plot points: a fake blog

On her blog, Tansy Rayner Roberts is talking about the gender roles of men and women in fantasy, in particular George RR Martin's The Song of Ice and Fire, with occasional references to the TV show. It has a lot of spoilers, as it would.

It is an interesting read, but the part that struck me was when Tansy wrote that "main characters who are women are threatened with rape on a near-constant basis, while men almost never are – there are a few instances, but such a tiny number in comparison to the massive weight of female rape & rape threats that they are statistically insignificant. Physical humiliation and degradation are heaped on male characters, don’t get me wrong, but like most literature ever, A Song of Ice and Fire exists in a reality bubble where no one is willing to acknowledge how common male-male rape is in situations involving war, slavery and well, history."

Sadly, I think Tansy missed a more telling, and more awful point: that the rape of women in fantasy literature is more acceptable and readable than the rape of men, performed either by women or by men (as equal problem in the rape narrative of women always being the victim is that men are always the perpetrator--all doors of victimisation swing both ways, sadly).

It is a terrible thing to accept, or even to agree with, and perhaps people will disagree with me, but that has always how I've interpreted the situation. It's ugly, there's no doubt about it. It's not right, either. I actually don't like that it exists, and I find, personally, that it is one of the things I actively strive against in my own work. I am not against rape events in literature--I am not against any narrative event, unlike the real world, where I am against all forms of rape--but you cannot have such a narrative event in your work and not be aware of the larger ramifications of it in your field, your world, etc. For fantasy literature, I find myself aware of the fact that the rape of women by men is an acceptable event in the work, not because it is pleasurable to read--though we can make the argument that it is readable, which in itself opens up a whole new set of ugly conclusions--but because the genre has made it an acceptable form of degradation against female characters.

Ugly, like I said.

The entire essay (cleaned up and revised a bit) is here, if you're interested.

Hello,

Due to an urgent family problem, my husband and I cannot attend Wiscon 37. We have a governor's suite room booked from Thursday to Sunday. Please contact me if you'd like me to transfer it into your name.

We would be willing to help subsidize part of the transfer since, at this point, we'd rather money go into helping someone enjoy their convention rather than a late-cancellation fee go straight into hotel coffers.

http://www.gwendabond.com/bondgirl/2013/05/packaging-it-up.html

Let me first start this post by saying I know a little about book packaging, but purely from the outside in--through knowing authors who've done it as work-for-hire and people who worked at packaging houses and as a general "watcher of the industry" and articles that get written about it. None of that makes me an expert.

But.

The most interesting thing about watching heads explode this morning on twitter over the new announcement that Amazon has reached licensing agreements with Alloy/WBs (with more in the works) to allow writers to sell fanfic set in the Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars worlds through its new Kindle Worlds program was how few people immediately recognized these are all packaged properties. I have seen a lot of worry about the authors who created these characters getting money, and how the rights worked, and etc. etc. and I am reminded once again that lots of people--even savvy industry types--don't realize how prevalent packaging is in YA (and probably elsewhere too--I am most familiar with YA and so that's what I'm talking about here). People on twitter thought a post on the subject was a good idea, and so here one is. (Experts feel free to jump in the comments or send me an email if I've gotten something wrong or you feel there's something I missed that's important.)

How packaging works:

- Sometimes a writer might be asked to pitch the packaging company (or publisher) ideas; one or more get selected and that writer (or another writer or writers, possibly) works with the company to "develop" it; in this scenario, the IP (or Intellectual Property) and related rights almost certainly still end up belonging to the packager (though there are cases of people being able to purchase rights back later on, it's fairly rare, I believe).

-Sometimes the packaging company comes up with its own ideas and then hires a writer (or writers) to write the project; rights situation as above, although it's even less likely the writer ends up with much of a stake in any rights or royalties or has that much say in anything related to it.

What do these contracts look like?

