A Fresh Start

Well, I'm not sure who follows my blog anymore. I realize I've been very lax about updating this poor thing :)
But I've decided to start a new blog, and hopefully, hopefully, keep up with it much better. You can go HERE to see it. This one will stay up but I won't be using it anymore.
I hope to see you all at the new blog!

Just Tips!

About two months ago, I wrote a post on creating well-rounded villains.
Well, although it's entitled 'Some Tips for Creating Well-Rounded Villains', it doesn't come off as tips, but as 'you must do all these things or you will have a lame villain'.
So, let's backtrack a little.
I would say that the only two things you really, actually need for a successful villain are: a motive, and average (at least) intelligence. In my mind, these are non-negotiable in a serious story. We're not talking about comedies where a ridiculously stupid villain still somehow takes over the world.
Why these two things are important is simple: believability. To me, having a villain who doesn't have a motive (power, revenge, etc.) and/or is brainless, but most especially the latter, annoys me. Sure, a story can still be entertaining if the villain is lame (think, old cowboy movies), but it might have me banging my head every time he shows up.
So, while the other 'tips' I wrote about are good to think about, they're just tips; take 'em or leave 'em. After all, the ultimate villain is the Devil, and while he definitely has a motive and is super intelligent, he doesn't conform to anything else on the list.

Talking Animals - C. S. Lewis vs. Thornton W. Burgess

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I love C. S. Lewis. I think he was an amazing writer, and I have a quote from him for just about anything. Of course, The Chronicles of Narnia rank right up there as the best childrens' books ever.

So today I'm going to discuss talking animals, using Lewis and Thornton W. Burgess as examples of the right and wrong way to do it.

We've had a few of Burgess' books around our house for as long as I can remember. I've tried and tried to get through them, and I've only succeeded in finishing one; and that one I was never able to re-read. I think for my next article I'll discuss why that was, but for now let's focus on the animals.

Lewis' animals aren't human, that's for sure. Well, OK, in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, some of the animals seem more human than in his later books (especially The Horse and His Boy), but the fact remains that Lewis wrote them as animals. However, these animals have consciences; they know right from wrong (whether they do the right thing or not), they have consciences, they can love, and there are certain rules that, as rational and sentient beings, they must obey. Also, to knowingly eat a talking animal is a great crime, whereas eating a regular dumb beast isn't. Basically, the way Lewis treats his Talking Animals is summed up by Aslan in The Magician's Nephew: 'Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be grave. For jokes as well as justice come in with speech.”

On the other hand, we have Burgess, who wrote a whole lot of stories about the woodland creatures. These creatures may talk, and Burgess may moralize them to death, but they might as well be 'dumb and witless'. Several years ago I picked up Blacky the Crow and read a bit of it, until I came to a certain part that's stuck with me ever since. But first, a quick bit of set-up: Blacky the crow really, really wants the eggs of Mr. and Mrs. Hooty the owls, so he devises several plans to lure the owls away so that he can get to the eggs. All his plans fail, and he ends up deciding that if he can't have the eggs, then he'll get Farmer Brown's boy to take them so that the owls can't have them either.

During all this, we're told several times that Blacky is wronging the owls by trying to steal their eggs.

Then this (emphasis mine):

Blacky The Crow isn't all black. No, indeed. His coat is black, and sometimes it seems as if his heart is all black, but this isn't so. It certainly seemed as if his heart was all black when he tried so hard to make trouble for Hooty the Owl. It would seem as if only a black heart could have urged him to try so hard to steal the eggs of Hooty and Mrs. Hooty, but this wasn't really so. You see, it didn't seem at all wrong to try to get those eggs. Blacky was hungry, and those eggs would have given him a good meal. He knew that Hooty wouldn't hesitate to catch him and eat him if he had the chance, and so it seemed to him perfectly right and fair to steal Hooty's eggs if he was smart enough to do so. And most of the other little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows would have felt the same way about it. You see, it is one of the laws of Old Mother Nature that each one must learn to look out for himself.

But when Blacky showed that nest of Hooty's to Farmer Brown's boy with the hope that Farmer Brown's boy would steal those eggs, there was blackness in his heart. He was doing something then which was pure meanness.

I could hardly believe it when I read that. I still can't believe that Burgess goes to so much trouble to get us to think Blacky is being mean and self-serving by trying to get the eggs. Then he completely contradicts himself by saying that, basically, it's perfectly fine according to the laws of Mother Nature (who is worshiped by the animals in all of Burgess' stories) because, hey! Everyone has to take care of himself. No, the only really wrong and mean thing that Blacky did was try to get Farmer Brown's boy to steal the eggs.
So what is wrong, according to Burgess? These are just animals, obeying the laws of Mother Nature, so why shouldn't Blacky do as he pleases? How can he do something out of pure meanness if he's just an animals obeying the laws of nature? If it's perfectly all right for him to steal Hooty's eggs, and for Hooty to eat other talking animals in the forest, then is anything wrong at all? It's not wrong in the real world for a lion to kill and eat a deer, or even for some animal to kill another animal and just leave it there without eating it. But, just as soon as they can talk and think and reason, that's not good enough anymore. And you can't justify it by calling it 'Mother Nature's law', especially if you've been moralizing against it the whole time.

Of course, if Mother Nature is the goddess and makes all the rules, we can't say anything against it, now can we? Survival of the fittest and all that. But as Christians we can't accept that; so, if you're going to write about animals that can talk and reason, then Lewis' way should be the way you go, and not Burgess'.

Just Some Thoughts on Writing

I'm a bit tired of hearing all this high-falutin' talk about Writing. Wait, before I go on, let me give a disclaimer: I love writing; I love reading. It's been one of my chief pleasures since I was little. I love the way words can be put together to form a picture in my mind. So, with that out of the way, what do I mean by 'high falutin'?
It seems like people who write have a serious superiority complex. Not only that, but they describe writing in terms that make me cringe.
How about this one? 'If you are still emotionally stable after reading, then you're not reading the right books.'
Or this one: 'Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.'
And a hundred thousand other things said by various authors. Things like that really annoy me. Take the first quote, for example. As far as I know, I've never become emotionally unstable after reading any book. Any. Some stories have made me almost cry, and a few have haunted me for a long time, but they've never destabilized me emotionally. I have started a few books that I've put down as being too depressing. Why would we want to become emotionally unstable? That's just stupid. Shouldn't a book, a good book, do just the opposite?
What about the next quote? Oh, that sounds so grand. 'Just open a vein and bleed' eh? I wish there wasn't anything that needed to be said further, but too many writers think of themselves as martyrs, pouring out their hearts and souls into living words of passion and vulnerability.
Is there any rule that says a story must be birthed in agony? I've certainly had some tough times while writing, but never come close to anything like opening a vein and bleeding; not even close. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who feels like this. I know I can't be the only one, but no one else seems to be saying it.
I'm tired of being told that, as an author, I'm basically sitting up on a cloud with a halo. Everything that I write, simply because I am an Author, is worthwhile and everyone should automatically read it.
That's what annoys me a bit about NaNoWriMo. Thousands upon thousands of people sign up for it and are told that, 'Everyone has a story inside that the world needs to hear.' No they don't. Sorry, but no. Your story, my story, any story in the whole world, isn't worth something simply because of the fact that it was Written. Stories have to prove themselves. If they didn't, then writing would be pointless. It doesn't matter if you sit down and pour out your soul; that doesn't make it a good story.
Any thoughts, anyone?

Some Tips for Creating Well-Rounded Villains

Yesterday I talked about characters in general. Today, I'm going to expand on what makes a villain work.
By the way, for anyone who didn't read the last post (I don't know why you didn't; you should!), the characters, Kinlar and Keldrin, that I reference, are from an old story that I wrote about six years ago.


So, what makes a good villain?


1. Motivation. No one does anything for nothing. Keldrin joined the sorcerer, and the only reason he did so was because he was ... evil. 
There was very little motivation. He would most likely have done it whether Kinlar had been around or not. There should always, always be some reason villains do what they do.


2. A range of human emotions. Keldrin had jealousy, fear, and hatred. He had no emotions besides these; no remorse, uncertainty, or longing.


