Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 15

One (Not Turtle) Dove

Dove in the Desert Willow

I have a great fondness for the week between Christmas and New Year.  The frantic element is much reduced.  I’ve baked all the cookies.  If a gift is going to be late, I’ve made my apologies.  Many people are on holiday, so even the sense of deadlines is reduced.

This week, I’ll do some writing, probably.  But I’ll also make time to visit with a few friends who are on break, and things like that.

I wish all of you the opportunity for peace and contemplation, maybe time to curl up with a good book or to watch that movie you’ve been wanting to see or to play with your new holiday toys.

Take care!

FF: Holiday for Reading

Roary and the Holiday Train

As the pressures of the holiday season, PT, and trying to retain some fragment of my life as a writer press in, I’m mostly re-reading, because it’s a great way to unwind.  Cookies are done.  Presents mostly ready.  I may soon get more ambitious.  Or not!

As most of you already know, the Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein.  Audiobook.  Definitely homage to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but fun in itself.

4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie.  A favorite Miss Marple that also qualifies, I have decided, as a Christmas book, since it begins slightly before Christmas.

The Harlequin Tea Set and Other Stories by Agatha Christie.  A collection of Agatha Christie short stories that (until this collection was published in 1997) had never appeared in any of her collections.  Many are bitter to bittersweet, which may explain why they had not been collected.  One is a puzzle. 

A Holiday for Murder by Agatha Christie.  This may be the first Agatha Christie I read.  I found it on the shelf of some people I was babysitting for and was hooked.

In Progress:

Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck.  Audiobook.  New to me.  What’s startling is how much of the material still seems current.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. A favorite holiday read, about many things, not the least, the power of belief.

Also:

Finished he latest AARP magazine, with some great articles, including a nifty interview with Ringo Starr.  Well into new issue of Archeology, which has a lot of “highlights of the year” stuff, and some amazingly contorted writing.

Sweet Season

Decorations By Jim

For the last six weeks, I’ve been enjoying writing a deep dive into the six main characters in my Over Where series.  I thought about doing more, but realized that doing so would be difficult without creating spoilers.  Well, I might be able to do Heru, but I’ll wait until after the holidays for that.

Lately, when I’m not writing, my life has been divided into two areas: PT and plowing through my holiday to-do list.  The PT is for a messed-up rotator cuff, and is going well, within parameters of having to spend a lot of time doing various stretches and such.  I really like my physical therapist, and the clinic.

Holiday stuff…  I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.  That said, I sometimes have an over-optimistic view of precisely how much I can do with a messed up right arm (yeah, my dominant one), while still trying to keep up with my writing and (again) PT.

This week I finished the last of the out-of-town gifts, and am grateful to have Jim available to do the post office runs.  Next up, cookies!

We make about ten types (counting a simple fudge, with and without nuts).  No, our household of two does not eat all of these.  We give a lot to friends and neighbors.  Most of the cookies we make have more than one stage, but the ones that really take time are the cutouts.  As you can see from the photo, we have a lot of odd cookie cutters and see no reason why our holiday assortment should not include hedgehogs and rockets, as well as cats and guinea pigs and…  Well, you get the idea.

We also have a lot of different Christmas trees, because when Jim was a kid he got the idea that the trees taste best.  I decided to indulge this, and every time I see a different tree cutter, I get it.  I think we have something like eight now.

The variety keeps it fun.  Now that I think about it, that’s very much like my philosophy about writing.  I don’t write the same type of book because variety keeps me fresh.

Catch you later!

FF: Do You Hear?

Roary and His Christmas Rug

As I’ve been doing Christmas stuff, I’ve been bouncing back and forth between Christmas music and audiobooks.  And this week, I’ve started my first “holiday” book.  Audiobooks are great, but how a reader chooses to inflect qualifies as interpreting the text, which is interesting.

As most of you already know, the Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Snuff by Terry Pratchett.  This is the last of the books focused on Vimes and the Watch.  Vimes is outside of the city he knows so well, but it may be that his stumbling on a crime is not merely a coincidence.

