Author: Trace

#FeministSF Chat with Nicola Griffith 4/29/2012

What follows is a transcript from a recent Twitter chat, in which I interview award-winning author Nicola Griffith, and some fairly lucid points about gender, publishing and utopia (whee!) are made. The nature of captures from Twitter is tricky; sometimes tweets appear out of sequence or disappear. Also, the timestamps are wrong, but I’m not energetic enough to edit them all. I appreciate your patience.

#FeministSF chat takes place most Sundays at 2:00 PM EST/11:00 AM PST.

Enjoy!

@traciewelser: Pre-reading for today’s #feministSF chat at 14:00 EST with @nicolaz: http://t.co/SJjleER9

@traciewelser: 20 minutes until #feministSF chat with @nicolaz,bring questions!

@Rudibrarian: oh no! I can’t go to the grocery store now, @nicolaz is being interviewed on #FeministSFin 15 minutes

@nicolaz: @Rudibrarian Yeah, but I’ll be chatting for a whole hour…n #feministsf

@thefuturefire: If I may sneak this in before we start, there’re some great #FeministSF titles among those up for grabs at http://t.co/V3w2NSO5

@nicolaz: RT @thefuturefire: before we start, therere some great #FeministSF titles among those up for grabs at http://t.co/BItlNzMz #feministsf

@traciewelser: Good day, folks! Who’s tuning in to #feministSFchat today?

@traciewelser: @nicolaz well, that’s good! 🙂 welcome #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz thanks you for participating today 🙂 #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: I’ll be there! #FeministSF

@nicolaz: Thank you. Happy to be here. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @Rudibrarian good day to you! #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz that’s the point, right? :)n #FeministSF

@traciewelser: @Rudibrarian @nicolaz so, this chat generally runs about an hour, but folks are free to keep chatting after we wind down. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I’ll begin with a question, but others folks are free to chime in. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I’d like to start by just asking a general question… #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz in other interviews, you’ve said you want to show women “w/ an entire spectrum of human behavior.” care to elaborate? #feministsf

@nicolaz: …we’re evil and good, generous and mean, strong and weak, communists and socialists… #feministsf

@nicolaz: Women are human. Everything a human can do (excepting certain obvious biological functions) a woman can do. And has done. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz you said that Slow River in particular was a hard sell b/c publishers/critics felt men were “absent.” #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz such a self-evident statement, but the painful truth is that it still needs to be said…n #FeministSF

@traciewelser: @nicolaz and this absence was somehow unfathomable or detrimental #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Yep 🙂 #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser It was wild. Reviewers complained of ‘all women’, completely ignoring the men in the novel… #feministsf

@Justdar826: @traciewelser @nicolaz and yet an author would never be told a book was a hard sell because women were absent #feministsf

@rachelswirsky: @nicolaz Do you feel pressure to change your work so that it’s more acceptable to male publishers/editors? #feministsf

@nicolaz: …It was a reflection of that truism, that when a population (even characs) is >30% women, most perceive a majority of women. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@rachelswirsky No. It’s always been easy to sell my books. The hard part is writing them 🙂 #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Justdar826 I think we might be approaching that place. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I know Whileaway and Wanderground were big early influences on your work: how did Ammonite depart from that, for you? #feministsf

@rachelswirsky: @nicolaz I actually love the energy of your short fiction. That’s not a question just a comment. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@rachelswirsky Even AMMONITE had multiple offers. The women-only thing didn’t phase any publishers… #feministsf

@nicolaz: …reviewers on the other hand: oof! #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz way back, I felt FemSFF disc list launched/supported FemSFF writers. Have you noticed any change since it’s demise? #feministsf

@rachelswirsky: @nicolaz I think Gwyneth Jones wrote recently about feeling marginalized as a feminist SF writer; you don’t feel the same? #feministsf

@ls_johnson: looks i can sneak a peek at the #feministsfchat . . .

@traciewelser: come on in! RT @ls_johnson: looks i can sneak a peek at the #feministsfchat . . .

