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Tag Archives: world building
Indie Review: Sarvet's Wanderyar by J. M. Ney-Grimm
If the last book I read sated my taste for sword and sandal fantasy, Sarvet's Wanderyar fits the bill for another craving: epic fantasy. J. M. Ney Grimm is a master at this genre, and I've been a fan of her work since the first paragraph I read; this book has been on my to-read list for quite a while, and I wasn't disappointed.
Sarvet is a young woman who suffers from a sort of palsy in one leg. Because of this, she's held back; she's relegated to menial chores, coddled by an overbearing mother, and–she believes–prevented from achieving her dreams. Sarvet's need to prove herself drives her to request a Wanderyar–a year of exploring the world on one's own–which is reserved only for young men. She's tenacious and determined from the start, so her coming of age isn't something that happens to her so much as something she forges for herself. This gives her a certain strength of character that's lacking in a lot of literature. It's easy to cheer her on and revel in her journey.
Sarvet's disability is introduced very nicely. Subtle hints before coming out and saying it makes for a reveal that's not surprising, but not really expected either. A good set up for what will be an important plot point; she doesn't beat you over the head with it, a sin that is far too easy to commit in writing. This also puts the focus more on her character and less on the disability, making for a nicely rounded heroine that's easy to sympathize with. That, in turn, makes this much more than a run of the mill coming of age novel–it's an entrancing story with a character you care about, and desperately want to succeed.
Sarvet, for all her determination and will, is also a tad naive. This serves the story well; it sets her up as a young woman who, despite her disability, doesn't realize just how difficult life can sometimes be. Failure is a very real consequence for her, and it's all the more tangible because of her adolescent exuberance. You get the feeling that if she falls, she's going to fall hard–but even if she recovers there's an "I told you so" in the wings. The lesson is not so much in learning to succeed on her own as that sometimes, a little control is necessary.
This leads into the mother, Paiam. She's fiercely protective of Sarvet, and while this overbearance serves as her call to action, Ney-Grimm does a good job of tempering and justifying it. Paiam isn't just a controlling mother; Sarvet's resistance is making that control seem more pronounced than it is. At first I saw Paiam as the clear antagonist, but I came to sympathize with her. This makes for a complex interaction between the two characters that rages almost completely in the subtext–very clever on Ney-Grimm's part, and very effective. In fact, I sense that there's a whole other story for Paiam, and I'd love to see her developed in another book.
Once the action gets moving, the reader is thrown into a wild set of circumstances that move further and further away from Sarvet's familiar, tame world. It's an escalation that nicely reflects the issues one faces in growing up; problems seem insurmountable until they're not–and completely trivial in retrospect. There's a certain shift in tone here as Sarvet goes from climbing a mountain to living among pegasi, and it serves well to show the stark differences between youth and adulthood. The metaphor may not be subtle, but it fits.
(On a side note, one of my favourite things about Ney-Grimm's work is her treatment of fantastical creatures. She definitely doesn't disappoint here–the pegasi seem ethereal but remarkably wise and strong; gentle but fearsome; creatures of light and gauze that are somehow the most real things in the world.)
As usual, the worldbuilding in this book is quite well done. Ney-Grimm has built a cohesive "universe" in which most of her stories take place, and each book explores similar but unique facets. I was a bit confused by some of the terms early in the book–holidays referred to as "Other-joy" and "Lodge day"–but the meaning became apparent as I progressed through the story. After I finished the book, I read a post on Ney-Grimm's blog that explains that this lack of background is intentional. I can see her point, and agree with it–the worst thing you can do in worldbuilding is to bog the reader down with details that are, to a point, window dressing.
Otherwise, the worldbuilding is handled very well. It's subtle in the first few pages. There's a lot of information presented in a laid back, almost conversational way. While it left some questions for me, there weren't enough gaps that it hampered my understanding, and what questions I had were answered before I got halfway through. Readers less familiar with Ney-Grimm's "world" may have more of a challenge, but it's nothing that would impede.
The moral of the story–beyond the coming of age themes–seems almost Taoist: resistance can sometimes cause more problems than it solves. It's okay to stand up for one's principles, but it's the stiff branch that breaks in the wind. On the other hand, flying with the wind allows you to master it. It's a powerful lesson used to great effect.
In the end, I have nothing but good things to say about this book, and wonder why it took me so long to get to reading it. I've always enjoyed Ney-Grimm's work, but I particularly like this book–it's one I can imagine one day reading to my children at bed-time, a fantastical adventure with a strong moral lesson. Absolutely worth a read!
J.M. Ney Grimm writes fantasy with a Norse twist. You can find Sarvet's Wanderyar and other books of hers on Amazon, Kobo. iTunes, and B&N. She's also on Twitter, and keeps a blog on writing (and often cooking!).
2 Comments Posted in Indie Review, Reading Tagged Indie Review, reading, world building
Indie Review: Wrath of the White Tigress by David Alastair Hayden
One of my favourite genres to read is fantasy, and I'm partial to a certain sub-genre: sword and sandal. I love the Conan stories, and so I've been looking forward to a book that has a similar flavour: Wrath of the White Tigress by Davaid Alastair Hayden. Hayden has a unique flair for fantasy that's pulpy in all the right ways. These are tales of sword and sorcery you would have found in Weird Tales or other magazines from the days of yore.
I don't usually pull quotes from a book in a review, but I'll do so here because it reflect the story so succinctly. It's a conversation between the main character, Jaska, and his saviour.
"I'm thoroughly corrupt. I don't deserve life."
"You did evil, that's true, but you weren't in control of your actions, weren't you?"
He shook his head. "I should have been."
Jaska is a Palymphar, a sort of knightly order that ostensibly stands for right and honour–but which has become decadent, violent, and corrupt. Jaska is the worst of them, and his…indulgences…are legendary. As the book opens he's sent by his master, Salahn, to capture the temple of the White Tigress, a powerful goddess which Salahn wishes to imprison. Jaska is waylaid by the high priestess of the temple, Zyrella. After an altercation with the White Tigress herself, Jaska is converted to the cause of rescuing her.
What follows is an adventurous romp involving a sea battle, spoiled cities, wolven creatures, oracles and prophecies, and lots of bloody battles. This book is just fun–but it's also pretty hardcore. Hayden writes a series of young adult novels that take place in the same world, but White Tigress is certainly rated M for mature. There's sex, blood and gore galore, and the book makes no apologies for it. But at the same time, I wouldn't say it's gratuitous–it fits in with the tropes of the genre (without the flagrant sexism of the Conan stories).
One thing that really stuck me about this book–and Hayden's writing in general–is the amount of research that's been put into it. It's obvious that he has an affinity for Eastern culture, and things such as weaponry and meditation techniques feel authentic to the book, while serving as a respectful nod to the cultures that inspired them. Quite a lot went into the world building, (something I'll touch on in an upcoming interview), and it comes through as a well thought out and vibrant setting. It lends a unique aura to the book; it's not Persian or Indian or Chinese, but a cohesive combination of them all.
Also impressive is the way magic is presented. As I've mentioned before, Hayden uses an intriguing system of magic: spirits of a long dead race have been captures in stones called Qarvra, which allow the wielder to command powerful spells. Some are more adept than others, and this gives a nice range of powers that can be tapped into. It's an elegant system; all too often magic is used as a deus ex machina, but not here. It adds a crucial element to the book without becoming center stage.
Alongside the use of Qarvra is another system: Star magic. This is shown only once or twice, and it's enticing–I certainly want to see more. Nalsyrra (who also appears in Hayden's Chains of a Dark Goddess,) is Ojaka'ari, a mysterious creature who is granted extreme power by the Star Spirits. She's in the service of Salahn, but her fealty is to the Star Spirits, who grant her the gift of prophecy. She's a compelling character, and I wish she had been explored more fully, but what we have of her is tantalizing. But, to go into her story any further would have taken away from the book's plot, and we couldn't have that!
The characters are, by and large, great. Jaska is well written and the anguish over the choices he's made in the past is a clear call to action; Zyrella is a sensual and strong woman who serves as a great foil for him; Ohzikar, a templar devoted to Zyerella, has a wonderful arc in his dealings with Jaska. Even characters with small roles like the oarsman who befriends Jaska or Nalsyrra's lover are well developed and interesting.
There are some flaws, however. Salahn, despite being a great villain, is rather flat. He's totally evil, and besides on small passage that shows a bit of redemption for him, he's single minded. He's easy to hate (good in a bad guy), but he's not complicated. This is especially apparent because Jaska is such a wonderfully drawn and complex character.
There are also quite a lot of characters in the book. That's to be expected for a story of this scale, but by the end of the book I found myself wanting to know more about interesting figures for which there's little time for development.
The only other real issue I had was that at some points, the Point of View changed rather regularly within a chapter. This didn't happen too often through the book, but when it did it was jarring; sometimes I wasn't sure who was "leading" the story, and found myself going back a page or two. It doesn't really disrupt the narrative, though, and if such passages were separated by some sort of divider it would have been crystal clear.
Finally, the ending. No spoilers, I promise! I rather liked how everything was tied up by the end; there's a certain amount of tradgedy I didn't see coming, and it fits the world and tone of the book very well. Sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to, even if you are a hero. It's a well placed surprise, and one that rounded out a very enjoyable story.
All in all, Wrath of the White Tigress is what I've come to expect of Hayden's work–thoughtful, exciting, and filled with adventure. There are a lot of nice little bits of worldbuilding here and there that really put a stamp on his style and voice. And it's just plain fun–the fight scenes are awesome. Check it out!
Wrath of the White Tigress is available on Kobo and Amazon, along with several other great tales from the same world. You can also find David A. Hayden on Twitter, or on his own blog.
3 Comments Posted in Indie Review, Reading Tagged fantasy, Indie Review, reading, world building
Indie Review: Chains of a Dark Goddess by David Alastair Hayden
The more I get into Indie fiction, the more fantasy I find myself reading. And there are some great fantasy writers out there–not the least of which is David Alastair Hayden. I previously reviewed Hayden's Who Walks in Flame, and praised it for its uniqueness. As I was writing that review, I was reading Chains of a Dark Goddess–it's past time to visit that book!
Chains opens with a delicious premise: Breskaro Varenni, Knight Champion of the goddess Seshalla, hero of crusades and greatest warrior of the age, is betrayed by his trusted allies and murdered. Then, he's brought back from the dead to exact revenge at the behest of an evil goddess. Sounds like a great antihero type story, right?
Well it is, and it would be a perfectly enjoyable read if Hayden stopped there–but he doesn't. As the protagonist, the reader is immediately set up to sympathise with Breskaro—but this actions through the book make it difficult. This is a good choice, as it eschews the tired cliché of the antihero. Breskaro is evil, no doubt about it, and driven in part by bare revenge as he is, his motives are questionable. But there are good things about him too, and every once in a while he drops his guard to show a tender side that suits him well. There's a running implication that he's as evil as he is because of what he endured in death, but I think he was a bit of a prick in life, too. He's certainly not a man to admire, but that's what makes him such a great character. As a nice counterpoint to Breskaro the character of Esha is a delight. She has a youthful exuberance that infects everyone around her, even our undead warrior—and in that, she gives him one of his few shreds of humanity. There's something special about her that's not addressed until the end of the book, and I have to say I was surprised at it.
The use of a death mask to cover Breskaro's decaying features seems like an obvious choice—but is no less awesome for it. It's a terrifying image, but it also does well to give some pathos to his character; he knows he's repellent, and though he never says it, seems almost ashamed at his appearance. At the same time, this action gives him depth—he fully intends to use his frightening visage to manipulate others. He's not a cut and dried superhero, and has faults like anyone else.
The world of Pawan Kor–as mentioned in my other review–is vibrant and creative. It's one of those fantasy settings that seems like a place you could actually visit; it's real enough without losing the elements that make it fantastical. There's a detailed history, though a lot of it is implied or described in other books. I'd have liked to see more of that history explored, but there is a sense of mystery about the world because it isn't…and enough of it is that it keeps you intrigued.
The way Hayden describes how magic works is especially fascinating. It is based on the power of an ancient race of wizards how have ascended to beings of energy, locking themselves in crystals called qavra. These crystals can be used by their descendants to wield powerful magic, resulting in almost a possession by the ancients. Those who are not direct descendants can still call on that power, though it's weaker. Effectively, the crystals become an implement and a source of magic. It's a clear and elegant explanation with an old school pulp fantasy flair that also explains why magic is uncommon.
The thing I like most about this book is the way it explores religion. Hayden treats this subject very well; he doesn't beat you over the head with it, and it's not even (really) the theme of the book. Instead it's an undercurrent that sweeps the reader along, almost without them knowing it; if you pay attention to it, it adds an important dimension to the narrative, but if you don't, the plot stands on its own.
The main idea here is that faith is different from dogma, though the two are seldom separated. The Church of Seshalla has completed three crusades and is about to start the fourth, all in the name of "converting the heathens," and the devotees of the church follow the edicts of the Matriarch (leader of the church) blindly and absolutely. At the same time, it's made clear that the dogma instituted by the Church—however well intentioned—isn't necessarily in line with the teachings of their Goddess. It makes for an intriguing subplot that, as mentioned, hovers just enough below notice that if you disregard it, you lose nothing. Which is a prudent decision on the author's part, religion being the inflammatory subject it often is.
On the other side of things, we spend most of the time in the book among the heathens, and they're portrayed as such—liars, thieves, assassins and sorcerers. This is another masterful stroke of Hayden's; by making the "bad guys" unpalatable, they, like our protagonist, are harder to sympathize with. But with the way the plot is set up, we can't cheer for the Church either. The result is a complicated mess of grey—there's no good guy or bad guy at all, just people with different interpretations of the truth.
Such a complex moral question can't be answered—or, at least, you'll get as many different answers as people you ask—which makes it somewhat universal. A reader can pick up on what they want in this book, and while we're certainly meant to root for Breskaro against the Church, the Matriarch and those who wronged him, those antagonists are just as likable and even sympathetic in their own way. And that is the trick to creating great conflict, and a great story.
You can find Chains of a Dark Goddess at Amazon and Kobo. Also look for David Alastair Hayden on Twitter, Goodreads, or at his website. Hayden has several other books set in the world of Pawan Kor–be sure to check them out!
1 Comment Posted in Indie Review, Reading Tagged fantasy, Indie Review, world building
Chekov's Neglected Gun
by ToastyKen c/o Flikr
Anton Chekov is the bane of many a theatre arts student. His plays are long, tedious, and famous for having little (apparent) movement in the plot. He relied less on overt conflict and more on what he termed a "theatre of mood," resulting in little action with tons of subtext. It's tough to wade through and analyse, but it's thoroughly brilliant work.
But the thing I remember most of my studies of Chekov is his shotgun. To paraphrase, he urged writers to remove everything irrelevant from a story–if you have a shotgun on the wall in act one, someone better fire it in act three.
It's a simple concept, and seems quite obvious–why introduce a character or MacGuffin if you don't intend to use it?–but it's shocking how often it's ignored. Not intentionally, I'm sure, but literature, TV and film is rife with examples of neglected firearms. A lot of the time, they show themselves as plot holes and hanging threads–things the author fully intended to resolve, but for some reason didn't. (I suspect that it sometimes comes with editing–changing a certain scene without realising that the change has repercussions elsewhere.)
I think this is one of the cardinal sins of writing, and it's an easy trap to fall into. I've been guilty of it myself. Sometimes in describing a scene or setting a mood, I'll introduce elements that I have no intention of revisiting, because mood or description is their only purpose. To an extent, that's okay, but it's a slippery slope. Adding a brief mention of some exotic fruit that only exists on a single island can create a sense of wonder or alienness…but spend too much time describing it to the reader, and they'll assume it's an important plot point.
The big risk, in my opinion, comes with World Building. When you're building a world for you characters to play in, it's crucial to have a lot of detail: everything from social customs to geography to how that world works. When a writer does that much work on a story, it's easy to want to reveal it to the reader–and the more little things you reveal, the more complete your world appears. But there's a fine line here, as your readers will expect you to follow up on those small details.
Lost was a horrible example of this. It was obvious from the pilot that the writers wanted to instil a sense of mystery about the show, and I'm sure there were things they never intended to disclose. On the one hand, it worked–while it was running, fans had a rabid passion for developing theories explaining what the writers left unexplained, creating a wake of obsessed viewers(myself among them). On the other hand, the finale was a letdown because of all the loose ends–that sense of mystery was created, but it backfired, leaving many viewers frustrated (myself among them).
But it's not always this simple. There are ways in which leaving that gun on the wall can actually work pretty well. One great example is the film Midnight in Paris, about a writer disillusioned about his present, longing to live in a bygone era. What could have turned out to be a relatively mundane exploration of wistfulness was made a terrific movie with a simple conceit: at midnight, he always finds a car that transports him to 1920s Paris where he can hobnob his literary heroes. The time travel angle is very important to the story, but it's never explained–it's hardly acknowledged. Beyond a couple mentions here and there, it's simply accepted and left there, hanging on the wall.
But it works. It doesn't need to be explained, because it's nothing more than a conceit. The time travel itself doesn't matter at all of the story, except as a plot device–the story is really about learning to appreciate your present and stop looking backward. It's a shotgun, but we don't care that it's not used because doing so would almost contradict the very theme of the film–or, at the least, it would greatly reduce the impact. And here we come full circle to Chekov–the film uses this conceit not to move the plot forward, but to create a mood that suits the film.
Still, this isn't an easy thing to pull off. It's much easier to take that shotgun off the wall, load it, and fire. Or cut it entirely.
What are your favourite (or most frustrating) shotguns? I'd love to hear your comments!
2 Comments Posted in Writers Tools, Writing Tagged world building, writer's tools, writing
Indie Review: Troll Magic by J. M. Ney-Grimm
It's no secret on this blog that I have favourite writers. J. M. Ney-Grimm is one of them, and with good reason–her writing style is unique, and engrossing. Up to now, I'd only read her shorter works; I've been holding onto Troll Magic for some time, eager to start but wanting to give it my full attention. And it did not disappoint.
On the surface, we have the simple story of lovers trying to overcome the obstacles that keep them apart, but it's more than that. Troll Magic is a cunning exploration of a very human question: how does one follow their dreams, knowing all the risks that entails and without any promise of the outcome? And more importantly, when should we sacrifice our own dreams for those of someone else? It's a big question, and one I won't pretend to be able to answer. You'll just have to read the book.
There are really three stories going on here: the Trolls (characters who suffer from Troll-Disease), the Family (Lorelin, our main character, as she come of age) and the Court (where Gabris and Panos try to find a cure for Troll-Disease). The meat of the story is taken up by the first two, as Lorelin is recruited by a man named Kellor to help him break free of a curse. It's a clever reinterpretation of the original Beauty and the Beast tale, though it's more complicated than that. It's an exploration of how each of them have their dreams and fears, overlapping at times and always in concert, even when they don't realize it. There's a sub-plot here with Helaina (an unwitting and invisible servant in Kellor's household) and her family, which follows a similar path.
The Court is almost an entirely separate story, to the point where I wondered if it would be best placed in another novel. The experiments of Gabris and Panos are interesting, but don't seem to have a direct impact on the rest of the story–instead, they provide a sort of foundation that explains why Troll Disease is such a problem. But by the end of the book, the reason for this became apparent; it is a sort of running commentary on the issues of the book. It's far enough away from the main plot that it gives the reader an objective view of the situation, and it works well enough that I wondered if it needed to be integrated with the rest of the stories after all–although bringing everyone together in the epilogue is a nice way to end the book.
With these three stories come many different characters. While the core cast is manageably small, there are a lot of secondary and tertiary characters. For an author, this can be daunting–it's all too easy for some to become one sided and underdeveloped–but Ney-Grimm pulls it off nicely. Each character feels like they've got their own personality and quirks and the result is a world that feels large and well populated.
Where this book really excels is the presentation. I've described Ney-Grimm's writing style as effervescent, and it's still the best word I can come up with. There's a light and lilting tone to the prose that doesn't diminish from the importance of the story, and gives the whole book a very pastoral feel. It's evident from her other stories that Ney-Grimm takes a lot of inspiration from Norse culture, which has a rich oral tradition, so it's not surprising that her books have this sort of voice. Troll Magic feels like a book that should be read aloud at bedtime, or around a campfire. It's very approachable, and because of that it does a great job of putting across the ideas presented.
Hand in hand with the voice of the book is its pacing. This was, for me, the most interesting feature of the book, and I'm still not sure how to describe it exactly. The best word I can offer is "ponderous," though I don't mean it with any of the negative connotations that word can carry. It's far from a plodding or meandering book–the plot lines and character arcs are followed in nice progressions that take as long as they need to. Instead, the books feels like it's in no great rush to get where it's going, while wholeheartedly promising to get you there. As a reader, I felt like I was being led around the story by a guide; sometimes we'd stop so she could tell me about something of interest, sometimes we'd simply linger in a setting to enjoy it for it's own sake, and sometimes she'd point and whisper "you're going to like this, pay attention." It feels welcoming and relaxed.
In fact, the pacing of this book reminds me in a lot of ways to The Lord of the Rings. That is an absolute tome of a book, but for fans of that kind of literature, it's not daunting at all. Tolkein was a master at filling in details about his world in a way that doesn't interfere with the story–but if you were to remove those details, the story would be much less than it is. It's a long book, but the pacing just feels right. As it does in Troll Magic.
Another fascinating thing about this book is the way magic is explained. It's very similar to certain Eastern traditions: energy is carried along lines in the body to verticies, through which it can be drawn to conduct magic. Troll disease results when too much energy is drawn through these vertices, pushing them off point. This isn't very far off the idea of meridians in Chinese Traditional Medicine, and it's natural fit for the world that's been created. The antophoners (those who practise magic) even use a series of moving meditations to align and fortify their verticies–not unlike Qi Gong or Tai Chi. I find this fascinating because I've done quite a bit of research on these systems, and practice Qi Gong occasionally myself. I can attest that it's both relaxing and energizing, so it's not a huge stretch for the imagination that such a system could be magical in nature. And yet despite the comparison, this system feels unique to Ney-Grimm's world, and fits so well that it seems the only possible explanation.
