Category Archives: Reading

May 24, 2013

My re-reading book: The Lions of Al-Rassan

By Ellen Gregory

Today’s Friday blogging theme is:

Share a book you can read again and again without getting bored.

Well, I have to admit I’m a big re-reader of novels. Often I wish I wasn’t, because just think of all the marvellous books out there I never seem to have time to read. But the simple fact is sometimes (if I’m having a bad day, for example) I return to a book I know I’ll love, rather than risk dissatisfaction with something untested.

Today I’m highlighting one of my all time favourite fantasy novels, The Lions of Al-Rassan, by Guy Gavriel Kay. I’ve mentioned it a few times before on this blog, but it’s so fabulous I’m plugging it again. I’ve read it about four times in the past 20 years (nearly) since it came out. And every time I love it.

al-rassan

If you take the novel at face-value, it’s the story of two powerful men from different and opposing backgrounds, each of whom falls out with his respective leader and is exiled to the same remote city where they form an unlikely friendship and mutual respect. The other main characters are a female physician from an outlawed culture, and a young soldier whose personal journey shows how one’s perspective and allegiance can change through experience.

The official book blurb (from Amazon) reads:

Over the centuries, the once stern rulers of Al-Rassan have been seduced by sensuous pleasures. Now King Almalik of Cartada is on the ascendancy, adding city after city to his realm, aided by his friend and advisor, the notorious Ammar ibn Khairan–poet, diplomat, soldier–until a summer day of savage brutality changes their relationship forever. Meanwhile, in the north, the Jaddite’s most celebrated–and feared–military leader, Rodrigo Belmonte, and Ammar meet. Sharing the interwoven fate of both men is Jehane, the beautiful, accomplished court physician, whose own skills play an increasing role as Al-Rassan is swept to the brink of holy war, and beyond….

In a magnificent setting, hauntingly evocative of medieval Spain, The Lions of Al-Rassan is both a brilliant adventure and a deeply moving story of love, divided loyalties, and what happens to men and women when hardening beliefs begin to remake–or destroy–a world.

I love this book for its marvellous characters, thought-provoking drama, and poignant love triangle.

Every time I read it, I get something new out of it. Spending time with these amazing characters in this richly evocative world is a truly immersive and inspiring experience.

It doesn’t take much insight to realise there’s a whole lot simmering beneath the surface of this novel. The fantastical world is an alternate version of medieval Moorish Spain, which experienced a Golden Age of tolerance, art and philosophy, where people of different cultures and religions lived side-by-side in harmony… until it all started to crumble.

Set against a backdrop of the fall of Granada — the last Moorish stronghold in Spain — and the legend of El Cid (who was historically much earlier, but this IS a fantasy novel), The Lions of Al-Rassan explores themes of how religion can underpin prejudices, alliances and conflict.

Says Kay in a 1995 interview with Solaris, reproduced on his web site Bright Weavings:

“Lions is mainly about how organised religion takes away the freedom and breathing space of individuals… I wanted to see what would happen to people’s preconceptions and prejudices about cultures: Christian, Moslem, Jewish, if the names were changed and if the religious beliefs were rendered virtually banal: one religion worships the Sun, another worships the Moon, and another worships the stars. And out of that relatively banal conflict of ideologies, you have crushingly brutal military and psychological conflict.”

I get so much more out of the novel, knowing this.

Moreover, this novel was the number one reason I tailored my last European holiday around visiting the Alhambra in Granada, which provided much of the inspiration for The Lions of Al-Rassan. Here’s one of my favourite photos from that visit.

The Alhambra, Granada, Spain (my photo)

Nasrid Palaces, The Alhambra, Granada, Spain (my photo)

For further information, reviews and discussion about this remarkable book, visit the dedicated page (with links) on Kay’s web site.

If you’re interested in my travels in Andalucia (the relevant part of Spain), see this series of posts on my other(earlier) blog. This one is about the Alhambra specifically.

