Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 16

FF: In Order

Mei-Ling On Guard

This week, I decided to start re-reading the Pratchett books centering on the Watch in order.  So far, it’s been absorbing to watch how characters and setting develop and well as just good reading.

My audiobook is Cannery Row.  I have a great aversion to Steinbeck (Red Pony anyone?) that wasn’t helped by those of his books typically assigned in school.  However, my pal, Yvonne, is a fan of some of Steinbeck’s other works, and I decided to take her recommendation and give Cannery Row a try.  It has an interesting structure: not really a novel but not really short stories; something of fictionalized memoir, but with room for fancy as well.

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:

The Third Girl by Agatha Christie. 

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie.  Audiobook. I always forget how complex this one is.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.  Re-read.

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett.  Ditto.

In Progress:

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.  Audiobook.

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett.  Re-read.

Also:

Still reading the newest Smithsonian.

Un-Square Peg

Peg (detail from cover art by Tom Kidd)

Last week, prompted by a question from my friend, Jane Noel, I decided to deep dive into the background of the main characters of my new Over Where series.  Arbitrarily, I decided to start with the oldest, Meg, and move down the line.  This week, I’ll be talking about Peg.

Like most of my characters, Peg just ambled down my fingers onto the page, picked up her knitting needles, and took up her place in the story.  She claims to be in her sixties, and maybe she is.  One of the things I find really interesting about Peg is that of the three human mentors, she’s by far the most chatty, but she’s also more likely to talk about other people than about herself.

Peg’s been married and divorced three times but, unlike most women of her generation, she never changed her surname.  Christened Margaret Gallegos, she has always gone by “Peg.”  She is of average build, with brown hair going grey that she accents with lighter streaks.  Her eyes are hazel green.  Her heritage is mixed Hispanic and Irish.

Peg ran away from home in her early teens, beelining for Haight Ashbury where she became involved in the music scene.  She still loves music but, after a time as a singer, she focused in on raising kids: her own, step kids, friends of her kids, and now grandkids.

One of the cool things about Peg is that although she is cagey about whether she even finished high school, she’s so engaged with life that she has had a wide education and has become a very able jack of all trades.  Time and time again, Peg’s decision to engage with the interests of her kids, and now grandkids, has given her the opportunity to learn a wide variety of skills.  Like the other two mentors, Peg is an avid reader.  (Remember, they met in a book club.)

If Meg is my salute to those early professional women who opened doors for so many to come, Peg is my salute to those wonderful women who poured energy into raising the best possible next generation they could.  Some of these have advanced degrees of their own, but put pursuing a career on the side to concentrate raising children.  Along the way, they have often developed a richness of experience that I tried to show in Peg.

Finally, I’m perfectly aware that as of this date a woman in her sixties could not have been part of the Haight Ashbury scene, nor have known the people Peg claims to have known.  However, at the time Peg walked into the story, it was possible.  I didn’t see any need to let the vagaries of my writing life change her background so drastically.

I’m too young to have been part of the sub-culture that shaped Peg, but I was certainly aware of it as I was growing up, so it’s part of my personal tool kit.  Moreover, I have friends who were part of that scene, and I’ve listened to their tales with great interest.  Finally, I have a fondness for biographies, including those of rock and pop stars.

So there’s Peg…  Unless someone asks a question that prompts a long reply, next week I’ll tell you about our final mentor, archeologist Teg.

FF: Same Seed, Different Story

Guinea Pigs Do Remember

Late last week, I was unwell for several days and while I got better, I did a lot of re-reading.  I continued my Agatha Christie binge with a personal favorite, the relatively late work, Elephants Can Remember.  The copy I had included footnotes that indicated which novels included past cases Poirot thinks about, which led me next to Murder in Retrospect.  Both of these books have a similar jumping off point.  Each becomes a very different story.  As a writer, I appreciated how Christie handled this.  Also, reading a bunch of her novels close together made me see how much variation there is in how she tells a story, even when the stories are all “Poirot” stories.

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:

Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix.  Audiobook.  Regency England with magic.  Audiobook reader has some serious pronunciation issues, but the story is fun.

The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie.  A very Halloween tale.  Does not feature any of her recurring detectives.

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie.

Murder in Retrospect by Agatha Christie.

Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie.

The Patriotic Murders by Agatha Christe.

In Progress:

The Third Girl by Agatha Christie.

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie.

Also:

Finished the latest American Archeology.  One article on how new tech is changing archeology should be required reading for all those who write futuristic archeology and miss the “futuristic” part. This was a good issue overall.

Finished the short stories in the Brigid’s Sisters art book/anthology.

Now reading the newest Smithsonian.

Meg: Real to Me

Library of the Sapphire Wind

When I was talking with my friend Jane Noel, she expressed an interest in knowing more about how I developed the central characters in my new Over Where series, which starts with Library of the Sapphire Wind.  Happily, Jane is married to a writer, so she “gets” when I say my characters just tend to walk in and make themselves at home.  But she’s also an artist in her own right, and gently pushed for a little more about what shaped these people so they could just walk in.