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser The biggest difference bet. me & Russ, I think, is that I didn’t believe the arrival of men would fuck it all up. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz ahhh /nodding #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@rachelswirsky By other writers, early on? Oh, yep. By publishers and readers? No. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz more of a device, in the time those were written, wouldn’t you agree? one that Left Hand of Darkness doesn’t rely on. #feministsf

@nicolaz: But it’s going to be interesting to see what happens when my latest novel, HILD, is published next year. #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz (so excited to read HILD!! #feministsf)

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz @rachelswirsky I’d have thought Ammonite was less controversial in that regard because it’s explicitly #WorldWithoutMen #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@rachelswirsky Yeah. But I think the US is pretty different to the UK. #feministsf

@Wyld_Dandelyon: @nicolaz So, tell us why Hild will be interesting?n #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I’m interested b/c of the public way you’ve conducted your process for Hild. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser Yes, but LHD was a more intellectual exploration. Russ’s work was visceral and personal (and so very, very smart) #feministsf

@ls_johnson: @nicolaz @rachelswirsky have those writers become more accepting, then? or is it just that the genre become more inclusive? #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz Hild feels like a breathing person already, just from your tweets about her! #feministsf

@rachelswirsky: @nicolaz Interesting–I hear complaints about there being very few female british SF writers getting high profile attn? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire But reviewers’ brains nearly exploded at a whole novel that’s full of adventure and joy but no boys 🙂 #feministsf

@nicolaz: …they felt left out. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz oh, Russ is more visceral, certainly. Gearhardt perhaps more so. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@ls_johnson Yes. The f/sf writing world has grown considerably in the nearly 20 yrs since AMMONITE was published. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz pardon me, make that Gearhart. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@rachelswirsky That’s true. Just take a look at Gollancz’s SF Masterworks list… #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser I loved Gearhart 30 yrs ago. Now I think it’s essentialist nonsense. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz Heh. (Might have been easier to deal with “oh noes, what they going to do without men!” than complaints re Slow River…) #FeministSF

@rachelswirsky: @nicolaz Do you see yourself as getting exceptional treatment? Or is it an issue of who’s writing? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Wyld_Dandelyon Hild changed the world. You could argue (but not in 140 characs) that she is pivotal to democracy as we know it #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I’ve had a similar, evolving sort of reaction to Gearhart… #feministSF

@Justdar826: @nicolaz #feministsf. Well it’s certainly true for much of my book buying habits

@traciewelser: @nicolaz …but her images of magical technologies like flying women and houses made of books stay with me. #feministSF

@nicolaz: .@rachelswirsky Exceptional treatment? No, I don’t think so. I just was always moving ahead, not dwelling on injustices. #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @traciewelser absolutely! those are the pieces that have stayed, w/me too after the politics stopped feeling as powerful to me #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser You know, I don’t remember *that* stuff at all 🙂 #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @traciewelser actually, I think Gearhart was one of my first exposures to radical consensus democracy. That’s stuck w/me too #feministsf

@Justdar826: @nicolaz #feministsfhurray for more HILD

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz Do you set out to make your books a “safe space” for lesbian characters and/or readers? #FeministSF

@Wyld_Dandelyon: It always fascinates me that different people reading the same book or watching the same show remember totally different things. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Wyld_Dandelyon Hild begins as a 3 yr-old, her father murdered in exile, homeless, in a time of warlords and kings… #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz which part of next year will we see HILD? beginning, maybe? #feministsf

@traciewelser: @Rudibrarian I think that’s the utopian core of Wanderground, whereas people focus on the depiction of men/separatism. #feministsf

@nicolaz: …when might is right. Yet she dies at 66 as counsellor to kings, teacher of bishops, leader of the folk… #feministsf

@nicolaz: …How did she manage that? That’s what the book’s about. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Hild is tentatively scheduled for autumn 2013. #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: Sounds great! I am always looking for #feministsfthat depicts female success.

