Galactic Civilization Hums Away in the Background in My Novels

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This week at the SFF Seven, we're asking:  How do you decide your world's structure of authority and/or governance?

The first thing to remember about me is that I imprinted on Andre Norton at a very young age and when it comes to the kind of science fiction I wanted to write, that was very much the flavor. I’m always at the micro level, the personal level, the man and woman (and maybe some comrades) battling the odds, respecting each other as they move through the adversity and falling in love as the adventure gets resolved. That’s what I enjoy reading (Ms. Norton didn’t have enough romance for me but she wasn’t trying to write romance either.) It’s what my Muse or my creative mind or whatever you call it has served up since I started writing at the age of 7.

I’m not wildly interested in the macro level – the interstellar civilizations and the intricacies of governments, etc. I’ve read grand sweeping books which explore these themes…but it’s not me. And if there’s not a couple to care about (M/F, M/M/ F/F or any other love is love duo…on occasion a trio) I’m usually gone at hyperspeed.

I liked how Ms. Norton’s science fiction novels occurred in a galactic civilization that was never defined in too much detail but which seemed vaguely familiar to me.

To tie back to my blog post title, the government of the civilization hums away in the background and doesn't insert itselt into the stories in much detail.

When I established the Sectors in my world building, I very much went for that model. It’s like the science in my novels – I don’t bother explaining how the blasters work and I don’t bother explaining how the government of the Sectors operates. Any more than I deliver a mini lecture on how the State of California governs itself when I talk about living here and some cute thing my cat did. It just is and let’s get on with the adventure and the romance.

I guess if pressed, I’d tell you the Sectors is democratic (no, don’t ask me how that works across the galaxy) more or less, with bureaucracy and a functioning, ethical top notch military and an interstellar crime syndicate and all kinds of corporations of varying influence, Non Goverment Organizations; rich people (“Socialites” are usually their children), poor people and people in between…there’s also the Outlier Empire, which is sort of Tsarist Russian in the way it operates; the Hinterlands; the frontier; unaffiliated worlds and systems…lots of room for yours truly to play. 

And we haven’t even discussed the other influences at work, like the Red Lady of D’nvannae, an ancient alien goddess who runs an order of assassins who can be bodyguards at her whim. Or her sister, the White Lady. Or the mysterious Mellureans…

(Waves hands although reader can’t see her.) It’s PEOPLE. Doing human things.

And some aliens and Others….

My characters may visit a world ruled by an emperor, as with Mission to Mahjundar, or be an undercover cop in the Sectors Criminal Investigation Agency (nope, not doing a spoiler and telling you who in which novel – sorry). It’s whatever the story needs, in the general worldbuilding of the Sectors, which frames it all for me.

But I think it’s all heavily influenced by the world in which I live.

My mind doesn’t run to outlining all the details of a government, whether it’s led by a king or a president or something/someone else. I build what I need for my story, or build out what’s already been done for the Sectors in earlier stories and thinking. I do stay consistent with myself.

I’m playing with a world ruled by an Alpha in my Badari Warriors. As I described it in the most recent release, the power to rule over all other Badari is buried in his DNA – these soldiers are genetically engineered but there’s a LOT of plot to this series. If/when these soldiers and their mates and allies manage to defeat the aliens who created them, and take the planet for themselves, he’ll be the unquestioned ruler. I’m enjoying playing within these boundaries and have already introduced some issues with the humans, who like to rule themselves, or at least to feel they could come to power someday. And unless you’re a Badari, it isn’t going to happen, not on this planet. So I’m having fun with all of it but this is on one specific planet, and they do hope to join the Sectors someday.

Now the ancient Egyptian books are a piece of cake, comparatively speaking because their civilization was so detailed. I have a Pharaoh and he has various officials to do his bidding, plus generals and high priests and priestesses…and the gods keep a mostly benevolent eye on all of it.

My fantasy world of Claddare has many parts and some are classic ‘kingdoms’ but others are clans or packs…I’m in a medieval mindset when I write those stories.

My new release HONEYMOON FOR THE ALPHA: A BADARI WARRIORS NOVELLA:

The blurb: Thrown together as helpless prisoners in the punishing conditions of a Khagrish lab, Jill and Aydarr fell in love. Claiming each other as mates despite only having one night alone in a cell, they formed a deep, loving mate bond. 

