Colorful Characters Abound!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'I was asked to review Malcolm R. Campbell’s “Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire” before publication.”

Readers who enjoy hard-bitten, wisecracking characters will surely fall in love with Jock Stewart, the main character in the new Malcolm Campbell novel, Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire. The story of the book revolves around the disappearance of the race horse, Sea of Fire, but it features a wagon load of human “horsing around” by the many colorful characters Campbell created, including Coral Snake Smith, Parker House, a preacher named Cotton Mouth and the Krispy Kreme eating police chief Kruller.

While reading the story and gathering the clues, that frequently came to light as Stewart dialogued with his own intuition, readers may find themselves having great fun picking up the puns, word plays and hilarious cloaked references to cultural and historical items. Jock Stewart is an old time newspaperman, whose “blunt force sarcasm” keeps him in hot water with his bosses, co-workers and the police. But if not for his pressing the issue, the mystery would definitely not have been resolved.

Stewart, Malcolm Campbell’s self-acknowledged alter ego, is also the author’s vehicle to decry the effects of the digital age on the craft of writing and the elegance of language. I found the book entertaining, and it might even become profitable, if I can get permission from the author to use the sermon outline he provided in chapter 13!

After A Week At Church Camp!

Teaching at church camp is one of my favorite things in life, and it is always a learning experience for me as well as the kids. Last week I again had the tenth graders, thirty eight of them. They were great! And I was tickled to have a young minister work with me this year who not so long ago he sat in my class at the same camp!



Usually at camp I am a pretty creative and active teacher. I use a lot of teaching techniques to keep the class thinking and discovering for themselves. This year our study was in the Minor Prophets, with the aim of seeing "How Great Is Our God." We have a morning class of an hour and fifteen minutes and an afternoon class of forty five minutes. I made a decision that the sophomores would read, or hear read, as much of the texts of those books as possible. Paul set the scene for each reading and then one of the guys would read the message of God through the prophet. The kids were then asked to create a MySpace bulletin that might be sent to the rest of the campers to transmit the message they had just heard.




I went to camp thinking that at least half the kids would fall asleep during the readings. I mean, it is hot and the kids are tired and the messages are, in some cases, long and a bit repetitive! I figured that for the first time in my camp experience they would find my class boring. But I wanted them to hear the Word of God so much that I was willing to take the chance.





We did have a three or four that could not keep their eyes open, but I was pleasantly surprised at how many read along with the "prophet" in their own Bibles. I was even more pleased at how much they understood the main message of the various texts, especially the traits of our great God!




It made me wonder how I could have doubted that the Bible itself would not suffice to teach those precious kids. And it reinforced my idea that we all need to actually read it more than we do!

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Revisiting THE SUN SINGER

Yesterday I read an interview with Malcolm Campbell on a blog. He is the author of a fascinating novel, THE SUN SINGER. Malcolm also is a blog friend of mine. About a year and a half ago, on a blog site that is now defunct, I was privileged to host a discussion of the book. That discussion is one of the highlights of all my blog experiences. Since the topic is being stirred else where, I decided to repost the posts I made. Sadly, I do not have copies of the hundreds of comments and observations made by the participants, but maybe the posts will whet your appetite for the book.

I have made a few editorial changes, taking out links to the old web site, but essentially below are the postings of four days material about the book.

THE DAWN OF THE SUN SINGER

As anxious as I have been to get this discussion started, I have also been anxious about my ability to adequately analyze the work of our virtual friend, Trick Falls. Our friend and mentor, Trick Falls, is known in an alternate reality as Malcolm Campbell.
In our writing up world, we have known Trick Falls as a good blogger. Through the portal of THE SUN SINGER, we now realize he is also an excellent novelist. I had only read a few pages when I thought to myself that we were going to enter the world of Frank Peretti and the spirit realm. That was fine with me, I have enjoyed several Peretti novels; This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness, and most recently, Monster.
But before long I was being led through landscapes and following trails with the descriptive prowess of one of my favorite authors, Louis L’Amour. Trick Falls is not just some “hack writer” that came along and stumbled through a story!
His character development was also more than satisfactory. There were common names like Robert Adams, and Grandfather Elliot and David Ward. But with the likes of Aton, Caros, and the Black Horse, Sikimi, I knew there were imageries I was missing because I did not know the stories of some of the historic or mythical peoples or individuals. That thought was confirmed in the Qoheleth discussions between believin and Trick Falls a week or so ago.
There were moments as I read that we were simply on a coming-of-age journey. That may be the way Hollywood portrays it when they make the movie, but I hope not. The young hero does struggle to gain Intelligence, Wisdom, and Balance (Equilibrium), and to channel the divine gifts he has been given. He does struggle with guilt over being blessed when others are not so blessed. But there is so much more to the story.
I would like to limit the discussions here today to general impressions and observations; as well as discussions of the imagery of names and symbols, if possible. I propose that tomorrow we investigate the meanings and messages of the book in an attempt to “Harness the Power of THE SUN SINGER.

