"So, When’s the Movie?" A Guest Post from Julie E. Czerneda — Plus Two Giveways!

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Photo Credit— Roger Czerneda Photography

Giveaway Result! The draw for giveaway #1 has now been made and the result posted. Click on the following link for all details:

And We Have a Winner — for Julie Czerneda's #AgainstTheDark Giveaway #1

Thank you to everyone who participated.

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Today, we're thrilled to welcome award-winning Canadian author, Julie E. Czerneda, to the Supernatural Underground.

Guest Post Goodness:
Julie is currently on a Blog Tour to celebrate publication of To Guard Against The Dark, the ninth and final novel in her very successful the Clan Chronicles series. Naturally we're delighted she's made the SU a stop in what is a very busy schedule.

Two Giveaways of Awesome!
Nine books is quite an achievement—plus promising hours of reading pleasure!—so Julie and her publisher, DAW, are celebrating with not one but TWO awesome giveaways. Details for both are following the post—and there's also more great information on Julie herself, and the series.

Right now, though, let's read-on because if you love insights into the writing life, you'll love this post!

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So, When’s the Movie?

Yup. The go-to question from those who sincerely want to know if you’re any good.
 

Clan Chronicles #1

I think it’s safe to say few other professions face that one. Authors? We hear it regularly. At gatherings of family or friends. The dentist. In the grocery store. I’d go on, but you get my drift. It’s a question posed by those who don’t know the business of writing, but who do know where science fiction and fantasy goes to be successful. On screen.
 
Which brings up a more—useful—question.

How do we know if we’re any good? Movie deals aside.*

Creative people are like that, you realize. Prone to wondering. Doubt. We can, of course, think we’re pretty good, which, if you’re Canadian too, comes wrapped up in our national twitch of: don’t tell anyone! But then the whisper in the mind starts…are we…really?

Meaning, like anyone else, we look outside ourselves. Fortunately, society does provide one easily understood mark of success: being paid for what you do, so you can do what you do without starving.

Most of the time. Talk to me about the 101 ways to prepare zucchini. Better yet, buy me lunch—not zucchini, however. (Honestly, authors/artists. We do appreciate food. It’s primal.)
 

Clan Chronicles #6

For those of us who write books, having people buy those books pays for meals, children’s footwear, hockey equipment, a roof (Canadian, that’s my list). It also, incestuously, lets us buy other authors’ books. There are so many GOOD authors out there! We know what’s good when we read it, in others, and willingly admit it. Remember that for later. 

Whether published traditionally or via self-publishing, the number of books sold is the bottom-line. There’s more. Bestseller lists. Is your book in stores and warehouses? Airports? In catalogues. Other languages. Are you pirated online—which is a bizarre compliment until you start doing more math about starving. There’s as many ways to check your numbers as there are stars above, and, to be frank, to obsess over them is as helpful as arguing with our star as winter approaches your hemisphere.

Clan Chronicles #3

Nor, for me, are number of readers a useful measure of “am I any good.” The reasons a book may or may not catch these readers’ eyes and hearts and not those are beyond my control. We—my publisher, booksellers, and I—do our best, including tours like this, to put my books out there. (Though if you buy me a beer with that lunch, I’ll tell you my Walmart story of marketing woe.)

Don’t get me wrong. Sending my manuscript out into the world provided immense validation. I’d finished something, for starters. And finally someone read my stuff! Go ahead and gasp. I didn’t know any better. My first readers were the people, editors, who could decide to buy it or not.

To decide, if for their purposes, it was any good.

The emphasis is important because I’d one advantage. I was an editor myself and knew my story being bought, or not, wasn’t All About Me. (Except for the wee whine inside my head, but I ignored it, most of the time.)
My first book, A Thousand Words for Stranger, spend a few years with a trio of editors who did like it, very much, but their publisher didn’t. It whooshed in a day across the desk of another editor, at another publisher, who quite loved it, but had bought something similar that very day. See? For their purpose. Timing is all.

I was told, repeatedly, DAW was where I belonged.

