tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-211188032024-02-27T21:02:12.639-08:00Deborah Jackson | Author - BlogDeborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-15789115543678299592015-02-26T10:51:00.000-08:002015-03-02T13:01:10.486-08:00The Furies Bog - Excerpt 2<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Continuing from the first excerpt, in Chapter 1. See The Furies Bog - 1 to begin reading. I will be adding excerpts now that I am 2/3rds of the way through the initial revision. In order for you to get a clear sense of the story, I'm posting the first chapter in its entirety. It all begins with a mystery in the bog . . .</span><br />
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<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“There,” shouted Wilson, completely
oblivious—or at least he seemed that way—to the buffeting wind and the looping
path of the helicopter. A bare speck of white loped across the tundra, not
nearly as intimidating from this height.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
helicopter swung around and angled downward. The speck grew substantially, like
a snowball accumulating mass as it hurtled down a slope. Longer, wider,
heftier. Gorilla-size and bigger, but without the gorilla’s shy aspect. It
looked up, watched the copter’s approach with borderline disdain, a curl to its
lips that exposed teeth. DeLuca hovered above, but tilted to the left, to the
Baruti Mbeki side, of course, and Wilson leaned over and shoved open the door.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wind
thrust through the opening—biting, snarling wind that threatened to
flash-freeze Baruti’s eyeballs—while DeLuca tipped the copter toward the bear.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Are
you trying to send me into the beast’s jaws?” asked Baruti. Cowardly statement,
he knew, but surely the pilot could hold the craft level.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“The
closer, the better shot,” said Tony. “You’re strapped in, aren’t you?”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Yes,”
he replied, eying the thin strip of dubious threads that held him above the now
growling specimen merely a few feet below.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wilson
fumbled with the tranquilizer gun, trying to aim at the creature’s back in the
jittering vehicle with the gun slung across Baruti’s legs.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Hold
still,” he muttered. “I’ve almost got him.”<i> </i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Hold
still?</i> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">DeLuca
tipped; Baruti slid; Wilson fired.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
bear growled, groaned, and then collapsed. His long glistening snout of sleek
cream-colored fur tipped with a black knob of a nose crashed to the arctic
tundra. His massive girth, weighing likely 1000 pounds—beginning to thin
through the summer but still notably rotund—sprayed jets of water from the
spongy earth. His monstrous paws with equally monstrous claws fell limply to
the side.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wilson
retracted the gun and slapped Baruti on the back. “Now we just have to tag him,
my friend. The bears are adapting to global warming, their numbers growing
steadily, according to the Inuit. We just need to substantiate their claim.
Amazing how animals adapt.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Does
that mean I will adjust to this cold?” he shivered out.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Only
if you accumulate more blubber,” said Tony, jiggling his broad cheeks and
smacking a hand on the inner tube that encircled his belly as he gently set the
copter on the ground. The ground slurped greedily at the skids, insisting it
settle a foot deeper than the ground appeared to be.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Is
this location stable enough?” asked Baruti, picturing the bog gobbling up the
helicopter just like Skywalker’s unfortunate fighter in the classic film, <i>The
Empire Strikes Back</i>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“As
stable as it’s going to get here,” said DeLuca. “This is a shelf—a raised
gravel beach that provides a path through the bog. It’s narrow, but I can see
its outline delineated by the scrub of black spruce. It’s solid enough, or we’d
be sinking right now. But be careful of the surrounding mire. A few shelves,
many sinks.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Well,
tranquilizer’s awastin’,” said Wilson. “Let’s measure, tag, and skedaddle
before the brute wakes up.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">He
kept a firm grasp on his tranquilizer gun as he gingerly stepped from the
copter. DeLuca snatched a revolver from his backpack and hopped out the other
side. He took two steps, rotated on his heel, and beckoned Baruti with a slight
jerk of his head.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Time
to get <i>leswe.</i> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti
fumbled with the buckle, overly long, perhaps, which drew a hooked eyebrow from
Wilson. Undone, feet first, he swung toward the gaping exit, the cold drilling
into his exposed face, threatening to expose even more of his inadequacy to the
task at hand, or the greater task.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Wait,”
Wilson warned before he could jump down. “Watch where you walk. There are
certain pathways through the bog with thick enough moss to support your weight.
The rest is, well, bog. Follow my footsteps.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti
nodded, jumped from the craft—an inch to the right of where the Canadian
biologist had landed—and sank, deeply and firmly, into the mud.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Are
you serious?” he asked no one in particular, since Wilson was already trotting
down the path and DeLuca was circling the copter several feet away. When Wilson
had said “Follow my footsteps,” Baruti had assumed this meant “basically,” as
in “as close as possible,” not “in the very cradle of each print” as if they
were entering a minefield.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Luckily,
the skids of the copter were still within reach. Baruti clutched the metal
appendage and yanked himself loose.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Hurry,”
yelled Wilson from beside the mound of polar bear. “If you want to lay a hand
on the gorgeous creature before he bites your hand off.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Fell
in the mud,” Baruti tried to explain, then thought better of it, since it would
make him look even more incompetent, and strode forward on the definitive path
of footprints, not deviating a fraction.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
sun shot pale beams through the clouds, tracing the outline of the stout
geologist and the tall biologist as mere hills beside what could only be
described as the Everest of bears. Baruti trudged toward them as they threw
their measuring tapes around his girth, tackled his massive paws to get a
scraping from his claws, and Wilson drew blood in ample vials.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Here.
Tag his ear,” said Wilson, tossing the glue-on satellite tag over to him.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti
spent an extra minute admiring, one more stroking the pearl-white fur as the
bear lazily drew breath, then another minute to set the tag and tack it to the
beast’s fuzzy ear.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Magnificent,
isn’t he?” said Wilson, no longer scornful or teasing. Baruti gazed over the
expanding and retracting rib cage to meet the biologist’s eyes. The man’s mossy
irises had taken on a gleam, a sparkle that only a biologist could summon as he
gazed at the king of species.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“I
would not like to encounter his teeth or his claws on any occasion when he wasn’t
dosed with adequate tranquilizer but, yes, what a remarkable creature. The lion
is also remarkable, and one to be wary of, but certainly not capable of
thriving in this climate.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wilson
met his eyes. “I once had occasion to visit your wealthy domain of diverse
species, my friend, before the widespread extinction event. I prefer my field
of study, but I certainly appreciate yours.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
strange yearning crept into the biologist’s eyes that Baruti couldn’t fathom.
Or perhaps he understood it all too well.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
soft moan trickled from the bear’s mouth, enough to give Baruti a start,
especially leaning against his foreleg next to the massive snout.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Tranq’s
wearing off,” said Wilson, snapping out of his own spell.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Just a few more
things . . .” He rustled out tweezers and a swab from his sample case, plucked
assorted hairs from the bear’s chest, then forced open his lax jaw and stroked
the interior of his cheek with the swab. He collected these samples in standard
specimen jars and tucked them securely in a sealed plastic bag.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Do
you suspect him of a crime?” Baruti remarked.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Only
the crime of not surviving into the next century. I know the species is
rebounding, but it’s still endangered, and it wouldn’t take much to tip it near
the brink again. I’d like to keep DNA on file, in case we need to reconstruct.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Fair
enough,” he replied. “Although cloning the species won’t restore its habitat.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wilson’s
gaze clashed with Baruti’s again, maintaining eye contact for an uncomfortably
long time; too long considering the bear was snorting in air, reviving.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Too
true,” he finally muttered. “Well, I think that about covers it, anyway. Give
him a kiss and we’re out of here.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti
frowned.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Kidding,”
Wilson clarified.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Would
he ever adapt to this man’s bizarre sense of humor?</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“A
hug will suffice.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">That
said, he wrapped his rather lengthy arms around a quarter of the bear’s belly
and squeezed it tenderly.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“I
think I’ll skip the hug,” said DeLuca, slinging his backpack over his shoulder
and striding toward the path. Wilson shrugged and motioned for Baruti to walk
in front of him, since he’d probably noticed Baruti’s embarrassing exit from
the aircraft.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Remember—”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Keep
in DeLuca’s tracks. I know.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
plush carpet of lichen and moss squelched beneath his boots as he tramped
behind the geologist, rapidly catching up to him and hugging his shadow, each
footstep conforming to the leading man’s print. He felt immeasurable sadness
and immeasurable relief to be leaving the bear behind. He appreciated close
encounters with such magnificent creatures, but he also respected their
instinctual and sometimes unpredictable nature, and bore the scars of too
cavalier an attitude toward leopards, hippos, and even an annoyed ostrich.
Lions, not so much. Lions respected him.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">The
bear grunted and sputtered, gradually regaining consciousness. Perhaps DeLuca
should pick up the pace. Wilson, the seemingly calm, collected bear specialist
was spurring Baruti on by occasionally clipping his heels.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Another
snort and a canyon-deep growl sprang from the bench of moss and gravel where
the bear lay slumped. Wilson rotated on his heel, spurring Baruti and DeLuca to
turn in unison. The bear was no longer stretched across the tundra completely
doped, but was half-sprawled, half-struggling-to-get-up, aiming his bobbing,
disoriented head in their direction.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">DeLuca
pivoted back toward the helicopter and proceeded to hop/sprint down the spongy
path. Baruti followed in his tracks, or close to his tracks, but his tracks
were becoming increasingly haphazard. Then his tracks ended as he sank into a
deep morass. Baruti skidded to a stop, but not quick enough. His feet slipped
over the edge of the flimsy moss path and into the swamp and thick mud that
surrounded it.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“No,”
he yelped as he struggled and sank. He clawed at the moss, a thick overlay that
might have offered a lifeline, but the spongy quilt tore and fragmented in his
hands. He sank through a cushion of peat until his boots crunched on something
solid. The bottom of the quagmire had an odd brittle quality. It felt as if his
boot were clutched in an actual claw.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Give
me your hand,” said Wilson, extending his arm, a look of urgency in his eyes.
“It’s not very deep, just disgusting and muddy. But our friend is definitely
awake and we need to haul ass.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti
reached for and clutched Wilson’s hand, and pulled with equal urgency, but his
feet were still clamped in the jaws of some persistent swamp beast.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“I’m
caught in something at the bottom,” he tried to explain, as his wrenching,
tugging effort merely moved him a fraction. Wilson dug his boots into the
gravel, only venturing as near to the fragile boundary as he dared, and gave a
ferocious yank. Baruti pulled free, or the snag pulled with him, and he tumbled
onto the shelf.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Oh
crap!” said Wilson, blinking at Baruti’s feet.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti
twisted around and found the most odd attachment to his boots. A horribly
crumpled, mangled, human-shaped mud-creature. He’d broken through what was
apparently the rib cage. He could distinguish no features in the misshapen
face, but reddish mud-caked hair was clinging to a typical human skull.
Obviously not the remains of a polar bear.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Oh,”
said DeLuca, from his slogging approach in the bog. “That’s interesting.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">He
advanced toward the path, but stumbled before he reached it. Fishing in the
molasses-like water, he discovered another limb, which was attached to another
rib cage, and another skull.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“More
than one, too.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Cree?”
asked Wilson, casting a backward glance.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Possibly.
