Male humans, what’s worse more. But one of them keeps
the delicious earthworms coming, so let’s begin.
My name’s Shelly. I’m a box turtle and the writing partner of
a science fiction author. But today isn’t about me. With me are authors Kevin
Nielsen and Derick William Dalton. Mr. Nielsen is the author of Sands,
a fantasy novel recently released by Future House Publishing. I devoured the
plot summary about giant desert reptiles ruling an entire planet, causing mammals
to live in abject terror. Had someone at last made an attempt to pander to the
female terrapin demographic!? My breath caught in my throat. I started to
cheer. Until I came to the part about reptiles being the bad guys. Mr. Nielsen,
you’d better tell me right now there’s at least one smoking crater scene of a
lizard-pillaged village or this interview is over.
KN – Well Shelly, you’re in luck, and may I say, you’re
looking lovely today. There are several
scenes where the reptilian hordes reign supreme. Now, I’m not going to give anything away, but
the more you learn about these reptilian bad-guys, the more you’ll like. They fly, they have metal bones, some of them
even have poisonous spines, what’s not to love?
STBT – For one, flattery works on me. I am looking lovely. And metal bones? Poisonous spines? How come the males
I find most interesting are either extinct or fictional? I wonder if human
women have the same frustrations. Consider my interest renewed, Mr. Nielsen, and
welcome to my this blog.
So. The other guest. Frankly, I’m a little peeved at Mr.
Dalton just now. Last contract negotiation left me feeling manipulated. You’ll
pardon me if can’t refrain from references to a higher quality of nightcrawler.
Nonetheless, for those unacquainted, he’s the author of the science fiction
novel Houses
of Common, the sequel to which, Meaner
Sort, will be available October 31st.
STBT – Yes. A pleasure.
Mr. Nielsen, as I’m inundated with science fiction, your
genre is refreshing. I’d really like to hear why that’s your mug of mead.
KN – Well, fantasy is my mug of mead for, most likely, the
same reason that Mr. Dalton enjoys science fiction so much. In essence, I like the way an author can tell
a story that teaches a lesson in a way that keeps the reader entertained. It’s not some boring, lecture hall, but an
interactive, fun, and dynamic system which allows for everyone to come away
both entertained and a little thoughtful.
It’s like how Houses of Common teaches
you that you can do what’s right regardless of who you are, it is a choice
rather than a destiny, and yet still gets you interested in terraforming and
the cool new technologies in the world at the time the novel takes place. But, Shelly, I’m curious, maybe Mr. Dalton
can help us understand what the difference between fantasy and science fiction
is and why science fiction is his personal beverage of choice.
DWD – In large part, it stems from my inability to restrain a
desire to teach bio-
STBT – He was talking to me, Derick. In large part, it stems
from his inability to restrain his inner geek. He devours Lord of the Rings
annually, but when he writes, he can’t help showing off. You should see the
piles of technojargon his editors and I make him cut. Leaving the mechanics of
magic to the imagination is a fine art Mr. Tolkien mastered. Brevity, it seems,
is also the soul of speculative fiction.
DWD – True, but I can’t be the only one who finds the biochemistry
of genetic engineering interesting. Like Kevin’s entertaining lessons, I think fiction
sparks interest in reality. And vice versa. Textbooks are where I’ve found many
of my favorite ideas. Back me up here, Mr. Nielsen. Don’t you wish one of
Tolkien’s appendices was a peek into Gandalf’s training? Or a pupil of his discovering
how exactly one severs stone with a stick and casts an evil wizard’s influence
out of an equestrian king?
KN – Of course I do – I will totally back you up on that
one. I would love to see the mechanics
behind some of that magic. That’s why I
like “hard magic” systems where the magic is a function of the physical realm
and is explained well. Brandon Sanderson
does this very well in many of his books, most notably the Mistborn books.
As Derick will no doubt tell you, technology and magic are
only distinguishable by how we designate them.
If we can quantify, manipulate, and understand it to some extent, enough
to lump it into an already known category, it is called science. If it defies the known laws or understandings
of the universe, we call it magic.
STBT – So Mr. Nielsen, you suggest the real difference
between magic and science is only an explanation of how it works, and Mr.
Dalton is comparing himself to J.R.R. Tolkien?
DWD – What? No! To the second part, anyway. As to the first,
Kevin’s in good company. In 1961 Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced
technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I love the mystery of magic when I
read, but I can’t bring myself to leave out an explanation when I write. My
iPhone is better than Captain Kirk’s tricorder. 1905 magic became 1966 science
fiction became 2015 science fact.
STBT – Restrain the nerd! You can’t even use half the
functions on your iPhone, and now you’re comparing Mr. Nielsen to Arthur C.
Clarke? You’re mixing up the genres, pal. You’ve also got a thing for 20th
century Brits, which makes this entire conversation a little too machismo for
my taste. So let’s talk about Mr. Nielsen’s protagonist. Unleash some girl
power. What lessons or ideas were you trying to convey that only a female
character could wield?
KN – Well, for one thing, that girls are just as strong as
boys (or women as strong as men) though they have different strengths. It is hard to see in the first book, but as
the series progresses, you’ll see more of how both gender roles are separate
and distinct, yet both strong, both fulfilling, and – in many cases – overlap
quite well with one another. Strength
comes in many forms and there are several female characters in the book which
typify various aspects of it.
In all honesty, I started writing this book with a female
protagonist simply because I had never had a female protagonist in one of my
books before and it evolved from there.
Oh, and Shelly – if Mr. Dalton were to give you some tasty worms,
would you cut him any slack? He’s a good
guy, you know.
STBT – See Mr. Dalton? Your friend gets it after a five
minute conversation. Tell us about Sckiik.
DWD – Shelly’s favorite, the alien security officer in Houses of Common. A former cop, she takes out assassins and
flies starships and puts up with obnoxious male family members. In discussing women
in literature with my wife, she pointed out a common mistake writers make in
creating strong female leads: They just put lipstick and a skirt on a tough
guy. She hates that, and after pointing out examples, I saw how poorly it
works. Aggression, brutality, not a fit without context. Have you noticed that
Kevin? How do you avoid it?
KN – Well, there are many sides of every individual. The best advice I ever heard about a
character who is the opposite gender from the writer was at an LTUE Symposium. I can’t remember the speaker, but the gist of
it was “write them as a person first, and the gender will work itself
out.” There is no “one-size fits all”
definition of what a “strong woman” entails.
Some of them are aggressive
and brutal, though they will often demonstrate it in different ways than a man
would. I think the way to avoid taking a
man and simply “putting them in lipstick and skirt” (or taking a woman and
putting them in men’s clothing) is to make sure you have a real character – if
they seem like a real person, the way they express their strengths (and
weaknesses) will come naturally and fit both the story and the character
arc. Shelly, you’re a girl, though of a
different species – do you have any thoughts?
STBT – Part of me thinks you two are just reading marketing
reports and pandering.
DWD – Yeah, Insurgent
and Hunger Games fans are bored of
that strong female stuff. Our books will never fly, Kevin. Maybe I should write
an alternate history where Governor George Wallace was an alien in disguise. He
tries to protect his species from the deadly human pheromones he thinks are
most potently exuded by Alabama women of African descent.
STBT – What’s that burning smell, Mr. Dalton? Oh. Your
writing career.
