Off the Bookshelf: DOROTHY AND JACK: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C.S. Lewis, by Gina Dalfonzo

 

Yet another book that proves I have a bad habit of buying far too many books in a year than I can read. And some, regrettably, sit and wait for nearly two years before I take one off the to-be-read stack and actually start reading.

And when I do ... I don't want to put that book down.

Delightful, enlightening, educational experience. I bought this book because I'm a C.S. Lewis fan, a free Narnian, and trying to live up to his challenge about using the fantastical for Kingdom purposes. More opportunities to get to know him, his life, his thinking -- yeah, go for it.

Now ... I think I've discovered a new author to become passionate about. The thing is, I've encountered Sayers multiple times in the past. Most recently, her novel Gaudy Night was part of an Aurora Teagarden mystery episode. I really have to free up some space on my to-be-read mountain for some of her books. Starting with Lord Peter Wimsey's adventures. I know I read a collection of short stories about him years ago ... where did I file it?

This book is a must-read for any fan of either or both authors, with snatches of their correspondence over the years, interactions with mutual friends, growth and changes in their lives and careers, their writing successes, and joys and sorrows. Bravo to the author. Her passion for both subjects comes through, and her honesty in dealing with their foibles and fears and questionable choices is admirable and refreshing. 

I think I might even be brave enough to try to read Sayers' translation of Dante. 

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 The cart stopped, startling a yelp out of her. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the door of the cart shelter at Thyal’s house. Instead, the cart had stopped a dozen meters from the path to the house. She looked at Thyal, then turned to look where he looked, with a frown darkening his sharp-boned, tanned face.

Two men stood on the pathway to the front steps and main door of the house. One faced the cart. The other turned around from the door and looked at the children in the cart.

“Go, go, go,” Thyal snarled, and slapped the controls for the cart. “Security. The intruders are at our house!”

The men yelled and raced after them. The cart seemed to crawl as it moved forward. M’kar wanted to jump out of the cart and run, but she knew it went faster than she could run. The smart move was to save her energy. She turned to look as the men ran and shouted, cursing Thyal and the cart and her.

M’kar understood those words. The language. They were speaking Nisandrian. She hadn’t heard Nisandrian since leaving Nisandros. She wanted to laugh at how strange the words sounded, but she couldn’t breathe. Everything felt wrong. She should be able to fight and defend herself, but her head pounded and her limbs had frozen. What was wrong with her? Had they already shot her with a tranquilizer, and she didn’t feel the dart?

Go away. Go away! Leave me alone! I’m not going back.

The bird cries and squeaks and pips and creaks of all the creatures filling her head to the point of bursting exploded into fury. 

A dark cloud swirled down out of the sky and enclosed the two men. They screamed and cursed and waved their arms and spun around, trying to break through the cloud. It grew thicker. A matching cloud of darkness snaked across the ground. The animal sounds erupted out of M’kar’s head and into her ears. The darkness reared up like a wave and engulfed the men. They went down, lumpy shapes that writhed and screamed.

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 

The moment passed and the cart darted into the tunnel. M’kar sat upright. The sharp sensations faded but her head still throbbed. She thought she heard birds calling inside her head. The frightened and angry squeaks of little furry, sharp-toothed creatures joined them. She didn’t know their species. The voices grew louder with every heartbeat. She yelped when the cart emerged back into the sunlight and pressed her hands over her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Thyal said.

M’kar tried to say she didn’t know, but her throat felt stiff and hard. She couldn’t force the words out. She shook her head and held on tighter to the edges of the bench.

“Are you sick?”

She nodded.

“Take deep, slow breaths and close your eyes and listen to your heart. Tell it to slow down. That helps.” 

M’kar didn’t think it would, but she tried it anyway. She closed her eyes and listened to the rattle-hum of her heartbeats. The gasping hiss of her indrawn breath. 

Off the Bookshelf: DEAR WRITER, YOU NEED TO QUIT, by Becca Syme

 

Thanks to the Great Lakes Fiction Writers craft book club for choosing this for our October discussion book.