In the end, all I can say is that this is a book you'll need to read in order to truly appreciate. I have lots more to say about it, but nothing that can't be better said by reading it yourself. I'd certainly recommend it. Troll Magic is a book to be savoured and enjoyed.
J. M. Ney-Grimm can be found on twitter, her own blog, and of course at the Kobo and Amazon stores. Ney-Grimm also have a handy reference for all her main characters here.
1 Comment Posted in Indie Review, Reading Tagged fantasy, Indie Review, reading, world building
Indie Review: Emperor's Edge
I'm going to cheat a bit today–this Indie Review features not one, but five books. And, as this is going to be something of an overview, I'll probably revisit each of them in time. But seeing as Lindsay Buroker is a large part of why I got into the Indie Writer's community in the first place, I thought it was high time to review some of her work in depth (though I've touched on one of her short stories before).
Last summer, I received a free book from Kobo: a collection of short stories and excerpts from Indie writers designed to entice people into their new Kobo Writing Life publishing program. Buroker's Ice Cracker II was the second story, and was easily the most memorable of the bunch. I found that the first book in the Emperor's Edge series was free, so I picked it up and gave it a read. Making this book free is a stroke of brilliance on her part–it does a great job of drawing you into the story, and clearly sets up the next book–which explains the fervor of her fans, who wait with baited breath for each new entry.
The series concerns Amaranthe Lockdon, an Enforcer for the empire of Turgonia who finds herself on the wrong side of the law–not by choice, but by circumstance. She spends the series trying not only to redeem herself, but the names of her rag-tag teammates–not an easy feat considering one of them is the legendary and universally feared assassin, Sicarius. This quest for redemption is the overall arc of the series, but each book of course has its own unique plot.
There's a common enemy too, though I won't go into too much detail for the sake of spoilers. They're known as Forge, and Buroker is great at giving just enough information about them book to book to keep the reader guessing–and wondering when it will all be revealed. What's more, there's no let down when much of it is revealed in book five, Blood and Betrayal. In the hands of a lesser writer, the revelation would have fallen flat with such a drawn out buildup; here, it's satisfying and actually left me wanting to know even more. Which won't be a problem for the work-in-progress book six, as book five lays down some tantalizing clues for what comes next.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't want to give a book-by-book blow-by-blow; suffice it to say that it's a great series, and well worth reading. Buroker is one of those Indie Writers who serves as an example to others–she's made a comfortable name for herself already, and her stock is only going up. She's one that new Indie Writers should be looking up to.
Back to the series. There's a lot to like about these books, though I find them difficult to define. Most people would tell you they're Steampunk/fantasy, but there are a lot of elements of detective/crime, romance, sci-fi and pulp adventure (in a good way) as well. And yet despite the mixing of genres, they don't seem piecemeal at all; in fact, this diversity is a strength for the books. It shows that Amaranthe and company are adept as many different situations, and that Buroker is good at not writing her characters into pigeon holes. They're versatile and always fresh–as is her writing style–and this versatility is a hallmark of the series as a whole. If I hesitate to categorize these books into a genre, I can safely say that whether you're a fan of sword and sorcery, rom-coms, or 1950's pulp scifi/adventure, you'll find something to like here.
The setting is decidedly Steampunk, and this is probably the easiest way to define the books if you want to do that. Turgonia is a militaristic empire with a long Imperial history of war and conquest, which has taken precedence over the arts, business, or scientific advancement. But that's changing. A new Emperor–Sespian–has been crowned, and though he's too young to officially take the throne, he's established a new paradigm that many of the more conservative people of the Empire find hard to swallow. While this conflict isn't really at the heart of the series, it plays a large part, and serves nicely as a sort of "dynamic backdrop." It causes ripples that affect the characters indirectly, and as the series progresses, those ripples get larger–or, rather, we start to see the turbulence beneath the waves.
The science of Turgonia is based, of course, on steam; you have trolleys that require a furnace, mechanical beasts guarding enemy hideouts, and stream trains galore. There's also a healthy helping of the other trimmings one would associate with steampunk; swashbuckling fops, a system of magic that borders on science, great costumes, urchins and aristocrats. And did I mention a kraken? In addition to this, there's an undercurrent of a mysterious alien technology. All of it makes for a vibrant and simply fun setting.
But the real strength of these books are the characters. Amaranthe is the perfect example of the type of female hero so desperately needed in fiction. She's not helpless eye candy always in need of rescue, and she doesn't depend on the male figures for her strength; in fact, the men in the books look to her for guidance, without her asking for such reverence. It's simply earned, because she's a strong, intelligent presence, and she knows what she's doing. She has her faults, too, but even these turn into strengths in terms of the way she's written. She's impulsive, takes unneeded risks, and has been known to let her emotions get in the way of the mission. But none of these faults are because she's a woman, like so many other women in fiction–they're because she's human. I have a lot of respect for Buroker for writing such a strong female character, and I hope to see a lot of writers follow in her footsteps.
Amaranthe's counterpoint is the brooding and dangerous Sicarius, long ago the Emperor's personal assassin, but now exiled with the coming of the new regime. He, too, is looking for redemption, though he doesn't know it until Amaranthe comes along–or at least doesn't believe it's possible. Their relationship–and yes, there's a certain romantic spark–is convoluted, mostly because Sicarius is so reluctant to express himself. He comes across as a cold, unfeeling killing machine, but the scenes he shares in private with Amaranthe are touching and sweet. The great thing about Sicarius is that he's a well textured character–but only Amaranthe and the reader know it. He's easily my favourite character in the series because of this, and I delight in every snippet of information we're tossed as readers. The mystery is what drives his character, and that's something I always enjoy–but there's another layer here because despite the mystery, we get a clearer view of him than the other characters.
On a side note, I can't help but imagine Sicarius as Wesley/The Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride. Which, I suppose, would make Basilard the giant Fezzik, with Maldynaldo cast as Inigo Montoya.
Which brings me to Amaranthe's band of misfit teammates. As supporting characters, they're remarkably well rounded, and they serve as a further counterpoint to Amaranthe and Sicarius. Akstyr is a young street kid with a criminal past who's teaching himself the "mental sciences" (magic); Books is the…uh, bookish librarian who excels at research, but not so much in fighting; Maldynaldo is an unapologetic womanizing fop with a heart of gold (and knows it); and Bassilard is the mute muscle, erstwhile bouncer, and surprisingly good chef. There are other companions introduced in later books, but I don't want to spoil it for you. All of them make a great team; they're diverse enough that they stand well enough alone, but together their skills combine in surprising ways to get the job done.
The best part is how they relate to one another–Bassilard is a friend to all, though he distrusts Sicarius more than some; Maldynaldo makes a show of teasing everyone, including Amaranthe, though he's not as shallow as he puts on; Akstyr refuses to show how much he cares, or how much he appreciates that others care, but hides it so poorly that everyone can see through him; and Books always seems uncomfortable, though you can tell there's no place he'd rather be than at Amaranthe's side. It's a wonderful cast, and reading about them bickering or teasing or performing mundane tasks is half the fun of the series.
One of the things I like most about this series is that each book centers on one of these secondary characters, sharing the Point of View with Amaranthe. In their featured book, we get to see into that character's thoughts and background in a much more intimate way, elevating them from secondary character to front runner. This has the result of making all of them seem like fully realized main characters, which is no small feat. It's rare (George R. R. Martin and Stephen King being the only examples that come to mind) that a writer can have so many compelling characters sharing the spotlight without any of them seeming washed out. Characterization is certainly one of Buroker's great strengths as a writer.
There's an added bonus to these books–Buroker has started a second series based in the same "world," 20 years earlier. I've only read the first book, Encrypted, which is about Tikaya Komitopis, a cryptographer (and another strong female character) who is sent on a mission to decrypt an alien artifact. This one focuses a bit more on romance, but there's a fair amount of action and fun in the same vein as the Emperor's Edge novels. And, a certain young assassin makes an appearance as well. Recently another novella–Enigma–was published in this series, and a sequel to Encrypted is coming soon.
I love it when writers visit their world through different characters and viewpoints because it gives the reader a much more rounded view of the setting. Any story has to concentrate on something "world changing," otherwise it's not worth telling–but this can throw a pair of blinders on the reader as they concentrate on the only story being told. When a writer examines the other side of the story, the world suddenly becomes much more real. David Alastair Hayden and J. M. Ney-Grimm are other examples of writers who do this well.
So there you have it. It's only touching the surface of these wonderful books, but as I said, I hope to revisit them individually here for a more thoughtful review. In the meantime, I hope this serves as a decent overview, enough at least to convince you to check them out if you haven't already.
You can find Lindsay Buroker at her blog, or on Twitter. Her books are on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo–and the first book, The Emperor's Edge, is free!
2 Comments Posted in Indie Review, Reading Tagged fantasy, Free, Indie Review, Kobo, steampunk, world building
by Alan O'Rourke, c/o Flikr
Holden Caulfield. Romeo, Desdemona and Falstaff. James Tiberius Kirk. There are certain names in fiction that just stand out. They become more than just a name; they share an identity with the character, add an air of personality of mystery, or even imply a metaphor that evokes a deeper meaning to the character. They're crucial in good fiction–a good character name might computer a reader's attention, but a great name will capture their imagination.
I was thinking this week about fellow Indie Writers, and the names they use for their characters. There are tons of great examples.
Ryan Casey's main character in What We Saw is named Liam, a common enough name for its English setting. To a Canadian like myself, it was just different enough from what I'm used to that it stood out, even above the other very English characters. Liam is familiar, but sufficiently unique to be set apart from the others in the book–just as it should be for a main character.
Lindsay Buroker has a litany of great character names; Sicarius, Maldynado, Amaranthe and Basilard are really colourful names that each evoke their separate personalities. When you read the Emperor's Edge books and first come across these characters, you get the impression that they couldn't be named anything else.
In Brian Rathbone's Call of the Herald, we come across Catrin Volker. It's a name that seems common and ordinary–but there's an almost thrumming power beneath it, and it's just different enough from 'Catherine' that it sounds exotic; fitting for a fantasy novel set in a world like ours, but only just.
David Alastair Hayden's Chains of a Dark Goddess has some wonderfully exotic names that have a very Latin feel. There's no doubt that the world of Pawan Kor is a fantastical one, but giving the names a Roman theme gives the book a firm military feel. In a way, the names are as much a part of the World Building than his description of how magic works.
Some of my favourite character names come from J.M. Ney-Grimm. Her books have a mythic Norse feel to them, and the names are evocative of that. Just like Hayden, her names are a part of the World Building. When you come across names like Sarvet, Elspeth, and Gefnen, you know what you're getting into.
But why do these names work? I think the prime point is choosing a name that describes your character, to a point. Buroker's Sicarius is a case in the point: Sicarius is Latin for Assassin, his role in the story. Yet that's something that most readers wouldn't know, or wouldn't think to look up; it stands as a great name because even when a reader does figure it out, it only adds to the character. Caitrin is another good example–you can almost parse out her name and use it as a rough character sketch. She's a common girl who's rather suddenly (and unexpectedly) granted enormous power; Catrin is an unassuming name, but Volker sounds important, almost virile.
When I try to think of character names, I often start with a character sketch, and pick one or two words that sum up their personality, or their role in the story. One of my first major characters was Sojo (the "j" pronounced as a soft "y"). He was a nomad, never settling in one place–a sojourner. I think it's a bit obvious now and have put him aside in favour of a new protagonist, Tobias Osir. Tobias is a character taken from the Apocryphal Book of Tobit, where we walks with the Archangel Raphael in a spiritual journey–much like Osir will in Tapestry. Alkut (my main protagonist) and Ahbinzur (another protagonist) are taken from the Kabbalah; Malkuth is the Kingdom of Earth, the beginning of the spiritual journey where one is concerned more with worldly things than enlightenment. Binah is Understanding, or a special kind of insight. As represented by the Queen of Swords in the Tarot, Ahbinzur fits that bill pretty well.
But having a name that means something isn't enough. It has to be catchy, memorable, and most of all, easy to pronounce. J. M. Ney-Grimm makes a good point:
@JParsonsWrites Be sure to adjust consonant and/or vowel clusters to make the name easier to read and pronounce!
— J.M. Ney-Grimm (@JMNeyGrimm) February 7, 2013
It's a good thing to keep in mind: if your reader can't pronounce the name after seeing it a few times, chances are they'll give up and gloss over it from then on–and this can cause them to distance from the character. Or, at the least, not to get as invested as they could have been. Even worse, a dedicated reader might stop and figure out how to pronounce it whenever they come across it; until they get it, they're taking themselves out of the world of the book, and that's a bane for a writer.
Most of the examples here are fantasy books, and there's more leeway as mentioned above. But you don't want to make them too exotic. Once again, if a reader can't relate to the characters' name, they're not going to relate with the character–that goes for place names as well. A name should always be something at least vaguely recognizable, so there's an inherent connection to the reader. George R. R. Martin is a master at this; almost all of his character names are subtle variations of names we're familiar with–recognizable, but just different enough that we know he's not writing in our world.
So where do you find names?
Scrivener has a name app built into the program; you give it a certain number of parameters, and it'll cough out a bunch of names. As much as I love the program, I've personally never found this feature useful–but then, I like names that mean something, so Scrivener isn't going to give me anything I'll like anyway. J. M. Ney-Grimm suggests looking up lists of foreign names, and this can work well too. You'll likely come up with something your reader isn't familiar with, and that's a name that will stick out. Just keep in mind that those names may be foreign to you, but they won't be foreign to all readers.
I also like to use Google Translate and the Anagram Server at Wordsmith.org. If you want a certain cultural feel, Translate is great; pick a few choice words, punch them through to a different language, and play with the results. The Anagram Server is a bit less useful, as it will only give you real words–still, it can spur your creative juices. That's where I came up with Ahbinzur (the "zur" is a suffix given to mages of a certain caste in my World).
Another great source, of course, are baby name books. There are scores of websites that give baby name lists, so I won't even begin to list them here. For the same reasons noted above, this isn't my favourite source, but it's useful.
But in the end, there's one overwhelming reason to choose one name over another, especially for your main characters: they have to be simple. They have to roll off the tongue, stick in your reader's memory. You want a name, like those at the beginning of this article–not only memorable, but evocative of your story as a whole. If your character's name can't be separated from the story, your readers won't forget either.
Next week, look for another Indie Writer Review–this time of David Alastair Hayden's Who Walks in Flame!
3 Comments Posted in Publishing, Writers Tools, Writing Tagged world building, writer's resources, writer's tools, writing
Roll a D20 for Inspiration
d20 by Janetgalore, c/o Flikr
Last week, I talked about how I like to draw on roleplaying games for inspiration in creating characters, so I thought it would be fun to follow up this week with the other end of things–the Game Master.
For those of you who haven't played an RPG, the Game Master (or Dungeon Master in D&D parlance) is the one who runs the adventure for the players. Their job is to build encounters with enemies to fight, scatter treasure for the players to find, and develop a plot for them to follow. You can see where this is going: the GM is, essentially, a storyteller weaving a compelling story for the players to play through. You can see why this is appealing for a writer.
This past weekend, I had the chance to sit down with a group I used to play D&D with. I haven't had a lot of time to play with them lately, but had a free evening on Saturday, so I dropped in. The GM whipped up a One Shot so I could play without disrupting the overall arc of their story, came up with a nice plot hook for my character to be thrown into the action, and we were off.
The story was quite clever: my character Arranis was frantically wandering through the forest trying to collect herbs for a potion that would help heal a young boy. I ran into the other adventurers, who came back with me to the village, where we discovered that the boy–Timothy–was ill because their family couldn't afford proper medical care. The town they were living in was controlled by a tyranical man who was taxing them to death, and cared for nothing but himself. When we tried to confront him, we were intercepted by a ghost in heavy chains who told us our villain–Abanezer–would be visited by three spirits hoping to convince him to change his ways; our job was to make sure the good spirits could do their job without interference, and we spent the evening fighting off foes who wanted Abanezer to stay as evil as he was.
This is what I enjoy so much about role playing. Even a well known story can provide a fun backdrop for adventure. Some of you may have seen the recent episode of The Big Bang Theory or read the Penny Arcade comics of the past weeks, and it's the same idea. Take a story, spin it into an adventure, and hack/slash away. Our GM was able to lead us through a compelling plot, and we, as players, were able to affect the story through our actions.
Game Mastering is a particular skill, but it's closely related to writing. You want to have Plot Hooks for your characters, motivations for them to want to move the plot forward, tension and action to keep them interested, and–most importantly–a backup plan in case your characters go widely off the path you've set out. Most of you know all too well what happens when a character or plot gets out of control and you need to write yourself out of a corner. Usually, it leads the plot into wonderful territory you never considered, and (for me anyway) that's part of the magic of writing.
I once ran a solo game for someone who wanted to learn the World of Darkness system. It's a game that focuses on horror and supernatural elements in a "real world" setting, so it has a much more tangible feel to it. We had a great time playing what amounted to a short piece of fiction–effectively, we were living out the story, I as the narrator, and he as the protagonist. This specific game is actually part of what got me back into writing after a (too) long hiatus, and (with the player's permission) I've started work on it as a novella called The Road to Hell. Look for it to be released sometime in 2013.
I can't say that I'm an experienced Game Master–I've really only dipped my toe–but the games I ran did make me a better writer. And, I like to think, vice versa. It's all about weaving a story, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that a lot of writers would be good at running an RPG–or that GMs or players would find they're good at writing. The people I played with last weekend are a great example–one of the players (who was actually the first DM I played with) had a successful turn at NaNoWriMo this year, in fact.
RPGs certainly aren't for everyone. For some people they seem downright silly. But if you're a writer, I'd urge you to at least give it a shot–you might be surprised with what you find. And if you're a DM who stumbled upon this post and have never written a word–try it. You never know.
I could talk at length about RPGs…and might do more posts on the topic as related to writing. In the meantime, I'll let others speak for me. Here's a few links for you:
Critical Hit: A terrific podcast by the folks at Major Spoilers. It's an ongoing game that started as a great tutorial for one player, and got even more awesome from there. Really, go listen–you can find them on iTunes.
Dragon's Temple: Julio Nicolini is a writer and fellow player from Myth Weavers who has his own blog. He talks about RPGs and writing, and often posts excerpts of his work.
Penny Arcade: These guys talk about video games, comics, RPGs and all things Geek. Their comic often deals with Dungeons and Dragons, and the crew gets together with Wizards of the Coast once a year to play a game with the indomitable Wil Wheton–which you can also find on iTunes.
Myth Weavers: This is a "Play by Post" site where you can play a variety of RPGs online. It's a great community, and very friendly to newcomers.
Wizards of the Coast:Makers of Dungeons and Dragons and other games.
White Wolf Publishing: Makers of the World of Darkness game, and others–including Vampire, Werewolf and Mage.
Thanks everyone for reading along these past few months. With the holiday season fast upon us, I won't be posting here again until January–next week will be a bit busy. So Happy Holidays and New Year!
2 Comments Posted in Uncategorized, Writers Tools, Writing Tagged world building, writer's tools, writing
Scrivener Templates
Scrivener Templates: making creating easier.
I don't have a whole lot of time today to post, but in the interest of keeping my schedule, I promised myself I'd write something. So I've got a quick idea I've wanted to talk about for a while, but never found the right space for it: Scrivener Templates.
If you're not using Scrivener for your writing, check it out. It's amazing. It's basically a more powerful version of your word processor–not only can you write in it, it will help you organize your thoughts, plot out your story, and convert everything into a manuscript or eBook at the end. It's an extremely versatile program.
One of the things I like most about Scrivener is the way it helps you organize your work. Whether you're writing a short story or a trilogy of novels, Scrivener can help you keep everything in one place. Along the left side of the program is the Binder, a collection of collapsible folders which is the backbone of your project. You have your manuscript (divided into scenes), notes for characters and places, and all your research.
Binder Closeup
What I want to touch on today is the Templates. At the bottom of your binder is a folder that has some templates. You can right click to duplicate one, and save it as a character or place. Then, just fill in the details and you have a succinct sketch of your characters and places. Easy.
I used to write as I went–by which I mean I let my characters develop as I wrote, without having decided ahead of time too much about them. This still works for me to a point–I love being surprised when my characters do something I didn't plan for–but for the most part, you want to have all of that laid out in front of you when you're starting a new project. It's fine to have a general idea, but the deeper your characters are when you start writing, the easier you'll find it to create three dimensional characters. And, to use an old writer's cliche, places should be characters in your stories too–so treat them the same way.
Here I've filled out the template with the basics for Ahbinzur, one of my main characters. She's a complex one, so I definitely wanted to have something down before I wrote too much of her. As you can see, the template is pretty straight forward: give the name, a physical description, personality traits, and so on. Something I found really helpful was an entry on Internal and External conflicts, one of the most important ways to make a fully fleshed out character. The things the template asks you to think about seem redundant–why should I have to write down what she looks like? I already know that–but they're also easy to miss.
Doing a Place template is much the same. Far beyond what the setting looks like, you'll think about what the sights, sounds and smells are, any special features you want to include, an so on. Getting it all out on paper makes inventing a living, breathing setting so much simpler.
Well, there you are. It's a simple tool–really, it's nothing more than a form you're filling out–but oh so important. Something like this should go without saying, but missing these details will squash your book flatter than pancake–so hy not take advantage of it? As usual, Scrivener is taking the guesswork out of your project for you–all you have to do is hammer out the details, then sit back and write.
Leave a comment Posted in Publishing, Writers Tools Tagged Scrivener, world building, writer's tools


