Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Rebecca Ryals Russell on July 30, 2009 at 8:11am

I'm Rebecca Ryals Russell
North Central Florida, USA
age 53

Debut author looking for a publisher for Vol I of my 4-part series. Between the Dark and the Light:Vigorios for Alcedonia Series is Dark Fantasy for MG/YA. The story has been rattling around my head for 25 years but I didn't have time or initiative to write it until a couple of years ago. I'm currently writing Vol II.

I'm in SCBWI, Authonomy.com as a critique site.

As I said, I'm working on Vol II of my series. You can see my illustrations and excerpts at Between the Dark and the Light or Ramblings of a Raconteur (my blogsite).

Fav authors-Ray Bradbury, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Stephen King, Tess Gerritson, Ann McCaffrey, Ursula K Le Guinn, George Orwell, Pearl S Buck, Edgar Allan Poe, so many more.

I am here to learn. I've never heard of Spec Fic before, so I've already learned something. Being an introvert, I find the Internet a much easier way to befriend and make connections. I hope to meet some women authors like myself.

Permalink Reply by Ripley Patton on July 30, 2009 at 8:26am

Rebecca,
Thanks for introducing yourself and welcome to Spec Fic Writers. I'm glad to have introduced you to the term.

Ripley

Permalink Reply by Ripley Patton on September 23, 2009 at 7:51pm

Tansy,

All good questions with no easy answers and I certainly take no offense by you asking them. I think some of the best articles about the masculine verses feminine voice in fiction are by Ursala K. Le Guin in her books of essays, Dancing at the Edge of the World, The Language of the Night, and The Wave in the Mind. Notice, the word is feminine voice NOT feminist voice. A subtle but important difference,

As for how finding your feminine voice will influence your ability to get published, Ursula has this to say

To try to summarize my own experience: The more truly your work comes from your own being, body and soul, rather than fitting itself into male conventions and expectations of what to write about and how to write it, the less it will suit most editors, reviewers, grant givers, and committees.

However, as I grow into my own feminine voice I have found that there are editors out there now, both male and female, that are willing to publish my feminine voice, because it has become obvious that women want to read it, and women are the majority book buyers of the world.

If you think of books like The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd you begin to see what the feminine voice might mean, but I think we cannot define it too narrowly, as all women have different voices. Also, there is an added challenge writing Spec Fic in the female voice as it has traditionally been considered a "boy's club" genre, especially sci-fi. I think Octavia Butler does a good job, both writing in the feminine voice and writing from her own Person of Color experiences.

As an experiment, I recently wrote a short story in which the narrator/POV character's gender is never revealed. That character's gender has no bearing on the story. When I sent it through my critique workshop it was about 50/50 with half assuming it was a female and half a male, so I think I did pretty well. Very few people were bothered that I didn't designate gender. They just made an assumption at the beginning of the story, and since there was nothing to contradict that, they felt satisfied. It is out to market now, so we'll see if an editor can take that gender ambiguity or not.

As you can see, this is a passionate subject of mine. Thanks for joining us.

Cheers,
Ripley

http://rippatton.livejournal.com

Tansy said:

Name: Tansy

Location: US

What I write: I've been writing science fiction/fantasy for more than 25 years. (Some day I hope to be good at it.) Although I do have a couple of short stories that I think turned out all right, I'm definitely more inclined to write novels. I'm working on two novels at this time, one of which I'm co-writing with someone else.

Why I'm here: I am hoping to learn what is meant by 'the feminist voice' in fiction, and whether or not it is something I need to acquire if I ever hope to get my own fiction published. I'm hoping to learn just to what extent a story character's gender matters - is it going to confuse the audience if my female P.I. neither acts "girly" nor tries to imitate the guys? For that matter, does the author's gender matter? Do readers have different expectations for a novel depending on whether the author is male or female?

(I'm also trying desperately not to say anything offensive... Honest.)

Permalink Reply by Ripley Patton on September 24, 2009 at 1:15am

Tansy,
I like Le Guin but there are some old-fashioned ideals about gender in her essays. I tend to take what empowers me, and toss the rest. I do believe that all human beings have feminine and masculine parts that make up who they are (their inner landscape), and they can choose to manifest them, or not. I find it useful to tap into my masculine parts when writing male characters, but I don't consider this "writing like a man".

I think you hit the nail on the head. If you are faithful to your inner voice, regardless of gender, then stuff what other people say.

