On Fiction, History, and Wishing the World Were Otherwise, by Anne Nesbet

            I've been thinking a lot recently about the places where fantasy and history overlap, and in particular about the strange things that sometimes happen when our stories revise the past by making the painful parts of history otherwise.

            Making things otherwise is a desire very much at the heart of most writing, of course. It's pretty much the essence of fiction! In real life, we can't tweak what has already happened--we can't, in real life, heal wounds inflicted hundreds of years ago by one human being on another. But in fiction, we can. And so, we do. It strikes me that sometimes I find these twisted histories satisfying and moving--and sometimes the fictional mending of the past unsettles me. Loopholes, it seems, can have unintended side-effects.

            I was recently quite moved by a historical fantasy by H. M. Bouwman, A CRACK IN THE SEA (2017), which is explicitly about loopholes, about "a crack in the sea" that allows doomed and desperate people from our world--Africans thrown overboard from slavers' ships, Vietnamese refugees whose boats are damaged by pirates and then sink--to travel to another world, where the water is sweet and people are very few.

            As Heather Bouwman explains in her very thoughtful Afterword, the inspiration for this book was the true, awful history of the Zong, a ship transporting enslaved human beings across the Atlantic Ocean: in 1781 the men sailing this ship threw 133 living people, men, women, and children, into the ocean to drown, so that the owners of the ship could collect insurance payments on the lost "cargo." One of the characters in Bouwman's story, a girl named Venus, comes from the Zong; the story of A CRACK IN THE SEA, as the author explains, had its origins in a longing to change what can't actually be changed:  

            "And the Zong is the heart and soul of my book . . . . [F]or me, the story first became alive with Venus--with my feeling that she had to escape, somehow, from this terrible historical fact, this thing from which, in real life, there was no escape."

            From my perspective, the power of a historical fantasy like A CRACK IN THE SEA depends very much on the reader knowing that what he or she is reading is a counter-factual wish, that in real life, these real people died terribly--and we wish so much that that could be otherwise that we are willing to write stories in which something else happens. What happens, however, when a student who doesn't know about the real history of the Zong--or the real history of the Vietnamese refugees in the late 1970s--reads this story? Perhaps the effect is quite different.

           

Although Bouwman's story is a fantasy, it does its best to take historical suffering seriously (as her author's note reminds us), even while opening magical/historical loopholes. A more extreme example of that approach might be Guillermo Del Toro's film, PAN'S LABYRINTH, in which a brutal tale of the Spanish Civil War gains another dimension through its young heroine's fantastic adventures. How one reads the ending of that film depends on whether one understands the "loophole" (the fantasy kingdom) to have been really, truly, literally real or, more poignantly (in my opinion), if we take that "loophole" as a reflection of our human and endlessly thwarted desire for the world to be other than it is.

        Other books go to bleak moments in human history and make them positively blithe, however. Remember the opening pages of J. K. Rowling's THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (1999)?

"Harry moved the tip of his eagle-feather quill down the page, frowning as he looked for something that would help him write his essay, 'Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless--discuss.'

            The quill paused at the top of a likely-looking paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the book, and read:

            'Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.'"

            This description gave me a bit of a jolt the first time I read it, to be honest, and now that I've gone back to find it again, I understand better the reason for the jolt. The account here is jolly and lighthearted, but on the other side of this fictional lens (on the other side of this "otherwise") lies some pretty awful historical stuff, real people whose suffering had nothing at all in common with "gentle, tickling sensations." It's humorless of me to state the obvious this way, isn't it? But bear with me: I'm trying to figure out what makes some fantastical reworkings of history cut deeper than others. It seems to me that whereas A CRACK IN THE SEA focuses on the poignancy of the "otherwise" (by keeping the "terrible historical fact" close by, even while the fantastical loophole is opened), THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN puts more weight on the loophole, and lets the historical fact float away.

            Have you read any historical fantasy recently? What effect did it have on you? Have you encountered stories in which the "wish that the world were otherwise" particularly moved you? Does a purely humorous approach to rewriting history unsettle you at all, or do you merely find it refreshing? (A good recent example of history rewritten for comic effect might be MY LADY JANE, by the witty trio of Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows; in this novel Lady Jane Grey turns out to have been at the heart of various romantic and magical plots--and gets a happy ending, very unlike her historical fate.)

