Save the Date!

No, as far as I know there aren't any weddings in the near future - although there is a wedding in Plenilune, which is what we're all here to talk about.  Most of you who follow Scribbles are also readers of my sister's blog, The Penslayer, and may have heard rumors of publication in the wind.  Today is the day to announce with something more like certainty that her fantasy novel PLENILUNE will be crashing onto the literary scene this Fall.

look out for PLENILUNE on october 20

The fate of Plenilune hangs on the election of the Overlord, for which Rupert de la Mare and his brother are the only contenders, but when Rupert’s unwilling bride-to-be uncovers his plot to murder his brother, the conflict explodes into civil war. 

To assure the minds of the lord-electors of Plenilune that he has some capacity for humanity, Rupert de la Mare has been asked to woo and win a lady before he can become the Overlord, and he will do it—even if he has to kidnap her. 

En route to Naples to catch a suitor, Margaret Coventry was not expecting a suitor to catch her. 

PLENILUNE falls into the sub-category of "planetary fantasy," referring to such books, like C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, whose stories take place on planets other than Earth.  A tremendous story of faith and sacrifice, politics and war, it combines the full-blooded, lyrical writing style of Jenny's The Shadow Things with a capacity for world-building that continues to leave me in awe.  And a little jealous.  Want to learn more?  Swing over to The Penslayer, follow the blog, and get a taste of the style that sets this author apart.

As we wait for October 20 (it's less than three months away, people), stay tuned for more information about PLENILUNE.  A cover reveal - for which the banner above is just a teaser - is in the offing, as well as a chance to pre-order for yourself, for friends, for relatives, for fun. 

And you really don't want to miss the cover reveal.  

It's fantastic.

As Dreams Are Made On

pinterest

we are such stuff as dreams are made on,

and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

- shakespeare, the tempest

I considered doing a post on the Assassin next, since people wanted it so badly (and since I actually know what I want to say on that subject).  But that wouldn't be orderly and anyhow, I like to keep everyone guessing, so I decided instead to address the question of Tempus Regina's setting.  It came up a couple times, and it seems there is as much confusion about that as there was - and probably still is - about the whole time travel business.  Hopefully I can give a clearer answer this time.

...does Tempus Regina take place in the real world, or an imaginary one? You've referenced Victorian England, but on the other hand I've gotten the sense that it's fantasy.

[elisabeth grace foley] 

&
 
do any of your characters originally come from outside of our own planet earth? 
[joy]

Elisabeth, you've hit the proverbial hammer on the head.  Tempus Regina is technically "historical fantasy," which means the answer is yes and yes.  It deals with real time periods (Victorian England, for example) and even some real people, but  it also incorporates time travel and dragons and, yes, also some "magic," so it obviously can't be marketed as straight historical fiction.  It's funky.

The best example of the genre that occurs to me off the top of my head is Anne McCaffrey's Black Horses for the King, a mostly historical novel set during the time after the abandonment of Britain by Rome, when the man who became the legendary King Arthur probably lived.  But we don't actually know that he lived at all, and since the story deals with legends, it's "historical fantasy."  And Tempus Regina is even more fantasy-driven than that.

In answer to Joy, the story takes place entirely in the real world; there is no inter-dimensional travel, not even of the vague That Hideous Strength brand.  Everyone is from Here, though whether everyone is human is debatable.  This also somewhat answers the question about religion in the story, but I'm planning on giving that its own post, since it demands fuller explanation.

...so is Regina in any way related to the Arthurian legends? ...is there any connection between Morgaine and Morgan le Fay?  I hope not.  I love Morgaine.

[anne-girl]

Tempus Regina is, like Black Horses for the King, a novel of legends - a novel of the stuff that "dreams are made on."  When she travels back in time - when she finds herself burdened with the role of time queen - Regina is tangled up in the threads of the two most fantastic and enduring legends of Western culture. Which legends those are is, for the moment, open to speculation...though I will say that those of you putting money on Arthurian legend are more likely to see a return on the investment.

As for Morgaine, she is, well, Morgaine.  And not as likeable as her Beautiful People appearance has (it seems) led many to believe.  In fact she's quite annoying and I'd like to hit her with a frying pan.  Interpret that as you will.

Excitement or Plausibility?

Back during the blog party in November, Joy asked me to write a post on the balance between fact and fiction in historical novels.  The result was fairly brief, a quick summary of my thoughts on the matter; this post, and probably a couple to come after, is something of an extension of those ideas.

At the same time, though I identify to this most as a writer of historical fiction, the topic applies just as much to other genres.  Whether writing fantasy or mystery, historical fiction or romance, there's a constant tension between what readers will find exciting, and what readers will find plausible.  On the one extreme you have old DC comics - Superman beats up all the bad guys again! - and on the other you have "realism" - everyone dies, loses their minds, is crossed in love, or in some fashion meets a depressing end.

Most of us like to write stories that land in the middle, because while people are drawn to the hopefulness of a happy ending, they are also quite capable of picking out absurdities. The quote about truth being stranger than fiction is quite accurate; truth is certain, no matter how crazy it appears, but fiction is subjected to the grueling test of the reader's credulity and can get a failing grade.  To a certain degree, it doesn't matter whether or not a far-fetched detail in a novel is true, if the reader cannot be convinced that it is so.  This is something that has stood out to me while reading Operation Mincemeat, an account of an Allied effort to convince Germany that British and American troops were invading Europe, not through Sicily, but through Greece.  The deception hinged on truth, half-truth, and lies, but it also hinged on perception and bias; and as the enemy had to be manipulated, so, in a sense, must a writer manipulate his reader.  (It is not at all surprising that many top-ranking intelligence officers were also novelists - Ian Fleming, anyone?)

