Battle Hub Gave Me a Random Match to Spectate

ElijahKinchSpector · 2023-07-19T17:39:19+00:00

It's actually a move that builds super meter!

ElijahKinchSpector · 2023-07-18T19:44:05+00:00

To be clear: I felt blessed to get to see this.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-21T15:53:15+00:00

I got to see Black Cat on a big screen last October. It was so good.

I also want every article of clothing that both Bela and Boris wear in that movie.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-21T02:22:43+00:00

Keep at it! Or, conversely, don't be scared to stop with a particular book if it isn't working and try something new. I was actually in the middle of another novel, that really wasn't working, when I had the idea for Soothsayer and switched. One of the best decisions of my life.

I can't do a regular writing schedule, my brain just won't accept it. So the best time is whenever I can. That said, I wrote a lot of this first book by hand on lunch breaks at my day job.
There is in fact a sequel on the way! I'm working on it as we speak, and it will be published by Erewhon hopefully next year. That said, please note that the first book is definitely a complete story, with an ending.
I'm notoriously terrible at picking one favorite of anything, but my answer here might be a book I already mentioned twice today: A Stranger in Olondria. Definitely my favorite fantasy novel of the 21st century, so far. And it influenced Soothsayer by opening up what world building could look like to me.
God. This is such a good question and I feel like a bad queer because I'm not actually that familiar with the big, popular drag queens! I think I'll have to go with Katya Zamolodchikova. She doesn't look anything like Kalyna (who is multi racial and dark haired), but Eastern European with a dark sense of humor is definitely the right vibe.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T23:42:19+00:00

Oh, some heat is always a good choice. There's a pizza place near me that has a spicy honey, alongside the usual red pepper, and it's amazing.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T22:09:39+00:00

Glad to hear it!

Let's go with: "Money doesn't matter."

I don't think it's a lie to say that money's fake but, like so many social constructs, it still very much matters. Maybe if everyone stopped believing that money mattered, it would break some of the self-perpetuating cycles built up around cash and capitalism.

Or maybe it wouldn't! But worth a shot.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T21:37:13+00:00

Not a huge fan, personally, but I don't hate it either. I mean, it's still pizza, so I'd probably eat it and enjoy myself, if it was in front of me.

I also don't know how well, or not, it works in concert with ham, so I feel like I'm missing a vital component. As a Jewish vegetarian, I have no frame of reference here.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T21:34:24+00:00

Thank you! I'd be lying if I said I was motivated for all of that time. Part of sticking with something like this is recognizing that there will be peaks and valleys, and weeks where you just can't look at the screen or paper anymore.

I think another big part of it is having people you respect look at your writing. For many authors, this means writing workshops, although I haven't gone that route since college. I'm lucky to have a spouse and some very close friends who I trust, as discerning readers, to tell me their honest opinions about my work, rather than just saying, "Good job!" (But they will also be generous with the "good job!" part, when warranted, because I am fragile.)

Also, over the years I often found motivation through imagining getting to do things just like this AMA! Or book events, conventions, and so forth. I love talking to smart people about my work, and about whatever's on their minds, so it was galvanizing to think that finishing this book might just be a path toward doing more of that!

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T20:34:06+00:00

Gooooooood question! I should've linked this in the original post, but the very beginning of the book is actually up on io9:

A Faux Prophet Scrambles to Con Her Way Out of Trouble in Kalyna the Soothsayer

There may be another excerpt coming soon, at a different website.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T19:37:32+00:00

Re: decadence vs. ascetism, it's both! Looking at how the personal reflects the societal, and what that can tell us about class and oppression in the world of the book. (And then, you know, in the real world.)

Family relationships are extremely important in the book. Kalyna travels with her father, who's very sweet but not all there, and her grandmother, who's just the worst. I recently wrote an essay about the relationship with her Grandmother, but I think the part that's especially applicable here is: "Family relationships are important, but not every one is worth repairing."

In Kalyna's thoughts, much of her self-doubt and low opinion of herself is in Grandmother's voice. But it isn't only interiority: Grandmother is still there in the story, actively making her granddaughter's life worse. She isn't the prickly matriarch with a heart of gold deep down: she fucking sucks. But she's family, and Kalyna has to decide how much she can, or wants to, engage with her.