City of Gold and Shadows by Ellis Peters.  Audiobook.  Archeology mingles with modern murder.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  Excellent as ever.

In Progress:

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein.  Audiobook.  Definitely homage to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but fun in itself.

4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie.  A favorite Miss Marple that also qualifies, I have decided as a Christmas book, since it begins slightly before Christmas.

Also:

The latest AARP magazine, with some great articles, including a nifty interview with Ringo Starr.  And the new issue of Archeology. 

Vereez: Fierce and Foxy

Vereez, Art by Tom Kidd

For the last several weeks, at the request of my friend Jane Noel, I’ve been taking a deep dive into the six characters who are central to my Over Where novels, Library of the Sapphire Wind, Aurora Borealis Bridge, and House of Rough Diamonds.  I started with the oldest, the human, Meg Blake, and this week I’ll wind up with the youngest, Vereez, a sennutep who blends the characteristics of a fox and a young human woman.

Before I get to Vereez, I’d like to note that I’m always happy to have nice, substantial questions.  I’m always just a little shy about talking about my characters or stories or writing process.  Knowing there’s even one person who is interested in a specific topic helps me get by that.  I can’t promise that every question is one I can answer, but even then, I will explain why I can’t.  So, feel free to ask.  You might end up sparking a WW or six!

Although none of the three inquisitors comes from what could be considered a financially challenged background, Vereez’s family is extremely wealthy.  Her parents run a banking/investing firm called the House of Fortune.  Since, in this culture, names are somewhat fluid, the family surname is Fortune.

Vereez could have become nothing more than a spoiled little rich girl, following without protest in the path her parents set out for her, except for the incidents that led to her particular holdback.  In the interest of not providing spoilers, let’s just settle for saying that Vereez’s problem is a whole lot more complicated than she lets on at first.  Even later on, new ramifications keep cropping up.

These layers upon layers make Vereez very interesting to write about, not less so than Xerak and Grunwold, just for different reasons.  Simply put, Xerak and Grunwold may lie to other people about the complexities of what is holding them back.  Vereez also lies to herself.

Nonetheless, Vereez is far from the whiny type.  She’s fiercely loyal, and very determined.  When you get to know more about her parents (which gradually unfolds throughout the books) you’ll realize just how brave she was to take off with Xerak and Grunwold to Hettua Shrine.  She’s good with her twin swords, although until Library of the Sapphire Wind, her skill has never been put to use in actual combat.  More than the other two, who already have some idea of what they want to do with their lives once they resolve their holdbacks, Vereez is still figuring that out.

It’s also easy to forget just how adaptable Vereez is.  She goes from living in a house with servants to meet her every whim, to jumping into a situation where she learns to fly a sky sailer, fight, study magic, and…yes, even learn to make her own bed, cook, and scrub the toilet.  She might get crushed from time to time, but she is resilient.

So, there you have them…  Vereez, Grunwold, Xerak, Teg, Peg, and Meg.  There are a lot more characters I could talk about but, as it would be difficult to do so without providing spoilers for those who have not yet read the books, I’ll stop here.  I’m open to questions about any of what I’ve written on these to this point, or other topics.  For now, I think I’ll go and give my shoulder a rest before getting back to writing!

FF: Here and There

Persephone Goes for Thud

I’m juggling a lot of things: PT (for a messed-up rotator cuff), writing, holiday prep, and, whenever I can fit it in, reading. 

As most of you already know, the Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett.  Although this book has some excellent jokes, it’s much darker than the other Watch novels.  I love it nonetheless, but it’s not always an easy tale.

Black is the Color of My True Love’s Heart by Ellis Peters.  Audiobook.  A folk music seminar brings conflict and tragedy.

Thud by Terry Pratchett.  Thoughtful and funny.  In some ways, speaks very much to the question of as cultures evolve and the comfortable preconceptions of the past are challenged.

