Thunder in the Attic

Is Someone There?

2011-01-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

I just received an email from Blogger telling me that someone who was a member of this blog was requesting a username/password recovery.

2007-03-12T08:50:00.001-07:00

Writing and Myself (a rant)

As I sit here procrastinating Shakespeare (among other things), I figured I might as well allow myself to *feel* productive, even if I don’t get anything incredibly useful done. And on my list of things to do while on break (it was on my list for Friday, actually) was to type up this post. No really, it was. So, post I shall.

Sometimes I wonder if I should major in writing. I wonder if I’m up to it. I mean, I haven’t written anything of my own accord since National Novel Writing Month – there’s no time. And yet a small voice inside me whispers: you think there’s going to be more after you graduate? This is as good as it gets … if you don’t have the dedication to write now, you think you’re going to make it?

More discouraging, however, is writing class. I’ve learned some brilliant things from that course, and the one I took last semester. It’s a fun class, and I love Dr. O’Connor, despite (and because of) all his quirks. But I sit there at that desk, and look at myself as a writer, and think: oh wyrd … I can’t do this. And … I don’t know if I even want to.

I have to keep reminding myself: this is not WHY I do it. This is not MY art. Because, really, that’s what a lot of my discouragement comes down to. I write in search of beauty, not to achieve some vague and often depressing artistic ideal. In search of beauty – and therefore Truth. In search of Truth – and therefore God. Creating, because I am made in the image of a Creator. This is art.

But not in Dr. O’Connor’s writing class.

Lyn (Or, the introduction of Common Sense to the Writer-Reader-Text Triangle)

This is why I am so blessed to have writing friends – people who understand. One of these friends is Lyn, who I got to see last Monday. We hadn’t seen each other since … August? So it was wonderful. :) And we talked in loud and happy voices about writing, and literature, and how the literati are all screwed up and have everything backwards.

Last semester I took a course that focused on different forms of literary criticism – reader-response, psychological, biographical, historical, feminist, etc. Apparently Lyn had some of the same. And we were talking about the author-reader-text triangle … and how all professors flip it upside down. In other words, sometimes the reader is at the top – how the individual reads and responds to a narrative is the most important thing in making a work what it is. And sometimes the “text” is at the top – the novel, or poem, or work is the most important thing, basically its own, self-contained little world, no matter who does or doesn’t read it.

But the author is invariably at the bottom. We need to figure out what the TEXT says – not what the author was trying to tell us! So let’s pick it apart – use the feminist approach, or Marxist, or maybe a little Queer Theory – we’ll make it say what WE want it to. What we think is what it is; who cares if the author wasn’t Marxist? Who cares if they lived during a time when gayness wasn’t even an issue?

The author has nothing to say whatsoever.

One has to wonder … if this is the case, why did the person even bother writing? It is, after all an act of communication.

In Lyn's case, the prof put the author at the top of the triangle in one instance - the Bible. But this, she said, would be the only case you could do that - because God is perfect.

Wha ...?

When we create, we are imitating God. I don't understand how human authors' imperfection takes that away. Without the author, the text would not EXIST; and therefore, there would be no reader. As writers, perhaps, we are rather more upset by this than other people. But still ... isn't it obvious?

Anyhow, it was quite a refreshing conversation. :-) Lyn, should you read this ... you rock. *hugs*

The Triangle (some purposeful ponderings)

So the other night I was wondering ... If the author is at the top of the triangle, which is next in importance? The reader, or the work itself?

I believe Lyn would say the text; but my first instinct was to answer the reader. Because if writing is an act of communication, there must be someone on the receiving end to complete it. And without a reader, a book is nothing more than paper with a bunch of meaningless black marks dancing across the page. Ink cannot become letters, and letters can not form words, unless a human mind brings them together.

And yet one could argue that's already been done by the author. And one could argue that, without the text, no communication would be possible.

Reading is subjective - but not entirely so. An author could write a message in his novel; and the work could sit untouched for years and years, unread until long after the writer's death. And then someone could pick it up and read it for the first time - and while they will have their own personal reaction, give it their own shades of meaning and interpret it through their experience, if the author was good enough, they will get it. They will read the exact same words that were meant to be read, in the *way* they were meant to be read. And that message will have existed all those years in the text. Was the meaning not there in the time in between?

Perhaps ... perhaps the work - the novel, the painting, the composition - has an existence outside of itself. I don't mean that the paint itself, the ink on the paper or the notes of music have souls ... but only that they themselves are not the Thing, but only the container for it - a means of perceiving beauty. When we create, we feel we are touching something real ... something beyond the page.

Tangents?

Think about words themselves for a moment. Think about speaking. The words are not the meaning. When you say "blue", you mean the color - but the word blue is NOT the color. There is blue out there, but we cannot actually speak it. The meaning and the word are not the same thing.

And yet words themselves generate meaning. How many concepts are we aware of only because they have a word to them? How many different shades of the same basic meaning?

I'm not sure where I'm going with this anymore. I haven't made my point, but I forgot how I was going to bring this together. :whatevah: I was trying to figure out whether the work or the reader had more importance on the triangle. Now I've gotten off into something completely different ... :-P Perhaps the question is unanswerable anyway. There would be no reader without a text to be read; but what's the purpose of a text without a reader?

Anyhow. If you have finished reading this, I congratulate you. Not only is it a long, nearly incoherent ramble - it pretends, in some way, to be wise and philosophical; and rambling that pretends wisdom is almost always unbearable to read. :-D I shall go back through and put in headings in the hope it helps.

Yet Another New Idea

2006-10-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have an idea, and thought I'd run it by everyone here.

You know The Library thread on Inkspiller? Well, seeing as we are all often discussing the books we have read, this quote came to mind, although I have forgotten who said it: "Good reading makes for good writing." I was thinking: maybe we could do something where one of us chooses a book, and posts its title and author in The Library Thread. Then, ALL of the Inkies members has to read it- get it from the library, buy it, borrow it from a friend, whichever. There would be a certain time frame for us to finish it. Maybe a month? I mean, normally I can read a book in just a few days, but seeing as we are all so busy at this point, I thought more time would be good. Then, when the time limit was up, we could discuss it in the thread. What we liked, we didn't like, (if anything) what we got from it, what we saw in it.

I mean, hey. This should encourage good reading.....therefore.....good writing....which stems from more writing......so..... *sheepish grin*

What do y'all think?

Or am I just insane.

New Hint!

2006-10-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

A bad thing is good, and a good thing now better comes as a result of much bad.

The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread (Honestly!)

2006-10-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

Right, Lyn???

Anyway. I can barely contain my excitement. Lyn and I were brainstorming, and this hit us, and we came up with it, and it's a beautifully splendiferous plan. We hope. ;-) Rose suggested I toss the idea out here, first, before making the announcement on Inkies. *slight glare at Rose*

ANYWAY. Inkies needs people to write. And write well. And discuss writing. SO. Lyn and I present to you what we want to produce:

The Inkies Dragon Anthology

Basically, a conglomeration of the best dragon short stories, poems, and even illustrations, that we Inkies have to offer. Opening up for submissions on... Dec. 25, possibly. People can submit as much as they want, but it'll be up to the editors, namely, Rose, Lyn, and myself, to decide what will go in. Don't submit first drafts, obviously. Post on Inkies. Or somewhere. Get critique, polish, polish, and polish. Submit poems, short stories, or illustrations. Or any combination. As many as you'd like.

If it goes well, we could do more... like the Inkies Faerie Anthology. Etc.

Thoughtses, precious?

Announcing...

2006-09-21T06:08:00.000-07:00

Inkies Poetry Week!

For more information, check Inkies out. But be fore-warned, it's approaching rather rapidly...

~~Your Friendly Neighbourhood Admin posing as Mara ;-)

By the Pricking in My Thumbs, Something Exciting This Way Comes!

2006-09-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

Quillbearers who are still sensible enough to check this logue on a regular basis, perk up your ears! Something exciting is coming to Inkies and Thunder in the Attic.

And yes, that's the only hint I'm going to give. At least for now. :-) But check back here OFTEN, and I do mean often, because something exciting is coming, and you don't want to miss it!

When Is It Ready to Submit?

2006-09-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

We've all had one of those moments. You know the ones I mean; when you've edited and rewritten and revised and polished your story until, like a knife that's been sharpened so often its blade has worn away, there's nothing left.

But at the same time, you don't want to submit a story to an editor until it's perfect, do you? You have to polish it until it can't be polished any more, don't you?

The answer is...no.

This may surprise you. I wasn't sure that I dared write it, myself. But it's true. You will never, ever, be able to polish a story until it's perfect. The best you can do is polish a story until the worst of the imperfections are gone, until the plot is pretty much logical and there are no spelling and errors. That much, you can do.

You reach publication by writing often and submitting often. You can't do either if you're constantly polishing one story, reaching for an unattainable perfection.

In ten years, the stories you write now are probably going to seem pretty trite regardless of whether you spend ten hours polishing them or a hundred. It's the act of writing that makes you a better writer. You'll write better if you write ten stories in ten weeks and edit them moderately than if you write one story and edit it for ten weeks.

Of course we want perfection in our work. Of course we don't want to get rejection slips back. But we can't be perfect, and rejection slips will come, and sooner or later, there comes a point where you just have to let go and send your babies off into the big, wide world. And then go write another one.

Eesh ...

