Rhobin Lee Courtright's Blog, page 14

Writing, Walking and the Brain

I like to walk. During the summer, I do it frequently but not as much (daily) as I need for a good exercise routine. Often I walk because my legs ache from sitting too long (and I know sitting too long is very unhealthy). Writers often lose sense of time while working and end up sitting too long. When my legs say move, I walk. Besides enjoying how my walk route changes during the seasons, the action seems to clear my mind almost like meditation. I can’t say that's true because I’m not sure I’ve ever reached a meditative state, but it is relaxing.
Sometimes I use walking as an escape from a plot or character refusing to cooperate. While walking, my mind starts playing with the problem and comes up with a new tact for smoother sailing through that problematic scene or discovers a better motivation for a cranky character. Other times my brain just seems to spasm and imagine a totally different character and situation, so it is not a sure-fire cure for writing problems.
I always thought this was a result of getting away from my desk, but a recent study at Stanford University indicates it might be the action of walking. Their study found the act of walking increased creative thinking through simple tests given to participants after the exercise. They found walking did not focus thoughts as in critical thinking, converging thoughts to find a single correct answer, but released them in a divergent process of creativity. Is it only walking that creates this brain connection? Those doing the study haven’t studied that aspect yet. This study has been reported through many different media outlets since the study's release this past spring, which I missed, but I’m happy to learn that when I do something for my body and health, I'm also doing it for my brain.

Writing Conflict

Action scenes are not my strong point as a writer. I've written battle scenes, survival scenes, and high impact confrontational scenes, but I don't think they are the nail-biting, gut clenching tension  horror clinchers other authors achieve. I'm not sure why, maybe because I hate confrontation in real life.

Where I believe my strength lies is in emotional tension. In this scene from Loser's Game the lead female character, an outlaw who goes by different aliases, leaves the man she loves more than her own life to protect his reputation and career. I hope fireworks  are what the reader senses is happening. Once the reader reaches this point, they know the heroine is a great actress, and a person of integrity despite her reprehensible reputation.
~ * ~
“Don’t worry, Mister Fournelle, the shuttle will be at Starbase Freedom’s private-liner bay.” Jesse looked at him, and grinned. “But you don’t trust me, do you? Well I have even better reasons not to trust a Service Corps officer. Have you already made plans for my arrest as soon as I dock with a stolen shuttle? So, we are at an impasse, are we not?”

Jesse couldn’t keep the mocking tones out of her voice. She hated the way Fournelle looked at her. Like so many others. She knew very well once Fournelle agreed to her plan, he wouldn’t back out, but goading him was irresistible. Besides, she felt mean. For the last few days she’d purposely bickered with Krayne whenever the opportunity arose.

She took a few steps to the shuttle’s hatch, even took a step inside before she looked at the forbidding officer. “Mister Fournelle,” she tightened her lips at his look, biting the insult lining her mouth. Taking a deep breath she said, “Thank you.”

