Writing autism

By Diana Morgan


As with many dynamic disabilities, the experience of autism is very different for everyone. It does not have a “look” or a single experience.  Treatment and support for autistics is complex, and while many things help a broad range of people, it’s far from universal. This means when we show a representation of autism, we are often showing only a small part of the picture. The problem is that people often only see one picture, one story, and their opinion of autism is often incomplete.

Many of these misunderstandings are also perpetuated by our media. In the past, many examples of autism on screen were stereotypical characters that show autistic people as hyper-intelligent savants, or non-verbal encumbrances needing full-time care. These perpetuated the idea that autism is a burden, or that autistic people have “superpowers,” making them valuable only for what they contribute to society.

If the only movie you’ve ever seen about autism was Rain Man, the 1988 movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, you’ve seen a very specific representation of autism. Hoffman plays a character with high support needs who struggles to communicate, needs round-the-clock supervision, and is a savant, among other things. If this were your only experience with autism, what would your understanding of the disorder be?

But then, say you see the TV show The Good Doctor, a very different portrayal of autism. Here is a low support needs individual who communicates well, though still has complicated needs, but is very different from Raymond. How would that change your perspective?

Each story adds to our understanding. The goal is not to have a perfect representation in a single story—it’s to add another story to the collective and keep the collective going.

We often are only exposed to a small number of stories about disability, particularly autism. Things have gotten better in the past few years, but even with the amount of representation growing, there’s no telling what media people will be exposed to at any time.

Writing characters with any disability can be a challenge. As someone with neurodivergent disabilities, I understand that challenge and spend a lot of time talking with writers about how we can have better representation.

The most important thing is start with the character. No matter what disability, you are writing about a person, a full person with a life, experiences, wants, desires, goals. What are those? How are they trying to get them?

Then think about how their disability can affect that. With autism is can be many things. If they have social communication challenges than they may misunderstand things, or have trouble explaining themselves to others. Think about how other characters may react to them, especially if they don’t know about their disability.

I have two autistic characters in my current books, Alliances and the upcoming Retributions. Jacob, a doctor with autism and ADHD who struggles with the ever-changing environment of a colony of survivors after leaving Earth. It’s a dystopic environment that challenges him, and he often struggles to communicate and be confident with his responsibilities. His experience is based largely on my own struggles to navigate the world growing up with a diagnosis, but not always having support.

In Retributions, he will meet Henry, a medium supports needs autistic person who has grown up in a harsh environment with almost no support and no idea why his mind works differently. They will have to survive together while navigating their different experiences of the world.

The goal is not necessarily to create a perfect representation in every story, but to create as wide a variety of stories as possible. So that there is a greater chance that people will see more experiences. Especially in a disability as dynamic as autism, we need to keep telling stories and showing what life with autism is like.

Creating authentic characters with autism is a very nuanced conversation, and I don’t have simple answers. If you are not autistic, do your research, engage with the autism community and learn as much as you can. Even if you are autistic, be open to learning about other experiences. If needed, use a sensitivity reader to help make your character’s experience as authentically as possible. Most importantly, keep writing. Keep adding our stories to the collective.

At the end of the day, it’s the work we do telling our stories, doing activism, and standing up for autistic and other disabled people that makes the most difference.

April is Autism Acceptance Month, and now more than ever, it is important to both raise awareness and build acceptance. Because the truth is, we need both. Without awareness, there is no acceptance, and true acceptance comes when we not only recognize the full spectrum of autism and its challenges, but also its intersectionalities. Autistic people of color are still underdiagnosed or diagnosed later than white peers; women are diagnosed at far lower rates than men, and cultural and societal norms still perpetuate stigmas and misunderstandings.

Right now, fear and misunderstanding about autism are being spread by people in power. Resources and rights of disabled people are being stripped away. We need to support the most vulnerable among us. We do that by continuing to speak out, tell stories, and participating however we can. Support disabled authors, especially Black and brown and LGBTQ authors and artists whose stories are often overlooked.

There are many authors, advocates, and influencers doing work to help with both awareness and acceptance of autism. Kaligirwa @BlackSpectrumScholar, Sonny J @livedexperienceeducator, and @adhdruids were the ones I originally saw suggesting calling April simply Autism Month. They also have a lot of content on autism and other neurodivergent conditions. For other information, I have a list of suggested reading and resources on my website at DianaMorganAuthor.com

DIANA MORGAN is a superhero by day, writer by night. Okay, not really, but when she’s not writing books, she’s a librarian at a local library, which is kind of a superhero. Her superpowers include always knowing what kids like to read, being able to read more than 10 books at one time, and the ability to eat more pizza than anyone.

Diana has always loved science fiction and fantasy.  She grew up watching Quantum Leap, Power Rangers and Star Wars. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making up stories.

She was a geek before being a geek was cool, and she loves hanging out with other geeks and sharing her love of all things space and magic and books.

 

This is Your Brain on Story

By Kathy S. Brown

The Story of Us

Unless we are some sort of Zen master of mindfulness, for good or ill most of us walk around all day immersed in the story in our head. We converse with ourselves or imaginary people. We react to events, parse their meaning, and fit them into patterns of our own creation. Each of us stars in our own story for an audience of one.

