Should You Reference the COVID-19 Pandemic in Your Writing?

So exciting! DARK WIZARD, Book #1 in a totally new series - new world, new magic system, new everything! - is coming February 25, 2021. You can preorder now. 

Available at these Retailers

    

Yes, I know I just released a book last week, but sometimes this is how balancing an Indie career with a Trad one works out. Probably we could do a theme week on that topic. Suffice to say, I'd already planned out and begun the Heirs of Magic series, when this book - finished and very sparkly to my eye - was returned to my aegis. I could have sat on it. Or I could just launch this series, too! 

You all know me (or you should, by now) - I checked my Gantt charts and decided to go for it. 

Our actual topic at the SFF Seven this week is *not* filling the pipeline with projects in order to juggle the demands of a career as a hybrid author. It is, however, not entirely unrelated. We're discussing topicality and making choices about what to write and publish - "In These times of plague: Writing about the real world in fiction."

I recall, lo these many years ago, when I was a newbie author and soaking up All The Advice, a writing professor at my university pronounced (you may add stentorious tones, if you wish) that we should eschew anything of popular culture in our work. Such references only dated the work, and made it less than. I vividly recall everyone nodding along sagely and making erudite remarks about the banality of popular culture. So much so that, for once, I kept my mouth shut.

Though I didn't agree.

People sometimes support this argument by pointing out that Jane Austen doesn't mention Napoleon in her novels, though that was the overshadowing political force at the time. She does, however, include the presence of the regiments. The movements and stationing of The Officers! (feel free to read in Lydia's excited squeal) are omnipresent to the milieu of the stories. They're such a seamless part of the world that we don't really remark on it. Except... why are there parades of uniformed soldiers marching through these idyllic, rural hamlets? 

My point is that, even if we make the conscious choice not to mention Napoleon, the tenor of the war will invade the story regardless.

I've seen a number of authors in various groups asking about whether others are including the COVID-19 pandemic of 2019-2021 in their books. Do we show characters in lockdown? Wearing masks? Avoiding public superspreader events?

Putting those realities of our lives in this extraordinary time into our books feels... fraught. Do we really want that stuff in our escapist fiction? And yet, the alternative - at least for contemporary fiction - is to pretend it never happened, or risk our characters looking foolish, cavorting maskless in a pandemic world, coming within six feet of PEOPLE THEY DON'T KNOW.

I don't know about you guys, but I flinch now watching movies where people attend parties in close spaces, embracing and kissing on others. It didn't take all that long, relatively speaking, for my habits and worldview to change.

The advantage of writing alternate fantasy as I do is that I don't have to worry so much about this kind of thing. On the other hand, this is the world *I* live in, and - like The Officers! - aspects will infiltrate the milieu of my stories.

I've seen a number of interviews now with directors talking about how the pandemic changed their films in profound ways, leaking in where they didn't expect it. I also saw Locked Down (Baby's First COVID-19 Movie™) and enjoyed it very much. However, filmed in London in early 2020, it already felt dated in marked aspects. 

Cue sagely nodding of sycophantic students. "See?" they say. "Dated. Less than."

I disagree. Capture the moment, if that's what calls to you. As artists, we observe the world and reflect it through our own lens. That includes *gasp* popular culture. 

Besides, it's going to leak in anyway.

Welcome to our new Saturday blogger~ Charissa Weaks!

 We're incredibly excited to announce

we have a new Saturday blogger:

Charissa Weaks!!!

Charissa is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside—and come on, look at that pic! She's also a fantastic writer and her stories will sweep you away and make you never want to leave them. Not only all that, but she's a genuine soul who supports those around her and lifts them up. And she's also an editor at City Owl, so we'll get to hear about that side of the business as well! 