Now, a planetary year later, after escaping the lab and leading the ongoing rebellion against the enemy together, Aydarr longs for more. He wants a chance to show Jill how much she means to him.

He decides to risk everything to take his mate away from it all for a few days. But will the Khagrish, the threats lurking in the planet’s unexplored wilderness and the Badari goddess allow them to complete A Honeymoon for the Alpha?

Amazon      Apple Books      Nook      Kobo      GooglePlay

Political World Building

Political world building, next on Nov. . .no. Wait. I'm not PBS. Sorry. Still. We are examining the merits and deficits of governmental bodies in our world building.

The original question was president or monarch - I'd like to think that from a SF standpoint there are more options than that, but you wouldn't know it based on my work. My answer to the question is: Both. At the very least. Because in my main SFR series, I have at least four separate populations vying for territory and resources, I have more than one option for structuring governments.

Confession time. Never, ever in my life did I aspire to write political stories. At. All. Yet here I am, having painted myself into a corner because you can't write military-ish SFR without talking about the governments that send people into battle in the first place and the philosophies for which they're fighting. Whether for good or for ill.

Tagreth Federated Council - this is a presidential government and several chamber council system that knits a group of planets together into a pooled resource. It has draw backs because the seat of government shifts world every few years so that no one world gets all the economic advantage or becomes the seat of power. Until a ruthless, power-hungry man who thinks he's the only one with all the right answers gets hold of the reins. Things go bad fast. My heroes and heroines have to claw their way back up from the debris pile before they can do anything like damage control.

The Claugh nib Dovyyth Empire - this is a monarchy. The queen has her nobles council and her elected council of the people to which she's beholden, but she has very broad latitude, especially when it comes to serving the people. So you don't often see her cowering in a corner while the bad guys are attacking. She's usually out there on the front lines. She's more than a figurehead, less than a living god. If that makes any sense. She's young and open-minded about how a royal ought to go about ending a war. So she's willing to make alliances no one else would consider. It's earned her a few enemies. Some of them roost close to home.

The other three governments that I can think of in the books all operate based on councils. There may be a single leader at the front of that council. Or a trio. Or some number. But the point is that in SFR having just one person standing up in front saying, "This is how it's gonna be just because I say so." is only going to last as long as someone showing up with a laser pistol and really good aim. But give a population the feeling that they're represented and at least partially heard? They'll wait for someone else to rise against the government.

The only thing I wonder is whether the people in my made up worlds avoid answering the phone during election cycles the same way that I do.

Presidential or Kingly worldbuilding?

It’s no secret that my heart…or rather, my head, belongs in the clouds. Particularly clouds shaped like dragons and castles. So, it stands to reason that my fantasy books are centered around monarchies. 

Kings and queens, heirs to the thrones, lords and ladies, some of whom have magical powers or may be wizards. It’s all dramatic, and oh so much fun to read and write. 

What makes it fun? Honor. Honor goes hand in hand with knights and royalty. They’re supposed to be stuffed full of honor, right? Except when they’re human like us and make mistakes, or succumb to the lure of the wrong side of magic such as the True Father in the Earthsinger Chronicles by L. Penelope.

Honestly, the honor concept is also how I formulate my science fiction governments. They're all based on honor or the lack thereof. You can have space royalty, Jessie Mihalik’s Consortium Rebellion series is a great example of ruling families in space. There can also be galactic governments, has anyone heard of Star Wars? So many varieties of government, but they have a common thread.

Presidential or kingly, it all comes down to honor and how you build the rules around it. Then you’ll know if your spells, or blasters, will be pointed at the castle, or outwards, at the invaders. Even if the focus of your story isn’t centered on political upheaval, the laws of the land, the honor code, it still has to be there.

If you’re world building right now, are you wearing a crown or holding a gavel?

Worldbuilding is the ultimate regime change

[Content warning: Politics. If you don't wanna hear it, don't read on, please.]

