Howling at the Harvest Moon: An Interview with Joyce Chng, Werewolf Writer

Hello hello!

Well, it's February. Valentine's is right around the corner, and I can't think of a more terrifying time of year. So, because we all miss Halloween and because it's a scary month, I'm doing a special feature on--you guessed it--horror! Oh, and there's the fact that I just released a horror anthology myself, but we'll get to that in a 'Breaking News' update very soon.

For now, let's get it started with an interview with amazing werewolf writer Joyce Chng, one of the writers featured on the top 10 list I put up earlier this year. Without further ado, find out what makes this incredible folkloric writer tick.

Q: Describe yourself in 20 words or less.

Determined. Dreamer. Writer. Mother. Occasional cat-herder. Eternally hopeful.

Q: Tell us about your novels.

My novels are about Chinese werewolves, even though they do not fall in the traditional sense of the word. They are wolves inside human bodies or wolf spirits inside human forms. They are fully wolves, not beholden to the moon. The novels also deal with family and family issues/dynamics – things we don’t get to see in other books in the urban fantasy/paranormal category. At the same time, the novels are also about sibling relationships (and rivalries). Then again, I just wanted to see novels about Chinese werewolves set in Singapore.

Q: Your story showcases a love for Southeast Asian mythology. How did fairy tales and folklore influence the creation of your stories?

I grew up with fairy tales and folklore! As a child, I listened to my parents and grandparents tell stories about Sun Wukong (the Monkey God/King), Chang’Er (the lady in the moon) and warriors, generals, warrior maidens. To me, they are as vivid and real as the sun or the wind.

I also grew up in a country where we have different races and ethnicities. Singapore is after all a small island-state at the tip of Peninsular Malaysia, and surrounded by the islands of Indonesia. So, imagine the types of folklore and mythology infusing the culture.

The lovely Joyce Chng! Photo provided by author. 

Q: In addition to your wonderful Lang stories, you have two other novellas, one of which is an excellent short story collection in a sci-fi magical world, and the other has more of a fantasy feel. What are the differences between 'fantastic science fiction' and more realistic urban fantasy settings?

To be honest, the differences are… minute. Let me explain. J

‘Fantastic science fiction’ relies on – well- science and a dollop of fantasy. ‘Realistic urban fantasy’ relies on – our understanding of ‘realistic’, urban cities/spaces and imagination. The two sounds the same, at the end. The willingness to imagine.

The sci-fi magical world (or science-fantasy, as the SFF community will tell you) has magic, is generally low-tech and is set on an Earth-like colony world. The magic lies within individuals. The urban fantasy setting is more contemporary and rooted, in the sense we can readily identify the urban landscape (“That’s a city.” “It’s a country in Southeast Asia!”) It still has magic, but magic based on the understanding of folklore and mythology.

Q: What do you think of the trend for the last few years of writing erotic vampires and werewolves?

“To each his or her own.”

A trend is a trend is a trend. As trends go, it will fade in time. But I am always looking out for urban fantasy that focuses on family/group dynamics and vivid landscapes.

Q: Jan is a mother, a wife, and a pack leader. I'd describe her as feminist, but realistically so. Was that intentional?

It was intentional. I am a feminist. ;)

Jan takes charges, has her own mind and fights on her own terms. But at the same time, she has to balance these with her social roles.

Photo supplied by author. I really love the book, and this cover only adds to it. 

Q: A lot of people will be surprised to see a werewolf story set in Singapore. What would you like 'traditional' genre readers to take away from the novels?

That there are other stories outside their scope. That the world is far more diverse.

Q: What do you plan to write or publish next?

I am still in the midst of writing a spinoff series from the Jan Xu books. Also short stories, if I am inspired to write them. Plot and theme bunnies attack me all the time.

Q: Which foods do you absolutely hate?

Tofu.

Yes, I must be the only Chinese who hates tofu.

But otherwise, I eat anything (or that I am game to try everything).

Q: Which type of mythological creature would you like to take in a fight?

Phoenix. Or Firebird.