In this little work of espionage, the key is maintaining a balance between the plausible and the exciting.  If we tell the reader exactly what he wants to hear up front - that Superman defeated the bad guys by bashing their heads together and escaped without a scratch - well, that is all good and exciting, but is it credible?  No.  Is it credible that Odin should conveniently discover a way to send Thor to earth just when S.H.I.E.L.D. needed him most?  No.  Is it credible that Thorin should be able to defend himself from a large enraged orc while wielding only an oak branch?  Uh, well, yes, because he's awesome.  That's pretty self-evident.

These are all exciting scenes, but if we were making them into plausible stories, Superman would be captured, Thor wouldn't be in "The Avengers," and Thorin wouldn't be Oakenshield, he would be dead.  The question then becomes, would it be better to tilt the scale toward the other end, make the story realistic, and wipe out all this melodrama?  Would this be the right formula for convincing our readers of the "truth" (and in a way, as readers we should be brought to accept the reality of both characters and plot) of the tale?

We might convince a few people of the "realism" of the story (whatever that is supposed to mean), but I can bet you nine out of ten will still be severely ticked off.  These all have a common denominator: they're adventures and fantasies, and there are certain expectations attached to them.  The excitement-plausibility scale will tend toward the former, because they are by nature fast-paced and high-stakes stories.  Disbelief is more willingly suspended.

Matters are rather different with historical fiction, where fact and imagination mingle and readers can see the lines.  When the setting is real and limitations are clearer, I know I start to look more closely for elements that stretch credulity too far or snap it altogether.  We can say glibly that fact is stranger than fiction - but when something strange in fiction tries to pass itself off as fact, we still eye it with inveterate suspicion.

Still, even in historical fiction where we expect to see more strictures, I think it is accurate to say that the majority of readers will always tend more toward excitement - because the majority of readers approach books with something of an escapist mentality.  We want to see things through rose-hued glasses for a little while; we want epic battles and happy endings, we want Superman and Thor.  We do not want the boredom of reality.  In my case, this realization gave me the necessity of relieving the monotony of blockade duty in the Sea Fever books; it was, frankly, a humdrum sort of thing, and nobody wants to spend pages reading about it.  But back on the other hand, there are a half-dozen sticky points where a story's critical points must be made credible enough to convince a reader.

The success of espionage is frequently a matter of sticking oneself in the enemy's proverbial boots, seeing things the way the enemy sees, then crafting the deception to pander to it.  That is what writers do: stick themselves in reader's boots.  Perhaps it sounds underhanded; perhaps it is underhanded.  But I think it is also the reason why writers must also be readers, so that we get a feel for such tensions as these.

Cross-Cultures

pinterest board: wordcrafter

This year I started reading some of The Doorway Papers, works by Christian anthropologist Arthur C. Custance.  I finished the first book, Noah's Three Sons, in January; most of you probably remember that I did a follow-up post called Image Dei, inspired by some of the things Custance wrote.  Apparently his writing tends to be inspiring, because this post flows from the second book, Genesis and Early Man. 

Most of the essays in Early Man deal with the paleontological record and are more technical than the those in Noah's Three Sons, which made it slower going for me.  (Bones get boring after a while.  So do peccary teeth.)  His last section, however, is titled "Light from Other Forms of Cultural Behavior on Some Incidents in Scripture," and this was the one I found to be of particular interest.  He takes some of the more puzzling narratives and instructions in Genesis and expands upon them, showing how they are linked with cultural patterns the world over.  For instance, he starts with the statement in Genesis 2 that "for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife," and goes on to show not only the prevalence of having the man go to his wife's family, but also the practical merit of doing it in this manner and not the other way around. 

I confess, some of the points he addresses were not ones I had ever thought very hard about; but they provided food for thought all the same.  Custance addresses most of the cultural details, including polygamy, without passing overt judgment, just as the Scripture tends to mention them in passing and without critique.  Rather, he delves into the why's and the wherefore's of these cultural norms, presenting them in a clearer light to the befuddled Western mind.

Naturally, this is interesting for its bearing on Genesis.  That was, after all, Custance's intent.  However, being a writer, I tend to look at everything from a writer's point of view.  In this case, the problem of cultures started me thinking about world-building - the crafting of peoples in fantasy worlds that are somehow different from cultures past and present.  We want ours to be unique, and though we may be inspired by ancient Egypt or Norse mythology, we prefer that the inspiration be subtle rather than obvious.  No one wants their story to be the one where the reader can go two pages and say, "Oh, I know where THAT'S from."

All that is perfectly reasonable, and provides incentive for branching out and exercising creativity.  But in reading Genesis and Early Man, it occurred to me that there is as much - or more - to be learned from the similarities between cultures as from the differences.  We tend to assume that the culture of the Eskimos will be vastly removed from that of the Australian aborigines, and to some extent, due to the demands of environment, it is; and yet at the same time, there are some amazing parallels to be noted between them.  Recall the Mankind has a "common ancestor," Noah, and a common starting place, Mesopotamia.  Cultural arteries all flow from that heartland; links between traditions stretch from one end of the earth to the other.