Her official bio is even more impressive than that attempt:

CHARISSA WEAKS is an award-winning author of historical fantasy and speculative fiction. She crafts stories with fantasy, magic, time travel, romance, and history, and the occasional apocalyptic quest. She is a foodie and book-buying coffee addict who loves to travel and visit antique stores. She believes the souls of memories live in shadowy places and inside the things we cast away.
Over the last decade, Charissa has worked with and edited for published and unpublished authors alike, including several NYT and USA Today Bestselling Authors. Her strengths lie in author branding and the development of high-concept plots alongside strong emotional arcs. She has a love for historical tales, women’s fiction, fantasy, and unique sci-fi, and if those stories include a heart-rending romance, all the better. Charissa also longs to see more diverse authors and characters on the shelves. For query information and to see her current wishlist, click HERE. 
Charissa is active in the Historical Novel Society, was named 2019 President and Pro-Liaison for her local Romance Writers of America chapter, and is a member of the Women’s Fiction Association. She is the founder and editor of Once Upon Anthologies, a series of paranormal and fantasy romance short stories and novelettes.
Charissa resides just south of Nashville with her family, two wrinkly English Bulldogs, and the sweetest German Shepherd in existence. When she’s not writing, you can find Charissa lost in a good book or digging through four-hundred-year-old texts for research. To keep up with her writing endeavors, and to gain access to writing freebies and book giveaways, join her newsletter, The Monthly Courant.

Be on the look out for her upcoming novel: THE WITCH COLLECTOR!

You can find and follow Charissa—seriously, she's all over!

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CharissaWeaksAuthor
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/charissaweaks
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/CharissaWeaksAuthor
• Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/CharissaWeaks
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/CharissaWeaks
• Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/CharissaWeaks
• BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/charissa-weak

What Dreams May Come

Corvid, the Void Boi, wants you to know that his human mom doesn't need to cultivate purposeful day dreams. She has him and he's a weirdo. 

Day dreaming. It's therapeutic and completely necessary for artists of all kinds. Yet we live in a culture that flings all kinds of accusations about laziness, worthlessness, and 'wasted' time. Add modern technology into the mix and most people over twelve have precious little time for the 'silliness' of day dreaming. 

In an attempt to reclaim some brain space, time, and day dreaming, I'm working my way through a book called Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi. It's a treatise on how our devices have stolen away the free time our brains once filled with day dreams and with synthesizing our experiences. 

It's also a useful walk through the brain science that explains why we need wandering minds and 'useless' day dreaming. 

So yes. Day dreaming - the fun, the terrible, the startling. Bring it all on. It's necessary. It's enlivening. Certainly, creativity and stories are built on the foundation of day dreaming.

The interesting piece is that with migraine, you get hallucinations. Not every time. But it seems to be a feature. Hallucinations are the feral cousins of day dreaming. Day dreams can be directed. Hallucinations can't. Yet they're useful, too. Some of the grimmest of my scenes came straight out of migraine hallucination. To be clear, tho, I'd flat give them up if I could exorcise the migraines. There are other ways to get into the altered states required to bring up vision, if not hallucination. I'd take it if I could get it. Until then, day dreams are welcome companions. Hallucinations, well. They show up, welcome or not, and stay until they're good and ready to leave.
 

Purposeful Daydreaming

 I’ve been working on being a professional daydreamer forever. I remember warm summer days spent in the poppy patch watching the bees hum around me and imagining unicorns and trolls adventuring nearby. I remember leaning my head against the glass of the school bus window as I stared out across the fields, imagining the life of a young girl with a pegasus. And I remember hiking and sitting along the banks of a frozen creek with my husky, imagining the hiss of the blowing snow was dragon scales sliding over rock.

Growing up I would chose which dreams I wanted to return to. I’d have a fantastic dream and upon waking, would sit and think about it and examine what had happened—so I could actually remember said dream for longer than an hour—then I would return to that dream before falling asleep by replaying what I’d dreamt the night before. Only the second or third nights I would change things I didn’t like or wanted to happen differently…and then I’d go back to that dream and experience it all over again but better! My pegasus lived in the most fantastical world!

But it wasn’t until I was tipped off on Robert Olen Butler’s book From Where You Dream that I realized what an important writing tool this really was. After reading Butler’s book I’m absolutely sure I’d never want to sit in on his lectures, he’s very black and white in his assumptions and definitions on literature, but I did glean one very useful writing tool. 