I'm sure there's a wide range. Generally speaking, there is usually decent up-front money, which is one reason why authors sign on to them. Depending on how decent that money is, the writer will give up or have reduced royalty rates, and will have zero control over what happens with the rights related to this IP. (I'm sure there are variances, again, but speaking generally.) You also probably won't get much--if any--of the money from any further rights sales, though there are also probably exceptions to that. New writers would almost certainly not be the exceptions.

There are plenty of stories of authors being "kicked off" properties they have become well-known as the author of (including Vampire Diaries, actually).

Will I know what books are packaged and what aren't?

If you follow all this stuff closely enough, which most people don't, you'll find evidence in rights announcements or on the copyright page of books, or in acknowledgements, or sometimes in public disputes, etc. But in YA many (most?) packaged books are sold to big publishers. They are even, yes, lead titles with big marketing budgets behind them at times. Obviously, if they do well, the publisher gets to keep more of the money. There are also books that are essentially packaged "in-house" not by a packaging company; the publisher has an idea and hires a writer for it. The writer agrees because they want to pay the bills or keep publishing or get their name out there or because the project excites them. Lots of reasons, really, and none anyone should be judged for. More on that later.

Are packagers evil?

Not really. But it definitely disturbs people to talk and think about them, in my experience. Writers and non-writers alike. Because we do all have this vision of the author as solitary creator of worlds who maybe has crit partners and a support team at their editor and publisher, but without who none of the lush book worlds could exist. This is, instead, a process much more like how the entertainment industry, aka Hollywood, develops a "property" and it's often a labor of enterprise, more than of love born from one person's vision. That said, it's also something with lonnnnng roots in children's and YA (and all) publishing. Look at Nancy Drew.

But it does seem like there have been many new players coming into the game in recent years, as evidenced by pieces like these on Paper Lantern Lit and James Frey's Full Fathom Five (definitely read this one if this stuff interests you). I doubt it's going anywhere either; while some packaged books with big expectations attached to them flop (just like ALL books), others continue to do quite well and build empires. Examples are the very same ones being used to roll out Kindle Worlds. 

Why do writers do packaged books? Isn't it a terrible deal?

Again, lots of reasons, and definitely not ones that should bring judgment. We all have our bills to pay. While you may be trading off IP/rights/potential long-term money, as I said earlier a number of these books do get a hefty push, and the author hired is "attached" career and publicity-wise in name usually. It can be a way to pay the bills, to develop skills, to break in. It can be a way to build a name perceived as profitable, and sometimes quickly.

But is it fair? No one I know who's done this kind of work has any illusions about the downsides going into it. Though I have heard horror stories about people it has worked out pretty awfully for or who were made to expect things that didn't materialize. But I will also say that not everything I've heard is a horror story. I have a good friend who worked at a packager and has told me about working on books where it was a really symbiotic process between her and the writer and that they came up with something they were both proud of both from a literary standpoint and a commercial one. As always, the decision to do work-for-hire of any kind is one for the writer to make with full awareness of the risks and benefits--just like going into any contract for original work is.

Do you have an opinion on Kindle Worlds?

I think it's very, very interesting. That's about all I've got right now.

Amazon is an innovator. No matter whether you think that they are good or bad, or something in between, that's undeniable.* And this is an industry that is made very nervous by change. But it's not hard to figure out why Alloy (and others like them) would sign on for this--currently, they make no money on the fanfic associated with properties they created to make money. This is a way to change that, at least in part, in a sanctioned and controlled way that I, for one, seriously doubt will degrade the currency of the books they publish in the world themselves.

I can't help thinking it may also bring new readers and writers into the fan fiction world. The questions of why buy it when you can get it for free are kind of beside the point to me; many people either don't know fanfic exists or don't want to sift through a bunch to find what they like. Those people might well be open to trying it and buying it on their e-readers. I also think about the teenagers I meet at signings whose parents are so proud that they write fanfic (as they should be), and how this might replace their summer jobs cash-wise.