Fournelle didn't answer her. A movement on the edge of her vision caught her attention. Krayne stopped as she noticed him, his face taut, his jaw clenched and his eyes cold.
"Leaving?"
Exhaling slowly, Jesse hesitated before answering. "Yes."
"What, no goodbye? Or is everything clandestine with you?"
Jesse smiled casually. "It's easier. No excuses. No lies." Her hands gripped the hatch."I'm sure it is. Just a clean thrust to the heart and walk away." He looked at Fournelle. "Leave." As Fournelle's footsteps fell away, he said, "What about our marriage? Our plans?"
"What marriage?" Jesse scoffed. "When I cross over into Alliance space, it will be nonexistent. You made the only plans. Don't blame me for your delusions of a rosy future. We had none." She watched his eyes flicker, his jaw muscles bunch.
"I see. So just what have I been?"
"An escape." She smiled and shrugged. "In more ways than one. I'll admit to using you, even enjoying you. You've let me evade capture, provided some entertainment, and of course, given some physical relief. But I have no interest in becoming your rehab project. I guess it's just time to move on before I become bored."
"Too glib, Jesse. I don't believe you."
"How can you?" she said in disparagement. "You don't even know what I am. I've run into your type before, both as a man and as an officer. You see the outside with desire, and I'll give you credit for not backing off when you discovered what's on the inside, but when you learn about the underside, it will be a different story."
"That's not true. I know you and I know what you are."
Jesse gave a dry laugh. "Of course it's true. You only think you know me. I'm not just the pirate and thief you believe. There are countless Alliance laws I've broken. Did you know Jet ripped a man's throat out with her bare hands? That she was instrumental in Durant Rosche's death? And tell me, what will you think the first, second or third time you run into someone for whom I've whored?" She watched him flinch. "Then what? You want me to make a list beforehand? That's just for starters, there's more. Do you want to know all the details?"
She watched him swallow, his jaw setting in rigid lines. "You can tell me whatever you want. It won't change how I feel. I love you. Not unless you say straight out you feel nothing for me. Tell me you don't love me."
"Of course I feel something for you. You came along at an opportune time. You know what Merit and Thor were doing to me. But love? My God, you're a Corps officer. If you think I'm stupid enough to allow you to capture me with sex, and then, when you get bored in a few months or so, pass me along to Alliance justice, think again." She watched his face remorselessly, even smiled at his expression.
"And the shuttle? Another theft?"
His acceptance was too quick. She watched for a trap. "No, it's part of the agreement I made with Fournelle. I told him it would be at Starbase Freedom before the Nebulae docked. You going to stop me?"
"Yes."
"That's not a wise move."
"Then say it and make me believe it."
Jesse stood in the shuttle's portal for a lifetime. She slowly moved back to the gangway and stopped directly before Krayne in Ranger at-ease position. "I don't love you," she stated slowly and clearly.
He looked into her face for another lifetime reading her truth there. "Go, then. Get out of my sight." His voice held calm command.~ * ~ Hope you enjoyed the short excerpt!

Margaret Fieland  is up next on the round-robin. Visit these authors for more scenes with fireworks:

Heidi M. Thomas 
Beverley Bateman
Kay Sisk
Anne Stenhouse
Connie Vines
Ginger Simpson
Geeta Kakade
Fiona McGier
Lynn Crain

Second Friday Freebit from Change

In this very short section Tyna meets her first witch, or at least what everyone expects someone from the country of Cygna to be.
~ * ~

Tyna poured herself a second cup of tea. Her eyes wandered the area, and noticed a man walking into camp. He dressed in plain travelers’ garb with an encompassing fur-lined burlet covering his head. He looked around, then headed toward her. An unusual shaggy looking longhaired gray pony stood tethered at the camp’s edge.

“Mistress Pierce?” the stranger asked in a pleasant voice.

“Yes?” She looked at him, not really seeing him or caring.

“My condolences, mistress, I would not intrude on you at such a time, but I heard in the village that your wagons would be traveling through Seer Pass. That is, if you are still going after your recent loss and this early in the year?”

“I must go. The armed escort I hired arrives tomorrow.”

“Then might I join you as far as the Cygna cutoff? I am willing to pay.”

~ * ~Now go to Ginger's blog and follow the links to other Friday Freebits!

All Things One

All things one is not about the mathematical usage of one, but the symbolic meanings and usages of the concept of one: the first, a beginning, the creation, omnipotence. One is singular, representing God, but also God's creation of man, so male in numerical gender.  At first like Adam, one is a lonely number, as in by one's self, but then generation happens and two, or Eve, appears.

Three Dog Night sang "One is the Loneliest Number," stating the well-established credentials of one. One means so much more besides its mathematical aspects. It is tied deep into the threads of our minds, our mythology, religion, award systems, images, and symbolic usages. Listed here are some of the representations and symbols of one.
Cardinal: one Hindu-Arabic: 1 Greek: alphaOrdinate: FirstRoman: IPythagorean numbers: monadOn the practical side, one and its many word forms enrich our language. The Roman word of one, unus (unum, una, unius, uni) provide the prefix for such words as univalve (mollusks) or unicorn, universe, unity, and uniform. Primus (the first) also is one but with a slightly different connotation such as in prime or primary. Other words on one for Romans were semel or once, solitarious as solitary, and singuli, the prefix we use in singularity and single. The Greek words of one, mono, provides our prefix for monocot, monopoly, monarch, monochromatic,  monogamous, and monolith.