But I don’t think this is Cree.” He tugged a chain with a circle-shaped pendant
from the grip of tissue and gristle near the creature’s skull. He polished it
on the least mud-offended sliver of his shirt and unveiled a grayish tint.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Silver,
I believe,” he said.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wilson
grew pale and a soul-clutching shiver engulfed his entire body. But he
dismissed their discovery in an anxious tone as he helped DeLuca from the bog
and practically pushed him toward the helicopter.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Whoever
they were and whatever that is, it can wait. We have a polar bear to consider.”</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A
thunderous roar punctuated his remark. They carefully dashed along the path,
angling for the copter, but DeLuca still held the chain up to the light in fascination.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It didn’t fascinate Baruti,
though. Now if the body had possessed distinctive African features and the
chain had glittered with diamonds, he’d have trouble disguising his joy.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
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<![endif]--><span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><i>Copyright © 2015 Deborah Jackson</i></span></b></span><br />
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<![endif]-->Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-26888516589976953322015-01-06T11:41:00.001-08:002015-03-02T13:01:10.490-08:00Returning to My Writing Roots<span style="color: #20124d;">A touch of nostalgia and a note to you, the reader: I am paying attention . . .</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4Bc0lHGx-lYvSQwEns0M-ekWEziSG2Ixv4NnGdFFjvTexYUkY69lOjszWn40UyhIQBfC7uHkfMLXg42Z8KtNojTtFlBwF86jzcIN66YBTg3KgDLzkRMk2p1GnyZjGXEipXSu/s1600/Donaldson.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL4Bc0lHGx-lYvSQwEns0M-ekWEziSG2Ixv4NnGdFFjvTexYUkY69lOjszWn40UyhIQBfC7uHkfMLXg42Z8KtNojTtFlBwF86jzcIN66YBTg3KgDLzkRMk2p1GnyZjGXEipXSu/s1600/Donaldson.jpg" width="127" /></a>Not only am I once again reading the works of my old favourite authors, with new installments in the Egypt series</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>Wilbur Smith</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>and the Thomas Covenant series </span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>Stephen R. Donaldson</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>but 2015 is the year I will finish the longest story I've ever written. Now that the first draft is complete, I've quickly realized it's merely a beginning.Yes, perhaps an epic sci-fi fantasy is in the works.<br /><br /> No matter how many "new and unusual" books I release, <i>Ice Tomb</i> seems to sell the most. Everyone loves (or hates, but still buys) <i>Ice Tomb</i>. And at the present time I am uninspired to write a sequel. Yes, the premise was wild and appealing, but I still find the story too ancient and amateurish to pick up the threads since I wrote it over ten years ago. So I decided to embark on writing another Ice Tomb-ish story, with a wild and appealing premise, but with even deeper research into the main scientific concept and a more distant otherworldly setting:</span> <span style="color: #783f04;">Mars.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><img alt="File:Water ice clouds hanging above Tharsis PIA02653 black background.jpg" data-file-height="2400" data-file-width="2400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Water_ice_clouds_hanging_above_Tharsis_PIA02653_black_background.jpg/600px-Water_ice_clouds_hanging_above_Tharsis_PIA02653_black_background.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></span> <br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;">Last March, and for the following three months, I took an online course at MIT to upgrade my dated expertise in science, particularly in genetics and genetic engineering.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm"><img alt="MIT OpenCourseWare, Massachusetts Institute of Technology" class="logo" src="http://ocw.mit.edu/images/ocw_mast.png" height="38" width="320" /></a></span></span></span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;">I developed a "research paper" which will be incorporated in the book. It is based to some degree on facts, but with added fictional components. In other words, nothing in the paper is true except the truth itself. After all, genetic engineering is a relatively new science, and perhaps some of what I propose will eventually be possible. Believe what you will, read what you like, but this paper is completely layered in professional jargon since I approached it in a professional manner, so I added explanations in the novel to avoid confusion.<br /><br /> Entitled <i>The Furies Bog</i>, the story revolves around this line: </span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;">A bog may be Earth’s undoing, but it will be a gift to Mars.</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /> Intrigued? But what has a bog got to do with genetic engineering, you may wonder? What do the furies of ancient Greece have to do with a bog?<br /><br />I'm not going to tell you. <br /><br />But just the title alone and that one line do tell a great deal. They suggest that the story is set in the near or distant future, because Mars is involved. They also suggest there is a link to the past. (You know I like to insert such links into my Ice Tomb-ish stories). And of course, on occasion, bogs and archaeology go hand in hand. For example, the bog bodies of northwestern Europe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> <img alt="File:Tollundmannen.jpg" data-file-height="1983" data-file-width="2244" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Tollundmannen.jpg/678px-Tollundmannen.jpg" height="280" width="320" /> </span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;">My tales often involve extreme environments, so imagine a scene in say <span style="color: #0b5394;">Polar Bear Provincial Park</span>, and another in, possibly,<span style="color: #741b47;"> Botswana</span>, and of course there has to be one on <span style="color: #783f04;">Mars</span>. Did I mention the <span style="color: #38761d;">Everglades</span>? Did I mention <span style="color: #444444;">Harvard</span>? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;">I will be releasing snippets of <i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">rough</span></i> material over the next few months as I work on revising the first draft. I completed the final third of the novel during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in November, so you can imagine how ridiculously huge this novel is. But I promise it will still be fast-paced. And I hope you will find it as fascinating-ish as <i>Ice Tomb</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #20124d;">In the meantime, I will be asking this question:<i> <b>Are you in it for the long haul?</b></i> Do you want to invest your mind in a series that may take me as long to write as it took, and continues to take, the eminent George R. R. Martin with his addicting Game of Thrones epic? Will you take a chance on some of my other creations while you wait? They're not all Ice Tomb-ish, but I did pour my heart and soul into them. <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/Mosaic/Mosaic_index.html">Mosaic</a> tells the truth, and not everybody likes to hear the truth, but it has a dark fury and a bizarre structure that make it quite unique. <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/sinkhole/Sinkhole%20index.html">Sinkhole</a> has an Ice Tomb-ish flavour, but instead of looking outward in an expansive and bleak fashion, it dives inward in more than one sense, a concentrated journey. And of course you can always embark on a little <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/childrensnovels/index.html">time traveling</a> if you're in the mood.<br /><br />So this is how we begin the series, you</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>my fabulous <i>Ice Tomb</i> fanatics</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>and I</span><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="color: green;">—</span></b>adventure writer, attempting, as always, to entertain you . . . Remember, this is a <i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">rough</span></i>, unedited version.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><u><b>The Furies Bog</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>Part I: The Discovery</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Teresus (king of the Thracians) came to Pandion’s aid and smashed the enemy armies, thus winning a great renown for his glorious victory. Pandion, impressed by his wealth, the number of his retainers, and his glorious ancestry (which he traced back to Mars himself), gave him Procnê as wife. But Juno, patron of wedlock avoided the feast . . . . No Graces attended their marriage. Only the furies were there, with torches snatched from a tomb.<br /><br /> —Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses</i> 6.424-431</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><b>1.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br /> Baruti cringed as a gust of polar wind swept through the inadequately insulated helicopter and swirled eddies of crisp, bracing air around his face. He breathed out. Ghostly white. He shivered and leaned subtly toward his companion, another perhaps more sane biologist.<br /><br /> Shaun Wilson, a tall ropy fellow with uncanny green eyes and a flop of blond hair reaching nearly to his nose, looked up from his perusal of his GPS, aimed a somewhat wicked smile at him and crooned through the mic, “A little cold, my friend?”<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“You call this summer?” he grunted.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Still wavering on spring, but yes, it can feel like the dead of winter. Especially if you’re from Botswana.” He added a sly wink.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti suppressed another shiver and slunk even deeper into his thin layer of fleece.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Honestly, I don’t know why a man would leave his perfectly comfortable life recording the wildlife of the Okavango Delta and come here.” His hand swept the view outside the window, miles of stunted black spruce bordering on vast polygons of worsted vegetation surrounding syrupy brown water. Miles of unchecked bog—lichen and moss the predominate plant life—a good place to sink and disappear. Yet there was something so calm about it. So . . . unmolested.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Colors flourished in the gray dawn. Fringes of sunlight tickled the many ponds, transforming the melting ice into a kaleidoscope of green, yellow, turquoise, even rust. A migrating herd of caribou raised their great antlers as the copter sped past, pausing in their search for a spikelet of sedge to crop. Small birds flapped in the air, and one grand creature with a six-foot wingspan hovered off the coast. An eagle, perhaps?<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Yes, it does seem odd,” said the pilot, a thickset, black-bearded Canadian of undoubtedly Italian origin. DeLuca was his name. Wilson said he doubled as a geologist, in a rather sneering manner. Wilson liked to sneer, he noted. And joke. And wink.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Obviously he took no delight in inorganic substances.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Too dry and dusty at times. Too <i>moleto</i>. Hot. I needed a change.”<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“One extreme to the other, though, man,” said DeLuca. “Why didn’t you choose something moderate? South of France. Now that would be the ticket.”<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“And what would I study there?” asked Baruti. “Sunbathers?”<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Sun worshipers. In bikinis.” He looked back and winked; the helicopter shimmied and dropped a few sickening yards.<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Baruti clutched the seat cushion, his heartbeat matching the thumping of the rotors. “Dr. DeLuca . . .”<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">“Tony,” he replied, swerving and swaying the craft back to level. “And no, Baruti. I’m not going to crash us . . . today.”<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">A strong gust of wind begged to differ as it grabbed the craft and shook its threadbare aluminum frame, rattling every loose component and sending the copter into a miniature rotation. Tony fought the controls and barely averted a death spiral.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Bile filled Baruti’s throat. What had possessed him to pursue . . . no, take this course of action as a biologist in the extreme north of Canada.<br /> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><i>Watch your words, even in thought. It’s easy to let thoughts slip into speech.</i><br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Wouldn’t it have been simpler to follow the demise of the declining populations of ostriches or wildebeest in the delta? Or even to have resumed his studies of the gorilla in the Congo? And if he must come to this bone-withering, frostbitten land, why not study the woodland fox or the dwindling packs of wolves near the southern border? Why Polar Bear Provincial Park? Why polar bears?<br /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">It was the only option. Yes, of course, only option . . . for an insane man on an insane mission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"> ****<br /><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">End of Excerpt 1</span></span> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><i>Copyright © 2015 Deborah Jackson</i></span></b></span></h2>
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These were just delivered, in time for the Goodreads Giveaway. It's always exciting to see your lengthy labor finally in print. This one in particular, because it went through a complete transformation over the years.Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-25494211833448332922014-10-07T05:21:00.001-07:002014-10-07T05:21:47.836-07:00Goodreads GiveawayHere it is. Enter to win a signed ARC (advanced reading copy) of Mosaic. First ARCs arrived yesterday.<br />
<br />
<div id="goodreadsGiveawayWidget110551">
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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_new">Goodreads</a> Book Giveaway
</h2>
<div style="float: left;">
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23301777"><img alt="Mosaic by Deborah Jackson" src="https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412349251l/23301777.jpg" title="Mosaic by Deborah Jackson" width="100" /></a>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23301777">Mosaic</a>
</h3>
<h4 style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0 0 10px; padding: 0;">
by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2053757.Deborah_Jackson" style="text-decoration: none;">Deborah Jackson</a>
</h4>
<div class="giveaway_details">
Giveaway ends October 20, 2014.
<br />
See the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/110551" style="text-decoration: none;">giveaway details</a>
at Goodreads.
