Fiona Ingram's Blog, page 23

Author JT Maicke on Research for Historical Fiction

 

I believe most fans of historical fiction would agree that thorough research and detailed knowledge of the location and period of the story is of utmost importance. This is key to developing a solid and believable plot line as well as interesting and convincing characters who speak and act in a manner appropriate to the culture of that time and place. The Humble Courier takes place in Germany during the interwar period and I put a great deal of effort into researching German history from the end of the Great War to the beginning of World War II. The study of German history, politics, culture, customs, geography, and cuisine has been one of my lifelong passions. As you can imagine, I have amassed a rather sizeable library on all things German. While researching and writing this story, I consulted a score of textbooks on German history and culture during the period 1914 through 1939, including books on the role and activities of the Catholic Church in Germany.

I also am a German speaker who had lived and worked in Germany and Austria for roughly five years of my life. These years allowed me to experience German culture firsthand along with the opportunity to visit over 100 cities, towns, and villages throughout Germany and Austria, including many of the locations depicted in The Humble Courier. In addition, while drafting the story, I had the opportunity to revisit Trier, Germany—location of about one third of the action in the novel—to refamiliarize myself with many of that city’s landmarks, including St. Matthias’ Abbey, the Electoral Palace, the Kastilport, the Episcopal Seminary, and the High Cathedral of St. Peter. This proved invaluable and led me to redraft a few chapters to modify the plot and to improve the richness and accuracy of my descriptions. I realize that overseas travel is expensive, not to mention difficult during this pandemic period, but it is vitally important in helping to create a believable portrayal of the scenes for your story.

Many friends and colleagues have asked me whether I relied on the Internet and whether I believed that this is an appropriate research medium. I did indeed use Internet websites to research several aspects of my story. Why not? There is a wealth of information available on the web. That said, I was careful to substantiate this data by examining multiple sources—both electronic and hard copy—to ensure accuracy.

I had a wonderful time creating the characters in The Humble Courier. Several characters were not part of the original plan for the story but came into being as my writing progressed. Several characters are introduced early in the story only to reappear later to play key roles in the plot line and to move the action forward. A handful of true historical figures also appear in The Humble Courier. The actual fates of several of these individuals, however, differ from their outcomes in the novel. I consulted biographies on these historical figures in an effort to ensure that their words and actions were commensurate with their personalities, positions, and circumstances.

The Humble Courier also contains several paragraphs of historical information designed to provide readers unfamiliar with Germany’s interwar period the necessary background to understand the environment in which the story is taking place. These passages were designed to avoid bogging down the action or converting the novel into a history textbook. I also included an Author’s Note at the end of the novel informs the reader which characters in the story are fictional and which were historic persons. This is a device used by some of my favorite historical fiction novelists, including Bernard Cornwell and Robert Harris.

I believe readers will enjoy The Humble Courier. The story contains a new and compelling plot line, heroes the reader will care about and root for, as well as villains they will love to hate. One doesn’t need to be a historian, or even a fan of historical fiction, to enjoy this tale of a brave and caring Catholic priest, living in an extraordinary and brutal time and place, who decides that passive resistance against evil is simply not enough.

About the book: Father Hartmann Bottger, a Benedictine monk and priest, has confronted bullies his entire life, including pompous clerics, local thugs, and callous and corrupt French Army occupation authorities in the German Rhineland. But Father Hartmann faces his greatest challenges with the rise to power of the Nazi Party and the brutality of the dreaded Gestapo, which threaten the rights of the Church as well as the lives and spiritual beliefs of Father Harti and the members of his small village parish.

The Humble Courier takes place in Germany during the turbulent years from the end of the Great War to the beginning of World War II. It is the story of a German soldier who believes he has been called to the Roman Catholic priesthood and tasked with fighting evil and protecting the weak from the strong. Although Father Hartmann initially employs passive resistance to fulfill what he perceives to be his mission, he comes to the conclusion that more aggressive—even violent—means are necessary to confront the awesome power of the SS and the Gestapo. Employing unlikely allies and extraordinary methods, Father Hartmann sets out to take the fight to his enemies, justifying his actions with St. Augustine’s proverb “Punishment is justice for the unjust.”