Dreamstorming—getting into the dream space. It’s different than daydreaming when your mind wanders and slips away for a few moments in-between life’s business. When you purposefully put yourself in the dream zone you’re examining each scene visually so you feel where the characters are standing and you’re tapped into their emotions and sensibilities.

This is a tool that I like to use before I start writing. Well, I also hang out in the dream space when I’m plotting out a novel, I love watching the action and seeing what the characters do. But it’s a great warm up for a writing session. 

Want to give it a try?

Sit somewhere comfortable. I prefer things to be very hygge, the Danish word that encompasses comfort and peace, and having a blanket on my lap and a warm cup in my hand usually do the trick. Having a fire or a candle can be handy too. I know you’ve all zoned out while gazing deep into the flames before. When you’re comfortable let your mind shut off all the stuff, your to-do list for the day, the dishes sitting in the sick, the email you have to get to, all of that stuff gets shut off and you’re left with your story. Or a character. Or a place. Pick what dream space you want to walk into and form it in your mind’s eye. Then sit back and watch. 

Pay attention to how you feel and what you sense, everything that doesn’t require words. When you’re done, write it out. It doesn’t have to be extremely detailed or long, just jot down what encompasses the scene you just watched. You may prefer to sit at your desk, like Butler, for a short zoning session. Or you may work better by setting aside a half our or more if you’re really comfortable. If you’re stuck, got a plot hole, settle in and watch your story and see what happens when you get to the sticky situation. 

If you give it a go, let me know! 

Daydream Believer

 Do I daydream?

Yes.

On purpose?

Yes.

Is it a critical part of my writing process?

Yes.

Do I recommend daydreaming to anyone even thinking about writing fiction?

Oh definitely yes.

My favorite ways/places to daydream about my works-in-progress:

1. Whilst walking around my back yard and waiting for dogs to do dog business.

2. Whilst driving.

3. In the shower.

4. Whilst doing dishes.

5. When someone else is talking to me about something important.

6. Pretty much any time I do not have easy access to a notepad or other method of actually documenting the genius ideas I come up with during these daydreaming sessions.

On a slightly more serious note, some of us have these weird writing processes where we think-think-think for like months and then BOOM write a full novel in a couple of weeks. All of that think time could be described as daydreaming, I suppose. It's definitely time I spend putting the story together in my head, and I almost never document all of that work on paper. (Which is why my word-count tracking is super sketchy.) If this is your process or you're thinking about trying it out, stop telling yourself that you have to make a daily word count and get to daydreaming instead. (I know, it sounds miserable, dunnit?)

New Fantasy Romance: The Golden Gryphon and The Bear Prince by @JeffeKennedy

This week our favorite hard-working, award-winning Sunday blogger, Jeffe Kennedy, released the first book in a new fantasy romance series Heirs of Magic! 

THE GOLDEN GRYPHON AND THE BEAR PRINCE
Heirs of Magic: Book 1

A Legacy of Honor

Crown Prince Astar has only ever wanted to do the right thing: be a credit to his late father’s legacy, live up to his duties as heir to the high throne of the Thirteen Kingdoms, and cleave to the principles of honor and integrity that give his life structure—and that contain the ferocious grizzly bear inside. Nowhere in those guiding principles is there room for the fierce-hearted, wildly free-spirited, and dizzyingly beautiful shapeshifter, Zephyr. Still, even though they’ve been friends most of their lives, Astar is able to keep Zephyr safely at arm’s length. He’s already received a list of potential princess brides who will make a suitable queen, and Zephyr is not on it.

A Longtime Obsession

Zeph has wanted the gorgeous, charming, and too-good-for-his-own-good Astar for as long as she can remember. Not that her longing for him—and his perfectly sculpted and muscular body—has stopped her from enjoying any number of lovers. Astar might be honorably (and foolishly) intent on remaining chaste until marriage, but Zeph is Tala and they have no such rules. Still, she loves Astar—as a friend—and she wants him to at least taste life before he chains himself to a wife he didn’t choose. There’s no harm in him having a bit of fun with her. But the man remains stubbornly elusive, staving off all of her advances with infuriatingly noble refusals.