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser Yes. The joy of that stuff was huge for me. But then the horrible dawning of understanding of… #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@patriciasbowne Hild’s life is a rollercoaster ride–love, hate, war, deprivation, joy, lust, gold… But it ends well 🙂 #feministsf

@nicolaz: The biggest challenge of writing HILD was to not contravene what was known to be known about gender roles… #feministsf

@traciewelser: @Rudibrarian I think you’d enjoy The Dispossessed and The Fifth Sacred Thing, then. 🙂 #feministsf

@nicolaz: …and yet make it exciting, Big World Big Life story. #feministsf

@nicolaz: The worldbuilding for HILD was very like sf. #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @nicolaz most interesting lives are rollercoasters. The trick of making it end well is what interests me most! #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz SF, with maps! #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @traciewelser yes, I did enjoy those! I actually taught a seminar on religion in Fem utopian fiction in mid 90s, those & others #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz do you see Hild as a “genre switch” for you, from SF/crime/historical? #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz Will HILD’s life be in just one book? Or is this a series? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@patriciasbowne The trick, for me, is to make each part end well! #feministsf

@traciewelser: @Rudibrarian oooh, we need to talk 🙂 #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser Lots and lots of luverly maps! #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @nicolaz do you mean each part of the book? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser No. I use genre like a vehicle: the right vehicle for the right story terrain. I’ve always thought of myself… #feministsf

@nicolaz: …as a ‘novelist’. Genre is just a tool. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian The book that will be out next year ends with her marriage at age 19. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz a tool that has limitations and practical value in publishing, no? #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz sounds like we’ll get many books out of the life of HILD! fantastic! #feministsf

@nicolaz: Don’t get me wrong, I *love* genre–sf, crime, historical, etc.–but I’m not citizen of any of them. #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @nicolaz That’s a really liberating concept. Yet to do it requires being good in lots of genres! #feministsf

@Justdar826: @Rudibrarian @traciewelser @nicolaz #feministsfI think Wanderground was my 1st exposure to female the idea of a female utopia.

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser All tools have limitations. That’s why we use toolboxes… #feministsf

@nicolaz: …We need lots of tools. One of the most impt? Relationship: with community, publishers, critics, etc. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Justdar826 Mine too. It blew me away. Part of what got me started. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Hild’s is a big, big story 🙂 #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz earlier, @thefuturefire asked about creating safe space for lesbians characters and readers in your work. thoughts? #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz Fascinating way to see writing. D you think that’s new? Part of hypeconnected web? Or something that has always been? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser Ooops. Missed that one. Yes. In my work women are just people who love other people… #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian IMO it’s always been that way. It’s just easier now. We don’t all have to live in NYC. #feministsf

@nicolaz: So, hmmn, I guess you could say (w/regard to lesbianism) all my work is utopian 🙂 #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I just read “It Takes Two” last night, and I enjoyed the normal (and, um, explicit) depictions of sexuality. #feministSF

@Justdar826: @nicolaz #feministsfpart of what got you started? reason enough to alway treasure that book then

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz it occured to me that there’s no homophobic abuse or suspicion or even surprise in those of your books that I’ve read #FeministSF

@outeralliance: Great #feministSF interview with @nicolazhappening right now!

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser That was a blast to write! Did you see: http://t.co/defmaGyL #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @thefuturefire I’m a little fuzzy ont he start of slow river — was her lesbianism part of the parental abuse? can’t recall #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Justdar826 I wrote an essay about that: http://t.co/oDxa112L #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz which is great for characters+story because it’s about real people, good+bad, without having to be about queer struggle #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire No. None. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz and it’s also good for readers, because there’s a whole world with one less potential trigger to worry about #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Nope. Lore’s lesbianism had nothing to do with anything. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@outeralliance I’m having a blast! #feministsf

@Justdar826: @nicolaz and I’ve just bookmarked it to read later. Thx #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz hee, yes. I share your feelings there. sad for people who think mind-blowing sex only happens in fiction. #feministSF#doingitwrong

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire Yes. But they’re not wish-fulfillment fiction because there’s plenty of other ‘problems’ to deal with. #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: note to self: It’s time to re-read Slow River! Can;t be being fuzzy about one of all time favorite books! #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @Rudibrarian “part of” in what sense? A result of–no, I’m pretty sure not. The abuse itself–abuse ≠ orientation, it’s violence #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Well, let me know how the reread goes. I’m always intensely curious about reader response (good and bad). #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz Yes absolutely! Really really bad things happen to some people who happen to be queer, but not because they’re queer. #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire Oh, the fucking ‘queer struggle’. If I never read any more of that I’ll be happy. #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: @nicolaz will do! hmm, is Slow River out on audio? I have a looong drive scheduled next month…. #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: RT @nicolaz: .@thefuturefire Oh, the fucking ‘queer struggle’. If I never read any more of that I’ll be happy. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @thefuturefire @nicolaz but texts that treat queer as normative are radical for that very reason, IMO. #feministSF

