When Semes Collide -- What Happens When Characters Don't Get Along

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Ebooks for all types of players available on Smashwords HERE  
Ensnared Kindle Ebook Available HERE

Check out full chapter excerpts under Hot Links in the Menu on the right side of this page!

To write a character well, I believe the writer must be empathetic to him or her. That applies to the unsympathetic characters as well. I never think of any character as evil. They each have reasons that are internally valid for their actions. It's just that their goals are diametrically opposed to the protagonists. That said, in my writing, protagonists are good guys and the antagonists are bad guys and never the twains shall meet. I have never had an occasion to turn a protagonist into an antagonist until now.

In A Soldiers Destiny, my enigmatic vampire, Simon Molinar from Demon Under Glass, is a less than sympathetic character. He is not quite an antagonist, but he is highly problematic for Rik and Vincent. Simon remains one of the most complicated characters I have ever written. I never write him from his point of view, so those who interact with him – mostly Joe McKay – have to sift through the words and motives and hope they can figure out the truth. Simon has centuries of experience in manipulating humans. Thus, aside from being innately funny and charming, He knows how to read people quickly and completely from his experience. He can be all things to all people. This works in the Demon Under Glass books, because Simon's goals are the same as Joe's for the most part. And those goals keep Joe by his side without any manipulating. Their pursuers' motivations and goals are horrific, thus it is easy to portray Simon as a protagonist.

The Foundation for Alterds is not like the Delphi Project. They have no sinister ulterior motives. The organization exists to better the lives of those with the genetic mutation whether they become soldiers or not. There are gaps in their knowledge about Delphi that Simon can fill. Also, he knows a great deal about where Delphi technology traveled beyond US borders and what has been and is being done with it. For that more than anything else, the Foundation is willing to extend him their considerable resources and protect him in great comfort indefinitely. Simon's situation is dire because the word has become much smaller than it is now. It is virtually impossible for anyone to exist without detection of a government. And there are organizations as powerful as some governments who know what Simon is.

The match appears to be perfect. But it is very difficult for a being as ancient as Simon to turn off his instincts or curb his desires. They have ruled his life for longer than anyone can imagine. Times have changed for Simon in many ways. He does not understand how the political climate affects his position. He believes that what he has is valuable enough to give him leeway in his life at the Foundation. Simon cannot help manipulating his surroundings to his advantage in order to feel as safe as possible. Rik and the rest of the staff expect that and are prepared to counter that tendency and make him feel safe. The bigger issue for Rik and Vincent is Simon's tendency to misbehave and believe that there will be little in the way of consequences because of the vital nature of the information he holds. There Simon is potentially gravely mistaken. The military brass is not happy that Simon actually exists and they are very afraid that the real origins of the Altered program will become public. Their stance is to destroy him immediately – no matter what he may know. Most of the Foundation's Benefactors are uneasy about his presence in the facility. Vincent gleefully informs Simon that an Altered soldier can be destroyed on the whim of the military despite the millions spent in creating them, so what chance does he think he has if he crosses the line? Simon is in an unprecedented situation. Though mortal, Rik and Vincent are stronger and faster than he his. They can also be as remorseless killers as he is despite their warm and fuzzy reputation in the media.

Rik and Vincent's motivation is simple. They want to find ways to protect mutants like them from exploitation and death. They also are very protective of the family they have cobbled together at the Foundation. They have found a happiness and contentment with this odd collection of people that neither had known since entering the Altered Program. For Rik, it's the only family he has ever known. They view anything that might threaten their goals or their family with great suspicion and, in Vincent's case, hostility. Readers who have taken the journey with them through the previous books understand how hard they fought for the lives they lead. They understand the kind of friendship and support Simon could have if he can resist his impulses. So, I suggest to the Demon Under Glass fans who have not read the Soldier's books to go through and read the excerpts from both books at http://soldierschoice.com or by the books at Smashwords (scroll down to the middle of the page). The ebooks are really cheap and you can read 20 percent of the book free on that site.