This is a fact worth considering, especially as we build our fantasies and populate them with people out of our imaginations.  Of course we want each culture we create to be different, but what elements do they have in common?  In marriage and in family, in religion and in government, are there threads that unite them?  If the world is tied to Earth, and perhaps even populated by humans, what links still exist between our world and theirs?  I have always thought it a good idea to come up with a history for the peoples; so much of what makes up a culture and its foreign policy depends on its history, so it seems impossible to create a believable world without one.  And now, added to that, I am of the opinion that anthropology - the study of Man - is just as pertinent a study for any writer.

In fact, I'm having a hard time thinking of fields of knowledge that aren't pertinent to a writer.

Interview with Anne Elisabeth Stengl

As senior editor over at Squeaky Clean Reviews, I sometimes get free copies from publishing companies like Bethany House to read and review. I don't frequently find books by contemporary authors that I really, truly, positively like, however, so when I received Veiled Rose I was hopeful but pessimistic. To make a long story short, I was more than pleasantly surprised; I was captivated. Anne Elisabeth Stengl writes in the timeless style of the classics, creating an intricate, intense fairy tale full of equally flawed and loveable characters, and the last page left me with admiration for her deftness.

Anne Elisabeth has published two novels in her series Tales of Goldstone Wood - Heartless and Veiled Rose - and more are to come (the third, Moonblood, releases April 2012). She has kindly agreed to an interview here at Scribbles to give readers a peek at her inspiration and writing process, and she is also offering a giveaway to two winners, one to receive an autographed copy of Heartless and the other an autographed copy of Veiled Rose. If you would like to enter (and I highly recommend that you do), all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with your email address. The giveaway will end next Friday, September 23.

the interview

1. Would you mind telling us a little about yourself? Hobbies, personality, tea or coffee?

I think the primary definition of me as both a personality and a writer is my love of all things Fairy Tale. I spent my childhood living in England right next to a great, wild, beautiful Common full of ancient oaks, wild rabbits, a stone church (complete with scary graveyard), and all the magic a 3-to-10 year old and her brothers could possibly hope to find. From this early age, I sought out stories of fairies and knights and heroes.

Today, not much has changed. I met my handsome husband at fencing class, where I was researching for my first novel, Heartless. In a whirlwind romance of Fairy Tale proportions, I “stabbed” him at a tournament, we fell in love, and were married seven months later! How's that for fairy tale?

I am a devoted tea drinker. I tell my Rohan this is the real reason I married him. He comes from Sri Lanka and introduced me to fine, black Ceylon teas. Hmmmm. And I had thought I was a tea snob from years of living in England! What did I know? My family, also avid tea drinkers, are very pleased to have Rohan added to their number.

I am a consummate Crazy Cat Lady (My name is Anne Elisabeth, and I am a cataholic). My current count is four: Molly Boots (my blonde), Minerva Louise (aka The Evil One), Lord Marmaduke Chuffnell (yes, we are posh!) and Mr. Fluffy Monster Boots (he prefers Monster at home). I spent a significant portion of my time this last summer fostering a litter of feral kittens and finding them homes as well.

And I'm allergic to cats.

*shrugs*

Writing is my primary love, but I used to give art classes and paint portraits for a living. I also love to play classical piano, can handle myself in a table-tennis or badminton match, quilt (in cool weather), cook, bake, and a variety of such things. Enough to keep me busy, anyway!

2. Have you “always” been a writer, or was there something that specifically prompted you to start writing?

I started writing my first story when I was seven. It was about three pages long, an epic saga of a wild golden stallion who became a famous race horse, dedicated to my favorite Breyer horse figurine, and complete with illustrations. My second story was a little longer, a romantic tale about a baby flying horse named Purity. By age nine, however, my Crazy Cat Lady side was emerging. I wrote two short novels about an Abyssinian kitten named Berry and his various adventures. At thirteen, I wrote my first epic fantasy, a dreadful catastrophe of literary hodge-podge (but I liked it!) about a wish-granting cat and all the various baddies who wanted to control him.

All this to say, yes, I have always wanted to be a writer. My mother, Jill Stengl, has sixteen published historical romances to her name, and I grew up watching her write, so it was natural for me to pick up a pen myself. I write very different work, however. After about age 13, I knew that fairy tales were my real love . . . well, those and cats!

3. Without giving spoilers, can you tell us what inspired Veiled Rose?

Veiled Rose is actually the second book in my Tales of Goldstone Wood, though chronologically, it takes place mostly before Heartless. It was inspired quite simply out of my desire to take a character from Heartless, Leonard the jester, and learn more about him. This is unusual for me. Most of my stories begin with a plot concept, and I discover the characters as I pursue the plot. But with Veiled Rose, the entire plot emerged from wanting to know Leo better.

Of course, it didn't really take shape until Rose Red stepped into the picture as Leo's foil. I knew I wanted her to be his opposite in every way. Not just being a humble peasant girl . . . she needed to be a complete outcast. Thus was born the mysterious child covered in veils from head to foot, rejected by her community. Once she introduced herself to me, the story took flight!


4. Did you find the writing process of your two published books to be similar or very different? I know the first draft of Veiled Rose was a colossal undertaking; did the deadline make it a harder or easier book to write than Heartless?

Each book is an entirely different project. Deadlines do make a difference for sure, but that isn't the number one factor in the level of intensity. Every time I begin a new manuscript, it is something more complicated and more interesting than the one before. Every time I begin a new manuscript, I learn all over again how to write a book.

I like how Neil Gaiman paraphrases this quote by Gene Wolfe: "You never learn how to write a novel. You just learn how to write the novel that you're writing."