Ripley

Permalink Reply by Joyce Chng on October 7, 2009 at 2:58am

I am Joyce Chng
Singapore
34

Self-published a YA steampunk/speculative fiction novella (actually two novelettes), titled "Winged: A Novella (Of Two Girls). Am quite versatile with themes and sub-themes, but I am interested in steampunk and urban fantasy, especially written from the perspective of a woman.

Not under an actual official/formal writing organization. I wanted to join Broad Universe, but I couldn't afford the fees (well, not at the moment). Thinking about joining Speculative Literature Foundation. Using Authonomy.com as a critique site.

Favorite authors - Frank Herbert, Anne McCaffrey, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ursula Le Quin, Doris Lessing, Margaret Atwood.

Hoping to meet like-minded folk. :)

Permalink Reply by Carolyn Haley on March 9, 2010 at 6:35pm

Name: Carolyn Haley

Location: Northern New England, USA

Age: 54

What I write: Novels, magazine articles, commercial catalogue copy, blog essays.I have one nonfiction book out, Open Your Heart with Gardens (2008), which is one of 14 volumes in a self-help series by DreamTime Publishing. Just a few months ago, my first novel, The Mobius Striptease, was released as an e-book by Club Lighthouse Publishing. This is a spec-fic book containing elements from several genres (sci fi, fantasy, romantic suspense, paranormal). Info about both titles can be found at my AuthorsDen site: http://www.authorsden.com/visit/mytitles.asp?AuthorID=119488

Other Associations: No paid memberships in anything, but I'm associated with several writing and copyediting/freelance sites online.

WIP (Work in Progress)- Sequel to my novel, tentatively titled Mobius Secrets.

Favorite authors: Too many to list!

Why are you here? To learn about and discuss Speculative Fiction. And, like Ripley, "to find sisters of craft . . . I'm an introvert and I prefer to meet people in my own time and on my own terms. The internet works great for that!"

Permalink Reply by Ripley Patton on March 10, 2010 at 12:13pm

Welcome Carolyn,

I totally know what you mean about meeting people on your terms, and the internet it great for that.

So glad to have you as a part of the group.

Ripley

Permalink Reply by Trina L. Talma on March 10, 2010 at 10:52am

I'm Trina Talma, in North Dakota. Age 42.

What I write: So far mostly fantasy, sci-fi and speculative fiction, though some of my work crosses over into the romance & YA genres. I've self-published a series of five fantasy novels and a multi-genre short-story collection.

WIP: I'm currently editing a YA/speculative fiction novel called Cherish the Fire; I'm hoping to publish it within the next month. I'm also writing the sequel and working on a second short-story collection.

Favorite authors: Neil Gaiman (genius), Terry Pratchett, John Crowley, Charles De Lint, Stephen R. Donaldson, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Louisa May Alcott... too many more to name!

Why I'm here: I feel like the fantasy/scif-fi/spec fic genres are still too much marginalized, even by other writers. I want to connect with people who understand the need to create strange realities in their fiction.

Permalink Reply by Ripley Patton on March 10, 2010 at 12:13pm

Trina,
Great to have you.

Ripley

Permalink Reply by Gillian Polack on March 31, 2010 at 8:21pm

Name: Gillian Polack

Location: Australia

Age: 48

What I write: I write speculative fiction novels and some non-fiction. I enjoy writing about the lives of women. My writing ranges from hard SF to horror, but it always has interesting women in it.

WIP (Work in Progress) - I have several novels in progress, since I like to write them and then let them sit a while before editing. I'm doing initial work right now on a SF novel involving time travel.

Favourite authors: Too many to count, but they include Ursula le Guin, Joan Aiken, George Gissing, Kaaron Warren, Patricia McKillip.

Why are you here? I love communities. I work alone very happily most of the time, but I live alone, too, so good communities are essential for my sanity.

Permalink Reply by Ripley Patton on April 16, 2010 at 4:55pm

Gillian, Welcome to the group and great to have a fellow Antipodean. I see you're a member of the CSFG. I have some friends there.

Ripley Patton

Permalink Reply by Rhian Williams on June 9, 2010 at 9:00am

Hey

I'm Rhi, I'm 28 and live in Wales.

I write poetry and speculative fiction. I used to live in Leicester where I was part of a writing group called the Speculators. We met up once a week. I miss them :) but I'm still involved a little, we have our own broadsheet that we handed out at a alternative fiction festival- our press release

I'm half way through a novel, I wrote most of it during NaNoWriMo, and have sort of trailed off since I moved to Wales for various reasons. Seems I needed the push of NaNo to get me writing so much everyday.

Anyway, that's me, thought I'd say hello.

x

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