Jane Lindskold's Blog, page 20

Cutworm Grubs and Writing

A Tomato Plant the Cutworms Didn’t Get

This last week we lost two plants very suddenly: a newly transplanted tomato and an eggplant that had been in for a while and just started to flower.  Both were small plants with relatively slender stems.  Both were victims of a subsoil predator that falls into the loose category called a cutworm grub.

I looked cutworm grubs up in one of my favorite local gardening books, a very old one by former local weatherman Howard Morgan.  He had a whole page about them, including some very funny stories.  He also mentioned moths.  Well, this spring our area had an infestation of Miller moths, and, yep, their larva do the cutworm thing.

Cutworms operate out of sight.  Our local variant wraps around the stem, sometimes slicing right through, but more often girdling the stem just making it impossible for the plant to thrive.  Instead, it its stands there, slowly wilting.  When you pull it out, you can see the girdling mark.

As I was researching cutworms, it struck me that their form of attack is very similar to what many writers face.  You start a new project.  You’re like that young plant, shooting up, feeling alive and excited.  Then something happens that cuts into your creative juices, that begins to slice through the stem.  You start wilting, falling over.

No matter the length of the project, this can be fatal.  However, this loss of creative energy is especially deadly for novelists, because the process of writing a novel can take so long and the attack can happen at any time.

Howard Morgan has a couple of tips for discouraging cutworms and I’ll definitely be trying them.  One can be done retroactively.  He suggests putting a small stick or couple of sticks right next to the stem, so the cutworm can’t girdle the plant.  Sounds reasonable.

And for writing?  Well, the image of a stick next to you, protecting you and your creativity isn’t a bad one at all.  Pick your image.  Is it a fencepost?  A wizard’s wand?  A hiker’s staff?  Whatever you choose, envision it protecting you from the doubt or exhaustion that’s beating you down.  Try and work your way back to that earlier spark.  Maybe write yourself a note or two about why you started, what were the ideas or images or characters that made you begin. 

After all, what do you have to lose?  If you don’t rekindle your enthusiasm, you’ll be no worse off, but if you find a way to reconnect, well, you’re back to writing.

Newer Territory

Good Buddies, Mei-Ling and Roary

This week I leave the Vorkosigans behind with fond farewells, let Archie and Nero take a rest, and move to newer territory.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  With this, I have finished my “read in order” of the Vorkosigan series.  End result: Additional appreciation for what a very fine writer Lois McMaster Bujold is.  She handles all three of the basic elements­—plot, setting, character—with a flare that becomes her own distinctive style.  Brava!

Trio for Blunt Instruments by Rex Stout.  A collection of three short stories that I either haven’t ever read or it’s been so long I’ve completely forgotten. 

In Progress:

Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Sharing Knife series, Book One.  Audiobook.  Very different from the Vorkosigan saga, and not just in setting.  So far, it’s keeping my interest.

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers.  Book Three in her loosely connected “Wayfarers” not really series as much as shared setting.  I’ve already read One, Two, and Four and enjoyed.

Also:

Finished May/June Archeology magazine. 

Finished re-reading my own novel, The Buried Pyramid, the first step in getting a new e-book out. 

A few short magazines to browse through next.

Pieces Toward Appreciation

Puzzling Challenge

The trials and tribulations were far more than we had imagined when we took on the challenge of completing “Success!”, a puzzle in 750 pieces, featuring art by Tom Kidd.  Tom Kidd, not so coincidentally, is the artist who did the magnificent covers for my Over Where novels, Library of the Sapphire Wind, Aurora Borealis Bridge, and the forthcoming House of Rough Diamonds.

Doing this puzzle led me to a deeper appreciation of what goes into one of Tom Kidd’s paintings.  After Jim and I finished doing the edges, I started in at the bottom.  I’d chosen this because there were lots of different items scattered on the wizard’s workbench.  I figured this would make my task easier.  What I hadn’t realized was that the color green would actually be my most important clue to what when where.

Green, say you?  What green?  Oh, it’s there: in shades and shadows­­—highlights and reflections—looking for green rapidly became my go to for triaging what went on what side of the wizard’s crowded table.

Jim started with the castle wall off on the left.  He is one of those people who fit puzzles together more by shape than by color or image.  What he rapidly realized is that there’s a lot more of the blue-grey-black that seems to appear “only” in that part in other parts of the puzzle.

