Mette Ivie Harrison's Blog, page 62

Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Character

Is this character distinct from the other characters in the book?

Does this character have to be here or can his/her role be easily taken by another character?

Does this character have a reason for what s/he does in her/his own mind?

Does this character have a back-story (even if it is only in my own head)?

Does this character do stupid things for plot reasons?

Does this character want something desperately?

What is missing for this character? Will s/he find it?

What flaws does this character have? Are they loveable flaws? Are they flaws that will be difficult to forgive?

What friends and family does this character have? You can't have a character without a community, unless the character is a sociopath or autistic. And not even then, really.

What will change about this character in the course of the story?

When unpredictable things does this character do?

When will readers want to hit this character over the head with a brick? Are those the times you mean for the reader to feel this way?

Does this character live outside the pages of the book? Does the character ever seem to comment on real life? Because if you are a successful writer, it will feel that way to readers.

Who is this character's ultimate enemy or worst nightmare? Is that in the book? It should be.

What would happen if this character met his/her perfect match? Disaster? Or fun?

How quickly do you introduce the character in action? It should be in the first chapter, if possible. Maybe second chapter.

Is this character in a prophecy? How is that prophecy wrong?

Monday Book Recs--The Glas Princess by George and Grave Mercy by LaFevers

The Glass Princess by Jessica Day George

This book has been on my TBR shelf for an embarrassingly long time. I wish I had read it sooner. I had a lot of fun. I think that I was worried that as a sequel to another book I liked, it would feel too derivative. Not at all. I was delighted at how the Cinderella story was twisted here. (You know I love retellings that are unique.) At first, I actually disliked the Cinderella character intensely. I found that wonderfully different. How many authors out there have the guts to make you hate Cinderella, the most beloved fairy tale character of all time? She never ends up being the actual main character of the story and she doesn't have our full sympathy, but she has her reasons for what she does and they make sense as the story fully unfolds. I'll try not to spoil the book more than to say that the fairy godmother isn't exactly Disney's version, either.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

If I describe this novel to you, I am afraid it will sound all too much like a badly written romance novel that steals from fantasy conventions without knowing what those conventions mean. It satisfied all my hopes for a romance without ever once feeling like a cliché. That has become so rare that it makes me sad. I want to read romance novels again, but I just haven't found very many straight romance novels that don't feel to me like I'm reading a how-to on formula romance. I tend to find more of what I want in romance in fantasies, where the romance is a side note. In this book, the romance is fairy center stage (something that is becoming more common in YA fantasy/romance, which makes me happy to be part of the revolution, I suppose). That isn't to say that the fantasy doesn't work. It's just that the novel is plotted in such a way that the resolution to the romance felt like the climactic moment.

The world building is well-done, but it doesn't feel like the novel exists to impress the reader with how much world building the author has done. It's based on the real world with just a twist, what Guy Gavriel Kay does so well. All the details of a historical novel and then just a breath of real fantasy that you might think was only legend or folktale.

I also liked how the princess story was handled. To avoid spoilers, I will only say that she doesn't get an HEA and nothing is really easy in her life. The tendency these days is to write princess stories as if princesses have all the ponies and fancy dresses and servants, as well. Instead of the reality of the situation, that princesses were pawns in a giant chess game and never had life easy in the ways that we might fantasize about. (Not that kings' lives were easy, either, since they were always worrying about civil war and being beheaded by their nobles.)

One of the most interesting choices comes at the end, when the main character has to decide if she wants to continue on as an assassin for the convent which serves the god who has protected and blessed her for so long (despite the fact that it seemed at first as if this were a curse). The convent is played up as a place for women empowerment, but the ending suggests that there are inherent problems in this power. I'm not sure if I felt that the resolution was any more empowering, but maybe it was. I'm still thinking about it, which is perhaps the highest praise for any book.

Jordanelle Olympic 2012 Race Report

Some of the tricky things about running a race include depending on others to provide things like busing from the parking area. At this race, you park about 5 miles away from the race start because the state park doesn't want that many cars in it. But when the busing company doesn't show, what do you do? The race director called a school busing company, and they came as soon as they could, but it meant that the race start was delayed because we were waiting for all our spectators to come. That had cascading effects, including more traffic on the streets by the time the Olympic bikers were finished. Frustrating, but that's the way that it is. You are on a real road. The race director kept reminding the athletes that being an athlete doesn't mean you have a magic spell of protection over you. You have to follow the same rules of the road because the rules of physics always apply. That means you give cars the right of way.