A Quest to Save the World

But things change when a new terror threatens the Thirteen Kingdoms. Following prophecy, Astar and Zeph—along with a mismatched group of shapeshifter, warrior, and sorceress friends—go on a quest to stop a magic rift before it grows beyond anyone’s ability to stop. Thrust together with Zephyr, Astar finds himself increasingly unable to resist her seductive invitations. And in the face of life-and-death battles with lethal monsters, he begins to lose sight of why having her, just once, is such a terrible idea…

BUY IT NOW: Amazon | Apple Books | B&N | Kobo

To Dream, Perhaps to Write

 Dreamzoning is the catch phrase this week. 

Dear Heaens, of course, I daydream. It's all I do.  It's part of my job as a writer. Back in the day Warner Brother Looney Tunes cartoons did stories about a little kid named Ralphie Phillips. That was his job too.

Inevitably, no matter what he was supposed to be doing ARalphie would spin off in his own head and be off on another adventure. first time I saw one of those cartoons I thought that at last somebody understood me. 

I still feel that way.

It's my job to imagine new place, new situations, and then dream up the people to explore them.

If you write fiction, or want to write fiction, what could possibly be more important/

Oh, to be sure there's the craft of writing, but with9utmthe dreams, there are no stories to tell. 

I have so many tales to tell! I'm late on one of them right now, actually, two of them, so back to it for me. 

Good luck with the dreams. Make the time for them. 

Why Daydreaming Increases Productivity

Our topic at the SFF 7 this week is: Dreamzoning (term from Robert Olen Butler’s book From Where You Dream): Do you daydream on purpose?

I'm not familiar with this book, but I absolutely daydream on purpose! I call it The Dreamthink. 

The Dreamthink is so central to my creativity and productivity that I gave it to the heroine of my Forgotten Empires trilogy. For her it's an actual form of magic, and you can see it referenced there in the whim for the upcoming THE PROMISED QUEEN. 

In my Forgotten Empires trilogy, the heroine—Queen Euthalia of Calanthe—uses the dreamthink to maintain her world. Because she’s magically sensitive, messages come to her in nightmares, when her mind is vulnerable. The world is a chaotic, broken, and wounded place—and it cries to her for help. When she wakes from these terrible dreams, she pretends to be asleep still, just to calm herself so she can face a day of politics. 

In some ways, she isn’t entirely faking it. She wakes, then goes into another stage of sleep: the dreamthink. 

Lia, who lives in a world that celebrates science and knowledge, but is not technologically advanced, has given this state its own name. It feels to her like a kind of light dreaming, where she can also guide where her mind goes. Those of you familiar with meditation or sleep stages, might recognize this as a trance state. Or it could be a Stage 1 sleep with theta waves (which are also present during meditation) or Stage 2 with sleep spindles in the brain activity. Magical or not, those are states of mind we all experience at some time or another. 

I know I do! I made up the term “dreamthink” for myself. (Even though I do understand meditative trances and sleep states – lol.) Once I became a full-time writer, I gave myself the gift of waking according to my own natural rhythms. I don’t set an alarm, so I emerge from sleep gradually. Often I’ll lie in bed in that light sleep state a while longer, and mull over the story I’m writing. That’s why I call it the dreamthink—because I can guide my mind to that particular story thread, and then dream about what might happen. It’s a lovely, low-key way to puzzle over plot issues, and wonderful ideas present themselves to me. 

In the first book of the Forgotten Empires, THE ORCHID THRONE, Lia uses the dreamthink to wrestle the nightmares. As the story progresses into the second book, THE FIERY CROWN, and as Lia begins to use her native magic in a more deliberate way, she summons the dreamthink to quiet her conscious mind and unruly emotions. The trance state of the dreamthink allows her to access the magic of the land, to expand her mind into other realms of reality.

If only we all had magic to heal the world in these troubled times! But we all can find a sort of dreamthink for ourselves. I think you’ll find it’s a great salve to worries of all kinds.

For those hoping to access the creative subconscious, this deliberate daydreaming brings its own kind of magic. Productivity comes in many forms - and sometimes that's when you appear to be worlds away, magicking up your own.