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<a class="goodreadsGiveawayWidgetEnterLink" href="https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/110551">Enter to win</a>
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Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-22215490152110056952014-10-03T13:16:00.000-07:002014-10-03T13:40:33.414-07:00Pre-Order of Mosaic Available<br />
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<br />
Mosaic is out, sort of. The release date is December 6, 2014, and you can pre-order Kindle, iBooks, Kobo or Smashwords eBook copies. The print copies will be available on the release date, but I will be holding a Giveaway on Goodreads for anyone who's interested in ARCs (advanced reading copies) of the print book, in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to review the novel on the bookstore sites or Goodreads, I would be happy to send you a copy, assuming I have some extra copies available following the Giveaway. Please let me know in the comments section or on Facebook, Twitter or Google.<br />
<br />
Here are the links to the Pre-Order pages:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mosaic-Deborah-Jackson-ebook/dp/B00O23AO2A/ref=la_B009929BFU_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412338130&sr=1-7">Kindle </a><br />
<a href="http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/mosaic-20">Kobo</a><br />
<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/481068">Smashwords</a><br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" src="https://widgets.itunes.apple.com/widget.html?c=ca&brc=FFFFFF&blc=FFFFFF&trc=FFFFFF&tlc=FFFFFF&d=&t=&m=ebook&e=ebook&w=250&h=300&ids=925091108&wt=discovery&partnerId=&affiliate_id=&at=1l3vqYZ&ct=" style="border: 0px; height: 300px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 250px;"></iframe> <br />
<br />
You can also read a substantial excerpt on Smashwords and iBooks. Just click on the links above.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, as a run-up to the release, I'm offering Sinkhole (in eBook format) for *free* over the next few weeks. It will be in almost all eBook bookstores, according to their policies.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Sinkhole/book-b1wAZkchyU6pc_wG9LgpIQ/page1.html?s=NHmAMATOSEah8gh1EoUqvA&r=1">Kobo</a><br />
<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/260017">Smashwords</a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sinkhole-Deborah-Jackson-ebook/dp/B00AFKGRR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412364641&sr=8-1&keywords=Sinkhole+Deborah+Jackson">Amazon/Kindle US </a><br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sinkhole-Deborah-Jackson-ebook/dp/B00AFKGRR0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412364578&sr=8-1&keywords=Sinkhole">Amazon/Kindle UK </a><br />
And other Amazon sites<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" src="https://widgets.itunes.apple.com/widget.html?c=ca&brc=FFFFFF&blc=FFFFFF&trc=FFFFFF&tlc=FFFFFF&d=&t=&m=ebook&e=ebook&w=250&h=300&ids=585943369&wt=discovery&partnerId=&affiliate_id=&at=1l3vqYZ&ct=" style="border: 0px; height: 300px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; width: 250px;"></iframe><br />
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Yes, I'm having fun with widgets ;-) And yes, I love Apple . . . sometimes.<br />
<br />
So, anyway, that's the good news. The oddest book I've ever written is due to be unleashed on the unsuspecting reading public. I hope you enjoy it!Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-27816407430341844532014-08-28T10:38:00.000-07:002015-03-02T13:00:08.084-08:00Mosaic -- Excerpts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Almost there . . . The manuscript is in the hands of the designer, as noted above. Here are a few excerpts, fragments, if you will.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">And so the nightmare begins . . . </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Did your parents ever tell you a
sweet bedtime story that your busy little brain turned into a nightmare the
instant you fell asleep? Did Cinderella ever become ten feet tall and carry an
axe? Did Little Red Riding Hood actually transform into a werewolf (after she
was bitten, of course). Did Scaredy Squirrel really fall out of the tree, land
in poison ivy and a nest of tarantulas, and eventually get eaten by sharks,
proving that he’d been right to be afraid, all along? Sure, it happened. And
then you would wake up, shaking and sweating, wanting to run into their
bedroom, scoot between the sheets, and spill. But you knew that if you did,
they’d stop telling you stories.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> ****</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Sometimes life throws you a curve
ball.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> That’s what one of the many doctors who patched me up after
the accident said. I think he was the chest guy, in thoracics, or something
like that. Of course there was the neuro doc and the plastics lady and the
general surg person—you know, the jack-of-all–abdominal organs. Orthopaedics
dropped by every other day, waiting for their turn to add more pins to my
bones. But no one else called my situation a “curve ball.” Instead, they patted
my head and said, “At least you’re not dead.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> Every day I wished I were dead.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The nurses would come in, crank me up, flip me over, redress
wounds, and smile, because they couldn’t really see me. I didn’t blame them. If
they’d really seen me, I think they would have cried. And you can’t cry every
day.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> But the day that guy said that life had thrown me a curve
ball was the first day I managed to move my casted arm on my own. I don’t think
he was ever going to say it again.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> But you know what? Maybe it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> a curve ball.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Sorry about that, Doc.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">****</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b>A Pirate's Captive</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="color: #990000;">One of the most difficult tasks in writing this book was to switch from a modern tongue (and a hockey player's, to boot) to a more archaic and formal one. And sometimes to intertwine the two.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The tossing of the ship was
relentless. I felt more than queasy, but not yet entirely green. The aftereffects
of the battle persisted, as well. Although it had all but ended, it continued
to rage in my head with flickering images of flying shrapnel, blood splatter,
and white-faced crewmen scattering like minnows.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The schooner had severed our mainmast with a roar of cannon
fire. Men had been shot, split, and disembowelled, and the corvette had listed
as water poured into her holes. Now the schooner was coming alongside us.
Unkempt, brutish men tossed grappling irons over the side and snagged the
rigging. They swarmed onto our ship, landing with heavy boots, their flintlocks
exploding, punching holes in the crew.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I scrambled away from the fray, attempting to make myself
invisible behind a tattered sail that fluttered in the breeze. Beyond my flimsy
refuge, guns barked repeatedly, and men screamed in terror and agony as they
lay dying. I shivered and shrank and gripped the sail tightly, hoping the shot
would miss me and the pirates would scramble past.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Yet little hope remained. The ship was sinking, and I could
not swim. Even if the navy defeated these brigands, would there be time to mend
the ship or send longboats over the side before we sank?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">A crewman stumbled into my sail, clutching it and falling,
tearing the ragged cloth from the rigging, and exposing me fully. He gasped a
dying breath as a pirate pulled the cutlass blade free of his belly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I froze, my heart skipping like a woodland deer. I had no
concept of what I should do, or if I should even attempt to flee. The brigand
stood stolidly before me, his blade poised for a lethal strike. He loomed over
me, nearly two feet taller than I, the wind sweeping fair locks around his
sharp cheekbones, the amber stubble on his chin catching the sunlight. Cold
blue eyes peeled back my clothing with a single glance. Then, of all things, he
chuckled.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Well, well,” he said. “Bad luck you are, to the navy.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">With casual indifference, he leaned over and wiped the
bloody residue from his sword onto the remnants of the sail on the deck.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">My gaze tumbled to the short sword still clutched in the
crewman’s stiff hand. An idea sprang to mind, a desperate one. As swiftly as a
snake strikes, I snapped at the weapon, raised it high, and attacked.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The pirate parried my blow with ease, and sent me stumbling
backward with a smirk.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Bad luck for me, as well?” he asked, advancing toward me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I stabbed again, clumsily, with the sword, but I possessed
no skill with this weapon. I was much more adept with a whip. He struck back
with such force that the sword was nearly torn from my grasp, my wrist bent
painfully backward. I clutched the sword with both hands, wheeled away from his
assault, and charged from the side.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">He released his cutlass, to my amazement, and seized my hand
before I could inflict even minor injury, driving my sword upward, backward,
and drawing me closer. The tip of my own weapon pierced the skin at my throat,
but instead of thrusting and ending it for me, he pressed on the nerves in my
wrist, eliciting pain, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">searing</i> pain.
The sword clattered to the deck.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Indeed, I appreciate your courage,” he said. “But I do not
appreciate the men with whom you associate.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“The—the men?” I sputtered. “But you are a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pirate</i>.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“In the past, when we were called “privateers,” we were
enthusiastically employed by various governments. Now we are referred to merely
as pirates.” He swept his arm in a vast circle to encompass the sinking ship
and the array of crewmen who lay dead or dying. “At this point, I think you and
your men can refer to me as your better. Now, I will allow you a choice. You
may either join your men in death, or you may escape to shore. But I warn you,
the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>community there will not welcome
you.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">My breathing quickened. This was no choice at all. He was
committing my wellbeing to the tender mercies of the ruffians of the land—the
only inhabitants of this outlying region of Florida: a small, struggling
remnant of Indians, Spanish men who worked the fishing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ranchos</i>, and escaped slaves.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Would you offer me another choice?” I asked.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The pirate grinned, his eyes sparkling with devilment.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Perhaps. You are invited, fair maiden, to join <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">my</i> crew. Upon my ship, you may earn your
keep.”</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Earn my keep? The implications were repulsive and sent
shivers throughout my body, but . . . what other option was available to me?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Very well. I will join you, if you will treat me as a lady.
If you will not . . .” I couldn’t even say the words.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">His laughter startled the pirates nearby, who were
dispatching the crew in the most torturous fashion possible. They stood
bewildered and sent long stares in my direction. The pirate laughed as if he
found my protests delightful. His grip loosened on my arm, and it appeared he
would tumble off the ship. Oh, if only fate would lend me the courtesy! But
even as I considered consigning my own body to the sea, since my situation
would not improve if he were to shortly meet a well-deserved death, his hand
clamped down on my arm again, and he drew me inexorably to his chest. “Do you
honestly think that you have any say over how I will treat you? That I shall
continue to grant you life is your greatest hope.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">My courage plummeted, along with hopes of any possible
leniency. Nevertheless, I thrust out my chin and met his merciless gaze with
equal iron.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“I may be your captive, I may be forced to do your will, but
if you harm me—if I cannot in this world, then in the next I will make you
pay.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">To my astonishment, he seemed even more tickled.
“Interesting,” he said. “You have spirit, I’ll give you that. But I have no
fear of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">next</i> world.” He winked.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Before I had the opportunity to reply, he clapped his hands,
and more men poured over the side. Some leaped down into the hold and released
the prisoners, assisting them as they stumbled up the steps, where they wobbled
on deck with unsteady knees, blinking in the searing midday sun.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">He turned to these men and addressed them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Good day, gentlemen. I offer you this opportunity. You may
join my crew and share equally in our booty, or we will release you on Pine
Island, where you may settle in the community. If you throw in your lot with me,
you will have ample occasion to improve your situation, since I have freed my
ship, my seas, and my settlement from any laws of the land.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I shuddered. Such lawlessness, such disregard for order. No
wonder this wretched land was so uncivilized. No wonder brigands, thieves, and
murderers gathered here.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The pirate turned to me and smiled, as if he could read my
thoughts.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Shall we board my ship?” he asked, as if I had a choice.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">He shoved me to the railing, looped an arm around my waist,
and gripped a rope. Suddenly we were swinging out over open seas and landing
smartly on the schooner’s nicely balanced deck. He added a nausea-inducing
squeeze and released me, and I found myself face to face with a familiar
scarred visage of charcoal hue.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“R–– Reginald,” I sputtered.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Miss Amelia.” He neither bowed nor backed away. How absurd,
how insolent! Nor did he lower his gaze in deference. He clasped a cutlass in
his fist in a stranglehold that suggested he’d like nothing better than to
carve his name in my flesh.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Recognize the girl?” asked the pirate captain.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Yessir,” said Reginald.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“No yessirs, here.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“Sorry, Cap’n.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“What would you have me do with her?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">I gaped, entirely flabbergasted. Would this man,
insufferable as he was—albeit a ship’s captain—actually let Reginald decide my
fate?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“I’d have her learn the way o’ things,” said Reginald.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The captain grinned most unpleasantly and slapped the
wretched slave on the back.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">“I would have given you the option of killing her,” he said.
“But this may serve our purpose better.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Their purpose</i>, I
thought? What could their purpose possibly be, other than to hijack ships on
the high seas, to bloody and bludgeon men, and to capture and rape women?