***

Other participants in today’s WANAFriday blogfest are:

  • Margaret Miller shares On the Beach by Nevil Shute
  • Rabia Gale shares three of her favourite re-reads, including Howl’s Moving Castle
  • Linda Adams observes a common thread to her favourite re-reads
  • Cora Ramos muses about synchonicity and plugs The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
  • Kim Griffin tells us why she re-reads The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins over and over again
  • Janice Heck shares her love of Tuscany in Mind: An Anthology edited by Alice Leccese Powers
  • Tami Clayton reveals her top four re-reads
  • Seth Swanson shares three of his favourite action SFF adventures

We’ll be tweeting to #wanafriday and tagging blog posts wanafriday as well. If you care to play too, please post your link in the comments and I’ll update the post. Or just join in!

Or, if not, please do share your favourite re-reading books in the comments. I’d love to hear about them.

19 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Book Review, Favourites, Reading, wanafriday

April 9, 2013

Book Review: Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

By Ellen Gregory

NightingaleFirst published in 2002, Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori #1) by Lian Hearn is the second novel I’m reviewing for the 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge. I first read it in 2006, but for some unfathomable reason never did read the rest of the series. I must have been distracted by something, because I loved this book the first time — and I loved it the second time as well. This time I intend to keep going with the series.

Across the Nightingale Floor is a fantasy novel set in an imaginary world based on feudal Japan. Takeo is the central character, a boy of 16 raised in a remote mountain village, whose world falls apart when the village is attacked by Lord Iida Sadamu. From the beginning, when he escapes Iida’s sword, it is clear that Takeo has unique abilities. He is rescued (apparently coincidentally) by the passing Lord Otori Shigeru, who happens to have a personal vendetta against Iida himself. Shigeru adopts Takeo into the Otori clan and proceeds to have him educated as both a young man of the warrior class, and also a member of the ‘Tribe’, a mysterious group of assassins with supernatural abilities like Takeo’s. There follows a plot involving feuding clans, political scheming, secret love and plans for revenge. Interwoven with Takeo’s story is that of Kaede, a girl of the warrior class who is used as a hostage to ensure the ‘good behaviour’ of her father. She is treated like a pawn and bundled off to be married to Shigeru – only to fall in love with Takeo. The climax takes place in Lord Iida’s city, where everything unravels with tragic consequences. (Synopsis taken from my original post on the book.)

At heart it’s a simple story about revenge, duty, betrayal and forbidden love, exquisitely executed with writing that is both spare and elegant. I have heard others complain that the writing style is so simplistic as to be almost childish, but I completely disagree. In my view there’s barely a word out of place. It very much suits the Asian atmosphere that pervades the entire novel.

The author herself states: “In Japanese art and literature I am fascinated by the use of silence and asymmetry. I like the concept of ma: the space between that enables perception to occur. I wanted to see if I could use silence in writing. So the style is spare, elliptical and suggestive. What is not said is as important as what is stated.”

This book really taps into my emotions as well, and I’ve wept both times upon reading it. The climactic scenes unfold with the precision of a dance, with the screws of doom for one character tightened relentlessly as the betrayals stack up. We only really know the doomed character through Takeo, the protagonist, but it is the strength of the relationship between them that makes it so moving.

At the end of the novel, Takeo is forced to make a choice that will send him off on a journey of self-discovery… The next book in the series is Grass for his Pillow, followed by Brilliance of the Moon.

For the most part, I listened to the ABC Enterprises audio recording of Across the Nightingale Floor, read by Tamblyn Lord (Takeo’s sections) and Anna Steen (Kaede’s). However, I did read some parts in written form. I particularly enjoyed the audio recording, though, and I think it highlighted the beauty of the writing.

This is a trans-genre novel, spanning fantasy, historical fiction, literature, Young Adult… put simply, there’s something in it for everyone in my view. Highly recommended.

5 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Book Review, Reading

March 19, 2013

Book Review: Shadow Queen by Deborah Kalin

By Ellen Gregory

shadow-queenAs part of the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013, I recently finished reading Shadow Queen (The Binding #1 — first published Allen&Unwin 2009), a fantasy novel by my good friend and cafe writing buddy, Deborah Kalin.

It’s the story of Matilde, a young woman groomed to rule over a seething conglomeration of houses all vying against each other, who shows just how far she will go to keep herself alive, after the rest of her family and retinue is struck down by a bloody coup. Matilde — despite her youth, inexperience, and extreme naivete – shows herself to be a survivor as she makes play after play in an attempt to win back her ‘throne’.

