Rhobin Lee Courtright's Blog, page 16

A Fifth Freebit from Acceptance

Training never ends for a mercenary like Kissre in this fifth of ten 6 paragraph Freebits from Acceptance.

~ * ~

Kissre woke to the feel of a knife blade creasing her throat. Just below her ear. Her eyes flicked open, her body stiffened. It was dark, but a hint of light indicated pre-dawn. "Up, Kissre," a well-known voice demanded in whispered tones. "Up, now."

"Quillon? There are at least three candlemarks before we leave."

"Quiet. You'll wake everyone. Up, laze-about. It's time to earn your keep. You need practice." He pushed her with a rough hand and laid a practice shield and sword next to her sleep roll.

Fudge stood next to him, head cocking side to side, looking down at Kissre in soundless interest. Staggering as she rose, Kissre dressed and followed Quillon. In a field not far from the camp, he ordered her to put Fudge at stay. Then he started the session. After her time with the Cygnese army, she thought her body recovered. Quillon showed her the truth. Within a trice he had found her weak spots and hammered mercilessly on them till she could no longer keep her guard up against his attack. Agility and timing failed at each assault. Quillon's wood practice blade pounded bruises onto her flesh. His buckler caught her and she fell.

"You call yourself security? You sleep so soundly an assassin can get a knife to your throat. You're out of breath before starting practice. Your left side is so weak and stiff you can't hold a buckler properly. You limp like a crone, and seem to have forgotten every defense you ever knew. How good are you at attack?" Kissre didn't answer the gloating, taunting voice. She couldn't. Her burning lungs demanded air more than her pride needed to protest Quillon's denunciation.  "It's too late to get someone else, so I'll have to ensure you are capable of carrying out your duty."

Unable to move with his sword point held at her throat, Kissre groaned and collapsed. Quillon laughed. "Yes, you know what to expect. Put your weapons down. You need to build your strength. A short run would be a good beginning. If you can run."

~ * ~
A purchase link for Acceptance is on the column to the right.

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

A Fourth Freebit from Acceptance

The dog, Fudge.

In this fourth of ten 6 paragraph excerpts from Acceptance, become acquainted with Kissre's huge hound, an important secondary character.

~ * ~

In the pre-dawn dark a hand shook him awake. Ulyss' voice told him to go to the infirmary immediately, reiterating the serious plea in his mind. Dovel's eyes snapped open with a sense of dread that ensnared his chest in a tight grip. His squad, long patient with his desire for privacy, lost their indulgence and followed him. Within the city gates his need became apparent.

The whole city buzzed in angry tumult. People screamed and shouted from opened windows. The sound of slamming window sashes and shutters reverberated in endless repetition. Along the street excited dogs barked and rattled the fence slats they jumped against, and from stables, agitated ponies neighed and stamped in counterpoint. Above all, in the damp night air, the prolonged, reverberating howl of a demented demon sang. Crescendo and decrescendo the solo continued. Dovel, stunned, began to run.

He arrived out of breath at the infirmary's side door. Where the healer had disappeared that afternoon carrying Kissre, a huge shaggy shadow sat with head thrown back in mournful disharmony. A crowd had formed around the dog, several with large sticks, but no one dared approach, not after rumors of his behavior on the day of 'The Attack.' Shushing and cajoling did no good. Stones lay around the animal showing more drastic failed measures.

Healer Bujyea also stood at the door, his uncombed gray hair standing on end. With arms akimbo and displeasure lining his tired, frowning face, he waved Dovel forward. Dovel walked up to the dog. Fudge rose to a squat and gave him a quick lick of greeting, his front feet tapping the ground and his tail swishing in rhythm. There was a communal and premature sigh of relief, both physical and mental, as the wail ended. Fudge, his greeting over, threw back his head in yet another long note of ear-piercing undulation.

"Out!" Dovel commanded as he unshackled the chain trailing from Fudge's collar. The discord stopped mid-note, and Fudge gave him a doleful look as applause started. Dovel wound the chain around the stake and extended it to Ulyss who was laughing, having just removing his hands from over his ears. Ulyss took the chain.

"Fudge, heel," he commanded and went to the door. The healer stepped aside with an abusive and indecent mutter to the dog, and opened the portal, "This is against regulation."

~ * ~
Links to Acceptance are on the right hand column.

