R.A. Denny's Blog, page 3

Book Club Discussion Questions – Refugees and Seekers (Books 1 and 2)

Many readers have requested discussion questions for their book clubs.  Book clubs vary so much that is is hard to develop questions that work for everybody.  Clubs range all the way from those interested in deep intellectual discussions to those that mainly drink wine and socialize with light references to the books they read. Both groups are fun!  So, I decided to draft numerous questions from which people can select one or two that fit their interests. No group will want to discuss all or even most of these, but I’ve listed enough that hopefully there is something for everyone!

If you are in a book club, I’d love to hear from you as to what type of questions generally stimulate the most interesting discussions!  I love it when people discover hidden meanings in my books.  Please feel free to share your reactions to any of the questions on this list.  Personally, I enjoy fiction that raises questions in my mind rather than offering me answers.  So, if you have questions, bring them on!   I’d love to hear from you!

The general questions listed below do not include spoilers, but please beware that the more specific questions do.

Discussion Questions for Refugees and Seekers.

General Questions

Setting: What is the time period and setting of the overall book? How did this add to or detract from your reading experience? Describe the unique setting for each of the three main characters. How did the geography of the 3 protagonists’ homelands influence their outlooks on life and even their use of words? Which place would you most like to live and why?
Characters: Who were your favorite and least favorite characters? Why? Which would you rather be, a Glider, an Armored or a Webby, and why? Were the characters believable? Why or why not? Of all the characters in the book which one would you most like to spend time with? Why? Even though it was in a vastly different world, were you able to relate to the character’s inner struggles? Why or why not? Who would you choose to play the characters in a movie?
Plot: Did the story line maintain your interest? What was the most exciting part? What did you find the least interesting? What was your favorite scene? What was your least favorite scene? What, if anything, would you have changed about the plot? Which of the three did you prefer, Mud, Rocks or Trees?
Themes: What major themes could you identify? What do you think the author was trying to get across?
Application: Was there anything in the book that made you uncomfortable? If so, why? What, if anything, did you relate to in this book that you would like to take away and use in your own life?
Helpful Tips for the Author:  What could the author have done differently that would have improved the reading experience for you? What would help make books 4, 5 and 6 of the series better than books 1, 2 and 3? What were the author’s strengths and weaknesses? Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Specific Questions – SPOILER ALERT!

Denial:  Why does Amanki’s village choose the comfort of denial over Baskrod’s warnings? Why didn’t they listen to him? Have you ever ignored the warning of a friend? Why? Describe. Give real life examples when people have chosen to ignore warnings. Why do people behave this way? Do they sometimes choose comfort over truth? Is there anything in your life you are in denial about right now? What value is there for you in that denial?
Prejudice: Give examples of prejudice by one group of people against the other in the book. How is prejudice encouraged? Why? How does it influence their behavior? What purpose does it serve? The first trees chapter follows a grass chapter in which fliers are described as beasts without souls who were made by the cat gods as treats for the cave lions. How did you feel when you realized they were talking about Brina’s family? Were the gliders also blinded by their prejudice against the Samalitans? As you were reading, did the fact that the people had armored backs, webbed feet and glides prejudice you against the protagonists so that you had trouble seeing them as people? Why or why not? What qualifies a group as having souls or being civilized in your eyes? Is anyone able to effectively combat prejudice in the book?
Destiny: What role does destiny or a belief in destiny play in the book? How did each of the protagonists’ knowledge of or beliefs about their own destiny affect their behavior? What do you believe about destiny? How does that affect your behavior? If you had a specific destiny, would you want to know it?
Prophecy and Signs: How do signs and prophecy affect the people in the book? How do they affect us today? In Seekers, the jester comments on the power of amulets as bribes.   Do signs and prophecies play any role in your life or the lives of people you know?  What is the difference between an oracle and prophecy?  How much free will do we have?
Shame and Contempt: What characters show contempt for others? What characters feel shame? How do these emotions play a role in the book? How do they damage relationships? How do these emotions play a role in your life? Do they have any value?
Culture: Amanki, Brina and Moshoi all share the faith in Adon taught to them by the Society of the Word. How does the culture they came from affect their beliefs and actions? Although you may have embraced different beliefs than those you were raised with, how has your background influenced you? What idols of your childhood do you still struggle with?
Family: Describe Brina’s relationship with her father, Moshoi’s relationship with his father and Amanki’s relationship with his family.   Why did each of the families react differently to Baskrod or Rhabdom? How did the behavior of Moshoi and Tuka’s father affect the brothers’ relationship? Is this realistic? Were you able to identify with these family relationships and if so, in what way?
Infatuation: Compare Metlan and Barque. Why does Brina find each of them attractive? What do you think will happen with these relationships in the next book? If you were Brina, which would you prefer to have a romantic relationship with and why?
Power or weakness: When Brina describes her bow she says that its power lay in the very bend that should weaken it. What do you think this means? What weaknesses do characters in the story have that make them strong, and what strengths make them weak? How does Amanki use Gepathi’s love of power to weaken her in the end? What weaknesses do you have that can also be your strengths? Explain.
Change: Amanki talks about the way in which one day can change everything. Have you ever had that happen? Discuss. How were you able to adapt? How do the characters in the book adapt to change? How were they able to move on from regret? How have you done this in your life?
Adon: In one scene, Amanki dives into the river and “wrestles with Adon.” If you are familiar with Jacob in the Bible, how is this scene similar? After this, how does Amanki’s relationship with Adon differ from the relationship he had been taught to have with the gods of his village? How, if at all, does this affect his behavior? What other instances are there in the book where Adon is similar to the God in the Bible? Do you think such similarities do or do not belong in a fantasy novel? Why?
Prayer: When Amanki prays for Baskrod to appear in the boat, he does. Right after that, Amanki panics over Manhera being missing. Why does he give way to despair so soon after his last prayer was answered? What causes his panic? What causes some characters in the book to fall into despair? What does Moshoi mean when he talks about ruts in his mind? Could you relate? What ruts do you have in your own mind? How did they get there? How do characters in the book combat despair at different times? How do you combat despair in difficult times?
Evil: How is evil described in the book? How do each of the cultures see evil, or what do each of the cultures value as the highest good? How do their rituals support their values? Who do you think is the most evil character in the book? Can you think of anyone in history or a modern person like that? Is the emperor mentally ill or evil? Do you believe that evil people exist? Why or why not? At one point, Amanki says that to do nothing was to be a part of the evil. Do you agree? What makes some people in the book act against evil and others not? What can you do to be sure you would have the courage to act?
Crowd Contagion: Give examples in the book when people act like sheep. How is crowd contagion described and used in the book? How is Gepathi able to get the young women to willingly allow themselves to be sacrificed? Is this believable? Why or why not? Why does the crowd go along with it? Is there anything similar happening these days, and if so what? How does crowd contagion influence people today? Give an example from your own life or the news. How is it destructive and what value, if any, does it have?
Identity: Which characters seem to gain some of their own identity from that of their ancestors? In what way? Why is it important to them? Is ancestry still important today? Is it important to you and in what way?
High Born, Hidden Away: Baskrod hides Amanki for his own safety.  Name other high born people in history or fable who were hidden away.   Why was this done? Is it still done in our culture?  Have the dangers changed? How do the rich and famous protect their children in modern times? Why did Baskrod keep so many secrets from Amanki? Do you think it would have been better if Amanki had always known? Why or why not?
Civilization: Amanki hopes that the people they meet when washed up on shore are civilized.   He is concerned because he does not know what manner of people lived there. Odysseus shares this concern in Homer’s Odyssey. What does Manhera see as the sign of a civilized people? Baskrod tells her that people in the city have learned to be suspicious due to bad experiences with strangers. Do you think that is true today? How do you define a civilized people today? How is our notion of hospitality different than that in ancient times?
Faith: Amanki, Brina and Moshoi take off on a long journey, knowing very little of what they will face, and with very little knowledge of their mission. How are they able to step out into the unknown? What brings each of them to make the decision to begin such a journey? Does it make a difference that they are young? Have you ever been motivated to take such a “journey” into the unknown? What motivated you?
Bullying: What characters face bullying in the book? How is it handled by those in power? Do you think the solution is effective? Is this bullying similar to modern day bullying? How does the culture affect the solution? In what modern situations would the solution in the book work?
Sidetracks and Difficult Choices: What causes each of the three protagonists to waver from their mission? How does Moshoi decide whether to help those hibernating below? How does Brina decide whether to help Metlan? How does Amanki decide whether to try to save Manhera? Would it have been wrong for them to choose differently? Have you ever been faced with a choice where neither answer seemed right? When? How did you decide what to do?
Betrayal: At the beginning, Bladar says that “spies like any man can be bought for the right price?” Do you agree with this statement?   What might the “right price” mean besides money? Is it honest to think that you would not betray those who trust you or betray your own values, no matter what? If you believe you could resist, how would you find the strength to do so? Have you ever been tested? Which characters in the book face the choice of betraying friends, family or their own values and what do they choose to do? Discuss.
Growth: How do each of the three protagonists grow during their journey to Tzoladia? How were Rhabdom’s final words to Moshoi similar to what Elder Lepton told Brina? How do the youths succeed or fail in putting this advice into action? What does Elder Lepton mean when she talks about mastering evil inclination? Is Brina able to do this? Is Moshoi able to heed Rhabdom’s warnings? Why does Baskrod tell Amanki who he truly is when he does? What was Baskrod waiting for? How has Amanki shown that he is ready?
Destruction or Victory to Come? Some say there are three outcomes in dangerous circumstances: we go through them and live, we are able to go around them and live, or we die. Where do you picture each of the 3 main characters in the beginning of the next book? Now that you have finished the book, read the prophecy at the beginning again. What do you think it means? What signs were given throughout the book of an impending disaster? Did you pick up on them? What do you think is the meaning of the seals? What do you think will happen in the next book?
Bonus Question:  The author is an ancient history buff. What plot lines or cultural practices did the author borrow from ancient history?   Can you identify them?