3. He (or she) must believe that what he is doing is right for either himself or everyone. Either your villain must believe that he is above the law and can do whatever he wants; or else he thinks that what he is doing is best for everyone. 
And I don't mean in that annoying, patronizing way that authors will do where they sort of do the sarcastic aside: 
'Of course he was doing it for the greater benefit! Greg was firmly convinced that poisoning all the dogs would be best for everyone. Why couldn't anyone see that?'
I mean where he firmly believes that whatever it is, he is in the right. 
He has to have reasons (of course the wrong reasons) that he's thought out and convictions that he holds to.


4. He must believe that the ends justify the means, but he shouldn't necessarily like the means. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of villains who get kicks out of evil. I'm not saying that they should dislike being cruel, but it really is boring when villains seem to forget their goal and instead focus on being nasty for no reason.


5. He should have at least one moment of almost choosing right over wrong. Perhaps I should say that he has to have an inner struggle. Especially if he sees the protagonist doing the right thing despite the trouble it causes him. He should wonder, at least for a little while, what it is that motivates the hero. He should maybe remember back when he himself wasn't evil. Then, the next time the chance presents itself, he should struggle against doing the right thing.
Now, the way he goes will depend on your villain. If you intend to redeem him by the end, then perhaps he should choose the right thing ... just this once. Not necessarily, but possibly. Even if it's not a positive act, such as helping a beggar; maybe it's just not doing something wrong. Maybe he decides not to poison the king, or he lets one of his enemies go free.
If he's going to be evil to the end, then he will probably end up choosing evil over good, sending him on a further downward spiral that will result in his destruction at the end. Or he might choose the right thing, but when the consequences are negative he quickly goes back to the security of his evil.


6. They should be at least of average intelligence. One thing that gets my goat is how overtly stupid villains usually are. 
How in the world (that they plan to utterly dominate) did they ever get in the position they're in if everything they do is obviously calculated to overthrow their own regime? Never mind the hero destroying them; they should have destroyed themselves long ago. Cackling evilly and revealing your evil plans will never get you to the place you want to be. Here's an example of a typical villain's List of Things to Do: 1. Conquer the world. 2. Destroy the good guys. 3. Enjoy it.
Conquer the world. Yep, that's a pretty broad category. They don't even have an idea of how they're going to do that. I guess they just figure that being fearsome and treating their own henchmen bad will cause everything to fall into place.
Your villain should have a set and definite plan for how he's going to get what he wants, and it should either be a plan that would probably work out if the hero didn't throw a wrench into it, or it should be the 'perfect crime' sort of scenario, where everything should have worked, but, because of the very nature of evil, no matter how perfect it is it's doomed to failure.



So, I hope this was helpful and entertaining! If there's anything I missed, please let me know in the comments box :)

Don't Tell Me He's Smart!

Recently I re-read the first long fantasy I ever wrote, The War for Erasthinia. It was probably around twenty thousand words. I was ... fifteen, I think.
One thing I noticed about it was my main character. Throughout the entire book we're being told that he's really smart. He's put in charge of the army at the age of seventeen, the king listens to him, etc, etc. He's also incredibly humble and brave and the best sword-fighter ever (except for his uncle who taught him how to sword fight, of course).
But, despite all the telling of how smart he is, what I actually showed was that he was pretty stupid. He did quite a few things that make you wonder how he even made it to the age of seventeen, much less became the commander of the whole bloomin' army.
So I was wondering, why is that? How come you can say something in a story until you're blue in the face, yet be contradicting yourself all along?
I think it's because I wasn't really interested in the character; I was just interested in the story. Kinlar had to become the commander, and to do so he had to be so smart, skilled, brave, and just generally amazing, that everyone else who might have been qualified were passed over in favor of him.
But then I made him act stupid in order for him to be captured. Of course, I didn't realize he was being stupid; I wasn't even paying attention! All that mattered was that The Plot went the way I wanted it to. The characters weren't part of the plot; they were just along for the ride.

I can't say that I've learned to master character completely over the years, but I have learned a few things.

1. Show, show, show! We've all heard this a million times, but showing really is better than telling; and most especially (I would say) when it comes to characters.
It can be difficult to understand what showing means; to me, I have to really take the time, because whenever I just think about showing instead of laying everything out for the reader I have a hard time imagining how to do it. I have to actually be writing.
I often catch myself describing something that I should be showing through a character's actions, and then I'll either change it or leave myself a note and come back to it later.

2. Know your characters strengths and weaknesses. In The War for Erasthinia, Kinlar didn't have any weaknesses whatsoever in my own mind. He was pretty much perfect.
When he got angry, it was at the man who betrayed his soldiers; he was so humble that all the adulation heaped on him did nothing to affect him; he was such an amazing sword fighter that even after being in prison for a month or more he was able to defeat a guy who had the sorcerer's magic sword fighting power in him. He had absolutely no flaws whatsoever.
And so he ended up being super boring. He needed a balance of both good and bad; if he was brave, he needed to be hot headed. If he was smart, and everyone was always telling him so, he needed to become over-confident and make a stupid mistake. If he was kind to his men, he needed to be too lenient to someone who deserved a heavy hand to keep him in line.
Every strength must be balanced by a weakness. Which brings me to my next point.

3. Know your villain's strengths and weaknesses, too. In my novel, Kinlar only had one enemy (besides the sorcerer). Everyone just loved his socks off except for this one guy, Keldrin. Keldrin was bad, through and through. I made sure to let everyone reading the novel know that he was a no account, nasty, selfish, jealous dude.
Throughout the book, he sneers at Kinlar, threatens him, ignores him, and then goes off and betrays him. He has absolutely no remorse; no moments when he wavers between right and wrong; and no qualms about bringing his whole country down to the ground, even if he gets very little or nothing out of it. Not only that, but he stinks at just about everything. He's no good at sword fighting, he's not very smart, he's a coward who stays as far away from the fighting as possible, and he's only tolerably good at archery (despite having trained under the same tutors as the prince).
And guess what? His being so obvious made him just as boring as Kinlar.
The things that make a villain really work are,

• 1) Motivation. 
• 2) A range of human emotions. 
• 3) He (or she) must believe that what he is doing is right for either himself or everyone. 
• 4) He must believe that the ends justify the means, but he shouldn't necessarily like the means. 
• 5) He should have at least one moment of almost choosing right over wrong. 
• 6) He should be at least of average intelligence.

In my next post, we'll look at these points in detail.

4. Make your plot and characters work together. If something is a convenient coincidence, it probably shouldn't be there. Coincidences are evidence of characters serving the plot. In my current novel, the main character and the villain meet for the first time in a seemingly random way; but in reality, the villain had set it up on purpose.
If something happens, it should be something in character for the characters, and it should be something that makes sense plotwise.
In The War for Erasthinia, Kinlar somehow escapes from the sorcerer's island on one of the sorcerer's ships. The explanation given is very weak; but I needed him to escape at that time, because the story was more important than the story making sense.

5. Your story will be much better if you just tell it. There are plenty of Christian books that I've read that I'd never read again.
There are other Christian books that I've liked enough to read again, but have skipped large portions in the re-read.
The first group are just sermons disguised as story; the second group is comprised of books where the author has a good story and good characters, but once in a while lets the message overwhelm them.
I once read a series of books where each one was called A Journey in ... where it was basically a theology book with a bit of story to give it more interest. The theology was good, and these weren't exactly supposed to be novels. The characters had conversations and debates on whatever the theme of that book was, and at the end came to a conclusion; and that was fine (though definitely not 'read again' material).
But it seems like a lot of books that claim to be exciting novels are really about the same as that series; the story comes second to the agenda, the characters are not developed, and both plot and characters serve the ultimate purpose of bringing us to whatever point the author wants to make.
People don't like being lectured. They like reading a good story where the message isn't in their face. So just tell the story. Your readers will thank you.

6. Don't be obvious.
I'm not telling you to be obscure. That's just as bad. But don't throw the villain's nastiness or the hero's awesomeness in our faces. Let us figure it out from the story.
In cowboy movies, everyone knows immediately who the bad guy is because the music turns sinister, we see a close up shot of a nasty smile and cold eyes, and he starts making trouble the second he's on screen. We know the hero because there's a beautiful girl who smiles at him, and he's handsome, and right away he starts being amazing.
Not every hero/heroine should be the epitome of beauty, and the villain shouldn't right off the bat repulse everyone except for the other equally evil (but less important) bad guys who work for him.
Also, if someone dislikes your main character, that shouldn't automatically put him/her on the bad guy's side. Maybe he has a legitimate reason for not liking your amazing, perfect hero; or maybe he's been lied to. There are a lot of possibilities, so why just stick with the boring one?

