Expanding Vanovsk

This week I expanded a country.  I started working on my next country, Vanovask, and its short story.  As I began to work with the map, I realized that in my mind Vanovsk was a much larger kingdom than the little country I had marked out on my map those many years ago.  So I expanded it.  I don’t know why it tickled my fancy so much to jump in and erase borders and add islands.  I am after all creating an entire world in Idhua.  But I found it enormously liberating.  Perhaps it is because I have set myself some ambitious goals which require discipline to complete.  Sometimes I can feel hemmed in by deadlines of my own creation.  It is very nice therefore to remember the creativity inherent in the project and to suddenly decide to change the outlines.


Vanovsk is in the north-eastern most corner of Idhua.  I have been reading Russian Fairy and Folktales for inspiration, though I already have a good idea of my short story.  Years ago I had a dream in which I was a young woman who was captured by goblins to be the bride of their king.  I wrote it down, but never finished working it into a story.  Vanovsk seems the place to set it, so I have dusted it off and set about figuring out what happens down in the goblin kingdom.

Vanovsk before Expansion

Vanovsk after Expansion

World Building - 1: Maps

I always begin world building with a map.  I sit down with a piece of paper a draw a country, a city or just a field with a house on one side and the entry to a forest on the other.  Even when I start a story without a map, the moment I have to figure out something about the physical space, I start drawing a diagram of the house or the path of the river or the city streets. 


I drew the map of Idhua a long time ago - spreading out sheets of graph paper on the dining room table and shading in woods and rivers with my mother's Prisma Color pencils.  Eventually, I decided I wanted the ease of editing on the computer.  I didn't have a scanner so I took digital photos of the map.  

Jigsaw of the Photos

Since then I have generated political, historical and topographical maps - zooming in to country or city, zooming out to mark oceanic currents.


I like to know where I am located.  I have a good sense of direction and am usually correct when I try to locate north.  I like it also when I am reading to look at maps and diagrams on the cover leaves and trace the journey I am reading about.  Perhaps this is why I seek to understand the space I am writing in as the entry into my fantasy world.  I want to know how far it is to the sea or how close to the edge of the Forest, as the physical landscape is a powerful anchor and influence for a person.  As I am rooted in the various landscapes of my childhood, my adulthood and my travels, so I want my characters to belong somewhere – or if they don’t, to be able to explore where it is that they don’t belong.

Recent Topographical Map

Marketing Idhua: Part 2 (Round 1) - Audience

First annual reader's poll:


I've been thinking about an author's audience.  In the past this has been a challenging topic for me because I approached it negatively: most of the fantasy I see out there is very different in even sub-genre from what I write, therefore there isn't really an audience for my work.  Well, there are a lot of flaws in that assumption, (as in it's just not true,) but even more it is an attitude that defeats me before I even start.  


In looking for and responding to my audience I don't have to give up on the subjects or styles that make my work unique.  (Thank heavens I don't have to write any vampire stories if I don't want to - which I don't. (Except for the one where someone discovers that there is a group of powerful vampires behind a renewed interest in space exploration because it finally occurred to the bloodsuckers that immortality is going to be a real drag when the sun goes super-nova.  Feel free to steal this idea - I'm not going to actually write it, it just amuses me.))


Anyhow, growing an audience: 


Here are three areas I have identified as audience research tools:

• Things (themes, characters, styles, etc.) people like about my stories – i.e. what are my draws.
• Things that are draws for me when others' stories - i.e. I am part of my own audience.
• Things people wish they could read or wish there was more of that fall into my purview.

On that note: any of you who have read my work... Questions for you:

• What in particular draws you to it?  
• Why would you come back and read more (besides offers of chocolate)?  
• What do you wish you could find out there in the fantasy genre that you either find in my work or think I would do a good job with if I included it?
• Any other thoughts on the subject?
• If you haven't read my work... Do you want to?  I am unpublished yet, but I have a few sketches up at the Amber Grimoire and I am up for new beta readers...

Again, leave me a comment, post on my Facebook page or email me at tannara.young@gmail.com. 

