Smuttin' It, Smuttin' It, Genre Style

Hey, all you writer types. Let's look at spicing up your genre (or even literary) stories with a little (ahem) action. How do you incorporate sexy time into your stories?

Let's say for you a publisher is open to spicy but not all-out erotica, how do you determine where to draw the line yet still keep the sexy actually, you know, sexy?

Elizabeth Donald: Sex is part of the human experience, to a greater or lesser degree according to a person’s personal drives. We don’t have to literally shine a spotlight on the penetrating moment in order for sexuality to be at the forefront of the story. A character may be consumed with deep need and powerful attraction - indeed, it might be the driving force of their actions and even the plot, without us actually following them under the sheets. It’s not censorship to construct a story about sex and sexual attraction without actually depicting the act; if you’re doing your job right with evocative language, the reader will feel all the things you want them to feel, regardless of the explicitness of your story.

L. Andrew Cooper: In the fiction I've published, at least, the sex I've described has always been horrific in some way, from attempts to conceive a child for sacrifice in Descending Lines to the relentless taboo-breaking of Alex's Escape. I guess some scenes in The Middle Reaches are steamy, but they're still weird. So mostly I don't have to worry about sexy... I have to worry about explicit description ("showing") parts and acts. I guess if I have to satisfy a prudish publisher, I describe less or cut more.

Chris Riker: Sex is a great time for internal dialogue. A writer doesn't have to re-invent the old Penthouse Forum; he just has to tell us what the sex means to the characters. 

"Then, while I was still trying to plot her trajectory, she said, “I won’t do anything on a futon, Zebulon.” The futon was in good shape, only a few beer stains on its lime green canvas, but it was a futon, so, as the French would say, ‘non humpez vous.’

I said, “There’s a big bed. The sheets are clean. And call me Zee, please.” I was hoping. Really hard. She kept me waiting a solid minute, standing there, considering her options. Then…

“Zee,” she said my name that way for the first time and put her arms around my neck. “Take me to the big bed with the clean sheets.”

Yes, I remember how her pencil skirt slid off her hips by lava lamp and the way her voice rose in primal song as she taught me to please her and the smoothness of her skin and the way my lungs drank in the scent of her hair. I remember giggling together afterwards and not being able to stop or wanting to. And when at last Jing fell asleep in my arms, I remember lying awake and feeling… real." - Zebulon Angell and the Shadow Army

Sean Taylor: I love to focus on the after or the before. I think there's a lot of magic to be covered there in the buildup or the afterglow. People get real then. Case in point, in this scene, Rick Ruby is visiting one of his, ahem, informants, a nightclub singer named Donna:

Scars and All

(Even the Imperfections Are Part of Beautiful You)

Hey, writerly types! I just finished reading the Yours Cruelly, Elvira book by Cassandra Peterson, and she closed the book with this little tidbit that really made me think: "We all have our scars. Let them be a blessing and not a curse."

That got me thinking about the "scars" that make us who we are and how that works into our writing. 

Are you the kind of writer who has a "writer self" separate from your "normal self" -- i.e. is the writer a persona you put on, or do you use the whole of who you are both while writing and in person (at cons, signings, etc.)? Why do you think that is?

Mari Hersh-Tudor: Of necessity, I view the world through a number of different lenses. My work persona is wholly separate from the rest of my identity, which contains, but is not limited to: Writer Gremlin, Cosplay Demon, Fiber Artist and 2-D Artist who live together, Mom/Grandma, Occasional Musical Genius, Cat Whisperer, Really Good Cook, and Oh Look Squirrel.

Honestly my head is pretty crowded and there’s a lot of scampering back and forth in there.

As for Why, I was raised in a very restrictive environment where I had to excise the unacceptable parts of me for public presentation. I kept them and they grew into New Me selves that I kept in my head.

Bobby Nash: I’m pretty much me. What you see if what you get. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m working as Author Bobby, I put my best foot forward and act in a professional manner. What I don’t do is pretend to be something I’m not. I have enough trouble keeping up with who I am. Trying to keep up with a false identity as well seems like a lot of work. The last thing I want to do is give myself more work. I never really put a lot of debate into it. I’m just me. This is who I am.How have both the good and bad events in your life influenced your work? Are there hardships or traumas (that you are okay to discuss in this interview) that you've found made you a better writer? What about good times or happy events that have made you a better writer?

Paul Landri: I don't see myself so much as a "writer." More like a guy who writes if that makes sense.

I don't have a persona any more than I do when I'm voice Acting or doing my day job. When I market my work I tend to take the Stan Lee approach and be a stout cheerleader for my projects to the point of annoyance. Everything is the biggest, the best, the most thrilling thing you've ever read and if you don't read it the whole world will explode! 

Lisa Barker: I'm guessing that I am the same person/persona when writing, doing writing related things, and when not. However, I do take on my characters when I am writing and they are distinct and for the most part strictly tapped into and expressed when and in writing, though I took on mannerisms of my main character from Inheritance that I noticed in real life. Why to all of that? I'm an authentic person so I am the same me that writes as the me you would meet on the street. As for the mannerisms . . . I get really involved in my work, lol.

Sam Kelley: No. My writer self and “normal” self (whatever that means ahaha) are the same person. I grew up writing. My older characters are part of me. We grew up together. I know some of them better than I know myself. There has never been a time that I was active on social media that I wasn’t talking about OCs (the same exactly ones I talk about online now, for the most part lol).

Sean Taylor: I hope I don't. I really try to be as opening "me" in my work as I am in my day-to-day life. Most people who know me for even a few minutes, I like to think. Sure, they may think there is more to me than they can learn in a few minutes of our meeting, but all the real, true, deep stuff is there. The rest is just details. I try to write like that too, dumping my beliefs and heart and deep thinking into my work, even when if that work is mainly surface-level action or adventure stories. 

How have both the good and bad events in your life influenced your work? Are there hardships or traumas (that you are okay to discuss in this interview) that you've found made you a better writer? What about good times or happy events that have made you a better writer?

Sam Kelley: My characters go through a lot. When I first started writing, I was only 11. When I started writing what later became my debut series, I was 13. I hadn’t gone through much trauma or hardship (besides growing up poor) at that point. But, as I got older, my situation changed, and some things that happened to me were eerily similar to things my characters went through. It sucks, but it definitely helped me to be a better writer (in the sense that the characters & their reactions to situations feel a lot more grounded and realistic than they were originally). Good times have influenced my writing too, but in smaller moments, so it seems less noticeable to me.

Lisa Barker: Growing up with an alcoholic mother who thought she was psychic and wanted to train me as well as control me, set me up perfectly to write my debut novel. I wrote about an adult child of alcoholics without realizing I was one or that my character was one until the editing process was complete. My relationship with my mother also made me keenly observant and I think that makes me a good writer. Bipolar disorder made me a mood writer. Before I was medicated or stable, I could write from depression or melancholy; mania drove me to write around the clock, sometimes not sleeping for days. Now, after over a decade of stability, life is good, but writing has eluded me. I don't have a well spring of the abyss to draw upon, so I have to write in the immediacy of being hurt emotionally, and that is not a likely occurrence. Writing has become more cerebral than intuitive (and that makes producing work excruciating). Unless I can find a way to connect emotionally with my characters, which is how I live and breathe as a writer, I am impotent so I am still figuring it out and journaling seems to be helping with that as well as reading other people's books. To get to the point, positive events and a general sense of positivity and well-being have been great for my life, but has had a negative impact on my writing and I am figuring it out.

