Some days, I have things to say -- sometimes funny, sometimes political, sometimes just, y'know stuff. Some days, stuff happens that I want to write about. Some days, I have things I want to say that I know I shouldn't, that might not be helpful or useful, that might not be nice, that I know that, if I say, all that will happen is that I'll get told I'm not allowed to think that.
So I write them down anyway, and then I delete them or tuck them away when no-one can see.
Today is one of those days. (No, it's not big dramatic bad news.)

The cats are loving the warmer weather, even while I am melting. And we had a lovely time in Spain. The book is proceeding.

Skirt of the day: silk patchwork

I seem to have been rather lax about posting lately -- writing, mainly, and doing things that are useful, like ironing, but of little blogging interest. But all is well and the cats are flourishing (if unimpressed by the weather).
And tomorrow we are heading off for a week in Extremadura, in South Western Spain, to look at Roman remains, and castles and Visigoths, with two of the usual Cambridge suspects (anef and doubtingmichael) plus a visiting suricattus. There will be WiFi, so I will try and make updates (though you will have to rely on Laura Anne for photographs, as I forget to take them, and the marquis mostly photographs bits of castles, and neither of us ever remember to take the right cables for uploading pictures. She will be blogging the trip on the Bookview Cafe website).
I have packed skirts and books and my parasol, plus walking boots and waterproof clothing. I think I might be organised.

Skirt of the day: long green with gold trim.