7. Don't flaunt your idea's uniqueness. If there's one thing that annoys me, it's this: in the middle of a book, typically fantasy, the author will either break in with narration or have one of the characters say something about how different this book is. Something like, "Now fairies are often regarded as cute little pixies with wings; but in reality, they are far more dangerous than the tales would have us believe."
For me, that destroys the credibility of a book. That's just as bad as any other kind of telling. Why do they feel the need to jerk us out of the story, just to point out that fairies aren't really like we think they are? How about you show us that? And don't show it by having a character yell,
"Wow! I always thought that fairies were cute little pixies with wings! Apparently they're far more dangerous than the tales would have us believe! RUN!"
Show it by being subtle. Or maybe don't call them fairies, since the word has so many connotations that you might not want to have attached to your totally unique dangerous beings.
Nothing will drive me further away from a book than being told that it's breaking the mold and that (by implication) all the books where fairies are cute little pixies with wings are boring and not worth my time. Maybe they are, but I don't need to be hit over the head with the author's opinion on that.
The best stories are those that are focused, unassuming, and self-confident enough to trust the reader to figure things out. If your story is unique, then we'll be happy to acknowledge that. But if you tell us it is, then we might just put the book down and go read something better.
Plus, it just makes you look desperate. "My story is amazing! I have ideas in here that no one's ever thought of before! I'm really thinking out of the box on this one! Please read it! It's so unique!"
Now, of course, if it's a comedy then that might be different. In the 'Ella Enchanted' movie, there are some genuinely funny references to well known fairy tales that are sort of turned on their heads.
But don't do it if you're trying to be serious.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed this! Now go write a unique story where Hansel and Gretel aren't the shivering, scared children that we've always heard about, but are instead fearsome warriors ...

Debunking the Myth of 'Anything Goes' in Fantasy

Possibly the most annoying thing I've heard from people defending certain fantasy movies is the argument that, since it's fantasy, who cares if it's realistic? After all, the whole thing is fake anyways. In other words, a character can defy the laws of gravity, but it's OK because, hey, it's fantasy!
That's just ridiculous. If, in the movie, the laws of gravity are present and intact, then no one should be able to violate them, no matter how amazing he or she happens to be. But how do we know that the laws of gravity apply in the movie? Well, do the characters fall down when they die? The law of gravity is therefore intact; and anything contradicting it, without a better excuse than the awesomeness of the character, has no business being in the movie.

This certainly goes in our novels as well as in our movies. We can't establish a rule (implicitly or explicitly) and then break it willy-nilly. If we do it once, then our readers might forgive it as an oversight. Twice, and they begin to wonder what's going on. Multiple times, and they start to nod their heads in boredom. What's the point of a story that breaks its own rules just for the sake of excitement or convenience?

I think that the people who make the argument of 'anything goes' are those who don't get fantasy. They'll watch/read it once in a while just for entertainment, but they don't understand people who really like it. So when people like myself complain about Thorin and Co. in The Desolation of Smaug being chased around by a dragon that breathes fire and can fly, and this same dragon being unable to even singe their beards, they just don't get that a story must stay true to its own rules or else it becomes laughable. Or maybe it's because the viewing public has been so dumbed down that a stupid chase scene that stretches the movie out way beyond what it should have been is more interesting than what should have happened: a tense, witty scene in the dark with Smaug and invisible Bilbo. Because who wants dialogue when we can have a dragon covered in molten gold just for the fun of it?
That's the way we'll get people to regard fantasy as a legitimate form of literature or film.

We've Stereotyped Ourselves!

Having been introduced to the online writing world several years ago, I've had time to observe what goes on amongst authors and what they say about themselves. Being the only author that I know personally was rather difficult, or would have been if I had realized that there was a whole world on the internet where authors are encouraged, prodded, and helped by other authors. It's been fun and very informative, and I would never want to put down those people who are sincere and trying to help each other out. However, there are a few things that really do annoy me about authors. There are a lot of stereotypes that they've placed on themselves, for what reason I can't imagine, because generally stereotyping is frowned upon. So here are a few things that authors say about themselves that just don't make sense.

1. Because I write, I'm insane!

I see this one all the time. Even authors that I admire and like say this. Constantly on their blogs they are proclaiming their... lack of sanity? As if writing were something that somehow automatically makes you a good candidate for a mental institution, yet also simultaneously one of the few awesome people in the world. But I've never understood this. How am I insane simply for writing a story? Writing seems to me a much more tame thing than, say, going over Niagara Falls in a barrel or climbing a treacherous mountain. Of course writing can be exciting to the author, but crazy isn't an epithet I would apply to myself or any other normal human being who happens to write. It also seems to me to be a mark of arrogance to act as though we are some special sect of people simply because we write.

As a side note, people are always calling NaNoWriMo crazy and insane. Generally, if I realize that I am doing something only a madman would do, I don't do it. So when NaNoWriMo took a story that originally had something of a plot and turned it into a fifty-thousand-word plotless disaster, I stopped doing it. You might find me on NaNoWriMo, but you won't find me doing it.

But anyways, as a general rule I don't think authors are particularly strange or crazy. At least those of my online acquaintance. I realize that there are a lot of authors out there who probably, in real life, are actually weird, insane, crazy, and should be institutionalized. The kinds who write pathetic, stupid, or wicked books. But I'm not talking about them; I'm talking about a mostly-Christian, moral, normal group of people that includes myself. And you know what? In spite of all the talk of craziness, I haven't really seen it yet.

2. Sadistic and proud of it!

How many times have I seen authors (Christian ones) bragging about the fact that they love to put their protagonists through the most horrible, awful things imaginable? They act as though putting them through the wringer is something that they enjoy, rather than something they do to further the plot or character development. Even the mildest thing that a character goes through is something that I sure wouldn't want to go through ever in my whole life, and yet authors treat it flippantly. "Yeah, I'm sure not nice to my characters! My MMC's little daughter was killed, his wife was captured by lecherous soldiers, he just found out his brother is a traitor, and to top it all off he's about to have his hand cut off. Poor guy." Um, yeah, poor guy. Understatement of the century, anyone? I don't know about anyone else, but I cringe when I'm reading about horrible things that have happened to characters in books, and I cringe when my own characters have horrible things happen to them. Is it necessary? Yes. Is it fun? Definitely not! Remember, you are in a sense the god of your story. You know everything that will happen and why it happens. God doesn't get a sadistic kick when His people go through trials; the trials are not the end, but the means to the end of sanctifying them and bringing them closer to Him. Similarly, we should be using whatever hardships our characters face for the ultimate purpose of bringing them farther along in their character development and their closeness to God, and we should not, EVER, make light of what they go through. Are they fictional? Yes. Does that somehow make it permissible to enjoy their distress and sorrow? I don't think so. So the next time you're tempted to sound sadistic on your blog concerning one of your characters, think again.

3. My characters are hijacking my story!

This is one of the most ridiculous claims that authors make. Their characters speak to them? Their characters won't stop arguing with them? Their protagonist has his own ideas about the direction the plot should take?

'Scuse me?

Am I alone in being one who has never heard even a whisper from any of my characters in the thirteen years that I've been writing?

Of course it can be difficult to keep a plot on track. Of course characters can be difficult to 'get right' and all that. But I find it extremely absurd to be always talking about our characters as though they were like the imaginary friends some of us had in childhood. I don't talk to my characters; they don't talk to me. Sort of like Tolkien's Entwives. I also think that if we gave up this talk of imaginary friends we might get along more quickly in our writing. I don't have to know what my character's favorite flower is, what his first word was, what her reaction to being suddenly surrounded by purple aliens would be (unless, of course, I'm writing a science fiction where purple aliens are a distinct possibility).

Here is an interesting thing I found out a few years ago: you can control your characters (without promising them chocolate). You can make the plot go where you want it to, if the plot makes sense. Your characters won't rebel, and if your plot takes an unexpected turn it's because YOU turned the plot. If you have a flash of inspiration, then it was from the brain that God gave you, not because you and your characters communicate telepathicaly. You have power over your own writing! How liberating is that? I know, I know, it's more fun to blame writing difficulties on characters, but it lost its humor a long time ago.

