Yesterday we took Rio on a hike through Rock Creek Park. I’d say she had some fun.
Whee! I got the stick!
Look at me, mommy! I’m such a good little Toller!
Wah! Gracie! That’s MY stick!
Shake it off, Rio!
My beautiful girl!
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In the comments section of yesterday’s post, Patrick made a very good point: See, with zombies(vampires and werewolves) it isn’t just fear of them killing you, there is fear of becoming one or having a loved one become one and eat/kill you. Fighting a bad unicorn, well, that’s sort of like being on the wrong end of the food chain. Which is an excellent point, and raises an interesting question in this debate. Is comparing an animal, however dangerous, to a humanoid monster with the power of transformation/infection even worthwhile? Is it apples and oranges? There’s an old theory about storytelling (I believe it’s Aristotle?) that posits that the main conflicts in any story fall into one of the following groups:
A human monster story, such as Dracula or Frankenstein, falls into the Man vs. Man category (well, depending on who you think the protagonist is in Frankenstein, because it could very well be a Man vs. Society situation). Count Dracula, for all that he is non-human, is a person. He speaks and thinks like a person, and his motivations are decidedly personal. An animal monster story, such as Jaws or “The Bear,” tends to be more of a Man vs. Nature story. You can’t ascribe the same sort of human emotions to beasts–the envy, or need for vengeance, or pettiness, or etc. This topic was much on my mind as I was designing the killer unicorn book. What were these unicorns? Were they animals, or were they sentient beings with their own motivations? It makes a difference. And of course, the worst thing a unicorn can do is kill you. A zombie can kill you — but far worse than that, it can infect you. A central theme in Carrie Ryan’s upcoming zombie book is whether or not death is worse than living death. Which does, I admit, add a whole new layer of terror. Yesterday, John Green made the argument that unicorns will always lose to zombies until there is a unicorn movie out that’s as good as Shaun of the Dead (note to film producers reading this blog: the film rights of Rampant are still available). However, this assertion does not take into account the fact that it’s easier to film zombies. You don’t need special CGI or outlandish costumes or puppets or Andy Serkis running around a green screen soundstage with thousands of sensors attached to his body to make a zombie movie. You need some white makeup, some fake blood, and a couple of actors who are talented enough to moan on cue. Seriously. The aforementioned Shaun of the Dead even made a joke about how easy it was to pretend to be a zombie. This Halloween, Sailor Boy and I went as Wedding Night of the Living Dead. ‘Twas easy. If we’d gone as a unicorn, it would have been much more complicated (especially given the argument about who would be the back end).
Justine, in her otherwise excellent post covering Simon Pegg’s elegant and insightful article about zombies-as-metaphor-and-cultural-phenomenon, continues her appallingly prejudiced stance against unicorns: Unicorns as a metaphor? For what exactly? Tooth decay? Give me a break. They are a beastie entirely without resonance. Au contraire, mon Aussie amie! Also, fie! There are very few monsters with more allegorical resonance than the unicorn. Alchemists actually used the unicorn in their pictoral language as a symbol of purity, of femininity, and of fertility. As a phallic symbol the unicorn can’t be beat. Carl Jung, who was a big fan of the idea of symbols belonging to the collective unconsciousness, was downright obsessed with the unicorn and its place in alchemical literature. He says, “The virgin represents the passive feminine aspect while [the unicorn] is the wild, rampant masculine force.” (And really, that only scrapes the surface of what Jung said about the unicorn, but I’m sure you can imagine a lot more.) In the early Christian church, the unicorn was represented (due to mentions in Psalms) as possessing health and strength. It is alternately aligned with Christ (whereby the image of the unicorn and virgin would be an allegory for the Pietas, or the dying unicorn/Christ in the lap of the Virgin) or, more specifically, the unicorn and virgin were a symbol of Mary having conceived by The Holy Spirit, which is a slightly more sexualized take on the matter. The unicorn-as-Christ metaphor linked with the unicorn-as-symbol-of-Holy-Spirit belief was prevalent throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. During this time, it was believed that animals with strong symbolic connotations actually possessed certain abilities. (Think about how people even now in some parts of the world will consume parts of a rhinoceros or tiger — both which are symbols of virility — in a belief that it will increase their sexual prowess.) If a unicorn was aligned with Christ, who everyone knew could heal the sick, raise the dead, transform water into wine, etc — woudl not having a piece of a unicorn do the same thing? Unicorn horns were thought to cure disease, purify wells, neutralize poisons. Unicorns, like virgins, were symbols of purity, which was why the unicorn would be attracted to or only tamed by a virgin. Due to this inextricable link between the unicorn and the virgin, it became commonplace for the symbol of the unicorn to appear in a portrait of a woman in order to advertise her virginity. Nowadays, on dating sites, you see a picture of a woman and underneath, her stats: age, interests, occupation. Back then, portraits were painted of woman that did the same thing in an allegorical language. You may see a picture of a woman wearing a particular color or holding a flower (symbolizing her family crest), wearing jewelry or sitting in front of a backdrop of the land she would bring into the marriage as dowry. It was popular to include a unicorn in said picture, as if to say, “And she’s a virgin, too!” Take this picture, painted by Raphael (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER: This picture plays a big part in my book.)
