otherkin

‘Otherkin’ is Here, For Some…

/ Lisa / Leave a comment

But not for my husband.

Typically when writing, he is involved in the process and gives me opinions on the many drafts. This time, he wanted to be able to read the new book as a reader, with no idea what was going to happen. I was able to keep him out of the process for the most part, although I had to ask his opinion on the best way to blow things up.

This book, the sequel to This Deep Panic, took so very long to write. I’ve shared some of that here. Through all the hours of questioning scenes, questioning the story, questioning my ability, I managed to keep him on the periphery.

My goal was to hand him the actual book, for him to be the very first person to hold it and read it.

I ordered a few advance copies when Otherkin was published a couple weeks ago. And then I gave them away. Oh, I kept one, for my husband, and even handed it to him when I unpacked the box. And then I gave that one away, too. Oops.

So I’ve delayed making the announcement that the book is here until I ordered one more copy, waited for the very slow snail mail, and then waited until I could hand it to him.

After, I think, three years, it’s done. Has he read it yet?

He hasn’t even cracked the spine, I don’t think. He’s being very responsible and finishing the book he’s in the middle of first. I don’t think he’s aware of me nervously hovering, because obviously, his opinion matters.

What if he doesn’t like it?

In the meantime, while he is so-very-very-slowly reading an Agatha Christie mystery, Otherkin is now out in the world.

What if you don’t like it? If you liked the first book, hopefully you’ll like what the characters are up to in this one. There was one weird scene with a character going for a swim. I cut that scene, put it back, cut it again. I couldn’t see how it fit the plot, how it moved the story forward, how it even impacted the characters. But it kept nagging me. I finally decided I wasn’t letting go of it for a reason and left it, thinking the characters might tell me later why it had to be there. And they did. That one odd little scene ended up having a huge impact on other characters and conflicts. Strange how that works out.

For now I just took a sneak peak at the husband’s copy to see if it is still pristine. Well, the book is.

Otherkin: Merging Reality with Mythical Beliefs

/ Lisa / 6 Comments

Otherkin is an interesting subculture. It represents people, or a person, who identify as nonhuman. In particular, people who believe they are wholly or partially an animal or mythical being.

I’m not talking about people who dress up in costumes or people who feel they relate more to their dogs than to their family. Just as you know you are a human being, these people know they are not. They believe they are animals, mythical creatures like dragons or elves, or even aliens.

Whether you think of this as a psychological disorder or truly possible is open to interpretation and your own belief systems.

However, there is a lesser known interpretation. This aligns closer to earth-based religions, to paganism, etc., where they believe all things have life (or soul) and that the otherworld is all around you whether you can see it or not. These are people who believe in the kindred spirits of animals and nature.

That’s the interpretation I’m using for a story. Otherkin will be released soon. It’s taken me a long, long time to write, and it’s a sequel to This Deep Panic. How does the world look after mythical creatures have returned? How do we move on from a catastrophic earthquake and begin rebuilding lives? How do we do that when most creatures want to kill us, but some are…otherkin?

I am just starting the revising work and then it will go to the editor, then come back to me for more revisions. But I will have the first three chapters available soon for everyone to read. And in the meantime, here is the cover. Let me know what you think. I’m very happy with how the artist has rendered this.

How Solitude Fuels Creativity

/ Lisa / 3 Comments

My husband and I work at the same place, which means we are together all the time. We commute together, we have lunch together, we’re together on our days off. Tuesdays are the exception, when I work and he has the day off to himself. It’s wonderful. There isn’t anyone else I would want to be around every single day, round the clock. Plus, when I come home on Tuesdays, dinner is waiting.

The thing is, though, I run away occasionally. I take a week off and go visit a sister. We goof off for five days straight. It takes five hours for me to get to her house. That five hours is my alone time. My husband never gets that break, or any break long enough to reset.

I finally convinced him how important that is. The last few years, it’s become more important to me; possibly because I no longer take it for granted. So…he went. Took a week and a road trip and lined up things he wanted to do. I saw the opening and also took the week off, to stay.

He thinks he should do this every year. I agree.

Right now, the house is quiet except when I play music. It’s chilly and raining outside, which is my favorite weather, so I couldn’t have timed this better. I decided I would spend the time doing nothing but writing, which has been hard for many reasons.

The first day he was gone involved an internal battle. I could take advantage of this time to deep clean the house. I could clean the big wood box on the deck and fill it with firewood. I could focus on finishing some Christmas gifts. I was even desperate enough to consider washing bedding, flipping mattresses, and cleaning under the beds.

This time, though, I kept reminding myself of the ticking clock. I only had so many days alone. I had to be disciplined. As hard as it was, I did it. I won the battle with chores by emailing my friend, Susan, also a writer. I asked her how she was doing plotting a new mystery, and then told her I needed to be accountable to her, reporting in each day on what I’d written. She jumped on that, and has been reporting in on her progress as well. What a difference it makes.

Accountability is nothing new and I know I need it. The difference is, this time, I set it up beforehand, recognizing the dangerous temptation of household chores when you’re home alone and faced with a blank page.

I have discovered that the story has been there, waiting for me. I’ve spent two days closing loop holes, deleting boring parts, and gathering in the characters because they’ve spent a lot of time doing nothing but running around in the woods. With, you know, no accountability.

I have also discovered that while I thought I was doing very little writing over the past three years, I’ve actually done more than I thought. I’ve been working on the sequel to This Deep Panic and I can feel the ending near. Not to say it will be finished shortly. Only the first draft. The storylines will need to be pieced together, transition chapters between storylines and characters written, and the whole thing edited. And revised. And edited.

But the story is there and it’s taken nothing more than some alone time to realize it.

There is so much to be said for the healing of solitude. For how we need time in just our own company, even if we spend that time deep cleaning under beds. I know there are a lot of people who can’t be alone, and some of them are in my family. They have their own tools for finding what I find in solitude. But for me, quiet time is imperative.

For now, the sequel is tentatively titled Otherkin. Do you know what that word means?

People who identify as half human, half other. Someone who identifies as not human. Maybe part animal or part nature as in a tree. Or part mythical being. They are our ‘kin’ but not fully. I also take it mean those who are with us, but unseen. It’s a dysphoria that actually exists. Look it up; it’s fascinating.

In the meantime, I’m going back to writing now. The otherkin are drawing close.