4. Forget unsocialized homeschoolers. We're the unsociable authors!

Well, really, here I can only speak for myself. I don't know most of the internet authors. But it seems to me that they do have lives that they live and families that they generally speak to. Their pictures seem to indicate that baths, meals, and rest are not foreign unto them. But if you simply read ninety percent of authors' blogs, you might get the idea that we go to an attic, lock the door, chain ourselves to a desk, throw the key out of our reach, drink coffee or tea exclusively, and subsist on chocolate. Again, I'm talking for myself (mostly), but when I write I find at least a little background noise to be helpful (growing up with a lot of younger siblings may account for this), and I'm usually in an area frequented by members of my family. Not only that, but if I had a cup of tea (I don't drink coffee) beside me, I might take one sip and by the time I remembered to take another sip it would be stone cold. I'm not talented enough to drink and type at the same time, and I have a strange feeling that most authors (for all that they are insane and special) are similarly lacking that talent. Also, it takes me about fifteen to twenty seconds to consume a cookie or part of a chocolate bar. I shudder to think of the state of my health if I had enough chocolate beside me to fill up my writing time (because, believe me, I would not neglect my chocolate!). Another thing is how sticky my computer keyboard would be by the end of half an hour.

I also consider myself to be a fair enough companion for human beings, even while I'm writing. Writing, like social media, should never take precedence over our relationships. It may be fun to joke about ourselves as being unsociable, but I hope that none of us truly is.

5. In conclusion.

So, to sum up: Insanity isn't something that most people are proud of, and in and of itself writing is one of the quieter talents. Unless you dictate your work to a scribe, writing is done by putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard. One of your characters may be insane, but that doesn't make you crazy. If you are insane, then I would expect that your writing would be unintelligible gibberish and your profile picture to be of someone in a straight-jacket.

Sadism in regards to protagonists (or any character, really) is, frankly, disturbing and probably isn't the best testimony for a Christian to be putting out there. Put your character through whatever you (don't) like, but don't like it!

Your characters and plot, just like a Disney Princess's destiny, are yours to control. You make the rules (within the bounds of God's Word, of course), you set the boundaries, you create the characters and the world and you think up the plot. If you are having trouble, don't bribe or cajole your characters, take a step back, ask God to help you, and think about how to solve the problem. I've done it before, it's worked, it can. be. done.

If you are unsociable with your family, don't be! God gave us a desire to write, but He also gave us family and friends. Real people. Don't neglect them, and don't joke about neglecting them either (especially if you really are). It's fine to set time aside to write alone by yourself. It's not fine to shut yourself away from everyone for ever.

Finally, writing doesn't make you special. God has given you a certain talent, just like He's given other people other talents. Writing is one among many, and it isn't necessarily better than being an artist, an engineer, or a doctor. The way to set yourself apart is not to be an author, but to be a good author to the glory of God. And even then, pride should never factor into our attitudes about ourselves.

The Four Feathers -- A Book Review

Well, hello everyone! It's been a really, really long time since I posted. But I'm here today with a review of a book by A. E. W. Mason: The Four Feathers. No, it's not a play on The Forefathers or anything. It is set in the late 19th century, when the British ruled much of the Soudan and Egypt. Harry Feversham comes from a long line of soldiers, stretching back to, apparently, the 1600s. Of course, Harry's father naturally expects that his son will follow in his footsteps and bring honor to the family name. But Harry is terrified of being a coward, and though he joins the army, when the call to arms comes he resigns his officer's commission, believing that no one will know the reason. Unfortunately, three men of his regiment find out and on the night of a ball to announce Harry's engagement to Ethne Eustace he receives three white feathers. When Ethne sees them, and he explains to her what has happened, she gives him back her engagement ring and adds a fourth feather from her fan. Harry leaves, determined not to come back to England until he has done one thing for each man that gave him a feather to prove himself and to atone for what everyone believes is his cowardice. In this way he hopes that Ethne, too, will take back her feather, though he tells her nothing about his plan.

I really loved this book. In fact, Mason's writing is several notches above the typical books you read written in the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds. He's not worried about spoonfeeding his audience, and he is willing to make things complicated without immediately explaining what is going on. Not only that, but his characters actually have character. They are very well-rounded. Ethne is a strong and courageous girl, but she has her weaknesses too, as becomes apparent. Harry, though the book isn't written from his perspective, is very well done as well. Even Harry's father, who might be the closest to a caricature in the book, does not act in exactly the way you might expect such a man to act when Harry informs him of the feathers and his resignation. Another thing I liked about this book is the romance. Both Harry and Ethne are fairly undemonstrative people, reserved and quiet. They feel deeply for each other, but they never kiss or pour out gushing flatteries and declarations of undying love. I like that. I like it a lot.
But perhaps my favorite part in the whole book is the section where Harry tries to rescue Captain Trench (who sent him one of the feathers) from the House of Stone in Omdurman. I don't want to give spoilers away, but the descriptions of everything are just fantastic. I was drawn in completely from first to last. One thing is certain: Mason definitely had a gift not just for telling a story, but for writing one. And The Four Feathers is not the only book where he proves this, though it may be the best. I may post a review of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler sometime soon, as well as other books by Mason as I read them. However, I give this book five stars out of five (with a warning: there are some instances of the use of 'God' in a way which is not reverent; but these are fortunately not too numerous).

I found this book for free on the Amazon Kindle store, and I thought I recognized the title because my dad had watched a movie which I vaguely remembered being called The White Feather. However, he had watched an old 1939 version which was called The Four Feathers, which he had liked. So I watched it. Let me warn you, if you want to watch the movie, READ THE BOOK FIRST. I am serious. Otherwise the movie won't make a whole lot of sense to you. Not only is it very shallow on the character side (the characters don't talk much and when they do, they are completely different from those in the books) but many of the names have been changed. For instance, in the movie, Ethne Eustace becomes Ethne Burroughs, and her brother (she doesn't have a brother in the book) is one of those that sends Harry a feather. Not only that, but every single one of the elderly British gentlemen look exactly the same. They hardly have enough screen time to become distinguished one from the other, they all wear exactly the same clothes and exactly the same mustache, and they all have exactly the same voice. There are a lot of problems with the movie, which annoys me because the book wouldn't have been hard to transcribe semi-faithfully to the screen. And the ending? The ending is S.T.U.P.I.D. And the big battles between the British and the Dervishes? They are just there to take up time which should have been used to develop the characters, because not one single battle takes place in the book. Seriously.

Twice Tagged

Ok, so Lostariel tagged me the other day, and now I've been tagged by Ithilwen, so I'll combine both tags into one massive post. Fear for your lives, friends. You will be deluged by random and probably pointless facts about my life and personality, but it will be FUN. I hope. So, on to the tags! First, since each tag requires I post eleven facts about myself, I'll post TWENTY-TWO facts. After that, I'll answer the questions they gave me, which will be twenty-two questions. BUT I'll only give eleven questions to the people I tag, by combining both tags into one, since both are for the same tag game. If that made sense (which it probably didn't).

Twenty-two facts about myself which I've never shared with another living soul. Feel honored.

1. I love Julie Fowlis' voice. You are really missing out if you don't know who she is (and I listened to her way before Brave came out).
2. Karen Matheson's 'Fear a Bhata' and 'Ailein Duinn' are two of the most beautiful Gaelic songs I've ever heard.
3. I watched 'The Patriot' for the first time about two months ago. I didn't like all the blood :-/
4. I have lived in Jacksonville Florida since July 1st of this year.
5. I follow 42 blogs.
6. I met my dear online friend Kate in real life in June.
7. My favorite scene of all three Lord of the Rings movies is when the Rohirrim come to the top of the hill overlooking Minas Tirith, Theoden rides in front, and they charge down the hill to THE BEST music ever written.
8. My mom's favorite scene is Gandalf and the Balrog in the Mines of Moria. 'You shall not pass' and all that. Which I admit is an epic scene. Probably my second favorite :D
9. My brother William and I are the only ones in our family who like onions on our hamburgers.
10. There is no beverage replacement for iced sweet tea.
11. I dislike superheroes in general, but find some parts of the first spiderman movie to be funny (actually, I've only watched parts of it). Maybe someday I'll write a post about why I don't like superheroes.
12. This was my first year participating in the Narnia Fic Exchange. I panicked last month because I thought the entries were supposed to be finished on June 28th, three days after I'd received the prompt. Of course, it was actually July 28th. That happens to me a lot.
13. I am soon to be a member of a Primitive Baptist Church.
14. I finished reading the unabridged Ivanhoe about a week or two ago, and really enjoyed it.
15. I read the Lord of the Rings when I was ten.
16. I don't like the new movie versions of Prince Caspian or The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at all. I think they are a disgrace to the name of Narnia.
17. My sister Emma can sew a dress in a day and a half (or less).
18. My favorite meal would probably be roast beef (really tender, where it falls apart) with gravy, biscuits (my great-aunt Mildred's recipe), corn, sweet tea, rice, and carrots-and-onions cooked in roast beef gravy.
19. I've been to Seaworld several times in my life.
20. I would like to stay on a mountain in the Swiss Alps during the spring some day, maybe for my honeymoon. Well, that's what dreams are for!
21. We have a cat who reminds me of a tiger: it is always attacking us, it never sits still, and it's been like that since we brought it home when it was just a tiny kitten. It doesn't like me. The feeling is mutual.
22. I find it very difficult to sleep when there is any light at all in the room.

