Debra L. Martin's Blog, page 305

RESEARCH IS A 4-LETTER WORD by Michaelbrent Collings

Or is it?




Write what you
know.  That’s what they say
(whoever “they” are).  And they’re
right.  Sort of.






But what if you
desperately want to write about a diabetic serial killer who has taken a group
of high school students hostage and is killing them one at a time unless the
police give in to his demands and provide a steady stream of insulin and candy
bars?




And now you’re faced
with the question: do you know anything about diabetes?  Insulin?  Serial killers? 
High school students (sometimes just telling high school students apart from serial killers is hard enough)?  Candy bars?




Chances are, if you’re
anything like me, you have some information about diabetes, less about
insulin.  Serial killers?  I’m gonna plead the Fifth on that
one.  And yeah, I know I was a high school student, but much of
that has been blocked out and the shrinks say something like “mental walls” and
“extreme stress-related traumatic amnesia” and “you still owe me five hundred
dollars,” so I’m more limited on what high school students are than anything
else.




I do know candy bars.




So, by my count, I have
a commanding understanding of… (mental calculations)… about 30% of what I want
to write about.  Which means I have
three options: scrap the project, write it and try to b.s. my way through the
stuff I don’t know, or research the stuff I don’t know about and then write it.




Want to know what the
worst thing to do is?  Scrap the
project.




Second worst?  Research the stuff you don’t know.




Now, don’t get me
wrong.  I think that research can
really improve your work… if you do it right.  And that’s a big muthah of an “if.”  The problem with research is that
people either do it shoddily (in which case you’ve just wasted time and gotten
no return on that investment), or worse, they forget the research is just a
means to an end.  The research
becomes the point, and the writer
forgets to actually, you know, WRITE!  




This almost happened to
me on my last project, a fairly good haunted house story called The Haunted.  Now, as of this writing The
Haunted is currently in its second straight month on amazon.com’s Horror
Bestsellers, so I must have done something
right (or write… get it?  I crack
me up!).  But I very nearly didn’t get it right.  Or even written at all.  See, the story is about ghosts, it’s
about things that go bump in the night. 
It’s about exorcisms and ghost-hunting techniques, and about a family
that has some very serious problems that I have never personally run into.  So I decided (bright guy that I am) to
do some research.




And what did I find?




ABSO-FRICKIN-LUTELY FASCINATING STUFF!




But see, that was the
problem.  After a few days I
realized that I had wandered far astray from my original goal, which was to
research enough about specific things to write the story I had in mind in a
credible way.  Now, I was just
researching in a neverending stream of Google, read, Google, read, Google,
read.  Then lather, rinse, and
repeat.  It could have gone on
forever (if there’s one thing I absolutely know, it’s that the internet is
basically infinite).




For some writers, I
think this actually happens to them. 
They start researching for information that will support their plot;
that will enrich their characters. 
But they become so enamored of the information that they follow it too
far.  They spend too much time on
it, and suddenly they find out they’re feeling over-interested about one thing
or another totally unrelated to the bones of their story.  Suddenly, the work has transformed from
fiction to a passion project.




This is the kiss of
death.  Being passionate about your
work is great, but when a writer forgets that he or she is a storyteller first
and foremost, and starts thinking of him or herself as a political activist who
will slip critical info into a ripping good story… well, you’ve got trouble.




I want to be clear here:
having a message in your work is great. 
When a fiction writer takes a kick-butt plot and fills it with
believable and interesting characters, that’s a win.  Then if the author can bolster the whole thing with
thematics or a moral message, you just might have a classic on your hands. 




But that’s the only way it works.  Sadly, too many writers – and this is
especially endemic to the highly successful writers, who feel that they’ve got “something
important to say” and enough clout that they don’t have to listen to their
editor or publisher anymore – suddenly decide that the first thing should be the message.  And then they fill in the cracks around that message with a
plot that they crease and bend until it fits around that message, whether it
was meant to or not.  Then maybe
they throw in a few characters who aren’t really characters, but a series of
strawmen and mouthpieces.




Surprisingly to no one
but the author, this makes for a second-rate novel, which, at its core, is not
a story, but a lecture.






