Switching Settings

The Short Version:
I’m pretty sure that I’m going to change the setting of my Untitled Werewolf Novel from California to Alaska.

The Long Version:
I love Alaska. I love the mountains and the moose and the crisp weather and the trails and so many things about Alaska. My parents were both born there before it was even a state and I still have family ties there.

Driving home, I was thinking about the Alaska that I love and wondering at the fact there are so few books set in Alaska. I can think of two off the top of my head: Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen, in which a boy is trapped in the Alaskan wilderness for months and must survive, and The Curious Eat Themselves, by John Straley (isn’t that just about the best title ever), a mystery novel surrounding the oil companies. (I’m sure there are more, but I would have to do an internet search to find them.)

Most books about Alaska fall into the Hatchet category, as in: gee, look at how beautiful and wild and empty and dangerous Alaska is, looks at the pretty mountains, the roaring brown bears, the lumbering moose, and there’s like no one there! And yes, of course, there is a lot of forest and wildlife in Alaska and it is certainly achingly beautiful. (This romantic notion of Alaska in books and movies, I’m sure contributes the question I still get of whether or not I lived in an igloo.)

However there are people there and most of them are quite normal, just trying to live ordinary lives, concerned about bills and getting super on the table and boring normal things. It’s just that shopping at the local supermarket might be interrupted my by a bull moose meandering through the parking lot.

There should be more books like The Curious Eat Themselves, I thought to myself, more books obvious set in and influenced by Alaska, but focused on the more mundane aspects of people actually living there. Even better, why not a book with supernatural elements.

Hey! I thought, why don’t I write a fantasy novel set in Alaska. I could do that… which ultimately brought me to thinking about switching the location of my werewolf novel.

Doing so would require a rather large shift in how I’ve been thinking about the novel thus far, so I’m not fully committed to the idea yet. It would change the entire basis for how the characters interact with each other as well as their environment. They simply would not behave in the exact same way as they always have.

Making the switch would resolve some problems and create others. For example, I would not have Claire move to Alaska, she would have grown up there, eliminating the getting-to-know-you aspect from the plot. Also, it’s plausible that a werewolf could get away with living in Alaska, because the people are used to seeing large animals around. But, this would also mean that I will not be able to have the running off to San Francisco scenes that I was looking forward to writing, and there is not equivalent Big City in Alaska. Fortunately, I’m not very far into the writing of the novel (just the first chapter), so making the change would not require me to drastically rewrite much.

I’m pretty sure I will be making the switch up. Here’s why: I’m super excited about it. I mean, I’m hair-is-standing-up-on-my-arms happy about it. So it should be obvious that I need to do it (I’m not really clear on what my hesitation is). All I know is that I’m loving this novel more than ever.

Have you ever made a drastic setting change to something you were writing? How did you decide to make the switch and how did it change how you thought about the novel/story?

[Cross-posted to my livejournal. If you feel inclined you can comment either here or there.]

A list of things I've been meaning to post

1. I’ve received an acceptance for one of my poems. Will give you the when and where once the contract is signed, but in the meantime, yay!

2. I’ve also received a rejection for a very short story I submitted, but I don’t feel bad about this because: a) I generally don’t worry about that sort of thing, and b) see above.

3. I totally rocked my Minnie Mouse ears on my trip to Disneyland last weekend. We hit the theme parks hard over those two days (for example, on our last night there, we rushed through nine rides in two hours).

4. which I’m pretty sure contributed to my being sick all last week (that and the crazy work schedule I’ve been having lately).

5. The result of which is that I did not run last week (rest was needed), though I haven’t been sticking to my training schedule anyway.

6. My writing is going well, however, as evidenced by my multiple NaPoWriMo posts and the progress I’m making on “The Witch of the Little Wood.” I’m hoping to have the draft done by the middle of May at the latest.

7. [info]alg posted a call for submissions for a Buffy verse anthology that I may have to write something for.

8. Another awesome market is looking for reprint submissions for an anthology of speculative feminist poetry. (I’ve submitted a poem thatmight work.)

9. During Easter, my mom pointed out that as soon she had grandkids, she would no longer making easter baskets for my siblings and I — not exactly good incentive for us to start breeding. 😉

10. I just like nice, round numbers.

[Cross-posted my my livejournal. If you feel inclined, you may comment either here or there.]

