Better Than Just Nostalgia

A couple weeks ago, Jason and I went to see The Lion King at the Fox.

The Lion King is one of the pieces of entertainment from my childhood where I can look back and say, "this is when I started appreciating things on a more adult level."  The movie came out when I was 12.  I remember, very specifically, watching the scene where the wildebeest stampede begins, flowing over the cliff like water, and being just blown away at how real it looked.  I remember thinking about it on a level beyond simple entertainment, thinking about the work that must have gone into it to make it look so good.  

I remember also feeling that way about the soundtrack.  Not the songs (which, don't get me wrong, are great), but the instrumental score.  The Lion King soundtrack was one of the first CDs I owned.  The other was classical music (and that right there should tell you A LOT about my personality in middle school and high school).  Now, I had other Disney soundtracks before - I know I had a cassette of the Aladdin soundtrack, and I'm pretty sure I would have had Beauty and the Beast, too.  But I had those for the fun songs.  I had Lion King for the reflective, relaxing, and sometimes goose-bump-inducing* instrumental pieces.

So, with all of the above, I went to see the stage production, knowing it would be drastically different, but still hoping it would hold up, not to the fond childhood memories, but to the pedestal I had set it on at 12 as an incredible production, different than all the kids' movies that had come before.  And you know what?  It did.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the stage version, the live musical incorporates masks, puppetry, and kind of abstract costumes.  There is no way to perfectly replicate animated animals on stage, so they don't really try.  The scenery, costumes, masks, etc. are stylized and abstract.  You find yourself forgetting that Zazu's actor is wearing a blue suit and bowler hat, and his face is painted to match - you focus on the puppet.  You find yourself forgetting that there is a dude underneath Scar's mask - you watch the mask move around like you would focus on the face of a lion about to pounce at you.

And then we came to the stampede.  Here it was, the moment of truth, the scene that stands out as a stark red line of Before and After in mind.  I won't try to explain how they made the scene work.  (I've tried typing it and it really loses something in nailing it down with words.)  I watched that scene.  I listened to the music build.  I knew what was coming.  And my hair still stood on end.

If you can tell a story, if you can replicate that orignal awe across years and multiple media, you have done what many of us only dream of.

*"Mufassa!"  "Oooh...  Do it again!"
 

It's Not OK

*Be aware that I will be using strong language, in the context of what is accurate, inaccurate, or distracting in certain settings.*

Last weekend, while Jason was playing a video game set in about 50 BC in Egypt, he complained that the swearing felt too modern and was therefor distracting.  Frequently, the characters will use "shit" as an insult or taunt.  This feels particularly egregious, as early in the game, an Egyptian word (I assume), "khet" was used by a character, and the translation of "shit" was shown in the dialog in parentheses after the word.  "Why not keep using khet?"  Jason wondered.  Why bother to introduce that word at all if you're going to use modern English swear words instead?

But this incident got us discussing other words we find distracting in books and movies, and not all of them swearing.  Another term being used in his game was "OK."  That's one that really bothers me in historical pieces.  OK is an American colloquialism that, while we can't pinpoint the exact first use and origin, it's generally agreed it began to be used in the mid 19th century - and even then, not to the broad extent it is today.  So to see someone in 1st century BC Egypt, 18th century England, or other historical settings using "OK" in place of "good," "alright," or any other handful of synonymns is extremely distracting.

And, yes, I know that just the fact that the characters in the Egyptian game are conversing in English is, and and of itself, an anachronism, but we accept the idea that this is a translation of what they might be saying in a historical language.  There is also the idea that certain phrasings, even in "translation" are too modern.  A character in a historical period would be expected to say, "this is excellent news, my friend," rather than "that's totally rad, dude."  (Unless you're watching a Bill and Ted movie.)

There are other words I find distracting, too.  While "fuck" is actually a very old word, the way it is used can be distracting.  Swearing is different in each culture and time period.  Find something more historically accurate than "fuck you."  "The Devil take you," is more appropriate in many European historical settings.  Likewise, calling someone a bitch or a bastard - while those words have also been around for a while, there are all kinds of colorful swearwords for other periods.  The point is, don't be lazy and insert your favorite insults - do a little research and find something that works for the period.

Similarly, slang and colloquialisms can be distracting.  A year or two ago, I read a book that took place during World War II.  The teen-aged characters in this book used the terms "cool" and "sexy."  While I haven't done the research to see when each of those terms came into general use to mean "good," and "appealing" or "alluring," I'm pretty sure that the former emerged in the '50's and the latter emerged even later.  Instead of "cool," they should have been using "swell," "keen," or possibly "neat."  Off the top of my head, I'm actually not sure what a good substitute for "sexy" would be.  But if I were writing a book that too place in the early '40's, I would find out.

In conclusion, gentles all, seek ye out thy most excellent and commendable insults, for thy father was a hamster and thy mother smelt of elderberries.

Chillin' with the Norse Gods

I haven't done a book review in a while.

(OK, so this isn't going to be an actual full-on review, partly because I haven't finished the book yet...)

I'm currently reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman.  A couple things to know here:
-I really like Neil Gaiman.
-Neil Gaiman really likes Norse mythology.

I was really excited when I heard the book was coming out - I love his style.  Plus, since a lot of his books feature Norse mythological characters, and since Jason and I are interested in both the Norse/Vikings specifically, and mythology in general, I thought this would be really interesting to read.  I haven't been disappointed, though it's also not quite what I expected.

I also follow Neil Gaiman on Facebook.  A month or two ago (before I got the book), he made a post announcing that Norse Mythology had been nominated for a fantasy award (I don't remember which one now) and while he was honored to have been nominated, he was also somewhat amused, as he had marketed this book as non-fiction.

(Side note on non-fiction:  For several years, I worked in a library system that used the Dewey Decimal system, meaning that fiction and non-fiction are kept separate, as opposed to the Library of congress where you will find fictional pieces by an author next to reviews and criticism about that author's work.  It was always interesting to me to see what was housed in non-fiction that kind of hovered on the fiction/non-fiction line.  Many pieces of older literature - poetry, the Greek epics, Shakespeare - were housed in non-fiction, as were books of myths and fairy tales.) 

I recall having read in a book about the defining characteristics of different genres that fantasy is arguably the oldest genre - mythologies and fairy tales are the very oldest stories.  So to me, hearing that a non-fiction book about mythology had been nominated for a fantasy award didn't strike me as all that odd.

But then I started reading the book and it made even more sense why it was nominated for a fiction genre award rather than non-fiction.  Gaiman comes right out in his introduction and says that a lot of this book is based on his fond remembrances of reading Norse mythology as a kid (after having become interested due to the Thor comic books).  He states that he did some research but that a lot of this is revisiting tales he remembers; the book is not an in-depth anthropological examination.

Really the great thing (one of the great things) about this book is that it comes off as Personal Recollections of Hanging Out with the Norse Gods by Neil Gaiman.  As opposed to a lot of mythology books, that can actually be quite dry, because the author is either taking a heightened style, respectful approach, or because the author is merely presenting "this is the direct translation of these old rune and I myself have no interest or opinion on the story itself," Gaiman's retelling of these myths comes off as personal.  He's not afraid to be casual with the gods, giving us such gems as "'Shut up, Thor,' said Loki."