Perhaps it would be better to die. But first, if the opportunity arose, I would
do my best to repay the captain for every injury and every indignity he had
inflicted. He would rue the day he’d captured me.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;">
</div>
Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-28888243524588994282014-02-25T09:51:00.001-08:002014-10-03T12:10:31.554-07:00New Release in the Works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT-pf2I1n2_d7WK1E9lKN1rJE1Gk-ueV7HQ7e_Ieyeo8p2GXZeVi6GENpMyO2vFFp-pNO7igRjN0gUUgOGL4t5Cz1JprotfD54wrMqGK_lKpSimfMjytQ4dz4W0A8H3K6lMb_/s1600/mosaic-cover-design-final_50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT-pf2I1n2_d7WK1E9lKN1rJE1Gk-ueV7HQ7e_Ieyeo8p2GXZeVi6GENpMyO2vFFp-pNO7igRjN0gUUgOGL4t5Cz1JprotfD54wrMqGK_lKpSimfMjytQ4dz4W0A8H3K6lMb_/s1600/mosaic-cover-design-final_50.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a></div>
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Hi there. Yes, it’s been
ages since I updated you on my current and future projects but, inevitably,
I’ve run into some delays. I can only work as fast as my team—referring to my
editor, cover artist and typesetter. They’re amazing, so I’m not really
complaining.<br />
<br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
So . . . finally we’re
getting closer to completion.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i>Mosaic</i> has a cover, and
you will find the blurb and some information <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/Mosaic/Mosaic_index.html">here</a>. You can also read Chapter One <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/Mosaic/ChapterOne.html">here</a>.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span id="goog_2002192229"></span><span id="goog_2002192230"></span><br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I received one third of
the manuscript from my editor last week. Since then, I’ve been working on final
fixes. This novel took me four years to complete. Usually I don’t share much of
the process of writing a novel, but I grew so frustrated with this one, and
rewrote it so many times, I thought you might be interested in the <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/Mosaic/Revison--The_Ugly_Truth.html">ugly truth of revision</a>. So I’m baring my soul—revealing the earliest drafts and taking you
through the stages of transformation.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Before I even wrote this
novel I was captivated by the setting—islands called <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/Mosaic/SanibelandCaptiva.html">Sanibel and Captiva</a> in
Florida. When a setting intrigues me, I usually begin digging into the history
of that region. Since pirates actively employed these islands as bases for
their operations, the pirate stories interested me the most. But pirate tales
are rarely as romantic as those in the swashbuckling <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i>
series, so my story is a little more truthful.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This brings me to the
<span style="color: #cc0000;">Parental Advisory</span>. This book is a teen novel, but it has some mature content
and language that would not be appropriate for younger children or even young
teenagers—13 to 15. In my attempt to be more realistic, my main character, who
is a hockey player, uses language that fits her personality but may be
offensive to some readers. Also, to truly expose the shattered lives in this
book and understand the nature of piracy, I opted for a heavier situation with
the associated mature content. It is not explicit, but it is not intended for
younger readers.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i>Mosaic</i> is also an
experiment in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>structuring a book to match its theme</b></span>. You’ll find it very
unusual. Since that is the case, I’ve been working with my editor and artist to develop icons that will cue the reader to the abrupt transitions.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
You may wonder why I
decided to structure the book in this way. Let’s just say I was growing tired
of the standard structure and I wanted to do something different. I’ve always
wanted to add a <b><span style="color: #741b47;">visual component</span></b> to writing, and I do love a good <b><span style="color: #741b47;">puzzle</span></b>, so
here is my attempt at a little artistry. The structural elements may be
refreshing to some and annoying to others, but I hope you will appreciate the
time and thought involved, if not the final product.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i>Mosaic</i> is not the only
project I’m working on. Over the past eight months I’ve been writing the first draft
of another science fiction/near future speculation novel that involves archaeology and also some space exploration. This novel requires extensive research
and it is taking me some time to complete. At the moment I’m two-thirds through
the first draft, but I’m taking a break (if it can be called that) to explore
new scientific research that will impact the story. This will be the longest
book I’ve ever written with a number of complex characters and a mystery, like
in <i>Ice Tomb</i>, that has global implications—if not universal.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
So there you have it: the
reason I’ve been semi-silent for so long. I have been making an appearance on
Twitter and Google, but mainly to share photos—a hobby that helps clear my mind
after a heavy session of writing or research. If you have any questions about
<i>Mosaic</i> or my other project (although most of it I’ll be keeping under wraps for
now), please feel free to contact me or add a comment below.</div>
Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-2090120838035391712013-10-01T03:39:00.001-07:002013-10-01T03:39:58.547-07:00Junk Food<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The other night I
attended a hockey game—NHL, go, Sens, go—you know the routine. It was held at
the new <span style="color: red;">Canadian Tire Centre</span>, which was the old <span style="color: red;">Scotiabank Place</span> a few months
ago, which at one point had been called the <span style="color: red;">Corel Centre</span>, which originally
boasted the name <span style="color: blue;">Palladium</span> when constructed in 1996.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNoZsQ924sMPfOT27k8YrfUXurToemYrDVnn7ZlEoVzp0tLVvVLh8U-QnxZ0QRZihNFpx6JNcGfqEvdOq91ECxDmzQmvqj59AsHtbGC2KyMq7is5uTRorTakqdFt5pIVpI03i/s1600/arena2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNoZsQ924sMPfOT27k8YrfUXurToemYrDVnn7ZlEoVzp0tLVvVLh8U-QnxZ0QRZihNFpx6JNcGfqEvdOq91ECxDmzQmvqj59AsHtbGC2KyMq7is5uTRorTakqdFt5pIVpI03i/s640/arena2.jpg" width="456" /></a></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I hate all those names,
except perhaps Palladium. I reflect on that name with some fondness, even
though it’s an insurance company, because it’s also an element in the periodic table with a fanciful
history.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: blue;"><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium"><b>Palladium</b></a> is a chemical element, a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in
1803 by William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which
was itself named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, acquired by her
when she slew Pallas.</i></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I enjoy hockey. I consider it an honourable tradition in our country, although it's suffering rapid decay into cheap shots with the resulting serious
injuries, and a lackadaisical attitude towards enforcing the rules.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
But that’s not what
bothered me the most that night. It was the name change, all reflecting an age
that’s riddled with advertising—<span style="color: red;">junk food</span>—and this is what the establishment is
feeding our brains. And don’t kid yourself, big business, small business, “industry”
is the establishment, not government.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Everywhere we go, a
constant bombardment. Everywhere we open an Internet page, we’re force-fed
another commercial. Even when we pay a premium price, like at the theatre,
where once you could assume it would be commercial-free, an endless parade dances across the screen of cell phone comparisons, Coca Cola endorsements (oh,
you’ve been around a long time, haven’t you?), car ‘zoom zoom’ enticements,
until the movie finally begins. Is there any wonder people pull out their
tablets whenever a commercial appears on television, or we attempt to
circumvent the feed by taping and fast-forwarding through the empty garble.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<img alt="File:Coca-Cola 24 Can Pack.jpg" height="599" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Coca-Cola_24_Can_Pack.jpg/487px-Coca-Cola_24_Can_Pack.jpg" width="487" /> </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
But the feed never ends.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Have you read the book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feed</i> by M.T. Anderson? If you have, did
you feel a deepening chill the more pages you turned? Did you see the society
in this book as futuristic, or did you see it as commentary on the ‘here and
now’?<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img alt="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Feed%28novel%29.jpg" class="decoded" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Feed%28novel%29.jpg" width="194" /> </div>
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The feed in this story is
directly uploaded to the characters’ brains through a surgically implanted chip.
Our chips are in our hands, on our screens, not in our heads, yet. And in the book
everything is disposable, just as all our household items are
designed to fail or become outdated within a few years. We’re programmed to eagerly
embrace the 'next best thing,' and cavalierly discard our two-year-old
laptop,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>our three-year-old toaster, our
five-year-old car—and of course our debt accumulates as we happily or miserably
pay the price for these shiny new treasures.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
If you start eating a bag
of chips, it’s hard to stop, isn’t it? But eventually you’ll feel bloated,
nauseated, and it leaves a coating in your arteries that’s almost impossible to
remove. Physicians often need chisels and blow torches. Junk food is delicious, but it’s also addictive and sometimes a killer. </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<img alt="File:Potato-Chips.jpg" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Potato-Chips.jpg/800px-Potato-Chips.jpg" width="400" /> </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
How do you stop the feed?
Switch it off? It’s not that simple, because we’re governed by modern
technology, we crave entertainment to release us from daily toil, and all our
entertainment is tangled with the feed. But perhaps we can change our values,
little by little, and that will spill over into our lives until industry will
have to pay attention.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
When I flip through
albums I discover photographs that are just as beautiful created with my old
film-dependent camera, or even a point-and-click, as those made with a DSLR. </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydG7R090BPX9hzf_1qx1LuRPRAZV3451aUuohHSvIvFq4ihWg11bD0FTbLU9Zsn6RcNGjw7KLXU6bNN1PzxoBvR9I_t6_pnbqDvsqjXlwbn7t6TH-ZTyfixiIWnRfBYuFIHI9/s1600/Lookingintothelake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiydG7R090BPX9hzf_1qx1LuRPRAZV3451aUuohHSvIvFq4ihWg11bD0FTbLU9Zsn6RcNGjw7KLXU6bNN1PzxoBvR9I_t6_pnbqDvsqjXlwbn7t6TH-ZTyfixiIWnRfBYuFIHI9/s400/Lookingintothelake.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
When
I walk in the woods I feel sustaining vigor and inspiration, rather than that
initial spike after a shopping spree, like a sugar rush that eventually comes
crashing down.<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7laPZIsR78atnw7u5-_NwPbPqukn-k3PSpxO9HvQveYORTgGBZ8Xjey8yrbAoMIp4RwRhyD5XNE5lMc2B0cwlb7XdH5w02vqKgE41gafx-ygI5_HsuGc3xWO7-r9lYyV6N6fA/s1600/Algonquin+2010+121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7laPZIsR78atnw7u5-_NwPbPqukn-k3PSpxO9HvQveYORTgGBZ8Xjey8yrbAoMIp4RwRhyD5XNE5lMc2B0cwlb7XdH5w02vqKgE41gafx-ygI5_HsuGc3xWO7-r9lYyV6N6fA/s400/Algonquin+2010+121.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_184643690"></span><span id="goog_184643691"></span><br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
When I find special people, I want to keep them in my life, no
matter how the years make their skin sag, their hair lose its luster, their minds
wander, because I know their hearts will endure. </div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79g8gkDkUCO9UPJAwHnSU-_LIRa5AFN1u9AjbL8Lu-BTmPQC55qEbVK5uD53N2FuP41n1zNIzeTqYXQYXf-9FzpVrbxydCDMqMv5pp1fPHKOnte2I6wR8IDx-megEIGR6vkxG/s1600/Bleedinghearts2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi79g8gkDkUCO9UPJAwHnSU-_LIRa5AFN1u9AjbL8Lu-BTmPQC55qEbVK5uD53N2FuP41n1zNIzeTqYXQYXf-9FzpVrbxydCDMqMv5pp1fPHKOnte2I6wR8IDx-megEIGR6vkxG/s400/Bleedinghearts2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We still own a functional
toaster oven that’s 20 years old. It’s a relic I treasure, even though it
requires some supervision. I will keep it until it shorts out and dies. And
even then, I might keep it longer to remind me how much I need vegetables and
fruit and long-lasting protein. To remind me that junk food will always be
empty calories.</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-41532229035173202962013-08-07T12:57:00.000-07:002015-01-05T11:14:42.295-08:00The African Tree<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</div>
<img alt="File:Camel-thorn-tree-with-sparrow-weaver-nests.jpg" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/Camel-thorn-tree-with-sparrow-weaver-nests.jpg/800px-Camel-thorn-tree-with-sparrow-weaver-nests.jpg" width="400" /><span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">There once stood this beautiful, isolated tree in our neighbourhood. It had a short, squat trunk, but near the top its limbs stretched sideways, as if
it were gripping the air on either side with elasticized arms. We
called it ‘the African Tree’, because it resembled an acacia and grew in
the middle of a fluttering field of grass. I pictured a drowsy lion
sprawled under its branches, slapping flies away from its tawny chest with a
flick of its tail. I imagined buzzards peering through the leaves with
greedy glares and giraffes tearing off tender shoots.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="caption">
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="File:Tree lion 2.jpg" height="250" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/Tree_lion_2.jpg/800px-Tree_lion_2.jpg" width="400" /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> Image by <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Cody.pope">Cody Pope</a> under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en">CC Attibution-Share 3.0 Unported</a></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">I never knew what species of tree it was. I never captured it on
film. It didn't cross my mind to pluck it from the air and keep a record of its existence. It was simply there every day, a vital part of our daily commute, a constant, a comfort. One day,
as I wandered past, I saw a bald spot in the field and a pile of
shredded wood on the ground. Tree-munchers, tree harvesters had chewed,
chopped, obliterated our African Tree.</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqE7bBhx3J0fYxhL3l-GdicS55agI_bwEa2hcZq7bTnpODBZLpRTWfAtgwaGT7rhXosTZv2UvUPlA-jQFTtkMb5e0enCHZIESTXIhWV048SOSyoxJZrmjxa4i0j2QFV3VFGdI/s1600/woodpile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqE7bBhx3J0fYxhL3l-GdicS55agI_bwEa2hcZq7bTnpODBZLpRTWfAtgwaGT7rhXosTZv2UvUPlA-jQFTtkMb5e0enCHZIESTXIhWV048SOSyoxJZrmjxa4i0j2QFV3VFGdI/s400/woodpile.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpy4bM5jQn2asR7jUB19a57UhwjBXptrS6sZ1Eyr9ypbjtFEA9GUhz5x403PNzrU3Y8bfGf1T3MyTsUe956Zgh5PIhiqTLf7wkwZ1x4qgIpjtdggN4c_39tjU_q5RH-j2UQQIL/s1600/pileofwood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<span style="color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Now bland, block-like townhouses stand in its stead. Our little slice
of Africa is gone. Although the site where it stood is crowded, it
looks empty, hollow. A busy street to nowhere. I will always feel an
ache when I gaze at that spot, a feeling of separation and loss.