2006-08-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't written on my short story in over a week. :( I feel horrible. And yet ... I haven't been able to. GAH! I'm going to drive myself insane!!

twitches

2006-07-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ok.

You may have noticed the links are gone.

I was fiddling around with the Inkies blog, changed the template, republished the index, aaaand ...

Realized it wasn't the Inkies blog I was playing with.

*headdesk*

I'll fix it tomorrow, hopefully.

A slice of wisdom ...

2006-07-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

... from Madeleine L'Engle's Walking on Water.

To work on a book is for me very much the same thing as to pray. Both involve discipline. If the artist works only when he feels like it, he's not apt to build up much of a body of work. Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work, and to go where it tells him to go. Ultimately, when you are writing, you stop thinking and write what you hear.

This is an excellent book, by the by. I highly reccomend reading it. But then I think I've said that already ...

Well. Well, Well. Well.

2006-07-22T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well. Here I am. :looks around: Getting to the point where I could post here again has been a major challenge--one made all the more challenging by a lack of time and other factors. I'll have to tell you about it sometime. For now, suffice it to say that I have returned; I have also written down my username (N.B.: Your username on Blogger is not the same as your display name. So let it be written, so let it be done.) and my password, in a secure location. (Which means, of course, that I've already forgotten where I put them.) Perhaps I can avoid a repeat of this hideous hassle I've had to go through. :nods:

You may now welcome me back. :-D

Attention Quillbearers!

2006-07-20T07:46:00.000-07:00

Two announcements.

The first regards the marvellous magazine of Dragons, Knights and Angels. The actual announcement is this:

We are taking it over.

I am pleased to say that Lyn, Sir Eidolon Oracle, Knight of the Quill, is now officially an editor at this fine publication.

This makes three Quillbearers on a team of ... six? Seven?

That's pretty darn near 50%! ;)

The second announcement is this:

Gen and I have decided to test your loyalty.

Anyone who doesn't post a comment on this particular post within 10 days - that's July 30th - shall be punished.

How, we aren't quite sure yet. But don't worry, we'll think of something.

That is all. You may comment now.

An idea

2006-06-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

And also a test to see if anyone still comes here anymore. *glowers*

I have an idea for a short story that revolves around ... rain. I've long had this image in my mind, and have wanted to write a story for it, and I think in a short while it will come to fruition.

But I had this idea. See, back when it was Liz and Joseph and Gen and I, before any of us (whether the four of us or everybody here) had joined Nano, and before Inkies was even a spark in Mara's imagination ... Well, way back then in ancient history, we used to have these long writerly talks. (I'm not saying we don't anymore, but we did back then. Don't misread my point please. :P ) And one of the subjects these talks sometimes turned to was: what if we each took something, like a plot, or a character, or a simple thing like 'trees', and each wrote about it? To see what we did the same, what we did differently ... just to see?

Well - what if each of us Quillbearers wrote about Rain?

I think it sounds like a cool idea. :-D

Comment please.

So I was driving as I was writing again ...

2006-06-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

... because the words were coming into my head, and I had to write them down.

See, this year's NaNo is a sort of prelude or prequel to another novel. I always wanted to write a novel where I created a whole bunch of random and hopefully wildly different characters, threw them together ... and sit back to watch what happened. I'd also had an idea that popped up now and again in various guises, involving different people that were brought together for some sort of purpose - but didn't know it until later.

Well, I toyed with the idea of doing something with this for last year's Nano. The idea of a group of very different young men going to the same university who became friends (without realizing they were meant to) was very appealing to me as I walked across campus. But ... why would they be brought together? And how long would this novel take? I wanted to do it justice.

So I saved it for a time other than November.

However ... a month or so later I read a book about ... quilting. Tada! (Hehe, I know it sounds boring, but it was actually a very good book. This author is excellent at characterization - in fact, one of the sequels brings together a bunch of very different characters too, just like I plan to.) But anyway, in this book there is a big, dusty old mansion, with crumbling gardens. Bit by bit the rooms are cleaned and restored, the gardens rebuilt ... beautiful!! What a treasure trove for description and descovery!

So. I would write a novel about this, in November, when I could give my fancy free reign.

I saw my MC cleaning out a room. Her best friend was elsewhere in the house - perhaps down the hall? But as she cleaned a young man suddenly stuck his head in the window and grinned at her from where he was repairing the roof. And with a start I realized - I recognized him. It was Rafael! Rafe! Dear old Rafe ... I had never seen him before in my life. But there he was, with golden curls (rather like Merry's, but much less poofy ... I mean the color, dark with gold on top, if that makes sense), and ... I knew he was one of those young men at the university. Or rather, he would be. He wasn't yet.

I didn't know where he came from ... but he rather threw a light on the story. He certainly gave it a purpose other than restoring an old mansion.

In any case. This post has turned into something about my NaNonovel ...I didn't intend it to. Because I didn't write anything about my NaNonovel while I was driving.

In the semester during which last Nano took place, I had a class on Human Development. In front of me in the class sat a young, red-haired young man, next to his girlfriend. And I knew that young man was also one of the characters in my someday-novel.

And here he is, in less than perfect style; but there all the same.

He was good-looking, with the flaming red hair of a poet or revolutionary. But it was cropped close to his head in a very practical and unpoetic way. There was something a tad rebellious in this very fact, perhaps, as it went against the current style at ------. But it was more in disregard for the impractical fashions than an attempt to defy them. In any case, it accentuated a very prominent brow, which was set in a sternly sensible expression that was almost, but not quite a frown. Beneath was set a pair of sharp, grey eyes that observed their surroundings with a keen glance, and gave the impression of an intellect that not ony knew, but understood all that it saw. His mouth was serious and silent, and even his smile was rather solemn. But his laugh gave a glimpse into another man that might have been - a little wild, overflowing with life and a quiet sort of passion, all the more lively for being so seldom released.

Yet there was something in his eyes as well: a perception that, whil applied to science, belonged rather to poetry. And perhaps he was a sort of poet after all; for if ever he spoke of his work, his words breathed of beauty.

Meh, needs to be polished up ... but heavens, I can barely read my handwriting! lol!

Inkies In Brief

2006-06-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

This, in a nutshell, because I'm wildly getting ready for company, is what Tobie and I discussed. And Lyn some as well.

To design Inkies t-shirts. Through CafePress... and we can buy them, or mugs, or whatever. With the money we make from this, we intend to a) buy a domain name and b) upgrade to a paid hosting so we don't have anymore ads!

The other idea is to publish things, like a collection of our InkShos...

That's it in a nutshell. Tobie can help flesh things out. I'm off to clean up more. *makes a nasty face*

Greetings.

2006-06-10T09:00:00.002-07:00

No, I have not disappeared. Well, ok, I sort of did. But I have rematerialized. And while I can't spend much time here posting, as I have a wedding to get ready for, I will tell you I have purchased Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle, and it is an amazing book. I shall have to post about it sometimes soon.

And ... keep coming here. Because ... *glances at Mara* Something may or may not be brewing, but it's ... very exciting. So. :)

Love you all, don't forget this place!

End Strike

2006-06-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Mara and I are not on strike anymore, it seems.

But would someone please POST? There are certain people who are not posting here at Thunder in the Attic at all....namely, LYN, JOSEPH, SHIELD, CASEY, and even Liz. Come on, guys. Contribute to the poor blog.

Meanwhile, Sir Reycott and I are taking a day off to commiserate. See you around.

The Suspense Is Killing Me

2006-05-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

I can't take it anymore!!! Seriously!! Fellow Quill-bearers, both Keesa and Rose know that I submitted a short story for the contest held by DKA...I wrote just about all of it on the deadline day, and also edited and submitted it on the deadline day. After it was in, I could breath. But the very next day I started to become anxious. The more I find out, the more nervous I get. First, I find that I am up against 26 other people.....next I hear that there are alot of good entries....then I read the forums, and and see how nervous other people are. Not to mention, I keep hearing about all these rejections people have recieved when they have tried to publish things. That makes me question myself and my writing abilities.

As each day goes by, I lose more and more confidence over my story. I rather like it, yes; but that's me. But is it good enough? It is pretty brief. It is not all that original, and they wanted 'innovative' and 'original' entries. Is it too simple? Too this? Too that? I don't even know why I am so hyped up like this. It's just a contest. I have never gotten this way before.

But come to think of it, I have never in my life submitted one of my writings to be edited by a group of people I don't even know.

*grin* Now that observation made me smile.

Anyhow, at first the winners weren't to be announced until mid or late May. Well, it was day two and already I was dying to know the results. I am ridiculous. So I guess I need to just.....stop thinking about it? Seems easy enough...or not. But anyway, NOW they say that the winners won't be announced until....June 5th! Are they trying to kill me to at least remove ONE of the contestants?!?!?

*pant pant*

Alright, I am recovering now. Looks like I need to calm down and stop over-reacting. But I feel as though I have to borrow Tolkien's words..."I have bared my heart to be shot at." This story I wrote is close to my heart, and I am nervous about how it will be recieved.

I have now offically ended my ranting. (I think.) However it may be, I do feel better now.

:)

Distant Passages in print!!!

2006-04-19T06:11:00.000-07:00

Here it is, guys!! Everyone buy a copy, or at least ask for one for Christmas. ;) I'm waiting for mine to come!

Distant Passages: The Best from Double-Edged Publishing 2005

There is some great stuff in there. :) I remember really liking some of these stories when they were in print in the magazines.