If your book club has discussed Refugees and Seekers, which questions stimulated the most discussion?  What has been the all time best discussion question asked in your book club about any book?  Why?

Book Club Discussion Questions – Road to Tzoladia

I am very excited that I will be attending a book club this Saturday night where they will be discussing my novel, Road to Tzoladia.  If you are in a book club, what questions do you find generally stimulate the most interesting discussions? This is such a great opportunity for me to obtain honest feedback!  It is also perfect timing since I have written about a third of Book 2, tentatively titled, War for Tzoladia.

Here are the discussion questions that I submitted to the group, with the understanding that they would choose six or seven questions that most interested them.   The general questions do not include spoilers, but the more specific questions do.   I’ll let you know how it goes!

Road To Tzoladia Discussion Questions

General Questions

Setting: What is the time period and setting of the overall book? How did this add to or detract from your reading experience? Describe the unique setting for each of the three main characters. How did the geography of the 3 protagonists’ homelands influence their outlooks on life and even their use of words? Which place would you most like to live and why?
Characters: Who were your favorite and least favorite characters? Why? Which would you rather be, a glider, an armored or a webby, and why? Were the characters believable? Why or why not? Of all the characters in the book which one would you most like to spend time with? Why? Even though it was in a vastly different world, were you able to relate to the character’s inner struggles? Why or why not? Who would you choose to play the characters in a movie?
Plot: Did the story line maintain your interest? What was the most exciting part? What did you find the least interesting? What was your favorite scene? What was your least favorite scene? What, if anything, would you have changed about the plot? Which of the three did you prefer, Mud, Rocks or Trees?
Themes: What major themes could you identify? What do you think the author was trying to get across?
Application: Was there anything in the book that made you uncomfortable? If so, why? What, if anything, did you relate to in this book that you would like to take away and use in your own life?
Helpful Tips for the Author:  What could the author have done differently that would have improved the reading experience for you? What would help make book 2 of the trilogy better than book 1? What were the author’s strengths and weaknesses? Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Specific Questions – SPOILER ALERT!

Denial:  Why does Amanki’s village choose the comfort of denial over Baskrod’s warnings? Why didn’t they listen to him? Have you ever ignored the warning of a friend? Why? Describe. Give real life examples when people have chosen to ignore warnings. Why do people behave this way? Do they sometimes choose comfort over truth? Is there anything in your life you are in denial about right now? What value is there for you in that denial?
Prejudice: Give examples of prejudice by one group of people against the other in the book. How is prejudice encouraged? Why? How does it influence their behavior? What purpose does it serve? The first trees chapter follows a grass chapter in which fliers are described as beasts without souls who were made by the cat gods as treats for the cave lions. How did you feel when you realized they were talking about Brina’s family? Were the gliders also blinded by their prejudice against the Samalitans? As you were reading, did the fact that the people had armored backs, webbed feet and glides prejudice you against the protagonists so that you had trouble seeing them as people? Why or why not? What qualifies a group as having souls or being civilized in your eyes? Is anyone able to effectively combat prejudice in the book?
Destiny: What role does destiny or a belief in destiny play in the book? How did each of the protagonists’ knowledge of or beliefs about their own destiny affect their behavior? What do you believe about destiny? How does that affect your behavior? If you had a specific destiny, would you want to know it?
Prophecy and Signs: How do signs and prophecy affect the people in the book? How do they affect us today? The jester comments on the power of amulets as bribes.   Do signs and prophecies play any role in your life or the lives of people you know?
Shame and Contempt: What characters show contempt for others? What characters feel shame? How do these emotions play a role in the book? How do they damage relationships? How do these emotions play a role in your life? Do they have any value?
Culture: Amanki, Brina and Moshoi all share the faith in Adon taught to them by the Society of the Word. How does the culture they came from affect their beliefs and actions? Although you may have embraced different beliefs than those you were raised with, how has your background influenced you? What idols of your childhood do you still struggle with?
Family: Describe Brina’s relationship with her father, Moshoi’s relationship with his father and Amanki’s relationship with his family.   Why did each of the families react differently to Baskrod or Rhabdom? How did the behavior of Moshoi and Tuka’s father affect the brothers’ relationship? Is this realistic? Were you able to identify with these family relationships and if so, in what way?
Infatuation: Compare Metlan and Barque. Why does Brina find each of them attractive? What do you think will happen with these relationships in the next book? If you were Brina, which would you prefer to have a romantic relationship with and why?
Power or weakness: When Brina describes her bow she says that its power lay in the very bend that should weaken it. What do you think this means? What weaknesses do characters in the story have that make them strong, and what strengths make them weak? How does Amanki use Gepathi’s love of power to weaken her in the end? What weaknesses do you have that can also be your strengths? Explain.
Change: Amanki talks about the way in which one day can change everything. Have you ever had that happen? Discuss. How were you able to adapt? How do the characters in the book adapt to change? How were they able to move on from regret? How have you done this in your life?
Adon: In one scene, Amanki dives into the river and “wrestles with Adon.” If you are familiar with Jacob in the Bible, how is this scene similar? After this, how does Amanki’s relationship with Adon differ from the relationship he had been taught to have with the gods of his village? How, if at all, does this affect his behavior? What other instances are there in the book where Adon is similar to the God in the Bible? Do you think such similarities do or do not belong in a fantasy novel? Why?
Prayer: When Amanki prays for Baskrod to appear in the boat, he does. Right after that, Amanki panics over Manhera being missing. Why does he give way to despair so soon after his last prayer was answered? What causes his panic? What causes some characters in the book to fall into despair? What does Moshoi mean when he talks about ruts in his mind? Could you relate? What ruts do you have in your own mind? How did they get there? How do characters in the book combat despair at different times? How do you combat despair in difficult times?
Evil: How is evil described in the book? How do each of the cultures see evil, or what do each of the cultures value as the highest good? How do their rituals support their values? Who do you think is the most evil character in the book? Can you think of anyone in history or a modern person like that? Is the emperor mentally ill or evil? Do you believe that evil people exist? Why or why not? At one point, Amanki says that to do nothing was to be a part of the evil. Do you agree? What makes some people in the book act against evil and others not? What can you do to be sure you would have the courage to act?
Crowd Contagion: Give examples in the book when people act like sheep. How is crowd contagion described and used in the book? How is Gepathi able to get the young women to willingly allow themselves to be sacrificed? Is this believable? Why or why not? Why does the crowd go along with it? Is there anything similar happening these days, and if so what? How does crowd contagion influence people today? Give an example from your own life or the news. How is it destructive and what value, if any, does it have?
Identity: Which characters seem to gain some of their own identity from that of their ancestors? In what way? Why is it important to them? Is ancestry still important today? Is it important to you and in what way?
High Born, Hidden Away: Baskrod hides Amanki for his own safety.  Name other high born people in history or fable who were hidden away.   Why was this done? Is it still done in our culture?  Have the dangers changed? How do the rich and famous protect their children in modern times? Why did Baskrod keep so many secrets from Amanki? Do you think it would have been better if Amanki had always known? Why or why not?
Civilization: Amanki hopes that the people they meet when washed up on shore are civilized.   He is concerned because he does not know what manner of people lived there. Odysseus shares this concern in Homer’s Odyssey. What does Manhera see as the sign of a civilized people? Baskrod tells her that people in the city have learned to be suspicious due to bad experiences with strangers. Do you think that is true today? How do you define a civilized people today? How is our notion of hospitality different than that in ancient times?
Faith: Amanki, Brina and Moshoi take off on a long journey, knowing very little of what they will face, and with very little knowledge of their mission. How are they able to step out into the unknown? What brings each of them to make the decision to begin such a journey? Does it make a difference that they are young? Have you ever been motivated to take such a “journey” into the unknown? What motivated you?
Bullying: What characters face bullying in the book? How is it handled by those in power? Do you think the solution is effective? Is this bullying similar to modern day bullying? How does the culture affect the solution? In what modern situations would the solution in the book work?
Sidetracks and Difficult Choices: What causes each of the three protagonists to waver from their mission? How does Moshoi decide whether to help those hibernating below? How does Brina decide whether to help Metlan? How does Amanki decide whether to try to save Manhera? Would it have been wrong for them to choose differently? Have you ever been faced with a choice where neither answer seemed right? When? How did you decide what to do?
Betrayal: At the beginning, Bladar says that “spies like any man can be bought for the right price?” Do you agree with this statement?   What might the “right price” mean besides money? Is it honest to think that you would not betray those who trust you or betray your own values, no matter what? If you believe you could resist, how would you find the strength to do so? Have you ever been tested? Which characters in the book face the choice of betraying friends, family or their own values and what do they choose to do? Discuss.
Growth: How do each of the three protagonists grow during their journey to Tzoladia? How were Rhabdom’s final words to Moshoi similar to what Elder Lepton told Brina? How do the youths succeed or fail in putting this advice into action? What does Elder Lepton mean when she talks about mastering evil inclination? Is Brina able to do this? Is Moshoi able to heed Rhabdom’s warnings? Why does Baskrod tell Amanki who he truly is when he does? What was Baskrod waiting for? How has Amanki shown that he is ready?
Destruction or Victory to Come? Some say there are three outcomes in dangerous circumstances: we go through them and live, we are able to go around them and live, or we die. Where do you picture each of the 3 main characters in the beginning of the next book? Now that you have finished the book, read the prophecy at the beginning again. What do you think it means? What signs were given throughout the book of an impending disaster? Did you pick up on them? What do you think is the meaning of the seals? What do you think will happen in the next book?
Bonus Question:  The author is an ancient history buff. What plot lines or cultural practices did the author borrow from ancient history?   Can you identify them?

