Blog – Page 114 – Kit Campbell Books

Dearly Beloved

We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of my Merrell Siren Sports.

I can hear you now. “Kit, are you really blogging about your shoes? This is a new and somewhat distressing low.”

Well, they weren’t just any shoes. I bought them in April of 2010, and over the last two and a half years, we’ve walked, hiked, and climbed over 250+ miles, across three continents and six states. These shoes have traveled through ruined castles. They’ve climbed to the top of Machupicchu, retraced the Berlin Wall, and padded through redwood forests. We’ve climbed mountains, crossed prairies, sailed viking boats, and gotten the mail.

These shoes and I have done a lot together. Aside from the international trips, they’ve replaced my hiking boots here at home for my husband’s and my hiking adventures. And they’re freaking comfortable, so they’ve seen their share of gardening, shopping, and errands.

But now, alas, it is time to say goodbye. Even a good pair of shoes can be worn out, especially when you’ve gone on the adventures I have over the last few years. The laces are fraying, the mesh is tearing, and they just don’t have the support for being active in anymore. Besides, they used to be gray. (Well, except the obvious blue part.)

And so, my friends, we must say farewell, and make room for a new pair, which hopefully will have just as eventful a life as its predecessor.

(And, hopefully, the original pair will make it a little longer in the service of errands, dog-walking, and gardening.)

Add Some Symphonic Metal to Your Writing Playlist

Man, I apparently cannot get my Thursdays together this month. New plan: write them on Wednesday.

Are you familiar with symphonic metal? It is a fantastic genre of music, especially if you write fantasy like I do. If you’re someone who can listen to music when writing (with lyrics or no, both are readily available in this genre), then you should definitely look into it. It has all the things I like about metal (heavy bass, somewhat tribal drums) without the growling and screaming that some other metal genres feel the need to incorporate. Plus, as the name implies, oftentimes you have a full symphony present performing.

Add to that the fact that some songs have fantastical lyrics, and it’s great plotbunny fodder.

It’s closely related to power metal and epic metal. I’m not quite sure what the defining lines are between the genres.

I thought I’d provide you some bands to look at if this sounds like something that appeals to you. I came across the genre purely by accident, and it has been the best random thing to come into my life.

Symphonic bands to look into (almost all of these are European bands; for some reason we don’t put out a lot of this genre here in the states) – I’ve included a song for each for easy exploring:

1. Within Temptation – Our Solemn Hour
2. Sonata Arctica – Flag in the Ground
3. Nightwish – (two different vocalists, so you get two songs) End of All Hope, Escapist
4. Dreamtale – Lucid Times
5. Amaranthe – Amaranthine
6. Van Canto – (a capella metal) Water, Fire, Heaven, Earth
7. Symphony X – Out of the Ashes
8. Rhapsody of Fire – Emerald Sword
9. Xandria – Sisters of the Light
10. Bare Infinity – Always Forever

What do you think, Squiders? What’s your favorite genre of writing music? Any symphonic metal band recommendations?

General Update and Thoughts on Adaptations

First of all, I want to apologize for missing Thursday’s update. I spent all of Thursday convinced it was Wednesday, and it wasn’t until my to-do app yelled at me about not blogging at about 8 PM that I realized my mistake. And then Friday was busy and I didn’t touch a computer all day, and Saturday went much the same, so at that point I figured we were closer to Tuesday than Thursday anyway and gave up.

As for Nano, I am sad to report that it’s not going well. It’s admittedly rather difficult to get anything done around our new addition, and I find that it doesn’t seem to be terribly high on my priority list for the year. I’m not throwing in the towel quite yet, but I’m going to have to do a lot of 3K days to catch up.

Enough of that.

I recently finished reading Ironskin by Tina Connelly. It’s a steampunk-esque novel that came out last month, and purports to be a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, at least from the cover quotes. But it’s not, not really, unless you count some allusions to the fairytale. What it is is a retelling of Jane Eyre, and quite obviously so from the very first chapter.

