And all that sat by the fire were sad, Save Ogier, who was stern, And his eyes hardened, even to stones, As he took the harp in turn; Earl Ogier of the Stone and Sling Was odd to ear and sight, Old he was, but his locks were red, And jests were all the words…
Category: Writing
Author’s Commentary, III
And now, the conclusion to my author’s commentary of Beauty of the Lilies. Beauty of the Lilies Author’s Commentary, Part I Author’s Commentary, Part II Author’s Commentary to Beauty of the Lilies, Part III Ruark raised his voice after his brother. “You submitted to the Vothnians and gave them everything they wanted, gave them ransom…
Author’s Commentary, Part II
Last week I began to post the author’s commentary to Beauty of the Lilies; this week I’ll continue it, and next week I will conclude it. Beauty of the Lilies Author’s Commentary, Part I Author’s Commentary on The Beauty of the Lilies Jediah looked at the Vothnians with the same unruffled calm—the only thing the…
Author’s Commentary, Part I
My novella, Beauty of the Lilies, was released last week as an e-book. Today, then, I am posting the first part of my author’s commentary. The italic portions are extracts from the novella, and the plain text below is my comments on it. If you haven’t read the novella, and for some reason want to…
The Tremendous Issue
Last week I reviewed The Napoleon of Notting Hill. There was one criticism I had, when I first finished the novel, that I withdrew after further thought. I’ll share it now, but first a SPOILER WARNING: This post will focus on the ending of The Napoleon of Notting Hill. If you don’t want it spoiled,…
CSFF Blog Tour: Red Shirts and Snapped Threads
In my last post, I criticized Beckon for its high casualty rate. I thought it would be good, today, to consider why characters are killed, and why they ought to be. One common reason for killing characters is to (in the words of one author) “create peril”. Many poor red shirts* have lost their lives…
Character Profiles: The Expository Sidekick
“Oh,” he said, with emphasis. “Oh – you don’t think it necessary; then,” and he added the words with great clearness and deliberation, “then, Mr. Ellis Shorter, I can only say that I would like to see you without your whiskers.” And at these words I also rose to my feet, for the great tragedy…
Character Profiles: The Suave Villain
What sharp little eyes you have, my dear. – Lord Archelaeus Burleigh, The Skin Map Archelaeus Burleigh was an earl – rich, refined, well-dressed, every inch an aristocrat. He was a great traveler, too, and a man of books. As may be expected, he was very reasonable, in the sense that he generally gave people…
Interview with Cheryl McKay
Cheryl McKay is a screenwriter and professional author of fifteen years. She co-wrote the Wild and Wacky, Totally True Bible Stories audio series and books with Frank Peretti. She was also chosen to write the screenplay for Jim Stovall’s novel The Ultimate Gift. In 2007, Fox released The Ultimate Gift into theaters. The movie won…
CSFF Blog Tour: Character Profiles: The Autobiographical Insert
I sighed and put my head down on the steering wheel. “I hate shrinks. But I guess I could take you to see Dr. van Pelt.” I had to start seeing Dr. van Pelt after my first book, Imaginary Jesus, came out. With all the hallucinations of Jesus and time travel and talking donkeys, my…