tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post4479626334225516694..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: Women and Magic, Part 1Ashe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-38220788152492322892017-01-29T09:23:36.441-05:002017-01-29T09:23:36.441-05:00Thank you both! Sacchi/Connie, I know you are one ...Thank you both! Sacchi/Connie, I know you are one and the same. The culture in your story "The Windskimmer" seemed clear enough. I always like your women characters who are very different (in culture, personality, skillsets), but equal in power, and with complicated feelings for each other, usually for reasons that are gradually shown. Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-30698834684346557902017-01-28T23:58:18.328-05:002017-01-28T23:58:18.328-05:00Sounds like an intriguing collection, Jean.
One o...Sounds like an intriguing collection, Jean.<br /><br />One of my most serious gripes about modern sci-fi/spec-fic is the fashion for simply dropping you in a strange world and making you figure out what is going on. I can understand the objective. The author wants to engage your curiosity, as well as give you a sense of disorientation, perhaps to mirror the characters. However, it takes skill to find a balance between the enjoyable challenge of figuring out what is going on and the frustration of being totally confused.<br /><br />I recently read Eternity by Greg Bear. Even when I finished it, I wasn't sure what had happened!<br /><br /><br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-56874772603175158542017-01-28T11:23:21.903-05:002017-01-28T11:23:21.903-05:00It seems to me that for short stories, a certain a...It seems to me that for short stories, a certain amount of "tell" is necessary to make the story more than a vignette, but it does work best to slip those "tells" in subtly. (I know "tell" can have a somewhat different meaning in stories than the way it's used in "show, don't tell," but I won't go into that right now.) I'm trying to write a novel-length piece now, and struggling to comply with the editor's commands to "show" everything, but it's true that novels have more room for this sort of thing. I still feel like I'm doing unnecessary rambling when being concise would have more impact. Sigh,<br /><br />Sacchi Green and Connie Wilkins both thank you for mentioning Heiresses of Russ 2012 (I did that as Connie Wilkins) and "The Windskimmer" in Hellebore and Rue. It really was encouraging to find so much speculative short fiction featuring lesbians when I co-edited HoR, and in the volumes since then. Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.com