In some ways writing Veiled Rose was easier than Heartless. I was a better novelist when I wrote it, so Veiled Rose went through fewer rough drafts. That being said, Heartless was more fun to draft from the get-go because I was just having fun with it, not doing it for a job. Each one of my stories is a labor of love . . . but the love never diminishes the labor!

5. Can you pick a favorite character from the Tales of Goldstone Wood?

My favorite character is probably Sir Eanrin, Bard of Iubdan Rudiobus, Knight of Farthestshore. If you have read only Veiled Rose, you have only gotten tiny glimpses of him. He gets a much more dominant role in Heartless, a still greater role in Moonblood, and is the lead player in Starflower [the fourth book in the series]. I kind of adore him.

That being said, I also really love writing about Prince Lionheart because he is so real to me. Rose Red and Una also have tender places in my heart. The Prince of Farthestshore is more difficult to write, especially because he is so significant in every novel, but must not remain static. But when I succeed in writing him well, he is the most satisfactory character of all.

6. The Tales of Goldstone Wood are fantasies. Do you see yourself continuing to write fantasy alone, or do you think you’ll try your hand at other genres?

I have dabbled in comedic fantasy, strict fairy tale retelling fantasy, historical fantasy, etc. But it always comes back to being fantasy. Once or twice I have toyed around with thoughts of writing a historical and even a contemporary or two. But my mind doesn't tend to work that way. I can enjoy reading just about any genre, but the tales that take shape in my mind always morph into the fantastic. I wouldn't necessarily be against writing another genre . . . it would just have to be a dominant enough idea to shoulder aside all the fairy tales currently taking precedence!

7. What inspires you most: books, movies, your cats, your family…dish-washing?

Great writing. If I have hit a wall in my own work, the best solution I have found is to back up and read the greats. Whether rereading favorites or discovering brilliance for the first time, I am always inspired by the beauty of well-written plots and compelling characters. A novel I am reading (or poem, depends on my mood) can have absolutely NOTHING to do with anything I am currently writing . . . but it might still be exactly what I need to spark my interest again. For instance, I just finished Joseph Conrad's heart-breaking Lord Jim. I will never even consider writing like Conrad (he uses stream-of-consciousness), but the gorgeous depth of his prose and the power with which he communicates his message in the context of a vivid story is a huge inspiration.

Good writers are my best encouragers. The more great writing we read, the more motivation we have to excel.

I also spend large chunks of time brainstorming with my long-suffering mother. I think with my mouth (I am a girl, after all), so sometimes just talking through ideas and conundrums is all I need to get me started in the right direction. My dear Rohan has, in this first year of our marriage, proven himself a willing and insightful brainstorming partner as well.

Cats are great for purr-therapy. Never underestimate the importance or power of purr-therapy. Or a cup of tea. Dish-washing, however . . . meh. Not my favorite. I get VERY inspired by a handsome husband who does the dishes for me, though!

8. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the writing process?

Favorite: Finishing!

This isn't to say there aren't significant moments of joy throughout the process. Writing my fifth professional novel, however, I am discovering that those moments of joy are fewer and farther between than they used to be. What I once did purely for pleasure is now my profession. It's work. And it is hard, hard work, even while it is what I enjoy most and do best in this life. I used to get to the end of a scene that went really well - all the plot threads twining together, all the thematic elements shining, all the characters as real as real can be - and sit back with a sigh, content. Now, I might still have those fantastic scenes, but there isn't as much satisfied sighing. I'm a better writer now. The work can always be better still with rewrites. I'm always looking for that one trick necessary to improve what I have done. It's good work, even glorious work . . . but it's still work.

Least Favorite: Starting!

I really have come to hate beginnings. Used to be that they were the easiest part for me, back when my stories were simpler. Now, each of my manuscripts goes through at least five very different opening scenes. I believe in an organic development of plot and character, which means each scene needs to build naturally on top of the one that came before. Which means that the opening scene needs to be right before it leads to chapter two. Not that it needs to be perfect, by any means. But it needs to be solid.

So, yes, openings are my big hang-up these days. I can sometimes write 50,000 words’ worth of manuscript before realizing that I have the wrong opening! Once I hit on the right one, though, I can write a novel in two to four months. It's just getting the right one!

Beginnings are killers for me, too. (Can't we just skip that bit and go straight to the middle?)

9. If you were forced to pick a single favorite author, who would it be?

Such a cruel question!

Well, I suppose if I'm being forced, I must say C.S. Lewis. His beautiful Chronicles of Narnia alone earn him that place! But on top of those, he wrote such gems as Till We Have Faces, The Great Divorce, Perelandra, not to mention his fascinating non-fiction. He amazes me with his extreme versatility, and yet his voice is always truly and distinctly his own. He knew that fiction was meant to be fun and wonderful . . . he also knew that it was not meant to be the Poor Man's Television. He knew fiction was to challenge and inspire and invigorate. Entertainment need not be mindless.

Yes, I adore him and his work.

10. What is your primary goal in your writing? What ideals and beliefs dictate how and what you write?

My primary goal is to bring glory to God by writing to the very best of my ability. I believe the whole purpose of mankind is worship, and I believe each of us best worships God when doing what we do best to our very best. Writing is my great skill, a gift from God and a talent for which I know he has plans. So it is to his honor when I study and strive and work and learn to better my craft. And I hope and pray that my desire to communicate truth through these simple fairy tales becomes ever-more evident to those who read them.

