Gladius and Daggers From Signing!

Not so Futile

Today was an exercise in futility. Until I started thinking of something that had its' beginning on Saturday, and then I realized it wasn't such a futile day after all.

On Saturday, during the book signing 'hactually, a coworker asked me if we had any copies of The Final Storm signed. He had a customer, two actually, who were avid fans of m'lord Batson and they were rather desperate to have a signed copy of The Final Storm seeing they would be leaving the country early in May and had been visiting family here in the states. My coworker relayed his dilemma and the disappointment of the two young ladies who had been given a signed copy of Rise of the Wyrm Lord earlier this month.

So there I am, at work and not only am I caught in a dilemma of disappointment and frustration, so are three other souls. But the story doesn't end there. thankfully though it started to look like it might.

The family decided that they want a signed copy of The Final Storm and seeing as we didn't have one, they leave defeated.

Unbeknownst to them, my coworker takes over for the girls, laying out his own money to get a copy of the book in faith believing that if this is what Jesus wants, things will fall into place. And then he asks me, if I think that I could ask Wayne to come in and sign the book for him, for the girls. Now why did he come to me after we went through all that annoyance on Saturday? We still didn't have any signed copies on Monday-but since I am the store's liason, since I happen to have worked with m'lord Batson on book signings for the store, he has been gracious enough to come in and sign books for other customers when I ask-my coworker has hope that I can ask and Wayne will say yes

Now, bear in mind, Wayne Thomas Batson has a lovely family, teaches in public middle school, and is under contract to write books so his time is not exactly available in buckets and bushels to run in and sign books, he's got to work it into his schedule. To his credit he's always come in, never made it feel like I'm inconvienancing him in any way and he is always a delight. But this time, I asked him not only to come in and sign, but come in and sign double-quick.

Well, I ask on Monday and he comes in that afternoon! He signs the book wonderfully as he always does and signs the paper back as well, and chats a moment or two about the upcoming tour and the really awesome sword he gets to play with, I mean take with him, from the Armor of God gentleman. So, Monday night I have the signed copy of the book for the girls in my possession. Tuesday I am stuck at home fuming because I have to wait for the doctor to call back about my heart and all the crud that's been going on with it. All day, I wait, and wait, and wait, knowing that I need to get the book which is now signed, and paid for, up to the other store branch so it can get delivered to the location where my coworker usually works. If I haven't mentioned it before, the store where I work has three branches. I work at two of them, alternating on occasion, and my coworker does the same so we are really like ships passing in the night.

So I fume most of the day, wanting to go and get the book up to him, knowing the job is only half done, and we are racing the clock. The sooner the book is in my coworkers possession, the sooner it's to the girls. Finally the doctor calls, and while it's not good news, it's not bad really either. Just incredibly annoying. He doesn't know what's wrong-and I'm not his problem any longer-he hands me off to the internest.

Finally free, I drive up to work (on my day off) and deliver the book-but it's missed the transfer and so it'll have to stay there till my coworker, who bought it, picks it up on his own time and takes it to the girls.

So I am practically grinding my teeth on the way home when it hits me, or rather He hits me with it.

Wayne sacrifieced time, and wrote the book and dedicated it to Him.
We believed in Wayne's talent and had three booksignings to get word out to people about the book he wrote.
Someone spent money on the book and got the girls hooked on his tale telling
They come back on their own and buy the second book and read that as well
My coworker comes up witht the grand scheme to get the book for them-putting out his own money-and asks me to as Wayne to get it signed.
I ask
Wayne comes in and signs the book.
I take the book home
I take the book to work on my day off-not getting paid to transport it either place.
The book gets picked up by my coworker on his day off
He takes it to the girls
Who take it out of the country and read it and share it with others.

"Some plant, some water, but the Lord brings the increase."

So not so futile a day after all.

Sunday Crusin. .

