Well, it’s Valentine’s Day and everyone’s thinking about looooove. So here’s my self-promoting post on why MOTH AND SPARK is a feminist love story. It’s possible to write a novel where gender stereotypes are flipped, and I didn’t do that; in fact, the societal structure of the book replicates patriarchal norms. So at a quick …
I got asked a while ago to write a piece about Moth and Spark for Upcoming4me, a literary magazine that donates all its profits to charities. They do a column called “The Story Behind the Story,” where writers talk about their writing process. I thought that for this one it would be fun to talk …
Oh, this poor blog. There are cobwebs in the corners and patches of mildew on the ceiling, and I think raccoons may be nesting in the attic. I gave up even my feeble attempts at housekeeping a while ago. When I have to drive by it, I avert my eyes from the overgrown front yard. …
“Did he practice the occult?” That was a forbidden practice, not a fad, but a lord who would ask Liko to mesmerize him might well be lunatic enough to turn to the so-called dark forces for assistance. “He hadn’t the mind for any kind of science,” Liko said contemptuously. “Not even the dubious ones.” “Conjury’s …
An eerie blue light flickered along the ridgetops. Sometimes it flashed brightly, bleaching exposed granite into something as stark and lifeless as a full moon. The ribbon of waterfall cascading down the cliffs at the eastern end of the valley caught the light and threw it back so that the mountain seemed to be splitting. …
“You’re welcome to try to convince them. They might dance with you. You’re lively enough. It’s damn boring having to listen to women prattle about nothing.” “I’m aware of that,” she said. “But what do you expect them to talk about if they can’t go to university or take part in commerce or politics? It’s …
The two mentions of Moth and Spark in review publications thus far (Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal) have both used the word “conventional” to describe the book. This is true so far as the plot and much of the setting, and I have used the word myself. The conventionality exists because the book has …
Well, this is kinda weird because it’s mostly summary and the endorsement, such as it is, is more implied than stated (the impression I get is “fun take on an old story” sort of thing), but hey, it’s Publishers Weekly. And I’ll take “clean prose” as a compliment any day. http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-670-01570-2
(I really wanted to write “anarchy for the UK” in the title there.) And here’s the cover for the edition being published in the UK by Headline Publishing Company.
It was not quite a year ago that I took a geology field trip run by my friend Tom to Yosemite and the Eastern Sierra. At the time I was on my second round of revisions to the ending of M&S, and some of the mountains and geology from that trip really played into the writing of the last few chapters. Below are a few of the pictures I took.
Half Dome and Yosemite Valley from atop Sentinel Dome
Tenaya Lake as seen from Olmstead Point
View eastward en route to Tioga Pass
View of the Minarets
Posted on:
September 8, 2013