Then, followed by Dragon (Chinese). 

Of course, I can't send you home without a reminder about Joyce's books, which you can buy on Amazon and Smashwords. 

Of Oysters, Pearls, and Magic

Winged: A Novella (of Two Girls)

Wolf at the Door 

Obsidian Moon, Obsidian Eye

*****

Thanks for dropping by the nest once again. Don't miss any of the good kind of crazy. Find me on Twitter, Facebook, and on Tumblr. I've got a few reviews to catch up on, more news coming, and even some fantastic interviews with fellow authors. Don't miss a thing for horror month! Stay tuned and please share. This is your darling SciFiMagpie, over and out!

Free Story Time! The Undine

Hello hello!

Having begun the process of settling into a new job, I'm back on the blogging wagon. As well, I have a snack for you patient, lovely people! Thanks for waiting around for me.

It was late and I was inspired. A friend and I were chatting about name origins, and she mentioned that her sister's middle name was Undine. Digging up my folklore encylopaedia, cross-referencing a few things with Wikipedia, and sorting through my own recollections, I tried to describe the story. Of course, I ended up telling it as bed-time stories must be told, and here it is.

The Undine

Source.

A long time ago, in the time of Crusades and of Christ and kings, there was a prince in France. The prince was an avid hunter and loved to fish next to the waters of the great river that divided his kingdom.

One night, as he sought the great prowling cats that came to fish there, at the cusp of the mountains, he strayed far from his fellow hunters. Silently and stealthily, watching for the great cats and other beasts of the night, he crept to the river. Where the water fell down across the old mossy rocks, a fine mist always rose up. He looked, sometimes, but on this night, with moonlight catching the water, he looked longer than ever. In the shape of the spray, a damsel bathed, perfectly naked.

Luxuriating in the water and tossing her hair, combing it, she was perfect. Skin silver as air on the water, blue eyes, and when she smiled, sharp sharp little teeth. The prince was infatuated.

Riding across the bridge and to the waterfall, he approached her without hesitation, without thought. On one knee, he begged her to marry him, and the undine, the water nymph, agreed. The undine, you see, wanted a soul, something she could get only by marrying a mortal, and bearing a child.

They returned the next morning to his kingdom, the prince bearing his beautiful bride to the castle in an exquisite chariot. Their wedding was celebrated with great pomp and circumstance, and all the kingdom rejoiced.

On the night of the wedding, as the new couple went to bed, the Undine took a moment to make her lover promise a few trifling conditions: first, never to look at her on Saturdays; second, to let her lock her chamber and be undisturbed on that day, and third, never to be unfaithful to her, as long as he drew a waking breath. Her husband, smitten, agreed that they were trifling conditions indeed.

And so, they lived together a very long while, and were happy. A year after the wedding, the Undine had a beautiful child, a well-formed princeling heir. But from that day, a shadow stole over her.

The undine, immortal and lovely, though soulless, had had a child, and that had taken away her immortality. Lovely as she was, and fey, she was now a mortal, and began to age. It was faint at first, but the prince--short of attention span and of temper, as princes so often are--began to notice. The fine, elegant lines, as delicate as finest spider-webs, and the silvering at her temples--no matter how graceful--were signs of age. And a prince is many things, but in his own eyes, and in those days, in God's eyes, he was a little immortal.

And so it was that the prince's eye began to wander. A little, at first, and then a lot. The undine, though she often coveted the river, was dutiful.

Then, thoughtlessly, her maid glanced through the keyhole one Saturday as the still-lovely undine bathed.

To her shock, she saw not a woman, but half-a-woman, with a long, curling, elegant tail, covered in silver and green scales! The prince caught wind of the tale, which travelled through the castle like a monsoon storm. He had to see it for himself. So there he was, one fine Saturday morning, peeping through the keyhole--and what did he see, but his wife with the tail of a serpent! Horrified, he burst in.

Angry and hurt, she cried out, "Oh, you have broken your first and second promise!" and vanished straightaway as he looked at her.

