More on Ancient World Historicals: Nick Drake’s TUTANKHAMEN

      No Comments on More on Ancient World Historicals: Nick Drake’s TUTANKHAMEN

Hi. It’s me again. The guy who posts every now and then, letting weekly deadlines go by, and feeling less and less guilty about it.

The functional breakdown I predicted last semester has arrived, and my beloved blog has been the worst victim of my negligence.

Elsewhere, I really have been doing a lot of productive things. An idea for an urban fantasy has turned into a 10K and growing story (novella?). I organized an LGBT writers critique group, which has taken off marvelously.

But this blog has been my rock throughout the ups and downs of my writing life, and it’s time to get back to it. Sorry rock :::rubs cute little rocky head:::

Thus, I retake to the blogosphere with some words on what I’ve been reading.

Despite my quibbles with Nick Drake’s first book NEFERTITI: THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, I picked up the sequel TUTANKHAMEN: THE BOOK OF SHADOWS. Drake’s writing is just so extraordinary, and I love the ancient Egyptian setting.

The second book has Rahotep, a clever Medjay officer, appointed to investigate threats against the young King Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen is despised equally by his great uncle Ay, protectorate of the kingdom during the reign of the child King, and the popular military hero Horemheb who has political ambitions of his own.

Meanwhile, Rahotep is haunted by the horrifying ritual murders of a serial killer, which may have something to do with the subversive campaign against his client.

Drake renders the people and places of ancient Egypt vividly and beautifully. His prose is at times poetic, and always efficient. I thought that Tutankhamen was a particularly successful character here, shown in his complexity: pampered, naive, wounded by the murder of his father who he succeeded to the throne, and wanting to make something of himself.

More actual mystery solving happens in the story than in NEFERTITI, a complaint of mine with Drake’s début novel, and it made for some satisfying reveals. Rahotep comes to life as a man with special gifts for reasoning and deduction, truly an ancient world detective.

There’s a lot to recommend TUTANKHAMEN, and I do. But being the peevish critic that I am, two problems kept the story from lifting from “great” to “excellent” territory.

First, Rahotep’s quest – to protect Tutankhamen – didn’t feel quite profound enough to hold my fascination. Drake has done extensive research to bring ancient Egypt to life, with historical accuracy, but as such, it wasn’t clear to me what the assassination of Tutankhamen would mean to people beyond the inner circle of privileged and oppressive elite. Put differently, I didn’t get the sense that the young King would be any more effective as a leader than his despotic and corrupt rivals.

Perhaps this is the essential challenge of writing an ancient world story for modern readers. We want to be transported to a vivid ancient time and place, but there has to be something there to relate to: a universal human struggle, for instance.

My other qualm is a carry-over from my review of NEFERTITI. Rahotep’s personal conflict – sacrificing his family life in favor of his dangerous work as a detective – is peppered into the narrative through sentimental ruminations and passages of ‘home-sweet-home’ domestic life. I wanted more from the portrayal, or maybe less, or maybe something entirely different. It felt like a convenient device to make Rahotep relatable to modern readers.

Still, TUTANKHAMEN will impress fans of ancient Egypt. The story delves vividly into the worldview and religion of the time as well as the curious details of daily life.

On Writers Critique Groups

      No Comments on On Writers Critique Groups

A friend and I are organizing a critique group for queer writers. It’s one of the reasons my blog output has been woefully sporadic. We’re off to an exciting start with twenty-five members and max capacity of twelve for our first meeting, March 1st.

In preparation, I’ve been soaking up all the wisdom I can. There are a number of how-to books on running critique groups. Luckily for cheapos like me, there are lots of articles on-line for free.

So I gathered the general points below based on a few guidelines I found and liked on on-line forums, as well as my personal experience as a member of a critique group and as a beta reader.  I also threw in some general ideas about leading groups of any kind based on my practice and training as a social worker.

1. Orient members to the group by setting forth the purpose of the group and the format, rules and expectations.

That sounds particularly social work-y, and maybe dull and unnecessary. But I’ll give an example of how things can go awry.

I participated in a crit group that was looking for new members. We all agreed on having a laid-back screening process, something like posing a question beforehand: “tell us a little about your writing.” We decided to give the first guy who responded to our on-line posting a try.

He was excited to get feedback on the first section of his novel, and the group leader invited him to do so. We all read the piece and gave him thoughtful criticism when he showed up for his first meeting. Then, he sent an e-mail around, after the group, saying he really wouldn’t have time to participate in meetings because he needed to focus on his writing. Ugh. So why did we all waste time reading and trying to help him with his novel?

I’m sure this dumb stuff can happen in the best of circumstances, but I use it as an example of the importance of orienting members. If it had been clear to him from the start: joining the group is a commitment of X, Y, Z, he might have opted out, since really all he wanted was a quick focus group on part of his novel.

This brings up a sub-guideline: help potential members evaluate how the group fits into their lives. Is it realistic for them to read and critique 10, 20, or 50 pages in a one-week or two-week period? Do they have enough time to write so that they can submit their own work regularly?

2. Get agreement on etiquette for critiquing.

I briefly participated in the SF/F writers community Critters, and I love their guidelines (they call them “Diplomacy Requirements”) because they get into the nuances of delivering critique effectively. I’ll highlight/paraphrase just a few:

Say it’s your opinion. Use “I” statements: I’m finding this character’s actions hard to follow, vs.: This character makes no sense and will confuse readers.

Don’t try to persuade. A peer critique group is about peers giving each other advice. While it’s important to give your opinion when asked, it’s also important to be mindful of the fact you really don’t know better than any other writer. What you have to offer is a different perspective.

Another thing to consider is the balance of positive and negative feedback.

