Fits and Starts: Drips and Drabs

I've actually written a fair number of words lately but ultimately have not made a lot of "progress." I've started four different projects that would be novel length but all four fizzled out fairly quickly. One will eventually be finished; I just don't really feel like working on it right at the moment. Of the others, one will probably go nowhere because I was trying to capture an urban fantasy vibe and it just isn't my genre. I've tried it before and never been able to complete such a piece. I know what the problem is on the third work and it needs rewriting because my scenes were too much telling and not enough showing. That I can do but I've got to get the energy up and school has been pretty draining lately.

I did finish a couple of short stories and some memoir stuff. Some of that is submitted now and I hope for good results. I've been noting a decided lack of focus and discipline in myself of late. I know what I need to do but I'm not feeling too guilty about letting the work slide. Anyway, as I've learned over the years, even putting words on paper in drips and drabs can result in finished work. It just takes time.

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Today's Writing Quiz

Today, my writing students are going to get the following, non-graded quiz. All the examples here are taken from actual student papers handed in to me in the past. Although there are some outright errors below, most of the sentences are serviceable but wordy or convoluted.  

What is either wrong or weak about the following sentences?  Revise to remove those problems.

 1.  In order to analyze their results, the researchers used an ANOVA.

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2.  The study would seem to suggest that males are more physically aggressive than females.

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3.  It has been found that honey bees can detect ultraviolet radiation.

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4.  The study examined the role of anxiety levels in racial stereotyping.

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5.  The researchers were interested in studying the effects of temperature on test taking.

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6.  The patient exhibited flattened effect.

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7.  When the participant was exposed to the test stimulus they showed a strong reaction.

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8.  Charles Darwin finds that there are remarkable similarities between humans and other primate species.

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9.  There have been a lot of studies done to investigate the role of anger in punishment.

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10.  Heroin is an elicit drug.

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11.  They gathered data from 17 women; all of whom were taking birth control pills.

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12.  Participants were asked to sign a consent form before filling out the survey.

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Noir at the Bar: The Readings:

So I made it the Noir at the Bar reading at the Irish House on St. Charles last night. I got there a bit early because I’d heard they had good food and figured to eat and drink a beer or two before the festivities began. Jāson Stuart, the organizer, and his wife, Karen, were also early so we all sat down to a meal. Karen and I had the house burger and we both agreed it was great. Jāson had the big Irish breakfast, with various kinds of sausages and puddings. Looked delicious and I’ll have to try that next time. Wonder of wonders, we talked books and writing. Who’d a thunk it?

Folks began to trickle in and we actually started the reading around 8:00. Jāson read a short, poignant piece from a work that should be out soon with a very intriguing main character. Heather Graham then read a piece from one of her published works. This was the first time I’d met Ms. Graham. She was very nice. The great Megan Abbott read next, from a work in progress. Everyone admired her description of rattlesnakes!  I didn’t get a chance to talk to her a lot but did mention knowing her mother, Patti Abbott. She laughed and said that everyone knew her mother.

Laura Lippman was unable to appear, but we also had readings from myself, Greg Herren, and Nate Southard. Greg was the only person besides me with a piece set in the New Orleans area. I believe he said the title of his tale was: “A Streetcar named Death.” Nate and his wife came all the way from Austin, giving them the win in the travel department. Nate’s piece featured a small town sheriff who is not only dealing with crimes but with the onset of Alzheimer’s. What an interesting concept.

Besides the readers, there were probably about a dozen other folks there, as well as some people listening in who had come to the bar because it was…well…a bar. I have to call out three of my Xavier colleagues for coming out to support me: Elizabeth and Elliott Hammer, and Kate Eskine. Kate brought hubby along. He didn’t seem to have been dragged kicking and screaming. Elizabeth is such a sweetheart she even wore a hat with a “Charles Gramlich Fan Club” attachment. It was great to have them there and I thank them. I am not worthy!

After it was all over, several of us sat around and visited and had another drink or two. We talked more writing and traded some books among ourselves. I really had a good time. I don’t get out a lot and this kind of event always makes me wonder why since I have a good time when I do. Thanks to Jāson for organizing and to everyone who read or came to listen. I’m hearing rumors of another one next year so that sounds pretty cool.