Part of why I picked up this book when I did (you, know, selecting it out of the massive tower of books that I got for Christmas) is that I just finished reading Gaiman's Odd and the Frost Giants.  It's a story about a kid who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his Viking village.  He runs away and encounters 3 of the gods, who have been cursed into different shapes and need his help getting back to Asgard.  I was curious to see more tales about the characters I'd just read about, so I started in on Norse Mythology (even though I generally do not read the same author back-to-back unless I'm reading a series).

The gods in Mythology are given the same casual, familiar feel as they are in Odd.  It comes across less as "here is what the ancient peoples of Norway believed" and more, "So did I ever tell you about that time that Thor was just chilling and Loki played this really mean trick on him?"  Some stories feel almost like these are the antics of Neil's college buddies.  And I'm loving it.

Never Say Never

I recall a scene in The Mists of Avalon where Morgaine balks at the suggestion that one day she might do a specific act.  I don't recall now exactly how it was worded, or what it was (and whether it was killing or betraying someone).  Her mentor said, "do not name the well from which you will not drink."  And it turned out that, many years later, she had to do the thing that she had considered to be so heinous because she was put in a position where if she didn't many people would die.

Likewise (but much less seriously!) sometimes you have an author who states that the book they've just written is a one-off story and they won't write a sequel.  Or the author of the best-selling, smash hit, movie-spawning series that defined a generation states that the story arc is finished, that they won't write another story about Stevie McStevenson, because Stevie McStevenson is done at the end of Stevie McStevenson Saves the World.  But then that first author says, "well, y'know, I think I might have another story about this character."  And the second author announces that, "whattaya know, I'm releasing another story about Stevie McStevenson that takes place several years later."

And a lot of people's reactions on an author going back on their "I'm not writing another story about these people" statement is to accuse them of selling out, of doing it for the money.  And I'm sure there are cases where that is exactly what happened (and you can usually tell, because the sequel is sub-par).  But there are also some, I'm sure, where the author who has publicly announced that there is nothing more to say, suddenly has a revelation while driving, or in the shower, or any of those other random moments where inspiration comes, and they say, "Oh, my god - there IS another story to tell!"

Why do I bring this up?  I'm currently working on my oldest partial novel.  I started it in November of 2009 with the very definite "knowledge" that it was one story.  "Only ONE novel-length story will be told about Reyala," I told myself.  And for a long time I actually worried that this might be a detriment when I go to pitch The Wolf and the Sheath to a potential publisher, as it's pretty clearly Young Adult, but Young Adult series are the money-makers that publishers want.  "But, whatever," I thought, "if the story's good enough, someone will take a chance on it."  

But a month or two ago, an idea came to me.  Just a little idea in the shower.  Sure, Reyala's story arc is done at the end of Wolf and Sheath, but what about her brothers?  And just like pushing a pebble down a snowy hill in a cartoon, this idea picked up speed and, lo and behold, I have a basic plot outline for not one but two "sequels."  

I use sequels in quotes because they are not continuations of Reyala's story.  Reyala is the main character in The Wolf and the Sheath, but the ideas I have for the next stories focus on each of her younger brothers in turn.  She would be in each of them, but she's not the central focus.  Plus there may be a few years between W & S and the next sequel, and there would definitely be several years between the second and third story.  So maybe they're not sequels so much as companion pieces.  But, again, for 8 years I thought, pretty strongly, that there was only 1 story to tell here and now... we'll see if I do stop at 3.

Ladies & Gentlemen

Back about a month ago, my supervisor called me into her office to discuss an email with me.  She started off by saying it wasn't anything I had done wrong, or anything unprofessional, but it was a pet peeve of hers to use the term "ladies" to address a group.  It ended up turning into a very interesting discussion.

I explained that I had intended it as a respectful, professional opening to a group of all women, pointing out that I have often done the same - using "Hello, gentlemen," or "good morning, gentlemen" - for the opening of emails to a group of men.  I explained that for me "ladies" and "gentlemen" is a term of respect, as opposed to something more informal like "guys" or "y'all."  I said something to the effect of "I guess I'm kind of old-fashioned."  My supervisor kind of laughed at that.  She said that having grown up and gone to college and started work in the 60's and 70's, during a period of time when women's roles were beginning to change drastically, that she had always seen "ladies" as less the older, respectful connotation and more that "lady" implies too delicate to work, while "woman" implies more equality and capability.  She thought it was funny that while I was the younger of the two of us, I was thinking of myself as "old fashioned."

I also talked about how, as both a history buff and a reader of fantasy and historical fiction, in my mind, a lady can still be a powerful figure, just as likely to strap on a sword and lead a battle as to do anything else.

I don't know how important it is to mention that in addition to being of my parents' generation, that my supervisor also spent a good portion of her life living further north, specifically in Minnesota.  It took her a long time to get used to both students and colleagues addressing her as "ma'am;" apparently in other areas of the country "ma'am" means "old," whereas in the South it is used as a terms of respect for a woman who is your senior either by age or position.

As a writer, I find the generational and regional differences in words, even within the same language to be very fascinating.  I have a couple friends who address me as "lady" as a term of endearment.  While they are not from the same place, they are from a similar region of the country.  I had never been addressed by a friend as "lady" until I met the first of these friends in college, but I do wonder if this is more prominent in other areas of the country, just as some women in other areas will address their female friends as "girl" or "girlfriend."

As many of you reading this know, I'm currently in the process of writing 3 novels; two of these involve young women in positions of power where the term "lady" is used as a part of their title.  Given that both of them have a strong historical feel, I'm hoping that using "lady" to indicate nobility and power will not turn off the readers who might be used to using or seeing the term as one to indicate delicacy or weakness.

In closing, I'll leave you with this little tidbit about ladies and gentlemen.  

In the 90's film, Blast from the Past, a man born in a bomb shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis and raised there in isolation by his stereotypically 1950's parents emerges in "present day" California.  It's a funny film about his faux pas and culture shock, but it also does have an interesting perspective about how values, society, and language are so malleable, even in a period of 30-some-odd years.  The two characters who sort of take him under his wing have the following exchange:

Troy: He thinks I'm a gentleman and you're a lady.

Eve: [disgusted] Well, consider the source! I don't even know what a lady is.

Troy: I know, I mean I thought a "gentleman" was somebody that owned horses. But it turns out, his short and simple definition of a lady or a gentleman is, someone who always tries to make sure the people around him or her are as comfortable as possible.

Eve: Where do you think he got all that information?

Troy: From the oddest place - his parents. I mean, I don't think I got that memo from mine.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I bid you good evening.

2017 Summary, 2018 Aims

As I went to look back on the year and plan for this post, I found my post from January 1 to see what I had written, what goals I had set for myself:

"In 2017 I will strive to be more productive.
I will aim to be more positive.
But I will also try to be better about giving myself some slack when I'm feeling overwhelmed."

And that's it.  Kind of vague, and hard to measure.  

I don't know that I was more productive in 2017.  I did get one short story written, publishing-ready, accepted for publication, and published within the year, so that's something.  I also was planning a wedding for a good portion of the year, and that takes a lot of time, so I feel I kind of get a pass on that.  I revamped my website, launching the new layout in March, and with very few exceptions, have met my goal of a post each week.  So I guess I have been productive.  It's hard to measure "more" productive, though, as I spent the majority of my free time in 2016 looking for a new job.

I have definitely made an effort to be more positive in 2017.  It helped that early in the year I got a new job with a very supportive supervisor, in a completely different environment.  I also made an attempt to find the positive in things rather than focus on the negative (and, yes, I know you can't always do this, but I did it when I could).  In an effort to help with this, I started a "good things jar" - each week you write something  positive that happened to you and put it in the jar.  Tomorrow, I will go back through and read all of them.  But this helped me with the way I think about things - even if you've had a bad week, you can usually find something good, even if it's just "I had really yummy macaroni and cheese on Wednesday" or "the dog snuggled with me tonight."

