Sunday, May 19, 2019

Best Fantasy and Science Fiction

The first book in my Chronicles of Dasnaria series, PRISONER OF THE CROWN, is up for Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book at Fresh Fiction! You can go there and vote for your favorites in multiple categories. I'm super delighted that this book was nominated. It's up against tough competition, so I don't expect it to win, but getting the nod is so gratifying. 


Our topic this week at the SFF Seven is "Spinning the Spiderweb of Complicated Plots."

I'm finishing up a week at SFWA's Nebula Conference and running low on brainz at this point. But I also think that, on the best of days, I wouldn't have much to say about this topic. I don't really think in terms of plots, since I'm a character-driven writer. When I do think about my own plots, the spiderweb analogy doesn't work at all. Plots feel more linear to me than that. They go from beginning to end, with many threads weaving along the way.

The most complicated effort I ever dealt with was what I called a braided timeline. In THE PAGES OF THE MIND, THE EDGE OF THE BLADE, THE SNOWS OF WINDROVEN and THE SHIFT OF THE TIDE, events in each story co-occurred with events in other places with characters in the other books. Making sure they interfaced correctly gave me headaches.

But I don't have much more to say about it than that.

To assuage your thirst for great blog posts, however, here's one from Jaycee Jarvis: IN DEFENSE OF BETA HEROES. She mentions THE TALON OF THE HAWK and Harlan. Really wonderful words!


2 comments:

  1. WOOO! Congrats! Cannot think how I missed this . . .

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    1. It's always lovely to have a book nominated for something like this! Or do you mean the book itself??

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