Alan W. Harris's Blog, page 13

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

I was blessed with a very active imagination. The first twenty or so years of my life, I thought my imagination was a curse. I seemed to be always using it instead of concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing. (Does any of that sound familiar to some of you parents?)

My job as a veterinarian requires that I focus my attention on science, medicine, physiology . . . all that unexciting stuff (in some people’s opinion), for hours at a time, day after day. After a while my suppressed imagination can’t take it anymore, and it has to do something. I may take a walk in the woods, go to the River Walk in Columbia, SC, or just squat down next to an interesting root or plant or patch of moss and watch the insects moving around.

If the weather is not accommodating or if I don’t have time for a hike, I may pace back and forth in my room and free my imagination to travel the world of nature in my mind as a Larkin-sized explorer. It doesn’t take long before I’m in my own little world fighting spiders, finding a food source in a vine-draped tree, or trying to rescue an imaginary comrade in need.

I’m not able to do that as often as I did when I was younger, but it’s still fun. Occasionally when I do that, some interesting idea will come to me. If I think the idea has merit, I will do some research on it. When my research leads to encouraging results, I file the idea away and look for an opportunity to use it in a story.

Sometimes I will get what I think is a particularly good idea only to find out, when I look deeper into it, that the idea will not work in real life. On those occasions when the impossible idea is one that I especially like, as the author I will use creative license and put the idea in the story anyway. (It’s my story, so I get to make the rules.) A couple of examples of my “bending” the laws of nature so I could use an idea I liked was in the first book, Hawthorn’s Discovery, when I put in the light sticks that the Makerians used to see in the dark and also when I included the Makerian flying machines called the “whirly bugs.” Scientifically, I can’t justify either of those two things, but it sure makes the story more fun.

May God’s richest blessings be on each of you,

Alan Harris

Where Do You Get Your Ideas? is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

“Why Don’t You Ever Talk About What The Larkin Do In The Winter?”

I don’t know if any of you have noticed, but I have seldom written about how the Larkin live in the winter. I did talk about Larkin and his father Ramus spending the winter with their giant friends in the second book, Larkin’s Journal. But they spent the whole winter living in the giants’ house.

I think the main reason I’ve been reluctant to talk about the Larkin in the winter is because I’m not sure how they would handle the snow. Water wouldn’t be a problem, because they could melt the snow. They wouldn’t be able to travel very well in the snow, so they would have to lay up their food for the winter like the forest creatures.

If they did need to travel through the snow, tunneling would only work for short distances, because it would be so much work. I think that they would have to cut steps in the snow to reach the surface and then use snowshoe or ski-like devices of their own construction to travel around. They could sled down hills on leaves or smooth bark.

Now that I think about it, being one inch tall and having to travel any distance in several inches of snow would be a lot of trouble. Even scaling the trees with their climbers and traveling along the limbs would be hard because there might be snow on the top edges of the limbs or packed snow or ice on the limbs, making them treacherous.

It seems to me that the safest place for a Larkin to be in the winter is in his stronghold making arrows, sewing clothing, and planning next season’s mooflon hunts. There’s not much adventure in that, but with all the exciting things that happen to them, they need to rest sometime. Come to think of it, curling up in your nice warm stronghold with a bowl of stew, a hot mug of nectar, and a loaf of fresh-baked seed bread sounds pretty good right now.

Thanks for reading, and may God’s richest blessings be on all of you.

Alan

“Why Don’t You Ever Talk About What The Larkin Do In The Winter?” is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

A Special Post from Guest Blogger Valerie Harris, My Wonderful Wife.

               I just e-mailed my husband, whose e-mail name is “larkinwriter.”  I type in “lark,” and his name automatically pops up.  It struck me as I typed “l-a-r-k” that, when I married Alan W. Harris thirty-seven plus years ago, I had no clue what a “lark” our marriage would be.  I certainly had no clue than that he would be a writer.  In fact, after typing some of his college papers, I was pretty certain that “writer” would never be on his resume!

