Caldryn Parliament

News

  • Card Decks – Beyond Fortune-telling

    painting of many fortune cards featuring flowers and planets

    I had no idea that card decks had become a thing beyond fortune-telling, but Jane Friedman reported on them being a new product market in publishing.

    I have no time, and therefore, no plans, to create a card deck, but I can imagine how simple it would be to feed something like The Lord of the Rings series into an AI, set specific prompts, and have it spit out quotations for themed cards.

    A little bit of me is wistful. I’d love to have the time and energy to create fortune cards for the website and some sort of widget that randomly gifted you all a fortune cookie when you clicked Giddy’s paw.

    Yes, authors’ dreams of what they’d do if they won the lottery are a bit different to other people’s. More time to write! Yay! But also more time to do side projects. Yay!!

    Side projects like finally—finally!—getting my ebooks into paperback and maybe even hardback.

    I was fascinated to read about the success of book subscription services where they curate the box of books they send their customers. And now, that curation is going to expand to include publishing.

    The wheel goes round and reinvents itself.

    Short stories for raconteurs are another example of the old being reinvented.

    I’ve long been a proponent of the idea that if you want to learn pacing and how to tell a story, practice retelling jokes and anecdotes. I know, it’ll probably bore your cat silly listening to you recount Joe Bloggs from the watercooler’s fish-that-got-away story, but you’ll become familiar with the rhythm of a story; its high points, tension, what you can leave out (oh yeah, a large part of story telling is removing the deadweight).

    Ratika Deshpande has some suggestions at Reactor for short stories suited to retelling around a campfire. I’d never considered choosing the short stories I read for their retelling value, but I guess it’s a natural extension of relating news and gossip from social media.

    We’re all storytellers.

    In what I’ve been reading news…

    Mariana Zapata has a new book out, The Things We Water. Although she started out as a contemporary romance author, The Things We Water is a paranormal romance. What I love about her style is that she takes her time to tell a story and while she doesn’t wallow in emotion, she doesn’t shy away from it either. Her heroines are often Cinderellas. They struggle, but they are always kind.

  • It’s May!

    cubist painting of a mirror

    ::looks in mirror:: Oh, that’s the silly person who thought April would be less busy than March. So much for grand plans. I only have a small update to the website this month; the addition of Major Fallon Tran’s bio.

    In better news, I read and loved The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton. It’s a wonderful, witty, and imaginative romp. I’ve picked up the sequel, The Geographer’s Map to Romance.

    Hopefully next week I’ll have a longer post. Till then, happy reading!

  • Recommended!

    a painting of a fairy holding a golden heart

    Despite all the algorithmic nonsense that rules our online lives, the best marketing tool remains word-of-mouth recommendations.

    I’ve been thinking about this a lot because my books aren’t in bricks and mortar bookstores or libraries. Yes, I want to get paperback editions out, but that’s a 2026 goal and, even then, there’s a heap of hurdles before my paperbacks appear in-person (so to speak).

    You see, in bookstores and libraries the booksellers and librarians advocate for books. They stock them and they promote them.

    But when you’re online, your advocate is an uncaring bunch of algorithms and—vitally—real people.

    Reviews from real people (as opposed to those from Scammer-McScammer-Mucky-Faces) teach the algorithms and make them unbelievably more effective at putting an author’s books in front of the right readers. Consequently, reviews are angel feathers from heaven for authors, especially for indie authors.

    But even better than reviews are recommendations. When someone mentions my books to a new reader I swear, an angel gets their wings!

    Looking at what I’ve recommended recently—not just books—reveals something fascinating. It took a bit of digging and self-reflection, but I persisted with the question of why I recommend so few things.

    Recommendations require you to share part of yourself. A recommendation reveals what you value. If something left you happier, healthier, braver, or whatever the experience was, recommending it to someone permits them a peek into your life and soul. You’re inviting them to know you.

    For some people being known is a thrill. Chasing intimacy is a joy in their life. However, for others of us, being known is scary. The truth is, though, that being known is the only way to build genuine, enduring connections. So, take a leap occasionally and share something you value with someone you value. A recommendation is a gift.

  • The Blue Castle & Hope

    Recently I read Rachel Taylor Thompson’s Sasha vs the Whole Wide World (and Dragons) and was delighted to discover references to The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. As much as I read and re-read the Anne stories as a girl, The Blue Castle is my favourite LMM novel as an adult. It has so much in it. The challenge is to discuss it without spoilers!

    I don’t think I can. ::wails::

    Okay, so I’ll share one thought I have about The Blue Castle and current world events. I think that one of the themes in the novel that will be brought out and explored in books and movies for the next few years is the question: when someone has nothing left to lose, what do they choose?