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Noir at the Bar

I'll be here on Saturday night this week, March 22. I'm really looking forward to it. A number of authors are going to be reading their noir tales, including Megan Abbott and, I think, Heather Graham. I'll be reading a piece called "The Finest Cut," which appeared in my Harmland collection. 

The reading takes place at the Irish House: 1432 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130. It's from 7:30 to 10:30. I have no idea what time I'm likely to be reading. But there is booze there! Come drop by and say hello if you can. Should be a great time. 

Contact information for the Irish House is: (504) 595-6755

info@theirishhouseneworleans.com

There's also a page on facebook about it. 

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Favorite Movies: Part 2

Here's part two of my list of favorite movies, and the ones that have had some influence on my fiction. 

             

             6. Alien. I consider this my second favorite horror movie. It’s far more horror than SF to me, although it combines those elements. It has definitely influenced some of my more graphic horror. I know Sigourney Weaver from this film, and I would recognize the name of the Captain if I heard it, although I can’t think of it now. Despite that, there’s one element of this film that irritates me, and that is how fast the alien grows after it “hatches.”

                7.  Aliens. The sequel to Alien is a very different movie. It has horror elements but it is primarily adventure SF, which I do enjoy writing. There are some great dialogue lines in this one, and some great characters. I know Weaver, of course, and would certainly recognize the names of several of the other actors if I heard them. This was an influence on Under the Ember Star.

                8. Predator. This movie nicely combines horror and adventure. The SF elements are really quite minimal. I know Arnold, of course, and Apollo Creed. I know that’s not the real name of the actor but the character he played on Rocky. There are elements of this movie that influenced Cold in the Light.

                9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978. Also a horror movie as opposed to a true SF film. Very enjoyable. I like the first version quite  a bit too, but this is the first version I “saw” and I’ll always have a soft spot for it. This film was remade a couple of times later and was horribly mangled. Only the first two versions are worth seeing. I would say this has influenced some of my horror.

                10. Brotherhood of the Wolf. This is a French film starring a number of actors whose names I wouldn’t even recognize. It’s based on real historical events, a “beast” that terrorized the French countryside and was widely believed at the time to be a werewolf. The movie puts quite a bit different spin on the “beast.” It’s got great action and wonderful visuals. I enjoyed this enough to go and buy a copy. I did so, partly, because I figured it wouldn’t show very often on TV. I was right.

Honorable Mentions:

                11. The Exorcist. One of the few movies that actually creeps me out.

                12. Excalibur.  A dramatic retelling of elements from the Arthur legend.

                13. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Great pulp adventure.

                14. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Western mythmaking with Clint Eastwood.

                15. Young Frankenstein. I seldom watch movie comedies but this is one of my favorites.

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Favorite Movies: Part 1:

I quite often make a point of saying that films mean almost nothing to me. It’s true. I watch movies. I enjoy some of them. Almost always I promptly forget them and can’t even remember their titles within a few days. I have no idea about the names of most actors. Lana often tells me the names when we’re watching movies, but within fifteen minutes I couldn’t give you that name. I think I’ve looked up something on the internet about movies or actors maybe a dozen times in my life. I’ve bought exactly six movie DVDs in my life, three of which I got in a package deal for about 3 bucks (and have never watched since I bought them).  Lana has bought two others that I might well have bought myself under the right circumstances. Yet, I cannot say that movies haven’t affected me. And there have been some that have influenced my writing. So, instead of bashing movies too badly today, I’m going to actually talk about a few movies I really do like and which have been influences on my fiction.  To avoid making these posts too long, I'll do it in two parts.

                1.  Once Upon a Time in the West. This is my favorite western, and perhaps my favorite movie. It stars Charles Bronson, Jason Robards, and Henry Fonda.  Bronson plays a gunfighter known only as “Harmonica,” and Fonda is the primary villain. This is really the classic myth of the old west and I do own a copy of it. I didn’t actually buy the copy, though. It was a gift. There are lines of dialogue and certain descriptions in the Talera series and in Cold in the Light that evoke elements of this film.

                2. The Outlaw Josey Wales. This is my second favorite western, starring Clint Eastwood, of course. I couldn’t tell you any of the other actors in it. It is actually based on a novel and is one of the very few cases in history where—for me—the movie is a whole lot better than the book. This also had an influence on the Talera series.