2014 was a great year for the blog despite my apparent inability to write past late August. As a light reintroduction to the sport of blogging, I figured it would be useful to highlight some of the most popular, overlooked and (I think) cool posts from last year in addition to some stats I find interesting.
The TP language is very limited.
The FANUC ecosystem is very closed and difficult to extend.
FANUC makes it difficult to get manuals and learn their software.
People are attempting new and ambitious projects with robots every day. Unfortunately the TP sandbox is very limiting. Luckily FANUC provides a lower-level language with a little more control in KAREL, but it's not widely publicized or documented. My guide serves as a good "Hello, World" introduction, but you really need the API documentation to be productive.
In an age where even Microsoft releases its developer tools for free, here's hoping FANUC opens up a bit more in 2015.
Writing TP Programs by Hand - Pros and Cons was my second most popular post. Again, we see robot programmers trying to learn how to be more effective while working on their robots. I always code my FANUC projects by hand. It definitely helps increase my productivity and the quality of my code. The TP editor is great for making small changes, but it's a nightmare when dealing with large products.
An IDE or vim script that could automatically do step 5 would be great. In fact, inspired by the Go Programming Language's go fmt utility, I wrote a utility that will validate and reformat TP code, removing line numbers, wrapping long comments, etc. It needs a bit more work to be able to compare changes between a local and remote file, merging only the necessary changes in the correct locations, but it's getting there. Interested? Shoot me an email.
Introducing KUNIT was my third-most popular post of 2014. KUnit is a simple unit test framework for KAREL. To be completely honest, I have not really used KUnit beyond testing KUnit, but I would love to hear if others have used it. I was happy to receive a pull request from a Mechanical Engineering professor computer scientist and researcher at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands who is very active in the ROS project. I've been keeping my eye on ROS for a while now, and I definitely want to dive in a bit more in 2015.
Quite a few people have downloaded BackupTool, a free tool for backing up FANUC robots. I use it all the time, and it saves me hours. Check it out and backup all your robots simultaneously with a single command.
I wrote my first programming language in 2014: TP+. Here's the introductory post. I used it successfully on a fairly large project, but it suffers from a number of issues. I plan to re-write TP+ from scratch in 2015 and probably release it as open source.
Technically written in 2013, but I think this post is worth a read: Intelligent Part-Presence. Part-presence checking is so important in material handling applications that I believe it deserves some discussion. In fact, my opinions and techniques have changed significantly since that post was written. This post called Keep It Running is a little closer to how I program my part-presence macros these days.
Instructions for usage are available on GitHub. Learn Vim!.
I am a total metrics/statistics geek. If you are too, you might find some of these interesting.
My traffic has steadily grown despite my break from blogging towards the end of this year. Much of the site's traffic is from Google, so it makes sense that I would continue to receive traffic (and even increase) as Google determines the site is worthwhile.
Less than 50% of my traffic comes from the United States! The industrial robotics field is definitely global with many of the site's visitors coming from Canada, Germany, Brazil, India, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
Google seems to think that two thirds of my visitors stay for 10 seconds or less. Maybe I need to redesign the site? I take solace in the fact that of the remaining visitors, many stay for three to ten minutes and some for up to twenty!
80% of my traffic comes from Windows PCs, with Android and iOS bringing up the number two and three spots. Macs only represent 5% of my traffic, and the majority of that is probably myself. I really shouldn't waste my time developing utilities for Mac and Linux just yet.
2014 was a great year for the site and for me professionally. I worked with many great companies on many very interesting projects. 2015 is already booking up, and I'm excited about some of these new projects.
I plan to publish more both on this blog and open source on GitHub. I'm also working on more developer tools similar to BackupTool and TP+ to come out later this year.