 

The book club meeting isn’t until Saturday, so if you have a good suggestion for a discussion question please let me know.  What was the all time best discussion question asked in your book club?  Why?

RtTZ – 10 Famous Human Responses to Celestial Events

In the last days, when the new star glows in the skies;

Out of the depths of the rocks we call. Hear our cries!

As earth’s secrets unfold, he who sleeps will arise;

Three seals guard the land where the hidden treasure lies.

Rock soars out of the air; trees float over the seas;

Every man in the city buried by mud flees.

So, let the Word be spread, so let the Truth be known;

When the son of a duck, the heir, takes the throne.

Through the bog roll the stones, through the log flows a breeze;

Build the Kingdom by gathering mud, rocks, and trees.

Emperor Zoltov tried to hide his shaking hands as he looked up from his reading. The prophecy confirmed his worst fears. He decided it would be too late to wait for the star to appear.

The above is a short excerpt from my new novel, Road to Tzoladia.

When writing, I do a lot of research.  Even if the adventure takes place in a fictional world that I created, I want it to be believable, which is where all the research comes in.   Plus it’s fun to do the research.

So, why did I include a poetic prophecy about a star in my book?  Humans have always been fascinated by natural objects in the sky.  For years, we were told that people first came together in cities for agricultural purposes.  But, the findings at Göbekli Tepe have turned this theory on its head, and now it is thought that people first came together to build large construction projects as an act of worship.   People have always been influenced by the stars.

TEN FAMOUS HUMAN RESPONSES TO CELESTIAL EVENTS

10.  Nicias – Sicily August 28, 413 B.C.

On August 28, 413, during the Peloponnesian Wars, there was a full lunar eclipse which led to disaster for the Athenians.  At the urging of Alcibiades, a dashing young Athenian whose life had once been saved by Socrates, and against the advice of Nicias, a respected older Athenian who had previously brought peace to Athens, the Athenian Assembly voted to send an expedition to Sicily to capture the city of Syracuse.   Alcibiades and Nicias led the expedition.  At the time, Syracuse was allied with the Spartans.

Alcibiades was recalled to Athens, while Nicias and a third general remained in charge of the forces.  After numerous mishaps, the siege eventually turned into a strategic race between walls and counter-walls.  The tides turned against the Athenians.  Sick, injured and hungry, they were almost out of supplies.  Despite the disgrace, Nicias finally agreed that the only way to save the remaining Athenian forces from complete annihilation was to sail for home.

According to Plutarch, on the night of August 28, everything was prepared and the enemy was not on watch.  The men on the ships were about to stealthily pull out of the harbor.  Just then,  the moon began to change.  It emanated strange lights and was completely darkened, terrifying Nicias and his forces.  His soothsayer, Stilbides, had recently died.  Nicias rashly ordered the retreat halted for 27 days.  Then, forty seven minutes after the moon had disappeared into darkness over the Mediterranean, it reappeared.  But the decision had been made.  Nicias, lay there sacrificing and divining until the enemy came against him.

The men of Syracuse attacked the Athenian fleet in the harbor, destroyed them and  blocked the exit.  Although the Athenians tried desperately to escape by land, at the Assinarus River they were trapped and brutally slaughtered.  The few that lived were sold into slavery or sent to die in the quarries.   Nicias dead body was cast out of the Syracuse prison and left so onlookers could watch it rot.  Thus, a lunar eclipse ended the golden age of Greece.

9.  Alexander the Great – September 20, 331 B.C.

The Persian King, Darius III, was waiting on the other side of the Tigris with a large army.  As Alexander crossed the river, immediately the moon disappeared then was washed with the hue of blood.   Both the Persians and the Macedonians recognized this as an omen.

Cuneiform tablets which recorded this event for the Persians make note that “the west wind blew.”  The Magians of Persia regarded the moon as a symbol of Persia.  The west wind was seen to represent Alexander’s armies coming from the west.  The Magi predicted disaster for the Persians, causing panic among the Persian forces.

Alexander sacrificed to the sun, moon and earth.  Aristander, who was Alexander’s diviner, predicted victory for Alexander based on the omen, and word spread throughout the troops, raising their morale.  Thereafter, Alexander’s severely outnumbered men decimated the Persians in  the Battle of Gaugamela and went on to conquer all of Persia.

8.  Star of Caesar – 44 BC

During a festival after Caesar’s assassination, a comet streaked across the sky for seven days.  It may have been the brightest daytime comet in recorded history.  Many called it the “Soul of Caesar.”  Its timely appearance was considered a sign of his deification and became a symbol in support of his great-nephew, Augustus, as his successor.

Shakespeare references this comet when Caesar’s wife comments, “When beggars die there are no comets seen. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.”

7.   Star of Bethlehem – Matthew 2:1-12

When the Magi came from the East to Jerusalem to ask Herod where the new king had been born, they said, “We have seen his star at its rising.” Herod advised the Magi to look in Bethlehem for the birth of a new king.  So they set out.   “And there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was.”  The Magi were filled with joy!

When the Magi did not return to tell Herod where they found the child, he erupted in anger and ordered all the male children in Bethlehem killed.  Fortunately, Joseph had been warned in a dream to take the baby Jesus and flee to Egypt.

6.  April 30, 1006 Cairo and China

Ali Ibn Ridwan of Cairo, was 18 years old when he saw the new star shimmering in Scorpio.  It was a large circular object two to three times the size of Venus with an intensity of light more than a quarter of moonlight.   It could be seen in daylight and at night it cast shadows.  It moved across the sky for three years.

Later in life he recalled the event: “Because the zodiacal sign Scorpio is a bad omen for the Islamic religion, they bitterly fought each other in great wars and many of their great countries were destroyed. Also many incidents happened to the king of the two holy cities (Mecca and Medina). Drought, increase of prices and famine occurred, and countless thousands died by the sword as well as from famine and pestilence. At the time when the spectacle appeared, calamity and destruction occurred which lasted for many years afterwards,”

The young ruler during this event was Caliph Al-Hakim.  His followers declared him a divinity.  He ordered the destruction of the Holy Church of the Sepulchre in Jerusalem which added to the apocalyptic fervor that accompanied the sighting of the new star in Europe.   The Caliph was declared insane by his enemies but worshipped by his followers.   Al-Hakim took to riding alone in the desert at night and one such night he never returned.  Those who searched found only his mutilated donkey and blood stained clothes.

