Exile in Elsewhen

heh... chapter  9 has put an end to me browsing from work (my boss can see my screen albeit from a distance)

"Bad" was about the last thing I thought. My boss would likely have agreed though he might have asked what it had to do with the sales report I was supposedly working on.

Images of Africain American women and women of colour in positions of strength can be hard to find. Best to just accept what you get or rewrite the scene

The Law of Attraction. I found a number of excellent photographs, some free, some cheap, one I'm deciding whether to purchase. It's free until my book becomes successful, then he wants $100 for it. Several of Dakota that are appropriate, a couple perfect for Rhiannon (actually several, but two, in particular, stand out--that's her!). Barbara is good, and there's even one that works for Heather. The only one now is Diane. The nearest one gives her a distinct nose when she has totally bland features. (Her looks were inspired by a makeup model I saw on TV. Utterly non-existent features. Her face a canvas for the makeup.)  Please, when giving me reviews, mention how great the pictures are. CJ, that might solve your problem of getting five comments in. Just praise the picture four times in a row. (That really looks like Rhiannon; yes, the sword is perfect; her hair could be longer, but looks good, that's just how I imagine her.  There, even gave you the comments.) And I'm sure there will be one awkward sentence or a missing punctuation mark to make up the rest.

Gacela:  you asked me to take you step-by-step into what kind of novel I am writing in the Rhiannon series, as you are at a loss as to how to critique them. Think "Young Frankenstein."  YF was both a parodic send-up of the horror genre and a decent horror movie in its own right. It followed the tropes of the horror genre but made them funny at the same time.

The Exile series is like that. There are true fantasy tropes in it. Paranormal romance, descent and then reclaiming one's throne (princes do that all the time, why not a princess), and a quest for exoneration (Exile in Time.) Exile's End is a little different, more like Dorothy Sayers last Peter Wimsey book, where 90 % is their honeymoon (in the book's case, the wedding) and 10% is the mystery that he's supposed to be solving. It's probably the weakest of the series.

The present one has two plots converging and both protagonists have to work out their destinies. Another trope (To paraphrase, "They Might Be Giants," 'there are no masses in New Fairy.')

So it can be approached tropically, but there is a lot of humor there. I've been criticized by one potential publisher as writing humor that lands well but interferes with the serious side. (No examples, of course, were given and that was the occasion of going into self-publishing.) This would be a concern.

One of the features is--What the heck is really going on? How will the characters resolve it, once they figure it out (if they figure it out).

I pride myself on the setting, doing what Fritz Leiber did, make the setting into a character in its own right. The same publisher thought I had created an incredibly detailed fantasy world. So if some detail needs to be added, that would be helpful. That's especially true for the series elements.

I frequently forget that the reader might be coming in for the first time with this novel. There have to be brief backstory elements, which help orient the reader but don't spoil the other novels, just give tantalizing tidbits.  (Like in Jessica Jones and Luke Cage or Agents of Shield. References to the big bang-up Marvel movie where the Avengers take on alien invaders in New York City. "You're one of THEM,' is a trope.)

I hold myself to an Aristotelian aesthetics. The characters must be consistent (unless they are inconsistent by nature, and then consistently inconsistent)  However silly the characters are or the situations become, there must be heroism, the noble side of the m/c's are ascendent, if they screw up, or end up badly, it must be because of a tragic flaw.

Or you can just enjoy the novel and randomly put five "Good jobs!"

Kiss, Rachel.

Thanks, Rachel. This is most helpful. I still have a question from my experience reviewing your story back when it was titled Rhian the Nude. How can I tell humour from the actual plot? The story indeed seems a serious one. Good fantasy. Excellent world-building. Original characters (who would have thought of a lesbian princess who can't use clothes because of a curse?). I can certainly smell the occasional sarcasm and puns. However, my problem is when elaborate sarcastic or humorous scenes do get in the way of the plot. I can think of the scene when one of Rhianon's allies urinated the throne. I frowned upon that scene and made several comments, then you explained to me the sarcasm and the humour behind it.

