This op-ed I wrote for CT News Junkie is getting a fair amount of attention and generation decent discussion, both of which are satisfying things. I don’t have a lot more to say on the nuts-and-bolts, what-comes-next piece of this, that’s all in the article. But there’s a lot more to say about this piece:
The other thing to consider here is the continuing decline of the American middle class, the continuing stranglehold of the wealthy on the nation’s politics, and the utter failure of economic policy in the nation’s capital, all of which contributes to the siege mentality on display here. The historic and political context is not an excuse, but it is part of an explanation.
I’m mad at the unions who voted no. I’m even mad at organized labor in general; I think they’ve failed more often than they’ve succeeded over the last thirty years. I’m not sure if I have any clear idea of what they’re for.
But, that said, I tried to fix this particular event into a long, long chain of many events. Something one commenter either at CTNJ or somewhere else said stayed with me; it boiled down to: “We’re tired of being pushed around.”
Pushed around? The unions? Well, sure. Unions, especially public employee ones, have been shoved around by big business, both political parties, national pundits, business organizations, taxpayer groups, parent associations, voters and everyone else who wanted a scapegoat for the fiscal woes of their town, city, state or country. This has been going on for decades. If you look at Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a man famous for his sneering tirades against public workers, you’ll get a flavor of the kind of bullying the public sector gets routinely from everyone.
But the ‘we’ here isn’t just unions, is it? The story of the last thirty years is a story of people being pushed around. I could talk about Ronald Reagan’s scapegoating of “welfare queens” and his gentle-but-brutal dismissal of liberals, or the incredible pressure to toe the conservative, “patriotic” line liberals and moderates came under during the Iraq War years. I could talk about the tea party and its bizarre attacks on President Obama, or I could talk about the Clinton Derangement Syndrome of the 1990s. I could mention the utter lie that tax cuts for the wealthy means prosperity for the rest of us (if it’s true, where are the jobs and prosperity?), or the belief that protecting business is far more important than protecting people. I could bring up about Scott Walker, sure, but he’s just the culmination of a decades-long war against labor unions which has in part led to the erosion of the middle class in this country.
There’s so much more, too. It’s personal, it’s emotional. It’s my mortgage is overwhelming, I’m drowning in debt, I have kids and a car and a house and everything costs more, the roads are awful, schools are failing, we’re stuck at war in three countries, the economy is lousy, our country is broken, my health care already sucks and now they want MORE? Are you KIDDING?
We’re tired of being pushed around.
I’m disappointed in the union members’ decision to reject the cuts. It’s shortsighted, and will lead to a weakening of both union and progressive positions (these have become different things). I think some people voted no for purely selfish or foolish reasons, but I think others voted no because, well, they were tired of being pushed around by everyone.
Why, they asked, couldn’t we tax the people who could afford it instead?
Good question. The answer had something to do with the economy, but if you believe that taxing the wealthy a bit more is worse for the economy than laying off 7,500 members of the middle class, then there is something wrong with your head.
And yet, in today’s political climate, it wasn’t possible. The Connecticut legislature wouldn’t do it, the governor pushed taxes as far as he dared. What happened with this vote is that the way the country does function and the way it should function crashed into one another.
Hence, the “no” vote, born out of frustration. It’s the same as when I see when I see liberals criticizing Obama for what are, in fact, practical positions aimed at keeping Democrats in power long enough to see more liberal polices enacted. Liberals have been waiting, and they have been bullied, and they have poured all their hopes and dreams and energy and money into campaigns and people who don’t deliver fast enough, if at all. They want action, they want to be heard. And so you get Dan Choi ripping up posters and (some) liberals at Netroots Nation turning their backs on the Obama ’12 campaign.
They don’t want to be pushed around anymore. By anyone.
Are these sorts of positions useful? Not in the least. They’re shortsighted and ultimately self-defeating. What good does opposing Obama do if all it gets liberals is President Romney or, God forbid, President Bachmann? What good does voting “no” to union concessions do if all it gets you is a pink slip?
So yes, this kind of thing is incredibly stupid. But I get why it happens. It happens because of everything else that’s happened for thirty long years, and because there’s only so much people can take.
Consider it a warning of things to come.
Our Heroine Hits a Productive Patch
Posted on: June 20, 2011
Ever since BROKEN was published, I’ve noticed that I’ve become… productive.
Really. My previous output was two drafts of books written in about four years. Counting the draft if THE SPARK I finished last night, I’ve started and finished two drafts in about six months (though, to be fair, the first few pages of THE SPARK were written two years ago, I just had no idea what to do with them).
Something about being published has made me want to write more things. People are reading what I’m writing, so I’ll write them more things to read!