A few nights later, he heard her soft voice singing in the babe's room, and came in to find her cradling her son. Apologizing, weeping, and down on both knees, he pleaded with her to return.

"Yes," she said, "but remember the third condition. Break your word, and I won't be so forgiving next time."

And so it was that she returned, he quelled the rumors, and they lived happily. For a time. The silver at her temples showed more, and her skin softened. And still, she was beautiful, but she was growing older. Her chuckling infant had become a toddler, and then, a gold-haired boy. And the prince's attention wandered.

She took to walking about the castle at night, more and more. Generally she avoided the animals, which capered and danced away in fear when she came near. One night, however, she found herself near the stables. To her surprise, a familiar droning snore was cutting the air.

Could it be? Her heart hammered fearfully in her chest. She padded in, soft as dew in the morning, and found her husband, the prince, lying in the arms of a common trollop there in the hay.

He woke in an instant, feeling as though someone had kicked him in the ribs, to find her pointing a finger at him.

Her eyes large with pain, she cried out, "You promised to be faithful with every waking breath!" He sat dumb, silent. She wept, as immortal nymphs cannot. "Faithless man! Well, as long as you are awake, and have your breath, you can live. But as soon as you sleep, you shall die!"

And with that, she vanished again, a final time. The prince died a short time later, in his sleep, but his young son grew up fine and strong, and was wiser than his father in choosing a wife.

The end.

*****

Thanks again for tuning into my phuquerie. There will be more--updates about my writing, more feminism and literary criticism, and probably some movies. There might even be some politics and science! Keep an eye on new releases by following on Twitter and on Tumblr. This is your SciFiMagpie, over and out!

It's One Grimm Popcorn Flick: An Analysis of Snow White and the Huntsman

Welcome back to the nest!

I did promise folklore and mythology on this here blog, and I aim to deliver. And so, with trepidation, hope, and my boyfriend and his baby sister, I found myself in a theatre watching Snow White and the Huntsman. I've lightly touched on my love of fairy tales before. I've also made it clear that I enjoy fantasy settings but have reservations about them. Well, wouldn't you know it, this movie did a fine job of justifying both the love and the...lesser love.

So, first question: should you see this movie? Well, I'd actually recommend it, but with reservations, as I'm about to explain. Do I need to warn you that there will be spoilers? Well, consider yourself warned.

So, without further ado, I'm about to get mediaeval on this movie's ass--settle into a nice milk bath, and enjoy the critique.

Source. It's like this, but also completely different from this.

Main Characters: Or, Why I Wish Hollywood Would Grow Out of Name-Dropping.

As always happens with these sorts of movies, there are three fairly big names and a bunch of mid-level types. The minor actors all do a good enough job, I suppose, but this movie really rests on its trinity of stars, and boy does it show.

Bella Snow White: Kristen Stewart is like rice: you can cover her in sauce, add a variety of stir-fried vegetables, meat or tofu, or serve her as a side-dish, but she is still, irrevocably, a bland and somewhat starchy product. However, rice is actually filling and somewhat nutritious, and has more of a flavour range than Stewart. I'm not saying I hate her. She's too nice to hate. However, I spent virtually every moment she was in the frame wishing she'd close her damn mouth. Even if one has been locked in a tower for the last few years, one shouldn't leave the old gob hanging down slackly. It's just begging for a good slap. She also has a tendency to slouch about and look gormless far more than a princess should.

She isn't as annoying as Bella was, of course, and having the movie write itself around her as some sort of semi-immortal paragon of innocence (or something...it was unclear, and we'll get to that in a minute) only worked half of the time. Sure, in the fairy forest, and a few other times, her delivery really worked--as she paused, a timid, doe-like grace suggested itself in her frame and in her eyes. Those moments of absorption were a pleasure to watch. However, her adorable upturned nose, stick-out ears, and buck teeth sort of clashed with the composition of all the 'fairest in the land' beauty shots. I hate picking on her appearance, here, but I do think it made a difference, especially when she is set beside the queen.