Paul Landri: I lost my dad when I was 25 years old. Bad age to lose a parent when you're still trying to figure things out. He does suddenly and it was a shock. Because of this I tend to like to give my characters happy endings. It doesn't happen all the time because real life is messy but if I can pit my characters through hell, the least they can get is a little peace. 

Bobby Nash: There are real-life instances that influence my work. Absolutely. It can be little things like experiences at work, on a date, at a con, or getting a speeding ticket. All of those can translate into character moments. Real people and their attitudes, both good and bad, can be a starting point for building a character or situation. Trauma works. Lost a loved one? That gives you a point of reference for writing a character that’s lost a loved one, for example. Use those things, if you’re comfortable doing so. Sometimes, writing them down can be therapeutic. A nice bonus.

Sean Taylor: I sometimes face situation depression (as opposed to clinical), and there are still wounds that sting from time to time, such as when I was let go from the religious organization I used to work for that really defined my identity for a lot of years and left me struggling to figure out who I was afterward. However, struggling through that post-religious work "me" was something that my writing was able to help me work through -- and sharp readers will notice that in my work: questioning, doubts, identity issues, that sort of thing. 

Mari Hersh-Tudor: Everything is fair game. Everything. Even if I’m only observing it happen to someone else, it’s Story Fodder. This online discussion is fair game.

Have you ever thought to "hide" a part of who you are when you write? Maybe an upbringing that doesn't mesh with your current beliefs or a trauma that you'd prefer not to reveal (even subtly through your work) to readers?

Sean Taylor: Of course I do. There are still deeper parts of me that I don't reveal blatantly -- think that wouldn't go over well with my MeMe and Mom, where they still alive, and that's a part of my faith upbringing I still struggle with most likely. It's there in the work, but it's deep and incredibly subtle. However, the more of an ally to the marginalized I seek to become, even some of that is beginning to bubble to the surface. What kind of things? Well, that's for you to find in my work. 

Bobby Nash: Not really. I mean, I do write things that I never personally encountered also. I use what’s best for the story. The only way the audience knows if it’s truly a personal belief or trauma is if I tell them in interviews or in the book. I will also add that I’ve added things to stories that were very personal, but no one knows it because I have never said it aloud. We don’t have to share everything.

Ef Deal: I am so caught up with health issues right now, I can't even begin to answer except with this one example: beginning at age 15, I began to be molested by a man well respected in the community, even honored as a legend, which I supposed in many ways he was. When I told my priest, he said it was God's will and to bear the trial. When I suggested it (a friend of mine) to my mom, she said the girl probably deserved it, but men were like that. I kept my mouth shut until I was 18 and went to college to discover that no, it was not normal. Then I discovered I was not the only girl in my situation with this man, but the other girls just shrugged and said, "Forget it. It happened. He's dead now. It won't change anything. But it changed ME. Last year I was invited by Speculation Publications to contribute to their Grimm Retold anthology, and I found my perfect catharsis in reinventing Fitcher's Birds into "Fitcher's Chick." It is raw, it may be triggering for some women, but it is in essence true in every sense of the word. And I feel GREAT and grateful that I could finally breathe.

Sam Kelley: Not really, no. I have no problem exploring rather intense subjects in my work. Writing my characters navigating situations that are similar or comparable (albeit often worse) to things I’ve experienced has helped me process negative emotions. I am a bit more pragmatic or pessimistic than the stories I tend to write (as I like to give my characters a generally happy end after all of the horrors they experience).

Paul Landri: I don't hide anything in my writing because what's the fun in that? If Stephen King has the courage to write about even a fraction of the stuff he does (under the influence or sober) then why should I or anyone else hide anything they want to put out there if it means a good story? 

Mari Hersh-Tudor: I’m not consciously writing myself into my work so I never considered it before, but now that you mention it, the idea is a good story prompt.

Lisa Barker: The only thing I have noted that I'd hide and not incorporate into my writing are the "current events" of my life which are the present fears and events of my life. The problem I am having when I try to write these days is that I'm not drawing from a murky pool of melancholy, writing about things I won't understand until I've done some developmental editing on myself (therapy, self-education); instead I am conscious of what these things are about and where they come from and precisely what that means. Thinking about that now, this could be really good for me as a writer, but it's as if the old way of writing was like creating my own static electricity and that was a great magic show, but now I have lightening bolts at my disposal that I can fire at will with deadly precision. What the hell do I do now?! Phenomenal Cosmic Power . . . itty bitty living space.

How much do your (use your own definitions for these words) positive and negative traits and interests influence who you are as a writer and the stories you create?

Mari Hersh-Tudor: Writing is excellent catharsis. If your subconscious won’t let go of something, it’s telling you that you have things to work out, and the keyboard is a good place to start.

Lisa Barker: Now that is what I am going to find out after this year of reading and journaling. I feel like what I have to write is a "tell all". Maybe journal writing will suffice. Maybe I'll write a memoir. I'd like to believe that I can still write fiction and now have the maturity to handle that act. It will be really cool finding out.

On the positive side, a lively imagination can take you down rabbit holes no matter what you’re doing. So what if they don’t pan out? A healthy “cut file” can still spark ideas when you need them.

Bobby Nash: I try to imbue characters with the traits that help define them. No one is 100% good or bad, positive or negative. Even Doctor Doom loves his mother. As writers, we dig deep into our own emotions and experiences, but we’re also natural people watchers. I learn a lot from watching other people and finding traits that work for characters that aren’t like me. Again, both positive and negative.

Sam Kelley: The characters in my debut series all contain elements of me (my traits and thought patterns) in them. Many of those traits are dramatized or exaggerated, often pushed to extremes, and many of my characters have mental illnesses or conditions either I have or someone close to me has (anxiety, ADHD, BPD, etc). I’m careful to keep the characters grounded and complex (developing them for 15 years helps with creating a rounded character lol), but it’s an interesting way to explore both the positive and negative of the human experience and how relationships form and play out between characters with certain traits. Psychology fascinates me, which might be why I like writing stories focused on the characters themselves (rather than plot-driven by external forces).

Paul Landri: I'm a lazy bones when it comes to writing. It seems like a chore up until I sit down and get going, then I can't stop myself. I lay the foundation of the story and my coauthor fleshes out the rest. It's a good system because I do the broad strokes and he adds the finishing touches.

I love dialogue and I love dramatic narratives. When I can marry the two it really is a match made in heaven.

Sean Taylor: I work them all in, but some are more blatant than others. I often attribute my negative characteristics (or characteristics I'm trying to overcome or have overcome) to my characters who are either "villains" or "trying to be better people." I see my good qualities in a more idealized way, and try not to use those too liberally because writing them that way can make my "heroes" seem like they don't have feet of clay, and I don't believe that at all.

LGBTQIA+ Writers, Characters, and Books

Hey, LGBTQIA+ writer folks!

For the next roundtable, I want to talk to you in particular. I want to know what the independent and small publishing world looks like for you.

Do you feel welcome in the world of independent and small publishing? At cons, in stores, sales? Why or why not?

October Santerelli: I feel welcomed by authors and readers, and given lip service by some small press who claim they want to be more inclusive and don't demonstrate it or big houses. I mention ace or queer characters and people pick up the books just to read about them, so I know I have stories readers want! Cons are good, stores have not been great, I keep getting brushed off. My sales are phenomenal when I get in front of people, but I feel like algorithms and some sales folks and such are just...suppressing LGBTQ+ content or ignoring it.

