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How I Spent My Summer Vacation #1: Visiting Mondhuoun

On By jccasselsIn Black Wing Chronicles, Uncategorized, WritingLeave a comment

I crave the mountains. Not just any mountains, mind you, I want the Blue Ridge. More specifically, I pine for upstate South Carolina.

Spoonauger Falls

My parents both hail from pioneer families whose ties to that part of South Carolina stretch back to when this country was not only a colony but a wild and woolly wilderness. They left the area shortly before I was born, forever dooming me to a bit of an identity crisis. School holidays always brought out the suitcases and the general understanding that we were “going home” to South Carolina. As one Florida born, I never really understood, but I didn’t have to. Those mountains are in my blood. They’re in my very DNA.

My father is a mountain man born out of time. Every chance he gets to this day, he takes off for the land of his birth, finding solace and comfort in the unchanging wilderness of the Sumter National Forest and the Chattooga river. Coming off the trails his arthritic legs can no longer negotiate with ease, he scans the roadway, telling stories of mountain folk long gone, stores and landmarks so buried in time that not even the current residents remember them anymore.

When I was a child, my father took me into the woods and tried to impart his backwoods wisdom. Much of it stuck. On our recent camping trip there, my sons were impressed to learn that my fire-building capabilities surpassed those of my husband, who is no tenderfoot. I can survive a backcountry trail quite comfortably if I had to. At my age, I no longer want to.

I grew up in those mountains, like my parents… like their parents.

Even when you write science fiction, one way or another, you end up writing what you know.

As I’m working on the second book of THE BLACK WING CHRONICLES, the story takes me to places both familiar and distant. When I try to picture the Gallic Highlands of Mondhuoun, the land of Bo’s birth, I can’t help but picture the ancient and rugged terrain of the Sumter National Forest and the Chattooga River. Gallic bluestone was inspired by the blue granite of those mountains.

Like Bo, I was exiled from that land I love. Like Bo, I treasure every visit home.

Geek View on the Olympics/Doctor Who connection

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I hope I’m not alone in holding out the impossible hope that when the Olympic torch enters the stadium, David Tennant will be reprising his 10th Doctor Who role in echo of the episode “Fear Her.” I will be watching to see if the Olympic Committee has its finger on the pulse of geekdom. If David Tennant does run in wearing his long coat and hi-tops, I can guarantee I’ll be cheering like a madwoman and actually interested in the remainder of the games.

Games Husbands Play With Novelist Wives

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Many years ago, when my husband and I first met, I was a freelance writer working on a novel. He expressed polite interest and as our relationship blossomed, I offered to let him read it.

“I don’t read much fiction anymore,” he said.

I didn’t press the issue.

Because we married, and shortly thereafter, our first child was on the way, I put my writing aside. He occasionally called me in to read over the papers for his graduate study course work, but otherwise expressed no interest in anything remotely literary that I may do. Time passed and eventually, I picked up writing again and resumed work on The Black Wing Chronicles series. Despite my repeated requests that he read it and give me feedback, he declined to return the favor I’d done for him during his grad studies. I couldn’t get him to read any of my writing for any amount of begging and pleading, despite the fact that I was working on a completely different novel. When Sovran’s Pawn was published, he fell back on his tired old excuse.

“I don’t read much fiction anymore.”

It got to be a family joke.

“Dale still hasn’t read your book yet?” my father asked.

“No, and I don’t intend to,” my husband replied. “I don’t like reading books on the computer.”

When my proof copy arrived, he was all out of excuses. His reluctance to read it amused me.

When we left on vacation, he caved to the pressure from his friends who have already read it and badgered him endlessly about it. He started reading it under duress. After reading the first chapter, he set it aside.

“I already have a problem with it,” he said with all the petulance of a schoolboy being forced to memorize and recite epic poetry. “I just don’t like contrived, cliché names. I mean, Edge? Really? Who names their kid Edge?”

I smiled. “Have you read Chapter Two?”

“No.”

“Edge’s name is explained in Chapter Two,” I said.

He eyed me dubiously.

“Two things you need to know, honey,” I said. “This book is an adventure written with tongue very firmly in cheek. A major theme in the whole story has to do with the nature of names as they relate to a person’s identity. The characters are named accordingly.”

