Moonlake's Fiction Space

Writing updates- Feb 2024

This is now my second round at my male protagonist (the first round was abandoned somewhere in Act 2 when I felt like I haven’t really gotten back into him so I started from scratch) but the truth is I’m so much into my procrastination mood (I’m a bit tired with the reiteration approach that I’m taking with this novel too, I guess. I think I’ve got up to the stage where I felt like I had re-read the bits I’ve written up at least 10 times and feeling a bit sick of reading them again and again) that I’m not sure that I had gotten back into the story any better this time around but at least I went past where I decided to call a stop and go back to the start the first around. So I’m not sure whether that counts as a positive but let’s call it that for now.

Again, I will finish this iteration and see how far that takes. Then I think it’s time for an assessment on the WIP. I’ve trying to cut down on such analytical periods because I’m feeling like they are a method of procrastination on my side. On the other hand, I am a bit lost on this novel right now and for someone with an analytical mind like me, I have often come to some clarity after such analysis. So we will wait and see.

As I’ve said time and again, onwards!

Competition between Reading and Writing Fantasy

Let me preface this post about the following context of my reading which might or might not be new to those of you who subscribe to my blog: my foray into fantasy dated all the way back in the period before sub-genres were a thing. Back in those days, I would just say I read fantasy and be done with that rather than having to say that I read epic, high-magic and sword&sorcery fantasy. And while it is true that I read all three sub-genres, epic fantasy tended to be my main staple while the other two sub-genres were what I called light reading.

Now, fast forward to the last 5 years. I’m almost done with epic fantasy or it has become more of an occasional foray for me. Why? I seem to have outgrown most of my comfort authors for fantasy overall- authors whose works I followed more or less diligently though still subject to my own whims. Also, epic fantasy as a sub-genre seems to have shrunken from being the predominant category within fantasy to being taken over by YA fantasy (not saying they can’t co-exist in for example Tamora Pierce but mostly they don’t tend to co-exist and while I dabble in YA fantasy, I’ve always been lukewarm towards this sub-genre because that’s the way my taste runs) so I feel like I have to sift through thousands of blurbs on my local library catalogue in order to find one that interests me personally. And lastly, I seem to have reached a point of exhaustion with the sub-genre due to a combination of needing to find new authors to fill the gap of my comfort authors or what I felt was a kind of overwhelming fight against publishers’ effort to publish to trends eg. turn previously high magic settings into low magic and flood the market with YA fantasy etc.

And on top of all that above, I’ve noticed that epic fantasy is the one genre that easily creeps into my writing. And to be honest, I’m not even writing epic fantasy myself. I mean, I seem to be always writing about a largish party ala old epic fantasy but I’ve noticed that my plot always has an underlying theme revolved around family relationships so I’ve as yet not really been able to classify it into a sub-genre yet other than dubbing it Chinese fantasy. I first noticed this when I was reading Tad Williams and the Dragonbone Chair which I ended up not finishing, not because it was not well written but I just didn’t feel like continuing with it after the first section. It might also have something to do with the fact that I realised that I could possibly learn from a certain section of the story because I knew that my story occurs in a similar setting and I’m not sure whether this kind of deliberate intention on my part ruined my reading experience (as a rule, my first reading experience is as a pure reader because reading is still one of my primary leisure activities so I wondered if thinking about learning from a certain novel ‘ruined’ my usual frame of mind when reading).

At any rate, if you tracked my reading in recent years, I think Robin Hobb is the only epic fantasy writer that I had read but to be honest I didn’t really feel that she’s on the same scale as for example LOTR. I did enjoy the Soldier’s Son trilogy and the Liveship Traders trilogy from her because they both bring some freshness to the epic fantasy genre and they do tell stories bigger than your one point-of-view or two points-of-view stories but there is a very clear divide in my mind between them and old classics.

