Babel Clash

Just like my fellow Babel Clasher, the estimable Andrew Mayer, I love New York City. I have visited the place at least twice per year for the last seven years. I love to wander the streets, to soak up the thriving atmosphere and vibrancy, to explore every inch of the place, both old and new. I like nothing more than leaving my hotel room and wandering around by myself.

I honestly believe New York City is now my favorite city in world, and I’ve seen a few. That’s no mean feat, for a city on the other side of the world to lure a writer from a rural village in Lincolnshire, England, so completely. But it’s true, I feel inexorably drawn to it. I miss it when I stay away for too long. In fact, sitting here writing this in my study, I’m missing it now, just thinking about the place!

I have friends in New York, as well as favorite restaurants and bookshops. Just off Times Square is the best Starbucks anywhere in the world. I know where there’s a special, secret bar, filled with people who look as if they should exist in the pages of a novel or a TV show rather than real life. I love sitting in there and watching them.

Yet there’s more to it than that. The city itself has an allure. It’s intoxicating. Just being there you can sense it, and it’s intangible, difficult to put your finger on. The city feels as I it’s alive, as if the thousands of people thronging through it are like neurons flitting through an immense, fabricated brain. As if the streets themselves hum with life. I think you soak some of that up when you spend time in that city, and once you have, it never lets you go again.

It’s this that I wanted to capture in the two ‘Ghost’ books. That sense I have of New York City as a character. In fact, in many ways the character of the Ghost himself, the vigilante alter ego of the dilettante Gabriel Cross, is an embodiment of the city, an expression of its personality. The Ghost is the city rendered flesh, and he flows through its streets like an antibody, doing his best to stamp out crime and inflicting his own personal justice upon the villains.

I think Andrew is absolutely right about New York and its relationship to heroes. Let’s face it: all the best superheroes come from New York, whether it’s the real New York or some analogy of it. There’s no better location on Earth for superhero characters to do battle with the enemies of mankind.

Of course, the New York of the Ghost isn’t the New York of history. Things in his version of reality are ever so slightly different. Not least the politics.

That’s the other thing I wanted to do in these books – and in particular the second one, Ghosts of War. I wanted to explore how 1920s New York City might be twenty-five years after the big steampunk revolution had hit on the other side of the world, back in London. I wanted to see what changes that might have meant to the make-up of the world. Was the British Empire still a world power? Did they have designs on reclaiming America? Had the First World War still been fought, and what was the outcome?

It’s the answers to these questions that gave rise to the plot of Ghosts of War. The British, having defeated the Kaiser’s army with a massive tank known as the ‘Behemoth Land Crawler’, are now locked in a cold war with the USA, who fear the recently crowned monarch, Alberta I, has plans to use their fleet of super weapons to reclaim their lost colony. And so a small splinter group of Senators have arranged a counter measure – a deadly supernatural weapon that will obliterate everyone who lives on the British Isles. Only, they don’t really know how to control it, and the Ghost, as well as a British spy named Peter Rutherford, knows that if it’s actually unleashed in the preemptive strike that is planned – it might herald the end of the human race.

The action, of course, all takes place in New York City. Where else? And whilst it is a slightly alternate version of my favorite city, it’s still – I hope – a recognizable one. So while the two Ghost novels might be a high on pulp adventure, crashing airships and gribbly monsters, they’re also a love letter to a city that is very close to my heart.

I can hold my tongue no longer! It is bad enough that Mr.’s Butcher and Rothfuss keep hogging the New York Times list. Then a few weeks ago I went to sign a Sony Reader, only to discover both their signatures hogging up the entire back of it! I can not, however, let them go on about gaming and not leap into the conversation. For heaven’s sake, my author bio lists me as the “world’s most casual and controller smashing gamer”! That, and I had already got the Babel Clash gaming ball rolling when I was beating down Joe Abercrombie here just a few weeks ago…

My gaming world of choice was almost always the Forgotten Realms setting of D&D. I loved all the story seeds of that gaming world. I owned the atlas, I had the boxed city set. My walls were covered with the glorious full color maps. I spent my time as a PC journeying from major port metropolis Waterdeep all the way to the setting I usually put my own players down in, Shadowdale. It was a bit of a hick town off the beaten path, but Elminster the Sage lived there, and I really liked the idea of someone that powerful living in a bit of a dinkburg. Just seemed right to me, balanced in THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS.