About the Author: A self-described Germanophile, J.T. Maicke writes historical novels that take place in Germany or among German American communities in the Midwest. The study of German history, geography, language, culture, and cuisine has been one of his life-long passions. He has spent several years living and working in Central Europe and has explored many of the locations mentioned in his stories. Maicke is a great fan of historical fiction, and his favorite authors include Ken Follett, Bernard Cornwell, George MacDonald Fraser, Umberto Eco, Robert Harris, and Morris West. He was educated by Benedictine monks and nuns in the Midwest and several of his stories have a Roman Catholic theme.

On Writing a Memoir in a Child���s Voice but with Present-day Adult Reflections

Neill McKee takes readers on a journey through his childhood, adolescence, and teenage years from the mid-40s to the mid-60s, in the small, then industrially-polluted town of Elmira, Ontario, Canada���one of the centers of production for Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. McKee���s vivid descriptions, dialog, and self-drawn illustrations are a study of how a young boy learned to play and work, fish and hunt, avoid dangers, cope with death, deal with bullies, and to build or restore ���escape��� vehicles. You may laugh out loud as the author recalls his exploding hormones, attraction to girls, rebellion against authority, and survival of 1960s��� ���rock & roll��� culture���emerging on the other side as a youth leader. After leaving Elmira, McKee describes his intensely searching university years, trying to decide which career path to follow. Except for a revealing postscript, the story ends when he accepts a volunteer teaching position on the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia.

In writing Kid on the Go!, I learned that it is possible to write in a child���s voice with the descriptions, perceptions, thoughts, and dreams of a child, accompanied by dialog between me as a child and other children, as well as adults, while also adding a present-day, historical perspective or reflection in a more mature voice. I did this by simply putting the latter in brackets. For instance, I was born less than a year after my brother���what we called ���Irish twins������a lack of birth spacing. We were not Catholics but then again, birth control was haphazard in those days. At any rate, right after I was born, I was all withered and wrinkled, looking like a little old man. When my mother brought me home and showed me to the Mennonite lady who lived downstairs, the lady said, ���I���m sorry Alma, but you won���t raise him.��� I added a possible explanation in brackets, using a mature voice on why I looked so malnourished: [Years later, I concluded my mother was breastfeeding my brother and robbed me of a lot of nutrients while I was in her womb���a major problem one can encounter when entering the world as an Irish twin.] Although the story of what the Mennonite lady said was an oft-repeated tale by my mother, the part in brackets is clearly something that I would not have known about as a child. Possibly my mother did not know it either. To give another example, starting in the 1940s, the chemical factory in our town made an insecticide called DDT and two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, which were sprayed on lawns, gardens, and parks. The town council aimed to make Elmira ���the first weed-free town in Canada.��� I introduce this in Chapter 1 in brackets because I never knew the exact chemicals when I was a child and knew nothing about the town council. I only knew that on many days the town stank! Then in Chapter 14, when I am in high school, I reveal that our chemical factory was one of seven North American facilities that made the infamous Agent Orange used as a defoliant by the US Army in Vietnam. Agent Orange was produced by mixing 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in equal and high concentrations. It caused thousands of innocent civilians to die or become severely ill and crippled, deformed fetuses in wombs, and produced much long-lasting environmental damage that continues to have effects on humans and animals today. I didn���t know this was taking place in the early 1960s (as was the case with most residents of Elmira). So, I put this information into a kind of ���flash forward��� and put it in brackets. In the book, I also changed my writer���s voice as I mature and included a postscript from a present-day point of view to tie up some unresolved issues. For instance, I briefly include the findings of my research on my hometown���s involvement in making Agent Orange and other chemicals, such as DDT, and their long-lasting effects. Many reviewers and readers seem to appreciate that I did not leave this hanging.

About the Author: Neill McKee is a creative nonfiction writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has written and published three books in this genre since 2015. His latest work is Kid on the Go! Memoir of My Childhood and Youth , a humorous and poignant account of his growing up in an industrially polluted town in Ontario, Canada, and his university years. This memoir is a stand-alone prequel to his first travel memoir Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah (2019) on his first overseas adventures in Sabah, Malaysia (North Borneo), where he served as a Canadian volunteer teacher and program administrator during 1968-70 and 1973-74.

