Category Archives: Books and Readers

March 23, 2021 · 4:01 pm

Tolkien and Lewis

Middle-Earth and Narnia: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Invented Modern Fantasy

I found this presentation by Professor Harry Lee Poe (Union University) so enjoyable, I watched it twice. The second time through, I took notes, some of which I’ll share here. Any fan of Tolkien or Lewis will do well, however, to pay the $12 registration fee for unlimited access to the full lecture. Prof. Poe provided an enlightening overview of how Tolkien and Lewis related to one another in developing modern fantasy. Their works spawned an entire field of storytelling.

Among Poe’s points:

  • The Lord of the Rings is a three-volume book. It’s not a trilogy.
  • The Ring of the Nibelungen was Tolkien’s inspiration.
  • Lewis served as “the great encourager,” urging Tolkien to write his stories of Middle-Earth. Lewis gave Tolkien the idea for “the wound that would not heal” as well as the basic structure of the “journey story” — there and back again.

“In the journey story,” Poe said, “the hero risks all, ventures all, travels to the end of the world to do the great deed, and having accomplished the great deed on this fabulous quest, having fought all the foes, he returns a changed person.” (Sound familiar?)

For Watching & Reading …

I’m behind on my movie-viewing. Prof. Poe mentioned these films, only one of which I’ve seen:

He also mentioned the Scottish author George MacDonald, whom Wikipedia describes as a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. Clearly, I need to spend some time with MacDonald’s books, and catch up on all the movies I missed while I was absorbed in my own fantasy worlds.

My thanks to Professor Poe for his valuable overview of Where Middle-Earth Met Narnia.

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January 17, 2021 · 4:01 pm

Escape to Magical and Mystical Sites of the British Isles

Magical and Mystical Sites: Europe and the British Isles. Cover of the 1977 edition.

The British TV program “Escape to the Country” has been the perfect pandemic companion to my reading of Magical and Mystical Sites: Europe and the British Isles (1977 hardcover) by Elizabeth Pepper and John Wilcock.

Thanks to the far-ranging property-seekers who long to move to the quiet rural areas of the British Isles, I can almost pinpoint in my mind, without a map, many of the mystical sites that are featured in the Pepper-Wilcock travelogue. Which is a good thing, since the book contains no maps,* only tedious driving directions such as “Following the road from Ballysodare around the foot of the hill to a farm leads to a narrow pathway up the steepest side of Knocknarea hill,” or “Here a right-hand turn on a winding, single-track road leads after 2½ miles to Staigue Fort …”

It’s a hardcover book, yet it’s littered with the kinds of detailed how-to-get-there instructions that one would expect to find in a paperback guidebook which is meant to be replaced annually with an updated edition. If, however, you can train your eyes to skip past the innumerable references to such-and-such road and this-or-that path, you’ll enjoy reading about the magical and mystical sites the authors visited in their research for this 1977 book.

I not only skipped past the driving directions, I skipped from Ephesus to Malta, and then into Southern Germany. The magical lore and history of those places was interesting, but the narrative really picked up for me in Part III, covering mystical sites in Cornwall, Glastonbury, Wales, Scotland, the Western Isles, and Ireland. Those chapters bristle with intriguing details about magical women of the wild wood and witches’ brews “cooked with various incantations over a fire of oak logs in a vessel made out of the skull of a decapitated thief.” Great stuff for a writer of fantasy!

Despite the tedium of the overly detailed driving directions, the lack of maps (which such a book cries out for),* the paucity of illustrations (the line drawings that introduce each chapter are lovely but insufficient), and the tiny type in which the book is set (small enough to threaten eyestrain), I’ll rate it four stars for its comprehensiveness. Those who have an interest in the history and traditions of magic will find a wealth of details that go far beyond the typical focus on Atlantis, Stonehenge, and fairies. Fantasy writers especially will want to keep a notepad near at hand to jot down the many ideas which this book is sure to spark.