    This isn’t a bleak question. It’s a question that acknowledges the metaphorical deaths in our lives. When we lose, or feel as if we’ve lost, something vital, it’s like dying. Who we were before that point no longer defines who we will become. The starting point for these stories might be painful, but they are celebrations of rebirth. Who do we choose to become?

    One of the greatest gifts of a novel is that it reinforces our agency. As we identify with the protagonist we explore issues and environments which could be crushing, but which we (the combined protagonist and reader) have the agency to navigate and affect.

    The Blue Castle resonates with so many of us because Valancy is a courageous protagonist who dies to her old life to embrace a world of possibilities and love. And, I promise, it has a happy ever after.

  • A Space of Our Own

    Last week I mentioned Patricia C Wrede, her fantasy novels, and their brilliant world-building. If you’re an author, let me recommend her advice on writing and world-building.

    But I also want to talk about world-building from a different perspective. In creating Caldryn Parliament and its Realm I deliberately set about building a safe space. There is danger in it, as well as heartbreak and grief. Nonetheless, it is a space removed from real life; one where I can guarantee a happy ever after.

    The intriguing aspect of a created safe space is that it becomes a place where we can play. Novels are where we safely explore and test ideas. In reading we become different people in different worlds making courageous decisions and surviving (at least in my books) to go on to new adventures.

    Underpinning this concept of a safe space is Foucault’s notion of heterotopia, of “other spaces”.

    Writing this post I took a deep breath, and then, opted for the sensible decision of providing you with a link to his thoughts on heterotopia rather than trying and failing to summarise them. This isn’t just intellectual inability or laziness on my part. The article I’m linking to gives so many jumping off points for understanding how the setting we choose for a novel frames the otherness of the story and contributes to what we explore.

    So, thank you to MIT for sharing the article. It is a pdf and will probably download automatically, so please be aware of this before clicking the link: https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/foucault1.pdf

  • Website Updates & Book Recommendations

    frog wearing a top hat

    I’ve added a trivia page to the site and I’ll update it sporadically. Some of the trivia will be relevant to future books. Other bits of trivia are just an overflow of world-building energy. Also up is the May 993 collection of snippets from Forum City News.

    Once again I’ve wildly overestimated the amount of time/energy I have in a day. Consequently, many of the things I’d hoped to add to the website haven’t happened this month. Fingers crossed that April is kinder to my plans.

    But I have managed to read some great books, including:

    Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith. I have no idea how I’ve missed reading this till now. It reminds me of Patricia C Wrede’s books; young, female protagonist in a brilliantly developed fantasy world. If that’s the kind of book you enjoy, I also recommend Andrea K Host’s Hunting.

    The Beast of Gloomenthrall by Jane Cousins – a romantasy with a lot of action and some violence.

    Spark the Flames by Ivy Asher – an even hotter romantasy!

    Grave Situation by Louisa Masters – gay romantasy with the crankiest, sweetest teacher/mage/reluctant hero protagonist.

    Return of the Runebound Professor series by Actus – progression fantasy (and another teacher hero)

    I also bought digital copies of a couple of my favourite books: House of Many Shadows by Barbara Michaels (also wrote as Elizabeth Peters – and if you haven’t discovered her Amelia Peabody books you’re missing out) and Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones.

    What have you been reading?

  • New Subgenres

    a cat flying a biplane watched by a cat on the ground

    Continuing my musing on what we can discover if we follow trends in the publishing industry, there’s currently a bit of chatter about the decline in the number of historical romance novels being acquired by traditional publishing. Apparently, historical romance authors are having to add other elements; that is, a bit of mystery, some paranormal shenanigans, even fantasy.

    Genre blurring has existed for ages in historical fiction.

    Look at steampunk, which never took off the way I thought it would. I don’t understand it. Re-imagining history is fascinating!

    But maybe steampunk added too much. Maybe the key to weaving history into a novel isn’t to ornament it with new things, but to hack away at it till a new vision emerges.

    Could the next big thing in historical fiction be important events told through an animal’s eyes? There is a lot of potential there. Say a cat intent on its feline activities but interrupted by its owner’s attempt to ::insert famous event, whatever it might be::

    Speaking of books from history…

    Janet Neel’s mystery novels are now available in ebook (she was also a British lawyer and a Peer in the House of Lords). They’re from the 1980s and 1990s, and so, they’ve become historical or vintage or retro or whatever you want to call the PAST THAT I REMEMBER! …ahem. Her books are beautifully written as well as well-plotted. I like some more than others. If you’re curious, you can dip into The Complete Wilson & McLeish Set.

    Similar blasts from the recent-ish past now available in ebook include mystery novels by Charlotte MacLeod and Marian Babson.

