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The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

I’m still reading, slowly, and since I just finished “book one” (not quite half way) I thought it would be a good time to capture some of my thoughts.  I’m torn about this book.  It’s well written and I’m definitely enjoying it — yet there’s something not quite complete in my satisfaction of it.

As some of the scenes unfold, they seem familiar.  Perhaps too familiar.  Many of the characters are like old friends I once knew.  Mrs. Lockwell is very much like Mrs. Bennett of Pride and Prejudice, very loud and shrill (although not as improper) at times and concerned with marrying off her daughters just as any proud mama would be.  There are three daughters, very much like the Dashwood sisters.  Even Mrs. Baydon, Mr. Baydon, and Lady Marsdel remind me of the gossipy neighbor and her married daughter in Sense and Sensibility, with Hugh Laurie’s dry, cynical comments.  Mr. Bennick reminds me of Colonel Brandon. 

Miss Ivy Lockwood counts the pennies and worries constantly about providing for her family, just as Elinor Dashwood did.  She went to a fancy party at Lady Marsel’s house and took sick, similar to Jane’s trip in Pride and Prejudice.  It gave her the opportunity to meet Mr. Rafferty’s family and acquiantances — and now they’ve turned their backs on her, just as they did to poor Jane, because Mr. Rafferty is now going to marry someone else of a more proper standing and fortune.  Even the annoying Mr. Wyble is remarkably similar to Mr. Collins, and the Lockwell’s house is entailed to him.

So while the scenes are amusing in that I try to compare and contrast with the Jane Austen works I’ve read, it also makes The Magicians and Mrs. Quent seem…derivative. 

My other complaint is the pace of the book.  Here I am on page 198 of just shy of 500 pages, and I still don’t know who Mrs. Quent is or who, exactly, the magicians are and what great occurence is supposed to happen.  A Mr. Quent was mentioned about 10 pages ago for the very first time.  Ivy Lockwell has been working on a vague riddle for most of the book, when she wasn’t walking and chatting with Mr. Rafferty, and she finally figured out one small thing — but she (and so I) still have no idea what’s going on.

Not all the characters or story lines are derivative (or if they are, I haven’t read that particular Austen story to recognize it).  I think Mr. Garritt’s story is quite unique, and while he’s slowly slipping into nefarious dealings, his choices have totally made sense and are well motivated.  He’s extremely naive.  Mr. Rafferty is rather unique, too, and I’m assuming one of the “magicians” although he knows nothing about magic and has just recently acquired a magical ring.  Mr. Lockwell is sort of an invalid.  Something horrible happened and he lost his mind, and we know it’s related to the story, and we have his riddle he left for his daughter, but dang it all to Invarel, it’s all unfolding so slowly!

(Oh, for those who can’t stand it, magic is spelled MAGICK.)

It’s an enjoyable read — but slow.  Nothing is happening — except familiar Austen-esque scenes.  The characters are entertaining — in an Austen-esque way.  Although slow, I am intrigued, and I have no cause to cease reading, but I’ve definitely been taking some mental notes about how I will proceed with my own “Austen” fantasy.  This is just too slow, really, and a little too derivative, for what I’d hoped, although it’s an enchanting if slow-paced story.

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News Flash

We’ve really been working hard on a new title for “Letters to an English Professor.”  We’ve been back and forth through all sorts of ideas and had tentatively settled on “Make Me.”  It does have a signficant meaning in the story, but sounds rather childish and didn’t really convey the BDSM aspect of the story.  It didn’t SING. 

Angie suggested “Dear Sir,” which we’d sort of touched on with “Dear Conn” or “Dear Conn, With Love” like the famous “To Sir, With Love,” but “Conn” didn’t do much for the title.  Google is my friend (as Rae would say) and I saw the formal “Yours Faithfully.”

So combining, we have approved the final title:  “Dear Sir, I’m Yours.”

