Hild roundup #18

It's clear that now Hild's been out nearly six months things are slowing down. I have zero (none, not one) interviews to report, for example. I am okay with this: I have Hild II to write.

I  keep thinking about short story ideas, though. Speaking of which you can now read "Cold Wind," for free at Tor.com, or read it on your Kindle (device or app) for 99 cents. (Lois Tilton reviews it here. She sounds a little...puzzled.)

In other news, Hild--as well as being a finalist for the Nebula and Lambda Literary Awards, a Tiptree Honor Book, and one of Autostraddle's Top 10 Queer and Feminist Books of 2013--is short-listed for the Bisexual Book Award.

Other links can be found at the master list of Hild roundups.

REVIEWS

The English Bookshop

She was the light of the world, Anna Bark Persson

"Hild is above all a gorgeously written and richly imagined novel […] Ironically enough, considering that the novel is historical fiction, it many times reminded me of why I used to like epic fantasy so much […] Griffith manages to make what is often an unfamiliar world intelligible to me more deftly than many fantasy authors."

Emphatic Hands

Every book I’ve read so far this year, 

"One of the best examples of historical fiction I’ve encountered in a while. I was really impressed…"

Chicago Public Library

Skirt and Sword, Quiet Mouth and Bright Mind, Bbruins

"Nicola Griffith is better known for her mystery and science fiction work, but Hild, her first work of historical fiction, may be her breakthrough."

Have a Heart of Fire; Have a Heart of Gold

I really think you should read Hild, Haddyr Copley-Woods

"There are books that begin to make me sad as I go on, because the book gets thinner and thinner on one side...and I know I will be having to leave that world and those people soon. / Hild was one of those books. It was not just the fact that I finally felt represented in a historical novel — something that is not to be underestimated. It was not just the fact that the historical details were fascinating to the extreme, especially the religious, outlook, and domestic details. It was not just the fact that I absolutely ADORED Hild, as a person, and her brother and her cronies and her people and her land. I guess it was all of those things. But more: I was utterly immersed in the world. I was growing as Hild was. I was helpless yet powerful, strong yet frightened, friend to all peoples but friend of no person."

MISCELLANEOUS

The Riveter Magazine

The Culture of American Fiction, Evan Kleecamp

"Fiction as a genre has a particular cult(ure) associated with its distribution. I would argue American fiction publishing culture follows “masculine” competitive logic (not that women should not be competitive or masculine!) that seeks to undermine readers, engender their interpretations, and distort their agency. Women are writing experimental novels, we just aren’t hearing about it. Wood’s article focuses on outdated, male-centric academic criticism and fails to mention non-academic reviewers who have anticipated, if not outright caused, the rise of female authors like Donna Tartt, Rachel Kushner, Nicola Griffith, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie."

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Water roads in Anglo-Saxon Britain

If ever you doubted the importance of water to communications and power in Anglo-Saxon England take a look at this map. I haven't a clue of its date* (after Hild's time; I found it on the Toast), but it gives a window into the relationship between navigable rivers and coastlines and important/fortified settlements.

I spent many hours today searching for some sort of map--a sketch would do--of the Tyne**, its estuarine channels, and Arbeia as Hild might have known it. Obviously something from the seventh century would be ideal, but I'll settle for anything from the first millennium CE.

Anyone?

* See comments below: it's by Matthew Paris and made in the 13th century.

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The Queer Detective

Gay City and Seattle Public Library are joining forces for "The Queer Detective: Discovering LGBTQ Mysteries and Suspense." I can't be there, otherwise I would love to have talked about Aud.

Discovering LGBT Mysteries and Suspense
Wednesday, Apr 30 / 7pm
Seattle Central Public Library
1000 4th Ave
Microsoft Auditorium

Murder, theft, cons and crimes shadow the streets within a mystery novel, but thankfully for its innocent denizens, there’s a hero or heroine on the case, striking fear into villains and solving the toughest of puzzles, all while alluding danger and living out of the closet.

"Queer" detectives, investigators, and mysteries solvers are not new to the noir world. Protectors of its dark cityscapes include such literary LGBT luminaries as Joseph Hansen’s dogged investigator Dave Brandstetter, Nicola Griffith’s steely heroine Aud Torvingen, and Josh Lanyon’s inquisitive bookseller Adrien English.