*(The 2000 edition—sporting a different cover—appears to be updated with the much-needed maps. I haven’t seen it; I bought the 1977 hardback, as pictured above. But the description here, of the 2000 paperback, says: “Rounded out with excellent photographs and maps, Magical and Mystical Sites is a complete historical and practical guide to the sacred sites of Europe and the British Isles. Illustrated.” That sounds good. You’ll definitely want the version with maps and photos.)

 

 

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December 30, 2020 · 4:30 pm

Writing Systems and World Building

The title of The Hobbit, translated. Screenshot from Professor Marc Zender’s “Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity.”

Continuing through my collection of Great Courses—sets of DVDs that I rediscovered in my bookshelves after forgetting I owned them—I turn today to Professor Marc Zender’s “Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity.”

The course’s overview of writing systems from Sumerian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs to Mayan and Aztec glyphs is fascinating, as is the discussion of the origins of the Roman alphabet. (Flip a capital A upside down and you’ll see an animal’s head with horns. The name of the letter alpha derives from the Hebrew aleph, meaning “ox.” The shape of the letter derives from an earlier symbol resembling the head of an ox. B started as a picture sign for a house in Egyptian hieroglyphs. In Semitic languages the sign was called beth, meaning “house,” but the Greeks changed the name from beth to beta. And so on through the letter Z, adopted from the Etruscans, who got it from the Phoenicians.)

While it’s all been interesting, the lecture nearest to my heart, as a writer and reader of fantasy, deals with so-called featural scripts, including the invented, fictional alphabets designed for works of fantasy and science fiction. The inventions of J.R.R. Tolkien are standouts in this category.

Professor Zender devotes a satisfying amount of time to Tolkien’s writing systems, pointing out that Tolkien was a professional linguist and a specialist in the history of Germanic languages and scripts, both alphabetic and runic. Quoting from the course guidebook:

“In The Hobbit, first published in 1937, Tolkien used Anglo-Saxon runes as a kind of code for Modern English. Tolkien also invented several writing systems of his own, including the cursive script known as Tengwar or Tîw (meaning ‘letters’) and the angular characters designed for cutting into wood, stone, or metal known as Certar or Cirth (meaning ‘runes’). … He even gave his fictional scripts a fictional inventor, Rúmil. … Tolkien provides charts and full descriptions of his writing systems in appendix E of The Lord of the Rings.”

I confess that, until now, I had barely glanced at Appendix E. After completing this series of lectures, however, I got out my much-loved, much-read 1975 Ballantine Books boxed set of LOTR and took a closer look. The knowledge I gained from Professor Zender about the development of “real” writing systems deepened my appreciation for Tolkien’s achievement in creating his fictional scripts and giving them such deeply thought-out histories.

I’ve not gone so far as to invent an alphabet, but I have imagined several specific words in my fictional language of Ladrehdin. My audiobook narrator is having a field day with them.

Now … Anyone up for learning Quenya? Or Sindarin?

From the slipcase of The Lord of the Rings, 1975 Ballantine Books boxed set.

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December 21, 2020 · 2:28 pm

Singing the Social Media Blues

Waterspell on Goodreads

Was there ever an attempt at “social media” that turned out more difficult to use or clunkier than Goodreads? I set up an author profile at Goodreads years ago, but soon abandoned it because it’s so maddeningly difficult to beat into submission. Every update requires multiple attempts to make the edits “stick.” I thought I never WOULD manage to upload the new Waterspell covers and force the interface to show those as the default covers.

I wonder how useful Goodreads actually is to authors like me, who are trying every way we can to reach a wider audience. Cutting through the static is enormously difficult.

With new audiobook editions of my fantasy novels in the works, however, I’m once again struggling with such things as a Facebook page. “Clunky” isn’t a strong enough word for THAT particular platform—it’s dang near impossible to use, and Facebook’s algorithms ensure that few people will see it. I’ve now done my utmost to update my author profile at Goodreads. I’m trying to do something with LinkedIn, though I’m not sure it’s particularly suited to my needs. I’m not looking for a job. Twitter? Yech. I quit Twitter years ago and have no intention of going back.