                3. The 13^th Warrior, starring Antonio Banderes and a bunch of other actors I don’t know. This is my favorite heroic fantasy movie. It’s based on Michael Crichton’s Eaters of the Dead, which is a retelling of the Beowulf story. Both the book and the movie are very good. The movie has been more of an influence on my work than the book, primarily because of the very strong visuals. This movie’s influences can be seen in some of my heroic fantasy, such as “A Whisper in Ashes.”

                4. The Thing, John Carpenter version. This is my favorite horror movie. I know the faces of many of the actors in it from other films but the only name I know is Kurt Russell. I thought the casting was excellent, though, and Carpenter got great performances from all the cast members. This has definitely influenced my horror fiction.

                5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The one exception to my “I don’t care about TV/Movies” feelings is Star Trek: The Original Series. I will watch anything and everything about the original series and have seen every episode and film more than once. I’ve even watched the cartoon series, which featured the voices and likenesses of most of the original cast.  I know almost all the actors names, which is unheard of for me with any other series ever. I even know the names of many of the guest stars and have several of their autographs. Wrath of Khan is by far the best of the movies made with the original cast and I’ve watched it so many times I largely have it memorized. Perhaps strangely, however, it has had little actual influence on my writing. I’m sure it’s influenced overall themes but not many details of the Star Trek Universe enter my fiction. Part of it is that I seldom write SF of this type, and part is that I know the stuff so well that I automatically reject it for specifics in my own fiction. The one exception is probably the Spock eyebrow arch, which I have had characters do in my stories. Lana bought a copy of this but I fully endorsed the purchase.

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A Review of Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy

I read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy quite a few years ago now, and reviewed it at the time in various places. I never posted the review on my blog, however, so here it is:

Book Review:  Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West:  (Vintage, 1992, 335 pages). This was the first book I read by Cormac McCarthy. It is both beautifully written, and deeply flawed. The prose is often scintillating. McCarthy’s command of the language and his use of metaphor and vocabulary is extraordinary, enough to make me envious. On the other hand, the flaws (as I see them) often make this book a difficult read.

   

First, in the modern literary tradition, McCarthy attempts to make his book as inaccessible as possible to readers. He eschews the use of normal dialogue punctuation and often leaves out helpful speaker tags. There are “no” quotation marks to indicate dialogue and I was incredibly irritated by this. It smacks of elitism. I see no benefit to it and the costs are considerable. There were many places where it was difficult to recognize transitions in dialogue and who was speaking. The writer’s job is to make his or her prose as accessible as possible. Note, I don’t say “easily accessible.” McCarthy’s work almost demands rereading for the quality of his prose, his imagery, and his meaning. Why, then, make a sometimes difficult task more difficult by doing something as silly as leaving out quotation marks.

   

There were two other major flaws in this work, flaws that prevent it from reaching the level of artistry that it had the potential to reach and which the cover blurbs suggested it had obtained. First, and most critically, there is little “story” in this tale. I don’t believe story is the “only” reason for writing. I appreciate beautiful language and surrealism, but story is important and is needed to carry a long work like this. A book cannot be a masterpiece without story.

   

For the most part in this book, a young man, fourteen years of age when the tale begins and known only as “the kid,” wanders around in Texas and Mexico observing and participating in various acts of extreme violence. He has no goals (realistic perhaps but not particularly conducive to story). He simply survives one scenario after another with little more than animalistic reactance. His “will to live” may be remarkable, but when the blurbs say that this book should stand alongside Moby Dick I think they are wrong.

   

In Moby Dick, at least the character of Ahab had a clearly discernable goal--to kill the white whale. The Ahab character in Blood Meridian, who carries a touch of the character of the white whale as well, is known as “the judge.”  But the judge doesn’t even appear until page 79, and his motives are opaque, at least to me.

