Smatterings, plus a "The Gryphon & the Basilisk" extract

          Smatterings, plus an extract from Narenta 3: 
                 The Gryphon & the Basilisk, volume 2

Smatterings

The Mica Keyhole
This story fragment was inspired by the artistry of Amy Brener (Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts; Art and Science Journal (circa Dec 15 2013)

Amy uses “cast resin, concrete and pieces of trash...” plus “...glass and fresnel lens to create light sensitive sculptures”. I found a photo of one of her pieces in A&SJ which inspired the following story snippet. 

"We straggle to a stop within the last sheltering trees & study the cliffside blocking our way.

The slanted crease we thought a passageway is lichen & plants none of us recognize. What now? 

Slivers of winter sun peek down through high branches & wander over our barrier. 

First one and then another of us cries out, 

"Look!" 

"There!" 

"Did you see?" 

We rush toward the fugitive sparkle. 

"A keyhole?" 

"Impossible!" 

"Why here?" 

"Does it matter? We have no key." 

"Wait! Look through it!"

(If you have any idea about what happens next, go for it!)

A Children's Story in cognito

I've been trying to find the title of a YA book I read decades ago. Not remembering it is still driving me crazy! (Now you know how I got this way.)

Here's what I remember:

Gargoyles(?) take over a town. The adults, including the mayor, don't notice so it's up to the children to save everyone. 

The gargoyles are either pretending to be the mayor and the other adults or they're controlling them.

One of the children gets counsel from a sage-like person or animal, who tells the child to "Call a spade a spade."

Which may mean if you use the real name of the gargoyle --or its captive adult(?)--the humans become their normal selves. The gargoyles's lose their power and their true appearances are revealed, making it easy for everyone to chase them out of the village.

Lipstick Shoes

Once upon a time, I dreamed that I was going somewhere fancy in a lacy dress. Someone suggested some shoes but I said I had a kit for making them. 

Evidently, a company sent me a free trial offer where you drew the shape of the shoes that you wanted to wear on your feet. When satisfied with the design, you did something or other and the drawn pattern became actual shoes. 

The drawing material was very much like a tube of lipstick --in an obnoxious pink like fake strawberry whip. I wanted to create elegant sandles but produced worn loafers. I wanted to "erase" part of the stuff but had no idea how to do it.

Which seems a good segue into the Gryphon and the Basilisk extract.

Narenta 3: 
                 The Gryphon & the Basilisk, volume 2

Have you read fantasies where a woman resists wearing a dress? I read comments to a blog entry once where that was being discussed at length.

Strange. I’ve commited a millions words to p/a/p/e/r/ back-up disk, but I don't remember  writing a scene where a strong female character rejected wearing an elaborate dress as long as it was in keeping with the situation. Earthen visitors are champions of the Narentan people against the Shadow during their brief visits to the other planet. Since a few of my characters come from Earth, they usually arrive in jeans. Some of the "Outworlders" wear chain or hardened leather "on the job".

There are exceptions.

Here are two connected scenes drawn from "The Gryphon and the Basilisk 2", chapter 40, which together shows such an exception. The character names have been changed from those I used in G&B. Hey, you never know! The Gryphon & the Basilisk may be published some day. All three/four volumes of it. By which time maybe the covers should feature flying pigs?

These extracts take place on Narenta. (duh)

The two Earth women mentioned here were captives of the "bad guys" for several weeks and were freed by some Narentans just a bit over a week ago.

They and their rescuers are now in a "safe house"--or so they believe--and an evening of celebration has been planned by their host.


“Good! You’ll go if it will help Boris.” Waros grinned. “And Angela will go if I borrow a gown for her from the archon’s daughter.”

Angela nodded. “I hope he has one. I’ll go anyway, Waros. You two are up to something and I want to be in on it this time.”

Laurie laughed. “Nothing mysterious.”

“Ooh! That means it is mysterious!”

Laurie followed Waros to the door of their room. Before the fighter could open the door, she stopped him. 

With a glance behind her at Angela, she whispered, “Do you really think this will force his hand? Won’t he just stay up here?”

***

(Later)
Her arms uplifted, Angela spun around in a circle.

“How’s this? Is this in style? I thought the skirt would be all puffed up and full like Cinderella’s.”

Her gown was nearly form-fitting to the waist and only slightly flared below that, the dark blue satin gored in flaming red.

Laurie mused, “You don’t think Cregic will find that a little overwhelming?”

Anglea asked in perplexity. “Cregic? Oh, that kid.” She smiled. “Yeah, I suppose he will.” The smile became a rather silly grin.

Laurie whispered, “Whoa! Angela the vamp? Remember, we have a job to do! Don't get distracted!

"Someone’s at the door. Can you get it? I can't find my shoes.”

Angela opened the door.

“Wow! Lord Boris, so glad you decided to go down after all! Is that what the best-dressed enchanters are wearing this year? You look great in navy. That’s a neat lion around your neck, too.”

She winked over her shoulder, then turned back to him. 

“Why Boris, we match! Navy and navy! It must be a sign.”

She stretched her arms toward him, and sighed in a seductive accent, “Darling, come with me to the Casbah and we’ll make beautiful music together.”

Boris gaped at her in astonishment.

Angela shrugged and pointed. “Oh, don’t worry about Laurie! We’ll just tell her it was bigger than the both of us.”

She reached up and gave the perplexed enchanter a peck on the cheek. Lifting her weapon, she slipped past him into the hallway and out of sight.

Boris stared after her a moment and then turned to Laurie. He whispered, “Do you think it wise to let her go downstairs like that?”

“Oh, she’s not drunk! It’s stuff from old movies. She’s just horsing around.”

“Horsing?”

“Teasing.”