Due to Ibn Ridwan’s description, scientists were later able to identify the new star as Supernova SN1006 which had been witnessed as far away as China.  When it appeared in China it was said that nobody could identify its omen category and many were frightened that it was an ominous star which forewarned a disastrous war.  At the time, Zhou Ke-ming, the Emperor’s chief advisor was away on duty, but when he returned he assured the emperor that the star was yellow and thus a positive omen.  The populace was frightened, but the wise advisor told the Emperor to gather his nobles and celebrate the appearance of the new star in order to calm the people.  This approach was a great success  and Zho Ke-ming was promoted.

5.  William the Conquerer – October 12, 1066

Before the Battle of Hastings, all over England, an object appeared in the sky,  four times bigger than Venus and about a fourth as bright as the moon, which was dubbed the long-haired star.

While English astrologers feared that it was a portend of defeat, William the Conqueror called it a “wonderful sign from heaven” and believed it meant that he would be victorious.

We all know how this one ends, with the invading Normans winning, and forcing the English to emblazon the comet for all to see on the Bayeux Tapestry..

4.  Christopher Columbus – February 29, 1504

In 1502, on his fourth journey to the new world, Christopher Columbus was stranded in Jamaica, his men were running out of food and they faced destruction.  Columbus wisely consulted his Regiomontanus almanac which forecasted an eclipse.

Columbus warned the Arawak Indians that if they didn’t give him food, then in three days the moon would go away and become inflamed with wrath.  Three days later, as predicted, the moon disappeared.  The Arawaks howled in fear and ran in every direction collecting food for Columbus and his men.  They begged for him to restore the moon.  Columbus played off the event for full dramatic effect, told them he would consult with God, and then returned just before he knew the eclipse would end.  He announced that the Arawaks had been forgiven and that the moon would gradually return.  It began to do so immediately.

Not surprisingly the Arawaks kept Columbus and his men well supplied until a relief ship appeared and he sailed back to Spain.

Mark Twain uses this incident as a basis for a scene in his A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs’s Court.  In addition, born in 1835, during the passage of Halley’s Comet, Mark Twain went out with the comet in 1910, just as he predicted.

3.  Metacom, June 26, 1675

In the Plymouth Colony, three Wampanoag men were tried and executed by the colonists for the death of Sassomon.  Soon after, several English farmers were killed.  But, although alarm and terror spread, war could still have been averted.   From the north, the Massachusetts Bay Colony sent a troop of men to Swansea in Plymouth.  That night, the men stopped on their march to view a lunar eclipse.  They saw a blotch on the moon that looked like an Wampanoag scalp or a bow.  They feared it as a sign that war would spread across the colonies.

Based on Algonquin sources, the Wampanoags may have believed that the eclipse represented the son of the Sun and the Moon who had come to walk about, which meant that many would die.    Soon after, Metacom (King Philip) severed relations with England.  Other tribes joined in the effort, believing that the eclipse foretold victory.  Thus began King Philip’s War, often considered the deadliest war in the history of European settlement in North America.

2.  Tecumseh 1811

In Shawnee, his name meant “shooting star” or “panther across the sky,” because his father saw a shooting star when he was born.    In 1811, Tecumseh delivered a speech advocating that the Native Americans join together in war:  “Soon shall you see my arm of fire stretched athwart the sky. I will stamp my foot at Tippecanoe, and the very earth shall shake.”

A huge comet appeared in 1811, and Tecumseh convinced his allies that it was a sign of his coming.    Then on December 16, 1811, the New Madrid Earthquake shook the region.  This was the most powerful earthquake to hit the U.S. east of the Rockies in recorded history.  At the same time, the comet could be seen streaking across the sky.  People thought the end of the world had arrived.  Many tribes joined Tecumseh’s federation and in 1812 they helped the British win the Siege of Detroit.  Tecumseh was killed in 1813.

This comet was a million miles across, and was called Napoleon’s comet in Europe.  Tolstoy describes it in his novel, War and Peace.

September 27, 2015 – Lunar Eclipse

I included this one just for fun.  Scientists have predicted that a supermoon lunar eclipse will occur on September 27, 2015. Numerous sites discussing the meaning of this are popping up all over the internet.   How will people react this time?

What effect do celestial events have on us today?  Perhaps more than we realize.  One respected Danish scientist has proposed a theory that the balance of the number of supernovae in the space immediately surrounding earth has contributed to our climate and the ability of life to thrive on earth.   He suggests that climate change is due more to supernovae than to human causes.   While this theory is controversial, so was Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, which incidentally was confirmed by measurements taken during the solar eclipse of 1919.

Whether you call them new stars or supernova, comets or long haired stars, blood moons or eclipses, to me these celestial events are all still marvelous and mysterious works of God.   No matter how much I learn, I never want to lose my sense of the immensity and magnificence of the heavens above.

My novel, Road to Tzoladia,  begins with a prophecy about a new star.  What effect do you think it will have on the people in the book?

 

 

 

 

Road to Tzoladia – Joyful Arrival!

Today is a wonderful day!   I’d like you to share with me my feeling of joyful fulfillment.  Perhaps my elation can be soaked into my computer where it can flow through the internet and burst into your hearts as a fountain of elevation!   I know you know the feeling.  After days, months or perhaps even years of anticipation for that special moment, whether it is Christmas morning, the arrival at your dream vacation spot,  or your reunion with a loved one, your spirits soar and you are lifted to a place where hope meets real life.  It rises up out of your stomach to the top of your head and up and up into the highest reaches of the heavens.    It almost takes your breath away.   You knew the day would come, the Grinch can’t steal Christmas, the pyramids really are there and your loved one is safe, but you’re still surprised by joy when it really is true.   That’s how I felt today when I first set my eyes on my books, grasped one of them in my fingers, and lifted it out of the box.

Writing Road to Tzoladia was an adventure.   From that first challenge in the theatre parking lot, through the imagining,  the typing, the researching, the sharing, the believing, the revising, the questioning, the gathering, the separating, the adding, the cutting, and the waiting: each step carried me further down a path of growth.   Once I began, the characters took on a life of their own and at times the story just seemed to write itself.  The hardest part was the editing.  But, I am glad I persevered.  I could not have done so without my fellow “Inklings” and those who shared and critiqued my writing.  I thank them with all my heart!  It was not a journey that I would have wanted to take alone.

For me, writing fulfils a longing to create and to share.   The act of creating is in itself rewarding but its purpose is only fully realized when shared.  I believe that when God created the universe and humans, his greatest joy was realized through forming a relationship with us.  I believe that life has meaning, and that people find that meaning through sharing stories.

Reading is an enjoyable pastime that is good for the mind and the soul.  It lets us experience adventures that we might never embark upon.  Like Hobbits in our comfortable holes, we are afraid of change, since it so often comes about as a result of painful experiences.  But reading a story is an experience that can change us without any danger of harm.  Most people choose books based on the recommendation of a friend or someone whose opinion they respect.   Time is precious.  Many people will read no more than several hundred books in a lifetime.  It is humbling for me to think that there are people who do not know me who might want to invest their limited time in reading a story that I have written.

So why do I want you to join me and my characters in their journey to Tzoladia?  Though some journeys can only be taken alone, every journey is better with companions.  I am not presumptuous enough to think that I have written a story that will offer any answers to life.  But, I do hope that if you embark on this journey with me, my story will inspire you with questions, the kind you take hold of, wrestle and embrace.

If, like me, you thrive on adventure, imagination and all things new, yet cherish faith, history and all that is  ancient, join me along the Road to Tzoladia!

Road to Tzoladia – For Love of Books

The hard copies of my book, Road to Tzoladia, have shipped and will arrive on Monday!  I am so excited that soon I will be holding a hard copy of my very own published book to turn over in my hands, thumb through the pages and then hold to my heart to cherish forever.  I plan to read it all over again just for the joy of experiencing it as a real book.

Since all the bookshelves in my house are filled with books (or Lego creations, that’s another story,) I finally bought a Nook a few years ago.   It is convenient to take my little Nook with me wherever I go, so I can also be reading several different books at a time, and the pages don’t get wet at the pool.  I bought a no frills version of the Nook, so it would be as close to the experience of reading a book as possible.  But, I have to admit that I still find it more enjoyable to hold a real book in my hands.