What’s next? Instagram? A YouTube channel? Are any of them worth the effort they require? Are they worth the time they take away from writing and editing? I don’t know.

What I do know is that word-of-mouth is the only truly effective way of spreading the word about books that are worth reading. Fingers crossed that the soon-to-be-released audiobooks will catch on, the forthcoming fourth book will get some attention, and Waterspell will finally reach its intended audience. Given the glowing-ness of the reviews the trilogy got, I live in hope that more of my potential readers will find my work. I know they’re out there.

My eternal gratitude to everyone who has read the trilogy and left reviews at Amazon, Goodreads, and book blogs. I love you all, dear readers. ♥

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December 9, 2020 · 4:03 pm

Two Kinds of Literature: Quest and Coming of Age

It pays to prowl through one’s bookshelves occasionally. Tucked away on mine, I found four Great Courses (lectures from The Teaching Company) that I’d forgotten I owned. They were still in their shrink-wrap.

Of the four, I gravitated immediately to “The Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition,” taught by Teofilo F. Ruiz, Ph.D., history professor at UCLA.

Two-thirds of the course (lectures 1 through 13) dealt with Christian mystics and Christian notions of heresy, which mostly left me shaking my head at the horrific damage that organized, institutionalized religion (in all its forms) has inflicted upon human society and hapless individuals, from ancient times to the present day.

By far, the most interesting thing in those opening lectures was a passing reference to “quest literature” and the professor’s comment that there are really only two kinds of literature:

● The Quest — the searching for something
● The Coming of Age — growing up

You might have heard it argued (elsewhere) that there are six core types of stories:

1. Rags to riches – a steady rise from bad to good fortune
2. Riches to rags – a fall from good fortune to bad, a tragedy
3. Icarus – a rise, then a fall in fortune
4. Oedipus – a fall, a rise, then a fall again
5. Cinderella – rise, fall, rise
6. Man in a hole – fall, rise

Smh again. That list seems overly complex and obviously repetitive. I prefer Professor Ruiz’s neatly succinct take on the matter, for it appears to me that the six “types” of stories can all be folded into his two kinds of literature.

All of that business about good and bad fortune falls under the heading of a Quest. Characters go seeking greener pastures or pursuing happiness. They may or may not find what they seek. They may rise, they may fall, they may succeed or fail in their quest.

Just as clearly, Cinderella and Icarus are Coming of Age stories. Cinderella is an archetypal model (now outdated) of female coming-of-age: she found her Prince Charming. On the male side, Icarus is a story of youthful hubris, of a son’s folly in ignoring his wise old father’s instructions, and thus failing to reach manhood.

Perhaps I’m especially drawn to Professor Ruiz’s “two kinds of literature” because my Waterspell series fits perfectly into his view of the matter. Waterspell tells of a quest (the characters travel far, do great deeds, and eventually make their way home). It’s also the story of a young woman’s coming of age, of discovering her inner strength and making a place for herself in a world where she didn’t think she belonged.

So count me on your side of the argument, Professor Teo. There are only two kinds of literature.

 

 

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November 20, 2020 · 1:10 pm

Touching the Senses: Smell

“Researchers plan library of scents from plague repellents to early tobacco”

In the works: an online encyclopedia of European odors between the 16th and early 20th centuries. What a fabulous resource this will be for writers needing to describe the smell of (for instance) a sorcerer’s library filled with musty old books, or a chatterbag housekeeper’s richly scented kitchen.

“Once you start looking at printed texts published in Europe since 1500 you will find loads of references to smell, from religious scents – like the smell of incense – through to things like tobacco,” said Dr. William Tullett of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, a member of the Odeuropa team and the author of Smell in Eighteenth-Century England.

