Okay, so research is slowing down, and I had to wait a whole week before I had enough interesting stuff to blog about. To be fair, some of this stuff I didn’t technically Google, because I knew which site to search, but in my mind, it’s still Googling. Whatever. Google is going to take over the internet anyway, and we’re going to have to pay 5 cents for every time we mention the word.

Onward…

1. I had a minor character, with about 2 sentences of description, and she’s got dark hair and deep eyes. My first inclination was to make her a goth, or at least goth-like. But then I thought, should she be an emo instead? What’s the difference between a goth and an emo? So…googled “goth vs emo.” Didn’t find any wrestling references, thank goodness. Did find other variations of this same theme: neogoths, scene, post-punk, etc. Whoa. Talk about shades of gray. Decided to go with goth, because they are at least happier people.

2. Random word spellings and exact definitions for “Anne Boleyn,” “buzz” (yes, I spelled that one correctly), and “elysian.”

3. I also needed a place for Ben to want to visit in London, and I remembered an attraction I had visited when I was fresh out of high-school. Across the bridge from the Tower of London is a little hole-in-the wall museum call the London Dungeon. Totally gruesome and inappropriate, but fascinating for someone in their teens. I once wrote a research paper for an English class on “Medieval Weaponry,” and that teacher was there when we toured the museum. She said, “I can’t believe you talked me into seeing this. I should have known better, after that paper you wrote.” Ben never does get to see the museum. It might be on his bucket list, though.

4. Finally, the rival gang to Prospero’s gang needed a better leader name. It used to be Ruglund, but I wasn’t liking it. I thought of a good name, and did a quick Google to see if it was anyone super-famous that might sue me for libel. Lucky for me, there aren’t too many “Otto Rathbones” out there.

And thus continues a typical week for research. Once I finish polishing book one, I’ll be querying more, and then cracking the whip on book two editing. Joy. And, at some point, I’ll be working up ideas to finish the series with book three. That’s about all book three is right now, a bunch of notes.

With that, I am reminded of the verse in Prov 16:3. “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” It is not my work, but his. Sola gloria deo.

Okay, really this is several days worth, but it’s some odd stuff. Strange how the mind wanders. I started with food, so I can officially call this a smörgåsbord of topics. First up …

• British Food: Amy and Ben order food service in their hotel room. What do they get? British hot dogs, considered one of the grossest foods out there. Pickled, in a can, served with what looks like some seriously wilted onions. They also order Bubble and Squeak, because it sounds funny, but they actually like this. And for dessert, some sort of pudding … which we know is not really pudding … it’s a meat thingie …
• “It’s my nature.” Clever little phrase first coined by … drum roll … the scorpion who stings the frog as they cross the river, and then they both drown. Kinda’ answers the nature vs. nurture question, at least for scorpions.
• Finally, very exciting, I had to search for a fix for my Wacom mouse. It’s misbehaving, and driving me nuts. I tore the thing apart, thanks to some tutorials, but wasn’t able to fix the scroll-wheel. Time to buy a new one, but they don’t sell the mice by themselves. Maybe duct tape can fix it.

Isn’t research wonderful? Got to get those details just right.

One last thing I searched for, on Bible Gateway, was, “Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jer. 12:1) Hearing about ultra-secular, atheistic people succeeding in phenomenal ways, makes me wonder why so many Christians flounder.

We shouldn’t be pathetic. “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31) Shouldn’t we be awesome? Or at least weird?

Research can take you in all kinds of strange directions. For example, today, in pursuit of reworking the beginning of The Servant and the Thief, I googled the following:

• The spelling of the word mourning. Yes, there is a difference between a morning dress, and a dress worn for mourning. Huh.
• The spelling of the creature “goomba.” I figured, we need a few more cultural references in there to appeal to the kiddies. Ben plays with a DS, so why not mention goombas? However…
• Google showed me a very strange image of a goomba, which apparently came from a film in the 90′s about Super Mario Bros., so I had to look that up as well. What…a…disaster. How did this film ever get made? Stick to video games, Mario Bros.
• Another image that popped up showed an actress that played Daisy. She looked familiar, so…quick search. Samantha Mathis. IMDB pulled up her films, but nothing looked familiar. Finally, found Little Women, where she plays the “grown up” version of the little sister, Amy. Don’t know how I recognized her from that, but there you go.
• And finally, the word “hinky.” Did I know what it meant? Did I really want to use it in the story? I finally decided not to, just because it didn’t really capture the thought I was having.