Which is why, I suppose, I tend to write heroes with powers who seem to struggle in our everyday mundane world. How do they negotiate the day to day? How do they maintain their privacy? In Elminster’s case, one had better think twice before just walking up to his tower and rapping on his door. The amount of polymorphed toads sitting on piles of leftover human clothes should have been a clue to most adventurers…

But my love of that world didn’t end there! The Forgotten Realms also gave us the PC Baldur’s Gate games, which blended storytelling and leveling up adventuring into a tasty combo. Followed by the two more hack and slash Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games for the X-Box, which had their own flavor, all of which carried some of the flavor of the world that Ed Greenwood had created in the first place. There’s a man who knows how to spin a yarn, or at lest inspire people to spin yarns in the world he created! Think of writing your own campaigns in those worlds as glorified fan fic! I mean, let’s face it… all us writers are just writing fan fic, fiction based on a fandom of one, ourselves distilling our own stories out of everything we’ve ever experienced, played or accumulated in our minds.

But what happened to me while visiting the Forgotten Realms was that I started to pay attention to what makes a world interesting, and as a writer, that’s a primary focus. In the Forgotten Realms there were legends, lore, battles, a rich history… a tapestry of woven words that spoke to me, and despite the fact that I don’t actually write thick fantasy doorstops like Mr. Rothfuss, I do think my experience as a gamer sowed the seeds that would eventually grow into my own writing.

(Here’s where I suspect some people want me to confess that my urban fantasy books are based purely on a campaign I played in the Dresden Files RPG, but I SHALL ADMIT NO SUCH THING! At least, not with Jim standing over there in the corner glaring at me like that…)

I see that Nichole and Jaye left Babel Clash in the same state they leave our League of Reluctant Adults clubhouse, smelling of clove cigarettes, cheap cigars, plastic-bottled vodka, and broken dreams. Nicely done, ladies. *plugs in air freshener* Ahhh.. much better.

First, I’d like to thank Babel Clash once again for inviting me to hang out here for the next several weeks along with British fantasy writer Joe Abercrombie. For those playing the home game, I’ll be the monosyllabic one.

Those of you who know me, know I talk a lot about gaming. For those of you who don’t know me, I talk a lot about gaming. My author bio mentions I’m the world’s most casual and controller smashing video gamer, but my adoration of gaming goes way back to the late 70s, even before my love affair with electronic gaming began. We’re talking tabletop gaming, pen and paper, piles and piles of multi-colored, multi-sided dice. That was where I cut my teeth forming some of my most basic tools that would someday play out in my writing. Yes, true believers, I learned to write from playing Dungeons & Dragons.

I was introduced to the original “red box” Dungeons & Dragons set when I was 8 or 9 by a Brainiac friend of mine, and as a concept for a game, it blew my friggin’ mind. There was no game board, only pre-written modules filled with adventure details and the occasional maps. Oh, the maps! And most interesting of all, if I said something, it became part of the story. What I thought and said mattered to the structure of how the adventure played out, and this was my first real taste of creating content. And I LIKED it…a lot.

If what I said mattered in a game, that meant I had to plan it out a bit, didn’t I? So I created characters I found interesting to play. The Chaotic Neutral half-elf rogue (thief, back in that edition) was what I imprinted on most in the early days, but as time went by, I came up with more complex characters with more and more elaborate back stories, to the point where I had to have private sessions with the Dungeon Master to play some of that out. Moral ambiguity fascinated me, and I loved creating characters such as Lawful Good paladins who did despicable things, justifying their actions in the name of their gods. Fun stuff.

To this day, I spend much of my time trying to flesh out my characters in my series in much the same way. I do not, however, roll out their stats. Character was king to me as a tool I developed from D&D, but tabletop gaming gave me even more beyond that.