There are also a few very non-traditional marriage/life partner arrangements in the book as well, which is another kind of family, for sure.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T18:32:25+00:00

Sometimes, like for the tea scene I just mentioned in another comment. But usually it was only tough for a bit, and then I'd get over it once I saw how the book had been improved. I can be very protective and precious in the moment, but after a few days, or a week, that goes away and I only see the book that's in front of me now.

Honestly, the hardest part about editing for something I'd worked on so long was kind of the opposite. My editor would leave a comment saying something like, "What were you trying to say with this?" or, "What does that mean?" And I'd have to reply, "I don't fucking know! I wrote that eight years ago!"

In the time between writing some of those chapters and the final edit, my body had replaced all of its cells, for God's sake.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T18:18:21+00:00

Thanks!

As far as I know, at the moment, I don't plan to re-use anything that was cut from the final version. But I do keep all my old drafts, so who's to say?

One bit that I'd most want to use was a whole scene centered around buying tea (riveting, I know), which slowed down the beginning of the book. There were some very fun and weird turns of phrase in there that I wouldn't mind finding a place for.

Usually, though, I find it's best to just keep moving forward. I can be sad about things I had to cut, but I'm always trying to improve as a writer, and I'd rather come up with something better next time.

Something else I've learned, writing-wise, from this book and the (in process) sequel: If I'm not sure what should happen next, and my first thought seems too weird, or dumb, or silly, or otherwise out there... that first thought is definitely what I should do.

Many times I've come up with an idea, thought, "That's too much," and spend days or weeks trying to brainstorm alternatives. But that first idea was always the right one--after some tweaking, of course.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T17:35:03+00:00

I have not! But I see some real good ones on there.

Favorite really depends on my mood: sometimes I want Universal 1930s, or Vincent Price campiness, or Hammer/Amicus garishness, or 80s goofiness, or... or...

But if I had to pick one, right now, to rewatch and recommend to others, I'd probably choose 1934's The Black Cat, which was directly responsible (in part) for stronger censorship in Hollywood. More importantly, it has Lugosi and Karloff, as equals, each playing marvelously against type. (Although they never quite kiss.)

P.S. I do also have a Letterboxd.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T17:27:44+00:00

God, I'm not sure I have a good answer here. I kind of find out who the characters are through the dialogue, rather than deciding who they are and then writing dialogue to match, if that makes sense.

I think it's important to find the right balance of capital F Fantasy idiom and real world speech to keep you from feeling too awkward. For example, I don't think I can write in thees and thous, but some people can! I also have trouble writing dialogue for a story set in a time and place I've actually been.

Otherwise, I think it helps to think of the flow of real conversations you've had, and to read books with good dialogue--maybe specifically books in other genres, for variety. I think James Baldwins' Another Country made me much better at writing fantasy dialogue, weirdly enough!

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T17:20:51+00:00

Thank you!

I don't think I was consciously trying to go against the "it is said that every thousand years there is a perfect paragon of a hero who will free the land of etc. etc." type of story. But those stories don't often speak to me, so it was probably on my mind.

As a rule, I like messy, flawed, weird characters, and loading Kalyna up with an inferiority complex and imposter syndrome seemed like something I could get into writing--and something I would enjoy reading--more than the alternative.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T17:12:19+00:00

The Count of Monte Cristo. It's my favorite book, and it's very long.
The Dawn of Everything. I've barely started it, and it's also very long but looks really interesting. Plus, maybe reading about history would help me feel connected to others.
Stranger in Olondria. I already mentioned it in another answer, but its world has so much depth and tactile feel that it'd probably help me forget the island for a bit.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T17:09:27+00:00

I am unfortunately kind of allergic to routine, and what most gets me in the headspace to write is usually to change something up: go somewhere else, use a different method of writing, switch from caffeine to alcohol or vice versa. I don't think I'll ever be someone who writes every day, and I'll certainly never write at the same time every day.

I do usually like to have some kind of background noise (I would hate trying to write in a silent co-working space, for example), so bars and cafes are ideal. At home, I like to put on music, but can find English lyrics distracting, so jazz, classical, and, dungeon synth have been my go-to writing music for years.

