Masques of Darkover will be released May 2, 2017 and is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and Kobo. The print edition will be on sale on the release date.
Darkover. Since then,
she has published a fantasy novel, Talisman,
as well as short stories and short nonfiction on such topics as gardening in
Ancient Egypt. Her short story, "The Golden Ruse" appeared in Luxor: Gods, Grit and Glory. She is currently
on a mystery set in 17th century France. Jane is a retired reference librarian,
a job which encouraged her to go on being curious about everything and exposed
her to a rich variety of people. She lives in Denver, CO with her husband and
two spoiled cats.
Jane M. H. Bigelow had her first professional publication in
Free Amazons of
Deborah J. Ross: Tell us about your story in Masques of Darkover.
Jane M. H. Bigelow: “Duvin’s Grand
Tour” began with a mental video clip of a well-meaning but clueless young male
visitor to Darkover walking through Thendara. He stops where he is when he sees
a beautiful young woman walking gracefully through the crowds. Our visitor has
been warned to be circumspect in what he says to or about women, and he’s heard
the rumors that Darkovan nobility can read thoughts, so he tries really hard
not to think anything offensive. He wouldn’t want to offend, anyway; he’s a
nice fellow. Womanly, that’s the word he wants to describe her, womanly. She
giggles.
Who is this man? What’s he doing on Darkover? And how did a P.G. Wodehouse character get so far from home? Who’s the woman? Why is she amused rather than offended?
I did give Duvin one advantage over the usual Wodehouse protagonist. Although he thinks of himself as not clever, he has a gift for languages. I wanted him to be able to communicate with people independently, even though it soon became clear to me that he had not come to Darkover as a Terran official, and I didn’t want to use the “visitor discovers unsuspected telepathic abilities” trope for a humorous story.
This is the first story I’ve done where humor was the main focus. All those people who warned that writing funny is seriously hard were right, but it’s also a great deal of fun. Thank you, Deborah, for encouraging me to write it.
DJR: How do you balance writing in some else’s world and being true to your own creative imagination?”
JMHB: For me, writing Darkover stories is like writing historical fiction or alternate history. There’s a framework of accepted fact, but it certainly doesn’t cover everything. It gives the writer a starting point; the stories branch out from there. For example, I recently had a story published in Luxor: Gods, Grit and Glory, an anthology of Ancient Egyptian historical fiction. Several authors chose similar time periods, but they certainly didn’t do the same story. Darkovan history is also long, and varied. There’s plenty of room for writers to wander.
Who is this man? What’s he doing on Darkover? And how did a P.G. Wodehouse character get so far from home? Who’s the woman? Why is she amused rather than offended?
I did give Duvin one advantage over the usual Wodehouse protagonist. Although he thinks of himself as not clever, he has a gift for languages. I wanted him to be able to communicate with people independently, even though it soon became clear to me that he had not come to Darkover as a Terran official, and I didn’t want to use the “visitor discovers unsuspected telepathic abilities” trope for a humorous story.
This is the first story I’ve done where humor was the main focus. All those people who warned that writing funny is seriously hard were right, but it’s also a great deal of fun. Thank you, Deborah, for encouraging me to write it.
DJR: How do you balance writing in some else’s world and being true to your own creative imagination?”
JMHB: For me, writing Darkover stories is like writing historical fiction or alternate history. There’s a framework of accepted fact, but it certainly doesn’t cover everything. It gives the writer a starting point; the stories branch out from there. For example, I recently had a story published in Luxor: Gods, Grit and Glory, an anthology of Ancient Egyptian historical fiction. Several authors chose similar time periods, but they certainly didn’t do the same story. Darkovan history is also long, and varied. There’s plenty of room for writers to wander.
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