Rae doesn’t really call Conn “Sir”, but it definitely implies the right mood as well as conveying the theme of “Letters.”

Woo-hoo!  Now to come up with a catchy tag line….

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February Recap

I need a do-over.

Other than the terrific news from Samhain, Feb. was pretty much a bust.  I didn’t finish Revision Xibalba — and I should have been able to do so.  I can’t even blame it on a new project, because I only finished one section in the new sfr project.  I was rather scattered.  I spent days brainstorming a new title for Letters, tenatively “Make Me.”  I spent days angsting about an agent.  Then poof.  I looked up and the month was gone.

So today, I cleaned my desk.  I made a consise list of what I need to do in order to complete Revision Xibalba this month.  I have some items to complete for Samhain this week, but otherwise, Revision Xibalba is my number one priority until I get editor revisions on either Road or Letters (MM).

My mood hasn’t been the greatest the past week or so.  After I turned in my “year in review” status report this past week (performance appraisal time is just around the corner), my boss at the Evil Day Job said she thought I was going to quit.  Not hardly, but reflective of how off my game I’ve been. 

Oh, and I also broke my teapot.  With tea in it, of course.  And one paper towel left in the entire kitchen.  Don’t even ask about the dumb thing I did to Bethanie!

So I’ll be shopping for a new teapot — and hoping for a better month!

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Drollerie Press Blog Tour

This month our Drollerie Press blog tour theme is “origins.”  Please welcome Angela Cameron!

~ * ~

Hello everyone in Burkhart land! *waves*

Angela Cameron here. As a part of the Drollerie Press author blog tour, I’m stopping by Joely’s to share the story of my beginning as a writer. I always think it’s so interesting to hear how others started out. We each have our own twisted tale of how we either embraced what we were from the beginning—or fought it back with a stick like I did.

 Mouth of the South

In all honesty, I knew that I was a storyteller from a young age. I rattled on so much that my parents and aunt literally nicknamed me “Mouth of the South”. In grade school, I wrote stories for my friends and journaled every day. They were often a little dark for my age. I blame it on my dad who is a huge fan of horror and vampires.

I didn’t publish anything until high school, and that was only because my English teacher threatened me into entering a poetry contest. I won, and that victory was almost tempting enough for me to abandon my chosen career as an artist to try writing.

 Me…a tech geek? Nah.

But life jumped in my path. I married early on and had a daughter, giving up any hope of ever being the next Stephen King or Anne Rice, who were my favorites. Then, in 1998, I found a guilty pleasure that started that dream right back up—Vampire: The Masquerade. I was such a role playing geek, but I really kicked some ass online. *smiles*

That level of character creation and writing really started an obsession. Still, I fought it and worked as a website designer until 2005, when I went back to college to finish my degree in psychology.  I’d done little more than outline a vampire story until 2006, when I finally gave in and sent off a few pieces of flash fiction. They were accepted and published, which started the whole crazy obsession with becoming a novelist.

 Regrets?

The next year, I wrote a novella that sold to Drollerie Press and published under the title Nocturne. Of course, it was a vampire story. By the end of this year, I should have four novels and two anthology stories with my name on them. I’m so ecstatic. I’ve never been happier, now that I’ve allowed myself to follow this path. I haven’t “arrived” by any means. No, there are still a whole lot of rungs on that ladder above me. My only regret though is that I’d have done this a long time ago. Seeing your name (or pen name, as in my case) on a published piece is the greatest feeling in the world.

For more information on Angela Cameron and her stories, check out Angela Cameron.

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Survive My Fire Review

Soleil has given a terrific review of Survive My Fire!

For such a short read it was jam packed.  Romance (Read: Warm Fuzzies and Hot sex). Fantasy (Read: Magic, Suspence, And Dragons, oh my!). Hell I even got a nice juicy battle to chew on, and I looove battle scenes. Two thumbs way way up!

You can read her whole commentary here.  Thank you, Soleil!  I’m thrilled you’re enjoying your gift certificate from the Character Clinic!