There’s stuff to think about while reading this book, as Kalin explores the power of psychological manipulation as a key theme — and reader sympathy gets tugged to and fro with Matilde’s. Other themes include trust (and its antithesis), power, friendship, family and self-preservation.

As Matilde digs herself and her people into a deeper and deeper hole… the reader is left wondering whether her people might actually be better off without her. But the truth of that will no doubt come to light in the sequel, Shadow Bound (The Binding #2) — in which we hope Matilde might manage to redeem herself.

I enjoyed the novel a lot. As is important in a first-person narrative, Matilde’s voice is strong and I certainly undertook the emotional journey at her side, even while disapproving of many of her actions. She isn’t heroic, which is in many ways what makes her so believable. Nor is her journey through the course of the novel predictable, which gets a big tick from me. I love having my expectation subverted.

The writing is smooth, the supporting characters well drawn and likable — even the antagonists, to an extent. (Don’t they say every antagonist is the hero of his own story?) The tension comes from conflicting objectives and ambitions. I truly don’t have much of an idea what’s going to happen next — which means I’ll have to read on to find out!

I recommend this for readers who like their fantasy a little gritty and political, not to mention psychological. The first book probably isn’t for those seeking a great love story — although who knows what’s going to happen in the second?

9 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Book Review, Reading

February 20, 2013

But what if Hogwarts really does exist?

By Ellen Gregory

Hogwarts

Last year, I gave my nine year old niece the first Harry Potter book for her birthday. She wasn’t much of a bookworm… in fact, she preferred books on science or the natural world. Nonetheless, I decided to impose my love of Harry Potter on her and crossed my fingers that she would like it.

To my great delight, she loved it. She devoured Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and then immediately read it again. Following that, books 2 and 3 were borrowed and consumed. She hasn’t been permitted to read book 4 yet, but that’s only caused her to turn to the myriad other fantasy and adventure novels available for middle-grade readers. Almost overnight she turned into a bookworm.

Kudos to me, I think!

Last weekend, she and I sat down to a Harry Potter movie marathon of the first three movies. (She’s only allowed to watch each movie once she’s read the corresponding book — and to her credit she agrees with her mother’s ruling on this, because, having seen the first movie already, she’s already aware that the books are vastly superior and give her much more scope for the imagination.)

It was wonderful to sit with her and watch the films (which I’ve seen many times) with her for the first time — to experience her wonder, and calm her disquiet when she couldn’t quite remember what happened, and answer questions such as: “But what if Hogwarts really does exist? After all, we’re muggles, so how do we know it doesn’t?”

How easy it is to forget what it was like to be not-quite-ten with a keen imagination and love of far-away places… when we wanted so desperately for something to be real, we could almost persuade ourselves it was.

I’ve decided we’re going to have a Harry Potter Reading Club within the family, so all we adults have an excuse to re-read the books one at a time and discuss them together over afternoon tea…

In return for being a Harry Potter kindred spirit, I’ve also been inducted into the world of Pottermore – JK Rowling’s interactive web site for Harry fans. Here, one re-lives each book, chapter by chapter, collecting objects for one’s trunk, and attending Hogwarts as a student.

We get a shopping list in Diagon Alley, and with our budget of 500 galleons go shopping for all the school things we might need — including choosing a pet (I’ve got a black devilcat – heh) and being matched to a wand (sycamore with dragon heart string) — and then it’s off to Hogwarts to be sorted into a House (Gryffindor – huzzah!).

At the moment, I’m stuck in my first potions class, trying to figure out how to successfully make a potion within the time limit. It’s actually quite hard! You can earn house points and have ‘friends’ and leave messages on message boards etc — it’s kind of like facebook at Hogwarts. My user name is HazelDragon19664 — come play with me!

No wonder kids could almost be persuaded to believe Hogwarts might actually be real!

Have you ever wanted something so badly you’ve almost convinced yourself it’s happened? If Hogwarts really did exist, would you want to attend as a student? (I reckon I’d go back to high school just for the fun of it!)