I do not know whether this might ultimately siphon off readers who would otherwise be buying original work. Or erode the rights of us doing original work down the road or create new contract clauses or be the apocalypse. Doubtful, but we shall see. I also do not know what it might mean for traditional tie-in work down the road. I do think there are some real issues around the rise of developing IP independent of artist creators (again, read that Frey piece)--because it's hard to draw a line in the sand, especially for high concept ideas--and what that could mean long-term for the market and us artist creators aka authors. 

Other people (and pals) with posts you should read that are way more about the Kindle Worlds thing than this one:

- Chuck Wendig

- Scalzi

- Matt Forbeck

- Malinda Lo

- Toby Buckell

(*Full disclosure: Of course, I am working with Amazon's traditional publishing arm on a book and happy to be doing so. But my opinion on all this really has nothing to do with that.)

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I'm heading out for Phoenix Comic Con! And though the trip itself will be long and boring, the weekend promises to be a blast. So come out and see me! Here's my schedule.

Also, here's my Twitter feed. I link it here, because the odds are very high that I won't be doing any blogging - just snapping selfies and other assorted shenanigans, and uploading it all for your amusement.

So! Tune in, show up, be amused. That's my suggestion.
And for now ... I'm outta here!

[:: zoosh ::]

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/22/madison-im-at-a-room-of-ones-own-tomorrow-4pm-note-the-time/

I’ll be doing a rare afternoon tour appearance tomorrow in Madison because at 6pm, A Room of One’s Own welcomes the Guests of Honor at Wiscon, the (completely fantastic) science fiction and fantasy convention. So if you’re coming at 4 o’clock to Room of One’s Own to see me, stick around afterward for the GoHs, which include last year’s Nebula and Hugo Award winner, Jo Walton. And if you’re coming at 6pm to see the guests of honor, why not come out a little bit early to see me? It’ll be more speculative fiction writers than you can shake the proverbial stick at.

So remember, Madison: Tomorrow (Thursday, May 23), A Room Of One’s Own, 4pm. Don’t be late! See you there.

Set in Belle Epoque France and based on a true story, Augustine is about a young woman who is diagnosed with "hysteria," which results in fits, emotional disturbance, temporary paralysis, sexual behavior, and so on. (Wikipedia explains the common definition from the era in more depth.) The film follows Augustine's treatment by a Mr. Charcot who places her at the center of his research and ultimately makes her the star of "academic" spectacles in an attempt to get funding to continue his research. The film is lush and well made. Some would describe the relationship between Augustine and Charcot as complex, and perhaps it is. I couldn't help looking at it through twenty-first century eyes and seeing gender imbalance and social injustice, and I just wanted to slap Charcot all over town for his behavior. While the SIFF site seems to be taken with the movie and it may be a fine film for some, but I was left feeling really on the fence about it.

Our Nixon is a documentary made entirely out of archival footage from news broadcasts and home movies taken by John Erlichman, H.R. Haldeman, and Dwight Chapin, and VO from the Nixon tapes. The film is fascinating, an examination of the Nixon era from an entirely different perspective. It is sometimes funny and remarkably timely. I found myself watching these men doing what they did, and thinking how young, how good looking, how optimistic, how committed they were to what they were doing. And then, like music in a major key slowly sliding to a minor key, events just go awry. Who knew what, when, and how? It's like their entire world warped. Listening to excerpts from the Nixon tapes, the disconnect from reality is, frankly, kind of astonishing. I have to believe that this film will either get wide distribution or turn up on PBS or HBO. It must be seen. It's a remarkable film.

The documentary Out of Print was touted as "an in-depth look at the turbulent, exciting journey from the printed book through the digital revolution and modern information age." It turned out to be more of a survey of the subject than any kind of a discussion. While the filmmaker, based on her post-film talk, had some very specific thoughts and positions on the subject, the film was pretty neutral over all. It didn't get into some of the more contentious issues surrounding the evolution (or lack of same) that publishing is going through. I don't think the publisher position was well-represented, and I feel like the self-publishing situation was represented in a kind of lopsided way. Overall, I walked away feeling rather disappointed in it. Best part about it was hooking up with ironymaiden and varina8 to see it.

