Monday, May 25, 2009
The Word-Hoard: Unkard
Unkard: A person in a strange place with which he is unacquainted is said to be unkard. The word, when applied to a place, means lonely. (F.T. Dinsdale's Glossary of Provincial Words Used in Teesdale in the County of Durham, 1849)
Friday, May 22, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Rogation Days
Myths, folklore, & symbolism
Rogation Days: These are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, on which, before the Reformation, priests led processions round the fields, blessing crops and praying for good harvests. A secondary purpose was to bless the main boundary markers of each parish, in towns as well as rural areas. A cross, relics, hand-bells, and banners were carried; those taking part were sometimes given a communal meal supplied from church funds, or received food at the houses they passed. The event was also known as Cross Days or, in northern districts, Gang Days (from gang = walk). (Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore)
Rogation Days: These are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day, on which, before the Reformation, priests led processions round the fields, blessing crops and praying for good harvests. A secondary purpose was to bless the main boundary markers of each parish, in towns as well as rural areas. A cross, relics, hand-bells, and banners were carried; those taking part were sometimes given a communal meal supplied from church funds, or received food at the houses they passed. The event was also known as Cross Days or, in northern districts, Gang Days (from gang = walk). (Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
The Word-Hoard: Graveolent
Graveolent: Having a strong or unpleasant smell. (Rev. John Boag's Imperial Lexicon, c. 1850)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards
Well, the fun had to come to an end.
They announced the Top Three finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards today, and THE PILGRIM GLASS wasn't one of them.
But you know? That's OK. Because I made the Top 100 out of 10,000 entries, and that's pretty danged good. And even better? The amazing support and love you all showed from the beginning: whether it was writing a review of my entry, or sending me a sweet email, you've all been so kind and so awesome, and I am grateful and humbled.
So, onward and upward. Thanks again for your support, and I'll let you know what (if anything) happens next.
Also? Please take some time to check out the extended excerpts and reviews of the three finalists at http://www.amazon.com/abna . I really enjoyed STUFF OF LEGENDS and IN MALICE, QUITE CLOSE, so it will be pretty hard to choose between those two!
They announced the Top Three finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards today, and THE PILGRIM GLASS wasn't one of them.
But you know? That's OK. Because I made the Top 100 out of 10,000 entries, and that's pretty danged good. And even better? The amazing support and love you all showed from the beginning: whether it was writing a review of my entry, or sending me a sweet email, you've all been so kind and so awesome, and I am grateful and humbled.
So, onward and upward. Thanks again for your support, and I'll let you know what (if anything) happens next.
Also? Please take some time to check out the extended excerpts and reviews of the three finalists at http://www.amazon.com/abna . I really enjoyed STUFF OF LEGENDS and IN MALICE, QUITE CLOSE, so it will be pretty hard to choose between those two!
Book Review: Rifling Paradise
Here's the second of my reviews in this month's Historical Novels Review.
Rifling Paradise, Jem Poster
Charles Redbourne, a minor middle-aged English landholder, is forced by a series of unsavory circumstances to flee to Australia in order to make his name as a naturalist. Living with his uncle’s business protégé Vane on his grand estate just outside Sydney, Redbourne meets Vane’s artistic and headstrong daughter Eleanor, and the boorish Bullen, his guide for his specimen-seeking journeys.
Just as Redbourne and Eleanor begin to understand each other’s strange creative impulses and dark secrets, he is encouraged by her father to depart for his pre-arranged expedition. Bullen and Redbourne venture into the Blue Mountains to seek more rare and valuable specimens for Redbourne’s collection, and Bullen’s sadistic pleasure. Their guide, the half-Aboriginal boy Billy, leads them far into the wilderness where both men are faced with the dark and wild places in their own hearts – with disastrous results.
Poster does an excellent job of conveying the codes of Victorian social mores and the ways each of the characters adapted – or not – to the very real restrictions. His descriptions, both of the strange new landscape and the people in it, are vivid and elegant.
This book is beautifully paced and the characters, for the most part, well realized, particularly Redbourne. His personal journey as he comes into contact with the beautiful, vast, unknowable wildness of Australia – and Eleanor – is believable, frustrating, and moving. Poster deftly weaves in themes of environmentalism, love, and the psychological effects of upbringing and family with interesting action and characters.
Thoughtful, vivid, and well-written, this is a very engaging read. Recommended.
Rifling Paradise, Jem Poster
Charles Redbourne, a minor middle-aged English landholder, is forced by a series of unsavory circumstances to flee to Australia in order to make his name as a naturalist. Living with his uncle’s business protégé Vane on his grand estate just outside Sydney, Redbourne meets Vane’s artistic and headstrong daughter Eleanor, and the boorish Bullen, his guide for his specimen-seeking journeys.
Just as Redbourne and Eleanor begin to understand each other’s strange creative impulses and dark secrets, he is encouraged by her father to depart for his pre-arranged expedition. Bullen and Redbourne venture into the Blue Mountains to seek more rare and valuable specimens for Redbourne’s collection, and Bullen’s sadistic pleasure. Their guide, the half-Aboriginal boy Billy, leads them far into the wilderness where both men are faced with the dark and wild places in their own hearts – with disastrous results.