And heck ... I'll even give y'all my autograph. *grin* :P

2006-04-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

For some reason blogger isn't letting Mara post - but she asked me to clarify that ISSM/Inkishowrimo is in May, not April. Just so you guys know. :)

ISSM

2006-04-04T10:08:00.000-07:00

I have my idea! I won't have to cheat! Yay! *grin* It was something that popped into my head and was forgotten about a week later, save for a vague: "Hmmm ... this might be good Nano filler/plot." (Is there much difference between filler and plot during Nano?)

Anyway, it's something I'd probably never get around to writing unless I was terribly bored, because while it's not a bad idea, I have others I like better that need to be written ... and when they're written, I've no doubt others will pop up to take their place. This one tends to sift toward the bottom ... but I shall yank it up for Inkishowrimo. Who knows what other useful debris will come flying up with it? :)

And in response to one of Lyn's comments - I shall indeed shoot you, since you have so asked. With the very gun you threatened to use on Liz and me from the roof. *evil grin*

And I am waiting for a post in Alahndran, as well as one in Dragontongue. ;)

Behind the Foundation

2006-04-03T06:30:00.000-07:00

Another insight into the creative processes of the illustrious Merlin.

Daydreaming while driving is generally discouraged, but the results can be quite interesting. I was driving along an interstate in Virginia--or West Virginia, I can’t remember where it was I started— watching the scenery (after a while, even going 75-80 mph gets boring) and I was struck by how impressive the landscape was, mountains covered in trees, and occasional interruption of human structures. Being me I quickly deconstructed the signs of humanity and viewed the world as it would be if human activity ceased. The road would be mostly overgrown fairly quickly, the power lines would be in disarray, the buildings would be falling into ruin.

And then I wondered what people would think if they could see such ruins without the idea that they were built by humans, and without any knowledge of technology. They would probably be assumed to be the product of some advanced race more powerful than our own, and probably be viewed as magical.

So I placed a group of ignorant humans somewhere in our own world after some catastrophe that left all the cities abandoned and technology far regressed. So much time had passed that they did not remember that humans had built the ruins they saw. They assumed that there was some hyper-human almost elven magical race behind the ruins.

So I built the idea of a story I initially named What Came Before, but have since changed to Behind the Foundation.

(And yes, I came back, I regret that I abandoned this place for a time.)

I must be mad.

2006-04-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

Not many moments have passed after I have established a firm-ish grip upon Alahndran, when I decide that Alahndran on its own is not enough-- I must have a separate language for the fairies! I must be mad. My brother asked me today, "How in the world are you going to make a fairy language?" It's true. What could it possibly be like? It has to be "the loveliest tinkle, as of golden bells", according to Mr. Barrie. That's going to be hard. (So far it looks like a sort of cross between what I've seen of Welsh and what I've seen of Houyhnhnm...)

InkiShoWriMo

2006-03-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

ISSM - Inkies Short Story Month, or InkiShoWriMo, as Tobie calls it, has been unveiled. In an effort to bring Inkies back to the arena of writing, it was created. I'm considering having polls for people to vote for awards such as "Best Plot Development", "Best Character Development", etc. If y'all have any ideas, PLEASE comment.

I'm also considering having Inkies Poem Weeks, interspersed throughout the year. Maybe one a month, except November and May? Any ideas y'all?

Just thought I'd let y'all know that your writing pleas have not gone unanswered. :)

I love you guys!!

2006-03-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

*sniffle*

Sorry. I can't help it. It's just, Liz and Casey ... BOTH posting ... within two days of each other! I get so emotional sometimes ...

*grin* Nah, seriously. I'm proud of you. :-P ;)

(sheepish grin)

2006-03-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

I'm finally starting work for my new fantasy novel. I'm not yet working ON it-- merely the preparatory, preliminary work; like creating a language (loads of fun, that) and coming up with some sort of a history-- though I have several ideas for the plot of the novel itself. It's amazing how many varied things, and how many delicate nuances could go into this if I really took my time at it. After all, worlds are only created in six days if you're omnipotent... ;)

Oh, please help....

2006-03-25T15:18:00.000-08:00

I was looking for scholarships the other day, and I came across one called 'Writers of the Future'. If you write a short story, you could get the 1000 dollar scholarship. not bad i guess. I thought about doing it, and my parents said i should. They asked if I had any short stories already written. I hesitantly said yes. They told me to send it in.

But I can't.

Maybe it is senti ental, and silly, but I can't turn in Marian. Win or lose, money or no, I cannot. i'll try to come up with another story. The deadline is still a few weeks away. Maybe something else can work. Mariuan...Marian is precious to me. If i turn that in...it's like losing a part of my soul. Like heartlessly selling a piece of my heart. I can't do it. Not for any shcolarship. Marian is ... beautiful, to me. somehow. i can't just give her away so heartlessly. I want to publish her, and share her, perhaps, but not win a schlarship with her. It'll hurt too much.

But I can't think of another short story plot.

What should I do??

ACK!! NO!!!!

2006-03-23T08:17:00.000-08:00

"Burn whatever pages you wish. The words are written on our hearts."

Do you know who says that? Do you know? Can you possibly guess who?? It's horrible! *points down to previous post* She does. Miriam. But NOT IN THAT STORY!!!

It shall NOT turn into a novel. I shan't, it shan't, it shan't! Because I won't let it.

However, I have discovered it has a sequel. Hang it all. I even have the stupid title already.

At least Noah will be happy.

Anyway. So that line came to me today as I drove home from school. I wrote it down - yes, while I was driving. Hehe. No accidents - I didn't really look as I wrote except for a glance now and then to make sure I wasn't scribbling over what was already there. :) (Did I ever tell you that I wrote and entire page of my '04 Nano novel in the car - in utter darkness? And that it was actually legible?)

Actually, that wasn't the only thing I scribbled. There's a whole slew of 'em, all on the back of an ancient quiz that was lying on the floor in front of the passenger seat. Perhaps not the safest thing to do - jotting down sparks of inspiration while driving - but I knew I'd lose them otherwise, and I NEEDED them.

See, today I am going to write an entire chapter of Shanlara. But it doesn't belong where I am now. If you set it out on a timeline, perhaps, it would only be about 2 chaps ahead; but it will be located towards the end of the middle third or the beginning of the last third of the book. (I'm not really sure how long this is going to end up being ...)

It's very cool, actually. See, the MC in the chapter is Oisin. (Those of you who've read Shanlara - he was one of the knights on the Council, who did a lot of the talking when Fiontan died. And if you remember when Adrian passed through Malona - that's his regency.) And I kept coming across these wonderful details; but last night I didn't quite catch them the way I wanted.

So perhaps you can understand why I wrote even though I was driving, when the words came to be in rough perfection.

"Tapestries of rich, deep colors stirred as he brushed past, shimmering as if their weave was laced with gold."

It was those tapestries that eluded me; that I could grasp through several words, but not portray clearly. Funny how little details like that matter so much, isn't it?

Then there was this:

"...Lies that were fed by malice, but sprouted from the seed of truth."

Now THAT one ... that one led to an incredible revelation that has me very excited. But I'm not telling what it was. :-P

But the chapter will be written. After I write for school. (Theses are the bane of all sentient life forms and should be banished from the face of the earth. I believe they would count as ESCTs.) And I have the quiz with me now. Think of how uplifted its life now is ... It could have lain for ages on the floor of my car, being continually stepped on and dripped on (my car leaks ... lol), until one day next fall I found it, realized it was from last year, and ... threw it away.

Now it shall serve an incredible purpose. It holds beauty, not just facts mingled with environmentalist nonsense. And it shall never be thrown away. Hey, someday it may even be collected in a museum or something ... ;)

2006-03-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

Typed up for Dessa on Inkies, as I promised her an excerpt. But I thought I’d share it here as well. :)

“There are no knights. Chilvalry is dead. It was lost with the old order.”

Thaddeus leaned forward with a strange glint in his eye. “And what if I were to tell you that the old order was not lost?”

Miriam turned to stare at him. He watched her, a small smile forming on his lips. If his words had some meaning other than the obvious, it was one she couldn’t comprehend. But he couldn’t be serious …

“But it is,” she insisted, unsure of how to react. “It is all but forgotten.”

“Ah! But there’s where you’re wrong. It has been forgotten, so that it’s all but lost.” He chuckled quietly to himself and began filling his pipe.

Miriam was thoroughly agitated. She had a feeling he was greatly amused at her expense, and she didn’t like it. But worse was that hard as she tried, she couldn’t sense a hidden meaning to his words, let alone find what it was. It was as if he meant them as they were.

Somehow it made her feel defensive; and she spoke with more anger than intended.

“Of course they’re not forgotten! Who doesn’t remember them, and tell tales of them in the secrecy of their homes in the dark? But there hasn’t been a knight since they were outlawed by the king’s father.”

Already she’d said more than she’d intended. But he sat back, and drew on his pipe, and smiled. He was laughing at her.

“I shouldn’t have to tell you this!” she exclaimed, jumping from her seat in anger. “You where there when it all happened. The knights are gone, Thaddeus, no matter what anyone says or wants. I wish it wasn’t so, with all my heart; but it is.”

“And yet you obey _____ the moment he tacks a rag of parchment to the side of the square.”