 

Another flaw, and one that strikes me as a major one in a “literary” novel, is that there is virtually no character development. This is perhaps understandable for the judge, whose personality is fully formed when we meet him, but it seems there should have been much more development for the kid, who ages by over a decade during the book. There is no “regeneration through violence” as the front cover asserts for the kid. He is the same at the end as at the beginning. The sheer weight of violence this boy witnessed and took part in would have been expected to have shaped his character. It doesn’t. He becomes neither holy nor truly debauched. In fact, his emotional reaction throughout is virtually deadpan. It’s as if he’s spent the years as a garbage collector, but without really getting any extra ‘stink’ on him.

  

Speaking of violence, Blood Meridian is, make no mistake, intensely and brutally violent, perhaps the most violent book I’ve ever read. The violence is constant and deftly handled, neither over dramatized nor too understated. There are certainly echoes of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and such films as Apocalypse Now. Had the violence more clearly served the purposes of a story I would have praised it. Perhaps McCarthy’s point is that there is no glory or honor or redemption in violence, and he may be right. But that is hardly the stuff of myths. One aside about the violence in Blood Meridian is that I find it interesting that a level of violence that would, in a genre novel, be seen as “over the top,” is here considered masterful. Perhaps violence that has a point is suspect.

   

A last flaw in the book comes with the ending, though I’m sure many literary critics would disagree. Frankly, as with many literary novels, I didn’t understand the ending. When the kid stumbles upon the judge at the end, the judge embraces him and then.... What?  From the response of witnesses it was something rather horrible. I ’m just not sure what. Cannibalism?  Murder?  Sex? Clearly, Blood Meridian had an effect on me or I wouldn’t have gone on so long about it. It has passages of great beauty, and though I’ve criticized it I still find myself recommending it. I don’t think it is a great novel, but it does have power.

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Mardi Gras

 At midnight the police moved in and began to disperse the dense French Quarter crowd. The members of that crowd didn’t want to stop the party but reluctantly gave away, breaking into sub crowds, then into smaller groups that gradually streamed off toward homes or other parties. Fat Tuesday was over. Lent had begun.

As the crowds split, a cold hard gust of wind came blowing in over them and over the Quarter. It gathered other gusts to itself, swirled across the Faubourg Marigny and up Bourbon and Royal streets like a desert dust devil. It carried with it black dust and a mélange of beads and other Mardi Gras trash. It picked up the stench of sweat-soaked people, the stale odors of alcohol, urine, vomit. Along with those scents it gathered the thoughts and feelings of the revelers—their joys and rages, their laughter and sobs, their lusts and sins.

And when the wind had all of that in its grasp, it leaped upward toward the highest steeple of the St. Louis Cathedral.The cross at the top of the steeple shook; a dirty shadow enveloped it, then shrank down, took darkling form. For a moment it seemed that a long-armed man clung to the steeple. Then the figure leaped down and down from the cathedral and disappeared into the bushes and hedges of Jackson Square. The wind was gone as if it had never been.

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One Hit Wonders: The Rockers

This will probably be my last post about music for a while. Below are some of my favorite rock songs by bands that really only had one song I liked. I know that several of the bands featured below had longer careers and put out plenty of other music, but these are certainly their biggest hits. And they are the only songs by these bands that I listen to. I'm actually rather sheepish about "My Sharona," and yet I do like it. It's certainly the closest thing to pop music I've included on my lists. 

Head East: Never Been Any Reason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7jW8_2Us5c

Red Rider: Lunatic Fringe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqUa_G1h3pw

Ram Jam: Black Betty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R044sleOW6I

Living Colour:  Cult of Personality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxgRUyzgs0

The Knack: My Sharona: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ADektyDhM

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Metal versus Rock 5: Southern Rock

When I started putting together my list of top ten favorite hard rock songs I ran into a problem. I had a lot more than ten. However, I found a couple of ways to 'expand' my list creatively. For one, I took out all the songs from my original list that could also be categorized as "Southern Rock," and put them on a separate list. So, here we have my top five favorite Southern Rock songs, all of which also fit generally within the Hard Rock genre.

Z. Z. Top: La Grange: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vppbdf-qtGU

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Saturday Night Special: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwGC24e87uo

Texas Hippie Coalition: Hands Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rPY8Z10OjE

Molley Hatchet: Dreams I’ll Never See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtC7i4KMRgo

Blackfoot: Train, Train: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBP15lRprPs

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Metal versus Hard Rock 4

Picking numbers 6 through 10 of my favorite hard rock songs proved very difficult. So, I ended up making a further division of favorites. Below is my next set of Hard Rock songs, and later I will put up two other lists: My five favorite Southern Rock songs and my favorite "One Rock Wonders" bands. 

