AJ Federici: "Dear Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: Hello My Name is Remy Sua"

Dear Elsa Sjunneson-Henry: Hello My Name Is Rémy Sua
by AJ Federici

            I’ll be honest; I had to click on the hyperlink that was provided to learn what a Mary Sue is.  Aside from all of the Star Trek references that went over my head (sorry to all you die-hard fans), what I took away was that a Mary Sue can be one of two things if not both: a self-Insert or a character so ideal and interesting to the point that the story is vapid and unoriginal.  I’m under the impression that welcoming writers to reflect their own marginalization’s into their work is more of the first Mary Sue and we are less concerned at pushing back at the decrying remarks about "Lt. Mary Sue [who] ran the ship, and ran it so well she received the Nobel Peace Prize”.

            With those clarifications out of the way, I say that we, the speculative fiction community, should be accepting and not critical towards the author avatar style Mary Sue.  An example of a story that seemed to have a character blatantly similar to the author from what I understand is Nisi Shawl’s “The Mighty Phin”. I was very befuddled about what the heck was going on over the course of this short story, but what I can tell you is that Nisi’s story is about a person of color, suffering from a type of physical disability, that may or may not be married to a transgender partner.  Oh yeah, and the whole story takes place in a prison.  Frankly, I don’t relate to any of these characterizations yet I whole-heartedly enjoyed reading “The Mighty Phin” because it explored the theme of what makes a human in a similar way to Philip Dick’s DADES?.  The cyberpunk world drew me in, and if the specific abnormalities of the characters help certain groups feel represented then I say it’s a great thing for the sf community.

            That said, I think there is also value in avoiding this trope in character writing.  Very important things can be said for putting your own adversity into a story, especially if your story is one that hasn’t been told adequately, as seems to be the prompting for the Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction edition of Uncanny Magazine.  As well as, you know, who doesn’t want to literally be a character in a book.  But, why I say that maybe it isn’t always best to have a direct self-insert is that I think it takes even more skill to demonstrate the struggles, mentality, and over all essence of self in a sort of counter-character. That is, finding new ways to portray what you have in mind without directly inserting yourself and falling into the label of being a Mary Sue writer.  And yes, it may be boring to make your character relatable by creating an internal issue of perhaps a poor family life or a struggle with bullying. Anyone could have gone through this while for you, being a bold and outspoken deaf blind writer might feel more at home and you’re tired of only relating to people by feelings that have been written about time and time again

            Yet, I still want to somewhat push back on this because if a character can tell a witty joke that has me laughing, that’s enough for me to really feel a connection through a mutual sense of humor.  It’s not that I personally would be fed up with a book because it isn’t about me or because I can’t relate in that I haven’t dealt with many struggles other people have, but it’s that I think subtle character development is really masterful writing.  “From Sucks (to be you)” by Katharine Duckett, right out of the new Uncanny Magazine Issue, the very first sentence I think captures what I’m trying to say:

 “Call me lamia, call me lilith, call me nightmare, slattern, slut. I don’t subscribe to labels.”

            Right off the bat it seems like this main character is going to have something to say.  Although no literary expert I got subtle hints of a pushback on slut-shaming culture that is somewhat prevalent amongst teens.  Yet, it’s the no-hesitation-spunk that I enjoy and allows me to feel a connection to the character in Katharine Duckkett’s piece.  My overall advice to any author would be to own your work and not hesitate to write about an oddly specific character; however, it may also be a fun and rewarding challenge to attempt to get the same messages across utilizing a more “boring” character.