Melwood Forest in The Provence of The Two Rivers, Tethra, Narenta

Tis The Season To Be Typing

I posted "Tis The Season To Be Typing" just over six years ago at  "YA Authors You've Never Heard Of"
While I no longer contribute to that blog, I concede the blog's name still fits--at least for this former contributor. Speaking of which, any links below no longer work since both Seabird and Earthbow are currently out of print.

Tis the Season To Be Typing, December 20, 2010

Reader beware! I’m throwing this together out of nothing. I’ve been otherwise occupied by a broken ankle, when I should have been prepping this blog entry.

I’m definitely a Christmassy kind of person. Years ago, I would make Christmas tree ornaments each year for friends and people I worked with. Since I had so many to make, I always began the process in mid-summer. And to get in the mood, I would play Christmas carols while I worked. I used headphones to listen, so that people didn’t think I was entirely out of my gourd.

Long after I stopped making holiday decorations—up until right now—I’ve never given up the whole mood that goes with the holidays. I love watching “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and learning—once again—how Santa got both the name Kris Kringle and Santa Claus, what made the reindeer fly, why Santa has a beard, why the toys were put into the stockings, and so on. And I love what I consider the best song in the special, “Put One Foot in Front of the Other”. Any child that is starting to not believe in Santa Claus should be good for one more year after watching that special.

I also love watching “A Christmas Carol” (the one starring Alistair Sim!), my absolute favorite Christmas film. To say nothing of “White Christmas”, “A Christmas Story”, Miracle on 34^th Street” and most recently “Elf”. Oh, I can’t forget “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “Frosty the Snowman”. 

I never get tired of Christmas carols and rarely get peeved or impatient by long lines in stores—except maybe the food store, but that one is a year-round vexation.

This year, Christmas activities are being outweighed by work (writing) activities since I’m housebound over the holidays. Not that people aren’t visiting or sending me cards—and I appreciate them! But normally, I would be out at church functions including Advent services and the yearly Christmas Cantata. And of course I would be standing in line, silently singing along to carols while I waited—if I could get to the stores.

Instead, I’m writing—and writing more than the average teddy bear. My “Earthbow” (http://bit.ly/b9vDW1 ) was published this year. Immediately afterward, Dave at Gryphonwood asked me what was up next.* Well, it’s like this, I told him: the next up is a three volume story currently with the umbrella title of “The Gryphon and the Basilisk”. I wrote the first draft of it back in the early 80’s and the first draft was written in longhand. Over the years, I’ve hired typists to type up sections of the manuscript, and later also keyed in other sections to WORD files. Now I’m on the third volume and face eight very long chapters that I have only in the original longhand—approximately one hundred seventy (500-600 word) pages of story that need to be converted to WORD.

This Christmas really is Tis the Season To Be Typing.

When I started working on this phase of the project, I was less than enamored with it. I still am. And then I got thinking about a Christmas many years ago—just over 50 so far as I can remember. One Christmas, I asked for a typewriter for my gift. We didn’t have much money but my parents were able to find a refurbished manual typewriter to give me. (There were no electric typewriters back then.)

Very, very late Christmas Eve—or maybe closer to Christmas morning—I slipped out of my bedroom and into the living room, to see if there was a typewriter waiting for me. There was! I was so excited! I ran my fingers over the keys and finally took a shot at hitting one of them. The typewriter—as typewriters did in those days—made a loud click. Freaking for fear I’d awakened someone, I rushed back to my bedroom. And acted all surprised a few hours later.

I learned the basics of typing and soon was turning in all my school assignments typed—even some of my math homework. (Try typing multiplication and division problems and see what ‘fun’ that was.)

A short time after this, I began typing my first written story. It involved time travel and I was the heroine, working for the government on a project to go back in time and fill in bits of historical detail missing from records. That may sound dull but it was an adventure story, since my partner (a very cute boy) and I were always getting into trouble. I showed the first part to my parents. I don’t actually remember their reaction but I do remember that they were generally supportive of any project that I did.

I also worked on a pastiche--essentially fanfic---of many different horse stories I had read. My teacher found out about the latter and asked me to read snippets from it during home room. I can’t imagine what the rest of the kids thought! I still feel sorry for them because this story really wasn’t very good.  ("No Plot, No Problem"? Really, ChrisB?)

Those two attempts at writing were my last efforts until 1979 when I was in my early thirties and tackled “Seabird” (http://bit.ly/bKBQ7x ) and “Earthbow” (http://bit.ly/b9vDW1 ) two years later. Oddly enough, I wrote these and their sequel “The Gryphon and the Basilisk” in longhand, even though I had an electric typewriter by then. One reason I did this was that I could write anywhere I thought of an idea or a new passage, even at work. 

(Laptops were still a fig newton of the amalgamation.) 

Over fifty years after first typing in the living room at Christmas, I’m keying in parts of the G&B manuscript** in the living room over the holidays. The circle is complete.

A Blessed Christmas to all, and a Happy New Year!

Sherry Thompson

* National Novel Writing Month was approaching, so I actually settled on what would become "Marooned". 

Re the debut of "Marooned" my computer is working again! I lost several weeks of revisions but nothing of importance. Well, except my train of thought. Darn thing! It's been going walkabout a lot recently.

** I've yet to finish "The Gryphon and the Basilisk" but I'm getting closer. Speaking of G&B, I used two scenes from the trilogy/quadrilogy in lieu of a Christmas card this year, "Yule on Narenta". Please contact me via email if you would like to read it. Restrictions and spoilers may apply.  (KhivasMommy@gmail.com)

This is the final scene of a greeting card snitched from the  jacquielawson.com  site--which you have absolutely got to go visit! Now would be good!