            So perhaps what I am discovering is that I am most satisfied when some trace of the tragic historical fact remains, even if veiled, in the counterfactual rewriting--the tension between fact and wish can then work a very powerful and poignant magic of its own. I am very curious to hear your thoughts, however--on historical fantasy, on loopholes, and on wishing the world were otherwise....

On Rage and Hope in Margarita Engle's MORNING STAR HORSE

I was recently honored to have a chance to read MORNING STAR HORSE by Margarita Engle, who has won a huge list of the most prestigious kid lit awards for her previous books: the Newbery Honor, the PEN USA Award, the inaugural Walter Dean Myers Award, three Pura Belpré Awards, and on and on and on.

MORNING STAR HORSE is a historical verse novel with a sprinkling of magic realism. It immediately engaged me with its beautiful imagery, gripping settings, and fascinating historical moment. Since I have bilingual kids, I was delighted to see it is available in English, Spanish, AND bilingual editions. I’m thrilled to be able to ask Margarita a few questions about her newest book.

JOY: MORNING STAR HORSE is a very unique blend of the historical and the fantastical. On the historical side, I was fascinated to learn about the Raja Yoga Academy, which I had never heard of (though I grew up very near Point Loma!). It’s a fascinating setting for a middle grade novel. And before the main character arrives at the academy, she lives the first few years of her life in a cave and then emerges to explore the island of Cuba. Can you talk a little about how setting informs your work, and how the verse format plays into your use of setting?

MARGARITA: Thank you! The settings come straight from history. Entire armies hid in caves during Cuba’s wars for independence. It’s a limestone island, underlain by enormous networks of caverns. The Point Loma setting is historical also, since the Raja Yoga Academy was a real school. Admittedly, I added the magical horse, and perhaps I exaggerated the bioluminescent glow of beaches in the tropics, but that glow actually does occur, and it’s amazing when you see a flying fish leap out of a wave, illuminated by radiant water. These naturally poetic images are inherently suited to verse. I chose free verse because of the rhythmic flow. While I was writing, a horse walked, trotted, cantered, and galloped through my imagination.

JOY: Also with regards to the format of verse, middle grade is my favorite age for verse novels. Why do you think verse is such a good fit for middle grade readers? Is there anything verse allowed you to do with this story that you might not have been able to do in a prose novel?

MARGARITA: If modern American children—with all their electronic distractions—are ever going to fall in love with poetry, it is probably in the middle grade years. Verse allows me to show emotions in a way that might seem melodramatic in prose. Verse also allows me to distill complex historical events down to their emotional essence. For instance, instead of showing grisly details of the chaotic post-war situation in Cuba, these simple poems invite readers to imagine how it felt to live in that time and place.

JOY: One of the things I really loved about the book was the portrayal of Estrellita’s anger. Girls in our culture are rarely given the permission to express their anger, and I think it’s powerful for young readers to see when a character’s anger is respected. In a poem called Reflections, it says,

Now, all I do is wonder—

will there ever be a place

where this much sheer rage

will fit?

That really speaks, to me, so much of being a girl, and it’s something I think present day readers will connect with a lot. Estrellita has a LOT of reasons to be angry. And at first she lets her anger consume her enough that she shifts from being bullied to being a bully. I think sometimes writers are worried about allowing their characters—female characters especially—to be “unlikable.” When really, it seems to me that allows kids to see themselves in all their complexity. Can you talk a little about Estrellita’s anger and why portraying that was important to you?

MARGARITA: Thank you! All my female characters have moments of rage, and most of them are historical characters, not fictional. Even though Estrellita is not based on a specific real person, she suffers from all the normal feelings of every child, including anger, envy, shame, joy, and above all: hope. Rage just happens to be the stumbling block that eventually leads her to an understanding of hope.

Oh I just love that. Rage as a stumbling block that leads her to an understanding of hope. That alone should convince readers to dive into MORNING STAR HORSE!

Congratulations, Margarita, on the release of MORNING STAR HORSE and thank you so much for taking the time to chat with Project Mayhem!

Project Mayhem readers, what are some of your favorite middle grade verse novels? And what are some of your favorite middle grade moments of rage? Do they lead to hope?