The late neurologist Oliver Sacks has written extensively on the subject. We seem to be hardwired to find patterns and impose sense on this narrative we call life. We unconsciously amend the objective facts to make a “better” story: More dramatic, more interesting, or just to “earn the ending.” Events really can’t be random and meaningless, right? And that pattern-finding instinct comes into play as we see images in random patterns, from clouds to grilled tortillas.

We Love Some Oxytocin

Human brains produce oxytocin, aka “cuddle hormone,” when we feel trusted or receive a kindness. It increases our empathic abilities–insight into other people’s emotional states–and thus makes cooperation more likely. (Fun fact: Oxytocin triggers the let-down reflex for nursing mother’s milk flow.) Dr. Paul Zak’s brain chemistry research at Claremont Graduate University took blood from test subjects before and after they heard a narrative.

Character-driven stories were associated with increased oxytocin levels. And more oxytocin is associated with more cooperation. Researchers have found stories—”experiential products”—provide happiness, just like real-life experiences.

“Collaborate or Die”

Proto- and early humans had to get it together, literally, or die. An individual naked ape had little chance in the wild. One thesis of social development cites the power of empathy—internalizing another creature’s observed experience and reacting to it as one’s own. This instinct lead to banding together and cooperative behavior. It helped all member of the group get “on the same page,” as it were. Early cave paintings hint at an oral tradition of storytelling that harnessed the group’s experience: A powerful bonding tool.

The Power of Story

As biologist Nathan Lents points out, “We cannot feel empathy for data.” A character-driven, emotional rich narrative is remembered more accurately later and is more likely to change behavior. Marketers and educators tap this aspect of human psychology. When I was in graduate school, I used a case study for a presentation on health behavior principles. My patient had worked hard as a coal miner all his life. He’d played hard, too. He loved the nightlife, beer, and cigarettes. When we meet, he had end-stage lung disease. Medicines were barely helpful, and the disease would slowly but inevitably destroy his lungs, each breath a labored gasp. But then, he was put on the wait list for lung transplant.

See what I did there? This expository piece turned into a story about a poor dude who couldn’t breathe. Maybe it’s a little more interesting now, as the oxytocin-driven empathy kicks in.

Because story links directly with our emotions, the connection is stronger and faster. The facts don’t have to convince us of the superiority of a particular brand of chewing gum: when we see a sweet, one-minute story about a man, his growing daughter, and the bond between them symbolized by a chewing-gum wrapper collection, we not only want gum, we also want the “gum experience” of love and family devotion.

This blog was originally published on 6/7/2019 at The Storytelling Blog.

KATHY L. BROWN lives in St. Louis, Mo. and writes speculative fiction with a historical twist. Her hometown and its history inspire her fiction. When she’s not thinking about how haunted everything is, she enjoys hiking, crafts, and cooking for her family. Montag Press published the first novel in her Sean Joye Investigations book series in 2021. Follow her social media platforms: Instagram at kathylbrownwrites, Facebook at kbKathylbrown, and Twitter at KL_Brown. The Storytelling Blog lives at kathylbrown.com.

 

 

Love on the small screen

By Sela Carsen

From Chaplin’s City Lights to Moonstruck to Bridgerton on Netflix, we love to see a romance played out on screen. From rom-coms to melodramas, we root for the characters to overcome adversity and get to their Happily Ever After. Hallmark has an entire channel devoted to these sweet, feel-good stories that, for all their variations on essentially a single trope, there’s something incredibly comforting about them.

But for those of us who like a smidge more steam than the Hallmark channel provides, there’s a streaming service called PassionFlix. Yes, it offers a lot of G-rated sweet dramatizations of popular category romances, but it also has the rights to some of the Judith Krantz miniseries from the 80s, as well as series based on recent bestsellers in the romance aisles.

I was drawn in because YouTube (that algorithm knows me too well) was showing me clips from JR Ward’s “Black Dagger Brotherhood” last summer. The first book in the series, Dark Lover, hit the bestseller lists when it debuted in 2005 and I was an early convert. At last count, I’ve read 11 of the 23 books in the main series, and have dabbled in some of the spin-off series, as well.

So how did PassionFlix do with their dramatization of Dark Lover? Let’s just say there were high points and low points. To their credit, they didn’t cut any corners with the story. In six episodes, they included every scene and roughly 90% of the dialogue in the novel, which I re-read as soon as I finished the last episode. I wasn’t as big a fan of their casting, the acting, or the low-budget special effects, but I give them all the props for staying faithful to the book, including the steamy scenes.

I think if you’re the kind of person – like me – who enjoys their romance movies with a side of extra cheese, then PassionFlix needs to be on your radar. Highbrow, it ain’t, but there’s something both charming and defiant about saying yes to a few hours of entertainment that other people might sneer at, or only indulge as a guilty pleasure. Personally, I don’t believe in muddying a good time with guilt. Enjoy it or don’t. Life’s too short to care what snobs think.

Now I’m eagerly awaiting the release of the next season of “the Brotherhood,” which should be based on the second book in the series, Lover Eternal. I’ll pop the popcorn, extra butter, no guilt.