 

16 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Movies, Reading, Reflection

January 26, 2013

Book Review: Forever and Ever, Amen ~ Liv Rancourt

By Ellen Gregory

Last Monday marked the launch of my friend Liv Rancourt‘s paranormal romance novel, Forever and Ever, Amen. Since I was lucky enough to score an Advanced Reader’s Copy, I thought I would share my thoughts on the book, which has been published as an e-book under the Crimson Romance label.

First, the official awesome blurb to put you in the picture:

Molly, a forty-something single mom, tangles with the wrong guy and gets a hell of a hickey. That blotch is really a demon’s mark, and she’ll have to face the three things that scare her most to get rid of it. First, Molly loses her job and then she has a near-sex experience with her philandering, not-quite-ex-husband. Worst of all, she has to sit by a hospital bed, wondering if her son is ever going to wake up.

The Powers That Be assign Cass to help her. He’s an angel who’s trying to earn a seat in the celestial choir by helping out a human in need. Vanquishing the demon would be his ticket up, but only if he plays by the rules. He’ll never earn his wings if he loses his heart to the lovely Molly. But she has even bigger things to worry about. She stands to lose her soul.

And here’s my review, which I’ve already posted on Amazon and Goodreads:

foreverandeveramen_LR

Forever and Ever, Amen ~
Liv Rancourt

Molly isn’t your average Romantic Heroine. For one thing, she spends as much energy caring for and worrying about her two rampant teenage kids, as she does dreaming about her guardian angel. Throw in the struggle for her soul with a demon, an ex-husband she’s clearly conflicted over, a job she hates, and a new entrepreneurial baking endeavor, and this story has many more dimensions than your average ‘Romance’.

I confess this threw me a little as I sat down to read my Advanced Reader’s Copy. My expectations of a ‘Romance Novel’ involve a fairly focused guy-girl storyline, often with little in the way of fleshed out secondary characters, and only minor subplots. But once I adjusted to (and embraced!) the fact that this book has far more substance than that, I settled back and very much enjoyed the journey.

In fact, Liv packs a lot of story into this little book. The many characters are clearly and individually drawn — including Molly’s daughter’s vampire boyfriend and a couple of hippy vegan occultists — and all story threads entwine relentlessly around Molly, hiking up the tension as her life disintegrates around her and she’s forced to reevaluate and reinvent herself in order to triumph.

But at the heart, of course, is Cass, Molly’s guardian angel. He appears in shiny surfaces at regular intervals to provide advice and encouragement, all the while trying not to fall for Molly, which is forbidden. One of the sexiest things about their relationship is that for most of the novel he exists in a different plane and cannot touch her — and when he finally breaches this restriction, Molly cannot look at him or he’ll be bound to the earthly plane. URST galore!

Rancourt’s writing style is witty and sharp with a good dose of humor, especially the dialog, which is used liberally. It all combines to generate a fast-paced and entertaining read. A small gripe I have would be that the demon is ultimately defeated a little too easily, but all the subplots are resolved with aplomb and if maybe the very end whisks by a little quickly I can forgive it.

It’s not often you see a forty-something woman as the romantic lead in such novels, and Molly is a worthy flag-bearer! If you like a gentle romance with a lot more going on than normal, this is definitely a book you should pick up!

 

9 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Book Review, Reading

January 23, 2013

Reading Australian Women Writers in 2013…

By Ellen Gregory

awwbadge_2013I’ve decided to take on the 2013 Australian Women Writers Challenge. This means I’m going to read and review a minimum of six books by Australian women writers. It totally fits in with my pledge to read more this year, and will hopefully help me prioritise which ones on my expanding pile get the nod!

I have a rough plan, at least to start with. In a pile beside my bed are two books by Kim Wilkins and two by Glenda Larke — I suspect I’ll read at least one of each.

I also intend to read my friend Deborah Kalin’s Shadow Queen and its sequel Shadow Bound. Then there’s The Devil’s Diadem by the late Sara Douglass.

And those are just the ones already sitting on either my bookshelf or kindle. I’ll have to rustle up a few more recent releases as well. Perhaps Kirstyn McDermott’s Perfections (even though I have already read the beta version)…

There is certainly no shortage of women fantasy/speculative fiction novelists in Australia. The more I think about it, the more excited I feel! I’m half tempted to increased my target number of six, but it’s always better to surpass expectation, isn’t it?