In English we have many other words designating one like annual, unique, entity, individual, and sole. In addition, one provides a designation for placement and class as in first place, first term, top dog, top honors, blue-ribbon, foremost, the best, and the beginning. This extends into time. New Year's Day (or eve), first hour, 1:00 am, Prime, which is first Canonical prayer hours around 7:00 am, and Sunday (yes, I know, some calendars start on Monday, or moon day, depending on which day is considered the end of the week; however, the sun is a symbol of one) are examples. January, the first month, is derived from the Roman god Janus, a two faced god, one which looked forward and one backward to show foresight plus hindsight equals insight.

In scientific, technological, measurement references, there is the point, which is a geometrical symbol. Hydrogen (H) is the first element on the periodic table. In space the gravitational singularity is a black hole. One is a prime number and the first prime number. And our computers are based on the binary system. On the first moon landing, I'm sure you remember Armstrong's "One small step for man." In Geo-physical locations, U.S. Highway 1 runs along the Atlantic coast from Maine to the tip of Florida. Then we come to monetary usages. We have a cent, penny, pence, ones, and a buck.

In society we have kings, presidents, governors, unicameral, head of state, and all indicate one at the top or in control, or first, but one as a pronoun is indicative of the individual. Self is an important aspect of one on a personal level. Father, as head of house, claims the position of one. (Many women will argue about this!)

One also plays an important part in games and sports like ace, one-eyed jack, home-run, grand slam, strike, and one-armed bandit.

One represents the God Jehovah and so becomes the Christian number of singularity or unity. Genesis, the book of creation, is the First Book of the Old Testament, St. Matthew claims the first book of the New Testament. The First Commandment is 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.'

In Babylonian religions, Anu was the god of the sky and heavens, and the Egyptian god Ra was known as 'the one One' because other gods were aspects or manifestations of Ra, who was also the mid-day sun. Which along with Janus mentioned above, leads us to mythology and using one for prognostication.

In numerology, the alphabet a, j, s are letters belonging to one, (1 through 9 as repeated throughout alphabet), as well as their number in the count of 1 to 26 letters. So A is always first. The House of Aries and the planet Mars are Astrological 'ones.' Other symbols of one are the sun, which represents many 'self' aspects such as spirit, will, energy, vitality, wholeness, self-integration, ruling authority, organization, and power. The sun, and thus one, also represents the will to live. The unicorn is a representation of one and also a symbol of Christ. Another symbol of one is the hand with all fingers folded to palm but the point upward index finger.

One is the beginning, so in astrology and numerology, one provides a significant prophetic device. One represents what is first, so indicates creation and power. It is the symbol of the father, so becomes the number of primogeniture, self-love, and piety through love of God. Jupiter, Zeus, the sun, God are all representations of one. One is the number of God, but then it gets hinky as one is the prime masculine number, the number of Yang, the God-Man connection, Adam, and the Paradise State. This all leads to one as the number of unity, light, genesis and creation. From this comes the psychology of ego and consciousness of being and the active principle driving peoples' behavior. Here is an interesting tidbit: One is a hermaphrodite number since when added to even numbers, one makes them odd, and when added to odd numbers, one makes them even. While you would not think of a static one in this way, one represents energy in a state of perpetual motion.

All this is great, but one has some serious negative connotations. The words and states of being alone, lonely, solitary,  homeless, without kin or aid, and of monotone, one-sided, and egotistical show this negativity. One also lacks dimension and depth, leading to being flat, without character, even unintelligent.

In Tarot divination the first card, the magician's card, when dealt upright in a reading, represents the active principle of life or consciousness and shows the willingness of the person being read to master, organize, or create something. A magician shows an individual's ability to utilize divine power with the desire to achieve creation. If the card is upside down, though, it indicates a weak person, indecision, or incompetence, or can indicate a desire to use power for evil or destruction. Not so great now, huh?