Inka York: In the online world, I definitely feel welcome. There are some great spaces with excellent support, authors lifting each other up, and readers throwing themselves into ARC and street teams. I can't speak for cons or bookshops because they're not a priority for me. Most of my sales are ebook (like 99% of them), so my most recent releases don't even have print books.

Sarah Marshall Malluck: I feel welcome as an independent author at cons and sales tables. Most people will let you know if they are not interested in a same-gender couple.

I also write MF pairings, so my sapphic/mm romances don’t sell as well to my audience that reads the MF pairs. I find most readers like to read set tropes, couples, etc. Myself included. I’ve read almost exclusively MM romance for about two years now. Of course, some readers will read anything in a genre. It’s about finding the audience.

I’ve had more pushback on writing about witches than homosexuals. I live in GA by the way.

DL Wainright: Cons are my bread and butter, when it comes to book sales, and I typically feel very welcome at them. There's often at least one pride flag on my table at events, and it doesn't seem to deter many, and in fact draws many in who are seeking stories with representation. I can't speak about small publishing or any of that, as I self-publish, but I know many folks who publish through smaller print presses which specifically exist for queer fiction. Because I'm self-pub, I'm print-on-demand, which most stores won't carry without specifically asking them to. A popular local bookstore carries my stuff without any issue. At first, though, they put it in the queer lit section and I had to suggest they either move it to horror or YA, so they moved it to horror. That was the only hiccup. 

James A. McDonald II: As a transgender individual much of the world is not particularly welcoming in general at the moment which influences things. There are locations that are more friendly/welcoming than others, in fact there are locations that are downright unsafe for me to go. People have become emboldened to be more openly hateful and violent toward trans people which makes me more cautious about travel and who I engage with.

What in your mind goes into a book being LGBTQIA+ focused or friendly? Must it be written by an LGBTQIA+ writer?

Emmy Anthony: An author in the community helps. Characters that are more than a stereotype are very important. My female protagonist has a gay male best friend but he is not the rom-com comic relief. He protects her and loves her like a sister when she needs it most, for example.

James A. McDonald II: Representation matters, but representation beyond the token and the stereotype. Not every gay man is effeminate, lesbian a butch, and trans woman a catty obvious dude in a dress. Bisexuals, trans men and so much more exist. Go beyond the stereotype and create whole complex characters. I think it is also a disservice to make LGBTQIA+ characters too perfect. That gives the perception that nothing bad ever happens to them and that is also false, give the characters space to be more than token mentions. In my mind to be LGBTQIA+ friendly a major character has to be LGBTQIA+ and it a known fact within the story, perhaps even a minor plot point. I.e. The character is nervous about their partner meeting the parents or the friend group, etc. To be focused a main character has to be LGBTQIA and it has to be a plot point. 

I don't think it must be written by an LGBTQIA+ writer, but I think if the writer is not they should do a lot of research, spend a lot of time engaging with the community they are trying to write in a respectful way and they should have several individuals from within the community/sensitivity readers read over it to ensure that they are not missing some nuance. 

DL Wainright: It used to be that we basically had two kinds of stories that contained queer characters: mainstream books where a queer character was a villain or comic relief, or "queer lit," which was heavily focused on the queer experience. But nowadays there are very mainstream stories where the protagonists are queer, and it isn't about THAT, it's about the standard hero's adventure. I often bring up She-ra and the Princesses of Power, and I'm going to do it again here. That story has a ton of queer characters, including She-ra herself, but the story is about the conflict between different factions and the threat of Hordak, etc. Stories like that, I don't think need to necessarily be written by queer authors. But if it's something like traditional queer lit, where it's about the EXPERIENCE of being queer, then that's a subject for own voices. Basically: anyone can write about a princess who saves the world and falls in love with a cat girl, but only someone who is bi should write a story about a girl in high school who's struggling with her bi identity. That's not to say the princess can't be struggling with her identity, too, it's just about framing and what the actual focus is of the narrative.

Evan Peterson: While there is definitely the presence of misconceptions and microaggressions within the alphabet towards other parts of the alphabet, I still find myself much more wary of cis-straight writers writing queer characters. I won't avoid them, but I do approach them more guarded and prepared for disappointment. 

Inka York: I don't write LGBTQ+ fiction, by which I mean my books are not about BEING LGBTQ+, so I don't market/categorise them that way. I write queer casts, stories about kicking angel/demon/vampire/whatever butt while being queer, or paranormal pirate adventures but everyone is gay. And I write these queer casts because when I was growing up I didn't have books where everyone was as casually queer as they were casually cishet.

I genuinely don't care what people write, but if I'm reading LGBTQ+ focused books, I favour own voices because authenticity is important to me as a reader. I don't think it's my place to tell other authors what they should and shouldn't be writing.

October Santerelli: It doesn't have to be written by an LGBTQ+ person! One of the best books I ever read was written by a middle-aged cisgender Christian mom in her 40s. The queer character was a side character and helped the main character realize human is human and love outweighs intolerance. What makes a story LGBTQ+ friendly is giving us stories outside the stereotypes and letting us and our existence help tell a tale, any tale. Humanizing us. I feel like LGBTQ+ focused is coming out stories, queer romances, etc. Things that inherently focus on the aspect of queer as a story-driving element. But any story with a developed character who is LGBTQ+ is queer-friendly.

Sarah Marshall Malluck: For a LGBTQIA+ focused book, the writer needs to tell the story in an authentic way without villainizing the character because of their sexuality. I mean the character can be the antagonist as long as it’s not tangled into their LGBTQIA+-ness. Anyone can be a dick.

As for friendly, treating characters as you would a cis/straight character is important. Don’t make a big deal about it. Like “This is my friend Bob and his boyfriend Pete. Can you believe they met at the post office?”

I highly suggest hiring a sensitivity reader if you write a character that you do not have a similar lived experience (this includes different cultures and race). I hired a sensitivity reader for my sapphic romance even though I’m pansexual, because I’ve been in a straight passing relationship for 20 years now. I want to be respectful.

Continuing from that previous question, what are some issues you have seen -- both helpful and harmful -- that ally writers who aren't living in the life of an LGBTQIA+ person do well or do poorly? What more can they do to be an ally who is a writer?

Inka York: This may ruffle some feathers, but I think LGBTQ+ authors are just as capable of writing harmful messages as allies. We're not a monolith, and some of the hate is coming from inside the house from folks who, frankly, should know better.

I can't say I've read anything glaringly horrible from an author who's a known ally, and if their sexuality/gender identity isn't known, I'm not gonna go looking. There are enough readers and authors out there trying to gatekeep queer stories by outing authors or forcing them to out themselves, and it's repulsive.

I always recommend authors get a sensitivity reader or two if they're including experiences vastly different from their own. It's easy to say "avoid harmful stereotypes," but you don't know what you don't know. If you're not part of the demographic yourself, you may not be aware of the nuances of microaggressions and dogwhistles, for example. Casual inclusion of side characters is enough if allies want to add representation but would feel out of their depth doing more. Just acknowledgement that we exist and are normal like everyone else. There are online groups to help with that too.

October Santerelli: In my work as a sensitivity editor, a lot of what I see is trying to step into a lived experience they don't have. It's easier to write about a trans person from an outside perspective if you are cis and have met a trans person, it's harder to get in their head and write the genuine experience of it without said experience. I see them want to include representation without knowing how to do do without making a huge deal out of it, too, but some of my favorites have been when characters talk about their two moms or casually mention a boyfriend. I love, as an example, the jock in the movie Paranorman. The whole movie he is a stereotypical dude bro, the cheerleader is flirting with him, at the end she asks if he wants to go see a rom-com sometime...and the jock goes yeah, can my boyfriend come? He's a chick flick nut. No big drums, not even making a scene about it at the start, just letting this character be who he is and letting it come up naturally in the story. The more normal you write us, the more normal we seem!

