First, thanks to the ladies of the blog for hosting my ramblings today.
And second, voting for the 2010 RWA Board Elections started on Tuesday. Voting runs all month to allow those members without email addresses to be notified via snail mail. If RWA has your email address, you should have received a passcode and a link to the voting site. If, as you read this, you have not received this email, and RWA has your email address on file, you might want to check with the national office. Or you might check your spam mail filter. Either way, it’s important to voice your opinion by voting.
Now, all this week, I’ve been roaming around the internet talking about the 2010 RWA Board Elections, specifically my run for PRO Liaison. My bio, vision statement and answers to the board questionnaire are all on my website (http://cynthiadalba.blogspot.com/) so I won’t use up space repeating them here. The last two days, I have been talking with other PROs about what RWA PRO membership means, why the designation was created, and what kinds of issues do PRO members feel need to be addressed. Take a minute and read the posts of these blogs and the comments.
Why does PRO membership exist on EveryoneNeedsALittleRomance (http://everybodyneedsalittleromance.com/2009/09/02/why-does-rwa-pro-exists/)
and
The importance of volunteering on The Pink Fuzzy Slipper Writers (http://pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com/)
From what I’m hearing from other PRO members, they were surprised to discover that PRO was created to enhance knowledge of the business aspects of publishing, not the craft. I know that the ladies of this blog are PRO members. Did you know that? The comments on Everyone Needs A Little Romance are excellent and thought provoking and I encourage you all to read them.
Yesterday when talking about volunteerism, the readers were surprised to discover there were PRO committees they could volunteer for. I’ve heard many PRO talk about what they’d like to see happen with the Pro-Org yahoo loop. Did you know that you can affect that loop by being on the PRO-Communications committee?
So talk to me. What PRO issue is burning a hole in your gut? And if helping grow and improve the PRO element of RWA would require that you volunteer two hours a month, could you do that?
Thanks for reading this and a HUGE thank you to all my friends who have roamed blog to blog with me this week, keeping me company, and sharing their opinions (not that any of them are too shy or bashful to tell me what they think on everything!)
And if you haven’t voted, get out there and vote.
Have a Safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
RWA Board Candidate Karen Steele
Why am I running for a seat on the RWA Board of Directors?
By Karen Steele
When I first started talking to some friends about whether I should run for office as an RWA director, they began showering me with comments and suggestions.
The things they brought up were as varied as they were entertaining. Well they entertained me, but then that's why they're my friends. The conversations went something like this.
"You'll have less time to write. You'd need to get up before the kids do to get anything done."
"Then I'll just have to write smarter. Getting up early or staying up late isn’t anything new - I think I can handle the absence of sunlight with my coffee."
"You're going to have to bury yourself in bylaws, policy, and committee work. Why do you want to do that?"
"I've spent the last 3 years as a chapter officer loving almost every minute of bylaws, policy, and committee work." I do love the blank stare that often generates.
"Are you positive you want to run for the RWA board? I'm pretty sure they don't even have a cover model competition at their conference."
"Yes I'm sure, and no, they don't." (This friend, who has never been to an RWA national conference, went on to say she thinks it would really liven up the Golden Heart / Rita ceremony if we could just throw in some cover models. I suggested she write a letter to the event organizers and maybe try to get to a conference herself sometime in the future.)
"You won't be able to serve on your chapter board anymore."
I paused on this one. I do love my chapters, and working with the chapter board is something I've enjoyed. "I'll still be in the chapters though. And you don't have to serve on a board to be an active part of a chapter."
"Ah-ha. So if you don't have to be on the board to be an active member, why are you running for the board?"
I was starting to think maybe my friends didn't know me very well by now. So I called my best writer friend, the one who's known me since before I even joined RWA.
"I'm thinking about running for the board of RWA" I told her.
"Good. I think you'll do a great job. Now tell me why."
It's a good thing only one person brought up the cover model thing, or this post might have gone down an entirely different thematic road. But that "why" question was becoming my running-for-office theme. With each person I talked to, I became even more convinced that running for a seat on the board was the right thing for me to be doing now.
So, why? For starters, I love RWA. I know I’d still be writing if I had never joined, but I wouldn’t be writing as well. I might still be published, but I don’t think my work would be as polished and professional. If you want to become a comedian, I’m pretty sure you don’t sit in your bedroom telling jokes to no one besides yourself for five years. You head out to the comedy clubs and learn from the pros. Then you get on stage, and see if anyone laughs.
No one laughs when I get on stage, or if they do it’s probably not for the right reasons. So I stick to writing.
When I joined my first RWA chapters I looked at the authors around me. I saw people like me, just getting started. And there were members who had just sold a first book, who were celebrating their twentieth sale, some that were bleeding over a rejection and others celebrating finding an agent. But no matter where they were in their career, they were all focused on becoming the best writer they could be. And they were all there with their advice, support, cheers, and tissues when they were needed.
The chapters I belong to range in size from several dozen to several hundred members. Each chapter has its own sense of spirit, but they all share one common, unifying theme. We support each other and know that as each member grows and succeeds, our chapter grows and flourishes with her (or him). And the chapter board members each work as hard as any volunteer can to make sure their chapters and members keep moving forward together towards success.
Over the past few years it seems this sense of unification has not flourished on a national level. We've seen publisher controversy, eligible vs. recognized disarray, contest confusion, even a complete kerfuffle over something that's meant to be as positive as an awards ceremony.
Except for that last one (I'm still trying to figure out how that one happened myself) some of the most strident disputes have been over issues that build walls between members. Writers have been divided, pushing the membership into labeled groups instead of joining them into a unified organization.
Now I'm not looking to lead a round of Kumbaya around a council campfire. If you’d ever heard me sing – and you probably haven’t, because I don’t sing - you’d know that would probably lead to me drinking alone at the bar when everything was said and done. But I am interested in finding ways to bring the spirit of the membership back to where it started. When those 37 original members formed RWA nearly 30 years ago, I don’t think they felt a need to divide the membership based on where each member was in their career. They just wanted to become successful writers, and to support their fellow writers while they reached for their own success.