Populaire is a French romantic comedy set in 1959 about a girl from a small town who goes to the big city (a little city in Normandy, actually) to become--how exciting!--a secretary. Turns out she's a terrible secretary but a prodigy typist. Her boss decides that, to keep her job, she has to participate in the regional and national typing competition to become the fastest typist in the country. He becomes her coach and trainer, and thus begins the comedy and the romance. It's a delightful little film. Deborah Francois, who plays Rose the secretary, has a refreshing, Debbie Reynolds quality about her. She's charming. Romain Duris, who plays Louis, her boss and coach, has the sort of dark-haired, dark-eyed looks I always swoon for. As a World War II vet and last survivor of his French Resistance cohort, he's appropriately sexy and tortured. The film is clearly modern but imitates the sensibilities of the time very well. The clothes are to die for. It's all made with this Technicolor look and feel that is delicious to the eye. I had a great time with it and very much recommend it.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/22/amazons-kindle-worlds-instant-thoughts/

The Twitters are abuzz today about Amazon’s new “Kindle Worlds” program, in which people are allowed to write and then sell through Amazon their fan fiction for certain properties owned by Alloy Entertainment, including Vampire Diaries and Pretty Little Liars, with more licenses expected soon. I’ve had a quick look at the program on Amazon’s site, and I have a couple of immediate thoughts on it. Be aware that these thoughts are very preliminary, i.e., I reserve the right to have possibly contradictory thoughts about the program later, when I think (and read) about it more. Also note that these are my personal thoughts and do not reflect the positions or policies of SFWA, of which I am (still but not for much longer) president.

1. The main knock on fan fiction from the rights-holders point of view — i.e., people are using their characters and situations in ways that probably violate copyright — is apparently not at all a problem here, since Alloy Entertainment is on board for allowing people to write what they want (within specific guidelines — more on that in a bit). Since that’s the case, there’s probably a technical argument here about whether this is precisely “fan fiction” or if it’s actually media tie-in writing done with intentionally low bars to participation (the true answer, I suspect, is that it’s both). Either way, if Alloy Entertainment’s on board, everything’s on the level, so why not.

2. So, on one hand it offers people who write fan fiction a chance to get paid for their writing in a way that doesn’t make the rightsholders angry, which is nice for the fan ficcers. On the other hand, as a writer, there are a number of things about the deal Amazon/Alloy are offering that raise red flags for me. Number one among these is this bit:

“We will also give the World Licensor a license to use your new elements and incorporate them into other works without further compensation to you.”

i.e., that really cool creative idea you put in your story, or that awesome new character you made? If Alloy Entertainment likes it, they can take it and use it for their own purposes without paying you — which is to say they make money off your idea, lots of money, even, and all you get is the knowledge they liked your idea.

Essentially, this means that all the work in the Kindle Worlds arena is a work for hire that Alloy (and whomever else signs on) can mine with impunity. This is a very good deal for Alloy, et al — they’re getting story ideas! Free! — and less of a good deal for the actual writers themselves. I mean, the official media tie-in writers and script writers are doing work for hire, too, but they get advances and\or at least WGA minimum scale for their work.

Another red flag:

“Amazon Publishing will acquire all rights to your new stories, including global publication rights, for the term of copyright.”

Which is to say, once Amazon has it, they have the right to do anything they want with it, including possibly using it in anthologies or selling it other languages, etc, without paying the author anything else for it, ever. Again, an excellent deal for Amazon; a less than excellent deal for the actual writer.

Note that on its page Amazon makes a show of saying that the writer owns the copyright on the original things that are copyrightable, but inasmuch as Amazon also acquires all rights for the length of the copyright and Alloy is given the right to exploit the new elements without further compensation, this show about you keeping your copyright appears to be just that: show.

The argument here could be, well, you know, people who were writing fan fiction weren’t getting paid or had rights to these characters and worlds anyway, so only getting paid for their work once is still better than what they would have gotten before. And that’s not an entirely bad argument on one level. But on another level, there’s a difference between writing fan fiction because you love the world and the characters on a personal level, and Amazon and Alloy actively exploiting that love for their corporate gain and throwing you a few coins for your trouble. So this should be an interesting argument for people to have in the real world.