One of the best parts of a race is the atmosphere of excitement before it begins. I chatted a bit with some other athletes. One of the women in my age groups was being set up by her boyfriend (?) from Canada, who was an Ironman athlete. We talked a bit about IM St. George and IM Arizona. Also about my 15 year old son doing a marathon and an Ironman at what age. I chatted to a couple of other guys about the race course, about other races they'd done that I had, too. One was telling a woman that the run course was brutal and I struggled not to intervene and tell her she would do fine. It is a bit tricky. There is music pounding loud, everyone talking, and lines getting longer and longer at the Porta-potties.

As at Echo, the reservoir was way down on water, which meant we had a hike to get to the normal place where our bikes are waiting for us after the swim. It also meant that the bottom of the lake (which we could feel a lot of the time) was murky, muddy much up to our knees when we touched down. I kept feeling things besides mud beneath my feet, probably branches and dead fish? I don't know what it was. Hopefully not corpses of people. It was best not to think about what was down there. The water itself was really dark. That made it impossible to see anyone while under the water so I had to lift my head high up on almost every stroke. Good practice for sighting, I suppose. My swim wasn't as fast as I had hoped, not sure why. Everything else went fairly well. I hung back a little at the beginning, hoping to avoid the washing machine. That happened, but I suppose I also didn't get pushed to up my pace. I ended up on the far side of the "road" we were supposed to climb out of the water on, an old highway that used to be driven on before the reservoir was created about 25 years ago, now uncovered by the drought water level.

I was trying to really push it on the bike, but you can't tell by my time because of traffic issues. I did not want to be squashed by cars. The race is a long false flat up 13 miles, then a quick ride back, including a 50 mph downhill section that for the first time in 7 years was fun instead of scary. There were a lot of cars on the road, which makes it really hard to pass other cyclists. I think I always end up worrying if I will get DQ'd on the bike course of a tri. This time it was because I passed a really slow-moving commercia vehicle to the left, over the double yellow lines. I didn't know what else to do. It was that slow, 15 mph on a road with a 45 mph speed limit. I was riding without socks, which I do at a lot of races these days. It saves me between 1 and 2 minutes in transition time, and that can make the difference between first and third in some races. I leave my bike shoes attached to the pike and run barefoot through transition if it's not too sandy/muddy, then hop on my bike and put my feet on top of the shoes. I've times myself and it takes about 30 seconds to get both feet in the shoes and buckled with the velcro strap. Same getting them out and on top, so I'm ready to dismount.

Then began the run. The course is, as my husband says, almost all uphill. It feels that way because the only downhill sections are on trail and are so steep and rocky that you feel no relief going down them, only terror. You have to hold yourself back so you don't go sliding around and hit your face. I like it, mostly because it's interesting and keeps me thinking. I do better on courses where you can't really sprint, since I can't do that anyway. I had taken plenty of Gatorade and gu chomps in on the bike and I had planned to take another gu during the first half of the run, but I simply forgot about it. I had the pack stuck down my sports bra, and found it there two hours later. I was realy focused on counting my footsteps for each mile. It helps keep me focused in the moment, and everything else falls away. That is one of the things I love about racing, maybe the thing I love the most.

People ask me something if I worry about my kids on the course while I am racing. The answer is no. I don't worry about anything. I don't think about anything else until I cross the finish line. I am so fully focused on the race that it is very restful to other parts of my mind. The race brain is limited to number of steps, getting water down, calorie counts, passing people, and transitions. I'm not a mom while I am racing. I'm not a writer, either. I'm an athlete.

In case you are wondering, I take about 760 steps per mile, depending on how hilly the mile is and how fast I am going. I try to do 92-95 strides per minute. My shoes were kind of minimalist and I worried a little about how much sand would get into my barefeet and bother me, but I was fine. I had passed about 5 women on the bike by my count, and 2 women passed me back on the run, both of them on the second loop. One of them was the woman I'd chatted up at the beginning of the race. I wished I could have hung with her. She beat me by about 45 seconds, which is about 15 seconds per mile at that point, but I just couldn't do it. I was at my maximum already. Another woman passed me about 1/2 mile from the finish. She was tall and her leg said she was 19 years old. I didn't worry so much about her. It turned out that her 18 year old brother won the entire Olympic race, beating all the more experienced guys. Good for him.

