my mind’s eye. “Breathe.” the voice draws my attention. “Slowly now, good, in and out.” the becomes more captivating as time goes on. “Let go of everything, as if you are drifting away” the voice tells me. My body starts to tingle and I panic as this sensation crawls up my chest. “Good, keep still now” the voice reassures. “Breathe in, breathe out.” the voice has me ensnared. “Now find yourself in the white room”. feel as light as a feather floating away from my body, then suddenly I am drawn towards a dazzling light.

I open my eyes, and yet at the same time I know I have not. A shiver runs through me that does not register in my body. “What an odd sensation” I think to myself. All around me is a sea of white, not a single thing to be seen. “Think of somewhere familiar and imagine yourself there” the voice emerges, soundless but I know the words have been said. I turn around find myself in my laboratory as it once was, light gleaming through the polished cupola, the room busy with boxes and apparatus, feelings of invention and exploration in the air. “What do you see” the voice asks. “I am in my laboratory as fresh as the day I had first re-purposed it” another voice answers. Mine, but I have said nothing. I continue through the theatre, “It’s all so perfect, everything as it should be” I think, happiness flooding me.

I notice the door to my office; a comforting sight for the first time in months, I ponder how long it had been since I last enjoyed a visit here. “I see a door” my voice states. “Open it.” I brazenly step into the room and take in the surroundings, light spilling in from the windows overlooking the greenery of the court. My focus settles on the cheval glass. I peer into it, marking my features for I look as I once did, back before any of this business started, before the sleepless nights I have suffered. As if following my thoughts the image distorts until suddenly he is there looking back at me, smirking, taunting me with his gaze.

Fear grips me and I jump back, throwing my arms for protection. The room changed around me, fog creeping in through windows now barred, the only light coming from the crackling embers of the hearth, shadows dancing in the darkness. “He is here, the man I must forget” my voice monotonous with no trace of the fear that chills me down to the marrow. “Leave the room.” the voice commands. I sprint from the room into the laboratory, now dark and dingy, fog permeating the very walls thick and heavy, suffocating. “Close the door.” the voice says. I enthusiastically oblige it, slamming the door with all my might. “You hold the key in your hand, lock it!” A key appears in my hand out of nothing, and I force it into the tumblers, screeching as I turn the lock until it finally catches.

I hear something slam into the door, but it remains closed. Locked away. I am safe. The fog recedes as panic drains out of me.”It is done” my voice states. “Good, good, now… Awaken!” the voice commands.

Introduction

               This essay will explore how a fictional short-story inspired by an original text would be animated to represent the key themes explored within the text. For the purpose of the essay the short story was based on the novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde”(1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson with focus on the themes and symbolism of pathetic fallacy and dreams.

                Pathetic Fallacy is  “a literary device wherein the author attributes human emotions and traits to nature or inanimate objects.” (Oxford Royale Academy, 2014)  throughout the novella Stevenson confers human characteristics to the weather; most notably through the use of the fog/mist to help set tone for a scene. The short story uses the fog to convey the persistence and oppressive nature of the pursuer he wishes to repress.

                Dreams are defined as “a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.” (Oxford Dictionary, 2017) Dreams play a key role in the original novella and the short-story; the novella was influenced largely by a dream that the author had, and the extensive use and symbolism of dreams within the source text provided inspiration for the short-story.

           The essay will explore animation techniques and styles that could be used to best explore these three core themes and propose ideas of how particular scenes in the short-story could be animated.

Contextualisation

           The novella was released in 1886, a time of misinformation in which practical science was commonly mixed with the occult, “What is relevant in history is not whether they happened, but whether they could happen in Victorian eyes.” (Winter, 2000, pg 11)

     Victorian social ideals set the precedent that the most trusted source of information would come from the most upstanding members of Victorian society, regardless of their credibility. These elements of Victorian society are represented in the novella by how Jekyll's techniques blur the lines between science and occultism and yet the novel treats Jekyll’s letters as a believable turn of events; expecting the reader to believe Jekyll’s claims in part because of his social standing as a respectable gentleman.