I also long to bring a sense of classicism back to the CBA market. There is a sad tendency in Christian publishing to simply follow the modern trends, to focus entirely on entertainment and not on true beauty and true art. A lot of lazy writing is being called "great," and knowledge of the classics is fading swiftly from both our readers’ and writers’ memories. I hope that stories like the Tales of Goldstone Wood, written in a classic omniscient narrative, will motivate people to go back and read the much better stories that influenced and inspired them—the works of Lewis and MacDonald, Coleridge and Milton, Spenser and Shakespeare, and so many more!

11. I know Moonblood is the next book due out. Which book in the series are you actively writing now?

I am currently drafting Book 5 in the Tales of Goldstone Wood, which is under the working title Dragonwitch. I suspect that title will change, however. Most of the time, my publisher likes the titles I pick, but I'm not even sure I like that title, and I don't know what they'll think of it. We'll see what happens. I just finished drafting Book 4, Starflower, which will come out October 2012. It is in a polish-up stage and about to be sent out to my editors for their perusal. I can hardly wait to share it with all of you! It is my personal favorite. But then, my newest piece is always my personal favorite! It will probably be supplanted by Book 5 in another month or two . . .

I am eagerly awaiting Moonblood and its sequels. Thanks so much for sharing!

Anne Elisabeth Stengl's blog is over at Tales of Goldstone Wood, where you can read more about her writing and an author's life (and her cats - life isn't complete without a few cats). She is currently doing a series of answers to questions readers have, so if you are curious about something regarding her books or about writing in general, be sure to drop her a comment or an email.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Imagination Limited

When writers write and when readers read, they often explain their love of stories by saying that the words take them away to other times and places. Their imagination is fueled by stories and, in the case of writers, finds an outlet in stories. While it is true that very small and seemingly inconsequential things in daily life can inspire a novel, books and the written word continue to be the prime medium for the activity of the mind; reading promotes some degree of intelligence.

To have a well-rounded mind, however, it is necessary to not focus on a single genre of literature. You shouldn't read only fantasies and fairy tales; you shouldn't even have a steady diet that is 53% fantasy and fairy tales. You shouldn't have a steady diet of romances, "Christian" or secular. Nor should you wear a track from the library door to the historical novels. Histories should not gather dust while fiction is being constantly pulled off the shelf. There is no genre that can be indulged in to the exclusion of all others; the mind will be stunted if fed the same thing day after day, just as the body would if you only ever ate carrots or potato chips.

Oddly enough, one of the bits of advice most promoted by many writers today is that you should read extensively...in the genre of your choice. If you want to write historical fiction, read historical fiction. If you want to write fantasy, read fantasy. Never mind that this may very well mean that your plots, characters, story arcs, and what-have-you are being fed to you by authors who have come before, or that you are stuck in the rut of one genre both as the source and outlet of your imagination. 'Read in one genre, write in one genre' is the rule of the day, and so authors are pigeonholed into specific fields of writing to develop themselves there until they are ready to expand (if not forever).

This is not wholly ridiculous. From a marketing standpoint, it is true that if you write and publish a historical fiction, then write a fantasy and want it published, you will likely have to seek out a new publisher. I speak from personal experience; I am currently querying Wordcrafter, a fantasy, and it is almost like being an entirely new author. I have no guarantee of acceptance. But I wouldn't trade the time I spent writing that story for the certainty of publication, and I would far rather have been writing Justin's story than grinding out another historical fiction. Of course, I am writing a historical fiction now. I simply didn't want to then, because I didn't have the inspiration for one.

Writing is an art, although it must be balanced with the more "practical" side of marketing, and some of the most renowned artists are those who experimented in many different mediums. Michelangelo was a sculptor as well as a painter and architect; Leonardo da Vinci dabbled in a dozen things, from sketching to painting, from writing to inventing. In the realm of writing, Agatha Christie is most famous for her mysteries, but she also wrote romances. C.S. Lewis wrote essays on faith and philosophy as well as fantasies and "science fiction." Rosemary Sutcliff, acclaimed for her Romano-British works, wrote children's books, stories set in the Middle Ages, some nonfiction, and retellings of The Iliad and The Odyssey.

These artists were never equally lauded in all mediums, but that was not their purpose; their imagination was fired in many different directions, and so they followed that and did not remain inside the box of their own especial genre. Their minds were well-rounded, so that they could and did tackle fantasy as eagerly as nonfiction, sculpting as readily as painting. Practically speaking, if you read widely, it is unlikely that you will be able to stop your mind from developing tales in many different genres - and this is not a bad thing, even if you are not as skilled with one as with another. It's good for the imagination to expand, and not to be allowed to stagnate in a single medium.

Interview with Liz Patterson

Liz Patterson, who writes over at the lovely blog Awake, recently published her fantasy novel The Mark of the Star. I bought a copy and thoroughly enjoyed devouring it (you can read a review of the book itself over at The Penslayer), and I was delighted when Liz agreed to do an interview here at Scribbles. For those of you who have somehow not stumbled upon Liz's blog or her book, here is the plot summary from the back cover:

What can you do when an entire country hovers on the brink of collapse and your courage is all that can save it? What can you do when your dearest friend makes the wrong choices and your love is not enough to protect him? What can you do when your blessing turns out to be a curse? When Arvis is suddenly faced with these questions, her search for answers leads her on a journey across the world. Hunted by an elusive enemy and brought low by betrayal, Arvis is forced to rise to the challenge and accept that she was set apart by the mark of the star for a reason.

I don't know about you, but that (and the beautiful cover) caught my interest - and the rest of the novel lives up to it. I am eagerly awaiting Liz's next story. And now, on to the questions.