I think I was also better this year about recognizing when I needed a break - "I should be [insert activity here] but I really need to just chill and give my mind a rest."

So, now that I've decided that I reasonably met my goals for 2017, what for 2018?  (I don't make resolutions.  The word "resolution" has developed a connotation as being an unreasonable expectation that people give up on in a week.  I make goals.)

My writing goals* for 2018 will include:
1. Prep and submit my latest short story, "The Cause of the Disturbance."  This will actually require some research as it is a decidedly different genre and style than my three other published stories, and may need to be submitted to different places than I have been submitting to.
2. Make measurable progress on The Wolf and the Sheath.  Don't ask me what "measurable" means right now - this may end up being the amount of new material written, amount of editing/rewriting, etc.
3. Attend my writing critique group semi-regularly.  
4. Manage my time better in the evenings. 

At risk of boxing myself back in and giving myself grief about not meeting goals or schedules, #4 is probably the one that will be my biggest challenge this year, as I let it go a bit (especially toward the end of the year) this year. What I need to do is something like this:
-Monday: Use the time before Jason gets home for exercising and keeping up to date on the news.  Make my writerly quote of the week post.  Use the time after dinner for housekeeping and other non-writing business.
-Tuesday: Use the time before Jason gets home for exercising and keeping up to date on the news, see if I can squeeze in a walk for Baldur before dinner.  Use the time after dinner for only writing; I can give myself more time if I plan to buy my lunch the next day rather than taking time to prep it in the evening.
-Wednesday: Jason often works from home; use the time between when I get home and we make dinner to catch up on small tasks.  Check ads and coupons for groceries.
-Thursday: Same as Tuesday.
-Friday: Prepare to go to the grocery store, free evening.  Blogging to be done sometime between now and Sunday.
-Saturday: Be better about spending my time on productive things, including writing.  One potential day for writing critique group.
-Sunday: Same as Saturday, but the days can alternate depending on if Jason and I have plans.

*I have a couple other goals that are not writing related, and if I do post about them it will be on my personal Facebook page, not here.

Meet me back here in a year to see how I did.

The Christmas Belles

A Christmas Carol was published in 1843.  Lately, partly because of things going on in the news, and partly just because of the time of year, there's been a decent amount of talk about how we still often seem to ignore the lessons Scrooge learned over 150 years ago.  

But I'm not going to be talking about Scrooge today; I'm going to be talking about the women of A Christmas Carol.

First, let's discuss Belle.  Belle doesn't get a lot of "screen time," but she is arguably an extremely strong and progressive woman.  In A Christmas Carol, Belle spends a very long time engaged to Scrooge; ostensibly because Scrooge claims that he wants to wait until his finances are better so that they can afford a good home after they marry.  But after years of Scrooge putting the marriage off because he still doesn't feel that he is successful enough, Belle realizes that he will never attain his unreachable financial goal, and worse, that he has come to value riches more than he values Belle herself.  With this realization, she does something drastic - she breaks the engagement.  This was virtually unheard of during the Victorian era.

During this time period, many women would not have had a way to support themselves without either their father still caring for them, or a husband.  For Belle to break a multi-year engagement was extremely drastic.  A woman who had been engaged but was no longer would have been viewed with suspicion at best, and become a pariah at worst.  And yet, in this story, we see Belle many years later, happily married to another man.  Belle took a huge risk, something most women probably would not have done in her position.  And yes, it did work out for her, but she was incredibly brave to do what she did.

Then there are the Cratchit women.  First, Mrs. Cratchit.  And, yes, here I'm going on the interpretation of her as presented by A Muppet Christmas Carol, because I haven't read the original since college...  Mrs. Cratchit is a strong woman.  She cares for her family (both emotionally and technically) and can be what is needed for them at any given time.  She is tender when Tim is ill, does her best to show a strong front to Bob when Tim dies in the avoided future (despite the fact that her heart is broken, too), and when Scrooge comes knocking to joke about Bob being "late" for work, she is right there to defend her husband.  (OK, it helps that she's played by Miss Piggy...)

And who remembers Martha Cratchit?  (Don't worry, most people don't - she's not in a lot of the adaptations...)  Martha is the eldest Cratchit child.  I don't recall her age from having read the book, but she's old enough that she's working somewhere that she doesn't come home every day.  And, as we see from Scrooge's reluctance to close the office, and the fact that food shops were open, Martha is somehow able to swing getting off from work to come see her family for Christmas.  I imagine she was a maid or cook, possibly a governess.  These were jobs that would not have Christmas Day off.*  I imagine that she had this sort of job, because her parents are NOT expecting her to be home.  She arrives home and her siblings make a big deal about making her hide so that their parents will be surprised to see her.

*In Britain, Boxing Day - the day after Christmas - was the day that the Help had the day off, and leftovers from Christmas were boxed up so they could take food home with them on their day off.

So while we always like to think of and remember that miraculous change of heart, the reformed misanthrope, whether it's Scrooge or the Grinch, let us also remember the Christmas Belles - the strong women who are just as worthy of attention.

A Time for Solitude

"The Christmas holiday was a chance to get some extra work done.  A time for solitude."**  Scrooge, A Muppet Christmas Carol*

If I could afford it, I would take off about 3 weeks in December.

And, yeah, partly that would be to get stuff done, so that I don't spend the last week before Christmas in a frenzy.  But the main reason why is that I enjoy being able to have some time for quiet solitude and contemplation this time of year.

One of the few times I was able to achieve this winter solitude was when I was living alone in Sewanee.  I lived in a little house a good way back from a quiet little road.  I worked 2 or 3 jobs, but due to the nature of living in a quiet college town,  there wasn't squat going on in December, so I may not have even been working much that particular December.  

I would sit in the front window as the afternoon shadows grew long and the sun started setting about 4:30.  I loved these winter sunsets, with their muted beauty and the smooth, subtle transition of the sky from gold to slate.  I would watch the family of 8 deer (yes, really) that frequented my yard and were so comfortable with me that they would hang out around my car and come up almost to the steps of the porch.  I would light my candles and play my soft Christmas music (Windam Hill in particular makes me think of quiet winter evenings) and just sit.  And be quiet.  And have space and room to think and recharge.

It may sound too idyllic, too good to be true.  And it is true that during this same period of time I was lonely and barely making ends meet.  There were a lot of less-than-positive things going on for me during this time period.  But I honestly don't remember them as richly as my quiet December evenings.

There is a big difference between being lonely and being alone.  There are times that I like to be alone.  There are times that I need to be alone.  I actually am a firm believer in the idea that everyone needs a certain amount of time alone to just be quiet and reset.

And don't get me wrong, I am happy with my life.  I have a good job and a wonderful husband, and we both have family and friends who love us and want to spend time with us.  But if I could change one thing, it would be to somehow - maybe with a time turner - find a few extra days this time of year when I could have some time for solitude.

*Also quite possibly lines from the original.
**Yes, I know he didn't actually believe that.  It's still a good line.

Snow Stories

Everyone has a story about that "Big Snow."  Some have several.  As someone who lives in Georgia, where we don't get snow often enough to know what to do, here are some of mine:

December 2017

As far out as last weekend, we were seeing the forecast calling for a 20% chance of snow showers overnight Thursday or Friday. As late as Thursday morning, the forecast was calling for a higher chance of snow, but with "little to no accumulation expected." (By 9 AM Friday, this became a Winter Storm Warning.)