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire But that’s because I left ‘struggle’ behind a long time ago. Others aren’t so luck & need outside validation. #feministsf

@CherylMorgan: Dropping in from Zagreb to note that Croatian fandom is run by women. #feministsf

@Dave_Fouchey: @nicolaz is it utopian or just hopeful? #feministsfLove is Emotion there should be equality across the whole continuum of adult sexuality

@Justdar826: @nicolaz @outeralliance great interview, although I kinda wish we could hear your voice after I heard this http://t.co/ZyXHajG8 #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian No, SR isn’t out in audio, but Kindle will do a text-to-speech thing. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@CherylMorgan Yay! Go Croatian fandom! #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @traciewelser @nicolaz yes, that’s precisely my point. (In fact I think I said that in a comment on your last utopia post 🙂 ) #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@Dave_Fouchey Utopia is all about hope. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire You have my promise: that will never change. #feministsf

@kelleyeskridge: Don’t miss currently-in-progress #feministsfchat with the fabulous Nicola Griffith! Great and wide-ranging conversation.

@nicolaz: If I’ve missed anyone’s question, just ask it again. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz @Dave_Fouchey I love that utopian thinking has come up so many times in this chat. Just sayin.’ #feministSF

@nicolaz: .@Justdar826 When HILD comes out I’d love to do Skype bookgroup chats. #feministsf

@CherylMorgan: RT @kelleyeskridge: Don’t miss currently-in-progress #feministsfchat with the fabulous Nicola Griffith! Great and wide-ranging conversation.

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser In a way, all story is all about striving for Utopia…and the obstacles to that goal… #feministsf

@knownforms: RT @kelleyeskridge: Don’t miss currently-in-progress #feministsfchat with the fabulous Nicola Griffith! Great and wide-ranging conversation.

@traciewelser: @nicolaz can you comment for a moment about writing memoir, re: “And Now…”? #feministSF

@nicolaz: …and the settling for just a bit less and getting okay with that. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: RT @nicolaz: .@thefuturefire You have my promise: that will never change. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz utopia as process, rather than destination. 🙂#feministSF

@patriciasbowne: Your essay describes constructing utopia like a thought experiment. Yet joy of living in one cd be not needing 2 think that way. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser ANWAGTHAP took me 4 months to put together, soup to nuts. I wrote in a blaze, a haze… #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: so does saying utopia a process really reflect the writers’ interests rather than what wd actually make utopia pleasant? #feministsf

@Justdar826: @nicolaz #feministsfOK I really think I’m too old for the pitch of the fan girl squeal that that statement just evoked 😉

@Rudibrarian: This!! How Utopia has changed since Wanderground! RT @traciewelser: @nicolaz utopia as process, rather than destination. 🙂#feministSF

@nicolaz: …ANWAGTHAP was a favour to a friend: a ‘my dad has a barn!’ kind of publishing experiment. One day I hope to republish it. #feministsf

@nicolaz: Because there were only 450 copies made of ANWAGTHAP. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Justdar826 Never too old 🙂 #feministsf

@traciewelser: @patriciasbowne process means utopia is complex and no one gets exactly what they want, but striving makes it valuable. #feministSF

@Rudibrarian: .@nicolaz How would you feel about a Skype chat if I pulled together a Slow River re-read book chat? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser Absolutely. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz I had no idea, wow. #feministSF

@patriciasbowne: @traciewelser But that’s only utopia if you like striving for a utopia. Not so many people like that. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Great! But it would depend on timing. The next three months = v. busy for me. #feministsf

@jennifer_durham: @nicolaz In a way life is like that (story) too? Striving for utopia? and being okay with settling for less? #feministsf

@traciewelser: @patriciasbowne when the striving stops, stagnation/repression/dystopia sets in. Utopia means “no place,” remember? 🙂 #feministSF

@nicolaz: .@patriciasbowne I *hate* striving! I’m a lazy writer. Much prefer sitting around eating bonbons. #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@jennifer_durham Yep, but less emphasis on ‘striving’ 🙂 #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: .@nicolaz Maybe in theAugust doldrums? What do you think #feministsf folks? Slow River re-read, skype chat in August? #feministsf

@traciewelser: @Rudibrarian @nicolaz I like this idea and have thought that a skype/Google hangout #feministSFwould be amazing.