For the next few weeks, I’m going to do my best to showcase some of that.  Today we’ll start with the oldest of my ensemble cast: Margaret “Meg” Blake.  Meg walked on stage pretty much as soon as I decided to write a book with a lost library in it.  She’s somewhere in her seventies, recently retired, and a widow.  She has two grown children: Charles and Joan.  Her relationship with them is friendly, but not close.  In recent years, she has moved to Taima, Pennsylvania, where she lives in a retirement community for active seniors.

I already said that as soon as I decided to write a book with a library in it, I knew one of my characters would be a librarian, but it would also be perfectly true to say that my love for libraries and the many wonderful librarians who have been part of my life is why the idea of writing a book with a lost library seriously appealed to me.

As a shy, nearsighted child, libraries were a refuge to me.  I’m quite possibly the only schoolkid ever to have been forbidden to go into the school library until I got my grades up.  Somewhere around here, I still have the button I was awarded when I made that goal.  It reads Library Assistant.

Is Meg based on any specific librarian or librarians?  No.  I very rarely base any of my characters on actual people.  However, Meg definitely owes a lot of her personality traits to librarians I have known, especially the kindness that underlies her calm, scholarly dementor.  As Meg says early in Library of the Sapphire Wind, she’s spent most of her life asking “Can I help you?” and when she is magically summoned to help three young people in over their heads, she absolutely can’t resist. 

Meg is also a tribute to the earliest modern career women, pioneers who opened the way for so many.  Many of my younger readers find it hard to believe that not long ago a woman’s respectable career choices were pretty much limited librarian, teacher, and nurse.  Meg, who insisted on keeping her career active even as she raised her family, is a salute to those women who fought that very difficult fight.

At the end of Aurora Borealis Bridge, Meg voices a decision that some readers have been uncomfortable with.  That was her idea, not mine.  However, when one of my characters has a strong opinion, I listen.

Meg gets to do some pretty dynamic things in House of Rough Diamonds, and she’s going to keep on pushing the limits in books to come.  Let me know if you have any questions.  Otherwise, next week we’ll move on to Peg.

FF: Lots of Old Friends

Persephone is Fiercer than Any Dragon

For a variety of reasons, I stumbled into re-reading this week, although one book was new and another I last read so long ago that all I remember is liking it.  The short fiction is also new!

Most of you know this already, but 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:

Have Sword Will Travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams.  Audiobook.  I’ve listened to this before, and chose it both because I enjoy it and because I just discovered there was a sequel I somehow missed.  I’ll be starting that maybe even later today.

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.

Let Sleeping Dragons Lie by Garth Nix and Sean Williams.  Very good, indeed!

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones. Audiobook.  Re-listen.  A standalone sequel to her Howl’s Moving Castle.  Minor spoilers if you haven’t read the prior.

In Progress:

Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix.  Audiobook.  Re-read or re-listen…  I can’t recall.  Enjoying nonetheless.  Regency England with magic.

The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie.  Re-read.  A very Halloween tale.  Does not feature any of her recurring detectives.

Also:

Finished the latest Archeology magazine.  Now finishing up the latest American Archeology.  One article on how new tech is changing archeology should be required reading for all those who write futuristic archeology and miss the “futuristic” part.

Continuing reading various of the short stories in the Brigid’s Sisters art book/anthology. 

Day After Halloween

Guinea Pigs in Flight

I’m fascinated by how many people have no idea that Halloween is short for “All Hallows Eve,” or that the “hallowed” day is the Feast of All Saints, which is today.  “Hallow” is another way of saying “holy,” and a saint is a holy person.  Languages drift, but you can definitely hear the echoes between “hallow” and “holy.”

All Saints Day is often confused with All Souls Day, but they are not the same.  Since it’s easy to look up the details, I’ll leave you to do so if you wish.

On that cheerful note, I’ll go back to spinning words, hopefully at least as fast as a guinea pig can fly on a broomstick!

Actually…  When you think about it, those little bullet bodies are pretty darn aerodynamic!

Later!

FF: Decided

Persephone in Her Favorite Basket

As you’ll see below, I did decide on a new audiobook.  Sometimes I find a book lurking on our shelves that I’d overlooked.  Fog Magic was one of these.  A nice discovery.

Most of you know this already, but 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:

The Icarus Twin by Timothy Zahn.  ARC.  Lots of action keeps the protagonist from having time to concentrate on what seems to be the underlying mystery, except in enough snippets to show he’s not stupid.  A nice expansion of the universe introduced in The Icarus File.

Fog Magic by Julia A. Sauer.  This middle grade novel successfully mingles historical with a magical/mystical element.  The latter is unexplained, as is what happened to the Brigadoon-like village to which young Greta makes numerous visits.  Nonetheless, I quite enjoyed.