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

Another Book Hits the Wall

Thanks to artist Ray Arcadio!
Have you settled into your reading chair with great expectations only to have them dashed by the second or third chapter? Don't you want to throw that book against something hard and make a big, ugly noise? When the first five or so pages breeze by in character suspense and dialogue and I'm anticipating the next development, nothing makes me set a book down faster than suddenly running into pages and pages of background fill-in, or where suddenly the main character is thrust into a long flashback to bring the reader up to where the story started. I want to start at the beginning and progress, not digress.

I also don't like tedious and unnecessary detail that slows reading, but know other readers who do like all that description. I just prefer mine in small doses. Another pet peeve is running into some inane dialogue after the characters got off to a good beginning or sections where the dialogue tells about another character's personality or situation in a most unrealistic manner. When characters' dialect speech is constantly spelled in phonetics can make me unhappy while reading, too, although I've also read this done by using the cadence of correctly spelled words to carry this out and thought it very compelling.

As a teen when I ran out of Georgette Heyer novels, I turned to Barbara Cartland. I liked her novels well enough, but looking back… I…wonder…why. Because… that… is… how… the… virginal… heroine… spoke to the most refined, rich, and powerful hero. Even then, I found the dialogue bizarre. Now I use ellipses in writing dialogue, but not so often that they draw attention to the story's mechanics, or at least I sure hope I don't. At the same time, I liked Emily Loring too, but as the 60s drew on, I found some of her dialogue racists and very much in the category of woman must find man to take care of her. Of course, her books had been written many years before the civil rights movement, so I guess likes and dislikes can change as the reader and history change.

Today I read most genres except horror and like almost everything with convoluted situations that develop from twisting cause and effect plots, and with multifaceted characters who the author slowly reveals. I enjoy characters who are deceivers with good hearts, manipulators working to solve impending calamities, stories with moral messages the reader needs to discover, and villains who are only too human.

I have a horrible secret to disclose. To prevent wasting my money, when buying a print book I read the first two pages, and then skip to the end and read the last two pages. I have done this since I started reading and ran into my first, 'I don't like that book' occasion. One of my friends asks how can I do that, doesn't it ruins all the drama? Not so long ago I found out one of my sisters does the same thing. We did not know we both did it, so perhaps it's a genetic thing. Anyhow, if I like the ending, I usually like the book, but I have to say it is not a foolproof method to prevent buying a book I don't enjoy.

So there you have it. If you hear a book hit the wall in this house, you know what caused it. Check out the authors below to see their story-enders.

Beverley Bateman
Connie Vines
Geeta Kakade
Ginger Simpson
Margaret Fieland
Fiona McGier
Diane Bator
Anne Stenhouse
Heidi M. Thomas
Marci Baun

A Third Freebit from Acceptance

Another very short excerpt! Kissre leaves after a confrontation with her sister.

~ * ~ 

"Am I detained?" 

"No, Ma'am." Tomel said. "It was a request only. If I may say so, it is a little late in the day to start such a long journey." 

"Now is as good a time as any. Thank you. Send thanks to Captain Tyna, but I think it best to leave now." She offered her hand to Tomel. "Thank you for your previous service, Tomel. I might wish for your clear tenor on my return trip."

"Then good journey, Mistress Pierce." Tomel took her extended hand, his eyes resting on the blue tracings. They shook once. 

She nodded and opened a saddle pack, withdrew her gloves and put them on. "Family visits, you know, should always be kept short and sweet." She grinned. It cost her, but Tomel didn't notice. He grinned back. "Goodbye, then, Kissre." 

A side-glance caught furtive movement even as Fudge growled in warning. Swinging her head she glimpsed activity in the rooftops lining the road. She yelled warning to the people following her through the city's gate and wheeled Bother broadside to the stone archway for added protection. Searing pain pierced her thigh. Time slowed. She watched as people retreated to safety. Arrows pelted the cobbled ground and gate guards ran forward from the screaming mob, knocking arrows as they knelt. Agony lanced her arm and side. She felt Bother go down in a sluggish sinking motion, heard his anguished squeals and Fudge's frenzied barks as her vision faded. 

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

On Any Single Day

Everyday is just another day until something happens, but it seems something meaningful happens every day only most people remain unaware of it.

Which leads me to admitting I've always been fascinated with numbers and symbols and how we attach meaning to them and the the links between everything. Whether these meanings have anything to do with reality is debatable, after all, the meaning is a mental connection even if the historical roots come from astrology, numerology, mythology, or folklore. If you're wondering how this applies to writing, these psychic meanings often run deep within humanity's soul, so a mention of a strategic symbol, number, or date, can give hidden depth to characters, settings, and drama for authors.