Miriam stood perfectly still, stunned into silence. A single hot tear ran down her cheek.

“You think I’m lying,” she whispered, trying not to choke on her words. “That what I say about ____, about what I want, isn’t true. That I may even betray you to the Guards. Is that what you meant?” She blinked hard and quickly wiped the corners of her eyes. Her anger drained away, robbing her of her strength. “You could have said so. It would have been better than the lies about knighthood … it would have hurt less.”

She turned to him, but couldn’t clearly see his face through her own tears. “I have no knight to help me. And if I haven’t even you … then there’s no one. But you’re wrong; and maybe you’ll believe me after this is over.”

Miriam turned and half-stumbled to the door, fumbling blindly for the latch; but she was stopped by a hand on her arm. She faced Thaddeus, who was peering intently at her face.

“I’m sorry, Miriam. I don’t think you’re lying – I trust you.”

She stared back at him. He was no longer laughing. “But why …”

“The question is,” he continued as if she hadn’t spoken: “Do you really trust me?”

She hesitated, unable to sort through her own thoughts. Was that all it had been then? A test?

“Yes.”

“Very well then.” The old man reached for the oversized cloak that hung on a hook near the door. “We must waste no time. You should have come to me sooner, but that cannot be helped now.”

As he spoke he hurried about the small room, gathering a few things into a bag which he hug beneath his arm, throwing his cloak about his shoulders, and grabbing a thick staff that leaned in a dusty corner beyond the lamplight. Miriam watched him in silence, puzzling slightly ober the last item. She began to reach for her own cloak; but then something was thrust into her arms.

“It is a warm night; but wear this. Yours won’t do.”

It was a soft cloak, much thicker than her own, that could have passed for a man’s or a woman’s. It was a bit large for her, but she wrapped herslef in it as Thaddeus laid his hand on the latch.

“There is only one way to save you from this,” he said suddenly. “Only one path to take that doesn’t end in hopelessness – but it leads into more danger than you’re in now.” He turned to look at her. “Do you still want my help?”

Miriam felt a thrill run down her spine as she met his eyes. His words and actions alike were a mystery to her; but she sensed adventure close at hand, as if the days of the old stories were alive. To step out the door was to step into their world. She could believe almost anything – what lay ahead she couldn’t imagine.

“Yes.”

Thaddeus smiled and turned the latch. The two stepped outside into the night, leaving the lamp burning behind them.

Above All Shadows

2006-03-08T20:36:00.001-08:00

To many people, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is a prime example of excellent Christian fictional literature. And they are correct. Yet of those many people, there are those who do not understand the depths to which they are correct. Even I didn't completely understand, and there is still much to discover. But thanks to Dr. Joseph Pearce, a writer (author of Tolkien: Man and Myth) and professor at Ave Maria University, and the small talk he gave on LotR during a mock class, I have been able to learn more.

I am not Catholic, but Tolkien was, and his Catholicism was very important to him. Being as devout a Catholic as he was, Christian beliefs/symbolism/etc. slipped into his writing without intention. Yet upon re-writing, it was noticed and it was put in purposefully.

This doesn't mean you must have direct parallels. Being the philologist that Tolkien was, his parallels were not always directly correlating in a way noticeable by most people. For instance...

Melkor is Elvish for "Mighty One", and indeed he was the greatest of the Ainur before he fell. Lucifer is Hebrew for "Light", and he was the greatest of the Angels before he fell. After the fall of Melkor, the Eldar referred to him as "Morgoth" which means "enemy" in Elvish. And Satan means "enemy".

Things get even more interesting. "Saur" is dragon in Greek (I believe it is, I could be mistaken, and I forgot to take notes, I was so interested), and dragons were portrayed as evil not only in the book of Revelation, but in old Norse and English mythology. "Saur" appears not only in "Sauron", the lieutenant of Melkor, but in "Saruman", albeit switched around a bit.

It doesn't stop there. Even Grima is tied into this as well. The old English/Norse word for dragon is "wyrm", and Grima was known as "Wormtongue".

All this, and it's just in philological instances!!

So, who says that Christianity must be present in a purely allegorical form? Subtlety is extremely noticeable to the learned scholars...

And speaking of Dr. Pearce, if you like LotR, and have not read his book, look for it. It is excellent (so far), and I was so glad I picked it up when I was visiting AMU. And even gladder when I discovered that the man who wrote it was teaching my mock class. I love my personalized inscription in it. *smiles*

Damsel In Distress

2006-03-05T20:15:00.000-08:00

And I am. There is something that has been distressing me for a long time, something that I have been thinking about alot lately; something that I talked to Rose about over the phone. I have finally decided to say something, but before I had really hesitated.

It concerns Inkspillers.

Recently, the number of members has exploded. One would think that this is good....and so it could be, and should be....but in a way, it is bad. Why?

Because we, the founding members, are forgetting why Inkspillers was ever made; why Mara ever first created the site. As we all know, Inkspillers is a place for Christian writers to come home to. But not just any Christian writers. Specifically (as I have always been led to believe) NOVELISTS. Yes; specifically novelist/poets. And yet it seems that every new member does NOT write. When we say 'write', we do NOT mean school papers; everyone does that. We do not mean journalists, or anyone who writes for a school newspaper or any other paper. We not mean someone who intends to write....someday. We do not mean those who wrote the beginning of a novel 12 years ago, but who don't intend to again.

My fellow writers, we seem to have forgotten all this. All of it. Some of the newer members have even invited their friends to join Inkspillers without Mara's permission first.....and yet, although these friends are Christians, they do not write, at least as far as I have seen with many of them. So population booms in a writer's village......where half the people are not even novelists/poets. And yet once these people are invited, it would be quite rude to deny them admittance.

I do not mean to kill everyone's fun. But I am concerned. The posts in the Chit-Chat section overflow, but the writing threads are either ghost towns, or only visited every so often.

Inkspillers is a special, tight-knit, fun place to be in. One could see why others want to join, even if they never have a pen in hand, or keyboard before them that is about to have its very keys create a world that moves and breathes in the mind of its creator. But Fellow Quill-bearers, there are many other forums where these good people can go, forums that are for everyone, and not just writers.

Now that I have had my say....what are your opinions, Mara's particularly? I would really like to know.

I think it is time we take some form of action, anyway....sadly, it would seem, perhaps we need to create a list of qualifications that need to be met in order to join Inkspillers. And perhaps the newer members, aka, those who were not part of the old Inkies, should be asked to go to Mara before inviting a friend.

So there are my present distresses. I have laid them before you.

Joseph has joined!!

2006-03-04T08:38:00.000-08:00

Just in case ya'll we wondering. :D

Stronger

2006-02-27T08:46:00.000-08:00

So I think I've found our theme song. :) It's be Delirious? (the question mark is part of their name ... *grin*), and it's part of the album of music inspired by Narnia. Let me know what you think. (If you don't post I shall assume you haven't read it ... *glances at appropriate people*)

We're getting stronger every day
We're getting braver in every way
Halleluia, here we come

We're getting stronger every day
Push through the waves that fall our way
Halleluia, here we come
We're much stronger when we're one
Halleluia, here we come

Oh, I love You from the depths of my heart
And nothing here can tear us apart
Everything's beautiful with You
Everything's beautiful when You
Invade my life
And I'm living just to say
That I love You.

We're getting closer every day
Chasing the dreams that Heaven gave
Halleluia, here we come

We're getting closer every day
Into Your arms I'm here to stay
We're much stronger when we're one
Halleluia, here we come

I love You from the depths of my heart ...

etc. (Not typing out the refrain again.)

There isn't a line of this song that doesn't apply to us, as Quillbearers, in some way, shape, or form. I can elaborate in the comments if you wish. :)

ALSO. Those of you who know my cousin, Joseph (Fayle on Inkies), know that he is temporarily gone, serving as a full-time volunteer of sorts in Chicago. Well, he just emailed me, and I sent him the link to this blog - and he would love to join. I intend to send him the invite today or tomorrow; that ok with everyone?

'It was enough to have laughed.'

2006-02-18T12:30:00.000-08:00

*looks very pleased with herself*

Isn't that an awesome line? Isn't it? It is, in fact, the last line of a scene that will be written in the nearish future. (Though I know better than to say when, as it will be longer than I think.)

It's a snippet, and when it came to me I scribbled it down in a little notebook - one with a rose fairy on it. It's a pretty little book; a Christmas present from Liz. This is, in fact, the first thing I've written in it. I was scared to write anything before. You know how it goes - right? A set of beautiful, unblemished pages, holding so much promise - but what if you write something horribly unworthy of that promise?

But this snippet came to me. And you know, it's been a very long time since I received a snippet, at least for Shanlara. I realized I couldn't write this particular scene just yet; but I had to write that sentence down. The other two mini-notebooks that rest on my bedside table are both nearly full, and it's almost impossible to find a specific jotting amongst all the scattered ideas and such that crowd them. But here was Liz's book, all fresh and new and waiting - and so it has begun a hopeful career.

I have been very frustrated with Shanlara lately. I absolutely hate Kentigern. It's all his fault. The moment he happened along, I felt myself wading into a quagmire; and now it seems I am rather firmly stuck. Up to my hips in a muddy mess. Sluggish, because I simply can't move. And when I try, it turns into a desperate struggle that ends leaving me more hopeless than before.

It's all Kentigern's fault. But that's alright - he's got it coming. Adrian will laugh at him.