Mesmerism was one of the most prevalent  of these occult-driven pseudo-sciences to come out of the Victorian era. “Mesmerism [can be treated] as a prior incarnation of psychoanalysis, [bridging the gap in history between] Mesmer and Freud.” (Winter, 2000, pg 10)  This idea of mesmerism being used as a form of psychoanalysis formed the key inspiration for my response to the novella. Further research into mesmerism found that it  can be defined as “a fragile set of practises whose meaning was very much up for grabs. As for the phenomena these practices produced… [they are best described as] …an “altered state” of mind to that of a state of lucid “unconsciousness.” (Winter, 2000, pg 10) The ambiguity of mesmerism and its utilisation of hypnotic and manipulative techniques played into the themes of Jekyll and Hyde; the idea that a particular potion or substance could bring about a drastic change in a person was in keeping with the pseudo-scientific beliefs of the day. This state of lucid unconsciousness is what I further went on to expand upon in my short story, having the entirety of the narrative take place in such a state.

Mesmerism is regarded as a stepping-stone for modern hypnotism; an application of scientific method to what was at the time occultist pseudo-science. Some modern hypnotic therapy techniques (Brann, 2015) require you to initially envision yourself within a “white” space before filling said space with a familiar location that is relevant to the therapy, for this reason quotes from the text referring to Jekyll’s laboratory were used as reference points for the writing of the short story. This helped to convey the sense of mesmerism that is in keeping with the general style of the original work whilst allowing for a more believable induction process in the short story.

Animation

The short story was written with the intention of it being an extract from an unwritten chapter of the narrative from the POV of Jekyll, with this in mind when thinking of animating said sequence it should be assumed that this story is just a “scene” in a larger animation. When writing this story I imagined that the over-arching animation style present would be animated in the format of 2D digital, taking inspiration from the style and colour pallet of Victorian London from 1997’s “A Christmas Carol”, whilst taking a darker direction focusing on a desaturated and grimey industrial era aesthetic.

The first paragraph of the short story begins with the imagining of a white room; the animation of this scene would start shortly before this suggestion, inducing Jekyll into a lucid state before asking him to “Imagine a white room”. When animating this hypnosis scene there would be cuts between the faces of the hypnotist and Jekyll whilst the suggestion was taking place, similar to the hypnosis sequence found in the movie “Mr. Nobody” (2009), although in this sequence the cuts back and forth are merged with intermittent flashbacks, whereas in my animation I would want the cuts to build up to a point in which Jekyll slumps back into his seat, cutting to a POV shot of his eyelids closing over a blurry scene.

The last sentence of the first paragraph, “feel as light as a feather floating away from my body, then suddenly I am drawn towards a dazzling light.” , is the point at which there would be a shift in style to a much more fluid “hand-drawn” aesthetic similar to the time travel sequences found in the “Your Name” (2016), having an ethereal form exit Jekyll’s body and float away, leaving the rest of the scene behind before fading to a white space, similarly to the sequence in “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004) in which one of the characters runs through a magic portal and is transported to a space full of black before coming to a new room.

The white room is to be a homage to the “construct” scenes found in 1999’s “The Matrix”, Jekyll finding himself in a “sea of white, not a single thing to be seen.”, similar to how Neo finds himself in an expansive white space. I would also take reference from how the Matrix uses camera pans to reveal things that were previously not there for the scene in which Jekyll turns around and finds himself in his “laboratory as it once was”.

The aesthetic of the animation would become more vibrant and exuberant at this point emphasising the “happy” tone of this segment of the short story, and giving the animation an “other-worldly” sense similar to the “dream” sequences from “Sucker Punch”. (2011) This visual style would last up until when Jekyll is looking into the distorting cheval glass, rippling in a fluid motion, and Hyde looks back at him. From this point the scene would undergo an almost nightmarish transition, taking inspiration from the janitor scene in the movie “Silent Hill” (2006) in which the walls start to rot and decay away, the scene around Jekyll would start to slowly degrade around him, getting darker as fog creeps  “in through windows now barred, the only light coming from the crackling embers of the hearth, shadows dancing in the darkness.”.

 The awakening scene at the end of the short story would be followed by a cut to black in my animation, then the next scene would revert back to the initial style described at the start, and events would carry on from Jekyll's next day, skipping over any further events happening after the therapy.

