The current to read pile

Here's what's next on my to read list. It never ends. So many books to read, and only so much time. Ahh immortality would not be wasted on me oh no, there are so many more stories out there...

There's no common theme to this assortment of books, and that's how I like it.

What are you reading right now or looking forward to reading?

The Naga

Naga Female by Carolina-Eade

The naga is the name for a group of serpentine creatures associated with bodies of water and the king cobra. The naga is sometimes treated as a minor-deity, and representations of the naga can be found guarding temples throughout Asia. The naga may change between human and serpent form at will. Its legends have roots in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

In Hindu mythology, the naga are creatures that guard rivers and springs, and can influence the weather. Therefore, the naga are also associated with fertility (rain),  floods, and droughts. They are said to guard treasures, and are the also the enemy of the Garuda. They are protectors of the environment, and will punish those that abuse it.

In Buddhist mythology, the naga is also said to guard bodies of water, and is sometimes equated with the Chinese dragon. In one story, a naga protected the Lord Buddah from a storm. Wise nagas also consulted with the Lord Buddah about how to be reborn as humans, and follow the path to enlightenment.

Traditional representations of the naga vary from country to country:

Nagas by Mindy McAdams CC (Cambodia - A hooded serpent with 7 or 9 heads, always an uneven number)

Naga by Andrea Kirkby CC (India - A coiled woman bearing a lotus flower)

Naga Ho! by Kandyjaxx CC (Thailand - colorful naga lining the steps to a temple)

Further Reading:

• Dragons as Water Sprits
• Nagas of India ~ Including a legend of a naga princess
• The Naga in Fables and Fairytales 

Region of origin: Asia

Obviously, this was a very pared down summary. I am sure there are legends local to each country and region. The first painting is also obviously a modern, stylized interpretation of the naga. I'm actually a fan  of the Indian version. I'm not sure walking around in the dark and stumbling across a giant seven headed cobra statue would be very reassuring, guardian or not.

Here are a few of my pet peeves:

1. The evil twin or doppelganger. All evil things the twin does gets blamed on the protagonist, and no one believes the protagonist is innocent.

Surely there are more interesting catalysts for the protagonist's misfortune? It sometimes feels like author intervention to me, almost lazy. Maybe I just don't buy it. How many people have identical twins out there, really?

2. The unluckiest bastard on the planet. Every bad thing that is humanly possible happens: he is diagnosed with cancer, his wife leaves, he loses his job, he gets mugged, and at the very end his faithful dog companion gets run over - and its not the protagonist's fault!

It's hard to keep from getting desensitized when you start off with something horrible right off the bat. Nothing else afterwards feels like it has impact. I'm all for making your protagonist suffer, but there's a limit. I suppose I prefer and moments of tension relief and not constantly fearing... dear God, what's next... because you know it will be depressing. And if it's not his fault? Wow, what an unlucky bastard. I end up feeling sorry for the protagonist, not compelled by his misfortune.  Neither can I root for him if I know that the fates are going to render his efforts useless.

3. The only reason things go badly is because of a misunderstanding. People withhold information to protect the protagonist.

You see this all the time in romantic comedies, but it makes me want to scream. I suppose if I'm shouting at the story, it means the trope has served its purpose as a successful tension device, but it still feels manipulative! Especially when one bit of knowledge is the only thing preventing the protagonist from succeeding and the story could have ended 100 pages earlier if the protagonist had known.

As a reader, or writer, are there any tropes that annoy you?

Here's one last intermission post before I get back into the regular swing of things! I've been scarce, on Twitter or otherwise these days, but I haven't abandoned you all *blows kisses*. I've just been busy with the demands of the day job.

SO um... in lieu of writing here are a few attempts at Instagraming my life

Found some yellow iris during a weekend walk

The clematis that almost died last year, LIVES!

I had a craving for pretzels but they don't taste as good as they look

And I'm trying to regrow some green onions. So far they're NOT DEAD. (This is an achievement)

[end distraction]

This story, this WIP. I don't know about you, but no matter how much I've planned ahead of time, I only figure out what a story is really about by writing it. It always changes, takes unexpected directions. Sometimes I think that there are only things I can discover in the midst of the process, outline or not.