Marketing Idhua Part 1: Mission Statement

So, I have been working on my strategic plan - which is turning out to be a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  My sister, N, and I have observed to each other that often our challenge is not finding a way to do things, but to decide what we want to do in the first place.  It took me over fifteen years to decide I wanted to become a published author, but now that I have I am having fun figuring out how to make that happen.  I like the clarity the exercise of doing strategic planning brings to my process and the way I can go from distant goals to current steps to take towards them.  Here is my mission statement - I welcome any feedback people may have on it.  Leave a comment or email me at tannara.young@gmail.com.

Author Mission Statement for Tannara Young   My mission is to write, publish and promote mythopoeic high fantasy, set in the world of Idhua, for readers who desire such works. My stories are intended for an audience who is looking for high fantasy with a strong focus on lyrical prose that contains mythological depth. These stories will challenge some of the more conservative elements in fantasy by incorporating non-traditional characters and narratives, including female characters, non-white characters and characters of differing sexual orientations placed in atypical roles.

Marketing Idhua: Introduction

I have been thinking a lot about marketing since I came back from Norwescon.  I chose panels that focused mostly on business and marketing aspects of writing and publishing, so it's not surprising that it's been on my mind.  However, I observed a pattern in the panelists - the ones who had marketing experience or deliberately set out to be involved in that aspect of their writing, appeared to be more content and confident in their careers.  


This makes sense - they had a sense of being in charge of their own fates, of understanding what was happening around them and of being a participant in the whole process.  I know myself well enough to know that I, too, will be happier if I understand and am involved with marketing my work - to say nothing of the advantages that that creates, as publishers have less and less time and resources to market any author, let alone new ones.  I am not only looking to market myself to my readers, but to editors, agents and publishers as well.


There is a lot of information out there - on the internet and in print - about marketing, but most of it is geared toward the business world.  However, I think that that can still be applied to my situation - with some modifications.  Idhua is my brand, my stories are my products, and though I don't have any out in the marketplace yet, that doesn't mean I can't have a plan in place for when I do.


The first thing I am going to do is create a strategic plan for myself: a long term plan answering the questions "What do I do?" and "For whom do I do it?" among others.


I think it should be an interesting process and help me become as focused in the business side of things as I have been in the production side of things.

Finished Orin

I have finished both the entry and the rough draft of the short story for my next country: Orin.  The short story, titled “The Summer Valley” is being read by my kind and generous beta reader, M, whom I hope will not be quite as despairing about it as I have been feeling.  The reason I am being gloomy about it is that the launch party for Orin is set for June and it is going to be a big one.  My mom, my dear friend E, and my sister’s boyfriend are all going to be up from CA to see my sister graduate and will be here for the party.  In addition, when I sent out a “save this date” invitation I had a lot of positive responses, a number from people who will be coming for the first time.  So it’s not that I don’t like “The Summer Valley” but rather that I have been feeling that it should somehow be extra special for an extra big party with VIPs.


Orin is a country which spans a temperate and Mediterranean climate – in the north above the Idessa Mountains it is cooler and wetter, though it rarely snows, while in the south there are vineyards and orange and lemon orchards.  It was limping along a bit until I decided that they needed a legendary king to focus on with both their history and their legends and folk-lore.  I glanced over the Arthurian and Carolingian cycles, not only for inspiration, but also as an example of how such bodies of literature and legend work on a patriotic consciousness.


Here is the current map of Idhua: It is entirely coincidental that I have been working on the purple countries.  Apparently, I colored a number of the countries which were settled earliest (which is my criteria) purple without planning it.

Tav'uresk Launch Party

A tent in our living room

Last night was proof (if there was any doubt) that I have yet to grow out of making pillow forts.  My original idea had been to put up a canopy to give the impression of a tent - but once I started I couldn't stop.  Good thing I have so many sheets and random lengths of cloth!

Key structural detail: Rice Paddle

 I used an entire box of straight pins - several dozen safety pins, a ball of yard, a length of chain, several books, several chairs - but the most important structural detail was a wooden rice paddle.