So, I'm seeing a lot of posts and items lately celebrating the appearance of fantasies that are not 'European'. Which is fair enough. Writers will and have written books inspired by all sorts of things and places, it's what writers do. It's important that books reflect a world that is wider than just Europe or 'the West'; that it reflects the experiences of all peoples, not just a privileged (pale-skinned, all too often) subset. It's important that we recognise and respect the experiences of others, although we must *not* pre-empt their right to speak for themselves, arrogate that right to ourselves, silence their voices, misrepresent or warp their experiences and cultures for our own self-seeking ends. It's important that we recognise that, even if we are related or descended from that people or culture or both, the culture and people are not identical to us, will have changed, will have different interpretations and usages that we should not 'correct' or represent as debased or damaged or wrong; and that in many ways their interpretations, experiences, and usages are the primary ones and their claims on their myths, stories, traditions, beliefs, history and culture take precedence over ours. (And yes, this applies to me as a person neither Welsh nor English. Being of mostly Welsh descent doesn't make me Welsh, and I don't own that culture.)
But here's the thing. I'm European. Most of the European fantasies I have read and loved and delighted in -- and the ones I've read and found dull, and the ones that I hated -- were not written by Europeans. And that's fine. I believe writers should explore and expand and think outside their place of origin, and examine the stories of their ancestors and so forth. I am deeply unhappy with a model that says that a writer can only write about their very own backyard (a position which, amongst other things, restricts writers like Meera Syal, say, to only writing about being British-Indian and the 'British-Indian Experience', which is, frankly, a form of ghettoising). Some of my favourite books were written by outsiders or descendants. But -- you knew there would be a big but in here, didn't you? -- there's a knot of annoyance somewhere inside me at all this jubilating over the new wave of non-Euro fantasy.
Because, you see, many -- most, indeed -- of those books do not read European to me. They are based on our cultures but they are not rooted in them. They represent us, but they do not, all, speak for us or even about us. Mel Gibson can never be William Wallace, not with that script and that set of beliefs and assumptions about who I am, who the Scots are, what our history is. (Braveheart is an easy target, because it's so historically fake and so marked with Gibson's own prejudices. But it's also a well-known one, so...)
This does not mean that these aren't good books -- some of them are. It does not mean that I think they shouldn't have been written. All it means is that they feel like outside narratives to me.
None of which matters, of course. It's easy to argue that Europe has had its day, that we are a bunch of ex-Imperialists still whinging because we lost our Empires. That we have been culturally significant for far too long and we should shut up and let others shine. There is probably a lot of merit in this view. We spent hundreds of years plundering and silencing others. That's an inescapable part of the histories of at least some of us. We are not, of course, a monolith, and there are many parts of Europe which did not have that experience of Empire, or had it in a distant past, or were on the conquered, not the conquering side. (For the interested, Ireland did, in fact, have its colonialist, dominant phase, in the period from the 2nd down to the mid-9th centuries. Scotland, culturally, is an Irish colony, whose indigenous practices and leaders were supplanted and overridden by an invasive culture which remains the major one to this day, although in a distinctive regional form.)
But part of me still watches the currently dominant culture metaphorically shaking the dust of my stories, my histories, off their feet and moving on to something fresh, while declaring my past, my myths worn-out and useless.
They're still useful to me, thank you, in my home context. I still see the footprints of that past outside my windows, travel in its traces, speak and think and explain through the lens of its stories and experiences. And I will deny to my last breath the changes that the outsider narratives have tried to impose, the re-readings that simply feel wrong. I will not relearn my past to include liberated 'Celtic' warrior princesses and tree-cuddling druids. They are not there, they did not exist, they are a fantasy and they belong in fantasy. And they are not my fantasy. When I see an outsider reading European books and complaining that those writers don't have a right to say what they said, or that they got the -- European -- stories wrong -- I see red. Because the outside narrative does not trump that of the inside. It is not 'more right'. It can't be. It can only be different, and much of the time it will remain outside. (This includes anyone telling me that their coven leader/spirit guide/avatar of the gods told them that Mists of Avalon, say, is 100% true and I have no right to question is, or am 'too English' possibly to be right. Without even getting into the large amount of French influence on the Arthur stories, and the ways in which the Welsh stories borrow from the latter, and the ways in which the early traces of the stories are nothing like the story everyone knows, the bottom line is that that book is not history and, as a Briton, I get to say that as loudly as I want. My country, my story. And, y'know, my academic specialty.)
I really, really love the Cardinal's Blades series of books by Pierre Pevel. Part of that is, of course, because Pevel is drawing on Alexandre Dumas, who, as we know, I adore. But an equally big part of it is that, when I read them, I heard the voice of the Europe I know. They are rooted in our experiences, our interpretations. There are no high school heroes (and I am so over high school football team hero d'Artagnans) or kick-ass Buffy clones. The series reads French, not French-flavoured.
I am, of course, not French and I am myself guilty of French-flavouring and I get it wrong and I try to do better. I am not in anyway innocent of going outside my own culture and being careless, though I do try not to do it on purpose. I'm not better than anyone else, and I'm a lot worse than most. As I said at the top, I don't believe in putting writers in boxes of their own culture and not letting them out. There are reasons why I write what I do -- there's the whole write-what-you-love thing, and I love Dumas and Balzac and Sagan and Moliere and Hugo. I read academic French history for pleasure and have done so since my late teens. And then, I am, by training, a historian of early mediaeaval Britain and Ireland. The histories of the English, Gaelic and Celtic speaking peoples in the British Isles are work, to me, and I don't like to mix work of that kind with fiction writing. And -- and this is the one I rarely say -- there isn't much space for me to write fiction in my own histories and myths any more. It's pretty full, mostly with outside voices, and the Big Audience has declared it dull, over, cliched. As I write, I'm trying to think of a British writer currently writing British-set, British-inspired fantasy and I'm not coming up with many names. Stories based in the myths of the British Celts written by British Celtic writers or even mixed up mongrel writers like me is even rarer. I'm coming up with Mike Shevdon, whose books are partly rooted in English folklore, and, umnmmm... someone help me out. It's getting hard, going into bookshops, to find fantasy by British writers altogether (though they are not as rare as British sf by British women published here). We are there, but we are writing other things, or we are only published overseas. But the last major sff series inspired (partly) by British Celtic materials by a British writer I can think of is Gwyneth Jones' Bold As Love sequence, which was finished in 2006 (and is, as I said, only partially and obliquely inspired by Celtic or English myths, though it is very rooted in our recent histories).
And so, and so... I suppose what I'm saying is this: fashions change, cultures rise and fall in terms of their influence and importance, and this is how the world seems to work. It's good for old Empires to decay and face their own evils. But to people inside a culture, that culture will not feel 'over', those myths and histories are still part of them. They still need them, even if it is only within their own small space. Those stories may not be what outsiders think they are, too. (Personally, I am baffled by the 'hanging on to Empire' thing, as that has never been part of my experience as a British woman. Worried by and distressed by and guilty over, yes. And there may well be politicians who long for that kind of power, and scions of some upper class families who want to behave as though they still had their grandfathers' privileges, but they are not part of my normal experience, nor are their narratives the dominant ones I hear in our media. The problems caused by that Empire, yes: those are everywhere and we continue to struggle with them and -- I hope -- try to do much better, now.) But the bulk of may experience of the myths of my country have come to me in foreign accents, since 1980 certainly, and in some cases as long as I can recall. And now those outside voices are bored, feel -- in my head -- that they have wrung us dry and are ready to move on -- and -- and here's the kicker -- in some cases are saying that they are the ones who can say it best, far better than the peoples whose histories, stories those are first.
And that latter is not on, frankly. Certainly, step outside your home box, but do so with respect, please, and don't claim to speak for or trump the native voices. And remember that what bores you is still a living culture to someone else. And they get to go on valuing it, and telling stories within it.