All right, fellow book-lovers — and this will test my international friends — has anyone got any amazing novel recommendations by Australian Women Writers? (They don’t have to be in the fantasy genre.) I’m wide open to suggestions!

 

14 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Reading

January 16, 2013

Women adopting male noms: When will we be past this?

By Ellen Gregory

Today I came across an article on Daily Life that discusses how female authors should consider male — or at least gender neutral — pseudonyms if they want to have a higher likelihood of being
a) published, b) reviewed, c) read by men.

This may or may not be true… but what makes me feel sad and a bit angry is that the subject has even come up. The idea that women should pretend to be men in pursuit of greater success is just infuriating.

We all know that’s how it used to be; but haven’t we come past this by now?

The article thus cited is actually not condoning this course of action, but rather promoting the Australian Women Writers Challenge (AWW) — an initiative aimed at encouraging people to read and review Australian women authors. It was kicked off last year very successfully, and I think I just might sign up for it this year. All are welcome — you can sign up for the 2013 challenge here.

Raising the profile of women’s writing is important, no matter how much we might lament the need.

But as for the idea that I might ever adopt a male pen name — forget it. We women need to stand up and be proud of being women, and scorn any man narrow-minded enough to discriminate against a book based on the gender of its author.

If someone elects not to read a book because of its subject, or style… that’s another matter entirely.

All right I’ll jump off the soap box now. Feedback, people? Thoughts on the topic? I accept there may be some alternate views I’ve not thought of…

Would any of you women authors reading this consider adopting a male pseudonym? What do you blokes think? [Bloke: Australian slang for man.]

 

24 comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Reading, Reflection

January 4, 2013

What I read in 2012

By Ellen Gregory

I ‘read’ something like 30 books in 2012 (as far as I can remember). This isn’t a huge total, but it’s quite a few more than I suspected. ‘Not reading’ was one of my huge frustrations last year — I couldn’t seem to fit it in!

Thank all the gods for audiobooks. Around two-thirds of the books I enjoyed last year were played to me in the car during my horrible work commute. This completely justifies my car-purchasing criterion of a USB media input for the car stereo system. Without audiobooks, I would have been tearing my hair out.

So what did I read?

In the car:

Robin Hobb marathon (8) – A friend lent me the audiobooks of pretty much all Robin Hobb’s works and I listened to The Liveship Traders trilogy, the first two of the Rain Wild Chronicles, and the complete Soldier Son trilogy. My favourites are definitely the Liveship books, but the Soldier Son books included some very interesting aspects… I always intended to blog about them but never got around to it.

Two by Kate Morton (2) — This year I listened to The Shifting Fog and The Distant Hours. I enjoyed both these modern/historical sprawling tales in Morton’s unique style, but not as much as The Forgotten Garden, which I loved a few years ago.

Several by Jasper Fforde (4) — I’ve just completed the first four of the Thursday Next books. The first, The Eyre Affair, is the best by a long way. These are not my usual reading, but they’ve been some light entertainment in the car.

Several by Kerry Greenwood (~4) — I’ve listened to about four of the Phryne Fisher 1920s detective novels. These are a lot of fun, and a fascinating view of Melbourne in the 1920s.

1984 (1) — I had never actually read George Orwell’s 1984, sad but true. I think it’s one of those books whose magnificence is revealed by the time you finish it. I’m not sure I liked it, but I appreciated it for sure.

That’s 19 audiobooks (at least)

In paperback:

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (3) – I had to read these to see what all the fuss was about, and enjoyed the first one in particular. They are very well written, although probably a bit grim and dark for my usual tastes. (Please NOTE: There are some other books I have not read, despite all the hype…)

Necklace of the Gods (aka Eona) by Alison Goodman (1) — I have just now completed the stunning sequel to The Two Pearls of Wisdom (aka Eon), after attending the launch nearly two years ago. This is writing and plotting and storytelling I can only aspire to… I might have to focus on this duology in some more depth at a later date.

Two Nightrunner novels by Lynn Flewelling (2) — I have a soft spot for this fantasy series, although I don’t think the later ones (The White Road and Casket of Souls) match the first three. Nonetheless, a good fantasy romp in a traditional style.

