And the warbling, multi-colored flying thing is a...

I must apologize to my visitors who have been led to believe that there would be significant entries at The Stream regarding the craft of writing. In my defense, this aptly-named blog is a reflection of where my head is at any given time - and - in no small amount driven by the time available to reflect (in writing) on what is rattling around in there.

Well, this one's for you!

            I bet ten people would have ten different names for this...

My thoughtline today has to do with naming conventions in a novel.

Can we assume that everyone in a novel has the same educational background? Naturally, the answer is, "That depends."

In the genre of fantasy when we, as authors, bring two separate civilizations together, there must - almost by default - be a continuing confusion and/or misunderstanding over the naming of even the most simple things. For example, as I watched the robins scamper around my backyard this morning, I thought about what I would call these orangy, red-breasted birds if I had not been to school and learned that 'robin' was indeed their name. Or if I did not have access to the Internet or books that presented our collective knowledge about them (and other bird species).

Likewise the blue jay, cardinal, sparrow, pigeon, woodpecker, and others that periodically show up in our neighborhood environment.

I'm writing a novel that brings together a generally Euro-medieval civilization with one based on our own native American culture, albeit from several hundred years ago. It is highly likely - concerning these two civilizations, separated historically by impassable geologic barriers and only brought together through the influence of a singular character - that Atrius and Raven (my two protagonists) would have completely different words for nearly everything.

So how do I overcome this obvious linguistic barrier? Should I let the omnipotent voice allow me to overlook this inconvenient truth? After all if (as in my world) one God created all things, is it not possible that all His peoples would call the things of His creation by the same name? Or perhaps I should just sprinkle in a few examples of correction/education as Atrius, whose land will play host during the majority of the first book, points out what his names are for various things.

This in turn will be the case for Raven as the second novel will pass through her land, albeit briefly, before both protagonists travel to yet a third culture where there will most certainly be different terminology. 

I should pause to note that in the first drafts of these novels, everyone does speak the same language. Differentiation is illustrated in some cases by syntax, and in others by cultural reference; but my thought at this stage is that coming up with three completely different languages would be impossible, with the only other choice being to (through some clever omnipotent touch) allow foreigners to understand each other's language as geographic barriers are breached.  

Do I look at this issue in a two-dimensional light? Or do I weave it into the narrative as another point of discussion for Raven who, after tiring of Atrius' (potential for) constant correction in the first book, will use it as a petard on which to hoist his ego as Atrius finds himself struggling to find a lexical anchor in the second book?

It is a small but nontheless key point of order that I am struggling to put together a solution for.

Ideas? Opinions? Advice?

X

Literary Review: The Scroll

Regular visitors to The Stream will recall that I have, from time to time, posted book reviews on this blog. They might further note that I have a fondness for historical fiction - of the action-packed variety - in the vein of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt novels as well as my new favorite, David Wood's Dane Maddock adventures.

I've recently signed on to participate in a blogging for books program with WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing (that's a mouthful). Now, before everyone gets all excited that I've gone and landed a paying writing gig, it ain't like that. It's more of a quid pro quo arrangement where the publisher makes novels available for me to read at no cost and I, in turn, write a review. If I honestly and sincerely believe the book I read is bad, WMP will still accept my review. Obviously, I need to be professional about it but there is no sense that WMP is forcing me to write a positive review, no matter what.

                                              If it's bad, it's bad...

I wanted to make sure I was clear on all that since this is my first review for WMP, but now the story is the thing!

The Scroll - available in hard cover, paperback and Kindle versions from Amazon, and paperback & Nook versions from Barnes and Noble - is a good book.

As you might imagine, a novel written by a couple of guys who have collectively written somewhere in the neighborhood of 66 fiction and non-fiction books is well written, well researched and an enjoyable read.

The Scroll is built on the premise of an adventure - call it a treasure hunt if you will - centered around the Copper Scroll. The Copper Scroll is a real object and is, in fact, one of the famed Dead Sea Scrolls. Found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran (West Bank), and designated as 3Q15, it differs from the rest of the Dead Sea Scrolls in that it is written on copper, not parchment or papyrus.

Another interesting difference is that the Copper Scroll is not a literary work - it is a list of locations where gold, silver and other precious items are buried. I don't know what all is noted on the real Copper Scroll, but in the novel The Scroll, it lists the hiding places of important artifacts from the Hebrew Temple. Imagine, if you will, the turmoil that would take place in Israel if even some of the original articles from the Temple - i.e. the Table of the Presence, the Altar of Incense, the Temple Treasury, the Gold Lampstand, etc. were found, intact, today.

Anyone with any biblical knowledge at all can well guess at the importance to both Judaism and Christianity if these items were found - not to mention Muslims, whose holy shrine sits atop the alleged location of the 2nd Temple.