This was painted as part of a betrothal contract, and sent to the groom and his family as proof of what they were getting. Pretty girl, totally untouched. See the unicorn? What other proof do you need? UPDATE!!! Justine has issued the following fighting words on her blog: “Maybe in the olden days, Diana. But I don’t know if you noticed: this isn’t the olden days. No one allegories or alchemises no more. Unicorns are metaphorically as dead as the dodo.” And again I say, not so! Metaphors change over time. As Simon Pegg explains (and as Carrie Ryan will pontificate on to anyone who holds still for long enough), zombies were originally a Caribbean islander metaphor for slavery. More than “the walking dead” zombies were mindless slaves controlled by a voodoo master. It is only more recently, thanks to George Romero (who was strongly influenced by the vampire book, I Am Legend), that zombies became a metaphor for the spread of pandemics — the cannibalistic, brain eating, walking dead we know and love today. The unicorn as metaphor has changed over time too. Retaining its original symbol of purity and innocence, the modern unicorn is now a symbol of childlike innocence and fantasy. this was an especially prevalent idea in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Unicorns were a common motif in psychedelic artwork, where they were a stand in for hallucinations. The horn was occasionally likened to the opening of the “third eye” in transcendentalism, and overall of the embrace of fantasy and of innocence as a powerful and positive lifestyle choice. The plot of The Last Unicorn is in large part a parable of the end of fantasy. In Legend and Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone, unicorns are so aligned with goodness and purity that only the most evil of beings (Tim Curry as the Devil int eh former, and Lord Voldemort in the latter) would ever think to harm one. Unicorns are also used facetiously as a stand in for fantasy and innocence in the sense of “You’re living in a dream world.” Only yesterday, popular blogger and science fiction writer John Scalzi encouraged folks to get real about their expectations of the future president: “Barack Obama does not fart cinnamon-scented rainbows. He is not trailed by angels and unicorns.” But perhaps you think this only further justifies the argument that unicorns have been taken out of the equation in terms of their ability to induce terror. Unciorns have been so embraced as good and innocent and pure and blahblah that they are, in fact, toothless, while zombies are still scary. I will concede that point to you. (See, I can reach across the aisle!) Which is why I attempt to reclaim unicorns in my book. Because they are big beasts and they have a spear attached to their foreheads. Oh, and they run. FAST. Take that, you shuffling, shambling, death-symbol. Unicorns aren’t the death that creeps up on you. It’s the one that pounces and spears you right through the gut. In all senses of the word. One of the things I liked best about Senator Obama’s acceptance speech last night is how he emphasized that the country needs to put its collective nose to the collective grindstone. The country hasn’t changed yet. We have to make it change. Back to work. Back to work: the election is over. The thing that has consumed so many days and nights, so many hours spent watching the news and reading political blogs — it’s over. Back to work. And strangely, when I woke up this morning, I found ideas flowing through me in a way that seemed torturous only a few days ago. My focus has been so strongly on the election that there was hardly room in my brain for my stories. But it’s like the clog is gone, and they are flooding through. It’s invigorating,a nd I wonder what part of it is inspired by the energized speech I heard last night. Go America! Thanks for your comments the other day. No, there are no current plans for an SSG movie. Sorry to disappoint. I hope the actual news will be a bit of a consolation. Here’s your hint: it does involve a special glimpse into the world. I don’t know if that’s even a good hint. Speaking of hints, we should have a cover around here soon. It’s quite beautiful and is both reflective of the series brand and a very appropriate evolution of same. Am I any good at hints? Now I’m just thinking the first one is too vague and the second one too specific. Ugh. Also, I’m exhausted. Wow, was I up late last night. But I want to work. I want to write. I’m tired and energzied. I’m happy and inspired and relieved and excited. I don’t know how much of this is last night and how much is my pretty new book.