SELA CARSEN is an award-winning author of paranormal and sci-fi romance — with or without sex and dead bodies. Your pick. She maintains a permanent nerd-on for fairytales and mythology, and openly hoards reference books about obscure folklore. Born a wanderer, she and her family have finally settled in the Midwest. Until they move again, at least. Find out more at selacarsen.com!

Characters of The Talking Cure

By Kathy L. Brown

My new novel, The Talking Cure, has manifested into our material realm! In this supernatural Yuletide follow-up to The Big Cinch, a haunted woman claws her way back to reality by reconnecting with her magical powers. The Talking Cure is the second novel-length Sean Joye investigation; I share a bit about its origin story, here.

Stories tend to be about people, although a setting idea often kicks off a new piece for me. But eventually I need to come up with a cast of characters to populate that place; people who are real enough for the reader to care about them.

Archetypes and Characters

There are many ways to develop a story character, although they all emphasis finding key details through which people’s actions and opinions reflect their personalities in convincing ways. One method among the many I tinkered with for The Talking Cure was using mythological archetypes as character templates. The book, 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt (Writers Digest Books, 2001) discusses this process in detail.

It is important to remember the story character must always be a unique individual. That is, archetype, not stereotype. And they must have internal consistency. The things characters say and do must hang together as a believable whole. But artists have a trick: using a pattern. Humans recognize that certain attitudes and actions go together because we have seen them together before—in life or fiction.

Characters from Mythology

Forty-Five Master Archetypes identifies culturally resonate images—like Artemis, The Huntress, or Anansi, The Trickster— to inspire the artist and help them maintain a consistent fictional character. In addition to identifying and describing each archetype, the book discusses what they typically care about, fear, and find motivating. It also offers insight into how the archetypes view each other. These prompts are just that, prompts: a starting off point for the author to begin exploring their story’s characters.

The Talking Cure Characters

So how did this method play out for me in the actual writing of characters for The Talking Cure? Here are a few examples among my cast:

Violet Arwald Humphrey

Violet was a minor antagonist in the first Sean Jean novel, The Big Cinch. The two of them had an uneasy “frenemy” relationship, especially toward the end of the book. But in The Talking Cure she needs his help in getting out of a tight spot, even if she doesn’t realize it.

I already knew, or thought I knew, this character quite well. I’d spent much time with Violet in my previous book. At least for a jumping off point, the Athena: The Father’s Daughter archetype resonated for Violet. Her closeness to her father and inability to connect with the women in her life, perhaps influenced by the early death of her mother, seemed important. Learning, studying, and mastering new material is of value to Violet; an activity with little social acceptance for women of her era. She is a natural, if perhaps frustrated, leader.

Others see her as cool, competent, and unemotional. Locked up under the care of Freudian psychiatrists, Violet is even diagnosed as frigid (among other things). Yet in working with the character I found asexual to be a more accurate way of regarding her. The mores and rituals of courtship, romance, and physical intimacy are mysterious and awkward to her. Violet just doesn’t get what the big deal is; she derives personal satisfaction relating to people in other ways.

Doctor Henry Elsass

Dr. Elsass is the visionary founder of the Elsass Institute in Normal, Illinois. His facility was meant to be a paragon of modern psychiatric care, but mental health trends are already moving away from the heyday of the Freudian model. While Thorazine treatment was still twenty-five years away, the idea that mental health issues were manifestations of biochemical imbalances was starting to take root. But Dr. Elsass knows he is right and will hear no counter evidence.

I found the archetype Osiris: Male Messiah worked as a way into Dr. Elsass. From Schmidt, “[He] preaches and shows the way to enlightenment. Driven to accomplish something important—his life has an ultimate purpose. Sees the big picture, rises above the drama of everyday life. Reveres healing the soul. His criticisms can be harsh, and his word is law. Pushes people.”

Percival Emerson

Percival “Percy” Emerson is the president of the Elsass Institute’s board of directors as well as one of the patient’s husband. He is on hand for a board meeting and trapped there by winter weather. He takes it on himself to quickly identify the culprit in the unexpected death.

I found Percy’s brash, over-the-top personality in the Character Archetype: Zeus, the king. As Schmidt describes him, Percy “sees only the big picture, [and is an] emotionless, strong, workaholic. Strategist who lays down the law but can work the room and make allies and followers. Loves to rescue the weak, protect his family and kingdom (business). Wants to rule, be admired, take care of his loyal followers. Competitive. Fears losing his position. Fears emotional displays.”

Seeds for Characters

As I said, these archetypes were great starting points for me, especially since I like to revise, tinker, and tweak material. Having a bunch of coherent traits to work through, applying them to actual situations in my characters’ lives, is helpful. I hope this peek under the hood will prove useful to you as well.

Kathy L. Brown’s new 1920s supernatural noir mystery novel, The Talking Cure, is available at the Literary Underworld store. And it’s on sale! It is a stand-alone story, although you might want to check out the first book in the series, The Big Cinch.

“The Talking Cure is a marvelous story—an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery infused with a strong sense of the Weird… and a hearty dose of magic on the side. It’s ideal for all fans of the sinister, the surprising, and the strange.”