Join Gay City, Gay Romance NW Meetup, and the Seattle Central Public Library as we present our latest Meet The Author reading with three northwest writers who spotlight crime solvers who find the culprit and celebrate LGBT love and relationships. This reading event will include Lambda Literary winner Nicole Kimberling (Bellingham Mysteries), Rainbow Award winner Lori L. Lake (Gun Shy) and Lou Sylvre (Loving Luki Vasquez).

So, y'know, be there or be square. And tell me all about it!

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Anglo-Saxon medical practice

From: Eva

First off, I just finished Hild and absolutely loved it. It's the first work of yours I've read, but I think I'll have to go read some more--after pausing for a while to let Hild settle down in my head. Jumping into another world too quickly would feel wrong.

Anyway, my question! It's sort of an odd one, I think. I really enjoy historical fiction, and when I read it, I'm often curious about how the things described in historical terms line up with modern concepts or knowledge. I also have a particular interest in illnesses and medical problems in times past (I blame a book I read about the Black Death when I was in middle school). When Hild was examining Angeth and her pregnancy, there seemed to be a rather specific list of symptoms she was experiencing. Do these correlate to a specific condition?

I should admit right now I know next to nothing about pregnancy or childbirth. As a lady married to a lady, neither of whom has any interest in getting, being, or unbeing pregnant, it hasn't really come up in practical terms. I did a bit of searching around online, and my best guess is preeclampsia--is that correct? And if so, do you have any information on what it was called or how it was viewed at the time?

Thanks for your time and indulgence!

I'm delighted you liked the book. I worked long and hard on figuring out exactly how to draw readers in--how to immerse you, to write my software on your hardware. I had strenuous discussions (with Kelley, with my editor, with other readers) about the advisability of using all those difficult names and unfamiliar-to-most spellings. As a result I did a lot of work to clarify names (people, mostly, but also places) without getting simplistic. I added what felt to me like tedious exposition but which everyone else told me was not enough. But there came a point where I wasn't willing to do more.

The way I see it, not every book works for every reader. With Hild, if you're not hooked by p.50 it probably isn't the novel for you. I wasn't going to fuck up the possibility of giving some readers magic in order to coddle the kind of readers whose minds are not suitably geared for this book.

To be clear, I'm not talking about IQ but mindset: are you willing to be swept away? Are you willing to take that great leap into the unknown? Some readers are not. They like to proceed logically with all narrative depths and colours and turns clearly sign-posted and classified. And that's cool, we're all different. But as a reader I would suffer from that lack of risk, that loss of what feels like magic; I crave the kind of experience I hope to give readers of Hild.

This, of course, is one of the reasons I began with Hild as a child, so the reader could learn as Hild learnt: by absorbing the mores and languages, the patterns and sounds of Early Medieval Britain (or at least Hild's part of it), let them seep in naturally to bend your worldview before you know it. I wanted a reader to live and breathe the seventh century to such an extent that when you look up from the text to find yourself in the twenty-first you feel momentarily disoriented.

Anyway. Angeth. (I suppose I should point out to those who care about such things that what follows could be regarded as a spoiler.) Yes, she suffered pre-eclampsia and then eclampsia. In my on-going research I've seen no mention of any such a thing in any records of the time (there again, there are no records about women or women's lives from that time and place) but my own view is that Anglo-Saxon women would have been familiar with the problem. (Arguably, pre/eclampsia results from an autoimmune response--the mother's system starts to treat the foetus as an invader. Possibly because of some incompatibility with the father's sperm. This means of course that she wouldn't necessarily respond so badly to the sperm of other men--which could lead to interesting dynastic drama...)

So how would Hild treat eclampsia with the tools of the time? Given that she has always used observation I devised a series of simple diagnostic indicators: Headaches pointing to high blood pressure? (She wouldn't think of it that way, of course, but I did.) Skin pitting indicative of œdema? (Pressing the hand isn't foolproof but lots of people have used it for a long time.) Protein in the urine? (I've no idea if foamy urine is diagnostic of proteinuria but I thought it might be.) Blood in the urine? (This can be a sign of kidney failure, and so possibly other organ failure. Lots of other things, too, of course, but given that Angeth wasn't brutally hard-worked it wouldn't be an exercise-related sign, it couldn't be menstrual blood, if it were cancer there's not a lot Hild could have done about it, etc.)

I never bothered to work out what Hild might have called eclampsia but she would have learnt to recognise it. If she recognised it early in the pregnancy there's a possibility that magnesium sulphate might help (I'm just guessing; I'm not medically trained). So if she had access to Epsom Salts--and knew what to do with them--she might have tried that. But I doubt it would have been enough for Angeth.