VERY needed, especially as I struggle with a couple projects all at the same time. Including a book I told my publisher in Australia I would get to her by the end of October -- LAST year. Yeah, Sandy, this one is for you ...

The subtitle says a lot -- and calms some of the anxiety perhaps generated by the title: What to Keep, What to Quit, What to Question

Basically, many writers are hampered and even blocked, distracted, frustrated, drained by false assumptions about the writing process, what they should be doing, what they shouldn't be doing, and how to go about it.

Everyone needs to find out what works best for them, and not let the loud proclamations by supposedly successful writers force them into routines and mindsets that don't work for them.

Syme goes through so many assumptions and blows them apart, always asking if writers are SURE this is the way it has to be, no wiggle room, no adaptations, no exceptions.

It's kind of freeing, and kind of frustrating, and kind of embarrassing, to face up to the things you've just taken for granted you gotta do to be a writer-type person. Yeah, there were times as I went through the checklist and questions when I thought .... yeah, time to quit -- handicapping myself! Let go of the false assumptions, find the things that work for me, and stop letting other people try to force me into their square boxes, when I'm more star-shaped.

Y'know?

Syme has an entire series of books of writerly advice, and I think if I'm smart I'll investigate more of them.

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

“I’m sorry.” M’kar looked behind them. No one had followed them from the restaurant. She gripped the edges of the bench seat and willed the cart to move faster. She couldn’t remember any of the landmarks they had passed, and that was stupid. How could she find her way back to Thyal’s house if something went wrong and they were separated?

“It’s not your fault.” Thyal patted her hand. “They’re not very good hunters, making a stupid mistake like that. What do they want?”

“Kill me or marry me, it’s all bad for me.”

That made him laugh, though he did manage to smother the sound into a snort. Security responded, asking for more information. Thyal gave the officer the names of the cadets who had been talking to them.

“Be careful,” the woman said. “The only Nisandrians we have on record currently on Academy grounds are Dr. Jeyn Fleetwind, Ashrock of Ba’e’do’stra, and M’kar Fleetwind-Ba’e’do’stra. Please take shelter quickly and stay there, until we locate the intruders.”

“Understood.” Thyal frowned at the control panel as the connection died. “Maybe someone is pretending to be Nisandrian to cause trouble?”

M’kar didn’t have any answer for that. She flinched as the path the cart followed dipped down and they headed for a short tunnel, passing from one section of the Academy grounds to another. Muffled thuds echoed out at them, then shadows erupted from the tunnel, turning into birds. She caught her breath and ducked down, even though the clear panel at the front of the cart, and the curving roof protected them from collision. 

For a heartbeat, she thought she saw herself. Multiple images of herself. Crouching down in the front seat with her arms raised as a shield. Her head throbbed like something sharp wanted to erupt from her temples and through her eyes. 

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 “Is that real?” He gestured at the white lines paralleling the long, thin scars on her right arm, then upward to the lightning bolt at her temple. “I got to tell you, playing around like that could get her in big trouble.”

“With who?” Thyal asked, his tone going quiet. Just like Master Reydon’s voice had become when dealing with a very rude Ankuaran who had intruded on their dinner in the garden the night M’kar’s family arrived on Le’anka. That was the quiet her father wanted her to try for, when dealing with troublesome people and animals.

“Oh, hello.” Another of the cadets turned around, glanced at M’kar, then back to Thyal. “Two baqwaks, pretending to be Nisandrians. Came through the plaza this morning, saying they were looking for their little sister.” He glanced at M’kar again, gray eyes narrowing. “Described her tattoos pretty accurately.”

“I don’t have any brothers,” M’kar said. “They’re liars.”

She caught her breath, positive that frown on Thyal’s face meant he was going to contradict her. Yes, she had three half-brothers, but they wouldn’t come to Le’anka to look for her, and they wouldn’t go around telling people she was their sister.

“We should go back,” Thyal said, and reached for her hand.

M’kar held on and ran, keeping pace with Thyal all the way to their cart. He didn’t let go until they were seated, and he needed that hand to program the commands to head back home. When the cart jolted forward, he contacted Academy security, then asked them to contact Dr. Jeyn and Ashrock and Master Reydon.