With a long-suffering sigh, he picked it up again and resumed his reading. Once he got into it, he flew through it. I glanced over to find him chuckling out loud over passages. He’d look up at me over the top of the book with a merry twinkle in his eyes and a silly grin on his face.

When he reached Chapter Ten, he groaned and chortled, then set the book aside grinning hugely. “Eben Mohr?” he teased. “Really? Eben Mohr?? I can’t believe you named him Eben Mohr!”

I just smiled and shook my head. “That was my little joke with myself,” I said. “That’s my homage to James Bond. If Ian Fleming can have a character named Pussy Galore, I can have one named Eben Mohr. Tongue-in-cheek, baby.”

He shook his head and resumed his reading. He plowed through the book during the week we were in the mountains, reading as long as the light held out. Our last night in camp, the propane lantern hissed well past quiet time and he kept turning pages. He stopped when he reached Chapter Twenty-Four.

“I thought you were going to finish it tonight,” I said as we snuggled under our sleeping bag a little while later.

“I wanted to prove to you that I could stop.”

“You do realize that’s not exactly a compliment to a writer, don’t you?”

“It’s not my kind of book,” he said.

I’m pretty sure that’s all the praise or criticism I’m going to get out of him on the subject. I’m also pretty sure he’s not going to read the last two chapters out of sheer cussedness as we say in the South. He can be a contrary sort when he wants to be. The same thing that will keep him from reading the last two chapters and finishing his wife’s novel is the same contrary nature that drives him to seek out movies he’s pretty sure I can’t resist to lure me away from the computer in the evenings when I try to write. Tonight, as I’ve been working on this post, he’s already tried Desperado (Antonio Banderas) and when that didn’t get a rise out of me, he’s gone to Young Frankenstein. I think it’s a game to him.

Oh, I’ll get off in a little while… after Gene Wilder’s first scene in the medical school is over, or at least when he stabs himself in the leg with the scalpel.

You see, my husband isn’t the only one who can play games.

What a Gorgeous Cover! The Art of Tomomi Ink.

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What a Gorgeous Cover! The Art of Tomomi Ink.

I’ve gotten so many compliments on my cover art, that sometimes I wonder if the cover is better than the book! It is a gorgeous cover and the artist who designed it is a true genius. The artist is Tomomi Ink out of Barbados. She has just reworked her site to include the many amazing book covers that she’s created. Her work is simply stunning. I invite you to take a look at her work and make note of the titles. They include some of my favorite new authors. You may see one or two that look familiar to you if you spend much time here.

BRAVE

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I took my four-year-old daughter to see the Disney/Pixar film BRAVE this afternoon. At my husband’s urging we went on a Mommy/Daughter day out. There were several reasons my husband knew we’d love it:

  • It’s set in Scotland.
  • The main character is a fiery, unconventional young woman.
  • A GIRL is proficient with sword and bow.
  • Both my daughter and I were riveted by the previews.

One of the things I love about science fiction is that it’s one of the first genres to open up to the idea of the warrior woman. In fantasy, warrior women were six foot Amazons of the type parodied by Jim Carey in the old TV show “In Living Color.” Science fiction opened the door to smart, savvy women who can outfight, outfly, and outshoot any average man, while still hanging on to her femininity. As a petite woman myself with a sword and a shoe weakness, that is what I liked about Merida.

The fiery-haired young princess, much to her mother’s annoyance, would prefer to be  flying across the countryside on her trusty horse “Angus,” rather than learning comportment and manners and other “useless” skills.

Both my daughter and I (each with older brothers to keep up with) can relate to Merida’s lament. The boys got to have all the fun and excitement, while my mother expected me to “be a lady.” Being demure, calm and ladylike was never in my nature. In my rambunctious household, the only way to respond to being pushed was to push back harder. The only way to be heard over the noise was to get louder. The only way to get what I wanted was to go after it myself. I felt like an utter failure my entire childhood until, like Merida, I rebelled. My little girl is very like Merida…and me. She would rather plan her future as a Pink Ninja, saving the world with a sword in one hand, a ray gun in the other. She’d like to look chic and girly while doing it, so she’ll wear pink body armor, thank-you-very-much.