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2/25/2009

When I planned to work on Tara’s scene last night, I’d forgotten that I had a two-hour eligibility afternoon meeting at the Evil Day Job.  Talk about totally wiped.  I had a tension headache, too, and just couldn’t face this difficult scene. 

That Man had to be up at 5:15 for his EDJ today, so we both went to bed early and I planned to tackle the scene this morning.  As I was brushing my teeth, the final plot piece finally slipped into place.  I also had a vision for another diagram I need to prepare for work today before our 1 pm meeting to clean up all the stuff that came up yesterday.  Some days, my brain is firing on all cylinders!

So I shout VICTORY this morning.  The first draft of Tara’s scene is complete at 914 words.  Not a lot by any means, but a significant victory just the same.  I noted my complete lack of output since 2/14 in my spreadsheet which is totally unacceptable.  Ugh.  I could have been through Revision Xibalba this month if I hadn’t slacked off.  Le sigh.

Ah, well, nothing I can do about it now but press my nose to the grindstone and concentrate on finishing as soon as possible.

Aside:  My copy of Larissa Ione’s Desire Unchained arrived yesterday!  I had it pre-ordered on Amazon forever, it seemed, and I was going to hunt down the UPS man if he didn’t deliver it yesterday.  He was late (after dinner) but he did drop it off, along with my Caribou Coffee order.  However, I don’t get to read it until I finish Revision Xibalba.  *dies*  That’s my reward.  [I don’t get to start it, because once I do, I know I’ll read it straight through in one sitting like Pleasure Unbound!]

And so cool — my first “blurb” appears in the front!

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Where I Am

I’m going to work on the nagging (haha, not “nagging” according to Sal in the Shanhasson series) scene today in Revision Xibalba even if it kills me!  If I must admit defeat by the time I go to bed, then tomorrow, I’m skipping this scene.  I know what comes later — and it’s easy smoothing/edits not writing a brand new scene. 

Kait, I don’t think I need your character therapist duties — yet.  I know this character.  The problem is I don’t know enough about the plot in this scene.  I have a general sense, but I’ve already started it in the wrong place.  This is a new sub-plot thread, and so some of this exploration is necessary for me — but doesn’t belong on page.  For whatever reason, I have a mental block about it.

Since I don’t have much to report on the writing front, I’ll note a few other things.

I’m currently reading The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett thanks to this post at Fantasy Debut.  It was generally held knowledgeable among the people who know my secret writing projects that I was working on a similar story at one time or another (2007 Fast Draft which needs so much work it’s not even funny).  Magicians is a lovely story, but very very slow paced.  It’s an interesting mix of Regency mores and “new” culture of this world.  I know there are seven old Houses that supposedly controlled or knew magic but that’s about it, and I’m thru the first five chapters.

I got out several packages last Friday AT LAST!  There was great rejoicing heard all about the land as I now have packages winging their way toward WI, VA, TN and OH.  I have one more “Christmas” present to mail to friends in WI, a birthday present (from last September — shame!!) to a friend in MN, and one of my Dad’s acquaintances wants a print out of Survive My Fire.  After that, I might almost be caught up in post office duties.

I need to clean my desk.  I need to clean out the fridge.  I need to sit down and plan out some healthy meals and evaluate my schedule to make sure I’m exercising — I’ve been lax again. 

By then, my writing mo-jo should be back in full swing.  That’s the plan, at least, and I’m sticking to it.

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Slacker

*hangs head in shame*

I’ve been a slacker all weekend.  I opened my file (Tara_009) several times, but I just can’t get through this scene.  I’ve played a ton of computer games.  Even though we didn’t take the roadtrip to That Man’s parents’ house, I still didn’t get much of anything accomplished, other than beating several levels of Diner Dash Through Time.  This game was seriously kicking my ass.  After the first couple “easy” levels, I got seriously stuck in each new “time.”  I could not figure out the secret to the game.

