My novels-in-progress center around Selonge Naita, a time-traveling child soldier who hates her life and quits her job. But all-knowing robot overlords really, really hate it when a soldier tries to quit her job. So Selonge is roped into fighting more battles. Literally - they tie her up, throw her through a trans-dimensional time portal, and leave her there to fight dragons. It's kinda messed up. Someone should probably call HR about this. But oh, wait - Selonge was born on Mars in the year 2170. They don't exactly have a Bill of Rights on the planet without breathable air. And the whole reason they traveled back in time to 1990 was to fight the Americans. So...no HR department.
Selonge's best friend is a guy named Jonathan Mitchell. In one timeline, he's the American astronaut to first set foot on Mars. But in this timeline, he enlists in the Army to fight in the War on Terror, giving up on that spot at the Air Force Academy. It was a dumb career move, no doubt about it - especially when his whole unit in Iraq gets swept up in a time vortex, and then stranded in the land of dragons. (Yeah - try putting *that* on your resume.)
So, here we are: time travelers with plasma rifles, dragons that spit white phosphorus, and children who are taught to wage war. I mean, you've always wanted to read about Ender's Starship Troopers stranded in Middle Earth, right? Right?? (Can I legally say that??)
Now, the stories are written in a serious manner, but they're also meant to critique and and partly parody the SF&F novels we know and love. A child soldier from the future doesn't have to choose to fight, and the those super-futuristic warriors won't always use their best technology. At the same time, however, I want to keep an honor the best trends of the genre: the realization that characters are conflicted about the world, that technology becomes a representation of our own flaws as human beings, and the "other" is sometimes more sympathetic that our so-called "friends."
Also, something I'd like to note: Selonge, the main character, is lesbian. When I first began writing these stories back in high school, Selonge was a straight white secondary character. Now, she's the white lesbian protagonist. I know that there are some readers out there who will accuse me of "pandering," and there are others who will question how I (a straight white male) can write this character, or even why I would. So I want to clear this up a bit.
When I first wrote Selonge, she was supposed to be an "infiltration agent" - a Martian ("Marshna") colonist trained to infiltrate the American military and wreak havoc. Later, I wrote her as someone who was raised into American culture as a way to better complete that mission. But as I wrote her, I realized that something was missing - that she wouldn't simply adopt the Marshna mission. But this character was also very isolated - far more isolated than a typical teenager. Whenever I wrote her, there were no love interests. I came to realize that there was something more to her independence than her doubts about the mission. I didn't so exactly "decide" that she's lesbian - it's more than I realized she should be. This additional layer of difference between herself and "normal" American culture (i.e. heteronormative homophobia, however subtle) would lead her to deeper insights and also deeper frustrations. She can't just show up to high school and be a teenage spy - she has to worry about what her classmates will call her behind her back. And good luck finding love in small-town Illinois when only 3.5% of the U.S. population is LGBTQ - and hardly any will admit it in a rural town near the border with Indiana.
Naturally, her best friend is a straight white male with a crush on her. And no, she will not fall in love with him. She's lesbian. And the idea of sleeping with a man is *not* attractive to her. But she's accustomed to men and boys who get the wrong idea. And maybe this is why she always carries a forty-five. Because, seriously - she shouldn't need to keep repeating "no means no." But she can - and she will. With a bullet, if necessary.
Also, did I mention that she was a child soldier? Who qualified "expert" on plasma rifles and grenade launchers? No, you don't want to mess with her. Just ask the people who tried killing her girlfriend.
Selonge's best friend is a guy named Jonathan Mitchell. In one timeline, he's the American astronaut to first set foot on Mars. But in this timeline, he enlists in the Army to fight in the War on Terror, giving up on that spot at the Air Force Academy. It was a dumb career move, no doubt about it - especially when his whole unit in Iraq gets swept up in a time vortex, and then stranded in the land of dragons. (Yeah - try putting *that* on your resume.)
So, here we are: time travelers with plasma rifles, dragons that spit white phosphorus, and children who are taught to wage war. I mean, you've always wanted to read about Ender's Starship Troopers stranded in Middle Earth, right? Right?? (Can I legally say that??)
Now, the stories are written in a serious manner, but they're also meant to critique and and partly parody the SF&F novels we know and love. A child soldier from the future doesn't have to choose to fight, and the those super-futuristic warriors won't always use their best technology. At the same time, however, I want to keep an honor the best trends of the genre: the realization that characters are conflicted about the world, that technology becomes a representation of our own flaws as human beings, and the "other" is sometimes more sympathetic that our so-called "friends."
Also, something I'd like to note: Selonge, the main character, is lesbian. When I first began writing these stories back in high school, Selonge was a straight white secondary character. Now, she's the white lesbian protagonist. I know that there are some readers out there who will accuse me of "pandering," and there are others who will question how I (a straight white male) can write this character, or even why I would. So I want to clear this up a bit.
When I first wrote Selonge, she was supposed to be an "infiltration agent" - a Martian ("Marshna") colonist trained to infiltrate the American military and wreak havoc. Later, I wrote her as someone who was raised into American culture as a way to better complete that mission. But as I wrote her, I realized that something was missing - that she wouldn't simply adopt the Marshna mission. But this character was also very isolated - far more isolated than a typical teenager. Whenever I wrote her, there were no love interests. I came to realize that there was something more to her independence than her doubts about the mission. I didn't so exactly "decide" that she's lesbian - it's more than I realized she should be. This additional layer of difference between herself and "normal" American culture (i.e. heteronormative homophobia, however subtle) would lead her to deeper insights and also deeper frustrations. She can't just show up to high school and be a teenage spy - she has to worry about what her classmates will call her behind her back. And good luck finding love in small-town Illinois when only 3.5% of the U.S. population is LGBTQ - and hardly any will admit it in a rural town near the border with Indiana.
Naturally, her best friend is a straight white male with a crush on her. And no, she will not fall in love with him. She's lesbian. And the idea of sleeping with a man is *not* attractive to her. But she's accustomed to men and boys who get the wrong idea. And maybe this is why she always carries a forty-five. Because, seriously - she shouldn't need to keep repeating "no means no." But she can - and she will. With a bullet, if necessary.
Also, did I mention that she was a child soldier? Who qualified "expert" on plasma rifles and grenade launchers? No, you don't want to mess with her. Just ask the people who tried killing her girlfriend.
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