After the race, I got some food and found my son, who'd done the sprint and was finished already. We chatted about the race until my husband came across the line. I'd passed him on his first loop as I was finishing my second, so I had a good idea of his pace. He didn't train much for the race and he did about the same as last year, which is pretty good, considering. We all sat around and relaxed in the shade until awards. I got third place in my age group, which was a little weird. My age group happened to be super competitive this year. It's not usually, since we're older ladies. I was ranked 9th overall among the women and 27th counting men and women, so I was pleased with that.

At this point, we realized that bikes weren't going to fit on the school buses going back to the parking lot. I am the best biker in the family and my husband's bike had a flat by the time we got back to transition. So I rode off alone back to the car, and picked up everyone. I was starving and very hot, since it was 2 p.m. and we hadn't had lunch. What I wanted was a giant chocolate chip milkshake. We drove off in search of that, but ended up going to 7-11 for slurpees and chocolate milk. They tasted so good on the hot drive home. Our big van no longer has air conditioning, so we had the windows down, but it was 90 degrees outside. I got home in time to start on dinner, since we had friends coming over at 6. I managed to do what needed to be done and even won two rubbers of bridge in the evening.

My final time: 3:29.16
swim--27:30
T1--2:40
bike--1:12
T2--:50
run--46:13

new YA

I have a couple of contemporary fantasy/romances/retellings in the vein of Tris and Izzie up on www.smashwords.com if you're interested.

An Ideal Boyfriend is based on the Oscar Wilde play An Ideal Husband.

Trudy comes from a family without luck, but when she tests lucky, she leaves her home and enrolls in St. James Academy for Luck, an exclusive school largely for children of old luck families. Out of place, she nonetheless becomes the girlfriend of Rob Chiltern, Student Body President. Everything should be great in her life until Rob's ex Laura appears and tries to blackmail him.






The Gift of the Demons is a retelling of The Gift of the Magi.

When Fallin sees a friend being attacked by a demon he has made a bargain with in the school gym, she tries to save him. She uses her Tae Kwon Do skills and years of weight lifting and training, but her actions have little effect until an old man dressed as a janitor flings a special knife at the demon and she deflates like a balloon. Fallin becomes a demon fighter, but will she also fall in love?




Cover art here is again by Jenn Reese at www.tigerbrightstudios.com

new adult ebook

I've been working for a number of years on a new adult paranormal mystery series set in Salt Lake City with an alternate history of the Mormon church as a backdrop.

In my version, Benjamin Young and the pioneers come across the Wasatch Mountains into the valley and find vampires around the Salt Lake. These aren't humans brought back to life, but another branch on the human family tree like Neanderthals. Fast forward to the present and detective Jack Hardy finds his fiancee dead on the causeway to Vampire Island. He is determined to find out who killed her, even if it leads him to some uncomfortable discoveries about the history of the Mormon church and about Becky's own history.

The cover was done by Jenn Reese at www.tigerbrightstudios.com and I love it!

new website, new ebooks

I've got a new website up, with updated info on critiques, new ebooks and more: www.metteivieharrison.com

I've got 3 collections of short stories, The Queen's Truth (traditional fantasy), Ten Apprentices (sf/f of various flavors around an apprentice theme), and Saving the Moon (contemporary fantasy). The artwork for the short story collections is from my sister (www.mleiv.com).

Everything I Need to Know About the Gospel I Learned In Nursery

I think that being a nursery leader is the best job in the church. You get hugs from little children for two hours a week, plus they remember you and wave to you without constraint any other time they see you on the street, in the grocery store. There are also some great life lessons to be learned in nursery, in the lesson and not.

Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam.

We are commanded to be the light of the world, to be the reflection of Christ at home, at work and at play. This isn't a passive responsibility. Radiating happiness is great, but unless we actively involve ourselves in making this world heaven, we are not doing enough. On the level of a child, this may mean simply doing what is not wrong. But for adults, we need to learn not only to do what is right, but to think, to engage in the world, to make those hard choices that make the world better even if those choices are not easy ones.

