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Pretty sure Stephen King now has a team of fact checkers. But yes I imagine the tone of those letters is gleeful. What I’ll say for King is that even though he’s writing speculative fiction, he portrays characters who’ve had life experiences he has not respectfully. The same cannot be said for Boyne! One of the big problems with The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is that many schools adopted it as an option to teach at Secondary school literature. Which is really compounding the issue when many teachers are already seeking a more balanced history syllabus.
That’s where I start to get annoyed tbh. People collectively learn via story. That’s how we’re wired. And maybe an author is careless with facts because a primary goal is to entertain – although in Boyne’s case I think it’s because he’s insensitive and bloody lazy. But every time an author reinforces a historical inaccuracy it gets added to the Book of the Great Scholar Everyone. And then we all quote that book because Everyone says so. This has done as much to erase women, poc, lgbtq+ and other minorities from received history as deliberate suppression of facts. Honestly history needs all the help it can get to redress this issue, not lazy authors like Boyne who don’t think research matters.
And I do take the point that in speculative fiction everything goes. However all spec fic starts out based on something from the mundane. It has to ir readers would have no access point. So bend the laws of physics for scifi or paranormal fic, or add dragons to a historical setting for fantasy. But imo an author should know what the facts are behind their plausible reader access point.
I will admit I am a researcher for writing and probably do more than most. Venturing into historical fiction now means that I seek three individual sources of verification. I’m not saying everyone should adopt my method – I lose days to research. But when people like Boyne pull half remembered rubbish out of their posteriors and get lauded for it – without anyone who sees thd book before going to print calling him on it – I do get a tad annoyed.
Apparently this was a hot button for me. Did not mean to rant! ?
I agree with what you say, Raine. I should have clarified what I meant by problematic. For instance there are readers who boycott writers just on someone else’s sayso – I think you should always do your due dillifence and try to find out the whole story in as far as you can. Three independant sources of verification and I won’t boycott a book because someone who hasn’t read it says it’s problematic. Thre’s also a lot of books with mild problematic areas. Usually this happens because society and progress is speeding up. Authors might have used words that are considered offensive which weren’t considered ofensive ten years ago. But once ge book is published, it’s out. If all else is by and large ok, I can over look the odd unintentional slur. Then there’s the fact that most prejudice is internalised with everyone to sone extent and writing is really good at drawing that out without the writer realising it. I’m not going to boycott someobe who has a book published without realising that what they’ve done is potentially harmful. Or at least not if they don’t keep knowingly doing it again and again!
But out and out declared racists, misogynists etc? Yeah I will not be supporting them with my hard earned money.
This is something that I end up discussing a lot with my co-dragon on Dissecting Dragons. Ultimately, I think it’s fine to read and enjoy problematic art by problematic artists. The important thing is that you are questioning both within your own mind. I’ve boycotted certain YA authors because they’ve been involved in horrific online bullyimg campaigns against other authors and even readers. But I’ll still occasionally pick up a Ryder Haggerd even if the sexism, classism and racism makes me wince. I have no illusions about his work.
I think it also depends where your hard line is and, even more importantly, is the art (film, book etc) asking you to be complicit in the artist’s views and even in the damage that art may be doing to someone affected by those views? I liked Ender’s Game for example but I won’t but I won’t buy Orson Scott Card’s work because he funds anti LGBTQ+ movements with his money. It’s not always practical to say to a writer ‘hey, I know you’re a raging homophobe, but if I buy your book am I funding your bigotted hobbies?’ But many of the truly bad eggs are pretty open about what they do which makes weeding easier.
The more insidious request of complicity comes in the form of an author benefitting in terms of writing ability via the suffering of others. Let’s talk about Marion Zimmer Bradley – who is absolutely my hard line. She was a childhood hero of mine. A massive mover and shaker in terms of getting women writers a seat at the SFF table when white male writers were (even more) reluctant to make space for anyone who was female, queer or poc. Her worlds were rich, complex, diversely casted and she had a real knack of writing women who were powerful characters. She was also a massive paedophile. She procured 11 year old boys for her husband’s use, arguing chillingly in court that sex with an adult was a necessary childhood experience. She also participated in the sexual abuse of several children including that of her own daughter.
Since she had always managed to portray gritty, believable and sympathetic portrayals of rape and child sex abuse in her books, and was lauded for this difficult ability, it caused a huge amount of cognitive dissonance when the truth came out. Because, you see, she had written from personal experience but she had been the perpetrator. Her writing and thus her career had benefitted. And in every one of her books which touched on such issues, and many did, the reader was being asked to be complicit.So no, you’re not a horrible person if you read and enjoy work by someone whose views are anathema to yours – in some instances it’s even useful to know where these peole are. But imo you should always question what you’re reading regardless and maybe steer clear of art that is asking you to indirectly take part in views and actions damaging to others. Ultimately as writers, we’re the sum total of our life experiences plus the media we comsume whether that’s books, music, films, plays or whatever. Hence the importance of reading widely, I think.
Thanks Elle and Mad 🙂
And Kaz, I am now tempted to do exactly that. ‘Ironside’s Guide to the bizarre Middle Ages’ :’D
Thanks, @Squidge. Hope you enjoy them ?