Off the Bookshelf: WAVES OF CREATIVITY, by Allen Arnold

 

Allen Arnold strikes again, with a book of inspirational quotations, either his own thoughts or scripture references, having to do with the creative mind and soul, the creative journey, and spiritual growth.

Everything essentially leads back to the core principle of his teaching, which is that our best creating is always done WITH God. 

Sounds kind of simple, huh? Not really. It's a conscious, constant process of growth, of checking the compass, of looking around and getting back on track, and keeping the enemy from knocking us off course. We get distracted by things that shouldn't matter, unless they lead back to God. Things like success and popularity. Our measure of success needs to change to fit God's idea of success -- which certainly isn't what the world thinks it is.

While it might sound wonderfully spiritually to be working FOR God, that's what he calls the orphan mindset. We need to be working in partnership WITH God, in His power, seeing with His eyes, for whatever we do to really matter and make sense and mean something.

You should see my copy -- it's bristling with little page flags marking quotes and thoughts I need to go back to and read again and think over. It's partially color coded alphabetically, but that's not much help when there are more than 100 of them ... fortunately there's an index of topics, to help you find inspirational thoughts on whatever your current struggle is.

Like his other books, you're going to want to read it again and again. Thanks, much!

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 The restaurant Thyal took her to specialized in packaged food for Academy students to take with them and eat on the run between classes. It sat on a rise in the rolling landscape of the Academy grounds, with a half-moon-shaped paved courtyard on one side, full of two- and four-seater tables. The L-shaped building was open on the inner side, displaying the many shelves full of packaged food and drinks, and a bank of heating units and eating utensils on the side that opened into the eating courtyard.

Four young men in the dark gray uniforms of Fleet cadets stepped into the serving line just ahead of Thyal and M’kar. One turned around and nodded greeting to Thyal, who nodded back. Then his gaze drifted down to M’kar. He nodded to her, started to turn away, then frowned and looked back. M’kar got a prickle of warning down her back.

  

M’kar met the cadet’s gaze and tried to put on that neutral expression her father insisted was far more frightening than a glare or frown or baring her teeth. He stared at the sharp dip where her eyebrows met between her eyes. She had laughed when her father joked about disguising themselves by shaving that little bit of their eyebrows, but now M’kar felt sick. It was such a small thing, this telltale, so why did she hate the way his gaze seemed to snag on her face like that?

“Don’t tell me you’re courting already,” the cadet said, turning back to Thyal.

M’kar muffled a snort of laughter at the wide-eyed look Thyal gave the cadet, then her, then him again. He shook his head. “M’kar is a guest in my parents’ home.”

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 "Grandfather?" The tension in her father’s voice seemed to lift M'kar off the bench.

"He says we have to leave. He says not to trust anyone but the Ankuar," she hurried to tell him.

"Does he now?"

"Take the little one to safety, boy," Aquid said as he struggled to his feet. "She's worth more than the entire clan combined. This one is going to fix things. She's going to remove the poison from the craters. You are leaving, aren't you? It's not just an old man's daydreams? I dreamed this one right, for once?"

"Yes, Grandfather." Ashrock held out his hand and M'kar ran to him. He took tight hold of her hand.

"Good boy. Always knew you were the smartest one out of them all." He nodded and tottered out of the room, muttering, "Good boy," several times, until he moved out of earshot. 

Ashrock slowly went to the door and closed it, then sat down on the same bench Aquid had used. He had M'kar repeat back for him everything the old man had said. Her father never told her if he talked to the one-eyed man or the woman with the ahsnaq, but she shivered when she glimpsed the pilot of the shuttle they took early in the morning, two decs and eight days later, as the last of the winter storms sputtered out. He was a typical Ankuar, with white hair and cocoa-dark skin, and silvery-blue eyes.

Off the Bookshelf: INTERVIEW WITH THE ROBOT, by Lee Bacon

 

Audio drama from Audible

Voices: Kevin T. Collins, Ellen Archer, Josh Hurley, Eileen Stevens, Eric Mallon, Jonathan Davis, Stephen Bel Davies

Eve is a 12-year-old picked up for shoplifting in New York. When a child welfare worker is called in to interview her and start the process of deciding what to do with  her, a strange story unfolds.