Author���s website: www.neillmckeeauthor.com

Kid on the Go! book page: www.neillmckeeauthor.com/kid-on-the-go

 

On Writing a Memoir in a Child’s Voice but with Present-day Adult Reflections

Neill McKee takes readers on a journey through his childhood, adolescence, and teenage years from the mid-40s to the mid-60s, in the small, then industrially-polluted town of Elmira, Ontario, Canada—one of the centers of production for Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. McKee’s vivid descriptions, dialog, and self-drawn illustrations are a study of how a young boy learned to play and work, fish and hunt, avoid dangers, cope with death, deal with bullies, and to build or restore “escape” vehicles. You may laugh out loud as the author recalls his exploding hormones, attraction to girls, rebellion against authority, and survival of 1960s’ “rock & roll” culture—emerging on the other side as a youth leader. After leaving Elmira, McKee describes his intensely searching university years, trying to decide which career path to follow. Except for a revealing postscript, the story ends when he accepts a volunteer teaching position on the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia.

In writing Kid on the Go!, I learned that it is possible to write in a child’s voice with the descriptions, perceptions, thoughts, and dreams of a child, accompanied by dialog between me as a child and other children, as well as adults, while also adding a present-day, historical perspective or reflection in a more mature voice. I did this by simply putting the latter in brackets. For instance, I was born less than a year after my brother—what we called “Irish twins”—a lack of birth spacing. We were not Catholics but then again, birth control was haphazard in those days. At any rate, right after I was born, I was all withered and wrinkled, looking like a little old man. When my mother brought me home and showed me to the Mennonite lady who lived downstairs, the lady said, “I’m sorry Alma, but you won’t raise him.” I added a possible explanation in brackets, using a mature voice on why I looked so malnourished: [Years later, I concluded my mother was breastfeeding my brother and robbed me of a lot of nutrients while I was in her womb—a major problem one can encounter when entering the world as an Irish twin.] Although the story of what the Mennonite lady said was an oft-repeated tale by my mother, the part in brackets is clearly something that I would not have known about as a child. Possibly my mother did not know it either. To give another example, starting in the 1940s, the chemical factory in our town made an insecticide called DDT and two herbicides, 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, which were sprayed on lawns, gardens, and parks. The town council aimed to make Elmira “the first weed-free town in Canada.” I introduce this in Chapter 1 in brackets because I never knew the exact chemicals when I was a child and knew nothing about the town council. I only knew that on many days the town stank! Then in Chapter 14, when I am in high school, I reveal that our chemical factory was one of seven North American facilities that made the infamous Agent Orange used as a defoliant by the US Army in Vietnam. Agent Orange was produced by mixing 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T in equal and high concentrations. It caused thousands of innocent civilians to die or become severely ill and crippled, deformed fetuses in wombs, and produced much long-lasting environmental damage that continues to have effects on humans and animals today. I didn’t know this was taking place in the early 1960s (as was the case with most residents of Elmira). So, I put this information into a kind of “flash forward” and put it in brackets. In the book, I also changed my writer’s voice as I mature and included a postscript from a present-day point of view to tie up some unresolved issues. For instance, I briefly include the findings of my research on my hometown’s involvement in making Agent Orange and other chemicals, such as DDT, and their long-lasting effects. Many reviewers and readers seem to appreciate that I did not leave this hanging.

About the Author: Neill McKee is a creative nonfiction writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has written and published three books in this genre since 2015. His latest work is Kid on the Go! Memoir of My Childhood and Youth , a humorous and poignant account of his growing up in an industrially polluted town in Ontario, Canada, and his university years. This memoir is a stand-alone prequel to his first travel memoir Finding Myself in Borneo: Sojourns in Sabah (2019) on his first overseas adventures in Sabah, Malaysia (North Borneo), where he served as a Canadian volunteer teacher and program administrator during 1968-70 and 1973-74.

Author’s website: www.neillmckeeauthor.com

Kid on the Go! book page: www.neillmckeeauthor.com/kid-on-the-go

 

Movie review: A Castle for Christmas

A Castle for Christmas follows the path of rich and famous romance author Sophie Brown who flees the wrath of her irate fans, after she killed off the hero of her best-selling series, to Scotland, where her father grew up. Particularly at a place called Dun Dunbar which is, of course, a castle. This castle is owned by the Duke of Dunbar, somewhat impoverished since his profligate ancestors had managed to bankrupt the family fortunes and the fate of the estate hangs in the balance, that balance swinging inexorably in the direction of the bank. The castle is up for sale although the duke denies things are that bad and thinks he can pay off the monstrous debts through historic tours and the castle gift shop. Enter Sophie who is desperate to connect with her family history. To the curmudgeonly duke’s horror, she offers to buy the castle. He concocts what Baldrick would call ‘A Very Cunning Plan’ to slip a non-refundable hefty deposit into the sale price and then make her so miserable she will leave and forfeit the deposit. But our Sophie is made of sterner stuff and while she braves it out, the village knitting circle, the duke’s right-hand man, and even the duke’s dog Hamish fall under Sophie’s spell. The problem is, will he?