But every writer is different. And that's normal. And that's okay.

I had some other writing topics planned, but you know what, no.

Guilt serves no one. Comparing yourself with another writer only paves the way for resentment. However which way you write, is how you write. Slow or fast. It's normal. And it's fine. It's enough. Honour your process, whatever it may be, friends.

In the meantime, I share with you some stress baking...

Misshapen, mini bread loaves, and mutant green tea cookies...

That's all for now. *ninja poofs into thin air*

The Clurichaun / Clobhair / His Nibs

Clurichaun by ~swampy

The clurichaun is the Irish leprechaun's perpetually drunken cousin. At night they ride dogs and sheep, and generally cause trouble when not hidden away drinking in a wine cellar. The clurichaun is usually depicted wearing red, instead of green like the leprechaun, and always male.

Surly, solitary little creatures, a clurichuan will choose a home and appoint himself guardian of the wine cellar (or liquor cabinet). If you treat a one well, he will happily guard your liquor and home at all costs. To appease a clurichuan,  keep your liquor cabinet well stocked and thank him for his services otherwise he may cause mischief in the home, like spoiling the wine or spilling it in a tantrum.

Further reading:

• When Good Faeries Go Bad - Some bits of folk stories as well as general info and references.
• The Clurichaun - More info and references

Related creatures: leprechaun, faerie

Region of origin: Ireland

Would you want one of these little fellows in your home? I'm undecided.

Shh by Caitlin Burke (CC)

When I say quiet, I don't mean the absence of sound, but the space to hear your thoughts, the stillness of the mind. I'm finding how important it is to cultivate that quiet.

I hit a wall in my writing last week. I was extremely busy. I still managed to carve out my regular writing time, but I couldn't get any words on the page. My joyful writing time slowly turned to painful writing time. Every word took its toll. It felt as if every moment my brain was filled up solving problems that had nothing to do with writing. There was no space for story.

And it was my fault.

I'd fallen into the old habit of making work for the sake of being busy. There's a certain thrill to checking things off a list, and feeling like a task is 'complete'. It feels like control. Novel's take so long that there's so little of that instant gratification.

And so, I had to tell myself NO. I would stop giving myself such a rigid daily task list, and leave some nights free. I would cut back on the internet, email, and TV - all noise.

I sat there for a while bewildered in the silence. I'm not good at being still, which is a bad habit. Even if I'm watching TV, my hands get twitchy. I need to be making something or doing something like folding laundry. I didn't know what to do. I felt guilty for sitting there, even though I was dead tired. But the next day, in the silence, I picked up a notebook and a pen and started throwing down words (not even sentences). Jotting down notes, and what if's, and then it started to snowball.

There was the story after all! I had a story! I was just too busy, and it was too noisy, to hear it.

This article also got me thinking:You can be busy or remarkable, but not both. I really do believe that at least for me, the silence is important. I need to cultivate it in order to be a happier person, and a better writer.

Sometimes the answer is as simple as silence.

If there's one place you visit while you're there its Powell's books. I swear I dreamed of that bookstore before I ever went there. I had to ask El to get me out before I had a heart attack and passed out on the floor out of sheer amazement (This is after going completely nuts and grabbing a stack of books to buy). The photos don't do it justice. I didn't even see the entire place! Book city. A block full of books. New and old, all shelved together so you can get almost everything by every author. I could have spent days there without leaving. Bliss.

Random vintage stores of which there are a plethora.

And the crazy long lineup for Voodoo Donuts. We gave up. I don't love donuts enough to wait, but other people were more than willing.

I wouldn't recommend this as a health plan.

Pubs's tucked away in odd industrial corners.

It was a good but busy weekend. Not really too much of a holiday, but it was great to get away for just a short while. And thus ends this week's non-writerly update.

And I'm at the start of something new too. I'm about 18k-words into the first draft of a new YA novel. The words are flying out of my fingers at record speed, but I'm still worried. Every novel kills a few worries, but the dead are replaced by new one's. Cut off one head, and two spring back in their place. And that is the battle that's what makes writing so difficult - not the words, but the battle of wills.

