Category Archives: Writing

As much as I can like someone I’ve never really met, I generally like Damien Walter, the Guardian contributor and fiction writer who’s currently doing the digital nomad thing in South Asia. Smart fellow, good insights into SF/F, getting his Buddha on. Much respect, Damo. But I had to disagree with this tweet today:

https://twitter.com/damiengwalter/status/572040267588481024

First off, given the choice between poverty and not-poverty, I would always, always recommend not-poverty if it’s any kind of option, especially in today’s economy and with the healthcare and retirement systems currently in place in the United States. The less we earn early in life, the fewer opportunities we will have as we get older. The system sucks, but that’s what it is.

In other words, kids, please save money whether or not you’re an artist. I’d also say especially if you’re an artist, because there’s always the chance, sad to say, that the muse dries up, that your work becomes passe, whatever. Meanwhile, the social safety net shrinks yearly. You’re on your own, so if possible, plan for your financial future as early as is personally feasible. I also recognize that it isn’t possible for many people to save, so if it is for you, perhaps note that you’re in a privileged position in that regard and leverage that opportunity for yourself and your future.

OK, that’s the end of the public service announcement — let’s talk about starving, tortured writers, because it’s something I personally can’t quite wrap my head around. (Damo didn’t talk about the emotional torture aspect; I’m adding it to the rant because there seems to be a correlation between poverty and tortured when it comes to describing writers.)

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My sweet spot as a writer seems to be in historical fantasy; it’s the foundation of the Daedalus trilogy, for one, and it’s something I’m working with on another project (as yet undisclosed). I like history for a lot of reasons — in large part because history is often stranger and more interesting than a lot of things I could make up.

Yet in this course of human events, there’s a whole heap of ugly to be found, and it’s often right there with the really good, interesting stuff.

I touched on a bit of ugly briefly in The Daedalus Incident, when a young 18th century Thomas Weatherby had to contend with women persons-of-color in positions of authority and military command. The sight of Shaila Jain and Maria Diaz being in charge and wielding weapons and generally being really darn competent was something he couldn’t immediately believe. Since their 22nd century tech well outmatched his muskets, he went along with them — and only later came to realize they were just as good as any white man he’d served with.

Again, it’s a simple lesson and a brief part of Weatherby’s arc, and Shaila and Diaz faced his anachronistic viewpoint with their very typical no-nonsense approach. Had Weatherby persisted in his views longer than he did, I’m quite certain Shaila would’ve made sure he didn’t make it to The Enceladus Crisis. 

Now I’m looking at writing something much more immersive, and in a time/place in which racism, sexism and a whole heap of other -isms are an ingrained part of life and society. There are women and POCs there — by necessity an integral part of the story and by no means mere tokens — and those characters will be facing the biases of the predominant culture.

I have a feeling it’s going to be a challenge.  Continue reading →