Lynn L. Clark's Blog: Writing in Retirement, page 11
June 8, 2015
New Goodreads Giveaway
My new book Fire Whisperer and Circle of Souls: Two Novellas of the Supernatural is now out in paperback, and I'd like to invite Goodreads members to participate in the current giveaway for the book which runs until July 1: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh....
Like The Home Child, my new book is set in eastern Ontario, Canada, and is supernatural fiction with elements of history interwoven in the stories.
Here are brief synopses of the two novellas:
"Fire Whisperer" - Injured in a hotel fire, Keva Tait experiences auditory and visual hallucinations and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. But is this illness really at the root of her constant encounters with a young, dark-haired woman and an elder who materializes at night on her bed? With the tenth anniversary of the fire looming, Keva wants to take back her life by confronting what really happened when she was seventeen years old.
"Circle of Souls" - A young woman doing research at a small museum in Ottawa is almost pushed down a set of stairs. Her sister-in-law, who restores fossils at a museum of natural history, is touched by an unseen presence. A videographer glimpses unsettling images in his work. A paranormal team leader encounters the inexplicable as he investigates an old mill. A student working part time at an old jail experiences the despair of its former inmates. All of these locations are said to be haunted, but who exactly is the ghost? Or are there many ghosts seeking human intervention?
The e-versions of the book will be available shortly, and the novellas are suitable for young adults as well as older readers.
Like The Home Child, my new book is set in eastern Ontario, Canada, and is supernatural fiction with elements of history interwoven in the stories.
Here are brief synopses of the two novellas:
"Fire Whisperer" - Injured in a hotel fire, Keva Tait experiences auditory and visual hallucinations and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. But is this illness really at the root of her constant encounters with a young, dark-haired woman and an elder who materializes at night on her bed? With the tenth anniversary of the fire looming, Keva wants to take back her life by confronting what really happened when she was seventeen years old.
"Circle of Souls" - A young woman doing research at a small museum in Ottawa is almost pushed down a set of stairs. Her sister-in-law, who restores fossils at a museum of natural history, is touched by an unseen presence. A videographer glimpses unsettling images in his work. A paranormal team leader encounters the inexplicable as he investigates an old mill. A student working part time at an old jail experiences the despair of its former inmates. All of these locations are said to be haunted, but who exactly is the ghost? Or are there many ghosts seeking human intervention?
The e-versions of the book will be available shortly, and the novellas are suitable for young adults as well as older readers.
June 1, 2015
The Chocolate Hoax
I expect I'm not the only one who is totally confused as to what's good and what's bad for you in terms of nutrition. Recently, for example, fruit juice seems to be taking a heavy hit because of its sugar content.
It's doubly hard when you find out that many "scientific" studies have very little to do with actual science.
Earlier this spring, headlines around the world claimed that eating chocolate could help you lose weight. In fact, the study behind it was a hoax created by science journalist John Bohannon to point out that journalists not only do not perform due diligence by asking outside experts to validate the truth of such claims, but also that there are various "pay for play" journals that will publish so-called scientific data for a price without any type of peer review.
But before you despair completely, the article does point out that there is "good" research showing the health benefits of chocolate.
For the full text of the NPR article, please see http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2....
It's doubly hard when you find out that many "scientific" studies have very little to do with actual science.
Earlier this spring, headlines around the world claimed that eating chocolate could help you lose weight. In fact, the study behind it was a hoax created by science journalist John Bohannon to point out that journalists not only do not perform due diligence by asking outside experts to validate the truth of such claims, but also that there are various "pay for play" journals that will publish so-called scientific data for a price without any type of peer review.
But before you despair completely, the article does point out that there is "good" research showing the health benefits of chocolate.
For the full text of the NPR article, please see http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2....
May 25, 2015
Summer Fair Circuit
This past weekend marked the first of the annual craft and summer festivals at which I will be selling my books. It was cold and windy and the lady's tent next to ours kept blowing down, but that's part of what happens when you're selling outdoors. In spite of the inconveniences of weather, after a long winter indoors I am eagerly anticipating other local art in the park, dairy, bluegrass, and turkey festivals where I can meet other vendors, enjoy the outdoors (for the most part), and gauge the reaction of eastern Ontarians to my books.
So while I don't expect to set any sales records this summer, I am looking forward to new acquaintances, stories shared, and the opportunity to sit quietly and watch the world go by.
So while I don't expect to set any sales records this summer, I am looking forward to new acquaintances, stories shared, and the opportunity to sit quietly and watch the world go by.
May 18, 2015
The Future Obama Presidential Library
The site of the future Obama Presidential Library was announced this week after fourteen months of deliberation. The University of Chicago was chosen over the three other finalists: New York’s Columbia University, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Obama taught at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years.