I SENT WHAT?! by Hilary Wagner

We've all done it. I don't care how well published you are or how new to the industry you are, but we've all sent something out with a big fat humbling and in most cases highly visible typo--and many times more than one. It's unavoidable. No matter how many times you read through a manuscript, you are bound to miss things. It's simply part of being human and how the brain works.

Now then, If you've recently sent a manuscript out to an agent or editor and realized you've left in some conspicuous typos, don't freak out. Take a step back and know that it happens to everyone. Besides, if someone was going to bounce you out of consideration for a typo or two (or even a couple more) in your 250 page manuscript, possibly it's someone you wouldn't want to work with anyhow. Clearly, there are flagrant typos, wherein the reader is tripping over typos in every paragraph, that's not going to fly, but everyone, from writers, to agents, to editors, miss things now and again. After all, we are only human and if humans were perfect, there would never be typos in published books--bestselling books--books that have been combed through by the author, the editor, readers, and copy editors, BEFORE they hit the shelves. In other words, it happens. It does. Period.

Tips for catching typos:

Print it out: Print out the full manuscript. Somehow a lot more typos slip by the naked eye staring at a monitor than when you hold the physical manuscript, knocking out typos like Mike Tyson with your almighty red pen.

Read your work out loud: This requires you to read every word from start to finish. Time consuming and dry throat inducing? Yes, but a lot more effective than skimming through it silently.

Let your work sit a while: This is a hard one for me, as I'm about as patient as a starving bear, but do it. Even if it's just for a few days, let your work sit. This will cause you to read your words more thoroughly and thoughtfully, rather than flying through something you were just working on.

A second set of eyes: When time permits, I always have my husband read through my work before I send it off. Since he's reading it for the first time, it's far easier for him to catch "to" versus "too" than it would be for my eyes, which at this point in the process, have gone blind to the little things.

Okay, truth time. In my first manuscript I had typos. After I caught them (which was after I hit "send") I sat at my laptop and cringed, wondering how on earth I could have missed something so glaringly obvious. I probably read through the manuscript at least 50 times, but there they were in all their glory, "shutters" instead of "shudders", "there" instead of "their". You get the picture. I wondered if I'd be automatically rejected based on this, but I learned editors get it. They understand how things get missed. It's about your impelling story not your misspelling of "accommodate".

In the end, I got published! Luckily, the typos did not. ;)

Long story short, there will generally be normal inconsequential typos somewhere in something you send out. Don't sweat it. It doesn't change your story or your hard work. It only makes you human.

PS: If there are typos in this post, please blame someone else. :)

Hilary

So Long, Farewell... and Welcome: Changes at Project Mayhem by Michael G-G

Dawn Lairamore

Matthew MacNish

One of the magical things about belonging to a group blog is the fellowship you find with other writers. Project Mayhem, since its beginnings in 2010, has been a tight-knit and supportive community. In the nearly 7 years we've been around, our writers have created over 1000 posts!

We have a list of sterling alumni, and it is now my bittersweet moment to add a further two to that illustrious roll. Dawn Lairamore and Matthew MacNish have been Mayhemmers before even I came on the scene (in fact, it was Matt who put my name forward as a Mayhem initiate all those years ago.) As with most of those who leave our tribe, they do so because of the busyness of life. But before they go, I asked them to pen a farewell letter. Goodbye, Dawn and Matt: we will all miss you!

From Matthew: It is with much regret that I leave Project Middle Grade Mayhem behind. I was always made to feel welcome here, and truly enjoyed working with my co-authors. I would like to both thank Rose Cooper for inviting me in the first place some six odd years ago, and to proudly take responsibility for in turn inviting Michael Gettel-Gilmartin. I really enjoyed being part of the blog, and wish that circumstances weren’t forcing me to leave.


If you’re looking for something to reminisce with, you could read:

My first post: The Character Should Make the Name
When I argued about YA/MG: Debate: The Book Thief is a
 MG Novel
Or something actually useful: Document Map, a Tutorial

From Dawn: It has been both a pleasure and an honor to have been part of Project Mayhem these past many years, and I remained amazed at what a talented, generous, and insightful group of writers we have here, bloggers and visitors alike. I'm so grateful for online writing communities such as this. Rest assured this is not so much a goodbye as it is a "see you around"--this is definitely a community worth holding on to. Happy writing, everyone!