So now, let’s return to
the premise we started with.  Write
what you know.  And if you don’t
know something, fine.  Research
it.  But don’t become a researcher. 
That’s a different (and usually higher-paying) job than that of a
storyteller.  Find out what you
need.  Then stop and write the damn
story.




Writing a story is what
makes a writer.  Not spending time
in the library, not getting out there and finding stuff out.  Granted, you have to have a life, and
the richer your life, the deeper and richer your writing will tend to be.  But write write write at the end of the
day.  Write write write as soon as
you know enough to tell your story.




Research can be great.  It can be fun.  It can improve your story… as long as
you remember that’s the reason you’re doing the research in the first place.




Research is a means.




Story
is the end.




And anyone who tells you
different… well, they’re just trying to keep the quality of the competition
low.




***



Michaelbrent Collings is
an internationally bestselling author and produced screenwriter.  His first novel, RUN, was a #1 bestseller on amazon’s horror and sci-fi lists, and
his most recent project, The Haunted,
has been on amazon’s Bestselling Horror for longer than most Hollywood
marriages.  He is also a produced
screenwriter, member of the Writers Guild of America and Horror Writers of
America, and hopes to have a cool robot arm someday.   



You can follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings,
or just cyberstalk him at his own website: michaelbrentcollings.com.  He also offers screenwriting and novel
writing assistance at reasonable fees, so drop him a line if you need
help.  Or even if you don’t.  ‘Cause it can be lonely out there. 

Review: FALSE POSITIVES by Kim Aleksander

4 of 5 stars




Big Brother is watching
you. The government is amassing great quantities of data about its citizens and feeding it all to a supercomputer that analyzes it for the purposes of
weeding out anyone that poses a danger to the United States. It’s fiction,
right? Who is to say, but this is the premise behind FALSE POSITIVES.




The story starts in 1973
when a brilliant UC Berkeley graduate student creates the first computer virus
during a drug-induced haze. The program is loaded into the computer, but
seemingly disappears without a trace. Fast forward to 2007 and traces of the
virus are beginning to corrupt the US’s most powerful supercomputer. Marnie
McCloud, a computer expert, is hired by the government to program “Junior” (her
name for the supercomputer) and she is the one that begins to see traces of the
virus in the recommendations of terrorists that “Junior” spits out. She takes
it upon herself to try and track down the original programmer to undue the
corruption, but there are some that don’t want her to find him.




The author takes the reader
on a thrill ride that will keep the most die-hard thriller fans
entertained.  Christian and Muslim
ideology is featured extensively and Mr. Aleksander’s knowledge about these 2
religions as well as computer programming is impressive as he weaves a heart-pounding
story. The characters are well-fleshed out and there are quite a few surprises
revealed.




One criticism is that
the book could use the eyes of a good editor. There were many typos throughout
the book and they continued to jar me out the story. I also skipped over much
of the computer programming paragraphs, not because they were inaccurate, but
because I didn’t really care how the computer worked and I was eager to get
back to the story. Recommended.

Are You a Good Citizen?

Debra L Martin

I've been thinking about this question for some time. What does this mean for an author? One thing it doesn't mean is to constantly tweet or have Facebook posts that say "buy my book, buy my book!" After awhile, people will start ignoring your tweets and posts because they are always the same.



Every author wants sales, of course, but what else can you be doing to help drive those sales. There are a number of things that will help you to become a "good citizen" in the writing world and in the long run will help your sales. Who knows? Along the way, you'll be amazed at the online friendships that develop when you allow yourself to connect with others.



Here are a few things that I do to be a "good citizen."


Take the time to get to know people and have conversations with them on twitter. Once you get to know people, you'll find that they will be more than willing to retweet for you. Now your book(s) is being talked about in a ever widening circle. Exposure is a great boost for any title. The same things goes for Facebook. Interact with people. Social media is an extremely important component in the publicity of your book. Use it wisely and you'll reap the rewards.


Help spread the word for another author's book. Use twitter, facebook, google+, whatever is available to you. A quick tweet or FB post about a new release is simple.  I have many "new release" posts on my blog and my triberr mates retweet it. Exposure is the key for sales. If people don't know a book exists, they can't buy it. When it's your turn for a "new release" people will be more than willing to help you spread the word.