So, there you have it. Not really a top ten list, but merely the latest in many rabbit holes I’ve dived into willing. More to come…

Where has all the time gone? Time is not on our side. Time keeps on ticking away. It is the only commodity we can’t get back. Have you ever found yourself wondering just where it all went?

With “time” being a significant factor in the books I’m working on, I’m surprised I’ve never talked about it much, except to complain that there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done, especially writing. But I’m not here to talk about that.

It used to be that “Tempus Fugit” or “time flees” was engraved on many clocks, which gives us the constant reminder that time is short, and not to waste them. One famous clock, though, has a much different saying on it, one derived from Psalm 37. Big Ben, the famous clock/tower/bell in London, has a plaque in the clock room with these words: “All through this hour / Lord be my guide / And by Thy power / No foot shall slide.”

Much of that tower was finished by 1856, when Ben and Amy travel to Victorian London. The notable exception was the big bell, the one they would later call “Big Ben.” A larger bell had been made, but then broke at the construction site. The second one cracked, and had to be fixed, and is still striking a (slightly) sour note to this day.

Kind of reminds me of life. We try, we struggle, and things break, or crack, and what we have left sounds a bit sour. But Big Ben (the clock) was known for it’s reliability in a day when things weren’t all that reliable. Even if we are cracked (aren’t we all?), we need to pursue that faithfulness, and seek after God’s heart, despite our limitations.

‘Cause time is short, and sometimes our chances to get things right are limited too. Tempus fugit indeed. But there is hope, in the One and only who is not trapped in time at all.

Solomon said it best, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

By far the scariest part of living in the Victorian era was not the poor food, unsanitary conditions, or poverty, as some may have you believe. The scariest part surely must have been the bustles, crinolines, stays and corsets.

During the time when Amy and Ben were touring London, 1856, the crinoline was the method of choice for holding out the skirts, and achieving “high fashion.” Luckily, as a maid, Amy never had to wear one. Can you imagine, though? How would a young lady maneuver through a crowded room? How would she fit through doorways? How would she…um…use the outhouse? It boggles the mind.

Only a few years later, 1860 and beyond, the crinoline moved out of fashion, and the much more practical bustle took its place. What a relief, or was it? Corsets were still popular, and the wasp-waisted women of the time were the pinnacle of beauty. Ouch.

Will women (and men) continue to suffer to “improve” their looks? Are we still doing so today? Maybe we could all run around in sweatpants and sweatshirts instead. Everyone would at least be comfortable, and we’d all look pretty much the same.

“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Prov 31:30.

Finally, someone who agrees with me: Bob Hoose at PluggedIn said exactly what I’d been thinking for a while. Where are the choices in teen fiction? Where can you get a book that doesn’t have witches, wizards, werewolves, vampires, zombies or deep psychological problems?

Well, probably not at your local bookstore, that’s for sure.

Fairy tales were gruesome enough in the old days to scare kids pretty good (why do you think they were called Grimm?), but then along came Disney (and others) who tamed the old stories down. And because of that, we started getting more and more horrific tales (thanks Mr. King!), and eventually we thought this was great stuff to give to the kiddies. Here you go, kid! Good luck sleeping at night!

I guess my complaint is not really about the books, but the trend these days of teens wanting to change who they are, based on a book or movie. They don’t just read or watch and say, “That was entertaining, but that would never be me.” Now they indulge, and say, “I want to be all that.” Instead of clinging to the person God created them to be, they ditch it to be another goth, another vamp, another clone of Miley Cryus. It’s a shame.

I’m reminded of 2 Cor: “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” And when you go to the bookstore, what fellowship will wholesome books have with unwholesome ones? None at all, I hope. None at all.

But keep looking. There’s good books out there somewhere.

I almost hate to do another post, as this bumps the trailer down the page. But, the link to the video will be off to the side shortly.

In working on the second book, set in the late 17th Century, I’ve come to the dreaded “dining” scene. It almost seems obligatory, to show Amy and Ben eating at least once. I’ll skip the food for now, but I wanted to talk about the way the food was served, and the typical eating hours for our native Victorians.