Simon is in a position with these men that he has never known. Charm will not work on them. They are soldiers. Actions are what impresses them. Simon is thus faced with the notion of going through both basic and advanced military training with these men before he can hope to cut any ice with them. That gives me an opportunity for a lot of humor. Which is a relief, because I find writing these scenes very awkward. It's like having an intimate dinner party with groups of friends who don't like each other and who each wonders why I bother with the other. Since I enjoy writing all of them – or I wouldn't write them – it's been a conundrum. Still, I think the story is coming together well and will be something both factions of my readers will enjoy.

 

A Very Bishie Holiday Greeting

Seasons Greetings! Cook Like a Uke – Christmas Cake is delayed due to illness on the host's part, a heavy manga editing schedule and some hairy strawberries. It was all too much. But there are 12 days of Christmas, after all! It will be up soon. Meanwhile, enjoy a very Bishie greeting from Sybaritic Press and Sybpressyaoi.com!

And there is still time for some last minute e-books:

 Ensnared, the Paperback is now  on Amazon.com HERE
Ebooks for all types of players available on Smashwords HERE  
Ensnared Kindle Ebook Available HERE

Check out full chapter excerpts under Hot Links in the Menu on the right side of this page!

Bent-con Round Up -- LA's Gay Comic Convention

 Ensnared, the Paperback is now  on Amazon.com HERE
Ebooks for all types of players available on Smashwords HERE  
Ensnared Kindle Ebook Available HERE

Check out full chapter excerpts under Hot Links in the Menu on the right side of this page!

Cook Like A Uke -- Octopi Wieners and Apple Usagi is LIVE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stLObv0cfhg&feature=g-u   

Bent-con, like Yaoicon, was an event I really wanted to attend last year but could not because of chemotherapy. I've been posting my nerdier blogs on Doorq.com for a few years, and the founder of that site, Jody Wheeler, has been a buddy online all that time. There is something very exciting about young conventions [this was Bent-con's second year]. Connections with fans and with dealers and even with guest speakers can happen when the attendance is smaller than the huge conventions where there are throngs of people all divided up into their own cliques of interest. There were a couple of thousand people spread over the convention area at the Westin Bonaventure, the iconic Downtown LA hotel. In that regard, I was not disappointed. I talked to many of the dealers and signed up for a few mailing lists and one fan club. I discovered during one of the smallest panels I've ever spoken on that I have fans that still await my fanfiction and met another fan that was so thrilled to meet me that I was humbled beyond words – a rare feat for this big mouth.

Just a little Fan Girly!

But it was the lengthy encounters with three of the guest for which I will be grateful that Bent-con invited me to be a panel moderator. Everyone who reads my blogs knows how much I adore Jane Espenson's work. She blazed a trail on Buffy the Vampire Slayer that dragged me from being only mildly interested in the series to a rabid fan. And I'm still not sure how she did it, but she brought a new depth, sexiness and humor to Battlestar Galactica without taking away from the hard space opera edge. I loved her blogs on the trails and the foods she encountered while writing a TV series. And I now follow her witty observations on Twitter. I've also benefited from her Twitter writing sprints where she encourages followers to take some time and work creatively for 30 minutes to an hour.

Brady(left) and Cheeks (right)

Jane was there to talk about the incredibly funny and touching web series, Husbands. It's premise is that on the day after gay marriage becomes legal in the US, a famous actor (Cheeks) and a Major League Baseball player (Brady) wake up from a drunken celebration to find themselves married. Unwilling to undermine the cause by divorcing, they decide to stick it out for the cause and each other. Comedy and drama ensue. It is amazing how much complexity is packed into those brief episodes. It has one of the best lines about the nature of marriage I have ever heard. It was fascinating for an independent filmmaker who has worn many hats (most often that of a plumber on set) to hear about such similar struggles to mine in producing Husbands. Somehow, I thought that if you've had studio resources for the day job, they would be available for a producer when they did something independent. I'm a silly billy. I could certainly relate to the fatigue I saw in some of the behind the scenes photos. It all looked very familiar. As expected, Jane was a fascinating speaker. It was a thrill to have that kind of insight into the nuts and bolts of the business from her. And luckily, none of what went on in her personal panel or the Husbands panel would be repeated territory in my panel. Please, click on the Husbands LINK and watch the episodes. They are brilliant!