Massive congratulations, Kaz ? really well deserved and so glad Ava id finally taking wing in front of a larger audience. Can’t wait to get my signed copy. Champagne and cake all round ??
Most probably true, Richard. There’s a great youtube video showing people wearing full plate armour doing somersaults. Squires were required to master all the courtly and manly arts – combat, riding, tumbling, swimming, dancing etc – and often practised all of them in full armour. (Well probably not swimming because then there would have been far fewer swuires living to become knights, but dancing and tumbling certainly.)
I think you’re probably right there, Daed. I doubted my own findings so I consulted a few horsey people (breeders, riders etc) A horse can comfortably carry a third of it’s own weight. You’re average destrier of 15 hands weighed 1200 lbs. So they could comfortably carry 360lbs.
Assuming the average height and weight of a knight was 5’7″ and 150lbs (tended to be noble so ate meat often growing up and were therefore taller than peasants) and the average weight of a set of custom made full plate jousting armour (which was thicker and heavier than regular armour) was 55-60lbs. So the destrier was only carrying around 200lbs plus whatever weight the weapons used came to. Not even a third of its weight. Plus many knights in 1300-1400s inherited armour which was ruinously expensive. Most could not afford custom kit so they mixed and matched mail with pieces of plate for ares like the chest, elbows, knees, feet, shoulders and hands. This mix and match kit was significantly lighter. So you’re right, I think people assumed that armour was way heavier than it was and consequently you needed a 17 hand draught horse to bear the knight!I have given this way too much thought ?
Thanks, Sandra 🙂 re destriers – apparently the modern shire/ cart/ draught horses are descended from them. Basically they bred some warhorses too big to have enough speed for battle and that’s where the latter great horses come from. I too was surprised to learn that a Medieval warhorse was usually only 15 – 16 hands high. (Apparently I also learned way more about warhorses than I meant too while I was in the research phase!)
Thanks, everyone 🙂
I am just about halfway through writing the second book now so the encouragement is much appreciated.
@JaneShuff – that has to be one of the best TBRs 😀@Bella – I thought I was being flippant when I spoke about lads marrying their mother-in-laws, but having checked, there were cases where families got split up and the daughter thought she was motherless, got married, died young, and then the widower would marry the stranger woman who had come to town looking for her lost daughter! (Truth really is stranger than fiction.)
@Kaz – this was obviously the book I was struggling with during CampNaNo! Contract wise I negotiated it myself but SoA did look it over for me. Definitely the least sharky contract I’ve ever had in terms of rights grabbing and fairly generous terms too. Sharpe Books. (Who publish Daed’s Malta Convoy novellas too.)
@Squidge – thanks, hope you enjoy it.
@Raine – Honestly a ‘what horse’ catalogue could have spawned a completely different set of novellas lol. I had to pare back the horse character since he was in danger of becoming a speaking part (and it’s not historical fantasy. Why is it the horses I write always end up with too much personality?)Yay! I’m so glad you posted this, Daed. Highly recommend it to everyone who likes hist fic especially WWII. It’s an excellent novella. Can’t wait for the next one ?
I think the linking text definitely helped @squidge. As did the editors having a clear idea of what they were looking for and how to make it all fit together. And I think the opening and closing stories gave the anthology shape too. But we weren’t actually given that much of a premise other than ‘demon invasion of Victorian Britain’ which expanded into ‘it can be a personal battle fought in an out of the way location, or a major fight at a big city’. We weren’t allowed to destroy London or have Queen Victoria or the Prince of hell show up. Otherwise we were just set loose to see what we came up with. Most of us didn’t see each other’s stories until we got the proof copy. I was amazed how well it all came together. Definitely some superior editing skills going on there and a bunch of great writers ?
Glad you’re enjoying it @Squidge I love the interlinking text – it really adds sometjing to the collection. I love the shared world aspect of the anthology too.
This was such a great project to be a part of (not least because I was basically asked to write war of the worlds fan fic 😉 ) Matt is being humble by the way. He’s written the opening novellette The Battle of the Alma, which sets the scene and tone for the entire anthology. It’s an excellent piece of fiction with stellar world building. (I keep periodically nagging him to write move novellas set in the same world because I just want more.)
Something ate Feb and most of March when I wasn’t looking, so I’m all for @raine ‘s suggested course of action.
Go for it, Stevie. I bet you can knock out more words in 5 months than you think. And worst case scenario, you’ll still have the makings of a story if you don’t hit the deadline.
Congratulations, Phillipa. I’ve loved your short stories so I’ll look forward to your book release ?
Haha just seen your comment, Ath. 76,000 words so far on NaNo this year – I’m not quite as fast as you’re making out. (Also only 5 books a week maximum, usually)
I think it depends what you write as well. I find urban fantasy is very speedy. Fantasy and historical are a bit slower. Sci-fi is slower to write again. Horror seems to be somewhere in between. I don’t write literary fiction – mostly because I sound like a pretentious arse when I do – but I imagine that must take longer to write too. I’m in awe of people like @raine who craft beautiful, literay novels in a few months! And you too, Ath. My writing just doesn’t come out of the box like you literary types ?I’m pretty sure I’ll get the words down. But right now I have only the vaguest plan and I can’t think of even a working title.
