Just in Case Anyone is Alive....

I have a feeling everyone is dead, but if not I posted part of my story on The Erratic Muse. If you have a little time, it would make me so happy if you read it. :-)

Here are links to a movie and two book reviews I've been able to do-

The Red Baron (2008)

Stepping Heavenward - Elizabeth Prentice

Canon of Scripture - F. F. Bruce

Thanks for reading.
Miss Pickwickian

St. Clement

This actually isn't about St. Clement at all....it just reminded me of that rhyme:
Oranges and Lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's....
Anyways. I wrote this when I was very bored the other day. I honestly don't know very much about it. It is very odd. So odd, you may give me funny looks next time I see you. But, after all, desperate times call for desperate measures. No one has posted anything for a very long time! Someone needs to save the blog from utter ruin! Esmeralda to the rescue! (:-P) I needed something to post, and something quick. Thus, I give you,

Lemons on Sunday

P.S. There are a few wonky allegories in this. So wonky, you may wonder if I actually understand the meaning of allegory. However, I'm curious to see if any of you can figure out what all it means. If you can't, that's ok. It prolly doesn't make much sense. It made sense in my head :-P


'I do like lemons,' he said.
He was gazing out to the street, not looking at her. She was staring at her feet.
'Yes,' she murmured, 'But limes are far more effective.'
'Oh, I don't think so.' He leaned back against the wall. His voice was drawling and bantering. 'Lemons can hide things, sour things that certain people shouldn't see.'
'Yes, but limes are stronger,' she replied. 'They can keep certain people from coming in. They are too slippery for attackers.'
She turned to him, her face earnest, almost pleading.
He glanced at her, one eyebrow raised, then turned his gaze back to the cold street.
'So you prefer limes to lemons?' he asked in a rather acidic voice.
She blushed. 'I'm not saying I like either of them, actually. As far as it goes, I'd rather have a strawberry, or a peach, or an apple-' She stopped, and quickly put her hand over her mouth. She had been disturbed by his coldness, wasn't thinking clearly in her effort to defend herself. She had let-that word- slip out. She had said it. What would he think of her now?
She was trembling now, shifting her feet.
He turned to her. His face was like stone.
'What did you say?'
His voice seemed to have grown deeper. Her mind went blank. Fear swept over her. She tried to speak, but her voice shook.
'No, no, I- I didn't mean- don't think- oh, please-don't be mad at me!'
She was near tears. She couldn't look at his face. A tear slid down her cheek and plopped onto her shoe as she waited fearfully for him to respond. She was both dreading and hoping his words. She finally summoned enough nerve to look up- and he was gone. She let out a wail, and fell down weeping on the steps.

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Recently I've been dealing more with poetry and lyrics then I've ever done in my life.
I've never really read very much poetry because a lot of it has always seemed so over the top. I tend to dislike overly romantic or meandering drama over leaves and scenery etc.... And it seems like what there is to say has already been said and so much of it is similar. (Very narrow view I know.)

Lately, however, I have been trying to study some poetry and delve into lyric writing etc. I enjoy the actual writing part and I can think of plenty of things to write about. (And maybe since I don't like meandering drama I should do something about it. ;-)
I've been writing a lot of rough lyric sort of verses in short bits of time. It helps me feel like I've accomplished something well I still work on my long story. :-)
Anyways, I thought I should learn some stuff about how it actually should be done.

I've picked up two books on poetry (how to understand it, what it's uses/powers are, how to write it, etc...). I've also been working through a book on song writing, but it is a bit of a drag. (The first chapter is about diving into the depths of your soul to find your polished pearl of inspiration...exactly the sort of thing that put me off poetry to start with.)

Anyways, I thought a good place to start would be studying the best, so I picked up a lovely copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets at "Exodus". I can't say it's my favorite thing, but I am happy that they are enjoyable. :-)

What are your views on poetry? Do you have favorite works?


"Where art thou, Muse, that thou forget'st so long
To speak of that which gives thee all they might
Spend'st thou thy fury on some worthless song,
Darkening thy power to lend bas subjects light?
Return, forgetful Muse, and straight redeem
In gentle numbers time so idly spent;
Sing to the ear that doth thy lays esteem
And gives thy pen both skill and argument.
Rise, resty Muse, my love's sweet face survey,
If Time have any wrinkle graven there;
IF any, be a satire to decay,
And make Time's spoils despised every where.
Give my love fame faster then Time wastes life;
So thou prevent'st his scythe and crooked knife."


