Delia J. Colvin's Blog, page 2
August 28, 2012
Real Characters
One of the things I hear...fortunately, is that most people like my characters. To me they are very real...and if I can't see them doing something, and can't think of why they would do something...they don't do it!
Alex and Valeria pretty much came to me as is. I added background to both of their stories. But there basic personality did not shift dramatically at any point in the book(s).
As for the rest of them, I thought I'd discuss where they came from and how I developed them and what I learned in a screenwriting class that was invaluable in editing these books.
The character Weege, although I borrowed the name, just kind of wrote herself. I had no idea she would make me laugh so much. As for the rest of the family, I needed "characters" to surround my main characters.
I wanted a group that was as diverse as possible. I've known a young man named Curtis since he was about 13. He is such a neat young guy with a laugh that makes me smile. He became Caleb.
One day I told Curtis that he was in a story I was writing and his eyes lit up as he asked me, "Do I get to be a superhero?" I thought for a moment and then said, "Yes, I believe you do!" That is how Caleb became a superhero! And he does say that line in the book.
Camille, is my friend Camille. But most of the family is a combination of people I know.
The character of Tavish took off on his own and became extraordinarily dynamic. Love that character!
Ava was a combination of several people that I love and frankly, Ava is Ava! Love that character too...don't you just want to be best buds with her? My daughter added a few lines and actions that further defined her.
In the second book, I thought it would be pretty cool to add two people that I met in Cararra Italy years ago. I don't remember their names, and try as I must, I haven't been able to locate either of them.
The woman, who in my book became Kristiana, is in fact, a famous, absolutely breathtaking, international sculptress. Her brother worked as an executive at one of the marble mines. They were very sweet, wonderful and generous!
As I began writing my very kind friends into the story, I decided it was far more interesting if they weren't that sweet. The next thing I knew, I had Paolo and Kristiana...some might call them villains. I still love them and have a tremendous amount of empathy for them. I've never cared for simple villains.
One of the most valuable things I did for my writing/re-writing was to take several free workshops offered by Hal Croasmun's Screenwriting U.
Hal does these workshops via conference call. Just a warning, he says they are only an hour, but I have stayed on the phone 2-3 hours and never heard the end of the workshop. However, the lessons were extraordinary! I would have joined his Pro-group if I had been writing and marketing screenplays in a heartbeat!
On the re-write for a screenplay, I applied what was appropriate to my novel(s). Hal says that most people just work their way through their screenplay/novel and fix what doesn't read well.
What Hal suggests this: Take your top five characters and identify each ones top 5 characteristics. At least one of those characteristics should be an oddity.
In a screenplay each time that character speaks, it should demonstrate at least one of those characteristics.
Now, of course in a novel it is different. Still, I had my list (which truthfully I didn't require), and checked dialogue.
But the most valuable thing I did, on Hal's re-write/edit advice was to select the emotional peaks of my story and then ensure that those moments reflect that emotional peak.
On doing this, I discovered one of the most emotionally charged and critical points of my entire first novel had one paragraph!
I re-wrote it and it now is I believe four pages. I found several other places where the emotion had to be increased.
I know there were several other points that were important. But these cover the major points for creating my characters.The Sibylline OracleDelia J. Colvin
Alex and Valeria pretty much came to me as is. I added background to both of their stories. But there basic personality did not shift dramatically at any point in the book(s).
As for the rest of them, I thought I'd discuss where they came from and how I developed them and what I learned in a screenwriting class that was invaluable in editing these books.
The character Weege, although I borrowed the name, just kind of wrote herself. I had no idea she would make me laugh so much. As for the rest of the family, I needed "characters" to surround my main characters.
I wanted a group that was as diverse as possible. I've known a young man named Curtis since he was about 13. He is such a neat young guy with a laugh that makes me smile. He became Caleb.
One day I told Curtis that he was in a story I was writing and his eyes lit up as he asked me, "Do I get to be a superhero?" I thought for a moment and then said, "Yes, I believe you do!" That is how Caleb became a superhero! And he does say that line in the book.
Camille, is my friend Camille. But most of the family is a combination of people I know.
The character of Tavish took off on his own and became extraordinarily dynamic. Love that character!