It takes a completely different level of leadership to educate and advocate for 10,000 writers than it does for 37. With the growth of membership came a lot of good things. But if it came with the loss of unity, I think we need to ask ourselves if all the growth has come in positive directions.
I don’t have an agenda, or a pet cause. I’m pro-writer, no matter if you are writing with your toes or with a keyboard, published on printed paper or digitally. I truly believe that just as there is no single "right" way to write, there is no single "right" way to publish. I wish to work with the board on educating members to the new choices and challenges that open to them every year, and promoting membership development as RWA continues to grow into an organization that serves and advocates for every one of its members.
And that is why I am running for a seat on the Romance Writers of America Board of Directors.
I encourage you to email me at kasteeleauthor@bellsouth.net if you have any questions.
You can see more information on me at my website, http://kasteele.com, and complete information on all the candidates at www.rwanational.org
Biography :
Karen Steele is currently running for a seat on the RWA Board of Directors as Region 3 Director. She lives with her husband and two children in Florida. Under the name Ember Case, she writes for Samhain Publishing.
Karen joined RWA in 2006. She has served the Passionate Ink chapter as Treasurer, Website Administrator, Contest Coordinator, and on numerous committees. She is also a member of ESPAN, the newly formed YARWA, and the First Coast Romance Writers. An active member of Romance Writers of America, she has previously served as contest judge and conference volunteer.
Karen is also a graphic artist, and has been a small business owner for over 15 years. To learn more about her writing, visit www.embercase.com or www.kasteele.com
By Karen Steele
When I first started talking to some friends about whether I should run for office as an RWA director, they began showering me with comments and suggestions.
The things they brought up were as varied as they were entertaining. Well they entertained me, but then that's why they're my friends. The conversations went something like this.
"You'll have less time to write. You'd need to get up before the kids do to get anything done."
"Then I'll just have to write smarter. Getting up early or staying up late isn’t anything new - I think I can handle the absence of sunlight with my coffee."
"You're going to have to bury yourself in bylaws, policy, and committee work. Why do you want to do that?"
"I've spent the last 3 years as a chapter officer loving almost every minute of bylaws, policy, and committee work." I do love the blank stare that often generates.
"Are you positive you want to run for the RWA board? I'm pretty sure they don't even have a cover model competition at their conference."
"Yes I'm sure, and no, they don't." (This friend, who has never been to an RWA national conference, went on to say she thinks it would really liven up the Golden Heart / Rita ceremony if we could just throw in some cover models. I suggested she write a letter to the event organizers and maybe try to get to a conference herself sometime in the future.)
"You won't be able to serve on your chapter board anymore."
I paused on this one. I do love my chapters, and working with the chapter board is something I've enjoyed. "I'll still be in the chapters though. And you don't have to serve on a board to be an active part of a chapter."
"Ah-ha. So if you don't have to be on the board to be an active member, why are you running for the board?"
I was starting to think maybe my friends didn't know me very well by now. So I called my best writer friend, the one who's known me since before I even joined RWA.
"I'm thinking about running for the board of RWA" I told her.
"Good. I think you'll do a great job. Now tell me why."
It's a good thing only one person brought up the cover model thing, or this post might have gone down an entirely different thematic road. But that "why" question was becoming my running-for-office theme. With each person I talked to, I became even more convinced that running for a seat on the board was the right thing for me to be doing now.
So, why? For starters, I love RWA. I know I’d still be writing if I had never joined, but I wouldn’t be writing as well. I might still be published, but I don’t think my work would be as polished and professional. If you want to become a comedian, I’m pretty sure you don’t sit in your bedroom telling jokes to no one besides yourself for five years. You head out to the comedy clubs and learn from the pros. Then you get on stage, and see if anyone laughs.
No one laughs when I get on stage, or if they do it’s probably not for the right reasons. So I stick to writing.
When I joined my first RWA chapters I looked at the authors around me. I saw people like me, just getting started. And there were members who had just sold a first book, who were celebrating their twentieth sale, some that were bleeding over a rejection and others celebrating finding an agent. But no matter where they were in their career, they were all focused on becoming the best writer they could be. And they were all there with their advice, support, cheers, and tissues when they were needed.
The chapters I belong to range in size from several dozen to several hundred members. Each chapter has its own sense of spirit, but they all share one common, unifying theme. We support each other and know that as each member grows and succeeds, our chapter grows and flourishes with her (or him). And the chapter board members each work as hard as any volunteer can to make sure their chapters and members keep moving forward together towards success.
Over the past few years it seems this sense of unification has not flourished on a national level. We've seen publisher controversy, eligible vs. recognized disarray, contest confusion, even a complete kerfuffle over something that's meant to be as positive as an awards ceremony.
Except for that last one (I'm still trying to figure out how that one happened myself) some of the most strident disputes have been over issues that build walls between members. Writers have been divided, pushing the membership into labeled groups instead of joining them into a unified organization.
Now I'm not looking to lead a round of Kumbaya around a council campfire. If you’d ever heard me sing – and you probably haven’t, because I don’t sing - you’d know that would probably lead to me drinking alone at the bar when everything was said and done. But I am interested in finding ways to bring the spirit of the membership back to where it started. When those 37 original members formed RWA nearly 30 years ago, I don’t think they felt a need to divide the membership based on where each member was in their career. They just wanted to become successful writers, and to support their fellow writers while they reached for their own success.
It takes a completely different level of leadership to educate and advocate for 10,000 writers than it does for 37. With the growth of membership came a lot of good things. But if it came with the loss of unity, I think we need to ask ourselves if all the growth has come in positive directions.
I don’t have an agenda, or a pet cause. I’m pro-writer, no matter if you are writing with your toes or with a keyboard, published on printed paper or digitally. I truly believe that just as there is no single "right" way to write, there is no single "right" way to publish. I wish to work with the board on educating members to the new choices and challenges that open to them every year, and promoting membership development as RWA continues to grow into an organization that serves and advocates for every one of its members.