I love that Disney has finally given me a princess that I can relate to.  Over the decades, Disney’s princesses have gone from being hand-wringing victims, sweet and helpless, waiting for Prince Charming to show up and rescue her from the evil machinations of those who would do her harm, to the fiery and independent young woman who is willing to defy her mother and fight for the right to choose her own fate, with bow and arrow if need be. Merida is the first Disney princess I really would like to see my daughter want to emulate.

Like many independent-minded, unconventional young ladies, Merida brings her problems on herself. However, she also quickly realizes what she’s done and she sets out with the same single-minded determination to put things right… on her own. In the process, Merida learns that some of the lessons her mother had been trying so hard to impart are, in fact, quite important and useful. Once Merida is able to tame her own independent streak, she redefines her priorities and makes amends with her mother. Once the two women, more alike than not, stop trying to force their own way on the other, each finds a new respect for the other. Merida proves herself the essence of the woman her mother wants her to be, but on her own terms.

For a firebrand with a fiercely independent streak, facing life on your own terms with the support of your loved ones is what it’s all about.

To my daughter, Brave is a fun movie that she thoroughly enjoyed as she watched from her Mama’s lap, snuggling and cuddling through the scary parts and dancing and waving her imaginary sword during the swashbuckling bits. When it comes out on DVD, she’ll watch it endlessly.

I wonder if she’ll want a Merida costume for Halloween this year.

Thank You, Ray Bradbury.

On By jccasselsIn Author Spotlight, Uncategorized, Writing2 Comments

ImageIo9 reported this morning that SF pioneer and literary legend Ray Bradbury had passed away at the age of 91. Bradbury is known for his incredible body of work including THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, and FAHRENHEIT 451, both of which profoundly impacted my adolescent development and fueled my love of science fiction.

Mr. Bradbury was a long-time participant of the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference. It was a speech he gave at this conference one year that had the most profound impact on me as a writer and as a person. Though I didn’t attend, this speech was included in the book, THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO WRITING FICTION by Barnaby Conrad and the Staff of the Santa Barbara Writers’ Conference. I’d like to share Ray Bradbury’s words that have stayed with me throughout my writing career and my life.

***

“If you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling. You must write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads. I wish you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime. I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you. May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories — science fiction or otherwise. Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
― Ray Bradbury

What Do Writers Read Over the Summer?

On By jccasselsIn Book Review, Uncategorized1 Comment

Did you ever wonder what writers read when they curl up with a good book? My friends have asked me to share my Summer Reading List with them. As a fan of SF (science fiction) and M (mystery), there is a lot of it on my list, most of it R (romance), but not all of it. I have to admit that all of the books on my TBR list are by authors I’m acquainted with and owe reviews to. Some of them are so talented they make me want to give up writing altogether!

Here are only some of the books I haven’t read or finished yet, but are on my list of summer reading. It is an incomplete list, but these are the books I hope to have finished before Labor Day. I am looking forward to reading every one of them. Click on the book title for the Amazon sales link:

THE WHISPERING TOMBS:  A Quality Times Novella by Gayle Ramage (SF-humor)
In ‘The Whispering Tombs’, Quality and Tim are residing at the luxurious Baala Haven Resort, on an unpronounceable planet, when they’re invited on a quest to find ancient hidden treasure by a wealthy alien archaeologist. Reaching the caves of Azrokaran, however, loyalties are tested to the very limits as those within the group reveal their true colours. 

EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE by Liana Brooks (SFR)
A super villain at the top of his game must choose between the world he wants and the woman he loves. 

PARADIGM SHIFT by Misa Buckley (SFR)
Observatory tour guide Megan Shaw has always had stars in her eyes, so when she all but runs down the otherworldly Raul, she barely blinks. It doesn’t hurt that Raul is hot – whether in his human form or his natural one – and that there’s an immediate mutual attraction. But Raul is on the run from his alien overlords and soon Megan finds herself fighting against a foothold situation with nothing more than a couple of cattle prods and Muse for soundtrack. However Earth is not the only planet at risk and with his species desperate to escape generations of oppression, will Raul’s loyalties shift as easily as his physical appearance?

KICKING ASHE by Pauline Baird Jones (SFR)
Seems Time has a new hobby: kicking Ashe (and shame on It for doing it when she’s down). 

