Magical Words Guest Post: Inventing Nicola Pallas
I’ve got a guest post up at Magical Words talking about the character of Nicola Pallas.
Nicola has her own story in these books. She has to oversee a bunch of stubborn, overly bright magic-users, including my protagonist, librarian Isaac Vainio. She also has to deal with sparkling vampires attacking Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, werewolves in pickup trucks, and her least favorite thing ever: magical politics.
I had absolutely no interest in trying to show how she does all of this “despite” being autistic. Screw that. Autism, like just about anything else, can certainly present challenges, but Nicola is at a point where she understands and is pretty comfortable with how her brain works. That wasn’t something I wanted to focus on.
D. D. Webb
August 28, 2014 @ 1:43 pm
I enjoyed reading that post; it’s particularly relevant to me right at this moment, as I’m in the process of introducing an autistic character in the fantasy serial I’m working on. I’ve been concerned because, above all else, I want to do this respectfully and accurately, without resorting to cliches or trying to teach an Important Lesson–which I’m really not qualified to teach, even if that were an appropriate thing to do.
I have a minor neurological issue myself that makes social interaction a little tricky for me. Not on the autism spectrum, and only distantly related, if at all, so I’m also a little worried about imposing my own experiences, which would create a completely wrong portrayal. I don’t actually have any autistic acquaintances, so I’m down to researching online to handle this. Your advice in this post (and especially the link in the comments, which I’ve bookmarked to study in more detail as I have time) was exactly what I needed.
If you don’t mind offering a little more perspective (and please don’t feel obligated), do you know of any other online resources like writingtheother.com that would be useful? I’m meeting gradual success with Google searches, but I’ve found that direct tips from people “in the know” are always more helpful than fumbling around in the dark.
Jim C. Hines
August 28, 2014 @ 1:51 pm
I would recommend blogs and such by people with autism, talking about their experiences. A few things I’ve begun following and reading…
http://autisticdrift.tumblr.com/
http://juststimming.wordpress.com/
http://ada-hoffmann.livejournal.com/
D. D. Webb
August 28, 2014 @ 1:53 pm
Links! Splendid! Many thanks!
Ilana Waters
August 29, 2014 @ 1:24 am
Wow, Jim–I had no idea you’d done so much, and were such a well-rounded person! And that quotation from Wil Wheaton– :-O !!!! I’m sure you’re a great dad as well. Can’t wait to see what you do in the future re: non-stereotypical characters.
Jim C. Hines
August 29, 2014 @ 7:09 pm
Thank you 🙂
I don’t know about well-rounded, but definitely a little lopsided!
Holmelund
August 30, 2014 @ 12:39 am
You may or may not like this:
http://upw-prod-images.global.ssl.fastly.net/nugget/53f73e3139f3d487df000045/attachments/AM-56e224bdab2ba05060bf7d3a1dee07a5.png
Jim C. Hines
August 30, 2014 @ 11:24 am
Oh, yes. Shared that one on Tumblr a little while back 🙂