Solitary, resilient, and strangely misplaced, that tree belonged in a
lonely Canadian field. A bold splash of colour to a dull day; a smile
that shouldn’t exist; and a reminder that no matter how tangled and
trapped we feel, we can always step out on a safari.</span></b></span></div>
Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-22565390123674257762013-06-18T05:39:00.001-07:002013-10-01T03:40:21.712-07:00The Zombie Apocalypse Has Already Begun<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img class="CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYmMtmdjdU7cV5ryWGDr6X2KNu5d7Eam6ck1Z6v1jgaZLJQU4HdnBmkQFY1RR_r3gTnHdgRN7eHMhJoteOtiEvqmtrqxB9zsL83O3-vpNm7MN2RdyFa31RGhiywL917Mnx1M_L/s400/uk-pay-off_int-master_online_1sht.jpg" width="268" /> </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">There’s been quite a few
zombie movies released lately, and more to come. The other day I read <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-g-wilson/zombies_b_1633994.html">this</a>,
regarding why we’re so obsessed with zombies and apocalyptic themes.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Essentially Professor Wilson is saying there are various complex reasons we like the ghoulish zombie epics.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">An excuse to cast off
blame, monsters awaken the Cain within us, zombies represent overcoming death, etc., etc. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">But I think he's
missing something. Perhaps this is one instance where <b>likes</b> attract. Perhaps we
see more than a little of <b>ourselves</b> in the zombie. </span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Consider for a moment
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We emerged from this:</span></span></span><br />
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<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]--><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span>Archaea</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Or some form of bacteria (pleasant thought)</span></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>And evolved into this:</b></span></span></b></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><img alt="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Schimpanse_zoo-leipig.jpg" class="decoded" height="300" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Schimpanse_zoo-leipig.jpg" width="400" /> </span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schimpanse_zoo-leipig.jpg"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Image by </span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schimpanse_zoo-leipig.jpg">Thomas Lersch CC License</a></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:DoNotShowComments/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-CA</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:DontVertAlignCellWithSp/>
<w:DontBreakConstrainedForcedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
<w:Word11KerningPairs/>
<w:CachedColBalance/>
</w:Compatibility>
<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="267">
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UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
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UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
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<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
text-align:center;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Then with further
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<![endif]--><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And finally this:</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">First we muttered amongst ourselves while we were grooming each other--<span style="color: #990000;">monkey see, monkey do</span>--then we created a wonderful thing called LANGUAGE--<span style="color: #990000;">so we could shout at someone across the field instead of poking, slapping and grunting at the guy/gal within physical reach</span>. Words were symbolic for every nuance of life, every object, phenomenon, <span style="color: #990000;">c</span><span style="color: orange;">o</span><span style="color: #073763;">l</span><span style="color: cyan;">o</span><span style="color: #741b47;">u</span><span style="color: #6aa84f;">r</span> or emotion. Then we had a fabulous idea. Because we have so many fabulous ideas, we'd better write them down.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">So we did. </span></span><br />
<br />
<img alt="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Sumerian_26th_c_Adab.jpg" class="decoded" height="400" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Sumerian_26th_c_Adab.jpg" width="386" /><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">After that the ideas just kept growing. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">We developed these:</span></span></div>
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<![endif]--><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And a device that has a
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<span style="color: #20124d;">
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<![endif]--><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Something happened at
his point. Something like this</span> . . .</span></span></div>
<br />
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<img height="300" src="http://www.youthradio.org/files/yr_media/00/00/00/01/17/72.jpg" width="550" /> </div>
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photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterjohnchen/4038221434/" target="_blank">Peter John Chen</a>/<img src="http://www.youthradio.org/sites/all/themes/zen/youthradio/images/CC.png" /> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0" target="_blank">BY-NC-SA</a> </div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And it snowballed from
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Did you notice the
transformation? Are we <i>de-evolving</i>?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.brainhealth.utdallas.edu/blog/is-your-brain-being-wired-by-technology">This article</a> explains what is happening</span>.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> We’re being re-wired. My
daughter gloats at my inefficiency at multitasking, but I always counter with
"Is it really a benefit?" I can focus on the Wii flame for 30 minutes, or longer,
while other members of my family are hard-pressed to sit through a minute. But
my brain is also readjusting. I find, if the subject matter in my book isn’t
riveting, my mind tends to wander. Well, that’s not unusual, but while in the
past I might have taken a break, indulged in a coffee or a brisk walk, recharged in order to refocus, now I tend to pick up
the iPad or the phone and skim sometimes comical but often inane posts. I’m
overburdening my brain with essentially "junk data" that doesn’t help me write
and interrupts vital programming—theme development, plot processing, character
details—deep thought with singular focus that enables me to (hopefully) be creative.</span></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> When we flood the
airwaves or cell waves with every detail of our lives and every absurd thought,
are we being social, or <i><b>are we eating each other’s brains?</b></i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> You may notice I don’t
post in my blog very often. That usually means I’m deep into research and
writing, and I can’t focus on social media and producing a decent book at the
same time. I can’t multitask worth a damn. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t tried
to slap together posts now and then; the problem is they’re junk posts--fleeting thoughts, random commentary, superficial snapshots of my dull life--and I
don’t feel they’re worthy of sharing. I don’t feel like boring you with every
detail of my life. <b><i>I have no intention of eating your brain. My goal will
always be to expand and enrich it.</i> </b>Although, perhaps you will regard this as a junk post as well ;)<b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I don't ever want to become this:</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItHcsIHshhs">Ipad/Iphone</a> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Or see you transform into this: </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59c842hVxD4">Ipad/Iphone</a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/59c842hVxD4?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Good luck surviving the apocalypse.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
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Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-2961660338540959952013-03-26T10:30:00.003-07:002015-03-02T13:00:08.089-08:00Sneak Peek<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> Hi there,</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"> I know, I've been quiet lately. That's because I've been working on something new. Entirely new. Definitely different.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This is a teen read, something that I hope has a little artistry, but, since my female main character is a hockey player, I'll warn you in advance, there is a bit of mature language. This was necessary to give the character the appropriate voice. Hope you find it interesting. The following is a potential blurb and the first chapter, unedited, as yet.</span></div>
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<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
MOSAIC</h2>
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<br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It wasn’t until Carlos
helped me put the pieces back together that I realized how many were missing.</i></span></span></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Shattered. Tormented. Brain on disconnect.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A car accident leaves Erin Rocheford, a seventeen-year-old
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in the NHL erased, but when she’s finally released from the hospital she can
barely walk, her thoughts stumble into each other, and people grimace when they
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Erin's parents consider a vacation in Florida, on an island
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post-traumatic state, Erin is vulnerable to attack, to a ghostly invasion, to a
further fragmenting of her troubled grey matter. A pirate tale of an odd English
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">1.</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">At the end a hush
falls over the arena as the crowds are absorbed into the night. At the end the
flashing red light on the ambulance fades like a distant star. At the end the
scoreboards are wiped and every hard-fought point is forgotten. You do one last
skate over the slush and cracks in the ice, feeling the cracks zigzag and
widen, extend desperate fingers to avoid the collapse. You stop at the hole,
the entry point, the garish splotch of blood. The lights dim until nothing is
visible but the silver streaks of a broken mirror. A tiny voice whispers, Game
Over.</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></h2>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">2.</span></b></span></span></h2>
</div>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Erin</span></b></span></span></h2>
</div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></h2>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Some days, you shouldn't get out of bed.</b></span></div>
<br />
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madre de Dios</i>. Who are you? And what
happened to your fa— I mean, what are you doing here?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His words pinned me to the ground, like I was
a specimen in a glass case, a bug in the Montreal Insectarium.</span></b></span></h2>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My
normal response would be: “Well, who the hell are you?” and, “I didn’t see a
sign that said ‘Private Beach,’ so I have as much right to park myself here as
anyone else.”</span></b></span></h2>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But
I wasn’t exactly parked, more like concealed behind a palm tree and sneaking forward
through the grass to, you know, listen in, and it was the other half of his
question, the broken one, that really hurt.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Why
would I need to hide and sneak, you might wonder? Who really does that, eh?</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Someone
who doesn’t want to be that specimen.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So there I was,
exposed and displayed for all to see. I needed to rip out the pins and bolt or
vanish. Frantic, I looked in ten different directions at once. </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
made an attempt, scrambled halfway up, but before I could escape the headlights
of his eyes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I froze again. Struck.
Blindsided. Breathless. A weird epiphany needled into my brain. It whispered “death
isn’t stalking you anymore.” </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
could have sighed. After all, a part of me still wanted to live. </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Not
like this, of course. Not like this limping, cowering piece of shit. There were
many moments over the past six months when I didn’t want to live. When I’d
drift away to the sounds of cheers and the flood of Gatorade over my head and
wake up to stabbing pain, blurred vision, casts and pins and coat hangers stuck
through me (or at least they looked that way). My face felt like a dartboard
and I thought, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">God, you hit a bullseye,
didn’t you? It was for getting so cocky, wasn’t it? For thinking I could
actually challenge the guys, compete in a man’s world, make it to the NHL. Ha!</i></span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Joke’s on you, Erin, he’s laughing.</span></i></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
would have laughed too, but it hurt too much to laugh, or smile, or move.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But
this was my chance to recover. This tropical island with the palm trees and the
glittering postcard horizon. Nobody knew me. No one would look at me.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Who
was I kidding?</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So
what do you do when you’d like to dissolve into a puddle and drain into the
dirt? You slink away. But I wasn’t capable of slinking yet. Inelegant hobbling.
That was about it. And he’d already seen me, so what was the point?</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
point was to escape, not this moment exactly—although it was bad enough—but the
ones that would inevitably follow, the moments when I wouldn’t want to live
again. The ones that would make me feel cowardly.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But
there is no escape once you’re trapped in the case. The only way out is to
change the past. Start over. Reverse the film. Splice it, trim it, use other
camera angles. Try another replay, with the mike off or different lines dubbed
in. If I were really smart I’d figure out how to erase the last six months of
my life. But the best I can do is mess with the last few hours.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Here
you have it. My first attempt at film editing.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We crossed the
causeway and what I saw was absurdly beautiful. Palms trees, flowers, glossy
leaves.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Dorothy,
we’re not in Canada anymore,” I whispered. But it was more than just Florida,
too. The island shimmered, like an oasis with a surrounding wilderness of sea
instead of desert. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I can breathe here</i>.
Spanish moss dangled like emerald webs from tall trees. People strolled by in
pink tank tops and butt-hugging shorts. The air was sharp and fragrant. And it
was dirty.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Not
garbage-filth-layered dirty. Fresh with dirt, sand, mud, smiling plants. Not a
hint of sterile surfaces or pine-scented disinfectant. Nor was there the smell
of sweat-drenched uniforms and stale indoor ice.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This is perfect</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">,
I thought. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The perfect place to die</i>,
that other voice said. I hated that other voice.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Mom
gave my arm a fluttering touch and Amy sat up to get a better view. (Dad cast
me a look, a smile that was sort of droopy-sad. Why did he have to do that? It
was like he could read my mind and knew I was comparing everything to . . .
before. I think he was comparing, too.)</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">First thing, let’s
get rid of Dad’s smile. Snipped. Erased. No more reminders.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“The hotel’s on
the next island,” said Dad.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Are
we taking a boat?” I asked.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“No.
Just a bridge. Sanibel’s incredible, isn’t it?” His hand swept over the quaint
souvenir shops to our right, nestled between massive, twisted trees and then,
the taxi shuttled us past a bald white sign that said, “Ding Darling Refuge.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
looked at the entrance, at the thick fringe of vines and creepy mangroves with
their exposed roots. These weird long-necked birds—something like snakes with
wings—flew over a swamp in the distance. It seemed so odd in the middle of
tourist-town. But then again, I was odd now, too. I didn’t blend in with the
perfect crowd anymore, not that I ever did, but now I was a weed in the garden
just like this refuge. Mine was the face that could stop conversations, or make
even Reverend Alden stumble over his words.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“E-Erin,
dear. You’re looking . . . well.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Do
I really look <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">well</i>, jackass?</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“We’re
here,” said Dad.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Thank
God. If I’d thought about that idiotic reverend one more time, I might have had
to punch someone. And Dad didn’t like it when I punched Amy. Mom either. But
Mom couldn’t make me back off with just a look.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So.