The House of Green Turf by Ellis Peters.  Audiobook.  A bittersweet mixture of romance and regret, tangled in with a mystery, and a very dramatic ending.

In Progress:

Snuff by Terry Pratchett.  This is the last of the books focused on Vimes and the Watch.  Vimes is outside of the city he knows so well, but it may be that his stumbling on a crime is not merely a coincidence.

City of Gold and Shadows by Ellis Peters.  Audiobook.  Archeology mingles with modern murder.

Also:

Not too much else…  just a few articles here and there.

Grumbling Grunwold: Sky Captain

Grunwold!

At the request of my friend Jane Noel, I’ve been doing deep dives into the creation of the six core characters of the first two Over Where books.  We started with Meg Blake, the eldest, continued through the other humans, Peg and Teg, and last week started on the young people with Xerak.

This week, I’m going to talk about Grunwold.  Grunwold is in his early twenties.  He is therianthropic, mingling the traits of a stag and a young man.  When Grunwold departs for Hettua Shrine with Xerak and Vereez before the beginning of Library of the Sapphire Wind, he’s just finished attending college, where he studied agriculture, along with a bit about the military arts.  His choice of major was dictated by his family business, rather than his own inclinations.

Left to himself, Grunwold would probably have studied geography, the intricacies of sky sailing, and poetry.  However, as his parents’ only child, he is expected to inherit the estate they have spent the last decade plus building.  Therefore, even he couldn’t argue that learning more about the complexities was a good idea.

Grunwold does like to argue, though.  Of the three inquisitors, he is the most likely to grumble.  However, underneath the grumbling, he may be the kindest and most idealistic of the three.  This is reflected in his particular “holdback,” which is his awareness that his father has contracted a debilitating disease and—to Grunwold’s combined amazement and irritation—doesn’t seem to be seeking a cure.

Physically, Grunwold was the most difficult of the therianthropic characters to design because of his antlers.  There’s plenty of mythological roots for stag men, from some depictions of Herne the Hunter, to the British cryptids, to various indigenous American traditions, and onward.  When I started working with Grunwold, I realized that those antlers meant that everything from the shape of doorways, to the height of ceilings, to the design of beds would need to be taken into consideration.  I’ve tried to keep it subtle but there.

Grunwold’s on the young side, so he hasn’t developed a very elaborate rack.  Unlike “real” deer, he doesn’t shed his antlers, but if a tine is broken, it should eventually regrow.  Just in case you wondered, those therianthropes who have some form of antler or horn do not develop them on a scale proportional with their animal counterpart.  I figure it would put too much strain on the neck and shoulders.

Like many people of his general age group (and believe me, reading the papers written by my students when I taught college English gave me a lot of insight), Grunwold can be amazingly competent and mature one moment, and very uncertain and volatile the next.  Often this depends on the subject.  Put him at Slicewind’s wheeland he’s poised and confident.  Give him a crush, and he melts down.  This changeability makes him a great deal of fun to write about.

Someday, in fact, I’d like to do a collection of short stories from different characters’ points of view, maybe even on the same incident.  But that will wait for the future.

Next week, unless there are any complex questions, we’ll move to the final inquisitor: Vereez.

FF: Pleased to Find

Mei-Ling On Watch

This week features a continuation of my Watch re-read.  In audio, I’ve found an often-overlooked gem of a series.

As most of you already know, the Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones.  Audiobook.  Sequel to Castle in the Air and Howl’s Moving Castle although could be read without having read either with only minimal spoilers.

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett.  As in Jingo, the Watch leaves Ankh Morpork, although this time much earlier in the novel.

Death and the Joyful Woman by Ellis Peters.  Audiobook.  Most people know about Brother Cadfael, but Ellis Peters wrote a lot more books.  I was pleased to find that my library had some of her Inspector Felse books on audio.

In Progress:

Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett.  Although this book has some excellent jokes, it’s much darker than the other Watch novels.  I love it nonetheless, but it’s not always an easy tale.