And that is why I am running for a seat on the Romance Writers of America Board of Directors.
I encourage you to email me at kasteeleauthor@bellsouth.net if you have any questions.
You can see more information on me at my website, http://kasteele.com, and complete information on all the candidates at www.rwanational.org
Biography :
Karen Steele is currently running for a seat on the RWA Board of Directors as Region 3 Director. She lives with her husband and two children in Florida. Under the name Ember Case, she writes for Samhain Publishing.
Karen joined RWA in 2006. She has served the Passionate Ink chapter as Treasurer, Website Administrator, Contest Coordinator, and on numerous committees. She is also a member of ESPAN, the newly formed YARWA, and the First Coast Romance Writers. An active member of Romance Writers of America, she has previously served as contest judge and conference volunteer.
Karen is also a graphic artist, and has been a small business owner for over 15 years. To learn more about her writing, visit www.embercase.com or www.kasteele.com
Friday, August 28, 2009
Special Guest: Icy Snow Blackstone
For my blog today, I have as my guest Philip Hamilcar, hero of Earthman's Bride. Welcome, Philip. Thank you for coming. I hope speaking to this many unseen people won't be a daunting project for you.Philip (The Governor of Tusteya is a tall, blond Earthman. He wears a dark blue uniform similar to the ones : Thank you, Mistress Blackstone. As Governor of Tusteya, I've spoken to the entire population of a planet, so I'll just pretend this is more of the same. (clears his throat) I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Philip Hamilcar, Junior, and I'm the Earthman in Mistress' Blackstone's novel Earthman's Bride.
ICS: And you're the governor of the planet Tusteya.
Philip: That's right.
ICS: Pardon me for mentioning it, Philip, because I’m sure you get a lot of this, but you’re awfully young to be governor of an entire planet. I understand you became governor at a very early age.
Philip: That’s kind of you, Mistress Blackstone, for I’m fed up to here (waves a hand above his six-foot-three-height) with people pointing out my age! I was fifteen when I inherited the position from my father and I’ve been governor for five years now. Actually, no one else wanted the job. The men calling themselves my father's friends refused to accept the responsibility--even my Uncle Alexander. So...it was dropped into my adolescent lap. I became governor by default.
ICS: Uncle Alexander. That would be Alexander McIntyre? Your father's ensign?
Philip: Yes. He's not really my uncle but he helped my father raise me. I'll have to admit he's been a great help. (smiles with fondness) He managed to help a lot of the weight off the shoulders of a young boy who hadn't the foggiest idea how to rule a conquered planet. In fact, Uncle Lex and I got along fine...until I learned how to think for myself!
ICS: Give us a little background here. How did a man from Earth become governor on another planet?
Philip: It's not a pretty story, and--being an inhabitant of Earth, you may not like it but...here's goes: The Earth I know isn't a very nice place. They've used up all their resources and have started conquering other planets and sending their natural materials back to Earth. They call it "taking them into protective custody." The planets called it “invasion.” When it happened to Tusteya, they fought back but they were conquered anyway, and my father... Well, he protested the invasion and for his trouble, he and his men, including my Uncle Alexander, were left on the planet. To maintain Terran control, they were told. (looks angry) In reality, they were marooned!
ICS: That's awful! Was your mother marooned also? Did she chose to follow your father to the planet?
Philip: The Federation doesn't allow women in its ranks, Mistress. Every child born to the Terrans has a Tusteyan mother. There isn't a purebred Terran in the second generation and I'm one of them. I guess that's an old story where invaders are concerned but my father made certain every couple who got "involved" was lawfully married by a Tusteyan priest. Unfortunately, where the others had been love matches, my mother hated my father, hated the child she bore him and ran away to join the rebels in the mountains three days after I was born. She died in those mountains, killed by a wild animal.
ICS: Philip, I'm so sorry. So there your father was--stranded on a hostile planet, a widower with an infant, and--
Philip: --a planetful of natives wanting to kill him. Is it any wonder he died early? But please, let's not dwell on the sad part of this story. I loved my father, he did what he had to do. He raised me as an Earthman and I suppose I might have turned out as he did if Alcin Spearman hadn't decided to call a truce.
ICS: How long had this war with the Tusteyans been going on at that time? Thirty years or more, wasn't it?
Philip: Yes, thirty years. I was born ten years after it started and I was near to celebrating my twenty-first birthday when Alcin sent his representative to me. An honorable gentleman named Dr. Martin Celcius.
ICS: So Dr. Celcius came to you with an offer of peace...?
Philip: (smiling broadly) Oh, he brought more than an offer of peace! He told me Alcin had sent me his most cherished possession to keep until he himself could arrive to go over the terms of a peace treaty.
ICS: His most cherished possession! That must have been something very valuable.
Philip: It was...most valuable...(studies his hands a moment) and it also came my most cherished possession and one I'd die to protect.
ICS: My goodness, what was it?
Philip: My wife. Rebeka. He offered Rebeka to me as part of the peace agreement, and I-- (laughs in embarrassment) --Well, I was a twenty-year-old and not married and... (face reddens slightly) Do I have to go into detail? Let's just say that I fall in lust with her immediately.
ICS: Hmmm.
Philip: And within twenty-six hours of meeting Rebeka, that lust turned to love, though I didn't realize it for another twenty-six! Meeting Rebeka Spearman was the luckiest day of my life--and of the Tusteyan people's.
ICS: How do you mean? I think I understand how it was lucky for her people. After all, you apparently signed the peace treaty but how was it lucky for you?
Philip: Because Rebeka encouraged me to rebel. Don't think I was a wimp or anything but I was still fairly young to have such authority and I'd come to lean rather heavily on my uncle, but for a couple of years I'd been questioning the way we were treating the Tusteyans. And then Rebeka came along. She was the catalyst. You wouldn't think it to look at her rhat she could stir up everything so. I mean, she's so tiny, and delicate...with the most beautiful blue eyes and hair that's like black silk...and when she moves...(stops, coughs slightly) Excuse me, didn't mean to get so poetic. Guess you can tell I love the girl. Anyway, Rebeka kind of tipped the scales, make me recognize the fact that I wasn't an Earthman and I wasn't a Tusteyan but a combination of both. I was part of the conqueror as well as the conquered. She gave me the courage to do the things I later did.