We owe a vote of thanks to the I AM School for alerting us to the City Council's intention to reduce the safety buffer zone around schools to make room for more cannabis manufacturing facilities. In its good intentions to promote job growth, the City appears to have become inadvertently a proponent of the cannabis industry. On the City of Mount Shasta website, use its search box and enter "cannabis" to see the prominence given the industry.
Strong economic forces drive expansion of the cannabis industry and are brought to bear on the City. An example is a short presentation to the Planning Commission by a potential developer proposing a "Cannabis Industrial Park" of 25 businesses in the undeveloped area within the city limits between Morgan Avenue from Tree House Motel to Ream Avenue. It is unclear what is happening to this proposal. See Mount Shasta Planning Commission 7/17/2018 part 1 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/116142640 at the 1:33 minute mark.
Medical use of marijuana, legal in California for 20 years, shows much promise. However, we are in a new frontier with adult recreational use of marijuana recently legalized. Much of the adult population uses. Currently licensed cannabis facilities in town are highly regulated and are operated by responsible people trying to make a living and calling this area home. It is highly unlikely these existing cannabis facilities will sell directly to youth. Black market marijuana is available now and present among youth. Parents are already challenged to educate youth about the its dangerous for them.
There is a risk in promoting expansion of the cannabis industry. It produces a product that can be dangerous for youth, especially as products are marketed with higher and higher percentages of THC (the mind-altering element of marijuana). The brains in young people are still developing. The consensus in research shows heavy use in youth can lead to significant loss of IQ that extends into adulthood. Recent research in states that have legalized shows youth's perceived harmfulness of marijuana declines. Therein lies the problem, as the City promotes cannabis jobs, the number of facilities increases. Youth who no longer perceive marijuana as harmful will find a way to get it. Also, states that have legalized report higher unintended costs associated with adult users, such as police and emergency room costs.
The City's mission calls for "striking an appropriate balance between economic development and preservation of our quality of life." A few cannabis industry facilities in our small town seems appropriate. However, shrinking the buffer zones around schools to accommodate more cannabis manufacturing facilities should be, in my opinion, a signal we are going out of balance. Expansion of the cannabis industry in our small town will likely come with higher risks and costs.
You can give the City Council an opportunity to re-balance its perspective by contacting them by email or phone, and by attending the next City Council meeting where this issue will be discussed, evening of April 8.
Whether you are pro or con, here is a small story about the names and labels we use.
Long before the city of Mount Shasta, before it was named Sisson, before Berryvale, native Americans recognized the mountain as a sacred place. Today people from all over the world know of this mountain—it has been called the Himalayas of the West. Many spiritual traditions are attracted to the mountain at the foot of which we dwell. Science or logic may not be able to explain, but no one can deny. The school, though having no connection legally or financially, takes its name from the I AM movement which had its genesis on Mount Shasta. Each of us, whether we use marijuana or not, whether we are religious or not, whether we go to bars or not, has something in common with that name. Our given names are how people address us. When you refer to yourself, you say, "I". Who is this "I"? Beyond just a coincidence of language pronoun, in the uplifting aspects of all cultures, this "I" is our true self. It's the "To thine own self be true" self. It's the "Better Angels" self. Whether we call it spirituality, self-inquiry or being human, we each want to realize and experience the goodness and inner peace of our true self. So, as we deliberate together, may we remember our common name, may we grow and learn together, may we not hate each other, may we each be happy.


