Rain, Rain

image from this site

It's raining again, and I'm happy about that. I love rain, and even more I love trees. No rain? Sad, sad trees. Mind you, Texas is no longer draught-ridden. And I hope like hell it stays that way. This Spring has been cool and wet, overall. That's been nice. Wonderful writing weather.

Speaking of writing...this morning I came upon a useful article on Chuck Wendig's site written by Elsa S. Henry titled So, You Wanna Write a Blind Character? Good stuff and timely too, given that I've a blind character in Blackthorne. Originally, the character in question was merely a gentleman in his 50s from Acrasia, but two things happened that caused me to change my mind--well, three really. First, I know Sarah Chorn. We met when she reviewed Of Blood and Honey and wanted to talk about Liam Kelly's dyslexia. I've been thinking about how to add characters with disabilities ever since. Second, I wanted to underline a distinction between Eledore (a country which has medical magic) and Acrasia (which doesn't.) I've been using 'medical magic' as an analog for modern medicine. Largely, I've seen too many Epic Fantasies that don't show what life is without working medical care. Everyone is too perfect. Countries go to war, and there are no missing limbs in evidence--no scars, no blindness, no permanent damage of any kind. It's not right. Such details make or break a fictional world.[1] Anyway, the third and final reason is...well...Cold Iron was recorded for a library for the blind. The fact that there was enough interest in my work that it made that happen? Well...I had to include a blind character as a tip of the hat. I just did. So, enter Councilor James Slate, refugee, ex-university professor, artist, statesman, spy master, and well...cataracts sufferer. I'm still doing research on the subject, but one of the best things I found was 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters. It's an eBook, and it's cheap. (At least, I think so. I've spent a lot more than $9 on books about Northern Ireland, that's for sure.) Anyway, it's great to find more resources. Thanks, Elsa S. Henry.

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[1] I say this because I've totally made mistakes like this. :)