E.B. Roshan's Blog: This, That and the Other, page 20

Opposites Attract

English is a language of eccentricities. For example, “to cleave” means “to split,” but it can also mean “to cling to.” For more words that are their own antonyms, check out: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/25-words-that-are-their-own-opposites?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Book Spotlight: Before the Foundation of the World by Susan Weiner

I expected to be impressed with this book of poetry, but after reading it, I was even more impressed. The author expresses her deep love for God through heartfelt, vivid verses and beautiful decorations/illuminations across each spread. I received an e-book to review, but after seeing it, I’d say, if you’ve got the cash, fork out the little extra and buy the print edition. The poetry is full of love and beauty, reminiscent of great faith-based poets of the past like Hopkins. I happily give this book a full five stars—and that’s rare. Check it out here on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1947860453/ref=x_gr_w_bb_glide_sin?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb_glide_sin-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1947860453&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

New Release

Love Costs, the third book in the Shards of Sevia series, released today. It’s a satisfying moment. In just over a year, I’ve written, edited and created covers for three short novels. My series is halfway through; time to sit back and take a breath. But, as always, with the feeling of satisfaction comes uncertainty. Is my story really any good? What if it falls completely flat this time? Even if it is good, will it ever be read by more than a handful of people?

Oh, never mind. Enough with the anxious twittering. Love Costs was fun to write (mostly) and now it’s fun to share. After all, you can hardly go wrong with the classic formula–an ordinary, somewhat boring guy makes a choice that thrusts him into an extraordinary adventure…

Check it out here: https://books2read.com/u/m0wxBA

Sneak Preview

Love Costs, the third book in the Shards of Sevia series, releases November 11th! Today I’d like to share an excerpt from Chapter One…

“Erkan,” called a woman’s voice. “Erkan, where are you?”

The sound brought Radoslav back to the present. Someone was hurrying up the sidewalk toward the building. As his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, the bright blur solidified into a young woman with wide-set eyes and a nose that turned up at the tip. Pale skin showed through the holes in her stylish jeans. She stopped, plucked the end of a cigarette from between her lips, tossed it to the ground and put her foot on it. She was not beautiful, but he wanted to keep looking at her because her face held a brightness he hadn’t seen in months.When she saw him, she stopped. “What are you doing here?” She sounded more curious than upset.
Radoslav tugged the lanyard that carried his official International Peacekeeping Force Interpreter badge. “I’m here with the evacuation team. Making sure everybody gets out and gets a ride to the camp.” He started slowly down the steps.
“Oh. Right.” She didn’t move.
The door opened behind him. Taylor, Andrews and the man with the baby came out.”I couldn’t find him,” said the woman, the corners of her mouth turning down. “He’s probably up a tree or hiding in someone’s basement somewhere.”
“That’s a shame,” said the man with the burned face, who must be Erkan. Maybe he was her husband, and the blue bundle was their baby. As happy a little family as anyone could hope to find in Pasha district these days.
Ignoring the soldiers, the woman pointed down the alley between their apartment block and the next one. “I’m going to look around the back for a minute.”
“No,” Erkan said. “We should already be on the way to catch our ride. These guys are just here to round up the stragglers.”
She sighed. “Coco’s so spoiled he’ll never survive on the street. Just one minute—”

“Seriously, Dunya, you’re acting like a little kid. We need to go.”
“I know,” she said, pulling another cigarette out of her back pocket and lighting it. She took a long puff, sniffed, and wiped her eyes. “I’m getting it all out of my system before we get to the camp.”
“I’m sorry about all this,” said Radoslav softly in Tur. “I wish…”