Friday morning, I woke up to a dusting. Snow was falling lightly, but was not sticking to the road. Having experienced "Snowmageddon" only a few years before, I left for work cautiously, with the goal of keeping an eye on road conditions, and leaving if it started to stick.

At work, I found that one coworker was already snowed in and without power. My other 2 coworkers and I, untypically for our busy office, kept Facebook and various weather sites open, continually looking for updates. My supervisor lives in Elijay, and my other coworker lives in Rome, north and west, respectively, of our office and therefore both likely to start getting hit by what was coming in before either Waleska or Woodstock.

I should mention that I work in a relatively isolated area; we have a 4-way stop with a flashing light at THE intersection in town. These 2 state roads are about the only way in and out, and one of them is notorius for being blocked by falling trees. That's road I usually take in and out of town.

The first hour went OK. But then the snow really started coming down, and we could see it sticking to the pavement. My supervisor's husband and neighbours were starting to report hazzardous conditions. She prepared to leave, with the knowledge that the school was preparing an announcement about closing early. My coworker and I stayed on, mainly to prepare to close up shop. Our supervisor called from the road about 15 minutes before the closure was to go into effect to tell us that the roads were already getting bad, and to tell us not to wait.

My Rome coworker and I locked up and went out separate ways - him down 108 with it's winding curves and steep drop-offs, me toward 140, beloved of the falling trees. Not much more than a mile out of town, traffic was stopped. I had heard rumours there was a wreck and about the time I attempted to call Jason to get him to look for road condition updates (there wasn't much I could do in the car), cars in front of me started turning around, signalling for those of us who were sitting stopped to do the same.

I turned around and went back to the 4-way, hoping that 108 was not yet slick. My hopes were rewarded - driving well under the speed limit and gently braking well in advance of curves and hills, I did well. As I aproached the junction with 20, near Lake Allatoona, I wondered if I was going too slow and whether traffic was backing up behind me. I glanced behind me to find that I was leading a convoy of maybe 8 larger vehicles - mostly white SUVs. But all were moving as slowly as me, and no one was honking or tailgating.

As I made the (slow) left turn out onto 20, I felt somewhat like Rudulph as the entire line of larger vehicles curved out like slow-moving skaters and continued to follow my little red car toward a clearer route.

I arrived home almost 2 hours after I left, but before the worst of the snow and considered that a success.

"Snowmageddon" 2014

This is the storm that everyone has a horror story about. This is the storm that has made people cautious, and I think the reason why so many schools and businesses very quickly decided on Friday that it was time to throw in the towel and not let history repeat.

This was a January or February storm (they're the worst!) that came in mid day. It was one of those ones where they had predicted it would arrive later and bring little precipitation. It was the day that I would have normally worked late at the library.

I arrived at work just as the flakes were starting to fall. As the wet ground very quuckly began to freeze over, many of my coworkers realized that this was going to be worse than we thought. My then-boyfriend called to say that he was leaving work at noon and he recommended I follow suit. We had by then had the announcement that we were closing in the early afternoon, but a lot of us ended up leaving before then. I grabbed a granola bar to eat in the car, as I figured it would take me an hour or two to get home and I would probably be hungry.

As anyone who was in the Atlanta area in 2014 knows, this was not to be the "double the normal commute time" home we were thinking.

I was actually one of the lucky ones. 3 hours after I left the library, I arrived at an elementary school - 2 miles from the library. I was in a panic - I knew at this point that I couldn't make it home to Baldur. Jason had yet to make it more than a few miles himself. We were both - at the rate we had been going - probably 10 hours from home, assuming the cars didn't slide off the road or get hit by another car. Jason had proclaimed that if he got stuck he was walking to Woodstock. That old joke about walking 10 miles through the snow uphill? That's what he was planning to do.

But having stopped at the school (who very kindly let me use their bathroom and vending machine, the granola bar long-since gone), I was able to take a moment to get my brain off that icy road and actually think. My parents lived a mile away. If Jason and I could make it there, we'd at least have somewhere warm and familiar to sleep. I had thought of and dismissed this idea back when I thought it was just going to be a long, tedious, but doable drive.

But what about Baldur? Miraculously, Jason was able to get in touch with our neighbor, who agreed without hesitation to come take care of our baby - her kids were being held at school after 1 of the Cherokee buses got stuck at the bottom of a hill. Baldur finally in good hands, Jason finally gave up on the idea of trying to walk home and agreed to try to make it to my parents house. My dad talked me through a back-road way to go from the school where I had stopped. I made it to my parents' house in about the same amount of time I could have walked it. Jason finally made it 5 hours after he had left his office - what would have been a 30 minute drive under normal conditions.

And we were the lucky ones. I had coworkers who slept in Waffle Houses and churches. My now-brother in law, after being stuck on the highway for more than 10 hours, also decided he would walk, but was offered to share a seat in a semi-trailer.

The Superbowl Sunday Ice Storm

It was February, 2000. Atlanta was hosting the Superbowl. I was a senior in high school. All of us had been watching the weather with anticipation; we were forecast to get ice on Friday. There was so much certainty and concern that by Thursday afternoon, schools announced that they would be closed on Friday.

Friday morning dawned clear and dry. A bunch of my classmates celebrated the free snow day by going to Waffle House in their PJ's. A picture of the event made it into the yearbook.

But Sunday was another matter. Sunday we woke to an iced-over city, complete with downed trees and powerlines. I was supposed to be working that day; I worked in the book section of Media Play. I never cared for football, so having to work on Superbowl Sunday was fine with me - at least before the storm hit. My manager (who was probably younger then than I am now) called to make sure that I was coming in. I had never driven on ice, and didn't even have my licence. My mom took the phone away from me and in her most powerful "do as I say, young lady" mom voice told my manager in no uncertain terms that they should not expect a 17 year old to come in during an ice storm that had the majority of the city locked down.

The Blizzard of '93

I'm not a meteorologist, but I would like to point out that just a couple days before the mid-March blizard, it was warm - mid 50's, or maybe even 60's. Everyone said that the snow wouldn't stick. Everyone said it would be a light accumulation event. But, very similarly to what happened this year, a strong cold front combined with a lot of moisture gave us inches (and in some places, a foot) of snow that most definitely stuck and hung around for days afterward.

I would also like to point out that when people term this storm a blizard, they aren't being flippant. This was an event that met the definition of a blizard - snow with winds above 30 mph, causing white-out conditions.

I was eleven at this time, and my sister was almost 7 - we were still very much at the "snow is fun, we want snow!" age. We were awake early that Saturday morning, intently watching the weather on TV as big, fat, wet snowflakes fell. And there was thunder as the snow fell. It was very odd. The early consensus of the news anchors was, "don't get excited kids, we won't get more than an inch or two." The morning went on. The snow continued to fall. Every hour or so, the anchors delivered an updated estimate - 2 inches, then 3-4, then 4-6, then at least 8.

The final tally for our yard, in Marietta, was 12 inches, but drifts nearly 3 feet high up against some walls of the house.
My dad, for some reason, decided that it was a good idea for us to go to Kroger after there was already about 4 inches of snow on the ground. Why you would take your 11 year old with you to the store in a blizzard, I still don't understand. I have also never in my life seen so many people at the grocery store. The lines were so long as to make the aisles almost impassable.