ICS: And what were those things?
Philip: I think, Mistress Blackstone, that at this point, I'll have to be a little coy, and suggest anyone wanting to know about that part of our story should read your book. For a native Terran, you've been a very accurate historian, by the way, recording our struggle with total truth and a great impartiality. I'm hoping you'll stick around to report anything else that happens to us and to Tusteya, also.
ICS: Thank you for saying that, Philip, and that's a great segue for me to announce that Earthman's Bride, the first part of your and Rebeka's story, is available from Lyrical Press as an ebook.
EXCERPT:
He held out his hand, and she took it without hesitation, and when he smiled at that, she smiled back. They continued to walk.
They were behind the high hedge, now, out of sight of the android. Philip glanced towards the terrace. He couldn't see Darius and he was certain the robot wasn't able to see them, either.
Without warning, he caught her by the arms, pulled her towards him and kissed her, thinking as he did it, Fool! Idiot! She'll call for Darius and he'll pound you into the ground and you'll lose your life and your chance to make peace just because you're getting a hormone itch for Spearman's daughter!
But she didn't move, didn't fight, didn't do anything as he pressed his mouth against hers. All he felt was her warm breath floating gently onto his tongue.
When he released her, Rebeka's hand went to her mouth. She was breathing in little gasps.
"I know I shouldn't have done that," he began, thinking he'd better ward off the hysterics he expected.
"You're the first man who's ever kissed me."
He was startled at the--Oh God, was that awe?--in her voice.
Since she didn't appear to be about to yell for her bodyguard, he asked, "Then may I also be the second?" and kissed her again.
This time, her arms went around his neck and her mouth opened slightly, and, he felt a warm, soft tongue brush his lips before darting back into her mouth like a frightened little animal scurrying for its hiding place.
This time, when he released her, they were both breathing rather heavily.
The man who gets you is going to be a lucky devil! Philip thought. He'd felt just a brief hint of the passion Rebeka possessed, probably was holding in check for the man she'd marry. God, he thought, if I could be the one to unleash it! If keeping the girl untouched weren't so important, if only there was some way he could have her and the treaty, too!
Earthman's Bride is available as an ebook from www.lyricalpress.com. See the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIXWZuGtgHU
Monday, August 24, 2009
Villain Archetype: The Parasite
The Parasite is always dissatisfied with his own life and wants to live someone else’s, and he/she doesn’t care what they have to do to make it happen.
When I first started thinking about this archetype, I was surprised at how many examples leapt to mind. The first being The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The movie is based on a novel written in 1955 by author Patricia Highsmith.
Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is working a part time job as a piano player at a party in a borrowed Princeton jacket when he is approached by Herbert Greenleaf. Ripley leads Herbert to believe he’s a graduate of the university and a friend of his son, Dickie. Herbert Greenleaf hires Ripley to travel to Italy and convince his son to return home to help run the family business. Thus the man gives Ripley a taste of the life he’s never known and a hunger for more.
Ripley arrives in Italy, contacts Dickie Greenleaf, and wastes no time ingratiating himself into his life. Throughout their relationship, in both the movie and the book, the reader/viewer becomes aware of the sexual attraction Ripley feels toward Greenleaf and how he covets, the man’s wealth, attention, and charm. But his feelings go deeper than that. He wants to BE Dickie. He emulates the man in every way and becomes desperate to maintain the lifestyle to which he’s become addicted.
Ripley ends up killing the focus of his affection and takes on Dickie’s identity in an attempt to cover up the murder. But when a friend of Dickie’s comes to visit and grows suspicious, Ripley’s parasite persona once more turns to murder to cover up the horrible truth.
He later writes a suicide note to explain Dickie’s death. Herbert Greenleaf pays Ripley off to keep his son’s past indiscretions secret, unknowingly allowing Ripley to avoid prosecution for his murder.
In the end, a chance run in with a woman who knows him only as Dickie forces Ripley to kill his lover, Peter Smith-Kingsley, to hide the secret once again and Ripley realizes the life he wanted has cost him everyone to whom he’s become close.
Similar but less dark is the second example of the Parasite Archetype that came to mind.
In Six Degrees of Separation, (1993) Paul (Will Smith) is a gay con artist. He shows up at Flan and Ouisa Kittridge’s (Stockard Channing and Donald Southerland) door asking for help. He claims to have been mugged in Central park but his lies don’t stop there. He also says he’s friends of their son and daughter at Harvard and Sidney Poitier’s son. This last outrageous lie doesn’t set off the alarms that it should. The couple take him in for the night and are completely charmed by him. But when they investigate Paul’s life later, they learn the truth. They’ve taken a stranger into their midst on face value and been conned. The truth makes them look at the insular existence they lead and turns their perception of it on its ear.
The third example of the Parasite Archetype is DJay ( Terrence Howard) in Hustle and Flow (2005). DJay is a drug dealer and a pimp. A Parasite of the worse kind. He doesn’t just prey on his customers, but lives off the women in his stable while he tries to pursue his dream as a Rapper.
In his quest for his big break, DJay hustles a way into a party where he attempts to give a successful rapper, Skinny Black, a demo tape he’s created. The rapper destroys the tape and DJay assaults him and shoots one of the man’s entourage.
While in prison, DJay learns that one of his prostitutes and business partner, Nola, has succeeded in getting his demo played on the radio. But “Everybody’s gotta have a dream.” No matter what the cost. Right?
The Fourth example of the Parasite Archetype is Jullian Kaye (Richard Geer) in American Gigolo (1980). Julian is a male prostitute in Los Angeles. He’s handsome and polished and works hard to maintain both his outward appearance and his lifestyle. He even takes some pride in being able to please his clients. But he’s a Parasite.
