Hwango

 

We're surrounded by artistic talents in this amazing community! In appreciation of a few of those, (and while we're all wading out NaNo and inevitable editing hell) I'll be revisiting some of our previously showcased talents.

Today, I have the pleasure of presenting for your reading and viewing pleasure, the ridiculously talented Hwango!

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*Kathy chatters on about books then remembers there's an interview afoot*

Kathy: What are you reading now?

Wes: Right now it's kind of terrible novel connected to the Magic the Gathering game...I was curious how the storyline for that block resolved. I had read a sample chapter that made it seem much better than it is. It's fairly awful. I shouldn't be surprised, but I was a little disappointed. It contains the phrase "shapped shut with an audible snap." that's just unforgivable, you know?

Kathy: Shapped shut with an audible snap ...

Wes: Yup

Kathy: Hrm. Whats the last great book you've read? (I know it definitely wasn't Death of a Cozy Writer)

Wes: Hm...last great book. Last book I enjoyed was "Fire" by Kristin Cashore.

Kathy: Fire? What genre was that?

Wes: Fantasy - it's the companion/sort of prequel to "Graceling" which was also excellent.

Kathy: I've heard great things about Graceling. Do you think those are good enough to warrant doing a brief review to include in your showcase?

Wes: Yeah, it's come up in a few chat posts lately...strong female character and "what have you enjoyed so far this year" at the very least. Hmm...that might be interesting. Let me think on that.

Kathy: Okiedoke

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

I have a hard time writing book reviews, because I worry about giving away too much of the story. I hate spoilers, including things other people don't seem to consider spoilers. I don't even read the interior flaps on the book jacket. So I'm going to try not to give away events of too much substance that happen later than a dozen or so pages into the book.

Graceling's setting is a fantasy world in which there are rare individuals who possess a special power called a Grace. These powers range widely in strength and practicality – there is a man who can juggle any number of items, a supernaturally gifted baker, a man who can predict the quality of next year's harvest, and so on. Graced individuals are all visibly marked by having mismatching colors for their eyes, and are often feared and shunned in case their power is something horrible.

Our protagonist is Katsa, a Graced girl in her late teens who is, apparently, the deadliest fighter in the world. She is used as an enforcer and thug by her uncle, the king. But Katsa is revolted by her power and by what she is forced to do in her uncle's service, and so she has organized a secret group that attempts to right various wrongs in her own land and in the surrounding kingdoms.

Much of the book deals with Katsa's attempts to come to terms with her own power and try to forge connections with other people, set against the backdrop of a mysterious conspiracy. Katsa struggles against what she is and what she doesn't want to be in almost every way possible. She doesn't want to be a violent monster, but she also doesn't want to be forced into the traditional role of a woman in her world – she won't marry, won't have children, and is frustrated by attempts to make her attractive or refined.

I found it refreshing to see a fantasy setting with such a small supernatural presence. Magic is the sort of story element that needs to be handled with care, and I think Cashore's restraint is a great strength. There are no dragons and fireballs, and I didn't miss them at all, but if you want epic battles and people throwing lightning at each other you are going to be disappointed.

While I found the story interesting, this is certainly a tale that is driven by its characters. Cashore always lets us know what Katsa thinks and feels about what's going on around her. This is not just a book about some stuff that happened to Katsa, but a book about how Katsa perceived those events and what she thought about them. I thought Cashore did an exceptional job of giving the reader a believable, sympathetic, and interesting character through whom we could watch the story unfold.

It's an enjoyable read, and I immediately sought out the companion pseudo-prequel, and will keep an eye out for future books from Cashore.

~ Wes

Kathy: *applauds*

You mentioned in your first showcase that you design boardgames and were hoping at the time to get one those designs published. Since then, how have your art projects been going?

Wes: Well, on the art front I just painted a spooky octopus for a band out in California. That was fun. It's the only paying assignment I've had for a while, though, so I think it really is time to focus more on the game design/writing.

Kathy: Do you run your own business, or do you work for an outside firm?

Wes: I'm pretty much just a freelance artist right now...I'd hesitate to go so far as to call it a "business."

Kathy: Gotcha. Doing cover art sounds amazing. That was a hope of mine when I was into photography. What mediums do you work with besides digital art and painting?

Wes: I used to sculpt things - clay, wire, tinfoil, whatever. When I tried to move into art that might get me actual paying assignments that sort of thing fell by the wayside a bit. I have been known to customize minis for roleplaying games, though, so I still work with clay a little.

Kathy: That must take a lot of patience, not to mention intense attention to detail!

Wes: For those I'm working with a type of Sculpey that's supposed to stay flexible even after it's cooked, but it's still a good idea not to make any really thin bits that might get snapped off during use. I think patience is a requirement for just about any kind of art.

Kathy: What talent and/or personality trait of yours do you think translates well from writing to all the other artistic projects you tackle?(and serves you best)

Wes: Hmm...it seems sort of lame to say my imagination, but it does tend to cook up weirdness whether it's for art or writing. I'm still not sure where the whole "hermit crab with a skull for a shell" thing came from, for example. Or my Yule Squid. Or any number of other bits of oddness

Kathy: I love the hermit crab! (please tell me if you've had that printed on t-shirts!)

Wes: I have! I put it up on cafepress, along with a lot of my other designs.

Kathy: YAY!

Wes: It's not a big seller, though...people have bought a few of my Cthulhu designs, though.

Kathy: I really enjoy your "monsters"!

Links Everyone to Hwango's Monsters!

Wes: Thanks - for some reason, monsters are just fun to paint.

Kathy: I'll take those over floral landscapes any day. (maybe because my mother used to sketch skulls throughout my childhood?)