I became a Dungeon Master myself, and I did away with modules, creating my own content, which meant writing my own scenarios, controlling the flow of action, the dialogue of the non-player characters, and keeping the story moving for everyone playing. And I liked that, too… a lot.

And, really, as a writer, that’s what I’m doing, isn’t it? Those are the tricks of my trade. And you, as a reader, you become part of the story, too (especially since my stories tend to be first person narrative). I’m putting you behind the steering wheel. You get to be the player character, and like a Dungeon Master, I better keep the story and action flowing or else, like players in my campaign, you might drop out from the adventure, not showing up for the next week.. or in this case, for the next book.

I’ve been going to Gencon Indy, the Mecca for gamers, for the past decade now and this year I’m their Author Guest of Honor. I’m thrilled to add that to my resume, but I’m most thrilled to be back around 30,000 gamers for four days. It helps recharge my storytelling batteries and reminds me of my roots as a DM… torturing characters, making exciting adventures, and laying out a cohesive narrative. You know, writer stuff!

Now if I actually had time to fit in a D&D campaign around my writing schedule these days, I’d be all set…

I can’t believe our time at Babel Clash is already at an end. We’ve had two weeks filled with many things:  laughter, tears, obscenity, fangs and snark. But most of all–love. I’ll always remember it fondly. I know you will too.

Huge thanks to Dane for being such an excellent host and to the readers for putting up with our antics. It’s always a pleasure.

Now for the pimpage portion of this post (warning: exposure to pimpage may cause stress diarrhea, bleeding from the eyes and rashes in sensitive areas).

My latest book, GREEN-EYED DEMON is the third book in my Sabina Kane series. Just in time for Mardi Gras, the book is set in New Orleans and features drag queens, voodoo priestesses, scheming Cajuns and accidental zombies. If you like your urban fantasy dark with complex world building and sharp-edged humor, give it a try.

-end pimpage-

Until next time, Babel Clashians, I bid you adieu.

I’ve been thinking about something for a while now and Nicole’s post yesterday gives me the perfect opening to discuss it here.

It seems to me that because vampires are the monsters/heros that everyone loves or loves to hate right now, that merely having a vampire in your world automatically makes it a “vampire book.” Yet many of the series and books that people consider vampire fiction also feature other races and beings.

Because the Twilight bomb has already been dropped this week, let’s go there first. Undoubtedly, vampires are crucial to those books. But aren’t werwolves also a huge part of the story? Yes, they take second billing to the sparkly ones, but they’re important enough to the story lines that I always raise an eyebrow whenever I hear those books called “vampire books.” I’m pretty sure  Team Jacob might have an opinion on that.

But let’s look at Urban Fantasy (and, no I don’t consider Twilight UF). Kim Harrison’s protagonist, Rachel Morgan, is a witch. Faeries, demons, werewolves, etc all are important parts of her world building. But Rachel’s roommate, Ivy, is a vampire and vampire politics factor heavily in the plots of the series. And you know what? For the longest time, if you walked into certain book stores that considered any book with a vampire “horror,” you’d find Kim’s books in that section instead of the fantasy section with those other UFs that didn’t have a vampire.

In my own books, my protagonist is half-vampire, half-mage. While the vampires are crucial to the world building, after the fist book in the series, Sabina spend a lot more time with mages doing magic than sucking people’s necks. In addition, demons, werewolves, faeries and even an occasional zombie, play active roles. But for the most part, I’m considered a “vampire writer.”

I guess what I’m asking is, if an author puts one vampire in a book, will that book automatically be relegated to the Vampire Ghetto? Obviously, I’m not so obtuse as to claim the V Ghetto is hurting anyone. Vampire fiction is doing quite well, and marketing departments know that and use it. But when I think about projects I want to write in the future, I have to wonder if people will automatically expect me to keep writing vampires.

I’m sure sure there’s a real conclusion to be made here. But I am interested in hearing your opinions about why vampires tend to brand the fiction they appear in more than their hairier or more magical counterparts.