When he meets a politician’s wife, Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), he becomes more involved emotionally than he’s ever been tempted to do before. But he continues to work as a Gigolo.
His pimp sends him to a house of a wealthy businessman who wants him to abuse and copulate with his wife while he watches. Julian’s heart isn’t into the abuse, the one thing that saves him from being completely unsympathetic. But he does perform, though the experience gives him a bad feeling.
A few days later, the woman he was with that night is killed and the police hone in on Julian as the main suspect. He was with another woman the night of the murder, but she won’t give him the alibi he needs to prove his innocence.
His life spirals downward as he realizes he’s built his existence on a house of cards that could have crumbled at any time. He’s not important to anyone. He’s viewed as the Parasite that he is.
He turns to the one person he thinks may view him as a valuable commodity, his pimp, and learns he’s the man responsible for his being framed for the murder. They get into an altercation and the man falls over his apartment balcony to his death.
With the only person who can clear him dead, Julian ends up in jail. He’s humbled by the experience, accepting of his fate, and perhaps even feels that he deserves some punishment for the life he’s led. When Michelle shows up, he’s surprised. She’s laid her reputation on the line to give him an alibi and cleared him with the police.
Out of all the Parasites thus far, I’ve found Julian the most sympathetic because he learns from his mistake and you feel as though he will make an effort to change once he’s set free.
My last example of the Parasite Archetype isn’t human at all, but grew from the imagination of one of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton. Crichton died earlier this year, a real loss to the human, writing and television community (he was the creator of the hit show ER.) His numerous books have always fascinated me because he was able to take the unusual things he discovered about technology and put a wonderful spin on it and make it completely spellbinding. He’s the author of such blockbusters as Jurassic Park, Timeline, The Andromeda Strain, Rising Sun, Congo, The Sphere, Airframe, Disclosure, The Terminal Man, and several others. Most of his books have been made into movies. But I suggest you read them for each one has a warning in it as well as an unusual way of making the technology he’s focused on a character unto itself.
Jack Forman is an out of work software programmer and house husband who’s having trouble finding another job. Because he sought to blow the whistle on an illegal operation at his last job, other companies are wary of hiring him. In the high-tech world of software it doesn’t pay to be honest.
Because Jack has been a house husband for so long, his self-image and his confidence have taken a nose dive. Thus when he grows suspicious that his wife may be having an affair, he’s almost numb about it. Julia has grown increasingly distant and distracted, but also acts almost manic when she’s at the house.
Concerned for her and their children, Jack accepts a job with his old company to iron out problems their having with a computer code he wrote for a game. They’ve subcontracted with his wife’s company, so he’ll be working at the same facility as she and he may be able to figure out what’s going on with her.
When he arrives at the facility in the middle of the desert, he grows increasingly suspicious and concerned. The members of his team (people he’s worked with before) act both glad to see him and wary. Everyone speaks in double-speak but no one wants to come straight out and tell him what the code problem is.
He learns that his wife’s company, Zymos, has been contracted by the Defense Department to use the nanotechnology they have created as an internal imaging tool as a spy and reconnaissance weapon. The nanobots have been released into the desert and have begun to evolve and learn on their own. In fact they have become a swarm who Prey on any living creatures they come across in the desert.
Crichton’s nanobots evolve to the point they become Parasites using living hosts, their creators, to carry out their agenda, to reproduce and conceal themselves in plan sight within the general population. They learn to take the form of the humans they come into contact with and represent a global threat.
To tell you the ending of the story would be a spoiler. You need to read the book and discover what happens. But these small microscopic computers represent one of the most vicious Parasite Archetypes I’ve ever read about.
What makes Crichton’s books remarkable is that they always hold a grain of truth and that makes their impact thought provoking and a little scary.
Thank you for reading my blog on the Parasite Archetypes. What Parasites have you run across in other books and movies, or in real life? Join me on Inspiration-Ink and let me know.
Write on,
Teresa Reasor
When I first started thinking about this archetype, I was surprised at how many examples leapt to mind. The first being The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). The movie is based on a novel written in 1955 by author Patricia Highsmith.Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) is working a part time job as a piano player at a party in a borrowed Princeton jacket when he is approached by Herbert Greenleaf. Ripley leads Herbert to believe he’s a graduate of the university and a friend of his son, Dickie. Herbert Greenleaf hires Ripley to travel to Italy and convince his son to return home to help run the family business. Thus the man gives Ripley a taste of the life he’s never known and a hunger for more.
Ripley arrives in Italy, contacts Dickie Greenleaf, and wastes no time ingratiating himself into his life. Throughout their relationship, in both the movie and the book, the reader/viewer becomes aware of the sexual attraction Ripley feels toward Greenleaf and how he covets, the man’s wealth, attention, and charm. But his feelings go deeper than that. He wants to BE Dickie. He emulates the man in every way and becomes desperate to maintain the lifestyle to which he’s become addicted.
Ripley ends up killing the focus of his affection and takes on Dickie’s identity in an attempt to cover up the murder. But when a friend of Dickie’s comes to visit and grows suspicious, Ripley’s parasite persona once more turns to murder to cover up the horrible truth.
He later writes a suicide note to explain Dickie’s death. Herbert Greenleaf pays Ripley off to keep his son’s past indiscretions secret, unknowingly allowing Ripley to avoid prosecution for his murder.
In the end, a chance run in with a woman who knows him only as Dickie forces Ripley to kill his lover, Peter Smith-Kingsley, to hide the secret once again and Ripley realizes the life he wanted has cost him everyone to whom he’s become close.
Similar but less dark is the second example of the Parasite Archetype that came to mind.