For a video regarding the announcement, including the reaction of Barack and Michelle Obama, please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Q3x....
President Obama was pleased with the announcement, stating: "With a library and a foundation on the South Side of Chicago, not only will we be able to encourage and affect change locally, but what we can also do is attract the world to Chicago."
(Source: Library Journal at http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/05/...)
For a video regarding the announcement, including the reaction of Barack and Michelle Obama, please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Q3x....
President Obama was pleased with the announcement, stating: "With a library and a foundation on the South Side of Chicago, not only will we be able to encourage and affect change locally, but what we can also do is attract the world to Chicago."
(Source: Library Journal at http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/05/...)
May 10, 2015
Remembering My Mum on Mother's Day
This is the second Mother's Day since the death of my mother. Last year was very hard for me, but this year I am in the process of slowly moving on.
My mother was born in a small village in New Brunswick, an only child who had an adventurous spirit and loved to swim in and skate across the river that ran close to her house. From what I know of her as an adolescent, she had a sense of humour and a fierce loyalty to family and friends that stayed with her throughout her life.
She married my father and they had my oldest sister Janet before World War II began. My father was a lieutenant in the Carleton-York Regiment, and one of my prized possessions is a photograph of my mother, father (in uniform), and sister Janet before my father left for Europe. He returned early from the war after a training accident left him legally blind. It would be many years before he regained partial sight by undergoing the first successful cornea transplant in Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Ontario.
Mum had an incredible sense of empathy. She cried at nearly everything sad. She bought clothes for the poor families she knew and for those who had suffered the loss of their homes through fire.
I don't want you to think that my mother was a saint. She would be the first to say the contrary. But she dealt with a lot of sorrow and always managed to summon the strength to come through it. The adventurous young woman who once conquered a river became my father's lifetime support. She outlived and grieved five of her seven children.
Mum always cheered for the underdog and had a strong sense of how unfair life could be for those who weren't at the top of the food chain. If I have one memory to share with you of my mother, it would be when late at night she was awakened by the sounds of an angry male voice and a young woman crying outside on the street. Mum, then in her late sixties, opened the bedroom window and yelled: “You leave her alone. I'm calling the police right now!”
Love you, Mum, and miss you. Happy Mother's Day.
My mother was born in a small village in New Brunswick, an only child who had an adventurous spirit and loved to swim in and skate across the river that ran close to her house. From what I know of her as an adolescent, she had a sense of humour and a fierce loyalty to family and friends that stayed with her throughout her life.
She married my father and they had my oldest sister Janet before World War II began. My father was a lieutenant in the Carleton-York Regiment, and one of my prized possessions is a photograph of my mother, father (in uniform), and sister Janet before my father left for Europe. He returned early from the war after a training accident left him legally blind. It would be many years before he regained partial sight by undergoing the first successful cornea transplant in Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Ontario.
Mum had an incredible sense of empathy. She cried at nearly everything sad. She bought clothes for the poor families she knew and for those who had suffered the loss of their homes through fire.
I don't want you to think that my mother was a saint. She would be the first to say the contrary. But she dealt with a lot of sorrow and always managed to summon the strength to come through it. The adventurous young woman who once conquered a river became my father's lifetime support. She outlived and grieved five of her seven children.
Mum always cheered for the underdog and had a strong sense of how unfair life could be for those who weren't at the top of the food chain. If I have one memory to share with you of my mother, it would be when late at night she was awakened by the sounds of an angry male voice and a young woman crying outside on the street. Mum, then in her late sixties, opened the bedroom window and yelled: “You leave her alone. I'm calling the police right now!”
Love you, Mum, and miss you. Happy Mother's Day.
May 4, 2015
One Man's Homage to Agatha Christie
There's a delightful article by Christopher Bollen in The Daily Beast that describes his adolescent love for the books of Agatha Christie and his pilgrimage as an adult to her vacation home in Devon, England. Along the way he makes some interesting observations about the strengths of Christie's writings and her abiding popularity. He points to Gore Vidal's comments about Christie's novels: "I like Christie because I thought she was a great naturalist—those are real villages she writes about—and it’s fascinating. I used to like to read not for the mysteries but I read her for the characters.”
There's also an amusing anecdote about Christie's husband Max, who would fall asleep in his chair as his wife read her latest manuscript to him, but who would always rally and guess (correctly) the perpetrator of the crime before the story had ended.
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles....
There's also an amusing anecdote about Christie's husband Max, who would fall asleep in his chair as his wife read her latest manuscript to him, but who would always rally and guess (correctly) the perpetrator of the crime before the story had ended.
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles....
April 27, 2015
The Dark Half
Sometimes events in real life are much more intriguing than anything a supernatural or horror writer could invent.
A case in point...