Sarah Marshall Malluck: If an ally asks questions of the community while writing, they tend to create a better story with realistic characters. You can spot a writer who makes assumptions pretty quickly. Not all non-binary people are androgynous. Don’t write all your LGBTQIA+ characters to stereotypes.

An ally who is a writer should be open about their work, don’t back down when people are openly homophobic/transphobic, do the research, do the work, and accept constructive criticism. Allys need to step up and openly support the community.

James A. McDonald II: I have seen ally writers underestimate the fear and sense of danger that comes with coming out, particularly as trans. I believe this comes from a place of feeling like it shouldn't be a big deal but in reality it is often terrifying and sometimes dangerous. This can be particularly true in other time-frames. They can also treat hormone therapy as though it cures the feelings of dysphoria immediately when that is not usually the case. Dysphoric feelings can continue long after hormones and even some surgery, it is all very dependent on the trans person.

Ally writers often do a great job of writing themselves into the characters' lives. What I mean by that is they often include ally characters that are supportive and there for the LGBTQIA+ character which I think is great because it can be both a model for others and a way to give hope to LGBTQIA+ folks going through hard times. It can be harmful because it can also paint the picture that LGBTQIA+ folks always need saving from bigots, it depends on how it is written so just a word of caution. 

The last piece of caution I would ask for is to watch for accidental fetishization, this is particularly true for gender nonconforming/genderqueer/transgender people. 

I think something that could be really powerful is for ally writers to ask what stories LGBTQIA+ people wish were told more. What experiences we wish were better understood by others. Even if the experience is seen from an outside perspective it might still bring interest to it and folks might start looking for stories written from a LGBTQIA+ perspective.

I want to add I would love for the character being LGBTQIA+ to be the least interesting thing about them, but also avoid the "oh yeah Dumbledore is totally gay" Retcon effect. If that makes sense.

Evan Peterson: If you're straight and cisgender, are you intentional in why you want to include queer characters? Do you have a strong circle of queer friends/family/peers who give you firsthand awareness of our lives and struggles and who would feel safe calling you in of you wrote something harmful, stereotyped, or problematic? I question how a cis straight writer can write honest queer depictions without really knowing the queer experience. Utilizing sensitivity readers (I hate that term) could also be helpful. And most important, listening to criticism when it comes without succumbing to the knee-jerk reaction of getting defensive is an important quality for all writers to have, but even more so for those who are writing any marginalized background they haven't themselves experienced.

DL Wainright: I have seen straight authors force a heteronormative perspective onto queer couples in narratives (basically, assigning one person the "male" role and one the "female" role, despite the actual genders of the couple). People also like to demonstrate that the guy is trans by making him short and fae-like, and that the woman is trans by making her really tall. And, like, I'm trans masc and am taller than my cis husband. My point being that cishet authors tend to very obviously be affected by this erroneous perspective that we have been fed in narratives for a very long time that all boys are like A and all girls are like B and that's just how things are. When in truth humans are gloriously diverse. There are cis women who aren't typically effeminate in the way that would fit that box. Likewise, there are cis men who don't like or do the things men are "supposed" to like and do. When we say that gender is a spectrum, that encompasses every aspect of one's gender, including how they present, and how they "perform" gender. I think a great first step for a cishet author, in helping them improve how they write queer characters, would be for them to start breaking out of boxes when it comes to even just writing cishet characters. Look around you at the people you know, not at characters in shows. Look at your family and your friends. Really consider how varied they all are in how they dress, their interests, their relationship dynamics...but also look at the similarities regardless of gender. And I want to note, I'm not asking for "She's not like other girls" kind of stuff, I'm asking for more realistic depictions of human beings. Once you can do that with cishet characters, then you will be better equipped to try your hand at folks who challenge the norms even more. 

Emmy Anthony: We can all work on non-gendered or neutral characters. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros has several bisexual characters and that fact is only acknowledged in terms of which dorm room they happen to be seen sneaking out of. I like that. Sexuality isn’t someone’s whole identity.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: One of the most egregious sins hetero writers commit is the Character Cliche: it’s lazy writing that depends on the reader’s brain to fill in the details by sketching an outdated incorrect empty wrapper instead of writing a fully nuanced actual character. Examples include the power-tool-toting bull-dyke with a buzz cut and a flannel shirt and a red pickup truck. Or the effeminate gay man in pink bunny slippers with a lisp and a muffin bakery.

These are extreme examples but dead giveaways that the author is a cishet without a clue.

LGBTQ characters are just *people,* folks. That kid next to you on the bus. The old lady feeding squirrels in the park.

I don’t believe that LGBTQIA books are required to address certain issues or have a minimum body count of non-cishet characters. While that’s certainly an established genre, there’s plenty of room for good solid fiction that just happens to have a more accurate population.

How is the publishing world changing for you? Is it becoming more or less accepting? Do you find readers to be more or less progressive when it comes to gender identity and sexual identity culture?

Emmy Anthony: I as a romantasy writer feel pinned. I would like to have a gay/lesbian main romance arch but the majority of readers seem to expect heterosexual main characters with LGBT friends.

DL Wainright: The reason I self-published was because back when my first book came out, it was like how I described before, where books with queer protagonists had to be about the queer experience itself. And mine wasn't, it was about monsters that ate people and a group of queer young people dealing with all of that. So back then, no agent was interested because they wouldn't have been able to sell it. Now YA is booming with queer content, and I've had agents express interest in whatever I come out with after this series (as they can't use something already in print). The publishing world is definitely changing, with YA leading the way when it comes to quality queer representation. The market targeted towards adults is getting there at a slower pace, likely because of the differences between generations when it comes to views on queerness. If you go to cons, you can often find indie authors with adult books featuring queer characters, because that's unfortunately still their best option until the publishing world catches up. Talking with customers at cons, I fully believe the market is there, especially considering that Millennials are aging (I'm in my 40s, for example), and we're a generation that's very queer and want to continue reading stories with representation beyond things for teens.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: I find the publishing world has some welcoming established genres for queer characters, and that’s a definite improvement from 50 years ago. I don’t see much that breaks out of those safe lanes, though, like a serious gay James Bond, for instance.

Cons and fairs are much more welcoming than they used to be.

The paradox of having established queer lit genres means that those have become the only acceptable outlets, and god help you if you try to publish a round peg that doesn’t fit in those square holes. So while there are more outlets, they are narrowly defined and can be restrictive.

James A. McDonald II: I think there are niches in both directions. I think reader response really depends on genre and where your work is shown, obviously there are groups that are going to be very vocally opposed to anything LGBTQIA+ but there are also groups who are incredibly supportive. This might be the biggest change that the division is bigger and more obvious than before, and those opposed are much more vocal and aggressive.

Sarah Marshall Malluck: Being an indie author, I find that readers are becoming more progressive. There is a higher demand for books with diverse gender identity and sexual identity. I also think these next few years will be difficult for authors who write in that space due to the political climate. But this is not the time to hide. I can pass for a cis straight woman, but I choose not to because there needs to be more voices to push back against the chaos. I want people to know I’m a safe space should they need it.