@thefuturefire: @patriciasbowne @traciewelser sure they do! Everyone likes striving and seeing their efforts bear fruit… #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser How about replacing ‘striving’ with ‘ambling towards’? or ‘gambolling towards’ 🙂 #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @nicolaz Bonbons YES! Love the ambling and gambolling as well. A new genre! #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser @Rudilibrarian But I don’t have video, just audio. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz haha! Shuffling Towards Utopia is gotta be the name of my next something-or-other. #feministSF

@geceosan: RT @nicolaz: .@thefuturefire You have my promise: that will never change. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @Rudibrarian @nicolaz I’m totally up for it. (Hope to be on vacation in August!) #FeministSF

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser No no no, ‘shuffling’ is *not* a fun verb! #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: what a great #feministsfchat today! Amazing how fast an hour goes by, and how much more it brings up!

@jennifer_durham: @nicolaz “Ambling” might make the world a happier place… :)n #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz Strutting, then. 🙂 #feministSF

@nicolaz: .@Rudibrarian Yep, it’s flashed by. Any last questions? #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@traciewelser Swaggering toward Utopia… It should be an anthology. #feministsf

@Wyld_Dandelyon: @traciewelser I like “Shuffling Towards Utopia”. It has a nice contrast to it. #feministsf

@Rudibrarian: ooh! That’s the one!! RT @nicolaz: .@traciewelser Swaggering toward Utopia… It should be an anthology. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @patriciasbowne I think of “striving” as anything that takes work: you strive when writing a book, no? And you never *finish*… #FeministSF

@patriciasbowne: @nicolaz The more verbs, the more variety. Now I want to find the perfect verb for each character. Thanks loads! #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz thank you so much for the thoughtful chat today. #feministSF

@nicolaz: .@thefuturefire Oh, I so totally finish my books. And then there’s *drinking* 🙂 #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @patriciasbowne …writing (I mean you finish book, but not *writing*). You keep improving as long as you live. And that’s great! #FeministSF

@patriciasbowne: @thefuturefire I do finish. One book at a time. I must have rewards, lots of them and often! #feministsf

@nicolaz: .@patriciasbowne Verbs are the most powerful words in a writer’s warchest. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz 140 chars too little. 🙂 Yes, you finish the book, but you don’t finish being a writer. #FeministSF

@patriciasbowne: @nicolaz Thanks so much for being here! #feministsf

@nicolaz: Okay, people. Thank you, all. It’s now time for me to break for lunch. Go read something splendid! #feministsf

@traciewelser: @nicolaz thanks again! #feministSF

@thefuturefire: @patriciasbowne agreed. Striving toward utopia = making the world better one step at a time. Just never perfect. #FeministSF

@Justdar826: @traciewelser @nicolaz How about ‘Eating Bonbons in Utopia” as a story title? #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @nicolaz Thank you so much. That was a wonderful chat. I’m still buzzing! #FeministSF

@thefuturefire: @patriciasbowne after all, you and I could agree on improving the world in many ways… but we’d *never* agree on a perfect world! #FeministSF

@Justdar826: @thefuturefire @nicolaz it was great fun! Thanks so much #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @thefuturefire Not so sure- b/c for me a perfect world is often just one that doesn’t force me to think about its imperfections. #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @patriciasbowne I think lots of my characters are the same. Easy to please, hard to motivate. #feministsf

@thefuturefire: @patriciasbowne Well there you go, for me the perfect world would be one in which we don’t need to kid ourselves. 🙂 #FeministSF

@patriciasbowne: @thefuturefire if you’re not thinking abt something, you don’t need to kid yourself abt it. #feministsf