 

Our Tav'uresk Launch Party was, therefore, held in a tent in our living room.  The menu was delicious - I still don't much like deep-frying, but the results were great.  The repast consisted of:

Egg Noodles with Shredded Greens, Ginger and Basil
Perfumed Rice (Jasmine Rice cooked with ghee, and a broth of lemongrass, ginger, mint, basil, onions, black pepper and cardamom)
Seitan in Curried Yogurt Sauce

Cucumber, Carrot and Radish salad with Tamari-Sesame Dressing
Pickled Onions
Apricot Chutney

Curried Kabocha Samosas

Green Peas with Paneer Cheese
Turkish Donuts with Rosehip and Honey GlazeCream Cheese Stuffed Dates, Candied Almonds, Dried Apricots

and to wash it all down:

White Grape Juice with Ginger, Mint, Cardamom and Pepper

One of the fun elements was that I made my own curry powders and spice blends.  This was partially to use as little pre-made food as possible, (I made the Paneer too,) but also because one of the guests can't have coriander/cilantro which is a big part of many curry mixes.  It was fun researching and mixing the spices!

The evening continued with a reading of The Silvered Swords and then extended congenial conversation.  I highly recommended making a fort and a feast! 

Here are some pictures of the guests:

Preview: Tav’urisk Launch Party

The Tav’urisk Launch Party is coming up in early December and I have been menu planning for it.  It is going to be a mix of dishes with an Asian bent – I’ve been reading Indian, Chinese and Nepalese cookbooks for ideas.  I am also drawing on Middle Eastern and Medieval Europe influences.

At the moment I have (as usual,) a ton of dishes and since the Tav’urisk “traditionally” do not use ovens, they are all stove top or, gasp, deep-fried recipes.  I very rarely deep-fry anything – it’s so unhealthy to eat (if delicious!) and a pain to do if you don’t have the right equipment.  I jury-rig pots, sieves, and slotted spoons and such, but it’s still a bit annoying.
 

However, I am going to make, and fry, Kabocha Squash Samosas and a Turkish Donut Recipe which sounds sort of amazing.  They are essentially a choux pastry, fried, and dipped in rose-hip syrup.  I am going to tweak the syrup recipe to be made with honey and no rosewater or lemon juice (ingredients the Tav’urisk wouldn’t have), but otherwise I am following this method: Turkish Doughnuts with Rose Hip Syrup.  I think I’ll do small balls instead of rings.

Turkish Donuts

photo by: John Kernick

Amber Grimoire

The current issue of the Amber Grimoire, titled "The Wild Wood" is ready! The short story I put in there was an exercise to write a little tale in the style of an Arthurian romance - the retelling, not medieval verse.  The country of Ariceda in Idhua has a legendary queen, Aeslthed, and the cycle of seven tales about her are a keystone of Aricedan legendary history.  This tale is the fourth in the cycle and tells of her unexpected marriage.  If anyone is interested in submitting to the Amber Grimoire the next issue's theme is "Dreams."  The submission deadline and other information is posted here.

Eonia Launch Party

Idhua’s third country, Eonia, has been launched.  An archipelago off the eastern coast, Eonia has an eastern Mediterranean influence.  The room was draped in shades of blue and violet, and decorated with ivy and flowers, candles and a shrine to the Eonian sea goddess, Moriana.  The menu was consisted of flat bread served with hummus, homemade yogurt cheese with olive oil and sumac, black and green olive tapanade, cumin carrot spread, and herbed artichoke heart relish; a salad of romaine, radishes, sweet onions, cucumbers, feta, and mint in a lemon and olive oil dressing and a goat cheese and roasted mushroom filo roll.  After supper there was reading of The Amulet of Aranos.

The evening was concluded with an ice cream made of Greek yogurt, honey and orange flower water served with candied orange peel and pomegranate seeds.  Everyone wore Greek/fantasy inspired costumes, but sadly a great number of the pictures came out fuzzy.  Below are a few that turned out:

Progress Report

Idhua is progressing apace!  I now have five countries done, in first draft form at least.  The latest that I finished over the summer is Ariceda, neighbor to Lendhlay and Fjallind.  I have decided that instead of doing a country this fall, I am going to work on the religion as I am getting to the point where the details of that are very important as I figure out cultures.  I have The Penguin Handbook of the World’s Living Religions to help me consider what elements and practices I need to look into including to build a religion.  I think a book on medieval Catholicism will be in order too.  At any rate, here is the current map of Idhua and the countries that are finished:

North Seattle SciFi and Fantasy Writers

Last Sunday I went to the North Seattle SciFi and Fantasy Writers Meetup.  It was a really great experience.  Well, great besides the fact that I went to the Greenlake Chocolati Café, before realizing it was at the Greenwood Chocolati Café and so was late and flustered.  Once I got there, the group was very welcoming.  They all gave very useful feedback on my short story “Catkin.” Some of their suggestions were particularly helpful, because they will make the story more understandable to someone who is not familiar with my world, Idhua.  The blind spot of  my current readers – my mom, my sister and a few close friends – is that they know a lot about my world from all the stories and ideas I have bounced off of them.