Twenty-two answers to twenty-two questions.
Lostariel's questions:
1. If you could meet your death at the hand of any fictional character, who would be your worthy opponent? Well, that's kind of hard, since I don't really want to die at the hand of a good guy because that would mean I was a bad guy, and none of the bad guys are worthy opponents (in my humble opinion). Reepicheep, I guess (this answer suggested to me by a sister). But of course he would kill me because he thinks I'm an enemy, not because I really was one.
2. What kind of character would you be in a science fiction epic? I would be the amazing person who saved the world singlehandedly and... oh, wait, that was someone else. I would be the person trying to avoid trouble as much as possible but still resisting the bad guys when I could; I might fly a rescue spaceship or work as a nurse if there was a war. (My sister says she would be a droid.)
3. If you decided to be a super villain, would you win? Why or why not? No, of course not. Evil always loses in the end. But of course, I don't want to be a super villain anyways, or even a minor one.
4. Pick a plant - tree, flower, herb, or something else flora. Now character sketch: What is his/her personality as a human? Oak. He would be venerable with a gray beard and make wise statements to all his grandchildren. He would be the one everyone looked up to.
5. What's an unpopular opinion you hold about music? Uh oh. I hate Contemporary Christian Music with a passion. I hate rock music, and rap music, and most country music. <hides>
6. What do you do with notebooks/sketchpads/journals/diaries/similar once you've filled them up? I save them and read through them at times. But I haven't written on paper for who knows how long. I'm definitely a child of technology ;D
7. Your doorbell rings. Surprise! It's me! What is your first thought/action? How'd you know my address?!? OR Hi! Nice to meet you!
8. What book/movie/show do you love that you wouldn't recommend to anyone else? None.
9. You offer a shivering eight-year-old stranger your coat. She smiles at you, and you're not sure if it's a nice smile or a cruel smile, and runs away. You stick your hands in your pockets only to find something in them that wasn't there before. What is it? A ticking time bomb that is magical, so the police and even top scientists can't defuse it. When it blows up, I am sent to another world.
10. What is the loveliest voice to fall asleep to? Meav ni Mhaolchatha's 'The Waves of Tory' or Karen Matheson singing 'Fear a Bhata'. Or maybe boy choirs singing in Latin.
11. Did you ever get excited when you found out two people you know (or know of) know each other? If so, who? I'm sure I did/would have if it ever happened, but at the moment I can't think of an instance like that.

Ithilwen's questions:
1. If you could create a mythical creature using different elements from a dragon, a wherewolf, a phoenix, a gorgon, and a hydra, what would it be like? It would be a long, lithe wolf-bodied creature, with two dragon heads, two phoenix heads, two gorgon heads, and one wolf's head. All heads would be able to breathe fire, and if you looked any of them in the eyes, you would be instantly turned to stone.
2. You are walking down a road, it is deserted, and a storm comes out of nowhere. The rain is pouring up and the lightning is coming from the buildings. What is causing this, and what do you do? A powerful sorcerer is trying to kill me; fortunately, I was given a cloak of invincibility in return for a kindness done to an old woman.
3. Would you rather watch the movie, or read the book? In most cases, I'd rather read the book first and then, maybe, watch the movie.
4. You look out you window one day and are completely shocked and overjoyed to see someone standing on your lawn. Who is it, and why are you so excited? My online friend Kate, whom I've only seen in person one time, and who lives over a thousand miles away. I'm so excited because, well, it's Kate :D :D Oh, wait, you mean she's not really there? <goes into weeks-long depression>
5. Your best friend has to move to another country, but you will be able to see each other once every year. What would you  think about this? Well, at the moment it's not much different, since we live so far away, but I would be extremely sad that we'd definitely only be able to see each other once a year. But at least there's email and Skype!
6. What is your opinion about the hopelessness of the Hunger Games series? Or do you not think it hopeless? I think it's hopeless because there is no God in it. None at all. No mention of Him, even in swearing (that I know of). He is just completely absent. And so even if 'good things' happen, without God it's all empty and vain and death is the ultimate end.
7. You can only watch one movie for the rest of your life, but you can choose. What movie would you pick? Oh, dear... hmmm. Well, does Lord of the Rings count as one movie? If it does, then LotR all the way! If not, I honestly can't think of a movie I wouldn't be able to live without. I mean, I could live without Lord of the Rings, but it would be hard ;) Sorry, but my brain is shutting down in the area of awesome-movies-I-have-to-have.
8. Which would you rather, having your life saved by a super villain, or your death brought about by a super hero? I would rather have my life saved by a super villain so that I could go on to bring about his defeat, even if I just played a small part.
9. If you could choose one super power, what would it be? To be invisible at will.
10. If you could be best friends with a mythical creature from any book or movie, who/what would it be? A winged horse, definitely. Like, Fledge from the Magician's Nephew.
11. If your answers to all of these questions were erased and you had to rewrite them, and you couldn't remember your original answers, do you think your rewrite would be completely different, somewhat similar, or the exact same as before? Why? Probably about the same as before. I'm not just randomly choosing answers :D

Now, for the eleven questions that I am supposed to ask my victims the people I tag.
1. What do you think about R. L. Dabney? Have you ever heard of him before this question was asked?
2. Which is your favorite: The Children of Hurin or The Hobbit?
3. If you had to name one of your children after a fictional character, who would you name him/her after?
4. What is the first 'big book' you remember reading?
5. Have you read The Silmarillion? What did you think of it?
6. Have you ever read any of C. S. Lewis' non-fictional works, such as Mere Christianity?
7. At what age were you saved?
8. Do you keep a journal? How regularly do you make an entry?
9. Would you rather fight a zombie or an orc?
10. Look in a mirror or take a picture of yourself. How would you describe yourself to someone who had never seen you before so that they would recognize you?
11. Do you find notes in a Bible to be helpful or a distraction?

The people I tag are (I'll warn you beforehand that it won't be eleven):
1. Ezra @ Shadow and Glory because everyone tags James but doesn't remember he has a brother ;)
2. Kate @ A Room of My Own because I don't think she's ever been tagged, and she deserves it :D
3. Bernadette @ Mundburg and Ink because not enough people follow her very fun and funny blog.
4. Trav @ Musings of a Strange in a Strange Land because she doesn't post often enough.
5. Heather @ Magical Ink because if she's been tagged before, I don't remember it.
6. Nichole @ Pen and Parchment because she writes some really thought-provoking posts.

Aaaaand, I'm going to change the rules a bit (it's the new thing to do when you've been tagged!).
1. If you are tagged, you can either write eleven facts about yourself and answer the eleven questions on your own blog, or you can just answer the questions here in a comment.
2. If you do decide to make a blog post of your own, you don't have to tag anyone else if you don't want to.
3. Have fun :D

The Fall

I wrote this a while back, and thought ya'll might enjoy a look at the Fall in my world of Heszeret-Alacta and the beginning of the races of men and dwarves.
Tell me what you think!

And after these things Enderel took of the mountain stone and carved out of it giantish men and giantish women, and breathed life into them. And he set some of them in Enderellia, to tend the gardens and fields there. And the rest he commanded to multiply and bear children on earth. He set also a stairway by which they might come unto Enderellia and rest there at times from their labor upon the earth.

And it came to pass that the giants multiplied, and were increased in riches and in pride. And they spake unto their brethren in Enderellia of all that was in their wicked hearts to do, even to assail the Great City and to cast Enderel from his throne. And at a set time they approached the City, but it was fast shut and they could not enter. And as they beset the gates to force their way, a wind came up from the east and the west and tare asunder the cloud, dividing that part on which the City stood from that on which the giants stood.