If you have a blog, offer author interviews. I've done over 200 author interviews. Authors love to talk about themselves and their books. I have a set of interview questions for indie authors and one for traditionally published authors. I change the questions every 6 months or so. Some authors like to mix and match them and that's fine with me. I've met some extremely interesting people through my author interview series and I plan to continue it as long as authors keep asking to be featured on Two Ends of the Pen.


Answer questions when you can for newbie authors. We've all been there and trust me, most all of the questions have been asked before, but if you're online at a forum and know the answer, why not answer it? People remember such kindnesses and who knows, you may be the one asking the question some day. 


Offer to guest post at your favorite blog. Believe me, I welcome guest posts. My only stipulations is that the post has to do with writing or publishing. I've kept quite a few of the most popular ones in the sidebar to make it easy for readers to find them.  As a matter of fact, the guest posts and the author discussion questions are the most popular ones on the blog. Week after week, those posts are clicked on and read.


Offer up contests or giveaways on your blog. The prize could be anywhere from one of your books to a gift card from Amazon or BN. Readers love to enter contests and you'll have the opportunity to gain new readers to your blog. While they may have only clicked on your link to enter the contest, a number of them will stick around to read your content. Keep your blog updated and make sure your books are displayed in the sidebar or on their own page to make it easy for readers to find your book(s).



Above all, be professional and kind. Your online personality is the only avenue for some folks to get to know you. And as your mother always said, "Say thank you." It's such a simple thing, but it speaks volumes.  So, what kind of things do you do to be a "good citizen?" Big or small, everything counts! "Pay it forward."

Spotlight: REPLENISH by Philip Bullman

Book Blurb:



In February of the year 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian issued the first in a series of edicts designed to destroy Christianity. Striking at the heart of the church, the measure banned Christian worship and ordered the Roman legions to destroy churches and scriptures. This novel opens on the day the first edict was issued. It follows Linus and Priscilla, two members of a small Christian community, through what church historians would later come to call the Great Persecution. Replenish The Earth is a thriller that takes you into the heart of a Christian community and its heroic resistance to persecution.



 



Buy links:



Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0056KOKA0/ref=twoen-20



Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Replenish-The-Earth-ebook/dp/B0056KOKA0









Reviewer’s Comments:

“In this simply told and competently written novel of the emperor Diocletian's persecution of Christians in third century Rome, the author captures both the essence of the faith and the most extreme challenges of living it.” BlueInk Review








Author bio:



Philip Michael Bulman was born and raised in Philadelphia. He holds a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University, and is the author of two books and many articles. Bulman currently lives in Maryland, U.S.A.

Rebecca Writes About: The X-TREME NOVELIST

by Rebecca Forster


www.rebeccaforster.com


























I love to read. Books, newspapers, magazines and food labels
are all on my TBR list. Horror has been in the mix with popular authors like
Stephen King and Dean Koontz, but I didn’t know what a great horror read was
until I read a short story collection by Anoynmous-9 (aka Elaine Ash) presented
under the umbrella title of Hard Bite & Other Short Stories . Here was horror at its finest: edgy,
scary, fascinating, the stuff bad dreams are made of. While I celebrated the
book, I also lamented that this author might never be embraced by the
mainstream despite her talent. Why? Because Anyonymous-9 is what I call an X-treme
novelist - a writer who does not poke at parameters, but boldly shreds them. Think
Tom Woolfe’s Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test and
his brand of hysterical realism. Hunter Thomas and Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas. My favorite, Anthony Burgess’ Clockwork Orange. The X-treme novelist is
often ignored, ridiculed, or, even worse, published only to languish in a no-man’s
land of genreless books.




Yet when a reader discovers them - or they become bestsellers
in spite of the system – there is a sense of uncovering a jewel. They keep us
thinking and questioning and curious about what they will come up with next. If
their work is done well, their sense of time and place, characterization and
plot will challenge the reader in a way traditional novels never do; if crafted
poorly, their work is merely sensationalism without direction.  The challenge for the X-treme novelist
is to direct themselves without editorial help or an agent cheerleader because
their vision is uniquely their own.