At some point, our power went out. Our dad cooked pasta on the outdoor gas grill. It was...memorable.

The snow stopped overnight and the next day dawned clear and cold. It was great weather for the kids who wanted to make snowmen and go sledding. The roads were impassable, though. What had been slush and deeply imprinted tire treads the day before were now the jagged peaks of a mid-street mountain range.

Even though the snow fell on a Saturday, we were out of school for 2 days. I understand that some areas of the Carolinas, hit by the same storm, were out of school for a week.

"Snowjam" '82

This is not my story, but my mom's. I was born in February of '82, between 2 ice storms. The first of these, Snowjam, is still referrenced by people when comparing it to Snowmageddon. My mom was nearly to term with me when the storm hit, and she recalls watching the news, and desparing at the footage of other pregnant women trekking up the icy hill to Peidmont hospital, hoping that I would wait the storm out. I apparently did, as I arrived a couple weeks later on a rainy - but thankfully not icy - night.

Please share your snow stories!

No Go Wri Mo

So, remember back at the end of October when I posted about how I was really gonna buckle down and start working on adding to and editing The Wolf and the Sheath in lieu of participating in NaNoWriMo?  Yeah... about that...

Somehow, I got almost nothing writing-related done in November.  Jason was even out for a week early in the month (as in, pre-Thanksgiving and Christmas prep) and I STILL did not get anything done.  I did a little bit of name research, and that's about it.

I did, however, do a little bit of tweaking an a story I wrote back in February or March, and finally made it back to the writing critique group I've been meaning to go back to since, like, May.  That story has been very well received by those who I've read it to.  It is almost publishing-ready.

So while I didn't meet my not-goal of doing substantial work on Wolf and Sheath, I did at least make some small progress on the writing front.

I do still want to try and work on W & S, and prepare this other story for publishing, in December.  But I also realize that realistically this is the worst time of year to be setting writing goals.  I'll see what I can get to, but I'm not going to stress out about it.

What Tradition Are You Grateful For?

If you follow my personal Facebook page, you have seen the "30 Days of Gratitude" posts that I've been making. 

It's been interesting and introspective.

Thanksgiving's prompt was "What tradition are you grateful for?"  I didn't want to take time on that day to make a long post, but I did want to be able to go into it in depth at some point.

The first Christmas that Jason and I were together, I was still living with my parents.  We wanted to do something together for Christmas - just the two of us - but we each also wanted to spend time with our families.  I worked December 23rd, but Jason was off.  We decided to have a nice, special Christmas dinner together, exchange presents, and just have some nice, quiet time together.

I arrived at Jason's house after work.  When I came into the kitchen from the garage, he had the table set, candles lit, Tori Amos Christmas carols playing in the background, and was just finishing making dinner.  He had gotten ham and green bean casserole, and, I believe, mashed potatoes.

It might sound pretty simple, but it meant a lot to me.  What also makes this a very special memory for me is that I had never had a boyfriend at Christmas before, and, knowing that, Jason put a lot of effort into making our first Christmas together a special one.

That was the only year that we haven't spent Christmas Eve and Day together; we had been together a little over half a year at this point and both spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our respective families.  Every year since then, though, we have been together on Christmas (adding Baldur our second year).  Every year we juggle spending time with both his family and mine, with the exceptions of when one side or the other might choose to travel for Christmas.  (My sister lives in St. Louis and Jason's dad has family in Indiana.)

But no matter where we end up being, what we end up doing, or who we end up spending time with for Christmas proper, we always find some time - usually the day before we head out, though I think we might also have done it the day after - to have our own special, personal Christmas.  We have Christmas dinner (though on one occasion it was brunch), choosing either something special that we don't eat a lot, like filet mignon, or something new.  We have our presents for each other and for Baldur, and we try to find some time to just spend together and have some quiet and peace in the midst of all the dashing back and forth.

This is the tradition I am the most grateful for - the special, quiet time I share with my boys.

Please share stories about your favorite tradition, whether holiday or otherwise.

What Writing Brings Out

Even though I haven't actually gotten a lot of writing done this month, I've been thinking about it a lot.

If you follow my personal Facebook page (Elizabeth Ivey Garrett, rather than Elizabeth Ivey) you've seen that I'm doing 30 Days of Gratitude; each day I have a prompt to post about a certain thing, topic, etc. that I'm grateful for.  It's been interesting, introspective, and kind of cathartic at times.  It has also gotten me thinking about how some of my stories have certain tones, character interactions, etc. that are heavily colored by where I was mentally or emotionally when I started writing them.

Even when I sat down to write Bright Fire in NaNoWriMo of 2010, I knew that there was probably going to be some stuff that came out that reflected what was going on in my life.  One of the characters in the book was based heavily on my mom's best friend, who was dying of cancer at the time.  That character does die in the book (though I also cheated - that character has a sister who picks up as a mentor figure when the other dies).  In 2010, in the space of 6 months: my dog died, I had the worst breakup of my life, one of my coworkers died, my mom's best friend died (5 days after the end of NaNoWroMo), and my grandfather died.  2010 was a bad year.

So I guess it shouldn't be any wonder that the book I started writing at the end of a year where it felt like my world was falling apart, that I started writing a novel about a girl who's world is very drastically and literally falling apart.  Things get better - I guess showing that even at my darkest moments I've still had hope.

About 6 months after I started writing Bright Fire, I met Jason.  That November (approximately 6 months after I met him) I started writing Brinyor.  And, interestingly, even though I didn't plan it, Brinyor is about reconciliation, new possibilities, and two groups coming together to build something new and better than either had before.

It's amazing the difference a year can make.

Stranger Things Than Fiction

When I was in high school, Winona Ryder was my favorite actress.  I loved her in Little Women, The Crucible, and other movies.  She played the kind of roles I wanted to play (or in the case of The Crucible, the kind of roles I wished I was brave enough to play).  And then she went and got crazy for a while.

I kind of unintentionally have been watching a lot of her lately, though.  I binged-watched Stranger Things a couple weeks ago, and, because I'm reading a book on the Salem Witch Trials, I re-watched The Crucible this week.  And what I kind of latched onto with both of those pieces is that she plays a character who, admittedly, is kind of crazy.  But each of them is a crazy that makes sense.

In Stranger Things, she plays a mother who loves her child so truly and unhesitatingly that she (twice!) turns her home into a House of Crazy on the off chance it MIGHT help her son.  

In The Crucible, it's a case where either the clingy ex-girlfriend/woman scorned thing has become so strong as to push her over the edge, or that she has gotten so caught up in her own lies that she starts believing them.  

We believe Joyce when she is CONVINCED that Will is talking to her through Christmas lights, because what we have seen makes sense; we follow her logic and agree with her.  When Abbigail shrieks at an invisible yellow shapeshifter in the rafters and then climbs over the pews to get away from it, it makes sense because we have been following her journey and know exactly what she's up to.  Her actions may not be rational in that we, the audience, know that she's faking - but we understand that she is faking because she has too much invested in the lie to let it go.  And that makes sense to us.

It's strange looking at these two performances by a very gifted actress, and then watching her make bizarre faces at an award show that just confuse us.  And that's the difference between fiction and reality.  The fiction has to make sense.  If a character in a novel, play, TV show, etc. acts bizarrely, we have to understand why, and a good author will show us.  Reality doesn't have that constraint; that's why we have the term "stranger than fiction."