1. First things first. Can you give something about yourself? Personality, favorite pastimes, ideal weather, tea or coffee, favorite pair of socks?

Well, I'm a writer, so that means that I have a inordinate love of words, I tend to sit in coffee shops by myself and people watch, all the librarians know me by name because I check out so many books, and I'm generally the quiet, nerdy one who doesn't say much until you get her talking about books; then she won't be quiet.

I wish I had more pastimes. I don't tend to have any. Instead of pastimes I have passions, which are so much more exhausting. I have a passion for music and I bang away at my poor piano quite frequently. I have a passion for philosophy, which is expressed in my avid love for competitive debate and my intention to major in Philosophy in college and become a teacher of it. And I don't know if I have a favorite pair of socks, but I do have a favorite pair of shoes: my tall black boots which I wear to death because 1.) they are comfy 2.) they are black and I love the color black and 3.) I like to indulge in the irrational fancy that they look like Robin Hood's boots and anything Robin-Hood-ish is the epitome of awesomeness.

2. When did you first begin writing?

Pretty much since the first grade, where I wrote a tragic poem in which every character died. But I really didn't launch into fiction writing until I was 10, when I started writing a series of stories about Arvis (who is the now the MC of Mark of the Star), except back then she was an elf from Lothlorian who drifted in and out of the story of The Lord of the Rings, sometimes off on her own adventures, sometimes joining up with the Fellowship... It really was a way to escape life and enter into a story that I loved.

3. What inspired The Mark of the Star?

Each character has a person who is their inspiration and each place in the world does as well, but overall the inspiration for the whole idea of the Mark of the Star was inspired by a dear friend of mine, Susanna, who originally was going to co-author with me, but became too busy to write. She came up with many of the original ideas, including Arvis's star-mark, and though the story is mainly mine, it was the excitement and fun of her friendship that really inspired the adventures of Arvis and Co. And it was Susanna who encouraged me to write in the first place - she was the first person (and only person for several years) who genuinely believed that I could write a novel.

4. Some novels flow easily, others are like molasses running uphill in January. Which would you say The Mark of the Star was?

Haha! Molasses running uphill in January? How did you know? The current copy of the Mark of the Star that you can buy happens to be the seventh draft of the story. Every few chapters, Writer's Block would bound up and harry me for a while... I thank God that Arvis was so supremely stubborn that she wouldn't let me give up, and also that my stiff-necked pride wouldn't allow me to bail on this project once I had told everyone that I was going to write a novel...

5. I know that Arvis, the main character of The Mark of the Star, has been in your mind a long time. Is she your favorite character in the novel?

I'm afraid Arvis is a little too much like me to be my favorite character. Arvis is, of course, ten times better and braver of a person than I am, but we share many of the same flaws and characteristics. So my favorite character is without a doubt Jadev! Several people have remarked that they love Jadev and I think part of the reason is that when I wrote Jadev, I poured out my heart into his character. I love everything about Jadev, from his silly habit of running his fingers through his hair to his longing to prove himself and his sometimes volatile moods. Jadev embodies almost all the characteristics I love most in people and I had an absolute blast writing him.

6. Politics form the background to the plot of your novel. When and how did you first become interested in that?

When I was 15 back in 2008 and the presidential election season was gripping the country in its excitement and suspense, I discovered, quite shockingly, that this strange and generally-abhorred thing called politics was something I found extraordinarily intriguing. I declared, amidst much controversy, that I wanted to grow up to be a politician. I think the reason I love politics is because it is human nature displayed. Leadership has a way of bringing out the best, and the worst, in people and I love seeing that. Also, political philosophy is so fascinating! If one can be a novelist, a teacher, a wife, a mother, and a politician in the same lifetime, I certainly intend to!

7. Who is your favorite or most inspiring writer?

Wow. This question floors me. Can I cheat and choose two or three? My first answer would be undoubtedly C.S. Lewis. Though it was Tolkien's story of The Lord of the Rings that first inspired my imagination, it was the writings of Lewis that taught me how to write and think and inspired my love of words. In particular reference to The Mark of the Star I think Stephen Lawhead's Pendragon Cycle was very influential. His book Taliesin has many similar characters and elements in it and I learned a lot about writing from Lawhead's creative style. But one of my favorite authors and the writer whose work truly empowered me to finish Mark of the Star when I was about to genuinely give up would be Ara, who used to blog over at Shilah. I read the manuscript of her novel Riven and it changed my life. When I was about to quit writing, her story encouraged me to keep on. I owe the fact that my novel is finished to Ara and Riven. [Ara also designed The Mark of the Star's gorgeous cover.]

8. This is probably a difficult question, but what do you think your favorite part of the plotting process is? World-building, character-sketching, outlining?

Hmmm. Considering that I never outlined the story and although I tried to character sketch, the characters always ended up being different than I intended, I will have to go with world-building. My friend Susanna and I created the world of Lithan'galow together and all the summer afternoons down by the lake and long winter evenings curled up with hot chocolate that we spent yakking away about Lithan'galow, drawing maps, and coming up with history... those are priceless memories and were definitely a ton of fun. I think our boundlessly imaginative Creator placed in all of us a deeply-rooted longing to create. Coming up with an entire world where your imagination can run wild and play with the very laws of physics and nature... it fulfills that longing and sparks a unique and special sort of joy in your heart.

9. What kind of scene do you find easiest to write: tragedy, comedy, or drama? Do you find writing dialogue or writing description/narrative to be easier?