You see, I'm not sure exactly how it happened. I know I thought of one thing, and then another; but I can't remember in what order, or what degree of importance each had. But there is that moment - a precise moment in time that you can never quite pin afterwards - when it all clicked, and I realized I'd fogotten something.

Adrian can laugh.

I remembered the scenes early on - scenes that are good, that are well-written, that I love - where he is with Tristan, and laughing, and happy, even in the midst of rather dire circumstances.

And I saw him listening to Kentigern's ridiculous bragging, and I realized - how petty to be so angry over such a small person's insults. Adrian is above that. I realized - he is not burning with anger he's trying to keep in.

No. Instead, he is trying desperately not to laugh.

Adrian does have a tendency to become absorbed in his own, dark thoughts in bad situations. But really, how long can anyone continue in such a state before they go completely insane - before they sort of cave in?

Tristan brings out the best in Adrian. But does that mean the best in him ceases to exist when Tristan isn't there?

I have long known tha Fyndra brings out something in Adrian that is gentle, beautiful; but how can that happen when he is not being himself? There can't be a sudden transition. He has to be open to it.

Hehe. I just realized that half of this doesn't make any sense unless you have some idea of Shanlara. :) There is a thread in the novel section on Inkies, that has a link to the old Inkies, that contains part of my novel. Go read it if you like. It only has the first few chapters, though, so you still won't know what I'm talking about.

But in the meanwhile, I shall be making Adrian laugh. No more bitterness. No more sullen anger.

Thank goodness.

2006-02-11T12:56:00.000-08:00

I was grumbling to myself about having nothing to read – a rather unacceptable complaint, considering the number of books we have on our bookshelves. (Which collection I glance at as I type this, feeling very proud of my ability to continue typing while doing so and make NO mistakes!) But then I remembered a little blue book – not kept down here with the rest, as it is of my own possession – and I realized it had been at least six months since I last read it. I decided it was time to pick it up once more, for the sake of both my reading and my writing.

Tree and Leaf by J.R.R. Tolkien. *sighs happily* I love this book so. For those who aren’t aware, it contains two works: “On Fairy-Stories”, and “Leaf by Niggle” – both incredible writings that hold much wisdom for us as writers. I bought this particular copy online, because it’s out of print. It was, in fact, very difficult to obtain (omw, can you tell by my tone I’m reading Tolkien?!) … and it was only AFTER receiving it in the mail I was informed both these works were included in another, much more available book - The Lost Road and other Stories. (Other Tales?)

Anyway. I wanted to share a page with you. I think you’ll like it. :) He’s exploring the origin of fairy-stories, and how it is related to the origin of language itself.

“…But Language cannot, all the same, be dismissed. The incarnate mind, the tongue, and the tales are in our world coeval. The human mind, endowed with the powers of generalization and abstraction, sees not only green-grass, discriminating it from other things (and finding it fair to look upon), but sees that it is green as well as being grass. But how powerful, how stimulating to the very faculty that produced it, was the invention of the adjective: no spell or incantation in Faerie is more potent. …The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift, also conceivedof magic that would make heavy things light and able to fly, turn grey lead into yellow gold, and the still rock into a swift water. If it could do the one, it could do the other; it inevitably did both. When we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already and enchanter’s power – upon one plane; and the desire to wield that power in the world external to our minds awakes. It does not follow that we shall use that power well upon any plane. We may put a deadly green upon a man’s face and produce a horror; we may make the rare and terrible blue moon to shine; or we may cause woods to spring with silver leaves and rams to wear fleeces of gold, and put hot fire into the belly of the cold worm. But in such “fantasy”, as it is called, new form is made: Faerie begins; Man becomes a sub-creator.”

Sub-creation!!!!! *dances in sheer excitement* Sub-creation! Sub-creation! We are all sub-creators! Isn’t it so exciting??

The Elusive Comma - Quality of Writing

2006-02-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

This post (which I actually wrote earlier, offline) actually grew out of a problem I've seen over and over and over again at DKA and Critters: people not getting their commas right. It's one of the easiest mistakes to make--and one of the most annoying for editors. (Speaking, of course, as an editor myself.) It's also a hallmark of an inexperienced writer.

Probably one of the hardest aspects of writing to get 'write' is the comma. In some ways, that's understandable, because where a comma goes in a sentence depends on the meaning you want the sentence to have. But there are a few totally basic rules that should never be overlooked in writing with commas, and yet that always are. Here are a few of those rules. You have no excuse now!

The Serial Comma:

When writing with lists, a comma should go after every item except the last one--and that includes the item before the conjunction! "Apples, oranges, and banannas" is correct; "Lions, tigers and bears" is not. Nor does this apply only to lists of items; consider the following sentence: "He opened the door, picked up the newspaper, and brought it back inside."

It's worth noting that 'lists' are compilations of three items or more; if you have two items (e.g., "He opened the door and picked up the newspaper."), you would use the conjunction without the comma.

The Parenthetic Comma:

Brief pauses in sentences, such as this one, should be surrounded with commas. It is inexcusable to use one comma and omit the other. Strunk and White tell us that "It is frequently hard to tell whether a single word, such as however, or a brief phrase is or is not parenthetic." They're right, of course; it is hard. But it's not impossible. A good rule of thumb is to try placing the phrase in question in parenthesis; if the sentence still makes sense, you can probably put the phrase in commas.

"He might have noticed (if he were not so busy with work) that MaryAnn rarely bothered to curl her hair anymore."

"He might have noticed, if he were not so busy with work, that MaryAnn rarely bothered to curl her hair anymore."

The Direct Address Comma:

Strunk and White tell us that a name or title in direct address is parenthetic, and should be surrounded with commas, but I find that it's easier to remember if I list it as a separate rule.

If someone is speaking directly to someone else, then the name (or title) should be surrounded in commas. The first comma should be dropped if it's at the beginning of a sentence; the second one, if it's at the end of the sentence.

PAY ATTENTION!!

The vast majority of comma problems I see, both at DKA and at Critters, have to do with this rule, and I don't know why, because it's fairly straightforward.

WRONG: "John why do you insist on wearing that ugly hat?"

WRONG: "Why do you insist on criticizing everything I do Mary?"

WRONG: "When you were outside Tom did you happen to see if the mail had come yet?" (Also wrong: "While you were outside, Tom did you happen to see if the mail had come yet?" and also wrong: "While you were outside Tom, did you happen to see if the mail had come yet?")

RIGHT: "John, why do you insist on wearing that ugly hat?"
"Why do you insist on criticizing everything I do, Mary?"
"When you were outside, Tom, did you happen to see if the mail had come yet?"

The Independant Clause Comma:

If you have a sentence with an independant clause, and the two clauses are joined with a conjunction, then you should use a comma before the conjunction. (If the clauses are not joined with a conjunction, then a comma should not be used; a semicolon should be.) For example:

The razed land was ugly, but we knew the trees would grow again.

Or:

The waterfall sparkled in the sun; each drop looked like a diamond.

You would not, however, omit the comma in the first example (The razed land was ugly but we knew the trees would grow again.) nor include it in the second (The waterfall sparkled in the sun, each drop looked like a diamond.)

Of course, either sentence could be written as two: "The razed land was ugly. We knew the trees would grow again"; "The waterfall sparkled in the sun. Each drop looked like a diamond."

These are the most important rules for commas, and the ones that are most often violated. I've listed theme here because bad use of commas makes for bad writing. Sometimes the difference between poor writing and good writing is nothing more than the difference between knowing how to use a comma and not. No writer who wants to be really good can afford to overlook this little mark.

Miscellany

2006-02-07T16:23:00.000-08:00

First: Where IS everybody? *severe glare* Keesa is the most busy of all of us, and yet notice who has made the majority of the posts. Casey … I suppose I can accept Casey’s absence. I know he has limited amounts of time. So does Liz. Gen … eh. Not as much excuse as the others. Mara and Lyn …

Guys. Can’t you at least COMMENT?! You don’t have to post something eloquent or even SENSIBLE every time. You can just update us on what you’ve written or meant to write this week, or something you read that you liked, or want to read, or music that inspired you … or something!

That being said. Second: I’ve been meaning to post, and haven’t, and have some excuse but not enough to really excuse myself. (Redundancy? Where?) I’ve fallen behind on everything to do with writing, from letters to stories and down the line. I’ve been debating whether to settle down to one of two or three short stories or tackle Shanlara. (Again … *sigh* Can you guys please pray for this story? I am having so much trouble, and it’s to the point I don’t feel like hammering it out anymore. I feel like I’ve completely lost touch with my characters.) Of course, this debate is procrastination … but I think I’ll end up with one of the shorts, simply so I can have something completed. Once I get into the flow of things, there are two posts I’d like to make here. The first is about an article that fits us beautifully; the other – well, let’s just say I think I’ve found our theme song. *grin*

Third: this is the main reason I’m posting. March 13-17 is spring break for me. And Liz and I had an idea -–a writer’s retreat! We want to spend at least a few days together, preferably spending the night once or twice. Part of the time would be spent at my house, part at hers. Writerly (authoritative ;) ) snacks and drinks would be in abundance, of course.

But we wouldn’t just be getting together with the intention of writing. Because, good as your intentions may be, socialization has a way of ruining them. We will have an actual schedule.