And they cursed Enderel and were greatly angered that their devices had thus been thwarted; and while they were so doing, a great storm came up, and lightning struck around them and they were thrown out of Enderellia to the ground.

And many of them repented of their wickedness, and pled with Enderel that they might return to the City, but he forbade them.

And the giants in whose heart was still rebellion came to the stair and climbed. But, lo, five hundred steps were rent from the midst of the stair, and they could go no higher. Therefore the giants departed, and sought out dark arts of magic to repair the stair that they might again assail the Great City.

And from thenceforth the children whom the giantish women bore unto their husbands were small in stature, and none surpassed the height of seven feet, although formerly the least among them was of twelve feet.

And there was great mourning among the giants who repented, for the broken stair, and for the wrath of Enderel.

And the giants were no longer as brothers, but were divided into clans, each clan warring against the other. And they were scattered over the face of the land; and there was no more peace.

Happy Birthday to a Wonderful Friend!

My dear and very good friend, Kate, is seventeen today, so I thought I would write a bit about her and my friendship with her :)
We met through FanFiction.net, which at first thought might not seem a very likely place for a friendship to spring up. But, if you think about it, it's actually a very good place. If you can find just one person who writes well, and shares your interests (in this case, everything to do with Narnia), and also happens to be homeschooled and near your age, and Christian, then you have the makings of a friendship.
Which is exactly what happened with Kate and myself.
I don't remember if she read and reviewed a story of mine first, or if it was the other way around, but we started PMing each other on FF, and I was soon beta-reading for one of her stories, at which time we began to email back and forth, and then IM on Gmail and Skype.
Before I met Kate, I'd never had a friend who shared my keen love of Narnia. But from Narnia it branched out into discussions on Bible versions, Moby Dick and the definition of worship, and a bit about feminism, and a whole lot of other things. I've learned a lot about Arthur and some about ancient Britain from her, and I've even read a bit of Herodotus.
We've done huge amounts of brainstorming, ranted about the new Narnia movies, discussed our favorite fanfictions and edited each other's stories. We've been serious and silly; talked in LOLkitteh and told stories in high courtly speech, and generally had really wonderful times. We even got to visit each other last week for a few hours, and we had a great deal of fun just talking and laughing in a Barnes & Noble the whole time.
So, dear Kate, I hope you have a wonderful and very happy birthday, and I hope you have many more as well. Thank you for being my friend. I love you!
Philippians 1:3
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.

Kriones

I am outlining for a novel (something I've never done before with any success) and it's set mostly in the country of Rinadrion, a very warlike country. Part of the plot has to do with a small percentage of the country's inhabitants who are deridingly called Kriones by their fellow countrymen. So, what exactly are Kriones?
If you'll remember from my post about Rinadrion, there is a small, mostly isolated group that have gone to the opposite extreme of trying to invade and take over every other country in the world, and are pacifists, shunned and ostracized by their countrymen. Krione is taken from Kriona, the goddess of peace, prosperity, and comfort. Basically, they're being called cowards.
The character in my novel who is a Krione is not a full pacifist. He is conflicted about what role violence should play in a man's life; whether it is fine to kill in self-defense or to defend one's country if it is invaded.
As you can see, something like this has the potential to be really interesting if explored. If you'd grown up in a country like Rinadrion, yet realized there was something wrong with their constant warmongering, would you go to the opposite extreme and become a pacifist? Or would you be really conflicted, not knowing if you should kill, or what the right reasons for killing were?

Customs of Arvindia, as Observed by a Rinadrion (Part One)

Hi, everyone! I know it's been ever so long since I last posted, and I'm sorry for that. I decided I'd start a new series on worldbuilding, inspired by Aubrey Hansen, who makes the best worldbuilding posts I've ever read. Seriously, the things she comes up with are amazing! I hope I can match up a little bit to her creativity.
I figured that instead of a dry dissertation on my world, I could write 'essays' of a sort, written by an outsider who observes the country through foreign eyes. This one is written by a Rinadrion (you can read about the country of Rinadrion here.), and part one is concerned mostly with celebrations. I hope ya'll enjoy this, and you can be looking forward to more posts soon! As always, questions are welcome :D
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I have noted many interesting customs of the Arvindians in my travels through their land. One is the celebrating of birthdays every year. For most, who have many children, not to mention a great deal of kin, a simple wishing of good fortune throughout the coming year is customary. Like my own countrymen, they celebrate the coming of age with a gift and, if the family is wealthy enough they will give a celebration feast, but this is rare except among the nobility. In Arvindia, the age when a male child becomes a man is between fourteen and fifteen, while for a female the age is thirteen. I find this ludicrous, given that our own boys become men at thirteen, at the same age as our girls. But, however that may be, their celebrations are mostly simple, even among the nobility, and not such a great occasion as in my own land.

One of their oddest celebrations is the giving of a gift to any child under the age of twelve born on the crown prince’s birthday. In all my travels, I have come across only five such children, and none of them knew each other. How this practice came into being I have not yet found out.

The Arvindians also celebrate the coming of their forefathers to this land, escaping (as legend has it) from a mighty and malicious Sorcerer. On this occasion, all superfluous work is put aside and there is feasting and song. I will note here that the Arvindians are a people singularly blessed with beautiful voices; and their music is a thing not to be missed. They are a simple people, and sing songs on every subject under the sun, and rarely is even such a mundane thing as the baking of bread made tiresome by being put into verse.

They are a plain and hardy people, most of them living in small villages and fending for themselves. Their feasts tend (save in the great cities) to be of those things which our Rinadrions doctors would find coarse and bad for the heath. Nevertheless, the thick brown bread, rice, strong cheese, apples, and mutton which they eat seem not to affect their health, for they are robust and have great, hearty laughs.

At the Founding celebration which I attended, a farmer was asked to give a speech, which he promptly did. It was very bad grammar, and our orators would have been horrified had they heard it, but it was a good speech, in its own way: full of musings on good soil (which they have in abundance) and on the king (whom they admire for staying out of their business for the most part) and eliciting a cheer when, breathless, he stopped and downed a glass of ale.

The Arvindians hold another celebration at the beginning of harvest, during which any man with sons to spare sends them to his neighbor to join in the reaping. At these times, the whole village will dine together in the market, and there is a great joviality of spirit, especially if the year has been a good one (as it was when I traveled through).

Besides these, there are many festivities which go on among them to varying degrees.

If a child is born, it is customary to send a large cheese or a loaf of bread to the mother. If twins are delivered, the father will in some places bring his new children out into the middle of the village or city to have them blessed by his neighbors (as well as being given gifts).

The marriage celebration goes thusly:

When a man is to take a wife, he and she will go into the center of their village or city, where the father and mother of the woman are already waiting. After this, the man’s parents also come. All are dressed in their best. The man takes a white rose, or another flower if roses are not in season) and breaks off the thorns with his own hands. He then puts it in her hair. After this, they kneel down, facing one another, and the magistrate takes the right hand of the woman and puts it in the right hand of the man. They are then pronounced husband and wife in the sight of Enderel and their families, and congratulations are given. After this, the woman takes the white rose from her hair and gives it to the man, who places it in his tunic or shirt by his heart.

The festivities are joyous; though only the parents and the magistrate are present at the wedding, all the village is invited to the feast. There the man and his wife take a place of honor, but are not allowed to be spoken to by anyone but each other for the first half hour. It is then customary for the husband to give a speech, in which he recounts the tale from when he first saw his wife until their marriage.

Gifts are sent to the home of the newlywed couple anonymously. When I asked why the gifts had no labels or anything to signify who had sent it, I was given this reply, “It prevents them being worried about searching out the giver and thanking him. They wouldn’t want to be troubled about that when they are only thinking of each other.”

Book Giveaway!

A fellow Christian fantasy author, Brian, is giving away a hardcover trilogy by Stephen Lawhead!



To enter is simple:


1. Start inviting people through Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc...
2. Repost this blog post to your own blog
3. Follow it yourself!

God bless!

Brian's blog-- http://jointhestarcrafters.blogspot.com/

A Story for Good Friday

My dear friend Kate has written a wonderful short story, told from the perspective of a Roman girl on the day of Christ's death. If you'd like to read it, you can go here or here.
I'll let you form your own opinions of it without my comments, but I have a feeling that you will really enjoy it, as I did :D
Have a wonderful Resurrection Day!