Sunday, I took the time to rest that I needed to take. Service was short, but rather profound and we were looking at and pondering the Wedding in Cana, and the water-into-wine miracle that Jesus preformed. Lots of interesting things there, including the fact that Mary most likely didn't expect Jesus to preform a miracle at that time. At least not according to the Pastor she didn't, and for the first time, it made sense what she said to the servants. He was the oldest male relative at the time at the wedding that was related to Mary and her relaying to him the serious problem that was unfolding was not to push Him to act supernaturally but to have Him act in some way to avoid having the shame come crashing down on her (she was most likely an aunt to either the bride or the groom according to early church documents) and the rest of the extended family. So Mary expected Him to go and get wine, or to act in some way to prevent the shame but she wasn't pressing him to do a miracle like some people teach.

I knew I liked Mary!

After service I cleaned up, and then Artchick and I went to Record and Tape Traders so she could exchange some CD's and DVD's, I found Fleetwood Mac's "Say You Will" for $6.99 and "Hewy Lewis & The News Greatest Hits" for $11.99 so I was happy, but there were an awful lot of items in that particular store I wish I hadn't seen. I mean I know stuff's out there, and I know that people buy it and all, but it made my stomach tighten walking down the isles and seeing it sitting out there. Anyway, after purchasing the CD's and getting a large ice tea from their cooler, Artchick and I headed over to Barnes & Noble. I didn't find anything there :( but she found several books, and then we headed to Safeway to get something for dinner. Not a bad day really, and I came home and watched several Remmington Steele episodes and did laundry.

A Legend That Is Most Sweet

The signing went better than expected on Saturday, though there were some moments I wasn't sure that it was going to come together at all.

It started out bad, I overslept and while I wasn't slated to come in and open I thought I'd be up and doing things long before 9:00AM. So I was playing ''catch up'' from the moment I hit the floor in the morning. I had to make several signs, things like ''Books must be purchased before they are signed" and "Arms and Armor donated by Baltimore Knife and Sword Company"

Yes, I was blessed to have real blades at the signing, on loan from a good friend whose sons run BK&S, hence the link I have up now. Matt and Kerry are two very talented metalsmiths whose work is being requested all over the world by swordmasters and LARP members alike. The steel used in the swords you see for sale on most sites is so thin and so brittle that the blades brake within weeks of use. They are great for decoration but not for demonstration. I wish I could say that I was friends with Matt and Kerry and was within driving distance to their lovely stash of weapons, but alas, I'm not.

:-D I just happen to know their Dad who gets the most awesome birthday-father's day-christmas gifts ever from them.

The gladius that I had up on the wall (yes, yes I took pictures and I will post them this week) runs $1500.00US and Matt's only made the one so far, the daggers I think his father said are somewhere between $500.00 and $800.00 US. But when you hold them in your hand, the balance, the way that they just snug into your hand and become an extension of your arm make you never want to put them down. I have fallen in love with the gladius and I don't want to give it back! I will, of course, but not without tears and separation pangs.

If you go and visit their site, be sure to check out the ''product'' page, Matt's updating the whole site slowly but surely and that's the most recent part to my knowledge.

I also wanted to print out an email sign up list for Bryan Saturday morning so he could keep in touch with his fans, and that took time and then I had to find the captain's inkwell, find where I'd stashed the slips of paper we were using to differentiate books brought in from books purchased at the store, and get all that lovely paper and the teal/water calico into the van. So instead of eating breakfast and doing all my normal morning things like a normal person I skipped the meal, rushed about madly, and barely made it to the store at 11:00AM, one hour before the signing started. Austin and I had talked the night before when I was taking the product down and putting the display together for the author that the sword and daggers looked utterly fantastic on the wall but seeing as there were little customers in the store and he had to do other things and we didn't want them getting stolen or manhandled the best thing to do was to take them down, lock them up tight, and put them back out the next morning. Saturday morning, however, was so busy at the store that we revised that plan and decided not to put them out till the start of the signing, because then Bryan would be there and he'd be sitting in front of them and could make sure that the curious fans were kept a safe distance away, holding to the ''look but don't touch'' rule.

Mom had volunteered to come along and take pictures of the event for me because I'm usually behind the counter at customer service ringing and can't get out and do much else for a while, so she came along and helped me place the blue cloth and we tinkered with some of the props for a bit and then I remembered that I was suppose to get bagels as my part of the food for the signing. So, Mom to the rescue again, she whisked me up to the local Panera and we got 18 bagels and two spreads (one sweet one savory) and then got back to the store just as Bryan pulled up in his car. *Whew* I didn't know that you could pack so much into one hour.