Nicole asked whether you enjoy nomadic or home-base protagonists in your UF. That got me thinking about common settings. Or more specifically, whether Urban Fantasy must always be urban.

The short answer is no. We can all think of examples of UF novels not set in large cities. The truth is the term “urban fantasy” is largely a construct of clever marketing people. As a marketing term, it’s quite effective. It implies a certain gritty modernity that separates UF from the more traditional fantasy subgenres. It just sounds cool.

But it can also be confusing to some readers when they run across novels that are not set in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, etc.

I attended ConDFW in Dallas over the weekend. I sat on a UF panel with Rachel Caine, Stina Leicht, Candace Havens and Frances May and we discussed how the word urban isn’t quite right for the genre. Most of us agreed that the genre would be more accurately described as “contemporary fantasy.” This term would be more accurate because, as I mentioned in my post last week, the difference between traditional fantasy and urban fantasy is largely one of setting and world building. Traditional fantasy is other worlds. UF is our world … only different. The “contemporary fantasy” gets us a little closer to the heart of the distinction.

However … It’s not quite accurate either. Why? What about all the new historical-set urban fantasies? See what I mean?

On the same panel I mentioned earlier, we also discussed how genres are really not a tool of the writer. Many an author has completed a novel and had no idea where it would be shelved. I can name a dozen off the top of my head that thought they wrote one genre and then got shelved somewhere else. In other words, the vagaries of genre-naming and the defining of genre conventions are mainly the job of publishers, book sellers and, yes, readers.

As humans, we crave neat little categories. They help us make sense of an often chaotic world. And when we read, we want to know whether a novel contains elements we enjoy. Genre definitions are there to help us with that pursuit. But it can be frustrating for authors who are constantly asked to explain the “rules” a genre they didn’t create or define. This is especially true for Urban Fantasy since it’s full of contradictions and exceptions due to the very nature of the multi-genre plotting, world building and character development.

That’s all a really long-winded way of saying UF doesn’t enjoy playing by the rules. But if you were the enlightened despot of genre naming for a day, what would you call this genre?

Speaking of battlefields, let’s switch our focus from romance and love to the places where UF characters play out their conflicts. Because UF is set in our world–only different, authors can have a lot of fun with setting.

In my own books, I always try to bring some new twist to familiar settings. I usually try to write about cities I’ve actually visited, but the internet makes research so easy now. From Google maps to online museums to something as mundane as a bar’s web site, there are infinite possibilities to play with setting. And when you’re switching cities in every book like I do, it’s important to employ each city’s personality and landmarks into the stories.

Here are some of the favorite ways I’ve played with setting in my own books:

In the real world, if you visit the Silversun area of Los Angeles, there’s a bar that features the word “Salvation” in lights over the stage. But in Sabina’s world, this same bar has a “VIP” (Vampires In Private) area where you’ll also find the word “Damnation” over the bar.

The Black Light District in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen serves as a one-stop shop for the vices of the dark races. To access the heart of the BLD, you have to go through Pupu Palace, a Chinese restaurant with a secret doorway hidden in its meat freezer.

Immortal vineyards in St. Helena, CA is a vampire-themed vineyard in Napa Valley that’s a front for a blood harvesting operation. In the store, you can buy  cheesy merchandise that plays on vampire stereotypes, i.e. bumpstickers that say “Vampires do it all night.” But whatever you do, don’t wander off by yourself or you might stumble onto the blood harvesting area and end up a nightcap for a vamp with a hankering for some Type O Merlot.

Anne Rice’s former home in the Garden District of New Orleans is a popular stop on any tour of the district. But in Green-Eyed Demon, the home belongs to Erron Zorn, recreant mage and lead singer of Necrospank 5000. Stumble into Erron’s yard on the wrong night and you’ll see things that can never be unseen.

Urban fantasy isn’t just about pretending vampires and other monsters really exist. It’s about looking at our world in a new way. About challenging assumptions and not taking things at face value. Savvy authors will pull this theme through when they’re creating settings. Take something familiar– a landmark, a chain restaurant, etc.–and give it a tweak. Add some details that hint at something else beneath the surface. These types of details add depth and breadth to the worlds you’re creating. They’re also a hell of a lot of fun to write.