But I am so thankful that artistic side of his character has blossomed.  We’ve homeschooled for the past twenty-three years, and we have done many things to instill in our children the values that we believe it is essential that they carry throughout this life in order to make it into the next one.  We have taught our children in many locations and at all possible times of the day and with very many curriculum choices.  We have spent endless hours reading aloud and playing games together.  We have stretched our imaginations to the max to try to bond together six very divergent personalities that span twenty years.  But the one thing that has done more to bind us together as a family in a shared experience, to bond over common events and trials, is my husband’s writing and reading of the Larkin stories.  He reads each chapter to the family with all his entertaining and full-of-personality voice characterizations.  In fact, when the first book was printed, although it was a great-looking book, I was a little sad.  I knew that the people who opened those pages were going to hear voices in their heads that were not accurate depictions of the voices of the characters.  Rush and Tobin and Hawthorn and Jay and everyone had a special voice, and one wouldn’t hear them by turning the pages of a book.  That’s when I asked my husband to record the audio books.  I said, “But, honey, they won’t know what they really sound like!”

If you’ve read the Larkin books, you know how much fun you’ve had.  I challenge you to try the audio books for a whole new perspective on the characters and a whole new level of fun.  We’re working hard to have them ready for audio download.  Instead of that long, boring drive on your commute or to go to ball practices or lessons or to visit relatives, load up on a Larkin audio book and be amazed at how the hours fly by!  We had one family with nine children who had twelve hours to travel say that they almost drove past their destination because they were in an exciting part of the book and didn’t want to stop!  The next year, they went to great lengths to be sure they had an audio copy of the new book before they travelled.  Enjoying the Larkin Tales together has become a part of their family vacations memories, which are topped off by quoting their favorite characters and most memorable lines back and forth to each other. That, my friends, means a good time is to be had by tuning in to Dr. Harris’ world of Larkin.  It may be a small world, but it is great big fun!

A Special Post from Guest Blogger Valerie Harris, My Wonderful Wife. is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

Lessons From God in My Stories

I don’t mean to offend any of you faithful fans of the Tales of Larkin stories, but while I am delighted that you enjoy my stories, I actually write them for my own children. This is a way to use my creativity to connect with my own kids and to not only give them something that they will enjoy but also to use the tales to influence their lives in godly ways.

One of the lessons that I wanted to teach my children was how a true follower of Jesus faces the end of their life. I used the character Turk in the first book, Hawthorn’s Discovery, to show that someone who has the mind of Christ would be willing to give up his life for those in need. You probably also remember that, as Turk was dying, his great concern was not for himself but for his friend Hawthorn, because Hawthorn was not a believer.

In the second book, Larkin’s Journal, I was able to strengthen that lesson as Ramus faced the end of his life. It’s right here that I need to make a confession. Sometimes I don’t really understand what God wants to do with the story, and I occasionally miss His promptings as I get caught up in telling the story in my head. As I originally wrote the story, I came to a place where I had planned for Ramus to die. When I read that part to my children, they burst into tears. They were so upset that I had to agree to rewrite that chapter. So instead of letting Ramus die then, he was just severely injured. He was only “mostly dead,” as they say in the Princess Bride movie.

I spent the next three chapters trying to let my kids get used to the idea of Ramus being “all dead.” That’s when God stepped in. As I strung out Ramus’ character over those next three chapters, he came to faith in King Jehesus. When his character eventually did die, it was a victorious event. Ramus had learned to love King Jehesus, and he longed to be in His presence. I believe Ramus’ phrase was, “I’m starving for it!” When I read that part to the kids, they shed a tear for Ramus, but there were no protests. They were proud of him, and they were excited for him to get to be with Jehesus.

I appreciate so much when God steps in to readjust my writing. It lets me know that He’s overseeing the work and that He’s doing His part to keep me on track. Now if I would just listen to Him all the time, this whole writing thing would go much better.

Thanks for reading,

Alan Harris

Lessons From God in My Stories is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

How Do You Deal With Writer’s Block?

Because I have a full time job as a veterinarian, business owner, husband, and a homeschooling father, I determined years ago that if I was going to write, I was going to try to not let it interfere with my time with my family or my veterinary business. That means that my writing time is either late in the evenings or on a day off, and is inconsistent. So when I do find the time to sit down to write, it’s occasionally difficult to turn on the creative juices.

If I’m at a place in writing the story where I really don’t know what to write next, I will do one of several things.

Since I want my writing to honor and glorify God I pray about what I’m going to write. If I’m dealing with writer’s block one of the first things I will do is ask the Lord to give me direction.

 

I have found that taking a walk in the woods as I go over the story in my mind has helped move the story along.

 

Reading back through what I have already written will sometimes put the story in perspective and give me a direction.