3. If this sort of thing takes off, I’m interested to see what effect it will have on the media tie-in market, and on the professional writers who work in it. Obviously it has the potential to greatly shift how things are done. If you are a corporate rights holder, for example, would you bother with seeking out pro writers any more, and paying them advances and royalties and all of that business? Or would you just open up the gates to paid fan fiction, which you don’t have to pay anything for and yet still have total control over the commercial exploitation thereof? Again, this is interesting stuff to consider, and if I were a pro writer who primarily worked in media tie-in markets, I would have some real concerns.

4. This won’t spell the end of unauthorized fan fic, and I’m very sure of that. For one thing, the Kindle Worlds program says it won’t accept “pornography” which means all that slash out there will still be on the outside of the program (Edit: to note not all slash is porn, although I wonder if Amazon won’t simply default it as such); likewise crossover fan fic, so those “Vampire Diaries meet Dr Who” stories will be left out in the cold. And besides that, there will be people who a) have no interest in making money and/or b) don’t write well enough to be accepted into the Kindle Worlds program (there does seem that there will be some attempt at quality control, or at least, someone has to go through the stuff to make sure there’s nothing that’s contractually forbidden). So if this was an attempt to squash fan fic through other means, it’s doomed to failure. But I don’t suspect that’s the point.

5. Speaking as a writer, I wouldn’t do something like this; I don’t generally like writing in other people’s worlds in any event (and when I do, I go public domain — see Fuzzy Nation) and I don’t like the terms that are on offer here. And of course I have my own things to write. Likewise, I would caution anyone looking at this to be aware that overall this is not anywhere close to what I would call a good deal. Finally, on a philosophical level, I suspect this is yet another attempt in a series of long-term attempts to fundamentally change the landscape for purchasing and controlling the work of writers in such a manner that ultimately limits how writers are compensated for their work, which ultimately is not to the benefit of the writer. This will have far-reaching consequences that none of us really understand yet.

The thing that can be said for it is that it’s a better deal than you would otherwise get for writing fan fiction, i.e., no deal at all and possibly having to deal with a cranky rightsholder angry that you kids are playing in their yard. Is that enough for you? That’s on you to decide.

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/22/the-big-idea-rhiannon-held-2/

http://whatever.scalzi.com/?p=21903

Readers often have default expectations when it comes to their reading — default expectations that we call “tropes.” But where do you go as a writer when the tropes don’t take you where your characters need to be? It’s a question that Rhiannon Held explores today as she writes about her new novel, Tarnished.

RHIANNON HELD:

Tarnished is the second book in my series, and if I had to articulate an over-arcing big idea for the whole series, it’s that I love to explore emotional truths tied to situations that don’t come up in typical urban fantasy tropes. In the first book, Silver, those non-trope situations were born from the religion and culture that I created for my werewolves. In Tarnished, I decided I wanted to find the emotional resonance in non-trope leadership strategies, and romantic relationships.

At the end of Silver my two main characters, Andrew and Silver, were poised to challenge for leadership of the largest werewolf pack in North America. In the typical urban fantasy trope as I’ve encountered it, usually the protagonist’s resistance to being Grand Supernatural Poobah begins as internal: she wouldn’t be any good at it! No one would accept her! Then, when she agrees, the resistance switches to being external: the rock golems won’t listen to a meat bag! The shapeshifters won’t listen to anyone banging a golem!

But once they’ve set aside their initial internal objections, would protagonists really automatically be totally committed to leading? Obviously they have to learn how to win everyone over, but would the protagonists really be completely awesome at leading once everyone’s behind them? Book 1 ended with Andrew and Silver’s decision to try to lead, and I decided that Book 2 needed to explore exactly what it would take to get there. Do they have the self-confidence to do it? Is that self-confidence strong enough to withstand everyone else’s doubt? Can they make hard decisions and keep their cool when people question those decisions? Can they admit they were wrong when they make mistakes? Can they delegate and trust others to get things done?