So, how did I come to love books?  As a child I had a big collection of Little Golden Books.  Actually, I should make it perfectly clear that I still have that entire collection of Little Golden Books, and more.  Yep, I still possess every book I ever owned as a child.  I love every one of them.  When my children were born, I read them all my favorite books.  What a joy it was to rediscover my old friends! Who could forget the Pokey Little Puppy or the Fraidy Cat Kitten?

So I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that I also still have a copy of the first story that I ever wrote.  I believe I was five or six when I wrote it.  It is a story about a kitten who gets into all kinds of crazy mischief.   Don’t worry, I have no plans of reprinting that story here!  My next attempt was a collection of fairy tale like stories that I wrote and illustrated, then taped the pages of paper together with scotch tape as the binding to try to make a book.  I still have that one too.  You will be relieved to learn that I do not have a copy of every story I ever wrote.

As a child, I loved any book about animals, especially horses.   My mother used to joke that I would eat, sleep and breathe horses.  For my birthday, my parents rented a brown and white pinto name Chester to come to our suburban home and give my friends and me pony rides around our house.   I would dream of it all year!   In the days between birthdays, the horse stories I read helped keep those dreams alive.

My sister had a collection of Nancy Drew books, so my parents bought me the Hardy Boys series.  I liked the Hardy Boys a lot better anyway.  My Dad would read them with me, and then we would all make up our own detective stories, with characters with names like “Pegleg Pete.”   Next, we started drawing portraits of our characters, mostly the villains.  On the bottom of each portrait we would write “You’re next.”  It was such fun!  Fortunately, I grew up to be a criminal prosecutor and not an axe murderer.

My older sister had a great imagination, and would make up creative stories about the neighborhood.  One of the houses was haunted and an old witch lived in another.    One day we awoke to discover that a car had hit the stop sign  across from our house and left a dent in the pole.  My sister concocted a whole story about the murder that had occurred in the nearby woods and the crash that happened during the get away.  We spent the day looking for clues to try and catch the criminal.   We found green paint on the stop sign pole, and located an old green car parked at the edge of the woods.  We were sure we had found our guy, so we memorized the license number, and repeated it over and over the whole walk home.  It was so disappointing when we later learned from a friend that it was her nice maid’s car.   Even more disappointing, there had been no murders, burglaries or robberies in the neighborhood for us to solve, just a dented stop sign pole.

Throughout elementary school, my sister and I wrote and performed numerous backyard plays.   We even tried one musical nativity play, but I couldn’t carry a tune, so after that we abandoned musicals.   My sister wanted to do a rendition of Beauty and the Beast, based on the original fairy tale.  This was before the Disney version.  I remember her telling me she was the beauty so I had to be the beast.  I’m not sure we ever performed that one.  Eventually, we enlisted all the neighborhood kids to act in our plays.  We would draw numerous copies of programs on folded paper and pass them out to the audience, who sat on the ground with their legs folded “Indian style.”  Every play was a hit, since the actors’ families were all big fans.

I remember babysitting for a neighbor’s child when I was in sixth grade and the parents were surprised to see that I was reading Grapes of Wrath.  I loved that book.  I was moved by the way the Joad family were dehumanized through hardship and yet ultimately were able to rise above the circumstances and show compassion for each other. Over the next couple of years I read it two more times.

I had a fabulous 6th grade teacher who believed that ancient Greece was the basis of everything worth learning.  She was so passionate about ancient Greek culture, that she instilled in me a lifelong interest in all things ancient, including mythology.

When I was little, my parents read Bible stories to us from an illustrated children’s book.  I loved the stories of Joseph, Samson and David.   When I was in my teens I decided that if I was going to claim that I believed in the Bible that I should read it.  I found it strange that so many people never bothered to do so.  So I read the whole Bible, cover to cover.  I still loved the ancient stories and poems, but grew to understand them on a deeper level.

I fell in love with all the books on my parents shelves.   These old books often contained pictures.  Black Beauty, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher will forever look like the pictures in my Dad’s old editions.   No movie or new edition will ever be able to change that.   The pictures in the books are the only authentic ones.  I’m sure of it.

Inside the front cover of Ishmael, by E.D.E.N Southworth, I found my great-grandmother’s signature.   In Ishmael, a young mother dies just after giving birth to a baby.  Since my mother’s own mother died just after my mother was born, it felt as if the story somehow tied us all together.  Generations of women in my family had held that book, turned those pages and felt the pain of the young woman’s untimely passing.  The baby in the story grows to be a boy who loves books.  Mostly self-taught, the young man rises from poverty to become an honest lawyer who spends his time defending mistreated young women.  To top it all off, the book contains a tantalizing statement that it is based on the real story of someone everyone will recognize.  The identity of Ishmael remained a mystery to me over the years until very recently when I discovered on the internet that the story was loosely based on the life of William Wirt.

One experience with physical books stands out to me.   My mother had told me that there was a sequel to Ishmael that she did not have.  I looked in many old bookstores but was unable to find it.   Then an old mildewed copy showed up in a relative’s attic and it was given to me.  So, I had my sequel, Self-raised, at last.  But there was a catch.  As I turned the pages, they crumbled, so I could read it only once.   I literally watched the pages crumble before my eyes.   The story was not as good as the original, but the experience gave me a new respect for how precious physical books once were back in the days when manuscripts had to be copied by hand, and once the book was gone, the story might be gone forever.  Nowadays both these old books can be found on the internet, but the lesson has not been forgotten.

As a freshman in college,  I signed up for a creative writing class.  I didn’t know anyone in the class.  The professor would give us writing assignments, and then we would read our papers out loud to the class, who would then critique what we wrote.  I wrote a story called Vineyards (and yes, I kept that one) about my childhood visits to my great-uncle’s house in wine country.    One of the other students wrote a beautiful poem about her relationship to her sisters.   The metaphors in her poem were brilliant.  After class, I rose and began to walk towards the author, who was walking over toward me.  At almost the same moment, we told each other how much we liked each other’s writing.  We had both approached each other for the same purpose.  She became my roommate and best friend throughout college.   Although we lost contact over the years, when I wrote my novel, Road to Tzoladia, I knew whose opinion I needed.  I sent her a draft and she generously agreed to help to edit it.  Even better, it led to our reuniting and we are in regular contact now!

When I was eight months pregnant with my first son, I started reading Dr. Seuss’s Are You My Mother? to him every night before I went to bed.  I can’t say what effect that had on him, but as a young child he preferred book stores to toy stores.  The children’s librarian gave him a beautiful copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales to congratulate him for his love of books.  She also commended me for reading to him so often.  I was thankful to her, but felt I really didn’t deserve any credit.  After all, I was simply doing what I loved to do.

As an adult, my younger son has a published novel of his own, Riddle of Regicide.   He and his fiancée (who authored  Curse of the Moira) worked tirelessly to critique my novel.  Now, my entire family is working on a collaborative post-apoc novel.  We even got my 89 year old father in on the action.  You can read the book as it unfolds at The Event.  (The collab master has forbidden the participants from going to that site,  since we’re not allowed to know what the other collaborators are writing, so please don’t comment on that project here.)  I am so thankful that I have a family that loves stories!

I was blessed with a father and mother that read to me.  The resulting love of books has enhanced my relationships throughout my life.   Now I have come full circle.  My love for stories led me to write my own novel, Road to Tzoladia, and my love of books is about to be fulfilled in a new and exciting way.   I can’t wait for the shipment to arrive!

How have books enhanced your relationships?  I’d love to hear your stories.

The Story of Life

What is life if not an adventure story?   I was just at an excellent writer’s conference in which I attended a workshop about the structure of a story.   I could not help but think how closely a story resembles life.

Interestingly, I recently read three very different books for various reasons:  I read GK Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man because it had a great influence on C.S. Lewis; I read Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ The Great Partnership because it had great meaning to a friend; and I read Kathryn Craft’s The Far End of Happy looking for meaning after I attended her workshop on the structure of stories.    Who would have guessed that in all three of those books I would find the same thread woven between the pages: the importance of stories to human lives.

Chesterton discusses the importance of philosophy and mythology to mankind and finds the perfect marriage of philosophy and mythology in the story of Christ or what Chesterton calls the “philosophy of story.”  He recognizes the historical tension between priests and philosophers.  After all, Socrates was put to death in ancient Greece out of respect for the gods.    He describes the way in which Christianity differs from mythology because it is a vision, and from philosophy because it is not a pattern but a picture, not a process but a story.   All humans have a normal narrative instinct that fairy tales and myths were based on, but unlike fairy tales the story of Christ is true. Unlike philosophy, it is not just an abstract simplification with regular repetitions or processes that lead right back to the beginning.