She is actually a robot, an artificial intelligence, on the run from her creator. Her life is told in flashbacks as Ms. Amis interviews her, as Eve grows from a simple cube with no ability to speak, to an aware being with a sense of humor -- and fear, when she learns the devastating secret behind her creation.

Thought-provoking and chilling in some ways. Well-done dramatization. Can we hope for further adventures of Eve and Emory?

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 His gaze focused on M'kar again and the humor faded slowly, like water draining from a basin. "You need to flee, Little Blade. To a kinder place. Where you will make many strong, brave, clever friends. You will need them when you come back. To anchor you." His voice took on that hollow tone that made her shiver. "A good place where you don't need honor scars. Always more and more honor scars, until you're erased, buried under them. Come back when you don't want to. Make sure the boostifaks don't get what they want. Make sure you do get what you want. When you come back, the surbda craters will be safe hiding places. Understand? The safest places on the planet. Even though they need to be taken apart once and for all. Hear me?"

"Yes," she whispered, and nodded hard, when he gripped her shoulder with a bony hand and looked deeper into her eyes.

"Safe for you. Maybe you'll see Etrusca. But remember this, child. You can only go in and out safely a few times. After that, you leave pieces of yourself behind. You'll get eaten. Bit by bit." The intensity shattered off his face, and he was only a frail, crackle-voiced old man again. "But who knows? Maybe you're the one who can fix the broken pieces. Pull the rotted tooth before the whole body is poisoned." His fingers tightened on her shoulder again. "This is important. Take the broken pieces away. Off the planet. Where their power won't pull at us and keep trying to shred us. Promise me, Little Blade."

"I promise."

"Good." His eyes filled with tears and he shuddered and exhaled, then gulped in air like he had tried to run a race up the highest tower steps. "Etrusca's marks protect you." A snort escaped him, turning into a snicker. "Old Anguak would have a brain-spark, if he got a look at you. Proud of you," he added, as the door swung open and Ashrock walked in.

New Release: ETRUSCA'S VOW. AFV Defender Book 3

 "You need to leave as soon as possible," Aquid said, his voice normal again. "You went to Etrusca's Wall." He patted the bench next to him. "Tell me about it. Did you see Etrusca? Is that why you wear her mark now?"

"Did I see Etrusca?" She settled on the bench. He smelled of tongue-stinging fire sweets, rather than the medicine-and-paper-skin smell of most old people. "Is she supposed to be there?"

"I don't know if she's supposed to be there." He chuckled and winked. "But I've seen her. Many times. I've talked to her. Contradictory woman won't tell me if she's dead or alive." Another chuckle. "Don't tell Yntriell, but I asked her to marry me a few times."

M'kar nodded. Yntriell wasn't her great-grandmother, but she was Aquid's third wife.

"Every time I asked, she laughed at me." He chuckled again. "She was right to laugh. Don't have the gift of being eternal, like she does." He sighed. "That was a long time ago." 

Off the Bookshelf: STORY GENIUS, by Lisa Cron

 

The subtitle and sub-subtitle say a lot about the value and usefulness of this book:

How To Use Brain Science To Go Beyond Outlining And Write A Riveting Novel.

(Before you waste three years writing 327 pages that go nowhere)

My craft book club at Great Lakes Fiction Writers had the fascinating, educational and fun experience of being able to talk with Lisa via Zoom, when we got together to discuss this book. Wow. So much common sense and moments of "Well, yeah, how come I didn't figure that out before?"

Basically, when you know your characters, what they believe and misbelieve, the forces that shaped them, the choices they've made in their past, in many ways the story kind of writes itself. Yeah, that's the simplified version. Or to rephrase that: most of the story is back story, because the past strongly affects the present of the character's story.

There's too much valuable information in the book, too many exercises you need to do for yourself, too many examples to be condensed into this book review. Go buy the book and read it for yourself -- don't borrow it -- you want it on your shelf to reread and go back to for reference again and again.

Thanks for giving us some of your time and talking with us, Lisa. Very much appreciated.