The Washington Post recently published an account of a young PhD student who had suffered mental and physical debilitation and had gone from doctor to doctor to get a proper diagnosis. It was finally determined that the young woman had a tumor on the pineal gland in her brain. An operation was considered too dangerous, but in the meantime the tumor was growing and impeding her brain functions.
Friends of the young woman who saw her condition going from bad to worse turned to crowdsourcing to raise funds for her medical treatment. With this money, she was able to find a specialist who agreed to operate on her.
The result? The doctor found a teratoma--a clump of bone, hair, and teeth--attached to the pineal gland. The mass was removed and proved to be non-cancerous. The young woman now has her life back.
According to the article, "[t]eratomas have baffled scientists for almost a century. Some have speculated that they are basically twins that never quite develop and are instead absorbed into the surviving baby’s body. In fact, newborns occasionally have large teratomas attached to them like a conjoined twin. Other times, it’s not until adulthood that people realize they have one."
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/woma....
A case in point...
The Washington Post recently published an account of a young PhD student who had suffered mental and physical debilitation and had gone from doctor to doctor to get a proper diagnosis. It was finally determined that the young woman had a tumor on the pineal gland in her brain. An operation was considered too dangerous, but in the meantime the tumor was growing and impeding her brain functions.
Friends of the young woman who saw her condition going from bad to worse turned to crowdsourcing to raise funds for her medical treatment. With this money, she was able to find a specialist who agreed to operate on her.
The result? The doctor found a teratoma--a clump of bone, hair, and teeth--attached to the pineal gland. The mass was removed and proved to be non-cancerous. The young woman now has her life back.
According to the article, "[t]eratomas have baffled scientists for almost a century. Some have speculated that they are basically twins that never quite develop and are instead absorbed into the surviving baby’s body. In fact, newborns occasionally have large teratomas attached to them like a conjoined twin. Other times, it’s not until adulthood that people realize they have one."
For the full text of the article, please see http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/woma....
April 20, 2015
Send In the Clowns
To me, the clown has always been an ambivalent figure, more tragic than comic but not usually downright scary.
Anyone who has ever read or seen horror depictions of clowns, however, can testify to the power of the clown as a figure of malevolence. So I was interested to read an article on the history of the clown figure entitled "The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary".
The article traces the history of clowns from pagan times to the present day, noting that the early clown was primarily a buffoon or mischievous imp.
The image of the "tragic" clown is associated with Joseph Grimaldi in England, who was famous as a comic pantomime player on the London stage, known not only for his painted face but also his extreme physical comedy. Sadly, he had a tragic personal life and was always in excruciating pain from his performances. His memoirs were edited by Charles Dickens, who did much to reinforce the tragedy behind the clown's mask and the image of an individual who would literally destroy himself to get a laugh.
A "sinister" figure behind the clown's face was Jean-Gaspard Debarau, known as Pierrot and famous for his pantomime and his clown's white face with red lips and black eyebrows. In real life, he killed a boy who ridiculed him, but was acquitted of his murder.
Later, in America, there were "hobo" clowns such as Emmett Kelly, who used slapstick humor for comedy but also expressed the underlying tragedy of the Great Depression for the common man (as did Charlie Chaplin, who isn't mentioned specifically in the article).
The article also references the deranged clown doll in Poltergeist (lampooned in The Simpsons' Halloween special); Stephen King's Pennywise in It; and Heath Ledger's depiction of the Joker, as well as various other permutations of the malevolent clown.
And--all clowning aside--these negative images of clowns have obviously been detrimental to the profession because "in the mid-2000s, articles began popping up in newspapers across the country lamenting the decline of attendees at clown conventions or at clowning workshop courses."
Of course, along the way there were some good clowns: think Bozo the Clown, for example. No, this isn't just a name you call someone who cuts you off in traffic: there actually was a beloved Bozo with his own television show, which most of us who grew up in the 60s watched faithfully.
And, as the Ringley Brothers' talent spotter (and former clown) indicates, "good clowns are always in shortage, and it’s good clowns who keep the art alive".
For the full text of this very engaging article, please see http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cu....
(Adapted from the Behind the Walls of Nightmare post of August 12, 2013)
Anyone who has ever read or seen horror depictions of clowns, however, can testify to the power of the clown as a figure of malevolence. So I was interested to read an article on the history of the clown figure entitled "The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary".
The article traces the history of clowns from pagan times to the present day, noting that the early clown was primarily a buffoon or mischievous imp.
The image of the "tragic" clown is associated with Joseph Grimaldi in England, who was famous as a comic pantomime player on the London stage, known not only for his painted face but also his extreme physical comedy. Sadly, he had a tragic personal life and was always in excruciating pain from his performances. His memoirs were edited by Charles Dickens, who did much to reinforce the tragedy behind the clown's mask and the image of an individual who would literally destroy himself to get a laugh.