Well, this has changed over the years. At first, dialogue was the bane of my existence and I couldn't write anything but soap-opera drama. Now as I've learned a bit more about writing and gotten more comfortable with it, I find dialogue to be my favorite. I love to write long conversations between my characters that never end up in the story but just help them bond and help me bond with them. Speech is how we express ourselves and writing a character's dialogue is like opening a window into their mind and their heart. As for type of scene, I love comedy but can't write it to save my life. So the easiest would definitely be tragedy - well, not tragedy so much as a scene of intense moral dilemma or conflicting emotions.

10. Is fantasy your genre of choice, or do you see yourself trying others in the future?

Since I'm a little too lazy to ever be completely bound by the laws of nature, I'll probably always have fantasy/sci-fi elements in my stories, but I can't see myself writing epic fantasy for a very long time, if ever again. Fantasy is definitely my favorite genre of book to read, but for writing, I've been yearning lately to get into something more realistic - I want to write a novel set in present-times and that stretches my limits as a writer. Perhaps a thriller or mystery.

11. What are you working on now?

I was working on a story called This World (a weird sort of dystopian sci-fi drama story that involves a good deal of politics and philosophy). But I've realized that I will not have time to finish the story (since I'm going back over and redoing the beginning) before I leave at the end of September for a six-month-long mission trip to South America. So in these next few weeks before I leave, I'm not really working on anything. Everything is put on hold until I return to the US in March. When I get back, though, I may write a sequel to The Mark of the Star, or I may be inspired to write an entirely different story. We'll see what life throws my way...

Thank you for listening and thank you muchly, kind Abigail, for letting me monologue on Scribbles and Ink Stains!

I enjoyed getting to interview you, Liz! Thanks so much for sharing about yourself and Mark of the Star.

The Mark of the Star will be available for purchase on Amazon in three or four weeks, and is now available on Lulu.com. For more information about Liz's writing, or just to read some highly enjoyable posts on anything from music to philosophy, head over to her blog Awake, pull up a chair, brew a cup of tea, and stay for a while. I assure you, you won't be disappointed.

Not a Tame Lion

Within the genre of Christian fantasy, as it is known in that vague place called "the market," perhaps the most used tool in making the fantasy world "Christian" in some way is allegory. This can be as slight as having a different word for God, or it can be as broad as having a Christ-figure, angelic beings, demons, and a Satan-figure. Writers want their stories, whatever genre they fall into, to reflect God's truth and to have Gospel elements, and in the difficult genre of fantasy, the simplest way of doing this is to employ allegory.

Sadly, the rise of allegory can probably be traced to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, some of the best-loved children's books since their publication in the 1950s. Most fantasy authors will admit that their primary inspiration came from such works as Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and Lewis' most famous The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, even though neither man wrote his book intending for it to be taken as an allegory. The Chronicles of Narnia are "what if" tales, as Lewis specifically stated: "...[Aslan] is an invention giving an answer to the question, 'What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all." This is made clear at the end of The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader' when Aslan tells Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace that in their world he has another Name, and that they must learn to know him by that Name.

But even this is a dangerous position for an author to take, for when he writes a being like Aslan, he is making a statement about Christ. In fact, he is essentially writing Christ. This is taking on one's self a massive amount of responsibility, but because Lewis got away with it (and in doing so created a classic), many writers now operate under the assumption that they can do the same. The shelves are filling with allegorical fantasies that feature Christ or a Christ-like figure as a dragon, as a canine, as a feline - and authors have lost sight of the magnitude of what they are attempting to do. The process of writing an allegory has become as simple as picking some creature that seems in the author's mind to represent some attribute of God, and then enhancing that attribute to make the creature into something which (again, in the author's mind) is "like God."

"The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God
that are unworthy of Him."

This quote by A.W. Tozer sums up the state of affairs in modern American Christianity. God has been put in a box. His perfections have been diluted and cheapened into "what God is for me," and this personalized, subjective, and unbiblical way of looking at Him cannot help but overflow into the writing of professing believers. Thus, Christians have no problem with portraying Christ as a dragon or of comparing God to their dog. In fact, it seems perfectly natural to them. They never stop to think of the horror the early Christians would have felt at the thought of applying such base images to a holy God.

One argument that might be raised in defense of such allegories is that it helps readers to understand God better, or at least to understand certain of His attributes better. But unworthy thoughts do not lift the mind to see God more clearly; they lower God to the level of the human mind and thus degrade Him. In the pages of Scripture, God does not express much enthusiasm for man's self-made ways of worshiping Him. He has given us His Word in order to reveal Himself to us, but too often we forget that in the Bible we have God Himself speaking to us; if we recalled that to mind more often, why would we think we need weak word-pictures to reveal Him to us? God does not need help in revealing Himself to us.

Is all allegory evil? I would not go so far as to say that. I do think that Lewis, in portraying Aslan as a lion (a scriptural term for Christ - the Lion of Judah), in pointing always to Christ, and in grounding the representation in Scripture, did an excellent job with his Chronicles of Narnia and created a deep, thoughtful story worth reading over and over. But writers ought to be careful with this method of Christianizing their stories - and, indeed, with any method of Christianizing anything - and should stop marching on as though they had every right to portray God however they want. Although they may think they are sharing the Gospel and proclaiming Christ, it is quite likely that they are doing more harm than good. The nature of God is not a thing to be taken lightly.

Fantasy: Creating Worlds

I received a couple of questions on my last post and on my Inspiration for Wordcrafter about how to create a solid fantasy world and how to do the research for it. I was really at a loss how to respond, at first, seeing as the parallel world in Wordcrafter was one of those things that came into my head and needed little help; but as I thought about it, a few ideas occurred to me.

