Heather S. Ingemar's Blog, page 44

Middle of Nowhere in Explorations Spotlight

My story, "Middle of Nowhere," is spotlighted today at Echelon Explorations! If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, please pop on over — there's a blurb and an excerpt up for the reading.

http://echelonexploration.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/spotlight-middle-of-nowhere-by-heather-ingemar/

Interviewed at Niteblade!

Today I got interviewed over at Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine:

http://www.niteblade.com/news/niteblade-contributor-interview-with-heather-s-ingemar

The Wild Gods

The Wild Gods

© 2011 by Heather S. Ingemar

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, clawing at their arms. "I'll not do it!"

The guards scowled, and continued bearing her closer to the gates of the labyrinth. The white walls of it rose high, almost disappearing into the dark grey clouds of the overcast sky. Green tree boughs peeked over the top edge, hinting at a heavy forest within.

"Take pride in your sacrifice, woman," growled the heavyset guard. "It is an honor to be fed to the Gods of the Wild!  Your family with be blessed with wealth for it."

It was no consolation. She'd been sold like a common cow so her younger sister could wed the mayor's son. As if no man would take her; at sixteen, she hadn't felt ready to be a wife though a few had inquired. Her family, however, had been impatient, and when the offer came for Selene, Adelina hadn't a choice. Her parents informed her at breakfast the next day, she would be sent to the mansion for the annual fertility sacrifice, and a scarce two hours later, Selene paraded about the house with the son's ring sparkling on her finger. "Poor you," Selene said, "like an animal to the slaughter. Tsk tsk. I'll remind Father and Mother to think of their little cow."

(Dog's whelping mother! As if it were her own fault she could Change!)

Adelina had wanted to slap her. Pull her hair, claw out her eyes! But the guards knocked precisely at noon, and they hauled her out the door with only the clothes on her back.

They gave her no opportunity for escape. Gripping her arms so hard the flesh bruised dark and purple, they accompanied her to the tailor's for a new gown, to the washroom, and then to the banquet hall, where the mayor held a feast in her honor.

She spat in the gravy. She knocked the vegetable platter out of the servant's grasp. She stepped on the mayor's wife's dress, tearing it, and worst of all, she refused to eat.

Red-faced, the mayor informed her she would be sent as a sacrifice, be it in honor or disgrace.

Adelina thought disgrace sounded perfect in light of her family's betrayal, and so she knocked the candelabra, and set the banquet table on fire. Watching the arrogant nobility scramble, hop-footing in their impractical shoes and tripping over their cloaks, was the highlight of her day.

"Take her now!" the mayor bellowed, double chins bouncing as he fanned frantically at the flames licking toward the wine bottle. "I want her dead before midnight, and may the maggots feast terribly on her black bones!"

She fought them the entire way, screaming, kicking, and punching whenever she got a chance. The Wild Gods (imprisoned in the maze long ago to protect the earth from their appetites) were known to eat anything in their labyrinth, leaving blackened bones as a token of their appreciation. Often, there was a lot of blood. Signs of struggle. If the Wild Gods were not pleased, they'd leave whole body parts untouched for the guards of the labyrinth to find.

Adelina would not become prey.

The wrought-iron gates rose inevitably in front of her, however, a reminder of the futility of choice. Whoever was thrown to the Wild Gods, became their meal. End of story.

Adelina resolved to survive, fouling the family name, just to spite her sister (dog's whelping mother!).

"I hope the wealth they get rots them from the inside out," she spat at the guard as they unlocked the gates. "I hope that ring corrodes the skin on Selene's finger and she becomes a dog in bed!"

"Disgraceful," muttered the guard with the key, as he pushed the creaking iron aside.

Adelina landed on her face in the mud, and the echo of slamming iron rang between her ears. On all fours in the dirt, she screamed until her throat was ragged and raw with rage. Her feet began to burn, and she threw herself upright, cursing at the guards. Adelina gasped as the feeling spread (she'd never gotten used to The Change), crawling up her legs and along her spine.

She screamed as she felt her bones break and reform in her legs, in her face. Her knees turned themselves backwards, settling into hocks. Her nose and jaw sprouted from her face, her ears grew long. Her skin itched as hair (glossy black, of course) sprang from pores on her head, shoulders, and legs. The guards stopped, turned to watch. Their stunned faces blurred as her vision shifted. Then the world snapped back into sharp focus, and the sudden wealth of smells and sounds surged through her senses. Adelina snorted, shaking her giant bovine head, and raked her two cloven hooves into the moist earth. She rubbed her hands together, still delicate as a lady's, then spread them wide, a challenge. "I said, I'll not be a sacrifice!"

The woman-cow, the Minotaur-girl, charged toward the gates.

The iron crumpled around her sturdy head like tin foil. Adelina bounded through to stop just outside the maze. She shook the destroyed gates from her head, pitched them aside. The guards stared, jaws hanging.

Then they ran.

Crying and yowling like little girls, the guards ran for the mayor's mansion. "The gates, the gates!" they yelled at the tops of their voices. "She has broken the gates!"

Adelina laughed, swished her tail.

Something slithered up behind her, hissed in her ear. She held stock-still, listening to the rustle of grass and leaves of others approaching. Hesitantly, she turned to look.

The Wild Gods were arrayed on either side of her, each a different combination of man and animal. There were half-boars, half-birds, half-cats, all a strange synthesis of both forms. The slithering noise came from the python-man. He winked a giant red eye at her.

"Thanks, Sister," he said.  "Care to join us?"

Adelina thought she might.

Uke button!

The latest addition:

I gave one to my lovely friend, Kira, who is the one responsible for setting me on this crazy-wonderful musical journey with this fun little instrument.