By the time we were done with the puzzle, we’d not only enjoyed ourselves a great deal, we’d learned a lot about how Tom Kidd uses color—and that doing the pegasi was an unexpected nightmare!

One of the great delights in life for me is when I do something that leads me to a greater appreciation of something that otherwise might be dismissed as “easy.”  Modeling in polymer clay has made me appreciate all sorts of pottery, up to and including how difficult those seemingly “easy” basic shape are to do.

Beadwork has given me an appreciation of jewelry making of all sorts.  Even “simple” stringing is not nearly as simple as it looks.

Gardening, as I’ve repeatedly noted, constantly teaches me things about writing. 

I once had a highly talented, award-winning editor tell me she had no idea how difficult writing a novel was until she took one on herself.  I won’t name names or go into details, only say that she considered herself a far better editor—and a whole lot more appreciative of her authors—after she’d done a novel herself.

So, we did a puzzle…  And next time we go to an art show or gallery, we’ll be looking at the work on offer with different eyes.

FF: You’ll See

Coco Chills

Thanks to those of you who answered my question last week.  You’ll see me trying the “Sharing Knife” by next week’s post.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

Three For the Chair by Rex Stout.  A collection of three novellas.  Sometimes the Nero Wolfe stories are stronger when streamlined, although as a fan of the stories, I enjoy the side plots in the novels.

Double for Death by Rex Stout.  Featuring one of his secondary detectives, Tecumseh Fox.  Fox is very unlike Nero Wolfe: an extrovert, skinny, wildly curious, not as single-mindedly addicted to routine.  However, like Wolfe, he’s very smart. I can’t think that the name was designed without thought as the first name is often shortened to “Tec” (like detective) and Fox is the classic trickster.

In Progress:

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  With this, I will finish my “read in order” of the Vorkosigan series.  I’ve listened to this before, but I want to see how my reaction differs with a fresh view of all the elements.

Trio for Blunt Instruments by Rex Stout.  A collection of three short stories that I either haven’t ever read or it’s been so long I’ve completely forgotten.

Also:

The May/June Archeology magazine.  About half-way.  Writing seems drier than usual this issue.

Re-reading my own novel, The Buried Pyramid, the first step in getting a new e-book out.  Didn’t get as far as I would have liked, as I can’t read this when I am just reading for fun.  I need to be able to make notes.

Not Precognate

A Volunteer Amid the Alyssum

I’m definitely not capable of precognition.  If I’d ever wondered if I might be capable of seeing the future, events in my garden this spring would have dissuaded me.

Yes, folks, this is the much-promised Tomato Update!

In early April, following my pattern of these last three or four years, I planted tomato seeds in the narrow outdoor bed I use for starting seeds.  Usually, the seeds have germinated within ten days.  This year, because our spring was unusually cool, weeks went by without a sign of any of the seeds sprouting.  I began to worry that we might not have any tomato plants this year, and since the greenhouses were low in stock and what stock they had was outrageously highly priced, maybe no homegrown tomatoes at all.

When, when the tomato seeds did germinate, the seedlings grew very slowly and there were many fewer than I expected.  However, a new phenomenon entered the equation.  I cleared up a section of the same bed, only a few inches further west, in an area that gets less sun, and so less heat.  My goal was to encourage the volunteer zinnias and hollyhocks that were beginning to show.

What did I get in addition?

You got it.  Tomato plants.  Now, this isn’t a complete mystery.  Jim and I often water with grey water from our kitchen, and late in the summer, this can have lots of tomato seeds in it.  However, what was the mystery was why these were germinating, when the ones I’d planted, which were in better soil, getting more care and more light, were not.

But I didn’t complain.  Then, as if embarrassed by the competition, the seedlings from the seeds I’d planted started growing and filling out.  By mid-May, I was starting to move the larger ones to where I wanted them.  When I ran low, I started using the volunteers.  Then we got hit by hail.  (Here’s a link to earlier WW, for those who missed that excitement.)

When I got over to what we call the long bed, I used a combination of tomato plants from seeds I’d planted and volunteers.  Then we found more volunteers, and I planted some of these, bringing us up to a total of seventeen plants.