Political debate tonight + SFF Seven topic on worldbuilding governments = a fortuitous mix for my possibly overbaked brain. In a national election year (in the U.S.), I think most folks around here are low-grade thinking of how we'd make this world a better place if only we were in charge. Not gonna lie: I have plenty of "when I am queen" plans. Be honest. You do, too.

Which makes writing SFF so incredibly satisfying. It is not a coincidence that in 2017 I wrote a book about a woman senator who brings down a corrupt, hate-mongering, anti-migrant government and imprisons its self-serving president. (Too on the nose? Maybe. Don't care.) 

Psychologists say that PTSD forms most often in trauma victims who are captive to the traumatic episode and unable to end it or gain a sense of control in the moment. In a very real way, other than periodic voting opportunities and mostly ineffective protest and legal remedies, most citizens in a large government are powerless. In fiction, though, we are able to rewrite our reality My world in the book was obviously not the real world, but I could use it as a tool to vent my frustrations and gain a feeling of power over my reality, at least in a "this is how it ought to be" sort of way. So I guess you could say that worldbuilding fictional governments can be therapeutic.

Making up other worlds and systems of government can also be aspirational or cautionary. Right now, I'm writing a world run by benevolent computers. When Terminator did that, it was bleak and horrible, but what if computers are not after all just like us (violent, power-mad, etc)? What if they don't rule with emotion, anger, grudges, or acquisitiveness? Could their reliance on logic and rule sets instead make them more stable than human overlords? Asimov explored similar questions in his I, Robot stories and essays, of course, as have dozens of SFF writers before and since. I suspect my conclusions will be similar to theirs. In the mean time, what a fun game to play with myself. Not sure readers are going to love it, but I am digging the ride.

And that's ... kind of what writers do, right? Entertain ourselves, write the books we want to read? So when we're building worlds and governments, we are also, ultimately, creating the worlds we want to either change or inhabit.

We are all the benevolent dictators of our own imperfect minds.

Ruling Your Fantasy World

Presidential or Kingly? Democracy or Monarchy? How do I decide what sort of authority rules my worlds?

Mostly it's decided by who and how my protagonist is oppressed. Is there a single shot-caller who can be toppled or is it a complex network established by need/skill? Is the society established and entrenched, or is it developing?  Am I building a fantasy world on top of a real one?

That last question might seem silly, but I write Urban Fantasy where the local tattoo parlor is a front for a battalion of Berserkers and a leather-daddy at the gay bar is an archangel. If I want the reader to believe the story is happening in the USA then I have to use the existing government of our republic; unless I explain the authority relevant to my protagonist is not the human government but a representative body of superpowers in which there are committees and a chairperson. Human governments of all varieties are a minor subset of the greater authority...which is what I did in my Immortal Spy UF series. In short, if writing contemporary fantasy using the real world as the backdrop, you can either leverage existing authority or you need to offer a reason for why/how your characters are bypassing it.

My High Fantasy works are more diverse in that the societies being changed vary in population, environment, history, traditions, and internal vs external strife. A semi-isolated civilization where there are rumors and vagaries of hostile neighbors yet everything within the society is strictly controlled lends itself to a monarchy. However, a nomadic society struggling to survive extreme scarcity where the nomads are not the top of the food chain is more suited to tribal democracies where leadership is decided by those who are led.

Messing with authority is crucial to my stories, so I like to use different types of government for my protagonists to rebel against.

Worldbuilding: Picking a Government

This week at the SFF Seven, we're asking: Presidential or Kingly - How do you decide your world's structure of authority and/or governance?

It's funny... as a staunch believer in democracy, I've never considered making one of my fantasy worlds have a government elected by the people. Why is that???

I mean, the easy answer is that it never occurred to me, but then I need to examine my underlying assumptions.

• Fantasy means monarchies with cool castles
• Crowns and the trappings of royalty are pretty awesome
• It's an alternate world, which means not the one I live in

There's also the aspect of creating a political system where a government could be chosen by the people, which assumes a certain level of tech - or a very small population. Still, I could do it. I probably should - and now it's in my head, so that will probably brew up at at some point into something...

All that said, I do love writing about people born to the throne, taking up the noble cause and trying to do the right thing by their people. Interestingly enough, I take this to another level in my Forgotten Empires trilogy, amping up the theme in book #2, THE FIERY CROWN, where the nobility is magically tied to the land. It's an old, even pagan concept, and fun to explore.