October Santerelli: Right now, the industry is a weird mix. A lot of places are becoming more hostile, I've seen some small press in solid Red states pulling back from publishing or acquiring these stories. But then there are places like Penguin putting out open, unagented submissions for books by queer authors and more small houses and imprints starting just to lift our voices. There's a push in both directions and it's going to get rough. There's no doubt about that. Readers themselves are just as divided. Videos asking for more queer authors, Trans Readathon, and booksky influencers who love their rainbow flags are just as common as influencers telling people to DNF books as soon as they see queer content, people trying to ban books from libraries and bookstores, and people threatening, harassing, or questioning queer authors. A friend who is a MULTIPLE TIMES NYT bestseller dreads podcasts about their work because 9 times out of 10, they are asked why someone is queer and they hate having to defend our existence in a story by one of us for us about us.

Inka York: I write a lot of romance, and readers lap that shit up. Queer media is doing big numbers all round, so yes, I think the audience is becoming more accepting. I'm not focusing on those who are less accepting because they're not my people. I don't think about them at all. I only care about my readers and those with the potential to become my readers.

The biggest change for me in recent months is that readers are coming around to the idea of buying direct from me. Direct sales for fiction was virtually unheard of a few years ago, but that's not specific to any niche or demographic. It's just an observation. LGBTQ+ folks have a tendency to be more sceptical of big corporations dipping into their pockets than the population at large, though, so I think they're more willing to support creators directly. I think we're going to see big movement in direct sales and subscriptions over the next few years.

What makes holiday fiction work? (Or does it not?)

Well, the season is upon us. So, I guess we should tackle a more seasonal theme for this new roundtable. We're going to talk about holiday-themed fiction, and why it works (or doesn't).

There's a long tradition of holiday-themed (particularly Christmas) stories and novels. Is that a theme you've covered in your work and to what degree? Whole novels? More of a setting?

Mari Hersh-Tudor: I was instrumental in developing the basis of a holiday urban fantasy anthology involving “maximum explicit spice” that we self-pubbed a few years back. The combination of subjects was… bracing.

Selah Janel: I’ve written a magic realism/faerie-based novella called Holly and Ivy, as well as a Christmas horror/zombie short called Candles. They’re very different stories centered around different aspects of the season.

Marian Allen: I wrote stories for Christmas anthologies. One was a fantasy set at the turning of the season (not Christmas, per se). One was a comic Sci-Fi set on another planet during the Anti-Hot Solemnities, but that was sort of Christmas, since it featured a librarian of a Living Library of people native to the planet who are so obsessed with Earth literature they memorize texts (like in F451), and a Compendium of Christmas stories always goes to her family's Solemnities with her. One was a mystery that just happened to be set during the holidays, and my current WIP, Pickle in a Pear Tree, is set during Christmas and revolves, in part, around a family tradition. 

Bobby Nash: Not really. I mean, I’ve set stories during holidays, but I’ve not intentionally written a “Christmas” story. Every year I think I should, but that usually happens in December so I tell myself I’ll do it next year. Then next year arrives and I repeat the process.

Brian K Morris: My first paperback novel release was Santastein: The Post-Holiday Prometheus. It was originally a ten-minute stage play script that never was picked up, due to its irreverence, and expanded into novel form. I've never visited the holiday motif since.

Kay Iscah: Not yet, though the next book I have coming out should establish major festivals in the fantasy setting. There's a quick reference to the Harvest Festival in Seventh Night, but it's not really explored beyond setting up a timeline. For the next story, getting to go to the Winter Feast does become a plot point and takes up two chapters and sets up some class contrast, Kaleb's desire to be loved and recognized, and plot points for the murder mystery towards the end.

Sean Taylor: Funnily enough, the only times I used the holidays as a theme for my stories was during my time as a staff writer for Cyber Age Adventures/iHero Entertainment, and then because we would do themed stories for various holidays and for December and October. Some of those remain my favorite stories. I tended to use them as a setting more than a plot point, although sometimes I loved to mingle the two. 

Ian Brazee-Cannon: I have written one holiday story and it uses Christmas folklore from around the world, avoiding any of the modern Christmas traditions, not mentioning Christmas, Christ, or Santa at all.

Does holiday-themed writing work equally well in all genres or are there genres you feel are better suited to the familial/celebratory themes? Or are the negative feelings drudged up by the holiday loneliness/greed/selfishness equally powerful themes that can make for great holiday fiction?

Darin Kennedy: My book, Carol, is Scrooge meets Mean Girls, a modern date, an adult adaptation of the Dickens classic.

For this particular book, the fantasy/ghost story genre is pretty much established for me.

Since this is such a famous story of redemption, I tried to lean fully into that.

Brian K Morris: Since I feel there are very few genres or tropes that can't fit into the holiday spirit, with the exception of hate. Not hate for the holiday itself, which I can understand (and I fell prey to it due to my mother dying around that time), but hate for other beings. I mean Scrooge hated Christmas and had a valid (to him) reason, but he changed his mind.

Kay Iscah: I think it's less an issue of genre and more an issue of do you actually have anything worth saying about the holiday or does it serve a purpose in the story. I doubt anyone would think of The Fugitive as a St. Patrick's Day story, but the parade serves a story function in the film. A Christmas Carol is an exploration of the holiday but also universal themes like greed vs. generosity and human connection vs. isolation.

The problem with most Christmas films is that they're vapid. Many will try to tack on a feel good message, but if it feels tacked on, it's a failing of the narrative. I loathe A Christmas Story; however, I think many people relate to it because it does reflect the sort of messy contrast between what we would like Christmas to be and how it actually is for many people.

Bobby Nash: All of the above, I suppose. Most holiday fare tends to have a happy ending, but there’s nothing that says a downer couldn’t be just as valid of a holiday story. It all depends on the story and how it’s told.

Sean Taylor: I think it can work well in any genre. We seen it in fables like "Little Match Girl" and literary tales like "The Gift of the Magi." I think though that it has almost been taken over by two genres almost to the exclusion of others. One is the very obvious romance genre, as seen in the seasonal Harlequin and Harlequin-adjacent displays set up in bookstore this time of year. The other is the flip side of the coin, that of ironic horror, usually featuring a zombie Santa or another Krampus story. Not that those aren't fantastic uses; I'd just love to see more holiday-themed crime stories and thrillers. 

Mari Hersh-Tudor: I don’t do sappy. I can’t. It’s not real, which may be the entire point for some, and that’s okay. It’s just not my cup of mead. I like to turn things upside down to provide a different perspective. And I’m always funny, even if grimly.

Selah Janel: Holiday fiction *can* be done in all genres, but isn’t necessarily easy to pull off in all genres. It’s really easy for Christmas horror to come off as schlocky, and I think sometimes inspirational or romance stories can be a little too easy in terms of the holiday season being the resolution for characters’ problems. Some people are happy with that, though, so I think everything probably has an audience of some sort.

I think people forget that Christmas is a very nuanced season. Not everyone is happy, or there’s stress in the forced happiness. Likewise, being with loved ones can be the bright spot in otherwise terrible situations.

In Holly and Ivy, I lightly use some romance tropes to get the plot going, but it becomes a story about finding oneself, making tough decisions, and loss during a celebratory time. There are happy and sad events for Holly, just like there are for so many people. Her success and happiness at the end isn’t free. I took some influence from Hans Christian Andersen’s story "The Fir Tree," and usually describe it as my book for people with complicated feelings about Christmas.

Candles, while extremely dark with a bleak ending, focuses on family and found family struggling to do what they can to celebrate the holiday during the zombie apocalypse. They lean into comforting traditions, such as they are. While not really riffing off "Gift of the Magi" exactly, it leans into the theme of a mother doing what she can to give the gift she feels would benefit her loved ones during a horrific time. I would hope people can find some connection with both stories.