The first step in the three-year project, which is due to begin in January, will be to develop artificial intelligence to screen historical texts in seven languages for descriptions of odours – and their context – as well as to spot aromatic items within images, such as paintings.

That information will be used to develop an online encyclopaedia of European smells  …

See the full article in The Guardian at https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/nov/17/scents-of-history-study-hopes-to-recreate-smells-of-old-europe

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October 25, 2020 · 5:18 pm

Give Webnovel a Hard Pass

Should I be flattered? I think not.

Like many writers, I got the email:

My name is May. I’m an Author Liaison representative, representing Webnovel.

I found your work Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock, which comes highly recommended … I am very interested in a business collaboration with you, and would like to offer you a Non-Exclusive Contract that will not affect your novel distribution and earnings [through other distributors]. We think that the theme and genre of your novel would be a great fit for our readers here on Webnovel.com

The message instantly triggered my scam radar, and a quick online search confirmed my suspicions. Says Terrance Phillipe aka Whatsawhizzer:

“Qidian [Webnovel] doesn’t give a shit about things like copyright or human decency.”

If you get a solicitation email from Webnovel, please don’t respond before you read the blog post “Why Do People Hate Qidian Webnovel?” Indeed, I’d recommend that you not respond at all. Webnovel is just another way to cheat a writer.

 

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October 17, 2020 · 5:44 pm

Ruminations on the Third Draft of the Fourth Book (with a blurb-in-progress)

When I sat down to write a fourth book in my Waterspell fantasy series, I wondered whether I still had enough to say about my characters and their world to produce a novel-length work. Turns out, I needn’t have worried. I got Drafts 1 and 2 down on paper in record time: started May 6; had a nearly complete second draft by September 6. After leaving the manuscript sitting for a couple of weeks, I started again at the beginning of the story, checking it against my stacks of notes, looking for loose ends and adding material to address every thread that I wanted to bring forward from the original trilogy. The result is a third draft that’s very nearly complete at just shy of 90,000 words. Book 4 will be the shortest in the series. The previous record-holder for “short” was Book 3, at about 115,000 words.

Book 4’s conciseness stems partly from my not needing to include so much description. The story takes place in settings that readers already know from Books 1 through 3.

I’m aware, however, that I’m relying more on narration in Book 4 than I did in the previous volumes. Between now and the early months of 2021, I plan to let the story sit largely untouched as I hear back from my beta readers and get some distance from the narrative. I’m a bit concerned that this story lacks the immediacy of Books 1 through 3, which were built on you-are-there, “real-time” scene-and-sequel with lots of dialogue and limited narration. Detailed scenes take more words to lay out for the reader than narration requires.

As a writer (and as an individual) I’m in a very different place from who and where I was when I finished the trilogy. It’s no surprise, to me, that my approach to Book 4 differs in tone from the original books. I’m trusting my beta readers (and my gut, once it has gained the necessary distance) to tell me whether my approach to Book 4 will satisfy readers who enjoyed the original story of Carin and Verek, or whether the “new me” is straying too far from readers’ expectations.

In the meantime, here’s the working draft of the book blurb. Any and all comments will be appreciated:

It’s five years later, Carin and Verek are married with children, and the grandparents are calling. Readers of the Waterspell fantasy series will welcome this long-awaited fourth book for the answers it provides to questions raised in volumes 1 through 3: Does the wysard Verek regain his powers, and will Carin make her way back to him? Have Carin’s parents survived the bleeding disease that devastated Earth, and will Carin ever see them again? How is the woodsprite faring in its new world? Has it forgiven the treachery committed by its greatest friend? Will Carin ever forgive herself for abandoning the creature? Does Megella get her wish, to be the wisewoman who midwifes Carin’s children into the world? Will those children bear the mark of their ancestry, or are they fated to be disappointingly ungifted? Did Lanse survive? Is Lord Legary really dead? And not least: Did the necromancer die in the jaws of Carin’s conjured dragon? Remember: There was no blood in the water. These questions and more are answered in Waterspell Book 4: The Witch, which picks up the story of the lovers, Carin and Verek, five years after readers last saw the pair separated in the closing chapters of the series’ third book.
By the blood of Abraxas, it’s about time we learned what happened next.