The pieces I read from the other writers in the Meetup group were really good too, and it was a pleasure to read and critique them.  Hopefully some of the suggestions I made were as useful to them as theirs were for “Catkin.”

The group holds meetings every two weeks – which may be a little much for me, at least right now – but I do plan on going back.  It is invigorating to read and discuss works in progress with other authors in my genre and I would like to make more connections to the speculative fiction community here in Seattle.

Writing.... slowly, but surely...

Writing the current country is coming slowly.  I have yet to settle on a name which I like for it.  For a while it was Anthuer – but I have several “A” names already and I didn’t particularly like the name anyways.  At the moment it is Tav’uran.  As I posted previously, this culture is built around their battles with demons and I have been playing with the idea that they leave a part of their name out in order to help hide themselves from the demons (or so the superstition goes).  The asterisk indicates where a syllable has been removed from a name to conceal the “real” name.  However, I am well aware that sticking asterisks into names is a fairly common and sometimes annoying fantasy trope, and I have not decided whether to stick with it or not.

At any rate, the story is coming slightly faster than the “facts” about the country – mostly because I had so much of it figured out ahead of time from my dream.  I am almost done with the first draft of it.  It would be good, I think, to work on the county entry before I start rewriting the story, so that I can allow that work to flesh out the world of the story.

All the writing has been slowed down, as I am still in beading mania, (as of tonight I have the bulk of it done and tomorrow will start actually sewing the dress again,) and am preparing for Norwescon.  Once all that excitement is over it will be time to buckle down to rewriting the Eonian tale besides finishing Tav’uran or whatever it is going to be called.

Enchanted Forests

Nisene Marks, CA

During my sister, N’s, spring break last week, we went to visit family and friends in central California, where we grew up.  There is always something a little heartbreaking about returning to a place that is not home anymore, but was once.

The coastal forests of California are the foundational forests of my imagination; the landscapes which are written bone-deep on me – the ones that don’t just fill my dreams, but scent them too.  While I can identify far more plants in that ecosystem than in others, even the ones I don’t know the names of, or uses for, are familiar to me.  I have seen them season to season, in all moments of their growth and death.  

Hoh Rainforest, WA

In visiting that forest, I am reminded of how little I know the forests of the Pacific Northwest.  There I am a visitor, who marvels at the sights but does not yet know the language.  In a strange sense the forests of the North are more accessible to me through the mediums of literature, photography or film.  In California the woods are familiar because they are inside of me.  Where I live now the experience of the forest takes the reinterpretation of the artist’s eye, my own or someone else’s, to allow me to recognize that what I am seeing corresponds to something I know.

Me, playing dryad

The Forest that lies at the heart of Idhua grows from that soil that grows the redwoods carpeted with wood sorrel; the tangle of hazel, thimbleberry and bramble that shadows a trickling creek.  The first description of the Forest I wrote (when I was in my early twenties) was both consciously and unconsciously the woods I walked in:

It was well after midday when she came to the first of the great trees.  It reached up and up in majestic grandeur towards the soft sky, high above.  Her heart leapt and she stopped to look more closely at the vast ancient tree.  There was a rich, sharp fragrance in the air of bark and leaf.  The dizzying height made her feel as though she were but a mouse creeping through a vast, living cathedral.  She walked in silence between them and at last, when the light was turning rich and golden, she came to a grove of giants that grew in a circle and in the center of them was a mossy mound.

My sister, playing dryad

The Forest of Idhua, besides being infused with enchantment, stretches from northern mountains wrapped in ice, to southern lakes, shimmering under a brilliant sun. My intention is that it contains many different forests – from cedar to redwood, from oak to maple – yet, I think it is inescapable that its primeval layer this first forest of my memory.  C. S. Lewis wrote that a reader “does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all real woods a little enchanted” (29-30).  It is an interactive process for me, as a reader, writer and lover of trees; it is impossible to say whether the enchantment springs first from the forest itself, the trees I read about or those that grow in my imagination.

