indoors Archives - Author K. Williams

Pinky – Open Book Blog Hop #298

November 8, 2021 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #298
Do you still have a treasure from childhood, can you tell us about it?
How about any of your characters?

Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop! The authors included in this ongoing series wish to thank you for your reads. We appreciate, even more so, when you share our writings with your friends. If you’re new to the series, welcome aboard. The authors engage and impress weekly. Prepare to become a regular reader.

Back in October of 2018, I wrote a short article on a hospital stay I experienced as a small child. This resulted in me having one of my oldest life artifacts: Pinky. I know you’ll probably wonder how I could possibly keep such a thing around, considering I loath clowns, and it’s barely more than a scrap. Let me tell you, Pinky is why I got through that trauma. I believed as a girl that he protected (yes, he. and you can read that in the older article, too).

My childhood had some major traumas. This small fabric friend helped me negotiate my brain’s healing from those scary experiences. The side-eye game is on point. I felt safe under those eyes. Somehow, it felt as if Pinky could see the things that were unsee-able and keep them away.

Pinky sits next to my bed to this day, right beside the stuffy that inspired my Zo Duck Series. Do I still feel safe. As houses. That clown has the power. If you know, you know.

Do such totems exist within the realm of my work, though? There’s nothing from the childhood days of my characters that exists in their stories to serve as this kind of memory/protection, or what not. They do all have something, however, which comes to them either in the course of the book, or back to them from earlier times.

First, there is the picture that Emily gives to Joseph, stolen from her parent’s collection. This serves as a reminder to keep him pushing forward through the war and all that comes to end him. Next, there is Claire’s lipstick. Some think this item is less important than it is symbolically, but I assure you, it’s meaning is on par with my Pinky. That lipstick is an anchor to better more stable times and the freedom of adulthood that Claire has long sought. It is breaking from the abuse, surviving, and normalcy. The bombs are dropping, but Claire still believes in life after the attacks come, and that it and she will prevail. Red lipstick, also, became a glorious symbol of feminine power from the time of WWII to present day.

Lastly, I’ll speak on Maiel, and the feathers on her barracks apartment wall. Those feathers are from General Mikhael. Their power is to watch over the individual who keeps them. Indeed, they were gifted to her by him. Their presence is not only symbolic of their growing bond, but his unyielding protection promised to her. In the sight of them, she is always protected. This (SPOILER AHEAD) is a good reason for why Dominic moved them to the wilds of Eden. The feathers were most definitely left behind! Those watchful eyes would have detected all his moves, and he couldn’t bear that.

Covering the childhoods of my characters isn’t the purview of any of my books thus far. That said, it is richer to have mementos crop up from earlier times. I have items in my keep that are from my earliest times, and it makes sense that others would as well. However, not many people who experience trauma hang onto things from those times before. They can be sources of grieving, or the trauma included losing all their things. For me, it can be bittersweet to see these items, even as I pass a great deal of the surviving toys and books on to my daughter. They from safer feeling times, when someone else buffered and protected me from the big bad world that always seems to be on the precipice of ending. So, too, Maiel’s feathers create a bittersweet nostalgia in the moment they’re rediscovered.

Let’s hop on over to see what items and other details the authors on this hop have to offer. Click on their links below!

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Pseudonyms – Open Book Blog Hop #297

November 1, 2021 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #297
Did you write under a pseudonym? Why?

Pseudonyms are an absolute necessity for many writers. A great many well-known people have used false names to shelter their real life from their writing. Much personal thought went into what I would put on the book cover to mark my properties. And, there were many reasons to do so.

Firstly, an overtly feminine name has been known to quell readership. Ridiculous, I know, but being feminine somehow equates to less knowledgeable to far more people than we’d like to admit. Old bias dies hard!

Did you know that in the infancy of filmmaking making, women were believed to be the best suited for screenwriting?

It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, or if we consciously believe these things or not. The bias remains and operates on our choices. As the decades have passed, that has become increasingly less of an issue–except in science fiction and historical genres. The bias is still hanging pretty tough there, bolstered by a readership who prefer certain things a certain way. This too will change, right along with the generations who are coming along to be readers and don’t cater to these archaic ways anymore.

Secondly, I thought a great deal about what I planned to write and if those topics might go along ground I didn’t want closely associated with myself. For instance, if I wrote romance, did I want those sexual aspects connected to me, and deal with the people who would make up their minds about me tied to that. Being a survivor of abuse, this was frightening in ways a lot of people don’t have to think about.