A "sinister" figure behind the clown's face was Jean-Gaspard Debarau, known as Pierrot and famous for his pantomime and his clown's white face with red lips and black eyebrows. In real life, he killed a boy who ridiculed him, but was acquitted of his murder.
Later, in America, there were "hobo" clowns such as Emmett Kelly, who used slapstick humor for comedy but also expressed the underlying tragedy of the Great Depression for the common man (as did Charlie Chaplin, who isn't mentioned specifically in the article).
The article also references the deranged clown doll in Poltergeist (lampooned in The Simpsons' Halloween special); Stephen King's Pennywise in It; and Heath Ledger's depiction of the Joker, as well as various other permutations of the malevolent clown.
And--all clowning aside--these negative images of clowns have obviously been detrimental to the profession because "in the mid-2000s, articles began popping up in newspapers across the country lamenting the decline of attendees at clown conventions or at clowning workshop courses."
Of course, along the way there were some good clowns: think Bozo the Clown, for example. No, this isn't just a name you call someone who cuts you off in traffic: there actually was a beloved Bozo with his own television show, which most of us who grew up in the 60s watched faithfully.
And, as the Ringley Brothers' talent spotter (and former clown) indicates, "good clowns are always in shortage, and it’s good clowns who keep the art alive".
For the full text of this very engaging article, please see http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cu....
(Adapted from the Behind the Walls of Nightmare post of August 12, 2013)
April 13, 2015
Canada's Horror Landscape
While doing research for this week's blog, I came across a series of interviews with writers, publishers, and agents entitled "Northern Chills: Conversations on Canadian Horror Literature" on the website of Quill & Quire. As I reviewed the articles, I saw that Q&Q was using the term literary horror, which I hadn't encountered before. (It's as if the horror genre is so embarrassing in itself that we need to elevate it somehow before we can deign to talk about it.) There were, however, some valid and interesting observations in the interviews, including the importance of the Gothic tradition and Canada's physical environment in Canadian horror novels. If you'd like to read this series, please see http://www.quillandquire.com/book-cul....
There's also an article on Toronto's NOW Magazine website that contains an interview with Andrew Pyper, probably the best known of Canadian horror writers. The interviewer, Susan G. Cole, asks Pyper why he doesn't write conventional novels as opposed to genre fiction. Pyper's response is interesting: on the one hand, he sees the current interest in horror as a reflection of the "impatience" of the digital age: "There has to be a greater degree of excitement. It's just not adequate to write a small, quietly observed domestic novel." On the other hand, Pyper indicates that he's not just writing horror, but rather that " I want to write books that use ancient mythology, whether religious or Greek, in a contemporary setting to comment on social relations. I want to make that mythology relevant." For the text of the interview, please see https://nowtoronto.com/art-and-books/....
What do you think? Is the distinction between genre fiction and mainstream writing still valid? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
There's also an article on Toronto's NOW Magazine website that contains an interview with Andrew Pyper, probably the best known of Canadian horror writers. The interviewer, Susan G. Cole, asks Pyper why he doesn't write conventional novels as opposed to genre fiction. Pyper's response is interesting: on the one hand, he sees the current interest in horror as a reflection of the "impatience" of the digital age: "There has to be a greater degree of excitement. It's just not adequate to write a small, quietly observed domestic novel." On the other hand, Pyper indicates that he's not just writing horror, but rather that " I want to write books that use ancient mythology, whether religious or Greek, in a contemporary setting to comment on social relations. I want to make that mythology relevant." For the text of the interview, please see https://nowtoronto.com/art-and-books/....
What do you think? Is the distinction between genre fiction and mainstream writing still valid? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
April 6, 2015
Happy Spring
This has been a very quiet Easter weekend for me and my husband. It's the first year that our son, for whom we bought countless Easter bunnies, is away from home in his own apartment. Hopefully, he still remembers the fun he had finding Easter eggs that we "hid" for him when he was very young.
As usual the weather has been Jekyll and Hyde. One day it snows, and the next, the grass is showing patches of green. Harbingers of spring, the Canada geese are flying in formation over our house, and soon the frogs will be singing their serenades in the pond out back.
The dogs are excited, and even the cats are venturing outside.
This is a good time of the year. A time, regardless of religious beliefs, to celebrate rebirth and renewal.
Happy Spring, everyone!
As usual the weather has been Jekyll and Hyde. One day it snows, and the next, the grass is showing patches of green. Harbingers of spring, the Canada geese are flying in formation over our house, and soon the frogs will be singing their serenades in the pond out back.
The dogs are excited, and even the cats are venturing outside.
This is a good time of the year. A time, regardless of religious beliefs, to celebrate rebirth and renewal.
Happy Spring, everyone!
Writing in Retirement
A blog on reading, writing, and the latest news in horror and supernatural fiction.
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