If you are a manufacturer, it is tough to beat the low cost of international raw material sourcing. Countries like China, India, Indonesia, Bolivia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico are able to offer materials at incredibly low prices because of their low labor and production costs. This is especially true if you are selling a commoditized product, such as thermal paper.
One critical component of thermal paper is leuco dye. Leuco Dye is the key ingredient in direct thermal paper, which is the paper that is commonly printed on and used for barcoding, receipts, shipping labels, airlines tickets, and much more.
As with all other raw materials of thermal paper, leuco dye production became a race to the bottom, as all manufacturers looked for the lowest possible price. Consequently, almost all of the leuco dye production used has found its way to being manufactured in China, by only a handful of companies. These few manufacturers were simply able to offer the lowest prices and therefore drove every other major competitor out of the business.
These low prices come with a great risk, however. If any one of the manufacturers were to close unexpectedly, the market for leuco dye could suddenly become very short on supply. The recent closure of a Chinese Manufacturer, Connect Chemical, has done just that.
In early September, Connect Chemical, along with thousands of other Chinese manufacturers, were shut down by the Chinese government because of recent changes in the country's environmental regulations. This was a part of the national effort to rectify China's infamous pollution issue.
Connect Chemical alone was responsible for 50% of the entire world's production leuco dye. In total, an estimated 80% of the world's supply of leuco dye has been halted by these newly enforced environment regulations.
After this news was announced, the prices for leuco dye skyrocketed to 5 times its normal price.
Shutting down Connect Chemical has begun to put a gigantic squeeze on the thermal paper supply chain worldwide and could have a huge impact on several different industries moving forward.
This mass shutdown in China has had a major supply chain impact, especially considering the timing of it all. The holiday season is a busy one for a lot companies. This means increased shipping and increased consumer purchasing behavior -- If you couldn't guess...shipping labels and receipts are kind of necessary for that.
Direct thermal labels are used in barcoding, shipping, and inventory tracking. These are heat-sensitive paper labels that have leuco dye embedded in them. Once the labels pass under the heated printhead, the dye is activated, allowing the print to be seen. Many manufacturers, converters, and resellers of these direct thermal labels are struggling with this recent shortage. Most have already announced price increases.
The rapid increase of demand and lack of supply has left many companies at a loss of what to do. Many manufacturers that required leuco dye to produce their goods have either gone out of business or have been forced to drastically increase their prices on labels and receipt paper.
With this sudden closure of Connect Chemical, several of the 7 major direct thermal coaters were left scrambling to meet top coated paper demand.
Those coaters located closest to Connect Chemical were the ones most heavily impacted by the shutdown. In an attempt to stay lean, these nearby coaters were practicing just-in-time (JIT) inventory. While this was an efficient decision for the short run, it did not leave any wiggle room for any sudden drop off of supply.
Once Connect Chemical was shut down, a ripple effect was set into motion. US based thermal paper manufacturer, Appvion (formerly Appleton Papers), produced between 40-50% of all coated paper in the United States. On October 2nd, 2017, they were forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Appvion no longer had access to leuco dye, preventing them from manufacturing their thermal paper. Due to this, their prices have increased by 29%. If they increase their prices, label manufacturers, who use coated paper, have no choice but to increase their products as well.
South Korea-based conglomerate, Hansol Papers -- one of the world's top 7 paper coaters -- had only a 2 week supply of leuco dye when the closure of Connect Chemical was announced.
Additionally, the global shortage has stopped several international paper coaters from taking on any new US customers.
This was an overnight worldwide shortage of thermal paper that could not have been foreseen. So many companies could have avoided this if they had sourced domestically.
Domestic sourcing allows for better inventory control -- AKA less risk -- and shorter time to market. And as an added bonus, shipping charges are much lower.
When sourcing internationally, it is crucial to be cognizant of potential -- and unfortunately common -- supply chain interruptions in the region in order to mitigate risk. These could be geopolitical or logistical barriers, such as government regulations (ex. Leuco dye manufacturers in China) or inclement weather.
If leuco dye was produced in the US by a supported company, this dire situation would have had a much smaller impact on the worldwide supply chain operations of thermal paper.