Enjoy,
Miss Pickwickian

The Erratic Muse

Some Quotes

Authors who never give you something to disagree with never give you anything to think about.
Michael LaRocca

Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world.
George Bernard Shaw

The brain that doesn't feed itself, eats itself.
Gore Vidal

One of the things that draws writers to writing is that they can get things right that they got wrong in real life by writing about them.
Tobias Wolff

The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense.
Tom Clancy

Fiction is a lie, and good fiction is the truth inside the lie.
Stephen King

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero, but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
G. K. Chesterton

Writing fiction is a solitary occupation but not really a lonely one. The writer's head is mobbed with characters, images and language.
Hilma Wolitzer

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
Bill Cosby

Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.
Albert Einstein

Success comes to a writer, as a rule, so gradually that it is always something of a shock to him to look back and realize the heights to which he has climbed.
P. G. Wodehouse

Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

Across the Green Mountain

You can listen to the recording of this song that was originally put in Gods and Generals here. However, if his spooky appearance is going to have negative effects on how you judge this cool song. Please listen to it here. Listen all the way to the end. Sorry its long!

Scary version.

Harmless version.

Lyrics-

I cross the Green Mountain
I sit by the stream
Heaven blazing in my head I
I dreamt a monsterous dream
Something came up
Out of the sea
Swept through the land of
The rich and the free

I look into the eyes
of my merciful friend
And then I ask myself
Is this the end?
Memories linger
Sad yet sweet
And I think of the souls in heaven who will be

Alters are burning
The flames far and wide
the fool has crossed over
from the other side
They tip their caps
from the top of the hill
You can feel them come
All brave blood do spill

Along the dim
Atlantic line
The rapper's land
lasts for miles behind
the lights coming foreward
and the streets are broad
all must yield
To the avenging God

The world is old
The world is great
Lessons of life
Can't be learned in a day
I watch and I wait
And I listen while I stand
To the music that comes
from a far better land

Close the eyes
of our Captain
Peace may he know
His long night is done
The great leader is laid low
He was ready to fall
He was quick to defend
Killed outright he was
by his own men

It's the last day's last hour
of the last happy year
I feel that the unknown
The world is so dear
Pride will vanish
And glory will rot
But virtue lives
and cannot be forgot

The bells
of evening have rung
there's blasphemy
on the end of the tongue
Let them say that I walked
in fair nature's light
And that I was loyal
to truth and to right

Serve God and be cheerful
Look upward beyond
Beyond the darkness that masks
the surprises of dawn
In the deep green grasses
and the blood stained woods
They never dreamed of surrendering
They fell where they stood

Stars fell over Alabama
And I saw each star
You're walking in dreams
Whoever you are
Chilled as the skies
Keen as the frost
And the ground's froze hard
And the morning is lost

A letter to mother
came today
Gunshot wound to the breast
is what it did say
But he'll be better soon
He's in a hospital bed
But he'll never be better
He's already dead

I'm ten miles outside the city
And I'm lifted away
In an ancient light
That is not of day
They were calm they were gloomed
We knew them all too well
We loved eachother more than
we ever dared to tell

Bob Dylan

I've never been a big fan of Bob Dylan's voice, but I love some of the lyrics to his songs. (Tim Obrian's CD "Red on Blond" is all Bob Dylan songs!) I Across the Green Mountain! Bob Dylan wrote it for Gods and Generals and he incorporated a lot of that story (especially Jackson) as well as some cool symbolism.

Anyways, just thought I'd share. I especially like the lines:

"Let them say that I walked
in fair nature's light
And that I was loyal
to truth and to right"

I believe most people would want this to be said of them.
I also like these lines...

"You can feel them come
All brave blood do spill"

And the very end...

"We knew them all too well

We loved eachother more than
we ever dared to tell"

Anyways....
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

What Makes Him Cool?

So. Everybody! We seem to be having some lazy authors here... I feel sort of like I keep rambling on to myself. (Special thanks to Polka Dot, Rose, and occasionally Johanna and Dura Mater for commenting. You rock!)

Miss Polka Dot and I thought it would be fun to do a little assignment. A lot of what makes stories work is characters. I know we all of a lot of heroes. I thought it would be fun for us all to do a squib on one of our favorite heroes or heroines.

Try to include a few of the following:

Why do you like this hero?
How can you relate?
Does he seem realistic? Does this make him more lovable?
What do you think is necessary in a true hero?
What makes or break a guy or gal from reaching the hero status?