I have seldom enjoyed such a charming Christmas romance as I did this one. Carey Elwes is handsome and well worth watching (especially in a kilt or actually in anything, or nothing – see bathtub scene). Although he was panned for his Scottish accent, to my untrained ear he did very well and I have to confess, I could listen to him read the telephone book. Let’s make that a Chinese telephone book… Brooke Shields is the star of the movie and with just cause. At 56 she is still very beautiful and appears not to have succumbed to the Botox brigade that has rendered several actresses of a certain age almost immobile in their expressions. She is lovely and natural and plays the feisty Sophie to perfection. As an author, I felt for her trying to get those first words down. The castle is glorious, and I could be happy there, the scenery is magnificent, and the village is picture perfect pretty; even the sheep are clean. Of course, this does not exist in real life, but in a Christmas movie, who cares about real life?

There is a distinct lack of rabid social haranguing that has spoiled many a movie recently. It was refreshing to enjoy a story without having pious social justice issues thrust down your throat. The cast is diverse in a gentle, very natural way and everything and everyone flowed together quite seamlessly. Need I say, the dog stole the show. Hamish is played by Barley, a Lurcher cross who has already achieved some fame in the entertainment industry, having also appeared in Poldark, Midsomer Murders, and has shared screen time with Chris Hemsworth! Hamish’s performance was so eloquent he could almost speak. He was very sensible to transfer his affections almost instantly to Sophie. I also enjoyed that the main characters were over the age of silliness and looked and acted like real people their age. There is romance for everyone is the message! Plus, it is quite amazing how good men look in a kilt. The duke’s right-hand man (played by Lee Ross) rocks a kilt. What else can I say but this is the perfect Christmas movie to relax with. There’s snow, Christmas trees and decorations, crackling fires, delicious food, reunions and reconciliations, and a season of joy and good cheer for all.

 

Author Post by Doug Kaplan: (Why) Sorry Isn't Enough!

In this comedy/drama, based very, very loosely on my own experiences, a middle-aged father of three named Doug Kaplan appears to have it all. An attractive and supportive wife, three healthy boys, and a successful career. He doesn’t shy away from his responsibilities as a father or as a son to his aging parents, and he is valued and respected at work. However, all his life he has been plagued by the accusation that he does suffer from one significant character flaw, a subtle but substantial penchant for being selfish, a flaw to which he is largely oblivious.

 

Sorry isn’t Enough

I remember this as if it was yesterday. I was sitting in my 11th grade Earth Science class, and I was seated next to one of my best friends, Jimmy B. Any teacher that allowed Jimmy and I to sit together, did so at their own risk. We were, in essence, each other’s bad influence. We never did anything too destructive, but we both found each other patently hysterical, and we were of the shared belief that it would have been a shame to keep our gift for mirth hidden from our classmates who otherwise were going to be sitting through one of Mr. Goodstone’s endless lectures dealing with the “Mohs’ Scale of Hardness.”

 

To his credit, Mr. Goodstone seemed to keep Jimmy and I under wraps for the most part through the occasional stern redirection, or his mellow and laid-back approach. However, he could become agitated and lose his cool with the best of them, and since he wasn’t a bad guy per se, you didn’t really wish to be on the receiving end of one of his eruptions. On one particular day, a day of no particular note, a student by the name of Tom P. decided to get up in the middle of class during whatever Mr. Goodstone was warbling about in the front of the room and threw out a piece of paper. Tom was far more of a buffoon than Jimmy or I, and he went for the “big splash,” as opposed to the quick snide or stupid remark that Jimmy and I excelled in. Not satisfied with simply getting up and throwing the piece of paper away, Tom stood up, threw his paper across the room, sank the shot and yelled, “Doctor ‘J’shoots from downtown he scores aaaaahhhhhh!!!!”