In Six Degrees of Separation, (1993) Paul (Will Smith) is a gay con artist. He shows up at Flan and Ouisa Kittridge’s (Stockard Channing and Donald Southerland) door asking for help. He claims to have been mugged in Central park but his lies don’t stop there. He also says he’s friends of their son and daughter at Harvard and Sidney Poitier’s son. This last outrageous lie doesn’t set off the alarms that it should. The couple take him in for the night and are completely charmed by him. But when they investigate Paul’s life later, they learn the truth. They’ve taken a stranger into their midst on face value and been conned. The truth makes them look at the insular existence they lead and turns their perception of it on its ear.
The third example of the Parasite Archetype is DJay ( Terrence Howard) in Hustle and Flow (2005). DJay is a drug dealer and a pimp. A Parasite of the worse kind. He doesn’t just prey on his customers, but lives off the women in his stable while he tries to pursue his dream as a Rapper.In his quest for his big break, DJay hustles a way into a party where he attempts to give a successful rapper, Skinny Black, a demo tape he’s created. The rapper destroys the tape and DJay assaults him and shoots one of the man’s entourage.
While in prison, DJay learns that one of his prostitutes and business partner, Nola, has succeeded in getting his demo played on the radio. But “Everybody’s gotta have a dream.” No matter what the cost. Right?
The Fourth example of the Parasite Archetype is Jullian Kaye (Richard Geer) in American Gigolo (1980). Julian is a male prostitute in Los Angeles. He’s handsome and polished and works hard to maintain both his outward appearance and his lifestyle. He even takes some pride in being able to please his clients. But he’s a Parasite.When he meets a politician’s wife, Michelle Stratton (Lauren Hutton), he becomes more involved emotionally than he’s ever been tempted to do before. But he continues to work as a Gigolo.
His pimp sends him to a house of a wealthy businessman who wants him to abuse and copulate with his wife while he watches. Julian’s heart isn’t into the abuse, the one thing that saves him from being completely unsympathetic. But he does perform, though the experience gives him a bad feeling.
A few days later, the woman he was with that night is killed and the police hone in on Julian as the main suspect. He was with another woman the night of the murder, but she won’t give him the alibi he needs to prove his innocence.
His life spirals downward as he realizes he’s built his existence on a house of cards that could have crumbled at any time. He’s not important to anyone. He’s viewed as the Parasite that he is.
He turns to the one person he thinks may view him as a valuable commodity, his pimp, and learns he’s the man responsible for his being framed for the murder. They get into an altercation and the man falls over his apartment balcony to his death.
With the only person who can clear him dead, Julian ends up in jail. He’s humbled by the experience, accepting of his fate, and perhaps even feels that he deserves some punishment for the life he’s led. When Michelle shows up, he’s surprised. She’s laid her reputation on the line to give him an alibi and cleared him with the police.
Out of all the Parasites thus far, I’ve found Julian the most sympathetic because he learns from his mistake and you feel as though he will make an effort to change once he’s set free.
My last example of the Parasite Archetype isn’t human at all, but grew from the imagination of one of my favorite authors, Michael Crichton. Crichton died earlier this year, a real loss to the human, writing and television community (he was the creator of the hit show ER.) His numerous books have always fascinated me because he was able to take the unusual things he discovered about technology and put a wonderful spin on it and make it completely spellbinding. He’s the author of such blockbusters as Jurassic Park, Timeline, The Andromeda Strain, Rising Sun, Congo, The Sphere, Airframe, Disclosure, The Terminal Man, and several others. Most of his books have been made into movies. But I suggest you read them for each one has a warning in it as well as an unusual way of making the technology he’s focused on a character unto itself.Jack Forman is an out of work software programmer and house husband who’s having trouble finding another job. Because he sought to blow the whistle on an illegal operation at his last job, other companies are wary of hiring him. In the high-tech world of software it doesn’t pay to be honest.
Because Jack has been a house husband for so long, his self-image and his confidence have taken a nose dive. Thus when he grows suspicious that his wife may be having an affair, he’s almost numb about it. Julia has grown increasingly distant and distracted, but also acts almost manic when she’s at the house.
Concerned for her and their children, Jack accepts a job with his old company to iron out problems their having with a computer code he wrote for a game. They’ve subcontracted with his wife’s company, so he’ll be working at the same facility as she and he may be able to figure out what’s going on with her.
When he arrives at the facility in the middle of the desert, he grows increasingly suspicious and concerned. The members of his team (people he’s worked with before) act both glad to see him and wary. Everyone speaks in double-speak but no one wants to come straight out and tell him what the code problem is.
He learns that his wife’s company, Zymos, has been contracted by the Defense Department to use the nanotechnology they have created as an internal imaging tool as a spy and reconnaissance weapon. The nanobots have been released into the desert and have begun to evolve and learn on their own. In fact they have become a swarm who Prey on any living creatures they come across in the desert.
Crichton’s nanobots evolve to the point they become Parasites using living hosts, their creators, to carry out their agenda, to reproduce and conceal themselves in plan sight within the general population. They learn to take the form of the humans they come into contact with and represent a global threat.
To tell you the ending of the story would be a spoiler. You need to read the book and discover what happens. But these small microscopic computers represent one of the most vicious Parasite Archetypes I’ve ever read about.
What makes Crichton’s books remarkable is that they always hold a grain of truth and that makes their impact thought provoking and a little scary.
Thank you for reading my blog on the Parasite Archetypes. What Parasites have you run across in other books and movies, or in real life? Join me on Inspiration-Ink and let me know.
Write on,
Teresa Reasor
Friday, August 21, 2009
Special Guest: Toni Sweeney
1. How long have you been writing to get published and what do you think finally garnered your success at it?
I started writing at age 6, gained speed in high school, got serious about it in 1975, and had my first novel published in 1989. As for success? I don't know that I have that, yet, but if anything, I'm darned persistent! If anyone ever comes up to me and says, "Toni Sweeney? Yes, I read (insert title here) and liked it (or didn't like it, for that matter), I'll know I've arrived!
