Musings on the craft

[rolanni]

What went before: Had a nap. Wrote +/-720 new words, bringing the WIP to 57,600-ish total words.

Please do not send me Instagram links -- Instagram will not let me in, no matter how nicely I ask, which, honestly? Is probably Just As Well.

It really was a very pleasant day today, weatherwise. Sadly, it will be warmer again tomorrow, but then perhaps we'll have a thunderstorm or two to look forward to on Sunday.

For those interested in the Fate of Our Papers (not a joke; several people have Expressed Concern), I will at the end of this update provide links to our two archives: One at Northern Illinois University, and the other at the Cushing Memorial Library at Texas A&M.

I'm knocking off for the day to do a little embroidery, and fingers crossed that the cats will let me sleep.

Everybody have a good evening. Stay safe. I'll see you tomorrow.

Links:  Northern Illinois University       Cushing Memorial Library

Saturday, sunny and still cool. Windows OPEN.

Tali is playing with a spring. Trooper has had his envelope of gravy with meds stirred in. Rookie is on the prowl and Firefly is in one of the open windows in my office.

First cup of tea is brewing, which I will drink while completing the process of waking up. Breakfast will be half a blueberry muffin. Probably. Lunch will be the postponed-from-yesterday salmon cakes, with veggies.

So, I've been thinking about the WIP -- I know, What A Surprise -- and about Diviner's Bow, which was originally going to be a Completely Nother Book, dealing with Padi's adventures during the audit of the Iverson Loop.

Only, I got to thinking about the set up there on Colemeno, and the Matter of the Deaf -- not necessarily of the Haosa, though there was some of that. I mean, a society where two-thirds of the population are, by definition, non-people really isn't tenable. And while the Deaf on Colemeno have only just recently fought themselves to a seat at the table, where their voice could be heard, the Haosa don't even have that.

It never came up, but I'm guessing that, if the Deaf are allowed to, say, testify in court, their "disability" would prevent them from giving a Whole and True Account, and thus not be compelling evidence. And the Haosa! The Haosa might as well be norbears for all the rights they hold under Civilization.

Which comparison would, I expect, amuse the Haosa greatly.

So, that's how Diviner's Bow became a book about -- as so many of our books are stories are about -- What Does It Mean To Be Human, with a side of We're All Better When We Help Each Other, instead of Padi's Grand Adventures on the Loop.

In my naivety -- writers are -- no, I can't say that. There are writers out there who are Positive, Firm, and Stern; they take No Nonsense from their characters, and they are Realists about the business of their craft. That's admirable, and I'm in awe.

So I should say that, yes, I'm a wanderer, naive and gormless; quite often amazed, and delighted, with the process of writing and the shines that the characters get up to.

Thus! In my naivety, I initially thought that this book I'm working on now, nameless as it remains, would take up the Iverson Loop, only -- Shan was going to Tinsori Light (so far as he knows), and he had arranged for people to meet him there to assist in bringing systems and protocols into the present, and there's still the on-going business of never mind cleaning, but scouring the old core, and getting those repair bays gone, oh! gone and -- here we are at Catalinc Station.

And, I should say, I'm having a tolerably good time there, though the characters have informed me that, while my concerns are worthy, and they will certainly see those items I mention taken care of in good time, there are Other Matters that More Nearly Concern Them, which they'll be taking care of, front and center, and wouldn't I be better for a nice cup of tea over there in the corner and out of their way?

Readers have for the last -- oh, three? four? -- books been reporting that the title they've just finished reading is The Last Liaden Book. In fact, there are three (3!) more (more!) Liaden books under contract -- the one I'm working on right now, and two others. I'm not going to tell you what the other two are about, because, as I've just demonstrated, I'll probably be wrong. It is, as I've also said before, my Goal to give readers a soft landing, and the characters each a solid and sustainable base from which to go forward and grow, on their own, if need be. It's not like they really need authorial guidance.

Well.

Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.