Ava was a combination of several people that I love and frankly, Ava is Ava! Love that character too...don't you just want to be best buds with her? My daughter added a few lines and actions that further defined her.
In the second book, I thought it would be pretty cool to add two people that I met in Cararra Italy years ago. I don't remember their names, and try as I must, I haven't been able to locate either of them.
The woman, who in my book became Kristiana, is in fact, a famous, absolutely breathtaking, international sculptress. Her brother worked as an executive at one of the marble mines. They were very sweet, wonderful and generous!
As I began writing my very kind friends into the story, I decided it was far more interesting if they weren't that sweet. The next thing I knew, I had Paolo and Kristiana...some might call them villains. I still love them and have a tremendous amount of empathy for them. I've never cared for simple villains.
One of the most valuable things I did for my writing/re-writing was to take several free workshops offered by Hal Croasmun's Screenwriting U.
Hal does these workshops via conference call. Just a warning, he says they are only an hour, but I have stayed on the phone 2-3 hours and never heard the end of the workshop. However, the lessons were extraordinary! I would have joined his Pro-group if I had been writing and marketing screenplays in a heartbeat!
On the re-write for a screenplay, I applied what was appropriate to my novel(s). Hal says that most people just work their way through their screenplay/novel and fix what doesn't read well.
What Hal suggests this: Take your top five characters and identify each ones top 5 characteristics. At least one of those characteristics should be an oddity.
In a screenplay each time that character speaks, it should demonstrate at least one of those characteristics.
Now, of course in a novel it is different. Still, I had my list (which truthfully I didn't require), and checked dialogue.
But the most valuable thing I did, on Hal's re-write/edit advice was to select the emotional peaks of my story and then ensure that those moments reflect that emotional peak.
On doing this, I discovered one of the most emotionally charged and critical points of my entire first novel had one paragraph!
I re-wrote it and it now is I believe four pages. I found several other places where the emotion had to be increased.
I know there were several other points that were important. But these cover the major points for creating my characters.The Sibylline OracleDelia J. Colvin
August 24, 2012
The Writing Process-Sounding boards
As of...oh, I believe less than eight months ago, no one had read more than 2 pages of my fiction.
Now my pages lay naked for public scrutiny! And it IS very much like walking naked down the street...at least for me. I must say that due to the kindness of my wonderful friends it has not been nearly as brutal as I thought it might be.
My three novels, which form The Sibylline Trilogy, while still in their infancy, I entrusted to my daughter who was nine months pregnant and not doing well. She didn't. I continued to pester her about it.
Finally, after the baby was born, she asked me to send it to her in email form, so that while she was doing late night feedings she could read on her iPhone.
The next morning she said, "Send me more! I like it!". That is how she got hooked on the first novel. When I returned home from my daughters a few weeks later, I asked my husband to read it. After several requests I sat down with him...very unfair of me, but I wanted to see if he laughed where I thought it was funny and if he picked up the tension when he should.
He read the first few chapters and laughed appropriately, and appeared tense at the right moments. Then he said, "This is your gift! This is what you need to do!" He actually said much more that I won't bore you with...my husband is very expressive!
My point is that having these two people that I trusted to read my work IS the reason that I was able to write a 1000 page trilogy in less than a year when I couldn't even complete a 300 page novel before!
Having the right sounding boards help you steer characters in the right direction, even when you don't quite see it, and helps you know when you need to increase the emotion. Hopefully your sounding boards communicate with love and encouragement.
I will tell you in the early days (just a few months ago, lol), I was hyper-sensitive to any criticism! I now have some faith in my work and that has helped tremendously.
Still, I am my own toughest critic. When I received my first proof, I cried for a week while telling both my husband and daughter, "This is amateurish! Why didn't you tell me!" They tried to tell me that they thought it was fine. But I will tell you, I was sick when I read the first proof!
The good news is that finally with the hard copy I am very pleased and proud of the first book!
I now have a few other people that I permit to read my work. I have found that I need the critical reviews. I count on them, in fact! They help me know if I am on the right path. But I ONLY take those suggestions from people that I trust and who know to leave the "brutal" out of it!
In order for me to hear the criticism I also need those cheerleaders that believe in my work no matter what! God bless them! I will often run the critical reviews by the cheerleaders.
