The Infamous Jennisfora Strikes Again…or something like that
Jennrae's musings on life, creativity, random thoughts. Twitter Jennisfora Rae
Okay, so part 1 dealt mostly with Science Fiction, robots, reality and Philip K Dick. This part deals with Fantasy, and Moorcock.
This one will be shorter, as I have bought books by Moorcock, but never got around to reading them. In my research of the man though, I am thinking about starting to read them now. He had a lot of good quotes about writing, and the nature of fantasy, and his current view of where it is at. And, I found myself agreeing with him on several points.
One, he sees current fantasy writing as largely stale and derivative of Tolkien. Note, he probably was quoted as feeling this way in the 90s. Whether he thinks this of the current crop of books, I have no idea. But, when his books were the end all be all, the heydays of Terry Brooks, Jordan, Kurtz, and many many others, this was definitely the case. They were all mostly different writing levels of Tolkien some lighter, some darker, some deeper, some more silly, here’s looking at you, Piers Anthony.
Then, George RR Martin came along, as well as some others of a similar bent. Sci-fi authors trying their hand at epic fantasy. Cj Cherryh also wrote a good series about this time which took some ancient lore and spun it in an interesting way. Raymond E Feist I would put here too, because he managed to incorporate a Japanese type culture into fantasy in a seamless way that was definitely refreshing and different.
The people who had been writing it all along must have felt annoyed at these very experienced writers coming along into their genre and knocking all the tropes and pieces onto the floor, disregarding all the old formulas that had been working since the sixties. You re-wrote Tolkien, or you re-wrote King Arthur, but pretty much stick to the basic hero’s journey, Star Wars but with magic and not in space. Now, you got not just heroes and villains but everything in between. Beloved characters die in horrible ways, the apprentice doesn’t always succeed the teacher, the farm boy isn’t necessarily the chosen one. The good guys don’t always win.
The board and pieces were so changed that the game could not be called checkers anymore, but was more like chess. Fantasy was exciting again. Moorcock was ahead of his time, his novels were written before all this, he was writing Arthurian type fantasy, but with a gritty edge and some politics thrown in. Sure, there were elves, but these elves weren’t supernatural perfect beings but had conundrums and issues and politics. They weren’t the all wise angelic elves of Tolkien.
Although, Tolkien didn’t always portray all elves this way. The forest elves seem more human than the others in that they seem to have jealousy, and pettiness as traits. Still, I give him credit. I bought his books because, I loved the cover art. Guy Gavriel Kay might have the same artist, it is a similar style to his cover art, very stylized, and I liked it. So, I did the cardinal sin of judging a book by its cover and I would buy them on sight at the thrift stores.
I had several of his Elric of Melnibone books, but never got around to reading them. The cover art was stunning. I am not sure if I still have them, they may have been lost in one of the book purges that happened in my life. If not, I may try to find an omnibus volume and devour it. Because I think I would have enjoyed them immensely. Sometimes when you buy more than you can read, true gems fall by the wayside, and I am afraid that is what happened here.
I found a blog post about the cover art, which was by Michael Whelan, I should have known, as he did a lot of the DAW covers back in the day. A great artist. The link is below: http://fantasticflipout.blogspot.com/2009/11/michael-whelan-does-elric-of-melnibone.html
The past is a script we are constantly rewriting.
Michael Moorcock
“That was my problem then and it’s my problem now; I have a bad attitude. In a nutshell, I fear authority but at the same time I resent it — the authority and my own fear — so I rebel. And writing SF is a way to rebel. … SF is a rebellious art form and it needs writers and readers and bad attitudes — an attitude of “Why?” or “How come?” or “Who says?”
Philip K Dick, From the forward to The Golden Man
Life is now getting kinda hectic with work getting heavier and heavier. Just checking in so that you all know that I am breathing and writing the new novel. Have actually written over a dozen pages and have more mapped out. Still trying to decide on a couple different endings. One is bittersweet and the other perhaps a trifle ambiguous. And, then there is the third more saccharine sweet option, but unless the characters pull me in an unusual direction it won’t be that one. I rarely do sweet.