6. U2: Bullet the Blue Sky: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JjDDgK8KXc

7. Black Label Society: Funeral Bell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTKvkWlK6J4

8. Rage Against the Machine: Guerilla Radio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0kJLW2EwMg

9. Monster Magnet: Space Lord: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dscfeQOMuGw

10. White Zombie: Black Sunshine:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqPClltS5k8

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Metal versus Hard Rock 3:

Here are the first five songs from my favorite Hard Rock list. Certainly there are many other good songs that might fall into my top five under the right circumstances, but at this moment, these are my picks. Please note that I've realized I need a separate list for "southern rock." That will be upcoming after the Hard Rock top ten.

1. Van Halen: Ain’t Talkin’ Bout Love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuyvT8nFMLY

2. Motley Crue: Knock ‘Em Dead Kid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGUKtC5-WBo

3. Ted Nugent: Stranglehold: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0c3d7QgZr7g

4. AC/DC: Highway to Hell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_jCu_u28Ig

5. Guns N Roses: Welcome to the Jungle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr8-E8may2Y

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Heavy Metal Versus Hard Rock: Part 2:

Here are metal songs 6 through 10 for me. Ty pointed out that his list would change with his mood and that is true of me as well. This is my current  list. It might not be the same next year. And there are certainly plenty of songs at 11 on that might move up given the right circumstances. However, these ten songs sure do show up for me a lot when I click on you tube to listen to something I like. Next up will be Hard Rock songs, which was a harder list for me to make.

6. Slayer: South of Heaven:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtLvlaGJJEU

7. Hallow’s Eve: Lethal Tendencies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9fHYdyOb1A

8. Judas Priest: Love Bites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRp5z2B6Zl4

9. Scorpions: China White: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FloeC2HnNYo

10. Death Angel: Bored:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggyabywtCYo

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Heavy Metal Versus Hard Rock, Part 1:

I have  discussions on occasion with folks about what constitutes the difference between Heavy Metal and Hard Rock. I love both genres, but if forced to choose only one to take with me on a desert island, it would be metal. I find that it’s really impossible to describe the differences. It’s a ‘hearing’ thing. So, I’m going to do a series of posts, probably four of them, that illustrate the differences to me. First up, we have my top 5 favorite metal songs of all time. They are listed as band, song title, and the link is to the You Tube Video of the song. I’ve put these in an order, but that order could change depending on my mood. My next post will be the metal songs between 6 and 10 on my list. Following that, I’ll give you my top ten favorite Hard Rock songs.

1.  Megadeth: Sympathy For Destruction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyWJCd1GYhw

2.  Metallica: Leper Messiah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fm71Khu5-Lk

3.  Black Sabbath: Snowblind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHal84S_XkI

4. Celtic Frost: Procreation of the Wicked: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GhgwKmjzr0

5. Motorhead: Death Forever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0rgmNPWYxs

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Charles Gramlich Versus Charles Allen Gramlich: Grudge Match

           I just realized that Amazon has a Charles Allen Gramlich Author Page, and a Charles Gramlich Author page. The Charles Allen Gramlich (CAG) page has 21 listings for books, the Charles Gramlich (CG) page has 19. They have slightly different addresses, and different numbers of “likes.” The CG page has 3 likes and the CAG has 7. The CG page has a picture of me, though, so that probably explains why it has fewer likes. I guess I can understand that. Pretty, I’m not.

     

      The CG page has the link to my blog posts and is generally more comprehensive. It actually includes all my books, while the CAG page has multiple listings for some books based on either ebook or print format. I guess I must have updated both of these in the past without realizing they were different. Has anyone else seen this kind of thing for a writer? Two different author pages with slight differences?

     

      Anyway, I’m going to put up the links to both pages below, and will have to see if the number of “likes” change. Will Charles Gramlich or his alter ego Charles Allen Gramlich win?  Is the picture on the Charles Gramlich page the turn-off it appears to be? Inquiring minds want to know.

