I’m blogging today at Unusual Historicals about my internet location scouting process. I had struggled with whether to make up my own world based on China or write it as a historical. There’s plenty of discussion over which is harder – historical or historical fantasy. The truth is, I think there’s just as much worldbuilding needed for either of them. Your focus is just slightly shifted.
Come take a look to see my internet wanderings and how I look on China from afar. One day, I hope to actually go to these locations.
I just had a breakthrough. I realized why I’m stuck in my current WIP. I had all this research about the Tang capital of Changan, but once I left the city, the geography becomes vague. As a result, two of my books became plagued with what I’ll call “stuck in the forest” syndrome. The characters travel through nebulous trees and mountains and rivers until they emerge in the inhabited world.
I’ll blame the wuxia trope for part of it. A huge component of those stories were travel. Technically, the fictional world where all those stories take place is Jianghu which simply means “rivers and lakes”. If you think of Tolkien’s Middle Earth as the characters traipse through Hobbiton and all the surrounding lands on their way to Mordor, that’s sort of what Jianghu is. And, with all due respect, Tolkien had a bit of “stuck in the forest” syndrome too.
So early on as a writer, I was criticized for becoming bogged down in description. As a result, I started glossing over details to skip to external action. But then, I was always given a lot of positive feedback for description. I think I learned something in the course of writing the subsequent books. I learned how to move my characters through Jianghu, through places and settings that were important. But now I’m back here, back at Book #1 and I realize I’ve got to get these characters out of the forest because Jianghu has more interesting adventures to offer them.
So I’m researching, honest! And not ummm…wasting time on the Internet when I should be writing.
Here’s a quick tour through some ancient sites. It’s amazing what they do with digital animation. *sigh*
"Beloved" painting by Caroline Young (http://www.camerinoart.com)
This month’s theme at Unusual Historicals is scandal and I couldn’t resist writing Concubine Yang Yuhuan and her tragic love story. She’s one of my muses and she inspired the character of Lady Ling Suyin or Ling Guifei who’s one of two characters that span all three books.
Every writer dreams about the research vacation. Ah yes, write a story set in Hawaii and write off the travel expenses as research. I wonder how often this actually happens. Teachers dream about being able to take vacations in the summer on teacher discounts too. (You can’t see me, but I’m rolling with laughter right now.)
I’m re-researching the details of Yumen Guan and the western frontier where part of my story is set and daydreaming about taking a research trip. I think there are even “Silk Road” packages that will take me from Xian out to Dunhuang. Hubby would throw a fit. I don’t think China is his choice for a dream vacation (weak stomach + meat and potatoes man — need I say more? ).
14 day Silk Road package. I’d be able to visit the ruins of the Jade Gate fortress and my beloved Gansu corridor. Until then, I’ll just stare at it from Google Maps and take lots of artistic license.
When I first read about Yumen Guan, I knew it was the perfect location for my story. The fortress ruins look so lonely rising out of the desert. Because it was built in the Han dynasty, by the Tang dynasty it would have been over 500 years old. I studied other military gates or “Guan” to figure out what the Jade Gate may have looked like in its heyday. The construction of a stone wall surrounding a towering wooden structure seems very common.
What’s in my head is something in between the barren rock and the fortress of its heyday. Oh, and another reason for my choice? Yumenguan or Yumen Guan is readable and pronounceable. Decisions, decisions. Back to revisions now.
I’ve been tossing around what to do next and my CP helped me find my way — which is why it’s important to have partners that are good at the things you suck at. For me it’s coming up with ideas and where to put commas.
So I wondered if I should leave medieval China, try something else. Something maybe more “marketable” in case this China thing doesn’t work. But I just couldn’t. So if anything, I’m going deeper into the wuxia genre that inspired me by adding paranormal elements.
It’s quite exciting! The supernatural is so prominently woven into Chinese history and culture that I practically feel like I’m still researching a historical rather than worldbuilding for a paranormal romance. There are major texts on the supernatural and a city that is well known to contain the gate to the underworld. I mean, so well known that there’s practically nothing mysterious about it. I’ll have to change that in my book. And it’ll have all the things I love — swords, honor, melodramatic characters – LOL.
I’m trying to learn something new by brainstorming a series. All my previous stories were related, but standalone. Plotting a series you need to think of the series arc as well as each story arc. It’s quite fascinating. I don’t have what I call the “Big Bad” nailed down yet, so things are still pretty loose.
But I do have nearly all five couples mapped out. I realize that I don’t start with character sketches or outlines or even worldbuilding. I start by matchmaking. I figure out the hero and the heroine and gauge if there’s enough conflict and chemistry for them to carry a book. I don’t know much about them other than whether they’ll spark. I guess that’s why at the heart of it, I write romance.
Oh, a hint? Tao sorcery, exorcism swords…a Secret Service team that works for the Emperor (inspired by my research for Unusual Historicals). I think I can start writing by this weekend. Giddy!
I was thrilled when Carrie Lofty invited me to join the Unusual Historicals blog. I’ve always enjoyed lurking there for interesting historical facts, but today I have my first appearance on there as a contributor.
My post was moved up a day, so I was a little caught off guard. The theme of the month is “Men” and I decided to focus on Warrior Culture, a topic near and dear to my stories.
I hope you enjoy. Check out the other posts as well. Lots of fascinating info. I’m still trying to find a way to link to the specific post so you may need to search for me. My topic is “Men: The Appeal of Warrior Culture”.
In my current statcounter addiction, I found that someone reached my site by searching for “Tang Legion of the Heroine”….hmmm….
Followed the link to a fascinating thread about fighting women of China. I’ve known that there were several prominent female warriors and military leaders from ancient times through the Tang dynasty. One post mentions there are female statues among a terracotta army (not THE Terracotta army of the First Emperor), indicating that there were women commonly serving in the Han dynasty armies. (Not to be mistaken with an art exhibit where a modern sculptor purposefully created female terracotta warriors.)
There’s some debate as to whether they were truly soldiers, but they were riding horses and holding weapons so I think it’s a strong case!
Another post mentions the “Legion of the Heroine” formed by a Tang dynasty princess. That one I had encountered in my research, but the post added some more detail.
Western readers may find it hard to believe that my princess heroine wields butterfly swords and is so independent. I think Asian readers won’t even twitch an eye since it’s such a common trope for them. That is supposing, that I have any readers at all.
Well, if you’re interested. It’s a fascinating read:
Watching the Deadliest Warrior marathon on Spike TV is making me wax sentimental on my favorite swordfights in books. Fight scenes are really hard to write! If you give a blow by blow of the description of the action, they just drag. In a movie, it’s easy to capture the flash of the technique, but in written form the scene has to balance conflict and tension and emotion with tight descriptions of action. I’m going to walk down memory lane and list my top five swordfights.
(By the way, I love Deadliest Warrior! The swagger of the opposing experts is priceless. And I enjoy their approach of testing and using computer simulations to determine the victor. It’s a great show for someone who writes historical adventures.)
1. The Princess Bride by William Goldman – The movie version is awesome and the book version is even better! It’s a great scene in it’s own right. The scene is done completely from Inigo’s perspective. The dialogue is all cheeky banter about different techniques. Plus it’s a real scene with build up and turning points. “I know something you don’t know. I am not left handed either!”
2. Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson – I haven’t re-read this in a while, but the pacing of the sword dance is exquisite. And the tension between Tiger and Del is smokin’. I love the ritual that Roberson sets up. They draw a circle in the sand, take opposite sides, Del sings softly — and then it’s on. I have to admit that this was the greatest influence for my first fight scene in Butterfly Swords. I bow down to you Ms. Roberson.
3. The Two Towers by J.R.R Tolkien – The Battle of Helm’s Deep. Okay, this is not quite a sword fight because it’s a whole battle. Alright, it’s not a sword fight at all, but I had to put this in. Tolkien focues on the contest between Gimli and Legolas to give us a human…uh, elven & dwarvish face to this battle. He could have described a bunch of arrows and swords flashing, but the memorable part is that throughout this neverending battle, Gimli and Legolas keep count of their kills and wherever they happen to be, they always ask about the other person. It’s actually a very touching scene — in a kick butt sort of way.
4. Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn – The final showdown between Takeo and Kotaro and Kenji. This scene had me breathless. It captured that adrenaline rush of a battle that in reality would probably play out in three minutes. And of course the wonderful build up throughout the whole series to this moment was incredible. And as a special treat, Hearn pulls out all the stops and you see the three Tribe members use all their tricks on each other. I’ve read wuxia battles in print that just seemed clunky – people flying, awkward descriptions of special techniques. This fight has the larger than life wuxia feel.
5. Crossing Swords by Kirsten Saell – My newest discovery. The fight scene happens within the first 30 pages of the book and the setup leading up to it is flawless. Whereas Hearn and Tolkien took their time building the drama, Saell does it in a heartbeat and you’re totally invested in Gil and Lianon by the time they cross swords. The push and pull of power in this scene is wonderfully done.
Did I miss any? Do you remember any great action scenes from books? What made them great?
Victoria was the first person ever to ask my guest blog! She’s a fellow historical romance author who writes for Harlequin Spice. I was giddy to be invited to blog anywhere. Usually I just ramble on over here.
I’m on her blog today discussing research, my muses and feminism in the Tang dynasty as well as historical romances in general. Hop on over if you have a chance. How did I sound? Too stuffy?