The second of the three people I really wanted to meet that day was Cheeks. He is not just a character. He's also a person who acts, writes and sings. I discovered his youtube videos via a tweet from Jane. They were about his life, the news and pop culture. I saw the first one when I was between major surgeries and had a zipper of staples up my abdomen. It hurt to laugh, but laugh I did until endorphins kicked in my brain. It was an uplifting experience that I repeated every time he posted. Those videos have been pulled in favor of Husbands. I hope he puts some of them up again for all to enjoy. He was an important part of my recovery from the first surgery and I was pleased to tell him that – and give him cookies.

The third person I wanted very much to meet was Wendy Pini. She was already a legend in fandom for Elfquest  which she created with her husband, Richard. I had long admired their work. But it was for her Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death that I wanted very much to speak with her. Masque had everything that pushes my buttons – beautiful but flawed and potentially tragic male characters who are drawn toward each other and inevitably bound. Death threatens their love and their lives at almost every turn of the page. I love writing about those kinds of characters. I will digress here – because it's my blog – to expound just a bit. In A Soldier's Choice and A Soldier's Fate there are only two options for Rik and Vincent – love or death as they literally cannot live without each other. But it's Ensnared that shares a worship of hedonism with Masque. The relationship between Darius and Andreas threatens to upend the social order and endangers them both. [experts for all titles mentioned can be found on the left under Hot Links]. There is tragedy in Ensnared, and I punish Andreas for his beauty and his flaws, but I could not dare what Wendy dared in Masque. And there in lies her brilliance to me. 

I am not a fan of tragedy. I know it is said that to read tragedy is cathartic and therapeutic for the reader or the viewer. This gal is not one of those people. I found Wendy's artwork compelling, so I thought I could skim Masque and enjoy that without getting involved too deeply. That was impossible after the first pages. I was hooked. Despite knowing where the Poe story led and where this was clearly leading early on, I was so enthralled by Anton and Steffan that I had to take that ride to the end. I wanted to tell Wendy that she was brilliant in how she wrote Masque, but it came out as a highly exasperated question about the proposed libretto for Broadway based on the webcomic. Thankfully, my reaction was the very one she had hope to evoke in her readers. Masque is just the kind of well written, accessible story that could introduce yaoi themed content to a wider audience. I'm hoping there is a way to make that happen. That intimate panel was a wonderful opportunity to connect with another talented writer I admired.

Sunday's panel on Women Make Queer Genre was a lot like a literary salon of old. The panel included Jane, Wendy and Shelley Doty, the writer/filmmaker/musician behind the intriguing  Strange Frame, sci-fi, Lesbian anime. The discussion covered why each panelists was drawn to Queer genre, the reaction of long time fans both gay and straight to their works and where they saw Queer Genre developing in the future. The panel managed to be both highly fannish and scholarly. I could see a paper being written about it. It was an amazing experience enjoyed by the audience and panelists alike. A big shout out to Mars Homeworld. You are welcome in any panel I moderate!

I am certain that Bent-con will become a large convention someday. It absolutely deserves to be. I hope to continue to be a part of it as it grows. But the fangirl in me will always cherish the unique opportunity I enjoyed while the convention was young.

Cook Like a Uke -- Episode One is Live!

Ensnared, the Paperback is now  on Amazon.com HERE
Ebooks for all types of players available on Smashwords HERE

Ensnared Kindle Ebook Available HERE

Check out full chapter excerpts under Hot Links in the Menu on the right side of this page!

 

 

 

 

 

Cook Like A Uke -- Octopi Wieners and Apple Usagi is LIVE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stLObv0cfhg&feature=g-u     


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