Thank you for brightening my days with your friendship!

Everyone, meet Nika

Nika arrived yesterday in PERFECT condition, which, after the black ook fiasco, I was very glad of! Musicians Friend gets another star in my book. Her strings are reeeeelly stretchy right now, but the totally sweet geared tuners are a dream. So far I'm very happy with her. Today her voice started opening up a little as the strings acclimatized, and I think she'll sound just lovely in a few weeks.

AND THE ELECTRONICS WORK GREAT! Yeah, as soon as I got home, I plugged her into my amp and played rockstar Ook, lol.

My only gripe (and it's very minor) with her is that she's rather plain. So last night I concocted a very elaborate plan involving some Sharpies and creative energy…

Let me just say, Nika is plain no longer!

Review: Dragonsinger

Dragonsinger by Anne McCaffrey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read this book more often than I can count. It is my favorite of Anne McCaffrey's Harper Hall trilogy, and it remains as fantastic today as it was when I first read it. "Dragonsinger" is the continuation of Menolly's story — she is a gifted female musician in a world where it is frowned upon for girls to do such a thing. At the opening of "Dragonsinger," Menolly finds herself at the doorstep of the Harper Hall (Pern's equivalent of an elite music school) after having been tapped by the Masterharper himself — who is trying to change the 'old ways' for the better. The book details Menolly's trials and tribulations of her first week in the hall, and ends with her finding the one place where she belongs.

What remains the biggest draw to this book for me is how Menolly's story mirrors my own: growing up, I was always the odd one out. The square peg trying to fit in a round hole. The freak. I was always trying to do things my own way, always working with some new idea that others didn't approve of. Like Menolly, I wanted to write songs and stories — and was discouraged because it wasn't a "proper" occupation. I was a musician, but I didn't play music that was "normal" for someone my age. Growing up, I dealt with a lot of opposition from my family and my peers (though, thankfully, not to the extent that Menolly had to deal with). Watching Menolly grow into herself, watching her come to terms with everything, and ultimately, finding her very own niche gave me hope that someday, I would find my own as well.

I can proudly report that I did.

Thank you, Menolly (and Ms. McCaffrey), for giving me the courage to follow my own dreams.

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Digging graves

Death is a fact of life. Everything dies, eventually.

On a farm, we are very close to the "circle of life." Every spring, we see new calves born. In the fall we select the cows we want to keep. With every year we watch them mature, and if we're all lucky, they live to a ripe old age.

Unfortunately, life is not Disney-esque. In terms of livestock there can be accidents, there are predators, and there can be disease. And sometimes, even despite your best efforts, things don't go right. It's an understood risk.

It doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

Today I had to bury a two week old baby that simply didn't make it. Everything we'd done to try to help her out… an act in futility. It's as if she never had any hope, didn't care enough to hang on despite everything…

I know there's supposed to be some grand plan, that this is all part of the Way, but sometimes? Life sucks.

And I'm out here digging graves in the dirt.

Review: Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie

Ballad: A Gathering of Faerie by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I find it interesting how different "Ballad" is from "Lament." It's not just that Dee and James are now attending Thornking-Ash, the music school for gifted musicians, and it's not just that things are uncomfortable for Dee and James in the wake of the events from "Lament"… There's a sense of maturity with "Ballad" that was lacking in "Lament," and it came from James.

He's quite the engaging character. I found I liked him much better than Deirdre, who quickly got on my nerves for her incessant whining and victimized attitude. Deirdre wants what she can't have, and rather than buck up and deal with the situation as it is, she continually grasps at straws (for example, asking James to kiss her and then telling him she was thinking of Luke) and then feels further victimized when her grasping makes everyone miserable. In seeing her from others' point of view (rather than being inside her head, as in "Lament"), I found I lost whatever respect I had for her. I cheered when James made the decision to move on, and I admired his strength when he's faced with gut-wrenching decisions even some adults I know couldn't make.

While "Ballad" had less of the flavor of the Celtic mythos, it remains an engaging read for seeing how events have affected these teens and how they deal with the cards they've been dealt.

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Disappointment

So that lovely, shiny, black ukulele I ordered two weeks ago?

I spent all last night having nightmares that it arrived broken and smashed.

Guess what?

It arrived broken. (Talk about premonitions, eh?) The preamp/eq unit panel was torn out of the side of it, leaving major crackage in the wood. While I was otherwise happy with the instrument (LOVE the tuners), and while it probably could have been fixed, that was just a no-go. Why should I pay almost $200 for an instrument that needs work?

Plainly speaking, I shouldn't have to.

So, while it gets returned to the store, I went and ordered the natural finish version (shiny black == FINGERPRINTS!!! lol) of it from a different retailer I know and have had excellent service from.

Hopefully, this time? I'll get something I can really use.

Review: Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception

Lament: The Faerie Queen's Deception by Maggie Stiefvater

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Maggie Stiefvater is one talented writer. This book — quite literally — sucks you in and demands your attention, and does it so subtly that you don't realize several hours have passed since you first picked it up…

What really cinched me into this series was Stiefvater's attention to detail. She effortlessly re-creates the magic and danger of Celtic lore, and does it so well and so honestly, that it literally feels as real as the Irish and Scots believed it was for centuries. The other detail? Music. Not only does Stiefvater create musical characters after my own heart (Celtic musicians? Just like me? Not punk-band, rock-star wannabes??), but she obviously knows the Trad music genre/culture like it's the back of her hand. The familiarity of her writing about the music had me eating out of the palm of her hand. There's no faking it here, folks. This lady knows what Trad is about!

Top all that with a gripping plot, and it's no wonder she's made the NYT bestseller list. Stiefvater is the real. deal.

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