Today is the day, Americans. (Don’t believe any flier you may have received stating otherwise.) VOTE VOTE VOTE! Here’s some stuff you can get for free after you vote today (I’m not sure if you *have* to vote, according to federal election law, but it’s part of the fun): •Coffee. Starbucks expects to hand out “hundreds of thousands” of free 12-ounce drip coffees (valued at about $1.75 each), says spokeswoman Jenny McCabe. “If everyone who votes comes in for a free cup of coffee, we’ll have some lines,” she says. •Doughnuts. Some 85 of Krispy Kreme’s 231 locations in the U.S. will hand out star-shaped, red-white-and-blue sprinkled doughnuts “while supplies last,” says spokesperson Dana Hughens. The chain will give out about 200,000 doughnuts valued at 99 cents each. “People are definitely talking about the brand as a result of this,” she says. •Ice cream. Between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. in each time zone, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shops will hand out single-scoop ice cream cones (a $3.40 value). “What better way to encourage people to be politically active than to give away free ice cream?” asks spokeswoman Liz Brenna. •Sandwiches. In a local market promotion, several hundred of the nation’s 1,400 Chick-fil-A stores will hand out $2.70 chicken sandwiches to adults who show proof that they voted, says spokesman Jerry Johnston. And though I never think Borat is funny, and I’m not sure why they put non-Americans in these voting videos (though, heck, one of my favorite Australians and I do nothing but talk politics these days), I found the rest of this hilarious and moving (Go NPH!):
I’ll be at the polls today. Writing Thank you everyone for your kind words about my cover last week. Special thanks to Carrie, Vicki, The Story Siren, and Reviewer X, who all linked to the cover on their blogs. Good luck to all of you participating in NaNoWriMo this month! I will not be participating this year, as I am currently in the midst of revisions. However, I am a sponsor of the newest round of 70 DAYS OF SWEAT, which I will be participating in and which I expect to be an excellent means by which to finish the next killer unicorn book. This round begins on November 10 and runs through January 26. Want a way to write through the holidays? Want to join NaNo but you’re already too late? Consider 70 Days of Sweat. Are you a fan of the Secret Society Girl series? If so, stay tuned: I have some very exciting news! _________________ Reading I haven’t been the best book reader in the past week. Instead of working through my TBR pile, I’ve been glued to fivethirtyeight.com and similar. Thank goodness that’s over tomorrow! Interesting articles:
I have been remarkably remiss in announcing the winner of the KING OF SWORD AND SKY giveaway. Oops. The winner is: TIFF. Stay tuned formore giveaways this week! ______________ Diversions Sailor Boy and I have been married a year. I can hardly believe it! We celebrated with a nice long walk in the park with Rio, during which there was much creek-splashing and stick retrieval (Rio), as well as hand holding and talking about the future (Sailor Boy and me), followed by an excellent dinner at a gorgeous restaurant that served me, no joke, the best martini of my life. We rocked the Halloween party. Pictures to come.
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