Still I find that in the end, I need to be happy with it. At this stage, I trust my evaluation, and that was a giant leap forward!
Regardless of other opinions, if I like something and want it in, I leave it there and/or rework it to make it work better.
The terror that very nearly consumed me the first weeks after the release has finally subsided, for the most part. I no longer check my book stats dozens of times a day, looking for reviews and sales. I am grateful every day for the wonderful reviews and ratings!
One last note: I had the silly idea that I needed to "learn how to write" before I continued writing my novels. I have discovered that this is bunk! Write! Work on improving what you've written. Grammar and book formatting knowledge is VERY helpful. Before submitting your book to an agent, I recommend hiring an editor, particularly if your knowledge of grammar is weak.
Read a lot. Write and edit a lot. Lastly,find a few sounding boards; people you trust that will lovingly help you improve as an author!
Delia J. Colvin
Now my pages lay naked for public scrutiny! And it IS very much like walking naked down the street...at least for me. I must say that due to the kindness of my wonderful friends it has not been nearly as brutal as I thought it might be.
My three novels, which form The Sibylline Trilogy, while still in their infancy, I entrusted to my daughter who was nine months pregnant and not doing well. She didn't. I continued to pester her about it.
Finally, after the baby was born, she asked me to send it to her in email form, so that while she was doing late night feedings she could read on her iPhone.
The next morning she said, "Send me more! I like it!". That is how she got hooked on the first novel. When I returned home from my daughters a few weeks later, I asked my husband to read it. After several requests I sat down with him...very unfair of me, but I wanted to see if he laughed where I thought it was funny and if he picked up the tension when he should.
He read the first few chapters and laughed appropriately, and appeared tense at the right moments. Then he said, "This is your gift! This is what you need to do!" He actually said much more that I won't bore you with...my husband is very expressive!
My point is that having these two people that I trusted to read my work IS the reason that I was able to write a 1000 page trilogy in less than a year when I couldn't even complete a 300 page novel before!
Having the right sounding boards help you steer characters in the right direction, even when you don't quite see it, and helps you know when you need to increase the emotion. Hopefully your sounding boards communicate with love and encouragement.
I will tell you in the early days (just a few months ago, lol), I was hyper-sensitive to any criticism! I now have some faith in my work and that has helped tremendously.
Still, I am my own toughest critic. When I received my first proof, I cried for a week while telling both my husband and daughter, "This is amateurish! Why didn't you tell me!" They tried to tell me that they thought it was fine. But I will tell you, I was sick when I read the first proof!
The good news is that finally with the hard copy I am very pleased and proud of the first book!
I now have a few other people that I permit to read my work. I have found that I need the critical reviews. I count on them, in fact! They help me know if I am on the right path. But I ONLY take those suggestions from people that I trust and who know to leave the "brutal" out of it!
In order for me to hear the criticism I also need those cheerleaders that believe in my work no matter what! God bless them! I will often run the critical reviews by the cheerleaders.
Still I find that in the end, I need to be happy with it. At this stage, I trust my evaluation, and that was a giant leap forward!
Regardless of other opinions, if I like something and want it in, I leave it there and/or rework it to make it work better.
The terror that very nearly consumed me the first weeks after the release has finally subsided, for the most part. I no longer check my book stats dozens of times a day, looking for reviews and sales. I am grateful every day for the wonderful reviews and ratings!
One last note: I had the silly idea that I needed to "learn how to write" before I continued writing my novels. I have discovered that this is bunk! Write! Work on improving what you've written. Grammar and book formatting knowledge is VERY helpful. Before submitting your book to an agent, I recommend hiring an editor, particularly if your knowledge of grammar is weak.
Read a lot. Write and edit a lot. Lastly,find a few sounding boards; people you trust that will lovingly help you improve as an author!
Delia J. Colvin
August 19, 2012
The writing process of the trilogy (1)
I had a very major realization about a week ago; I am a writer!
That may seem obvious. But despite the fact that I have now completed a trilogy, with one published, the second about to be released and a third that will be out by November, and currently spend at least 60-80 hours per week writing/re-writing, editing, etc, it hadn't really occurred to me that I was living my dream!
For years, I held pieces of various novels and screenplays in my head or in a file, always believing that someday I would find the time to live my dream and complete my novels. But I had this crazy idea that I required a great deal of wealth to do that. Funny, the ideas that get stuck in our heads!
Then in December 2011, while driving into D.C (right before the tunnel onto the Roosevelt Bridge)in a matter of seconds, the entire concept of The Sibylline Oracle...well for lack of a better word...arrived in my head. Of course, it didn't have a name yet.
As soon as I arrived in D.C. I had a mile to walk and I began furiously typing on my iphone. Every opportunity I continued to make notes, writing chapter after chapter on my iphone at stop lights in DC (yes, I was the idiot you were honking at! lol!), while walking (see previous note), and during meals...even in the middle of the night, while holding my phone down, so the light didn't bother my sleeping husband.
Within three weeks I was stunned to discover that I had written a fairly complex novel! I never believed that I was really capable of finishing a novel! But I also knew that there was considerably more to this story than could be told in one novel.
At that point, I decided that this story was was probably a trilogy...just because I liked the word "trilogy"...yeah, really.
I had NO idea what the second book was about and I intended to give myself a month to think about it. But Alex & Valeria's story just had too much of my heart to do anything else but write!
Just beginning the second novel was interesting, because I really had no idea what was going to happen. I did, however, have a very vague concept of where it needed to end. Fortunately, simply writing solved all of that! The story just poured out of me and in many ways I felt like I was merely transcribing.
Three weeks later I had completed the second novel. And I was even more excited about the second novel than the first!
During the writing of the first and most of the second novel, I had been spending time helping my daughter and her husband through the difficult pregnancy and birth of my beautiful and brilliant granddaughter.
My daughter began reading the novel, and then to my surprise, told me it was the first thing I had ever permitted her to read of my novels. And she was very excited about it.
When my husband read the first two novels, he said something very excitedly expressive, and insisted that I write full time. How lucky can a girl get?! Not only did my husband love my writing, he also insisted on supporting me while I wrote and attempted to market my stories.
I began the third novel of the trilogy and by then there were so many details of times, characters, names, locations etc, that I had to keep a spreadsheet of where each character was through time and details of days and years and millenniums. Very crazy, and as you may know, there are many characters to keep track of here!
Once I completed the third novel, I had numerous ideas that I wanted to add to the first novel. One of them was to add stories of Alex and Valeria at different times, so that the reader could truly perceive how Alex felt about this opportunity to save Valeria.
Frankly, I knew NOTHING about Ancient Greece and the gods, so I did quite a bit of research while writing.
I typically keep several google earth, google maps and 2+ wiki pages and a couple of thesauruses open while I'm writing. I like Roget online, but really prefer a hard copy thesaurus. I also have a spread sheet of descriptive phrases and words that I like...oh and ALWAYS great music! I keep a playlist for different sections. That's vital for me!
Delia J. Colvin
That may seem obvious. But despite the fact that I have now completed a trilogy, with one published, the second about to be released and a third that will be out by November, and currently spend at least 60-80 hours per week writing/re-writing, editing, etc, it hadn't really occurred to me that I was living my dream!
For years, I held pieces of various novels and screenplays in my head or in a file, always believing that someday I would find the time to live my dream and complete my novels. But I had this crazy idea that I required a great deal of wealth to do that. Funny, the ideas that get stuck in our heads!
Then in December 2011, while driving into D.C (right before the tunnel onto the Roosevelt Bridge)in a matter of seconds, the entire concept of The Sibylline Oracle...well for lack of a better word...arrived in my head. Of course, it didn't have a name yet.
As soon as I arrived in D.C. I had a mile to walk and I began furiously typing on my iphone. Every opportunity I continued to make notes, writing chapter after chapter on my iphone at stop lights in DC (yes, I was the idiot you were honking at! lol!), while walking (see previous note), and during meals...even in the middle of the night, while holding my phone down, so the light didn't bother my sleeping husband.
Within three weeks I was stunned to discover that I had written a fairly complex novel! I never believed that I was really capable of finishing a novel! But I also knew that there was considerably more to this story than could be told in one novel.
At that point, I decided that this story was was probably a trilogy...just because I liked the word "trilogy"...yeah, really.