Telling Stories with Music: Reprise

So I've been thinking about this a lot the past few weeks.  Up until a few days ago, I was listening to my Halloween mix.  Aside from a couple scenes I mentioned in a Facebook post earlier this week*, a lot of the songs on that mix bring up images in my head of a story I will someday get around to writing that takes place in the week of Halloween.

*If you didn't see that post, between a book I'm reading about the Salem Witch Trials, and an idea I had for a story, I had a scene in my head of the witch trial judges and accusers set to "Men in Black," and then immediately after, 2 other characters who decide to "take back the town" doing one of those slow-mo power walks to "Ghostbusters."  My mind is weird, y'all.

This is also a time of year when I'm very picky about my music.  Most of the time, I listen to my music on random, especially in the car.  I have certain seasonal mixes - fall/Halloween, and Christmas.  But I don't mix them.  I listen to my Fall/Halloween mix from Sept. 21 to Nov. 2 (admittedly skipping the most "Halloween" pieces early on, and the stuff that's not "Halloween enough" later), and I will not start listening to my Christmas mix until after Thanksgiving.  

Now, I like Christmas music.  I have a TON of Christmas music.  So when my entire collection is on random, there's a pretty decent chance that Christmas music will come up.  Usually I skip it, but sometimes I'll let it play (especially if it's Mannheim Steamroller and I'm in a bad mood).  But this time of year, I WILL NOT let the Christmas music play - it has to wait.

The one exception to this rule is the few pieces of Christmas music - a couple instrumental versions of The Holly and the Ivy, and a few chants - that are on the playlist I use for background music/inspiration for The Wolf and the Sheath (due to the "time period," location, and time of year that the story takes place.

I have playlists for everything.  As mentioned above, I have a playlist specifically for the book I'm working on right now.  Each story/serious project gets its own playlist.  I also like making playlists for my parents for gifts.  I always try to have a narrative of sorts in the playlist - songs that transition well either in style or in story from one to the other, the playlist moves from soft and quiet to powerful or vice versa, or the songs themselves, when put together, form a story.

I think it's interesting that I have to have this connection to music for my storytelling, especially since I'm not very good at keeping up with music.  While music is an important part of my life and my writing, I hesitate to call myself a music enthusiast, as I don't actively follow any bands or artists.

No Mo Wri Mo

NaNoWriMo* begins on Wednesday.  I will not be committing to the challenge this year, or to an alternate challenge, as I have sometimes done.

*For any of you who are unfamiliar with the term, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month.  It's an annual challenge that encourages anyone who wants to to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  It's actually not as hard as it sounds.

In 2009, 2010, and 2011, I committed to the challenge - and I have 3 partial novels that I still have not finished.  The last thing I need to do is to begin a FOURTH novel that will take me 8 years to finish.

There were a few years that I selected alternate challenges; one was that I would write something - anything - each day for 30 days.  Some of these were writing prompts.  Some of them just came to me.  One of these stories, "Scarlet," has been published.  There was another year that I chose to spend each week of November workshopping a different short story.  The result of that challenge is another soon-to-be published story, "Ashes."

Last year, because I had a lot on my plate, and was also dealing with what my doctor calls "situational anxiety," I decided  not to set any goals or commit to any challenges, to give myself a much needed mental break.

This year, I'm going for something in between.  I have a lot I'm currently trying to sort out and deal with (not the same level of stress as last year, just post wedding logistics that are taking a while and must be done), so I do not want to set a goal for that reason.  I will, however, work on a project.  

This NaNoWriMo, I am picking back up on my first NaNoWriMo project - the Wolf and the Sheath.  Wolf and Sheath currently stands at 81 pages/just under 50,000 words (the document has been through several computer upgrades and it seems each new version of Word calculates the word count of this piece slightly differently).  I have been working on rereading, starting on on some pre-planning, making to-do lists, etc. for this piece off and on over the last couple months.  This November, I am going to sit down and start making some meaningful edits, write new content, and generally start cleaning up and improving a document that is good, but can also be a lot better.  (I have honed my craft a lot in the past 8 years.)

Don't expect to see updated posts on word counts, like I did in November of 2015.  Since this will be a combination of researching, editing, rearranging, and writing, there may not necessarily be tangible milestones to post about.  But I will pots an update late in November or early in December as to what progress I've made on the piece, and will continue to post about W&S as I workshop it for the next few months.

Under the SF Umbrella

Yesterday one of my friends and former library coworkers posted an interesting article about some fun, genre-blending weirdness.  
https://bookriot.com/?p=140163

It got me thinking partly about how my stories often don't fit into neat little genre boxes, and also about the genres I enjoy reading.  I like reading or watching stuff that crosses and blends genre lines.  Often it has an element of Fantasy, but I have also found that I prefer stuff that goes beyond Fantasy.  Some of my favorite books and movies are Historical with fantasy elements, or Magic Realism, or Urban Fantasy, or Science Fantasy.

Those may seem like disparate genres, if you also don't enjoy genre blending like I do.  Let's examine these a bit.

I will be talking about genres and sub-genres that fall under the Speculative Fiction - or SF - umbrella.  Speculative Fiction is fiction that asks, "what if?"  I don't mean "what if the president's plane was hijacked" or "what if there was a murder on a train."  I mean where the "what if" refers to not just the characters and the situation, but also how the world works.  What if we could clone dinosaurs?  What if a little boy discovered he had magic powers?

First, let's talk about the most familiar ones - Science Fiction and Fantasy.  In terms of simple definitions, Science Fiction is fiction that takes place in a world that has technology we don't currently* have, while Fantasy takes place in a world where magic or magical creatures exist.

*"Currently" being the operative word, as many classic examples of Science Fiction technology have come to pass.

Those are the quick and easy, black and white definitions that separate pure Fantasy from pure Sci-Fi.  But what about Star Wars?  Star Wars, to me, sits right on the boarder between Sci-Fi and Fantasy; there are spaceships, robots, and laser weapons, but there are also people with powers that would be called magic in any other setting, as well as the theme of fate and destiny, which are common elements in Fantasy.  What do you call this?  Is is Fantasy?  Is it Science Fiction?  Some people call it Space Opera (for its epic scope) - I like to think of it as Science Fantasy.

Some of the other sub-genres that fall under speculative fiction are Urban Fantasy, Steam Punk, Magic Realism, Alternate History, Dark Fantasy, Weird West, and probably dozens of others that either I don't know about yet, or are so new and few that they don't have a name yet.

Urban Fantasy is also sometimes called Modern Fantasy.  Despite the "urban" in the title, it doesn't have to take place in a city; just in the "present" where people go about their day to day lives, but there are magic elements.  The subway is run by goblins.  All the utilities rely on water and fire gods to stay functional.  The veteran cop is paired with a rookie who is also a werewolf - he's a great tracker, but has a problem with being rough on perps.

Steam Punk is another one that doesn't nestle neatly into one genre or the other, but rather oozes between the lines.  Steam Punk picks up where Jules Verne and H. G. Welles left off and says, "forget all the scientific advances made after, oh, say, 1860 or so" and runs with it.  Is it historical Science Fiction?  Is it Alternate History?  It's a little bit of both.

And speaking of Alternate History... For a long time you would find Alternate History labeled either as Science Fiction or as Fantasy, based on how the world became "alternate."  Did someone invent a time machine or fly through a black hole and has now gone back to an alternate timeline where the Spanish Armada was not defeated by the English?  Or is it a case where  dragons emerged from the earth during the industrial revolution, wreaking havoc and changing the course of history?  In many cases, alternate history has neither a fantastical nor a science fiction element, but rather simply takes an event or person, and changes it in such a way that history didn't follow the course we know - What if Hitler was accepted into art school and became a successful and famous artist?  What if Elizabeth I married Ivan the Terrible?  It's stories like these that I think made people start thinking about Alternate History as its own genre rather than an offshoot of either Sci-Fi or Fantasy.