Interview-Lee Duigon

Today I'm interviewing an actual, published author! Lee Duigon is the author of a series of Christian fantasy books. While I haven't read his books, I would love to; they sound very good :)

So, without further delay, the interview :)

How long have you been writing?

My friends and I were telling each other made-up monster stories by the time I was 10. I wrote my first novel (in composition notebooks) when I was 13 or 14. So let’s say 50 years, at least.

What was your first (written) story about?

Back in grade school, we were assigned to write stories in class. This would be second or third grade. The teacher would tell us what to write about and how to write it. The earliest one I can remember was “The Adventures of a Dime.” I rebelled against writing what the teacher wanted me to write, so in my store, a stray cat swallowed George the Dime; and he would’ve been stuck down there, only he met a character named Mr. Vomit who was on his way out and offered George a lift. I got into a tremendous amount of trouble for that! But to my amazement, my mother sided with me. Not an elegant story, I admit: but at least it showed a little flash of creativity.

When did you start writing Christian fantasy? What inspired you to do so?

“Bell Mountain” was my first Christian fantasy. It came along as a response to one of the officers of the Chalcedon Foundation saying, “What we really need is novels.” That remark got back to me, and I wondered if I could write the kind of novel Chalcedon needed. I should add that my editor, Susan Burns, who knew about my earlier books, made sure that remark got back to me.

Do you remember how you first got the idea for Bell Mountain?

In “Bell Mountain,” the boy, Jack, dreams he can hear the mountain singing. Well, I had that dream first! And quickly on its heels followed the image of a bell standing on the summit of a mountain, in the snow. That was all I needed to start writing the story—a radical departure from my usual procedure of thoroughly doping out a novel before I began to write it.

Who are the main characters in Bell Mountain?

In the land of Obann—once a kingdom, once a powerful and wealthy empire, now a medieval oligarchy—live my two protagonists, Jack and Ellayne, a poor boy and a rich girl. These two children believe God has commanded them to climb Bell Mountain and ring the bell on the summit. Their quest is based on a powerful dream Jack had, and some scriptural teachings by an old man who never intended for Jack to take them literally.
    Obst is an elderly hermit in Lintum Forest, who believes God will end the world once the bell is rung. His first impulse is to stop the children, but he winds up being their guide and helper.
    Lord Reesh, the First Prester of the Temple, heads the institutional church in Obann. A thoroughgoing humanist with a gift for making the ends justify the means, Lord Reesh tries to ensure that the bell on Bell Mountain—if it really does exist—is not touched except on his orders. Reesh will take over as the dominant villain in the sequels.
    So Reesh sends his assassin and secret agent, Martis, to follow the children up Bell Mountain, find out whether there really is a bell up there, and stop Jack and Ellayne from ringing it, either by killing them or capturing them and bringing them back to Reesh as prisoners.
    Wytt—a little, hairy, manlike creature no bigger than a squirrel—appoints himself the children’s guardian on their travels. He is one of the “hairy ones” mentioned in the scriptures as inheriting the shapeless ruins that once were the great cities of Obann.
    Helki the Rod, the wild and highly eccentric woodsman, will play a much-expanded role in the sequels.

How much development have you done for your world, such as maps, cultures, different religions, etc.?

I do have a map—it gives me pleasure to begin a fantasy with a map—and I did start with a kind of vision of what kind of book I wanted to write. But in contrast to my usual procedure, I “discovered” the world of Obann as I wrote about it. This is funny—some reviewers have praised my description of the various peoples and cultures of my fantasy world, as if I’d spent years inventing them. Not so! This world’s history, geography, and natural history reveals itself to me as it unfolds. To me it seems to have an independent existence. Some of the details, as they emerged, surprised me. I know that seems a strange thing for a writer to say, but I can’t think of any better way to say it.

What is your main theme in these books? Do you have a certain point that you try to make throughout the whole series?

It took me quite some time to realize what my theme was. At first, one of my intentions in these stories was to “re-normalize religion.” You know, in almost every piece of fiction we read or watch (movies, TV), the characters in it live in a complete absence of religious belief and practice. No such world as that has ever existed, in real life; I pray it never will. I wanted to write a fantasy tale—I’ve always loved fantasy, but had never had one of my fantasies published—based on something like this: “What if God—our God, the God of the Bible, Jehovah—created a world other than this one that we live in? A world for other people who would live following a completely different arc of history from our own?” This world would have the same God as we have, but it would be very different from ours in all sorts of interesting ways. In my “Bell Mountain” books, I have set out to explore this world and tell its story.
   It was only after the first three novels were published that I understood I had a theme common to all the books that are and will be in this series. They are about people who have lost God reconnecting with Him—learning how to speak to Him, learning how to hear His voice, learning how to seek Him with all their hearts. It is, of course, the power of God that calls them to Him. So I believe I can say my books are about redemption.

What role, if any, does feminism play in your books?

One of the truly wonderful things about writing fantasy is that you can leave all those “isms” behind, as if they didn’t exist. So I am happy to say feminism plays no role whatsoever in my books—although I do enjoy writing about strong and interesting female characters. After all, I want girls and women to enjoy reading them as much as boys and men.

How supportive is your family of your writing?

My wife, Pat, has always believed in me as a writer, and never wavered—not even during those long years when I was cranking out story after story, book after book, and getting nothing but rejections. As for the rest of my family... well, just try impressing anybody who knew you while you were in diapers.

Have you ever met a famous author, or one that you admire (whether famous or not)?

I met Arthur C. Clark once, at a science fiction convention (just to shake hands with), and Isaac Asimov even more briefly. I never met T.E.D. Klein in the flesh, but we corresponded back and forth for several years and talked together on the phone sometimes. Maybe you haven’t heard of him, but he was a truly gifted and original horror writer—had a New York Times best-seller once, “The Ceremonies.” As editor of the old Twilight Zone Magazine, he published one of my best short stories, “The Last Voyage of Sinbad.” Mr. Klein was always very encouraging to me, never failing to offer helpful suggestions. Unfortunately for readers, his own output was always a trickle when we would have loved a steady stream. As true an artist as he was, I learned that he much preferred editing to writing; and I think he prefers his privacy to his editing. God bless you, Ted, wherever you are.

How many books will there end up being in your series?

I’m thinking seven (there are five written), but who knows? I have a whole world to explore. If I write about it for the rest of my life, I still won’t be able to write everything there is to tell.

It's difficult to portray Christianity in a fantasy setting without making it sound stiff or 'preachy'; can you give us any tips on how you do it?

You’re right—it’s very difficult. Or at least it seems it should be. My habit is to read 5 chapters of the Bible every day, so as to steep myself in it, and to pray, asking the Lord to give me the story He wants me to tell.
   Taking a cue from C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia,” I don’t try to portray Christianity per se. After all, I’m not writing about our world, but a completely different one. Its history is different. The people in my fantasy world have not yet met their Savior. He has not yet been revealed to them—except in a few prophecies that they are a long way from understanding.
    Instead, I have tried to infuse my fantasy world with a Biblical spirit—hopefully, prayerfully, with the Spirit of God. I am happy to say that a number of readers have told me that in this I have succeeded. One reader has said she finds it very hard to believe that the “scriptures” quoted in my novels are not actually hidden somewhere in the Bible, where’s she’s overlooked them. Comments like that tell me I’m on the right track.

Who is your favorite author?

I have a lot of favorites. C.S. Lewis excels in refreshing for me the image of Jesus Christ, and reminding me how much I love Him. I turn to Agatha Christie for insights into character; to Edgar Rice Burroughs as the master when it comes to juggling a complicated plot and keeping up the pace of the action; to Walter R. Brooks (“Freddy the Pig”) for gentle and unexpected humor; to Sir Walter Scott for confirmation that good really can triumph over evil, even in this fallen world; to J.R.R. Tolkien for simply igniting my imagination; and to other writers for other things. But the one book I read from every day, without fail, is the Bible. It’s the one book that can never get stale—positive proof it’s not an ordinary book! There’s always something new to discover, some fresh insight, in the Bible.

Thank you so much, Mr. Duigon. This has been a very enjoyable and informative interview :) God bless!

For more about Mr. Duigon, you can visit his blog/website at leeduigon.com

You can find his Amazon page here and an archive of his articles here and by searching his name here.

I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did. I think interviews are a lot of fun. Now, go and check out his books!

I've Been Tagged!