So I met Bryan in person, and he was as delightful as he'd come across in his e-mails. I really liked him right away and relaxed because he was relaxed. He loved the set up and settled right in, and Austin brought out the gladius and the daggers and we put them up on the wall with the books along with the poster that Bryan had brought of the book cover art. The first sale happened about ten minutes after and Bryan was just as kind and as relaxed with that customer as he had been with me, and that was to set the tone for the whole event. Everyone that came up to him, he treated as if they were the only one there and as if he had all the time in the world to spend just talking with them.

He had some family show up too and that was fantastic as well, he had his sister and her fiance' and they stayed quite a bit and were just delights, and his wife stopped in and was just as nice and relaxed as he was and grateful too to see his work set off with the props I brought together. Other fans showed up as the day went on and he confided to me that he'd told people when they purchased his book to come to the store and he'd sign it that day for them, which was a stroke of brilliance. His sister too took some time to hand out these really nifty cards the publisher had sent along to promote his book. In the down time between as he put it ''the mad rush and press of the crowd" (we weren't really that busy all the time which made that funny) he talked with me about writing and his faith and Christ and his time studying with Francis Schaefer and his next book and I had a blast, a real blast, and he wrote some very nice things in my copy of his book. We sold 27 copies of Legend of the FireFish total, and the owner, my lovely boss, had him sign 6 more for the stores.

The event was so well done, she said, that we could most definately have him back in September when his next book will be available. *Yay* that's what I wanted!

Tired Tired Scribe

Long long day today, but this is the ''eve'' of the book signing and it's not unusual for me to pull a 12 hour day the day before. 9-3 I spent working in the smaller store, and then from 4ish on I worked at the main store (off clock) setting up until round about 7:30ish. The signing sight in the store is all the way in the back, next to customer service. There are two reasons for that, the first being that you look down the length of the store as you walk in through the front doors straight back to customer service, so it's a bull's eye for customer service, and the second reason is that it's right beside the forth register where I can help all the lovely fans coming in to buy the books. However the space was full of product (imagine that) which I needed to move to other locations in the store which were also full of product (hard to believe I know) so I spent a good 40 minutes just juggling the stuff around before actually getting to the point where I had a blank canvas to work from. Then, I realised I didn't have the table I was going to use as his writing surface *d'oh* and also didn't have the poster that he was going to bring *double d'oh* so that limited me a bit. I did get the wall done, lovely lanterns up and lion heads too and one sword and two daggers all displayed nicely among the books and everyone really like the way it looked.

But it was incomplete, and just when I had decided that I wasn't going to be able to do any more, Mom and Dad called and said they were bringing the table up *YAY*. And when they got there, Mom decided to stay and help me with the table lay out till we were both satisfied that it looked really cool. That's when I finally left around 7:30ish. Now tomorrow I have to be up and dressed and relatively sane by 11:00AM to be at the store no later than 11:15 AM to do all the last little bits of things and wait for Bryan and his family to show up. Signings from 12-4 pm tomorrow and I'll be there probably from 11-5 with all the set up and breaking down. Doesn't sound like a long day but it'll feel like one, but it'll be a lot of fun too.

Long Sharp Metal Pointy Things .. .

The hematologist was very kind, but not very helpful, and going into his office was rather tramatic.

You see not only is his office that of a hematologist, but because he deals with alot of oncology (cancer) patients it is also a infusion center. And in the waiting room of his office is where they receive their infusions.

I have never seen anything so frightening or macabre.

Chairs with straps on the arms are lined up like airline seats and overhead hang IV bags of clear or lightly colored liquid which are connected to the patients seated in the chairs. These patients arms are held in place with the straps, and in and out of the whole set up weave nurses and techs Now, that in and of itself isn't too macabre but the way that the biohazard containers on the counters fill up with bloody lines and needles, the way the patients slump in the chairs, or look blankly out the window, the shuffling, uncertain steps those patients take when they get up and had to go to use the bathroom, are. It is beyond creepy.