I’m sure part of this is that I’m not spending hours each day writing for and managing a political website; that ate a tremendous amount of my time and energy. But really, I got such a boost of energy when BROKEN came out that I haven’t stopped writing since. The result is two drafts that I think I can shape and edit into halfway decent books.
When my old writing teacher said to keep writing, she really wasn’t kidding.
In any event, it looks like it’ll be a long time before you’re all rid of me. I don’t have a first draft to work on for the first time in a while, so now I can do nothing but edit and plot out what I want to write next.
How do YOU get inspired to write?
What I’m Working On Now
Posted on: June 15, 2011
(concept shamelessly stolen from the amazing Seanan McGuire, whose list puts me to shame)
I know. I never update. There’s a space in Blog Hell reserved for people like me; I only hope I earned enough credit with the Elder WordPress Gods from blogging daily for five years to get me into one of the nicer circles. Y’know, less the “pain and jabbing sticks” punishment section, more the “irony” punishment. Irony I can take; pain’s another story.
For the past six months I’ve done next to nothing but write, write, write. What does that actually mean in terms of what I’m getting accomplished or working on? Here’s the list:
Fly Into Fire – You know about this one if you’ve been following along, it’s the second book in the series I guess I’ll just call “The Extrahumans,” and it’s due out in January. It’s the story of Sky Ranger trying to redeem his lousy self after the events of Broken, among many other things. Mostly what I’ve been doing is nervously awaiting revisions, and changing all the characters in my mind. This is going to be a killer rewrite.
The Daughter Star – Marta Grayline was a happy camper hauling freight back and forth between Nea and Adastre, but when an interstellar war breaks out her life is thrown into absolute chaos. This book is set in a completely! new! world! and is the first in a planned series of books about the adventures of Marta Grayline. Marta kicks my butt, by the way. I love her to death. Right now my awesome wife is helping me out with copy-edits, after I rewrote the ending three entire times. I’m getting to a point where I’m happy enough with it to send it off.
The Spark – This is the working title of “The Extrahumans,” Book Three. This is the story of firestarter/lucky girl Deirdre Burns White’s struggle to reconcile her Extrahuman nature with her desire to live a normal life, all while her city is falling into violence, protest and revolution around her. Dee is a supporting player in Fly Into Fire who pretty much demanded her own book. This is the most difficult and challenging book I’ve ever written, and I have to admit, it’s kicking me around a little. Right now I’m still fighting my way through the rough draft.
Other Stuff – You should see a new piece up at 30pov tomorrow, and I am still writing about Connecticut politics every week at CT News Junkie.
Future Projects – I’m in the planning stages for the second Marta Grayline book, though when I’ll get around to starting it, I have no clue. I’ve also been trying to get started on an urban-fantasy send-up, and I’ve got the initial fight scene in a supermarket all done.
Plus, you know, my day job.
That’s it for now! At least, I think that’s it.
Tornado Story
Posted on: June 2, 2011
Yesterday, I left work at 3pm (leaving early because I opened the library) and decided to walk over to my wife’s workplace, about a mile and a half away, in another part of Springfield. We carpool, and she had the car. I thought about staying, there was a severe storm out there that might hit the city, and there was a tornado watch in effect. This being Massachusetts, though, I didn’t take the tornado warning seriously. Why would I? Tornadoes are a once-in-a-generation event around here. I mostly worried about being caught in the rain.
I walked as fast as I could through the humid, gray, windy afternoon. The streets were oddly empty of people; everyone was staying inside. I made it without incident, though it got progressively darker, more humid and windier as I drew nearer. I got into the car and emailed my wife. I was half an hour early. She suggested I come wait inside with her, just to be safe (this is a very small car, mind you). I agreed.
We watched the weather on her computer, and decided to wait for the storm to pass before trying to go home. The tornado watch changed to a tornado warning. At some point, their boss came out to tell us a tornado had been spotted crossing the Connecticut River downtown, only a few miles away. We headed for the basement, and spent a tense few minutes in an interior room there.
When we emerged, it seemed like nothing had changed. We got into the car and started driving home. A few branches were down here and there. Emergency vehicles streaked down the streets I’d walked. I worried about the college and my friends there, but we decided just to get home. When we got downtown, more visible signs of damage appeared. Traffic slowed to a crawl, and we soon discovered why. Many of the streets leading to the highway were blocked by downed trees.
We finally made it to the highway, and as we drove south I caught a glimpse of a building with its roof off. We still didn’t comprehend the real damage the storm had caused until we got home, and could see the pictures coming in over the internet. This gallery from the Hartford Courant shows serious damage in Springfield, West Springfield, Monson and other places.