Not that she plans to stay down. Or give up the guy.

DEAD MAN’S FORGE AND OTHER ADVENTURES by TM Hunter (SF)
(the entire Aston West series actually)
Everybody’s favorite Space Pirate.

ALONE ON THE EDGE by Patrick Stutzman (SF)
After accepting a job as a robotic engineer that sends her to a mining station at the edge of explored space, Anna Foster finds that her position is not what she expects and must adjust to life as the only living being aboard, struggling to keep her humanity while a relentless computer lords over her existence. But, the discovery of a secret could prove to be the key to her freedom.

No LimitsNO LIMITS by Jenna McCormick (SFR-E)
All Genevieve Luzon wants is to be loved by one man, a seemingly impossible task in New York City – though she can buy sex as easily as she can order pizza on a Friday night. Needing a job and sick of being alone, Gen enlists as a pleasure companion at a premium escort service…During Gen’s first training session, she meets Rhys. He is an empath, a man with the extraordinary ability to fulfil her most secret desires. His dangerous mission might claim his life, but Gen is not about to let something she’s wanted for so long get away now that she knows how good it feels…
You can read all about it here in an earlier post when Jenna was my guest!
https://jccassels.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/jenna-mccormick-no-limits-guest-blogger/

GREENSHIFT by Heidi Ruby Miller (SFR)
(Prequel to Ambasadora)
David Anlow, a former captain who was betrayed by both the fleet and his ex-lover, now spends his lonely days shuttling around a group of scientists for hire.
Boston Maribu, Mari to her friends, is one of his passengers, a young botanist who is as beautiful as she is naïve and innocent. 
When Mari asks David to teach her about more than just piloting the Bard, nights on their ship heat up and their feelings for each other mature into a relationship neither expects. But a suspicious new client shows up with wicked plans for Mari, and the soldier inside David comes alive, ready to fight for the young woman who stole his heart.

THE DEVIL AND PRESTON BLACK by Jason Jack Miller
(not sure how to categorize this one, it’s billed as Appalachian Gothic)
Preston Black has a nasty habit of falling in love with the wrong type of woman. But girls who don’t play nice are the least of his problems. This handsome bar band guitarist isn’t washed-up, but he’s about to be. He’s broke, he’s tired of playing covers and he’s obsessed with the Curse of 27.
He’s about to add ‘deal with the devil’ to his list.
Lucky for Preston, he has help. Like the angelic beauty who picks him up when he’s down. And the university professor who helps him sort through old Appalachian hexes and curses to find the song that may be his only shot at redemption. And when things get real bad, he has the ghost of John Lennon to remind him that “nothing is real.”

***

Next week, I’ll put together a list of books I’ve already read and highly recommend!

What’s on YOUR Summer Reading List?

VERA (Firefly Cocktail)

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This comes from The Drunken Moogle

Since Blade tends to spend a lot of time with a drink in his hand, this sounded like something he might have tried at least twice.

Ingredients:
2 oz. Bourbon whiskey
1/2 oz. Bacardi 151
1/2 oz. Sake
3/4 oz ginger syrup
3-4 dashes Angostura Bitters

Instructions for Ginger Syrup:
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup fresh diced Ginger
In a pot or large pan, add the water, sugar, and half of the ginger in the beginning.  Boil for 1-2 minutes while mixing. Then add the other half once the first batch gets mushy. This makes it nice and spicy.  Let sit until everything is nice and syrupy, then remove from the stove and let cool. 

Directions: Add ginger syrup and bitters to an Old Fashioned Glass.  Next add the rum and whiskey. Fill with cubed ice then float the Sake on top. Before drinking, give the glass a quick swirl to lightly distribute Sake.

Note from the creator:

I figured if Jane would drink a cocktail, it would be one of the original and manliest of cocktails, and Old-Fashion. But in the Firefly universe, American and Chinese cultures have mixed, so I felt it needed an Asian twist. This is where the ginger syrup and Sake comes in. The Bacardi 151 bumps the manliness factor of this drink up by giving a much higher alcohol content, plus the Bacardi gives an extra spicy, smokey flavor. Enjoy yourself a Vera.

“This is my very favorite gun… I call it Vera” -Jayne Cobb 

Drink created and photographed by Eddie Strickland.