For starters, you have to be willing to take the time to make your world like one of those that I mentioned in my last post; because if yours isn't one that was fully formed already (most aren't), it will most likely need research and brain-storming. Just like a historical fiction, fantasies take planning. What happens when a person jumps out of a plane without a parachute? He goes splat. And what happens when a writer jumps into a story without any forethought? Chances are, the story goes splat. So you have to be dedicated enough to the story to not skimp on the hard parts.

Now on to the actual suggestions. Chances are, your fantasy realm is tied to something in our world - probably English history and culture. Only God can create ex nihilo; we build off of things we know. And for Americans, what we know is largely our own history: that is, the history of the United States and the history of our mother country, England. It's no wonder, then, that most fantasy worlds in modern novels have some basic themes in common, such as the existence of a ruling king and queen. I mentioned in my last post that Tolkien fashioned Middle-Earth largely on the old legends of Britain and the myths of the Norse, and a few writers have followed his lead (such as Christopher Paolini). Considering how fascinating English history is, it's not a bad or strange thing that writers utilize it in crafting their own worlds; but that leads to my first thought -

Think outside the box. The realm you're making is your own and so is the story itself, so you know best what kind of a world will fit with your plot and the feel of the novel. But if you're going to have a fantasy set in a Medieval sort of world, then do your homework; read books on life in the Middle Ages, because knowing your material will give you what you need to manipulate and bend those facts to spice up your story. You might try delving into cultures more foreign to American readers, such as ancient Asian empires or the Aztecs. Don't limit yourself to the culture of the Western world just because most authors do.

Surface research. This is what I suggested to a friend of mine when she asked me about ideas for world-crafting. It's basically just skimming books on a wide range of subjects to see if anything catches your eye. Children's books are great for this, juvenile as they may seem, because they give the reader a cursory look at different cultures and don't take an age to look over; plus, they usually have pictures, which are great helps to some. So if you're seeking inspiration, you could try getting one small book on each culture that even remotely interests you - Mayans, Japanese, Chinese, Greeks, Phoenicians, etc. - and looking over them. You may either find a variety of things from each that would all work together to inspire a fantasy world, or you may find one culture specifically that interests you. And then...

Read. This is probably where most who call themselves writers lose interest, but it's imperative. If you don't read, you won't know how or what to write. Once you find a culture that catches your attention, look into it more deeply and pick out those features that you think you would like to weave into your fantasy. Read books and look up internet articles on it, and then brainstorm.

Brainstorm. Brainstorming is especially important to the writer, because here is where you make sure that those tidbits from history that you fell in love with will actually work in the story. It's no good to have fascinating points that don't work or that stand out garishly from the context. Brainstorming is one of the parts of writing that polishes ideas, as well as creating them, so don't leave it out of the process.

Why Write Fantasy?

Fantasy is very popular in the writing world right now, and has been since Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was published - and especially since it was made into a movie by Peter Jackson. There is a whole slue of fantasy trilogies, sequences, cycles, and sagas out there now, from Paolini's Eragon to Rowling's Harry Potter, crowding the shelves of Barnes & Noble. There are few people who don't love the epic qualities of Frodo Baggins' journey to Mount Doom and the fight to save Middle Earth from the evil of Sauron, and if you're a writer of fantasy, chances are you've been inspired by Tolkien's books in one way or another. But what is the attraction of fantasy? Why write it?

Well, one big reason is that the concept of "another world" holds a great deal of charm to writers and readers alike. We like the feeling of power we get when we create this other world and populate it with fantastical creatures and evil overlords, and many readers like the newness of a Middle-Earth or a Narnia. Sure, Earth is all well and good, but it gets kinda boring after awhile, you know?

That's great, but writers can go overboard. Easily. That feeling of power and freedom that you get in the creation of a new world can lead to mindsets that damage the story in the end, such as the assumption that, because your novel is of the fantasy genre, readers will suspend their disbelief more readily - because it's your world and you can do what you want in it. This is true, but only to a degree. You obviously have to be more careful writing an historical fiction to get all the facts and figures correct than you do with a fantasy; but all the same, readers aren't necessarily going to accept with awe a character's special powers just because it's fantasy. Your writing has to be believable, no matter what genre it's in.

So how come Tolkien got away with it? He had balrogs and orcs and little round people who live in holes, not to mention a Lidless Eye and immortal Elves, but readers willingly accept all his impossible creations. So why not ours? The problem with that question is that we should never take it upon ourselves to say that if a great and famous author could get away with it, so can we. That's the height of arrogance. But the actual answer to the question comes in a look at how Tolkien crafted the world of Middle-Earth. Most people are aware of the amount of research and behind-the-scenes construction Tolkien went through in The Lord of the Rings, and our initial response is to exclaim, "Good heavens, was he MAD?" But all that crazy work was what made his world believable. He drew from the myths of the Norse and the history of Britain and used those as foundations for the world, the peoples, the backstory, and the legends of Middle-Earth, so in the end, he wasn't dumping readers onto something ungrounded and strange. Middle-Earth makes sense, because it has all the facets of the world we live in.

Most writers nowadays aren't going to go into the depth that Tolkien did, but some amount of research and incorporation of ancient (and, if possible, nearly forgotten) history will add to the depth of any fantasy. Sure, there are readers who will obligingly go along with wild tales and impossibilities, but intricate worlds will pack much more of a punch.