So here I throw my writing demons to the world, so that they may wither in the light of the brightening sun.

I worry...

That this is the most uninspired story in the history of stories. Utterly derivative. Nothing new.

That I will end up with a mess on my hands, a story that makes no sense and requires an ungodly amount of rewriting, or that after months of work, it will end up so broken that it's not worth fixing.

That the characters are too similar to ones I've written about in the past.

That I will succeed with this story and be branded as a YA author, when groups of teens terrify me to this day.

That I don't have the voice for adult fiction, which is what I prefer to write.

That no one wants to read what I like to write about.

That in twenty years I'll still be here, working, without any measurable success.

That I've hit a ceiling and I can't improve beyond this point. That I'm incapable of learning more.

That I don't have enough time to do everything that I want to do in this life. And that some of it won't happen because it's not something I can control.

And perhaps I should write my worries on a piece of paper, and set that alight, scatter the ashes to the wind. All I can do is write to the best of my ability and try to keep learning.

What are some of your writing demons? How do you slay them?

Red Pen by Jenny Kaczorowski (CC)

I've written up some basic tips for a better beta reading experience. Here's an excerpt:

It can be nerve wracking to get feedback on something you’ve spent weeks, or years, working on, but getting feedback on your writing can be invaluable. Here are some tips to help make the process easier:

1. Pick the right people for the story. Only ask people whose opinions you respect and who read the genre or subject matter that you’ve written about.

2. Have at least one cheerleader. Their job is to point out all the good things about the story. You’ve worked hard, created something new, and it’s good to celebrate that!

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Dance by Dino Ahmad Ali (CC)

Here's an excerpt:

Music and I have a funny relationship when it comes to writing.

I didn’t think that the two were acquainted until I stopped listening to music completely (but that is a different story). The well of words slowly dried up, and finding them became a chore. Sitting at the desk left me restless.

Writing is such a bodiless occupation. It transports your mind elsewhere, consumes everything, and it’s easy to neglect the body in the process. I realized I use music to reconnect...

Click to read the full post here.

Do you listen to music when you write?

If you've gotten any strange emails from Ink Stained, it's because I'm migrating from Feedburner to the built in WordPress subscription options.

Development on Feedburner has been discontinued. There is some debate about whether or not its really going to disappear, but it might. In the meantime, I'd hate to lose you :)

To keep subscribing, please update your feed reader to: http://www.tsbazelli.com/blog/feed/

Or  click the RSS icon in the sidebar to re-subscribe then delete the old feed.

Thank you!
-Theresa

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[end boring blog admin stuff]

The Nian

Lion Dance by TheCharmingRascal (CC)

The nian is a ferocious monster that lived in the sea. Once a year, the nian would come out of the sea to devour people and livestock. It is described as having a long head with a single horn on top of it. Alternately it's described as having the body of a bull, the head of a lion, and the horn of a unicorn. The latter description is what is used in the costumes in the traditional lion dance.

The lion dance reenacts the legend of the nian, and the villagers attempt to scare it off with firecrackers, making noises, buring their lamps all night and hanging red banners. The startled nian runs off to the sea, never to be seen again.

Every new year firecrackers are lit, drums are beaten, red is worn and lamps are hung. These are all part of the traditional new years celebrations in various parts of Asia. The new years celebrations were formerly known as Guo Nian (the passing of Nian).

Further reading:

• Legend of 'Nian' - The spring festival legend and customs
• History of Chinese New Year - Origins of customs and practices
• Lion Dance Competition (2013) - Youtube video from Malyasia

Related creatures: Kirin

Region of origin: Asia, China

This monster is a lot cuddlier than last time right? If it can be scared off by firecrackers, it doesn't seem all that ferocious to me.

I'd like to make an effort here. Maybe it's a visibility issue and I don't follow the right channels. I'd like to discover that there are more writers of Asian heritage that are published in English speaking markets than I believe. I put out a call on Twitter and here's the initial list that came back, but I'd like your help too!