And can they lead, as opposed to just shouting louder than everyone else? Often werewolf alphas are portrayed as being all about physical strength, or if not physical strength, at least strength of emotional bullying. Andrew is somewhat slight in stature and slow from previous injuries; Silver can’t shift and can’t use her left arm. If they want to win the alphaship, they have do something other than shout loudest and punch hardest: they have to court allies, they have to coax people, they have to lead by example. I really wanted to showcase different leadership strategies, because while stories are often about the underdog beating the muscle-bound alpha, the underdog too often uses mystical punching powers that beat the alpha’s physical punching abilities. Why does punching have to be the measure of success?

Tarnished also introduces a new POV: Susan. She’s human and has a child with John, the Seattle alpha. She also has her moments of going toe-to-toe in fights with stronger, faster werewolves, but with her I also wanted to explore a different kind of romantic relationship. In Book 1, Andrew and Silver were somewhat typical of urban fantasies: they met, they were attracted to each other, obstacles kept them apart, but they got together in the end. In Book 2, I show them working as a functioning, loving team, so the romantic tension switches over to Susan and John.

Whether in books, movies, or television, I’ve always wanted more opportunities to cheer a couple on to working out their problems. That’s what gets you through life, after all—not giving up after the first big fight. Work through the fight and the relationship often ends up stronger on the other side. Of course, that’s not to say that life isn’t also filled with truly irreconcilable differences or people who are assholes. Staying to try desperately to change things in those situations can make everyone miserable. The way I think of it is that you want to preserve and care for a precious connection between two people, rather than upholding some ideal of not splitting up for moral reasons even if you have no connection left at all.

The trouble is that in fiction, the relationships being “worked on” are usually only based on irreconcilable differences or assholery. In that case, of course you’re cheering for the couple to break up! That way, one can get with the other hot, passionate love interest introduced in this book who is clearly so much better for him or her. Or else you’re rolling your eyes while waiting for the couple who’s off-again every book to provide cheap romantic tension to get their laughable miscommunication straightened out so they can be on-again.

Susan and John are already together. They have a child. They love each other, but their relationship is on the rocks because John lets himself be ashamed of her and misguidedly tries to protect her by keeping her out of the werewolf world. That’s something that can be worked out—I hope it’s something the readers want to see worked out!—because why should love be sacrificed to social expectations? But reconciliation is something they both have to work hard to achieve.

Hopefully playing with non-trope situations can help knock aside a few of the most annoying tropes as well. If my characters can remind readers that natural charisma doesn’t mean you’re born knowing exactly how to lead; people who aren’t hot, single twenty-somethings fall in love; and protecting your love by keeping them in ignorance of the supernatural world is forgetting they’re a consenting adult… so much the better!

—-

Tarnished: Amazon|Barnes & Noble|Indiebound|Powell’s

Read an excerpt. Visit the author’s site. Follow her on Twitter.

We dodged a bullet with yesterday's storms. According to the local TV weather geek (actually, his detailed Facebook posts, since he wasn't on the air yesterday), the rain-cooled air from the approaching storm rushed out just far enough ahead to keep the warm, humid air that was already in place from fueling the storm, so we ended up just getting rain and wind, with no hail or tornadoes. It was such an atmospherically blustery day that I started re-reading Wuthering Heights.

Then I went back to the New Project, which is really more of an experiment. I still don't know what it will end up being, a short story, a novella or even a novel. I suspect, given my patterns, that it'll either end up being a full novel, or I'll get to a certain point where it's on the verge of being too long to be "short" fiction and then I'll suddenly wrap it up quickly. It started as a fairy tale rewrite -- fleshing out the traditional story -- but turned into a fairy tale twist of looking at what was going on behind the scenes with the other people who were present when that story was taking place, and that turned into a sort of revisionist thing of the way those other people would have really reacted to those events (like, take the Cinderella story -- when a mystery woman no one has ever seen before shows up as a prospective bride for the heir to the throne and instantly has him wrapped around her little finger, wouldn't someone get a wee bit suspicious of her maybe being a foreign spy infiltrating herself into the court or an enchantress getting him under her thrall?). And then it turned into all of the above: a fleshed-out fairy tale in which the characters are given some dimension, but then also a behind-the-scenes story in which the traditional characters aren't the main characters and the well-known story is playing in the background, and a revision in which the main characters are dealing in a reasonably realistic way with the fairy tale events. It's loads of fun to play with, but I'm not sure what the result will look like or if it will fall apart halfway through.