Goodbyes often lead to "hellos," and I am very pleased to welcome two new members to the blog. I am so excited to see what Hilda Burgos and Linda Williams Jackson bring to the blog, starting in March. Here's the introduction to both of them.

Hilda Eunice Burgos

Hilda Eunice Burgos - Hilda’s first middle grade novel, The Castle of Kings, was a 2015 Lee & Low Books New Visions Award finalist, and is due out in 2019.  The story takes place in New York City (where Hilda was born and raised) and in the Dominican Republic (her parents’ native country).  Hilda received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in French and Spanish literatures, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.  She now lives and practices law in the Philadelphia area.  She and her husband have two grown human children and a canine forever baby.  Hilda looks forward to spending more time writing now that her kids aren’t around as much to smother – um, mother.

Linda Williams Jackson

Linda Williams Jackson is a former information technology specialist, turned stay-at-home mom, turned author. She is the author of the historical middle-grade novel, MIDNIGHT WITHOUT A MOON (January, 2017), and the sequel A SKY FULL OF STARS (January, 2018). A small city in Mississippi is the place she calls home. She shares this home with her husband, three children, and a cat named Knoxville.

So long, farewell... welcome! Hooray for Project Mayhem!

The Three Kinds of Books You Haven't Finished Writing (illustrated with unfinished craft projects) by Kell Andrews

I am descended from a family of pack rats. If you show me a picture of me in sixth grade, I might still own the shirt I was wearing. It's not my fault. I get it from my mom, who got it from her parents, and I gave it to my children. Another family trait is creativity, along with a decided difficulty in finishing any task or project.

All three traits converged when my children came home from an overnight visit to my mom's with a bin full of craft materials -- fabric remnants, notions, and supplies, along with this unfinished project:

I recognized that linen tablecloth! It had been folded in the bottom of my mom's sewing kit as long as I could remember, three-quarters cross-stitched, waiting to be finished. We weren't allowed to mess with it because she meant to finish it some day.

My mother began embroidering that tablecloth in college. Since then, she earned her degree, got married, raised three children, worked several long careers, and finished many, many challenging and complex projects, from chair caning to gardening. But she never finished this tablecloth.

Because I'm my mother's daughter, I also have an unfinished project. Mine is a nine-tenths-written novel. That's kind of different, but also kind of the same.

I present the three kinds of books you haven't finished writing, using unfinished (now vintage) craft projects as example.

1. The Tablecloth: The Big Project That Outlasted You

My mother had a lot of ambition when she began that tablecloth. It's big enough for a 1960s dinner party, old fashioned enough for an 1860s one. She started strong, doubling up her floss, stitching those Xs row by row.

Then she ran out of floss. Apparently she shouldn't have doubled the thread after all apparently -- she started too strong. She literally reached the end of her rope and stopped there. Where, oh where, could one possibly find more embroidery floss?

Some novels are like that -- so big and ambitious so your energy or abilities run out before the end. Or maybe you started off too strong, burning through the words with NaNo or a similar writing frenzy until you plain burn out.

The solution: You can get more embroidery floss at any sewing or craft store. And you can get more energy if you let yourself recharge. A three-quarters finished tablecloth does no one any good, and neither does a novel without the end. Finish it.

2. The Needlepoint: You Finished the Fun Part and Now the Boring Part Is Left

Here the whole figured part of a needlepoint nickel has been worked, but only the plain old background is left. And what's the fun in that?

The solution: Novels are more than just the fun part. There's the revisions, the rewrites, the whole long slog. You can sit and admire the outline of the picture, but if you want to get published, it's time for the slog. So finish it.

 

3. The Odds and Ends: What Is This Stuff Anyway?

A buckled dollhouse rug? A poorly pieced quilt? A still life with thimble and dumb bells? A crocheted whatnot?

Sometimes projects are just false starts,  bad ideas, or unfixable executions. You don't need to finish every thing you start, and these are proof.

The solution: If a project really isn't working, file it away, dismantle it for parts, or even delete it. Don't throw away your good writing time after bad. If you force yourself to commit to projects that will never work, you take time away from writing novel that will.

What kind of unfinished book do you have? 

I think my unfinished novel is category number one, but I'm not going to let a tablecloth novel defeat me. And yes, like my mother, I've been working on other things -- writing picture books, working my day job, raising my children. But now it's time to get back to cross-stitching writing.