After the creepiness out in the waiting area I went in to see the doctor and he was very kind, assuring me that I didn't need the kind of treatment his other patients were receiving but he also said that he wasn't really sure why I was there. Great. I had taken all my files down to him earlier in the week (well Mom took them after I signed all the darn privacy waivers so she could) and he looked at them and said that it wasn't low iron or low thyroid.

He says that the sinus tachycardia is not caused by anything he can help me with which means that I have to go to an internest. Because while sinus tachycardia isn't fatal, some of the things that cause it can be a tad nastier.

Moan.

Also, when they went to draw blood to test for other things, before actually he told me that he couldn't help me with anything, *ahem* my veins did not cooperate. So I got stuck, and stuck, and stuck, and stuck. The last place the tech tried was on the under side of my wrist and it did not tickle. See there's a nerve that lives there, the same nerve that would have been severely mangled by the nail driven into Christ's hand, was annoyed by the needle that they used on me. There's a reason the word 'excruciating' means ''out of the cross''. And I just got a light flick on that nerve. I don't know how He kept from screaming as they drove the nail into His hand.

Christians and Fantasy and Magic

Everyone has made wonderful points here, some looking at Tolkien and Lewis and hashing out what has been already done by Christians writers past and present, others looking at the intent of the writer and wrestling with the responsibility that an author has to their readers, still others sharing straight from their hearts.

While I don’t agree with everything said it’s refreshing to see this topic handled with respect for one another and with real passion for the truth.

I came at the question a little differently, and started digging about in the Bible just to remind myself what the Lord says about witchcraft, sorcery, and magic. I knew He forbade it to those who followed Him, but what I didn’t remember is just how much He hates it. The language in the Scripture is so heated about this topic that there is no middle ground, magic of any kind is an abomination to Him. Here are several references that I found, though I’m sure there are plenty more.

“You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying.” Lev. 19:26

"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer” Deut. 18:10

"You shall not allow a sorceress to live.” Exodus. 22:18

“They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10"You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun."

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.” Acts 13: 6-12

“And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver” Acts 19:19

So there is no ‘good’ magic according to Scripture, and with respect to the others here, the miracles done both by Christ and the Apostles are never referred to as ‘magic’ deeds. They are supernatural, above the realm of what man can do, but they are not magic. Magic is, according to Webster’s Dictionary ”The use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces b : magic rites or incantations 2 a : an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source b : something that seems to cast a spell 3 : the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand” And a miracle is “ An extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs” the italics are mine. Magic by its’ nature (leaving out the occult which is inherently part of it) is impersonal and the one guiding or starting the magic is the one held up as the savior or hero. In contrast miracles give glory to God, for only He, no mortal and no impersonal force is able to speed up, interrupt, or turn back the natural laws of our world.

At the heart of all magic is the same darkness that is found in Satan’s intent to overthrow the Lord and be worshiped in His place, the same darkness of the first sin in the Garden of Eden, it is the rejection of the Lord’s order of things and the attempted seizing of power that belongs only to Him.

Having sited all of those things I’m sure the majority of you reading this are wondering why I took so long to go over why magic is wrong when the topic was ”Is there an issue with Christians using magic in fantasy worlds they have created?” I wanted to clearly define what magic is before I went on to say that yes, it is wrong for a Christian to write magic in a fantasy world that they create and use it for anything other than evil. Magic is a stench in the Lord’s nostrils and there is no way that it can bring glory to Him. I know that C.S.Lewis and Tolkien wrote magic in their books and the Christian community embraces them as legends and heroes of the faith. But their works are tainted, according to what is found in Scripture.

There are thousands of readers, perhaps tens of thousands of them today that argue and argue very well that Tolkien and Lewis wrote fantasy, not Christian Fantasy and that there is no real Christian message in their works, just good solid themes common to all of literature. I respect both gentlemen greatly, and their books are by far some of the best in their field to date but that doesn’t mean I am blind to the flaws in them.