@traciewelser: @thefuturefire @patriciasbowne as much as I love any discussion of utopia, I’m bowing out. cheers! #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: @thefuturefire besides, we all have to kid ourselves abt *something.* The question is whether we kid ourselves about #feministsf

@patriciasbowne: the criteria by which we decide what to kid ourselves abt. #feministsf

@Wyld_Dandelyon: @nicolaz Thanks for stopping by! #feministsf

What Became of the Kerfuffle

the Goddess Cybele

In late March, I posted an open letter to the Goddess Temple of Orange County concerning a Sunday service which focused on the Goddess Cybele and the delivery of a controversial message: the Temple services for women are not for transgendered women. When the post was picked up by The Wild Hunt nearly a month later, directing attention to my post, a volatile and intense conversation began, which included input from women both trans and cis, as well as some prominent voices from the pagan community and a few feminist bloggers. The conversation went even further into the issue when Ava Park, the presiding priestess of the Temple, joined in.

I appreciate every person who spoke up on this issue.

Two very important things happened: Ava defended her actions and the policy of the Temple in a way that made her stance very clear, for better or worse, and participants in the discussion pointed out the main problem with her stance, that while the Temple has every right to set women-only policies, it does not have the right to define “women” for others.

Second, after a great deal of back and forth, a call for reconciliation went out (twice) from commenter Karen St. John:

“Will you join us in letting us share ourselves and our stories? Lessen the fear and making peace?”

“Has anyone considered the opportunity for dialogue in a trans woman and cis woman only service, bringing together the two groups of women in learning and understanding?”

There’s been no response from the Temple, at least in this forum. I, for one, would like to see a dialogue of this kind. I also invite those invested in the issue to continue the conversation on this post. I’ve closed comments to the previous in the interest of clarity.

I invite those same people, including Ava, to participate in discussion of the issue in another forum. SageWoman magazine is THE journal of Goddess culture, and editor Anne Newkirk Niven contributed this invitation to the post:

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:

I am looking for letters from women for the “Women & Men” issue (SageWoman 84, winter 2012) on the topic of transwomen in female-only ritual space, (aka Z Budapest PCon ritual controversy) 500 words or less, NO HATE SPEECH on ANY side of the issue, please. If you identify as a trans- or CIS-woman and wish to be identified as such, please note that in your letter.

If you’d care to add your voice to this conversation, email SageWoman (editor2 AT bbimedia DOT com) before August 1. Niven has indicated that only the first names and last initials of contributors will be published in the magazine unless you explicitly request otherwise.

Open Letter to the Goddess Temple of Orange County

Some of you have followed my tweets about my spiritual journey and the Goddess Temple of Orange County. After an incident that occurred there this morning, I felt moved to send the following letter via email to the Goddess Temple. I hope you’ll join me in urging them to reconsider their position.

High Priestess Ava and Sisters of the Temple,

I left the Temple this morning in the middle of service in a heartbroken state after hearing Ava’s words concerning the exclusion of transwomen from the Temple. In the safety of my car, I sobbed and screamed in grief and frustration. I thought I’d found my spiritual home at last, but I was wrong. I was devastated.

Today was not my first visit to the Temple, and on my other visits I experienced profound relief and joy. That such a place exists! I felt welcomed and valued and lifted up as a woman, as a person. The Queen teachings of the Temple brought me peace and strength, and enhanced my personal practice.

The message today, that transwomen are less than women, that they’ve been violated and mutilated and deny the truth of who they are, is hurtful. It was like a blow to my face. In the Temple space, I felt safe and honored, and this was a violation of trust. It was a vulnerable time for participants, and you used that time to insert a painful topic when a group dialogue outside the safe space of Temple would have been more appropriate.

I’m not a transwoman, but what if I were? What if I’d come to the Temple this morning seeking solace and comfort and acceptance after living in the bigoted, unfriendly world that makes me feel like a freak for trying to reconcile who I am on the inside to what the world says I am on the outside? Your words caused me great sadness; I can’t imagine the deep hurt and betrayal a transwoman would have felt.

I appreciated your acknowledgment of the multi-gender system that some cultures have. But the other comments you made were reprehensible. I am a magickal person, and I shape my reality and defend it in accord with my will. Transgendered people, men AND women, CHOOSE to shape their bodies in accordance with their will. They’re on a life journey. The doctors you mentioned work for them, and many work as compassionate facilitators of the new lives their patients desire. No one forces them to change. In fact, they often have to fight for the right to surgically alter themselves. Equating their choices with the travesty of infant intersex reassignment and comparing them to “a white child adopted into an African village where they don’t belong” is abhorrent.

Did you know that 41% of transgender people have attempted suicide? The reasons are probably complex, but my guess is prejudice drives them to despair.

I urge the Temple to stand on the side of love and acceptance, not bigotry. I can’t feel safe at the Temple or be part of it otherwise.

We shape our own reality. We hold the world in our hands. We can make it better.

In faith and peace,

Tracie Welser

update: 4/29/2012 Comments for this post are now closed.

Thrill to the weirdness!

Vladimir Gvozdev's mechanical frog

It’s horrible, it’s amazing, it’s odd, it’s…

Jeff Vandermeer posing next to a random sign in Prague!

No, wait. That’s not it. Reverse that, start again.

Jeff and Ann Vandermeer recently put together this astounding and disturbing collection called The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiousities (in which I am a tiny bit proud to appear, in a tiny little way),  and NOW Ann has written a hy-larious and unsettling account of how the volume really came to be (wink, wink), including hijinks in Prague. Paired with images from the collection, it’s a treat.

You can peruse the nifty slideshow (and the text follows the slides, btw), kindly hosted by io9.

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities is one of the most unusual, complex and interesting anthologies published this year. You’re going to want a copy of your own, so why not duck into one of my favorite booksellers, Mysterious Galaxy in sunny San Diego, especially if you’re headed into town for the upcoming World Fantasy Convention? Or order online from them to support genre booksellers.

Creative Lunges, Or Why Writers Should Create More Than Words

Click me! with apologies to Sean Durkin (still from Martha Marcy May Marlene)

Today, I have been painting. I feel as though I should shout it.

I HAVE BEEN PAINTING.

And I’m not talking about house-painting. My skills may be mediocre but I’m thrilled to be creating, and in a medium other than words.

Ah, you’ve noticed that this is not a painting.  —->

As a writer, I crave creative outlet. I give myself permission to get lost in ecstatic moments: when the flow of words takes over, when characters seem to act on their own, when I slump back in my chair afterward and exclaim in amazement . This magic of creativity is addictive, and sometimes it’s scary, emotional and raw.

But lately, the craft aspect of writing feels like it’s come in between me and the joy of creative play. confession: I dislike revising (even though it’s an absolutely necessary step).

Henry Miller, that scamp, said the initial act of writing was like taking dictation from some voice outside of himself: “Someone takes over and you just copy out what is being said.”

But revision, the hard work that comes later, was also a delight to him.

“I don’t want to look at it for a month or two, the longer the better. Then I experience another pleasure. It’s just as great as the pleasure of writing. This is what I call ‘taking the ax to your work.’ I mean chopping it to pieces. You see it now from a wholly new vantage point. You have a new perspective on it. And you take a delight in killing even some of the most exciting passages, because they don’t fit, they don’t sound right to your critical ear. I truly enjoy this slaughter-house aspect of the game. You may not believe it, but it’s true.”

The act of revision, for me, has the opposite effect. It interrupts the play of words on the page. I feel blocked by the wrestling with words, and to be honest, I’ve been avoiding some of the vital work that must be done before my stories can go out into the world.

I want to play. Creative experience in other mediums seems like cross-training to me, to allow ourselves that flow and that PLAY. There’s probably some neurological reason for that intense feeling of satisfaction, but I’m not deeply analyzing it, I’m just pursuing it. I’m lunging for it.

Today I indulged that playful side with a fanciful palette spread before me like an artist’s buffet: watercolors, pencils, charcoal, scissors and glue (as well as a copy of the Los Angeles Times which resulted in the image above).

Drawing and painting (as well as drumming) feel similar to the free-flow of unfiltered words onto the page, and I’m consciously choosing to break from writing for a bit to open my creative channels back up.