This was it. The island of captives. Captiva, they called it. The hotel
resembled a manor from ancient times with Roman pillars and bulging white
balconies that overlooked the ocean. And the ocean dangled at its doorstep,
just metres away, waves curling in and sweeping towards me. I opened the taxi
door. Salt tingled the tip of my tongue. I walked forward. Sleek sport fishing
boats cruised up and down the coastline and the specks of green islands hovered
in the distance. The waves trickled in from the Gulf of Mexico, sighing as they
splashed down on the beach. You could dive in that ocean, you could swim, you
could<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> drown</i>.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This is the
perfect moment to get back into the taxi and tell the driver to shuttle me back
to the airport, now! or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to drown</i>.
Make note for new script at this point.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Amy clambered
out of the car. “Isn’t it awesome?” she said, her voice all squeaky, her eyes
all shiny.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
looked down at my feet, my thick runners sinking into the sand. “It’s a beach,”
I said.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“But
the sand is like pure white. And look at all the shells.” She pointed at heaps
of sun-baked clam shells with the odd starfish thrown in. “The water is that
incredible blue colour.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Turquoise?”
I asked. </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Yeah.
Like your eyes.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“My
eyes aren’t turquoise.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Yes,
they are.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Whatever.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
was still looking down when I noticed something poking out of the sand. An
ivory comb with a crust of shells adhered to the teeth and jewels embedded in
the spine. Sapphires, maybe? I don’t know what the attraction was. I never wore
these kinds of things; I wasn’t a glittery type of gal. Still I bent down and grasped
it in my hand. I hardly felt the jolt of pain from bending my legs, but as I
slipped the comb from the sand a small vibration travelled through my fingers,
and then a shock.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
dropped it, the pain excruciating in my newly-healing bones. Had I snapped one
again? What the hell! For a minute I blanked out from the pain. And heard a
voice: Sleeping, sleeping for nigh eternity. But not now. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I feel her. Nearby.</i></span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Some sort of
feedback? Really should clip this, but even the memory of it is making my hands
shake.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s
okay. It’s all right. Remember the time you got hit in the face with the puck.
Broke a cheekbone. Nearly cracked your jaw. You said, ‘I’m tough, man. I’m
going to play the next game.’ Erin, you can do this. You can come back to us.
You can play the next game.</span></i></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was Dad’s voice in the hospital. He brought me back. He always brought me back.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Erin?”
Louder this time. </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
opened my eyes. “Dad?” </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">He
was there, bending over me, tucking his arm behind my back. “Slow movements.
Remember what the physiotherapist said.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Are
you okay, sweetheart?” asked Mom, almost touching my arm, but not quite.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I’m not going to break</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">,
I felt like saying, although I had, so that wouldn’t cut it anymore.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
nodded, and straightened, and took a deep breath. I looked down and the comb
was still clutched in my hand. I shook it free. It plopped to the sand and
stuck there, oddly out-of-place like a . . . girl in an NHL uniform.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Let’s
unpack,” Dad said, giving my shoulder a squeeze.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Can
we go for a swim afterwards?” asked Amy. “I can’t wait to get in that water.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And get into her bikini</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">,
I thought.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dad
was starting to nod and I nearly panicked. “Amy can swim. I don’t want to swim.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Maybe
swimming so soon isn’t a good—”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>said
Mom.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“How
about biking?” I interrupted. “Joanne said I could bike, right? To try to get
some strength back into my legs.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I don’t—” said Mom.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Now this is
where I should insert a new line, “Okay, Mom. No biking. You’re probably right.”
But I just can’t seem to do it. Mom is<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
never right.</i></span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Sure,” said
Dad. “We can even check out the refuge on Sanibel with the bikes. There’s all
those different trees I told you about—Banyan, Gumbo limbo—and mangrove swamps.
They say it’s amazing—full of alligators and birds, too.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Creepy
refuge. Right. But in a way it seemed a matching destination. That refuge was
as wild and tangled and strange as I was now.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
watched Mom’s face grow paler. “Do we really want to see alligators while we’re
on bikes?” she asked.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
couldn’t suppress a smirk. “They’re not going to eat us.” </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“It’s
happened before,” she said.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Seriously,
Mom?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Seriously,
Erin.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Stop
being so nervous. I’m fine. I’m not going to let anyone eat me.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dad
leaned over and added with a wink, “No, you wouldn’t.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Steve,
you’re not helping. We’re talking about alligators. You can’t just fend off
alligators with a . . . with a . . .”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Water
bottle,” smiled Dad.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Oh,
I give up.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
grinned, even though it hurt. At least with small battles I could still win.
But it wasn’t about winning anymore. I had to get away. And I needed to feel
that power again, the adrenaline pumping through my legs and buzzing in my
brain. I wanted to feel . . . better. </span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“How
about,” I said, “we go for a quick swim this morning and you let me bike by
myself this afternoon?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“By
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yourself</i>?” Mom looked at me like I
was asking to climb Mount Everest. “Erin, you’re still having trouble walking.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I
can bike better than I can walk.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“But
what if you fall off and hurt yourself, and no one’s around. And there are
supposed to be some poisonous snakes on the island. Darling, I just—”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Why
don’t we go for that swim,” said Dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We’ll
work our way up to biking.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“But
what if there are sharks in the water?” I mimicked. I couldn’t help it.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dad
slid me a sideways look that said, Cut it out.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
cut it out and we went swimming . . .</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Speaking of
cutting, let’s cut the entire beach scene. But maybe I could splice it with a
scene from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jaws</i> and we’d be racing
off the island, or I’d get eaten. Either way, the case would be empty. Need to rip
out the next scene, too.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">. . . biking
down the path, and not feeling better. As I pumped the pedals, teeth of pain
chomped at my legs—wicked, biting, chewing, grinding teeth—but I focused on the
trail and kept pedaling. Green palm fronds waved me on. Blushing, cascading
bougainvilleas pulled me deeper down the path. Banking, squawking gulls
beckoned me towards the ocean. Laughing, chattering voices . . . stopped me.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Why is this not
working? I was never an expert at Media Studies in school, but I thought I’d
cut this. Okay, one more shot. Shift camera angle, speed up film. Keep bike
moving.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Hey, Sadie. Let’s
go for a swim.” (Imagine this on fast forward.)</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Wait
a minute. I’m talking, Carlos. Don’t you guys want to hear?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A
sigh whistled though the shrubs. A sigh and then chuckles and giggles and a few
hearty “yeahs.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
slid off the bike, edged around the palm tree that bordered the path, and
ducked down between the sea grass or oats, whatever it’s called. Ever so
quietly I parted the purple strands of morning glory vines that were threaded
through the oats and shifted to get a better view. A blonde girl with dark
roots, wearing a string bikini, was sitting on the sand. She had a perfect
face, model-perfect, gag-perfect, on second look, fake-perfect considering all
the makeup slathered over her cheekbones and around her eyes. For some reason
she was the magnet. Gathered around her like groupies around a pop star were a
bunch of teens sprawled over colourful beach blankets.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“So,
get this,” said the blonde. “They found her body somewhere on Sanibel, or parts
of it. Washed in from the ocean. They say she probably went swimming and never
came back.”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Maybe
she was eaten by a shark,” said a petite, snub-nosed girl to her left.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“’Kay.
If that’s what you believe,” said the girl.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“What
d’you believe, then?” asked this bronze-skinned guy to her right. He leaned
forward, his hazel eyes tracking her body. I tracked him—black curly hair and
heavy, interesting brows that arched high on his forehead as if he didn’t
believe a word the girl said. He was bare-chested, decked in blue cotton
shorts, and a thin crust of sand clung to his pecs and thighs. Hot, yes. But
something else held my gaze. Despite his focus on this girl, he seemed
unfocused, distracted, surfing the ocean instead of baking on the sand.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Well,
duh,” the blonde continued. “What do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>
think, Carlos? She was murdered. Her head wasn’t even attached to her body.
Some nutcase came up behind her,” she raised her arms, shoulder-level, like she
was holding a baseball bat, “and snapped off her head.” She let it swing.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Eww,”
said a skinny cinnamon-haired girl, wrinkling her nose.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Cool!”
said a male voice in the group, a dude with dyed platinum spikes and wide brown
eyes.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
guy, Carlos, didn’t say anything, but he kind of flinched. Maybe he wasn’t
turned on by beheadings. His eyes drifted away from the blonde, following the
horizon where blue met blue. Was he picturing the poor murdered girl pitched
out to sea, or was he more likely picturing the blonde, skinny dipping in the
rough tide?</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
shifted as teeth nipped at my leg again. Crap. Stupid position to be in,
hunched under the vines. I reached down, to ease the tension, but then I felt a
cramp. I clenched my jaw. I needed to scream. The muscle was howling, like a
thousand needles were jabbing me, as if I hadn’t been jabbed by a thousand
needles already. I stretched my calf, massaged it gently, but the cramp gripped
even tighter. I groaned and twitched, making the sea oats shiver.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“What
was that?” asked the girl.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“What
was—what?” asked the guy, his deep voice breaking in midsentence as if he were
holding in a laugh.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Behind
us, in the oats. What if it’s a gator? Didn’t you hear it?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
froze, tears pouring from my eyes from the freaking pain.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Probably
a tortoise or a bird.” I looked up to see him rolling his eyes. “How long have
you lived here, Sadie?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Long
enough to know that gators do come to the beach sometimes. Can you check it
out, Carlos?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Say no, Carlos.
New audio: Emphatic “No!” He’s mouthing something else, though.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">He pushed off
the blanket, sprang to his feet, and headed straight for me.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
instantly slithered backward, trying to shrink behind the palm. But I wasn’t as
quick as a snake might have been, and before I knew it, he was standing right
in front of me, looking down at me, eyes sweeping my long-sleeved cotton blouse
and mid-calf capris and coming to rest on my face.</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Madre de Dios</i>. Who are you? And what
happened to your fa—I mean . . . what are you doing here?”</span></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></h2>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So much for film
editing.</span></b></span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves/>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
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<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-CA</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian>
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<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
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<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
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<i>Copyright © 2013 Deborah Jackson</i></div>
</span></b></span></h2>
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Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-50205217050904689462013-02-07T05:15:00.000-08:002013-02-07T05:15:32.417-08:00Time Meddlers Books, Ice Tomb and My Dilemma<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="color: #666666;">First of all, yes, <i>Time
Meddlers</i> print books are now available. With new illustrations/maps and
professional typesetting, along with some essential revising, these books are
far superior to the original versions, at least of Book 1 and Book 2. Book 3, <i>Time
Meddlers on the Nile</i>, is of course entirely new, and, as you’ll see, I’ve tied
up the main thread in the series. But I have introduced a new one . . . More on
that later.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span>Follow the <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/childrensnovels/index.html">links</a> to each
book to find the version of your choice in the bookstore of your choice. They
are currently available at Amazon.com and all the major chains, including
Europe. Eventually they should migrate to other bookstores.<br />
<br />
Note: <span style="color: #bf9000;">I<span style="color: #741b47;">n this current
digital age, and to be environmentally considerate, I’ve decided that the books
will only be printed as ordered, to reduce the impact on trees.</span></span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Now, about my dilemma. I
have been rather astonished at the popularity of <i>Ice Tomb</i>, a book I wrote ten
years ago, and in all honesty, didn’t spend a great deal of time revising—due to
other projects. I’ve been reading reviews and noticed that several people are
looking for a sequel. But, I’ve also had requests for another book in the <i>Time
Meddlers</i> series. Hence my dilemma.</div>
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<br /></div>
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At the present time I’m
working on a YA project—something rather unusual that I’ve revised several times in the past three years. I plan to finish it in a few months and then
decide on my next book. In case you’re curious, I will post the first chapter
soon. Or you can read some of the WIP on<span style="color: black;"> <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/story/1041272-mosaic">Wattpad</a>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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But I’m not sure what to
write next. There are several interesting concepts in <i>Ice Tomb</i> that I could
develop, and I do have ideas for a sequel, but never seriously considered it.
