Categories
IWSG

#IWSG October 2021- Where do you draw the line?

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click here to learn more or sign up.

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Optional Monthly Question: In your writing, where do you draw the line, with either topics or language?

I don’t like to think that there is any topic I’d be afraid to tackle but will admit that some subject matter simply doesn’t appeal to me. I also think it’s one thing to completely avoid certain material and another to find a different or more comfortable way to approach it than say “the norm”.

Rape is a topic I’ve written about without describing it. For some people, it’s important to describe things in vivid detail all the time, but sometimes you don’t have to and still manage to be compelling. There are other topics that I’m not likely to write about simply because I don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t.

When it comes to sexual content, I think I’m a bit more open, though I’ve not gone too steamy at this point. Even when it comes to reading mature content, which I’m ok with, I draw the line when there’s more than one graphic sex scene within a chapter, sometimes even having one a chapter is just too much. Some descriptions are unnecessary and seem to only serve the purpose of being shocking. Still, even if I did write something truly steamy, I still don’t think it would be considered profane. Some writers excel at writing shocking content that can be disturbing, visceral, or hyperrealistic. That’s not me and I’m okay with that. I like the idea of entertaining readers, not shocking them.

When it comes to language, I’m okay with profanity if it serves a purpose and seems real. Again, I admit that I’m more likely to read books with profanity than I am to write it (though too much is a turn off), still, I have put a few mature words in my stories when I felt it played well with either a character or the overall plot. I don’t think anything I write will ever be considered profane, but that’s just me. I have no problem with other writers writing what works for them.

On a side note, I recently listened to a podcast that stated there’s research that content warnings aren’t effective. They don’t help readers cope with the content, but can deter some readers, which in my opinion is a good thing. If someone doesn’t want to read certain content and they know upfront, that means that book is less likely to get a negative review because the reader was unnecessarily shocked or disturbed. Also, I feel like they could help other readers find the content they are looking for. Maybe someone wants to read something a little more intense than the norm. I’m all for content warnings. What do you think?

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IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS

Member Spotlights

#iwsgbookclub

The books we’ve chosen to spotlight in the month of October are Already Home by Heather M. Gardner and Dragon of the Stars by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Please check these out and consider giving one or both of these a read this month. If you’re not up for reading them, no worries, you can still help spread some love for these publications and or participate in the book club activities.

 

My co-mods and I have done a lot of research into the books written by IWSG members to help facilitate the current direction the book club is taking. In the process, I’ve learned about how readers find and don’t find books by our members. So, I’ve put together some, hopefully, helpful tips I like to call…

Ways to Make Your Book(s) “Findable”

…and increase their chances to be featured and discovered.

2) Make sure you have a complete and up-to-date Amazon Author page unless you are opting not to sell on that site. You can also look into setting up profiles on other retail sites that allow that. I must admit, I’ve been meaning to get set up on Google Play and still haven’t done that yet. If a reader can’t find you on Goodreads, the next place they are likely to search will either be Amazon.com or Google.

P.S. It has come to the attention of the admins that there is a discrepancy between the members we are currently pooling from and the actual numbers of members to pool from. We are currently working on a registry system to fix this. Thank you all for your patience as we strive to give all IWSG members a chance to be featured.

Now, on to the personal updates.

I attended my first live event in over a year. It was simply a vendor table at an outdoor fair-type event. It was more fun than I’d expected but just as stressful as I’d imagined. I had a few moments where I felt dizzy from the rush, the commotion, and the heat. I was happy to have my husband there as a support.

After a year of forgetting what a profit feels like, it was nice to have a hefty wad to either blow on something extravagant or reinvest into my business. If only I could muster the nerve to do more of these events.

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So, where do you draw the line?
What are your thoughts on content warmings?
It may take some time, but I promise, I will eventually stop by your blog.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Jemima Pett,
J Lenni Dorner ,
Cathrina Constantine,
Ronel Janse van Vuuren, and
Mary Aalgaard!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #33).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter

Categories
Virtual Book Tours

Guest Post: Resiliency of the Human Mind – Liftoff #scifi #blogtour

I’m so pleased to share today’s guest post with you. It’s an honor to host a wonderful and supportive member of the IWSG today as she shares her thoughts on science fiction tropes, gearing you up to try out her new release (I already have some thoughts I can’t wait to put in the comments). I just started reading this book and am really enjoying it. I hope you enjoy this insightful article.