In Progress:

Have Sword Will Travel by Garth Nix and Sean Williams.  Audiobook.  I’ve listened to this before, and chose it both because I enjoy it and because I just discovered there was a sequel I somehow missed.  I’ll be starting that maybe even later today.

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.  I’m reading this day-by-day to the end of the month.  Re-read.  Moreso than most, as I read this book in manuscript!

Also:

Took a break to read the AARP magazine, which had some good articles.  Now back to the latest Archeology magazine.

Also reading various of the short stories in the Brigid’s Sisters art book/anthology.  I’ve only read a couple, chosen at random, but quite liked them.

Not Atypical, Always Odd

A Flicker Visit

Autumn is officially here in my little microclimate of New Mexico.  We know that because we’re getting flocks of migrating robins and our winter residents, most particularly the flickers and juncos, are moving in.  These latter will share space with the thrashers, doves, sparrows, and finches that stay around all year.  We’ve seen the occasional scrub jay, coming in from the more arid regions to forage.

Temperatures have taken to going back and forth between daytime highs in the 80s F to mid-40s F at night.  Some leaves are changing, but we don’t usually get the brilliant reds and oranges common in the areas “back East” where I grew up.  More often there are drab, drooping yellows that make the landscape look tired, ready for a good winter rest after the battles with Spring’s violent winds and Summer’s brutal heat.

Overall, the view out my window is mostly green still, with splashes of color from the surviving flowers.  There will likely be green until we get hit with a killing frost, which could occur any time now, through November.  The mulberries (an import, much loved by landscapers several decades back) often keep their dark green leaves until the frost, when they dump heaps of still green, slightly frozen leaves straight down, sometimes smothering cars parked along the curb.

And me?  I can’t say I particularly miss those hot days in the summer, especially the long weeks where we rarely dipped below 100 F and going below 105 F was a reason for feeling relieved.  Autumn is actually the easiest season here, although it is far too short.

I’m writing, mostly longhand, as I work my way into the complexities of my current story.  Overall, I’m enjoying it, although there are a few intricacies that are eluding me.  I actually like the process of exploring where the story is going as I write, and will simply revise my earlier parts to make sure everything fits.

Off to contemplate and scribble…

FF: Haven’t Decided

Mei-Ling Sneaks Up On a Good Book

I haven’t decided what my next audiobook will be.  I could continue with the Prydain Chronicles, but I remember these next two books very well and I may not be of a mindset for Taran whining even more.  I’d forgotten just how much whining he does!

Most of you know this already, but 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:

The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander.  Audiobook.  I always forget what a dark story this is.

The Icarus Plot by Timothy Zahn.  Enjoyed.

The Castle of Llyr by Lloyd Alexander.  Audiobook. 

In Progress:

A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny.  I’m reading this day-by-day to the end of the month.  Re-read.  Moreso than most, as I read this book in manuscript!

The Icarus Twin by Timothy Zahn.  ARC.  Lots of action keeps the protagonist from having time to concentrate on what seems to be the underlying mystery, except in enough snippets to show he’s not stupid.  Fun and a little frustrating at the same time!

Also:

The latest Archeology magazine.

Now I Can

Books I’ve Been Writing On

This last was a very busy end of week into weekend.  I’d like to thank those of you who made your way through the tortuous streets of Santa Fe and dealt with the even more brutal parking to attend the book event for Elizabeth Leggett’s art/anthology Brigid’s Sisters at Beastly Books.  Seeing friendly and smiling faces is what makes those events worth doing.  I’m really glad I had a chance to chat with a few people in during and after scrawling my name.

Oh! House of Rough Diamonds got a really good review I want to share:

Book 3 of the ‘Over Where’ series provides a sword-and-sorcery adventure in which a book wraith has all the books in the Library of the Sapphire Wind worried. This challenges the new House of Rough Diamonds, which faces internal battles over ownership of the Library, enemies which revolve around such control, and new groups of friends and secrets that permeate the Over Where world. The result is a rollicking series of escapades that is especially recommended for prior Over Where readers who will find these latest engagements expand the dilemmas and challenges of this special universe.—Midwest Book Review

On other fronts, Mei-Ling is now the formerly sick cat, with a clean bill of health for her respiratory system and an assessment of “Fantastic!” for her recovery from dental.

Now I can narrow my focus down to more writing.  Well, and after a very pleasant hiatus from being gamemaster and being a player, I’ll be back to running my game.  I’m terrible at maps, but I’m making a map.  My gamers are very visual, and it does help keep us all knowing what we’re talking about.

New Mexico is finally out of the horrible summer heat, although our garden’s harvest is down to very little.  Still, we did have enough eggplant for a stir fry this week, and it’s nice to not to feel heat stressed all the time.

On that note, I’m going to pull out notebook and pen and let my hands tell me what happens next.