The second scene in The Flowers of Time has Jones and Edie meeting for the first time at Lady Nailsbourne’s ball, at her house in London. Jones is pretty far out of her comfort zone, poured in to a smart dress and corseted within an inch of her life. It’s 1780 and neither of them wear wigs-they had gone out fashion for ladies a few decades before-but they would probably have had hair pieces to bulk out their own hair and have lightly powdered them an off-white colour.
I dragged my family to Bath one day last year and we visited the Assembly Rooms and the Fashion Museum tucked in the basement of the building. I was looking for inspiration. I found various dresses that were definitely worthy of Edie and one or two that I could see Jones wearing.
I had already written the scene and I
was really cheered to see virtually the dress I’d described for Edie on display.
It’s the fourth one along in this montage, with a light pink gown over a
contrasting petticoat. I can also see her in dress numbers one and three,
puttering around painting. I can picture Jones in two and five, extremely
uncomfortable and feeling very out of place. If you want to find out more about
the different kinds of fashionable gowns for ladies at the time I recommend this post by Costumeholic.
We then found this working man’s frock
coat from about 1790. It’s a little later than the story, but working men’s
fashions wouldn’t have changed that much and I can see Jones comfortable in
something like this as she travels around exploring and later as she does her science
experiments.
Ordinary work-a-day clothes tend not to
survive because they were worn ‘til they wore out and/or were ‘made over’ for
other people and purposes, so this is very unusual. Clothes were incredibly
high value and very expensive before the advent of factory production, so your average
working class adult would probably only have two sets at a time.
I had a bit of a to-and-fro with my lovely editor about the use of bodies to describe the stays that Edie wears on her travels and in the end we decide to keep it. Working women who dressed by themselves without the help of a maid to lace them still wore a kind of corset called a pair of bodies. This was for practical reasons to support the back and bosom as well as to give them a bit of help with their figure and they generally laced up the front as well as the back. There is a fascinating reconstruction of an ordinary person getting herself dressed in the morning here on YouTube from Crows Eye Productions and I based Edie’s morning routine on this.
On our visit I also took some pictures of the Assembly Room itself. It has a sprung floor and my minions were happy to demonstrate.
It was quite chilly the day we went and
it was difficult to imagine the room packed and sweaty; but with hundreds of
candles and people it would soon have become unpleasantly warm.
We only live an hour away from Bath and
there is so much to see, I thoroughly recommend a visit if you are in the area.
It was wonderful to be able to pop up there and gather some more fuel for my
story-mine.
And that’s the end of The Flowers of Time blogtour! Thank you so much to everyone who has hosted me, it’s been a pleasure and a privilege to visit. Here’s a recap of the topics and where you can find me:
It’s been a lot of fun and an immense privilege to host such a wonderful set of people and I’m so grateful that they took time out of their busy lives. Thank you!
PS. If you’d like to buy The Flowers of Time that would quite frankly make me extremely chuffed.
Emily is a long-time writer of m/m romance and is visiting today with an interview with Ashley from her upcoming release with Changeling Press, Heartwood 3: Yew and Thorn
Emily Carrington: Hi, Ashley.
A: Actually, it’s Ash, ma’am. That’s my nickname but I want everyone to know I’m using it instead of my legal name. At least until I have to switch back for something like getting a job.
EC: Okay, Ash. Tell me about your nickname.
A: Aidan accidentally gave it to me, but I liked it so much that I claimed it for my own. It seems to fit with my being nonbinary.
EC: Tell us about Aidan.
A: He and Mike are my foster parents. I’m thirteen and they’ve been taking care of me for about eight months now. It’s just turned January 1st here in Pennsylvania. Anyway, Mike and Aidan are great. They’re gay and Aidan knows almost everything about the LGBTQ community. [she giggles] Although he calls it QUILTBAG and hopes everyone will start using this more inclusive, if silly sounding term.
EC: What does it stand for?
A: Queer, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual, Asexual, and Gay.
EC: Neat. It does sound a little funny though. Do you mind if I ask about your white cane?