2. Since you write science fiction, what differences and similarities to other genres stand out to you?
I guess all stories are similar in that they all have (or should have) plot, characters, and conflict. Placing a story on an alien world, in an alien culture gives the writer freedom to make comments on society by contrasting it to what's going on there, or having the aliens view our own society with scorn, irony, or curiosity, pointing out how absurd, unjust, or complacent it sometimes is. I have one story now that's a horror story but I realized the other day that with a change of the characters' natures from vampire to human, it could be a very entertaining story set in the England of the Plantagenets.
3. What inspires your story ideas?
Anything! Sometimes, it might be something someone says, a catchy phrase, or a play on words. Or an idea that pops into my mind. Or the question: "What if...?" Or just a title.
4. How did you come up with your titles?
I try to have my titles relate in some way to my story, try to make them intriguing, of course, so the reader will look at the title, think "Hm, wonder what that's about?" and buy it to find out. Like in my new book Blood Sin. I'd like the reader to wonder "What's a blood sin? And how does it relate to the hunky guy on the cover, with the beautiful woman clinging to him?" Generally when I choose a title, I stick to it. There have been only a couple of times when my titles have gone through changes. Bloodseek went through four titles before one stuck. Blood Sin went through three. The second story in the series was actually titled Blood Sin and was written first; when I wrote Book One, it was called Blood Ties. Then, I decided that would be better for the second book, so I swapped them. Later, I changed the second title also. (Is that confusing?)
5. Do you use visual aids to help you write? If so, what kind?
Once in a while, I find an online picture which strongly resembles my hero or heroine. I might print that and tape it near the computer to look at while I type. Generally, I just keep things like that in my head. I've done the same thing with scenery, castles, etc. And I'm always researching so if there's a lengthy explanation of something which is integral to the plot, I may copy it out to refer to directly instead of accessing it continuously online or in a book. Saves time.
6. Do you relate more with the hero or heroine in your stories?
My heroine, although when it comes to emotions and secret feelings, I tell myself both men and women experience the same things deep down so there's really no difference. A man can feel the same dismay, elation, and feelings of inadequacy as a woman; he'll just display it differently. I try to make my heroines feisty, so the heroes, who tend to be the domineering type until you get to know them better (or perhaps they change once they meet the heroine) see them as a challenge.
7. Whose POV do you like to write your love scenes from the most and why?
I generally write from the third person POV. Somehow, doing a love scene in the first person feels a little embarrassing. Then, too, that limits the sensation of the act because only the other person's reactions--and not their emotions and thoughts--can be described. First Person always limits the story because nothing can be told that doesn't happen in the speaker's presence. I once wrote a first person love story but before it was published, changed it to third person because that made it flow better.
8. Describe the hero and heroine of your current release.
My latest novel is Blood Sin.
The hero is Aric kan Ingan, a prince of Arcanis, a planet in the Emeraunt Galaxy. At the age of twelve, Aric was taken from his mother and raised by his uncle to be the next Margrave of Arcanis and as a result, he's proud, spoiled, and more than a bit of a snob. He's twenty when the story opens. His uncle astounds everyone by not only opening trade relations with the Earth--a minor planet which has been quarantined from outside contact for two thousands years because of its propensity to violence--but also announces he's marrying an Earthwoman. Aric not only loses his succession to the throne but is expected to accept this graciously and welcome his new aunt with open arms, which--being the spoiled young noble that he is--he refuses to do. This isn't to say he's not a worthy person; he's also brave, an able warrior, and obeys his mother. He just wants to be king!
The second "hero" in the story is his uncle Deroes who became margrave at the age of eight. When Deroes was thirteen, he dismissed his advisors and has ruled alone ever since and is continually in conflict with those same men. They want him to marry...just not an alien, which, of course, is what he does. He recognizes Aric's dislike of his new wife but has no clue how to make his nephew accept what's happened.
Elizabeth Sheffield is more like Aric than she wants to admit. She's spoiled, beautiful, and an opportunist who's accustomed to manipulating men into doing what she wants. At first, this doesn't work with Deroes who's much older and experienced than she, but eventually, even he is maneuvered so that he thinks marrying Elizabeth is his own idea. She thinks she can control Aric the same way she has all the others but it finally comes down to pitting one spoiled young person against another spoiled young person, two personalities too much alike...and the inevitable happens...they fall in love.
9. Is there wiggle room for a sequel and do you have plans to write one?
Blood Sin is the first in the series, the kan Ingan Archives, the premise being that all these stories are in the history of the royal family. (They weren't shy about writing down their faults and foibles for posterity.) The second has now been tentatively titled Sinner's Exile, and there are two to three more, if things work out.
10. What are you up to now? Do you have upcoming releases you'd like to share a little info on?
The next one out will be Blood Sin which will be released in August. I also have A Singing in the Blood, in the Chronicles of Riven the Heretic series, and Sinbad's Pride, from the Adventures of Sinbad, both expected out toward the end of this year. Maybe an anthology of short stories.
11. Tell us something we'd be surprised to know about you.
You mean other than the fact that I'm madly in love with a hunk thirty years younger than myself? Nothing much, I guess.
12. What is your favorite fictional love scene of all time (can be literary or film)?
The first one coming to mind is that famous scene from Gone with the Wind where Rhett forcibly carries Scarlett up the staircase and into their bedroom but I have two others, also. The novel Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong, in which witch Paige Winterbourne and sorcerer/lawyer Lucas Cortez first make love. Also, a novel which I bought decades ago (and, I'm ashamed to admit, no longer remember the title). It was the third in a series, about the Colonies and sailing ships, and the titles had something to do with the ships names and the sea (if anyone recognizes this vague description, thank you!) The first time the hero and heroine make love, he gets very instructional, telling her various names for "things" and it gets very funny. He's trying to be so understanding and gentle and and serious and she's sooo ready!
13. What can readers expect to see from you in the next few years?
Probably more of the same. I'm pretty consistent and predictable.
I started writing at age 6, gained speed in high school, got serious about it in 1975, and had my first novel published in 1989. As for success? I don't know that I have that, yet, but if anything, I'm darned persistent! If anyone ever comes up to me and says, "Toni Sweeney? Yes, I read (insert title here) and liked it (or didn't like it, for that matter), I'll know I've arrived!