That got me thinking about whether or not Jane Eyre could be considered a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and how many retellings in you could get on something. It seems like you could get pretty deep if you wanted to, like when a modern retelling of something alludes to another retelling of the same something, or when an adaptation gains as much fame or more than the original.

(That being said, I’m pretty sure Jane Eyre is not a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I don’t think the timing lines up right, though both stories do involve overcoming secrets to love someone. What do you think?)

(Also, I found Ironskin to be an interesting read. If you like Jane Eyre, steampunk, or interesting fantasy worlds, you might consider picking it up.)

Writers Never Miss a Chance to Procrastinate: Blog Hop

My friend and sometimes partner-in-crime KD Sarge tagged me to participate in this blog hop. Basic gist of the exercise is to answer the following questions about your work in progress and then tag five other writers.

1) What is the working title of your book?

It’s The Cry of the Trees. Originally, it was Phoenix Forever, but I had to change it after I rewrote books 1 and 2 and there were no longer any mentions of phoenixes in the trilogy.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

This is the third book in a trilogy. I originally started working on the Trilogy 15 years ago (holy landsquid) after I created two characters for a Star Trek RPG that got canceled, because I didn’t want to lose the characters. I felt I put too much work into them. It’s kind of funny to look back now and think of their origin.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

High fantasy. Character-driven high fantasy. Woo!

4) Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I…don’t honestly know? I’m not someone who tends to use real people as character inspiration, so I don’t tend to look at actors and think, “wow, that’s so-and-so.” It’s especially hard with this project since most of the characters aren’t human.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Kind of hard, since this is the third and final book. Probably something like: Will Malana and Danath be able to trust each other enough to do what is needed, when they’re not even sure that it’s the right thing?

Which is kind of crap, honestly, and unnecessarily vague, but I haven’t even written the book yet.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I hope to publish the Trilogy traditionally.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

This is the first draft. Thus far, it’s been a week.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Hmmm. There hasn’t been a lot of high fantasy lately to compare it to. I guess Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris is similar in tone.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

When I first set down the original plot for the Trilogy, it really was because I’d spent a lot of time working on the characters and their backstory and didn’t want to lose that work. Many, many years, a genre-change, multiple rewrites of the first two books, many iterations of naming, and a complete overhaul of that backstory anyway later, I like working on the Trilogy because it allows me to put my own twist on my favorite genre, and allows me to spend time with characters that I’ve gotten to know very well over the years.

10) What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Every character in the Trilogy has a very good reason for what they’re doing, good or bad. Everyone thinks they’re working towards the greater good–even the bad guys.

Let’s see…I shall tag: Ian, Anne, Drey, K.A. Levingston, and Sarah. And, of course, Squiders, you’re welcome to play as well. Just shoot me a link in the comments if you do.

Exploring Speech Recognition

So, because I don’t have two hands to type anymore, I have been looking into speech recognition software. For those who are unfamiliar with this, these are programs that listen to your speech and convert what you say into text. They learn the more you use them, so accuracy increases over time. Understandably, this can be quite useful for those of us who find their hands full. There are a variety of different programs available, and I have been experimenting with them, in the hopes that I can increase the amount of writing I am getting done.

In fact, I am writing this post with speech recognition software even as we speak.

I did some research a few months ago and decided to try Windows 7’s built-in version. It works pretty decently, but I have been having some issues with it. It seems to only work in some programs, specifically those that are Microsoft products. For example, I have tried, in the past, to write posts using this program, but it does not work. Instead, it randomly selects categories it thinks I am trying to use. Also, sometimes it seems like the accuracy has gone out the window. But, in general, it works pretty well.

This morning, I tried to finish outlining a short story using my Google tablet’s built-in program. Unfortunately, my husband uses the tablet’s system more than I do and so it has been trained to him. The results were pretty hilarious.