Conclusion

                   The grimier and desaturated art-style would be chosen to help convey the time period; helping to establish the time period, customs and culture of the fiction being depicted. This would lure the audience into a more receptive mindset as their suspension of disbelief would line up with common cliches of that time period; mesmerism, occultism and pseudo-science.

                    The change in styles for the animation are being utilised to highlight the transition from the conscious into the sub-conscious; emphasising the POV character’s descent into his own mind and establishing this new setting as one that does not follow conventional rules of reality, feeding into the overarching themes of occultism and dreams.

                   2D animation is less restrictive in terms of style; it is easier to transition from one style to the next, which is why the short-story would be animated using this particular style rather than 3D or CGI.

                   The focus of the animation would be utilising colour pallette and art-style to set the tone and time-frame for the audience of the piece as well as contrasting animation and art-styles to emphasise the transition from the conscious world to the sub-conscious one in a way that evokes the time periods pre-disposition towards occultism.

Reference List:

- A Christmas Carol (1997) Directed by S. Phillips [DVD]. Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox

- Brann, L. (2015) The Handbook of Contemporary Clinical Hypnosis: Theory and Practice. John Wiley & Sons.

- Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) Directed by Hayao Miyazaki  [DVD]. Tokyo: Toho

- Mr. Nobody (2009) Directed by Jaco Van Dormael [DVD]. Berlin: Wild Bunch

- Oxford Dictionary (2017) Definition of Repression in English. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/repression (Accessed: 17/02/17)

- Oxford Royale Academy (2014) 14 Literary Terms and Techniques to Deepen your Understanding of English. Available at: https://www.oxford-royale.co.uk/articles/literary-terms-english.html (Accessed: 17/02/17)

- Silent Hill (2006) Directed by Christophe Gans [DVD]. Culver City: Tristar

- Stevenson, R., L. (1886) Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Harvard: C. Scribner’s Sons.

- Sucker Punch (2011) Directed by Zack Snyder [DVD]. Los Angeles: Warner Brothers Inc.

- The Matrix (1999) Directed by A. and L. Wachowski [DVD]. Los Angeles: Warner Brothers Inc.

- Victorian Era (2017) Sexual Repression in the Victorian Era. Available at: http://www.victorian-era.org/sexual-repression-in-the-victorian-era.html (Accessed: 17/02/17)

- Winter, A. (2000) Mesmerized: Powers of Mind in Victorian Britain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

- Your Name (2016) Directed by Makoto Shinkai [DVD]. Tokyo: Toho

Overall I am happy with how this essay conveys my understanding of how/why I wrote my essay in relevance to animation.

I feel that there is a slight shift in tone between the contextualisation and the animation paragraphs, I feel that this is due to me shifting my mindset from a more factually based clinical one to an expressive one. I don’t feel like it throws off the overall flow of the paper.

[electrawitheyillustration]

Project Summary

Through both my practical and research work this term I have been exploring the subject of the morphogenesis or architecture; the development and evolution of it through the passing of time and contributions of various generations. In doing so I have begun to tackle a topic that is of interest to me after having lived in the city of Winchester for so many years.

Progressing from 2D mediums to 3D mediums feels like a really important part of my development this term. In studying a topic that is referencing the material world around us, it felt like a very relevant and perhaps almost necessary step. To begin with, when working with 2D materials, I was struggling with trying to effectively represent various textures and material qualities completely effectively. In moving into 3D, I was able to choose and work with various physical materials that best suited exactly what it was that I was trying to represent. For example, the Plasticine could easily be manipulated to represent gesture, the blue foam to represent an element that was easily to manipulate and build upon, the laser cut mdf to represent a modern iteration, and the plaster to convey this idea of rigidity and fragility.

I have tried to create a publication that sits within the genre of design fiction, as the way that James Langdon defines the genre aligns with the way that I was beginning to look at representing the narrative I was discovering. The aim of design fiction is to encourage an audience to reconsider the way we look at objects that surround us by transporting the audience to a parallel reality. By considering man-made objects as archaeological artefacts, it builds narrative through the manipulation of object in conjunction with design. Early on I read How We Build by Rowan Moore, which highlighted the idea that buildings are often misconceived to be static structures. In this sense, the subject of this project leant itself well to design fiction as a genre as it contains room for the encouraging of a different perspective.