How do you walk the line between sappy and serious when you write with a holiday theme? How do you avoid the sugar-sweet nostalgia or do you just go whole hog and embrace it?

George Tackes: When the story is more than just a story during Christmas. Could it be set at any other time without alterations?

Marian Allen: One avoids sappiness by remembering that no true human feeling is pure: There is always a dot of yin in our yang and vice versa.

Selah Janel: I typically need to determine the genre, what my plot is, and how my characters relate to the holidays. Once I determine those, I know how much to lean in. Since there are so many aspects to the season, trying to embrace it all is to difficult and loses the point of the story for me. The nostalgia and saccharine have to support the other elements, either by enhancing or subverting. I try to go off things I know I or others connect with so I can really use them well, and not try to overload a story with a ton of set dressing. Otherwis,e you have a little bit of cake with a ton of icing.

Kay Iscah: Hallmark has ruined Christmas for me, so I have to comment on this one as an outsider. I do appreciate the appeal of a channel with minimal violence and no foul language or sex. The problem is my mom leaves it on almost constantly since the pandemic, and when you can't eat or go to the bathroom without a Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background, it does start wearing on your soul.

There are a few gems in the mix. But in general, Hallmark Christmas is a soulless worship of materialism. It tries very, very hard to romanticize how important the decorations are, and that you're some kind of monster if you don't get a live tree or bake fresh cookies. But it is not interested in exploring any deeper themes than how it's bad to ruin other people's fun, which is expressed by how much they over-decorate their house. It's particularly grating when they pretend to give their heroines financial problems while having them in million-dollar houses with thousands of dollars in decorations and never having to miss activities for want of funds. I remember one Hallmark film that actually tackled poverty at Christmas in a somewhat believable way, but it was one in a sea of what is rapidly becoming hundreds.

And it's extra sad, because when I was a kid. "Hallmark Presents" were special movies and usually pretty good. When they became a channel, quantity over quality became the focus.

I can definitely see the lure of wanting to capture that Christmas magic, but I think if you stay on a very surface level, the lack of real heart shows. The good, classic Christmas stories touch on some deeper universal theme and what makes them so magical is partly that contrast between despair and hope with hope coming out the victor. If your heroine is a spoiled brat who everyone loves and always gets her way and never faces a problem that can't be fixed with a few phone calls, it's hard to feel much victory in her achievement. And it's a little hard to back this one with examples because these films all start running together after a while.

I certainly think there is a place for gentler and smaller-scale stories. But while stakes can be small, they need to also feel real and should matter to the story, and in some of the best Christmas stories the characters win by letting go of the material expectations. So stories that double down on everything being about the presents and the decorations and the festivals often come off as anti-moral and having missed the whole point. They try to remind us of better stories, but fail to be good stories themselves.

There's nothing wrong with a story highlighting a functional family or something simple and heartwarming. There is something wrong with celebrating materialism and rewarding bad behavior in a narrative, particularly when it's a pattern.

Bobby Nash: It depends on who you’re writing it for, I’d say. Is the publisher looking for sappy? Serious? Nostalgic? Or something else? What are your readers looking for? What are you, as the writer, trying to get across?

Brian K Morris: I guess I lack the ability to wrap really, really sappy stuff. My inherent cynicism and irreverence toward convention won't allow me to write anything grim without poking fun at it, or ridiculing it. I'd rather embrace the spirit of the holiday of peace and showing love and compassion for others.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: Emotions are universal. Exploring them through the lens of a holiday gives an extra dimension and a chance to get some universal truths.

Sean Taylor: While I can write sappy without too many problems, it almost always ends up cut from the file or balled up and thrown into a trash can. It's almost like I have to get the sappy out of my system first to find the better, more effective use of nostalgia for my admittedly more bittersweet types of stories. 

Incorporating Multiple Religions Into Your Writing Diversity

 

Okay, let's talk about diversity this week, but not what you normally think about. Let's talk about religious diversity in your work. (In the interest of honesty, this one also was inspired by a panel I was on during Multiverse.)

Writers often err in one of two ways when it comes to writing protagonists (and antagonists) with a personal faith life -- either only writing their own because that's the only one they know well enough to write (or to be propagandistic) or they avoid religion in their stories altogether because they've been taught that it's something you don't discuss at Thanksgiving. 

I disagree. I think a character's inner POV and faith life can bring a new dimension to them. 

But let's see what our roundtable panel of writers thinks.

How does your own faith background or lack of one influence your writing?

Danielle Procter Piper: I was raised Catholic, so one of my characters has that background also. But I don't use it as an opportunity to "invite" people into that belief system. In fact, that character struggles with what he was taught and what he now knows as an adult. He's very good at encouraging his adopted daughter to find her own path...if she has spiritual inclinations at all.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: I was raised a strict Roman Catholic-mass in Latin and a narrow worldview. The more exposure to Weird Sh!t People Do When Someone Dies ™️ that I get, the more I absorb about how various cultures and religions treat adversity.

Kay Iscah: Definitely. I think a lot of fantasy has gone polytheistic, so I like centering monotheism, though not writing on earth I try to give things a distinct spin for their setting. The monotheism of Seventh Night is based on the idea of Christianity but without sacrifice or organized churches. This isn't necessarily a criticism of those elements, more of an exploration of how things might work or not work without them. I try not to be heavy-handed with those themes. In the interest of writing more universal stories, I tend to focus on ethics, but if you pay attention, it's a world where prayers are answered. Though not always in an obvious way. But I think writing and creating worlds can give us insight into the mind of God and how He operates.

Sean Taylor: I was not only raised in conservative Christian evangelical churches (Southern Baptist for the most part), but I also worked for the denomination at the national level for a few years until we had a bit of a doctrinal disagreement. So, yeah, my faith has been something that has been on my mind -- and therefore in my writing -- a lot. Both through the more devout and the current deconstruction and reconstruction period. It's difficult not to see a travelogue of my journey as your read my work and see the kind of questions that creep into my themes. 

If you do incorporate religious viewpoints into your fiction, how do you walk the line between advocating them and merely having them be a part of a character's, well, character?

Ef Deal: Having been raised Roman Catholic in the '50s and '60s (no, I did not have vicious nuns but I did get kicked out of church by the priest) and now writing a setting of 1842 France, religion is discussed in my second book, first when she overhears the King declaring homosexuality an offense against God, "Scripture is quite clear," and again when her lady's maid confesses her own lesbianism and fears for her soul. I happen to subscribe to the belief that God is love, and frankly, the King had more mistresses than he had children, and the punishment for adultery is quite clear if you want to declare Scripture as your rule instead of God's love.

It was a fun diatribe to write, given the setting of a Paris salon, where men engaged in philosophical discourse that amounted to little.

Kay Iscah: I think I try to advocate more for ethics, education, and spiritual seeking than promoting specific spiritual practices. I promote seeking truth, but I think that generally needs to happen through the story and not feel like something tacked onto it. I can get into the head of someone with a different belief system, and do so a bit in Horse Feathers. Phillip is a skeptic and atheist, but becomes interested in moral philosophy. He mostly fights it out in his head as atheism is not particularly popular in his period, but if I ever get around to writing sequels, it will cause some contention.

Sean Taylor: I don't write much fantasy, so most of the religions I write into my fiction are based on real-world faiths. I have written about fantasy-type gods once, but even then I made up my own and shied away from the established pantheons from world religions so as not to screw up details that might really matter to some readers. 