 

It was at this point thatTom, who had completely interrupted whatever it was that Mr. Goodstone was teaching us about, looked at the obviously perturbed and offended science teacher and said in a quiet and somewhat reflective manner, “Sorry.” before reclaiming his seat, and believing he had doused whatever flames of rage Mr. Goodstone might be feeling. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Mr. Goodstone, yelling at a level that here-to-fore he hadn’t used in our classroom, screamed, “No! You’re not sorry, sorry is just something you were taught to say when you did something so unbelievably rude and disrespectful, that you felt you could get away with it by just saying that you’re sorry.” Tom, in the same calm manner then responded somewhat predictably, “Okay, then I’m not sorry.” Mr. Goodstone seemed actually okay with this since he felt he had at least imparted some sort of lesson on Tom P., if such a thing could have actually been accomplished.

 

It is this idea of forgiveness without regret or remorse that is central to the core of what makes the protagonist in my story BlindSpot, Doug Kaplan, a figure that can be maddingly hard to like. He is a good man who basically lives his life the right way, but he has his flaws, one of which is selfishness. This selfish streak has brought him to the precipice of losing everything if he can’t overcome this self-centered attitude that throughout most of his life, he largely has been blind to.

 

I am grateful to Fiona Ingram for this opportunity to promote my first novel, Blind Spot, I believe many authors have found the attempts to get published somewhat frustrating since so much of the emphasis in publishing, as well as in acquiring an agent revolve around topics that have become popular amongst the younger and social media driven crowd. I believe that Blind Spot will appeal to those who know what it is to be married, have children, establish themselves in their career, tending to aging parents, and then trying to balance it all. These are the challenges that everyone will find themselves dealing with at one time or another, and the saga of Doug Kaplan will feel very familiar to most readers.

Follow the author online at:

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.s.hoffman.7/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/burtpurdy

Linked-in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-hoffman-43999348/

Instagram: hoffman_files

Website: https://thehoffmanfiles.wixsite.com/website

Author Post: "My Obsession with Language" Elizabeth Kirschner

Elizabeth Kirschner is the author of Because the Sky is a Thousand Soft Hurts, a “blend of poetry, prose, memoir, and master storytelling.” This is her debut collection of short stories. Elizabeth shares with us below her obsession with language.

"My obsession with language came over me, almost like a demonic possession. I was only nineteen when I first took a Poetry Writing Workshop. I assumed poems were written by dead people for other dead people. I was that astoundingly ignorant, that blessedly naive. Within three weeks, I decided I would become a poet. I was utterly stricken by the power of language, its sheer audacity and nearly unmentionable ability to express what hitherto was inexpressible. Windows opened in the cave of my brain. My mentor was Southern. The way she said words like “chinaberry” or foxglove” lent them a physicality I didn’t know language could embody.Words became mouthy for me, something to tongue, loll around.

 Poetry is a language-driven construct. It demands an almost unbearably close examination of each and every word, which is akin to a hair dragged across the eye. Painful, even excruciating. The language in any given poem must be visceral, forcefully urgent, it must bear its own weight. At best, every word will work double or triple time, that is, take on nuance, substance, meaning via such devices as metaphor and simile.I loved this. The way a pairing of words, the just-so-ness of them, could transport them into another, more singular meaning, or apprehension. The poem does its work by apprehension, that is, as readers we apprehend meaning, the hint and scent of it, the taste even by what the words are working exceptionally hard to intuit, express.

My formal education was in the writing of poetry. Which meant I was inordinately in love with the language. I still am, as it is any writer’s essential instrument.When it comes to writing short stories, I’m not sure whether my obsession with language is a curse, or my most powerful device. I do know that constructing any given sentence can be crippling. If the first sentence isn’t load bearing, if doesn’t provide a scaffolding or stepping-stone into the next one, I revise. The sentence is structural. It must be tensile, strong, flexible. It must also have a voice.

The stuff with which we write is a construct of language, first and foremost. Characters cannot speak unless the writer puts words in their mouths. Nor can characters exist without a physical landscape, a physical description. Here’s an example from one of my stories, JONES BEACH. 

“It should not follow but it does; my brother is here; in the brief strenuousness, in a house like a cowl on the head. Rain falls, is a wall of birds, which wall off the bird heavy sky while the season stretches out of shape.

“Well?” I ask, my voice, a song with hinges. In the darkest sweater I own I’m cold.

“Spoons,” he replies. The dead bark once. We take one another’s hands, lift spoons over the gas flame on the stove, the blue of it, noble.”

