The inspiration for a story can start from the oddest of places, and the resulting novel may end up as distant from that seed as an acorn is to an oak tree. My newest novel began on a cloudy spring day in Ballard, Washington. I had an appointment that afternoon that left me with some time on my hands, so
When Orah and Nathaniel enter the Temple of the Dreamers, high up on the mountain, I didn’t want them to immediately barge into the chamber holding the cocoons, a sterile room dominated by technology. Beyond needing to build anticipation, I felt the haughty dreamers would have embellished the place where they strove for immortality by creating spectacular anterooms as the approach to where their science worked
While writing The Children of Darkness, I was confronted with a dilemma. The Temple of Light had labored for a thousand years to rewrite history to suit their needs and eradicate all signs of the past. How then were the Seekers to discover the lost truth?
Yes, thanks to the keepers, they were able to figure out the
especially since most of my novels involve alternate worlds and unusual cultures. The short answer: I don’t have a clue. Ideas come to me rather than me seeking them out. They arrive at odd times, usually when I’m least rational. They appear out of thin air during
As I plod away at the mystical process of gathering impressions, images and ideas , tossing them into a cauldron and stirring them until they transform into a new novel, I'm reminded what an act of faith first drafts can be. I console myself with a quote I read recently:
"I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand
strong faith that our species can survive and thrive, even though we may go through some darker periods. But I have to say that when I began The Seeker series,
"I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long time. What had changed?
It's simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making things
Check out this six minute video of Ursula LeGuin’s acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the National Book Awards ceremony, where she gave an impassioned defense of science fiction — and of writers in general.
A sampling: “I rejoice in accepting it and sharing it with all those who were excluded from literature for so long, my fellow writers of fantasy and science fiction, writers of the imagination,who for the last fifty years watched the beautiful awards go to the so-called realists. I think hard times are coming when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now and can see through our fear-stricken societies and even imagine some real grounds for hope…the realists of a larger reality.”
She also had some choice words about the current state of the publishing industry. Worth a listen.