I had NO idea what the second book was about and I intended to give myself a month to think about it. But Alex & Valeria's story just had too much of my heart to do anything else but write!
Just beginning the second novel was interesting, because I really had no idea what was going to happen. I did, however, have a very vague concept of where it needed to end. Fortunately, simply writing solved all of that! The story just poured out of me and in many ways I felt like I was merely transcribing.
Three weeks later I had completed the second novel. And I was even more excited about the second novel than the first!
During the writing of the first and most of the second novel, I had been spending time helping my daughter and her husband through the difficult pregnancy and birth of my beautiful and brilliant granddaughter.
My daughter began reading the novel, and then to my surprise, told me it was the first thing I had ever permitted her to read of my novels. And she was very excited about it.
When my husband read the first two novels, he said something very excitedly expressive, and insisted that I write full time. How lucky can a girl get?! Not only did my husband love my writing, he also insisted on supporting me while I wrote and attempted to market my stories.
I began the third novel of the trilogy and by then there were so many details of times, characters, names, locations etc, that I had to keep a spreadsheet of where each character was through time and details of days and years and millenniums. Very crazy, and as you may know, there are many characters to keep track of here!
Once I completed the third novel, I had numerous ideas that I wanted to add to the first novel. One of them was to add stories of Alex and Valeria at different times, so that the reader could truly perceive how Alex felt about this opportunity to save Valeria.
Frankly, I knew NOTHING about Ancient Greece and the gods, so I did quite a bit of research while writing.
I typically keep several google earth, google maps and 2+ wiki pages and a couple of thesauruses open while I'm writing. I like Roget online, but really prefer a hard copy thesaurus. I also have a spread sheet of descriptive phrases and words that I like...oh and ALWAYS great music! I keep a playlist for different sections. That's vital for me!
Delia J. Colvin
August 18, 2012
Editing Process -Arbitrary decision become major themes
I still find the editing/re-writing process fun and so very interesting! I often ponder how many new aspects of the entire trilogy came out in final edits of Book One, The Sibylline Oracle.
My daughter, Jen, who is wonderfully analytical, and is typically the first reader of any new section that I write, has the wonderful ability to look at a new section and see opportunities in some subtlety that influences other sections.
Small arbitrary decisions are made in the initial writing. Then as other tweaks are being made, I discover that there is something more significant to that little arbitrary decision.
One of those decisions was in Book One; I needed a device in chapter 1 that would identify Alex, so that in Chapter 2 when we are in present time, the reader easily identifies that this is the same person, the triangular mark on his hand did that.
Later, in Book Two that mark has significance, and I wanted it to signify a soul mate. I discovered the Triquetra, (pronounced traɪˈkwɛtrə; Latin tri- "three" and quetrus "cornered") originally meant "triangle". It has come to be known as the Trinity Knot.
The Ancient Celtics claim the symbol of the Trinity knot. Their meaning is that some friendships are so deep that they reflect an ancient bond or connectedness of two souls that allows them to understand, trust and support each other at a level beyond most mortal relationships.
However, there have been discoveries with the triquestra as early as 7th Century BC.
This all worked very well for the storyline, as you know, Alex and Valeria have a special relationship that transcends time and mortality.
We are now working that into the cover of the second book, The Symbolon-which also implies a "symbol" of their love.The Sibylline OracleDelia J. Colvin
My daughter, Jen, who is wonderfully analytical, and is typically the first reader of any new section that I write, has the wonderful ability to look at a new section and see opportunities in some subtlety that influences other sections.
Small arbitrary decisions are made in the initial writing. Then as other tweaks are being made, I discover that there is something more significant to that little arbitrary decision.
One of those decisions was in Book One; I needed a device in chapter 1 that would identify Alex, so that in Chapter 2 when we are in present time, the reader easily identifies that this is the same person, the triangular mark on his hand did that.
Later, in Book Two that mark has significance, and I wanted it to signify a soul mate. I discovered the Triquetra, (pronounced traɪˈkwɛtrə; Latin tri- "three" and quetrus "cornered") originally meant "triangle". It has come to be known as the Trinity Knot.