Hello Babel Clash! Did you miss us? We missed you.

To kick off our triumphant return to this hallowed blog, Nicole and I decided we’d spend the first couple of days talking about romance in UF. For those of you who hate love, don’t worry, we’re moving on past the gushy stuff soon. But in the meantime …

Urban fantasy often has been more closely aligned with the romance genre, rather than fantasy. In fact, one of the most frequent questions I get on panels and interviews is “What exactly is the difference between paranormal romance and urban fantasy?” I have never been asked the difference between urban fantasy and epic fantasy.

For me, the difference between UF and romance has always seemed pretty clear.* It’s a question of story focus. While paranormal romance cannot exist without romance, urban fantasy can–and frequently does. The plots of many urban fantasies are built on backbones of mystery, suspense or a good old-fashioned quest, hero’s journey style. Yes, many have romantic subplots, but they generally exist to serve the large story arcs.

In other words, love is part of the urban fantasy character’s journey. But rarely is it her destination.

Every life is affected by the presence of love– or it’s absence. Many types of love help shape character’s development. Family, friendships, romantic love–all of these relationships help mold a person. And since my books are about one character’s journey, it’s important to me that all these types of love are explored.

So does Sabina Kane, the heroine of my novels, have a love interest? Yes. More than one, in fact. Do they define her? No. Absolutely not. Yet they do change her. They shape her. They reveal things about her character.

But you know what? So does every battle she fights. Every foe she faces. Every victory, every defeat. Every friendship she forms or ends. Every family dysfunction she struggles to overcome. All these story elements reveal who Sabina is, but, more importantly, who she has the potential to become.

To reduce urban fantasy novels to Facebook relationship statuses is to miss the best part of urban fantasy: creative and complex world building, action and suspense, humor and quirky characters. And, yes, the search for all types of love.

*In a perfect world. Generally, the confusion between romance and UF stems more from marketing decisions and bookstore placement rather than the contents of the actual stories.

Things end, and things end, and every single thing ends. This as well.

I want to thank my fellow bloggers, including those I only distantly passed as our respective schedules interfered. I also want to thank Dane and the good people at Pyr for putting me up to this. It’s been interesting.

One final thought on steampunk. A lot of the nostalgia that drives the genre derives its power from our love for an impossible past. While it’s not an ideal past (read any of the four of us. Gods we’re bleak sometimes) it is an idealized past. An optimistic past.

Let’s not get lost in that. Let’s try to remember that a lot of the ideals that we apply to this literature, whether they’re self reliance or praise of the intellect-hero or just a fascinated curiosity with the way things work, those ideals can be applied to our mundane present. Let’s not just dream of zeppelins and a courteous society. Let’s be courteous. Let’s be dreamers and Makers and idealists. Let’s fall in love with an impossible tomorrow.

Is this still open? Let’s say I’ve been kidnapped by airship pirates, or busy in my oak-paneled Gentleman’s Laboratory inventing and field-testing a time machine out of ostensibly nonfunctional big brass wheels, or maybe I just spent the week clanking around town showing off my new steam-powered robot legs, frightening and delighting the neighborhood children. I have followed the conversation during my mysterious absence and been fascinated by what Jay, Mark and Tim have had to say; thank you to them and to Borders. Re: classic steampunk books, I know it’s outside Jay’s date range but I can’t resist mentioning Pynchon’s Against The Day; it’s the billion-word behemoth of steampunk genius, yes damn it it is steampunk, and nobody seems to mention it in these discussions because of stupid walls between genre and literary. Re: steampunk movies, I don’t know any good steampunk movies but I have come from the future to warn you that Suckerpunch is going to be the absolute deathknell for steampunk, it will render the whole aesthetic instantly dated and absurd the way Wild Wild West did for a decade, so let’s get what we can out of it while the getting’s good, gentlemen. Re: whether steampunk is fantasy or not, I regret to report that it’s fantasy, and you can tell it’s fantasy because brass time machines and steampowered robot legs don’t actually work. Sorry. I lied.