Fantasy Novels 

• THE GASLIGHT DOGS by Karin Lowachee - Canada
• SALT FISH GIRL by Larissa Lai - Canada
• THE BOOKS OF THE SUNDERED (series) by Michelle Sagara / Michelle West - Canada
• LEGENDS OF THE RED SUN (series) by Mark Charan Newton - UK
• DIRK AND STEELE (series) by Marjorie M. Liu - USA
• PSI CHANGLING (series) by Nalini Singh - New Zealand
• NORSE CODE by Greg Van Eekhout - USA
• OBSIDIAN AND BLOOD (series) by Aliette de Bodard - France
• GAMEWORLD (series) by Samit Basu - India
• RAMAYAMA (series) by Ashok Banker - India
• SHIVA TRIOLGY by Amish Tripathi - India

Science Fiction Novels

• THE LIVES OF TAO by Wesley Chu - USA
• HOW TO LIVE SAFELY IN A SCIENCE FICTIONAL UNIVERSE by Charles Yu - USA

SF/F Novellas

• ALL THE FLAVORS: A Tale of Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War, in America  by Ken Liu - USA

For YA and MG check out a list via Malinda Lo and diversity reading list via Elen Oh.

I'd like your suggestions, but please hold off on self-published books for now (that may be another list). And thank you!

Awesome Stew by Timothy Tsui (CC)

The start of a new novel always seems strange to me,  a little like magic. I don't even know how to track this sort of work, but it's work, and necessary.  To the outside world, it probably looks like I'm just sitting on my couch sewing all day, or just staring out the window, but it's still work, I tell you. My unconscious is raving on at full speed, working through a few ideas to see what becomes of them.

Some ideas are sticking, fully flavored notes in this brew, but others have been cannibalized or discarded.  Maybe those ideas are still there, but are just too subtle to pick out. I don't know. I'm not even sure that this idea is novel sized, but I have a good hunch it is.

I'm not sure if I need to do more prep work, but at some point I'll just have to make that leap of faith, and see if this idea can sustain me for 100k-words. With a little luck, the ideas will start to gel and snowball, but for now, I still don't know what it's going to turn into. Is it going to be tasty? Have I added enough bones?

This time I'm trying something different as well. I may not have a fully fleshed story, but I already have a query written up. I've thought of the hook before the plot. It may help me focus a little better. I wonder if that will make this process any easier, or just... different.

In other news, I've shoved three short stories out the door, and it feels good to be on the submission rounds again :)

Where are you at with your writing these days?

The Wendigo / Windigo

Wendigo by CapnSwag

The windigo is a cannibalistic supernatural creature with a desiccated body resembling a corpse that lacks lips and eyes. The windigo's hunger can never be satiated, and it's forever starving, looking for the next meal as soon as it has consumed the last. Sometimes the winidigo is described as a giant, that grows every time it eats a meal.

Humans are purported to turn into windigo's if they participate in cannibalism. The Algonquian peoples believe it is better to commit suicide during famine, than eat the flesh of another human.The windigo myth may have serve to reinforce the taboo against cannibalism.

Further reading:

• Windigo - An Ojibwa folktale from the Canadian Northwest Territories
• The Wendigo - Various descriptions of the wendigo.
• The Wendigo of the North Woods - Bibliography has links to more information.

Related creatures: werewolf, bigfoot

Region of origin: North America, Algonquian tribes

I seem to be finding more malevolent creatures than benevolent ones as I do this series. Hopefully next time I'll have something a little more cute and fuzzy for you. I could sure use a dose of it!

Three is a magic number by Alan Levine (CC)

It hasn't been exactly three years to date, since I started this blog, but it's close enough :)

In three years I've seen some writer's vanish from the internet. I've seen some writers give up writing entirely. I've started seeing a couple of the people I've met, or followed online, start to get agents and book deals. I've seen some writers shift their focus from fiction to non-fiction. I've seen some writers quietly chug along all the while. Some friends have had babies. I've seen reviewers come and go, and self-publishing start to become a viable option. None of it is bad. Just different paths for different folks.

And, maybe mostly for my own benefit, here are three things I've learned so far:

1. Writing is not an occupation for the impatient. There's always something to wait for, whether it's a short story response, or an agent reply. If you sell a story there are still multiple passes that happen afterwards: editorial passes, galleys, and more waiting. It's often difficult to know when you'll be paid. Writing a novel is not instant gratification, either. It can take months, or years, and sometimes the process is a slog. Sometimes it feels like the end is always too far out of reach. So I've had to practice patience. Meditation. Yoga. There's no rush.