Charles Gramlich

Charles Allen Gramlich

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Gods of Talera

The fifth book in the Talera series, Gods of Talera, is now underway. This is a direct sequel to Wraith of Talera, which I wrote last year and which should be published some time in 2014. I don't know if I'll be able to write "Gods" straight through since it is likely that I'll have other projects intervening on occasion. Still, I want to get as much done on the project as I can before any interruptions occur. Below is a brief snippet from the story. Hope you enjoy.

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The tocsins still roared, louder here in the open. Beyond the roof where we stood stretched a city of white buildings with broad streets and many open courtyards between them. Above that city, curving down through the emerald sky, came huge airships with the golden bulk of the moon, Tisiminna, looming behind them. These were sailed vessels—battleships not unlike my own warship, Khiang, but half again as large. There were six of them, each painted a dark purple, and with flags flying from their masts bearing an image I could not make out at this distance.

Soon the ships began landing between the white buildings, disgorging warriors who wore glittering bronze breastplates and helms. Sunlight flashed from the swords and axes they carried. I could not tell their race but they were big. And there were many of them.

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The Perils of Professing

Oh, the things we teachers sometimes say. Without intent. I was talking about evolutionary concepts in my comparative psychology class the other day and was discussing a type of finch found on the Galapagos Islands called a Vampire Finch. This finch obtains some of its food by pecking at the feet of other, larger birds, and then drinking the blood that runs from the wound. Its favorite prey is a species of bird called a “Blue Footed Booby,” which is much larger with big, somewhat fleshy feet. I’m going along in my discussion when I announce to the class:  “So here we have a creature that makes its living sucking blood from boobies.”

It did not occur to me that what I’d said could be taken another way until I heard a couple of snickers from students in the class. Quite often when I make such a “slip,” I will call attention to it so we can all get a good laugh. We are still very early in the semester, though, with mostly sophomore level students, and this was just creepy enough that I decided to rush on to another topic. I’m quite sure there were some repetitions later outside of class. I also got quite a laugh out of it myself after I got back to the office.

Oh, the imprecision of language!

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Dream stories: A Dangerous Walk

I’ve talked about my dreams quite a bit here, and about how I’ve used scenes and imagery from them in a lot of stories.  I’ve said that many of my dreams have coherent story lines that actually work as stories. Probably the most frequent use of dream materials is found in my horror collection, In the Language of Scorpions.

However, not all my dreams are suitable for such use, certainly not without major overhauling. Some are just full of capriciousness and sheer weirdness that make me laugh when I finally wake up. Last night’s dream was an example.

It started with me and a friend heading out for a nature walk. The friend was my friend in the dream, but not someone I know in real life. In most such cases the “friend” appears to be a composite of at least several real folks. We were going into this big open field of grass, with a creek running through it and wooded hills in the background. There were a lot of cattle in the field.

After we cross the barbed wire fence to the field, I look at the cattle again and realize they are really deer.  I excitedly point this out to my friend and we continue on. I realize there is a commotion among the deer and stop to figure out what. My friend keeps walking. I suddenly call for him to stop as I realize the commotion is caused by a very large grizzly bear trying to catch one of the deer. A huge buck deer, with antlers like an Irish Elk, charges in and gores the grizzly, driving him away from the fawn he’d been trying to catch. The grizzly starts in our direction, looking distinctly angry.

My friend sees the grizzly coming and runs back toward me. His cap blows off. As he stops beside me, I look back at the grizzly and realize I’ve been mistaken. The “grizzly” has gotten quite a bit closer and it is clear to me now that it is actually a scowling young girl of eleven or twelve with blonde braids and wearing a green uniform.  Yes, in fact, the grizzly is a Girl Scout.

Only, I realize suddenly that my friend and I are actually young boys of nine or ten, with said friend being quite a bit smaller than me.  So, the Girl Scout still looks rather menacing to us with her face all angry. My friend darts toward her to reclaim his hat and I scream at him not to risk it. The “Scout” is almost upon us. He grabs up his hat but then realizes the girl is too close. She charges toward him and I rush to get in her way. She tries to go around me to get at my friend and I get my hands up to try and keep her away, yelling as loud as I can in hopes of frightening her off.  Maybe that would have worked on a grizzly. Not on the much more dangerous Girl Scout.