                            Artists rendering of the second Temple

Okay, let's recap: In one of the most volatile cities on earth (Jerusalem) where Jews, Christians and Muslims all lay claim to incredibly important holy sites, invaluable objects are found which could, theoretically, motivate the building of the prophesied third Temple. And this in the midst of a modern powder keg of religious contention and ever-present threat of terrorism or even outright war.

I think Dr. Jeffrey and Mr. Gansky have the conflict in their story covered pretty well.

The characterization of The Scroll is well laid out with the protagonist, biblical archaeologist Dr. David Chambers, dealing with multiple conflicts of his own in addition to the nerve-wracking task of finding the lost temple artifacts. Another key member of the cast is Chambers' love interest, Dr. Amber Rodgers, who also seems to have a budding relationship with another member of the archaeological team. There are mysterious benefactors, menacing Israeli security agents, politicians with questionable motives...all very effectively blended into the tale.

I don't really want to go into too much detail. For one thing, obviously, I don't want to give too much away. But also because a couple of the plot twists and turns are fairly easy to figure out as you go along, so I don't want to make it any easier for you to unravel.

Technically The Scroll is a solid novel. Composition, grammar, usage - all the boring stuff - is well put together. there is depth - at least to the primary characters; and new characters are introduced with good pacing and purpose.  And although I am a Christian (which should come as no surprise to my readers) I do believe The Scroll is an enjoyable read for anyone. Some of the more pointed moments in the book might be a little uncomfortable to a secular reader but not to a degree that I believe will detract from their enjoyment of the tale.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, I give The Scroll a solid 4 stars.

If you like your adventure fast-paced, intelligent and interspersed with eye-popping historical authenticity, The Scroll is definitely for you.

Enjoy!

X

In order to comply with FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers (WMP) provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes. I would personally like to state that, to my knowledge, WMP does not restrict my review submissions based on whether I submit a negative or positive opinion, and that this is as fair and unbiased a review of The Scroll as I can present after reading the novel from front to back. As someone with limited time to read and review books, I will state that I do as much as I can in advance to determine if the novel I choose to review will be - at least - something I find interesting to read.

Is writing not enough?

As one might derive from the fact that I have a blog, I fancy myself as a writer. The best things about being a blogger are that I have no overhead - thanks to my free Blogger account - and I don't need to worry about poor reviews from critics; mainly because I doubt any self-respecting critics have heard of me.

                              Bill Watterson...now HE is creative!

As I glory in my creative freedom, I do still pine for the day that I will be a full-fledged, published novelist. The only problem is, by the time my novel(s) are ready to burst onto the literary scene and sell millions of copies in forty languages, will writing a novel be enough? I watched the video below on the BBC and, if the message is to be believed, written novels are now only one part of a larger media production.

Click to watch: Fiction Gets Technology Makeover

I work a full-time job that only takes up half of a day. Unfortunately, it's the first half. This leaves scant time available for plot and character development, endless drafts, happy daydreaming about how to turn a phrase just so, and all those other authorly things. I know what you're thinking, "Well, if you only work half-days, then use the other time to write, you ninny!"

About that.

In my line of work, half-days mean 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (half of a 24-hour day), with lunch usually at my desk. There's another hour or so for driving to and from the office, chores at home, time spent with my lovely wife...and so on. Did I mention how much I love sleep?

But this isn't a, 'woe is me' blog belaboring my as-yet incomplete novels. I'd like other writers to weigh in on whether, to paraphrase Shakespeare, 'The novel is the thing,' and whether I need to be a creative writer and a multimedia specialist.

"Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand—a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods—or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values."

Willa Cather

I'm not convinced there are any new and untried novels out there (except for mine, of course). After all, there are really a finite number of themes to write about - love, betrayal, etc. Many modern (i.e. popular) novelists seem to believe that these themes can all be refreshed by casting the protagonist as either a vampire, werewolf or zombie; or someone in conflict with one of these misunderstood monsters-du-jour. In which case I would put their product (e.g. Twilight) firmly in Ms. Cather's first category of writing.

I don't have all the answers. But I do have questions. And the question today is, can I focus solely on writing my books or do I have to partition some of my ever-shrinking writing time to decide on things like (the need for) book trailers, companion websites, interactive content, multi-media overlays, etc.?

From what I've found concerning book trailers - admittedly something that should likely not be pondered at all until the novel is complete - it's not a matter of, 'Should I have a book trailer?' as much as making sure I have a good one. Angela Wilson, a multimedia producer is interviewed on this blog regarding, among other things, the need for authors to have a media kit. It's been very difficult to find specific information on multimedia in publishing beyond these few nuggets.

The BBC video I linked to above scares me into believing that I have to media-ize my novel, yet there seems to be no great oracle of advice concerning how to do that on the great, wide Internet. My gut tells me to just write the darn novels then worry about such things. But, as I've alluded to above, will that be enough?

How about some input from the writing community? What do you think?

X