Ravenna: It's no secret that I like girls almost as much as I like men, but damn, Charlize Theron would be enough to make even the most red-blooded straight girl question her preferences. I didn't realise it was her, at first, but the ageless, sculpted beauty and smouldering charisma of the queen left no doubt. Between a truly fabulous wardrobe and some very subtle acting, I was sold. Theron seems to like roles that involve her beauty being compromised, and watching the Queen deal with aging and growing youthful again was certainly interesting. The way she reacted to things and suggestions of her frigidity and victimization (including vaguely implied childhood sexual assault) was marvellous. Oh, sure, Hemsworth and Stewart were pretty, but Ravenna was worth the price of the admission. I would have loved to see a film solely centred on her back-story; not unlike the famous Elphaba of Wicked, she is a fascinating figure. At least one person watching it with me thought her acting could've been better, and I'd agree that the temper tantrum was pretty artificial, but her lonely, self-reliant, wounded character is still a treat to watch.

The Huntsman: Chris Hemsworth does a pretty good job of stepping to the sidelines in his role as Huntsman; he lets Stewart glow with the magic of the film and concentrates on playing a protective, good-natured lunkhead with a few hints of genuine emotional richness. He knows his character has a good heart rather than a strong brain, and he works with it; better still, he doesn't play a mediaeval Thor. The suggestion of questionable morals and a pinch of Han Soloesque actions make him a likeable sort of fellow. He also handles the underplayed romantic encounters with Stewart deftly, which makes one of them, at least. He did seem to be feeling like Pedobear for getting so close to an actress substantially younger than himself, but he handled it well.

Source. Here, you go over there and I'll make a Neanderthal face while your mouth hangs open again!

Visuals: These were what kept me in the theatre and glued to the screen. From the tiny perfect details in the armour construction to the delicious sartorial work in the ladies' and dwarves' costumes to the sweeping beauties of the settings, I was thrilled. The camera work is mostly excellent, with lots of wide-framed shots that really get a story-book feeling across. There was some sloppy editing, unfortunately, and occasionally cases of unintended camera wobbling, but the clean, stark colour choices and use of colour themes was wonderful to see. The Sanctuary's fairy forest was lovely, and the evil forest, equally so; the castle, a joy to explore. There were tonnes of cliches, but the wholehearted embrace of them actually worked in the film's favour. Sometimes the CGI was contrived, but frell it, I didn't care; the atmosphere and composition were spot-on for that fairy-tale feeling. Even if the actors sometimes waver, the designers believed in their vision wholeheartedly.

References: No, not mine, the film's. I just can't let the visual and literary references to other works go unnoticed. There were a few Shrek-like moments with the Huntsman and Snow White, some clear visual references to Lord of The Rings with the whole 'filing in line up a craggy mountain/hilltop edge' bit, and, most surprisingly--and uselessly--a reference to Murakami's masterpiece, Princess Mononoke, when a many-horned white stag in front of a cleft tree 'blesses' Princess Bel Snow White. There were, of course, some very expected Twilight references, such as Ravenna's creepy pale brother, Gollum, WhatsisNuts, explicitly saying that he was watching Be Snow White sleeping. (There is also the beginning of what Bella should've done with Edward, i.e., cut his bitch face open with a rusty nail. I wish that had been a Twilight reference.)

I don't know if I need to mention the 'girl leading the people' scenes and the hint of Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen about the story; having magpies as Snow White's symbol (yes, I did squee) certainly didn't hurt the suggestion of that, either. I don't even know how to classify the romantic triangle that was suggested--is that even a reference, or just a trope, at this point? There was also a less innocent reference--the Queen wants Snow's heart because it will somehow give her eternal youth. The way Snow White is portrayed and the way Ravenna is portrayed was more than a little reminescent of Neil Gaiman's beautiful Stardust, one of the loveliest fairy tales to be written in the modern age. It's well worth a read, and the eating hearts and entrails of wee cute animals is repeated there as well as in this film, though more tastefully in Gaiman's version. I don't know if I'd call this one intellectual copyright violation, but I'd say that between the darkish feel and that thematic similarity, there was definitely a hint of Gaiman's inspiration for this one.