As of the time of writing I’m not quite sure where I’m going as an epic fantasy reader. I still remain a fantasy reader in general but am dabbling more and more into historical fantasy or straight historical fiction.

Remarkable Women in Ancient China (20)- Empress Deng Sui

Who is she:

One of the renowned female politicians from the Han dynasty

Notable Life Events:

Born in 81 AD, as daughter of a military official in a region bordering one of the prominent nomad groups of that era
When she was only two, her father was removed from his position due to acquaintance with a relative of the Emperor and the whole family moved back to their ancestral home
When she was five, her grandmother cut her hair for her but due to poor eyesight, accidentally injured her forehead and she did not react. When asked about it, she claimed that she did not want to make her grandmother feel bad because she cut her hair for her out of love
She could read from the age of six and became well versed in two texts already by the age of 12. She was very interested in books but her mother chided her for not learning a woman’s duty so she learnt to sew by day and read by night.
In 92 AD, she was chosen to enter the Imperial Palace as a prospect concubine for the Emperor and males of the royal line but this had to be postponed for three years because her father died soon (the custom at that time dictated that children had to hold off marriage for three years after the death of their parents)
In 95 AD, she officially entered the Imperial Court and started learning from Ban Zhao (link) in not just the classical texts but also astronomy and mathematics
In the winter of 96 AD, she was chosen as a concubine by the Emperor He of the Han Dynasty after he chose his Empress in the spring of that year
In the summer of 102 AD, the original Empress was deposed by the Emperor and Deng Sui was chosen as the new Empress
In the year 105 AD, Emperor He died. His eldest son had a chronic disease and could not ascend the throne while the younger princes have all successively died. Consequently, Deng Sui made a three-month baby the Emperor and effectively ruled in his stead under the title of “female sovereign” for 16 years
During the 16 years of her reign, she
- conquered ten years of the most severe natural disasters in the eastern Han period
- defeated pirates and the threat of multiple nomad groups and even managed to expand territory
- participated in the refinement of the paper making art by Cai Lun (the type of paper he made was credited as one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China alongside the compass, printing and gun powder) and put Zhang Heng in place to build an astrology equipment and the very first earthquake detector (see pic at the top).
- Created the first ever co-ed school in Chinese history so that females can be educated outside the home
- Ordered the first Chinese dictionary to be made
She died in 121 AD

Why is she remarkable:

She was actually ranked as Best Empress by Chinese historians and it is clear that she had done a lot of good during her reign

Moonlake’s thoughts on her:

In the Chinese references that I had read through, she seems to be the archetype of a good woman- a very filial grand-daughter (the hair cutting incident) and a woman who knows her place and is not jealous at all (I didn’t mention this in my summary above but it was talked about in the Chinese references I consulted). But to be honest, I’m not quite sure how much of that is actually true or whether it was recorded in that way as to reflect the norm of that period.

At any rate, she must have been highly intelligent, with a thirst for knowledge. It also seems that later she has put that intellect to good use.

English Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Sui

She feels the river shift…

The jump-off line is from Some Feel Rain by Joanna Klink.

She feels the river shift. She feels the mountain shift. Everything is always moving.

She feels the river shift. She feels time itself shift.

She feels the river shift. It is always shifting.

She feels the river shift. Her childhood shifts and she cannot quite see it now. Everything is a haze, colours are no longer vibrant.

She feels the river shift. The clouds shift overhead. Light shifts across the wall.

She feels the river shift. When it falls aparts, she is standing on the shore. Seeing the chasm entering into being from one heartbeat to the next.

She feels the river shift. The rocks under her feet shift.

She feels the river shift. The grasses under her feet shift.

She feels the river shift. A shifting ray of sunlight just dapples the wall.

She feels the river shift. A wind rustles the branches, shifting them according to its tune.

Chinese Lore- a selection of mythical fauna (17)

Zao Fish

Physical Description:

A carp-like fish with chickens’ claws.