IN ORBIT AROUND THE SUN SINGER

I enjoyed the discussion yesterday. I was encouraged by the exchanges, and I gained more confidence that I had understood most of the symbolism of THE SUN SINGER as they were intended. We also got some nice pictures in the links from Montucky.

I had thought we would go into the meanings and messages of the novel today, but I think we did not get to importance of some of the relationships within the story. The relationship between Robert and his grandfather was fairly easy to understand. Grandfather Elliot was the anchor for Robert’s life, and his death was the mechanism to motivate Robert to embark o his journey to maturity. Other relationships were not so simple for me to discern.

For example, I kept wondering at the reluctance of Robert’s mom to share with him information that might have made his journey easier and less dangerous. Was it simply a picture of a mother not facing the fact that her little boy was growing up? Or was there some more sinister idea behind it, something related to the magic involved?

And what about Robert’s father? Why was he out in the middle of a lake and not a factor in the young man’s journey? Was he just too busy, and wrapped up in his own place in life, or just ignorant of his son’s dilemma?

Also, when Robert had gone through the portal into Pyrrha he encountered Gem and Cinnabar. I found myself wondering about their relationship to Grandfather Elliot. At one point I was afraid that there was about to be an incestuous relationship between Robert and Cinnabar. I thought they might be alternate world siblings for a time. I knew there was a family connection from very early in the tale, but I did not figure it out, I had to read it to get it.

There were lots of great interactions, and we did not investigate them yesterday in any depth. So it is my proposal that we focus our discussion today on those elements of The Sun Singer. Then we will tackle the meanings and messages our author friend wanted to impart tomorrow.



HARNESSING THE POWER OF THE SUN SINGER

I really enjoyed our discussion over the past couple of days about the images and the style of writing of our friend, Trick Falls. I appreciate all of you who participated and am looking forward to more of the same in this segment, likely the last unless developments here lead to more.

As I mentioned in the first segment, it is my intention today for us to talk about the meanings and the message of The Sun Singer. Of course the key character of the story was Robert Adams, a teenaged boy who is trying to find himself. It is always a difficult test to move from boyhood to manhood. It always seems as if there is no sure path to follow. On the one hand young men want to be told how to do things so they won't make mistakes and look foolish. But at the very same time, they do not want anyone to treat them like a child who can't fend for himself. Two sides of 1 coin, as it were.

The Sun Singer is a masterful presentation of the difficult journey between worlds. Robert has the mentor he longs for in his Grandfather Elliott. It is the gifts of his grandfather that help Robert have the courage to go forward, even the eager anticipation and sense of duty that is necessary.

I really appreciated that the tangible gift that Robert received from Grandfather Elliott was the Staff of Equilibrium. All young men need to maintain their balance and not go too far in the direction of destruction. And was it not the Staff of Wisdom that opened the portal between worlds? I'm not sure why the Staff of Intelligence remained in the hands of David Ward, but I suspect there's more to the story than we've yet heard.

I loved how Trick Falls led us through the inner struggle of Robert Adams as he learned conviction and demonstrated his commitment to right and justice. Robert being lamed in the battle helped us to remember that there is consequence and personal accountability for decisions we make and actions we take.

Trick Falls, of course, acknowledges the struggle that young men have with passion for the opposite sex, and the struggle to remain pure. The descriptions of the seductiveness of Dryad really painted a picture of how powerful those urges are in a young man. But I am really grateful that in this story The Sun Singer was able to overcome the urges and to maintain his purity. Too many storytellers today want us believe that everyone gives in, and that there is no way to resist.

The struggles that Robert had in learning how to accept blessings when others do not seem to be blessed at all came through in his handling of himself being alive and the little girl being killed. I also enjoyed Robert coming to realize that doing good is possible, even when you don't know everything. Too many of us allow ourselves to be paralyzed by our fear that we don't know enough. I suppose that has to be balanced with those of us who rush in and do things before we do know enough. But it was a strong element of THE SUN SINGER story.

Robert Adams, THE SUN SINGER, learning to harness the power of his divine gifts, and to accept his place in the world, is story that needs to be told and retold.

I have touched on a few of the threads that Trick Falls wove together into such a beautiful tapestry. I invite your comments on the things I saw, and more importantly I am anxious to hear what you saw.





SUN SINGER EPILOGUE


At the beginning of the month I hosted the monthly book club, reading group some of us have formed here on writing up. We had a lively discussion of the novel, THE SUN SINGER, by our virtual friend, Trick Falls, aka Malcolm Campbell. I thought the discussion had run its course, and moved on to other pursuits, like the Fantasy Blogger League.

