Jessica Knauss's Blog, page 54

Arizona Centennial Celebration IV

A spectacular Arizona resident: Harris's hawk. These pictures were taken at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

Arizona Centennial Celebration III

Another wonderful, underappreciated thing about Arizona: the javelina. Javelinas are sensible creatures who know the value of a nap in the shade. There are at least three in this pile -- try to sort them out.

SSS: Eternity without Teeth

Doña Lambra is having trouble relating to her new husband and has sent him after her maid and close ally, Justa. This segment follows right after last week's:

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She licked her chapped lips and coughed, wondering if she could ever bring balance to her bodily humors after such a day. She had wailed and beat her chest for hours after they laid Álvar Sánchez's body into the ground wrapped in linen, so close to other knights who had died defending Castile. With Justa's help, she had collected all of Álvar's teeth in a leather pouch and drawn the string tightly closed. After the blessings, she had set the pouch on his chest, so that it almost looked like he was holding them in his folded hands through the cloth. "It isn't right that someone so handsome should have to meet eternity without his teeth," Lambra whispered aloud.             "We did our best for him, my lady." 

* * *Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments so much! I'm glad to see many of you remember the story, too! I'll definitely be by to visit your blogs!

Arizona Centennial Celebration II

Another great thing about Arizona: fossils! At various times in the past, the Sonoran Desert was a grassland and a sea, creating exciting layers of fossil-laden geology.

Arizona Centennial Celebration

This February marks 100 years since Arizona became a state. Since I've come to appreciate the natural beauty of this place where I've so serendipitously found a home, I'll post pictures I've taken in the year I've been here to celebrate not only its 100 years of statehood but also millions of years of existence.

You almost* can't beat an Arizona sunset, so it's a great place to start.

"Red sky at night -- sailor's delight." It's nearly always smooth sailing here in the desert.

* I can beat it with a Spanish sunrise most days -- but I digress.

SSS: Emotional Aftermath of the Bloody Wedding

The Seven Noble Knights of Lara is back! You may remember Chapter 5, in which male egos got out of hand and caused the death of Álvar Sánchez. (Check out almost all the excerpts in this link.) A legal compromise has apparently satisfied all concerned parties, but now it's the opening of Chapter 6, and we focus in on doña Lambra -- the bride as well as the cousin of the dead man.

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Doña Lambra woke to the brightness of the tent with a bitter taste in her mouth and dried tears crusting her eyes. She rolled over and saw a figure moving about in silence. "Justa?" she croaked. Ruy Blásquez moved next to the bedstead, nearly thrusting his bandaged nose in her face. "It is I, my dear wife."           "Bring Justa." 

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Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your comments hugely, especially as I get back into writing this novel after a hiatus. I'll visit you all in return! Check us all out at Six Sentence Sunday.

Three Weeks in December by Audrey Schulman

I'm not exaggerating or falling back on platitudes when I say that this book is unforgettable. I got to read Three Weeks in December in an advanced proof with no cover design, so I couldn't be influenced by the blue lion on the cover of the for-sale version. The lion is mysterious, but fails to capture the essence of the book for me, probably because it is such an amazing book, simple and complex at the same time.

As all the other reviews will mention, it tells the story of two social misfits separated by 100 years. One traces the historical incident treated as an adventure in the movie The Ghost and the Darkness, but with richer characters and much more emotional resonance. The other tells of a botanical quest by a woman who can relate to plants -- and, it turns out, to gorillas -- more easily than to humans. The stories told in alternating chapters have thematic similarities throughout, but are truly tied together at the end. For me, the end was a surprise in every way, and it's only after getting over the initial shock that I realize it's not contrived, but true to the artistic vision and truly thought-provoking.

The entire book is consistently rich in detail and gorgeously written. Every reader should be able to sympathize deeply with the social outcast characters because their take on the world is so vividly portrayed and makes so much sense within their context. This novel is a triumph of limited third person point-of-view narration.

Three Weeks in December is incredibly well-researched, the kind of book that will make you feel smarter and more engaged with the world. I plan to check out Schulman's previous novels to see what other gems I've missed so far.

Check Out My New Guest Blog!

As you know, Mera's YA Book List is giving away some gorgeous Tree/House bookmarks at this time. Today I have contributed a short essay about the most important theme in Tree/House that I hope my readers will enjoy.

Check it out here! Thanks for stopping by!

Winner of the Transcendent Giveaway!

The winner of the Transcendent giveaway has yet to reply to my email asking which format she prefers! Please check your spam folders for a message from acedrexpublishing! We want you to get your free book!

SSS: Did You Find Me?

The server was down when I first tried to sign up for Six Sentence Sunday this week, and by the time I could get there, I ended up much father down the list than I usually am. So if you found me, congrats! Visit  all the great writers you can. We all appreciate it more than even words can say!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to excise the kidnapping element from this story, so please enjoy it while it's still there. Continuing from last week:

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"Only pretty girls without degrees have been disappearing."         So now he thought he was a profiler. It was like something from a formulaic TV show. But he was right in that, although my sister had applied to all the good drama schools in the country, nothing had worked out for her in the end. She was living with our parents because the money a person can earn from acting in commercials and student films is small and unstable. I chalked up the cops' surrender to the fact that none of them were twins and accessed my twinly intuition – or just some solid logic – and I thought she must have gone to New York to increase her chances. 

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Thanks for reading! I return the favor! In the coming weeks, I'll present more medieval madness...

And please don't forget! This is the last day to throw your name into the hat for the Transcendent giveaway!