Guest Blogger: Ann Aguirre, Author of Grimspace
February 27th, 2008 by Therese Walsh
Update: the book contest has come to a close, and CATHY J is the winner! Thanks to all who entered.
Ann Aguirre is today’s guest blogger and the author of Grimspace–a complex sci-fi novel with romantic elements, superlatively drawn characters and an unending bag of plot-twist tricks. Oh, and a book that hit #8 on the Barnes & Noble science fiction & fantasy mass market bestseller list last week, even though its release date was yesterday. Having read Ann’s book, I’m not surprised by this early marker of her future success. (Read part 1 of our interview HERE.)
Today, she talks about spinning story and shares a recent review of her work. And–CONTEST ALERT–Ann will give away a signed copy of Grimspace to one person who comments on this post between now and Sunday at midnight, EST. Listen. You want this book. Leave a comment. Leave ten to increase your chances.
Enjoy!
Feminine New Frontiers in SF
What are you looking for in a book? Entertainment? Excitement? Novelty? Orginality? All of the above? I come at this from a slightly different angle. I’m a romance writer who wanted to write quirky, off-the-beaten track love stories. I wanted to offer all of the intensity, but I didn’t want all my heroines to be nice or sweet. I didn’t want all my heroes to be noble. I’m looking for something different when I read, and that’s what I try to write. I want to explore moral gray-space.
Overall, I think the best thing an author can do is take some elements that make a book successful, spin, and combine in a new way. For instance, romance subplots offer a lot in the way of extra value, added to other genres. What’s the difference between romantic SF and futuristic romance? Will romance be accepted in traditionally manly bastions like SF?
A dialog on SF’s new frontiers from Calico Reaction:
Shara: “…this book freaking SHINES, and it shines for two reasons. First, we’ve got voice: we’ve got first person, present tense, and not just any first person/present tense, but frankly, Jax has the voice of an urban fantasy heroine blasted into space. I’m not joking. The tough-girl, kick-ass, snarky attitude is on par with most all the urban fantasies I’ve read so far, and I have to say, that’s a touch of genius.”Me: “You totally sussed out what I was trying to do in terms of giving SF a bit of a feminine facelift. I did want to try to capture the essence of what makes UF such a hot property. Could it be done successfully in SF as well?”
Shara: “But go you for bring elements of UF to SF. I eat UF up because it’s so much fun to read, and it wasn’t too long ago that I remember wondering what, if anything, would be a truly feminized version of SF, because so much of it is marketed to men.”
Me: “This was exactly my thought. This series is tailored for women. That’s not to say men aren’t allowed to read it and enjoy it, but I wrote it with women in mind. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of interstellar exploration, but I’m more interested in the pioneer souls who would go out to meet the great unknown than in the science of how they do it.”
She isn’t the first reader to offer this comparison, but she’s the one with whom I spoke about it in depth. What do y’all think about the broadening of SF’s frontiers? I know hard SF readers may not appreciate what I’ve done, but there are enough boy-tech books out there to keep them busy. I write my books for women to read and enjoy. I wanted to attract a broader audience, ladies who, perhaps, would never have picked up a SF title under ordinary circumstances.
So let’s extrapolate that core idea.
UF heroines in SF? Is it possible? Can you guys think of other examples, besides Grimspace, where authors have done this? I open the floor to your thoughts and ideas.
I can’t think of any UF heroines in SF. Maybe Ann Maxwell’s old books? They probably wouldn’t qualify for hard SF, but I enjoyed them.
Grimspace sounds like a book I’d love to read! A friend and I were just saying the main reason we stop reading a book, even if it’s well written, is because it feels like we’ve read it before. It’s great that no one will say that about your book.
I can’t wait to pick up Grimspace: I’ve had a love-hate relationship with male-dominated SF for so long! When I was a little girl reading it I was too naive to notice, but then as I entered womanhood I started to realize that some classic authors’ (*cough*Azimov*cough*) use of women was really bizarrely short-sighted and stereotypical.