 

The trick I use the most is to read through the last things that I have written and ask myself, “If the story were real, what would be the very next thing that would have to happen?” Sometimes I ask it this way, “If I were this character, what would be the very next thing that I would do?”

Many times the answer to that question is something trivial that has nothing to do with the story that I want to tell, but it gets me moving forward in my writing. I will write as much unimportant stuff as I need to in order to get my ideas flowing again. Just being able to put something down that moves my thinking even a little further along in telling the story helps me enormously. I will edit out the unnecessary parts later.

I hope this encourages all of you budding writers out there. Thanks for reading and may God’s richest blessings be on each of you.

Serving Him,

Alan Harris

How Do You Deal With Writer’s Block? is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

What’s Happening With the Next book?

At Christmas I was able to spend some time with my daughter and son-in-law and their family. Those times are always precious, and we tried to pack in as many fun times as we could. Along with all of the traditional holiday activities, we were able to work in a trip to Washington, D.C., an ice skating trip, a candlelight service at church, and film some scenes for a family movie starring the granddaughters. But as busy as we were, we made time to read two new chapters for the newest Larkin book that I am writing.

I am about halfway through writing my third book in the Tales of Larkin series. It is called The Great Gathering. The story takes place two years after the first book, Hawthorn’s Discovery. Many of your favorite characters return in this new book to help tell the tale. Hawthorn, Rush, Eldan, Jay, Carineda, as well as a lot of new and unforgettable characters will join up in this new adventure.

It’s a story about the importance of sharing the good news of Jesus with those who don’t know about Him. The Makerians feel that they need to be doing more to tell the Larkin people about Jehesus.  To accomplish this, they decide to secretly slip a team of disguised Makerians into the Larkin’s Great Gathering, which occurs every five years. It’s a time when all of the Larkin clans get together to feast, renew old acquaintances, and to receive instruction from the Shaman. If the team of Makerian evangelists are discovered, it will mean imprisonment or worse.

I know everyone expects a lot of adventure in my stories, and I don’t think you will be disappointed. So far the family has said that they really enjoy the tale. I do think that I’m getting too predictable. Some family members are starting to guess my plots. I will have to throw in a few unforeseen wrinkles in the story just to keep them guessing.

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I posted on this blog, but if you have been following me on Facebook, you will understand that I have had a lot on my mind recently.

Blessings to all,

Alan Harris

What’s Happening With the Next book? is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

Whatever Happened to “Honest” Snake Part 2

[Continued from Part 1]

To tighten his control on the Lanaran people, the evil General Kalispar continued to send out Death Squads to assassinate anyone he didn’t trust. In this way, many of the Queen’s faithful officers were eliminated.

One day Snake and some of his warriors spotted a squad of Kalispar’s soldiers dragging some prisoners along the River Road. Snake watched them from behind some leaves until it became clear that the soldiers intended to kill their captives. At that point Snake and his fighters attacked the unsuspecting guards and ran them off. It turned out that the prisoners were mostly ladies and their children. They were families of faithful Lanaran officers whom Kalispar had assassinated. When their wives had started asking too many questions and getting too public with their suspicions, Kalispar decided to get rid of them quietly.

Since the rescued prisoners could not return to the city, Snake decided to take them back to his camp and look after them. As Snake’s clan grew, it became increasingly more difficult to provide for all of them and still stay hidden from Kalispar’s patrols. Once when times were especially hard, one of Snake’s warriors named Boog decided to turn traitor and betray them to Kalispar in hopes of getting a reward.

When Kalispar’s soldiers attacked Snake’s camp, several of his warriors were killed, but Snake, Trout, and a few others managed to get all of the ladies and children safely away.

Snake eventually led them eastward away from the Green River. They crossed over the top of the bluff to another ridge of hills where, after praying to Captain Kid’s Maker, they found a cave with a stream flowing nearby. Here they made a new home for themselves. Over time, Snake and several of the warriors married the ladies in their clan and started families.

After discussing their situation at length, they all agreed that their best hope of survival was to put their trust in Captain Kid’s Maker and in His Son Jehesus, which they did. And, who knows? They just might still be there.

Thanks for reading. I would love to hear your comments on what happened to Snake. Please let me know if you have other questions about the stories or any of your favorite characters.

Blessings to All and Happy New Year!