In 1856, the new style for serving dishes was the a la russe (in the style of the Russians), where the servants bring food to each diner, and either the servant or the man at the table served the lady next to him and himself. This took lots of servants (or a few very busy ones, like at the Berkham house), and plenty of silver. Several dishes would be served this way, then a pause, then several more. Diners loved it; servants hated it.

Before this point, food was served a la francaise (yes, in the French style). All the food would be placed on the table, and then “removed” when the dish was finished, or the next course ready. Again, the man would serve the lady next to him. Servants were happier.

Either way, this service was traditionally for the “dinner” meal, and especially the “dinner party.” Back in the 1660s, the big meal was more around midday, and the only food you had later was a light, informal “supper.” Somewhere between the 1660s and the 1850s, dinner got pushed back, and pushed back, and that extra little meal we call “lunch” snuck in and took over the midday spot.

These days, no one is consistent. The big meal may be early in the day, or as late at 9:00. And who has servants anymore? You have to get your own food. Too bad.

Any way you slice it, Solomon said it best: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” Ecc 2:24-25

I may have mentioned it before. I have been working on the “pre-publication” book teaser, both as an exercise in marketing and just ’cause it was fun. And now, the waiting is over. The teaser is ready:

Or click on this link to view the teaser on YouTube.

I’ll eventually put a permanent link off to the side, or something, but for now, enjoy!

After months of thinking, working, and playing around with video and animation clips, I finally got the book trailer finished the way I wanted it. Now all that’s left is buying the stock photos and footage, and swapping everything out…and then you’ll get to see it.

It got me thinking, though, about my last post, and how much I learned about the Victorian era to work on the first book. Research is king, right? Then I have a thought, and realize how much I still don’t know about that period in time.

Book promotion, for example. These days, it’s a combination of word-of-mouth, appearances, signings, advertisements, blog posts, Facebook announcements, book trailers on YouTube, you name it. But what about the Victorian days? How did Dickens, for example, promote his work? [Author scratches his head.]

Did he advertise? I know he serialized some of his novels, so they first appeared in the newspaper before being compiled into book form. Did he do signings? Appearances? I know he read some of his stories (and even performed A Christmas Carol) before audiences in theaters. Did he have good relationships with local booksellers? Did he bribe the kids on the street to tell all their buddies about his books?

Did he print bookmarks and postcards and business cards? Did he attend conferences, meet with other authors, agents and editors? Did he hang out at the bar and entertain wanna-be authors with tales of horror from the desk of a real writer? Did he agonize over whether he spent too much time promoting (blogging, Facebooking, making trailers) and not enough time working on the next book?

There is so much I don’t know about the Victorians, or even the next time period, the Restoration. I shudder to think what your average writer in the 1600′s went through. There must have been quite a line at Gutenberg’s Press. (That’s a joke–I’m not that dumb. I know Gutenberg made more than one.)

I must be thinking about Solomon a lot, because this came to mind: “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” Ecc 2:11.

I’ve been thinking lately about the prefix “quasi.” As in quasiliterate (as if we were), or quasiblog (as if it was), or Quasimodo (don’t all start singing at once). Quasi meaning “having all the likeness of something, but without the essential core of the thing.” Or if you want to go with the literal Latin translation: “As if!”

I have written two “quasi-historical” novels. They look kind of like historical books, have all the taste, texture, smell of a historical book, but there are things that are different, things that make them more “fantasy” books than true historical. But I loved doing all the research anyway, loved learning about the past.

Like toilets. Ever wonder what the Victorians did for toilets? After about 1860, you had it made, with more and more homes having the patented flush toilets. But if you have tons of servants, why bother upgrading the house? The good old chamber pot is good enough, isn’t it? Use the pot, call the servant, and…you’re done.

Those poor servants, though. The master may be on the third floor, and the outhouse is in the back garden, and you get to carry the pot throughout the house before dumping it down the hole. At least that’s better than what they did with it in the 17th Century. If you lived then, you’d toss the contents of the pot out the window, onto the street. Look out below!

Nothing makes you appreciate the time and place you live now than comparing to how our ancestors lived back then. But when something happens, like the earthquakes in Haiti, and suddenly the past comes crushing back into the present.

“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Solomon, of course.