As for the book already written and published, here's a little background on the genesis of Kiss and Spell. I'll keep this vague enough to avoid spoilers since the book is still trickling out and I don't think everyone's read it yet (insert usual plea to post, tweet, skywrite, blog, write reviews, etc. about it to help spread the word because I don't want anyone to miss it). I thought I'd wrapped up the series with Much Ado About Magic. Obviously, I left some major loose ends dangling, and I wanted to do something with that potential story line, but I didn't know for sure what, and I didn't think I'd get the chance. I only wrote Much Ado because the Japanese publisher thought it was already written and offered to publish it, not realizing that I'd only written a proposal. But then the Japanese publisher asked if I wanted to write more books. At the time, I didn't have any solid ideas. I'd already defeated the main villains. I said I'd have to think about it.

The same day I met with my agent and discussed this possibility, I attended a convention panel (I saw my agent because I was in Denver for a convention) in which several authors, including Katherine Kurtz (OMG!!!!) and Carrie Vaughn, discussed writing series. Carrie Vaughn said that the way she kept her series interesting for herself was by essentially writing a different kind of book for each book in the series. One might be a mystery, another a romantic comedy, another a caper. The readers might not necessarily notice this because the books were in her usual style, with her usual characters, dealing with the established situations in the series, but it was the way she approached the writing, so that even though she was dealing with the same stuff, to her she was doing something totally new. That clicked for me, and I found myself mentally scrolling through my literary bucket list of the kinds of books I've wanted to write, and I came up with the quest story.

But another thing I've always wanted to write was a straight romantic comedy. I loved the chick lit genre because it seemed to me to be closer to romantic comedy films than romance novels were, but I never managed to sell a straightforward (non-fantasy) chick lit novel before the market tanked, and there isn't much of a market for the kind of romantic comedy I would write. Was there a way to do that in this series? I've also always wanted to write some kind of resistance movement story, and I was researching that sort of thing for another idea I have spinning around in the back of my head. It all came together to create the rather crazy plot for this book.

The more I thought about romantic comedies, the more I realized that they are, in their own way, fairy tales. They even have their patterns and motifs. Mr./Miss Wrong, the reveal of the Big Deception/Lie, and the Mad Dash Across Town are as common in romantic comedy as getting magical help due to kindness and the reveal of the true identity are in fairy tales. Each genre also has its typical stock characters you expect to show up. Since this series was essentially about inserting magical elements into a romantic comedy world, why couldn't I flip that and insert romantic comedy elements into a (literal) fantasy world? I thought I had something different planned for the aftermath of what happened to Katie at the end of No Quest, but that ended up being the set-up that was necessary for this to happen. It also gave me a chance to revisit the romantic relationship. That mostly happened in the background of all the saving the world stuff, and it happened maybe more quickly than I'd originally imagined, since I didn't know how many books I'd get to write. This situation gave me the chance to go back to the beginning and focus on it for a while. I also love the idea that if two people are really suited for each other, they'll be suited for each other no matter what the circumstances are. All they have to do is find each other again, and then the same things they always loved about each other will still be there.

It was fun throwing my characters into a When Harry Met Sally/You've Got Mail world, and even more fun once they came to realize that's what was happening. Genre awareness is used all the time in horror and science fiction, where the characters have seen enough movies to at least try to cope with the situation on that basis (the whole Scream franchise), but I don't think I've seen too many cases of a character coping with a situation because she knows what always happens in a romantic comedy.