Some of my favorite, recently-read indie works by  those I consider X-treme novelists include:




Hard
Bite & Other Stories* by Anonymous-9: A viscious, bloody, twisted tale
that left me fascinated because of the author’s complete faith in the vision of
her characters and their motivation. I applaud the sheer inventiveness of the
world she created.




Johnny Oops
by Arthur Levine: A fanciful tale of a teenager who believes himself to be a prophet.
It is a sexual, angst filled romp that is told with an unapologetic abandon and
marvelous style.




Detroit Daze by Conrad
Johnson**: A hard, brutal, desperate tale of a teenager’s life in Detroit that
seems to lead to the same nowhere the teenager believes is his destiny.  Johnson’s deft communication of
humanity within this harsh world, his use of music lyrics, is like poetic
graffiti.




The
Santa Shop by Tim Greaton: An unsettling, emotionally wrenching story that
has little to do with jingle bells and everything to do with despair, self
recrimination, and redemption. It is so well written I was actually angry that
the book was not what I assumed it would be and then grateful that it was not.




X-treme authors are not pioneers; they are explorers. They
are not dreamers; they are trippers. 
X-treme novelists are vital to the creative
process. It is usually through their efforts that new genres are born and
fashions are created. Sometimes we just forget those fashions began with writers
willing to put themselves on the line with something new, fresh, and often
delightedly unsettling.  If you are
one, embrace what you do because there are readers like me who will appreciate
it and writers (like me) who will be inspired by it.




*Also look for Hard Bite the Novel.




**Conrad Johnson is the pseudonym for John Byk. Check out
his live contemporary author interviews on 2012 Writers Alive

Interview with Steve McHugh

Can you give us a brief
overview of your latest book?

Crimes Against Magic is an
action-packed, fantasy adventure that mixes the present day with flashbacks to
fifteenth century France.




Nathan Garrett is a sorcerer and thief with no memory of his
past. But when the barrier holding his past captive
begins to crumble, Nathan swears to protect a young girl who is key to his
enemy’s plans. But with his enemies closing in, and everyone he cares about
becoming a target for their wrath, Nathan is forced to choose between the life
he’s built for himself and the one buried deep inside him.

It’s the first in a series of Urban Fantasy books called:
Hellequin Chronicles.




Did you try the traditional
route to publishing, i.e. querying agents/publishers?

I
sent out the book to agents and publishers at the beginning of last year, and
got lots of form rejections and a few ‘we like, but not for us at the moment
responses. At some point in the process, I just decided that I’d try it my way.




Do you belong to a critique
group? Have they helped improve your writing?

I
belong to Kelley Armstrong’s online writing group. They’re an incredible group
of writers who are all willing to help anyone get better at their craft. Since
I joined them in 2006, my writing came along in leaps and bounds. I don’t
critique as much as I used to, mostly due to time constraints, but if I need
help on something, they’re the people I go to.




What factors influenced
your decision to self-publish to Amazon?

It
was a combination of things. Firstly, control over my own book—when it was
published, what the cover was and how much the book cost to buy. It was just
something that I knew I’d regret not trying out for myself.




The
other thing was that, from my time querying and waiting and wondering, I
started to hear a lot from the industry about how much of a flux it was going
through. They didn’t seem to know where e-books fit, or how to deal with them.
It appeared to me like there was the start of something very exciting happening
in the publishing world, and I wanted to be a part of that.




Did you hire an editor to
review your manuscript before publishing?

A
good friend of mine who also happens to be an incredible editor, Emma Duncan,
very kindly went through the book with a big red pen and corrected all of my
terrible grammar. She knows more about grammar and than anyone I know. I’ve had
a few others check it too. 




What have you learned
during your self-publishing journey?

I’ve
learnt so much. But the one thing I’ve learnt more than any other is how
fantastic my friends are. They were willing to give me time and effort to
either help promote the book or give me advice about this brand new world I’ve
found myself in. And having an awesome artist as a friend goes a long way to
getting a great cover.




Besides Amazon, are there
any other sites where your books are for sale?