I once received a typed critique of a novel excerpt that had two short paragraphs about things the reader liked, and three pages of forceful criticism. Rationally or not, the only thing that stuck with me was the reader really, really didn’t like the story, leading me to another conclusion (rationally or not): she thinks I’m a crappy writer, leading me to shut down to anything she had to say (rationally or not).

Another point comes up from this example: taking in criticism non-defensively, which I could tackle in a separate article.  For now, I feel it  demonstrates the dangers of focusing too much on the negative. If you read a piece and have thirty-three problems to point out, try prioritizing them and share your top four or five. Less is more.

When I give critique, I try to keep the positive/negative ratio to 1:1. Some guidelines suggest 3:1. I have a hard time doing that because it takes me more words to describe why I think something isn’t working vs. why I think something is working.

Those positives are really essential though. In order for a group to be successful, there has to be a sense of hope, and commonality. Members should feel that their peers believe in their skill and promise as a writer and that they genuinely like reading their work. One article I found on “Daily Writing Tips” suggests that you open and close your critique with positive feedback.

3. Use the group to generate productivity.

Despite the admonitions of our childhood, peer pressure can be a very positive thing. In a writers group, it encourages members to make time for their writing, push themselves, and stick to commitments. You don’t have to be a Nazi about it, but a good upfront goal is for people to write more through their participation in the group.

I’m sure there are a whole lot more great tips, but that’s all I’ve got for now. What else has helped critique groups be successful for you?

Wrestling out of the Squeeze

      No Comments on Wrestling out of the Squeeze

 

Embedly Powered

via YouTube

So this is what it feels like now that the Spring semester has started.

And why I haven’t posted anything for a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, some cool things have happened.  Through my series of posts on mythological characters, I connected with an up-and-coming British artist Rhea Babla. We got to talking about Dionysius, and she did this illustration.

I love the colors, and the mix of styles.  It almost scans to me like superimposed images.

So, besides balancing two jobs, I’ve been working on POSEIDON AND CLEITO here and there, and me and a friend of mine, the fabulous writer C.A. Clemmings, started organizing a critique group for LGBT fiction writers.

We’re looking for folks in the NYC area who can give and receive critique, support each other’s projects, and commit to critiquing 10-40 pages every two weeks and submitting their own work at least once every six weeks.

If you’re enthusiastic about LGBT fiction and it sounds like something you’d be into, drop me a line.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Cleito

      3 Comments on Cleito

The last installment of main characters from the novel I’m currently revising is Cleito.

Cleito is a minor figure in Greek mythology.  She’s mentioned briefly by Plato in his Critias dialogues:

“Poseidon…had been awarded the isle of Atlantis, where he begat children by a mortal woman.  The island…where dwelt an aboriginal inhabitant called Evenor, who by his wife Leucippe, had a daughter called Cleito.  The girl, after the deaths of her parents, was espoused by Poseidon.”

There’s no physical description of Cleito that I can find, nor any statues or paintings of her from the ancient world era.

In some ways, that makes her portrayal more fun.  Cleito was the Queen Mother of Atlantis, but she’s left obscure, while her husband is depicted widely in mythology and artwork.  I have a blank slate from which to work.

Here are a few images I retrieved that shape my rendering of her.

 

This is the crest from the Krewe of Atlantis, a civic organization that puts on an Atlantis-themed float at New Orleans’ Mardi Gras.  Cleito is the Grecian matron on the left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I said, there are no ancient world artifacts featuring Cleito, so I had to stretch my search to modern things, like this painting that advertises the “Cleito Room” at the Atlantis Guest House in Bloemfontein, South Africa.  Here she’s a mermaid, with quite a following of young mermen.

I’m not depicting Cleito as a mermaid, but she does like having men wrapped around her finger.

According to the website, the “Cleito Room” features one double bed and a shared bathroom.  A room for travelers on a budget.  Cleito would be ruined.

 

This is a painting of the goddess Amphitrite that I really like.  It’s by artist Gintare Bruzas.  Amphitrite was Poseidon’s more famous wife, so there are a whole lot more images of her than Cleito.  It comes really close to how I imagine her.

 

 

Retrieved from Dreamstime

When I started writing Cleito, I kept thinking about Maria Sharapova.  She’s kind of been my muse.  Cleito is strong-willed, physically and psychologically intimidating, tall, commanding, fashion-conscious, and she doesn’t crack a smile when she’s hard at work.  Before she shared the stage with Poseidon, she was the kingdom’s High Priestess after all.

Poseidon!!

      No Comments on Poseidon!!

In keeping with a theme, I thought I’d troll around the net and post some images of Poseidon that caught my fancy.

He always comes across as a dark character in mythology.  Angry.  Spiteful.  Pretty much indifferent to human suffering.

This is a really cool sculpture of Poseidon at the Port of Copenhagen.  He’s built and mean, with his trident spear.  Not precisely how I’ve imagined him in my novel; the premise is Poseidon was a regular Neolithic guy who was idolized for political purposes.  But my portrayal is influenced by his physicality, and an inference of sadness from the ancient Greek sources.

Here’s a younger, leaner Poseidon.  It’s a famous bronze statue circa 5th century BCE Greece.  I bought a copy of it in Mykonos.  He looks more athletic, less musclebound, in these earlier renderings.

 

 

 

 

Kevin McKidd made a fine Poseidon in Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  He didn’t have the long wavy hair and beard, but he definitely had the gravitas.  And it wouldn’t seem right if Poseidon didn’t have a British accent.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s Poseidon on a Greek postage stamp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like this illustration by artist Rhea Babla.  Pretty much lays out the iconography, and he’s a handsome, kind of earthy-looking dude.  You can check out Rhea’s blog, with samples of her artwork at Silver Platypus.