Alan Harris

Whatever Happened to “Honest” Snake Part 2 is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

Whatever Happened to “Honest” Snake?

The following is a blog post comment from my daughter Natalie:

What I really want to know is about MY favorite character, “honest” Snake! Did Snake ever become a Christian? Did he fight back against the new and evil Lanaran regime? Surely a little P.S. on the blog wouldn’t ruin Larkin’s Journal! What happened to Snake?!

This blog post and the next is my answer to “What happened to Snake”:

Those of you who have read book two, Tales of Larkin: Larkin’s Journal, know that Snake and his band of semi-reformed bandits had to fight off the evil Menden and his guards as they tried to stop the escape of the Lanaran queen and her daughter, Princess Lily. Snake’s heroic delaying action allowed Larkin and his friends to get the queen, Lily, and the others, as well as their supplies, loaded onto the rafts and floated downriver to safety. When they knew that their friends were safe, Snake ordered his warriors to retreat into the woods where they hid from Menden’s vengeful soldiers.

 

When General Kalispar found out that the queen and the princess had escaped, he was furious and had Menden executed. Kalispar sent two rafts full of soldiers downriver to attempt to find his escaped prisoners, but the soldiers were never heard from again. [If you ask me, I think critters got ‘em].

 

General Kalispar was very angry that his plans were thwarted, and he was looking for revenge against those who had helped in the escape. Snake and his clan had to stay on the move since his former boss, General Kalispar, knew about all of the old Bandit strongholds.

 

Snake led his followers to the northern extent of Lanara. They spent most of their time hiding in the wild country above the northern city of Stoneleigh. Occasionally, they would disguise themselves and slip into the city with an incoming caravan. Once in, they would trade herbs, salt and copper they had found for the supplies that they needed and then slip back out to return to their hidden camps.

Snake considered attacking the caravans that traveled between the cities to get supplies, but two things changed his mind:

First, Snake realized that the more of a nuisance that he and his warriors became to General Kalispar, the harder the general would try to hunt them down.

Secondly, at this time one of Snake’s companions named Trout began asking Snake to tell him and the others about the God that Captain Kid followed. [Remember, Captain Kid was Snake’s nickname for Larkin.] The more Snake told them about what Larkin had told him about the Maker and His Son Jehesus, the more Snake’s band felt that they needed to show respect for the Maker and His Son.

[To be continued]

Whatever Happened to “Honest” Snake? is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

An Interview with Rush – Part 2

Well, Rush, I appreciate you setting aside some time to finish our interview. Your fans seem to really enjoy hearing from you. We have a few more questions that they would like to hear you answer. Two different fans have asked about your love life. Have you or your brother Deek ever thought about getting married?

Rush: “It’s a kinda embarrassin’ question. I know a few seasons ago Deek was thinkin’ about it. He found him a girl who was sweet and real purdy. He wanted to make sure that she was the right one for him, so he just watched her for a while. She was really quite a girl–gracious, friendly, loved kids. Finally Deek was convinced. When he got up enough courage to introduce himself to her, that ended it. Deek never was one for makin’ a good first impression…or second or third impression for that matter.

“Now my sitchiation is a good bit different from ol’ Deek’s. I’m a confirmed bachelor. I have so much going on that I wouldn’t know what to do with a wife. The truth be told, I’m kinda uncomfortable around the female types. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for ‘em. But I have a totally different view of girls than most folks. Females are like Giant Horned Beetles to me. I like to look at ‘em, but I wouldn’t want to own one.”

So, it sounds like you’re against marriage.

Rush: “Now, that ain’t what I said. Just cuz I ain’t the marryin’ kind don’t mean that I’m against it in general. I got some friends that I think probably are the marryin’ kind.”

To whom are you referring?

Rush: “Wel-l-l, just between us, I figure my buddy Jay has a special interest in Lady Morning Dove, Marsh’s sister over at Stillwaters. Don’t tell him I said so, but he gets all starry-eyed when he talks about her.

I have another question about your upbringing. One of your fans asked if you were raised by rabid chipmunks.

Rush: “I understand the question. I rec’on I do have a few rough edges. My father died on a hunting trip shortly after Deek was born, so Momma had to raise two rough boys by herself. Only a few years later, Momma got the black fever and died. That’s when Uncle Chert had to take us in. And well, I guess I would have to admit that Uncle Chert was about as close to being a rabid chipmunk as you can be and still be a Larkin. It weren’t no easy childhood, but he got us growed. At least we didn’t turn into Renegades.