SciFi Trope: The Vastness of Space and the Resiliency of the Human Mind by Tyrean Martinson

Tropes and audience assumptions in fiction can be helpful for our understanding of plot and character in a fast-paced movie, show, or book. Some tropes and assumptions are obvious, but some are more subtle, as in the case of humans who are not affected by the vastness of space. We don’t even realize it’s a trope or assumption because it fits within our mindset of human conquerors of the universe.

When this trope is in play, we don’t see humans grappling with their tiny humanity in the vastness and silence of space. In many scifi films, we assume via trope that our heroes within the science fiction landscape are fully capable in space, regardless of their background or training. By using this trope, we can create fast-paced stories which focus on other aspects in the science fiction landscape. It’s a tempting trope/assumption to use for this reason alone.

Films which use this assumption include: Star Trek, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, Avengers, Firefly, Serenity, Total Recall, The Fifth Element, The Last Starfighter, the 100, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Jupiter Ascending, and Treasure Planet. 

The question is: is this a reasonable trope/assumption to break? Do we really want to add this element into the mix of science fiction? There are two ways this assumption can be addressed:

  1. Mention the possibility of mental struggles with the vastness of space, but not have it affect the main cast of characters. This was done successfully in The Expanse. We, as an audience, understand that not everyone can cut the never-ending coldness of space when we see a character have a mental breakdown. While this event is a part of the plot in the first episode, we are freed up from spending a lot of time there because it’s not a problem for most of the cast.
  2. Most of the characters have special training. This is assumed in Stargate, Star Trek, Farscape, and Firefly. It’s shown more directly in The Martian, the Apollo 13, Lost in Space, Buck Rogers, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gravity, Alien (Aliens), Interstellar, and The Right Stuff.

I think it’s an important issue to deal with in one way or another. I know many of us love the idea of space travel, but the question is: are we really trained for it? Could we mentally handle being surrounded by the cold, silent vastness of space every single moment? While I love scifi enough to ignore the moments when this issue isn’t addressed, I didn’t want to completely ignore it in my own work, so I decided to have my main character in Liftoff at least think about it, and wonder at her own ability to handle space travel.

Would you want to travel in space?

Title: Liftoff

Subtitle: The Rayatana Series, Book 1

Blurb:

A spaceship in disguise,

An Earth girl searching for a sense of home,

And a Thousand Years’ War between alien races,

All collide on a summer afternoon.

An old movie theater welcomes Amaya in and wraps her up in the smell of popcorn and licorice. But one sunny afternoon during a matinee, the movie screen goes dark. The theater rumbles.

Amaya gets trapped in the middle of an ancient alien conflict. Angry and frightened, Amaya entangles herself in a life-changing cultural misunderstanding with Sol, a young alien who keeps omitting key information, even while they’re on the run from his enemies.

What will it take to survive a battle between alien races involved in an ancient war?

Liftoff is a fast-paced read for fans of Code 8, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Cobra Kai. 

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Release Date: November 10, 2020

Paperback ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-9889933-8-9 

Ebook ISBN: ISBN: 978-0-9889933-9-6

Copyright Tyrean Martinson November 2020

Publisher: Wings of Light Publishing, Gig Harbor, WA, USA

Professionally Edited by Chrys Fey

Cover Art and Interior Design by Carrie Butler

LINKS: Kindle Barnes and Noble Kobo Smashwords Goodreads

About the Author: Tyrean Martinson is an author and teacher from Washington State. As a former fencer and kickboxer, she enjoys writing fight scenes in fast-paced novels and novellas. As a teacher and writing tutor, she loves to get students writing and reading comfortably by any means: talk-to-text, short writing assignments, short stories, novellas, and adventures. She wrote her latest novella, Liftoff, for herself during COVID, but realized it also fits a dream she’s had for a while: to create a short, fast-paced read for teen/YA readers who love popcorn movies, adventure, and sweet romance. 

Author Links: Blog Newsletter Instagram Twitter Facebook

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords #blacklivesmatter

Categories
Book-Fiction

Legacy by Stephanie Barr, interview by #thetoiboxofwords

Greetings readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors and welcome to The ToiBox of Words. I’m your host Toi Thomas, author of Eternal Curse, and today I’m sharing a special interview with author, Stephanie Barr, about her fiction book entitled, Legacy. Enjoy!