For example:
“is the lead” turned into “to sleep”
“to desist” turned into “to to cyst”
“destroys some of their” turned into “this trace someone there”
“Jonathan goes” turned into “7 sins so so”
and, my favorite:
“tests his theory” turned into “test is Siri”

The result makes very little sense.

My husband just bought me Dragon NaturallySpeaking for my birthday. I installed it this morning and am currently using it to write this post. So far, despite only needing about 10 minutes for training, its accuracy seems very good. It also does much better with capitalization which is always been one of my main complaints with the Windows 7 version.

Do you have any experience with speech recognition software, Squiders? What program do you use, and how do you find that it works?

Time Quintet Re-read: Many Waters

Hopefully no one got confused (like Ian *cough*) and read A Swiftly Tilting Planet instead. While Planet was published before Many Waters, Many Waters goes first chronologically.

I still like it a lot. Bible mythology is one of my very favorite mythologies. I’ve done a lot of research on it myself, so it’s always nice to see it used (and used properly) in a story. My one real complaint is that she uses “nephilim” here to essentially be synonymous with “fallen angel,” whereas the term is usually used to describe human/angel offspring. But the nephilim are generally described as giants, and I like how she’s made them (and the seraphim) so much taller than the people. Also, one of the reasons God creates the flood is to destroy the nephilim, so hoorah to her for incorporating that.

Things I like about this story: the world. I like that she’s integrated these creatures that are mythological into the normal world. Unicorns and manticores and griffins – things that exist in stories but could have, conceivably, been destroyed in the flood. And I like that she made the people much smaller. We know that people used to be shorter, even as little as a few hundred years ago, so it makes sense, and it’s nice that she makes it so it’s hard to tell when exactly they are.

And I want a pet mammoth.

I also like the fact that while it is a retelling of a biblical story, it is not a religious story. There is some good vs. evil, like in the entire series, but aside from the fact that God (“El” here, which is also great, more on that in a second) actually talks to people and angels, there’s not a lot of morality that you’re hit over the head with.

Plotwise, this book seems completely stand alone, unconnected to the other books. First of all, we’ve got Sandy and Dennys as the main characters, when they’ve been merely peripherals otherwise, and there’s no mention of dark planets or Echthroi. Aside from the mention of tessering and some discussion of quantum physics, the scientific aspects are barely mentioned here.

Calling God “El” here is a wonderful move, because “el” literally means God. This is why the angels are named things like MichaEL (who is like God), GabriEL (strong man of God), RaphaEL (God has healed), etc. So not only is it an actual translation of God, but it makes things obvious without brow-beating.

Okay, onto the questions, and have Planet ready to go for November 29th.

1. How do you think disrupting their father’s computer program manages to result in actual tessering?

2. Do you think the twins were meant to go to that time period? Why?

3. Would you consider THIS to be a religious book? More or less than Wrinkle?

4. Why do you think Madeleine L’Engle decided to move away from Meg/Calvin/Charles Wallace for this story?

5. Most of the creatures on or around the oasis are mythological or are nephilim/seraphim in disguise. Why do you think Madeleine L’Engle included the mammoths but not any other extinct creatures?

As always, your own comments and questions are welcome.

Snow: A Nano Analogy

I’m not sure why every time it snows my blog post is late. It makes no sense. Anyway, my brain is in strange analogy mode, so off we go.

I was out for a walk (yes, in the snow) and I got to thinking that snow can be a bit like Nanowrimo.

No, I don’t know what’s wrong with my brain.

Specifically, it’s like the excitement of Nano. It comes down light and fluffy and, even though you know you’re going to have to drive to work in it tomorrow, it gets you all excited.

And then it covers everything up and makes everything look pretty, much like Nano excitement is wont to do. You don’t notice that you don’t have enough plot, or that your main character has no personality, because hoorah, Nano!

But then it keeps coming, and keeps coming, and while you’re pretty sure you still like it, you may be getting a little tired of it. Also, it gets in your shoes, and damp socks suck.

And when it melts away, you find that underneath there’s rotting leaves and dead grass and last week’s newspaper. Everything that was hidden is now visible again and, even worse, soggy.

