Something I just realized

[ritaxis]

My excuse is that I haven't reread Kim in a really long time. But I just now realized that I'm always writing Kim. It's always a life-and-death journey through an exotic, lush landscape full of wonderful, strange, diverse, sometimes dangerous and often kind people, familiar even in its strangeness, where people feed you and advise you and curse you and chase you away -- and where the point of view is marginal, neither one thing or another. Except Chuy, who was so much of one tribe that the tribe's internal consistencies threatened his existence.

I guess it's always The Jungle Book too. And is it always Stalky and Company?

When I was writing The Conduit I realized towards the end that I was doing something about Heinlein and that I always was -- Heinlein of the juveniles, of Double Star, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress -- of course, which is why our guy eventually chooses Mike for his name.

But Kipling comes first.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I'm always writing Kim

I don't know what exactly it is that I'm always re-writing, but the story I keep re-telling is Somewhere precious is under threat and has to be saved.

Hmmm... I suppose that could be Lord of the Rings.

Though really I think it's more likely to be the Battle of Britain. *g*

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

That would reflect the difference in our backgrounds, wouldn't it? That's interesting.

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

It is, isn't it?

Fortunately there are lots of different ways to threaten Somewhere Precious and I do often have a strong sub-theme of Looking for somewhere to call home, which probably chimes more with US readers. But I think it's definitely a result of growing up in post-war Britain where we'd just fought off an invader (the last of many) and in a city that was being pulled down in a "slum clearance" programme, against the wishes of the locals; many of whom were happy to stay where they were and just wanted their property refurbished and modernised.

And now of course I live in a National Park which is constantly being defended against developers in a small country which is fighting to keep its language despite the dominance of English. *g*

At least the next-book-but-several in the To Write queue is about something different. Mostly...