The college where I work suffered damage, the tornado passed right through campus. One of our dorms looks like a bomb hit it. Trees are down, including several well-loved landmarks. Across the lake from the college, houses are said to be sliding down the hill into the water. The neighborhood around the college was especially hard hit, this video was taken on a street very near. I walk or drive there every day, and I was shocked to see how bad it was. Apparently people are sheltering in the MassMutual Center, a hockey arena, downtown. I hope they’re all safe.
We spent a few more hours last night worried about strong storms heading our way, and retreated to the basement with the cats when the skies turned yellow in advance of a nasty-looking cell. Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing.
Today, we’re both staying home. The college is closed until further notice, and it seems smart to keep people off the streets in any case. I have no idea when, or if, things will get back to normal there.
I thought at the time that it might have been foolish to walk to my wife’s workplace while the storm brewed. It turns out that I unintentionally made the best choice I could have. If she had come to pick me up, we would have been there right at the time the tornado was ripping through our route home. A co-worker on Facebook posted a harrowing account of a close encounter with the funnel while in her car. And I’m glad I went inside, and that we decided to wait out the storm instead of driving home.
In the end, it came down to pure dumb luck. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes. It could very easily have gone the other way.
Thanks everyone who was worried about us, we’re fine. People in Springfield aren’t, though. The damage is even worse than what you’ve likely seen on the news. Keep them in your thoughts, okay?
And when a tornado warning is issued, take it seriously.
Dear Book, You’re Terrible
Posted on: May 12, 2011
Dear first draft,
Okay. Where the heck did you even come from? You were supposed to be the fun book, the “I need a break from writing the big important OMG has-meanings-and-themes-and-everything book,” my pacer car, my racetrack pony who walks with the cool book during the post parade. I never thought I’d even finish you, much less finish you first.
And now look. Suddenly, a few weeks ago, I hit the completely arbitrary line of 50K words on you, figured out your plot, and then you ate my life. I spent the last week in a fog with your characters, thinking up ways to make them do cool stuff and get to the end of the story. Which I did. Oh yes.
You have terrible writing, especially at the end. Some of the characters are cardboard cutouts with signs hanging around their necks reading “IOU 1(one) personality/soul.” There are a few points where I actually wrote [ADD PLOT HERE]. I think I got all of those but I’m not sure. I’d have to go back and check, and I don’t want to. It’s scary in there.
We Have a Cover for Fly Into Fire!
Posted on: May 10, 2011
You think there aren’t benefits to working with a small press? Well, it turns out that after I posted about the images that I had in my head which led to Fly Into Fire, my editor at Candlemark and Gleam, who also designs my book covers, got an idea. She designed a few covers, we emailed excitedly back and forth, and the next day settled on this:
The New Adventures of Sky Ranger
Posted on: May 4, 2011
- In: Broken | Fly into Fire
- 4 Comments
I really meant for Broken to be a stand-alone book. Honestly.
I’d finished it up, everything was wrapped up in a glorious little package (or so I thought), and while I waded through endless rejection emails I figured, hey, I did manage to write a novel after all, even if it never sees the light of day. That’s enough, right? I could take it the Shelley and Mira route and self-publish it into oblivion, and then be done.
Weirdly, after editing and editing Broken one year, I couldn’t get a specific image out of my mind: Sky Ranger, flying alone, high above a vast and empty desert. Why was he there? What was he doing? So, because I thought it might be fun, I wrote him a little scene. Then, because I wanted some back story, I wrote another one, and another one, and after about fifteen pages I realized I’d started something.
I cheekily titled it “The New Adventures of Sky Ranger.” I like giving works-in-progress silly titles. That’s one of the ways I can not worry about them, and relax enough to trick my brain into actually letting them happen. I have thus far come up with the following chapter and book titles for other works:
NOVELS
The New Adventures of Sky Ranger
Novan Ladies in Terrible Peril
CHAPTERS
The Long Haul Truckin’ Gals
Jeena and Lauren are Friends
Celeste is the Boss of You
Penny Lives Like A Hermit in the Wooooooods
In Which Everything Sucks
The Bad News Shows Up and Gets Comfy
Things Get Manly
There are others which for all kinds of great, career-saving reasons I’m not reproducing here.
My experience so far is that every book, every story feels different to write, and this one was no exception. Writing Broken was a very raw, emotional experience. This book, Fly into Fire was a lot more fun to do a first draft of. I felt like I was along on a cool adventure with new, interesting people. It exhausted me, it excited me, and along the way I felt like I learned a lot about story structure and pacing.
I also discovered that I’d written An Unintended Sequel. I’m sure there are writers out there who have the entire twelve-book arc for their characters plotted out before writing the first sentence, but I didn’t. I had a general idea of where the universe itself was going, but I didn’t have the first clue what would happen with the characters from Broken once that book was over. Surprise!