One thing I’d like to see addressed is a heroine who is a coward. We often see typical female characters who are too grossed out by the science fiction element to move forward and are pulled by their braver male counterparts. I’d like to read a novel about a cowardly heroine who keeps going anyway. The brave souls who choose interstellar travel make for great reading, but I’m actually more attracted to the reluctant hero figures.
I think you’ve hit on something that, not to sound sexist, makes women pick up a book: the characters. The SF I read and enjoy is because I love a character in it. It’s the same for mystery, or suspense, or fantasy. The character(s) have to interest me. A great, twisty plot is nice, but if I don’t find a protagonist compelling enough to keep me in the game, then I’m not likely to remember the book. Usually that protagonist is an interesting male, kick butt character. Now I find there’s a Jax out there…can’t wait to see what she’s like!
Edie, I won’t claim I’ve invented the wheel in this book. You will find certain familiar SF tropes. However, I do think I’ve created a new thing in that I present a proactive urban fantasy style heroine in a SF setting, which is likely to appeal more to feminine readers. So far the response has been tremendous.
S.E., I so feel you on that.
Jax has her moments of calculated self-interest. At least at first, she’s more interested in saving her own skin than in doing good or helping humanity. Her evolution to heroine is very slow and painful, so if that’s what you’re interested in, you might enjoy her character arc a great deal.
Cath, that’s how I feel too. When I start a book, what keeps me reading eagerly to the last page is an interest and/or connection to the characters. I really hope you like Grimspace, if you’re so kind as to check it out.
I, for one, will happily make the cross over from UF to SF to read this book. I love UF for the same reasons mentioned, so brava for making a book who’s premise got me hooked. This is definitely one title that I won’t miss, and I’ll be keeping my eye out for more books from you in the future.
I usually stay away from hard SF, but girl-centric SF with UF elements…sounds good! As long as there is good characterization and a story that pulls me in, I’ll give anything a shot.
Miranda, I hope for many reactions like yours! Frankly, urban fantasy (and romance) are much more robust markets. Among women, SF has a reputation for being very tech-y, heavy on gadgets, and lesser on characterization. I’d like to change that somewhat, at least in my tiny corner of SF.
Jennifer, I wouldn’t call my books hard SF by any means. To my mind, they could be marketed as futuristic romance as easily as romantic science fiction. As one reader said on her blog:
“…if it’s straight sci-fi, I’ll eat my damn cat.
Wait… *checks spine* Ace calls it sci-fi. Huh. No mention of such strong characters and romance and hot sexxxoring. Which leaves me profoundly confused. After all, Grimspace isn’t Foundation or Dune or Martian Chronicles–works of profound imagination that wind up lacking on the human element. Sure there’s the profound imagination part…
But whoa… what’s this? Folks falling in love? A happy ending where their mutual sanity and well-being depends on one another? Loyalty and courage and deep, dark moments of sacrifice? Holy Mary, people, it’s a romance!”
What I look for in a book? Well, all of the above. I think the most important is that I’m entertained. If you bore me, then what the heck is the point in me continuing to read your work? You have to keep me interested in what is you’re trying to say or do. Beyond that, you have to write well and plot well (which is hard, I know). It sort of fits into entertainment I guess, but you have to write a good book. It can be literary or mainstream or whatever. Doesn’t matter. There have been plenty of mainstream books that have bored me to tears and plenty of literary books that have done the same (and the opposite is true).
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As for romance in SF. Bring it on. My only concern with romance is that it might be hokey or ridiculous, but if you can weave a really good romance story into a good SF or F novel, then all the more power to you. Honestly, I’ll read just about anything that is SF, even erotica (provided it’s tasteful). SF has always been broadening its horizon, it just takes a little time to catch on. Hard SF didn’t just pop up over night and suddenly became the next big thing since Golden Age SF. Cyberpunk didn’t just explode randomly and suddenly become a really awesome genre. People were writing it before Gibson forced it into the public eye
So yeah
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I would love to win the book. Something new to read would be quite refreshing.
SMD, I feel like that’s the worst thing an author can do to me too — bore me. That’s why I don’t do well with long, angsty novels about relationships and family secrets and did grandma really have an affair with the postman, seventy-five years ago, and that’s what grandpa went off to war.
Cathy, I wish you luck!
Pick me! Pick me!