—Cherie Priest, award-winning author of Boneshaker

Note: Portions of this article first appeared in “Character Creation Tools,” a post on The Storytelling Blog, August 17, 2019

 

 

Mixing Up the Genres with The Talking Cure

By Kathy L. Brown

I’m delighted to share that a supernatural Yuletide follow-up to The Big Cinch is headed our way in time for the winter holiday season. In book two of the Sean Joye Investigations series, The Talking Cure, a haunted woman claws her way back to reality by reconnecting with her magical powers.

What is The Talking Cure?

Committed to an insane asylum, Violet Humphrey is isolated on the Illinois prairie with only her own thoughts and a persistent new voice in her head for company. When she is accused of murder, Violet suspects her road to both freedom and recovery lies through confronting her painful past and solving the crime. Magically summoned, Sean Joye skids through an ice storm to help Violet, but can they catch the killer and defy an eldritch horror before Violet loses her tenuous grasp on reality?

“The Talking Cure is a marvelous story—an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery infused with a strong sense of the Weird… and a hearty dose of magic on the side. It’s ideal for all fans of the sinister, the surprising, and the strange.” —Cherie Priest, award-winning author of Boneshaker

How to Mix Up the Genres

As you may have gathered from Cherie Priest’s endorsement, this book can’t be pegged into one genre. While I describe my stories “supernatural noir,” this one introduced a fair amount of eldritch horror and golden-age detective fiction tropes as well.

There was a time when publishers hated cross genre; they didn’t know how to sell it. That is, they didn’t know what its bookstore section should be. But now with electronic search capabilities authors and publishers can tag their offering with all applicable descriptors. It is so much easier for readers to find the perfect combination of their favorite tropes and styles.

I see cross-genre writing everywhere (even literary fiction is getting pretty blatant with speculative elements: 3rd and 4th place on the New York Times Best Seller list this morning are a book about an alchemist and a one about dragon riders.), and us indie and small press types really love to mix up the genres. Not being pigeonholes suites our imaginations quite well.

Brainstorming Genre at Gen Con

The Talking Cure is my response to a challenge to combine unlikely genres. Picture this: It’s August 2018. The Big Cinch is a finished manuscript, and I’m slogging through the agent-finding process and thinking I need to start the next book.

Meanwhile, I go to GenCon for the first time. Of course I attend all the writing workshops I can squeeze in. Bradley P. Beaulieu makes an off-hand remark in his “Brainstorming Your Way to a Breakout Novel” talk, “…or you might try mixing up unlikely genres and see what happens.”

I have my notes from that day. After the talk, I sat in the Indianapolis Marriot’s lobby and made two long lists under the key terms: “Cthulhu” and “Cozy,” followed by what turned out to be the basic elements for “Violet’s Novel.” The big question in the margins, “How cozy? How Cthulhu?”

The cozy aspect is evident in the setting, a favorite mystery trope: a small group of people isolated in a country house at which a murder occurs. Yet while my protagonists Violet and Sean collect evidence to solve the mundane crime, a hidden eldritch agenda becomes evident.

If you would like to sample the new book, read on! As the late December darkness gathers on the prairie, so do the Elsass Institute’s Board of Directors for their annual meeting. Head nurse Carrie has arranged for a few of the more presentable patients, including our protagonist, Violet Humphrey, to attend the welcome party and demonstrate the effectiveness of The Talking Cure.

The room grew darker as the afternoon faded, with just the glow of the hearth and the  lights on the Christmas tree. When a fresh contingent of board members lumbered into the parlor, the parrot squawked, and the elderly tree trimmers equally took fright. Dr. Elsass approached the new arrivals, arms outstretched. “Come in, gentlemen. Have a hot drink. There will be ‘something stronger,’ and a fine meal presently.”

Suddenly, a passing shadow blocked the glow from the fireplace, a darkness that smelled of decaying fish, sulfur, and algae bloom. Then Berta, who’d been so calm, sank to her knees, her eyes darting about, and croaked in a wavering voice, “Dagon lives. Mighty Dagon. Dagon. Dagon. Dagon.”

The bird joined in as a chorus, “Dagon, Dagon, Dagon.”

Having no idea to whom or what they referenced, I was struck for a moment with total conviction that Berta, and perhaps the parrot, knew some secret of infinite portent. I utterly believed them, the words a carillon to my ears. I took a deep breath. This wouldn’t do at all. I’m sure it was just what Carrie had been worried about, one of us crazy people acting crazy at the normal-people party.

The Talking Cure will be available from Literary Underworld by mid-December 2025!

KATHY L. BROWN lives in St. Louis, Mo. and writes speculative fiction with a historical twist. Her hometown and its history inspire her fiction. When she’s not thinking about how haunted everything is, she enjoys hiking, crafts, and cooking for her family. Montag Press published the first novel in her Sean Joye Investigations book series in 2021. Follow her social media platforms: Instagram at kathylbrownwrites, Facebook at kbKathylbrown, and Twitter at KL_Brown. The Storytelling Blog lives at kathylbrown.com. Her novel The Big Cinch is currently available from the Literary Underworld.