Special Properties:

Consuming its meat cures neoplasm, tumors and abnormal growths.

Yi Fish

Physical Description:

A fish with a dog’s head.

Special Properties:

The sound it makes is like babies crying. Consuming its meat can cure insanity.

Zhen Fish

Physical Description:

A fish that looks like the Tiao Fish (the fish that looks like a four-headed chicken with red feathers…) with a needle-like mouth.

Special Properties:

Consuming its meat prevents against pandemics.

Zhu Bie Fish

Physical Description:

Looks like a lung lobe with four eyes and six legs growing on it.

Special Properties:

It can spit out pearls. Its meat tastes sour with a bit of sweetness. Consuming its meat prevents against pandemics.

The following said something about me…

The following said something about me:

I used to walk on my heels. That’s why I didn’t walk very well. Then I learnt you were opposed to walk by putting down your toes first. It was a realisation.
I’m not actually colour blind but sometimes Mum and me disagree about what colour/shade a particular garment is. She’s more often right than me.
I think I’m prettier with glasses. Without them, it becomes clear that the corners of my eyes point downwards.
I have a fear of laser surgery, probably irrational. Perhaps fear is too strong a word but I am not going to undertake laser surgery for my short-sightedness.
I became short-sighted in… I realised I forgot which grade exactly but in primary school.
I’ve never quite moved beyond drawing stick figures with chalk.
I used to like colouring books but I think I’ve lost the touch.
I’ve set out a jigsaw puzzle on an unused table to redo but it’s been just lying there untouched, mostly. It’s been two or three years and I finally finished it several weeks ago. Now I’m onto my second set of jigsaw to be redone.
I could not picture constellations when I look up at the sky- tried once, didn’t work with assistance. But as a child I could conjure stories out of cloud shapes.

Moonlake’s Writing Goals 2024

For those who have followed me for a while, you might have noticed that I have been flagging behind on my WIP. The truth is that I’ve been sidetracked by lots of things: the application for Outschool that I’ve left aside after the initial failed attempt, a proposed trip to Italy, Switzerland and France in May that I already started plotted last night but I still have the daily itinerary to do before the actual trip, a foray into music shows and a detective show in the aftermath of my best friend telling me that she’s under stress from the suicide of a star (she’s always been a sensitive person and it doesn’t really follow but it is too long a story).

Anyway, in order to realign things for myself, I have decided to set the following broad goal for this year: To get up to draft 0.84 (since I’ve been stuck at 0.83 for at least a year now).

Under my broad goal, I would like to set the following mini goals but they might be too ambitious for a year (not sure):

Get clear on the story up to the mid-point (i.e. the first part of Act 2) for both my protagonists
Have a clear idea of where I’m at with the WIP and how far still to go on it

That’s it. I’m forging on.

TBR list for 2024

These are the fantasy books that interest me this year:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The new Black Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop
The Dreaming Tree by C. J. Cherryh
The Doom of Odin by Scott Oden

My choice of Oriental fantasy this year is between Tea with the Black Dragon by R. A MacAvoy and Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. From the blurb, I think I prefer Daughter of the Moon Goddess.

For my Broadening Horizon Reads, I’ve cycled back to the romance genre this year and I intend to cheat a little by picking Outlander. The other one will be One Hundred years of Solitude, my first foray into magic realism.

For Craft and Curiousity, I have my eyes sets on The Lovely Bones and The Shipping News. The Shipping News will be my third attempt to find a book written in omniscient and since the Shipping News is referred to in UBC Novel writing courses I did, I think I will be third time lucky.

You will meet yourself again…

The jump-off line comes from You Will Be Changed by Jeannette Encinias.

I meet myself again, all these years later. At the core, I’ve never changed. I’m still serious, stubborn and proud. That’s why I liked Pride and Prejudice alone of all the classics I read, Lizzy and Darcy remain one of my favourite couples in stories written or acted out.