The knives were out and pans were fired up as teams of young chefs from some of the city's most prominent hotels and culinary schools battled it out at the Meat Livestock Australia (MLA) Black Box Culinary Challenge recently.
Aimed at raising the bar of these youthful talents, participating teams were given one hour to create a three-course menu that best showcased the various ingredients contained in a black box. Then the different teams had to swing into action; to prepare the dishes for the judging panel.
While Mandarin Oriental wowed the judges to land them the Best Soup award, Taylor's University's men in black conjured up the Best Appetiser. Newbie DoubleTree by Hilton KL flexed its culinary muscle to snap up the Best Main Course and Westin KL got their sweet taste of success by landing the Best Dessert award.
Here's an overview what the competing teams whipped up.
It was admirable how creative these youngsters were. Whether it's appetiser, soup, main course or dessert, they pulled out all the stops and even cooked for some 300 invitees who showed up for the gala dinner.
Each hotel also had to decorate two tables for the dinner - Renaissance KL's simplest but pragmatic set-up seemed to have struck the right chord as it was awarded the Best Table Display.


text:
"""Provides an on demand context manager that makes it easy to profile and explain code blocks / paths within hug."""
from hug_explainable._version import current
from hug_explainable.directive import Explainable, explain
from hug_explainable.type import explainable_toggle
from hug_explainable.context_manager import explainable

DONT_EXPLAIN = explainable_toggle(False)