 

It’s Archon time!

It’s time for our hometown party! Archon is a neighborhood con for many of us here in the Literary Underworld, and always a great time. This year we expect to see Underlords Jim D. Gillentine, Kathy Brown, Sela Carsen/Silke Campion, Cole Lanahan, Diana Morgan, Mary Koppenhofer, Michales Joy, and perhaps some others! (Oh, and Overlord Elizabeth Donald.)

Literary Underworld will have our usual booth just to the left of the dealer’s room entrance. We have planted our flag on that spot and it is ours. This year we are premiering a few new books released over the last few months by our amazing Underlords!

Blackfire Rising by Elizabeth Donald

It was an experiment. A way to create a better soldier. Colder, more efficient. But some things shouldn’t be altered, and some creatures are best left to myth.

Sara Harvey has faced the Cold Ones again and again, losing friends and comrades in a running battle to keep the world safe from the monsters released by an experiment that should never have happened.

Because you shouldn’t have to pray to just stay dead.

 

 

 

Madam, Don’t Forget Your Sword

Do we ever think of them, the little people who make their masters larger than life? The ones tasked with the routine jobs: Picking up the laundry, packing snacks for the quest, renting the secret lair, oiling the death machine, walking the eldritch horror? The people who keep the heroine’s sword sharp and her chainmail polished—does she ever notice? What are their lives like? How did they get their jobs? There would be no story without them, but what are their stories?

Here, we present twenty-eight innovative and remarkable speculative fiction tales that reveal how the companions, sidekicks, and minions make that hero—or villain—super. Authors include Underlord Diana Morgan.

 

 

 

Vegas Run by Rachel Brune

Some debts you can’t outrun.

An unprovoked attack destroys Rick Keller’s refuge and sends him back to civilization. Adrift, alone, his past reaches out to him as the agency he escaped–and the old Soviet spook he almost didn’t–call in their debts. His choice: work with MONIKER one more time, or face the rest of his life on the run.

From the snows of the north to the sand of the Las Vegas strip, Rick finds himself enmeshed in a web of old alliances and new, as his team heads out on the trail of the latest development in the supernatural arms race. While Rick has been hiding in the north country, MONIKER has been building a supernatural army. No matter how fast or far he runs, it won’t be enough. This time when they call him in, they don’t need an agent–they’re eliminating the competition. This time, he’s going to burn them to the ground.

 

 

Marathonarium Vol. 2
Ed. by Stephen Zimmer, including Underlord Kathy Brown

The short stories within this anthology are the result of a creative journey that began on Thursday, July 18th, of 2024, on the eve of the 11th Imaginarium Convention. Writers of many styles and genres gathered together for a marathon writing session of three hours in length. All of the participants were encouraged to tell the story that they wanted to tell; there were no restrictions on genre, there was no common theme, nor were there any parameters on the voice the story had to be told in.

The stories were completed and edited in the months that followed, and the result is a group of tales that will entertain, captivate, provoke thought, stoke the imagination, thrill, and engage readers of a broad range of fiction!

Discover a highly talented group of up-and-coming writers dedicated to the craft of writing and the art of storytelling in Marathonarium II.

 

 

Weird STL, ed. by the St. Louis Writers Guild.

Eighteen short stories, poems, essays, flash fiction, and even a script that were all written by St. Louis Writers Guild members. Among them are Underlords Elizabeth Donald, Kathy Brown and Diana Morgan, each exploring the weirdness of our beloved St. Louis.

 

 

 

 

Baby Monster by John McFarland

Return with us to Ste. Odile, a cursed town indeed.

A familiar scientist is conducting a study on teeth, using participants from the women’s wing of St. Mathurin’s Home for the Insane.

A resolute woman must perform an unspeakable act to save herself from a life-ending condition.

An abandoned and crumbling orphanage hiding a horrific secret, a woman’s obsession with speaking to the dead, and her husband trying to save their son from potential murder come together in a thunderous storm of shock and terror.

Step into the end of intimate acquaintances and the beginning of tenuous relationships. Mysterious men, undaunted women, warped creatures, maddened minds, human atrocities… all await you in McFarland’s second volume of harrowing short stories, including two novelettes, published here for the first time.

“In Baby Monster, McFarland revisits the cursed town of Ste. Odile, where the darkest angels of our souls, all our souls, reside.” ~ Dacre Stoker, author of Dracul and great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker.

All these and many more are waiting for you at the Literary Underworld booth at Archon this weekend! And if you can’t make it to the show, they are all available on our online store. Just click the book covers to purchase! Remember, when you shop from the Literary Underworld, you’re buying directly from authors and small presses, which pays them more than buying from Big River. Support small presses, support authors, buy Literary Underworld!

See you at Archon!

Homecoming

By Dennis R. Upkins

They say you can never go home again.  They also say home is where the heart is.

If both statements are simultaneously true, then perhaps it means that you can never return home if home is always with you. Perhaps periodically we could all use the reminder that home isn’t so much a location, but the cherished people and experiences that define us.