How much stronger would it have been if Aslan had said to Susan in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe “Work against the Emperor’s power?” instead of “Work against the Emperor’s magic?” or “This is the Deep Power” instead of “This is the Deep Magic”. And if Tolkien had called Gandalf something other than a wizard, if he had his elves merely dominate and control certain elements as their natural gift, then there would be less room for readers to debate his intent.

As for the thought that the world that is created by the writer is subject to its’ own laws and exists outside of our own and therefore it is okay to have magic in it both good and bad, I would say this; we live in this world, we write in this world, and we are subject to the Lord for this is His world. It grieves Christ to have any one following Him to do anything with magic. Therefore it grieves Him to have us write magic.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to writing magic in fantasy. You can pen a rip-snorting adventure with passion and danger and creatures that dazzle the imagination without a single sorcerer in the mix. How do I know this? I know this because I’ve found the books that do just that; The Door Within, Rise of the Wyrm Lord, The Final Storm, Legend of the FireFish, Children in the Night, A Wolf Story, The Bloodstone Chronicles, Landon Snow and the Auctor’s Riddle, Bark of the Bog Owl and Rise of the Dibor just to name a few. I know this because Christian authors have created fantasy realms without magic that have hooked me heart and soul and they are; Wayne Thomas Batson, George Bryan Polivka, Harold Myra, James Byron Huggins, Bill Myers, R.K. Mortenson, Jonathan Rogers, and Christopher Hopper. And I know this because I have met writers like you, who have dazzled me with your ideas and made me impatient to see and buy your books.

I’ll close with this, don’t be swayed by my words alone, one day they will pass away just like everything else on this planet. His words won’t, and The Author and Finisher of your faith, the Word dwells within you. Seek after Him, ask Him to explain this matter to you and He will, and He’ll do it so much better than I have.

If you are interested in further dialog on this matter, come by my blog and leave me a comment, I’m posting this there too. I pray I haven’t hurt any here, I admire you all greatly. You are such and encouragement to me and a delight to my heart.

More Picks!

Here are the picks!

Staging

Every time I do a signing, and this will be number 4 for me, I make sure that I'm the one doing the staging as well. I do this because I'm usually the one that's been heading the whole thing, and logically am the one that knows the most about the book. Staging for signings is nothing new but over the past 5 years and due in large part to Harry Potter, it has become more and more accepted and expected by fans, especially those of the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre.

Staging for Legend of the FireFish is going to be extremely important because the signing falls on the busiest day of the week, Saturday. It will be in direct competition with all the items on sale in the catalog and people shopping for First Communion, Confirmation, and Mother's Day. Which is why on Friday night, after I get off work I will be setting up for the signing. I''ll be ''off the clock'' and doing things on my own time, but that's really the only way to get it done, otherwise I'll be far far too busy to set up and be rushed on Saturday and that's no way to start an event.

I have pulled together all the props I will be using for Legend of the FireFish and have already mocked up the setup here at home. And it looked darned good too. Here's what I have:

1) Flecked white canvas for the table cover accented by the neatest looking warm blue calico fabric that really looks like water in the Caribbean.

2) Two metal lamps that are very nautical in nature

3) Two wooden boxes with metal hinges and metal key flaps on the front that are ''distressed''

4) Wooden ships wheel roughly two feet in diameter for the wall behind the table

5) Dark calico cloth that has a maritime map print on it made into a ''chart book''

6) Whimsical garden ''fish'' statue made of plastic that looks very much like the art from the 1800's and fits in with the feel of the book perfectly

7) Brass Captain's inkwell

8) Pair of brass anchor bookends

9)Assorted swords and daggers for wall behind the table borrowed from pastor-friend.

Tomorrow, I'll try and put up pictures of the individual items.