If, however, I get a number of requests I may undertake this project, which
will mean hours of research and likely at least a year of writing and
rewriting. If, on the other hand, there are more fans interested in <i>Time
Meddlers</i> continuing, this will also require a great deal of research, no matter
what time period my characters explore. (I also have an idea for another adult
adventure, but I’ll put that on the back burner for now). This is where you
come in. Any and every request will be considered, and understand that I can’t
possibly offer a sequel to Ice Tomb at the same bargain basement price, since I
will be employing an editor for every book I release in the future—as I did
with <i>Sinkhole</i>. (<i>Time Meddlers</i> books were originally edited by LBF Books.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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One more thing. Since I’ve
re-released the <i>Time Meddlers</i> series I’ve requested a few reviews. These are
the amazing five star reviews of <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://unorthodoxmama.com/review-time-meddlers/">Time Meddlers</a><span style="color: #999999;"> <span style="color: #666666;">and</span></span> <a href="http://unorthodoxmama.com/reviewtime-meddlers-undercover/">Time Meddlers Undercover</a>
<span style="color: #666666;">that have appeared recently.</span></span></div>
Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-15056829721971389152012-11-30T06:10:00.000-08:002013-05-01T08:31:13.523-07:00Sinkhole is Out!Yes, I've released the eBook version of Sinkhole. For a blurb and links to purchase sites, see my website: <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/sinkhole/Sinkhole%20index.html">Sinkhole</a>.<br />
<br />
I plan on releasing a print version too, but that might take another month. The Time Meddlers print books are almost complete. More later.Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-34893302418352583602012-10-17T07:02:00.000-07:002012-10-24T06:20:29.355-07:00Update on Time Meddlers series and Sinkhole<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><o:p> I've</o:p> noticed people are
looking/asking/wondering about the promised series and Sinkhole. Well, the
truth is I’ve hit a few snags in the printing process, along with my team. But
I anticipate those will all be worked out soon. I’m hoping that the Time
Meddlers series will be released in print format within the next couple of
weeks (don’t quote me), and Sinkhole within the next month. Rest assured that
the Time Meddlers series will look better than it ever did before ;)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black;">In the meantime, yes, I’ve
snuck in some Time Meddlers eBooks. You’ll find them here:</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black;">Time Meddlers</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Time-Meddlers-ebook/dp/B0099RZPU0/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350479625&sr=1-2&keywords=time+meddlers">Amazon/Kindle</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/234303">Smashwords</a></div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://www.ibookstore.com/products.php?i=B0099RZPU0">iBooks</a> <br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/time-meddlers/id562734203?mt=11">iTunes</a>
through your Apple devices</span></div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/deborah-jackson/time-meddlers/_/R-400000000000000828091">Sony</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Time-Meddlers/book-Ynk3RuZPd0mJb-tmg6ys6Q/page1.html?s=D35HaZCn3EW-kwja03XsQg&r=1">Kobo</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/time-meddlers-deborah-jackson/1100069704?ean=2940044956087">Barnes & Noble</a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Time Meddlers Undercover</span> </div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Time-Meddlers-Undercover-ebook/dp/B0099RZK6E/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350479625&sr=1-1&keywords=time+meddlers">Amazon/Kindle</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/234331">Smashwords</a>
</div>
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<a href="http://www.ibookstore.com/products.php?i=B0099RZK6E">iBooks</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/time-meddlers-undercover/id562778227?mt=11">iTunes</a><span style="color: black;"> through your
Apple devices</span>
</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/deborah-jackson/time-meddlers-undercover/_/R-400000000000000827093">Sony</a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Time-Meddlers-Undercover/book-T-dqZtjUu0W8ndOsHsr5MQ/page1.html?s=D35HaZCn3EW-kwja03XsQg&r=2">Kobo</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/time-meddlers-undercover-deborah-jackson/1100410101?ean=2940044950108">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
</div>
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<span style="color: black;">Time Meddlers on the Nile</span>
</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Time-Meddlers-Nile-ebook/dp/B0099RZNA2/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350479625&sr=1-4&keywords=time+meddlers">Amazon/Kindle</a>
</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/234373">Smashwords</a></div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://www.ibookstore.com/products.php?i=B0099RZNA2">iBooks</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/time-meddlers-on-the-nile/id562790805?mt=11">iTunes</a><span style="color: black;"> through your
Apple devices</span></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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<a href="http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/deborah-jackson/time-meddlers-on-the-nile/_/R-400000000000000828102">Sony</a></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Time-Meddlers-on-the-Nile/book-2mAxHVI-3UujZAgwnofRNg/page1.html?s=D35HaZCn3EW-kwja03XsQg&r=3">Kobo</a> <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/time-meddlers-on-the-nile-deborah-jackson/1113044905?ean=2940044961142">Barnes & Noble</a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">And if you’d like to
download a free copy of Mars Maze . . .</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mars-Maze-Short-Story-ebook/dp/B0099UF1QK/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1350479625&sr=1-3&keywords=time+meddlers">Amazon/Kindle</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/234391">Smashwords</a>
</div>
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<a href="http://www.ibookstore.com/products.php?i=B0099UF1QK">iBooks</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/mars-maze-short-story/id562781950?mt=11">iTunes</a><span style="color: black;"> through your
Apple devices</span>
</div>
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</div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<a href="http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/deborah-jackson/mars-maze-short-story/_/R-400000000000000827126">Sony</a>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Mars-Maze-Short-Story/book-35YjupD2m06umQfrNnnrMg/page1.html?s=tV9wZd-xPESzpQhiTRjlkg&r=1">Kobo</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mars-maze-deborah-jackson/1113044914?ean=2940044950771">Barnes & Noble</a></div>
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<span style="color: black;"></span> </div>
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<span style="color: black;">Sorry, I can’t sneak in any
Sinkhole eBooks, because I’m waiting on a final copyedit from my fabulous
copyeditor, who is a very busy lady, and the cover from my talented designer.
But I will do my utmost to get it released soon.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">DJ</span></div>
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Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-89962111305720081372012-08-07T05:06:00.000-07:002012-09-18T03:43:11.310-07:00I Dream of Caves<span style="color: black;">It will probably come as no surprise to you, since I’ve
written and will be releasing a novel called<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Sinkhole, </i>that I love caves. It has long been a dream of mine to
visit the massive signature caves in Kentucky appropriately dubbed <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/maca/index.htm">Mammoth Caves</a></span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">This summer my dream came true. We planned a road trip to
Kentucky, and as with all road trips there were fantastic, fascinating, freaky
and downright dreary situations--well, maybe not dreary, just moderately annoying.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The first leg of our journey took us around Lake Ontario and
Lake Erie to the foot of Erie in Cleveland. In Cleveland we holed up in a hotel
with this view within the block.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPVSYRUZZnaL3ApIepkuQ39pdbN4540hDNrO7UCcajsLwdond8hQPLL-nzWqidZPKbHMN2qg4VDAVvXNfjvY7sHTR30WndQAYHQ_8tVTAAoq23SEjt49yeBFi-yB4GTwsN7GY/s1600/Cleveland+Stadium+Indians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcPVSYRUZZnaL3ApIepkuQ39pdbN4540hDNrO7UCcajsLwdond8hQPLL-nzWqidZPKbHMN2qg4VDAVvXNfjvY7sHTR30WndQAYHQ_8tVTAAoq23SEjt49yeBFi-yB4GTwsN7GY/s400/Cleveland+Stadium+Indians.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Cleveland Indians Stadium—luckily, or unluckily in certain
people’s opinions, the Indians weren't in residence and no game was playing at the time.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEWfSgspkHjRRo2IeJe4kZtJKr3pYG_NQ-O6KAbC0NiEvsr_jJVJBxFpoPMGjcXu8FkrBZwduyur20lBaUnPGcIntSShNqWQLrys8Ru0w99ZT6ZPFa4vtAplV22ef87t_XAdE/s1600/Cleveland+Creepy+Graveyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEWfSgspkHjRRo2IeJe4kZtJKr3pYG_NQ-O6KAbC0NiEvsr_jJVJBxFpoPMGjcXu8FkrBZwduyur20lBaUnPGcIntSShNqWQLrys8Ru0w99ZT6ZPFa4vtAplV22ef87t_XAdE/s640/Cleveland+Creepy+Graveyard.jpg" width="476" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="color: black;">Creepy Cemetery—make sure you always situate yourself near
one on a vacation.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Since it was Saturday night, and we were in the heart of
Cleveland, what else would you do but traipse down the street in your tourist
attire, walk the twelve blocks or so to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and look
over your shoulder at every other mystery stalker at your back.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Z9KnEy_FfKfGwsAua64xs6u6OsF5PnZ6BAT-7UYsJFPUx56UsPWZa3gnEE84HqGz9cRyIytQXqAolTSzo_00dNeJ9Ta2mKc0a_qC5Z2iHmeFP8Oott1V0MsaH0gYy9yihUGq/s1600/Cleveland+R+and+R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Z9KnEy_FfKfGwsAua64xs6u6OsF5PnZ6BAT-7UYsJFPUx56UsPWZa3gnEE84HqGz9cRyIytQXqAolTSzo_00dNeJ9Ta2mKc0a_qC5Z2iHmeFP8Oott1V0MsaH0gYy9yihUGq/s400/Cleveland+R+and+R.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Well, we finally arrived at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
and it, conveniently, closed just as we entered the doors. Time to trudge back twelve blocks, and it was rather hot outside.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The next day we headed for the caves in Kentucky. I opted to
drive through the major cities on this day: Columbus and Cincinnati. I have no problem
driving through cities (not in them, mind you), but Cincinnati took me by
surprise. We crested a hill, peered over the side towards spectacular towering office buildings,