2. Finding a mentor and a good group of writing friends are both invaluable. A mentor should be someone with more experience than you, who can point out your flaws.  This goes beyond the call of a beta reader. Be choosy though, because listening to the wrong voices can be devastating (been there, done that). A group of writing friends who are at the same stage in their writing journey, who have the same goals, and whose feedback you trust, are also gold. It's difficult going through this alone. One thing I've noticed, reading the acknowledgements in novels, is that cohorts of writers tend to succeed. I think we help each other to succeed.

3. The joy of writing is the thing. Focusing on that keeps me sane. There aren't always many rewards, at least not for a long time after starting out. It's easy to get distracted by all the chatter about the publishing industry, and what everyone else is doing. I want to look forward to my writing time, every day, to the story and the characters. Getting lost in a story, in the writing, is what makes all this worth it.

I guess this is a counterpoint to the bad advice I wrote about last time. What's the most important thing you've learned as a writer?

In the meantime I shall leave you with some non-flu induced pretties. A bit of summer in the Rockies.

Emerald Lake. Postcard perfect.

That's me, canoeing! The water is this unreal shade of blue.

Some place it would be unwise to canoe.

Via Austin Kleon

I've noticed a bunch of bad writing advice lately, or perhaps by 'bad' I really mean that I disagree with it. Whenever someone says "There is only one way of doing things" I usually take out my bullshit-o-meter. If there was one right way, then following the rules would automatically make a perfect something (It would also mean that all books would turn out the same). That is not the case. Also, where's the fun in that?

So here are a few pieces of advice I'd like to debunk:

It's useless to ask a writer about their process.

Sometimes, when you're starting out, you don't have a process yet. You still need to figure it out, and that takes some trial and error. Sometimes, trying bits and pieces of other people's methods is the only way to figure out your own.

Personally, I like hearing about how other people work. It gives options I might not have considered (like a treadmill desk?!), ideas for how to be more efficient with my time, or how to tackle a specific problem I've been having.

But, there is a nugget of truth here: in the end, no one's process is the same. However, some parts might be close enough. We don't have to learn everything from scratch, or rebuild the wheel.

"Take that recipe, put a your own spin on it, and then its yours." Thank you, Food Network.

Your first novel will be trash. You need to trunk a few novels before being able to write anything publishable.

This one is absolutely false. There are plenty of examples of writers successful with their first manuscripts (Rothfuss, Rowling, Gabaldon).

This bit of advice doesn't take into account some very important factors: non-novel writing experience (Gabaldon wrote articles for computer magazines, and founded/edited the Science Software Quarterly journal), how much time was spent revising/editing or working on the manuscript (Rothfuss took 7 years to write The Name of the Wind), or how long a writer has been working on story-craft (Stephen King started with short stories).

So yes, it is possible to write an excellent first novel. However, the writers that pull this off may have spent countless hours writing non-fiction, or doing writing related work that you might never see or know about. All writing, not just novel writing, counts towards those proverbial million words of crap. But the truth here? There are no shortcuts to putting in the time (unless you are a genius, or really really lucky).

You can't teach writing.

If you can learn something, it can be taught. The thing is, people have different learning styles. A traditional classroom setting might benefit some people, but other people might require a more hands on approach (write and have your flaws pointed out), or learn best by example (reading a ton). Some people need structure, while others abhor it. Whatever the case, it's learning. The trick is finding out how you learn best. It may be a combination of those things

The truth here is, there's no formula for writing (unless you're writing technical manuals), so it is very difficult to teach. You can teach craft, sure, but writing is also an art. I think the best teachers are more like guides or mentors who can help you figure out how to achieve what you want in your writing, stylistically, thematically etc. An experienced mentor is gold.

As with all advice "Your mileage may vary." Your car is a custom ride, baby! You should know what you need better than anyone else.

Just for fun, what's the worst writing advice you've ever gotten?

P. S. I'm probably guilty of dispensing some bad advice myself.