For
the moment, just Amazon. By the end of May, I’m hoping that it’ll be available
on B&N, itunes, Smashword and any others that I can’t think of at the
moment. As they’re available, I’ll update my blog with the details.




What kinds of marketing
[twitter, facebook, blog, forums] are you involved with for promoting your
book(s)?

Well,
I’ve got my blog: http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/
and I have an author’s page on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hiddenrealmspublishing.
I’m also on twitter: http://twitter.com/ and
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13608133-crimes-against-magic

Then
there’s Kelley Armstrong’s forum: http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/forum/index.php 




I’m
also doing a lot of interviews on various blogs, which I’ll post links to on
mine as they come up, and a few guest blog posts here and there. Basically, I’m
everywhere and there’s no escape.




Do you find it difficult to
juggle your time between marketing your current book and writing your next
book?

I’d
really appreciate a few extra hours a day, that’s for sure. But, for the moment
at least, I seem to be managing okay. There’s also the fact that I’m married
with two (soon to be three) beautiful young daughters. I’m a father first,
writer second and marketing guy last. So, far that seems to work out okay. And
if anything changes, I’ll get my eldest daughter to do all my publicity. She’s
already 7 going on 18, she’ll be fine.




What advice would you give
a new author just entering into the self-publishing arena?

As
much as the old adage is ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, everyone judges a
book by their cover. That’s why publishers spend so much on getting a good
cover. So, my advice is to get the best cover you can get for what you can
afford to pay. A good cover will help so much. I’ve had so many people message
me asking me about the book because they saw the cover and wanted to know more.
 It’s marketing before you even
released the novel.




What’s next for you?

I
was going to say sleep, but with a third daughter on the way in August, that’s
not happening anytime soon. I’ve got the sequel to Crimes Against Magic to finish: Born
of Hatred, before I write book three: With
Silent Screams. 

5 Compelling Reasons to Guest Post by Christine Kane

Today, I'd like to welcome Christine Kane to Two Ends of the Pen. She will explain why you should think about doing a guest post for bloggers. Take it away Christine!




As a blogger it is best to always try to be your best blogging self and
guest posting is a great way to do that. Guest posting has many different
reasons why it can help you and your blog, check them out:




Great for
brainstorming for future articles: Writing for another blog can help you
brainstorm up some future posts for your own blog. Typically when you write for
something that is not your own, you feel less pressure and the need for more
creative thoughts begin. During this guest posting time, write down any other
ideas that come into your mind as you work on the guest post.




Get ideas for your
own blog: Each blog has a different set up and writing style. Most blogs you
guest post for will have rules and guidelines that they want you to follow.
Some of them will request a certain format, style, word count and font. You may
gather some ideas on the look of your blog too.




Practice grammar: You have heard
that slogan many time, practice makes perfect. That applies with writing, the more
you write the better you will get at it. Guest posting forces you to really
focus and concentrate on your word production making sure that the sentence
structures, grammar and word usage are a good representation of your writing.




Get your name out
there: The more blogs you write for the more you get your name out there. And
the more you get your name out there, the more you will get recognized. If you
write a post that is interesting and entertaining enough, this guarantees new
readers for you.




Step outside of
your norm: If you typically blog about one subject then guest posting is a great
way for you to expand your blogging horizons. Find blogs that you are
interested in and that you can connect with.  You never know what you can gain from writing for a guest
post; you could tap into a whole new genre of writing.

Now log on and start searching for your next guest post. Pick something
that interests you and have fun with it! Don’t forget to follow the bloggers
rules and guidelines and link back to your personal blog. Good luck and happy
blogging!




Author Bio:

This Guest post is by Christine Kane from internet providers, she is
a graduate of Communication and Journalism. She enjoys writing about a wide-variety
of subjects for different blogs. She can be reached via email at:
Christi.Kane00 @ gmail.com.

Anatomy of the Book Review

I'm absolutely thrilled with I receive fan mail about one of my books especially when the fan absolutely loved the book. This is one of the greatest things an author can achieve. Your story has connected with a reader and they took the time to write and tell you about it. I have suggested that readers post a review about the book, but for some, posting a review is a scary and overwhelming endeavor.




