Welcome to WIPpet Wednesday! If you’re familiar with my WIPpets then you’ve probably noticed that I updated the cover for Surrogate: Traditions again. When I said I might hone the cover even more, I meant it… and I really like the results, but, knowing me, I might tinker more with it later. The manuscript isn’t with the publisher yet, so I have time.
This week’s WIPpet Wednesday* again comes from Surrogate Traditions, the third novel in the Surrogate Series.
Ohh, now I really want to know what he has to say.
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Then I’ve done my job. 🙂
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Whenever I think I couldn’t love this world more, I get drawn deeper in. The Alyward are a fascinating people. This is a great scene, and what a way to leave us hanging! I want to know what Upland says to him.
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I love writing about the Alyward. They and pieces of another species in the series have become very dear to me for simply being who they are. Heck, I love all the species in this series, but the Alyward… Etain’s people have grasped a lot of concepts we humans seem to widely be unable to.
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That’s very awesome how much thought you’ve put into this world. The Alyward language seems fascinating, and it is interesting that words like autaluci doesn’t have a direct translation in English since the cultural practices of the Alyward are different from ours!
I like today’s snippet! Curious about whether Leigheas is worthy of forgiveness and if he is truly feeling guilty for what he has done..
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Lots of languages have words that don’t translate, as you probably know, so I made it happen in my made up languages too.
And, Leigheas… some things we can never forgive ourselves for.
Thanks for the feedback. I love that you’ve come to appreciate the effort it takes to world-build. It is work, but it’s also great fun, at least for me.
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So…Takla have binary gender? I kind of don’t want an answer to that (I’m building up to the full-immersion experience). As always, a great snippet with lots (and lots) of intrigue, you cliffhangerer! 😉
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No, this bears some explaining, so here goes. Taklas have a much more conservative Human, stricter, definition of gender. They have male and female and recognize LGBT, but the nonbinary, the Q… it widely confuses them, hence Leigheas’ problem w/ his own wife at at times. Taklas, like Humans, want labels. But the Alyward, Etain’s species, they recognize three genders, and I am using the word gender loosely here… male, female and ashk, ashk being anything in between or not the other two. Ashk is a self-definition and has nothing to do with biology. Biology only comes into play for reproductive purposes and even that can be manipulated through Alyward science. To be honest, no one cares in Alyward society and they don’t apply labels in the way Humans or Taklas do. There is no lesbian, gay, or bi. There is definitely trans, but those individuals generally go by male and female. To be a trans ashk is rare, but no one cares even then. And ace, gender queer, intersex and so on… just ashk. That’s the only word used. Attraction for the Alyward has nothing to do with male, female, or ashk… it’s attraction based on the person, not their parts.
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