For example: Get up at ___ am and watch the sun rise. Eat a good breakfast, grab your cup of coffee, sit down and write for an hour. Go out for a morning walk – being sure to bring your notebooks for inspirational jottings – and talk. Preferably about writing related matters (and heavens, can Liz and I jabber on about them for hours!), but good conversation (or silence) of any sort is acceptable. Come back and do a bout of speed writing on anything you like – just write for about five minutes without thinking. (Perhaps writing about your walk?) Make a lunch, and go out for a picnic. Stay outdoors and write for an hour. Go online and blog about your experience on Thunder.

And so forth.

Now, I very highly doubt that anyone else has this stretch of free time during this precise week. I also doubt that we could get all our schedules to coincide so we could do it in unison. But wouldn’t be awesome if we could all do a writing retreat together? Everyone could do whatever they could manage, and we could compare experiences, and so forth. I think this would be so much fun! Let me know your thoughts.

Please. *firm glance*

The Quality of Writing

2006-02-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

There are two sides to good Christian writing; one is the closeness of the writer to God; the other is the writer's devotion to his or her craft.

I can't stress enough how much a Christian writer should be working at improving her craft. There are a thousand books and a hundred-thousand websites devoted to the particulars of improving your craft, so I won't go into all the details here (not that I could, anyway; not in a single post), but it is vital.

It depresses me, the number of submissions we have at DKA that are really well written, but that don't fit our theme. It depresses me even more, though, to see the ones that do fit our theme. Christian stories, yes, but you'd think the authors didn't care anything about the story they were trying to tell or the King the story was written for! There's often little plot or character--even basic spelling and punctuation are ignored! Surely our God deserves better than that?

My challenge for today is to find one book or article about writing; plot, character, dialogue, it doesn't matter. Read it through, then look at your own work and ask yourself, Does my writing measure up in this way? How can I make it better? What aspects do I need to work on? What parts am I doing fairly well? Then, use our forum at Inkies (or any other crit group) and post your story there. Ask your critters to read it through, looking specifically for whatever area it is you've been studying, and ask them to tell you how you can make it better. One thing I've learned over the years at Critters is that there is no such thing as a perfect story; there's always something else you can do to make it better. It isn't easy to find people who can tell you what that something is; sometimes you have to train your critique partners not to just blow the story off with an "Oh, this is awesome!" It's wonderful for your ego, of course, but how much help is it really to you as a writer? Does it make you a better writer? I think you know the answer to that.

So there's my challenge. Read up on some part of writing. Apply it to your own writing. Then put it up and ask for crits specifically about that part of the story. And mind you, I'll be watching to see if you actually do!

ahem

2006-01-27T12:47:00.000-08:00

Ok. So most of you know this already. :) But in case you don't, and just so that it's official -

I am now an editor.

*huge grin*

Here is the anouncement; and if you wanna see my name on the contact page, it's here.

(insert Mr Green)

The Real History of Naevoria

2006-01-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

A Look Into the Creative Efforts of Merlin

Naevoria is the name of my first and most detailed world. It started as an island in the midst of a broader world that I knew nothing about, it also started as the setting for a story that I called rather plainly the Adventures of Dannrel. I set out to write a story about a young apprentice wizard (roughly my own age, I can’t recall exactly how old, as I kept changing his age as I got older) and his adventures in his world. The first thing I decided on for the world was the politics of magic (trying my best not to draw on ideas from Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, while desperately wanting to copy them), I set up the Council of Magic and a master/apprentice training system and designed some rules to keep the use of magic in check. The second thing I added to the world was an evil wizard who had defied the council and made himself immortal, this began the First War of Magic (as it was called at the time, now it is merely another squabble between the council and a rogue wizard) and ended in the evil wizard’s capture and imprisonment in a nifty little spell that would hold him forever. (Forever wasn’t very long, as I noted in the story.)

As I wrote Dannrel I created various characters and added what would later become my dragons (as of yet they were merely varicolored dragons with little to set them apart from other dragons.) I always thought that the dragons should be good, but there was the small problem that the people in my world were dreadfully afraid of them and Dannrel managed to get into a fight with one. What were these bad dragons doing in my story? I asked myself. It seemed there were two groups of dragons, one that hated humans and one that tried to help humans. So K’randenmar Rebeldragon was born. The ideas did not yet fall together, they still needed something more.

That something more happened along as I was working on another story. In most of the stories I have read the armies of evil minions have been made up of pathetically weak, untrained soldiers (be they goblins, or some such with a different name) they always attacked straight on, in mobs with little thought for tactics other than superior numbers. This lead to the hero of the story having no trouble fighting scores of opponents and made him look like a magnificent swordsman. In my eyes it just made the bad guy look stupid and the people who died fighting the enemy look weak. I decided that I would create and army of evil creatures that would be really good at fighting. They became the Karadera, adept at all kinds of weaponry, masters of all aspects of warfare, well-trained, disciplined and controlled by mind-controlling wraiths. They were merely supposed to pose a threat, but they quickly overwhelmed the opposition and took control of the land they lived in. So of course I had to think hard to get the people of this land out of their trouble. Most people were enslaved under the Karadera (and their human allies). What they needed was a hero and a liberator. Cendris rose to the challenge and began a resistance that was crushed. He was forced to flee the land and go. . . where?

Until this point I had thought that this other story was taking place in another world. It was here that I realized that they were the same world. Cendris fled to Naevoria. And the people of Naevoria had come from Taera. This connection of worlds brought about the start of the story of K’randenmar Rebeldragon and the history of the Darktimes.

I supposed that the people of Taera might have had trouble with the dragons before. At first I thought for the longest time that some previous rebel dragons had been cast out of Naevoria and banished from the isle of magic and flown across the sea where they found Taera and burned their way across the land in what I called the coming of the Wyrms. So the people of Taera were rightfully fearful when they came to Naevoria, where they found more dragons and set about continuing their destruction. Obviously the dragons wouldn’t be too pleased by that. They fought back, there were casualties on both sides until a girl named Jennstie Morianne managed to bring peace between the two races (don’t ask me how, I didn’t get that far in the details). The leader of the Dragons, Eyreyandale, made peace with the humans. But his brother did not. So the seeds of Rebel Dragon were laid (it was one word back then, Rebeldragon, don’t ask me why, merely an odd quirk of thinking.) They would not be fully thought out until I revisited them when I considered writing Rebel Dragon.

I have always been fascinated with winter and I realized how cruel it would be in this world, so I created the embodiment of winter in the form of the Ice-Wraiths or Isilvrel. They were cold people, living in the north of Naevoria and hating the cold lands to the south. Every winter they would ride forth in an attempt to destroy the southlands. But every year they were driven back by springs coming. With the Isilvrel I also created the boarder country of Lindera (which was the forerunner of Dannrel’s Equilla and Iiyrie) and the men who stood guard against the winter. But they had not always stood. The wraiths had not always come. When they first came the south had fallen and been covered in winter for a few long years. They needed something to save them. It was then that I realized that the Dragons had not been banished from Naevoria. I realized that they had come from Taera in the first place. And that they had not always been dragons.

Fearadrel has always been one of my favorite dragons. He had only been remarkable in that he was the leader of the dragons that had been cast out of Naevoria and had been killed during the dragon purge of Taera. I made him more interesting. He became a powerful mage with a creative mind. Fearadrel gathered a following, starting with Sandra (one of my favorite characters) among them were all the great dragons I had ever named. They joined their power together and under Fearadrel’s direction made themselves something more than human. They made themselves untouchable by time and they gave themselves great power and new form. They became dragons. They had become powerful and nearly invincible. Some of them decided it would be fun to display their power. But they went a little too far. They brought the wrath of the other wizard-groups down on them and proved that even the most powerful could be brought down by numbers. They fought back. Cities were burned and many died. At last the leader of the wizards challenged Fearadrel to a duel, just as he had in my previous idea of history, before the dragons became human. They fought and killed each-other. Or so it seemed. Only Sandra ever knew that Fearadrel had survived in his human form (though his dragon form had been mortally wounded) and fled back to where he came from. The rest of the dragons (except Sandra) left Taera forever. They found Naevoria under the Ice-wraith’s spell and cast them back into the north.

There were many other innovations along the way. But that is the general history of the creation of Naevoria it is not in chronological order, since I started at the end with Dannrel and reached into the past as I created it. It is not a complete history in any way: I make only passing of the Darktime that spawned the Karadera and brought about the Cracking of the Sky and I completely neglected the dragontongue, the white tree of the north, the elves, the Faeisari shapeshifters on Whaldran, the men of Krysane, Teardrop and the Flamereach Archipelago. If I were to include the evolution of every idea it would make for a very long post indeed and would take almost as long to tell as it did to create. As it is this is quite long enough already. It covers the first ideas to the most recent and it gives a glimpse into my mind.

Of Chairs and Rolling Thunder

2006-01-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

Picture the Inklings.

They are gathered in the rooms of CS Lewis at Oxford University - or perhaps in their favorite corner of the Eagle and Child pub, which they refer to as the Bird and Baby. What are they doing? Talking, of course - but about what? Perhaps Tolkien is reading his latest installment of the Lord of the Rings - or perhaps, if the scene is from a later year, his son Christopher is the one doing the reading. (Did you know once his son was old enough to join, they never let JRR read his own stuff? He spoke fast and unintelligibly. And he had horrible handwriting ... I feel in such good company!)