I am a child of God.

This means that God is my father, which gives me a divine sense of worth. There is nothing I can do that can change my value in God's eyes. I have that to begin with. I do not need to DO anything to be a child. I am inherently of value. There is no sin so great, no thought so terrible, no mistake so horrendous, that I cease to have value. This also applies equally to everyone else in the world. Those who are from other countries, other religions, other political persuasions, other ethnicities, other genders, and so on—they are all as valuable as I am to God and to the world itself. Think what you might be missing if you don't accept this simple principle and learn from everyone around you.

Sometimes it's my turn, sometimes it's not.

It can be difficult to wait for a turn. It can be excruciating, in fact, to feel as if the world is spinning around and my time is being wasted. Nonetheless, there are times when life isn't going to go my way. I don't get to choose those times, much as I would like to (Because truthfully, everyone would choose to have it be their turn all the time). When it is not my turn, I get to sit and do nothing—or I can watch and learn what I can learn from someone else taking a turn. I can sit politely or I can be obnoxious and make rude comments. But when it is my turn and another is waiting, they will have the same choice to make.

Before snack time, we wash our hands.

We all get dirty in the course of life. Before we share food (or any other pleasant part of life) with others, we are obligated to do the quick task of getting clean so we don't share germs. This protects us and others.

Popcorn's Popping on the Apricot Tree.

Nature is one of the great gifts of life. It may not be literally popcorn popping on the apricot tree in springtime, but to experience the joy of that moment is part of the experience. Missing out on it doesn't make you more holy or more righteous. It makes you less so. Stopping to feel joyful is part of the responsibility of a disciple. And it is also one of the perks. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the perks.

When I'm stinky, it's time for Mommy and Daddy.

There are people who volunteer to do some of the hard parts of caring for us. They are our family. No matter how much others love us, it's great to remember that our families see the worst of us. They help us remember that whatever accolades we get outside the family aren't the real picture. They are great, but the real work of living can be messy and to live constantly in the world outside of that messiness is false. If your family doesn't adore you, that is the way it should be. If you forget to do the work inside your family and only do work outside of it, you are lying to yourself about who you are. Eventually, your true stinkiness will emerge.

The little boy with the missing hand has the best jump shot.

Adults like to make categories. Abled, disabled. White, black. Boy, girl. But in nursery, mostly kids see the world in terms of who is interesting to play with. In our nursery, there is a boy with one full hand and one partial hand and he is the best basketball player. Guess who everyone likes to play ball with? Forgetting this is one of the problems of adulthood.

Who needs shoes?

Grownups and children alike tend to take off their shoes in nursery. You can play the game of trying to put the shoes back on every pair of bare feet or you can choose to pick up the shoes and put them on the counter until it is time to go back outside nursery. Which is more fun? Shoes are a constraint that the real world puts on us. Shoes shelter our feet from pain and rocks in life. But there are wonderful places where we can take off our shoes and feel safe and free.

Jesus and Heavenly Father Love Me.

The great lesson of nursery is that there is always someone who loves you. No matter how many times you fail. No matter how wretched your life becomes. No matter how many people you disappoint. No matter how how bad your life looks.

When you cry, always use a tissue.

There is a magic about tissues, I have found. A child will often cry when Mommy or Daddy leaves nursery. Nothing wrong with a few tears shed to show your love. Then you wipe the tears off and it's time to play. Some kids cry more before they are ready to play. There's nothing wrong with that, either. But the simple offer of a tissue to dry off the tears is a ritual of accepting the sadness and moving on from it that adults could learn from.

We have to learn to sit on the big kid chairs.

As fun as free play time in nursery is, there is also a time for the lesson. And during lesson time, we sit on the big kid chairs. Wiggly children don't always stay on the chairs for long. We know this. Nonetheless, the expectation is that they will go back on the chairs. We remind them gently. Then we pick them up and put them on the chairs. No need for yelling. You simply put them back, give them another chance, and remind them of the expectation. That's the way we all grow into the expectations of our roles.

Lesson time can be fun.