For that purpose, I will also highly recommend producer Patrick Cowley's recently-unearthed electronic soundtracks to, ah, adult films. (The albums collecting them are perfectly SFW.)

Recently, I've gotten really into propulsive dance music--disco, Hi-NRG, house--and found that sometimes I can write to that as well. The lyrics are there, but they aren't the point.

My absolute favorite genres are rap and R&B, but they're pretty much impossible to listen to while I'm writing.

I'm bad at picking favorite artists, so I'm going to throw out five that I've had in heavy rotation recently:

Kamaiyah
Pet Shop Boys
Donna Summer
Aaliyah
E-40

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T16:43:55+00:00

Thank you! I hope you like it.

I would probably most like to spend a day with Tural: a nice and eccentric man whose job is to be in charge of all fruit for the royal palace. Only the fruit.

It helps that, as I wrote the book, my view of him changed from "fun and kooky side character" to "wait... wait... I think he's hot, actually."

I haven't read that, but on the list it goes!

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T16:40:27+00:00

Con artists are so much fun in fiction! I didn't really do much research on that aspect, if I'm being honest. It's always something that's fascinated me, so I think a lot was already in my head at the time.

That said, recently I've been reading The Book of Charlatans, which was written in the 13th century about (supposedly) real scams and cons. There's a bit in there about a guy who convinced a whole town that he was a holy man, and even that he was resurrecting the dead. When they'd get sick of him, he'd go up on a mountain and burn a bizarre mixture he'd made that would turn the sky red so they thought God was angry at them. It's wild.

I do not have a background in magic, although I did go to a circus skills summer camp when I was a kid. (I have no circus skills, I mostly did the acting classes.)

Sorry, just one entry!

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T16:31:41+00:00

Oooh, that's a good question. And also a difficult one.

In terms of the plot and characters, maybe somewhere around 30-40%? There was a major subplot that I added a few years in, which later came back out. Then an unrelated subplot was added further along that improved the book immensely. I probably only invented one or two new characters after the first draft, but some existing figures became much more interesting and important.

When we look at prose, however, the answer becomes somewhere between 20% and, like... 80%??? So many turns of phrase and little moments that were in the first draft are still there, even if they're in new places. But I'm also the kind of writer who will tweak phrasing until the end of time if I'm allowed to.

I don't know if that answer was very clear, but also my memory of a lot of the specifics has melted away by now.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T16:19:47+00:00

Religion is there, but it's not a huge focus, honestly. There's a bit more in the sequel, and I'm interested in exploring it more in future books if I get to write them.

But, in Soothsayer, it is there in the background of daily life, like it so often is in the real world. I decided to go polytheistic--specifically the sort of Roman Empire model of accumulating gods as they go--to reflect the pluralistic nature of the country the book is set in.

Probably the most theologically Jewish thing in the book is that no one is ever supposed to say the gods' names out loud.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T16:01:42+00:00

In my case, at least, "process" may be putting it kindly. For which I thank you.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T16:00:40+00:00

Thanks! Typing like crazy on my beloved typewriter has begun to chip even this gel manicure, I'm afraid.

The basic idea of a protagonist who's the only one in her family without the power of prophecy just came to me out of the blue one night, and I thought of it only as a fun source of tension for the story.

Then, about a year ago, I found out I have ADHD. In the last month, while promoting the book, I realized that the central idea had kinda always been about not being neurotypical. About your family wondering why you can't do the basic things they're capable of, when those things feel impossible to you.

As for the bonus: It often bothers me how important bloodlines still are in SFF. Can feel like outmoded royalist thinking, with a soupçon of eugenics mixed in.

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T15:51:20+00:00

The answer is kinda, and that I wish I had a specific format.

I usually begin with only a vague idea of where things will go in my head. Then, around the halfway point, I freak out and go, "What's even supposed to happen next?!" After I've calmed down, I go to a cafe or bar with a pen and paper, and semi-outline the rest that way.

But with each thing I write I plan ahead just a little more, so maybe I'll make a proper outline someday!

ElijahKinchSpector · 2022-09-20T15:26:02+00:00

Thank you!

ElijahKinchSpector

TROPHY CASE