Maybe post a picture or two.
Just ramble on your thoughts about the subject.

I know a lot of you think you don't know what to write about, but anything related to story is just fine. Quotes, song lyrics, random inspiring squibs, movie and book reviews, pictures, and so on are all welcome. I know you all love movies and songs, and a lot of you read, so really no excuse. Most of what we do everyday is related to story.

Also...please notice the improvements to the blog. Like the slide shows?

Thanks for reading. Now write!
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Alexander (1924-2007) was a successful fiction writer who wrote mostly children stories, but some other varieties as well including a total of over 40 books!

I was reading about him today when I came across this quote in an article of tribute that was published at his death.

The quote from Lloyd Alexander is in reference to his main character in a five book fantasy series who starts out as an assistant pig-keeper. Although his work is sometimes predictable and his female characters are often unbearable, Alexander was a great children's writer. I have been greatly influenced by his style and have enjoyed hours of it, in my youth. ;-)

"For Mr. Alexander, the uses of enchantment were clear: fantasy, he often said, was a powerful way of talking about real-world injustice.




'In whatever guise — our own daily nightmares of war, intolerance, inhumanity; or the struggles of an Assistant Pig-Keeper against the Lord of Death — the problems are agonizingly familiar,” he said in his Newbery acceptance speech in 1969. “And an openness to compassion, love and mercy is as essential to us here and now as it is to any inhabitant of an imaginary kingdom.' "

And from an interview published after his death...

"SF: Of all your books, do you have a favorite book or character?
LA: I can’t single out one of my books or characters as a favorite. In the same way that I don’t have a favorite kidney, my books are organically all part of myself. I might even say that put all together, the books are one ongoing, developing story—which, not coincidentally, happens to be my own lifestory.

SF: What was it like to win the Newbery Medal?

LA: The only way I can describe winning the Newbery Medal is: indescribable. Elation? Astonishment? Those are very pale words. What I did realize after the jubilation calmed down a little (it never calmed down completely) is that all awards, marvelous as they are to receive, are given for something already done. The point is not to look back, but to look ahead to what you hope still to do.

SF: What were your favorite books growing up, and who were your favorite authors?

LA: Favorite books and authors while growing up—I’d need a book to list them all. For the sake of brevity: Shakespeare, Dickens, Mark Twain, Victor Hugo, world’s mythology, the Arthurian legends. And the unabridged dictionary. And they’re still my favorites. They get better each time I read them."

(You can see the whole interview here.)

For more info on Lloyd Alexander go to: this interesting, short bio or Wikipedia.

Just thought I'd share.
Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

(P.S. Perhaps his nose influenced my writing style as well. ;-)

The "Car Wreck" Dynamic

"Just as people slow down to look at wreckage, we can't resist seeing what happens to fully drawn human beings who make an unalterable mess in their lives. A skilled novelist can make us feel that 'there but for the grace of God go I.' "
Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Just thought I'd share this quote. This seems very true and really helped me understand this predicament. Bell uses The Great American Tragedy as an example declaring it the worst written "greatest book" ever. Although its style is unpolished, often lags, and the primary character turns into a horrible person it is compelling book. I also think The Mayor of Casterbridge falls into this category. Anyways...just thought I'd share...

Lv,
Miss Pickwickian

Writing and its Characters

"In his book, The Art of Creative Writing, Lajos Egri asserts that the key to originality in fiction comes from characters.

'Living, vibrating human beings are still the secret and magic formula of great and enduring writing. Read, or better, study the immortals and we will be forced to conclude that their unusual penetration into human character is what has kept their work fresh and alive through the centuries...'

Lets test this.

What is it that sets Dickens apart in our minds? Fagin and Wilkins Micawber; Uriah Heep and Miss Havisham; Peggotty and Barkis. Characters who sparkle in his plots like jewels.

How about a more contemporary example? I mentioned Stephen King. Study his work and you will see that his character development is every bit as original as his plot lines. The two work together. Take a look at the myriad characters in The Stand; you will not find a dullard anywhere.

Don't let any of your characters plop into your plot like plain vanilla. Spice them up.

Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell

Death Shall Be Their Shepherd

Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd,

and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.

Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will receive me.

Selah

Psalm 49:14-15

I read this in the Bible this morning... and it made me happy, and inspired me.

Is that weird?

-Miss Polka Dot