Note what the language does here. It reveals that a brother and sister are in a house that feels “like a cowl on the head.” Rain is not only falling, but is “a wall of birds,” which is, of course, a metaphor, one that gives the rain more weight, even a musicality. Each character is given one word each. The speaker’s voice is akin to a song, the brother’s nearly barks. It’s not much, but it’s a beginning. Everything and anything that transpires in a story cannot be brought to bear without language. For some writers, language is utilitarian, almost flat, like cardboard. It’s merely a tool, but for me, language has a kind of supremacy. I cannot, nor do I wish to, eradicate my poetic training. I think my exacting attitude toward language slows me down, but this is what I want it to do.

Isn’t this the work of literature intended to slow us down, make us take heed, take note, to help us examine each minute and nuanced particle of existence? Isn’t this the scathing beauty of it? I need the work to help me do this. To slow me down, until I get down on my hands and knees in order to examine each gritty and awful detail, which in itself is a cosmos. The sequence and ordering of each exquisite, or piercing, or horrifying detail is how a composition is made. This is what I’ve given my life over to. This slow, painstaking work. There’s nothing noble in it. But it’s what I do.

Language is how I journey into any piece of work. As I go deeper into the writing of stories, the more I want other aspects to surface and accrue power, namely, the narrative drive, which is akin to verbs. Narrative comprises its musculature. It’s what drives the story forward and around and back out again. I can’t say I do any of this well, but I can say that, at least for this writer, the attempt, even when it fails, and mostly, is does fail, is glorious. It’s the experience of what happens on the page that I crave. And language remains my vehicle of transport. The way it parallels life is, I think, magnificent, even when my stories convey the bleakest of realties, the journey is entirely worth it."

Elizabeth’s book is available on Amazon and you can learn more about the author on her website.

Book Review: The Bronze Scroll

 

A New-Age Journey of Discovery: For their first novel in the Knights of the Lost Temple series, co-authors Paul and Alia chose the so-called Copper Scroll (which is actually made of bronze) as a central element in the characters’ story. One of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in a desert cave in the 1950s, this artifact is a treasure map listing tons of gold and silver hidden at vaguely described locations that scholars had given up on deciphering. As a supposedly “unsolvable” mystery, the Copper Scroll would serve a symbol of the discontents of modern life, in which the great, achievable dreams seem to have already been accomplished. There was just one problem. The Copper Scroll wasn’t unsolvable after all. As Sam and his friends work to decipher this ancient treasure map, its mysteries unravel one by one.

The authors of this new adventure-romance series invite you to join them on this voyage. Currently working on the second book in the series, the authors believe that the world’s diverse spiritual traditions hold answers for our troubled times. Paul, who identifies as “spiritual but not religious,” and Alia, a “new-age Muslim” from an Afghan American family (writing under her pen name), believe that greater understanding among the world’s different faiths and beliefs is essential to solving the world’s current problems. Recognizing that even the smallest miracles—like an ancient treasure map found in a desert cave—can make a big difference, the authors welcome you to share this journey together.

My review: This is a slow-burn adventure which unfolds gradually, given the massive back history of the ancient world and the scroll itself. The authors mix history (biblical and ancient), geography, travel, suspense, villainy, and thrills to engage the reader with Sam and his quest. If you’re looking for the rollercoaster non-stop action and pace of Indiana Jones or Dan Brown, you will not find it here. There are many links and threads from the past that must be woven carefully into the present day to give meaning to the quest.

Sam is a thoughtful and spiritual protagonist who doesn’t actually understand his dreams and visions, especially those of people from the past who offer him advice and valuable pointers in his quest. The reader gets to know Sam, his dreams, and his desires intimately and thus has a deeper understanding of who he is and what the future has in store for him. There are many surprises waiting around the corner, it seems, as he learns more about his family and their history too.

