Guest Post: Benjamin Appleby-Dean - Author of The Stickman's Legacy

Benjamin Appleby-Dean, author of The Stickman's Legacy, stopped by the Howling Turtle to talk a bit about folklore and fable and how it has influenced his work on this book. Had you heard of any of this fairytale trivia before?

Guest Post

I’ve always been fascinated by stories – not just the actual reading and hearing of them, the beginning-to middle-to end rush, but by the pieces of them and how they fit together. Why we have heroes and villains, antagonists, and protagonists, morals and happy endings or tragedies that can’t be averted.

I tried to write stories of my own almost as soon as I learned to read, starting with simple tales of heroes and monsters – but even then I wondered why the monsters had to lose.

As I grew older and read more widely, I discovered Joseph Campbell and his beat-by-beat formula for heroic journeys. I noticed the similarities in folklore and fable across different continents – the version of Cinderella that goes back to ancient Egypt, the sunken-city myth that persists from Greece to India to China, the enduring archetype of little people living underground that recurs in country after country. I read about the changing of even our best-known modern fairy tales – how the Grimms rewrote their own collections to remove Rapunzel’s pregnancy and switch abusive mothers for stepmothers; how Beauty and the Beast once had elaborate backstories involving rival fairies; how Tom Thumb originally joined King Arthur’s court and battled giants.

Most of all I came to understand how much of what we are is built upon the backs of these persistent narratives – stories informing our language, our relationships, our aspirations, our ideas of good and evil. Stories woven through our basic ideas of self.

What would happen if someone tried to use them as a weapon?

I wanted to write a story about stories – but not in a postmodern, ironic, poking-fun kind of way. I wanted to drill down into how they worked and how they could be made to work. I wanted to see what happened to the survivors. How far an ending could be made to stretch.

Most of all, I wanted to tell the story of a girl who refused to give up.

The first ideas for THE STICKMAN’S LEGACY came to me nearly fifteen years ago. I spent seven years taking the ideas and building on them, trying to fit them together until they made sense. I read up on folk history from every country I could find, spotting new patterns and obscure fragments. I took six months writing a detailed, blow-by-blow plan to make sure my strange, experimental plot actually fitted together and then another two years finishing my first draft of the book.

But as many older, wiser writers will tell you, the first book you write is never any good. 

I wrote other books afterwards – simpler, less ambitious ones. I even got some of my other works into print. Then I came back to my unwieldly first manuscript, finally became aware of my mistakes, and spent another year re-writing it from scratch. I eventually cut out 60,000 words (the length of a short novel in itself!) and was left with leaner, better-paced book – still saying everything I wanted to say, but in 70% of the page count. 

It took me five years to find a publisher for THE STICKMAN’S LEGACY, and it’s still the most complex and ambitious thing I’ve ever tried to write.

I can only hope that some of you find it worth the wait.

About the Book
Mary never knew her father until he died and brought his enemies to her doorstep. Searching his house for answers, she unearths an ancient nightmare and is drawn into a world of corporate magicians, subterranean kingdoms and living architecture, all of whom have history with the Stickman - and their own sinister agendas for his daughter.

As a secret war breaks out across London with her at the centre, Mary finds fragments of her own past resurfacing, and has to understand the true nature of her legacy before it's too late...

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Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.

Genre is Helpful, But Don't Let it Constrain Your Reading and Writing

When I was in high school, I was fortunate enough for the late author Brian Doyle to come speak at my creative writing class.

While the most memorable thing he told us had nothing to do with writing (he once got into an argument with the Dalai Lama about whether soccer or basketball was the best sport in the world) he did give a piece of writing advice that I continue to think about today.

He told us never to be constricted by genre in our writing. To tell the story we want to tell, whether or not it fits neatly into one category.

I think part of why that stuck with me for so long was because that was the first time I looked at genre as something constructed. 

Although I had never articulated the thought, I had always assumed bookstores labelled shelves as “Fantasy” or “Science Fiction” because that’s what the books there clearly were and they were trying help fans of those genres find books they enjoyed quickly.

I still think that’s partly true, sellers want readers to find the types of books they like quickly, and publishers want their books to be found by readers quickly, but sometimes labels are more easily fixed than others.

For example, a book about time travel on the moon is clearly going to be labelled science fiction, but what about a story of a secret hacking group who pull off stunts no one in the real world has yet but that experts would say is technically possible? Is that science fiction or tech thriller? 

What if the plot of the time travel on the moon book is solely featured on the love story of two astronauts who for some reason have to travel through time in order to be together? What if the only science-y part of the book is when the author describes the logistics of doing the horizontal tango in lunar gravity? Is that still science fiction or would it shelved as romance?

I got firsthand experience of how hard labelling some books’ genres are through my internship at a small publishing company. 

There was one book that my boss and I went back and forth on for a long time, deciding whether it should be labelled supernatural, thriller or Christian fiction. 

There were elements of the book that could have made it anyone of these, but since the readers of these genres are looking for different things, we wanted to make sure that the label we decided on would put the book in the flight path of the people who would be most interested in reading it and most likely to enjoy it. No small task.

That experience really showed me the limitations of those categories. I wonder how many people did not read it because we decided on Christian fiction, but would have read it and enjoyed it if it had been labelled a supernatural thriller?