Maybe because sweet doesn’t feel real to me. My actual experiences may have started off sweet but they rarely end so. Endings that I enjoy writing and reading are the ones that make you stop and go hmm. They make you think or question yourself, maybe teach you something new or make you look at something in a different light. I also love the ones that make you cry or laugh. The ones that tug at the heart strings. Simple and sweet just doesn’t normally make the cut, but maybe I will take pity on my heroine and give her some love for once.
There’s enough death and destruction in the real world, do I really need to punish my fictional people with it too? Like my other novel, I find I have a plan to follow but the passion takes me in new directions making me question some of the planned ideas. The end result will be a mix between the two as I am determined not to let this one derail. I have some handwritten notes to type up and some decisions to be made and I have to write around work and the kid, so, it will be slow going but I will get there. Thanks to all for the support. I hope you are all writing well and had more success at NaNoWriMo than I did.
I will be returning in January for a profile on J.R.R. Tolkein. I will post a short post around the 18th or try to, to say happy birthday to Michael Moorcock, another of my fantasy finds a la thrift store. I will also do a post around the 16th, I may make them the same post, for Philip K Dick. One of my favorite sci-fi authors, I will probably touch on Blade Runner, and Total Recall as they were based on his short stories, as well as Minority Report.
January birthdays that I will cover also include Edgar Allen Poe on the 19th, and Philip Jose Farmer on the 26th. Both pioneers, one in horror/suspense, the other in sci-fi. Whew, going to be a busy couple of months! Happy Holidays to any that pass this way, and good fortune to you and your loved ones! *hugs* JenRae.
As I recover from over eating and begin to think about this holiday of Thanksgiving, which was made a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in an attempt to heal a fractured nation, I ask did it work? I’m not sure, but I do like the essence of this holiday regardless.
I believe gratitude is important and giving thanks is one way of expressing gratitude which I try to do for at least a few minutes each day. I think it is very important to stop and take stock of what you have, why you have it, and to remind ourselves that we are blessed.
That no matter how little material things you may have, the fact that you can read this, that you most likely have electricity and access to the internet, that hopefully you had food in your belly and water to drink is in fact something wondrous. Something as simple as being able to breathe can be taken for granted, but it is something we unconsciously do thousands and thousands of times each day.
Even if we are more privileged than this basic level, if we have a job, and an income, a vehicle or the ability to support a family, that is significant. There is someone out there who wishes they could do this or had that, that is just a dream of theirs but a reality for some. Others are even more blessed and have a surplus income and what seems like a dream life.
Whether they are happy or not only they can know. I do not have this blessing. Sometimes I wish I had more money because I feel the stress of paycheck to paycheck survival and no matter if I get a raise or a windfall, something seems to always happen where these reserves are suddenly needed and therefore need to be used up.
Life does have a funny way of working out, and I truly believe if you practice gratitude every day you are less likely to take your life for granted, are more likely to appreciate what you have, and are more likely to be happy with your life because you know how lucky you are, or how things could always be worse.
We are all survivors of our own maze which is customized specifically for our trials and tribulations. One person’s journey will not be like another’s, so even if someone lives in a mansion and seems happily married and seems to have everything going for them, it is important to know you do not know their journey, you can’t know what they are going through or where they came from or where they will be in the future. Someone that is begging on the streets may actually be happier and appreciate the sandwich in their hand at that very moment from a kind stranger, whereas the person in the mansion could be a prisoner of a debilitating depression.
I believe true wisdom comes from learning from our mistakes and withholding judgment. Knowing our own journey, and being the best we can be every day. Doing the right thing even if it isn’t the easy thing, and always thinking of the consequences of our actions and who they might effect and how. But withholding judgment of another’s actions while we refocus on our own.
So what am I grateful for? I am grateful for a family that loves me even when I make a poor choice. They may berate me or roll their eyes, but I know when I am broken down someplace they will answer their phones and help me out in a moment’s notice. Not everyone has that.