Other examples, besides Grimspace, where authors have done this? Definitely.
I think Joan Vinge was way ahead of her time with books like Snow Queen and Cat’s Paw. And if you don’t consider her to be too close to fantasy…Ann McCaffrey also, especially in her earlier ‘Pern’ Books.
I think Joan Vinge’s sf worlds were layered and rich and her female characters (and male) were complex and gutsy. IMO that’s one of the main things that sets romantic sf apart from futuristic romance. Futuristic romance feels more about the relationship and less about the world-building. Not to put down the relationship part by any means, I like a good romance as much as anyone, but there has to be that extra scope of a wider reaching story and characters that might not have a happy-ever-after ending…with each other. That’s what draws me to Sf with romantic elements.
I’m looking forward to picking up a copy of GS btw. Congratulations on your success!
Not my genre of choice, but I’ve heard good things about this book…
Maybe I’ll be a lucky guy for a change and get the girl’s book…
As someone who has just finished a SciFi novel with a heroine (reluctantly) leading the charge, I feel every bit of this post. (Despite my name, I am a woman.)
In the fantasy area, Terry Pratchett does have some good feminine leads (Susan the granddaughter of Death, Tiffany Aching, Granny Weatherwax, all get their own titles).
SciFi, though, even “soft” scifi…I find few. The ones that DO have female main characters often get shuffled out of the SciFi pile and into mainstream fiction. I’m thinking of “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood. Definitely futuristic scifi in the “1984″ vein, and definitely feminine. Also never found in the scifi section of your bookstore.
I think we’re going to see a big shift in reading patterns, and soon. The vampire chick lit surge was a good example - women readers are looking for something, ANYTHING different from what is typically marketed to us. We get Oprah’s Book Club shoved at us, and we get Harlequin romances piled on us. Nothing wrong with those, but even my mom, who has been a devourer of trad romances for decades, is starting to peruse the scifi aisles in search of something different.
But heading into the SciFi/Fantasy section can be like entering a sports bar for the uninitiated. Swords and space stations. Characters? They can be hard to find among the stacks of fanfic, the rows of series (daunting if you’re not used to the concept), and focus on plot.
If we can take the elements of what makes traditional “female-directed” books, such as the romances, the character-driven tales, and put them into a new, unique, and fascinating world, I think women will flock to them in droves.
It’s going to take us as authors, though, as you have done, Ann, to pioneer that first wave. We have to write the books. And we have to write them well.
(Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get in on that wave!)
P.S. After reading your interview on your writing process, I’m A) stunned by your efficiency, B) jealous of your discipline, and C) inspired to create a firm schedule for myself.
…and now, back to writing…
Cathy, we’ll find out soon!
Lyle, you make a number of excellent points, stated most articulately. I especially with what you’ve said about extrapolating what makes romances so powerful and transporting them to other genres. I actually feel that a book is unfinished if it doesn’t contain some romantic element, however understated. I’m never altogether pleased when I read something and there’s no mention of the protagonist’s relationships. It seems unrealistic. Then some books offer the James Bond solution, where the hero enjoys a fleeting sexual liaison with a series of women, a different one in every book. That strikes me as wish fulfillment.
As for my schedule, well, it’s what works for me. I find banging it out all in one go prevents me from overthinking — does this work — does that work — maybe I should consider that other thing for this scene — which, of course, paralyzes all forward motion. If I don’t shut off my internal editor, the draft would never get finished. I can consider all that stuff when I give it a critical read… after it’s finished.
I hope your novel does tremendously well!
Scott, I wish you luck in the drawing.
Brenda, I agree completely about McAffrey. I haven’t read Joan Vinge, but she sounds like an author I should check out. And thank you for your good wishes.
Ann,
It’s interesting to note that in most SciFi on TV and the big screen seems to have romance as a critical element. “Farscape” was full of half-naked women for the guys, but the overarching plot that kept viewership going (and begging for a final mini-series that ended with a WEDDING, of course!) was the romance between Crichton and Aeryn. Ben Browder in leather pants didn’t hurt, either.
“Firefly” - romance all over the place. Joss Whedon’s not stupid.