So, I didn't get around to following up on Lostariel's tagging, and now I've been tagged by Heather!
So I'll do Lostariel's first, and in a few days I'll do Heather's :D


The Rules Are:
1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.
4. Tag eleven bloggers, however, you can break the rules and tag fewer people if you want. Make sure you hyperlink their names/blogs.
5. Let them know you've tagged them!
6. Have fun!


Eleven fun facts about myself:
1. I am the eldest of ten children.
2. I watched the BBC version of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe long before I ever knew it was based on a book.
3. The first 'big books' I ever read were The Little House on the Prairie series, when I was seven.
4. I have three brothers and six sisters.
5. I acted in a film version of Prince Caspian several years ago, as a Dryad.
6. I memorized all of Psalm 91 mostly by accident.
7. My nickname is Lala (pronounced 'Lah lah') and my name is pronounced 'Lar-uh', not Lor-uh.
8. I'm teaching myself the violin.
9. I have two cats (Sprite and Charkey) and two dogs (Tornado and Twister).
10. I rode a restored, late 19th century sidesaddle for a wedding carriage when I was 13.
11. I can catch a football, but I can't throw it evenly.


Answers to the questions of the blogger who tagged me
1. If you were a jar, what would you be filled with? Hmmm, interesting question. Probably... a cinnamon apple scented candle. The best smell in the world, in my humble opinion. Especially in the fall and winter.
2. What is your favorite version of your favorite fairy tale? (My definition of fairy tale is not only Grimms, btdubs.) This is a tough one, since I haven't read any alternate versions of fairy tales that I can remember. I really like The Master Thief, from one of Andrew Lang's colored fairy books (the Blue one, I think). It's a riot.
3. What song are you most likely to burst into when you're alone? Endearing Young Charms, or The Minstrel Boy, or My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose. Either of those three, or all three, one right after the other.
4. How do you react when people photograph you? I don't really like being photographed, unless I'm in it with at least one other person. Which has resulted in not many pictures of me in the last few years. I get annoyed if someone tries to take a picture of me without asking me.
5. If you could change either your name or an aspect of your appearance, what would you do? (Include the changed name/aspect.) I don't know. I'm generally pretty happy with how I look, and I think (in my not-so-humble-opinion) that I have a really pretty name :)
6. What do you think is the best death scene in a children's movie? Aslan's death (and, of course, subsequent resurrection). No question about it.
7. A hawt vampire is stalking you! How do you react? How do you kill a vampire? *quickly researches* Ah, yes. I would react by throwing garlic in its face. If that didn't work, I think I would scream and run. Especially, especially if it sparkled in the sunlight.
8. Dr. Seuss or Jim Henson? I despise Dr. Seuss books, and I despise the Muppets, so... can I skip them both?
9. Finish this sentence: 'If I ran Disneyland...' I would turn it into Narnialand. It would have Cair Paravel, the Professor's house, the Wood between the worlds, and other things. The entrances to Narnialand would be wardrobes that you would have to walk through. There would also be people dressed as all the canon Narnia characters, and all sorts of interactive fun stuff. It would be great!
10. What is your favorite book to read aloud? Narnia, hands down. When I'm reading it, I'll sometimes randomly read a few sentences out loud to whoever is nearby.
11. Who is your favorite villain? Does Gollum count?


Create eleven new questions for the bloggers I'm going to tag
1. How many states have you lived in?
2. What was the first genre you ever wrote in?
3. Who is your favorite movie character?
4. If you could fall into a book and experience what actually happens in it, which book would it be?
5. John Dowland or Antonio Vivaldi?
6. What was the most heart-wrenching scene you ever read? Ever wrote?
7. Which villain would you least like to meet up with in real life?
8. Which email provider do you use?
9. Would you rather be stranded in the desert or in the Antarctic?
10. Are you most creative at night or in the morning?
11. What is your favorite book of the Bible, the one that you tend to read more than any other?


The Bloggers that I tag
Hmm, this might be a tad tough. Most of the bloggers that I know are already tagged, some more than once. So...
Amy

Aubrey
Lee Duigon


I have a few more, but I'll tag them on my next post. Tata!

Realistic Fantasy?

Wow, it's been well over a month since I last posted. My only excuse is that I had two or three ideas for posts in the last month but when I started to write them, I realized that they would take a lot longer and be much more involved and complex than I first thought. I may still write them, but it will definitely take time and probably they would be in a series of posts.
So today I'm going to be talking about an aspect of fantasy that really bugs me. It is the idea that fantasy has to be 'realistic'. That is, that because governments in our world are almost always corrupt, and that good monarchies always go bad after a generation or two, and so on and etcetera. Apparently, according to somebody in a review that I read, Tolkien didn't understand economic issues and that it's painfully obvious in his writings. Well, not really. What's painfully obvious is that Tolkien knew how to write a tale that stirred the imagination and was full of beauty, courage, hope and just plain ol' good adventure. So what if the people of Minas Tirith, if this was 'our world', would have looked at Aragorn with skepticism and not welcomed him with open arms? Who cares if, in real life, Faramir would have been corrupted by the Ring? The beauty of fantasy, to me, is that it tells a tale with elements of reality in it but with more beauty than could be put into a more 'realistic' story.
I don't want to write stories where my protagonist is 'medieval' or 'Celtic', in the sense that he's dirty, barbaric, lives in a drafty castle, takes mistresses, wears no shirt half the time, and has long, unkempt hair. If I want my protagonist to live in a beautiful palace where each of his children has their own bedroom, the pillars are made of ivory, there are warm fires and glass windows in every room, the peasants are well taken care of, and his hair is nicely kept, then why can't I? If I want to write about the other, then I can write historical fiction.
I write fantasy because in it there is a way to have a different 'reality'. Not an escape, but an adventure. I like swords and kings and queens and noblemen and journeys and magic and heroism and the wicked getting their due. Lately, I've felt rather constrained by this idea of 'realistic fantasy' that I seem to see everywhere. But I realized that Tolkien and Lewis most likely would never have become so popular and their fantasies so beloved if they had stuck to what would be 'realistic'. There's no joy in about ninety-five percent of the fantasy stories written today. There's very little beauty, because fantasy has become so 'gritty and real' as a rule. And I'm not even against a little bit of 'gritty realism' showing through once in a while. But when that's all we judge fantasy by, and when that's all we write, I think we've gone from fantasy to alternate reality.
That's why I'm not interested in The Wheel of Time series, or the Game of Thrones series. That's why I dislike the Auralia Thread series (you may have a rant on those books some day).
Now, you may be thinking, "Aw, you're just a sissy. You like pink unicorns and fairies and Prince Charmings . That's what you think fantasy is. We like the gritty, hard, dark stuff."
Which brings me to another point: I'm not against dark, as long as there's light. In the Auralia Thread series, I didn't get a sense of prevailing light in a huge amount of it. And obviously there were things that were supposed to be hopeful and bright, but it was the amount of... I don't know. There was something wrong with those books. But what I mean by fantasy is Narnia and Lord of the Rings. Good overcoming evil, beauty overcoming ugliness. If you want a beautiful princess, then write one (so long as she isn't a Mary Sue :D ). If you want a handsome knight, or a moderately comfortable castle, or peasants that love and respect their king (who also loves his people), then write them. Tolkien and Lewis did it (of course, far more skilfully than we could ever hope to do, but still...), and they infused a light and a hope into their stories. Which of course was mostly due to their Christian (or Christian influenced) views.
So, since I am a Christian, and I believe in hope and valor and beauty, then I am going to write those things in. And maybe my heroes won't be as 'morally conflicted' as some people might like (thought they won't be perfect, of course). And maybe my princess will have long, beautiful, shining hair. And maybe the castle won't be drafty. And maybe, just maybe, the story will be good.
One thing that has always captivated me in The Return of the King, and that has influenced my idea of soldiers and knights in my own fantasy tales, is Prince Imrahil and his tall men with grey eyes and silver armor, bearing a banner that flutters in the wind.
So, what are your thoughts on 'realistic fantasy'? Do you feel constrained in your pursuit of it by all the little things that everyone says you have to do? Do you think that your story will be hampered by your ignorance of medieval serfdom or your sketchy knowledge of the freedoms afforded women in the 12th century? Research is good, and people (myself included) appreciate it when you don't write motorcycle horses (i.e., horses that can run for miles and hardly tire, and require very little care), but some things you can invent or change to your own specifications (providing, of course, that you aren't overstepping bounds of Biblical morality). Well, this is getting long, so I'll end it here. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts!