Note: This is a short story I wrote several months ago. It's a suburban fantasy vignette piece. Feedback is welcome. Hope you enjoy! Now, without further ado...
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Gender in Magical Worlds
I came across this in some of my internet browsing today (in between packing boxes and Doctor Who marathons): Why Gandalf Never Married. I found it incredibly interesting, and still remarkably true given that Terry Pratchett said these things over a quarter of a century ago. There are definitely people who have made strides (conscious or otherwise) to destroy those stereotypes, but not nearly enough.
I confess to not giving this much thought when I was creating the world for the Dúlra Coven Trilogy (or at least when I was writing Faith's Demons), but it seems that I have unintentionally worked against some of these stereotypes (I hope, at least). The males with magic in my books are witches (though Tristan does joke that he prefers the term "warlock"), and the females are both good and bad. Their magic is neither good nor evil; it is what the individual uses it for.
It was always my goal to have a strong female character surrounded by other strong female characters. In fact, when my nephew first read the book, one of his initial comments was "I noticed that my mom and my dad were in it, and Grandmum, but there's no character named after me." To which I replied, "Well, you might have noticed that there weren't a whole lot of boys in the book in general." I didn't want Faith to be a character who was all good and fine until a cute guy came along, and then she'd revert to being a love interest. That's why, what little romance there is in Faith's Demons is secondary and really not focused on.
After reading that piece, I think I'll now have other gender concerns on my mind as I write the prequel. I'll take my queues from writers like J.K. Rowling, who had a strong, intelligent, stubborn, magical female character in Hermione as one of the central protagonists in the Harry Potter series, and Terry Pratchett, who created the incredibly clever and headstrong Granny Weatherwax, and the often crude and consistently hilarious Nanny Ogg when coming up with witches to populate the Discworld. All three are women who break through magical stereotypes that Pratchett mentioned in his talk (which was given before he created the characters I've just mentioned). I'll do my best make sure that Faith, Trinity and Emily remain strong and stubborn (and because they are humans, not just witches: flawed) women. They will not be old crones who give people warts and live in gingerbread houses. Nor will Tristan and Shane become strong wizards who can do no wrong with magic. They're witches (or warlocks, if you ask Tristan) and they will remain such, using their powers, just like their female counterparts, for good or evil, as they see fit.
I confess to not giving this much thought when I was creating the world for the Dúlra Coven Trilogy (or at least when I was writing Faith's Demons), but it seems that I have unintentionally worked against some of these stereotypes (I hope, at least). The males with magic in my books are witches (though Tristan does joke that he prefers the term "warlock"), and the females are both good and bad. Their magic is neither good nor evil; it is what the individual uses it for.
It was always my goal to have a strong female character surrounded by other strong female characters. In fact, when my nephew first read the book, one of his initial comments was "I noticed that my mom and my dad were in it, and Grandmum, but there's no character named after me." To which I replied, "Well, you might have noticed that there weren't a whole lot of boys in the book in general." I didn't want Faith to be a character who was all good and fine until a cute guy came along, and then she'd revert to being a love interest. That's why, what little romance there is in Faith's Demons is secondary and really not focused on.
After reading that piece, I think I'll now have other gender concerns on my mind as I write the prequel. I'll take my queues from writers like J.K. Rowling, who had a strong, intelligent, stubborn, magical female character in Hermione as one of the central protagonists in the Harry Potter series, and Terry Pratchett, who created the incredibly clever and headstrong Granny Weatherwax, and the often crude and consistently hilarious Nanny Ogg when coming up with witches to populate the Discworld. All three are women who break through magical stereotypes that Pratchett mentioned in his talk (which was given before he created the characters I've just mentioned). I'll do my best make sure that Faith, Trinity and Emily remain strong and stubborn (and because they are humans, not just witches: flawed) women. They will not be old crones who give people warts and live in gingerbread houses. Nor will Tristan and Shane become strong wizards who can do no wrong with magic. They're witches (or warlocks, if you ask Tristan) and they will remain such, using their powers, just like their female counterparts, for good or evil, as they see fit.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Poll's Closed
So now that the poll has closed, the response all seemed to support me posting my short story online. Watch this space. It will be posted soon. (Just let me move into our new house first!)
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