But last night merryone announced she had finished the book and had lots of observations she wanted to share. The discussion was so good I decided to revisit the topic, as something of an epilogue.

THE SUN SINGER is the story of a young man’s journey into maturity, using alternate realities as the mechanism for seeing things differently. It is a masterful approach to the topic. If you missed the three posts and threads of discussion earlier in the month, I think you would find the time spent in going through them very educational.

But for tonight I want to set the table for a discussion of the creative process involved in writing a work of art. It is not uncommon to read a review of a movie or book that includes statements from readers/viewers. That is what I want to do here, in hopes of stimulating more input from our community, which contains several already accomplished authors/writers.

I hope to have input from such writing up citizens as Ed Butts, Sharon Hurley Hall, Inklings, Gracepub, Ethan Mawyer, Believin, and others who have a grasp of the creative process, in addition to Merryone, Seth Mullins, and the inimitable Trick Falls.

To get your thoughts flowing, I have copied remarks from the earlier posts that address the creative process:

Merryone--

FF&F, you have some interesting questions about the creative process. I'd love to hear some more input from some of the other writers about their own process, but I always think there's so much to learn from other writers. It seems to me that everyone has their own way of doing things and whatever works to spur your own creativity is the 'right' way for you... in other words, contrary to some people's perceptions, I don't think there is a right way or formula for creating fiction.
So far, for me, I don't work with outlines in any way. I know a lot of writers would disagree with that, but it's not the way I work. I had the basic premise and main characters in mind when I started, and I knew the basic location. From there, the story takes on a life of it's own. I find my characters emerging in way that I hadn't expected and turns in the story that surprise me (which is, by the way, my absolute favorite part of fiction writing... when the characters start to tell the story, you know you've gotten it to breathe)...
There are things that I am inherently interested in that make it into the story, and sometimes there are things that I just happen to stumble upon and they fit perfectly, synchronicity again... I research enough so that it's accurate, but not so much during the rough draft period... I just make a note to double check the facts or to embellish the description and it comes into play in later revisions.
I would guess that the research end would come into play very heavily when writing historical fiction... and there is always an amount of research if you want your story to have depth...
Anybody else want to share some of their process...


Seth--

...and I was actually astounded by how similar your creative process is to mine. You even describe it in similar terms as I am wont to do. Yup, no outline, just a sketch of characters and setting at the onset. (Actually, I do a lot of 'world-building', but I never know how much of that will be used. It's the two-thirds of the iceberg that is submerged, oftentimes). And when the characters take off running, yes, that's when the excitement and reality enters. And making those notes in the margins for further research or fleshing out, yes! It's good to just keep moving, especially in a first draft.

Me--

Your description brought to mind the first couple of chapters of Genesis. Lots of world/universe building took place, lots of it unused and unseen. But when the characters take off running, yes, that's when the excitement and reality enters." Everything that was made before the characters was pronounced good, but when the characters were introduced into the world, it was called "very good."
Yours sounds to me like inspired creativity.

Merryone--

Your description brought to mind the first couple of chapters of Genesis. Lots of world/universe building took place, lots of it unused and unseen. But when the characters take off running, yes, that's when the excitement and reality enters." Everything that was made before the characters was pronounced good, but when the characters were introduced into the world, it was called "very good."
Yours sounds to me like inspired creativity.

Trick Falls--

If I were a painter, merryone, I would spend years buying the paint, the brushes, and the canvas. Then I'd put on a blindfold and go to work. That's the way the writing goes now. The research takes me so much time because when I'm blindfolded, I want to be able to grab up whatever I need without losing the flow of the story.
In the current novel, set mostly in "real life," the David Ward character is serving on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War. Okay, I was there, but I wasn't taking notes. I have memories and impressions and some facts. The chapter about the ship was stalled for a week while I was tracking down the exact wording of all the shipboard announcements that one hears over the intercom while at sea. For me, these anchor the impressionistic story (rather like the use of bird and plant information in "The Sun Singer") and I need them lying here on my palette before I start slinging words.
Sure, I know more or less where things are going, but the characters have their own ideas, so--like you--I'm not sure who is (in my case) doing the typing.

Merry--

By the way, ff&f, word crafting is no small thing in my book; in fact, to me it's only another way of saying, 'writing' (you should hear a choir of angels at the mention of the word...)
I absolutely think that your preparation and execution of sermons is a creative process of the highest order. Not only are you communicating a message or point to teach a lesson and impart knowledge, but your writer's voice comes from a place that you are most passionate... I would say that's the best form of creative communication, and not every writer is lucky enough or good enough to claim that.
Trick Falls, I love the way that you depict your process and research. Our styles are a bit different, but I think yours would be one that I would employ if I ever venture into historical fiction (something I would dearly love to tackle at some point).

Okay, do you have questions for the authors, input about the creative process, or some more observations of THE SUN SINGER?

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