Long Day Short Day

Long Day Short Day

Today was rough, one of those days where you hit the ground running and know in your heart of hearts that you aren't going to get everything done no matter how hard you try. And I didn't. I did however get all the Monday paperwork done, and talked to the radio station as per the owner to get a tag running for this week and next about Bryan's signing. Bless the owner, he really is behind me in these events, I mean I do all the leg work, all the staging, all the interfacing with the papers and the author and just about anyone else who will listen to me but he backs me up with the $$$ for the advertising. Still haven't gotten the book in, and that's just a tad worrisome but hey, we have 13 days to go and I'm sure it'll get here. It's just nice when it gets here early, right now I can't really talk too much about the book with customers, I mean they can't buy it so that really is a tease.The ones I know well I've already been talking to about it and they are delighted that we are having another signing, though really the funny thing is they keep asking about the other author and when is he going to be doing something. I always tell em to ask for me because I keep tabs on where he is and what he's doing when I can and hopefully we'll have him back either this summer or this fall for another signing. They are fun. Lots and lots and lots of work , probably over 100 man hours from start to finish, but oh so much fun. If you ever get a chance to go to a book signing -RUN- do not -WALK- to it and while you are there take a moment to really talk with the author and with the fans that have come out to meet them.

So I got the signing finally wrapped up (advert anyway) and then ran around the rest of the day like some mad dog tearing down displays and putting up shelf talkers and double and triple checking things and we still aren't all done yet. *sigh*

Ressurrection Sunday!

I have been given an embarrassment of riches today! Which really isn't the point of Resurrection Sunday, but you know, giving gifts is one of my main ways of expressing love, and I really do think that getting so many lovely things today is Christ's way of saying "I AM here, Michelle, right in the middle of this hard place with you, and I AM here, in the hearts of those that love you, in the hands of those that are near you, in the mouths of the ones that gather with you to celebrate today. I AM here."

Now for the a quick run-down of the delights of today. I slept in, (I've been having night mares each and every night this week) and when Mom came to wake me up I only half roused and then went back to sleep. And had a night mare. It was a rather detailed one involving the place I stayed in Ireland when I was on my mission trip, Harrison Ford (who was actually trying to get me and the rest of the poor prisoners out of there) and lots of very evil scientists who wanted to do nasty things to us. Harrison Ford had just worked out how we could get out of the place and I was about to run down a hall when Dad came to see if I was ready for breakfast and he woke me out of the night mare. Well, my heart hit like a trip hammer for over a minute and that was not the best way to wake. However, the day got better from there. Artchick had left my Easter present where I would see it first thing seeing as she wasn't there to give it to me in person ( I love him, he's a cuddly soft little lion that I named Jake in honor of Artchick's favorite actor) and the prettiest flower card with the sweet things written inside to make me, he honorary ''big sis'' mist up.

I dressed and went down to breakfast which was a virtual feast! We had ham and cheese and eggs (not that I ate any) and cranberry scones with pom butter on the side, and turkey sausage. I had a scone and some sausages and then we opened presents (we don't do candy). I got a bunny that sings, (so I'd laugh and smile more) and a basket of really pretty flowers (because I have been saying how much I want flowers right now) and a signed hard cover of The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn! I was blown away. I got Mom a copy of The Nativity and Dad got a $25.00 gift certificate to Home Depot (TM), and I gave Artchick a DVD of The Secret Garden & A Little Princess. Then we all washed up together and church was "The Miracles of Jesus" DVD in small group. The teaching today was on the healing of the woman who had the issue of blood, and then Jarius' daughter. I really enjoyed it.We talked for a long bit about where we might go for vacation this coming year. Then I did some writing and Mom and Dad surfed the net.

We decided that we were going to skip lunch and we watched several Remmington Steele episodes instead and had more fun pointing out the fashion trends and old cars. We had dinner around 4:30 and it was comprised of filet minion, baked potatoes, and green beans with chocolate cake studded with jelly beans. Then, we watched the remaining Remmington Steele episodes, and decided after the second washing up, we would watch Wind in the Willows on PBS.

And that brings that day to a close. Hope you had a lovely time too everyone. Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. I really do appreciate it.

-Scribe

Christopher Hopper's Rise of the Dibor

Recently, I wrote that I was reading Rise of the Dibor in my profile. And I am, and I was, but my reading got interrupted by George Bryan Polivka and his book, Legend of the FireFish. It's always a good idea to have read the book that you are promoting! Customers tend to trust you more and buy the book you are recommending when you can answer them "Yes, I've read it and I really enjoyed it" rather than "The cover looks really cool and it's nice and thick!"