In order to demystify the process, I've broken down the different components in one of my reviews to make it easier to understand. Anyone can write a review. There's no magical formula you need to follow, just write down what you liked about the book. Here's my review of "Before Her Eyes" by Rebecca Forster.









When you write a review on Amazon, you will need to rate the book between 1 and 5 stars. This is how I rated this book:




This review is from: Before Her Eyes (Thriller, suspense) (Kindle Edition)

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking - a must read!, September 25, 2010
By Debra L. Martin (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews




In the first paragraph I put my initial reaction to the story:

“Before Her Eyes” is not usually the kind of book
I read, but I agreed to review this book as a nice break from the usual
fantasy and science fiction books I review.  I thought it would be a quick and easy read of solving a murder mystery in a small town, but I was wrong.  This
book is so much more than that and it made me stop and think about how
we all judge people based on our own perceptions and biases of who we
think they are when we look at them.





In the next paragraph I quickly sumarized the main points in the book:


The story revolves around Sherriff Dove
Connelly, a good moral stand-up kind of guy who battles his own inner
demons while trying to solve the murder of his friend, Fritz, the local
store owner, and the kidnapping of Tessa Bradley, a local socialite,
from the scene of the crime.  Throughout
the investigation that covers 48 hours, everything that Dove thought he
knew about the people of his mountain enclave is challenged, warped and
then twisted back into a new slot.  Even Dove himself must undergo this torturous journey if he ever wants to have peace and happiness with his wife and child. 





What I liked about the book is up next:


The author lets the story unfold through
two viewpoints – third person to follow Dove and the investigation and
first person for Tessa Bradley.  It
is Tessa’s voice that draws you in, haunts you, makes you listen to
her, and leaves you a shadow of former yourself when she’s done with
you.  Her beauty blinds all who
see her, but no one really sees her, no one really knows her, all except
for one, and he’s never met her before.  Dove is determined to find Tessa not because she’s a beautiful woman, but because she is a woman in need and that’s his job.





My final thoughts:


This book makes you think and I like that.  I
highly recommend it, but make sure you carve out the time to read it
because once you start, you won’t want to put it down until the last
word is read.

 ***



And there you have it. The review is written. Now, your review certainly does not have to follow my steps. Write it in your own words. Did the story move you? Did you like the characters? Did the story drag? Was there enough action/suspense/romance? It's as easy as describing why you loved a book to a friend and authors everywhere will be happy.



So, how about it? Have you enjoyed a book recently? Make an author smile and write that review!

Calling #Romance fans - a treat for you!

LOVE BY MOONLIGHT is FREE today at Amazon. If you enjoy romance, pick up this second-chance-at-love novella.











Book blurb:

Caroline Fleming had a perfect life -- a loving husband, 2 great kids, a lovely home -- or so she thought. When her husband of 23 years announces he wants a divorce, Caroline's perfect world crumbles in an instant.



She retreats to the beach house to clear her head and heal her broken heart. She swears off men, that is, until she meets a sexy stranger running on the beach with his 2 dogs. Will Matt Sylvan be her second chance at love?



Love by Moonlight is a novella of ~18,000 words (72 pages in print)



Amazon US:

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Moonlight-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B007JWW8GQ



Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Moonlight-Contemporary-Romance-ebook/dp/B007JWW8GQ

Guest post: World of Symbols

Excerpt from Art and Symbols Once
Upon a Time

by Michelle Snyder 




Michelle Snyder is
an author, speaker, columnist, blogger, and teacher. Her post-graduate degree
is from the University of Wales, Religious Studies Department, in the
discipline of decoding ancient symbols. She has been teaching art and symbology
to students of all ages for 35 years and her artwork has appeared in galleries
from Massachusetts to California. Michelle is co-owner of White Knight Studio
in Arlington, MA, with her husband Jay.




“Creative expression seems to be part of being alive. Music, poetry,
literature, sculpture, artwork – all are expressions of the mind and spirit.
Some expressions mimic reality and some are abstract, some are beautiful, some
are ugly, but their essence is the same. They all say something.