2. Since you write science fiction, what differences and similarities to other genres stand out to you?
I guess all stories are similar in that they all have (or should have) plot, characters, and conflict. Placing a story on an alien world, in an alien culture gives the writer freedom to make comments on society by contrasting it to what's going on there, or having the aliens view our own society with scorn, irony, or curiosity, pointing out how absurd, unjust, or complacent it sometimes is. I have one story now that's a horror story but I realized the other day that with a change of the characters' natures from vampire to human, it could be a very entertaining story set in the England of the Plantagenets.
3. What inspires your story ideas?
Anything! Sometimes, it might be something someone says, a catchy phrase, or a play on words. Or an idea that pops into my mind. Or the question: "What if...?" Or just a title.
4. How did you come up with your titles?
I try to have my titles relate in some way to my story, try to make them intriguing, of course, so the reader will look at the title, think "Hm, wonder what that's about?" and buy it to find out. Like in my new book Blood Sin. I'd like the reader to wonder "What's a blood sin? And how does it relate to the hunky guy on the cover, with the beautiful woman clinging to him?" Generally when I choose a title, I stick to it. There have been only a couple of times when my titles have gone through changes. Bloodseek went through four titles before one stuck. Blood Sin went through three. The second story in the series was actually titled Blood Sin and was written first; when I wrote Book One, it was called Blood Ties. Then, I decided that would be better for the second book, so I swapped them. Later, I changed the second title also. (Is that confusing?)
5. Do you use visual aids to help you write? If so, what kind?
Once in a while, I find an online picture which strongly resembles my hero or heroine. I might print that and tape it near the computer to look at while I type. Generally, I just keep things like that in my head. I've done the same thing with scenery, castles, etc. And I'm always researching so if there's a lengthy explanation of something which is integral to the plot, I may copy it out to refer to directly instead of accessing it continuously online or in a book. Saves time.
6. Do you relate more with the hero or heroine in your stories?
My heroine, although when it comes to emotions and secret feelings, I tell myself both men and women experience the same things deep down so there's really no difference. A man can feel the same dismay, elation, and feelings of inadequacy as a woman; he'll just display it differently. I try to make my heroines feisty, so the heroes, who tend to be the domineering type until you get to know them better (or perhaps they change once they meet the heroine) see them as a challenge.
7. Whose POV do you like to write your love scenes from the most and why?
I generally write from the third person POV. Somehow, doing a love scene in the first person feels a little embarrassing. Then, too, that limits the sensation of the act because only the other person's reactions--and not their emotions and thoughts--can be described. First Person always limits the story because nothing can be told that doesn't happen in the speaker's presence. I once wrote a first person love story but before it was published, changed it to third person because that made it flow better.
8. Describe the hero and heroine of your current release.
My latest novel is Blood Sin.The hero is Aric kan Ingan, a prince of Arcanis, a planet in the Emeraunt Galaxy. At the age of twelve, Aric was taken from his mother and raised by his uncle to be the next Margrave of Arcanis and as a result, he's proud, spoiled, and more than a bit of a snob. He's twenty when the story opens. His uncle astounds everyone by not only opening trade relations with the Earth--a minor planet which has been quarantined from outside contact for two thousands years because of its propensity to violence--but also announces he's marrying an Earthwoman. Aric not only loses his succession to the throne but is expected to accept this graciously and welcome his new aunt with open arms, which--being the spoiled young noble that he is--he refuses to do. This isn't to say he's not a worthy person; he's also brave, an able warrior, and obeys his mother. He just wants to be king!
The second "hero" in the story is his uncle Deroes who became margrave at the age of eight. When Deroes was thirteen, he dismissed his advisors and has ruled alone ever since and is continually in conflict with those same men. They want him to marry...just not an alien, which, of course, is what he does. He recognizes Aric's dislike of his new wife but has no clue how to make his nephew accept what's happened.
Elizabeth Sheffield is more like Aric than she wants to admit. She's spoiled, beautiful, and an opportunist who's accustomed to manipulating men into doing what she wants. At first, this doesn't work with Deroes who's much older and experienced than she, but eventually, even he is maneuvered so that he thinks marrying Elizabeth is his own idea. She thinks she can control Aric the same way she has all the others but it finally comes down to pitting one spoiled young person against another spoiled young person, two personalities too much alike...and the inevitable happens...they fall in love.
9. Is there wiggle room for a sequel and do you have plans to write one?
Blood Sin is the first in the series, the kan Ingan Archives, the premise being that all these stories are in the history of the royal family. (They weren't shy about writing down their faults and foibles for posterity.) The second has now been tentatively titled Sinner's Exile, and there are two to three more, if things work out.
10. What are you up to now? Do you have upcoming releases you'd like to share a little info on?
The next one out will be Blood Sin which will be released in August. I also have A Singing in the Blood, in the Chronicles of Riven the Heretic series, and Sinbad's Pride, from the Adventures of Sinbad, both expected out toward the end of this year. Maybe an anthology of short stories.
11. Tell us something we'd be surprised to know about you.
You mean other than the fact that I'm madly in love with a hunk thirty years younger than myself? Nothing much, I guess.
12. What is your favorite fictional love scene of all time (can be literary or film)?
The first one coming to mind is that famous scene from Gone with the Wind where Rhett forcibly carries Scarlett up the staircase and into their bedroom but I have two others, also. The novel Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong, in which witch Paige Winterbourne and sorcerer/lawyer Lucas Cortez first make love. Also, a novel which I bought decades ago (and, I'm ashamed to admit, no longer remember the title). It was the third in a series, about the Colonies and sailing ships, and the titles had something to do with the ships names and the sea (if anyone recognizes this vague description, thank you!) The first time the hero and heroine make love, he gets very instructional, telling her various names for "things" and it gets very funny. He's trying to be so understanding and gentle and and serious and she's sooo ready!
13. What can readers expect to see from you in the next few years?
Probably more of the same. I'm pretty consistent and predictable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)