That’s right, folks, on June 17 and 18, my son and I will be vendors at the Mystic Realms Fantasy Fair at the Bannock County Fairgrounds in Pocatello, Idaho! We’ll have a 10×10 booth, which we are working hard on making its appearance authentic.
Looks pretty modern still. Got a lot of work to do.
My son will sell the Galaxy Rabbit paintings that he has become known for, as well, as other night-sky-themed art:
I, of course, will sell hard copies of my trilogy
and the character art that you can see on my Art page.
I don’t own an authentic medieval or Renaissance period costume, but luckily, the organizers have dubbed it a “fantasy” fair rather than a “medieval” or “Renaissance” fair. This leaves wiggle room for vendors to dress as fae, mermaids, pirates, or … ahem … cave women …
“Evan Parker,” the guy said without preamble. “But I’m thinking about reversing it, professionally.”
Jake frowned. “You mean, as a pen name?”
“For privacy, yeah. Parker Evan.”
It was all he could do not to laugh, the lives of the vast majority of authors being far more private than they likely wished. Maybe Stephen King or John Grisham got approached in the supermarket by a quavering person extending pen and paper, but for most writers, even reliably published and actually self-supporting writers, the privacy was thunderous.
I’ve just surfaced from spending several days in a state of rapture — with a book. I loved this book. I was transported into its world. I composed a dozen imaginary letters to the author, letters I’ll never write, much less send. I wrote letters of praise. I wrote letters relating entirely inappropriate personal information about my own experiences with the author’s subject matter. I even wrote a letter of recrimination when one of the characters died and I was grief-stricken. But mostly I wrote letters of gratitude …
Litte Sara Crewe in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic A Little Princess was my alter ego. Oh, how I wanted to be an orphan! I read The Nun’s Story, and oh, how I wanted to be a nun! I wanted to be shipwrecked on a desert island and stranded in Krakatoa! … Cut to a few years later. I’m reading The Godfather by Mario Puso, a divine book that sweeps me off into a wave of romantic delirium. I want to be a mafioso! No, that’s not quite right. Okay then, I want to be a mafioso’s wife!
Each minute I spend away from the book pretending to be interested in everyday life is a misery. How could I have waited so long to read this book? When can I get back to it? Halfway through, I return to New York to work, to finish a movie, and I sit in the mix studio unable to focus on anything but whether my favorite character in the book will survive. Every so often I look up from the book and see a roomful of people waiting for me to make a decision … and I can’t believe they don’t understand that what I’m doing is Much More Important.
Nora Ephron, excerpts from the essay On Rapture, in I Feel Bad About My Neck, pp. 117 – 121
I paid for an honest review of The Strange Land by one of the reviewers over at OnlineBookClub. Reviewers bid to review books in a genre that interests them. I ended up getting E.F. Emmanuel. You can view his review here:
Answer each question by using your favorite (or TBR) book covers, characters, and stories
Tag a friend or two
And have fun with it!
QUESTIONS
Here they come:
AUTHOR – WHO’S WRITING YOUR STORY?
Andrew Klavan. He writes older female characters pretty well, plus he totally adores women, so he will make me seem like a much better person than I actually am finally give me the credit I’m due!
On the down side, his stories tend to be rather dark and violent, so buckle up.
WORLD – WHAT LITERARY WORLD IS YOUR STORY PART OF?
It’s a paranormal portal fantasy where I go to an archaeological site to research a book, unwisely step along a ley line, and end up in Atlantis.
Mixed with a Miss Marple mystery.
ROMANCE – WHO WILL BE YOUR LOVE-INTEREST?
I’m a married woman, and besides I’m too old for romance. The romances will take place among secondary characters, the way they always do in Brother Cadfael mysteries. My grown sons will each get married in the course of the book, plus there will be at least one secondary romance in Atlantis, but it will end tragically.
APPEARANCE – WHAT WILL YOUR CHARACTER LOOK LIKE?
Myself, but about 20 years older. I’ll be a spry little old lady with wild, flyaway hair. Sort of a Good Witch look. Also, my nose will be bigger than current.
SIDEKICK – WHAT CHARACTER/CREATURE WOULD YOU HAVE BY YOUR SIDE?
My niece, a very cool person who just happened to meet up with me at Newgrange because she was on a study program in England.
I have a lot of nieces. I won’t say which one I have in mind, but she knows who she is.
GOOD, EVIL, OR GRAY – WHERE DOES YOUR CHARACTER STAND?
Twenty years from now, I will be so sanctified and refined by the sufferings of life that I am the goodest of the good, hidden underneath a thick layer of Old Lady bitterness and cynicism.
DESIGNATION – WHAT WILL YOU BE? (HUMAN, FAIRY, PIRATE, PRINCESS, ETC..)
Wait a minute … we have options other than human? Why wasn’t this mentioned earlier???
OPPOSITION – WHO WILL BE YOUR NEMESIS?
Since this is an Andrew Klavan novel, there will be two nemesises (nemesi?). In this world, it will be Klaus Schwab. In Atlantis, it will be a being of light that is going to help bring humanity to a higher plane. Later, it turns out that Schwab is working for the being of light.
THE ENDING – HOW DOES YOUR STORY END? SPOILER ALERT!
Like they all end: I die.
But not before I make it back to the 21st century in time to help expose Klaus Schwab (working together with my niece and an unlikely band of misfits that includes James Lindsey, Andrew Klavan, and my pastor. Klavan will be about 100 years old at this point, unless he has also engaged in time travel).
P.S.A.: Just in time for Christmas, The Great Snake is now available on Kindle. Here’s the link.
If you haven’t read The Strange Land yet, I would read that first, because it has more winter scenes. TGS is more set in subtropical climes and is more of a beach read. But still. Collect ’em all!
Hi everyone! Welcome back to Out of Babel! My particular off-the-grid August brought a lot of changes: I’m starting a new job.
This new calling is one that should blend well with my other job of being a (still partly home schooling) mom and all-around housekeeper. I’m not sure what impact it’s going to have on blogging, since blogging is down on the priority list, below momming, Christianing, and supposedly below novel writing.
I’m well on my way to having posts scheduled for September and October, so that will be taken care of at least for a few months while I learn the ropes at New Job and how to integrate that with taking care of Old Jobs. There’s just one exception … I don’t have links lined up for Wednesdays.
Heretofore, I have posted a link on Wednesday. Usually they have to do with archaeology, but sometimes it’s psychology, theology, or humor. Well, no more. Something has to give, and this it. I might still throw you guys a bonus Wednesday link if I stumble upon one, but for the most part, all you’re going to get is regional or art pics on Monday, quotes on Thursday, and rants/writing updates/book reviews on Friday.
I’ll still check Out of Babel and respond to comments, and I still demand that you guys go out and buy my books. That’s it for now! Love you all … bye!
As I will soon be going off the grid for August, I would hate for you to forget that my third book, The Great Snake, is now available in hard copy. Please order it and bring it with you to the beach!
Out of Babel 