Naturally, once I finished Fly into Fire, I was left with was even more story ideas for the same characters in the same universe. Series writing is addictive. Soon I’m going to have to come up with a title for the whole thing. I fully intend to use the word “saga” or, if I’m feeling perky, “cycle:”
The Extrahuman Cycle: a Rip-Roaring Saga of Galactic Girth
Yes! I’d buy all twelve.
A lot of this probably seems pretty trivial, since it’s (mostly) about a book that won’t see the light of day until next January. But what’s happening in my head is that I’m working on a bunch of past, present and future projects all at once. I’m doing promotional stuff for Broken, edits and preparation for Fly into Fire, drafts of two other books, and more. I think this qualifies as a Real WriterTM moment.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Fly into Fire
Posted on: May 2, 2011
Big news, folks, the follow-up to Broken, Fly into Fire is coming out in January of 2012! Here’s a blurb from my awesome publishers at Candlemark & Gleam:
The last Sky Ranger of the Extrahuman Union, defeated by his former allies and detested by everyone else, fled Earth and the repressive Confederation in a desperate attempt to put the past to rest. But when his refugee ship crashes on a desert planet his life is thrown back into chaos, and his future becomes less certain than ever. In that hostile environment, the abrasive, impulsive Renna and flighty, secretive Dee are the only two refugees who can stand him.
When Dee wanders into the wilderness, Sky Ranger chases after her, touching off a series of events that lead them and their companions from the deserts of Seera Terron through alien Räton space and into the very heart of the Confederation itself. Sky Ranger must confront his past and a intrusive, ruthless government if he wants to be able to save both Dee and what remains of his people, the Extrahumans, from utter destruction.
FLY INTO FIRE is a story of hope, adventure, friendship, and sacrifice, in a world where the only freedom to be found is within.
I’ll have lots more to say about this book over the next few months, so watch the blog for more announcements and other good stuff!
Latest Writings
Posted on: April 28, 2011
So much new stuff to check out:
Tastes Like Chicken. Sort Of
Do you like Chicken McNuggets? No? Well, check out my 30pov piece Chicken McLife anyway, as I examine my life through McNuggets:
I had a routine. I’d walk into town, a couple of miles from the college, and swing by the comic book store. I’d buy whatever was new. It might have been Battle Angel Alita, The Maxx, Strangers in Paradise or just the latest Batman, but I always picked up two or three issues. Then I’d hike over to the McDonald’s on Colman St., on the edge of the city, and sit for a while reading comic books and eating McNuggets.
For a while, all the chaos in my head stilled, and the world was nothing but a plastic seat, Batman, and some greasy food.
Politics!
I went to a Tea Party rally for no good reason, except to take pictures and write a report. Yes, the signs were amusing. Yes, they had foam pitchforks. The report is here: Tax Day Rally Fizzles.
It has to be a frustrating time for the Tea Party. In Washington, House Republicans are compromising with the hated Obama on the budget and may yet allow the debt limit to be raised. Here in Connecticut, Democrats likely have the votes to pass big tax increases as part of an effort to close the budget gap. The big wins of last year are already fading from memory, and no one seems all that excited about 2012. Unlike 2009 and 2010, there is no one single bill to rally against, no one unifying task.
Two other articles: The Myth of the Easy Answer, which has a lot of my political philosophy in it, and Budget Deal Winners and Losers, which has, um, those.
Etc.
I did a guest post at Reading With Tequila, about superheroes! It wasn’t part of the recent blog tour, so I’m linking to it from here.
In a lot of ways, superhero stories are about those who are different or special in one way or another. Here are people who either have inborn or contracted special abilities or powers, or who are in some other way extraordinary.
And that’s it for now! There’s some big big news to talk about soon, too!
Blog Tour Thoughts
Posted on: April 28, 2011
This past month was the month of the BROKEN blog tour, which was the first time I’d done (or, um, heard of–I am a publishing world n00b) anything like that. You can see the list of blogs I toured here. It was a decent amount of work to prepare for, as the blog tour wasn’t just reviews but short interviews, memories, lists and other provided-by-me content.
I did wonder whether it would be worthwhile before starting, but now that it’s done I’m glad I did it. I got to post on or be reviewed by a lot of cool book blogs, and hopefully get some new readers interested in the book. One extra awesome thing that popped up a lot during the tour’s reviews was that the reviewers weren’t necessarily fans of science fiction, but they still found the book accessible and interesting. I have some thoughts about science fiction and accessibility, but that might be another post for another time.
I have no idea how a blog tour translates to sales, but as a way to connect with readers and bloggers it seemed to work well. So, a huge thanks to Jessica at the Teen Book Scene for coordinating it!
I’m going to try and gather all the reviews and post them on the reviews page at some point today or tomorrow.
The Extrahuman Union 