The porcupine

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It’s just a short intermission. I probably should have done it earlier, but I thought that coming back to Ada and Rob would be better. I’m no longer that sure, but oh well… This chapter is almost done anyway.

I don’t have any happy news. I’m trying to fill my free time with writing since it’s Nanowrimo (Natonal Writing Month) and I want to finish the next draft. I’m taking a break from querying until the end of November, hoping to get some responses for the queries I’ve sent for The Cleansed Ones and I’ll probably need to re-write my query since there were no bites so far. There’s this whole “own voices” trend in publishing industry, trying to promote books based on author’s unique experiences and culture, but I hate where this is going. I don’t want to write about Poland. Fantasy is not a place for such things. Besides, America has a very different idea about how to handle inequality than me and shouts louder. As always, I walk against the wind.

Ugh, I’m brooding. I saw Dune again, this time in the cinema. Good movie, great music, go see it if you have a chance. Tokyo is pretty much free of covid.

15 comments on “The porcupine”

  1. JW Reply

    Nina the art critic.
    I’m sure Stefen feels very encouraged to do better. 😛

    Or probably, she’ll just take over the illustrations for him from this point onward.

  3. Noyb Reply

    I highly suggest you write what you want. The only places buying that trending woke trash are fools and libraries. They’ll end up in the bookstore bargain bins and library discard piles soon enough

    • NotImportant Reply

      I definitely won’t try to “appeal to the market” because I have no friggin clue how to even do that. I can only write what’s in my head. If nobody wants it… so be it.

      • Crestlinger Reply

        We certainly would. If all else fails print it out on a computer, tie it off, and make an auction/charity drive/fund for new art stuff or electronics out of it. Screw the publishers and make it a freeform sheaf of papers held together by determination, string, and the blood, sweat, and hand cramps of the author. Hehe, not unlike Ada’s spellbook. Perk thus is nor having to edit anything at all for it too.

  4. Refugnic Reply

    Why, oh why, you had to go,
    and talk to him ’bout that?!’
    Now he came, all bothered though,
    of course denied him flat.

    You know he hurt me quite a lot,
    and still you called him here?
    For what?! I tell you! All for naught!
    Won’t shed another tear.

    And what in blazes, do you do?!
    What’s this, you try to draw?
    Snort, oh boy, that’s very ‘you’,
    just found another flaw.

    Now let me sit, give me that chair,
    I’ll show you how it’s done.
    And yes, I think, this payback’s fair,
    my wish to die is gone.

  5. Alex Reply

    That “Own voices” thing seems to be related to all that woke stuff that has been taking over both Hollywood and the western comic book industry, i.e. everything from James Bond to “I’m not Starfire” has been about identity, be it cultural identity, gender identity or whatever. Which is why comic sales in America are dominated by Manga nowadays. But hey, Superman’s son is gay and Batman’s new Robin is Bi (or was it the other way round?), and all for the sole purpose of making headlines for a week. If they had done it to tell an interesting story it would’ve been fine, but it’s nothing but marketing, so it fails hard. Btw. did you know that there’s a Netflix show for kids with sex positive LGBTQetc puppets? It’s called “Sex: Unzipped”. Yikes. -_-

    Maybe you can pitch your novel to the American market by emphasizing that Sheena is a tough, smart, beautiful and emancipated woman who keeps getting into fights and just wants to live a normal life, but can’t help but protect Will, a young, clumsy priest apprentice who tries to raise his baby brother while on the run from the church.
    I mean, it’s not even a lie at all, it’s just focusing on one aspect. You could still mention the Ahvi-related stuff, too.

    I’m likely biased due to the social media bubble I’m in, but if terribly bland shows like “High Guardian Spice” get pushed then it really does seem like wokeness has priorities 1 through 10 in the mainstream media, while the actual plot is largely being ignored. Which is why “expert critics” and fans have quite different opinions on that rotten tomatoes webpage for James Bond on the one hand and Venom on the other hand.

    • NotImportant Reply

      I’ll need to change my query, that’s for sure. This one doesn’t seem to we working so I need to change the focus – just like you said, there are so many aspects to the story that it’s hard to pick the right one on the first try. Marketing isn’t my forte so I expected some struggle.

      And for the gender inclusiveness – I’m all for it, I really am, but can’t it be done like for example in the Bone Shard Daughter that I’m reading now? That someone dude just has a husband? And it’s completely normal and they don’t even need to discuss it? That the soldiers are both male and female and nobody bats an eye? Just show people that those things can be normal, not make a freakshow out of it… But enough, I can rant about this all day, because I’m strongly against all the female inclusivity shit that I see at tech companies (yes, me, a woman, I hate it).

      • Alex Reply

        Oh you’re not the only woman by far who doesn’t like feminazis. Uplifting women is not the same as wanting to kill all men. There are e.g. mothers who do love their sons.

        Yeah, I could rant about that forever as well, so I’ll stop. XD

        I’m curious what your future pitches will look like and if they’ll be different in different countries. To which countries’ publishers have you pitched it so far btw?

        • NotImportant Reply

          Nah, they aren’t different for different countries. Most agents are in US anyway. I did pitch to some UK ones too, with the same meager result. Pitching is hard!

          • Alex

            Does it cost something to pitch? Because if not, then feel free to pitch it in a bunch of other countries as well. Economically-speaking, Europe is doing a lot better than the USA right now, especially northern Europe, so maybe you can pitch it to scandinavian countries (they often have to watch things in English anyway, according to my Danish relatives), Germany (I liked your novel at least), Switzerland (they’re rich), etc.

            Also, what about Canada? They speak English natively, too.
            Or you could pitch it in Japan by going to the publisher in person. 😉

      • The_Squished_Elf Reply

        Sounds like what they were trying to do with She-Ra. Not 100% successful but they did a wayyy better job than most of just having characters be LGBTQ+ without making it a huge deal.
        I wasn’t super interested in your book before, I don’t have time to read prose these days, but my interest is now piqued.

        • Noyb Reply

          I could barely get past five episodes of that new She Ra. The writing and directing were some of the worst I have ever seen for a modern cartoon show. They emasculated Bow, made the adults impotent and incompetent, and made the princesses of power self interested and callous, only helping She Ra out after she did their bidding first for things they could have easily done themselves with their own abilities. I wasn’t a big fan of the original show either because of its episodic, dastardly deed of the day nature that became redundant after a while, but I got through far more episodes of it and got more entertained

  6. Alex Reply

    Nina has such a weird view of what common sense is.
    So, in her world, it’s not common sense to help a couple clear up a misunderstanding instead of having Nina potentially commit suicide again, but it is not a lack of common sense to laugh at someone’s drawings as hard as if she were Nagatoro. 😀

    Btw I would’ve already forgotten that she can actually draw well herself if she hadn’t forgotten her pa(i)nts back then. 😉

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