I am grateful for a healthy, wonderful ,smart son, even though he can be a challenge but there are some who have not been as lucky. I am blessed that he is healthy. I can only imagine the pain of parents who aren’t as fortunate.
I am grateful that I have a roof over my head with heat and light, a working fridge and food to eat, water to drink, a working car, a decent job, and the ability to write words. And an audience willing to read these words.
I am grateful for my health, for still feeling young at heart, for being able to still love and be loved. I know I am capable of it and able to accept it which is something. I have not been hardened or jaded by the past. Not everyone can say that. I am alive. Every day is a gift. I will try harder not to waste this gift because it is precious and not something which can be replaced.
*Hugs to all. And Happy Thanksgiving!*
I have ran the gamut of emotions this weekend. My car died on me in a roundabout on Thursday and I had to push it into a parking lot and call AAA. It was old. Eighties. Not late eighties. In all honesty, it is very close to me in age and I didn’t always take the best care of the car. But she was known as Old Betty by me and my son and she will be missed.
Also, to get a new car I had to cash out my retirement IRA which means I am starting over setting aside money for retirement, which truly is heartbreaking to me. But the silver lining is that the IRA wasn’t earning that well anyway, and we don’t know what the future holds. I am lucky I had it there to fall back on.
Another issue is that I am working a lot which is good for financial surprises like this, but I am also very tired. My computer is also having issues and now that I had to buy a car, I don’t think I have the resources to invest in the computer. Although it might be a simple issue to resolve.
But, despite all this, I got a lot of good things happening. I got to dress forties style and attend a murder mystery style dinner event which was fun. I got a brand new car no previous owners and it will have no issues for a long time. I can actually go on road trips if I wanted worry free. I have been hesitant to go far for fear of breaking down in a random place.
I have an idea for more characters for the new novel but I need to draw their pictures and flesh out more backstory. I actually know how I want the first scene to go. Need to do more prep work before November though. Deadline is coming up so I must use my time wisely.
I believe sometimes for growth or perhaps a reason beyond my understanding, I have to go through a rainy season to get to the rainbow at the other side. I feel like I had a rough few days but now that it is almost done I feel a sort of relief. I survived and will continue to survive. I will make it work, fix my credit and the end goal is to buy a house and publish a working novel. And, I think those goals are very reasonable and doable.
I also believe in true love, even though I haven’t found it yet, I believe I will. It is all about timing and being able and ready and willing. I feel I am personally in a good place mentally. It took me forever to mature but I feel finally like I have my feet on the ground and am ready for life and all that is out there. I am ready for an adventure and responsible enough to make it happen.
I hope everyone that passes this way is having an awesome weekend full of memories. Thank you all. I am fortunate to have people in my life I can fall back on and to have an outlet in this blog and to have such dedicated supportive readers. So many blogs out there that I truly feel blessed to have any followers on mine. So, thank you. *hugs*
JennRae
Happy birthday to one of my favorite authors of all time, Ursula K Le Guin.
She has been one of the authors that has inspired me and also a pioneer for science fiction women writers. Before her success, often women writers had to use initials or male pseudonyms to get published.
Some examples would be Andre Norton and C.J. Cherryh who are both also amazing writers in their own right.
But Ursula is unique. She wrote thought provoking works in the genre and did it with an undeniably female name.
She also writes poetry and literature, fables and fantasy. I have a number of her short story collections from the Birthday of the World and Worlds of Exile and Illusion, to many others.
She deserves a better post but alas my computer is having issues so this will have to do.
Another book I own and highly recommend is the Dispossessed. Also The Left Hand of Darkness is a classic which I also own.
For fantasy fans her Earthsea trilogy is also well done. My favorite out of those was Tombs of the Atuan. She is a true hero to me and an inspiration.
She is an example of what is possible to achieve in the field and that the only limitations really are in the mind and what one believes is possible.
The Infamous Jennisfora Strikes Again...or something like that 