I woke up right about then and had to lay there and chuckle a bit. Of all the imagery in this dream, the only piece I understand the origins of is—strangely enough—the Girl Scout. Lana informed me not long before bedtime that I had purchased six boxes of Girl Scout cookies that day. I did not recall doing so but was assured that it happened and will dutifully fork over the appropriate amount of money. And I have seen some Girl Scouts who I’d be scared not to buy cookies from. 

Pleasant dreams!

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Inhabiting Your Setting

 Actors sometime talk about “inhabiting” a character. As near as I can tell, they mean that they try to get inside the skin of the character and live—at least for a while—as if they are that person. They want to ‘think’ like the character so their actions will come natural.

We writers generally can’t do the same thing because we are writing “many” characters. We can’t inhabit just one or all our characters will sound and act the same. What we can do, however, is inhabit the setting our characters move through. Setting has a powerful influence on character thoughts  & actions. It affects every character.

Take the woods, for example. I grew up in the country and spent a lot of time in the forest. I’ve been there in daytime, in fog, in mornings & evenings, at night. I’ve camped out. Explored. I’ve been cold and shivering there, felt awe and fear. While writing the book Cold in the Light, which was set mostly in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, I took many long walks in the woods at night to try and get back the feel for such wild climes. I was putting my characters through that kind of experience and wanted to feel what they were supposed to be feeling. I think it worked, and parts of that book made me distinctly uncomfortable while writing them.

Anyone can experience the woods, of course. But what if the story setting doesn’t actually exist? Under the Ember Star takes place on the frigid desert world of Kelmer. I’ve never been. So how did I ‘inhabit’ that environment?  First, my wife and I took a trip several years ago to Arizona & New Mexico. Lana is a photographer and took many pictures of barren, desiccated landscapes. We toured a slot canyon that showed the power of water in a desert setting. I spent a lot of time in those places, soaking in the feel. I also read a bunch of books about living in desert environments, such as Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire.

Then I did lots of imagination work related to the story. Not just on the storyline. I imagined and worked through scenarios in my head for all kinds of settings in the book. I asked questions like, what if I had been there a few hours before an event in the book took place, or a few hours after? What would the temperature be? How much dust would be in the air? Would there be bugs? Would there be any food?  How would the plants look? I followed these questions up, if needed, by Googling photos and chronicles that might help me.

A writer’s primary job is to get the reader to ‘experience’ what the characters are experiencing. Inhabiting the setting for a story is one way to do that.

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A Taleran Language Lesson

When Wraith of Talera is published, sometime this year, I hope, it will contain a fairly extensive glossary of Taleran places, races, mythology, and terms. I've spent many fun hours over the years developing this material. I use it as my guide in writing the stories, but I also just enjoy working on it even if some of it may never see light in the tales themselves. I thought I might post a little preview of the glossary here, focusing on some Taleran vocabulary. Below we have the Taleran words on the left side, with their equivalent meanings in English on the right. This is only a sample of some of the more common terms.

Ahy – Greeting. Basically “hello.”

Dihn – A small coin of little importance.

Dhu – Hundred.

Efrinore – Druid-witch-shaman. A magic woman of the forest. Herbalist.

Gleene – Blade.

Hyr – Half.

Jaikil – Raptor.

Jhesan – Lord (or sometimes Prince).

Jhesana – Lady (or sometimes Princess).

Khi – This is an important concept on Talera. It means, among other things, soul, spirit, psychic energy, charisma.

Khiang – Warrior, in the Nyshphalian tongue.

Khisan – Warlord, one who rules by the Khi.

Kyr – King.

Lehr – Outlaw.

Mercredi – A mercenary who serves as infantry.

Mordai – The name for the 1^st hour of the Taleran day, the hour after midnight when the veil between the living and the dead worlds is said to be thinnest.

Munt – Monkey.

Phoros – Healer or Physician.

Phrer – Priest or monk.

Rhanvin – Fighting slave, gladiator.

Saar – Polite title, like Sir.

Saaress – Polite title for a woman. Madam.

Saysa – Term of endearment, equivalent in English to “baby” or “honey.”

Verdredi – Mounted mercenary.

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