Lastly, one provides many slang metaphors and phrases used in our communications:
first love, last loveblue-ribbon winnerfirst and lastfirst placelooking out for number oneonce in a blue moon (blue moon is second full moon in a month)one and onlyone for the roadone by oneone hit wonderone horseone linerone night standone point perspectiveone shot dealone sidedone stop shopone timeone too manyone-upsmanshippass the buckthe buck stops herewe're number oneSo there it is — all aspects of one, but certainly a list that is not all-inclusive.
Wikipedia has a page on One.

Sources Some information was drawn from:
The Discoverers by Daniel J. BoorstinA Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden GrayThe Numerology Workbook by Julia Line The Dartmouth Number Symbolism in the Middle Ages site offers much info on numbers in Christianity.

The First Friday Freebit from Change

Actually, the first free excerpt of Change is on this blog's excerpt page. It contains eight paragraphs, so is another quick read. Change was a 2008 Dream Realm Award finalists for best fantasy. You will see Kissre from the previous freebits is involved here, too, but only in name. The protagonists, Tyna, is her younger sister, as shown in a previous Friday Freebits. Her mother has just died, so the operation of the trade caravan they owned falls on Tyna's shoulders. So here is this Friday's Freebit.

~ * ~
Morning light filtered through the curtain of the one small window. Tyna threw an arm over her eyes. There was so much to accomplish that she didn’t want to do. She heard her mother. “Rise lazy one and get about starting the day.” Naomi had never put up with sloth. Repudiating her desire to stay warm in her bed, Tyna rose. She needed to take charge of her life.
Naomi had started this business to ensure their future. It was now up to Tyna, for Kissre would never join her.
“Kissre took her own path. Stop fretting over her.” Naomi again, never very forbearing. Tyna realized she would have to carry this burden alone and wondered if she were up to it. Sitting up, she shivered in the frigid air and threaded fingers through her mass of curly hair. She should have braided it to prevent this tangle. While she pulled on warm clothing, her thoughts returned to her work.
Five wagons were ready for the journey to Sunderland. Finding the proper market had not been easy, but on previous trips Naomi had discovered Sunderland had many rich burghers with sources deep enough to pay exorbitant prices for the goods they wanted. Goods Naomi made sure to provide this trip. Heading out at the beginning of the year meant traveling with the threat of dangerous weather, but true winter had not yet arrived. Gossip with customers proclaimed the Cygnese witches held off the snow. Tyna hoped if that were true, then let them hold it off all the way to Sunderlund.
Two wagons held a combination of both traditional and unusual merchandise bought on their circuit through the provinces of Kaereya—Kennetsure silks, Wessure linens, Norsure finely spun wools and furs, sewing tools and threads, fine forged tools, cooking pots, and copper ewers from Easure. From beyond the Doane Desert Naomi had managed to obtain extraordinary embroidered silks, handcrafted rugs and leather goods, amulets, unusual spices, and bottles of the rare and infamous distilled liqueur whose very fumes caused intoxication. Tyna’s contribution and passion filled a third wagon, an accumulation of antiquities, small treasures and curiosities, including a unique mechanical clock that chimed the marks of the day, a rarity from across the great sea. 
The fourth wagon held necessities and food for the journey. It also provided a place for the two hired men and their wives to shelter in the severest weather. Jebe preferred sleeping in a tent attached to one of the wagons. 
~ * ~  
Now go to Ginger's blog and follow the links to other Friday Freebits!

Symbols & Knowledge

Each letter used is a symbol for a sound and sounds are also sound symbols, each number is a symbol for an amount as well as later applied symbolism, so we learn, communicate, and record ideas through symbols. We use symbols in our celebrations and memorials, and we dream in symbols. We buy and sell products using symbols. Our expressions are symbols that tell others of our emotions. What we wear symbolizes how we view ourselves and what we believe in. We simultaneously intuit, misconstrue symbols, and we are constantly developing more symbols.

People love symbols. We are influenced by symbols, and perhaps our intelligence is based on our lexicon of symbols.

So if you wonder about why I'm interested in symbols and symbolism, that's the answer. Anthropologists, art historians, historians, linguists, and psychologists study symbols, trying to find answers to many questions about humans, since we seem to be the only species that uses symbols.