Now the problem with not knowing if you are any good (at this writing thing) is that self-doubt—even rational-seeming caution—can deflect you into wasting time and effort. DAW published the authors I loved. Why would I try there? I wasn’t yet worthy! (Something I mentioned in an earlier post, so lesson maybe learned?)

Which in hindsight cost a decade of my time, since DAW, in the person of Hugo award-winning editor Sheila E. Gilbert, indeed thought I was good and why hadn’t I come to them first? Surely I’d noticed they liked what I liked.

It never ends, by the way. In moments of personal doubt I’ll email Sheila to ask is she SURE my latest book is good? and she provides a virtual pat on my head—or thump—because why wouldn’t it be? That’s our relationship.

While vastly reassuring before a book launch, this isn’t, however, how I answer the real question: am I any good?

No, this isn’t how my yard
looks at present. Still fall
here.

Awards? Are very nice, believe me. (THE PRECIOUS!) As marks of achievement, they’re damned fine proof a story worked for a sufficient number of wonderfully motivated-to-vote individuals to be noticed. Thanks!

The problem with awards as a measure is they come after the work. After the hours, days, weeks, months, and sometimes years of work—work you do alone. You bake muffins, you know in under 30 minutes if they’re edible. See what I mean? Writers and other artists face an inescapable period of time during which only they can judge if they’re getting it right, or not, while they start “baking” the next long before they do.

What comes very close to a useful measure of “am I any good” are those readers who contact me, privately and while I’m mid-book, to tell me how much my writing has meant to them. Thank you. That’s—that’s remarkable and a treasure and yes, that’s almost all I need.

Almost.

As in not quite. To accomplish a steady word count, to stay deeply focused on the plot as I must be, to keep doing this? I can’t pause to seek external reassurance. There’s no time. No head space. And, to be frank, no point. I must have confidence in my abilities. In what I do.

Clan Chronicles #8

So here’s the thing. What lets me jump into the next project, and plan for the next, and keep the buzz of excited hope I’ll be doing this for years to come—right, Sheila? It’s what I’ve done from the start. From the very start. From the first time I put words to paper at ten years of age, right through to now and tomorrow.

It’s an intimate, hard to share, even harder to admit to you feeling. (Remember, Canadian.)

A feeling. That’s all.

At some unpredictable moment I’ll be writing and it happens.

I’ll read over what I just wrote, sometimes through tears.

Because it’s good enough, for me.

~ Julie E. Czerneda

Footnote:

*The movie? As of now, I’ve no idea if or when any of my works will appear on screen, but I’d love to see it too. Thanks for asking.

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About Julie E. Czerneda

For twenty years, Canadian author/ former biologist Julie E. Czerneda has shared her curiosity about living things through her science fiction, published by DAW Books, NY. Julie’s also written fantasy, the first installments of her Night’s Edge series (DAW) A Turn of Light and A Play of Shadow, winning consecutive Aurora Awards (Canada’s Hugo) for Best English Novel. Julie’s edited/co-edited sixteen anthologies of SF/F, two Aurora winners, the latest being SFWA’s 2017 Nebula Award Showcase. Next out will be an anthology of original stories set in her Clan Chronicles series: Tales from Plexis, out in 2018. Her new SF novel, finale to that series, To Guard Against the Dark, lands in stores October 2017. When not jumping between wonderful blogs, Julie’s at work on something very special: her highly anticipated new Esen novel, Search Image (Fall 2018). Visit www.czerneda.com for more.
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Cover art by Matthew Stawicki

About the "Clan Chronicles" Series

The Clan Chronicles is set in a far future where a mutual Trade Pact encourages peaceful commerce among a multitude of alien and Human worlds. The alien Clan, humanoid in appearance, have been living in secrecy and wealth on Human worlds, relying on their innate ability to move through the M’hir and bypass normal space. The Clan bred to increase that power, only to learn its terrible price: females who can’t help but kill prospective mates. Sira di Sarc is the first female of her kind facing that reality. With the help of a Human starship captain, Jason Morgan, himself a talented telepath, Sira must find a morally acceptable solution before it’s too late. But with the Clan exposed, her time is running out. The Stratification trilogy follows Sira’s ancestor, Aryl Sarc, and shows how their power first came to be as well as how the Clan came to live in the Trade Pact. The Trade Pact trilogy is the story of Sira and Morgan, and the trouble facing the Clan. Reunification concludes the series, answering these question at last. Who are the Clan?

