Dealing with disabled characters
One of my major characters in the novel I'm currently editing, Eyemind, is a paraplegic. Bi is an alien Q'uos, a species of flying humanoid, who was paralysed in a political attack.
Bi controls a powerful Supercruiser through the links made into his brain. If you're thinking Anne McCaffrey and brainships you'd be right. My favourite book in the series is The Ship Who Searched, which has an archaeology theme.
Eyemind has an art theme, and Bi is teamed with Keri Starseer, a celebrity artist, to work out why interactive artworks are causing people to self harm.
I've just reached a point in the story where some of Bi's sensors have burned out and Keri has to get into the Case that houses his body to replace them. That set me thinking about how I handle Bi's disability. Keri gets to see his real body, and I wanted to deal with that in a respectful way. Anne McCaffrey shuts up her brains in shells, and invents rules that people must never get at them.
I wanted to show how becoming disabled had changed Bi's life. I figured that losing the power of flight would be devastating in their culture, but I wanted to show that Bi had made a successful transition to his new role. So I have him well-educated, curious, and interested in everything around him. I feel that I've ended up with a very powerful character who has a unique and valued place in his world.
Bi controls a powerful Supercruiser through the links made into his brain. If you're thinking Anne McCaffrey and brainships you'd be right. My favourite book in the series is The Ship Who Searched, which has an archaeology theme.
Eyemind has an art theme, and Bi is teamed with Keri Starseer, a celebrity artist, to work out why interactive artworks are causing people to self harm.
I've just reached a point in the story where some of Bi's sensors have burned out and Keri has to get into the Case that houses his body to replace them. That set me thinking about how I handle Bi's disability. Keri gets to see his real body, and I wanted to deal with that in a respectful way. Anne McCaffrey shuts up her brains in shells, and invents rules that people must never get at them.
I wanted to show how becoming disabled had changed Bi's life. I figured that losing the power of flight would be devastating in their culture, but I wanted to show that Bi had made a successful transition to his new role. So I have him well-educated, curious, and interested in everything around him. I feel that I've ended up with a very powerful character who has a unique and valued place in his world.
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