Then I cleaned up the bed out front, where we plant zinnias, planted zinnia seeds, started watering and…  Guess what?  Yep.  More tomato seedlings.  Lots more.  At this point, we’ve given away ten plants and still have ample surplus for me to use to replace a couple of plants that failed to thrive (I suspect a combination of hail damage and toads burrowing next to the plants to take advantage of the damp soil.)  I found a few more corners in which to put plants, and some of the ones that I planted have gotten large enough I’m just going to leave them in place, so at a conservative count, we probably have twenty plants in.

Next mystery…  What sort of tomatoes will we get?  Some of the plants are showing flowers, but it will be a while before we get fruit.  I’ll let you know when we do!

 One thing for sure, I won’t try guessing, because I know I’m not precognate!

Asking. See Below.

Roary Wonders

With various projects turned in, I’m doing a lot of scattered reading that will eventually do its part in feeding my writer brain, so the list below doesn’t really represent everything.

A question for the Bujold fans out there.  I’ve read a lot of her work but, for one reason or another, I missed the “Sharing Knife” series.  I see it’s described as a romance/fantasy crossover.  How much of each ingredient is there?  Can you compare the mix to her other series?

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Begins with Miles kidnapped and rescued by an orphan boy, ends with Miles facing one of the largest transitions in his life.

Found Leaning Against the Second Doorway by Alan Allinger.  ARC of a short story collection.  I promise to let you know when it’s released.

In Progress:

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  With this, I will finish my “read in order” of the Vorkosigan series.  I’ve listened to this before, but I want to see how my reaction differs with a fresh view of all the elements.

Three For the Chair by Rex Stout.  A collection of three novellas.  Sometimes the Nero Wolfe stories are stronger when streamlined, although as a fan of the stories, I enjoy the side plots in the novels.

Also:

The new Archeology magazine.

And I’m starting a re-read of my own novel, The Buried Pyramid, the first step in getting a new e-book out. 

Which Words Are Important

Mei-Ling Makes Faces

No, I didn’t leave off a question mark in the title of this piece.  Read on…

The other day, my friend Scot Noel posted a picture of a toy submarine based on Captain Nemo’s vessel, the Nautilus, from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.  As I admired it, I thought about how for decades this was the only one of Verne’s novels I enjoyed.  Only far later, when I became friends with translator Rick Walters (Fredrick Paul Walters, to give him his full name) did I realize why.

Turns out that the translation history of Jules Verne’s works is worthy of an epic in and of itself.  It’s a tale of entire passages being left out.  Of jokes being translated literally, so that they weren’t in the least funny.  Of censorship.  There’s a lot more, but as you can read about that elsewhere (including in Rick’s notes on his translations), I’ll stop.

It wasn’t until 2010, when Rick asked if I would take a look at an early release of his new annotated translation of five of Verne’s novels that I realized why Jules Verne’s works had been so popular.  It turns out they’re really good.  There’s also a lot more humor, science, and sense than the dry as dust, badly mutilated translations I’d tried to read had led me to believe.

So why had I enjoyed 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea when so many others hadn’t worked for me?  By pure luck, I was given a copy for kids that included annotations.  (My favorite copy of The Jungle Books is from that same series.)  I think those must have helped bridge what was missing elsewhere.

Why was Verne so poorly served by his translators?  The short version is that he was a victim of his own popularity.  Rushing the new releases into print was more important to the publishers than making sure they accurately represented Verne’s work.

Which words are important. Not just the accurate words, the right words.  The ones that hold resonance or music or that extra little bit of meaning.  With the question of whether A.I. writing programs will make authors obsolete filling today’s news, I’ll remind you of the Verne translation experience.

Sure, an A.I. can slam words together, just as Verne’s long-ago translators did.  But can an A.I. write?  Have a feel for when “azure” is needed, or “blue” is just enough?

I doubt it.

FF: Sparks

Persphone Contemplates

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how many very different sorts of tales can still be classified as a good story.  My reading over this past week could be an illustration of the point.

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

My Brother’s Keeper by Tim Powers.  Nope.  You haven’t read this, because it isn’t out yet.  I have an advanced copy.  Powers moves the secret history of various literary figures to embrace the Bronte sisters and their very difficult brother.  So far, creepy and engrossing.  If you like this sort of thing, you might want to try his novel The Stress of Her Regard.