And what will be the fate of all?

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Be In To Win with Two x #AgainstTheDark Giveaways!

Giveaway #1: (US & Canada Readers Only)

Win Julie's latest book, To Guard Against the Dark, in hardcover,  plus a mass market of This Gulf of Time and Stars. 

i) How to Enter: Leave a comment with your details below. Entries will close at midnight on Friday 13 October (EST.)

ii) Notification: The draw will be made and the result posted here on Saturday 14 October.  if the prize is not claimed by midnight Tuesday 17

October,  it will be redrawn and renotified on Wednesday 18 October.

Note: All times are US EST.

iii) Terms:  The books will be supplied by DAW.
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Giveaway #2

This is a fabulous tour-wide opportunity to win all nine “Clan Chronicles” novels!

To enter, click on the following link and follow the entry instructions there:
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https://sweeps.penguinrandomhouse.com/preview/vg5pud

Good Luck!

Happening Soon: A Guest Post From Julie Czerneda — Plus Two Giveways!

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Julie Czerneda; Photo Credit: Roger Czerneda Photography

On October 6, the Supernatural Underground is delighted to be welcoming award-winning speculative fiction author, Julie Czerneda, with a guest post and giveaway.

Julie is touring to celebrate the publication of To Guard Against The Dark (DAW), the final novel in her acclaimed The Clan series — and to add to the blog tour fun there will be not just ONE, but TWO giveaways!

Giveaway #1 will comprise 1 x set (only) of Julie’s preceding The Clan novel, This Gulf of Time and Stars (mass market edition) together with To Guard Against The Dark (newly out in hard cover.)

Giveaway #2 will give Supernatural Underground followers the opportunity to win the entire nine-book The Clan series!

We think that's giveaway goodness galore — so save the date for October 6 to check out Julie's guest post and enter the giveaways.

See y'all on the 6th!

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About Julie Czerneda:

For twenty years, Canadian author/ former biologist Julie E. Czerneda has shared her curiosity about living things through her science fiction, published by DAW Books, NY. With seventeen (and counting) novels and numerous short stories in print, she’s also written acclaimed fantasy. Her Night’s Edge series (DAW) began with A Turn of Light, winner of the 2014 Aurora Award for Best English Novel. A Play of Shadow followed, winning the 2015 Aurora. Julie’s edited/co-edited sixteen anthologies of SF/F, including the Aurora-winning Space Inc. and Under Cover of Darkness. Her most recent anthology is the 2017 Nebula Award Showcase, to be published May 2017. 2017 will also see the completion of Julie’s Clan Chronicles, with the conclusion, To Guard Against the Dark, in stores October 2017. To find out more about Julie and her writing, please visit www.czerneda.com.

"In Appreciation: Building on the Past and Helen Lowe’s The Wall of Night Series" — A Guest Post By Paul Weimer

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"Helen Lowe’s The Wall of Night series stands as a formidable entry in the realm of epic fantasy. 

At three volumes in (The Heir of Night, The Gathering of the Lost, and Daughter of Blood – with the fourth and final novel currently in progress) the series epitomizes what I think of as part of a Fourth Era of Epic Fantasy. 

Like geologic layers, the eras of Epic Fantasy build and layer on each other: sometimes new works in the older traditions coming to the surface; other times, the weight and pressure of newer iterations of fantasy pressing down on those layers and letting them be seen in new contexts. There are many ways to order something as unclear as the history of an entire literary subgenre. However, if you will indulge me, I will use a geologic template to break the history of epic fantasy into five periods.

The First Era of Epic Fantasy

The pre-geologic era, our first era, is the period before there was a defined class of literature called epic fantasy. That is to say that there was no defined subgenre of fantasy and science fiction that one could point to, or ask for, that was called epic fantasy. A time traveler to that era, going to the bookstore or a library or even a SF convention would just confuse people by asking for "epic fantasy. 