The life of a man is not a philosophy but like the story of God it is an adventure story, which like all stories, must be told by somebody to somebody else.  Man has a target he is aiming for, but we have to wait until the end of the story to see if he hits it.  All stories have surprises which we can’t just figure out in the abstract.   As a result of free will, the question of how the story will turn out cannot be measured or quantified as a straight line or a curve because it all depends on how the characters decide to go on.   Life is “the tale, the test, the adventure, the ordeal of the free man.”

Chesterton believes that every story begins with creation and ends with a last judgment.   He sees Christianity as the unity of philosophy and story, the bridge between the longing of our souls for romance and for truth.   Man has the soul of a story.

Sacks believes faith is the story of a man with free will, lifted by God, who embarks on a journey, confident that it will lead to a destination.   For there is no story without meaning.  Like Chesterton he points out that the philosophy of Plato is abstract.  In the Hebrew Bible there is no abstract theory articulated, just stories.  Sacks sees reason as opposed to revelation in the same way that argument is opposed to narrative, since argument puts forth a verifiable case, but stories give meaning.  He describes humans as meaning making animals.   It is narrative that makes sense of the world, gives man intentionality and a sense of aiming at something.  Like Chesterton he discusses the ability to test an argument and the inability to test a story.

To be fair I must point out that Chesterton is extolling the unity of philosophy and stories, of argument and narrative, while Sacks suggests that since Jesus spoke Hebrew, a language of stories and the New Testament was written in Greek, the language of arguments, that this joining led to later problems between science and religion.  It is not my purpose to delve into where the two authors differ in opinion, but to focus on their agreement that our lives are given purpose because a God outside the universe created us with a calling that only we can answer and it is our choices that determine the end of our story.

In the workshop on story structure, Kathryn Craft taught that a plot is not the same as a story because a story must have meaning.  A story includes a premise, an incident, a character, stakes for failure, a crucible, a setting, complications, a dark moment, a climax and a resolution.  To me it sounded like what she was describing was life.   It made me consider what makes my life a story and not just a plot.

Sacks and Chesterton both believe that man is different from other animals because man asks “Why?”  Craft quoted from the book Wired for Story, by Lisa Cron, saying that storytelling was more important to humans than opposable thumbs.  In my notes from her workshop, I put a star by Craft’s statement that “people don’t change unless there is pressure to change, and a safe way to change our inner lives or outer lives is by telling a story.”   When I got home, I read Craft’s book, The Far End of Happy, and discovered that, in a gut wrenching moment near the end, the protagonist reaches out to her son by telling him a story.  It tied together all the loose ends of my recent reading.

Rabbi Sacks ends his book by doing the “Jewish thing” as he calls it and telling a story.   I would go one step further and say that in ending with a story he is reminding us of the thing that sets us all apart as human.  All our lives are a story, for our lives have meaning.   What story are you writing with your life?

 

Strings of Fear: Entitlement

“We all come into the world helpless, with a need for others.  If you survived infancy you did so because someone gave you a hand.  Children either react by feeling gratitude or feeling a sense of entitlement.  Those who feel gratitude create relationships of hope and trust.  Those who feel entitlement are happy only when they destroy the feelings of hope and trust in others.  As they steal hope, they leave behind only fear.”  These are the opening words of Jamal and Josh in the film they created for their class project on fear.   When I wrote those words in my screenplay, Strings of Fear, I was expressing thoughts that had formed and slowly percolated over the years.  Sometimes that’s how creativity works.

In the film Scott was an athlete.  His father is a “pillar of the community” who works in the mayors office.  In creating his character, I tried to portray all the thinking errors from Stanton Samenow’s studies, but I also gave him a role of entitlement  that I had seen in my real cases.

As a prosecutor of juveniles for years, I handled thousands of cases.    Between the masses of forgettable cases and the few imprinted in my memory for ever, I formed my ideas.  Just like the forces of society combine with the actions of a few great men to change history, likewise these cases worked together to change my outlook.

One of the earliest cases that grabbed hold of my imagination, was a case in which a high school boy happened to walk through a lonely stair well on his way to class, when he was grabbed from behind, thrown to the ground and beaten by a group of students.  He curled up in a ball on the floor, in a fetal position, trying to protect his face.  There he was repeatedly punched and kicked.  He did not get a look at the boys who beat him although he did remember one boy was wearing boots.  They left him lying on the floor, bruised and bleeding.  He suffered physically for days even weeks.  Emotionally, he was shaken and afraid.  Still worse, the story of his beating spread throughout the school, causing him to feel embarrassment and even shame.  He had not tried to defend himself.  After all, there were too many of them and they took him by surprise.  But he could not help wondering what he had done to be treated like this, whether it might happen again, and whether he should have reacted differently.  He didn’t want to go to school any more.  He wished he was invisible.

I would never have met this victim, if it had not been for another student in the school.  That student had happened to step into the top of the stairwell just as the three boys jumped the victim.  He saw the whole thing.  He did not know the victim, but he knew he had seen the perpetrators before.  Silently, he took a good look at them.  Then he left.  Although he did not interfere or try and fight off the perpetrators, he did go straight to the office to report what he had just seen.  He was unable to give the names, but he knew they were student athletes and would recognize them if he saw them again.  The assistant principal took him to a trophy display that showed the pictures of some of the school’s best athletes.  The witness picked them out right away.  He was absolutely sure.

The student athletes were called down to the office and denied their involvement.  The victim had no idea who had done this to him.  So it was the one boy’s word against the three of them.   We received a call from the victim’s mother, complaining that her son had been assaulted and nothing had been done.  I decided to look into it.   Eventually, I learned from another teacher that not only was there a student witness, but the lead bully, who was a star athlete, had confessed to his coach.  The coach had not informed the administration.  In fact, he refused to cooperate with the investigation.  Eventually, I had to subpoena him, and then the truth came out.   He had been protecting his athletes.  The more people I spoke with, the more I learned that these boys had a reputation for doing whatever they wanted in the school and getting away with it.

The three boys were arrested and refused to plea.  They wanted to take it to trial.   Before the trial, the mother of the witness called me, very worried for her son’s safety.   When I spoke with the boy, he said he wanted to testify.  When he took the witness stand, he testified with quiet confidence.  I wanted to establish that he did not have an axe to grind against the boys charged nor was he friends with the victim.  I asked him their relationship with them and he said he had none.  Then I asked him, “Why did you report this to the school administration?”  I had not told him I would be asking this question and I didn’t know what his answer would be.  I was confident that it would not be about any bad motivation.  He looked me right in the eye and answered, “Because it was the right thing to do.”  I don’t know why the answer was so memorable.  It was a simple truth, yet it was profound.

Incidentally, the victim and his mother kept wanting me to ask the defendants why they beat him up.  After they were convicted and placed on probation, I asked them.  Their answer was that the victim had just come along at the wrong time.  They were looking for someone to beat up, for fun, and he happened along.  When I relayed the answer to the victim, I could tell that it did not give him the closure he was looking for.  But, it was what it was.

Long before I wrote the screenplay for Strings of Fear, that case was the impetus for change.  At that time, my state had a basic school crime reporting law.   I had been put in charge of trying to enforce it statewide.   In discussions with a compassionate legislator who was concerned with student safety, we began to focus on the need to revise it, strengthen it, enforce it and educate the public about it.  The idea was that when certain crimes were committed in school, school officials should not be able to sweep it under the rug based on who the kids were.  It should not be about favoritism.

Around that time, I was speaking with an assistant principal who willingly expressed to me his concern that he had caught a kid in his school with drugs, something that the law required the principal to report to the police, but that the boy was a son of a woman legislator, who came into the school and yelled at the principal until he capitulated and agreed not to report the boy.  It had happened several years earlier, and the assistant principal was just letting me know the type of favoritism that went on.

So we went about improving our state’s mandatory school crime reporting laws to prevent such injustice.  The idea was that if a student committed certain crimes, those crimes should be reported to the police regardless of whether the kid was an athlete, the son of a politician or the child of a homeless person.  It was the crime being reported, not the person.  The police should be informed as a result of the behavior in that incident alone. The emphasis was on protecting the victims.   Once the police got the report from the school, they would often call me and explain extenuating circumstances, (yes the kid brought a knife, but he brought it in his lunch bag to peel an orange,)  and then I would make a decision based on those circumstances, but it was never based on anything beyond the behavior and the circumstances surrounding that behavior.

Years later I was shocked and dismayed to hear accusations that school crime reporting laws had been created to exclude minorities from school.  I can only speak for the motivation behind the mandatory reporting law that I wrote, but it was to prevent prejudicial decisions, not to encourage them.  The current theory that such laws were based on the war on drugs, could be true in some places.  I cannot speak to what they were based on nationally.   I know that any political war on drugs had absolutely nothing to do with the mandatory law that I drafted.    The need to enhance and enforce the law was evident to me from cases I handled in which crimes were not reported to the police because of favoritism granted the perpetrator, which ignored the plight of the victim.