I meet myself again after a slumber period. Somewhere along the way I had lost myself. I used to think happiness was all important but then somehow I talked myself into believing that I should strive for contentment instead. Contentment as a compromise, contentment in the form of losing myself in what I had at the moment and talking myself into saying it’s enough. Until it wasn’t and I was completely thrown.

I meet myself again and again. I will probably meet myself in another twenty years and be the same. Same and different.

I meet myself again when I look back into the mirror, if I look beyond my face. Or I don’t look that closely- the face is still the same, has been the same since I was twelve.

I meet myself again on the page.

I meet myself again when I think of what novels to re-read and my emotional reactions to certain elements.

I meet myself again.

Moonlake’s Book Discoveries- December 2023

Fantasy

A girl called Corpse by Reece Carter

This is actually a juvenile fantasy but I’m drawn by the blurb. And I quite enjoyed the story. If you like heartwarming stories I think this will be exactly your cup of tea.

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat

This Thai fantasy is quite interesting. I didn’t even realise it’s a middle grade story and at first I was thinking this might be the start of a trilogy when there were about 6 chapters to go. As it turned out, this is just a standalone and it makes sense given the target audience. I like it okay overall as light reading. It started out like a rags-to-riches story but that’s not quite how it turned out.

Ruby by Francesca Lia Block and Carmen Staton

This is really a paranormal romance (PNR) and I didn’t realise it until quite late. It’s okay, not really my cup of tea. I don’t hate it though, just not really drawn overall.

Mystery

Violet Kelly and the Jade Owl by Fiona Britton

It’s an okay book except that it’s too much of a cozy mystery at the end and I was expecting a twist at the end that takes the stakes way beyond. But that never materialised. Ah well.

The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarity

I was attracted by the blurb but as a Sherlock Holmes fan I was also struck by the author name which I’m not sure whether is a pen name or not (okay I snooped and apparently it isn’t, just coincidence).

Anyway, I quite enjoyed this book about four long time high school friends, secrets and a fifth letter. And while I am so done with girl groups (I was in a high school all girls group because I went to an all girls’ high school) this book does entice me to keep on reading like a good thriller would do. I guessed one of the plot twists but then I guessed wrong on the final twist. All in all, an enjoyable read.

Sacrifice by Andrew Vachss

I didn’t start with book 1 and there was quite a bit of piecing together about who the protagonist is in terms of his backstory. Also, the plot also wasn’t all there at first but it all came together at the end. The book title was also interesting in that at first I thought it alluded to a certain part of the story but at the end apparently it had a deeper meaning to do with the protagonist’s personal history. Overall, I like this story and I’m a little tempted to go back and read the early books on this protagonist.

Flood by Andrew Vachss

I followed my whim and chased up book 1 of the Burke series. I feel like the reading experience is much smoother for me because this is book 1. Overall, the story is okay but average.

The Blood Road by Stuart MacBride

This is a random find but then I realised I had read this series before. After I finished this book, I realised it was actually the book immediately preceding the one I had read before. And it’s much more exciting due to the content. It’s okay but that’s about it.

Science Fiction

Leviathan wakes by James S. A. Corey (audiobook)

I listened to this concurrently with Years of Rice and Salt and I prefer this because the plot is more engaging and has a faster pace. On the other hand, I’ve always been lukewarm towards the sci-fi genre.

Overall, I find the story okay but I’m not too keen to continue with the series.

Historical Fiction

Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson (audiobook)

I did finish this book but I’m not too engaged with it. It feels more like a thought experiment than a novel. I mean, it is technically a novel made up of ten loosely related ‘books’ but I’m not finding much resonance between individual stories told in each of the books other than the theoretical linkage in the concept for this novel as a whole. Then again, I’m probably the wrong audience for this, it’s probably more geared towards fans of alternative history. Personally, I’m more of a fan of fantasy with occasional foray into historical fiction but I’m still leaning more towards the fantasy side.