Happy October! In the pursuit of savoring all things autumnal (at least in North America), I just bought a pumpkin. Until it gets roasted, we’ll enjoy its rotund, orange glory. It has no idea of its final chapter, or of the gustatory joy its demise will generate.
On a serious note, here in Canada we just had our National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. I had the privilege of walking with, and listening to, some of our indigenous friends. I wish their tragedy was fiction, but’s it’s the actual, terrible truth. Maybe we can’t prevent every atrocity, but we can all help to restore what was devastated. Yes we can! I’ve read plenty of books that inspire me to greater depths of compassion and integrity. I hope to write stories with that potential, besides their entertainment quotient.
Progress Report: My map of Lonecca is now complete! I might make it available to subscribers of my newsletter. Drop me an email and let me know if you’re interested. Once I’m happy with the titles for all five books in the series, I can order the coordinating covers. So we’re getting there. Thanks for your continued interest and enthusiasm!
Sometimes our best efforts don’t accomplish what we’d hoped they would. A homemade bookshelf still wobbles. A new hire creates more problems than they solve. A detour takes twice as long as expected. I get it. Not every literary gem gets published. Writers crank out scenes that we’re certain are hilarious, witty, or profound. Even when they’re all that, they might not add anything to the story. If in doubt, leave it out.
Here’s one of those deleted scenes that my editor loved, but the metaphor doesn’t quite fit. It was originally part of the novel’s first major battle.
“Across the green, both sides inflicted one blow after another. Wounds begat wounds. Bruises and fractures peppered the battle with increasing furor. Pain and panic conscripted tongues into a hideous, shrieking choir. Rage crescendoed above a torrid descant of moaning. Sling stones pelted living drums of flank and bone. Death poised in the wings to take its proud encore.”
Close, but no cigar.
Whether or not your locale provides noticeable changes at this time of the year, I hope your season is the start of a great chapter in your life.
Ciao for now,
Kai