It is completely illogical to call a mandatory reporting law prejudicial.  A mandatory reporting law requires that crimes be reported regardless of the race, religion, sex, economic status, athleticism or charming personality of the perpetrator.  In fact, I find it interesting that buried in this article about how minority children are more likely to be arrested in schools is the following statement:

“The data show that schools that maintain “zero-tolerance” policies are actually less racist in meting out punishment than more free-wheeling systems. That’s because the more rigid disciplinary school regimes give teachers and administrators less discretion for lenience to white kids that misbehave.”

The truth of this statement is intuitively obvious.   Certainly there are schools who fail to enforce the law, or who enforce it unfairly.  But the fact remains, that when a prejudicial arrest occurs, it is because the mandatory law has not been followed, not because it has.

Along with mandatory laws, SROs (School Resource Officers) have been vilified.  An excellent report on the role of SROs in the schools can be found here.   Bernie James, Professor of Law at Pepperdine University has been one of the few people willing to speak out in defense of the School Resource Officers and their roles to protect victims within the school, but also to educate.

Years after I started working with the schools and SROs to make sure that students knew and understood what actions in school would lead to their arrests, I learned that the mandatory laws were under attack.  In 2001, Bernardine Dohrn and Williams Ayers had written a book entitled:  Zero Tolerance: Resisting the Drive for Punishment in Our Schools :A Handbook for Parents, Students, Educators, and Citizens.   This book began the public backlash against mandatory laws.

Periodically attendance at certain conferences was mandatory in my job.  One such conference was one in which the topic was mandatory reporting laws and the school to prison pipeline.  I read the description and realized that the workshop was being given to support the popular opinion that mandatory reporting  laws were written to promote prejudice, and it would be directed specifically at the law that I had written.   I was in a new administration.  I informed my supervisor of my dilemma, and told him that if I went, I would not sit quietly and listen, but I would speak the truth.  He checked with his superiors and I was told that I was released from the mandatory requirements and it would be better if I did not attend the conference but stayed back at the office and worked.  It was clear that in discussing the law, they were not interested in hearing from the person who had written it.   I didn’t go.  Perhaps this shows that I had less courage than some of my young witnesses.

Going back to when the amended law had been passed, we not only amended the school crime reporting law, but we also instituted education programs.  The idea was that if kids were going to be arrested for committing certain crimes in school, the least we could do was to thoroughly educate them as to which crimes they would be arrested for.   We began presenting assemblies in schools that included skits to clearly portray the elements of these crimes.  One of the first skits I included was a reenactment of the assault in the stairwell, along with the lesson of the witness who acted because it was “the right thing to do.”

This becomes one of the themes of the movie, of mobilizing bystanders to do the decent thing.  Without giving any spoilers, this young witness’ words are echoed in the final scene of the movie Strings of Fear.  Throughout the movie, a major theme is the attitude of entitlement of Scott, the bully.

The tragic results of a culture of entitlement can be seen in Aaron Hernandez.   New research has revealed the inverse relationship between gratitude and entitlement that my young filmmakers Josh and Jamal discuss in their film.   Entitlement thrives in an environment of secrecy and favoritism.    How then do we promote an attitude of gratitude?

Strings of Fear: Social Contagion

In college, I took a course entitled, “Political Reality in Film.”   The professor’s use of memorable films was a wonderful, creative approach.   One of the films we watched was called “The Incident.”  It was the film debut of Martin Sheen as a young hoodlum.  In the chilling film, two thugs terrorize a subway train full of people one at a time while the others watch.  It is a great study of social contagion.   Sadly, it portrays, to some degree,  what hundreds of children across the nation must suffer every day on school buses which they are forced to ride on their way to and from school.

For the bus scene in the movie Strings of Fear, I combined two real incidents into one.  For one, I actually had the real video from the school bus and reviewed it to tell the actors what to do.   Incidentally, two of the perpetrators in the real incident were arrested for murder after they grew up.   Incidentally, Olweus’ research has shown that school bullies grow up to be major recidivist criminals at a higher rate than other children.

In the first model bus incident, I believe the provocative victim was picked on because the bullies knew he would react in a big way, and they enjoyed the drama and attention.   For them it was entertainment.  Leading up to the incident, kids were crawling over the seats and jumping all around.  Several boys can be seen planning it in the back.  Then one boy tries to take the victim’s backpack but can’t get it away from him.  The victim begins screaming threats and almost the whole bus is taunting him.  Then a tall boy walks to the front and wrenches the backpack from the victim’s hands.  He was charged with a strong arm Robbery.  Another boy punches the victim on his arm.  Most of the other kids, including the one who yelled out “Aw, he wants his Mommy,” were charged with Harassment and Conspiracy.   Some were charged with receiving stolen property for keeping the CDs.  The parents of the kids charged were up in arms against the State until they watched the videotape and saw their children’s behavior.

Everyone wanted to know why the bus driver didn’t do anything.  On the tape, one boy looks directly at the video camera and asks, “Do you think that thing is on?”  To which another responds “No.”  At the end of the incident, a 13 year old boy walks up and down the bus aisle pointing to each and every kid sitting in their seats and reminds each one, “You didn’t see anything.”   In response, the frightened bystanders just shake their heads in silent agreement.   Just like the people in the film, The Incident,  they were probably afraid they’d be next if they spoke up.  It’s all on tape.   Years later, at 26, that 13 year old boy participated in the murder of several bystanders in a shooting incident.  He’s now in prison.

The other incident that I combined with this one for the scene in the film involved a passive victim.  The middle school boy would sit on the bus and do his homework while the high school kids on the bus would grab his pencils, break them and taunt him.  They bullied him almost every day the whole school year.   He tried his best to ignore them.  Finally, a group of the same kids got together, they borrowed handcuffs from another kid and dragged the victim out of his seat, then handcuffed him in the aisle.  Next, they took a screwdriver and a lighter, heated up the screwdriver and then held it to his neck to burn him.  It hurt like crazy and left a visible scar.  When he got home, his mother noticed the scar and that is when he told her everything that had been going on.

At the sentencing of the lead perpetrator, I will never forget what the victim’s father said.  The victim and his parents were in the Courtroom and the Judge asked if they had anything to say.  As victims this is their right.  The boy’s father had told me that he would like to speak.  I advised him that it was best to try to stick to the effect the incident had on his son and family.   But, I didn’t know exactly what he planned to say.

When given the opportunity by the Court, the boy’s father politely stood and said, “I would just like to say how proud I am of my son.  He endured being treating like this all year.  Yet, he went to school every day, he never retaliated and not only that but he was able to achieve A’s in all his classes.  Every single day he was tormented but he just kept doing what he knew was right.  I am sorry we did not know what was going on and that he had to go through this.  But, I just want him to know how proud I am of him.”

I had to fight to keep the tears from welling up in my eyes.   I never heard such a wonderful and empowering speech from a victim’s parents.   This father focused only on the good and praised his son.

I had occasion, several years later to see the lead defendant when he came to Court for minor charges.   After he took a plea in that case, I took a moment to ask him why he had bullied and burned the boy on the bus years ago.    I asked him if he had thought of the kid as worthless.  He said, “No way.  Just the opposite.  He was more than me, more than any of us.  He was going places.  We just did it to entertain everyone.”

In both cases, the perpetrators and those who joined in were cruelly using another human being for their own entertainment.  The bystanders and the bus driver did nothing to help the target.  They all remained silent or joined in the cruelty.

Cases like these made me wonder.  Statistics show that 80% of the kids in a school are not targets or bullies in incidents like these, but are bystanders.   If these bystanders knew how badly the bully was harming the victim and were confronted with their own inaction or complicity, how would they react?  If they could see themselves, what would they think?  Would they empathize with the target, try to get help for the target, or even become defenders?

Recent research shows that only a few kids, usually those who are very young when they begin their criminal behavior, are likely to be criminals for the long term.  Most of the other teenage criminals are just following them.

How do we stop the social contagion, or get it to work for our benefit?  How do we get the bystanders to do the decent thing?   What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strings of Fear: Bystander Heroes

Reports of bullying are everywhere now.  Efforts to raise public awareness have been very successful!  Yet there is a down side to this in that people throw the word “bullying” around indiscriminately at times calling any single incident of name calling or mutual fighting “bullying”.   Even worse, many incidents of bullying actually contain all the elements of serious crimes, but are simply labelled bullying so the police are not informed.   These include felonies such as Robbery or Extortion.