I think that using my research report to digest the concepts at the core of design fiction as a genre would have been interesting to write about, and would have allowed me to explore in depth the process of building narrative through the perception and manipulation of objects.

However, choosing to align the subject of my research report directly with the subject of my practical work allowed me the time to focus on researching the actual narrative of the project. This definitely developed my understanding of the topic and in this sense allowed for my practical work to progress from a conceptual point of view. With lots of critical theory surrounding the topic of the morphogenesis of architecture, I feel as though it needed this degree of attention in order to be digested to an appropriate degree.

In terms of research, texts such as Why We Build by Rowan Moore and Support Structures by Celine Condorelli, as well as the documentary series How Building’s Learn by Stewart Brand were completely integral to introducing me to the key concepts and attitudes surrounding my topic. Having easy access to Norwich’s cathedral, a building in which this idea of new being built into old in order to support it has become quite dramatically visible, meant that as my research pushed me out into new areas within this topic I was able to revisit the structure in order to find visible referencing for these ideas. These images would become useful not only in informing my illustrations but also in direct relationship with them within my publication work. Taking quite an in depth approach to studying the work of 6a architects at Raven Row really began to consolidate how some of these attitudes can begin to take physical form.

Looking into Langdon’s ideas on design fiction as well as doing the workshop with Cassiopeia and witnessing their work within the gallery setting I think really helped me begin to digest how my own work could begin to work for a viewer. 

I designed a newspaper and sent it off to print relatively early in the project as I wanted to see how the 3d work would look when translated back into flat images, and also how successfully the narrative read in the format of turning pages at large scale. I chose a broadsheet newspaper as the format for this publication because they carry an informative aura, and the physical size of it allows each image its own space. As well as the series of illustrations in the newspaper make use of progressive sequences, I think that the pages naturally split the narrative up into segments. I have tried to create double page spreads that are self-contained in telling a thread of the overall narrative. I think that the size of the broadsheet pages also helps to pace the reader through the narrative and fully consider the relationship between the images and text.

My concern with the newspaper was that some of the series of images maybe looked kind of static. In a lot of cases I am trying to describe process. Converting these into moving animations resolved this problem. However, going forwards I think I need to further explore the process of trying to create progressions of images that do not fall into the ‘static’ trap, as presenting the animations in an online publication format had its own issues.

I think the animation works well in conjunction with the still image photography and helps to convey this sense of process. I attempted to vary the pacing of the narrative through this medium by building the narrative through parts that moved with varying subtleties. I feel as though this has been achieved in some sense but is definitely a point for further exploration and manipulation.  

However I think something is lost in terms of the publication no longer being a physical object. There is a kind of loss of control over the way an audience reads through it as they are not required to physically turn a page. Also the way in which the webpage scrolls is very linear. I designed the first and last image of my illustrated narrative with a strong visual link with the intention of putting each on the cover, so that when the newspaper was opened they could be viewed alongside each other as a double page spread. This element is lost with the first and last image being located and the top and bottom of the linear webpage. Perhaps building a different structure in terms of website that was in some way artificially paginated could have resolved some of these issues, and is something I need to explore further when thinking about presenting future online publications.

I think it is also important to consider that physical formats seem to be a much more desirable output for work, I think especially in the context of works that are narrative.  I think that the online publication compliments the newspaper, and allows for quicker and easier dissemination of my work in terms of reaching wider audiences. However I feel as though from this perspective it was important to create work in the physical format of the newspaper.  

I think that sending a copy of my newspaper to James Langdon in order to get some criticism would be a good idea. In passing, Peter Nencini very briefly told me that he thinks it reads well, but I think it would be helpful to have a proper tutorial with him about the work in order to gain some further analysis and criticism. This would be helpful because obviously he has made a fair amount of work within the genre of design fiction, including The Artist and the Engineer for Eastside Projects and a narrative for James Langdon’s A School for Design Fiction.