__version__ = current

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I am a biophysical chemist and joined the Austin College faculty in 2008 after finishing a postdoctoral fellowship at UT Southwestern Medical Center supported through a grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. My primary teaching responsibilities are Introductory Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biochemical Metabolism. Undergraduate students have been very active in all aspects of my research program. I chose to set up my research program at Austin College because of its focus on undergraduate education—getting students involved in authentic research at an early stage is critical to cultivating the next generation of critically thinking scientist and physicians who will lead us through this new millennium. My research interests are focused on elucidating and understanding the rules of protein folding, and on the thermodynamic aspects of protein misfolding. Current studies are directed at understanding the role of misfolding of beta-2 microglobulin with respect to dialysis related amyloidosis, as diseases induced by long term hemodialysis.
Proteins adopt one specific biochemically relevant conformation; this unique 3-dimensional structure specifies not only the protein function but how it interacts with other proteins and the components of the cell. When a protein folds incorrectly it is unable to perform its normal cellular functions. A secondary consequence is a toxic gain of function that is the hallmark of many protein misfolding maladies including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The link between protein misfolding and human disease make the study and understanding of the protein folding relationship between sequence and structure a critically important question to be addressed.
Dialysis related amyloidosis (DRA) is a protein misfolding disease associated with long term hemodialysis resulting in a toxic gain of function for b-2-microglobulin (b2m), a component of the major histocompatibility complex. b2m is a 99-residue protein with a classical immunoglobulin fold which can be expressed recombinantly. b2m is necessary for the cell surface expression of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). When b2m is released from the MHC, it circulates in the sera until it is degraded in the kidney. Patients with long term kidney failure can have up to 10 fold more b2m in circulation than their healthy counterparts. DRA is characterized by accumulation of b2m deposits leading to severe joint pain and immobility. In end-stage patients, deposits have also been found localized in the GI tract and heart. Currently the only treatment for DRA includes filtration of amyloid. While filtration may remove large aggregates it does not stop the misfolded "seed" particles from reentering circulation and propagating disease.
Most of the current work on DRA focuses only on the formation of amyloid, with very little attention being given to the native state of b2m. In order to fully understand the misfolding events, the process must be viewed in the context of what constitutes the productive folding pathway for b2m. Understanding what constitutes the normal folding pathway will directly lead to an appreciation for how the misfolding events lead to the formation of amyloid. Rigorous biophysical characterization of b2m will provide a complete picture of the folding pathway and which amino acids are crucial to maintain the protein on a folding trajectory. Increasingly misfolded proteins are being linked to larger numbers of human diseases. Understanding the link between protein folding/misfolding makes this study of protein folding a critical interest to public health, as well as a scientific endeavor to identify the biophysical principles that drive the misfolding process.
Kelynne E. Reed, D.P.A., Lance F. Barton, Stephanie L. Gould, Karla S. McCain, and John M. Richardson, Integrating Leadership Development Throughout the Undergraduate Science Curriculum. Journal of College Science Teaching, 2016. 45(5): p. 51-59.
Reed, K.E.; Richardson, J.M. "Using Microbial Genome Annotation as a Foundation for Collaborative Student Research." Biochem. Mol. Biol. Education. 2013 41 (1):34-43.
Hoelen, H., Kleizen, B., Schmidt, A., Richardson, J.M., Charitou, P., Thomas, P., Braakman, I., "The Primary Folding Defect of F508 CFTR Originates in NBD1 and Can Be Rescued within the Domain" PLoS One 2010 Nov 30;5(11):e15458.
Richardson, J.M., and Makhatadze, G.I. "Temperature dependence of the thermodynamics of helix-coil transition." J Mol Biol 2004; 335: 1029-1037.
Ermolenko, D.N., Richardson, J.M., and Makhatadze, G.I. 2003. "Noncharged amino acid residues at the solvent-exposed positions in the middle and at the C terminus of the alpha-helix have the same helical propensity". Protein Science 2003; 12: 1169-1176.
Richardson J.M.; Lemaire S.; Jacquot J.P. and Makhatadze G. I. "Difference in the mechanisms on the cold and heat induced unfolding of Thioredoxin h from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii : spectroscopic and calorimetric studies" Biochemistry, 2000, 39, 11154-11162.
Lemaire S.D., Richardson J.M., Goyer A., Keryer E., Lancelin J.M., Makhatadze G.I., Jacquot J.P. "Primary structure determinants of the pH- and temperature – dependent aggregation of thioredoxin. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta 2000; 1476: 311-323.


In this course you'll learn the fundamentals of responsive web design with Google's Pete LePage! You'll create your own responsive web page that works well on any device - phone, tablet, desktop or anything in between.
You should be comfortable reading and writing HTML and CSS. You should also be able to inspect and modify websites using browser developer tools (we use Google Chrome, but you should be able to accomplish all the tasks in this course with any browser's developer tools).
The way people browse the web is changing quickly - fewer and fewer users access the web at a desk in front of a large monitor with a keyboard and mouse. The web is increasingly being enjoyed on phones, tablets, wearables, TVs and everything in between. By designing a site to be responsive, it will look good and work well no matter what device your users have in front of them.
Throughout this course, you'll work through a project creating a home town website that works well on phones, tablets and desktop displays.


Budgetmounts products are protected by UK and international copyright laws©.
Please contact us for information on using any of our bespoke designs.
Budgetmounts has been supplying LCD TV Mounts, LED TV Mounts, Video Projector Mounts, and LCD Exhibition Stands since 2004.
Budgetmounts is a small business, offering high quality products to meet all our customer's requirements every time, at a low cost with fast delivery.We can supply single or bulk items to meet all customers' needs and requirements, for either home or for business use.
Budgetmounts also designs and manufactures its products using local businesses within the UK. At Budgetmounts we are always looking for new and innovative ways of mounting screens, to accommodate the ever increasing pace of technology which mirrors busy lives. These include shop fittings, shop window displays, exhibition stands and information point stands. We also have bespoke items made to meet your needs, for example, screen plate adaptors for non standard screen fixing points.
We, in addition, supply mounts that can be incorporated into an existing display system or mounted for various trusses sizes.
Unlike some of competitors we supply all our mounts with wall fixings and a wide selection of screen fixings to suit your LCD or LED TV screen.
Payment for goods can be made with Google pay, Paypal or direct payments.
Designed by: Herts Web Design -Website Design London.


It is likely that, over a long enough timeline, every grappler will sustain some type of moderate to severe musculoskeletal injury. The fear that years of training will leave you in pieces later in life can be a constant worry for Jiu-Jitsu and MMA athletes at every level of their journey.
When rehabbing from injuries, many athletes and/or their doctors and therapists settle for good enough. Depending on the sport, they may be able to get away with it. In grappling, of course, good enough won't be good enough. It will show up on the mat though biomechanical dysfunction, instability, bad movement patterns and more.
It is critical to have someone like Dr. Matt in your corner.
He has unlimited resources to help you with anything you come in with. IHe always has a clear understanding of what I'm going through and how to fix it.
My ribs became one of those reoccurring problems that never quite healed right and caused me a ton of problems. Dr. Matt knew that this type of injury was common in this sport and had a specific game plan to fix it. After he treated it and following his recovery instructions I noticed immediate improvement. Because of his professionalism and understanding of the sport I love, I have someone in my corner I trust, and can go to knowing he will make sure I have more time on the mat and less time being sidelined by injuries.


text:
← This Day. When the people rose: how the Intifada changed the political discourse around Palestine
Iraq to sue US over sovereignty violation, use of depleted uranium weapons: Official →
This Day. The Kilmichael Ambush and the Flying Column of Tom Barry
On November 28th one hundred years ago on a roadside in County Cork, Ireland a small group of young men with hardly any military training lay in wait for their enemy. History was about to be made.
By Phil Mac Giollabhain (philmacgiollabhain.ie)
The ambush is a particularly risky military operation to pull off. If the element of surprise is lost then it usually ends in calamity for the ambusher
The commander of the group had first hefted a rifle in the uniform of his enemy that day – the British.
Thomas Bernardine Barry was born in Killorglin, County Kerry and he was the son of a Royal Irish Constabulary policeman.
There was nothing in young Barry's background that would suggest that he would go down in history as an iconic IRA commander.
In 1915 he volunteered to fight for the British Empire.
Four years later he was a different type of Volunteer.
In his brilliantly written memoir "Guerrilla days in Ireland" (1945) he made no bones about his world view as a teenage recruit to the ranks of the British Army:
"In June, in my seventeenth year, I had decided to see what this Great War was like. I cannot plead I went on the advice of John Redmond or any other politician, that if we fought for the British we would secure Home Rule for Ireland, nor can I say I understood what Home Rule meant. I was not influenced by the lurid appeal to fight to save Belgium or small nations. I knew nothing about nations, large or small. I went to the war for no other reason than that I wanted to see what war was like, to get a gun, to see new countries and to feel a grown man. Above all I went because I knew no Irish history and had no national consciousness."
Barry wrote in the same work that the terrible beauty of Easter Week changed everything for him.
Only four years later the British Empire was facing an enemy that they had trained in the Great War.
Like all successful military commanders, Barry instinctively understood Sun Tzu's observation that
"All warfare is based upon deception".
He was all of 23 years of age as he deployed his men at Kilmichael.
The IRA Flying Column was lying in wait that day for two vehicles full of "Auxies".
Their full title was the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary.
Technically they were policemen.
However, this was no Dixon of Dock Green in West Cork.
This was the elite of the British Empire and the very best that they could field against the IRA.
In effect, they were the SAS of the day.
Barry wore a trench coat stood out as the lorries approached.
The ruse worked and they slowed down to what they thought was a stranded British officer.
When they were in range the ex-British soldier took a Mills bomb (hand grenade) from his pocket and lobbed it into the lead lorry.
It exploded.
The Kilmichael ambush had begun.
Barry had deployed his men into three sections and a command post.
It would tickle him in later life that his memoir was required reading at Sandhurst.
Over the last 40 years, I have regularly consulted this work.
Like all great writing it stands the test of time.
Like all good guerrilla leaders, Barry had engineered a situation where he had achieved local superiority of numbers.
It was 36 versus 18.
There is controversy to this day about whether or not the British used a "false surrender" ruse to kill the three IRA Volunteers –Pat Deasy, Michael McCarthy and Jim Sullivan.
After that Barry said that he ordered his men to keep firing.
On the Volunteers that day Jack Hennessy recalled the ambush years alter:
"I was engaging the Auxies on the road. I was wearing a tin hat [helmet]. I had fired about ten rounds and had got five bullets through the hat when the sixth bullet wounded me in the scalp. Vice Comdt. McCarthy had got a bullet through the head and lay dead. I continued to load and fire but the blood dripping from my forehead fouled the breech of my rifle. I dropped my rifle and took McCarthy's. Many of the Auxies lay on the road dead or dying.
Our orders were to fix bayonets and charge on to the road when we heard three blasts of the O/C's whistle. I heard the three blasts and got up from my position, shouting "hands up". At the same time one of the Auxies about five yards from me drew his revolver. He had thrown down his rifle. I pulled on him and shot him dead. I got back to cover, where I remained for a few minutes firing at living and dead Auxies on the road."
In Barry's memoir, the chapter "drill amidst the dead" is wonderfully well written. Barry takes you to that bleak boreen in November with darkness falling two Crossley Tenders are ablaze and bodies strewn about the road.
He had grouped and trained his Flying Column for only a week before the ambush. These men had never been in combat before. They were shocked and shaken by what had just transpired.
Barry gripped his men and marched them up and down the road,
He had to remind them that they were soldiers in the Irish Republican Army.
The shockwaves of that stunning IRA success were felt in Downing Street.
Kilmichael had happened just one week after Bloody Sunday in Dublin.
Mick Collins had brilliantly deployed his Squad to take out the Cairo Gang, the cream of British Intelligence.
Later that day the Brits retaliated by shooting into the crowd at Croke Park.
The Auxies were stunned by Kilmichael and responded by burning large area of Cork City.
The world looked on and quickly worked out which side in the conflict should be considered to be the terrorists.
Republican News, December 5, 2020
Filed under Europe, History
Tagged as British colonialism, Ireland, This day in history