This is not to say that there weren’t the progenitors of epic fantasy being written. Yes, this is the era of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Those works would help set the stage for the later ages of Epic Fantasy and provide models for The First Era. 

Besides Tolkien, however, there were plenty of other novels reaching toward Epic Fantasy. Fletcher Pratt’s The Well of the Unicorn and Poul Anderson’s Three Hearts and Three Lions, among others, were singular voices reaching toward a subgenre we might consider epic. The stories of C.L. Moore, and Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and The Grey Mouser, although more properly classified as Sword and Sorcery, still had an enormous influence on later writers and books. By the 1970’s the stage was set for a subgenre to emerge, once writers could take this critical mass of pre-geologic work and use it as a foundation. 

The First Era of Epic Fantasy, then, starts in the 1970’s with Terry Brook’s Shannara novels, Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant, and the other novels of that first wave of works inspired by Tolkien. This era was an era of codification of the protocols, as they saw them, and established many of the things taken for granted in later eras as absolutely fundamental to Epic Fantasy. Worlds of various nonhuman races.  The idea of a company of companions fighting a dark evil. Various archetypes of those companions – the elderly wizard, the young protege, the farmboy who finds out that he has secret power. (You may notice that Star Wars took this template, too, and ran with it in an Outer Space direction). The idea of having a map in the front of the book. The trilogy format, since Lord of the Rings was a trilogy.  

In some cases, these novels were direct pastiches of Tolkiens’ plot and ideas, or first-order reactions to it. However, the idea of a subgenre of novels that filled an epic fantasy space was established. 

The Second Era
 

The Second Era came in the later 1980’s. The first layers of Epic Fantasy had been laid down, and now two forces came to play for the first time. The first is the influence of the role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons. In this era, it was Dungeons and Dragons itself that produced the fiction, in tie-in works such as The Dragonlance Chronicles that used the fantasy worlds of the game to tell epic fantasy stories. 
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It would be Dungeons and Dragons, too, that would nurture Sword and Sorcery as Epic Fantasy continued its ascent – only to unleash it back onto the world in the next era as players, such as Scott Lynch and Jen Williams, became authors themselves.

The other major development in the Second Era was a sociological one. Women authors started to become prominent in writing Epic Fantasy. There had been forebears for women writing in the space all the way back to C.L. Moore with Jirel of Joiry, but now, authors like Judith Tarr, Robin Hobb, Jennifer Roberson, Mercedes Lackey and Margaret Weis, among many others, really had their voices enter the community. The Six Duchies, the Cheysuli, Valdemar, and many more took their place in the Epic Fantasy canon.

In a very real way, too, this explosion of Epic Fantasy began shifting the longtime balance of speculative fiction away from Science Fiction and toward Fantasy for the first time.

The Third Era 

The Third Era, the Grimdark era, begins in the later 1990’s with A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin, and King’s Dragon, by Kate Elliott. The mood in fantasy had changed from the bright colors of the epic fantasy of Good and Evil that was a strong note in the first three eras. Now, more complicated characters, situations, and morally ambiguous situations were the rule of the day. 

Worlds where there were fewer heroes gave the palette of Epic Fantasy a grimmer feel. While Thomas Covenant had been a singleton of the unlikeable protagonist back in the '70’s, now, novels with anti-heroes or at best, grey people forced into fighting greater evils were the dominant narratives on bookstore shelves. 

At the same time, Grimdark caused a questioning of some of the narratives of epic fantasy, and also provided space and opportunity for stories of ordinary people caught up in epic events – people as messy and complicated as the ones who walk around the world today. 

The Fourth Era – and Helen Lowe's The Wall Of Night

The Fourth Era, the Cenozoic of my epic fantasy geologic timeline – the era we are currently in – is the era in which The Wall of Night series is a leading light.

The relentless grimness of the Grimdark movement has receded, although many books continue to be written in that tradition. The Wall of Night series embodies what is to be found in this new era, as well as what has been brought forward from previous periods.