That’s a mere 6 paperbacks! I can’t think of any others…

On the kindle:

My kindle reading hasn’t been too much more voluminous, and has consisted mainly of a few releases by some of my online WANA buddies (once again, I haven’t gotten around to posting about any of them yet…). The most notable are:

Wicked Sense by Fabio Bueno — This is a YA paranormal, which is evidently selling VERY well indeed.

A Vampire’s Deadly Delight by Liv Rancourt — A novella about a woman who harbours a vampire-slaying superhero within. Very entertaining and original.

The Love of her Lives by Sharon Clare — Sharon’s first paranormal romance publication.

In addition to the above:

Perfections by Kirstyn McDermott — I was a beta reader early this year for this recently released novel by my very good friend. It’s a modern gothic fairy tale about two sisters and their not-so-imaginary friend. The prose is lyrical and this fairy tale goes to a very dark place (as do most of Kirstyn”s works). I hope to have Kirstyn on the blog in a few weeks to tell you more about it.

Forever and Ever, Amen by Liv Rancourt — I was lucky enough to score an advanced readers copy of Liv’s forthcoming paranormal romance publication. I will post more detailed thoughts closer to its release date!

That’s another 5 on the kindle, plus possibly a few more…

I’m not especially happy with this tally, especially as there are so few recent releases on there. And especially given how few I actually read as words on the ‘page’… PATHETIC!

One of my missions for 2013 is to allocate more dedicated time for reading the old fashioned way (and here I count the kindle!). I’m not going to set myself a target number, but I would like to get back into the habit of reading in the evenings.

After all, reading is one of the cornerstones of being able to write well.

Moreover, I have this PILE of paper backs I want to read… actually, multiple piles. And then there are all the titles I wrote down throughout the year as other bloggers wrote posts or answered questions — on this blog or theirs — about their favourite books. Aaargh!

Of course, there is the risk that I commence reading at around 11pm and then find myself propping my eyes open with toothpicks at 2 or 3am… As has been happening this week. Somehow I need to find a happy medium.

How did everyone else go with their reading this year?

 

8 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Reading

December 21, 2012

Why I write – 5 reasons from Liv Rancourt

By Ellen Gregory

Paranormal and/or Romance author Liv Rancourt is my guest today and I like her post so much I think I’ll follow up next week with one of my own on the same topic. She’s addressing a question I ask myself frequently… Why do I write?

She’s also included an excerpt at the bottom from her recently published short story, The Santa Drag. I hope you enjoy and consider checking out her story.

Take it away, Liv!

*******

First I want to say thanks, Ellen, for the chance to do a guest post for your blog, and for your patience with my somewhat flexible deadline…

Why I write

In a recent blog post, Veronica Sicoe articulates the five things she wants to do with her writing. (Jump HERE for her post.) It’s a very thoughtful piece, and as I read it I thought, “Wow, I’m not sure I could come up with a similar five things if I wanted to.”

So of course, I decided to try.

With just a hint of a drum-roll, here are the five things I want my writing to accomplish. Assuming I can come up with five, that is…

1. I want to write smart…

…because I believe if you write smart, you’ll make people think. While I know not everyone wants to grapple with IDEAS when they read – some people watch reality TV, too – I’m talking about little thoughts, more of the, “Wow, that’s sort of interesting,” scope. IDEAS belong to angst-ridden twenty-somethings, anyway. If I can gently prod someone into looking at things in a slightly different way, then I’ve done my job.

2. I want to write funny…

…because a spoon full of sugar helps…well, you know. Laughter is the lubricant that keeps the grinding gears of life turning. Wow. Deep. Did I just say that? I laugh at myself and, affectionately, at my characters. Life is strange. Enjoy it.

3. I want a place for all my previous obsessions to hang out.

I’m a neonatal nurse and for awhile I compulsively searched eBay looking for the perfect mid-century china and I can design and execute some pretty esoteric needlework patterns and I love singing Gregorian chant. And some, if not all, of that has turned up in my fiction, and will likely continue to do so. It saves on research time if you’ve already lived it.