Next up: a magical democracy? Hmm....

Salute to My Cover Artist Fiona Jayde

Our theme this week is a shout out to the non-author creatives we collaborate with, or who enrich our lives. I'm going to keep my focus on the author sphere of my life and mention the wonderful Fiona Jayde.

She's always done my scifi romance covers and in the last year or so has also given me my fantasy covers and new Egyptian paranormal covers. Getting my new cover from her is a treat for myself, an encouragement to keep working on the book in question and FUN!

I highly value her professional opinion on the various genres and what's in, what's out, as well as her creativity...and her patience! I'm not a patient person but I admire the quality in others. Fiona has always been so patient with me when I pick stock photos that totally don't work (Me: "This one is great if we could airbrush out these three things, change the background, add a supernova and give her red hair..." Fiona: O_o, followed by a patient explanation of why we can't do any of that to the photo in question, followed by specific suggestions to achieve what I'm going for in a different manner, or alternate stock photos or...)

I think Fiona is really REALLY good at capturing the 'flavor' of the book in question from just my few notes and any inspiration photos I may send along.

I'll always remember the thrill of getting my first cover from her, for my first scifi romance to be published,Wreck of the Nebula Dream ("Titanic in space..." as one reviewer called it). That cover established what was to become my 'look' or brand for the books set in this universe.

My first REALLY huge seller was Star Cruise: Marooned and I've always thought the fabulous eye catching cover from Fiona was a key factor in getting readers to give the book a second look and maybe even a third one.

When it was time to start my Badari Warriors scifi romance series, she developed the series branding, with the ominous alien lab in the background and the sexy genetically engineered soldier in the foreground. Here's the entire series (including one we did under the In the Stars Romance logo, which frankly doesn't work as well for a book in a series.  Sigh. I confused everyone by writing that book outside the series! Never again! It's a perfectly fine logo for books written for that imprint and I might just be writing a few more for them....but not Badari Warriors.)

For my fledgling fantasy series, I asked her to have fun and sort of surprise me. Usually when we're doing the SFR I've at least tried to select the cover model or models and sent her anywhere from 3-10 possibilities. (I'm still not too good at not falling in love with photos that just don't work for a romance cover.) But I had no idea where to begin in fantasy romance.

I'm very happy with my two sparkly fantasy covers (and I have a third one already, for the next book, which I just have to write LOL.)

My original ancient Egyptian covers were mostly done by the amazing Frauke Spanuth of Croco Designs. I love her work and she did my first ever published book cover, for Priestess of the Nile, which I believe I may have cried when I saw it - so perfect.  But when the rights for the first book reverted to me, Harlequin kept the rights to the cover art.

Fiona and I had been working toward that day by designing a 'brand' image for these paranormals going forward.  Here's are the three recent covers she's created for me in the loosely connected series:

I have 38 books published, so it's tempting to give you all 38 pieces of eye candy but I'll restrain myself. (Book #39 coming soon...)

For more about Fiona and her services you can visit https://fionajaydemedia.com/

Note: Background graphics behind the multiple cover displays are from DepositPhoto

Contributing Artists

Which artists move me varies by the day. Sometimes by the hour. Music is the most obvious and the easiest because I can pipe it directly into my skull from just about anywhere. Right now, Spotify's Nine Inch Nails play list (built for me based on my listening habits - well trained AI is all that, lemme tell you) is keeping me going.

I have no idea what it is about driving beats and angry lyrics that work for me. But here I am. Maybe because the pace is fast and I get pushed to keep up. I don't have as much room to stop and overthink.

On the other hand, I have an app called Calm. It is a meditation app at core, but for me, the greatest utility is the sleep function. The app commissions a bunch of different artists to create content for the app - all centered around focus and relaxation. My two favorite are Liminal Sleep by Sigur Rós and System Sounds: Song of the Night Sky. The last one assigns a musical note to the stars in the night sky based on color and brightness then plays the results based on the stars rising at the eastern horizon. So you know that's right up my alley.

The other artists in my life are the felines. After all. It was Leonardo da Vinci who said The smallest feline is a masterpiece. Cuillean agrees.