Skirt of the day: heavy black cotton.

Last Friday, I had a mild hissy fit on twitter. I'd seen one too many tweets about Exciting! New! Books! by! Men!. I'd read one too many reviews in which a male writer was praised for something that a woman had done in an earlier, ignored book, or that a woman writer had been upbraided for. I'd seen one too many reports about girl cooties.
I started a hash tag -- women in sf -- and asked for names and recommendations. I hoped for some responses from friends or friends of friends. What I got... It ran all weekend and involved people from all over. It was fabulous. I've archived the tweets on Storify: you can find them here: http://storify.com/KariSperring/women-in-sf

And here, kindly compiled by the fabulous gillpolack are the ( names )

It's been a while since I last did a proper metrics post, I think. Grass King 2 is still proceeding -- it now has 12 chapters and about 66k words (it may be more: I haven't done a count for a while). 1284 new ones today.

Here's a snippet. Aude is being rude, Jehan is horrified, and Monsieur des Roces is being, well, himself:
'Again, that easy smile, this time touched with ruefulness. “But you have detected my weakness, I fear. I like luxuries. It’s a flaw, and I confess it freely.” He gestured towards the servers. “I am forever indebted to those who work in this house.” Raising a glass, he went on, “A toast, then, to them and their kindness.” Ketty’s lips set in a line, and she looked down.
“It seems to me,” Aude said, “that it’s more a matter of taking advantage than of indulgence. You pay them, Monsieur. That obliges them to please you, does it not?”
This time, Jehan kicked her. Hard. Biting down on an exclamation, she went on, “It’s hardly an equal relationship.”
There was a brief chill silence. Then des Rocès began to laugh.'

I may have a title for it, finally. How do you all feel about Death and the Madwoman? It fits, honest.

Skirt of the day: long grey with black hem.

We had a lovely time in California. We had dinner with sartorias at a fabulous Mexican restaurant, and talked. I got to hang out with zaan, who I do not get to see anything like often enough. We attended the Wedding Of The Year.
And we got to fly business class on the way home, due to an upgrade.
I am shattered, but in a good way.
1041 new words today despite the jetlag.

Skirt of the day: blue flouncey.

Stolen from xenaclone.

***********FOODOLOGY***************

1. What is your salad dressing of choice?
Japanese
2. What is your favourite sit-down restaurant?
La Cloche aux Fromages in Strasbourg.
3. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of?
Houmous on pitta bread.
4. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
Mushrooms, peppers.
5. What do you like to put on your toast?
Butter.

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

1. How many televisions are in your house?
One
2. What colour cell phone do you have?
Black
3. How many computers are in your house?
One desktop, two laptops.
4. Have any idea how many Megahertz your computer has?
No.
***************BIOLOGY******************

1. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
Right-handed
2. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A breast lump.
3. What is the last heavy item you lifted?
A box of convention flyers.
4. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
No.
************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************

1. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No.
2. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Well, I have...
3. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
No.
************DUMBOLOGY******************

1. How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
None. I hate the things.
2. Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
Never.
3. Last person you talked to?
The marquis.
4. Last person you hugged?
The marquis.
**************FAVOURITOLOGY****************

1. Season?
Autumn.
2. Holiday?
Hong Kong, Japan, Vancouver.
3. Day of the week?
I don't think I have one, really. Maybe Wednesday, because it's a nice word to type.
4. Month?
October
***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

1. Missing someone?
Not right now.
2. Mood?
Waiting.
3. What are you listening to?
Hotel a/c.
4. Watching?
Keyboard, screen.
***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

1. First place you went this morning?
Breakfast.
2. What's the last movie you saw?
A Dangerous Method.
3. Do you smile often?
I don't know.
***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