And what about my books?  I have two that I am working on that "need"* a genre.  One of them I could probably call Magic Realism - it takes place in what feels like a real-world historical setting, except that the characters discover powers that come as a surprise to them; magic is not widely practiced or known in this world.  The other is harder to put my finger on.  I could call it Historical - except that it's not.  It's in a world that I made up, based on late ancient/early medieval Britain.  Nothing more magical than coincidence happens in it.  I personally like the idea of calling it "Artificial History;" it is a period piece, even though it's a period that I made up.

*When I say they need a genre, what I mean is that once I'm ready to publish, I will need a quick phrase to use to pitch the book to editors, publishers, and potential reader.

But maybe by the time I finish one or both of the books and go to publish, there will be a better term out there to describe them.
 

On the Equality of Couples in Fiction

If you've been following this blog for a while, you've probably read my lamentations about the many problems that Bright Fire, one of my novels, has.  Some of these problems are obvious, and some of them are things where I know something isn't quite right but I'm not sure how so or what to do about it.

Recently, upon comparing Bright Fire to my 2 other partial novels (working titles are The Wolf and the Sheath, and Brinyor), I realized that one if the many issues is the imbalance of power between Bright Fire and her love interest.  This isn't to say that it's a bad relationship - it's just not very realistic right now.

Reading back on Wolf and Sheath and Brinyor, I realized that both of the main characters in those stories have a better balance of power with their love interests.  (Side note - none of these stories actually qualify as Romances, despite the presence of a couple and other romantic elements.  But the difference between romantic elements and Romance as a genre is a topic for a different post.)
  
Without giving a lot away (because I do intend to publish both), in Wolf and Sheath, while Reyala technically is of a higher station and has more political power than her love interest, he has his own special station and knowledge within another group, and they live in a place where her position doesn't remove her from "normal" people as much as it might in another time or place.  In Brinyor, Rigan and her love interest both have high positions within their respective communities, are very close in age, and have recently suffered similar losses.  One major problem with the relationship in Bright Fire is a big age gap, and the fact that he starts out as something of a mentor figure to Bright Fire.  I'm not saying it can't be done - it's a quasi-historical fantasy, a setting where a big age gap isn't as much of a problem as in a modern piece, for example - but it's also something that I may not be a good enough writer to make it work yet.  

And honestly, this revelation doesn't bother me as much as it might have a few years ago.  I recently read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.  It is a fantastic book that won the Hugo, Newbery, and Carnegie awards,  among others.  In the afterword, Gaiman admits that he had the idea when he was 25, but that when he sat down to write it for the first time, he realized that he was not yet a good enough writer to do the story justice.  Eventually, he did sit down and complete it.  This gives me hope.  This book that I have been so hung up on for the past several years, now I can take a breath and say, "Ok.  This is a good story.  This has the potential to be a great story.  I just need to give myself a little more time to figure it out."

But back to the couples...  After I realized that Bright Fire's relationship is potentially tricky, I sat down and looked at some of the other major ideas I have.  (By "major" I mean that I have the majority of the plot worked out in my head.)  There is always a balance.  The couples may not both be immediately obvious as equals, but there's always something - fame vs. maturity, political power vs. perceived power, political power vs. street smarts, etc. - that keeps the couple in balance.

Maybe this is something that I understand the importance of now that I am in a stable relationship and have been for over 6 years, and why I'm only just now recognizing the imbalance in Bright Fire.  (Though it's also interesting to note that I wrote the bulk of W&S when I was not in a relationship of any sort, and 2 years before I met the man I am now married to.)  I think this is something that is just important in fiction as in real life - the couple have to work together.  They have to have strengths to lend each other.  You can't have one leaning entirely on the other, just as you can't have them both be exactly the same.  The couple in Wolf and Sheath came to me very easily - oddly enough since that is the first novel I started writing.  The couple in Brinyor are also good and strong - once they finally get over themselves long enough to realize there's something between the two of them. : )

So it's a little odd to me that Bright Fire, the novel I started between W&S and Brinyor has, of all my stories, the most imbalanced couple*.  But that might also have a lot to do with where I was mentally the year that I started it.  

*Well, except for the one where someone gets killed, but that's also another subject for another blog...
 

"Ashes" Update

For those of you have may not have seen the announcement on my author's Facebook page, my short story "Ashes" has been accepted for publication by the James Dickey Review of Reinhardt University.

While this is not my first short story published (it will be my third), it is a first in its own way:
-This is the first time I've had a story accepted "close to home" - both of my previous stories having been published through New England Universities.
-This is the first time that I submitted a story to people I know.  While I don't know everyone on the James Dickey staff personally, I do know some of them.  Sending your story out into the ether to be read by strangers is one thing; sending it off to coworkers who you respect is another.  I am very pleased that they thought it good enough to represent our University.
-This will be my first published work after getting married.  As some of you who follow this blog may have noticed, I changed my name on my personal facebook account, but not here or on my author's facebook page.  Back a few months ago when I was figuring out various wedding and post-wedding logistics, I decided that I would keep Elizabeth Ivey as my "pen name" and go by my new married name in my personal and (non-writing) professional life.

While the formal notice that "Ashes" had been accepted came on Monday, I was actually kind of expecting it.  Last Friday, the head of Reinhardt's MFA in Creative Writing program came by my office to drop off something for one of my coworkers.  On his way, he stopped by my desk to say that he really enjoyed my story.  He had more praise to offer, but I won't share that until after the story is published, as it spoils the ending : )

The same night, I ran into the Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities in the grocery store.  He told me congratulations; we are friends on Facebook, and this was the first time he'd seen me in person since I'd gotten married, so my initial instinct was that he was congratulating me on that.  But then thinking about it later, I wondered... Given that he is also involved in our MFA and literary magazine, was he referring to something I didn't know about yet?  (Equally curious, as he is actually the managing editor of the JDR and was the one who officially informed me of my acceptance on Monday.)

I also now have an update as to publishing.  The 2017 edition of the James Dickey Review goes to press in December and will likely be available to the general public in January.  I will update everyone once it's actually available, and I will also let everyone know once I am allowed to post it to my personal website.  In the meantime, since some of you have asked, the easiest way to obtain a printed copy is to subscribe to the James Dickey Review using the form below.  (Just as a security reminder, do not include a credit card number if you plan to email the form.  If you are emailing the subscription form, you can call the Reinhardt Business Office to make a secure credit card payment over the phone at 770-720-5520.)

In the meantime, if you would like to read my previously published works, and other pieces besides, you visit the "My Works" page on this website.

Read Out, Speak Out, Write Out

So we have now spent a week celebrating the books that made it onto the banned and challenged lists.  But it's not over today.  The American Library Association estimates that there are many more banned and challenged books out there that haven't made it to the official lists because they haven't received enough media coverage, or have been quietly secreted off a shelf without any publicity at all.  Every day, there are challenges issued in each school and library system in the country, sometimes for the most innocuous reasons.  

This isn't to say that there isn't a time or place for parents to prevent their child from reading a book they feel he isn't ready for.  Indeed, I think parents need to me more involved in what their children are reading, not less.  But what I mean by that is that rather than just taking it for granted that a book is inappropriate, offensive, whatever, parents should take the time to research and, dare I suggest, read the book themselves.
  