Consider today, April 19. Understand, dates are man-made systems tied to astronomical events, and that the calendar and other methods of time keeping time have changed through history. However, in numerology, the numbers make it a day of 1 (1+9=10=1), and this year it is the 109th day of the year, so also adds up to 1, or the number of creation, the creator, and man. It is a day of beginnings, and in Tarot, the card of the magician which represents power, expertise, and action. According to astrology, people with this birthday are born with an innate psychic ability. Which leads to my first serendipity coincidence concerning today. In 1943, Albert Hofman, a Swiss doctor, took the first psychedelic acid trip with the drug he developed, the now illegal LSD. Afterward he rode a bicycle home making today 'Bicycle Day.' And yes, I know psychic and psychedelic have two different connotations -- still a mind thing.

As for the power and action aspects of today's date, in 1775 the Revolutionary War began with shots being fired at Lexington and Concord. Men died there; they also died when the gun turret exploded on the USS Iowa in 1989. Women and children died at Ruby Ridge, and at the Waco Texas compound when the people inside the AFT-besieged compound set it on fire which all lead to the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995. All these events happened on an April 19. Mentioning explosions and fires leads to rockets and lift-offs, and both the first black astronaut and the first woman astronaut were announced on this day in 1982.

Maine, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin celebrate Patriot's Day to remember Lexington and Concord's "Shot heard 'round the world." It is held the third Monday of April, which of course is the running of the Boston Marathon, which was first run on April 19, 1897.

Here's a connection between me deciding to write about this topic today and my birthday, which is basically just another summer day. Today the Revolutionary War started. A year later in 1776 on my birthday most of the delegates signed the Declaration of Independence, and it wasn't on July 4th.

So here we all are on just another ordinary day. Perhaps it's time to make it meaningful… and perhaps read a story involving numbers, symbols, and lore.


Reprint from Writer's Vineyard post

6 More Paragraphs from Acceptance

Here are six more paragraphs from Acceptance for Ginger Simson's Friday Freebits.

Acceptance is the paranormal fantasy story of two sisters in a Renaissance type world, one with magical 'Talent', the other a null without talent. Acceptance is from the Magic Aegis series.

~ * ~Alarm entered Tyna's face and Kissre's smile twisted in elation. At Tyna's sudden movement, she rushed the door ahead of her prey, and turned the lock. The bolts clicked into place just in time. An instant later the door reverberated with pounding fists. Beyond the iron hinged and banded oak planks, muffled voices shouted to Tyna. Kissre inspected the door and smiled. It was a well-made, heavy door.

"Enough, Kissre, say no more. You're right. We can only hurt each other," Tyna said. She backed away, her look not so scorning now.

Kissre ignored her, stalked her retreat. "Maybe it is time you grew up, learned what life is like for those who aren't cosseted, spoiled Talent brats. Yes, I am a coarse barbaric slut, but I didn't make me so."

Tyna backed a step.

"Guess who paid for your safety, paid for your food and your upkeep, paid all those years before Naomi bought the Caravan? Guess where she got the money to buy a caravan? What? Didn't you know how profitable soldiering could be? I didn't drink, gamble or whore away every pay pack."

Tyna dodged behind her desk. Kissre leaned over it, but went no further. Battle-trained reflexes held her, but unbearable heat consumed her. The kill was close at hand. She sensed it, reveled in it-to hell with consequences. "Can't guess?"

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

6 Paragraphs from Acceptance

I am joining author Ginger Simson's Friday Freebits, six paragraphs from one of my published books or one I'm in the process of writing.

Below is six paragraphs from Acceptance, a story about two sisters, one with magical 'Talent', the other a null without Talent. Acceptance is from the Magic Aegis series, a Renaissance type world.

~ * ~ The unexpected hospitality at that first stop forecast her trip. As she traveled further into Cygna, the less alarm she engendered. Like magic, she seemed expected. Hostlers waited and approached only after watching her loosen the saddle girth. They would then carefully remove Bother’s saddle, take the reins and lead both horses to the stable. Innkeepers welcomed Fudge. She knew her journey’s progress was reported by the damn Adepts communicating between themselves. Comments were made on her likeness to Captain Tyna. She smiled and made no comment such as: ‘Yeah, like salt and vinegar. Both sting in an open wound, but it all ends there.’