The basic epic fantasy chassis developed over the previous eras is here: A young protagonist, a woman, the heir to power, but with real doubts and real growing up to do. A quest to stop a previously thought-to-be-contained evil from overwhelming the world – and the "thin red line" of the people known as the Derai. A complicated, complex and richly drawn fantasy world that rewards a deep dive. A strong inner life for the characters. 

And with all that, Lowe brings forward the concerns and richness of this new era. Even stronger roles and positions for female characters, reflecting both the real history of our world, and providing role models and characters for readers of all types to admire. A reaching out beyond The Great Wall of Europe for ideas and models for cultures, characters and worlds. Diversity, not for the sake of diversity, but for the richness of escaping the monoculture too frequently found in earlier eras of Epic Fantasy. 

The Wall of Night series by Helen Lowe does all of this, carrying the banner and helping lead the way into this new era of Epic Fantasy. It never forgets where it came from, but it also strides forward. 

As a representation of the current trends of Epic Fantasy alone, then, The Wall of Night series by Helen Lowe is well worth your time. Anyone vaguely interested in the history and trends of Epic Fantasy should read it. 

As an experience of reading however, it is far more than just an intellectual exercise. Instead, The Wall Of Night comprises a deep and rich vein of fantasy fiction that rewards its readers with the egalitarian characterization, in particular, that brings the Epic Fantasy template to modern sensibilities, without sacrificing the underlying strengths of previous eras."

by Paul Weimer

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Paul Weimer is a writer, gamer, blogger, podcaster, photographer, and ubiquitous genre enthusiast. Paul was a regular contributor to the former (and much missed) SF Signal and is currently part of the Skiffy and Fanty Show team. Recently, his articles have also appeared on TOR.com and the B&N SciFi & Fantasy Blog.

To find out more, check out Paul's Blog, Jvstin Style or follow him on Twitter: @princejvstin
 
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Get it While It's Smokin' Hot:

The Heir Of Night (WALL#1) is a Kindle Monthly Deal all September!

Yes, that's right, if you haven't read this fabulous series yet, here's your chance to jump in with the first book, The Heir of Night, which will be just 0.99c on Kindle for the whole of September. (USA only.)

Here at Supernatural Underground HQ we're pretty proud of the awards The Heir of Night has garnered, too:

• The Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012 for Best Fantasy Debut
•  The Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Novel, 2011
• A Catanetwork Single Titles Reviewers' Choice Award, 2010

So if you haven't read it already, get it while the price is smokin' hot! If you have – then maybe this could be the perfect moment to gift it to a Fantasy reader in your life.

And if you want to help spread the good word, don't forget to use #TheWallOfNight. :-)

We're Looking Forward To — A Guest Post By Genre Enthusiast, Paul Weimer!

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SU guest blogger: Paul Weimer

The SU team is thrilled to be announcing a guest post by genre enthusiast, Paul Weimer, coming up on September 1.

The title of Paul's guest post is:
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“In Appreciation: Building on the Past — Helen Lowe’s Wall of Night.”
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Helen Lowe:
SU author of The Wall Of Night series

Yes, that's right -- Paul's post is featuring our very own SU author, Helen Lowe, and her award-winning The Wall Of Night series, which is why we're doubly pleased to be hosting him here on Supernatural Underground!

Paul tells us the focus of the post will be looking at the series in the context of contemporary, "fourth era" epic fantasy -- and all of us here at Team Supernatural Underground HQ are certainly keen to read on and find out moar!

In case you're not familiar with Paul, he was a regular contributor to the much-missed SF Signal 'zine and is also part of the  Skiffy and Fanty Show team. Paul's pieces have also appeared on TOR.com and the B&N SciFi & Fantasy Blog. He describes himself as “a writer, gamer, blogger, podcaster, photographer, and ubiquitous genre enthusiast.”

This guest post will be a great indepth look at once of our SU authors and her work, as well as shining a spotlight on genre more generally — so do check back in on 1 September (US, EST) for:

“In Appreciation: Building on the Past — Helen Lowe’s Wall of Night” 

We'll be using #TheWallOfNight whenever we talk about it, so please feel free to do the same. :-)

We're sure looking forward to Paul Weimer's guest piece and seeing y'all on the 1st!