The movie Strings of Fear includes several scenes which were based on real felonies in schools.  One of the most poignant cases I ever had was an Extortion case.  In this case the school and police had done an excellent job of  identifying the crime, but when the victim appeared in the waiting area of the Court he was unable to answer the basic questions that I asked him about the facts of the case.   He was a nice looking, tall, slim high school student with a shy demeanor.    He hesitated before answering, then gave short answers punctuated with much stuttering.   Eventually, I was able to painfully extract from him the following facts: on the day charged, the defendant, who was not his friend, had walked up to him without saying a word and put out his hand and the victim had handed him all his money.   No verbal or physical threats had been made.   With just those facts, the State didn’t have a case.

But, it didn’t add up.  Why would a student give another boy his money, just because that boy put out his hand?  Based on my experience with bullying cases, I knew there had to be a history and a pattern, but at this point the victim had clammed up and would not talk with me at all.

Luckily, there was a witness.   What an impressive young man!  He did not know the victim, but he had seen the defendant and his henchmen approach the victim that day and on other occasions.   After noticing the most recent transaction, he spoke with the victim, learned that they had been extorting money from him all school year, and advised the victim that he needed to tell somebody.  The victim was afraid to tell.   He absolutely refused.  That is when this amazing witness, who did not even know the victim, told the victim that something had to be done, that he could not just keep giving his money to these guys.  He said he would go with the victim to the assistant principal and help him explain what was happening!  This kid was more than willing to testify if needed.   He just knew what was happening was wrong, and he wanted to see the right thing done.   It’s kids like him that make me hopeful for the future of our youth!

In addition, the parents of the victim had told me that there was a counselor at school with whom the victim was comfortable that might be able to help him open up and talk.  I called that counselor and he left school immediately and came right over.  With the skillful help of this caring and compassionate counselor, the victim was soon able to answer my questions with a minimal amount of stuttering.   By asking the right questions, centering on what had happened in the past which led up to the incident, I learned that the bully and his henchmen had approached the victim at the beginning of the school year, grabbed him and threatened to beat him up if he didn’t give them all his money.  After that, the bullies approached him every day, but the threats became less blatant and finally were completely unspoken.  The victim was terrified and continued to supply them with money, out of fear.

These facts supplied all the necessary elements of the crime.  The Defendant took a plea.  If that witness had not stepped up and not only offered to help the victim, but physically gone with him to the office, the extortion would not have been stopped.   The bystander didn’t have to get involved.  He could have looked the other way and minded his own business. But, he didn’t.    Just like the Danish people who helped the Jews in the Holocaust, he was simply doing the decent thing.  But to me, he was a hero!

The extortion scene in the film, Strings of Fear, takes place in the cafeteria when the bully and his henchmen threaten to beat up Josh if he doesn’t give them his money.    To see how the witness in the movie reacts without watching the entire film, watch the IMDb clip.   This scene portrays a typical extortion, but threats to reveal embarrassing information if the person doesn’t deliver property also qualify as extortion.  The key is the instilling of fear in the victim.

Do you have real stories of bystanders who became heroes?  I’d love to hear them.

Strings of Fear: Sexual Bullying

As an author and screenplay writer I am sometimes unaware of how much of me and the events of my life go into my writing, until I reflect on it later.  Therefore, it is fascinating to hear interviews where famous people tell about the pieces of their own lives that go into their work.   One of my favorite directors, Steven Spielberg gave a revealing interview where he explained that some scenes in ET were based on his family and his parent’s divorce.

In Strings of Fear most of the isolated scenes are based on real cases that I handled in Court, but the characters are completely fictional and many of the scenes are conglomerations or variations of actual events.

One of the most controversial incidents in the movie was the one in which Scott claims to the principal that Dan was caught masturbating in the bathroom.  Later, Casey shows what purports to be a photo of Dan in the bathroom to another cheerleader who proclaims that it is “Nasty!”  The picture cannot be seen, but one can surmise that it would have had to have been photo-shopped.  I’ll leave it at that, so as not to provide any spoilers.

The real case that gave me the idea for this story line was one in which a boy had been charged with assault for knocking out another boy in the hallway outside class.  My victim was a very sympathetic teenager, I’ll call Dan.  In middle school, another boy had started the rumor that a teacher had caught Dan masturbating in the bathroom.  The rumor was totally untrue, but it spread like a virus through the entire school making Dan’s life miserable.  Everywhere he turned, people taunted him as “Master Bates.”  He was a shy, slight, and studious teenager, and the bullying caused him excruciating emotional pain.   This went on for years.  Finally, Dan was in a high school class with several of his tormenters, who retold the rumor in lurid detail and would not stop, even when he begged them.  When class was dismissed, the bully approached Dan in the hall, still mocking him.  Dan did something totally uncharacteristic:  he took a swing at the bully.  The bully easily dodged the awkward punch and then clocked Dan in the jaw, knocking him to the ground unconscious.   Dan ended up in the emergency room and the bully was charged with assault.

I lost the trial.  The bully pled self-defense and because Dan had struck first and the bully only punched once, the Judge found the bully not guilty.  Now, I have since won other similar cases by arguing that one cannot provoke an incident and then plea self-defense, but the Judge did not buy that argument in this trial.  I felt horrible having to tell the victim and his father that we had lost, knowing that this might add fuel to the fire and the rumors and bullying might now intensify.  To this day, I can still see that boy’s face as I told him the news.  The only consolation I could offer them was to educate them that we could have harassment charges filed against the bully if the taunting continued.  I wished that someone had told them that before Dan had reacted in anger by trying to punch the bully.

Things could have turned out much worse.   Years later, there are news reports of teenagers having committed suicide when faced with similar bullying.  How many more have suffered silently?

The other real life incident, was one in which a teenage boy with intellectual disabilities had pulled down his own pants in the bathroom to urinate.   Another boy snapped a photo of this, had the film developed (this was a few years back), and then made copies that he put up on the walls and distributed all over the school.  It was a cruel act.  I can only  imagine the humiliation the poor target must have experienced.  The perpetrator was arrested for criminally violating Privacy.   That incident gave me the idea to have Scott disseminate photo-shopped pictures of Dan.  For the movie, I updated the method to fit 2006 technology and demonstrate cyberbullying.  Today the photo would be texted and spread much more rapidly.

When I gave speeches in schools, after explaining the types of bullying,  I would typically ask the audience of students which type of bullying they found the most devastating: Physical, Verbal, Emotional, Cyber or Sexual.   I gave hundreds of presentations across the country and every single time the votes were overwhelming: sexual bullying was the worst!   I felt it was important to include this theme in Strings of Fear, without showing anything sexual, even if it meant  the film would not be appropriate for the youngest of viewers.

The incident I have just described came from my work life but not from my personal life.  The example I used about Spielberg related to his personal life, so it is only fair that I share one of my own.

One of the scenes in my movie was loosely based on an incident that I witnessed in middle school that is permanently etched in my memory.   It was terrifying!  I was at my locker, with my friend Karin.  An overweight African American girl, (in a predominately white school), wearing flowered cotton elastic banded pants was walking down the hall carrying her books.  From behind her, several of the “popular boys” appeared suddenly, and one, with tousled blonde hair and a mischievous grin, ran up behind her and pulled down her pants in one quick jerk, leaving them hanging around her ankles.  The girl’s chunky legs and grandmotherly panties were exposed for the world to see.   The flustered target reached down and pulled up her pants, but not quickly enough.  The hallway erupted in laughter and taunts.  I froze, terrified.  The boy who did it thought he was a star.  My friend, without missing a beat, shoved her books into my hands and went to the aid of the tearful girl.  I lost all respect for the bully, found a deep and lasting respect for my friend and felt shame for freezing instead of helping the girl myself.   That one incident summed up what I later researched, performed and taught:  bystanders make all the difference.   Bystanders can choose to provide the bully with the attention and power they are looking for or they can provide compassion to the target.  With training and practice, bystanders can learn how to react in an instant with compassion.

The book, A Conspiracy of Decency, tells the story of the Danish people aiding the Jews during the Holocaust in World War II.  These people acted with extreme courage but when interviewed they claimed that they had just done the decent thing.  They were people who practiced small acts of compassion and kindness every day of their lives, so when the Holocaust came along they reacted with decency in spite of the danger.   Listen closely and you will hear this lesson being taught by a teacher in Strings of Fear during the scene in which she assigns the “fear projects.”

Do you have a story about witnessing bullying and reacting with compassion or a time when you saw someone else do this?  I’d love to hear about it here.