The covert side-glances at her unusual appearance never ended, but were at least, politely disguised. Word seemed to have spread about the tattoo, for she noticed people looking for it with appalled expectation as she removed her gloves.

Their fashion confounded her. She’d never seen a more conforming dress in a population. Men always wore a long coat, over a tunic, topping trews and long boots. Women wore the same style tunic top over a long skirt and slippers. Clothes varied in fabric and dark color, usually brown or gray, but always the same cut. Their only extravagance seemed jewelry, which inevitably consisted of rings, at least one on each finger, usually more. Sometimes a color patch appeared on a sleeve, mostly solid blue, but sometimes striped in blue and red. Other than that, she occasionally saw a necklace or broach decorating a citizen, but rarely. Decidedly no gold pierced any skin.

Used to anonymity and paying her own way, becoming the center of interest for so many made Kissre uneasy. A mercenary usually spawned fear and wariness; they seldom received any sort of privilege, especially on price. She did not imagine the eyes following her. They came to the roadside to watch her pass on the mountainous road to Sidih, the Cygnese capital.

Three days from Sidih, a small troop met her. From their manner Kissre identified them as military men, not Talents. It hadn’t taken long to realize the colored sleeve patches indicated Talent, or to learn ‘nulls’ were non-Talents, like her. These three were soldiers, also like her. While they initially seemed wary of a woman, it wasn’t long before introductory talk of the road, the weather, and her trip turned to anecdotes of other journeys, then of funny, stupid or dangerous situations their business precipitated. None of her company had ever fought outside Cygna, or even in anything other than border skirmishes. Her own tales of Pertelon, the Eastern Empire, the Doane Desert and Kaereya openly delighted them. She knew they thought her a magnificent liar.

The sergeant, Tomel, and his two men were cheerful company. Tomel, noticing her guith on the roan, proclaimed himself a good tenor with a fondness for camp-side entertainment. Kissre played that evening. The small string instrument, with its deep voice, complimented her alto. Tomel proved himself as capable as he claimed, and the other men provided enthusiastic volume. Once they settled for the night, Kissre worked on the puzzle for the need of an escort—to insure her arrival or to protect the citizenry? Tyna must be desperate for her visit.
~ * ~Now go to Ginger's blog and follow the links to other Friday Freebits!

Phone Answering Systems Drive Me Insane!

I had to call Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan because my account had been debited twice in February and I wanted to know why. I got out my insurance card and called the support number on the back.

You know what happened.

A cheerful, too precise woman's voice welcomes the caller in English followed in Spanish and then tells numbers to push for specific questions. I punched billing question and the electronic voice told me all operators were busy with previous callers and to please wait.

Okay, this is the norm now, right? I punched zero several times, but this system had no override to get you to an operator, only a 'that is a wrong connection please try again' message came on. They're obviously aware of these shortcuts and stopped them.

As a result I redialed and waited. During the wait some synthesized music played, about ten bars that repeated. It was awful with what tried to be an uplifting and cheerful beat but possessed a carillon crossed with a xylophone sound. If I wasn't crazy about waiting, the music surely sent me over the edge.

Finally, a man answered, but he couldn’t help me because he couldn’t access the information needed. WHAT? This was a billing question wasn’t it? On the punch number 8 selection? He apologized and sent me to another operator, and I was again put on suspended animation, twenty plus minutes worth of that psychotic rage inducing noise. Does this health company know what mental torture they're putting their clients through? Just as I was talking to the computer, swearing up a blue storm, and about to hang up, a woman answered.

It seems the operator who originally took my application put in the wrong premium amount, and so it was billed twice. Would I like the extra placed towards March’s bill? Yes, I would. She gave me an amount that would be applied to March’s bill. I thanked her and hung up. Afterward I figured it out and I’d paid exactly March’s bill amount, and guessed the computer that did billing would figure that out.

Nope. In March an automatic deduction for eleven dollars came through my account. Feeling rather pissed because I knew I was right, I decided it wasn’t worth waiting on the phone and possibly emerging a serial killer or worse for eleven dollars.

Blue Cross Blue Shield isn’t the only company with whom I’ve had this problem. I absolutely hate corporate phone answering systems. What is the problem? Can’t they afford more than two operators (I’m guessing that number from the phone wait)? I know their CEO took home 6 million dollars last year, but they can't afford customer service? What if their client has to pay for phone minutes or use a limited minute phone access? How much do clients have to spend in time and money to have a problem solved or a question answered?

