Jon Sparks

…didn’t even realise they were female till later. A few years after , there was ‘James Tiptree Jr’.And then for POC, Octavia Butler and Samuel Delany.
But the pivotal moment for me, as I’ve related many times, was Ursula K le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness.

At my age (68) they were absolutely the Big Three in my formative SF reading years.
But even then there were women making important contributions, albeit sometimes under male or ambiguous names. Andre Norton was one of my first loves, and Dorothy (DC) Fontana was a key figure on Star Trek, but I…

It’s a cruelly cunning way of deflecting attention. Forgetting that issues like trans rights can be life or death for trans people (or whichever marginalised group is in the firing line).

Thanks. That’s a LHOD cover I haven’t seen before. Fanciful but I quite like it.

Picture of the front cover of LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness showing two domed & spired cities atop forested peaks with a mountain in the background.

Nice article. Coincidentally just pulled TLHOD off my shelf to read over (what's left of) summer.

Feed-stream serendipity.

(As to Asimov's 'Foundation', I had a similar experience. The blinkered sight of youth, now broadened.)

Well said. I dutifully read a lot of the classics when I was younger. Loved some, some were okay, and some weren’t.
In any case, if we’re engaging in the dubious exercise of telling people what they ‘ought’ to read, we need to make room for newer things, including more diverse voices.

#wipsnips are from Book 7, working title ‘Explorers and Sojourners’.
Lots of instances of ‘really’ (suggesting I may be overusing it) but a modest six of ‘real’ itself. This is from a letter from Torvyn to Fièdra.
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Only in Silence the Word “There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.” ― Ursula K.

#WritersCoffeeClub 11/8: Overwhelmed by a work of fiction?
First reading of The Lord of the Rings did leave me kind of dazed and a bit awed… but the book which rearranged my head more than any other was The Left Hand of Darkness.
I’ve written about this:
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#WordWeavers 11/8: Looking back at the beginning of your writing journey, what advice would you give yourself?
Do NOT waste time or money on plotting tools or manuals. It’ll get you nowhere. Embrace your inner pantser and keep writing.
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#wipsnips are from Book 7, working title ‘Explorers and Sojourners’.
Exactly one instance of ‘flower’ so, after much deliberation, that’s the one I’m going with.
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…cloistered in the College for eight years; now there’s snow driving into my face and I can barely see where I’m putting my feet! And for all we knew there was no end to the mountains…
(This is in Book 2.)

#WordWeavers 10/8: SC POV: What's the worst weather you've ever experienced?
Railu: I’m sure I’ve seen weather that’s objectively worse, but never has it tried and terrified me like the blizzard we experienced while crossing the mountains. I’d been…
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Making the Journey Thoughts on World-building—Part Two

…in detail, in a Substack Post: tinyurl.com/d3t7d8ky
This cites Ursula K Le Guin, including this: ‘I knew that if my story took me to them, I would find out who and what they were.’

Making the Journey Thoughts on World-building—Part Two

#WritersCoffeeClub 10/8: How much of your world-building extends beyond what's shown in the text?
Oh, loads…but my issue is with the word, ‘worldbuilding’. It’s far more a process of discovery than of construction. No room to explain here, but I tried…
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#wipsnips are from Book 7, working title ‘Explorers and Sojourners’.
Finally the streak ends; no fewer than five occurrences of 'brush’ in the Sojourners strand alone (this being my current focus).
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Author statement on the Polari Prize longlist We are writers, editors, publishers and booksellers who stand in solidarity with the trans community. We are profoundly disappointed by the Polari Prize’s decision to include John Boyne on the longlis...

There’s also an open statement all writers and others involved in the book business can sign:

…Railu. She’s been through a lot (current WIP is over 30 years on from the first) but never lost the compassion at her core.
She’s still the person Jerya turns to for advice, too.

#WordWeavers 9/8: If you needed advice about your personal life, which character would you ask?
Great question!
This is a bit tricky, because their world is different from ours; but people are essentially the same. I think it would be…
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"your existence makes me uncomfortable so you are banned" is the UK policy on trans people now, in case you are trying to catch up.

I will be asking to remove 'Queer As Folklore' from the long list for the Polari Prize 2025.

Another point from the AI discussion yesterday to address.

When relying on AI to create for you, you never develop individual voice or vision. AI scrapes from the masses. It is designed to give you the most generalized version of what you asked for, for the highest likelihood you'll accept it.

…misleading impression. But that’s cool. I can’t think of comps for The Left Hand of Darkness either.

#WritersCoffeeClub 9/8: Have you ever encountered a work uncomfortably similar to one of your own?
Some of my juvenilia was clearly derivative, but when it comes to the current series, no. I can’t even think of ‘comp titles’ that wouldn’t give a…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

www.jonsparksauthor.com/the-silence-...

Wild Fox DistilleryHome - Wild Fox Distillery

Thanks again to Wild Fox Distillery and particularly to Dawn for being so welcoming.
wildfoxdistillery.co.uk

Photo shows author in orange and black cycling jersey riding over a stone bridge with a backdrop of field and trees, holding a copy of The Silence of Numikès in his left hand.

Launch day photo no. 3; just to prove I don’t spend all my time haunting distilleries…

www.jonsparksauthor.com/the-silence-...

Wild Fox DistilleryHome - Wild Fox Distillery

Thanks again to Wild Fox Distillery and particularly to Dawn for being so welcoming.
wildfoxdistillery.co.uk

Photo shows author in orange and black cycling jersey holding soft toy fox in white dress and green cardigan. The fox is reading The Silence of Numikès (with a little help from the author).

Launch day photo no. 2:

www.jonsparksauthor.com/the-silence-...