If I have any criticism, it is that the factual information is really dense and could be spread out for an easier reading flow. In addition, while many historical details are very necessary for the plot to make sense, the extra details on just about every site of interest or antiquity were unnecessary and slowed the pace down. Facts not germane to the plot could be put in a glossary at the end for the interested reader to learn more. That said, the action really picks up in the last part of the story where there are big reveals, big betrayals, and lots of thrills in a life-and-death race against time. The end is astonishing as well and segues nicely into the next leg of Sam’s adventure while still wrapping up this mystery quite neatly. The book is well written and well edited. History buffs and fans of archaeological mysteries will appreciate the depth of the research and enjoy this book. 4/5

 Book website: https://www.knightsofthelosttemple.com/

Amazon Selling Page: https://amzn.to/3BcelQr

 

TV Series review: Nine Perfect Strangers

 

 Nine Perfect Strangers is based on the 2018 book by Liane Moriarty. Nine ostensibly perfect strangers find themselves at a wellness retreat, Tranquillum House in California, to rest, recuperate, find themselves, and their purpose in life. The place is run by the mysterious Masha, a Russian woman with dubious motives. It becomes apparent that they are not guests by chance; they have been picked, but why? It also becomes clear that the place is run along very odd lines and their hostess is more than passing strange. Masha is also being stalked by someone sinister. Things go downhill very quickly into chaos and some rather drastic situations involving the paranormal.

Having watched The White Lotus, which I absolutely loved, with a kind of horrified fascination, I thought this would be similar kind of dark social satire. Sadly, it was not. While fatally flawed and only saved by reasons I shall enlarge upon shortly, the biggest problem with 9PS is that it is an homage to one person: actress Nicole Kidman, who is also an executive producer. Unless the actress is Glenn Close or Meryl Streep, an homage can be dodgy. This one is very definitely skewed in favour of an actress who could not actually hold all the threads together.

The plot is filled with holes you can drive a truck through. This is the most expensive resort around and yet none of the guests knew they had to sign an NDA, give blood for tests, surrender all electronic devices, and drink weird concoctions which resulted in even weirder behaviour. The location, while beautiful, is very obviously Australia (Byron Bay, NSW) so why the producers tried to pass it off as California beats me. The whole plot soon reveals as being an elaborately staged project by Masha to invoke the supernatural based on (of course) drugs and the grief of several of the characters. She is hoping to cross the divide between this world and the next. This is all revealed very quickly and then the point is somewhat moot as Masha proceeds to become even more and more deranged and the guests band together for protection.

The series succeeded in spite of Kidman, not because of her. Kidman plays Masha as a somewhat unhinged Madame Arcati, with a truly dreadful Russian accent that kept slipping, a wig that looked like an old mop, and clothes that hinted at girlish times back in Russia with lots of crochet lace and cheesecloth. Many scenes turned into yawn-fests with excess time spent on Masha swimming, Masha sitting under a tree, Masha lying almost naked on a bed while she seduces her wingman. Alas, were the actress 32 instead of 52, this might have worked. Kidman’s love affair with Botox has resulted in her expressions being reduced to staring wide-eyed, clenching her jaw, and looking grim. Everyone else acted her off the screen. Repeated and interminable flashbacks (always the same, of Masha) also add to audience boredom. Plus, the camera does not lie and there were the occasional very realistic and unfuzzed moments….

The good stuff comes via the actors who pull the whole thing together despite the above-mentioned production fatalities. I have always thought of Melissa McCarthy as the ‘fat chick’ in movies, the chubby friend who makes the main star look good. She is amazing in her portrayal of a disillusioned romance writer struggling with her own personal life and her flagging career. Plus, she really rocks red lipstick. Bobby Canavale is another actor I have seen in small roles, but he shines as the rising sports star felled by an accident and a descent into pills and booze. I have always liked Luke Evans in movies. In real life he is gay, but his portrayal of a gay character seemed unexpectedly cliched and uncertain. Samara Weaving and Greg Chandler play the couple with marital problems. I thought they were just background figures in the beginning but give them time—they do surprise the audience. Regina Hall, the single mom struggling with anger issues, well, she drops a bombshell and had me taken aback when her role in all this is revealed. The others all played their parts well and the degree to which they end up annoying the audience is a testament to their skill.

The music is really excellent, and the opening graphics are visually stunning and strangely psychedelic, which gives the audience a good idea of what they are about to encounter. However, I found the story fell apart at the end and the tying up of loose ends was very deus ex machina. But, if you can bypass the boring bits of self-indulgent homage, this is worth watching, if only for Melissa and Bobby’s story. 3/5

 

TV Series review: Vigil

Vigilis a murder mystery/police procedural taking place on a British nuclear submarine. One of the officers dies under suspicious circumstances after a dramatic incident occurs at sea – a fishing vessel is dragged down to the depths of the ocean by another submarine. Chief Petty Officer Burke reports unusual sonar readings at the time, but the other officers and the captain disagree. When he is found dead in his cabin, DCI Amy Silva of the Scottish police is airlifted to the HMS Vigil’s secret location. Meanwhile, on land, a parallel investigation ensues concerning Burke’s background and associates. However, acts of sabotage continue on the Vigil … and it becomes clear that Burke was definitely murdered. International espionage and conspiracy are soon apparent, and one asks the question is Russia at the heart of this drama?