Going forwards with my work I think I need to consider the creating of an audience much more seriously. My project so far has spoken quite generally about my subject matter. I think that in the same way that The Artist and The Engineer focusses in on Birmingham as a location reference, I could choose a place that falls into the context of my project this term to focus on in order to draw out a more specific narrative within this topic of morphogenesis in architecture. In this sense the work that I would produce could have a more site specific purpose, in that it would be able to target specific issues. It would focus on bringing these site specific issues to the attention of a specific audience within the community of the place.

I think that also this would maintain a level of focus for my research. I think that in tackling such a large topic without any location to set the bounds brings risk of generalisation. I chose to study London as a case study through the research for my research report, and even so felt at times that I had perhaps taken on a topic too large, and so had to focus it down again through case studies within that city.

I think that working with the creative writing students will be an interesting and helpful experience, in that writing has become part of my working process and is the element of if that I currently feel most doubtful about. I think that working with and being in discussion with a partner who studies creative writing will help to give me a better understanding of possibilities and techniques that lie behind this writing element that ultimately, can be very creative, too.

[cryptodictation]

Filmmaker Anna Muylaert, from What time are you back ?, lana short story book

The principal Anna Muylaert had just had her first child when the feature Carlota Joaquina, by Carla Camuratti, started the resumption of national cinema in 1995. Graduated from the School of Communication and Arts of the University of So Paulo (ECA-USP), Anna had been working as she could in an area devastated by the public policy of the Collor era. He did film criticism, poetry, video clips, short films and was a bee reporter in the extinct TV Mix, TV Gazeta program. He also began to write fictional scripts for children's programs on TV Cultura, including the R Tim Bum Castle. With the resumption, he decided that he would dedicate himself to cinema and make a film. But when he faced the question “which film?”, He realized that he did not know how to write screenplays for cinema. To train, he started writing Tales. These are the texts that reach readers today in When the blood rises to the head, that the publisher Lote 42 launches this month.

Anna says that, at the time, she even sent the texts to some publishers. He received encouraging letters back, but no one wanted to publish the material. “We even looked at some letters from some publishers that I didn't even remember anymore and the opinions were good, they weren't bad, but no one knew me”, says the author, who is anxious about receiving the book. “I was reread scared to death and chose not to change almost anything, because 25 years later, if I moved, that book would end up not coming out. We change so much! And that is a record of a time. ”

In total, the director chose six stories whose structures she recognizes to be quite cinematic. “I thought it has a dynamic that already points to my narrative style, very visual, it has a cinematographic cut, very dialogue”, he notes. Writing, for her, became an exercise that took her to the scripts. The long Durval disks, for example, originated in the last tale of When the blood rises to the head. Suffering in paradise, she narrates the step by step of a birth and Anna understands that the film, in a way, is about the separation between Durval and the controlling mother. What time does she come back? originated in the writing of the novel Kitchen door, which never got published. A lot has changed between the book and the feature that ended up winning 19 awards, including at Sundance and Berlin festivals. “When the novel was ready, it became a script. At the time, I thought it was difficult to drive, it had some elements of fantastic realism, it was quite different ”, guarantees Anna.

In When the blood rises, the protagonists of the stories are always female characters. Some stories, Anna brought from her own family, but also from a time, as the stories were written in the 1990s. “One of the things that motivated me was a desire to enter this feminine zone. I decided I was going to do a book about women ”, she says. “At that time, it was completely different from now. In my memory, I chose at random, but it wasn't. I had just had a child, I spent the whole day with the baby, I was at the height of the discovery of the feminine. It was not a political choice at all, it was a bit of what I was experiencing and I thought I knew. ”

Political awareness of gender and feminism only came much later, when What time does she come back? it began to be successful and the filmmaker began to realize the differences in treatment during events in the cinema industry. In the next film, Club of the Businesswomen, the director will address the issue of gender explicitly. With Bruno Mazzeo in the lead role, the film will talk about a world dominated by women. “I'm still working on the script, but a world where the gender relationship is reversed, where the man is the weakest part and the woman is the strongest”, he warns.