Rosie Weetch, curator at the British Museum recently did an article for Slate Magazine on Secret Codes Embedded in Ancient Artifacts, studies the symbols on artifacts found at Sutton Hoo, an early Middle-ages Anglo Saxon site in Suffolk, England, which are often ambiguous, are tries to determine the meaning. Name a country, religion, organization, school, ancient society, and you will discover they use, or used symbols. A few samples are included:

Symbols of the United States
Symbols of England
Symbols of France
Adrinka symbols from Ghana, West Africa
Native American symbols

While these symbols are often important, some are open to interpretation and misinterpretation. Stereotypes are often a misuse of symbolism. Minds, while similar, being what they are often interpret symbols differently. Then too, some symbols due to the nature of imagery can share the same iconography but have vastly different meanings. It's what makes symbols so interesting.

Fiction Fired Brains

Reprint from my post on Writer's Vineyard.

Have you considered what reading fiction does for brain?

Keith Oatley, Ph.D. (May 12, 2010, Psychology Today)  writes that “Many fiction writers are as scrupulous about getting their facts right as psychologists are when they write a paper. The central concern for fiction, however, is not to report such facts... It's to invite readers to think and feel into the simulations they run as they read a story.” This is certainly an aspect of entertainment reading, but exercising the brain is always good.

Neil Gaiman agrees. (The Guardian, Friday 18 October 2013) states “It's essential that children are encouraged to read and have access to fiction if we are to live in a healthy society.”

Why? Because Gaiman once heard a talk on prisons and discovered prison planners use percentages of illiterate 10 and 11-year-olds in the population to plan how many prison cells will be needed in fifteen years. He feels fiction introduces children to reading, captivates their attention, encourages vocabulary development, lets them think about different situations and predicaments, and develops a pleasure in reading. Reading also develops empathy by allowing the reader to become involved in the viewpoints of different characters.

In another example Gaiman tells how a Chinese official once him that "The Chinese were brilliant at making things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US… and they asked the people there who were inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read science fiction when they were boys or girls.” Scifi and fantasy at the time of their trip had been a no-no in China. The first scifi-fantasy convention was then held in 2007. Interesting; fiction affects imagination.

Christopher Bergland (January 4, 2014, Psychology Today) wrote that a recent study at Emory University found becoming involved in fiction ‘enhances connectivity in the brain and improves brain function’ in the reader. Again, the reader’s empathy was engaged, and their imagination stretched.
He goes on to tell how reading fiction improves connectivity, cognition, and comprehension. According to neuroscientist Professor Gregory S. Berns, one researcher mentioned in Bergland’s article, “At a minimum, we can say that reading stories—especially those with strong narrative arcs—reconfigures brain networks for at least a few days. It shows how stories can stay with us. This may have profound implications for children and the role of reading in shaping their brains."

I don’t believe this applies to children only, but all fiction readers. Therefore, reading novels provides readers more than entertainment and escape, but develops their brains in significant ways.

Did You See the Honey Moon?

Last night while on the way home, I saw the Honey Moon at dusk. A breathtaking huge soft gold full moon filled the sky. The moon's crater's gave the iconic face looking down on us look. The all-day overcast sky had cleared in time to see it, and on Friday the 13th, too. If you've heard any news about this cosmic event about a full moon on a Friday the 13th, you know the 'Honey Moon' comes in June when the chances of it keeping its beautiful color overnight exists. In this instance, a regular celestial event affect by the Earth's tilt toward the sun was linked to the human calendar, myth, and symbolism.

The moon of course represents myriad symbols. Almost every ancient culture had a god or goddess of the moon. From my reading of Roman and Greek myths, I like to believe it is the Greek goddess Artemis or the Roman Diana, huntresses both, and dedicated virgins perhaps because most men at the time didn’t consider women capable or worthy of such tasks. The moon is also tied to magic, emotions, and our psyche.

They you combine that with Friday. Traditionally the last day of the workweek and date night, so Thank God it's Friday! It is also the beginning of the weekend, so often is the day trips are initiated. The name supposedly derives from the Old English Frigg, which is from the Norse goddess, and associated with the Roman goddess of love. Languages tied to Latin derive Friday directly from Venus, in Latin being dies veneris. Thus, Friday is a day of love, but also of ill luck as Christ was crucified on a Friday.