Guest Post: Of Sirens --- & The "Queens & Courtesans" Anthology

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Today we are delighted to host Kristen Blount here on Supernatural Underground with a guest post on her involvement with the Sirens convention in the USA and the production and publication of the newly released Queens & Courtesans anthology.

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Of Sirens --- & The "Queens & Courtesans" Anthology

A Guest Post by Kristen Blount

Despite reading almost exclusively in the speculative fiction genre, I am not much of a con-goer. In 2009, though, a favorite author (Sherwood Smith) mentioned that she was going to be a Guest of Honor at the brand-new Sirens Conference – along with Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore. Yummm. 

Being a responsible, part-time employed, full-time mom, I decided that I couldn't really afford a weekend in Colorado (being 2/3 across the country from home).

I received one of my best Christmas gifts ever that year… registration to Sirens!

The conference describes itself as being, “dedicated to the diverse, remarkable women of fantasy literature: readers, authors, scholars, librarians, educators, publishing professionals, and characters.”  Still, I did not really know what to expect and so was delighted to have a relaxing weekend in a mountain resort devoted to women in fantasy literature. 

The conference fostered conversations via roundtables, panel discussions, presented academic papers, and keynote presentations. It wasn't overly busy, with plenty of time built in for side conversations, walks, shopping at the book store, a visit to the spa, and impromptu meals with other attendees. I now look forward to seeing my “Sirens friends” every other year or so.

I don't know how to emphasize how different and lovely I found the experience of sharing a love of fantasy with other women (and the few men who joined us). It has been a revelation to meet all these other people who love girls with swords, the monstrous feminine, and even a little romance. These are just three of the themes that Sirens has considered – along with faerie, retold tales, and hauntings.

Finding new authors is always a bit of a struggle for me, since I am a shameless re-reader. This year, I discovered Renée Ahdieh's magical retelling of Shaharazad (The Wrath And The Dawn; The Rose And The Dagger) and Laurie Marks' Elemental Logic series.

I now can't wait to meet to the authors! Kiini Ibura Salaam's short story collection, Ancient, Ancient, is waiting for me to have a few more brain cells to devote to it. For some reason, short stories seem to demand more from me as a reader.

Speaking of short stories, something new and completely apropos arose among a group of Sirens attendees. We decided to produce an anthology! One of the writerly types talked on Facebook about having had a set of characters in her brain – a queen and a courtesan – who just would not leave her alone. This became a writing prompt, which quickly led to the proposed anthology to benefit our shared love of the Sirens Conference.

I happily signed on as a beta reader and editor. What a terrific experience it has been! Queens & Courtesans: A Sirens Benefit Anthology, edited by Jessica Corra, showed me a wide range of ways powerful women could interact.

In one of the stories I was lucky enough to proofread, all the characters are female: the ex-military space navigator/pilot, the nuns, and a bevy of school girls, one of whom is queen presumptive. Almost unbelievable, murderous plot twists aside, these women with different skills, agendas, and needs come together in frightening circumstances to work for a common good.

In another story I met a prince's lover, who was chosen by his mother because she's blind. This story is strictly told from the blind girl's point of view, and it brings a richness of other sensory details with it. Every story in this anthology gave me something to mull over in the days, or weeks, after reading.

If you have the opportunity, please consider purchasing a copy of Queens & Courtesans (available via Amazon and for most e-readers). It promotes the voices and concerns of women within the speculative fiction field. And mostly, it contributes to continuing the Sirens Conference.

If you have the opportunity, I also encourage you to consider joining us some year for a weekend of reading, talking about reading, and writing.

~ by Kristen Blount

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Queens and Courtesans is published today. To find out more, click on:.

books2read.com/QueensCourtesans

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31936162-queens-courtesans

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About Kristen Blount:

A lifelong reading enthusiast, Kristen enjoys speculative fiction most but will read just about anything that holds her attention and offers up a good story. With two adult-ish children who are nearing the end of school, Kristen has discovered the joys of free time to indulge in baseball, baking, and cross stitching. In order to pay the bills, she works in the local library’s marketing department as a graphic designer.