Like the curate’s egg, the series is good in some parts, but the mostly bad or annoying parts spoiled it for me. The opening scenes leading to the horrifying deaths of the fishermen and the incredible footage of the fishing trawler being dragged inexorably under are absolutely fantastic. I thought, this is the series for me. It was a great start which sadly dwindled to limping along, no matter the presence of acting stalwarts like Paterson Joseph, Adam James, Shaun Evans, Gary Lewis, and Stephen Dillane. The problem was not casting Suranne Jones as DCI Silva, but in directing her so that she came across as so badly crippled by PTSD that she should not have been allowed to drive, let alone head up a murder investigation in a cramped environment like a submarine. Her character went from annoying to agitated to hysterical. Her rendition of a police officer/detective was pathetic. No police officer would try to interrogate men during a nuclear sub drill, or is it just me? She also never wrote down a single statement from witnesses, despite having a notebook.

There were so many things wrong with the basics of the submarine setting that one wonders if they even got in an expert to help with details such as the layout, the protocols, the uniforms, the drills. I think the scriptwriters just winged it. Another very annoying angle which I found distracting and unnecessary--unless a woke agenda is part of the production--is Suranne’s sudden change from being a heterosexual female in a relationship with a man and sharing a daughter with him, to suddenly being in a lesbian relationship with a pushy, much younger police officer (Rose Leslie) who seems determined to get her gal. Couple this inconceivably sudden change of heart (while she is ostensibly mourning the loss of the beloved fiancé) with many jarring and completely inappropriate and repetitive flashbacks to both the accident in which she lost the fiancé and then shmaltzy romantic scenes with her lesbian lover. I got the feeling the audience was being played and I found an interesting article in which this writer, Mary Misasi, explains the phenomenon of queer-baiting. Read it; very enlightening.

I sat through Vigil because of the actors I do like, and I could see quite a gripping story beneath all the implausible stuff. Alas, there is a lot of unlikely bunkum related to Russia, the US, and the UK which anyone with a shred of knowledge of politics will spot. But, in all fairness, the mystery and espionage behind the murder do hang together coherently and if you can discount the ridiculous, you will enjoy the suspense. 3/5

 

Book Review: Creature Cat Tales

Author MG Rorai describes Creature Cat Tales as: “A whimsical collection of poetic life lessons is sure to inspire positivity and values while delighting young readers with charming creature cat stories and illustrations. Come join the creature cats as they make learning fun—a purrfect addition to any kid’s collection. Suggested reading age 8-12.”

Life lessons there are in abundance in this charming set of delightful poems. Lessons such as believing in yourself, celebrating your differences, standing firm when others decry you or your skills. From a bat-cat (that saves his family) to a zombie-cat (that survives food shortages) to a mummy-cat wining a race, and others like the Wendigo and Franken cat, the topics are weird and wonderful and will absolutely enchant youngsters who generally love the weird and the wonderful. The rhymes are consistent and rhythmic and will help youngsters remember the lessons as they read the material aloud or are read to by adults who, I am sure, will have just as much fun!

This is the kind of material youngsters need to read and learn from because we have all had to endure issues like scorn from others, being afraid, lacking self-confidence, learning to be prepared before a test, facing and overcoming challenges, embracing changes, and more. Social issues like developing kindness and compassion are also covered so kids learn through the antics and trials of these adorable creature cats how to do what is right and be happy with the results. Each poem concludes with a ‘little bit of wisdom’ that encapsulates what the young reader has just read or heard.

I must mention the artwork by Sona and Jacob which is simply stunning. Each creature cat is depicted according to their poem. Kids will love the details, and this could very well inspire Halloween costumes for next year! My favourite is Venny the Vampire-Cat! A five star read!

 

 

M.G. Rorai enjoys hanging with her cats and annoying her husband. She’s been writing for as long as she can remember and is slightly obsessed with cats. Pick up your copy of Creature Cat Tales at Amazon.