The problem is, just like with gender issues (this is tied deeply to an aspect of it), certain people think that talking about sex means things about you and your behavior. In other words, they would think I was promiscuous. Men might think I knew things or did things I didn’t actually know, but research and liberal writing license… And, we know that when certain members of certain parts of society think you’re a certain way, they think they can take liberties. Beside that, there are those who think we may deserve ill intent because we engage in certain acts.

Being a sex-positive person, I know this is absolute tripe. No one should regard you in negative ways or determine you wroth of negative intentions for healthy adult sexual activity or even writing about it. It’s normal! Yet, our society has far too many members who decide things that are silly and destructive and run with it. You still have to consider consequences. When you’re a survivor, this becomes a peak anxiety point. Protecting yourself, whether you should have to or not is a priority. Attracting negative attention isn’t something you want to accomplish.

Next, I was concerned about being thought a fraud, or failing in someway that would besmirch my name for all time. It can happen. Look at how JK Rowling has defiled both her series and her name with her recent behavior. So many authors fall into this trap. When you don’t check yourself, you wreck yourself.

Are we entitled to our beliefs? Absolutely. You’re also entitled to the judgment that follows those beliefs. Keeping with JK as an example–furthering negative ideas around transwomen is dangerous and abhorrent. Airing those ideas publicly has real life consequences, which could result in injury or death for people. JK’s ideology is her responsibility to deal with, and she is entitled, I suppose, to feel as she does. However, when that crosses into the public realm from a highly regarded personality, it becomes the problem of the entirety of humanity. Unfortunately, JK is on the wrong side of history here and done real harm–to herself as well.

What if I were so very wrong about something, to the point I couldn’t hear those trying to educate me? It’s happened on small things. The ego gets in the way. You think you know more. Likely one thinks they know better. Humility is so very important in the public sphere, any sphere. We really don’t know everything, especially in the social arena. Being willing to adjust and hear others speak on their expertise is super important. But, again, what if I fail them and myself? What if I don’t listen? What if my fragility stops me?

Would a pseudonym protect you?

In this day and age, a false name protects you in limited ways. The more thorough you are, the better. You would need to make an absolute separation–not even an image, or a false public appearance to go along with the name. If you did something detestable, the people would be coming for you, and they have ways to unmask you. I’ve watched terrible people get unmasked online in the matter of hours, and outed–losing jobs and clout. It’s a major risk to be a terrible person, but shouldn’t it be?

A pseudonym is useful to those writing subjects and details in their work that they don’t want personally connected with their non-writing persona, such as romance and sex. And, this is effective. No one is going to come for you. They’re not trying to find who you are to stop you and protect society–unless we slipped into The Hand Maid’s Tale suddenly (almost there, but not quite). For the lighter side, it makes sense to buffer yourself. If you’re writing memoir or sexy tales, it will work for you.

For me, writing socially conscious items in dark fantasy and historical fiction, I can’t hide. My commentary matters and I need to be as well-versed in critical race and social theory, as the topic of history I chose. To this day, it still makes me nervous that I wrote Blue Honor. But, it is my hope that it is clear that being historically accurate and facing the white privilege in subtle and overt ways was the point, just as exploring the ideas of repressed women was the point. Writing Hettie was the hardest thing I have ever done. She’s not my wheelhouse, but her experience couldn’t go ignored, nor omitted. In the end, I own this. I can only hope that should I gain wide reaching popularity, that Blue is useful for discussions on race and privilege.

In the end, I chose only to use my first initial but my real name. There are sexually explicit scenes in my work, but they’re not erotic. Therefore, I’m not concerned about the attitudes of others regarding this. I write in historical and paranormal, sci-fi/fantasy. I’ll be that woman pushing the boundaries, and providing stories of worth here regardless of sexism (because it’s dying). I chose to write socially conscious work. The repercussions of that are well-known to me, but change doesn’t come without risk. That risk is worth it!

I own my work fully and face that which will come of it. I had the balls to publish it. There are necessary discussions in the works that I hope I have addressed in caring and successful ways. I may have missed the mark, and that will be on me. For me, there’s no place to hide from repercussions if I messed up royally. Criticism, besides, is necessary to the growth of society. May I ever be a catalyst for the positive growth of my world. You’ll know who I am, even if I have a fake name, because I chose to work in arena where that comes out. Wish me luck!