Adults fall asleep in church all the time. Lessons are so BORING. We have to prove to each other that we're smart, that we're learned, that we've done research. We feel obligated to cover the material. But really, lesson time should be fairly simple. A one sentence lesson that can be repeated a few times. Really, how much of what we hear at any time do we remember and use? If you get one sentence across that makes a difference, do you need more than that? And making sure that anyone remembers the lesson is largely about making it fun. Instead of trying to prove something while teaching, try to make it fun. Sing, move, dance, be silly.

Playdough, puzzles, and paint—it's all learning.

We make too many sharp distinctions between play time and work time in the adult world. Al play is hard work. It's just our mind and body doing different work than we often get paid for. For me, “play” is training for and running triathlons. Or playing the piano. Or knitting and sewing. But any of those can be work for someone else. When you've got playdough out, enjoy making snakes and cutting shapes. Finger painting teaches motor control and visual acuity. We're always learning. Embrace that. Find your own play dough and let it be fun.

Say you're sorry if you hurt someone.

Sometimes we are too eager for a toy that is shiny. Or we don't look where we're going and bump into someone. It doesn't matter if it's an intentional mistake or not. What matters is that we hurt another person. Why is it so difficult to say, “I'm sorry?” Say it and you can go back to play. There's no need to hurt yourself to make it even, to spend years in agony of regret or guilt. Say you're sorry, move on. Try not to do it again.

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down.

The old nursery rhyme is about the black death. We're all going to die. We practice for death all the time to make it easier when it comes. Children understand about death in ways that adults do not. When my youngest daughter died, my 3 year old said, “When she is alive again, we'll play with her.” Death isn't something to be terrified of, to speak in soft voices about. We all come to the end of life. Some lives are longer than others. This is simply the way that life is. It isn't fair. Many things are not fair. Very young children grasp this instinctively.

Clean up, Clean up, everybody everywhere.

When you have played with a toy, you have a responsibility to help clean up that toy. Sometimes you will need help to clean up because you have made a bigger mess than any one person your age can clean up. Sometimes people will help you without being asked, but not always. Cleaning up before moving onto something else is one of the key lessons of life. A child who refuses to clean up anything needs to find that there are consequences for this.

You can make a friend with a complete stranger.

Just because you have never met someone before does not mean that they won't become your best friend. Children are often far more open than adults to making friends with anyone and everyone. They don't expect much, simply someone who won't hurt them and who will play the same game. Laughter and being silly are bonding moments. There is no need for names or labels or promises that the person will come back the next day or week. Play while there is time to play.

Only pour as much water in a cup as you are willing to clean up.

This is something one of the other nursery leaders taught me. We use very, very small paper cups for snack time in nursery and we only pour about a half inch of water in the cup. We are eager to give children a refill if they ask, but at least once a day, a child will spill everything that was in the cup. This is much easier to deal with if there isn't that much spilled. If you don't want a child to make a certain choice, don't put that choice in the option queue. If you threaten a child with a consequence, make sure you follow through. Say what you are going to do and then do it. Be okay with the rules you have set up for your own life.

Food makes everything better.

I spent a long time complaining about candy being used as a bribe with children, but the reality is that we all use food as a reward. We use food to welcome people, to share good times with people, and yes, to bribe other adults to attend meetings. Perhaps we go overboard with this, but eating food is a simple pleasure. Why deny it?

Mommy and Daddy will always come for me.

This is one of the mantras of living in the nursery. Yes, Mommy will come back. Daddy will come back. Grandpa will come back. It is an important part of childhood to understand that there is object permanence. Peek-a-boo. Routine and stability are important for children and adults. We need to have the sense that our lives follow a pattern. Set a pattern for yourself and you will find that you are happier. A lot of religion is ritual, and serves the purpose of giving us comfort through repetition. While watching the Olympics I noticed how many athletes went through a pre-race ritual. They did some stretching, I suppose, but it wasn't about the warmup physically. It was about the need for sameness. We all need it.

Friday Tri: Do's and Don't's of Triathlon

Do's of Triathlon:

Always wear a helmet on a bike, whether in competition or training.

Bring water/Gatorade on your bike. Always. Even if a race says they will have aid stations on the bike, you don't know where they will be and you don't want to stop.

Put on sunscreen before all races. Even if it looks cloudy, you can get burned. You don't want to stop after a swim and put it on. You lose time.