Today, I’m doing this is through a collaborative art project inspired by 24-hour comic day, which is Saturday, October 1st. I want to create a comic in multiple mediums but without the time crunch. I know the compressed timeframe motivates participants (like the amazing team that is Galen Dara and Jaym Gates, who are live-tweeting their experience, and my talented partner, John Remy), and I respect and support that drive.

But I want the luxury of playing in the medium, experimenting. My first thought was, “Wait, I can’t draw.” But I’ve decided that for this project, at least, I will put those thoughts aside and follow the Zimbabwean maxim, “If you can talk, you can sing, if you can walk, you can dance.” If I can make marks, I can draw. Or something. And I can collaborate (with my dear friend Andrew Penn Romine) to deepen our friendship as we dive into this effort together.

(post includes quotes from David Stephen Calonne’s “Creative Writers and Revision,” chapter 9 of Horning and Becker’s Revision: History, Theory and Practice, the full text of which can be found here) 

What Do Owls Have to Do With It?

Today is an exciting day! Big news on the publication front. More things on the way, too. But I’ll tell you more about that in a minute.

First, About Owls, in brief:

They can look adorable.

They’re iconic.

They’re also fairly bad-assed predators, a fact overshadowed by the cuteness/helpfulness of typical renderings.

Like this one, for starters.

But my favorite owl has got to be this little guy, rendered so magnificently by Imaginary People:

I am not really obsessed with owls or anything. I don’t even have an owl tattoo (yet). But when I heard the word last year that Jeff Vandermeer was calling for micro-fiction for The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities concerning strange artifacts, it had to be an owl.

Well, it’s an owl skull. With some moldy feathers clingy to it. Possessing mysterious properties. You’ll just have to read it.

And you can, because the newly minted book, sequel to The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases (a Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award finalist) appears today!

My contribution is tiny, actually, but there are loads of amazing contributors, such as Holly Black, Ted Chiang, John Coulthart, Minister Faust, N.K. Jemisin, China Mieville, Mike Mignola, Alan Moore, Garth Nix, Ekaterina Sedia, and Rachel Swirsky, to name a few.

Order it here or here. Read more about it here.

My copy is on its way to me now, so I can sleep with it under my pillow and dream about owls.

 

 


Tell a Stranger They’re Beautiful Tuesday #8

This beautiful woman I met in Tampa exuded a sweet and open spirit. Plus, face-paint and a kitten! Sadly, I was so enamored of the kitten that I failed to catch her name.

I haven’t approached many women while collecting for this series, as I’ve said. Sometimes it’s just nerves, and once, it backfired (I think).

At a pub this weekend in LA, I said to a curvy, confident server (who was not classically pretty but beautiful in a tough, alt-girl kid of way), “You are just drop-dead sexy!” Before skittering away, she thanked me. She was clearly mortified, and maybe she should have been. Although I meant it sincerely, “sexy” is not the best way to compliment someone you don’t know, for lots of reasons.

I didn’t ask her for a photo. Dual-reinforcing mortification. But I learned a bit from that encounter.

Stay tuned, and if you like, send me your beautiful photos.

Ah, New Time Travel, Plus More CW Success

Check out Damien Broderick’s new “Time Considered as a Series of Thermite Burns in No Particular Order,” now up at Tor.com, providing a fun little romp, some saving of the world and a nod to Samuel Delany all in one go.

And, new at Lightspeed, my Clarion West classmate K.C. Ball, kickin’ butt and taking names with the complex, fabulous yarn, “Snapshots I Brought Back From the Black Hole.”

The Clarion West class of 2010 is certainly making a good showing of late!

Read K.C.’s thoughts on the piece at A Moving Line.

Tell A Stranger They’re Beautiful Tuesday #7

Today, I’m mixing it up a little. Take a look at this adventurous, ambitious project in progress called Perfect Stranger L.A., created by freelance journalist Caitlin M. Foyt. Her project is designed to showcase the extraordinary diversity of L.A., and it demonstrates, too, I think, the beauty of everyday people.

Perfect Stranger hasn’t been updated in a couple of months, but the archives are full of interesting people, as well as detailed stories created from interviews. I particularly liked the story of this young man.

Have you encountered a stranger with an interesting story to tell?

 

 

 

photo attribution: Perfect Stranger L.A.