Talking it over with someone, we decided it’s because they don’t want your call. These companies bet their callers will hang up before an operator ever has to deal with their petty concerns. Yes, this is a biased and undocumented statement. I'm mad.

I understand not all callers need to talk to an operator. I use phone systems to pay bills all they time without wanting or needing to talk to an operator; no problem. And I know those 'if you want... punch this number' directions help direct callers to the right area of the corporation. HOWEVER. When I need a human, I'd like to talk to one in a timely manner without all the time and computer BS.

Okay, rant over, thanks for listening.

Villains

In fantasy and scifi stories, wizards and aliens who seemed all-powerful were de rigueur for a long time. While these type of characters are scary, there is a problem. No character, either villain or hero, can be all-powerful. If characters are truly all-powerful, it means nothing and no one can overcome them, and this power then preordains the ending; therefore, each character has to have a weakness or fatal flaw. Even in 2001: A Space Odyssey, whose time has come and gone, HAL, the seemingly omniscient computer, had fatal flaws including paranoia.

Lately villains have become genius ne’er-do-wells, serial killers whose evil it takes a whole team to overcome. This is another form of the all-powerful character: the one seemingly too smart to get caught. Some of these character’s perversions scare me silly, but is this type of character realistic or just a fad that comes and goes? Seriously, how many genius murders have been arrested? If we had actually developed the brain-implanted computer, it might be reasonable, but that hasn’t happened yet. Where they lose me is why would there be so many evil genius and so few good? It doesn’t make sense. Usually such intelligence makes the person more perceptive, not less human.

Still, what I learned from this is that in a powerful story, the heroic character must find the villain’s flaw and play on this weakness while overcoming his or her own defects. This also seems to prove true in all other genre of fiction.

Despite fiction trends, the villains I find most scary and horrifying are those who seem a direct threat to me personally from the horror stories I hear every night on the news. These are the unrelenting variety of normal and not-so-normal humans: rage enveloped individuals; those who carry out unreasonable vendettas, or have antithetical beliefs or misunderstandings with those around them; those who have psychological problems, and those who do something stupid or illegal and try to hide it without worrying about consequences. I read recently where sociopaths make up 1 to 3% of our population, not that all sociopaths are bent to evil endeavors, but the statistic gives the writer a believable base to develop their malevolent character, and the reader a reasonable excuse to suspend their disbelief and fall into the story. These include manipulating, mesmerizing cult, religious, or governmental leaders, enemies disguised as friends, scoundrels who only care about their own advancement, suicidal egos willing to take anyone and everyone in their personal Armageddon, and profiteers who gain from others’ suffering – the world is full of them. Since everyone has heard stories about such miscreants and knows this evil exists, characters based on this reality can easily instill terror, especially when dressed in the persona of neighbor, friend, or family.

For other views on villains, visit the round-robin topic starting with author Anne Stenhouse. Be sure to visit all those listed!
A.J. Maguire
Marci Baun
Diane Bator
Fiona McGier
Ginger Simpson
Geeta Kakade
Connie Vines
Beverley Bateman

The Alphabet in Reading and Writing

Reposted from Writer's Vineyard blog.


5th Century Latin in Roman lettering
Folio 14r of the Vergilius Romanus. Did you know Roman Latin didn’t include spaces between words or any punctuation? And of course the scribes wrote in all capitals, because that is where our capital letters come from. This style lasted well into the fifth century AD. Reading must have been difficult. In most formal writing, like the pictographs of Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Roman letters, the written languages were painted or carved into stone. The words were meant to expose the immortal deeds of pharaohs and Caesars in everlasting monuments.  Except for daily business and correspondence, both Egyptian and Roman scribes used a faster, far less formal script on paper-like surfaces. The Egyptian Hieratic script  may have developed side by side with the grander Hieroglyphics.
Egyptian Hieratic ScriptOver the centuries, other scripts, like the that of the Merovingian's and other tribes and groups, developed, each different in letter style and still very limited in use of spaces or punctuation. Those mechanics did not come until Charlemagne asked Alcuin of York to come teach at his palace at Aachen. Although barely literate himself, Charlemagne felt learning important. Alcuin began the development of the Carolingian minuscule with clearly defined spaces between words and sentences ending with periods. An empire needed a standardized system of writing.  Carolingian script -- still in Latin, but recognizable letters.So in some respects, whenever you write, you use the letters of Julius Caesar and Charlemagne to express yourself.
All images from Wikipedia Commons.