Or maybe it is Lewis doing the reading - from Narnia, or his space trilogy. Maybe it is Charles Williams.

Or perhaps they are just talking. There are many members who aren't writers, after all - in fact, I think it was Dyson that often refused to let excerpts be read, because they bored him. (This much to the annoyance of the other members.)

But the point is - can't you just see it? The close knit friendships, the laughter, the warmth; and imagine the amount of talent gathered in that one room! Genius burns.

Now, however, the scene changes. It isn't a pub or rooms at a college - it is a much lighter set of rooms, located just outside of a small town. The place is flooded with sunlight and classical music. Antiques and pretty things are strewn all about in an attractive manner - pleasing to the eye, if a strain on the wallet. In one room, tea and biscotti await; in the other, a small table with four chairs is to be found. Each of these chairs is occupied but one, which is piled with writerly paraphanelia. Notebooks, pens, and pencils are close to hand - though none of them are opened. Here, too, there is laughter, though of a much younger (and, I'm sure, sillier) sort. While in the former not a woman is to be seen, here the females outnumber the males. (Hence the silly laughter.)

It is quite a different scene than the one before it. They are separated by long years and a wide ocean. And yet they are also connected.

But the latter is interrupted by a strange and mysterious rumble. It goes by relatively unnoticed at first; but then it repeats itself, and continues to do so, until finally it draws comment and attention - at least from the female members. These two look at each other, and wonder aloud - now, what could that possibly be?

The first conclusion is obvious - thunder, of course. But thunder, on such a clear day? Outside not a cloud is to be seen anywhere. Perhaps, then, it is a large truck driving over a bump in the road. But over and over and over again? The small town outside can barely expect to see one, let alone half a dozen semis in its claustrophobic streets.

As the females discuss the issue with their usual whimsical seriousness, the tolerance of the male party finally crumbles. He rolls his eyes, and points out - ver patiently - that the noise is coming from some room directly above their heads.

The girls stare first at him, then at each other. Their eyes widen.

There's a storm in the attic?!

As the young man shakes his head in despair - yet not, perhaps, in surprise - they start gibbering excitedly about lightening and rain and floods upstairs. It is rather an exciting prospect - perhaps they should go investigate. Of course, it could be a truck after all ... but what would a semi be doing in the attic?! That idea they immediately dismiss as preposterous. And imagine what stories you could write around attic storms...!

Deciding he would be remiss if he allowed them to continue in this delusion, their male companion interrupts to deliver his own concise analysis of the situation. His proposal:

"It's probably just a rolling chair in an upstairs office."

The girls stare at him. Then they stare at each other. Then the ceiling rumbles.

It does sound remarkably like a rolling chair.

They sigh deeply. They dare not bruise the ego of their friend; but their eyes exchange a message. How easily our poor friend finds and accepts the obvious! Does he not realize how much more poetic thunder is than offices? Where would humanity be if we had chairstorms on rainy days? And what sort of writers would we be if no thunder rumbled in our attics?

So the scene fades. The Inklings and the Quillbearers - different in many senses, yet the same in so many others. Brewing storms of the mind ... Genius burns.

(Lyn ... you know we all love you. ;))

The Beauty of Sacrifice

2006-01-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

I was just thinking about this today. The story I finished this morning has a lot to do with sacrifice; it's one of the main points of the story. And I was thinking--sacrifice so often involves loss of some kind, even death. It would seem like a horribly depressing thing--so why is it that whenever I read about some form of sacrifice (or, in this case, write about it), instead of feeling horrified or depressed, I always feel awe-struck and uplifted?

My theory is that by reminding us of what God Himself did for us, stories that show us sacrifice remind us a little of God. As we see how the character gave something up, we feel strengthened and inspired and begin to believe that we, too, can give, even our lives, if God asks it of us.

At any rate, that's my theory. :-)

A post, rather than risk the wrath and swift retribution of the Lady Rose.

2006-01-20T09:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it's not as if it's painful to me to do it. ;) I'd have done it anyway. (eventually)

But you see, I'm not an accomplished writer: I've only written one piece of fantasy, and it's nothing that could be called "Christian fantasy". My unfinished piece could only possibly (by a very wild stretch) be termed "Christian", but I don't even know if I'm going to continue with it. Other than these, I've produced but one short story that is in even the slightest way serious. That's IT! (Well, other than articles for Virtue Magazine, but that's different.) I'm not currently writing anything, but that can soon be remedied; but until then, all I'll be able to do is comment on whatever is posted here.

What to Expect From Me

2006-01-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

I haven’t completely decided what I want to post here, but you can probably expect observations about the real world and lots of world-building. Where some writers write for the sake of characters, story or an idea, I write for the sake of the world. I look to the world around me and I see a marvelously complex system. I steal what bits I like; I take things and rearrange them. My thoughts are filled with ‘what-ifs’ and ‘how else’s’. I say I concentrate on the world, but I do not neglect character, story or idea, for they are all part of the world. A world is much more complex than mere setting. It is the entire background of a story, encompassing the history that precedes it, the societies, cities and people that populate it and the things that can happen. Everything has a history and everything has a relation to something else.

My worlds, once built expand past the boundaries of any one story. There is always something left to explore or something left unsaid in the background. It is theses details of history and society that like to find their way into blog posts while I am trying to work consistently on one story. If they can’t make it onto paper as part of the story I am working on they might as well find their way to a blog.

Not a Tame Lion

2006-01-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

Those of us who have grown up with the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings, the Archives of Anthropos, the Pendragon Cycle... those books all contain something. A shadow of Truth, a shadow of Right and Wrong, a shadow of Something, or Someone from this world. It may be in the shape of the Great Lion, Aslan. Or Eru Illuvatar. Or Gaal. Or even Jesu himself. But it is there, and it is as if they are all ponds in the Wood Between the Worlds. In one pool you can find Narnia, in another Middle-Earth, in another Anthropos...

...but the real question is this. Where is your world? Is it in a pool, alive and well? Or is it dying, like Charn? Do you have an Eru, a Gaal, an Aslan? Does your world point toward him, or does it point toward an end such as Charn endured?

What we'll post

2006-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

Righty. This post is a little late in coming, but ... ah well. Live with it! :P

When I invited people to join this blog, I first led up to it by giving them the backstory. I wanted them to have an explanation of why, exactly, this site was made. They all listened quite attentively, until I actually invited them; then they promptly responded:

"But what will we post?"

My answer went something like: "..... Heh. Funny you should ask that ...."

This post being, as I mentioned, a bit late, we already have some fine examples. Look first at Liz's post. It is a complaint, a rant against her writer's block. It could also go in the opposite direction - a happy rant, a rambling about how wonderfully everything is going in your current story. You could talk about the sudden insights you received into plot or character; the amazing line someone dlievered in a scene that completely and unexpectedly blew you away; how horribly your characters are misbehaving and refusing to do what you tell them; the sudden spear of inspiration as it lances through your thoughts; those scenes, those moments when everything falls into place. Talk about what's happening in your life and writing as a writer.

Then there are the inspiring posts by Keesa. Thoughts about writing itself, about why we write, about our goals and ideals. And there's the post by Gen, which follows up on what Keesa said beforehand - it's a response.

Keesa's second post was generated by a comment that started getting longwinded. Comments, I think, are important.

I plan on posting here, hopefully within the next few days, about an article I read called 'The Evangelizing Power of Beauty', both summarizing what it said and giving my own thoughts.

We can relate the events of every day life through the eyes of a writer. This would include things that sometimes have nothing to do with writing, on the surface - moments of clear beauty, scenes we want to capture with our own words, and so forth. We can also post about the other arts - music, movies, etc - because really, they are all interconnected. Their aim in the end is the same. (I blogged about this once! *grin*)

And of course, books! Talk about what you're reading. And hey ... wouldn't it be awesome if we could read a certain book together, at the same time, and post about it? Or perhaps now and then we can pick a certain theme and each of us write something, and share the results? Another option is this - my spring break this year is mid-March. Liz and I intend to have a sort of writing retreat. Not hours upon hours of writing - just something scheduled. For example, get up at this time. Write for this amount of time. Eat lunch. Take a walk. Write more. Etc.

I think it would be cool if we could all do this together - each with our own schedules, of course. And we CAN do it together, because of Thunder in the Attic.

So. Share your own thoughts and ideas, tell me what you think of these.

End ramble. :)

A Question, and a Question Answered

2006-01-17T06:05:00.000-08:00

In commenting on Gen's post, I made the remark that it was our own faith, bubbling up and spilling over, that would make our stories truly Christian stories, stories that would encourage others to move closer to God, and that would shine light in a dark world. (Well, all right, I didn't say exactly that. But it's close enough.) I follow that up with a question:

Can a story be truly Christian if it never mentions God?

After all, Tolkien's work never mentions God, or even an Aslan-like representative of God, until the Silmarillion, and then it's in the company of an entire Parthenon of lesser gods. Modern Christian writers seem to think that unless a story takes great care to mention God many times throughout the story, it isn't "Christian". The result is too often a nauseating, didactic mess, where bad preaching takes the place of a good story. Personally, I find such "Christian" books make me sick to my stomach. (No, I'm not going to name names, and yes, I do have an actual book in mind.)

Those of you who read my columns probably already know where I'm going with this. But the answer to the question above is a resounding Yes! A book need not mention God by name to be filled with examples of His holy power, to draw readers closer to Him, to uplift, enlighten, exhort. Look at the book of Esther.