Put on some kind of chafing guard before racing. Even if you've never had chafing problems before, you will likely sweat more on a race.

Bring something to eat after a race is over. Yes, they will likely have post-race food for racers, but if you have a long drive ahead of you, you may need more.

Always eat breakfast before a race. No matter how nervous and sick to your stomach you are, you must have some calories to race on. You might as well figure out what simple foods you can race on. Try a banana and a bagel or piece of bread. Simple works.

Take your bike out for a mini-ride before a race. Make sure you put it in the right gear to start.

Do a run through of transition areas before a race, so you don't get stuck wandering around during a race, trying to find your stuff. Bring something distinct to mark your area, a brightly colored towel or even a balloon.

Be clear when passing other cyclists. Call out loudly. “On your left.” If they do not move over, call out again and add, “Move over, please. I don't want to hit you.” Of course, if someone is dangerous and won't move, you'll have to go wide, but give them a chance.

Check your tire pressure every time you ride.

Always bring a tire patch kit or an extra tube and air with you. Don't assume that other people will be on hand to help you deal with a mechanical problem.

Always ride with a cell phone, in racing or training.

As much as possible, try to mimic your race course in training. If you can, go and ride/run/swim the actual course. If not, try to find a course like it. Also look carefully over the race map on-line. Even pros make mistakes on turns. You can't assume there will be volunteers or clear marking on the course. It's your responsibility to make sure you know where to go.

Dont's of Triathlon:

Never drop trash on a race course or on any course. If you brought it, you can take it back with you.

Don't draft off another racer, even if you planned to race together. It's not fair to the other competitors and it will end in you both getting a penalty. You can stay close, but keep 3 bike lengths between you. You can run together when you get to that point.

If a woman passes you on the bike (this is called being “chicked”), don't speed up and try to pass her again. She has already passed you five minutes ago, since you likely started the race earlier. Also, there are women who are faster than guys. Get over it.

Never try something new on race day. Not new shoes, not new goggles, not a new race outfit. If you buy something new the night before, try it out that night at the very least.

If you end up with a mechanical problem, don't simply give up the race. Finish it even if you don't have a chance of meeting your time goal. It makes for mental toughness and it teaches your body to keep going.

Don't argue with race officials. Ever. Not about penalties, or rules or anything else.

If the medical personnel tell you it's time to throw in the towel, believe them. They aren't joking around. They're trying to keep you alive.

Never assume that you have right of way on a bike. Race courses are often not closed and you have to share with cars. If cars don't see you, they can hit you. That's the end of your race and possibly your life. Taking the risk of dying is never worth it for winning a race. Slow down and be safe.

Don't ride your bike in transition area. Ever. This is dangerous for other racers and can end up with your bike getting damaged.

Don't assume that people who have the best gear are the best racers. This is only true about half the time. There are some really good racers who have very simple bike setups and some people who have a lot more money than time to train. Sometimes that woman with the bikini in the water is actually just a really good swimmer. Show respect for all racers.

Don't assume that this Olympic or Sprint distance triathlon is like the last one you did. Marathoners or runners who are used to thinking about PR's in terms of race distance often imagine they can guess what their time should be. But in triathlon, the race course conditions change and race distances can even vary from course to course, or depending on the year. Last year's race times may not be an accurate prediction of this year's times at all. There might be wind, rain, or traffic issues. There may be extra transition time you weren't expecting. Race this course, this year, for you. Don't make unfair comparisons to other races and make yourself feel like you didn't do well.

Don't get so caught up in racing that you forget what really matters in life. Racing in triathlon is a fun hobby, but it's not your whole life. Don't snarl at family members. They are your real life.

Ebook news

The Princess and the Horse should now be available to anyone in any electronic format at www.smashwords.com. It will shortly appear at other individual ebook retailers. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to figure this out! Please, if you want to download the book, comment below if you have any problems.

12 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Magic System

How is it learned and executed?

How is it accessed?

Does it have a will of its own?

Is it restricted in space and time?

What does available magic do?

How does it relate to the character, plot and theme of the book?

What is the cost of magic?

What can it not do?

How long does it last?

Who can use it?

How do others react to it?

Why haven't people with this power taken over the world?