4. I want to tell the truth, as I see it.

And I’ve had fifty years to experience it, so in theory at least I should have a handle on it. I don’t care how crazy your plot line is, if there’s not a substrate of truth in how the characters respond, then your readers won’t have as much fun reading it, and you can write clever dialogue till the cows come home, but if your reader can’t imagine anyone actually SAYING it, then you’ve lost them. It’s like peeling an apple. I throw down a bunch of ideas, then try to peel the B.S. away until only the good stuff is left.

5. I want to entertain readers…

…to surprise them, and most importantly, to make them set the book down with a warmer heart, no matter how gritty the subject matter is. In my books, the good guys win. Just wish real life was more like that…

And that, my friends, is what I want to do with my writing. I can’t say I’m 100% successful, but these are worthy goals. What about you? What do you want to accomplish with your writing?

Thanks again, Ellen! Happy Holidays!!

Liv

Excerpt from The Santa Drag
by Liv Rancourt
The Santa Drag2

So the only paying gig Mackenzie can find is playing Santa in the Mall…

On a particularly busy Saturday, I was tired and thinking more about a double shot of espresso than I was about the pile of kids who wanted to sit in my lap. The weak winter sun was making its circle over the atrium where the Christmas Village was set up, and my roommate Shauna was buzzing by every so often to giggle at me from the sidelines. She was trying to get all of her Christmas shopping done in one day, which was a good trick for someone with as many fertile brothers and sisters as she had.

“Come sit on Santa’s lap.” Maya, the photographer and kid-wrangler, invited the next kid in line approach my golden throne. Well, it was fake gold, but the kids didn’t know that.

“No,” said a little girl with a stubborn crease between her brows. She was dressed in Seattle’s version of Christmas formal, a stiff, red velvet dress, likely made from organic fabric dyed with beets and rose hips. On her feet were two-toned leather MaryJanes that probably cost sixty-five dollars. At least the green corkscrew ribbons tied around her blond pigtails looked like they belonged on a child. I made myself as approachable as possible, getting down to her level and producing a big smile.

“Come on, Thula,” her mother said, tapping one French manicured nail on her cell phone. “Go sit up there with Santa so we can take your picture.” She sounded as if this was just one more thing to knock off the list.

“It’s okay, sweetie.” Maya put on her encouraging smile. Maya was a tiny thing, barely bigger than most of the kids we saw, with long dark hair, a tiny gold hoop pierced through one nostril, and bugged-out eyes that looked like they’d been molded out of chocolate. She was non-threatening as an adult could possibly be. The kid stared at her and bit down on her bottom lip. At least she wasn’t crying. Yet.

“You want to come tell Santa what to bring you for Christmas?” I kept my voice pitched down somewhere under my sternum. It helped that I had one of those raspy lady voices that earned me a permanent spot in the tenor section whenever I sang in choir.

“No.”

Sometimes less is more when you’re dealing with preschoolers. We went back and forth for several minutes until the kid went from biting her bottom lip to letting it pooch out and tremble. Never a good sign. Finally, after a ton of coaxing, she was more-or-less close to me, squatting down on the other side of one of the big pretend presents that ringed my throne. That was good enough for her mom, and Maya snapped a picture.

When she was done, the little girl glared at me from behind the big, glossy red ribbon that topped the present. “Bring me a baby brother,” she bellowed and took off running.

Mom’s glare was meaner than the kid’s had been. Hey, it’s not like I made any promises.

The kid ran full tilt past the pseudo-Tyrolean houses that made the Village, and out through the crowds of shoppers. She stopped in the middle of an open space and cut loose, her sobs echoing around the smoky glass dome that covered us. We could hear her carrying on until she and her mom got swallowed up by the Ross store at the end of the north hallway. The whole place fell into a bit of a hush when she was gone, as everyone exhaled in relief. This close to Christmas, none of us needed a crying child to ratchet up the stress level.

A young mother was next in line. She came into the Christmas Village and positioned a slightly damp baby on my lap, moving as if something hurt. The baby was so young that Mom still looked a little pregnant under her loose denim-blue shirt. Or maybe she was already pregnant with number two. I’m not so good with the principles of baby production. Well, I understand the basic concepts, but haven’t had that many opportunities to put them into practice.