Cooking Dash, which I also have on this computer, was a piece of cake compared to this one.  I love that game.  It made sense.  Serve the customers as quickly as possible, keep them happy, and don’t lose any of them.  Diner Dash had a different flavor though.  I didn’t have to rush to various prep stations — all I had to do was grab the food from Grandma and deliver it to the tables.  So why was I struggling so much?

There were a few tricks to the game that I didn’t figure out until yesterday.  I didn’t know how to use the podium, for one, which if I let Flo stand there and talk to the waiting customers long enough, they didn’t leave as quickly.  But even when I didn’t lose a single customer, I still couldn’t clear some of the levels.

It finally dawned on me last night around 10 pm.  I was being too efficient.  I was seating and cleaning tables too quickly.  Only by taking my time, deliberately letting guests stand and wait, while I let only 3-4 tables in at a time, did I finally start winning every stage.  The trick was to match up the colors in the seats as often as possible, doubling, tripling, etc. my points.

I had to make people wait in order to win.

Suddenly, I wasn’t as stressed.  (Yes, I know it’s a only a game, but I get very obsessed about such things.)  I took my time and took really good care of much fewer tables at a time and then went over and chatted with customers in the down time to keep them happy. 

At one point, I looked up and it was almost 1 AM.  *dies*  I’m in the last “time” world — the futuristic one — so I almost beat the game.  Once I do, the obsession will end.  I hope.  Now that I know the tricks to winning the game, I’m sure I’ll want to go back and win each level at the expert level.

So what does all this have to do with writing?  Sometimes it’s okay to let stories wait at the podium awhile.  Sometimes it’s perfectly fine to stand and chat with them awhile before sitting them down and writing.  I can certainly do a better job with fewer stories at their seats. 

And once this game is licked, I have a feeling I’ll be obsessed with finishing Revision Xibalba, because the end is in sight.  If only I can finish this current scene…

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Busy, Distracted, and Stinky

Sorry for the unexpected blog holiday.  I’ve been a bit scattered the last week and life has been busy.  No, Revision Xibalba is not going well.  I wrote a couple of hundred words, realized I had started the scene in the wrong place, and deleted them all.  I wrote several pages of notes at basketball practice, but I’ve been too busy to get them written into a scene, and I’ve been too tired to get up Dark & Early.  Argh!  It drives me nuts when I let life distract me!

Today will be no better, with basketball this morning and a possible road trip the rest of the day.

Now for the stinky…

Last night Uncle J and Aunt BB stopped by for dinner and then we helped them get a large gorgeous piece of artwork home on the other side of town.  We were on the freeway headed home behind a semitruck.  That Man noticed a dead animal in the middle of the road but we couldn’t swerve with cars on the left.  Besides, it was dead, right?  What harm could it cause?

Well, evidently it was a FRESHLY killed SKUNK, so fresh that it managed to spray the van. 

Now no one enjoys the smell of a skunk, except maybe another skunk, but That Man cannot stand “country” smells.  (You should see him driving by Iowa pig farms in the heat of summer with no air conditioning.)  He was gagging and retching, the kids were moaning like they were dying, and I sat there with my mouth shut tightly because if I opened it I could taste the skunk.  Ugh.  It really was strong, but it was funny listening to their reactions.

We started looking for a car wash.  I kid you not, we hit three and all three were closed.  *boggles*  It’s only our luck!

We had to circle all of town smelling like fresh roadkill skunk before we finally found a car wash next to the monsters’ old daycare.  We did the works, the $8 complete package, and then we parked the van outside overnight so it didn’t stink up the garage.  That Man cracked the windows, too, so hopefully the smell will air out.

I swear, I still smell that skunk, even after sleeping all night.  If the van still reeks, we will NOT be making the 3 hour roundtrip car ride to celebrate That Man’s parents’ wedding anniversary after basketball today!