Fiction

What’s on the Bookshelf? Vol. 8

What's On the Bookshelf?

I should just change the name of this blog to “She Reads Too Much” because that might be a truer statement.

The most recent book is Blind Justice by Bruce Alexander. It’s about Sir John Fielding, the blind magistrate who founded the first organized police force, the Bow Street Runners.

In the book, narrator Jeremy Proctor (a fictitious character) is held on trial before Sir John, who takes pity on the boy and lets Jeremy live with him for a short period. A murder takes place, and the two investigate. Twists and turns abound.

I first read this book when I was in eighth grade. Despite my youth when I first discovered the series, it’s not for children (but teenagers can enjoy it).

Rereading this series and the wonderful Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian is like visiting old friends you haven’t seen in a while. You reminisce about what happened, and gladly.

I really need to get out more.

Backstory here, backstory there, backstory everywhere!

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

I like backstory far too much. So much that I end up working on it for months, little minute details of characters’ lives that will never see the light of day.

It leaves me drained. Writing about what happens in the actual context of a story shouldn’t be that hard, but with all the backstory I come up with…to quote my roommate, “Why don’t you just tell the backstory?” It would be a lot easier.

I should. I really should. But I’m a glutton for punishment in the creative sphere of things.

Should I just wing it? To Hell with the backstory? Or should I continue with my insane planning, as ultimately every action has a reason, even if said reason is twelve years in the past?

Dealing with Prima Donna Characters

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

I’m not sure how it happened. There they were, minding their own business, being perfectly fine main characters…until they met the secondary ones.

My secondary characters have the habit of being demanding. They don’t like being secondary. They feel they are more important than the main characters. And I believe them.

Geoffrey, the subject of my never-ending-ever-revisiting fantasy story, began his life as a typical mentor type for this wide-eyed-naif Thomas. Geoffrey quickly assured me (well, it took a year or two) that he was far more interesting than Thomas who was just a typical idiot on a quest. Geoff’s a rather bored historian who runs a Boston hotel.

See also Liv. He was supposed to be the second in command to a space ship captain (who was the primary character). Liv told me that as a grumpy, I-hate-children type person, he’d be better suited as the main character. He must be the center of attention at all times. Well, they’re on terra firma and Liv is still the center of attention. Cheeky little scene stealer.

Thank God Geoff and Liv reside in different universes. I’d never get a story told with their egos butting around.

Destroying characters in one smack

General Geekiness

Ah, the pages of pulp fiction. A place to lose yourself in the fast paced world of fancy…or laugh hysterically at an author’s expense.

I’m currently reading Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons. It’s light and a quick read; thus far I have only one major beef.

How idiotic can the physicist Vittoria Vetra be?

Case in point:

“Is the Pantheon even a church?”

It is. Vittoria, you’re Italian. You’re apparently intelligent (you helped create an antimatter-creating particle accelerator for Chrissake) and your adopted father was a ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST. I imagine he must have taught you something about it amongst all the math and science.

I realize that not everyone knows the Pantheon is a church or that it is in Rome (no, it isn’t the Parthenon, that’s in Athens). But seriously.

On character development (part VI)

The Twirl and Swirl of Letters

The Character’s Wealth, Power, and Influence.
1. Does this person have much money? Does it provide position or respect from others for him

He’s 19. He only has what he’s earned, and doesn’t get any respect for it.
2. Is your character generous or selfish with their money and possessions?

He’s generous with food, but is a bit of a miser.
3. Is the character socially prominent? Are they prominent from wealth, position, office, family history, ability or accomplishment?

No. He hasn’t done much.
4. Does the character rate high in the “pecking order” within their own household? Town? Area? Nation? World?

Nope. In his household, he ranks below his younger sister (or perceives it as such). In his town, he’s known as his parents’ son. Apart from that, no one has any idea who he is.
5. Does this person wield much clout? Over whom and by what means?

No.
6. Can they command others to do their bidding, by word or manipulation?

Only in his dreams.
7. How do they get their desires?

He goes after them himself, using his own money.
8. To whom are they subservient? Is this submission willing or unavoidable?

He’s subservient to his parents and bosses. It’s unavoidable.

What’s on the Bookshelf? Vol. 5

What's On the Bookshelf?

I finally finished Patrick O’Brian’s Hussein. I liked it. It was no Master and Commander, but the book was still good.

O’Brian wrote this story, which takes place in India during the English occupation, when he was my age–about twenty.

It follows the life of Hussein, a young mahout (elephant trainer), and his many, many misadventures. He gets cholera (and survives!), encounters into bad luck, comes into good fortune, falls in love, and stumbles out of luck once more.

The book, which O’Brian termed An Entertainment, is just that. It’s light and entertaining. The characters aren’t too deep, but you still care about them. Reading this book, you can easily see the seeds of brilliance beginning to sprout.

Now I need to reread the epic Aubrey/Maturin series. I’ve only managed to get through the entire thing once…but at 20.5 volumes (he died while writing the 21st), it’s entirely understandable.