Then we come to Friday the 13th, for many a day to be wary of bad luck, which oddly some see as good luck. And oddly, too, seems mostly a made-up mythology because Friday was conceived as a day of bad luck, and 13 was a number tied to ill fortune, when together they created a double whammy of bad luck. Once someone became convinced of the day's back luck, they combed through history for incidents of disastrous situations, and recorded or made up new ones.

All this means that yesterday many portents and omens collided. It's up to you to decide whether good or bad, lucky or unlucky. For me, it was a beautiful cool June night displaying the promise that the Earth still orbited the sun, and the moon still orbited the Earth. It only represented a glorious reflection of light in the ebony depths of space and time.

The Tenth and Final Freebit from Acceptance

Even after the war the battle is not finished for Kissre, but nearly so in this tenth of ten Freebits from Acceptance. She must deal with the Talents. This is from the Oracle Zeba's viewpoint during negotiations.

~ * ~
“Enough, Vitann. She is here. Take her. Do not allow her to dictate to you.”

“Quiet, Orrthu!”

“That’s right, Orrthu. Even without Shield Larig, I could inflict enough harm that you wouldn’t worry about tomorrow. Ask Larig of my skills with weapons, and I’ll tell you I am better without.” Behind the Crucible, Zeba saw the Shield smile at Orrthu in affirmation and clear violation of duty.

Aurelias cleared his throat and in a curt tone, interrupted. “Colonel Kissre, permit me to handle the negotiations.”

Orrthu’s screech drowned him out. “You are making a dangerous adversary, miss!”

“You chose the path.” The utter calm of the voice carried more menace than Orrthu’s outburst. Zeba felt the inherent danger and noticed Vitann, for once, didn’t miss it.

~ * ~
Now go to Ginger's blog and follow the links to other Friday Freebits!

The Most Ancient of Words

I am interested in words, where they come from, their meaning and how it has changed. Words change from language to language, in spelling and variations of pronunciation. Some words, like slang, may last as an identification for a particular generation, like ‘swell,’ ‘swank,’ and ‘rube’ for the first half of the 1900s, and ‘reefer,’ ‘bogus,’ ‘airhead,’ and ‘right-on’ in the last half, are short lived. Then I found an article by David Brown, published May 6, 2013, in the Washington Post.
Most words last less than nine thousand years. However, researchers like Mark Pagel, Quentin D. Atkinson, Andreea S.Calude, and Andrew Meadehave (follow link for full script of their paper) have been looking for older words. They think they have discovered twenty-three ‘ultraconserved’ words, or words that go back fifteen thousand years (150 centuries to the end of the last ice age) and are still used in seven major language families. These words are based on sound and meaning associated with the sound taking into account regional variations in pronunciation. The number one word as found in all seven languages? Thou, the singular of you. The second most popular word found in six of the languages is I. Not, that, we, to give, and who are words still found in five languages; and this, what, man or male, ye, old, mother, to hear, hand, fire, to pull, black, to flow, bark, ashes, to spit, and worm are still used in four of the languages. These words still have the approximate same sound and meaning.
How fascinating is that? We speak Caveman!
The researchers mentioned in Brown's article claim that “The existence of the long-lived words suggests there was a “proto-Eurasiatic” language that was the common ancestor to about 700 contemporary languages that are the native tongues of more than half the world’s people.”Of course, any language from the end of the last ice age isn’t recorded, but people still talked, and I imagine told stories. I must add, this study has engendered controversy.
How did the researchers conduct their study? Again according to Brown, “Pagel and three collaborators studied “cognates,” which are words that have the same meaning and a similar sound in different languages. Father (English), padre (Italian), pere (French), pater (Latin) and pitar (Sanskrit) are cognates. Those words, however, are from languages in one family, the Indo-European. The researchers looked much further afield, examining seven language families in all.” They included Altaic, Chukchi-Kamchatkan, Dravidian, Inuit-upik, Karvelian, and Uralic languages families. (You can see a map of the language families.)
Those who research languages know there are about two-hundred core words in all languages.So the more commonly used words have the greatest likelihood of being an ancient word, and everyone must admit we use I, we, and you a lot!