It might be me. Maybe I'm too naïve and simpleminded to understand the fine, elaborated sarcasm. The fact is, I so disliked that scene, I couldn't enjoy Rhianon's great moment because this character urinated the throne and I was like "Ewwww!". Again, maybe smarter and more educated readers laugh out loud at that scene, its irony,  and its anti-climatic mood, but I couldn't. The same happens to me once and again with other scenes.

So, maybe this publisher who pointed out that the humour somehow interferes with the serious part wasn't totally wrong and there's a part of the audience who simply can't get it--on the other hand, you may not be writing for that part of the audience, so, who cares? Andy Kaufman comes to my mind. Some of his jokes were so elaborated only he understood them. Proof of this is when the majority of the audience voted for "Dump Andy" because they never understood the sarcasm behind his wrestling thing. His simple jokes, on the other hand, like the foreign man who appeared in Taxi, were acclaimed. Curiously, just as he never enjoyed working in Taxi, he never cared about that part of the audience who couldn't understand him, for he kept on with his personal humour until death crossed his path.

In the same order of ideas, you may prefer to keep the humour because it's your personal imprint and signature, at the risk of not being properly understood but, what the heck?

Kiss,

Gacela

And

Well I'd say you got the most important parts down pat

Very intersting answer, Rachel. I'm learning a lot not only about literature but about life. Thanks for sharing.

Kiss,

Gacela.

This is what I think:

From my perspective, there are four kind of prologues:
a) Personal
b) Academic.
c) Background.
d)Teasers.

a) Personal prologues: The author shares with the reader a personal moment, or the reason why she wrote the book, or the particular feelings the story raises for the author, etc.

b) Academic prologues. These are the prologues in which a recognised voice (such a celebrity of some kind, such as an actor, a known college dean, a politician, etc) introduces the book to readers, usually by praising its content. Sometimes, but not always, the prologue may focus on issues around the book such as the writer’s personal story and motivations. Or the story’s background. I.e., if the story is about WWII, the prologue on the European political situation during it.

c) Background prologues. These prologues provide background to the story. These are the ones I believe some other people in the Premium forum have indicated may be used as Chapter One or Chapter Zero. The Lord of the Rings has a large prologue from the author that is mostly background, and only because the Silmarillion hadn’t been published yet and Tolkien felt the need to update the reader on some Middle Earth details, unknown to the reader, that may hinder the reader’s ability to grasp the whole Middle Earth thingie.

IMHO, what makes this kind of prologues an actual prologue, and the reason why they can’t be turned into Chapter One, is because they provide background that can otherwise be provided within the story, but not at the beginning of it, or else, that can be omitted at all without damaging the story. If you cut The Lord of the Ring’s prologue, you can still read and enjoy the whole story, and grab what the author wanted to transmit, without losing anything.

d) Teasers: In these cases, the prologue is usually an extract—a scene—from a later chapter. This extract either actually exists, or is a scene otherwise not narrated but that took place between two scenes, or chapter, that ARE narrated. It may also be “Had I known…” type of prologue narrated by the MC at a point in time after the whole story has taken place. It vaguely discusses the bad consequences of whatever took place in the story, which might have been prevented by the MC “had she known…” The objective of this type of prologues is to grab the reader’s attention before she has even laid her eyes on page one.

Rachel: from your answer to Dirk, it’s my belief you’re writing a teaser. IMHO, just make sure the teaser is no so obscure it scares readers away rather than luring them to your story.

Kiss,
Gacela

Spent much of the day coming up with an outline of a plot for Book Six. Yay! I then went back and edited some in Book Five to make it compatible with Book Six. I've given two explanations for why Heather sleeps with Jeb. One is the one she gives Dakota, the other is the one Barbara gives Dakota. Not to keep the reader guessing, but to remove any discrepancies. To give a hint, it happened in "The Big Chill," which, I know, was a long time ago.

Wanted to clarify, I wasn't suggesting building on the crush - that part is evident. I was suggesting to build how she decided she needed to resort to violence. That part blindsided me.