  • Heroic Revelations

    a wizard rescuing a kitten from a tree using magic

    If you study the publishing industry you can identify fascinating trends that reflect wider societal concerns. Romance novelists are important to watch. They’re astute analysts and forecasters of trends. Their heroes are an expression and response to readers’ hopes and fears.

    Alien heroes stand outside (human) society, unconstrained by our social norms.

    Paranormal heroes (werewolves, wizards, vampires) are a less extreme version of aliens. The paranormals challenge society and its systems (legal, political, and social).

    Farmers, cowboys, and doctors sustain and heal society. Theirs is a life of sacrifice, routine, and endurance.

    Mafia (anti) heroes navigate the corruption in the system. They aren’t outside society, but they play by different rules.

    Police and military heroes defend society.

    Hockey players and other sportstars and celebrity heroes express escaping ordinary life while staying true to it.

    I suspect there’ll be a new type of savior hero soon, one who redeems society by enforcing a moral code. I’m really curious what form this hero will take. Religious monk? Cult leader? Political activist? What’s your guess?

  • Writing Heroes. The New Moral Virtue of Clear-Sighted Self-Interest

    A drawing of an ordinary woman, dressed to shop in a mall, wandering screaming through a garden of oversized plants

    You’ve probably heard of a Mary Sue character (or the lesser known male version, Gary Stu). It’s the character who is perfect. They know everything, can do everything, and command everyone’s love and respect (in their fictional world). Anyone who challenges them is, obviously, a villain of the worst kind.

    They can be relaxing to read, especially when the author also offers them a plot that miraculously solves their problems.

    For example, confronted by a woman-eating carnivorous plant, Mary Sue has just the thing. Out of her purse she whips a spray bottle of non-toxic (to everything but this specific carnivorous plant), instantly effective weedkiller and directs a jet of it to the heart of the plant. Said plant shrivels into a repentant mess, its flowers bowing to the earth to worship Mary Sue, before it rots away into a rose-scented fertiliser which will grow the nicest strawberries next summer.

    What I’ve noticed recently about these obnoxiously good characters is that they’re morphing into heroes of a different type. They’re not perfect any longer, other than perfectly self-interested. As long as they pursue a path of pure self-interest, the plot bends to their brilliance.

    Litrpg contains some good examples. I’m assuming it’s because when you play a video game (the basis for this subgenre of science fiction and fantasy) you play to win. Therefore, self-interest is the guiding light.

    Somewhere along the way that guiding light has turned into the defining feature of this type of hero. Whatever the hero does is right and proper and, most of all, successful because it is done out of self-interest.

    However, if a different character acts in their own self-interest they are punished severely. Selfishness is a sin when directed against the hero, but a virtue when wielded by the hero.

    It’s a strange twist in storytelling. It used to be that you could craft a villain by giving them a single-minded obsession that they sacrificed everyone and everything, too. Now, that passionate conviction renders them the hero.

    Truly, we are writing in interesting times.

  • A Busy Week

    The cover of Stars Die (featuring a cubist painting of a parliament with a black silhouette of a woman in a trenchcoat in front of it) against a background of a luxury apartment overlooking a futuristic city

    Thanks for popping in for a visit. It feels a lot like you’ve dropped in for a cup of tea, and I’ve left you to wander in the garden while I jot down an idea before it escapes. For me, this website is a nice balance between being sociable as an author and losing myself in my writing. I’m glad you could join me.

    It’s been a very stressful few days. Release weeks are, but launching a new series takes it to a whole new level. Thank goodness you loved Stars Die. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your reviews. Not only do they prompt Amazon to put the book in front of more readers like you, but they encourage me to keep writing. I cannot express how much your reviews mean. Thank you.

    I’ve been reading I Ran Away to Evil by Mystic Neptune. It is as warmly comforting as a hug. To everyone who recommended it as cozy fantasy – you’re the best!

    The Dragon’s Gambit (Book 1, The Underkeepers) by Hankthemoose wasn’t as cozy, but it is an enjoyable progression fantasy. I like scrappy heroes who strive to grow, but also remain loyal to their friends.

    What have you been reading (apart from Stars Die, of course 😉 )?

    If you’re interested in the state of the publishing industry, Jane Friedman has been reporting on it for years. I’m subscribed to her paid newsletter and love seeing it arrive in my inbox. It’s always full of fascinating trends, opinions, and happenings. However, she’s also starting a free version. I’m not sure of the details, so I recommend checking out her website.

    Next week I hope to share a writing-related post. I have a topic in mind that’s been bothering me. LOL I’m generous like that. If it’s bothering me, I’ll share it with you 😉