The Ancient Celtics claim the symbol of the Trinity knot. Their meaning is that some friendships are so deep that they reflect an ancient bond or connectedness of two souls that allows them to understand, trust and support each other at a level beyond most mortal relationships.
However, there have been discoveries with the triquestra as early as 7th Century BC.
This all worked very well for the storyline, as you know, Alex and Valeria have a special relationship that transcends time and mortality.
We are now working that into the cover of the second book, The Symbolon-which also implies a "symbol" of their love.The Sibylline OracleDelia J. Colvin
August 16, 2012
Pronunciation and meaning of Sibylline Oracle
You may have noticed that there are non-fiction books called The Sibylline Oracles. These are said to be reproductions and interpretations of prophesies by at least one Sibyl. Though there is a big question mark on the "interpretation" part, and if, in fact, these were written by a sibyl.
But I thought I would take a minute and help you with a few pronunciations and meanings.
First: Sibylline Merriams pronunciation is ˈsi-bə-ˌlīn, -ˌlēn
Basically the name Sibyl with een or ine.
Sibylline is an adjective to describe a female sibyl (who by definition is an oracle or a female prophet).
The name can also be assigned to their prophesies.
In addition the name oracle-typically referring to a male prophet, can be assigned to the holy place where they make their prophesies.
The Sibylline Oracle
But I thought I would take a minute and help you with a few pronunciations and meanings.
First: Sibylline Merriams pronunciation is ˈsi-bə-ˌlīn, -ˌlēn
Basically the name Sibyl with een or ine.
Sibylline is an adjective to describe a female sibyl (who by definition is an oracle or a female prophet).
The name can also be assigned to their prophesies.
In addition the name oracle-typically referring to a male prophet, can be assigned to the holy place where they make their prophesies.
The Sibylline Oracle
August 14, 2012
Editing book 2, The Symbolon (Soul mate)
So if you haven't read Book 1 The Sibylline Oracle, you are probably wondering what the heck is a Symbolon. Even Words spellchecker has no idea.
Plato wrote a story about soul mates by Aristophanes, a comic playwright of ancient Athens. The story involves the foul-tempered Zeus splitting these odd eight-limbed characters in half, and condemning them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half to complete them.
Did I say that Aristophanes was a comic playwright? Well, that image isn't what I see as soul mates. And certainly if you've read Book 1, you know that isn't the definition in my book.
Symbolon is the Greek word that Aristophanes used. Although the definition is questionable, his meaning at the time was two halves of a whole, neither one being complete until they are reunited.
Alos Misos is the Greek term used for "other half". However, it just didn't flow as well. And frankly, Symbolon was an ancient term and these are ancient Greeks!
In The Sibylline Trilogy, the story goes that Apollo gave the gift of divination (messages and visions from the gods) to The first Oracle, Myrdd.
Apollo liked the effect, but realized that these immortals would need mates that could survive with them.
So Apollo blew into the heavens and fifty stars fell to earth. He blew again and they split in half.
Also, throughout book 1, you will notice a reference to a triangular tattoo on Alex's hand. Each oracle bears a mark that helps them know their Symbolon when they see them.
Although, Alex and Valeria do have a special connection beyond that. Other oracles, don't live to find their Symbolon, as Alex does. In book 2 this mark becomes particularly significant.
I'm already receiving spectacular reviews on portions of The Symbolon. As I've said before, it was my favorite book to write!
In the end, after all three books are completed, that could all shift. All three books are about Alex and Valeria and their eternal love. But The Symbolon is essentially about the growing love and relationship between Alex and Valeria, and what they must do to survive.
I'm hoping to release it within the month.
Plato wrote a story about soul mates by Aristophanes, a comic playwright of ancient Athens. The story involves the foul-tempered Zeus splitting these odd eight-limbed characters in half, and condemning them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half to complete them.
Did I say that Aristophanes was a comic playwright? Well, that image isn't what I see as soul mates. And certainly if you've read Book 1, you know that isn't the definition in my book.
Symbolon is the Greek word that Aristophanes used. Although the definition is questionable, his meaning at the time was two halves of a whole, neither one being complete until they are reunited.
Alos Misos is the Greek term used for "other half". However, it just didn't flow as well. And frankly, Symbolon was an ancient term and these are ancient Greeks!