Looking for Alaska, by John Green

Looking for AlaskaJohn Green and his brother Hank make youtube videos, which is how I found them and learned that John wrote books and that they had created this wonderful, weird community of people called Nerdfighters, who battle against world suck. John and Hank are charming, lovable goofballs, and I honestly fell in love with them and their antics in the videos before I ever read a word of John Green’s writing.

Then I picked up Paper Towns, and I’m not sure what I expected. It was sweet and funny and full of real world mystery and adventure and fun, the kind you can only have when you’re sixteen and not fully tied down to all the things you should do yet. It’s a wonderful book.

So, of course, I had to read more of John Green’s work.

In Looking for Alaska, Miles, aka “Pudge,” decides to leave the ease and safety of his home and current high school to head off to a prestigious boarding school instead. Pudge is looking for what poet François Rabelais called “the Great Perhaps,” for adventure, for a life fully lived. At Culver Creek Boarding School life for Pudge is certainly less safe and far more chaotic, especially after he meets Alaska Young, who is sexy, smart, crazy, mysterious and definitely trouble. He makes other friends, too, but his center of focus pivots around Alaska, who drags him into the chaos of her world and he soon finds that after meeting Alaska, things will never be the same.

Don’t think that this is the perfect set up for a romance, however, for while love is certainly present, it’s mostly one sided, and things don’t work out to according to the neat fantasies the boy’s dream up. Life is too complex; it’s too messy.

I would like to point out here that Looking for Alaska has one of the greatest passages I’ve ever read. It’s widely quoted among Nerdighters, and I have to share it, too.

“I wanted so badly to lie down next to her on the couch, to wrap my arms around her and sleep. Not fuck, like in those movies. Not even have sex. Just sleep together in the most innocent sense of the phrase. But I lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and I was gawky and she was gorgeous and I was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.”

Isn’t that gorgeous? It’s one of those quotes that will stick in my mind, that I will savor and remember the taste of, because it’s just that good. And really, the book is that good, too, with a character who’s all mixed up and a story that is funny and full of longing and loss and redemption. (You’ll notice that writing about John Green’s writing makes me want to use a lot of “and”s, because it’s so rich and multi-layered.) Looking for Alaska is a deeply moving book, and I loved it even more than I loved Paper Towns.

As a side note: Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns are very similar. Both have slightly geeky, awkward young men as their main characters, who fall hard for their beautiful schoolmate, almost to the point of obsession. Both women are highly opinionated, clever, mysterious, dangerous, sexy, and have a flair for the ultimate prank.Both stories center around the deep mystery of a person. But despite their similarities, both novels are unique, set in different worlds with a unique cast of interesting characters. Both are worth reading.

[Cross-posted to my livejournal. If you feel inclined, you can comment either here or there.]

Books Read in March

1. Lola: A Ghost Story, by J. Torres
2. 20th Century Ghost, by Joe Hill
3. Tropic of Cancer (audio book), by Henry Miller
5. Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die, edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki
6. Full Woman, Fleshly Apple, Hot Moon: Selected Poems, by Pablo Neruda
7. Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, edited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer
8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Click to read the reviews on my livejournal.

ChiZine: Supergod Mega-Issue!

After a hiatus to revamp the zine’s website, ChiZine (aka Chiaroscoro: Treatment of Light and Shade in Words) is back with a gianormous issue of awesome (which will play out over several weeks), featuring tons of fiction and poetry by alumni of the webzine.

I’m thrilled that ChiZine is back. It’s one of the few webzines that I obsessively check for new poetry and fiction. The quality is consistently fabulous and I always find myself intrigued by what’s presented.

Which is why I am honored that my poem “Beware of Attics” has been included in the mega-issue — an issue that happens to include a short story by one of my favorite authors Neil Gaiman. Yeeeeee! I am in a magazine alongside Neil Gaiman! OMG! OMG!

*deep breath*

Okay, I’m fine now.

This issue is intended to help them raise money to keep the webzine going, so head on over, and if you like what you see, consider making a donation.

[Cross-posted to my livejournal. If you feel inclined, you may comment either here or there.]