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Where did the idea for Legacy come from?

Well, that’s a long story. I’d written short stories (already in another anthology) and then five novels and had self-published four of them after my divorce. I was having a hard time getting into the mood or writing after my divorce and signed up with a short story contest. Although I didn’t win, I jumped back into short stories as I hadn’t done in years. After a couple years, I had more than thirty of them and nowhere to put them. So, I thought I’d make another anthology. I have another two stories coming out in multi-author anthologies this fall.

Wow, thirty short stories is impressive. With thirty stories in one book, how long is the book?

It is nearly 133k words, so it’s a long read. I was actually expecting a few of my beta readers to complain, but, so far, no one has.

How did the title of this book come about?

“Legacy” is a story in my anthology and involves a pair of teenage boys who survive the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, with one of the boys (Omoto) deeply in love with the other but unwilling to bring that up because he didn’t want to ruin their relationship. When the one loved dies in violence, Omoto has to decide what kind of legacy he’ll leave. I love the title and it seemed fitting for stories that reflect my thoughts, frustrations, societal issues. There are also stories with characters from my novels, my own legacy so the title seemed perfect for the collection.

I’ve seen that quite often, having a whole collection of stories listed under the title of one, but the fact this is a representation of your own legacy, makes this all the more special.

What genre is this book and why did you choose to make it so?

Most of my fiction is fantasy and/or science fiction and my short stories are the same. The short stories that expand on novels are in keeping with the original genres, almost all of my upcoming novel related stories are hard science fiction and the stories that are related to nothing could be anything. I have two that are historical/contemporary, some fantasy, and some science fiction.

Do you worry that including so many different genres will alienate fans of a particular genre?

You know, I really don’t. I’m a character writer and I think the genre is really immaterial if the characters “speak” to the reader. And I hear that a great deal from readers. “I don’t normally like fantasy but this was really good,” or even, “I didn’t get all the technical details, but I just loved Kado.” That is something cool with my science fiction. Because I’m a rocket scientist, the science is pretty sound, especially anything in space.

What would you say is the overall message or the theme of this book?

People are what matters. What you are is not as important as who you are. We all can do something to make the world better. Love is always better than hate.

That’s quite a message, and one you can never seem to have too much of. I like it.

Tell me about the experience of writing this book; how long did it take?

The first contest I wrote for started in January 2015.  The last story I added to the mix was in June 2017. There are four stories (Tarot Queen stories) which are the only ones that were written before the respective novel. The rest of the stories, the other twenty-eight, were written in the last two years along with maybe half a dozen I’ve sold or am marketing elsewhere.

So, about two years to write an impressive single author anthology. Not too shabby.

Briefly, describe some of the stories within this book.

I told you about “Legacy.” I’ve got three stories with an autistic scientist in a space station (my son is non-verbal autistic). I have a blind arcane archer with a shapeshifting cat. I have kids escaping from ruthless invaders (prequels to the Bete Novels), meet and fall in love fantasy stories (prequels to Curse of the Jenri), a young couple getting married and the bride’s eccentric grandmother (sequels to Saving Tessa), and several stories centered on a talented Tarot Queen who uses and is used by her cards. And a farcical story of a dragon, a unicorn, and a miller’s daughter.

That last one sounds like the set-up to a cheesy joke, but then you did say it was farcical. I gotta say, I’m really digg’n the diversity of this collection. Nice job.

What are some of the major themes in this book?

Some things are bigger than yourself.
Who you are is more important than what you are.
Love can come from anywhere.
Love is better and stronger than hatred.
Nobody’s infallible.
Better to try and fail than be silent.
Karma, like natural laws, has no pity.
The quick answer isn’t always the best answer.
Brains over brawn.
There’s more than you think to some people.
Sometimes there is no good answer.
Anything can be taken too far.
Women are powerful.
Appearances can be deceiving.
People are people, no matter the “species.”

Those are some pretty intense and noble themes. I get the feeling that all your writing, at some level, has a greater message to it. Were these themes on your mind when writing these stories or did they develop within the writing process?

Some of the themes come from the novels that spawned the stories. Many of the standalone stories were prompted by particular markets or contests I was going for, but they include my own personal philosophies. “Legacy” was partly inspired by George Takai and his work. Several other stories like “Nemesis” and “Nightmare Blanket” were spawned by frustration with the recent election. I’m pretty adamant about feminism. It’s the long way of saying, some stories are built on the theme and some have the theme built into the story.