In The Sibylline Trilogy, the story goes that Apollo gave the gift of divination (messages and visions from the gods) to The first Oracle, Myrdd.
Apollo liked the effect, but realized that these immortals would need mates that could survive with them.
So Apollo blew into the heavens and fifty stars fell to earth. He blew again and they split in half.
Also, throughout book 1, you will notice a reference to a triangular tattoo on Alex's hand. Each oracle bears a mark that helps them know their Symbolon when they see them.
Although, Alex and Valeria do have a special connection beyond that. Other oracles, don't live to find their Symbolon, as Alex does. In book 2 this mark becomes particularly significant.
I'm already receiving spectacular reviews on portions of The Symbolon. As I've said before, it was my favorite book to write!
In the end, after all three books are completed, that could all shift. All three books are about Alex and Valeria and their eternal love. But The Symbolon is essentially about the growing love and relationship between Alex and Valeria, and what they must do to survive.
I'm hoping to release it within the month.
July 30, 2012
Just over one week since release
It has been such an exciting week with well over 200,000 people seeing information on The Sibylline Oracle!
Sales opened up when the book came out on Barnes & Noble and iBook, along with Amazon.
I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful ratings and reviews! Thank you!!
Delia
www.TheSibyllineOracle.com
Sales opened up when the book came out on Barnes & Noble and iBook, along with Amazon.
I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful ratings and reviews! Thank you!!
Delia
www.TheSibyllineOracle.com
January 14, 2012
The Symbolon- A New Take on Soulmates
The concept of soul mates was originally described in Plato's Symposium.
Plato discussed the concept of soul mates as defined by the ancient Greek Aristophanes, a comic playwright.
The story involves the foul-tempered Zeus splitting these odd eight-limbed, two-headed creatures in half, and condemning them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half to complete them.
Did I mention that Aristophanes was considered a comic playwright?
Well, that image isn't what I see as soul mates. And if you've read Book 1, The Sibylline Oracle, you know that isn't the definition in the novel either.
Symbolon is the Greek word that Aristophanes used. Although the definition is questionable, Aristophanes' meaning was two halves of a whole, neither one being complete until they are reunited. But trust me, spell check doesn't even know that word!
Alex & Valeria are symbolons. They don't just love each other-it is physically and emotionally painful for them to be separated.
The history as in The Sibylline Trilogy goes that Apollo gave the gift of divination (messages and visions from the gods) to the first Oracle, Myrdd.
Apollo liked the effect, but realized that these immortals would need mates that could survive with them.
So he blew into the heavens and fifty stars fell to earth. He blew again and they split in half.
And that is how The Symbolon was created!
Thanks to you over Christmas week The Symbolon became the #1 Paranormal novel in its category!
It is specially priced this week at just .99 cents!
I hope you enjoy it! It's my favorite of the stories I've written!
Thanks for reading!
Delia J. Colvin
Plato discussed the concept of soul mates as defined by the ancient Greek Aristophanes, a comic playwright.
The story involves the foul-tempered Zeus splitting these odd eight-limbed, two-headed creatures in half, and condemning them to spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half to complete them.
Did I mention that Aristophanes was considered a comic playwright?
Well, that image isn't what I see as soul mates. And if you've read Book 1, The Sibylline Oracle, you know that isn't the definition in the novel either.
Symbolon is the Greek word that Aristophanes used. Although the definition is questionable, Aristophanes' meaning was two halves of a whole, neither one being complete until they are reunited. But trust me, spell check doesn't even know that word!
Alex & Valeria are symbolons. They don't just love each other-it is physically and emotionally painful for them to be separated.
The history as in The Sibylline Trilogy goes that Apollo gave the gift of divination (messages and visions from the gods) to the first Oracle, Myrdd.
Apollo liked the effect, but realized that these immortals would need mates that could survive with them.
So he blew into the heavens and fifty stars fell to earth. He blew again and they split in half.
And that is how The Symbolon was created!
Thanks to you over Christmas week The Symbolon became the #1 Paranormal novel in its category!
It is specially priced this week at just .99 cents!
I hope you enjoy it! It's my favorite of the stories I've written!
Thanks for reading!
Delia J. Colvin