The way I see it--certainly the way Hild saw it--the only sure treatment for Angeth's condition was to not be pregnant. Hild hoped that Angeth, given the trauma of her recent travels, might miscarry. (I'm guessing that many malnourished, stressed, traumatised women with an extreme immune response would do so.) But Angeth does not, perhaps because of her elite-level diet and general care. Hild then offers an abortion. Angeth refuses. And dies.

I made up Angeth; I invented everything to do with her pregnancy. There's no data to support any of it. Nothing. I just did writer stuff based on possibilities. Could it have happened that way? I like to think so.* But I'd love to hear from medical practitioners on this.

Perhaps Hild will one day be to blame for some young reader growing up to devote her/himself to solving pre/eclampsia. That would make me very happy.
--
* At some point I might write a blog post about my thoughts on the accepted wisdom--which I don't really agree with--around Anglo-Saxon medical practice. If anyone out there can point me to recent research (I haven't been paying attention for a couple of years) I'd be grateful.

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My story, "Cold Wind," is out!

So, if you've read my short story, "Cold Wind," at Tor.com (it went up yesterday, a week ahead of schedule) the mystery I posed for you in September is now solved.

Do read the story before you click on the mystery link. Otherwise you'll probably figure out all the clues in the piece before you're supposed to.

If you've already read the story, go ahead and click. See where I got the idea...

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Hild roundup #17

Hild has now been out over five months. News, reviews, interviews and so are slowing down--at least in the US. But the ebook just came out in the UK and ANZ and other Commonwealth countries--though without publicity because those efforts are waiting til July and the hardback publication. We are, as they say, keeping our powder dry...

As always, I only quote a tiny representative sample from the whole. If it sounds interesting, click through. And if you appreciate the work the reviewer or interviewer has done, please tell them so! People love to know they're being read or listened to.

Also, other roundups are here. (I still haven't got around to properly breaking down and indexing the whole. There's been a lot going on...)

REVIEWS

San Francisco Book Review

Hild: A novel, Alex Telander

"The beauty of the medieval historical novel Hild is that it is a story about a woman who becomes a powerful and inspirational figure…"

As the Moon Climbs

Hild by Nicola Griffith, Valerie Valdes

"Sometimes you take a bite of a treat expecting one flavor, and find yourself savoring something entirely different but nonetheless delicious…"

Geek Girl in love

Book Review: Hild by Nicola Griffith

"Anyone who is interested in the craft of writing should read at least some of this book"

Reflets de mes lectures

Hild

"La lectrice de ce dernier est d'ailleurs très agréable. En bref, Hild est un roman de très bonne qualité que je ne peux que conseiller."

[It’s in French, but a Google translation will give you the gist.]

Quoi de neuf sur ma pile?

Tisser la toile, tirer les ficelles, se serrer hors de vue

"Très documenté, "Hild" est aussi très joliment écrit, dans un anglais teinté d’archaïsme qui colle parfaitement au contexte."

[Yep, more French, but this is longer and juicier and, well, Google will have a stab at this, too.]

INTERVIEWS

To the Best of Our Knowledge (Audio)

"Getting Medieval"

[To coincide with the premiere of season four of Game of Thrones, a pretty interesting selection of interviews, including Karen Joy Fowler and George R.R. Martin.]

MISCELLANEOUS

Guardian

Science fiction need to reflect that the future is queer

[I don't disagree with the wider point, which is that we need more diversity, but I don't entirely agree with some of the assertions.]

And finally Joy (who owns Jo Booms, at least for now) reads her six-day old son, Wensleydale, to sleep...

from Facebook

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Digital tribulations

• On Saturday, my domain and therefore main email address went down--and remains so.
• This morning our WiFi network crashed and stubbornly stayed inaccessible for several hours.
• This afternoon, my AOL account--which I use only for lists--got hacked.

It hasn't been the Most Fun Day Ever.

Fixing AOL was relatively easy. The network was recalcitrant but is now, finally, back up. Nicolagriffith.com, though, is proving to be a serious puzzle. 

It's been down more than 72 hours. Three people are trying to solve it. (Two with considerably more skill at this than me.) I haven't a clue what's going on, or why.

But if I'm a little distracted, or if you've had odd messages purporting to be from me, you know why.

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Hild videos

While I'm trying to figure out why my domain is broken (and sorting out the resulting email snarl) here, have a bunch of Hild videos, conveniently broken into three types: interviews, performance, and reviews. Enjoy.