None of my characters evangelize their beliefs. That's so not my style, not even in my more devout days. And most of my believing folks (whatever the belief or the deity) they tend to be a lot more loosey-goosey about things like doctrine and rules, and tend to side more with the "Big Guy in the sky who wants us to love on each other" kind of thing. There are a few characters though, like my angel superhero, Tobit's Angel, in the Show Me A Hero collection, who is particularly exploring what it means to be an angel and in what religious direction he fits. Is he a Christian angel? A Muslim angel? A Jewish angel? A New-Age angel? All he knows is that he is most definitely an angel. Another superhero character, Fishnet Angel (not an angel), is a former Catholic who becomes possessed by an ancient deity and now must deal with the fact that his/her religion doesn't stand alone anymore. 

Danielle Procter Piper: Because I don't believe in shoving my beliefs down other people's throats (because I strongly dislike it being done to me), I don't depict religious belief as an asset but more of a curious choice. In fact, I tend to tone down major religious holidays. My sci-fi/action/thriller Venus In Heat is a Christmas story in that it takes place over the holiday, and while it's mentioned, none of the lead characters actually celebrate it in any way and they're all perfectly fine with that. 

Mari Hersh-Tudor: My own fiction encompasses a wide range of religions, from theoretical to Actual Gods Interfering™️.

It’s pretty easy not to advocate toward any one religion, I made mine up anyway, and I don’t have any characters (so far) who would do so.

Just as some writers make a conscious effort to break out of their boxes by intentionally learning to write characters of a different gender or sexuality or race, how have you sought to bring in a variety of "faith" backgrounds into your fiction?

Sean Taylor: I love to study other faiths and in particular the absence of such a faith. I think some of it comes naturally by just having a wide variety of folks in my circle of friends and writer buddies, but some of it involves intentional research and study and seeking out people to talk to to get details right, particularly emotional and psychological details. 

Danielle Procter Piper: Because my world is populated with people of various beliefs, so are the worlds of my stories. In my sci-fi I have the former Catholics, pagans, and a Buddhist, and most of the characters' faiths are never even mentioned. In my Medieval fantasy I have characters from all over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa...and each has their own beliefs, but the main characters simply accept each other as they are without clashes of faith. 

Kay Iscah: This may expand as my catalog of published fiction expands. I do poke at it a bit in Horse Feathers. But I tend to treat it a bit as an aspect of setting. There's an unpublished series I'm working on where I anticipate navigating some different religious views in characters, but again, I want to keep that a light touch. It should feel like an organic part of the setting and aspect of the characters not a lecture for the reader. It should come up because the characters are debating moral philosophy of situations, and not simply because I want to soapbox about something.

And even within the same religion, you have sects and interpretations and room for debates and differences of opinion. It would be an unusual faith where all the practitioners agreed on every aspect.

Now, to twist it on its ear, how much more does a character's non-religious POV get strengthened as an MC when they are surrounded by a variety of real-world characters of varying beliefs -- as opposed the non-religious MC in a world that seems to be void of any religious thought whatsoever?

Mari Hersh-Tudor: It is a great deal of fun, however, to torment narrow-minded characters by throwing them at angry gods that they don’t believe in and writing the fallout.

Kay Iscah: I don't write a lot of "real world" stories. But in a way, this described Phillip in Horse Feathers. He has a fairly scientific mind for a medieval peasant. He comes from a country with a lot of competing faiths and that feeds into his skepticism. He settles in a heavily monotheistic country and avoiding religious instruction is his small act of rebellion against a society where he feels very limited. But for the general question, I think personality and individual experiences play a huge role in how the religious setting affects the MC. You could take two different characters, run them through the same scenarios, and get two wildly different reactions.

The non-religious MC may have his views challenged more if confronted with a variety of faiths whereas the non-religious MC in an atheist or agnostic setting might never be pushed to think about them. Some people would welcome never being challenged while others would start asking certain questions because no one else is asking those questions.

The rub is that the author determines what the "truth" of that world is. Which will determine what "truth" the MC will be able to find with their questions and seeking.

I've heard of Christians who dislike The Truman Show because they think it's intended to be a metaphor for breaking out of our philosophical bubble or belief system. But as a Christian, I find The Truman show very in line with the faith as it's about seeking truth at all costs... and if you pay attention, the female protagonist does pray for Truman's release and safety. So there's an in world establishment of a God or at least belief in God, that is not the producer playing at being God.

Danielle Procter Piper: One of my sci-fi heroes, Alex, has no background in any faith, yet is surrounded by people of many faiths. A telepath, he's often revolted by the fact that most people who play at ceremony and holidays do it for the material benefits...money, gifts, food, and not out of any actual belief in something greater or a need to worship. Or, they function like robots, programmed by tradition, trying to force each other and their families into old molds forged generations ago which are often impractical today and can cause more stress than gratitude and wonder. He finds all of this extraordinarily bizarre and is amazed when he meets anyone who seems genuinely convinced that what they do serves their deity of choice and benefits more than just themselves and their personal agendas. So his extra powers of observation allow him to better understand others and even manipulate them using their own ideas of how things are and what they should be. One needn't be telepathic to figure this stuff out, but it saves time and makes him more formidable for it.

Sean Taylor: To me, a religious viewpoint is one of the things that says a lot about a character. I believe it's as important as a character's race, nationality, gender, sexual identity -- all those things. It adds a dimension to them that can provide stability (when the religious POV matches their actions and words), irony (when their religious POV reveals their hypocrisy), and depth (when their religious POV reveals questioning and struggle based on their conflicts in the story. I picked this up very early from the works of Flannery O'Connor, and I've never let go of it in my own work. 

It's just another way to create a real, solid, three-dimensional world with words, as far as I'm concerned. It's like the argument for diversity in fiction. "We're here. So don't write as though we aren't." So they exist in my fiction too. Religion also exists. It's here. So it is just another element in my world-building. 

Not So Famous Last (and First) Words

All writers tend to have their favorite opening sentences (or paragraphs) and closing lines from stories they've read. They tend to be so well know they end up on mugs and shirts and all kinds of what-nots and doodads. 

You probably know the lines so well, I won't even have to list the sources. Go ahead. Try it.

• It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.
• So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
• It would be pretty to think so. 
• Call me Ishmael.
• It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.
• As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
• The story so far: in the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
• After all, tomorrow is another day.
• Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.
• But I don't think us feel old at all. And us so happy. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt.
• It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
• He turned out the light and went into Jem's room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.
• The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
• I am haunted by humans.
• There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air.

But what about your favorite opening and closing lines from your work? Lay 'em on us. We want to know. 