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September 20, 2020 · 12:05 pm

Where Do Ideas Come From?

Waterspell Book 4: Drafts 1 and 2. Notes sitting atop the rough draft. Thesaurus parked on the 2nd draft for two weeks in hopes that all the best words will filter through.
Waterspell Book 4: Drafts 1 and 2. Notes sitting atop the rough draft. Thesaurus parked on the 2nd draft for two weeks in hopes that all the best words will filter through.

My habit of letting the draft of a novel sit for at least two weeks has paid off: On my walk this morning, I suddenly got an interesting idea for introducing a plot twist that will bring readers face-to-face with characters who have previously appeared only in the background. Adding this element to Draft 3 will require additional writing but minimal rewriting. The idea arrived, seemingly out of nowhere, on the 14th day of me setting the ms. aside to marinate in its own juices. The subconscious is a powerful asset when it’s allowed to work its magic in its own time and way.

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September 8, 2020 · 4:03 pm

When Characters Speak

I’m having a great time working with a skilled, extraordinarily talented professional narrator to turn the first three books of Waterspell into audiobooks. The way the narrator has moved into the body of my wysard is uncanny. The man sounds exactly like the voice I heard in my head during all the years I devoted to writing Books 1 through 3. I look forward with eager anticipation to each newly recorded chapter the narrator sends me. He’s finished Waterspell Book 1: The Warlock and is approaching the one-third mark of Book 2: The Wysard. We plan to release both audiobooks together or within about a month of each other, since Book 1 ends on a cliffhanger and I believe listeners will want to move immediately into Book 2.

For me, an unexpected side benefit of hearing my characters’ voices come alive in the real world, is the inspiration this experience has provided to finally get me writing again. After my husband’s sudden death in 2012, I had no impulse to write. People would ask about a possible Book 4, and all I could tell them was that Life with a capital L had kicked me hard, and I wasn’t writing. Then came 2016, and the shock of discovering that I wasn’t living in the country I thought I was living in. The country of my birth was, in fact, a breeding ground for the absolute worst in human nature.

Therefore, after spending four years trying to patch together my life, I found myself obliged to join the Resistance and spend the next four years attempting to save the soul of my nation.

Then came 2020 and Covid-19, and a months-long self-isolation that has been a godsend for me. I hate the pain, the loss, the suffering that this virus has heaped on other people’s heads. I’m a walking example of white privilege: I get to stay home, safely isolated out in the country, ordering stuff for delivery to my gate and going into town only to pick up groceries and my mail. My pandemic experience has been 180 degrees from the devastation that others have experienced.

After years of no motivation followed by years of exhausting nonstop effort to resist the tide of fascism, I suddenly found myself with both the time and the desire to create something of my own again. Almost immediately upon entering my bubble of self-isolation, I hired my audiobook narrator. After six or seven weeks of listening to his breathtakingly good interpretations of my characters and their story, I placed my fingers upon the keyboard and started pounding out Book 4.

I started Draft One on May 6, and completed Draft Two on September 6. Record time for me (Books 1–3 took me 16 years to write and publish).

The second draft will need to sit for a couple of weeks. I do still have obligations to my state and my nation—I’m supporting candidates and contributing to Get Out the Vote efforts. I’ll spend the next couple of weeks engaged in that effort.

But then I’ll be looking through my notes again, and settling down for a close reread and re-edit of Draft Two. I’m tentatively planning a Summer 2021 release date of the Book 4 ebook, to coincide (I hope) with the release of the Waterspell Book 3 audiobook.

How good it is to be writing again. Strange, how inspiration will arrive unexpectedly, and opportunities may arise from cataclysm.

 

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