Interviews

Performance (staged discussion and reading)

Reviews

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April morning

Now that is what I call an April morning. That's all.

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HILD ebook today in ANZ, UK, India

Hild of the lovely cover is now on sale as an ebook in the UK, ANZ, and India. Yes. You can download it onto your device and start reading right now.

In Australia and New Zealand:

• Apple iTunes | Amazon | Google Play | Kobo  | JB Hi-Fi

In the UK:

• Amazon | iTunes | Kobo

In India:

• Flipkart

As as incentive--and for your delectation and delight--here are a radio interview, an essay ("The Language of Hild"), a UK review, and a TV conversation.


Also, here the page of Blackfriars Books, the publisher, stuffed with all the juicy stuff such as plot summary, blurbs and raves (she said modestly) and pre-orders for the print edition (due July 23).

Enjoy. Let me know what you think.

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Registration for "Magic of Immersive Fiction" is live

FYI, registration for my second "The Magic of Immersive Fiction" workshop just went live. If you're interested you should probably sign-up now.

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Swooning over both sexes...

From: Annabel (high school junior)

I've never written an email to an author before, but I just felt really compelled. So, I just finished Hild a little while ago. It was totally incredible, making me gently toss the book on the ground and curl up in a ball and lose sleep over Gwladus, as well as collapse on the bathroom floor for Cian (both of whose names I mispronounced for a good two hundred pages or so, I believe, before finding the pronunciation guide at the back). I really just love the way you create characters. I mean, nobody is stereotypical - even Begu, who I thought at first was just a random chattery girl, ended up admitting that it was mostly a facade and being so much more complex in a way we don't get to see - and they're basically all just people. And as many other people said, you have actual non-straight characters?!?! I can count on my hands the number of books I've read featuring characters who weren't straight, and on two fingers the number of bisexual main characters. And the best part is that nobody cared, nobody made a big deal out of it, her relationship with Gwladus was just so pretty, and initially sweet, and then heartbreaking. You're just totally amazing.

There is a problem that I'm having, though. At the end of the book, you mentioned you were "working on the second part of [Hild's] story now." You're an author. A historical fiction/fantasy author. So you kill people. Please do not kill Cian. I don't think my heart could take it. Can everyone just have a happy ending? (Okay, that was kind of silly, but I actually thought that. I really got terrified when you said that because I just felt like it was quite possible that you would kill Cian.)

I had a question, though. Where did you read about gemæcces? Is that historically accurate? I really like the idea of them!

If you got through this long letter, thank you so much. I can't wait to read all the other stuff you wrote :)

I wrestled with Gwladus and Cian, and Hild's attraction to both. I found it surprisingly difficult at first; I've never written a bisexual main character before. The power differential and possibility of incest, respectively, made this even more complicated of course. (More on that in another post.) Each and every time I get the bisexual stamp of approval, first and most importantly from Kelley, who identifies as bi, from the Lambda Literary Foundation's bisexual fiction award jury (check out current finalists and previous winners for plenty of novels with bisexual main characters), and from readers, I am relieved.

When it comes to killing off characters loved by readers and/or the protagonist, well, frankly, it's not easy. But sometimes that's where the story leads, so I do it anyway. I did it in The Blue Place and felt like a monster. But the shape of the narrative made the ending inevitable. (I advise people to read the ending in private. My acquiring editor at the time was so unhappy about it that she passed me on to another editor.) I had to write two sequels, Stay and Always, to make myself feel better. Now I'm hyper-aware of loss and how it will play out, both in the narrative and with readers.

For example, in Hild I had initially written in a dog, a puppy, for Hild to adopt. She had mixed feelings to begin with--dogs occupied a complicated place in her life--but she (inevitably) came to love it. But then I realised dogs don't live as long as people, even at the best of times--and much of Hild's life was not "the best of times." I pondered, sighed, and excised a chunk of the book: got rid of the dog so I wouldn't have to make readers see it die and feel Hild's grief. (She has a hard enough time without adding to her burdens. I talk about the decision--and many other things--on video here.)

However, Hild is historical fiction. Many characters whom readers love, or love to hate, will die. It's the way of the early medieval world. Men in the upper echelons of society during violent times, and women of child-bearing age, often died young. Those fates were decided long, long ago and there's not much I can do about it. The story will unfurl as it must.