Works Cited:

Lewis, C. S. Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories. 2002. Boston: Mariner Books.

Fjallind Launch Party

The second county in Idhua has been launched!  On Friday night the country of Fjallind was introduced with a small dinner party and reading of “The Sorrow of the Lady of Sorjaey.”  Fjallind is in the far north-west of Idhua and has a Nordic flavor.  To that end we had a menu which started with sourdough rye bread with homemade soured cream, pickled onions with fresh dill and smoked roasted mushrooms.  Our main course was honey-roasted root vegetables (parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, carrots and beets) and seitan “reindeer” meat with dumplings in sour-cream gravy. It is somewhat amusing to me to be making up a culture and cuisine and then to be adapting vegetarian versions of the dishes.

Later we had a dessert of crepes with wild blueberry sauce and honeyed whipped cream while we read the story.  Below are some pictures as we passed the story from person to person.  To add to the experience, one of my friends, PF, who attended, had set the song from the story to music.  It was a lovely surprise to add to the evening.

A verse of the song:

Into your keeping, Lady of Midnight,
Myra of the wayfaring roads;
Keeper of travelers and singer of stars,
One last breath, before I am yours.

Incidentally, this story is the one I submitted to the Fairwood Writers' workshop at Norwescon in April.  I am excited to see what sort of comments and criticisms I receive on it.

S, D and I listening

D and PF listening

SF reads as M listens

Epic Dream Inspires Writing

    Occasionally, I have dreams which have many qualities of an epic story.  I usually jot them down – some of them I have used as bases for stories or am saving for ideas.  As I was finishing my work on Eonia and began to turn my thoughts to the next country (which at the moment is still unnamed) I had one such dream.  I had already begun gathering bits and pieces of this new country in stories I had written, but the elements I was toying with didn’t yet fit together.  The bits I had come up with was that there were a people who were nomadic and very secretive.  They had a martial magic which was unique in Idhua, yet it didn’t make sense that they would be in any kind of lasting conflict with their neighbors.  I was just beginning to puzzle over the elements I had already given myself, when this dream offered some interesting solutions to some of the problems. 

    In the dream there was a kingdom, ruled by a Queen (who in the dream was my housemate M) that was plagued by demons.  I was some sort of sorceress who was trying to help the Queen save her country.  In an episode near the beginning of the dream I received a magical crystal sword which I gave to the Queen’s champion, who was my brother.
So far our battle against the demons had not been going well as our weapons were fairly useless against them. Our only reprieve was that they had not figured out how to stay in this world for any length of time.  The Queen’s champion went to fight the demons with his new sword and I, as the royal sorceress set up a sort of monitoring spell to help him.  The new sword was very effective, but, while they were fighting, the demons were pulled back to their own dimension and the champion was pulled too.
 

     However, somehow my spell on him remained intact and I went running off to find my sister, N.  She was also a sorceress and we began preparing a spell to summon our brother back from the demon’s realm, while at the same time helping to prepare an evacuation for the entire castle, which apparently was about to fall off a cliff because the demons had weakened the foundation.  Our spell was successful (which was surprising, seeing as how cause and effect can be very warped in dreams,) and having rescued our brother, we turned our attention to the evacuation.
 

    At this point the dream sort of degenerated into a common trope for my dreams: organizing things.  Most of the people were out of the castle (or house as it had become), but I had a vague sense that we would be heading out on the road in a quest like manner, rather than meeting up with the other evacuees. I determined we would need to take camping type gear. I was in the kitchen of the house and I was getting a little hung up on making sure we had silverware, a cutting board and knife, napkins, dishtowels and soap and an oven rack to prop over a fire for an open flame cooking rack. I was a little frustrated at our lack of useful rations – but when I grabbed the peanut butter I remembered the Emergency Kit I had made up for winter (a real project and I dreamt of the exact plastic crate I used).  My epic dreams often have an episode like this – everybody else will be discussing how to sneak out of the city, or retrieve the magical artifact and I am off making sandwiches.  :)