Black is the Color of My True Love’s Heart by Ellis Peters.  Audiobook.  A folk music seminar brings conflict and tragedy.

Also:

I’ve been looking at catalogs as they come through.  I am astonished by how much there is to buy.  I often forget. 

Xerak: Leonine Wizard

Xerak: Art By Tom Kidd

Over the last few weeks, at the request of my friend, Jane Noel, I’ve been doing a deep dive into some of what contributed to the central characters in my new Over Where series.  I started with the eldest, Meg, moved to Peg, and last week took a look at Teg.  Having finished with the summoned, it’s time to move to the summoners.

At the start of Library of the Sapphire Wind, Meg, Peg, and Teg are summoned up and out of the Valentine’s Day book club meeting at Pagearean Books.  The summoners are a trio of young adults: Xerak, Grunwold, and Vereez.  However, their relative lack of age is not what immediately catches the attention of the summoned trio; it’s that they aren’t human.  Instead, they are therianthropic: creatures who combine human and animal traits.

The eldest of the summoners (more usually termed “inquisitors,” because they have questions to ask) is Xerak.  Xerak is about twenty-four, and leonine.  He’s also something of a magical prodigy, even in a world in which magic is relatively common.  For this reason, he was sent to board with a wizard tutor, Uten Kekui.  When Uten Kekui vanishes, roughly a year before the inquisitors take off for Hettua Shrine, Xerak devotes himself to finding him.  His failure to find his beloved master is what drives him to ask for supernatural aid.

When I’ve done book events for this series, one of the most usual questions is why did I choose to have the denizens of Over Where be therianthropic.  Honestly, the reason is that I’ve liked such figures since I first encountered them through mythology.  Minotaurs seemed more cool than monstrous to me.  Egyptian deities such as Anubis, Hathor, and Horus were fascinating.  Although I like shapeshifters, too, therianthropic creatures who were at home in both skins at the same time always fascinated me.

I also wanted to go exploring in a world that was different, right on down to the roots, and having the “people” (a term which becomes more complicated the deeper you dive into the world) not be human, seemed like a good way to shake up my preconceptions.

So, a bit more about Xerak.  He’s bookish, but his last year of constant travel has gotten him into prime shape, about which he is just a little vain.  Instead of a wizard’s staff, Xerak uses a spear, the obsidian head of which shows different colors depending on what sort of spell he’s building.  He has a bit of a drinking problem and knows it, but so far he has stayed just on the side of too much.

Xerak has the least problematic relationship with his parents of the three inquisitors.  His mom and dad run an antiquities business, and it’s likely Xerak inherited his gift for magic from his dad.  His original name was Senehem; his full wizard’s name is Xerafu Akeru.  He’s an only child, and his relationship with Grunwold and Vereez is rather like that of siblings, even though they haven’t seen as much of each other in the last few years.

That’s about as far as I can go without stumbling into spoiler territory.  I welcome questions, but if there aren’t any so complicated as to demand a new Wandering, next week we’ll take a look at Grunwold.

Watch On!

Persephone Poses

I’m continuing my re-read of the Watch novels by Pratchett.  I admire how he can laugh at both sides of an issue and how even a “perfect” character like Carrot is flawed, in Carrot’s case by his very perfection. 

As most of you already know, the Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.  Audiobook.  Quite good, although bittersweet at times.  I will definitely read Sweet Thursday, but not quite yet. 

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett.  Re-read.

Jingo by Terry Pratchett.  Re-read.  The Watch sets out to solve a crime and ends up… Well, let’s just say it’s a very interesting way to deal with war.

In Progress:

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones.  Sequel to Castle in the Air and Howl’s Moving Castle although could be read without having read either with only minimal spoilers.

The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett.  As in Jingo, the Watch leaves Ankh Morpork, although this time much earlier in the novel.

Also:

Finished the newest Smithsonian and am now browsing through Jim’s alumni magazine from University of Michigan.