What are some of the settings in this book?

I have a space station – and that was fun because I worked with folks on orbit so it’s a bit of an area of expertise (though I don’t know as much as those who lived it). I’ve got high fantasy realms (often with highly patriarchal societies), the Earth in 2058, in a galaxy far far away (had fun with space battles using real orbital mechanics), modern day San Francisco and California between WWII and today.

Whatever the anthology is about, I always enjoy the sense of travel. It’s one of the best parts of reading an anthology, but you don’t get that as much when all the stories happen in the same world. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when being engrossed in stories from the same world is just what I want, but most of the time, I prefer setting diversity.

Who are some of your favorite characters in this book?

Who don’t I love? Characters are my favorite. Okay, I love Saldomar, Tander, Riko, Cristo, Denra, and Klevaron (Curse of the Jenri), Dylan, Nathan, Tessa, and Dotty (Saving Tessa), Dante da Silva, Scruffy, and Gus (Tarot Queen), Xander, Alya, K’Ti, and Laren (the Bete Novels), Bryder and Nayna, Kado—love me some Kado, the Devil, the dragon, Billy, Ryuuji and Omoto.

I love some of the names your characters have. I like that some are average sounding while others are more exotic.

Are there elements of your personality or life experiences in this book?

Oh, yeah. Most of my characters have a bit of me, but some have more than their fair share like Nayna and Dylan who are both very very smart and socially awkward. But the snark that makes my charming characters is mine, too (don’t ask me how both can be true; I can’t explain it) so that’s Dante da Silva, the Devil, Tander, Bryder. Kado, as I mentioned, is patterned on my son though he’s not really non-verbal, more ultra-terse and more ruthless than my son. I’m also a manga otaku who loves yaoi so Legacy is my sort of tribute.

I find that most writers can’t seem to keep themselves out of their stories, I know I can’t, but I like how you swing that a bit to pay tribute to people and influences that you care about the most.

What is one thing from this book you wish was real or could happen to you?

True love. Though inventing something that made me rich and famous would be cool, too.

One thing I’ve learned from reading so much is that true love isn’t always romantic love, (says the girl who married her best friend and can’t get enough of the Princess Bride). I too think I’d like to have something that could make me rich (don’t need the fame).

What is something you wish wasn’t real and hope doesn’t happen to you?

I wish people who were different or smart weren’t judged, bullied or mistreated, though that happened to me (to a lesser extent than in my stories). This is also applicable to minorities, religious minorities, women and LGBTQ folks.

I feel ya. There never seems to be a shortage of reasons for people to pick on others; I do wish the world would go ahead and change already.

Let’s say your book is being turned into a feature length film; quick- cast the main two characters and pick a theme song or score.

That’s really more pertinent to one of my novels, though you could tease a film out of the “Tarot Queen, Melan” stories or “Legacy.” I think Curse of the Jenri would make a great film. Grace Jones was an image I had for Melan. I could really see Scarlett Johansen as Layla and someone like the Rock (though probably younger) playing Tander. But that’s the general attitude he’d need. I always thought the opening credits would be great to a remix of “Witchy Woman” as Layla sneaks into the castle.

Wikipedia

I love that opening credits description. Sounds like something I’d totally watch. I understand this question being more suitable to a novel, but what if you could cast a film based on this collection. Imagine something like the Heavy Metal movie (not suitable for children) where one entity connects all the unrelated stories together. Do you think that would be too much?

That’s a very intriguing thought. I don’t have a single thread holding them together, but don’t challenge me. I could come up with something and several stories could be grouped into a single episode.

Do you have any special plans for this book in the near or far future?

Well, I’m hoping to release it in paperback and ebook at the end of July or, at the latest, early August. My other anthologies (stories and poetry) are only available in ebook format (and they’re available for free) but I think this is something special. My friend (Chuck, I mentioned him) says this book is like an anthology of anthologies. I think it’s something special.

So, is this book available for pre-order?

Yes. You can find it at Amazon.com

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Okay readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors, that’s all for today. Be sure to follow this blog to see who will be visiting next time. To try other works by Stephanie Barr, please visit the links provided.

Amazon.com  |  Smashwords.com

Learn more about Stephanie Barr at the links below.

Facebook | Writing Blog

This has been a

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords