Gold Dust

Anyone who’s had a toddler, or who’s tried to have a conversation with a parent of a toddler, is probably familiar with the following scenario:

PARENT: So tell me what’s been up with you.

FRIEND: Well, you know I quit my job at the bank–

PARENT: (calling) Jakie! Jakie, put that down. (to FRIEND) Sorry, yes. I heard you quit! So where are you now?

FRIEND: Val hooked me up with a friend of hers at GeneriTech. They were looking for a systems consultant.

PARENT: Oh, that’s fantastic. (calling) Jakie. Jakie! Leave them alone. Yes.

FRIEND: So anyway, I’ve been there a month, and–

PARENT: (getting up) I’m sorry, excuse me a moment. (walks off to corral toddler)

You can have a conversation, of course, and you can convey basic information, but it’s hard to do through constant interruptions. From the parent’s side, they’re always at least half (sometimes more) paying attention to their toddler, lest the little scamp fall into a mud puddle or find the knife collection or post embarrassing pictures to Facebook.

This is what it feels like to try to write these days.

One of the pieces of writing advice I give is that the time spent away from the keyboard is just as important as the time spent typing. Your mind has to be free to be creative, to explore possibilities and build the next scene and the next, to free associate and match weird ideas to your existing plot, to get you excited about what you’re about to write so that when you do sit down, you don’t spend that keyboard time just thinking.

(It is okay to just think at the keyboard, but obviously it’s more efficient to think elsewhere and type when you’re at the keyboard.)

This spring, I was writing the end of The War and the Fox, and I was thinking through the final battle scene. It excited me so much that I spent a whole week just turning over possibilities and discarding them, writing a little bit more each day and constantly revising. It felt great.

It’s hard to get that feeling back when the world feels like a toddler staggering toward a knife drawer and I’m on the other side of a thick glass barrier and I can’t do anything except watch, and maybe sign a petition to have someone go into the other room and divert the toddler, if that’s even possible.

(I had a list of problems going on in the world while initially writing this draft, but after two days it was already out of date, so just list off whatever insanity is happening right now.)

It’s a lot to have on one’s mind. It makes it hard to focus on the stories you’re writing because they seem so insignificant, but also worrying about the above is so stressful that sometimes you just want to play your Match-3 game of choice or your Words With Friends, or watch the latest must-see show and not think about anything.

(Or maybe write a blog post explaining how writing has been harder the last couple years.)

The practical upshot of this is that one of the things that used to come easily—thinking about and getting excited about a story I’m writing—does not come easily now. Which means that I have to spend energy making it happen. I have to remind myself to think about the story I’m writing, what happens next, what I want to say, why I’m excited about writing it. I have been trying to do that this past week with moderate success.

If this advice is helpful to my fellow writers, great. If you’re not a writer, consider this a reminder that while yes, we all need to worry about what’s happening in the world, we all also need to worry about ourselves. It’s okay to take a break to do something you enjoy, to remind yourself of why we’re so attached to this messed-up world after all.

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Normally, I wouldn’t write a whole post about a bit of unsolicited advice on Twitter, but I’ve been thinking about this for a few days still, so here you go.

A few days ago, there was a very good article in the Guardian about racism in romance novels and the romance novel community. A small part of that highlighted a letter written to the author of a romance novel with black characters from a white romance author which read, basically, “I didn’t realize that black people fell in love; I thought it was all just sex.”

If your reaction to that is “WTF” then you’re not alone. An author I respect a lot had the same reaction, and I replied noting that the same thing has happened with gay romances:

A couple people responded and there was a discussion; the author engaged as well. One of the replies I got, though, suggested that I shouldn’t have jumped into her thread:

I really think that this suggestion was made in good faith, so please don’t go target the poster. I haven’t responded yet because I wanted to get some thoughts in order here before I do.

So the thing about this is–and again, I don’t believe that the person meant it this way–this echoes a tactic that the majority often uses to keep disadvantaged groups from gaining more power. “Yes,” they say, “racism is a problem and homophobia is a problem, but they are separate problems. Let’s not discuss them together.”

Certainly there are aspects of any marginalization that are unique. But the reason the people in power want to keep those discussions separate is that if these different groups shared their experiences, saw what they had in common, and developed empathy for each other, they would start to embrace each other’s causes. And minorities are a majority in this country. It serves the people in power better to have this group think themselves separate from this other group, neither of them interested in helping this third group.

“Intersectionality” is a term initially coined to talk about the problems women of color faced–different from white women or men of color, but related to both. It’s expanded a bit to mean any way in which the problems of disadvantaged groups overlap. Of course gay men should fight against racism because some gay men are black, right? But also, we should fight against racism because it’s wrong, and we should empathize with it because we get demonized as well. Not in the same way nor to the same extent in many areas, but enough that we should be able to empathize with people of color, women, non-Christian people, trans and non-binary people, disabled people, and any other groups pushed to the fringes. We should be able to share our stories.

Of course there are boundaries, right? Don’t jump in and make every conversation about you. But I personally will always be open to any disadvantaged people sharing their experiences and I will always want to further the conversation about how we can help all of us, not just some of us. As with anyone, there will be problems you can relate to and problems you can’t, but that doesn’t mean you can’t listen and empathize. And if someone’s having an in-depth discussion of how to handle a specific problem, use your judgment about whether your experiences are applicable or appropriate to share.

But when someone’s just literally going “WTF,” I think it’s okay to share your own “WTF” stories. And for the record, if I’m discussing homophobia or any other issues, feel free to jump in and talk about your own experiences. I want to know what everyone else is going through.

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I was wanting to write a fluffy porny story and so I started writing one. Then I was trying to figure out what world it belonged in, and it seemed to work in Argaea, so I set it there. Then I wondered how this character got to where he was in the world, and so long story short, hi, here’s a cross fox named Tryk and he lives in the jungle/savanna south of Ferrenis and Tephos with tribes of jaguars and capybaras and fruit bats and such. How did he get there? What will happen to him? That’s all probably coming in the future. For now, here he is meeting a cute fruit bat and maybe sexy hijinks ensue (okay, the story’s NSFW, hijinks definitely ensue). AmonOmega did a lovely illustration of him getting ready to test his artificial wings (nude because it’s warm there and also if you’re going to fly you need to reduce your weight).

FA: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/30236607/

SF: https://www.sofurry.com/view/1413514

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FC is just around the corner! I’m going to be spending a lot of time at the Sofawolf table in the East dealer’s room (the small one across the hall from the big one–go all the way to the back of the room and look for all the books) where you should absolutely come find copies of Ty Game or any other book and get me to sign them.

When I’m not at the table I will be doing some panels! Here is where and when to find me:

Friday, January 18

1:00pm – Marriott: Almaden Rogues, Scalawags, and Evil Overlords – Learn how to write effective villains. The Pen Drake • Kyell Gold

Saturday, January 19

11:00am – Marriott: Almaden Write Now! – After a short talk about short story structure, you’ll be given a random prompt and time to start writing your own story. No more excuses! Kyell Gold • Jakebe T. Lope

4:30pm – Hilton : Santa Clara Adult Furry Writing [18+] – If you don’t know what this is about then you probably shouldn’t come. ;) Teiran • The Pen Drake • Kyell Gold

Sunday, January 20

1:00pm – Marriott: Blossom Hill Kyell Gold Reading/Q&A – I’ll read from an unpublished work and then take your questions about forthcoming books, past books, Zootopia, or whatever else you want to ask. Kyell Gold

10:00pm – Marriott: Guadalupe Unsheathed Live! [18+] – Our classic podcast returns! The Pen Drake • Kyell Gold

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If you’ve been waiting to buy the Ty Game e-book at places other than this one, you should be able to find it this weekend or early next week at the latest. I’ve sent it to the major furry and non-furry retailers and it should be good to go.

PLEASE NOTE that due to past problems with explicit images, the Kindle and iTunes versions do not have one of the interior illustrations (dis one, NSFW of course) that the other versions have. Google, Kobo, and your furry retailers will have all ten interior illustrations, and if you need a Kindle version, all the furry retailers sell a fully illustrated Kindle version that will drop right into your Kindle or Kindle software or whatever.

(The calculus of which images to take out and which to leave in is a complicated one and the retailers are not consistent on it, but I’m making an effort here to be consistent with previous guidelines as best I can. Basically there’s an image I left in and one I took out and the line between them is kinda blurry but I felt it was important, and in the past it’s been important that I demonstrate a good faith effort to align with the retailer policies so that’s what I’m trying to do.)

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In just over a week, we’ll be descending on Chicago (Rosemont, to be precise) for Midwest FurFest! I’m excited to be there, honored to be one of their guests this year, and looking forward to seeing all of you! If you hadn’t heard, I’ve got a new book coming out (Ty Game), so I’ll be in the dealer’s den (at my table near the main entrance or by FurPlanet/Sofawolf against the back wall).

When I’m not at the dealer den, here’s where you can find me:

Friday, November 30

11:00am: Opening Ceremonies 12:00pm: Meet the Guests of Honor 4:00pm: Shiny Sponsor Reception – Early Flight 5:30pm: What It Takes to Write: Process, Discipline, and Lifestyle

Saturday, December 1

9:30am: Sponsor Brunch 12:30pm: Get Published 4:30pm: Kyell Gold Reading/Q&A 5:30pm: Author-Ilustrator Collaboration 7:30pm: RAWR: A Furry Writing Workshop

Sunday, December 2

12:30pm: Secrets of Successful Travel w/ GOH Kyell Gold 3:30pm: A Memorial for Fred Patten 5:00pm: Closing Ceremonies

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https://sofawolf.com/blog/announcing-ty-game-kyell-gold-signing-opportunity

From now until November 27 (that’s in just over a week), you can pre-order my new book Ty Game and get it signed by me! I’ll be flying out to Minnesota next week JUST to sign all these books you order because I love you all and want you to be happy.

If you’re going to MFF, you can pick up your pre-order there, OR you can just buy one there. I’ve got a lot of panels to do, but you should be able to find me at the dealer’s table when I’m not at the panels (schedule forthcoming or you can just look me up on MFF’s Sched.org). Both artists who worked with me on this book, :iconrukis: and :iconneverwolf:, will be at MFF as well, and originals of some of the interiors will be in the art show there.

The blog post linked above has all the details for this pre-order. E-books and audiobooks and all that other stuff that is not part of this pre-order will follow the usual procedures for my books, and of course will also be announced on this space when they happen. We are not doing a hardcover edition of this book, so paperback only.

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I have a pet peeve with prequels and it was only after watching “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewold” that I was able to pin down what specifically bothered me about it. So here’s a mostly spoiler-free review along with my pet peeve and why I think it signals bad writing.

I liked the first Fantastic Beasts movie quite a bit. All the main characters were well written and well acted, and the Newt-Tina-Queenie-Jacob quartet were charming enough to carry me through the hiccups caused by trying to jam their story in with the story of the Obscurus that was terrorizing New York. But the neatest thing about it was how much bigger it made the Harry Potter world. We moved to a new city in a new country on a new continent nearly a hundred years ago, and so there was a sense of discovery much like when Harry goes to Hogsmeade for the first time, or to the World Cup of Quidditch. We were getting a glimpse into a part of the world that had always existed but we were just seeing for the first time.

The second movie continues the story–of Grindewald, who showed up at the very end of the first movie after being a background character who might just have been thrown in for flavor in the rest of it. Oh yes, we also get to see what Newt’s been up to (not much) and meet a young Dumbledore, a Lestrange, a young McGonagall…and a couple other people with ties to the Harry Potter books that I won’t mention because (maybe) spoilers, even though one of them was one of the most useless characters I’ve ever seen get so much screen time in a movie.

Are you starting to see what’s bothering me here? (I mean, apart from getting maybe a first act for the story of the four main characters of the first movie, the ones I liked.) This movie, far more than the first, pushes into your face all the connections with the Harry Potter books. Remember the Lestranges, y’all? There’s even a scene with a student in which the movie takes pains to let you know his name is McClaggen. OMG! It’s Cormac McClaggen’s grandfather probably! Does he do anything in the movie? No.

A little of this is fun. I do it in side stories and prequel stories I’ve written. But when there are so many people with ties to the main work, it makes the world feel smaller. It’s ironic that WB is starting to push the “Wizarding World” brand to expand this world beyond Harry Potter with a movie that shrinks the scope of the world in this way. We go to Paris! Do we meet any French magicians of note? We do not. The French Ministry of Magic is cool as a set for the British and American wizards to run around in. Ditto Paris.

A piece of advice I got from Kij Johnson’s novel workshop was: strive to make your world feel larger. Very often I fall into the trap of writing the story about my main character(s) and a couple of their friends. But I (and hopefully you) interact with a lot more people just on a daily basis, especially in today’s world. I have interacted today with nine of my Telegram chats, some of which include multiple people. Just today!

The same advice holds when moving around in time. If you were writing a prequel to your own life, say your high school or college years (I’m aware that for many of you those are not nearly as far in the past as they are for me; just bear with me), would the characters be the same as the ones in your life now? Some would, sure: your best friends, your family. But I’m willing to bet that in general, the people you talk to on a regular basis have changed over the last five years, ten years, twenty years. The same should go for your story.

All that said, the movie was a lot of fun. We saw it in 3D with Dolby Atmos sound and it was delightfully immersive. I still like Eddie Redmayne’s performance of Newt quite a bit, and I like the Harry Potter world a lot. As I noted on Twitter, I would like to know what Grindewold’s crimes actually are, given they felt them important enough to make a title out of, and I’d like to know what he stands for other than the rather vaguely threatening “freedom” he goes on about. Plotwise the movie doesn’t give you a whole lot to hold on to; it’s a lot of assumption that you get that this guy is Bad and must be stopped, and that this other guy is Driven. If you examine it too closely, a lot of it falls apart (for two magicians, Newt and Tina have apparently been terrible at actually keeping in touch), and there are points where the editing is noticeable for its faults. But there are a lot of clever lines, and a lot of good actors doing Good Actor Things, and of course the movie is gorgeously shot and composed. There are new Fantastic Beasts and familiar favorites, there are new spells and familiar ones. If you like the Harry Potter world–sorry, the “Wizarding World”–you’ll probably enjoy this movie, pet peeve or no.

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I haven’t been blogging much lately. Partly that’s because I was traveling over the summer, and when I got home I was working on the books that need to be ready for MFF, plus the other stuff I’m going to have to do as GOH of that convention (I co-authored a nifty conbook story!).

The reason I’m blogging now is that one of those tasks is more or less off my plate. I delivered the manuscript of Ty Game, the spinoff novel from the Out of Position series, to Sofawolf today, and the art seems to be on track, so hopefully we will be ready to release it at MFF! Keep an eye on my social media and Sofawolf’s, because we’ll almost certainly offer a pre-order once we have a delivery date. So even if you won’t be going to the con, you’ll get a signed copy. E-books will be on baddogbooks.com right around MFF and on other retailers in January (I’m going to predict in advance that furry retailers will be your best bet for this book, because Neverwolf’s done some fantastic illos, including a couple that are possibly a little too risqué for mainstream retailers, but we’ll see who complains…). No audiobook plans yet. The print version will be paperback only, I believe–no hardcover.

If you haven’t heard about Ty Game, well, you should be reading my newsletter (http://bit.ly/kyellmail). Briefly, it’s the story of Ty Nakamura, who might be familiar to you from the OOP series, and especially one or two scenes from Over Time. You’ll get to see those scenes from his point of view as well as what led up to them and what happened after, plus a whole lot more. Interior illos are by Neverwolf, who is showing them off on his Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/theneverwolf/posts) in advance of the book being published.

Now I’m going to finish up the draft of the new Dev and Lee book (which you can follow on my Patreon if you subscribe at the $20 level) and then start on the third Calatians book (stay tuned for how you might be able to follow that online as well…!).

It’s been a busy fall. Hope yours has been good!

(Apart from the nightmare hellscape the U.S. has become, I mean.)

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Hey, I finally got The Demon and the Fox and Tales of the Firebirds up on iTunes, Google Play, and Kobo, in addition to Kindle and Bad Dog Books, so you can now go get them in those places. They should also be up on Jaffa Books and Rabbit Valley before long if those places are your preferred retailers.

I need to do some more work with Barnes and Noble before I can get the books up there, but I get the sense that not many of you are holding your NOOKBucks waiting for that to happen anyway.

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I have 11 audiobooks out through ACX, which has been generally great to work with. Matching narrators with authors, getting the audiobooks distributed, the technical part has been just fine.

The part where I get paid has been…okay. The fact that they handle splitting royalties between me and the narrators when we choose that is fantastic. They initially paid a royalty of 50% and then dropped that to 40% a couple years ago. Now they’re changing the “bounty” program (which name has always made me a bit uncomfortable). It used to be until August 1, 2018, that I would get a $50 credit (split between me and the narrator if we’re splitting royalties) if my book was one of the first three bought by a new Audible member (ACX and Audible are both owned by Amazon). I could encourage people to sign up, they’d buy my books, it would help me out. I got a few of these every month, which made a nice difference in the payments.

As of August 1, ACX is changing the program. I can still get a reward, upped to $75–the catch is that just buying my book first is no longer enough. The new Audible customer has to specifically make their purchase using one of my referral links. I don’t think it actually has to be one of my books, oddly enough; at least, it doesn’t specify that in the text anywhere (from this page):

(Also, ACX has helpfully allowed me to get a referral link for each one of my books for each one of their marketplaces–US, UK, France, Germany–which is like 44 different links and what am I supposed to do with that? Post them all on a page somewhere that nobody will ever look at? Put them all in my email signature, as they suggest? That’d be one huge signature and I’m pretty sure I’d get flagged as spam.)

So the point of this is that I’m going to have to periodically push referral links at you or else I get less money, and while I have made peace with the fact that I have to tell people about my books and encourage purchasing, I hate doing the “buy them through this link please” because people buy in all sorts of ways and it’s just adding another layer of inconvenience to someone supporting me. So I’m sorry.

Here’s the referral link for the newest audiobook, “The Tower and the Fox,” for the US marketplace: https://www.audible.com/pd/B07F1YRWLF/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-120139&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_120139_rh_us

(If you’re in the UK or France or Germany and you want the link for those markets, hit me up on email or Twitter or FA or whatever.) If you know someone who’s thinking of starting an Audible membership, or who’s interested in this audiobook, and you could pass along the link, it’d help me out. If you don’t know anyone and you’re already a member, thank you! If you’d like to write a review of the audiobook on Audible or iTunes, that helps me out a TON actually.

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Over on Bad Dog Books now, at other major retailers the first week of August:

The Demon and the Fox (book 2 in the Calatians series)

Tales of the Firebirds (short stories from the Out of Position universe)

Available in ePub or Kindle format.

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Hey, if you, like 7-8000 other people, will be going to Anthrocon this year, and you want to know where you might run into a certain fox, here is a handy guide. All the panels are in DLCC 310-311.

FRIDAY

Noon – 3:45: Around the FurPlanet/Sofawolf tables in the dealer’s den with two new books and a bunch of old ones.

4-5: READING / Q & A. This is your chance to hear part of an upcoming, unpublished work as read by the author! And also to ask that author any questions you might have about books, writing, Zootopia, or whatever. (The author is me. If that wasn’t clear.)

6-7:30: Writing Foundations: Advanced. Kristina Tracer and I will be talking about some advanced concepts in writing. What will those be? Show up and find out!

SATURDAY

10-11:45: In the dealer room.

12-1: All About RAWR. I and Alkani will talk about the residential furry writing retreat we helped found and continue to run. If you have questions or just want to hear what happens at a writing retreat, come on by!

After lunch – 6: Back in the dealer room, probably.

8-9: Submit and Publish. Teiran and Fugue and I will discuss submitting to furry and other publications and how to give yourself the best chance of getting published.

SUNDAY

10-11:30: Fantasy Writing. Jaden Drackus, Kristina Tracer, and I will talk about the fantastic worlds of fantasy, what fantasy is about and why we love it.

After lunch – 2: In the dealer room to sign all your books before you fly home. Get some reading material for the flight!

Hope to see you lovely people there!

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The new story collection Tales of the Firebirds is live on Amazon (paper only; e-book coming in July; no audiobook plans) and a shipment has been dispatched to Anthrocon, so you should be able to find it there at the FurPlanet table, where I will also be! And after AC the plan is to sell it through FurPlanet.com as well.

Also! The Demon and the Fox will be at AC. If you have been itching to find out what happens to Kip and his friends, you’ll be very happy. If you haven’t yet started their adventures, you’ll also be able to get the first volume, The Tower and the Fox, at the same time, and I’ll sign them both!

I believe FurPlanet will continue to carry TotF at future conventions, so if they’re going to be at a convention, chances are good that the book will be there. If they’re not, then check what booksellers will be and contact them to ask if they can order a few (they should contact me; please don’t email me to tell me to send them copies). The e-book will be on all the regular e-book sites but the paperback will likely only be on Amazon and FurPlanet.com for the foreseeable future (I will update as I have news).

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HEY. I just bought a plane ticket so I guess I’m going to be at Anthrocon this year. I’ll be on some panels and will be around the Sofawolf and FurPlanet tables signing books. Hopefully “The Demon and the Fox” and “Tales of the Firebirds” will both be out at this convention, but neither of them is to the printer yet so…cross your paws for me. ^^

My convention schedule for the rest of the year is pretty light. I’ll be at San Diego Comic-Con, but the only other furry con on my schedule for this year is MFF and I might drop by PawCon because it’s in the area and they have a cool GOH this year.

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If for some reason you haven’t picked up the Love Match Volume 2 e-book from baddogbooks.com, in a day or two you should be able to find it on your preferred major e-book retailer (except for NOOK because I’m still working on some bureaucracy with that platform, but also based on sales I’m going to say that there aren’t many of you who would describe NOOK as your “preferred” retailer).

Rocky’s adventures continue beyond Palm Gables, into adulthood as he crosses his eighteenth birthday, and into continuing success in the tennis world, with equivalent challenges in other aspects of his life.

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Hey, if you’re a FWG member, Coyotl nominations close 3/15 so I thought I’d remind everyone what I have that’s eligible if you feel inclined.

Novels:

Love Match volume 1

The Tower and the Fox (by Tim Susman)

Camouflage

  Short stories:

“Personal History,” in ROAR 8 (by Tim Susman)

“Who Fights With Monsters,” in Arcana

  If you liked ’em, please nominate, thanks! If you didn’t, nominate something else! It’s important that we all participate. 🙂

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