    But back to the point: I felt there were the bones of an interesting story with the demons, the magic sword and the different realms.  I was also intrigued by the sibling element, as I have not written about siblings for a while.  But besides the elements of one story, I found that idea of a people plagued by demons gave some interesting answers to a nomadic, warlike people who nonetheless were not fighting their neighbors.  The idea that I am exploring now is that in the distant past their ancestors started summoning demons to do their bidding, but at some point the demons figured out how to cross into the human world on their own, though they could never stay for long.  They are attracted to the blood of the sorcerers who first summoned them and so the people keep moving to prevent the demons from getting a “fix” on their location.  Obviously, the idea needs a lot more thought and fleshing out, but at the moment I am enjoying trying it on – and enjoying that my dream gave me some solutions to this next phase of writing.

Book Release: The Wise Man’s Fear

Last Tuesday, M and I went to the book signing for The Wise Man’s Fear at the University Bookstore. Fortuitously, we got really good seats – center in the second row. The event started at 7:00 pm, I arrived at about 5:00 pm to scope it out and save a spot for M, who was working until 6:00. Even two hours early, the chairs set up were nearly full, and by the time the event had started there were people crammed everywhere. The other nice thing about getting good seats was that the front rows got to go through the signing line first and, since my day job starts at 5:00 am (I’m a baker), I was very grateful to get my book signed earlier rather than later (and I am sure it was much later for some folks).

Patrick was a funny and engaging speaker with a very conversational tone. He was very interactive with the audience and I really admired his way of fielding the more silly, inappropriate or unanswerable questions. “That’s a really good question,” he might say, “I wish I had time to answer it. Next?” But he did it in both a humorous and gracious way.

One of the questions he did answer, which I found particularly interesting, was about keeping track of the enormity of his world – which, as I mentioned in my review of The Name of the Wind, is very complex and well realized. He said that he does have some notes, etc. but that a lot of it is in his head. I spent a bunch of time figuring out how to keep track of Idhua and lit upon making myself an encyclopedia for it, so I am very impressed that can keep all that in his head.

I have not started The Wise Man’s Fear yet, for fear (ha!) of becoming immersed in it and not getting my to-do list for this week finished. However, I am planning on picking it up this weekend. Patrick promised the next book will be out in 100 years (but probably sooner), so I have some time to finish this one. ;)

Finished Eonia

  This week I finished my fourth country "encyclopedia" entry and short story.  The country is called Eonia and is based loosely on Greek and other ancient Mediterranean cultures.  The rough draft of the short story "The Amulet of Aranos" has taken me longer than I would have liked, mostly because I wrote it going in one direction and then when I shared it with my lovely writing group, Phantasme, the ladies there pointed out the direction that I should be going, or I seemed to want to go.  Of course they were right, so I went back and did a massive rewrite, and then a less massive rewrite, and am finally ready to share it with them again.
  I will be continuing to edit and refine "The Amulet of Aranos" but I am also going to begin my next country next week.  It is a north-eastern country in Idhua - just about directly across the continent from the first country I did, Lendhlay.  It is as yet nameless; I had a name for it that no longer fits, so I am going to have to think about that for a while.  Here is a map of Idhua with the finished countries shaded in:

Lendhlay Launch

    My current writing project is to develop my fantasy world, while working on developing short fiction styles.  To this end I am going through the continent of Idhua, country by country and for each one I have been writing an “encyclopedia” entry and a short story or novella set in it. I have begun with the oldest country, Lendhlay, and wrote a story entitled The White Raven, which I am now in the process of final editing.  I wanted to mark each one more definitively than saying “that’s done, next!” So I am holding a little (or maybe someday big) party to launch each one.

   The event is themed after the country and will include a reading of the short story.  I am done with two countries, Lendhlay and Fijallind, and am working on the third, Eonia.  I had the Lendhlay launch party in December and I feel it was a good success.  It was a dinner party of five courses and costumes were encouraged.  Although I have a pretty good idea of what the Lendhu dress looks like, I wanted to make it easier on my guests, so the instructions were fantasy medieval garb with an elven flavor – how ever they chose to interpret that.  Here are some pictures of the night:

Table Setting

Centerpiece made of a decorative mirror

Me in Costume