Shout-Out: The Eidolon by Libby McGugan

Here's another book that's come out recently that sounds interesting.

A contemporary SF thriller. The divide between science and the human spirit is the setting for a battle for the future.

When physicist Robert Strong loses his job at the Dark Matter research lab and his relationship falls apart, he returns home to Scotland. Then the dead start appearing to him, and Robert begins to question his own sanity. Victor Amos, an enigmatic businessman, arrives and recruits Robert to sabotage CERN'S Large Hadron Collider, convincing him the next step in the collider's research will bring about disaster. Everything Robert once understood about reality, and the boundaries between life and death, is about to change forever. And the biggest change will be to Robert himself... Mixing science, philosophy and espionage, Libby McGugan's stunning debut is a thriller like no other.

Author Interview: Ann Leckie

Novel: Ancillary Justice

Short Stories: Numerous.  Check out her bibliography.

Website: www.annleckie.com

> What is Ancillary Justice about? 

Ancillary Justice is about a starship that once had thousands of human bodies as part of itself. Treachery has destroyed all but one of those bodies, and she's out for revenge on those who destroyed her.

> Where did you get the idea to write about a warship trapped in a human body?

I started, long ago, with the idea of human bodies as avatars of artificial intelligences.  Of course, one could grow those bodies, but taking them over by force provides extra drama, so I played with that for a while. And then, of course, I began to wonder what would happen if all of such an entity was destroyed except one of those bodies. Who would it be who was left?

> What made you want to be a writer?

I'm one of those people who has wished to be a writer since childhood. This may be because my parents always encouraged it--they assumed I would be someday. My mother explained standard manuscript format to me when I was about eight, on the assumption that it was one of those things I would need to know. And it was helpful, actually--even though at the time everyone used typewriters, standard manuscript format has changed very little.

> If you could, would you change places with any of your characters?

Probably not. First of all, I make their lives way too difficult--as difficult as possible. Because that's where stories are, right? But also, when I was in high school and thinking of what a failure I would surely be as an adult and how inadequate I was bound to be at life in general, I had a moment when I was looking in the mirror wishing I were someone else. And then, for some reason, suddenly I realized that if I were someone else, I wouldn't exist--and I found I didn't like that thought. That, whatever my problems, really I wanted to be me. It sounds foolish and adolescent because, you know, it totally was. But it was something that stuck with me, and I've had times when I've had to remind myself of it. 

> What was the hardest scene for you to write?

That would be a massive spoiler! It's the scene where the thing happens that is the reason Breq is doing what she's doing. I knew that if I didn't get that moment right, if the reader didn't completely believe that scene, the whole book would collapse in a heap, because nothing Breq did, throughout the entire rest of the novel, would convince. There was a lot of staring at the monitor and pulling my hair and swearing and panicking, while I worked on it.

> As you write both, beyond the matter of length, do you find it easier writing short stories or novels?

I find novels much easier! If you're trying to write under a word limit, so much awesome has to go! And some of my favorite stuff, not just as a writer but as a reader, is that extra stuff. The cool worldbuilding details or whatever. And I find my ideas tend to be elaborate--cutting them down to short story size can be very frustrating.

I also find myself worrying about length when I'm trying to do short fiction, which adds another layer of anxiety to the process. With a novel there's enough room that I can feel comfortable stretching out and then going back later and paring down if I need to.

> When and where do you write?

I try to write daily--though I don't always succeed. I'm lucky enough to have the house to myself during most days, and I have an office in my basement that my awesome husband built for me. But distractions do arise, more often than I'd like.

> What’s the best/worst thing about writing?

The best thing is that it's so darn fun. I mean, I get to make cool stuff up and put it down on paper! The worst is the uncertainty--there's no way to know if what I'm doing is going to ever be read by anyone else, whether it's going to sell, whether anyone else will like it at all. And the internal critic comes along with that, the little voice that keeps muttering about how I stink, I have no ability, what I'm working on is stupid, etc. I hate that.  