1. Do you always answer your phone?
Pretty much, yes, unless I'm really, really busy.
2. Its four in the morning and you get a text message, who is it?
Spam. I don't get a lot of texts.
3. If you could change your eye colour what would it be?
Brown.
4. What flavour do you add to your drink at Sonic?
This question does not compute. But mine's usually a Strawberry daiquiri, or a half of mild.
5. Do you own a digital camera?
No.
6. Have you ever had a pet fish?
I had two gold fish as a child.
7. Favourite celebration/festival song(s):
Does Zadok the Priest count?
8. What's on your wish list for your birthday?
Umm... I don't know.
9. Can you do push ups?
No: my bad shoulder won't let me.
10. Can you do a chin up?
No, for the same reason.
11. Does the future make you more nervous or excited?
Nervous
12. Do you have any saved texts?
No.
13. Ever been in a car wreck?
No.
14. Do you have an accent?
Yes, a mix of West Midlands and South Welsh.
15. What is the last song to make you cry?
I really can't rmember. maybe the theme song to the Andy lau Tak-Wah film A Moment of Romance
16. Plans tonight?
Trans-Atlantic flight, if the gods of air travel are benevolent.
17. Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom?
Yes
18. Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
I didn't buy anything yesterday. I bought some muesli bars, some crisps and a smoothie on Wednesday, though.
19. Have you ever been given roses?
Yes
20. Current worry?
Will the plane run to schedule?
21. Current hate right now?
Airlines!
22. Met someone who changed your life?
Yes
23. How will you bring in the New Year?
Probably with friends.
24. What song represents you?
Nineteenth Nervous Breakdown, according to the marquis.
25. Name three people who might complete this?
I have no idea.
26. Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?
Maybe, if I could sae manuscripts from the Cotton fire.
27. Have you ever dated someone longer than a year?
Yes
28. Does anyone love you?
Yes
29. Ever had someone sing to you?
Yes:my mother.
30. When did you last cry?
Not sure.
31. Do you like to cuddle?
Yes, but only with the marquis and my cats.
32. Have you held hands with anyone today?
Not yet.
33. Are most of the friends in your life new or old?
Mostly old, but there are some newer ones.
34. Do you like pulpy orange juice?
No.
35. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Hopefully still at home with the marquis.

It's official: our little bid has grown up into a fully fledged convention. A packed audience voted us in as the official 2013 Eastercon at Olympus (the 2012) Eastercon. Many thanks to all those who voted for us, all those who joined at Olympus, all those who helped us run our con desk and all those who have volunteered to help us in the year tocome.

We are delighted to be able to reveal our line up of Guests of Honour, who will be joining us next year in Bradford.

Walter Jon Williams. The entire committee are huge fans of Walter Jon's work and we are absolutely delighted that he said 'Yes' to our invitation. He is one of the most innovative, original and all-round-astonishing writers working in sf today and one of themost influential, too. His books range from far-future space opera to near future thrillers, from complex explorations of post-humanity and distant polities to swashbuckling comic space opera, all written in the most beautiful, thoughtful, pacey prose.

Freda Warrington. I, for one, was astonished to discover that Freda had not yet been an Eastercon GoH, given the range and depth of her work. While she mainly writes fantasy, she has made productive and intriguing forays into sf, horror and urban fantasy and her Blood series are, in my view anyway, simply the most original vampire tales written since Bram Stoker himself. She is also one our the nicest people in the UK sff community and it's a real pleasure to have her.

Anne Sudworth. Anne's dark, dreamy, resonant works have long been admired at convention art shows. An internationally renowned fine artist, she has deep roots in the sff and goth communities and returns every year to Eastercon. Inspired by British landscapes, folklore, literature and the ever-changing light of dark skies, her work is collected worldwide. We had to work quite hard to persuade her that she was an appropriate guest -- she's so modest, she kept insisting that she wasn't a cover artist and were we sure? But we managed to convince her in the end and we are very happy to have her as our artist guest.

Edward James. Fan, critic, academic, reader, commentator, cremorne player: there seems to be no end to the talents of our fan guest. Edward entered sff fandom at the tender age of 16 and has never left. He has contributed his insights, knowledge and sound common sense to numerous conventions since and was a key figure in the formation of the Science Fiction Foundation, which exists to promote, enhance, study and preserve sff. 2013 is his fiftieth year in fandom, and we look forward to celebrating it with him.

Entry mirrored in our LJ community, eightsquaredcon.

Off to Eastercon very shortly (and thence to California to see zaan and sartorias, and to attend the wedding of desperance and klwilliams. My internet connectivity is likely to be patchy, but I'll try to check back here at least a couple of times. have fun, all, and see you on the flip side.

As you know, Bob, I am part of the Eightsquared Bid for the 2013 Eastercon and will be spending much of Eastercon on a bid table. We would be very grateful to anyone who could help us with this, by offering an hour or two.