Source. She's pointing at you, movie, now explain yourself and apologize!

What Does It All Mean?: Now we come to the fun part.

Winter Symbolism:I mentioned that Stardust had a witch looking for an immortal's heart--a star's, in this case, not a princess's--and I should've mentioned the aging-when-magic-is-used thing there, too. This film, however, takes that basic concept, which is not terribly rare, and seems to use it as a subtle commentary on the feminine quest for beauty. Ravenna must literally suck the souls and beauty out of young women to keep herself beautiful, and her makeup is generally cover-model immaculate. In comparison to Snow White's wholesome, dirty-fingered, natural prettiness, which is supposed to come from within (something Steward sort of fails to portray), it is bot spectacular and as artificial as a hothouse orchid. Ravenna also seems to simultaneously love, hate, and fear her condition of imperfect immortality and beauty, a curse forced on her by a mother trying to defend her from the ravages of a predatory king.

Ravenna spends her life destroying men and their kingdoms, but my not-so-inner psychologist noticed some clear suggestions of trauma and replaying her own victimization on others. This makes for a complex villain, and I was actually a bit mad at Snow White for simply stabbing her in the end, rather than shedding a couple drops of her own blood to break the Queen's curse. Sure, Ravenna is evil, but she is still fond of her creepy monkey brother, and even though she is a carrion-creature, personifying death and winter, her loneliness makes her sympathetic. Snow White's verdant themes and spring-toned associations are a bland contrast against Ravenna's solitude, but the message of natural beauty and its triumph over artifice is a subtle one that every review I've seen so far completely missed.

Christian Politics:I also want to touch briefly on the Christianity vs. Paganism thing before I give the perfunctory feminist analysis a go. In one scene, Snow White says the Lord's Prayer, and there are a few quiet references to the Crusades. The Queen, in contrast, is firmly pagan, with her raven association--a callback to celtic goddess Morrigan, goddess of war, associated with the carrion birds. We can't forget her movement through stages of maiden, mother/wife, and crone, and above all, the blood ceremony in her childhood binding her to unnatural life and beauty doesn't really smack of prayer circles, either. The milk baths, too, are an interesting addition to her daily routine of beauty preservation, because milk was supposed to not only soften the skin, but also block magic. Roses, too, responsible for Snow White's colour, are supposed to have anti-magical properties...these are interesting, at least, but the movie never does anything with them, just a couple of unexplored themes to go with all the tiny loose plot threads it leaves.

Dat Feminism:Finally, the feminism thing. The movie passes the Beschdel test--I've mentioned it before, in That Feminist Post, and that's a relief. However, it sends conflicting messages. Ravenna's beauty makes her a victim of male control, but Snow White's mother tells her she will be a good leader, without mentioning a man at all. The romance is nicely underplayed and left to suggestion rather than being a focus (a huge shock for me, but not an unpleasant one). And yet, there are no women in the army apart from Snow White, undercutting that independent idea once again. Add the suggestion that Snow White is somehow immortal, and you have a 'women inevitably ruin everything' situation on your hands. The movie hints at this stuff, but doesn't follow through with it, leaving me hungry for a sequel and/or prequel that is artistically bold enough to do so.

Final Prognosis: It had some huge plot holes and occasionally weak acting, and I'm not even touching the unnecessary cameo dwarves with a standard ten-foot-pole, but the visual feast and subtle themes in Snow White and the Huntsman make it worth a watch. It's good for popcorn viewings, sure, but more intellectual members of the audience will have a few things to play with. And that, at least, counts for something.

*****

Well, I hope you enjoyed the show today. There will be more on folklore, game reviews from the Humble Bundle, science!, and of course, tasty teasers for my fiction writing in posts to come. Don't you dare touch that dial. Follow me on Twitter at SciFiMagpie and on Tumbler at SciFiMagpie. The Tumblr is still under construction, but I hope to see you there! This is your SciFiMagpie, over and out!