Said reminder came in the form of me reconnecting with my high school bestie Joshua after two decades. In doing so I’ve discovered how far I’ve come into my own. More than that, this Catholic Herald is reminded that not only is he highly favored, but since the beginning God has sent her best and brightest to bless him and his journey. Said reminders come in the form of a Starbucks date that I’m on at the time of penning this piece. Enjoying a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino and the company of a handsome silver fox, I’m reminded to appreciate some of life’s true treasures.

In order to know where you’re going, you have to retrace your steps and remember where you’ve been, how far you’ve come, and what you’ve overcome. This also applies to one’s artistry. Which brings me to a little novella of mine entitled Stranger than Fiction. As my first professional published piece of fiction, Stranger than Fiction holds sacred space for me. Not only because of the story itself, but the story behind the story.

Strangely enough, Stranger than Fiction actually came to be as a result of a challenge from author Todd McCaffrey. Some years back I was at Dragon Con with a buddy who is a huge fan of the Dragonriders of Pern series. I was curious to learn more about the series and I’m always eager to learn about an artist’s creative process.

As the panel went on, I inquired about becoming an author and what advice Mr. McCaffrey would give. He inquired whether or not I’ve begun submitting my work to publishers. I confessed I hadn’t because I was working, in art school, and was waiting for a more opportune time to pursue writing.

That’s when he explained there is no convenient season. He encouraged me to go home and start writing. He challenged me to write a short story in two to three months and begin submitting it to publishers. What I remember most is that he spoke positively with conviction and certainty that I would be published and he would hear about it, and he was so happy to see a young author at the beginning of his career.

The result of that challenge was Stranger than Fiction. Submitting the story to various markets wasn’t without its challenges. While I received the usual rejection letters, the worst came from a specific publication’s editorial assistant. Insulting both the story and my skills as a writer, the editorial assistant wanted to emphasize that this was one of the worst stories she read and I had no business being an author. Nevertheless I persisted and continued to submit my novella. My labor would ultimately pay off. Stranger than Fiction became my first official sale when it was originally released as an audio short for Sniplits. The novella would regularly be featured as story of the week during that website’s seven-year run.

More than that, I was compensated for more than twice the amount a certain other publication would have paid me. More than that, said publication went out of business.

I returned to Dragon Con the following year and gave Mr. McCaffrey a copy of Stranger than Fiction, and thanked him for igniting the spark that launched my career as a speculative fiction author.

Last year I re-released Stranger than Fiction in print for the first time, and it’s been well received by a new audience and a surprising success. The experience taught me that while betting on yourself is a scary risk, it can also result in achieving the impossible.

Achieving the impossible feels like home.

DENNIS R. UPKINS is a proud Atlanta, Ga. native. A voracious reader, a lifelong geek and a hopeless comic book addict, he knew at an early age that storytelling was his calling. In 2011, his debut novel, Hollowstone, was released by Parker Publishing. His sophomore title, West of Sunset, was also released by Parker Publishing in 2014. Upkins has also worked as a freelance artist and a digital photographer. His artwork and short stories have appeared in Drops of Crimson, Sniplits, and a number of other publications. Upkins regularly critiques and analyzes the representation and portrayal of minorities in comics and media and has served as a contributor for Ars Marginal, Black Girl Dangerous, Prism Comics, Nashville Geek Life, and Comicbook.com. In an effort to help enlighten society about the cultures of the African diaspora and promote a more accurate and positive image, Upkins launched the Black Folks Being Awesome initiative in 2013. When he’s not out saving the world and/or taking it over in his spare time, Upkins’s hobbies include drawing, modeling, acting, photography, cosplay, rollerblading, martial arts and of course writing. His website can be found here.

The Elsie Lind Chronicles

By J.L. Mulvihill

One night I had a strange, terrifying but magical dream. That dream turned into a 180,000-word story. Eventually it was cut down drastically and became my first novel, The Lost Daughter of Easa. I had no idea what I was doing except writing a story that I wanted to share with others.  Once I finished the novel, I had to figure out what to do with it.

I remember I was at work one day and was getting coffee in the kitchen when I saw an ad in the paper for a convention that offered workshops for writers. The conference was called MidSouthCon and was only for a weekend so I convinced my family we should go. It was the most amazing thing I had ever done. While my family went to do all the fun things they had at the convention, I went to every single writing panel I could squeeze into my schedule. I remember I was up late and exhausted, but I was determined to learn the business of writing inside and out.

With the things I learned at that convention and with writing that novel I found a link to another world. Of course, that world was always there, always looming in the back of my mind drifting in and out of my thoughts, but it was never really something I understood when I was younger.

As a child I read a lot for escapism. I didn’t have a very nice childhood, but I found that I could climb a tree with a book and run away with the characters in the story. My mind didn’t stop there though, because something else was going on in my head. Stories of my own were formulating and I found that if I didn’t have anything to read, I could escape into a story of my own making. As I grew older, I started writing these stories down along with poetry and songs. The silly thing is that I should have realized then that I was a writer, but I just didn’t get the hint.