> What is something you didn’t know about the publishing industry before you had your first book published?

So, I actually knew a fair amount going in. My approach to things is generally pretty research-intensive, and so I'd spent some time talking to people and reading blogs and such, and already had a fair idea of the general process.  It's been the little details that have been a discovery for me--the way a certain amount of the advance gets paid at various stages of the process of publishing the book, the work my publisher's (fabulous and awesome) publicist does, the process of designing the cover, of getting to see that in various stages. It's been a lot of fun so far.

> Do you have any advice for hopeful authors?

Yes! Don't worry too much about rules, or about whether what you're working on is salable.  Don't fret over, say, the fact that you've heard editors don't like narrators who are mushrooms, and your story is the first person adventures of Mable the Morel. Don't worry about that. Just make Mabel the best dang fungus that ever graced the written word, do the absolute best you can at what you're doing, and trust the universe for the rest. The universe may or may not come through--but you'll know you did your best, and over time I've found that's incredibly important.

Learn techniques, not rules. Look for effects various techniques have (or don't) and use them (or not) in your own work depending on the effects you want (or want to avoid). There are no rules, and worrying about rules and about superficial things editors may or may not like will only hamper you. Don't start out by limiting yourself. Be ambitious. Reach for the stars! If you fail, no biggie. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off and try again.  

> Any tips against writers block?

My approach, I've found, is idiosyncratic. But I'll offer it, in case anyone reading this may find it helpful. When I'm stuck, I read. Sometimes fiction, and often nonfiction. I go to the library and start scanning the shelves--usually history or anthropology, but sometimes other areas, sometimes at random--and pull out any book that seems to intrigue me. Usually, after I've read a bit, I find something that clicks, and then I can go forward. 

Changes Ahead

From now until the end of December I’ll be working crazy hours at the store, so while I’m hoping to keep the blog running as normal, I won’t have much time for commenting or replying to emails.  You’ll probably see more reviews (for films as well as books) than usual, as well as Shout-out posts (as they’re fast to put together).  I do have a reading list queued up and will have at least one recommended reading post (I should have 2, but we’ll see if I get the responses back in time).

With the World's Biggest Bookstore closing next spring (and no, we don't have a firm closed to the public date yet, though we have to be out of the building by April 30th) there will also be some changes to the blog.  I’m not sure how much will change.  My original plan was to stop doing author interviews, as my interview style was designed for browsers at the store.  But a conversation with an author has made me question that decision.  More on that in January when I have time to consider my options and do a poll to see if you’d like me to continue doing author interviews.  I won’t have any interviews for December or January, as I don’t have time to set them up and, if I do continue them, I’ll have to rework my questions, which will take time as well.  But I do have an interview with Ann Leckie going up tomorrow, so please stop by for that.

Similarly I probably won’t do reading lists anymore (after December's If you like... try... list), as those are challenging enough with the books in front of me.  My new author spotlights are morphing into reading unbound, though I may keep those separate.  Again, I’ll have to consider this in January. 

I hope your holiday season isn't as insane as mine, and that you have some time to spend with your loved ones.

Stranger Than Fiction: Dispelling Medieval Armour Myths

A column dedicated to pointing out interesting tidbits of history, some of which would be cool to see in a fantasy novel or two.

Someone on facebook pointed me to this a while back.

Dispelling some myths about Medieval armour by Feadpool.

He's also got this album with more medieval armour, this one on the longbow, one on Sir William Marshall - a medieval fighter, and one on Gallowglass, professional soldiers in Ireland.

I haven't heard of some of these, so I'll have to read up on them myself. :D

Book Review: The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a 13 Year Old Boy With Autism by Naoki Higashida

[This isn't the kind of book I normally review here, but as autism is becoming more common, and more prevalent in SFF novels, it seemed like a good book to read to better understand the condition.]