A: Sure. I’m visually impaired. Not like Aidan, who’s totally blind and can’t see anything, but I don’t’ see much. No movement, few colors, and basically straight ahead of me. I can read 72 point font but that’s about six times bigger than everyone else reads, so I read braille instead.
EC: I’d like to go back to you mentioning that you’re nonbinary. How and when did you realize this?
A: Over the summer with Aidan and Mike. I didn’t feel like a girl or a guy-thing, and I don’t have discomfort with my body being a girl’s, but I like to wear gender neutral clothing. Like T-shirts and jeans that aren’t specifically cut for a girl. If I really start enjoying the new, UU, church Mike and Aidan and I are going to, I might ask to wear a suit or something. But for now, I like it that Aidan says they’ll take me as I am.
EC: Thank you for visiting with us, Ash. Is there anything you’d like to share that I haven’t asked?
A: You didn’t ask why I had to be thirteen before someone would even talk about adopting me.
EC: Mike and Aidan are planning to adopt you?
A: If they can get all the right permissions.
EC: Okay, I’m asking. Why?
A: Aidan says it’s because fate wanted me to be with them. Mike says it’s God. But I think it’s because I just didn’t fit with the other families. I was too scared with them to be myself. Now I can be, and Mike, Aidan, and their adopted daughter, Candice, love me just as I am.
Thank you so much to Sarah for this piece on writing gender diverse characters (and for being so kind about my own work!)
I love adventure stories (especially adventure stories including ferocious tigers). I love creepy paranormal mysteries. I love romance (especially queer romance). And I love, big, sloppy, loyal dogs.
A.L. Lester’s THE FLOWERS OF TIME has each of these things,
which made me a Very Happy Reader. ™ But if you sat me down and said,
“Sarah, tell us your most favorite thing about this, the third book
in Lester’s LOST IN TIME series?” I would reply, without hesitation,
“Jones.”
Jones. The non-binary, dog loving, code-breaking, magic-wielding,
one-half of our romantic pair. (The other half being Edie, whom I adored as
well, especially for her* stubbornness and petticoats). But. JONES. Jones made
me laugh, and Jones made me cry. Because I am a non-binary person, and in
Jones’ fear that she might somehow be broken, in Jones’ sometimes unrecognition
of her face in a mirror, in Jones’ distress over her menstruation and lack of
‘male parts’—
Well. In Jones I saw myself. And for that I’m grateful.
Although publishing is finally beginning to catch up and
catch on, finding well-written stories with well-written gender diverse
characters can still be difficult. Many of my favorites I have discovered
through word of mouth, rather than Big 5 marketing. This may be because I am
super picky about how I connect with gender diverse characters, or it may be
because there is still a tendency to rely on tropes when writing about a
character whose gender identity lies outside the ‘cultural norm’.
I’m not saying that tropes can’t be fun. Nor am I implying
that I haven’t fallen into the trope trap myself. As a fantasy author, I’ve
written my share of non-binary faeries.
What I am saying is: let’s hold Jones up as an example and try
to do better.
“But Sarah,” you may argue, “writing gender
diversity can be hard, and frightening. Even as a gender diverse author.
Everyone has a different experience. What if I do it wrong?”
We all get it wrong occasionally (see non-binary faeries)
but if we’re too afraid to dip a toe then certainly we’ll never get it right.
So, here are three helpful tips to keep in mind going forward:
Your character’s gender diversity is 100 percent NOT their defining characteristic. Take Jones. She’s an extremely well-rounded and believable character with passions and fears that have absolutely nothing to do with being non-binary. Which is fantastic. Because so do I!
Gender identity, gender expression, sexuality and physical sex are different things. I didn’t write Jones, so I don’t know all her secrets, so here I’ll use an example from my latest book, EARNEST INK. Hemingway, my MC, is trans masc. He thinks of himself as male (gender identity) he prefers to present himself as male (gender expression) and he’s sexually attracted to any gender (pansexual). He hasn’t yet opted for gender confirming surgery, he is on T, and if you asked him about his physical sex he’d probably punch you in the face because: rude. As a writer, knowing a character’s gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, and physical sex helps to make for more believable, well-rounded character motivation.
