Sarya's Song Cover, and Silas Quote of the Day

7/17/2013

I now have in my hot little hands (on my hot little hard drive?) the cover illustration for Sarya's Song. I think I said something once about "luciously dark and romantic," and oh my, it is! It's gorgeous! I'll reveal the cover on Saturday; watch for it!

For my Camp NaNo project, Book 4 of Daughter of the Wildings, I'm up to 23,252/30,000 words. Like I've mentioned before, the drafts of these books are fairly short, but I tend to "write short" in my first drafts and then fill in when I revise, so I expect them to end up in about the 50,000 word range by the time I release them.

Silas is always good for a quotable quote, and here's today's:

"Lainie, wait."

She looked back at him, anger in her face.

Silas didn't know what to say that he hadn't already said. That however badly the Mage Council might want him, whatever they might do to him if they ever got their hands on him, they would want her even more and do even worse to her? That he was going to drag her to safety by her heels, kicking and screaming? "Do whatever you want," he finally said. "But if you get yourself killed, I'll hunt you down through all the heavens and all the hells, and then give you the whupping your Pa would want me to give you for getting yourself killed."

She grinned now, a hard, challenging grin. "Same to you, Vendine." She heeled Mala in the sides, sending the mare galloping back to the camp.

Now, I really hate it when in books there's some kind of dangerous situation that has to be faced, and the man says, "I am the man and you are just a girl and I must protect you and keep you from going into danger because I am a manly man, and I don't care that having you along might actually be helpful or that you'll feel as bad if I get killed as I'll feel if you get killed." And the woman says, "Silly man, you can't tell me what to do because I Am Woman and no stupid man can tell me what to do even if it means I put myself in danger unnecessarily and make things harder for you because then you have to worry about me in addition to yourself."

I mean, I really hate that.

But I don't think that's what's going on here. Lainie and Silas are both in a pretty precarious situation with the law (as represented by the Mage Council), and a dangerous confrontation with some other mages is coming up. Lainie believes that Silas is in just as much danger as she is, plus she has certain skills that can really help in a situation like this (that is, saved his butt more than once before), and yes, she would feel just as bad if he was captured or killed as he would feel if something happened to her. On the other hand, Silas has reason to believe that Lainie has seriously underestimated the danger to herself, and that any display of these special skills will only make her situation worse. He has no intention of getting himself killed; he just wants to deal with this situation as quickly and efficiently as possible, and then take Lainie and get the hell out of Dodge (if Dodge City existed in their world). She, however, has equally compelling reasons for not wanting to run away.

Anyway, I was trying to come up with a satisfactory way to top off this argument, and that quote from Silas kind of came out of nowhere (as Silas's best quotes usually do), and I like it, along with Lainie's rejoinder at the end - she can give as good as she gets. So I really really hope I'm not doing that thing that I hate.

Author spotlights coming up Thursday and Friday, and then don't forget, the Sarya's Song cover reveal on Saturday!

4 Comments

Camille LaGuire link

7/17/2013 02:39:33 pm

I think the thing that you hate has become a meaningless cliche because it's a kind of by-rote bow to the fact that we're writing about a sexist world from a non-sexist point of view. (Or "less sexist" if you prefer.) When Manly Man says "Stand back, foolish Woman!" and Proud Ladygirl says "I'll be as foolish as I want!" they're saying it only because we (modern writer/readers) see that as a rule of the world, and we don't look any deeper because we aren't interested in the sexist parts. We just want to get past them as fast as possible.

But the characters have to live in that world. They are completely familiar with the unfairness -- even those who fully buy in to the sexist values. (And in westerns, individualism is to important for your characters not to feel especially strong about it.)

So you did what I like to try to do: As Manly Man, he's supposed to take responsibility, but as a human being, he has and shows respect.

In this case, I love the way he's really getting her to hear his warning by being a little vulnerable -- he uses humor and faux threats to show her that her safety matters to him.

And her response is so beautifully simple, it tells him that he's right on how to approach this, that he can't control her, but that she accepts that he cares and cares back.

It's a lovely exchange.

Kyra

7/17/2013 03:27:28 pm

Thanks, Camille. Glad you think I handled it well; that means a lot, coming from you :)

I've noticed how you handle this with Mick and Casey, too. It's a tricky balance - in a sexist world, having a husband and wife who pretty much regard each other as equals, while at the same time the man considers it his duty as a man to protect the woman - not out of any kind of lack of respect for her, or because he thinks she's incapable of taking care of herself, but because that's what men do, and also at the same time, the woman has some sort of skill that makes her at least as qualified to protect the man (Casey's sharpshooting, Lainie's unusual magical abilities) as he is to protect her, but it would make him lose face and confidence and self-respect if she were to step between him and the threat. And then you add the complicating factor of love and how neither one can imagine how they'd go on if something happened to the other one. Tricky to write, and if the writer isn't careful and willing to go into greater depth (as you said, because this brings up uncomfortable stuff about sexism and gender roles and difficult emotional stuff) they'll end up with The Thing I Hate. You manage this kind of relationship beautifully with Mick and Casey, and that's why they're one of my favorite fiction couples (and when do I get to read about how they happened to end up married?)

7/18/2013 09:15:33 am

Well, Mick is easy because he just doesn't let his ego get in the way. He's used to playing second banana to someone who is way tougher than her is (he started out as sidekick to a lawman who was one mean so-and-so). He also has a sense of humor and loves to play on other people's expectations.

Also, and probably most important, Mick knows that Casey can only be seduced by displays of respect for her toughness.

One of these days I am going to turn the screenplay about how they met into a book. In it, there is one line where Mick steps up to a tough guy and says something like "Hey, don't disrespect my wife!" "Yeah? Or what?" "Or she'll shoot you."

(He knows exactly how to impress his little lady.)

7/18/2013 12:27:28 pm

lol, that's a great line. whenever you write that, you've already got one copy sold! Mick is great in how he's kind of laid back that way. And it's kind of - cute? that's not really the word, but you probably know what I mean, how he's figured out how to get around the barriers Casey has raised around herself.

Silas doesn't so much have an ego as much as he's just realistic about his abilities. He's a skilled bounty hunter, a powerful mage, and has mad gunslinger skills, and sees no reason to pretend to any false modesty about it. (About the only thing he thinks he's good at that he isn't is playing cards. Lainie had to ban him from playing for money.) It's been a long path to get to where they are in the 4th book, where Lainie is more powerful than he is (not stronger, but almsot as strong, and she can do things that he can't) and also in more danger (the things she can do make her a real threat to the powers that be, as opposed to his more ordinary lawbreaking). He knows and respects her abilities, and doesn't mind acknowledging that she's his equal or superior in some things, and the fact that she's saved his behind more than once, but at the same time he sees the danger she's in much more clearly than she does.

Little lady, lol. I use that too. I loved Mick's line about the little lady who chased the fella out the window.