In an interview, Anna Muylaert talks about being a feminist, about the role of writing in her life and about the difficulties of making cinema in a medium still run by men.

»Interview / Anna Muylaert What changes in your view of feminism from the time you wrote the short stories for today?

Today I have a more political view of the issue of women. At the time, it was more feminine. There was a 25-year career in the cinema and in the middle, there I was a little virgin in terms of the dynamics of women in the professional field. Over the 25 years, I understood that the issue of women is not only an issue. Today I understand women more as a political agent, I understand that I have to talk about issues that prevent us from having a more fluid life within the social organization. I think I was more naive. I was 30 years old.

And literature, are you still writing?

I have nothing triggered for two reasons. As I studied more and more dramaturgy, I became more specialized in the construction of the narrative for cinema. When the film is ready, the script goes to waste. In cinema, the focus is more on the construction of the narrative, while in literature, the word is the end in itself. I started to specialize in something that was different. When Flip started, I started to go and watch the tables. And I said ‘bro, I’m not literature, I’m not a library rat, I’m a cinematheque rat’. This does not mean that I cannot write again. lighter for me to write because it’s cheaper, but from then on I got more involved with cinema and didn’t have more time. Literature requires more silence.

What if the cinema cools down in Brazil, given the cultural policy of the current government?

I may come back, but since I've been working madly in the cinema, I don't have time. Now, if you asked me last week, it was one thing. This pandemic is putting everything in another perspective. What was going on, I think, in Bolsonaro's policy was something similar to what Collor did and that I have already lived and seen. But now, with this pandemic and the socioeconomic consequences that it will have, I think he may even fall because of the way he has been behaving, because he has been irresponsible.

Given the Brazilian reality, do you feel like writing or filming dystopia?

No, but we never know. Somehow, my next film, Club of the Businesswomen, is practically scientific because it will be the man in the woman's place and that generates a mess. Remember the science fiction because it puts you in indistinct mental spaces. When you see a man making protocols of a female life, you see much better how much weight we carry. I am a filmmaker, I take care of my career, I have a production company, I had relationships, I did yoga. And when you put that on a male character it looks like he's a poor guy. The film is a discussion of the power structures, more about women at work and the burden that women carry, which is greater than that of men in the contemporary world.

Do you think that in these 25 years there has been a lot of change in this gender issue?

So much has changed as there is something that does not change at all. But it will change. The UN has done a study saying it only changes in 200 years. I was born in the 1960s, I lived the feminist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. But then there was a hiatus. I remember that, in college, we didn't have that agenda. I think it was half the world, it was a low ball. We managed to win big, have the right to sex, to have more important careers, but in the 1980s, it seems that we became more alienated.

In the cinematographic medium, are these differences still striking? You say you realized that when it was What time is she back? Why?

At school we don't understand, but when he leaves, he starts to realize that his male colleague has more opportunities, that his career in general helps his male colleague. At the time, I understood that earning less was my personal inability to negotiate cach. I only understood that it was a gender issue even in 2015 when What time does she come back? was successful. I realized that the treatment for me was not the same as the treatment for my colleagues with whom I had worked. The film industry is well prepared for the success of a man, but a woman is not. The distributor does not look you in the eye, the person who will give you the prize cannot pass you the microphone. I started to have a lot of embarrassment, people treating me like I was an assistant. And it started to hurt me. Upon contacting some Americans, they said that what was happening to me happens to all female directors in the world, an invisibility that even with the result does not change. And I understood that it was not a psychological issue of mine. He thought I was shy, that I didn't know how to speak.

And what has changed for you?

From 2015, I understood that I know how to speak, but people have difficulty listening. As long as you are an assistant, that's fine, but when you go to a leading role, it seems that the brains don't quite understand what's going on. I didn't have that clear until 2015. And my vision changed. Today I understand women's guidelines as exactly discussing these limits of power. What mechanisms make them believe that they have more power than us and that make us maintain it? My next film is a dive in this direction. What are the devices of machismo? Machismo is a system of power that the two practice, because when the woman stops accepting it, it ceases to exist. But there are limits that we don't even notice. I have done a great job of studying this both in cinema and in literature, reading theoretical books to prepare myself for this project.

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