The brief quiet was interrupted by a yodeling squeal that I recognized. I stared into the crowd until I caught Maya looking at me funny. I stuck on a smile as close to my normal, jolly-Santa shtick as I could get, and she settled back down behind her camera. The reason for my roommate Shauna’s squeal had me completely rattled. In the two or three beats I’d looked out from behind my wire-rimmed glasses as Mack-the-girl, I’d seen Shauna giving someone a big hug. A really handsome someone. Joe McBride. Joseph Timothy McBride. The actor. The real-life, got a soap opera gig and several commercials and you saw him in Scream 2 actor. The only guy I ever really loved.

Ooh, now she’s got a problem! Will Mack turn all Creepy-Kringle? Will Joe recognize her? What’s a Santa to do? ;)

The Santa Drag is available from Still Moments Publishing, Smashwords, and Amazon.

About Liv Rancourt

Liv Rancourt writes paranormal and romance, often at the same time. She lives with her husband, two teenagers, two cats and one wayward puppy. She likes to create stories that have happy endings, and finds it is a good way to balance her other job in the neonatal intensive care unit. Liv can be found on-line at her website & blog (www.livrancourt.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/liv.rancourt), or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/LivRancourt).

*******

Thanks for hanging out here, Liv, and sharing with us your deepest thoughts and an excerpt from The Santa Drag.

foreverandeveramen_LRIs it also OK to mention your forthcoming publication under the Crimson Romance label – Forever and Ever, Amen – ?? Can we get excited for you??

To reiterate Liv’s questions (to writers) at the end of her post: What about you? What do you want to accomplish with your writing? Please do leave us a comment!

As mentioned, I intend to follow up with a similar post on ‘Why I write’ next week, and I hope other writers reading this will feel inspired to do likewise!

12 comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Fridays with Friends, Reading

December 18, 2012

When you read, do you hear voices in your head?

By Ellen Gregory

One of the reasons I enjoy audiobooks so much, aside from their role in alleviating my commuting boredom, is due to the interpretation given to the text by a good reader/narrator. Often actors and performers, these good narrators not only give texture and inflection to the narrative, but also tend to put on voices to distinguish all the characters.

One rather memorable series — Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy — even used individual actors for all the dialogue, separate from the narrator.

It occurred to me today, as I listened to a narrator put on a high squeaky voice for a talking cat, use jaded disingenuous intonations for a shady politician, and adopt various other different voices for a cast of larger-than-life characters, that maybe — if the author describes the voice of a character as deep, or croaky, or a ‘light tenor’, or husky, or sultry etc — some readers fill in these blanks for themselves in their heads?

I don’t, you see.

When I read, I ‘hear’ very little variation in tone, unless the dialogue is written in a specific way that is very evocative of, say, a blustery Englishman who used to hunt elephants in Africa. In such cases I may adopt an archetypal voice in my head for that character.

Otherwise, I have this single inner voice that is ‘man’ and another that is ‘woman’… These voices speak with neutral accents and are largely unremarkable.

This highlights how important it is for authors to work on their characters’ dialogue and make sure characters speak with individual voices to help them come alive in the reader’s mind — or inner ear. For readers like me, it’s simply not enough to state what they sound like once and expect me to fill in the gaps. (For example, I would never imagine a squeaky voice in my head, no matter how many times I was reminded.)

The question of accent I also find interesting. I guess I would assume most readers would ‘hear’ characters speak in an accent close to their own, unless the dialogue was very well written to suggest otherwise. Even if you tell me a novel is set in the USA, I’m going to hear a neutral Australian accent in my head (not a really broad one).

Given this, I find it fascinating when you look at two of the more recent grand fantasy epics on our screens — the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Game of Thrones Series.

In the case of LOTR, the cast comprised actors from the USA, UK, NZ and Australia (and probably elsewhere), yet all spoke with pseudo-English accents (mostly). Why was this? And then the same thing with Game of Thrones. Is a pseudo-English accent the accepted accent for epic fantasy? Why? Is it because they’re largely derived from the European medieval archetype?

I confess I would probably find it jarring to hear US accents in both those productions, but then I’m not American. To me, the pseudo-English/neutral accents seemed very fitting.

All this has me intrigued and I’m really interested to have some discussion here on this blog. Do you ‘hear’ different voices and accents in your head when you read? How much variation do you ‘hear’ and does it come naturally or do you have to work at it?

 

12 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Reading, Reflection

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