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold.  I listened to this one not all that long ago, but am listening as part of my listen to the series in order.  The wedding scene made me laugh aloud, repeatedly.

The Red Thread by Rex Stout.  Not a Nero Wolfe, although Inspector Cramer does show up, so it’s the same universe.  A nice complicated little mystery with a spark of romance.

In Progress:

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Begins with Miles kidnapped and rescued by an orphan boy.

Found Leaning Against the Second Doorway by Alan Allinger.  ARC of a short story collection.  I happen to know the person who is writing the introduction, so I scored an early copy.

Also:

Finished proofs for my own House of Rough Diamonds.  Look for it in September.

The new Archeology magazine, and the AARP magazine.

What’s Up?

Reroofing Races Impending Rain

This week, the common phrase “What’s up?” is taking on a whole new significance at our little abode.  What’s up is work on the roof.

Friday we had a call from the roofing company we’d contracted with when our roof suffered wind damage back in March.  For various reasons, including changes to building codes, a complete re-roof was deemed necessary.  This was originally scheduled for May, then changed to June when the roofing company had weather delays.  Then shifted again to early July because of more weather delays.  (Remember all that hail?)

Anyhow, Friday’s call was to let us know that they’d had a delay with another job.  If we could be available, they could start our re-roof on Monday.

This shift was our third, but at least it was back in the direction of getting the job done.  Monday began with roofers overhead at just after 7:00 a.m.  The cats migrated to hiding, with Mei-Ling and Roary in the bedroom closet and Persephone under the bedspread.

Background soundtrack also included predictions of rain….  Happily, we didn’t get any while they were working, but we did get high winds.  The roofing foreman told Jim that being hit in the face by a windblown shingle feels like getting slapped with sandpaper.

The reroofing won’t be the end of work up atop the house.  When Jim went aloft to set up the swamp cooler (aka evaporative cooler) on Wednesday, he saw what he thought was a leak near a drain plug.  We called in the experts (a company we absolutely trust), and received the unwelcome news that we need a whole new unit.  This should go into place on Friday.

Last week, I finished up my work on SK5 (my latest Star Kingdom collaboration with David Weber).  I turned it over to him, and the very next day the mail brought the page proofs for my forthcoming solo novel, House of Rough Diamonds, the third Over Where novel, sequel to Library of the Sapphire Wind and Aurora Borealis Bridge.

So, I’ll be reviewing those while overhead mariachi music plays and hard-working roofers and plumbers thump about in the erratic dances of their trade.

FF: Proofs and Promises

Mei-Ling Catches the Scent

Late this week, the page proofs arrived for the next Over Where novel, House of Rough Diamonds.  This follows close upon the events in Library of the Sapphire Wind and Aurora Borealis Bridge. All I’ll say for now is that those of you who wanted to see more of the interior of the Library will get your wish!

For those of you unfamiliar with this column, the Friday Fragments lists what I’ve read over the past week.  Most of the time I don’t include details of either short fiction (unless part of a book-length collection) or magazines.  The Fragments are not meant to be a recommendation list.  If you’re interested in a not-at-all-inclusive recommendation list, you can look on my website under Neat Stuff.

Once again, this is not a book review column.  It’s just a list with, maybe, a bit of description or a few opinions tossed in.  And it’s also a great place to tell me what you’re reading.  I love seeing the tapestry of what people choose.

Completed:

Diplomatic Immunity by Lois McMaster Bujold.  Audiobook.  Miles has a very difficult incident to unravel, especially as no one seems to want to tell him the whole story about anything.

False Scent by Ngaio Marsh.  Vivid characters and some nice twists and turns.  Her use of “theater people” always rings true.

In Progress:

My Brother’s Keeper by Tim Powers.  Nope.  You haven’t read this, because it isn’t out yet.  I have an advanced copy.  Powers moves the secret history of various literary figures to embrace the Bronte sisters and their very difficult brother.  So far, creepy and engrossing.  If you like this sort of thing, you might want to try his novel The Stress of Her Regard.

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold.  I listened to this one not all that long ago, but am listening as part of my listen to the series in order.  The wedding scene made me laugh aloud, repeatedly.

Also:

Proofs for my own House of Rough Diamonds.  Look for it in September.