I really did enjoy reading Legend of the FireFish, it's a swashbuckling adventure along the lines of The Black Swan or Captain's Courageous with a really cool new world to explore and Leviathan type creatures that threaten life and limb and characters that are both complex and believable, but I have felt bad about having that ''Currently reading'' in my profile when I wasn't reading Christopher's book any longer. So, last week I picked up Rise of the Dibor and started reading it once more.

It is a very, very good thing that I hadn't gotten this far into Dibor when I had to put it down or I would have suffered major separation anxiety. Christopher has created, in my opinion, a rich world that slowly envelopes your senses and once you are immersed in it, it's painful to put the tome down and come back to reality. His tale starts out gentle and slow but it isn't long before you find yourself tangled up in his world so that hours go by and pages turn and you truly get lost in the tale. I found myself caring for Luik and his companions and reading not only because I wanted to find out where the plot was going but also because I wanted to know what would happen to them.

For me, that's a real accomplishment as I'm a plot-driven writer and also a plot driven reader. To get me to care about the protagonist isn't easy and it takes a masterful pen stroke to make me not only care about the main character but the supporting ones as well. And, I do care, I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that I'm going to smart later when Christopher kills one off (I nearly threw another author's book at the wall when he killed off one of my favorite characters but it was 2:45am at the time and I was very well aware that I'd likely wake someone up if I did that) but I'm reading on anyway. I almost want to read slower, and in a weird way I don't want to finish the book because then I won't be lost in his realm anymore and that will hurt, too.

Again Again.

Two more incidents today, and both while I was working. Wheeeee. The good news is that both of the incidents happened while I was working hard-ie. vacuuming and setting up displays. The bad news is that it happened again. Anyway, today was a relatively good day at work, I had to do quite a lot of paper work but everything got done and I even helped bail us out of a major snafoo. I did have a very nice walk before work, and I am so enjoying the little peeper frogs. Anyway, that's basically all for today.

Remmington Steele Episodes & Good Friends

*Sigh* Three more episodes in the last two days, this is getting old. Really old. Buuut on the other hand, I had a great time yesterday. After work, which was for the most part spent with Artchick (yeah she and I work together at times, pretty cool) Artchick and I headed over to Tolkien's because Artchick needed to take some motion shots for her photography class. Tolkien's little brother Aerrer was a big help, he and his friend ran around in circles, jumped rope, boxed, played the guitar(s) and spun around in circles until they were sick. She got several nice shots out of that series (she showed me the proof sheet) and then she dashed to the darkroom and Tolkien and I zipped out to a Bertuchi's(tm) for dinner. She had healthy pizza and I had just plain pizza. We poked around Borders(tm) for a while, just enjoying being around books. There were several journals that we looked at that we really liked, but they were Coptic stitched and Tolkien knows how to do coptic stitch for journal binding so we suffered the fate of the curse of all crafter's. We didn't buy the journals because we can *make* the journals. We had fun away. And then we continued on to JoAnne's(tm) and poked around some more. She picked up some fabric for an awesome corset that she's making to wear at the Ren Fest this year. It's perfect for her, it's linen look and jet black with these tiny little flowers in a soft pink worked over it in this climbing vine motif, and she got some shirts to make Aerrer t-shirts for this summer. I'm suppose to be making one for Dad this year for Father's Day with I reject your reality and substitute my own quote from Adam Savage of Myth busters(tm) fame to be painted on the front of the shirt which he says he'd really like for the days he has to mow the lawn. I told him I'd be happy to mow the lawn for him, but he says that the rider's a handful because it's older and that if I want to be helpful I can to the trim work. Go me with the trim work. That'll be in addition to the weeding I do now, and the ''pick up sticks'' that I've taken on as well. But that's okay, I like being outside and working in the earth, though we have to be careful right now because of the ants that are invading. I think that it's part of the reason that when I write ''healer'' characters they have herbariums and like to putter about in the earth. Well that's a rambling entry. I must be feeling better if I'm rambling. I'll end then on a high note.