I don’t wish genre categories would disappear. I would be overwhelmed in a bookstore if I didn’t have at least some idea of what to expect from any of the books on any of the shelves, and there are some tropes formulas of genre fiction that I really enjoy. Brian Doyle’s advice has challenged me as a writer to not relay on or be limited to conventions of genre to tell my stories and encouraged me as a reader to not dismiss a book outright because the genre is not one I typically read.

I think this has made me a more well-rounded creator and consumer of literature, so I extend this challenge to you too. Don’t limit yourself to writing a story in just one genre for genre’s sake if you think blurring those lines would make your story stronger. And it’s great if you think of yourself as a fan of a certain genre, but don’t let that keep you from reading books in another. You never know what gems you’ll find that you never would have otherwise.

Guest Post: Amanda Clay

Guest Post

BREAKING THE YA RULES

When I first started on this journey, I had NO idea what I was doing. I went to meetings and conferences and mingled with anyone who had so much as sent their first query letter, clinging to every word of advice like a life preserver. There was so much to learn about plotting and structure and character arcs! But I also quickly learned that there were so many rules on what you CAN’T do—especially when it comes to YA. It was rather disparaging. I had always thought of writing as freedom to go carte blanche with whatever crazy idea came pouring out of my head. Alas, the masses told me differently…

Only write YA in first person, no swearing, no drugs, no sex (for some reason we’d rather see teens kill each other than engage in acts of love, sigh). At first I lived by every word—what did I know? Those people were right—to a point. There are certain things you need to master to craft a great story—but that has to do with techniques. One should never stop learning and improving their craft. But content is an entirely different beast. As I started revising my manuscript to make it fit the conventional YA mold, it just felt wrong. I started forcing my characters to be something they weren’t. Benton is foul-mouthed, girl-obsessed and hot-headed. Trying to clean him up to appease school librarians and parents just wasn’t working. I wrote in third person POV and jumped to different characters—because the story just needed to be seen from many perspectives. 

People were also confused about my genre—in all honesty it is hard to categorize it at the micro-level. It’s been called historical, contemporary, dystopian, fantasy, action adventure and romantic suspense!  Hey, call it whatever you want. I just call it YA fiction. But that bothered some agents, editors and beta readers. Conversations went something like this: So it’s about a princess? Yep. But it’s not fantasy? Nope, no magic. But it’s a fictional country? Yep. But it’s modern day? Basically. That’s never going to sell…

It just hit the best seller in YA historical fiction, action adventure and dystopian! Happy dance.

My point here is that if you simply follow a formula of “supposed tos,” it’s just following a recipe. It’s not genuine and it’s not being true to your characters. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and break the rules. Sure, many people like cookie-cutter romance novels with predictable story arcs and happy endings. That’s fine—it’s the same reason people love Olive Garden and Starbucks. If that’s what you truly enjoy writing, go for it. But the world of publishing is changing. The freedom of indie publishing has given us endless horizons of creative liberty. Push the limits on what you’re supposed to do—challenge the norm! Breaking the rules can be terrifying—but it might be exactly what your book needs.

ABOUT REBEL SONG

The once prosperous European kingdom of Arelanda has been plagued with poverty and corruption since the failed rebellion tore it apart. Now, rebels stir again in the capital’s underbelly, vowing to depose the monarchy and overturn the unjust government.

Seventeen-year-old Rogan Elwood, son of a rebel leader executed for treason after the first rebellion, has borne a tainted legacy his entire life. As he is pulled deeper into conflict, Rogan must face his calling in the future of the rebel cause—waging his want for peace against his desire for vengeance. Everything changes when he falls for Elyra—beautiful, idealistic and determined to bring Arelanda a better future. She also just happens to be next in line to the throne—if the corrupt Minister General doesn’t beat her to it.

Caught in the midst of a budding civil war and surrounded by enemies on every side, Elyra and Rogan must fight to save themselves and their country. 

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ABOUT AMANDA J. CLAY
Amanda always wanted to be a writer. Always, always, always since she could first decipher Dr. Seus. Her first story went something like, “Once upon a time, there was a cat and a dog. They were friends. The end.” It was a good start but she likes to think she’s progressed.
She finished her first book when she was 10, the second when she was 15. They were both…um…less than New York Times winning. But hey, no one makes the major leagues their first little league season.
In high school she entertained her classmates by writing custom short stories about them during study hall (or detention—she got that a lot). She was once kicked out of economics class for circulating steamy short stories. Oops.
She spent her undergraduate years honing her craft as an English and Journalism major, writing for literary magazines and the school newspaper. In her spare time she wrote fiction stories. All kinds of stories. While she worked up the courage and discipline to actually finish novel she actually felt she could share with the world, she tried her hand as a journalist. Then a PR writer. Then an HR employee communications writer. Then she decided she would just be a professor and teach other people to write. So she went back to graduate school to get a Master’s degree in Mass Communications. As she placed the final period on her 400-page thesis, she had an epiphany. She had just researched and written a 400 PAGE MANUSCRIPT. If she had it in her to do that, She could write a book.
So she did…
These days she hangs her hat in Berkeley, CA. When she’s not staring at a computer screen, she spends most of her spare time plotting world adventures, wine tasting, hiking, eating, running, traveling, playing kickball (yes she’s an adult), and reading…lots of reading.

@amandajclay

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Disclosure: this post contains links to an affiliate program (Amazon), for which I receive a few cents if you make purchases.