Check out the other authors on the blog hop to see if they work with pseudonyms and why…

Blue’s Green Thumbs – Open Book Blog Hop #296

October 25, 2021 By Captain Maiel

♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦

Topic #296
Do any of your characters garden? Or keep houseplants? How about you?

A four-foot lemon tree sits in my front window, grown from a seed I found in a store bought lemon. It has never fruited. The large pot it resides in is its third house. Fertilizer spikes and plenty of water, along with daily warm and bright sun haven’t bore a single fruit, nor flower. I have yet to figure out why the tee is unhappy. It has gorgeous healthy green leaves and is filling out every year. Those leaves smell like lemons, too. Maybe someday I’ll get it and get some lemons.

Marigolds in the author's garden, they're yellow edged with burgundy, bright green leaves. — My marigolds.

Someday, too, I hope that I’ll get to see the gads of lemons in Italy. My great grandfather migrated from Naples to Upstate New York at the turn of the 20th-century, a mere boy, but a love of lemons came with him, I believe. This passed to me, despite being from an indirect line.

Bamboo plants adorn my room (along with one in the living room beside the television), a giant aloe vera sits in the bow window with a new watermelon plant to keep it viny company. I wasn’t about to let the lone survivor of a rabbit raid die alone in the dirt. I rescued it in a pot. Maybe it will survive the winter, too. The backyard is inundated with tomato plants. They now grow without needing to plant. I have lilacs, a rose of Sharon, morning glories, butterfly bushes, climbing roses that don’t rose, tulips, hyacinth, daffodil, delphinium, crocus, ground ivy, the ubiquitous hostas, and a blue flower I forget the name of at this moment. The hollyhocks fought to rise, but again–rabbits.

There’s a lot of green around and I’ve gotten a bit of a reputation for being a Poison Ivy (yes, the Batman villain). I do have red hair, and I do respect plants as lives, as much as any other life on the plant. Green isn’t my favorite color, though. I can’t imagine dressing in a green plant suit!

Having written a number of books, gardening and it’s benefits have not come up much. You won’t find Maiel occupying herself with a garden, although there are garden like features around her home. Likewise, this isn’t a pastime of Claire either. She’s a city girl who’s been busy at finishing school. I don’t think she’s much for hobbies, anyway–unless you count her sleuthing.

Then, there is Emily, the young Miss Conrad from my first novel, who raises many a garden plant in her greenhouse, heated for the harsh Vermont winters. The main point is to provide flowers to the Conrad home, something the Conrad women have occupied themselves with since the farm’s inception. Emily has taken up this mantle, forcing crocuses to bloom weeks earlier than they would in the outdoors. The little blooms make a nice feature in the starkness of late winter, to keep moods high.

Emily is known for her touch of healing. She’s a born doctor of human or animal. Somehow, she is able to nurse the sick with remarkable success. This power, it seems, extends to even vegetable. Is it her energy? Does she just understand the science behind medicine? I never went into any great detail about that. Emily hasn’t studied medicine yet, but has extensive experience nursing. The greatest thing she ever did was remain at Hettie’s side and make sure that the wounds she suffered did not take her young and valuable life. Even though Emily didn’t know this woman was a wife and mother, a great hero for surviving trials as a slave and aiding those on the railroad in defiance of slavery, Emily knew Hettie had to be saved.

Although it’s never discussed, it is possible that Emily has grown herbs and other plants in the greenhouse to use as medicine. After all, it is the 1860s, and doctors were few and far between, with hospitals at great distances. Most homes made due with what they had and the familial knowledge they passed down. Is it possible that Emily is a green witch? Very. But this is never said. Can you imagine, with her deeply religious mother, who also keeps time in the greenhouse? What if Mrs. Conrad were one as well? Perhaps there’s another story to uncover there–an unwritten Easter egg for my ancestors and living brethren.

Regardless of what ifs, Emily does love plants and growing them in a garden, just as much as I do. It helps to keep my spirits high, and to connect with something greater than society and all its problems. Neither of us would commit crimes in the name of the plant world, however. Yet, I can see Emily lamenting the abuse of forests as much as I.

Let’s click on the links below to find out if any of our other authors garden or include the practice in their work and how that might manifest.