The X-Files thrived on the sexual tension between Scully & Mulder - and their relationship was ultimately what made the show such a huge success. Couldn’t have been done with two male partners.
And I love that the new Battlestar Galactica made Starbuck a woman - she’s still hard and whoring like the original, but it adds so much to the story and the character that she’s female.
SciFi that gets turned into films…if the original version didn’t have a romance, they almost always add one.
Why does Hollywood get it, the need for a strong feminine presence? Because they’re REALLY GOOD (usually) at knowing their audience. And they’re not about to alienate HALF their audience (i.e., women) by having two hours of car chase and zero hours of relationship elements.
In recent years, even badasses like Jason Bourne and James Bond have had the time for true romance.
And now that I think about it…female characters in scifi tend to be really interesting characters. They’re not just “wet blanket” girlfriends, or marriage-desperate shrews. We have: battle-hardened soldiers, government-sanctioned (and society-respected) prostitutes, spaceship mechanics, intergalactic presidents and queens, scientist-turned-paranormal investigators, psychic ninjas…
That’s just way cool.
Oh, and thanks for the well-wishes. I can see yours is already rocketing, and that’s rad. I’m in the UK, so I’m planning to help out your international sales.
I’m with you on silencing the inner critic on the first draft…but I tend to get bogged down in later drafts. I think that’s what blew me away about your process - it takes me two weeks just to read carefully through the first draft and make all the notes, plan the changes, etc.!
But we all do have different processes, I know.
Yep, Hollywood really seems to get it.
“I think that’s what blew me away about your process - it takes me two weeks just to read carefully through the first draft and make all the notes, plan the changes, etc.!”
Well, it helps a lot to have an agent and editor looking at my work after it’s written. Before I sold, I really had no idea if I was making things better or worse by industry standards (nor did my crit partners). We could only go by our best instincts, which might be all wrong, according to what was actually salable. Nowadays, I write the first draft, fix it up in a single pass, and then slide it along to my agent. I trust her judgment implicitly, and I know she’ll tell me if the book has gone off track. Likewise with my editor — Anne has a fantastic eye, and her suggestions never fail to make my book shine. So it can be harder when you’re going it alone.
I am always looking for good books. I look forward to reading yours.
Hi, I have only recently gotten into “Sci-Fi” books!
Yours sounds especially captivating. Please enter me in your drawing. I really appreciate it. Thanks,Cindi
I think this type of sci-fi writing is great for those who are finding the usual variety mundane!
Sometimes, I like to find the type of book that there aren’t very many of in the market. Cindi
I am not a SF fan, but my daughter is. I might like UF, or I might not, but my daughter would be thrilled if I won.
I would like to win this book!
Great giveaway. Count me in. bebemiqui82(at)yahoo(dot)com
I enjoy reading a novel that has characters with substance, an enjoyable and meaningful story that resounds with me and great writing. I know that your story is unique and has all of the above. Great success on Grimspace.
Wow, I’ve never been into SF books before, but this one sounds interesting! Would love a chance to read it
please please enter me to win this book
I love SF books! ~
Please count me in the drawing! Thanks!
Wow, thanks for the great response. I can’t wait to find out who wins the signed copy.
Ann,
First, I think a UF voice is a natural for SF, though I don’t read enough SF to give you any examples. I love the ideas in SF, but do tend to find the books emotionally unsatisfying, so drift in other direction.
I love romance, but like you, as a reader and writer, I want a little more moral complexity in my books than I tend to find in an average romance. There’s that thrill of the attraction between the protags, which I crave, but I think the thrill is all the better when set in some seriously interesting moral/cultural/historical territory.
You’ve done great advance publicity on this book. I don’t know where, but a long time ago I read an excerpt, and loved it. Seeing this post just reminded me of that. So whether I win or not, I’ll be buying it. Best of luck.
Evie
The contest officially ended Sunday 3/2 at midnight, EST. Ann just emailed to let me know that CATHY J has been randomly chosen to receive an autographed copy of Grimpspace! Cathy, Ann should email you soon for your addy.
Thanks to all who commented. And thanks again, Ann, for running the contest, guest posting and interviewing with us. Best of luck!