But oh, while it’s white and pristine, it’s so very pretty, and each time it starts, you can’t help but fall in love with it all over again. And get out your cocoa.

Am I crazy, Squiders? (We’re a week away, and I’ve yet to outline, eek.)

A Haiku of Plesiosaurs

(Just a reminder that the Many Waters discussion is scheduled for next Tuesday, October 30. This one is slightly longer than the other books, so plan accordingly.)

Oh, plesiosaur
Ancient lizard of the sea
I have heard it said

That you may remain
Deep in waters dark; such as
in Bonny Scotland

Is it also true
That in enclosed spaces you
can be self-folding?

That would be awesome.
Science doesn’t know your shade;
Obviously, purple.

Prepping for Nanowrimo

Well, Squiders, it’s that time of year again. We are a mere 13 days from the start of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and all the insanity that that entails. What is NaNoWriMo (asks probably a very few of you)? A writing challenge where you write 50,000 words on a novel during the month of November.

(We talk about this every year, Squiders dear. You’re welcome to peruse previous Octobers and Novembers for words of wisdom as the fancy hits you. I won’t be offended if you don’t.)

We’ve talked about Nano Zen and Plot Death and what to do if you want to do Nano but aren’t feeling it. So, now, it’s mid-October, and people start thinking that maybe they should start getting ready if they’re going to. If you’ve done this before, you know what you need to do to be prepared. If this is your first time, I recommend that you have at least the following:

1. Main character (or two)
2. Setting
3. Basic plot and/or premise
4. Starting point

Realize that none of these things need to be set in stone, but you will make things infinitely easier for yourself if you have something for each point.

(Some of you may note that I didn’t include villain/antagonist in the above list. This is because I find they tend to be fairly organic–they come into being fully formed to block your protagonist and/or are defined by your premise. Your mileage may vary.)

This will be my 10th year participating, and probably my last. Dunno why, but it seems like ten years is some sort of threshold. My plan is to finally write the third book of my high fantasy trilogy, though we’ll see how it goes with our new family addition. People who have written (especially for Nano) around very small infants, do you have any recommendations? He’s not on solid foods yet, so I can’t leave him for very long.

Are you doing Nano this year? What are your goals?

When Is a Bad Book Too Bad?

I’m curious, Squiders. At what point do you put down a book that you don’t like? One that you honestly feel like you are wasting your life by reading. One that you are wondering how it ever made it to print in the first place.

When do you give up?

Is it as soon as you lose interest? If it doesn’t grab you by a certain point (first page, first chapter, etc.)? At some unspecified point where the author has managed to piss you off enough that you can’t bring yourself to care about the resolution anymore?

Or do you never give up?

Are you one of those people who must finish a book once they’ve started it? Who, even if you hate all the characters and think the author should be committed, push on to the painful end?

Where is enough enough for you? If you always finish a book, why do you think you do?

Or, are you a third type–one who tries to push through every book you start but, for some reason or other, find yourself putting aside books you are generally enjoying, never to pick them up again?

Oh, yes, Squiders, these types exist. I am, alas, one of them. I can count the books I’ve put down because I thought they were terrible on one hand, but for every one of those, there’s two good books that sit unfinished.

Are you one of these too?

I figure it’s the level of difficulty of the book. There’s either so much to think about that I want to let it percolate, or the scope is too big to get in a single setting. Something along those lines. I can see one of these books staring at me from to bookshelf: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder. I started it junior year of high school, I think. It was extra credit to read some portion of it, and I loved it. But I never finished it. I keep it around, because I’d like to some day, but it’s been over a decade at this point.

I figure the only reason I made it through Pillars of the Earth (which is one of the best books I have ever read, by the by) is because I was trapped in a lab for three days with nothing else to do.

So which are you, Squiders? A reader a book has to earn, a reader a book has to lose, or a reader who just needs to think about everything a bit too much?

Books by Kit Campbell