Rush, did you ever get a chance to go back to the Renegade Lair and put on your Wompus Rat disguise again?

Rush: “No I haven’t, and you know, that is really disappointin’. That was the best vacation I ever had! But I haven’t given up on the idear. If them Renegade varments stir up enough trouble, they may need to get reacquainted with the Wompus Rat. Hee, hee, hee! I’m tellin’ you, that was some fun!

One more question, Rush. Many of your fans are wondering if you will appear in any of the future Larkin stories.

Rush: “You can tell them for me that they can rest their little fretful brains, cuz ol’ Rush is definitely gonna be in the third book. This next story takes place two seasons after the first book, and there’s lots of excitement, good visits with ol’ friends, and a whole new set of characters who’ll knock yer socks off.

That’s very interesting, Rush! Maybe you can share some more about the story with us as it gets closer to being finished.

We appreciate the time Rush took to be with us and answer a few questions. If any of you readers have other questions for Rush or other Larkin characters, just send me a comment, or you can e-mail them to TalesOfLarkin@gmail.com. Thanks again for reading.

Blessings to All,

Alan Harris

An Interview with Rush – Part 2 is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris

An Interview with Rush

I have a special guest today who has agreed to an interview. I know many of you are looking forward to hearing from Rush, a Larkin hunter from the third clan of Larkin.

We’re glad you could be with us today, Rush. The first question today comes from my daughter Juliana, and she asks, “What is the craziest thing you ever did?”

Rush: “To begin with, you tell her that I’m down right o-fended by her question. I don’t do crazy stuff, at least not as crazy as Jay does. I’ll have you know that all o’ my plans is well thought out. That’s why they work so well.”

What about the Flip-a-thang, Rush? As I recall, that invention didn’t work out the way you planned it.

Rush : “Burn yor’ hide, you just had to bring that up, didn’t ‘chu?! Well-l-l, the truth be told, the Flip-a thang would’a worked just fine if’n my companions hadn’t o’ got nervous and jumped too soon. As it turned out, they only launched the wolf spider up into the air instead of flippin’ ‘im over onto his back. So that one weren’t totally my fault.”

Well, then, why don’t you tell us about some of your other “well thought out” ideas.

Rush : “Okay, here’s one I thought was a good’un. Me an’ some of my friends was doin’ some scoutin’ once when a nest of centipedes got after us. Let me tell you, them thangs is persistent. We had a hard time of it till we run up on a small creek. Some of the fellers couldn’t swim, an’ that’s when I came up with my idear. When we came to the edge of the creek, I saw some vines near the surface of the water runnin’ from our side to the other. I had my troopers throw a leaf in the water and jump on. Then we each pulled ourselves across the creek with the vines, leavin’ the hungry centipedes snappin’ their jaws on the bank.”

Correct me if I’m wrong here, Rush, but didn’t Eldan show you that trick about using a leaf for a raft?

Rush : “Yo’r about the exasperatin’est rascal I know! Yeah, he did, but using the vines was something I came up with, so by rights it was my idear, okay?

Okay, okay! Don’t get yourself so worked up. Why don’t you tell us about your brother. I believe in the first book you mentioned that, when you were young, you sewed him up in his own sleeping bag.

Rush : “Hee, hee, hee! Yessiree, them was some good times! Our folks died when we was just little squirts, and my Uncle Chert had to raise us. I rec’on we was kinda rough on him. My brother Deek was 14 months younger than me, an’ we was both purdy competitive. Fortunately, I was bigger than Deek, so if the sitchiation got too rough, I could always just sit on him. Thangs have gotten a lot better between us since Jehesus got ahold of me. I think Deek’s been noticing that I’m tryin’ to be nicer to him, ‘cuz we been talkin’ to each other a lot more. My plan is to tell him about the Lord Jehesus real soon now.”

Thanks so much, Rush. There are a few more questions, but we are running out of time. Why don’t we try to do this again in a day or so and finish up the rest of these questions? Speaking for all of your fans out there, thanks for doing this for us.

Also if any of you readers haven’t subscribed to the blog yet, it’s as easy as clicking the “Subscribe” button. Till next time, blessings to all,

Alan Harris

An Interview with Rush is © 2012 Tales of Larkin - by Alan W. Harris