Poster does an excellent job of conveying the codes of Victorian social mores and the ways each of the characters adapted – or not – to the very real restrictions. His descriptions, both of the strange new landscape and the people in it, are vivid and elegant.
This book is beautifully paced and the characters, for the most part, well realized, particularly Redbourne. His personal journey as he comes into contact with the beautiful, vast, unknowable wildness of Australia – and Eleanor – is believable, frustrating, and moving. Poster deftly weaves in themes of environmentalism, love, and the psychological effects of upbringing and family with interesting action and characters.
Thoughtful, vivid, and well-written, this is a very engaging read. Recommended.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Review: Shaman Winter
Here's the first of my two reviews in the May 2009 Historical Novels Review.
Shaman Winter, Rudolfo Anaya
In the late 1990s, Albuquerque resident and private investigator Sonny Baca is recovering from his latest run-in with his nemesis, a sadistic nihilist who goes by the name Raven. When Raven returns and begins kidnapping young girls around New Mexico – while at the same time invading Sonny’s dreams and kidnapping his grandmothers throughout history – the very fabric of Sonny’s past and present is threatened.
The third in the series of Sonny Baca’s adventures, Anaya’s story is rich with the culture of New Mexico past and present, but the book overall is marred by substandard writing. From the head-jumping point-of-view shifts, to stilted dialog, to the frankly silly plot points in the late-1990s sections, this is a very promising story with fascinating mystical and spiritual elements undone by its awkward writing. A stronger editing hand would have been very welcome. The quality is surprising, given his many awards for his books, including Albuquerque and Bless Me Ultima.
Originally published in 1999, this paperback reissue has some truly fascinating things to say about New Mexico and its peoples throughout history, but only if you can overlook some eyeroll-inducing plotting and surprisingly bad dialog.
Shaman Winter, Rudolfo Anaya
In the late 1990s, Albuquerque resident and private investigator Sonny Baca is recovering from his latest run-in with his nemesis, a sadistic nihilist who goes by the name Raven. When Raven returns and begins kidnapping young girls around New Mexico – while at the same time invading Sonny’s dreams and kidnapping his grandmothers throughout history – the very fabric of Sonny’s past and present is threatened.
The third in the series of Sonny Baca’s adventures, Anaya’s story is rich with the culture of New Mexico past and present, but the book overall is marred by substandard writing. From the head-jumping point-of-view shifts, to stilted dialog, to the frankly silly plot points in the late-1990s sections, this is a very promising story with fascinating mystical and spiritual elements undone by its awkward writing. A stronger editing hand would have been very welcome. The quality is surprising, given his many awards for his books, including Albuquerque and Bless Me Ultima.
Originally published in 1999, this paperback reissue has some truly fascinating things to say about New Mexico and its peoples throughout history, but only if you can overlook some eyeroll-inducing plotting and surprisingly bad dialog.
Monday, May 11, 2009
The Word-Hoard: Spulp
Spulp: To be a busybody or eavesdropper. (Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary, 1896-1905); To collect and retail scandal. (John Jamieson's Etymological Scottish Dictionary, 1808)
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
The latest chapter of The Soldier of Raetia by Heather Domin is posted - it's short, but it packs a serious punch. Check it out!!
The Word-Hoard: Fipple
Fipple: The underlip. "See how he hangs his fipple." (John Brockett's Glossary of North Country Words, 1825); The underlip in men and animals, when it hangs down large and loose. "To hang one's fipple," to look disappointed, discontented, or sulky; also, to weep. (John Jamieson's Scottish Etymological Dictionary, 1808)
Friday, May 01, 2009
Wordle
Hadn't done this in a while, and thought I'd do it on the whole MS this time. Fun!
It amuses me no end that one of the words in there is shit.
It amuses me no end that one of the words in there is shit.
May
Myths, folklore & symbolism
May: Oddly, though the literary associations of this month are with blossoming love, and its customs are all joyous, several widespread superstitions count it unlucky. Cats born in May are useless and should be drowned at birth; 'May-babies, like May kittens, are said to be weakly and unlikely to thrive'; the broom brings death; boys born in May are particularly cruel to animals. Most often mentioned is the idea that May marriages will prove unhappy. The belief is undoubtedly ancient, as Ovid mentions it; its first known airing in English, in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1675, treats it as already proverbial..." (Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore)
So, what customs and traditions do you know about for May?
May: Oddly, though the literary associations of this month are with blossoming love, and its customs are all joyous, several widespread superstitions count it unlucky. Cats born in May are useless and should be drowned at birth; 'May-babies, like May kittens, are said to be weakly and unlikely to thrive'; the broom brings death; boys born in May are particularly cruel to animals. Most often mentioned is the idea that May marriages will prove unhappy. The belief is undoubtedly ancient, as Ovid mentions it; its first known airing in English, in Poor Robin's Almanack for 1675, treats it as already proverbial..." (Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore)
So, what customs and traditions do you know about for May?
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