Out of all the 66 books of the Bible, Esther is the only one that never mentions God, yet no one who had ever read it could deny that He was the most important character in it. Compare the two quotes below (both very rough paraphrases, I'm afraid).

"It may be that you have been placed here for just such a time as this."

"All I can say is that Bilbo was meant to find it, and not by its maker"

One is from Esther, the other from Tolkien, but note how pivotal God is in both of them, without being mentioned even once. Until we can say that Esther, a book of the Bible, is not Christian, we can never say that any other book is not, or at least not on those grounds. (Of course the majority of books being published aren't Christian; I would go so far as to say that some of the books published under a Christian title aren't Christian; the author merely inserted a few morals and stuck God into it because Christian fiction, at present, is a booming business, which is a sad thing if I've ever heard of one.

At any rate, the point I want to make is that the love we have for God, the faith that touches every area of our life, what C. S. Lewis calls "the bubbling", is what will make our stories Christian--and, ultimately, what will give the most glory to God.

Echoing Keesa

2006-01-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

Your latest post was excellent, Keesa. You really do have a gift for getting your words across. You are able to express exactly what I think, and what I know the others think too. And I am so glad that you stated how important our relationship with Christ is; in order to be good Christian writers, our spiritual lives CANNOT be neglected. Obvious it may seem, but easy it is to do.
Some people, if they find out that I pray alot, think that I am all 'pious' and 'holy'. Those things I defintely am not (though we should strive for perfection always) but I pray so much because I need Christ so desperately! There would be no way I could get on without Him. Even little things throughout the day, I like to talk to Christ as if I could actually see Him sitting next to me; telling Him things that others may not think important, in fact they might seem downright silly, but I want to make sure that He knows that I do not want to ever forget He is there.
We need to pray always. We need to ask for help in our writings, so that God will guide our quills to the best our minds can put them to.

And before I go I want to share with you all a quote by St. Pier Giorgio:

"To live without faith, without a heritage to defend, without battling constantly for truth, is not to live, but to 'get along'. We must never just 'get along'."

A Challenge, and a torch to bear...

2006-01-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

Thunder in the Attic

In the past few weeks, there's been one thing that's really been bothering me. It has to do with the quality of Christian literature in general, but it applies just as much to Christian spec-fic as to any other Christian genre.

It troubles me that there are so many good writers out there, and so many Christian writers out there, and so few good Christian writers. What's up with that?! Where are the modern Tolkiens and Lewises? Where are the Christian J. K. Rowlings?

The short answer is: right here. Every one of us is Christian; regardless of denomination, we all love God and want Him to use us to accomplish His work in the world. And every one of us is a writer. We all know the power of the pen, whether for good or for evil. It's one thing to see the problem and to decry it; it's quite another for us to shoulder our pencils and set to work making it right, but that's precisely what the very existence of this logue challenges us to do.

If we want to change Christian spec-fic (which Phy at DKA eloquently refers to as Speculative Thology), we have to be first of all commited Christians, dedicated to deepening our walk with the Lord, and second, commited writers, dedicated to constantly improving our craft.

So here's the challenge I have for you: first of all, spend time growing closer to God. This applies to myself probably more than any of you; it's easy to let personal devotion time slide in the face of so many Very Important Responsibilities. But how can we do God's will if we don't know what it is? Never underestimate the importance of growing closer to God.

Second, make a commitment to bettering your craft. There are a hundred million different resources for writers out there, some of them free, some of them not; browse any bookstore, and you'll find oodles of books on writing in all its forms. Read them, if they strike your fancy; join a critique group (Critters is good, but demanding; personal critique groups can be set up for free at TSR's forums*) if you have the time. But above all, never forget that the best way to improve your writing is simply to write. Set aside time to write every day, and write with the idea in mind of bettering yourself.

That's my challenge to us, as the Quillbearers. Good Christian books are put out by good Christian writers, and the burden is left to us to do exactly that.

*Actually, I think I'll go ahead and set up just such a critique group for us over there, if there's interest; I've already got one group that I'm leading, so I have a good idea of the ropes of it. They have some nice tools over there.

I Made It

2006-01-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

I hope you all don't mind if I add a post real quick. Because after reading Rose's post entitled 'Who We Are', this one will be silly in comparison.
This is Genevieve typing; I made it here, not without some difficulty due to....technical matters. But that aside....I know this will be an awesome blog, and I am really excited. And that's all that I have to say at the moment...

Who we are.

2006-01-15T08:17:00.000-08:00

Ok. Most of you have gotten the general gist of what I’m going to say via email or IM. But I thought it might be good to type this post, just to solidify some ideas, and to get everyone else’s.

First of all – we are the new Inklings! :) Mara pointed out that we need an original name, though – we can’t go around saying “I’m a Thunder in the Attic”. So she came up with one that I liked quite a bit – but I’ll let her post her idea. (Hurry Mara!)

I told you all, via a longwinded ramble that led up to the invitation to the blog, about Tolkien and Lewis and their needing to write what they wanted because it simply wasn’t out there. Their writing was beautiful, deep – and it pointed people to God. Now, look around you at the literary landscape of today. There are a lot of well written things (though there are also a lot of poorly written things that people think are good). But how many of them actually point you to God?

We want to follow in the spirit of the Inklings. We want to write Christian fantasy – perhaps with mention of God, perhaps without it: but we want God to be there, present in our writing.

There is a lot of very dark stuff out there. There can be darkness in good writing – after all, we are portraying a struggle between darkness and light. But light shall always conquer; light is stronger, even (and especially) when it appears the weaker. Evil should not overwhelm any story. I know I sometimes find it fascinating to write about darkness; but delving too deeply into the mind of evil is a dangerous thing, both for the writer and the reader.

We need to put stuff out there that fights this. We need to write about the light. We need to portray truth in all its beauty, and beauty in all its truth – and since these two things have their source in God, since God IS truth and beauty, we will be implicitly directing souls towards him.

That’s how I see it – that’s the call I feel, the reason why I’ve been given a love for writing. Recently in the Coffee House (the REAL one, on Nano ;) ), there was a discussion about writers who are ‘dabblers’. The people who have an idea, and that’s as far as it gets.

Dabblers don’t annoy me, as they do some people. What irks me is being taken for one. “Oh, you’re a writer? That’s nice.” “Give me the first autographed copy of your book.” (This is sometimes serious, but not very often. They don’t believe the book is ever going to be there.) But the things is – none of us are dabblers. I think we are all serious about our craft – because to us, that’s what writing is: a craft. It’s not always fun. Sometimes it’s a struggle. Sometimes – heaven help me – I HATE to write. I can’t make myself sit down at the notebook or computer and type the next paragraph, the next sentence. But we keep going.

Very (very) recently, a friend said to me: “So we study our craft, and build each other up, and know that giving the world truly great Christian fiction is a calling; something for us to strive towards for the rest of our lives. … And we all of us know that our stories are far from perfect; only God is perfect! But we keep learning and growing, and every step of reaching for perfection makes us better! Oh, it's a beautiful thing, indeed!”

Ok. The friend was Keesa. :) But she stated it so very eloquently, and so perfectly captured it, that I had to quote her. :D

The Inklings – a group of close friends with common interests, but first and foremost a common PURPOSE. Sound familiar? :)

Anyway. A few last things. (Don’t worry, the post is almost over!) First – COMMENT. We need to share all our ideas – add your own, or just say something like “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Comments are important!! Second – I think it would be cool to gather all our ideas etc and type them into one, well-written post, and have a link to that post on the sidebar. :) (And perhaps with the story behind the site name, eh? *winks at Lyn*) Also … does the subtitle look a little … boring? ‘The torch passes’ is cool, but do we want more up there? And FINALLY, a common question has been: What do we POST about?? I’m gonna type another post like this one (perhaps a little shorter … *grin*), giving my ideas etc; and we can just talk about it and see what happens.

Anyway. I am so insanely excited about this. *grin* But enough from me – your thoughts. (And if you’re terribly longwinded, go ahead and skip the comments to make a new post. ;))

Writer's block....

2006-01-14T15:42:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've decided to dive right in and be the first to wail about writing. I have a problem.....for the first time in my life, I'm trying to write a short story, and I don't know how to handle it!! *cries* Marian won't tell me why she won't marry anyone, Ben won't tell me where on earth he came from and whether or not he's staying, and everything but the beginning is all messed up. *is sad* Is it just a silly little story? Or does it have a deeper meaning? Is it fun, or depthful. It won't tell me! I don't know what to do....

I needed to cry. Thanks for listening, everyone. *teary smile*

*hugs all 'round*

Seeker in Lace: January 2006

2006-01-14T08:33:00.000-08:00

Seeker in Lace: January 2006

Did this work? I'm still trying to figure this thing out...

Second post (or rather, third)

2006-01-13T09:17:00.000-08:00

*ahem* By virtue of the power vested in me by the kindness of the Princess Rose of the Waters, I do hereby post on this site, by way of a test of trivial though not entirely unaffecting merit or purpose, and do also proclaim with great fervor that---- (gets slapped by some unseen hand) Thanks, I needed that.

Anyway, I'm here. :D

Testing

2006-01-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

At the request of Rose, I'm posting a test post... Let's see if this works...

First post ...

2006-01-12T11:28:00.000-08:00

Just testing. Seem to be having a little trouble ...