Images are a language of sorts. Like letters (which are symbols) grouped into words and then arranged into
sentences - shapes and colors are put together forming a visual language.
Symbolism is that kind of language. For millennia symbols have recorded the
history, knowledge, and lives of those who lived on Earth.




This book is a collection of my expressions. Some are unique, others are
renderings of classic symbols. Brief explanations accompany each image.
Dedicated to those of us who like more picture and less writing.”








Acrylic on canvas,
12” x 23”

Dragons guard
treasures and beautiful damsels. Dragon mythology has its root in stories

and legends told by
explorers, ca. 4000 BC, who discovered great beaked, winged

dinosaur bones at
the Flaming Cliffs of Asia in Mongolia. The potent beasts became

mythological icons
of power, both good and evil. They symbolize well-being, prosperity,

and nobility, and
they have friends in high places. These powerful creatures have come

to represent everything
from chaos, destruction, and the ultimate foe, to wisdom, protection,

and the
unconscious.











Acrylic on canvas,
12’ x 12”

Study of the Sri
Yantra mandala, surrounded by icons of time of day. Mandalas are

associated with
wheels and are used as an aid for meditation. Creating a personal

mandala is
considered a healing activity, encouraging internal balance, centering the

mind and spirit.











Acrylic on canvas,
6”

Alchemy symbols
protected the records of processes and discoveries taking place in

an alchemy lab.
They provided a way to pass on this information through the underground

stream - a chain of
hand-picked initiates. The alchemists recorded their formulas

and knowledge with
secret symbols, eschewing their written documentation. These

“magician
scientists” were sought out either for their knowledge, or to be put in the

dungeon. The
esoteric recording system protected them, as well as their

information. These
serpents are two halves of an ouroboros, the winged representing

volatile elements,
the other, stable elements. They can be compared in philosophy to

the yin-yang,
symbolizing complementary opposites within the greater whole.








Colored pencil on
paper, 4” x 6”

Basilisk legends
also stem from ca. 4200 BC, where cattlemen observed enormous

beaked dinosaur
bones at the Flaming Cliffs of Asia. Basilisk means “Little King”;

he is the king of
small serpents and dragons. This fearsome creature came to represent

kingly power that
destroys all who do not show respect. In the Middle Ages the basilisk

was given a golden
crown and considered one of the “Keepers of the Treasure”.














Colored pencil on
paper, 4” x 6”

Study of an
Etruscan chimera. The chimera was once identified with the constellation

Capricorn (the
serpent-tailed goat). Homer wrote that the chimera - lion, goat, and

great serpent - is
the Great Goddess with calendar symbols. The chimera triadic represents

the divisions of
the year, the lion being spring, the goat, summer, and the serpent,

winter. There was
likely a fourth animal to the calendric - possibly an eagle - to represent

autumn.











Colored pencil on
paper, 6”

Unicorns are
associated with monarchy, stressing courage, grandeur, wisdom, nobility,

and justice. Old
esoteric writings describe unicorns as having a white body, red

head, and blue
eyes. Added to the symbolism and mythology associated with unicorns,

this description
indicates royal Celtic origins, perhaps a symbol for kings and

princes and for
royal bloodlines.

















Pen and ink on paper,
5” x 9”

One of the most
ancient human symbols, the equal-armed cross appeared tens of thousands

of years BC. It was
the first symbol for direction: north, south, east, and west.

Over time, one arm
of the cross was lengthened to differentiate the directions. The extended

arm of the cross
denotes south. The cross and the circle symbolize the

position of the sun
at the winter solstice, the sun at its lowest point at the Tropic of

Cancer (more
accurately represented by an ellipse).




Michelle is a regular columnist for The
Arlington Advocate, writing about symbols as “The Symbologist.” Many of
Michelle’s and Jay’s articles are published on their blog: Once Upon a Time:
The World of Symbols, on Debra L. Martin’s blog Two Ends of the Pen,
and in the online news publication Wicked Local.




Other books by Michelle:

Symbology: Decoding Classic
Images

World of Symbols: Secrets of
the Mermaids, ebooklette

World of Symbols: ebook




You can find Michelle’s articles, books, and artwork at her website and
blog:

www.whiteknightstudio.com, and www.whiteknightstudio.blogspot.com