Talk to gender diverse people. Educate yourself about experience. Lean on your gender diverse friends and your sensitivity readers. But do so politely. A good example: “Hey, Sarah, I’m writing a non-binary character, but as a gay cis male with zero non-binary experience, I have questions. You seem to be pretty open about discussing your gender. Would you mind weighing in?” Sure thing. Thanks for asking so nicely. Hit me up any time.
*In 1782 there were no they/them pronoun options, so I will
refer to Jones as she does herself.
Sarah Remy/Alex Hall is a nonbinary, animal-loving, proud gamer Geek. Their work can be found in a variety of cool places, including HarperVoyager, EDGE and NineStar Press.
Daniel is the author of Blood Drive, Lost Women of the Admiral Inn, and Kai the Swordsman: The Imprisoned King.
Systems. They’re everywhere. That’s a broad word for an even
broader spectrum. Everything is part of its own system and many others seen or
unseen. From microsystems to solar systems and beyond.
That opening sounded like something you’d here while waiting for a ride at Disney World to start, but not one of the good ones. I’m talking about one of the rides the parents insist on going because the line is short and it has air conditioning.
But I’m not here to bore you with science talk. I’m here to
enrich your mind with my knowledge or fantasy and sci-fi system building. This
isn’t “world building”, which is a term any speculative fiction writer should
know before they start. I’m not talking about creating my universe and
inhabiting it. I’m talking about the systems that go into that universe.
If you don’t specify, your reader will mostly fall back on their baser instincts of what happens in a world. Gravity is something we take for granted. You may not know how it works, but you know if you throw a brick in the air you need to move before it comes down and bashes into your skull. You may not know how electricity works either, but you know if someone flips a switch the lights will go on.
Working in a system that doesn’t exist in the real world is something we, as writers, enjoy. I mean we really enjoy it. For your approval: I give you magic. Let’s say you have your world, and you want it to be a fantastical one full of unicorns and dragons and mystic hippies . Aside from that, you want to have a system of magical laws in places just beneath the surface. Your characters need to spin spells or use enchanted relics. Is it a free-for-all of magical nonsense, or is there a structure to which said spells and enchantments must adhere?
There’s a law. There always is. There are formulas to prove
why gravity pummeled your head with that brick. There are equations and laws
that can prove why the lightbulb above your toilet goes on when you reach over
and flip the switch. In your magical world, there should be laws that can be
proven why it’s there.
But here’s where things get tricky. Tell me why, and I’ll yawn. Give me a page or more of info-dumping, and I’ll start fiddling with my phone. I took all those classes about how electricity works, and it’s so boring it took two years before I could get a minor degree. I don’t want to be told about how your magic works. I want to be shown. Subtly.
The same goes for the sci-fi realm of this discussion. Time
Travel is a big one for me. I love it. I love everything about it. I love
wondering what would happen if I went back in time and undid my own birth. What
would happen if I gave Hitler a wedgie during an important speech? What subtle
change can I make in the past that would result in me having a billion dollars
today?
Time travel, like magic, needs rules and laws. There have
been countless books, TV shows, and movies dedicated to this. Everyone has its
own science and laws. I’ve explored this on a multitude of occasions, and I
have a short story planned to get into this again with a new sci-fi theory I’ve
concocted. There are a few of them, so hold on.
For starters, if time travel ever became a reality, we’d
know it. We’d know it because someone would have come back by now. With that
theory, time travel doesn’t nor will ever exist. The only exception would be if
the time travelers in question were sworn to secrecy like time ninjas. If you
changed the past, would your memories change when you got back to the future,
your present? Would you have to write down what you changed really fast before
the timestream caught up with you and erased the memories of the events you
changed?
Another theory I’ve worked with is that we can never know if
time travel ever happened. If it has, this timestream was the one that was changed,
and we’re living in the one and only affected reality. Same thing goes for the
time paradox that ends up in a lot of writing. If a paradox is ever created
that erases all of space and time, then I wouldn’t be able to type this. I
would have never existed. None of us would have! A paradox cannot happen,
making it a paradox within itself!
Wait a second… “A paradox within itself?”
Whatever. The point I’m trying to make is there are laws and
consequences you must map out before you dive into travelling through time.