Elizabeth Donald: ​

Sara Harvey thought she was doing pretty well until the corpse started in with the puns. -- Blackfire

It really was a dark and stormy night. -- A More Perfect Union

Ernest Russell: 

1st line; Orland squinted as he tilted the bottle.-- From an unpublished short story

Last line; As he hit the river, his hand closed on liquid nothing. -- From an unpublished short story

Larry Young:

 It's been so long I forgot how much I hate sportin' the aluminum underwear. -- One Shot, One Beer

Anna Grace Carpenter: 

Opening -- On a hot July day Mama went cracked, locked my sisters and me in the tool shed, and lit us up like a Christmas tree. - Of Lips and Tongue

Opening -- Opening: During my last days on Malachee, I told Diamondback Jack it didn't matter how many souls I sent to an early grave, I could only die once for my sins. -- A Fistful of Dust

Van Allen Plexico: 

Down rained the night, cloaked all in fire and brimstone. -- First line of Lucian

Hawk awoke naked and screaming in the heart of a shattered galaxy. -- First line of Hawk

My father burned. -- First line of Barnak

The ghost of a god stood on a dead world and screamed his frustration at the shattered stars. First line of Kings of Oblivion

John Linwood Grant: 

Private Carter failed to die tonight. -- opening line of Songs of the Burning Men

David Wright: 

Everything you know about Genghis Khan is wrong. -- unreferenced

Allan Kemp: 

Nell cradled the semi-automatic assault rifle like a baby, keeping it close to her body and giving it plenty of support with both arms. -- unreferenced

Lucy Blue: 

To make the black cat bone, you have to boil the cat alive. -- The opening line from a horror/romance story in Eat the Peach, "Black Cat Bone"

Guess what, he told her, whispering in his mind, knowing she would hear him. I can do magic, too. -- My favorite closing, from The Devil Makes Three: 

Marian Allen: 

My wife and Lonnie's wife leant against the back door with their arms crossed over their chests and that blank look they always get when they're trying to decide whether to laugh or rip us new ones. --First line of "Lonnie, Me, and the Hound of Hell"

“You make me sick,” said Tartarus. -- Last line of Silver and Iron

Bobby Nash: 

Abraham Snow knew he was about to die -- and the thought of it pissed him off to no end. -- Snow Falls

Ef Deal: 

When a guy like Czesko says he wants to get baptized, you know it's gonna be weird night. --  "Czesko," F&SF March 2006

Mari Hersh-Tudor: 

She was alien, and she was going to die before he could find out where she came from. -- The War Dogs

The backflow regulator exploded in a shower of hot metal and sparks and this time it definitely, absolutely, was not Arin Riobi’s fault. Starfly lurched and threw Arin across the cramped compartment as it dropped out of hyperspace. Unintentionally. -- How Not To Hire A Mechanic

Danielle Palli:

So you see, my darling. You're not the only one with secrets. -- Between the Layers, Book #3 in The Data Collectors trilogy 

Sean Taylor:  

The woman across the table from me wasn’t really a woman at all. -- -- From "It's Christmas, Baby, Please Come Home," Show Me A Hero

The man who killed me wore a tattoo of Santa Claus across his chest. -- From "Sin and Error Pining," Show Me A Hero

The woman’s accent was just German enough to get his attention, all dripping with sexy gutturals and thick vowels, just exotic enough to trick a man’s ears into thinking he was having a drink with Marlene Dietrich instead of some two-bit nightclub singer in a no-account New York dive like Belle’s, but the comparison stopped cold at the woman’s voice. -- Opening from "Die Giftige Lilie,” The Ruby Files Volume 1

 “Oh boy. I should’ve tried harder to get killed.” “Like I’d let you get off that easy.” -- Closing from "Die Giftige Lilie,” The Ruby Files Volume 1

Oh, Oh, Oh, It's Magic! Building Magic Systems in Fiction.

It's a staple in the worlds of fantasy fiction. Not just that, but you also encounter it in some sci-fi tales and quite a few of the various "-punks" that scatter the literary landscape. But outside of just copying the classics, how do writers actually put together a system of magic that makes sense in their settings?

How much thought do you put into your magic systems in fantasy (or even sci-fi in some situations)? Is it similar to the world building or even like another character or setting in its own right?

HC Playa: How deeply I delve into the system rather depends on the story. Generally there are some things that I have to consider:

1. Does everyone use magic?
2. Is it attached to divinity/religion?
3. Is it innate or conferred through special objects or rituals?
4. Do all beings in the world use or view the magic similarly?

Ernest Russell: Great Topic! I have found codifying the basics is important. I liken it to Asimov's laws of robotics.. here are the guidelines now, normally more than three, then ask can this work according to these guides in attempt not to break the system. Of course, someone often ends up breaking or trying to break the system. Intentional- they're usually a villain. Unintentional - often the McGuffin for the story.

Marian Allen: In my fantasy trilogy, Sage, the "magic" and "religion" are pretty much the same thing. I did quite a bit of research and thinking and note-taking to separate this into two different attitudes/approaches, one of harmony and one of domination. I wouldn't say the two are characters, but they certainly reflect and define the "good guys" and the "bad guys."

Frank Fradella: When I write in a magical setting, it's important for me that magic is vital to the story. If I can take magic out of the story and still tell the story, then I'm doing it wrong. For me, it can't be something you tack on for flavor. Magic IS the setting.

Tamara Lowery: My magic system is pretty soft, and I tend to make things up as I go. I have been pleasantly surprised when my subconscious applied known science on some aspects. For instance, I have gold coated vines which are carnivorous. Most real carnivorous plants develop in environments which don't afford much sunlight for photosynthesis. I didn't do that on purpose, but it works.

Sean Taylor: For me, magic is not a typical part of my fiction, but in the case when it is important, I like to take the time to figure out why and how it works. I like to get beyond the sort of "djinn" approach, where anything goes. I like the idea of tying magic to things like the five senses, the four humors, or the base elements, that sort of thing. 

What are your rules/guidelines for designing a magic system in your novels and stories?

Marian Allen: The rules/guidelines are the same as anything else: a magic/religious system has to have its own internal logic and has to have a solid reason for being part of the story or novel, not just be window dressing.

Frank Fradella: I try to think of magic as "science we don't yet understand." I don't bend science to fit my stories, and I give magic the same respect. I have clearly defined rules for how magic works, what it can do, and what it can't do. I work within the broad limits of those rules.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: I have two magic systems in my fantasy world: one for humans and one for nonhumans. Humans require study and spells and accoutrements. Nonhumans have an innate ability and require only discipline and willpower.

Kaleb Kramer: I tend to do a lot of thought, and no real rules, because it is very different for each project, and so much of the thematic and symbolic elements are tied into magic, that addressing magic is, for me, fundamentally addressing the theme, tone, and feel of the entire project

Sean Taylor: The best idea for magic I ever heard, and the one rule I've stuck to throughout my career came from you, Frank. It's this: If magic is energy, then it must follow the laws of energy. If something happens, an equal and opposite happens elsewhere. Nothing new can be created without pulling from something else. The law of energy conservation must be maintains. We even wrote a pair of stories that did this for a holiday themed posting on iHero. So much fun. And such a good rule for energy-based magic. 

Ef Deal: I put a lot of thought into it. Recently I researched both zombies and vampires before literature or film defined them. Once I realized the variety of types in myth and legend, I had to establish my own world’s version of these, and my workshop members who were not genre readers insisted it was a huge mess of disinformation. EVERYONE knows vampires sparkle and burst into flames in sunlight. EVERYONE knows zombies are the result of science gone awry—radiation or patient zero. But I spent hours and hours of research that didn’t involve watching movies. I had to take info time refuting the misapprehensions. In the end, I had my MC mock the sources of those tropes.

Ernest Russell: Another aspect to figure out what type of magic and is there more than one type? Will it be physical magic? Energy based? Spirit based? Is the mana high, low, none.

I have a series of short stories all set in a low mana version of our world. The magic is based on will and is channeled through the pineal gland. A few people can use a focus to do magic. Others have to make intense preparation, have large number of people, ritual and so to create magic. And the vast majority don't have a clue. The currently published is in All That Weird Jazz. Another, following different character will arrive in a Gothic horror anthology.

HC Playa: Much like with my plots, in my early writing magic tended to be as I go, making up the rules as I went. The more I have written, especially after taking a world building workshop, I tend to treat it as part of the world building and decide the things listed above before diving into the story. One of my most common choices is to apply different "rules" OR different views of it to different groups, which automatically builds conflict into the system and plot.