Translated by: K. A. Yoshida and David Mitchell

Pros: Q&A format, includes some of his fiction

Cons: will possibly make you cry in public

This is a non-fiction book written by a 13 year old Japanese autistic boy, in which he answers questions he's been asked numerous times about why he does the things he does.  It's an amazing look inside autism.

This is a book that may well make you cry, so beware of reading it in public.  In David Mitchell's introduction, when talking about some of Higashida's included fiction and the accusation that autistic people have no empathy, he writes:

Like all storytelling mammals, Naoki is anticipating his audience's emotions and manipulating them.  That is empathy.  The conclusion is that both emotional poverty and an aversion to company are not symptoms of autism but consequences of autism, its harsh lockdown on self-expression and society's near-pristine ignorance about what's happening inside autistic heads.

Similarly in his answer to the question "Would you like to be 'normal'?" Higashida says that when he was younger he wanted to be normal but now,

I've learned that every human being, with or without disabilities, needs to strive to do their best, and by striving for happiness you will arrive at happiness.  For us, you see, having autism is normal - so we can't know for sure what your "normal" is even like.  But so long as we can learn to love ourselves, I'm not sure how much it matters whether we're normal or autistic.

While it's a short read, it's both inspiring and educational.  Understanding is the first step towards becoming better people with regards to how we interact with those who are autistic in our midst.

Shout-Out: Terra by Mitch Benn

This is another book I've heard nothing about that came in to the store recently.  It comes with an amazing recommendation by Neil Gaiman on the cover, "I found myself thinking of Roald Dahl, Douglas Adams & Terry Pratchett.  Wise, funny, and above all, human".

No one trusts humanity. No one can quite understand why we're intent on destroying the only place we have to live in the Universe. No one thinks we're worth a second thought. And certainly no one is about to let us get off Rrth. That would be a complete disaster. But one alien thinks Rrth is worth looking at. Not humanity, obviously, we're appalling, but until we manage to kill every other living thing on the planet there are some truly wonderful places on Rrth and some wonderful creatures living in them. Best take a look while they're still there. But on one trip to Rrth our alien biologist causes a horrendous accident. The occupants of a car travelling down a lonely road spot his ship (the sort of massive lemon colored, lemon-shaped starship that really shouldn't be hanging in the sky over a road). Understandably the Bradbury's crash (interrupting the latest in a constant procession of bitter rows). And in the wreckage of their car our alien discovers a baby girl. She needs rescuing. From the car. From Rrth. From her humanity. And now eleven years later a girl called Terra is about to go to school for the first time. It's a very alien experience...

"Terra" is a charming and hilarious satirical fable. A story about how odd and alien we are. And a story about how human odd aliens are. It tells the story of a girl who grows up in a very different world, who gains a unique perspective on our world and a unique perspective on her new home. A girl who can teach us and them a lot. A girl living in an extraordinary world that is spiralling into a terrible war.

Here's the book trailer, if you need more incentive.

In Toronto? Come see Michael Rowe

Enter, Night author Michael Rowe's new book, Wild Fell, is coming out and he's doing some events for it.

Here's a synopsis for the book:

The crumbling summerhouse called Wild Fell, soaring above the desolate shores of Blackmore Island, has weathered the violence of the seasons for more than a century. Built for his family by a 19th-century politician of impeccable rectitude, the house has kept its terrible secrets and its darkness sealed within its walls. For a hundred years, the townspeople of Alvina have prayed that the darkness inside Wild Fell would stay there, locked away from the light.

Jameson Browning, a man well acquainted with suffering, has purchased Wild Fell with the intention of beginning a new life, of letting in the light. But what waits for him at the house is devoted to its darkness and guards it jealously. It has been waiting for Jameson his whole life . . . or even longer. and now, at long last, it has found him.

He's doing a signing at the World's Biggest Bookstore (20 Edward Street) on Sunday December 1st, from 12 - 3 PM.  He's also doing a book launch on Monday December 2nd at The Red Bull Lounge / Fly Nightclub (1 Gloucester Street) from 7 - 11 PM.