Think about your favorite time travel movie or series. Whether it’s Back to
the Future, Quantum Leap, Time Cop, The Time Machine, Avengers: Endgame, Mr.
Peabody and Sherman, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, etcetera. The
common thread in all of those is that they have rules that govern what they can
or can’t do when travelling through time. When you create your own world around
time travel, make sure you have a set of rules and laws in mind. Even if you
don’t spell them out in an infodump (which I prefer you don’t), make sure your
characters adhere to them at all times.
Magic and time travel systems are similar, though completely
different. Some may even say science is just fancy magic. I wouldn’t say that,
but I know some characters who would. Then again, one could argue either
practice is just a manipulation of energies through separate means. We can even
time travel by magic if the magical system in your world allows it.
I’m a modest guy. I always tout myself as such to anyone
who’s willing to listen. I love writing, but I’m an engineer by training and
trade. If you can put yourself into that mindset, you can create systems that
can bring your world into a whole new life. I’m not saying you have to put
yourself through engineering training like I did, even though I didn’t do it
for the writing benefits. Just keep the basics in mind when you’re setting up
the systems in your world.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
What comes up must come down. Like
charges repel while opposite charges attract.
You can
make up your own for your world.
When
you open a portal through time it’ll stay open until the timestream rights
itself. Multiple dimensions do exist, but only one of you can exist in any
given dimension at a time. A paradox in time can be reversed with another
paradox of equal paradoxical magnitude.
Don’t steal those. Make your own and have fun with it. I’ll leave you with a quote from Ray Samson from an upcoming book I’m final-drafting called I’m in Sci-Fi Hell: “Anyone with a third-grade education knows that science and magic don’t mix.”
Thank you for your time.
Biography
Daniel Aegan lives in New Haven, CT with his family. He
started writing at a young age and gave it up, only to start again fifteen
years later. Comedy, horror, and dark fantasy are just some of his preferred
genres, and he’s not opposed to mixing or mashing them. Other than writing,
Daniel enjoys reading tarot for himself or his friends. He’s a supporter of the
indie writing community of which he’s a part as well as all LGBT+ people and
authors.
Daniel’s published works include Blood Drive, Lost Women of the Admiral Inn, and Kai the Swordsman: The Imprisoned King. There are more books on their way as the pile of drafts gets sorted and whittled. While not writing or drafting, you can often find Daniel Aegan embarrassing himself in public.
It’s a fairy tale etched in blood; a pitch-black fantasy.
The secrets of one man’s past reverberate in the present, and those secrets
have the power to topple a complacent empire.
The village of Umi no Mura knows nothing but peace. They’re
far from the capitol of the empire, far from crime and poverty. They fend for
themselves, fishing and farming for what they need. They have only one
protector: an exiled swordsman named Kai.
The swordsman has a past he cannot escape. His dreams are
haunted by blood and demons, and his waking world is haunted by the sins he
committed in the name of his Emperor. Umi no Mura has its secrets, and Kai
can’t help but feel they’re somehow tied to his checkered past.
Deep in the heart of the empire sits Emperor Aki-Jin, who is
more obsesses with immortality than he is with his people. He was once a friend
of Kai in his childhood, but that friendship led them down a path that ended in
blood and wrath. He kept his old friend alive, making his sword grow rusty as
the protector of a village that needs no protecting.
The atrocities of Emperor Aki-Jin reflect in the waves of
the ocean. The swordsman Kai who would die to protect has an impossible choice
ahead of him as Umi no Mura faces the harshest of days. Does Kai turn to the
Aki-Jin and doom them to another threat, or does he rescue them and make them
enemies of their own emperor? What clues in Kai’s past can help him in his
present dilemma? What chaos will be inflicted if past and present enemies
collide with a lone swordsman in the middle of it all?
Kai the Swordsman: The Imprisoned King is Daniel Aegan’s
third book and his first foray into creating a world of dark fantasy. Follow
him into the Empire of Hojite, a land ruled by magic and dark forces; a place
where swordsman and shinobi fight in the forest; a realm where one man’s
sacrifice and toil can save the lives of all.