Wes: Heh, even my landscapes aren't very floral. = ) I remember when my brother was taking art classes he came home with sketches of a cow skull. It's just something all art students end up drawing, I guess. I just realized now that I've never sketched/painted a cow skull before. I'm not a real artist at all!

Kathy: OH! IMPOSTER!

Wes: The shame!

Kathy: So, tell me a little about your education ...

Wes: I was a science/math person in high school, so I went to WPI for college.

Kathy: WPI

Wes: Worcester Polytechnic Institute. In Worcester, MA. According to nearly any technical person I've ever talked to, when I've mentioned it, "it's a good school." No one ever seemed to have been there or know anyone who had, but they all somehow knew it was a good school. It was a little weird, to be honest.

Kathy: Haha. When did your interests turn primarily toward art?

Wes: Well, I graduated with a degree in Technical, Scientific, and Professional Communication. Technical Writing, essentially. Art had been mostly a hobby I'd picked up in college, but when real jobs fell through and I couldn't get another, I figured I'd give the art a try. What I always tell people is that "at least I can look back in 20 years and say that I tried."

Kathy: Many things, as it turns out. Have you ever picked up a technical writing gig? (and what does that entail exactly?)

Wes: Mostly for me it was software documentation. Those were my "real" jobs out of college.

Kathy: From there to writing fiction? When did you pick up that "hobby"?

Wes: I wrote fiction for fun in high school, and off and on a little afterwards. I think I'd mostly gotten out of it until I wrote a few character histories for role playing games. Then I stumbled across Brigit's Flame, was reminded of my friend's crazy writing project, and here we are.

Kathy: In the pieces you've entered for BF, humor is not only a recurring feature of your stories, it's also well crafted humor. Do you think that's just a part of you that automatically transfers into your storytelling? And are you satisfied with that being a prevalent part of your writing?

Wes: The funny stories are usually the most fun to write, and for me they hold up the best. I often find that if I go back to look at an old story that was supposed to be moving or dramatic that it comes across as contrived and phony. And yeah, I'm pretty much that silly in real life. In fact, I was just thinking that I should be embellishing this a bit, to make my life more interesting.

Kathy: Pfft! So, do you get a certain amount of satisfaction when readers comment on how funny they thought one of your stories was?

Wes: Oh, absolutely. I think that's the most rewarding part of writing for the community - when I hear that I made someone laugh or smile.

Kathy: Great! My humor is more snarky, and my characters tend to take that on... unfortunately not everyone enjoys a smartass.

Wes: Heh, snark can be fun too.

Kathy: ;) Tell me about the featured piece.

Wes: "Strawberries." It's both ridiculous and has that sinister edge that pokes through in my stuff now and then. Strawberries

Kathy: Oh, I loved that one; What was your motivation?

Wes: Hmm...well, that was several months ago, so I'm not entirely sure. At the very least, I tend to enjoy writing/reading stories in which Faeries are spooky and such. Not the sugary versions we tend to get as children. And I really enjoy the sort of narration I used for that one. I guess it was an opportunity to not only tell a fairy tale that had some of their original bite, but also show someone who would tell a story like that. Plus, of course, I wanted to provide useful morals for the children. = )

Kathy: Of course!

I'm curious if you consider yourself a planner? Artisically and in everyday life?

Wes: Hmm...tricky. For short stories, I rarely have any kind of plan. I come up with an idea and I just see where it takes me. For trying to write longer material (like for NaNoWriMo) I get caught up with world building. In real life I like to do at least a little planning. I like to create the illusion that I have control over the future if only in some small way. "At 2:00, we'll go look at this thingamajig, and then get ice cream"

Kathy: Peace of mind, eh?

Wes: Indeed. I mean, without that plan, we might miss ice cream and that would be awful.

Kathy: Utterly!

Wes: Have you ever seen Invader Zim?

Kathy: I have not.

Wes: In the first episode, as characters chase one another through town, they pass an ice cream truck. Coming from the truck is a voice with an Austrian accent saying "you want ice cream. you love it. you need it. your existence is meaningless without ice cream". It was amazing.

Kathy: :D I wonder if i can find a clip of that somewhere?

Wes: Oh, I should hope so.

Kathy: I have episode one! Linky

There are actually lots on you tube ... I love the internet!

Wes: Where would we be without it, eh? I'd still be tying my first reply to you to a pigeon, most likely.

Kathy: Poor pigeons :(

Wes: Yeah, they must be delighted that we have the internet.

Kathy: *imagines pigeons watching you tube*

Last question: If you could be one kind of animal, what would it be and why?

Wes: Wow, that's hard. I mean, pangolins are awesome, and not nearly as famous as they ought to be. But I'd have to pass up on octopus to pick that. Hmmm. I don't think I want to eat fish _or_ ants. Though I suppose I'd probably find them enjoyable if I were the appropriate critter.

Kathy: A giant pangolin or long tailed pangolin?

Wes: I'd want the tail, definitely. Otherwise I couldn't curl into an armored ball nearly as well.

Kathy: There is that.

Wes: I suppose I'd still like to be able to open jars, so I guess I'll go with Octopus. It feels so disloyal, though. But I'd have a lot of fun with that color-changing skin.

Kathy: Well, if you did opt for the octopus, at least you wouldn't be in danger of people hunting you to make armor from your scales ...

Wes: Indeed.

Kathy: This was fun, thanks for giving me the interview! If I had more time, I'd probably ask you at least 50 more questions.

Wes: And my answers probably would have been more interesting. I hope you manage to get something usable out of all that. Not even once did I mention my plans to pull the moon into the Earth or awaken Great Cthulhu. =P

Kathy: Darn.

 

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