The young woman, Dunya, looked up at him, her eyes widening in surprise.
He spread his hands. “I’d do anything. I’d give my life to make things right again for…” He paused. He was going to say, “For your people,” but because he was looking at her, it came out, “For you.” The tightness in his throat made his whole body ache. He couldn’t repair blasted buildings, or bring dead people back to life, or even make it so this woman and her family wouldn’t have to leave their home, but maybe he could do something to ease their pain a little.
Dunya studied his face, her head on one side. “Anything?” She tucked strands of pink-streaked blonde hair behind her ears. “Then find my cat.”
Radoslav couldn’t help smiling. “All right, I will. At least I’ll try.”
Her eyebrows shot up. She stood silent for a moment, staring at him. “You do that. And by the way, I can speak Sev perfectly well.” Slipping by him, she ran up to Erkan at the top of the steps and took the baby. As she tugged at the folds of the blanket a small red face appeared. “Good thing I came back,” she said, clicking her tongue. “You were going to smother him.”
“He was fine.”
“Look at his poor little sweaty face. And don’t forget our suitcases!”
“Oh, right.” Erkan sighed.
“Does Coco answer to his name?” Radoslav asked, but Dunya didn’t seem to hear him. “I’ll find him for you,” he added louder, but she kept striding down the sidewalk, the baby cuddled to her chest.
Erkan followed more slowly, his arms dragged down by the overstuffed suitcases.

Tattoos

In Love Costs, Dunya’s older brother, Erkan, is a tattoo artist. In Tur culture, men’s tattoos aren’t just decoration. They have great cultural and historical significance, and Erkan’s skill brings him a great deal of respect. Dunya herself enjoys experimenting with the art form as well, but as a woman she is not allowed to learn or apply traditional tattoos—so she creates some of her own.

While the Tur people of Sevia are, of course, fictional, the idea of a person’s tattoos reflecting their history, status and family background was inspired by real-world cultures, including the Maori of New Zealand and the Ainu of Japan, whose practice of the creative (and often quite painful) art of tattooing goes far beyond creating an interesting design.

Random Writing Tip #7: The End

While the beginning of a story is important–problems to solve, challenges to overcome, interesting characters to meet–the way you decide to end your story is even more important. Judging by the many stories that are begun but never finished, it is also much more difficult.

The ending of a story usually contains the climax, which is the most exciting and important part of the story, the point that everything previous has been building to. It also holds the resolution, where loose threads of the story are tied up, characters are allowed to sit back and breathe for a moment, and we say goodbye to the world of the story.

If you’ve planned your story properly, everything that came before has been building to your ending. That doesn’t mean your ending shouldn’t be predictable, but at the same time, it shouldn’t seem to come out of nowhere. If you leave your readers with a sense of inevitability, a sense that “of course things had to happend that way,” you have a good ending.

1700’s Slang

Check out this article for some slang words from America’s Colonial era that might be worthy of a revival.

Coming November 11: Love Costs

She’s Tur. He’s Sevian. She’s stuck in a refugee camp. He’s working for the people who put her there. With three years of war and a fifteen-foot fence between them, they aren’t likely to see each other again, let alone find happiness together. But Radoslav can’t get the girl with the pink hair–or her missing cat–out of his mind.

What Inspires You to Write?

Today, I’m delighted to share what R.M. Archer (rmarcher.com) said about why she writes. Don’t forget to check out her fine website!

“Well… that’s been a journey. Originally it was just for fun. I loved stories, and I wanted to make my own. I wanted to explore worlds and different scenarios and lives different from my own, so I did. It took me… kind of an embarrassingly long time, I think, to start really connecting my writing with my faith. I acknowledged it as a God-given calling, but I didn’t really involve Him in the process in any way; I was still really just writing for fun.

And then at some point I started being more aware of the power fiction has to convey themes and to promote values and whatnot, and I realized how important stories about genuine struggles can be, and I started writing more intentionally. Which still wasn’t especially deep at first, but then I finally discovered the stories I really want to tell, some that feature broken characters and explore human nature and reveal grace and forgiveness, as well as stories that show the importance of community and characters who are more mature in their desire to do good and that are a lot lighter than those other stories.

At this point, I write because fiction is powerful and I think that God has called me to use this art form to make an impact and to add more Christian perspective to YA fiction, in particular, and to encourage people to think about things differently. (All of which is in His power, not mine.) And I also find that I come to understand God’s nature in new and deeper ways through the process of writing, and as I reflect His creativity I come to see tiny glimpses of His perspective, in a way. So… yeah. It’s been a journey, and I think it will continue to be.”

Book Spotlight: The Last Roll by I.X. Pater

The Last Roll is a humorous and entertaining blend of speculative fiction and family drama, with a mouthwatering homage to the art of sushi thrown in. While a little editing/spellchecking is in order, I decided to give the story four stars anyway, because it’s so unexpected and creative. Despite the title, I hope that Hiro has not, in fact, rolled his last roll…

Check it out here today.