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
US seeks to build coalition with allies to protect Gulf shipping lanes
US Secretary of State discusses Iran with Saudi Arabia, UAE amid escalating crisis.
Pompeo's trip comes amid attacks, heightened tensions with Iran
Official says US is building maritime security coalition
RIYADH/DUBAI - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Iran and maritime security with rich Gulf Arab allies during a trip to the region on Monday after President Donald Trump called off a military strike to retaliate for Tehran's downing of a US drone.
A senior US State Department official said the United States is building a coalition with its allies to protect Gulf shipping lanes by having "eyes on all shipping" following recent attacks on oil tankers that Washington blamed on Iran.
Pompeo arrived in the United Arab Emirates after meeting with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia where talks covered protection for ships in the Gulf.
"Freedom of navigation is paramount," Pompeo tweeted from the Saudi city of Jeddah.
The senior US official told reporters en route to Abu Dhabi that the US Navy was building a "Sentinel" programme for "proactive deterrence". He said a coalition of nations would provide both material and financial contributions, but did not name the countries.
"What the Iranians are doing by shooting down American drones, shooting at other drones in the region not even necessarily over the Gulf, anywhere, is to prevent us from having eyes on them," the official said.
A second US official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the plan aimed to see US partners providing the majority of ships that would be positioned in intervals in the Gulf of Oman or the Strait of Hormuz, keeping watch.
"It's not in operation (yet) but it's something we're looking at with our partners," the official said, describing the concept.
In his meeting with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Pompeo pressed him on increased maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.
"We'll need you all to participate, your military folks," Pompeo said. "The President is keen on sharing that the United States doesn't bear the cost of this," he added, noting that the UAE, Saudi Arabia and "another 20 countries" would "need to help advance" the exercise.
Tehran has denied any involvement in the explosive blasts that have hit six vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, near the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost a fifth of the world's oil passes.
The US official said the deterrents include cameras, binoculars and ships, including from the United States.
Mobilising allies
In an apparent sign of how quickly the United States has mobilised diplomatic efforts as the confrontation escalates, Pompeo thanked King Salman for meeting on "such short notice".
Pompeo and Prince Mohammed reiterated that the "two countries stand side by side in confronting the hostile Iranian activities and in combating terrorism", the Saudi media ministry said.
The United States has protected the strait for decades with its naval Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain. US President Donald Trump said on Monday that other countries, including China and Japan, should protect their own ships there.
"There will be military ships from foreign countries, from a broad coalition of countries who participate in this. I don't think they're escorting. I think they're observing," the US official said.
It was not clear what role Saudi Arabia and the UAE would play in the coalition.
Relations between longtime foes Iran and the United States have deteriorated since Trump withdrew Washington a year ago from a 2015 accord that curbed Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for easing sanctions.
Tensions have flared following the tankers attacks, Iran's downing of the drone last week, and repeated attacks on Saudi airports and oil installations by Yemen's Iran-aligned Huthis.
Morocco reinforces its maritime territory
Greek islanders protest overcrowded refugee camps
Netanyahu uses Holocaust memorial to push Iran fears


Sticking with the theme of travel, I've picked something that's a bit closer to home. If you're in London, then there's a fairly good chance that you'll be taking the London Underground to get around the city. Here's a few tips and tricks to help you save money, and get around easily.
If you're delayed on the underground for more than 15 minutes, you can claim back the single Oyster fare for that journey. You just need to keep track of where and when you were delayed, and fill out an easy online form. If you use a form filling tool in your browser, it only takes a few seconds, and you'll get a voucher in the post valid for 13 months which you can apply towards your Oyster PrePay balance, or towards the cost of a travelcard.
There's even a free website which claims to detect when your commute is late: mytubewaslate.com, although it doesn't seem to have detected anything for me, it has an automatic form filler tool.
There are some exclusions, such as strikes and planned closures, but in general, I've gotten money back for every journey I've claimed for.
Similar schemes apply for National Rail, DLR and Overground (30 minutes) services (and even on the cable car!), but there's no refund available if your bus is delayed.
If you've got a 16-25 railcard, you probably know that you save 1/3 on your off-peak rail fares, but the discount is also valid on the Underground too.
If you've got an annual tube pass, then the 'gold record card' that comes with it acts as a railcard within the South East: and also enables you to get the railcard discount.
To get this enabled, pop down to your local underground station: I've found that not all of them seem to know about the annual pass (gold card) discount, but the main train stations should be able to help you out. It would be much easier for TfL to automatically load the discount when you buy an annual ticket, but sadly they don't do this.
It's a pain to have to top up your card every time it runs out of cash, and there's often a queue at peak times. Plus, if you run out of money on the bus, you're going to have to pay the cash fare (unless you use your contactless credit or debit card).
According to a TfL report, only a third of Oyster users are aware of this useful feature – and only 7% have it enabled. It's easy enough to do on the website after you've registered your card online: just choose the station and your top up amount.
A few caveats: it tops up £20 or £40 when your balance falls below £10, which might be too high an amount for some people, and it doesn't work on buses: you'll only get the auto top up when you're on the tube.


The claw-and-ball had been chewed clean off. It lay on a patch of sunny parquet floor, just to the right of an antique, aubergine wool rug now covered with the splintered remnants of an eleventh-century pedestal table and one very large, ghastly looking, somewhat repentant barghest.
I opened my mouth to respond, but Miss Bister continued speaking, her tone rising only infinitesimally, her back as stiff as Luck's lance must have been and her expression just as hard. She pointed toward the previously priceless, three-footed piece of furniture that was now a worthless, two-footed pile of kindling.
But all I could think of was how useless some of the things were that our society valued most. As Miss Bister had pointed out, neither magic nor money would help. If I was going to repair the table, I'd need to find another way. Which would take time. And that meant I'd need to find somewhere else for us to sleep tonight. Because if the beast was going… I was too.
She narrowed her eyes, slightly suspicious of my now-gracious defeat since I'd just spent the last half-hour trying to persuade her to accept various forms of reparation. But then she nodded, handed me a couple of paper bin bags, and left.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself ... beyond your bio?
Noon was very loosely inspired by the Egyptologist Evelyn "Evy" Carnahan from the movie The Mummy. I was having lunch with a bunch of writers during the time when I was seeking inspiration for a new project. I was still practicing law and I sat next to a librarian. We each shared with the other that we felt our day jobs were fairly pedestrian and not necessarily something that could be tapped into to create a dynamic, otherworldly character. I then mentioned Evy as an example of a wonderful librarian character, who found love while battling the undead, despite her bookish ways. So that conversation got me thinking... If Evy could do it, maybe another similarly bookish lawyer character could do it too.
The stories take place in Halja, a fictional country with a circa 1900s technology level. Halja's biggest city is New Babylon, which was built on top of the ancient battlefield of Armageddon.
Demons can be anything I need them to be. They are the ultimate "supernatural play dough" for writers.
Read in the genre you want to write in – and outside of it. Read non-fiction. Sign up for workshops, take classes, and get involved with a writer's group. Keep writing! Don't be afraid to submit or publish your work, but make sure it's truly ready to be submitted or published. Don't give up or get frustrated. Learn from constructive criticism. Celebrate small accomplishments and enjoy the process as much as the product.
There's going to be a fifth book. What happens after that depends on readers! If you want more Noon Onyx books, please: (1) buy the books; (2) write reviews; (3) email me and tell me your thoughts!