The novel Lost Daughter of Easa was published in 2011 and had its debut at DragonCon that year where it sold out. I was riding on cloud nine and was ready to continue the story. However, I moved on to another project for a few years and wrote another adventure, all along knowing that Elsie’s story wasn’t finished.  When I finally had time to sit down and continue writing Elsie’s story, I found it easy falling back into her world. The next novel in the series, for I now realized that this would eventually become a series, was called Return to Easa.

I was still working a full-time job and raising a family with my husband, but all the while I remained connected to that link in my mind. I never let go of the storyteller inside, but instead tempered her and kept at an even pace. I managed to write five other novels over the years to a total of seven while still working. I also wrote short stories and had them published as well.

In all this time I have never let Elsie Lind go; she has always been with me. I don’t think it is because it was my first novel, but more than that I am not done telling her story. There also might be a bit of me and my feelings and life in that story as well. Of course, all my stories have a little something of me in them – after all, you do write what you know. I am still writing the Elsie Lind Chronicles, not just to share her story, but to offer a world to escape to for my readers as I had done when I was young.

Though the novel was labeled young adult, I never started writing the story as a YA novel; it just kind of came out that way. I did, however, create the character in such a way that readers could identify with her. She does not start out as anyone very special, but she eventually finds her own potential and strengths within her to become a strong young woman. That part was intentional, because I believe we have within us the strength and power to overcome the obstacles life throws in our way.

In the beginning of the novel, Elsie Lind falls through a giant spider web that is a portal to another world. This was something I often fantasized about when I was a child, kind of like Alice in Wonderland. I wanted to go to another world to escape the life I was in, and I believed that if I could just find that portal, I could change everything in my life. I did find that portal, sort of, when I write my stories, because I go into that world I am writing about in my mind. As any good writer will tell you, I live it, breathe it, I feel it.

When Elsie wakes up in the other world, she has amnesia. I wrote this because what I had hoped was that a person could forget the bad things in their life and start fresh and maybe be a new person, start a new life. This experiment, however, enlightened me. I found that as I wrote the story, Elsie still had the thoughts and feelings inside, and she could not understand where they came from. Her emotions from past “baggage” if you will, were still guiding her and she could not grow until she faced these emotions. She had to find out who she was and where she came from in order to change the bad feelings and emotions within and become a better person. Elsie is still working on this, and I probably am too.

I think perhaps all my characters in all my novels are the kind that most kids and even adults identify with. It’s an understanding of growth and it is a form of therapy. I always encourage anyone who is going through, or has gone through stressful times to write, even if you’re not writing a novel just write your feelings because it really does help. I feel so grateful to be able to share my stories and get the therapy I need at the same time.

People always ask me what research I do for my books. Since The Elsie Lind Chronicles are fantasy novels, it is a bit difficult to research a made-up world, but not impossible.  Even though it’s a fantasy world it needs to be believable. I like to research historical elements such as castles, swords, battle skills, clothing and things like that. I also research folklore, especially Scandinavian folklore that really seems to fit into my world beautifully. I have my own private collection of books on these subject matters and use them often. If there is something I do not have, I tend to go to a library or bookstore to find what I need. I am not against modern technology, and I will do some research on Google, but I prefer to use books so that I can be accurate.

The Lost Daughter of Easa will always have a special place in my heart, and I do hope to continue the story until there is no more to tell. Right now, I am writing full-time, so I will have lots of time to spend with Elsie Lind in her world. I hope that if you who are reading this now, you might give The Lost Daughter of Easa a try. See if you don’t manage to escape if only for a little while.

If you are a writer, give your characters the chance to speak to you. Let them in your head, feel their pain and accomplishments because really, they are a part of you. Share your story, because I promise you someone out there will identify with you and will appreciate the story you have written.

A California native born in Hollywood, California, J.L. MULVIHILL wanted to be a rock star. After several years of modeling, acting, and singing, she decided to marry, have a family, and moved to a quieter life in Mississippi where she has lived for the past twenty years. Finding she has a gift for story telling she began to write young adult books, including the Steel Roots series and The Lost Daughter of Easa. She is very active in the writing community, a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Gulf Coast Writers Association, Imagicopter, the Mississippi Writers Guild and Clinton Ink-slingers Writing Group. She continues to write fantasy, steampunk, poetry and essays inspired by her life in the South.

Pick up the first edition copies of Lost Daughter of Easa and Return to Easa at the Literary Underworld!

 

Disability Pride

By Diana Morgan

It’s Disability Pride Month, and now more than ever, it’s important for disability representation in literature and media.

Disability Pride Month celebrates the landmark passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (AMA) in July 1990. The AMA has been essential in protecting the rights of people with disabilities, ensuring access to jobs, transportation, and more. It has helped create a culture of pride and visibility in disability communities all over the country.

One place where this visibility is important is through our stories. Disability representation in media is often overlooked when talking about marginalized communities. It is often portrayed in stereotypes or exaggerations. Disabled characters frequently serve to support a non-disabled person or as inspiration for the audience. Frequently in science fiction and fantasy, magic or superpowers “cure” the disability, reinforcing the idea that being able-bodied is the only goal – that living with disability is shameful, or only something to be overcome.

