I don't build worlds. I steal them.

Write what you know, is the most basic piece of vice authors are willing to hand out to their fans. Luckily enough for us, writing what we know can be helpful. We all have had our own experiences in the world and no two will ever be alike. If I were to sit back and think about what I know there’s a lot of darkness from my past.

I know what it’s like to almost die.

I know what it feels like to collect your heart that’s been shattered into a million pieces.

I know what it feels like to have infection eat your bone and have said infection drained.

I know what it’s like to have your cousin’s murderer pass out at your feet at your cousin’s funeral.

I’m not sure why my mind goes all doom and gloom when I think about what I know. I guess you could say I’m pessimistic at times. When I think about ‘what I know’ my mind wanders.

I had a friend who worked hard trying to answer that question when working on a novel. She found the question she really needed to answer was “what do you know little about and what do you want to know about?”

In her case, it was the afterlife and demons. She did research and came up with her own conclusion on the subject. She then took that information and wrote a book. For everything we know, there’s always something that we don’t know. She built her story from ideas in the world, built on her own foundation.

For example:

I want to know more about theatre in New York.
I know about love.
I know about love triangles.

Thus, I’m writing a love triangle story, based at a theatre in NYC that I have visited a few times.

The characters will live/play around in places I have visited and places I haven’t. We’re lucky to have tools like Google Maps, web searches and so on to really help us bring our visions to life.

Now if you’re a fantasy nerd, building your own world, you’re kind of screwed there.

God, I’m the lone wolf here, aren't I?

What I know: Katniss, Tris and Clary

What I know: Katniss, Tris and Clary.  Why did I name my post that?  Because I know them.  I am them, and so are thousands of other girls, young and older women.  We are reluctant heroes that are awkward when placed in six inch heels and camera ready make-up.  We are stubborn and selfish and loving and will surprise ourselves by sacrificing everything.  We demand what we want and we go after it because we believe in what we say and the people around us.  We are these women and that is why we gravitate toward them. 

So, why did I choose to write about this?  Well, besides being eerily in the mind of Tris Prior (I had to put the book down in the beginning when I saw myself in Tris and didn’t always like it), I write from a very female perspective.  A modern female perspective.  I am the product of generations of women fighting hard to give me the boldness that I have today.  Are we living in a perfect world for women?  Hell no.  But these characters making it into the mainstream media and being hailed for it?  That is a step toward the right direction for the next generations of women who will lead, and even some who won’t.  Not everyone wants to lead; and these characters say that that is okay and that that is heroic.

These characters say that it is okay to be confused about your first love, to be bold about it, to be sexual, brave, tomboy and feminine, to be comforted and to ask for independence at the same time.  No, we shouldn’t have to have characters to give us permission to be , essentially, human, but seeing the media embrace it is a powerful thing.  I write with these characters in mind because it is ridiculous to say that they do not shape modern young adult literature.

How many new young adult novels feature a strong female lead?  More and more and someday, I would like to join those ranks.  These stories dominate a formerly primarily male centered world: fantasy adventure, sci-fi, and cult classics.  Where men used to stand and swing swords of emperors, now there are women and not just women clad in bikinis and loincloths.  These are young women who are practical, who get hurt and who rise above it.  Now, I can go into a dozen page essay about what flaws there still are within these tales and many have, but I just want to point out that we now have something to really talk about.  The conversation has stepped forward.  The stories are out there, now we can get into the nitty-gritty. 

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a feminist (what does that word even mean these days?) but I would say that I am a modern woman demanding that I live in a modern world.  I want to be the one that pulls a man out of a burning building.  I want to be the one to ask for sex.  I want to be the one to step forward and tackle the mistakes out there.  I want to be Katniss and Tris and Clary because I am them.  We all are. 

So, what do I know?  I am a woman and I write from a woman’s perspective because a woman’s story, no matter what fantastical elements are there, demands to be heard.

Channeling What I Know Into Badass Fiction

The old writing adage goes:

               "Write what you know."

To the fantasy writer, this statement seems laughable. It was to me for many years. Especially since I powered through so many of my novels, start to finish, not knowing what-the-hell inspired these worlds, these characters, these plots. After completing several fantasy novels of varying size and subject, a couple people in my life who'd never before questioned my devotion to the genre suggested I write something a little more... real.

Thus I spent four years plugging away at my very first contemporary manuscript. Initially the task was both daunting and terrifying, a bit like Harry Potter suddenly waking a Muggle--ALL the magic was gone. My characters could no longer just whip out a wand or break the world in half to solve their problems. There was no dying and coming back to life. The availability of actual tension shrunk considerably to the point where I knew rather quickly there was no resorting to artificial tension as I had in years past.

Four years later. The manuscript still reeks of poor sentence structure and a weak story but one thing remains: tension.

What does any of this have to do with "write what you know"?

During the process of constructing (or failing to construct) my singular contemporary novel I learned to hijack every personal memory from my young life, blend it with another memory or plain twist it to fit my characters and their circumstances. Despite failing to finalize a satisfactory draft (there were four full drafts; none of them will EVER see publication, just not good enough yet) that contemporary manuscript taught me a most valuable lesson. How to use "what I know" to tell a story.

Currently I am drafting a big fat fantasy novel, the kind of story I've wanted to read since high school, the kind of story I've been trying to write since high school. Just while writing the outline I've accessed "what I know" all over the place:

1) The Rise of Genghis Khan
2) The purpose and power behind the portal-quest fantasy
3) The Queen of Sheba
4) The Fall of Lucifer (Biblical Account)
5) African Deities (Stolen from Several African Cultures)

Et cetera.

Because the more I learn, the more I'm capable of writing. Because, really, we all write "what I know" in one form or another.

What I Know....About Pirates

PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATES!

Pirates are fantastic. Their adventures and antics have captured the imagination of artists throughout the ages. From theatre, to visual art, to literature, pirates are EVERYWHERE!

Except they're usually done wrong.

Pirates were EVIL. These men and women were bad, and they knew it. They did what they did and enjoyed every second of it. Whoring, killing, drinking; the pirates life for me. These were some badass mutha fuckers.

One of the most commonly known pirates is the infamous Edward Teach. You know who I'm talking about. 6'7" man. Shoved smoking fuses in his hat to scare the shit outta people. Took four bullet wounds and two stabs before finally going down. Oh, yeah. The one. The only. THE Blackbeard. All of what I described him as is true. The dude was a monster. However, he may be the worst; but he wasn't the best.

But that's a later pirate for a later post.

Intro to Paris Hilton

I really don’t know what to say about myself without sounding like a snobby asshole. But if I’m going to be totally honest with myself, I am a snobby asshole most of the time. I've flown around the United States, been ushered around in private cars and handed more than enough VIP passes all connected to the literary world.

However, that’s just because I've somehow turned myself into a Paris Hilton of sorts of the young adult world. A talent-less hack who has yet to prove himself and to an extent I’m totally okay with that. 

With that being said, I've written one novel and several short pieces. I keep everything to myself, however my lips become loose when someone I admire asks about something I've written or am working on.

I feel that it’s easier for me to communicate through written word rather than speech, which usually adds to the asshole vibe most people get from me. When it comes down to it, I’m an asshole full of gold and care about everyone—even Sarah Palin.

I’m currently working on a contemporary romance set in New York. The story follows two “bears” and a “chaser” though their journey at a local theatre, working their way through jealousy and a few life blows. I still have some chapter by chapter plotting to complete if I’m going to take part in NaNoWriMo.

Toodles.
Devyn

Intro to E. Logan

As the token female here, I should begin by saying: these boys have nothing on us ladies, am I right ladies, or am I right?  Actually, I’m all about everyone.  The more writers, the more interesting the stories that we can create and for that to happen, we need to be all inclusive.  Okay, so that’s my soapbox, which I love dearly, but I’ll step down from it.

First off, I’ll just say hello and introduce myself.  I’m E. Logan and yes, that’s a penname to keep my writing self separate from my actor/dancer self.  Plus, I’m very proud of where I came up with the name and maybe that’s a blog post for another time, ‘cause I can be long winded. 

I’m an avid reader of anything fiction, usually with some sort of fantastical element.  A Great and Terrible Beauty?  Loved it.  Hunger Games?  Jumped on that bandwagon before it was a wagon.  Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Pride & Prejudice, Narnia, Blue Girl (by de Lint… read it.  It’s fantastic.), anything dystopian, historically based (there’s a great series of novels by Michelle Moran), and…well, there’s a list that’s too long to list properly.  Oh, yes, and Divergent. 

I have written most of my life though I’ve only completed one novel to date and it is in a major rewrite/editing process with another novel half way finished because I smacked into a writing wall, so I am beginning another with renewed vigor.  Much of what I have written to date has been poetry and I love it.  It is underappreciated by the general public.  Now let’s see if I can translate all of that poetic beauty into a structured story.  It may or may not work out, but that’s art.

I’m also of the ‘nerd’ variety.  Seriously, I can talk to you about Sherlock, comics, mythology, history, costumes, Walking Dead, Doctor Who  (isn’t Twelve charming in that old-cranky-grandpa way?) and a couple dozen other things.  It’s my special superpower…

That and pulling a River Tam monologue on you.

Intro to Anthony

As the resident high fantasy writer, I feel somewhat obliged to construct a rather long and absurd post. I shall resist the urge. What you should know about me, I suppose, to legitimize this post: 1) I love writing 2) I love reading 3) I love fantasy, particularly of either the portal-quest or else the high, "epic" variety. 

I have never read Lord of the Rings.

I have never read Game of Thrones.

I have never read Wheel of Time.

Entirely.

I have read the Mistborn trilogy.

I have read the Harry Potter series.

I am obsessed (just slightly) with The Chronicles of Narnia.

Right now I am reading this fascinating, inspiring non-fiction title Rhetorics of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn, which is currently fusing together those scattered fragments of my brain (the writing and the reading) dedicated to swelling fantasy literature in general with greater diversity.

Diversity is my shtick. Creative diversity, I should say. Being black is a thing. Being gay is a thing. But in fantasy it doesn't have to be anything but normal.

So fantasy it is. 

Well, and my mind automatically wanders in that direction. If we're honest.

Last but most certainly not least: I am way hotter than my fellow blogger, writer, friend Nathan VanAtta. Just because I'm black and I'm gay.

So there. :)

Intro to Nathan.

Nathan is the youngest member of the Armchair Society and by far the best looking. He got into writing young when he realized in middle school that if none of the books around him could give him a story he wants, he should just make his own! His favorite books are many but his favorite book right now being Winger by Andrew Smith and his favorite series being the Gray Wolf Throne series by Cinda Williams Chima. Nathan loves literature and the arts in general. He believes math and science are the bane of existence and the faster we get rid of them, the better life will be. Nathan is the author of Black Pistols and dabbles in some pretty kick-ass poetry. He wishes love and success to his fellow members, and love life to any readers.