Now, as someone who myself doesn't have as much time as I'd like to read without the added time constraints of having kids, I understand that you can't always read every book your child is interested in (especially if your child a voracious reader like I was).  But we live in a day and age where resources are available literally at our fingertips 24-7.  Join Goodreads (goodreads.com) which is a free website where you can, among other things, read and post books reviews and engage in book discussions.  Email, text, or tweet with friends and fellow parents that you trust.  Talk to your child's teacher or librarian.  Some public library websites now have links to reviews from places like Booklist and School Library Journal who often specifically list a recommended age range for children's and young adult books, often also listing things parents need to be aware of such as violence and profanity.  But take ALL your research into account - if you see one review online that is a one star review, certainly read why that reader ranked the book as one star, but don't stop there and take that as your only decision-making factor.  

On the flip side of being aware of what your children read is being open to the idea that they may not like the same stuff you do.  Heaven forbid that I might someday have an 11-year-old daughter who comes to me and wants to read slice-of-life, middle school, 11-year-old girls doing 11-year-old girl things books.  I would have nothing to personally recommend, as I never read those sort of books.  However, I would know where to look, who to ask, and would maybe have to resign myself to the fact that my daughter had not inherited my taste in pretty much anything other than slice-of-life.  

Parents, be open to the fact that what interests you may not interest your children - and that's ok.  Talk with them about the books they read.  Show an interest in the topics they're interested in.  Be a sounding board and a discussion forum for them, and once they accept the idea that they don't have to be embarrassed or guarded about the books they read because you are not going to tell them they can't, they will likely be more open to sharing with you.  And even if you do decide that they aren't ready for a book, talk to them about it.  If all their friends are reading that cool new book, but you think it's too violent, the language is too strong, there's sex in it, whatever, tell them why you think they aren't ready.  Offer alternatives, offer to discuss it with them, maybe even offer to read the book with them if you feel it's something that is a topic you want to work through with them.

With that said, be open to new things yourself.  When you hear about a book that has been challenged in your school system, library, or just has caused a regional scandal, look into it.  Read reviews, tweets, talk to people about it.  Check out your local library's book sale - you'd be surprised how many people anonymously donate books they're done with in the book drop overnight because they're concerned someone will see what they've been reading and give them a hard time about it.  (For the record, most librarians are super opened-minded and are more likely to ask you your opinion of the book so they can know what to tell other patrons who ask about it, than to pass any kind of judgement.) 

If you like it, (or for a challenged book, even if it's just mediocre, but not bothersome), get the word out.  Go back to that group of research resources we've talked about compiling above.  Express your opinion.  If the book is in serious danger of being removed from a school or library, make sure you speak out against its removal.  

And even if you read said challenged book and don't like it, consider the difference between "this book bothers me because of X" and "No one should read this book because of X."  You have just as much right to dislike the book as someone else has to read it as the author had to write it.  Remember that.  You are entitled to your opinion; you are not entitled to take away someone else's right to come to their own opinion.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the whole point of Banned Books Week.

Over and out.

The Book that Keeps on Giving

Teen dystopia is the big thing right now:  The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Maze Runner, and probably a dozen more than I'm missing now that I'm not doing Readers' Advisory for middle schoolers anymore.

When did this get so big?  Young Adult was an emerging genre when I was in middle school - there wasn't a lot outside of Chronicles of Narnia and the Alice series (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone wasn't published 'til I was a freshman in high school and, as previously mentioned this week, I didn't jump on that bandwagon for a few years).  If you weren't into slice-of-life stuff (like I wasn't), there wasn't a whole lot out there.  [Edit: Since I wrote this post 2 years ago, I discovered that Young Adult has been a "thing" for a few decades now.  But with that said, most of it was still that "slice of life" stuff that I don't care for, which is probably why I wasn't aware of it in middle school and high school.]

In 1993 a small, quick-to-read book was published that subsequently received the Newberry and may have been the seed of the teen dystopia trend.  That book was The Giver by Lois Lowry.  In lieu of reiterating the plot, I will post the review I wrote for our genre study at my previous library.
 

Literary Fiction Book Review - The Giver

Please describe the book you’ve just read by answering the following questions:

Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Pacing: Starts slow, but builds.

Frame/setting: A community in an unspecified place, presumably in the future

Story line: Jonas lives in a perfect world – because it is designed that way. Family units consist of 1 mother, 1 father, and 2 children – one of each gender. At the age of twelve, when Jonas and all his friends receive their career assignments, Jonas is assigned as the new Receiver of Memories. As he trains with a man called the Giver, he discovers all the things his community lacks – pain, joy, weather, color, individuality, and choice.

Characterize the main protagonist: Jonas is almost 12 at the start of the story and is intelligent and caring.

Tone/mood: quietly thought-provoking

Style/language: Precise – almost to the point of being spare – while still conveying great depth.

Literary Fiction sub-genre: Elements of fantasy, science-fiction, suspense, and philosophy.

Awards: Newberry Medal, Regina Medal, William Allen White Award, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, among others.

Other Observations: This book is at the same time both simple and incredibly profound. Lowry’s use of subtle foreshadowing is beautiful. The reader and Jonas come to realizations together. From the first page, there is a sense of mild foreboding underlying the seeming perfection of Jonas’s world, and the author builds on this beautifully.

While there are deep philosophical concepts, like that of freewill and choice, euthanasia, and a milder version of the Orwellian dystopia, I would say that any student who has read Number the Stars, The Diary of a Young Girl, or other deeper Newberry winners is ready for this book.

On a personal note, this is the book that turned my sister from a reluctant reader to an avid one.

Appropriate for teens? For mature middle-schoolers
Reviewer’s initials: EI Date:2-22-13

How many stars would you give this book? 4.5 out of 5

What I say about my sister in that review is true.  I was the kid who would get caught reading a book under the desk in math.  I was the one who had to be told to put the book away and go to bed.  My sister was never that way as a kid.  She never enjoyed reading - getting her to read was harder and more painful than getting a cat to walk on a leash (having tried that, I know).  Then one day, when she was in 7th grade, a very observant and out-of-the-box thinking English teacher took her aside, handed her this small, unassuming-looking paperback and said, "Try this, I think you'll like it."

And that was it - my sister discovered that she enjoyed reading.  But not just the act of reading - immersing herself in a well-crafted and thought provoking story.  Fast forward many years.  She writes.  She majored in philosophy at a prestigious liberal arts university.  She teaches (her favorite age group being those difficult 11-year-olds she once was).  She's working on getting her Master's degree in education.  This from the girl who for many years would. Not. Read.

And yes, there's controversial stuff in it - this spoils a bit of the plot if you haven't read it - but in the book Jonas discovers that government-initiated euthanasia (though it's never called that) is being practiced regularly.  Anyone above the age of about 11 is medicated to prevent emotions and urges.  Again, some of these are not really elaborated on.  An adult understands exactly what this medication is meant to suppress.  A child of Jonas's age reading it just picks up that they're preventing you from feeling something.  But is the controversy worth it if it gets a child thinking about important topics like rights and free will?  Is it worth if it gets a reluctant reader to pick up a book and read?  Is it maybe better to ease a child into that Orwellian place that they'll have to learn about eventually without throwing them straight into the deep end that is 1984?  (And as someone who read 1984 last minute the night before the first day of school for 9th grade and had the bejesus scared out me, my answer to the last is "Yes!")