Regarding the concept of gemæcces: there is no textual evidence there was such a thing. I made it up. However, given the way I've imagined the early seventh century in Britain, particularly Anglisc-speaking England, I think it's entirely possible that, for a while (two or three generation perhaps) such formal partnerships did exist among the elite. I imagine female friendships between those of lower status were less formal but no less powerful. Women must have relied on one another in much the same way sisters and lifelong best friends depend on one another today not only for emotional support but for the practical aspects of life. For everyday tasks, such as weaving, spinning, dairying, childcare, brewing, healthcare--often at the same time; kids don't stop running around with sharp objects when you spin, gesiths don't stop breaking bones while your toddler is trying to stick her hand in fire. For seasonal events, such as harvesting and sheep shearing. And during extreme times such as war and famine (which, sadly, probably weren't that rare--extreme but not extraordinary). It makes perfect sense for there to be such a thing as gemæcces--how could there not? But we'll never know.

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Getting Medieval on To the Best of Our Knowledge

Just gone live: "Getting Medieval" on To the Best of Our Knowledge which includes my interview about Hild.

"Another season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" is beginning, and the History Channel's "Vikings" is racking up ratings. Why are we so interested in the Middle Ages?"

There's also interesting conversation with medieval weapons expert, Kelly DeVries. There's a brief chat with George R.R. Martin about why today's audiences might prefer fiction about the past whereas a previous generation liked thinking about the future. And a segment with Karen Joy Fowler on her latest, the PEN/Faulkner-winning We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. A very satisfying show.

If you only want to listen to me talking about Hild as butcher-bird, Hild as seer, Hild as political spin-meister, then of course feel free to stream or download just my segment (a hair under 12 minutes). But you'll be missing out--not least because they use snippets of Heningarna's "Viima," as incidental music...

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Listen to this! Enhanced audio of HILD!

Last month I recorded an interview for To the Best of Our Knowledge. Naturally, I talked about Hild. I also read three wee snippets* from the book.

The technical director at TTBOOK, a sound wizard called Caryl Owen, took those three bits and turned them into magic by layering in the low roar of wind in the elms, the thrum of a bowstring, the crackle of flame...

The whole interview will go live in a day or two, but to tease you, here's one of those nuggets of sound--a reading you've never heard before, just over a minute from the middle of the book. The menace comes as much from the enhancements Caryl added as my words. I love it. It makes me more determined than ever to one day record one of my books myself.**

Let me know what you think.

* Each around 90 seconds long
** That is, to read it myself, and maybe to have the fabulous Caryl engineer it. It's a question of time and energy: I own the audio rights to everything I've ever published--except Hild, of course, which already has a great audio book.

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Hild and Tolkien and Beowulf

From: Stephanie

I just finished reading HILD and wanted to let you know I enjoyed it immensely. It was not what I expected, though. I suppose I thought you would include her journey to sainthood, so I hope there is to be a sequel!

As a side note, I now have a better understanding of where Tolkien derived some of his inspiration for names.

I'm delighted you enjoyed the novel. And I absolutely will write Hild's journey to sainthood, though it's going to take two more books to do it--if all goes according to plan. (However, given that the original plan was to write one large volume, I wouldn't blame readers for not finding me wholly reliable.)

Tolkien was an Old English scholar; we read many of the same sources. That is, I read a lot of poetry--which is probably only a fraction of the corpus, which I'm guessing Tolkien was familiar with in its entirety. I'm also guessing (a pretty safe bet) that he didn't need to resort to bilingual editions. Did you know that his translation of Beowulf is due out in late May from HarperCollins? I for one am looking forward to it immensely; I can't wait to savour the differences between it and others' work.

Meanwhile, there's always his Fall of Arthur which came out last year. It's his (sadly incomplete) version of the Matter of Britain using modern English in the form of Old English alliterative meter. It's not for everyone but if you find both Hild and The Lord of the Rings stirring, you might like it.

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Teaching a second 'Magic of Immersive Fiction' workshop

For those of you who asked when I'd be teaching again I've been chatting with Clarion West. I will repeat my one-day workshop, "The Magic of Immersive Fiction," on June 1st. Registration is not yet open but I wanted to give a heads-up to those of you not already on the waiting list.

Those of you on that waiting list will have first dibs on the fourteen slots available.

It turns out that the first one sold out in 90 minutes (!) so if you have your heart set on doing this, be ready. I'll announce registration as soon as it goes live. ETA: this will be in a week or so.

Two notes:

1. despite the inauspicious date, this is not an April Fool's post
2. this workshop is for those who couldn't get into the first rather than repeat students

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