More Adventures in Research

 

More adventures in research. Harry Turtledove turned me on to this one a couple of years ago - I find it a soothing and informative before-bed read (when I should actually be researching either the Presidential election of 1840 - for Benjamin January - or what the Los Angeles barrios were like in 1924 - for the second Hollywood mystery). American Cornball is an exhaustive compilation taken from old joke-books, old "novelties" catalogs (the precursors to Archie McPhee), old magazine, newspaper, and animated cartoons, of stuff that used to be considered hilarious in American culture and now isn't. From the hate-filled pervasiveness of racist humor to the "hunh?" of humor about women's ankles and people getting their hats knocked off, the guy really did his research, and writes in a pleasant, readable, thoughtful style. Sometimes simply curious, sometimes really unsettling to see some of the things that people at one time thought it was okay to make jokes about - a LOT of jokes. 

And none of it has anything to do with any project I'm working on, thank goodness.

Back in 2013 I started work on my first fantasy novel in many years, a trilogy of which the first volume would be called The Iron Princess. I wrote 75,000 words of it, then sent it to my agent to shop around, but due to the uncertain nature of the market at that time, we got no takers. Back in June - about two weeks after signing a contract for two murder mysteries (with fairly tight deadlines), I get word back from my wonderful agent: "We've got a taker for Iron Princess, but, they want it really soon AND can you make it a stand-alone and not a trilogy?" 

I did finish Iron Princess (with serious re-writing) AND Death and Hard Cider (Benjamin January #19) on time - AND re-wrote the several lectures for my class that had to be re-written - but I'm now very, very tired. I'm EXTREMELY pleased with both - some of the weirdness connected with the Presidential campaign of 1840 ("Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!") was pretty entertaining (I think I already posted about the giant balls of rawhide), and Iron Princess is a project long close to my heart. But I'm also extremely pleased that I can take a few days off before starting in on Hollywood in 1924 again.

Time to clean out the fridge, wash some dishes, throw out piles of notes and tackle the dust-rhinos that have built up behind the couch. (Another week and I'd have had to call in the Colonial Marines to deal with them).

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Comments

  1. Mike HallNovember 29, 2021 at 3:45 PM

    I'm looking forward to "The Iron Princess", though I have a tinge of regret that it's not going to be a trilogy. Any idea as to publication date?

    Having a somewhat lackadaisical approach to housework, I suggest a live and let live approach to dust-rhinos, at least as long as they stay out of sight behind the couch. Calling in the Colonial Marines sounds a bit over the top, especially if you mean the troops who normally fight alongside Ripley. I doubt the couch would survive the encounter. Even the British version - recruited from escaped slaves back in the War of 1812 - would probably be adverse to the idea of taking up cleaning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barbara HamblyNovember 30, 2021 at 10:58 AM

      It would take the interstellar Colonial Marines to deal with the dust-rhinos. And, it's a pretty old couch. I just don't want my friends to be frightened by anything they see when they visit.

      "Iron Princess" should be out late next year. There were a couple of story-lines I would have liked to pursue in a longer version - and I had to kill off a couple of characters and relationships that I would have liked to develop - but I'm pleased with the tighter version as it stands.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sample Post

Image
     A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for that in his house he had his own names for things.      He said to her, "What will you call me?"    " Master or mister, or whatever you please, sir," says she.      He said, "You must call me master of all masters . And what would you call this?" he said pointing to his bed.      "Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir."     " No, that's my barnacle . And what do you call these?" said he, pointing to his pantaloons.     "Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir."     "You must call them squibs and crackers . And what would you call her?" he said pointing to the cat.     "Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir."     "You must call her white-faced simminy . "     &quo
Read more

The Iron Princess

Image
  The Iron Princess - my first fantasy novel in 16 years - will be available February 28: pre-order on Amazon is available now. It's a story I've worked on, on and off, for almost ten years, and I'm delighted that it's finally going to see print. As I think I've said before, it involves Princess Clyaris - Clea, known to her friends and followers as the Iron Princess (in contrast to her older sister, the Golden Princess) - and her complicated battle against not only otherworld monstrosities, but her own family. Like Queen Elizabeth I, she has to pick her way around the debris of her father's matrimonial chaos while trying to figure out who is responsible for the appearance of these deadly - and rapidly multiplying - creatures, when it may in fact be Dear Old Dad... or somebody who's using him as a pawn. The fact that she has to blackmail the most evil wizard in the world into working for her doesn't help matters. Fingers crossed!
Read more

An Evening in the Park

Image
My apologies, yet again, for the long delay between posts. On top of it being a very stressful semester (since February) the past two weeks have been - not good. Once the final mopping-up is done all will be well. A welcome high spot was a twilight picnic with friends at the Old Zoo Meadow in Griffith Park, to see the Independent Shakespeare Company do "Julius Caesar." It's not my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, but I always enjoy the ISC (who are in a different union than the Screen Actors Guild, and they came out and announced their solidarity with SAG and the Writers before the show). The production was wonderful - in many ways very Shakespearean, because it was all done on a single stage with nothing but four or five cubes for props; all done with words, and sound effects, and lighting, and sheer excellent, creative direction. (The costumes had a vaguely Klingon vibe that was very effective). I had a couple of minor quibbles with some of the choices made in the p
Read more