There’s a long history of shame and concealment when it comes to disabled people. In the late 19th and much of the 20th centuries, many cities had “Ugly Laws” that targeted disabled people, making it hard for them to appear in public. You could be fined, arrested, and even institutionalized if you were found to be too unpleasant or distressing. These laws were based on eugenics and creating an “ideal society.” Freak shows and carnivals often exploited them for profit, putting them on display for entertainment.

Many of those laws weren’t officially repealed until well into the 1970s. This is why legislation like the AMA and policies like DEI that protect the disabled and other marginalized communities and break stigmas are so important.

I am a disabled author with ADHD and autism, and I often include characters with similar experiences to my own. I’ve also spent time learning about representation and trying to help other writers as a sensitivity reader and speaker. I am not an expert on every disability, but I feel representation in media and fiction is important to the disabled community.

Early disability representation was often villains, angry over being disfigured, or victims who needed to be pitied and rescued. Much of this came from the fear and misunderstanding caused by stigma from things like the Ugly Laws.

Representation has improved over the decades. Characters like Geordi LaForge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Daredevil, and Professor Xavier in Marvel comics have led the way for more disability representation and better visibility for the community.

More recently, characters like Nessarose in the Wicked movie, played by Marrissa Bode, a wheelchair user, brought even more authenticity to the character. On Broadway, the Wicked musical just cast Jenna Bainbridge, another actress who is an ambulatory wheelchair user, to play the role on stage for the first time.

Supporting disabled writers and actors is how we continue to break the stigmas around disability. Letting disabled writers tell their stories and be involved in media is the best way to ensure that we continue to have authentic representation that breaks stigma and normalizes disabled people being a part of society.

Disability is not a monolith. There are many different types of disability. It can be physical, neurological, or developmental, cognitive, or intellectual, or a combination of factors. Not all disabilities are visible, and not all conditions disable every person in the same way. People can also have multiple disabilities that impair them in multiple ways. Some people are born with disabilities, but others acquire them from accidents, disease, or chronic conditions.

Disability is the only marginalized community that anyone can join at any time. Everyone is one accident, one sickness, one twist of genetics away from being disabled.

Even within a single disability, things are often on a spectrum. Autism affects each person in very different ways. We are not all Sheldon Cooper or the Good Doctor—many of us struggle in very real ways. Very few blind people see total darkness—many have some visual acuity. Same with D/deaf people. They may have some ability to hear within a certain range. Some people use adaptive aids like cochlear implants, and some use sign language. Some wheelchair users are ambulatory and able to walk short distances, while others have little to no ability to walk.

Remember, disabled characters are not just their disability—they are real people with real interests. Matt Murdock/Daredevil is blind, but he is also a lawyer with friends and family and real problems. He’s also a superhero with extrasensory powers that allow him to fight and help him navigate the world without his sight. He’s a full character.

Be careful about having technology, magic, or superpowers that “cure” your character’s disability. Daredevil’s powers don’t restore his sight, but they do help him fight and navigate the world without it, and many blind people find that problematic.

When Daredevil was first created in 1964, many cities still had ugly laws on the books, and disability representation was often in the form of villains seeking revenge for their “disfigurement” or victims meant to be pitied or rescued. Daredevil was something different. He was a hero. Matt Murdock wasn’t a victim or a pitiable invalid. He was a lawyer, and he was charming and funny. He had a best friend and a girlfriend. It was rare to see a disabled character fitting into normal society. He was far from a perfect representation of a blind person’s experience, but it was still something many audiences had never seen before.

More recent versions, including the recent Netflix and Disney+ TV shows, have tried to make improvements in representations. Charlie Cox, who plays Matt, worked with blind people to learn how to move and work as a blind person. It’s still not perfect, but there are a lot of moments where he uses adaptive aids like screen readers or reading braille. The other characters describe things to him. Ultimately, they are showcasing one person’s experience with blindness in a fictional setting.

This is why it’s essential to listen to people with disabilities about their experiences. Ask disabled people about their experiences – hire a sensitivity or authenticity reader if you can. Sensitivity readers are people who belong to the marginalized community you’re writing about and usually have experience with writing and editing. They can read your work and consult with you on how to navigate problems and make your story more authentic.

Things are happening in our country that make the fate of many disabled people’s lives uncertain. Attacks on DEI, healthcare, and the rising stigma around things like autism and mental health have made it harder for disabled people to get help. Now more than ever, Disability Pride is important. Sharing our stories and being represented is one way we can fight this and protect our rights and our ability to live and work in a world that isn’t always built for us.

I will continue to include disabled people in my stories and share my own experiences. For information about neurodivergent disabilities and ways to be more inclusive of disabilities in your writing, you can see my resources page at DianaMorganAuthor.com.

DIANA MORGAN is a superhero by day, writer by night. Okay, not really, but when she’s not writing books, she’s a librarian at a local library, which is kind of a superhero. Her superpowers include always knowing what kids like to read, being able to read more than 10 books at one time, and the ability to eat more pizza than anyone.

Diana has always loved science fiction and fantasy.  She grew up watching Quantum Leap, Power Rangers and Star Wars. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t making up stories.

She was a geek before being a geek was cool, and she loves hanging out with other geeks and sharing her love of all things space and magic and books.