immediately sped downward into a tunnel, veered sharply left and climbed onto a bridge that landed us squarely, or obtusely, in Kentucky. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrZ2BHoV6rFSSwmHKogw84K7IYNCC_LYl6r05HyoNgCFrZUVk8DxJLh8GlVKChXqO80U_ZjTdCyfnq0eGE3KcJXHQy2T_aXnUX_qi4VE66KwGeJ0aNYHmRid7XPCd6D6lpVZz/s1600/Cincinnati+speeding+thru.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrZ2BHoV6rFSSwmHKogw84K7IYNCC_LYl6r05HyoNgCFrZUVk8DxJLh8GlVKChXqO80U_ZjTdCyfnq0eGE3KcJXHQy2T_aXnUX_qi4VE66KwGeJ0aNYHmRid7XPCd6D6lpVZz/s640/Cincinnati+speeding+thru.jpg" width="476" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="color: black;">This was the view while ripping through, I mean <em>driving
serenely</em> through the city.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Finally we arrived in Kentucky. This is what Kentucky looks
like:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSRlqCyg4J5hjvknjzhvi1uBq-9g0tcq05p2y2nizJj9IxW8zK3nXDA9maWQMJts1B8HdhhaSOWYkd_11KaUjfmvJA_8JLWQ3llxH3u_tY_GxvtKRVCFNJi0_gxf-HP79omw0/s1600/Mammoth+Kentucky+Landscape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFSRlqCyg4J5hjvknjzhvi1uBq-9g0tcq05p2y2nizJj9IxW8zK3nXDA9maWQMJts1B8HdhhaSOWYkd_11KaUjfmvJA_8JLWQ3llxH3u_tY_GxvtKRVCFNJi0_gxf-HP79omw0/s400/Mammoth+Kentucky+Landscape.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Rolling hills with very few streams and rivers, but a number
of these:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswCubrTmHVnEt99rOxLVbDAhHvhSRE2yynFqHxH9aPPQreGJKr2C3zZulzT139ecb7C6akpA5mRHeGRql43nSV5KlI7SnJN4fqbprPDQW31Yd2FqVGEzpOCWl27DdgC8aE0Zx/s1600/Mammoth+Dome+Sink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswCubrTmHVnEt99rOxLVbDAhHvhSRE2yynFqHxH9aPPQreGJKr2C3zZulzT139ecb7C6akpA5mRHeGRql43nSV5KlI7SnJN4fqbprPDQW31Yd2FqVGEzpOCWl27DdgC8aE0Zx/s400/Mammoth+Dome+Sink.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Sinkholes</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;">I would explain the geology to you, because it fascinates me—limestone
base rock with a sandstone cap rock, but my guess is it might become dry, so I’ll
let you read about it <span id="goog_213533082"></span><a href="http://www.nps.gov/maca/naturescience/geologicformations.htm">here<span id="goog_213533083"></span></a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">So within . . .</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzjX29IKMoGtgYTJEWkd7vNk__PkI3NnVSCxRZz3WyfuD23hq1b4TjkaWjwn0HtX13mylHZajgPjtV3UyiyY1E_ADYE2Lftz94PQRgqlSkGr-u50Fq-Dj8J4nEawfJP0Ko355/s1600/Mammoth+Cave+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVzjX29IKMoGtgYTJEWkd7vNk__PkI3NnVSCxRZz3WyfuD23hq1b4TjkaWjwn0HtX13mylHZajgPjtV3UyiyY1E_ADYE2Lftz94PQRgqlSkGr-u50Fq-Dj8J4nEawfJP0Ko355/s400/Mammoth+Cave+Sign.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p><span style="color: black;">we were first introduced to the local wildlife:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGUKkaBoB_gJbUGokpdtQr9J6DRiKLb_QYbj0IldlmftLB9Owoo27luQjvPHNA6blXUWml0yMJOSgmPMgzwXsQVmSqk-xw0YTDigqagj_GtLCkrqbPzje1N-qFIJM2M1Gl_26/s1600/Mammoth+cave+local+wildlife+turkeys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGUKkaBoB_gJbUGokpdtQr9J6DRiKLb_QYbj0IldlmftLB9Owoo27luQjvPHNA6blXUWml0yMJOSgmPMgzwXsQVmSqk-xw0YTDigqagj_GtLCkrqbPzje1N-qFIJM2M1Gl_26/s400/Mammoth+cave+local+wildlife+turkeys.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Wild turkeys</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Not Kentucky Fried, mind you, but probably taste delicious
dipped in batter, or simply roasted. Yes, I guess I was getting hungry at the
time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Then we ran out of road. . .</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0JeDmTfVnvV5qYjkGRT7Lx2RMd0KahiD3tcfH-n97YJwT94pMSGS-fIbfVZO56Al8ONyUUvRqi_JAap_RgNH64A-jjSb5CSnN9WsQ-6TClbyD-Wno_Do04xRf-kxegxoY5OB/s1600/Mammoth+Road+Ends+actually.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0JeDmTfVnvV5qYjkGRT7Lx2RMd0KahiD3tcfH-n97YJwT94pMSGS-fIbfVZO56Al8ONyUUvRqi_JAap_RgNH64A-jjSb5CSnN9WsQ-6TClbyD-Wno_Do04xRf-kxegxoY5OB/s640/Mammoth+Road+Ends+actually.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Really should have paid attention to the signs.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanb7u8YXY4-doau1_3WfHEhmGg3N4Eg0qJm3Kd_tyNEOsq5Uz60BZCfH02RWWpNs0xDWUQU2TmbFnFLddTn_g7RIilqkjkp7yulhFkULHLVhZg1KDy4oe2dq_CrlCNTJG9xe1/s1600/Mammoth+Road+Ends+in+Water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanb7u8YXY4-doau1_3WfHEhmGg3N4Eg0qJm3Kd_tyNEOsq5Uz60BZCfH02RWWpNs0xDWUQU2TmbFnFLddTn_g7RIilqkjkp7yulhFkULHLVhZg1KDy4oe2dq_CrlCNTJG9xe1/s400/Mammoth+Road+Ends+in+Water.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Our hotel was phenomenal. I’m reminded of residence life in
university. Yes, the quarters were <em>that</em> tight and the beds were <em>that </em>hard. And
the staff was . . . well, not exactly friendly. The only hotel in town, indeed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">But who cares, because we were there for caving, not
five-star luxury accommodations. But before we embarked on our first cave tour, I thought it
wasn’t too much to ask for a little fresh/not fried food, possibly some fruit.
What? No fruit? Yep, nothing but apple slices, morning, noon and night. (I know
this isn’t a fruit story, but there is a point, I swear.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The next day it was time for the Historic Tour from the only
natural entrance in the longest cave system in the world. I’ll let the photos
speak for themselves.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVAdwVrXt8hNQngG_QYhj_tbiNMMprL-vTP_H-MB0MhF32gCLIXy3sXAYQitqJpScxDaOPwcHlX0phyVPhQZAyb30WswCb51ioLjk5OQDvX2uazQMVS_dVgiOx6fC_hdPCH5a/s1600/Mammoth+Cave+Historic+Entrance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDVAdwVrXt8hNQngG_QYhj_tbiNMMprL-vTP_H-MB0MhF32gCLIXy3sXAYQitqJpScxDaOPwcHlX0phyVPhQZAyb30WswCb51ioLjk5OQDvX2uazQMVS_dVgiOx6fC_hdPCH5a/s400/Mammoth+Cave+Historic+Entrance.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Entrance</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_y5aOynQwuLTY6mhjz9CGFrNjYjX8X2rFkLiSFuS2Y987YO4kgtB5_HhlDJDI4NNARcmP-GSY3oLlFkOE1AVFEQ-IISGKI3l0mklsDuDkVZ7tC4AK5ZxXm5Z3Pkcr1VjDq4Sd/s1600/Mammoth+creep+hole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_y5aOynQwuLTY6mhjz9CGFrNjYjX8X2rFkLiSFuS2Y987YO4kgtB5_HhlDJDI4NNARcmP-GSY3oLlFkOE1AVFEQ-IISGKI3l0mklsDuDkVZ7tC4AK5ZxXm5Z3Pkcr1VjDq4Sd/s640/Mammoth+creep+hole.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Creep hole</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7brhubI277QVWPeRdlHzrX2e0is3rZqMsESs53iwwOCxjHWycxbp-Al2RxiyGXy_bMy_IdjMmwWux6tX_uVIuSgHN5HtRvMI23TO8XmHIcUa_XhwnmBRfroWdOKE-YYjWLfSK/s1600/Mammoth+sarcophagus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7brhubI277QVWPeRdlHzrX2e0is3rZqMsESs53iwwOCxjHWycxbp-Al2RxiyGXy_bMy_IdjMmwWux6tX_uVIuSgHN5HtRvMI23TO8XmHIcUa_XhwnmBRfroWdOKE-YYjWLfSK/s640/Mammoth+sarcophagus.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Sarcophagus</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Vb67BObsTfqrjtS58WGAtBCRiemSeKc-34Q2Si0oXxzkgyLo36T9ASXnSYZH5kFCG3jH-ETRetnQ_5krDkDm_HhI_3nSAT7tC8tYpeKOgtkaDV_eeoGdoiMK3PXe0tUZxznw/s1600/Mammoth+pit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Vb67BObsTfqrjtS58WGAtBCRiemSeKc-34Q2Si0oXxzkgyLo36T9ASXnSYZH5kFCG3jH-ETRetnQ_5krDkDm_HhI_3nSAT7tC8tYpeKOgtkaDV_eeoGdoiMK3PXe0tUZxznw/s640/Mammoth+pit.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Pit</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMK0qZQEmEYq3szynSjOmEdQKLGEFTlFFs8XKFilxnL7rz4tJKeboQ0S8kGc4hY4_rzb_kdJ2Ld1rpIjKtLZjwMAfANq0yv_ftz1VHuYuZtLgQ3yo1UhSf4Lw5mBZlMdtFrmz/s1600/Mammoth+Dome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJMK0qZQEmEYq3szynSjOmEdQKLGEFTlFFs8XKFilxnL7rz4tJKeboQ0S8kGc4hY4_rzb_kdJ2Ld1rpIjKtLZjwMAfANq0yv_ftz1VHuYuZtLgQ3yo1UhSf4Lw5mBZlMdtFrmz/s640/Mammoth+Dome.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Remember the Dome Sinkhole above. This is what lies beneath.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUk9cgiQH-58_2tKLnyiP1peWc7CjbjJyV_78ed0O9szuXWGcoPPAG9DhdEDBzSRCzeGXLXVJMI_muOY9w4ik3A_FAzTvCPCDYo3WN_PjxKx9p-WFwug24zxlPGCEd7rjR3LFQ/s1600/Mammoth+Rotunda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUk9cgiQH-58_2tKLnyiP1peWc7CjbjJyV_78ed0O9szuXWGcoPPAG9DhdEDBzSRCzeGXLXVJMI_muOY9w4ik3A_FAzTvCPCDYo3WN_PjxKx9p-WFwug24zxlPGCEd7rjR3LFQ/s400/Mammoth+Rotunda.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Rotunda</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CSvNuh6fqy-L7qpoh6dmeqio5xMJ5Xnw4rhtPyDfglXqb70Q7TlytBabPhgoeS9pgJ6g5ZCFssrBnoPWn9aiULFAd7EG0B-GB2tIWdm_3TqzYI9Nwr1TluCVD39RQ4mQ45U0/s1600/Mammoth+Fat+Man's+Misery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9CSvNuh6fqy-L7qpoh6dmeqio5xMJ5Xnw4rhtPyDfglXqb70Q7TlytBabPhgoeS9pgJ6g5ZCFssrBnoPWn9aiULFAd7EG0B-GB2tIWdm_3TqzYI9Nwr1TluCVD39RQ4mQ45U0/s640/Mammoth+Fat+Man's+Misery.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Yes, there were a number of tight squeezes that were appropriately named.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mH33t9_fZU59KMh-ITkyeEAWv4GFTvbTCCEKOf5EAtaRMotLuXK8BWEP1Risybv0megDh1A41TB6tYVQLw6sCBhZG7q1SUvFuh4vxpZVNJYYhjEPBe_H_EzqV-6Wogn5q3vL/s1600/Mammoth+Exit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mH33t9_fZU59KMh-ITkyeEAWv4GFTvbTCCEKOf5EAtaRMotLuXK8BWEP1Risybv0megDh1A41TB6tYVQLw6sCBhZG7q1SUvFuh4vxpZVNJYYhjEPBe_H_EzqV-6Wogn5q3vL/s400/Mammoth+Exit.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Exit</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">On our way out the temperature differential was a tad
drastic: 55° F to 110°F, enough to fog up your glasses.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">After Tour Number One, we explored a few trails above ground
in the balmy temperatures. At one point we came upon Sand Cave (actually I
mapped out the route and made sure we grabbed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>a glance at this unspectacular cave since I did include a little story
within the story about Floyd Collins and his demise in <em>Sinkhole</em>).</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB6CX7lP7PQTjPfOYeL28099Jk1RPLrUa3GhcfFZmSa8MQq8as41vClZ0I0YjIZ0TEAZugn2wJF5CkQIyBkXmhjpvN993Yc72ESJyRSGzYg2ekyXWJBdZYm_GmngzmJNfQSM8/s1600/Mammoth+Sand+Cave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAB6CX7lP7PQTjPfOYeL28099Jk1RPLrUa3GhcfFZmSa8MQq8as41vClZ0I0YjIZ0TEAZugn2wJF5CkQIyBkXmhjpvN993Yc72ESJyRSGzYg2ekyXWJBdZYm_GmngzmJNfQSM8/s400/Mammoth+Sand+Cave.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Where Floyd Collins met his untimely end.</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">While hiking, and sweating, in the lovely scenic national
park, we were also discovered by curious wildlife.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMmmtAHQ6C3DC30veMfHUbIR6q8kLRsaRHO1egaqMeWieY6LKHIt9tl2Lv6ElwsWVWMtqumX8D3hO_vyQDyyWoGo7IbH7RN_Yu1Th5NhLZt8jEdJ6DNUxNk1IPWEHmf_Gcqa2/s1600/Mammoth+Curious+local+wildlife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMmmtAHQ6C3DC30veMfHUbIR6q8kLRsaRHO1egaqMeWieY6LKHIt9tl2Lv6ElwsWVWMtqumX8D3hO_vyQDyyWoGo7IbH7RN_Yu1Th5NhLZt8jEdJ6DNUxNk1IPWEHmf_Gcqa2/s640/Mammoth+Curious+local+wildlife.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Day Two included a trip to nearby Diamond Caverns, which don’t
actually contain embedded diamonds, but something far more spectacular.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21SM8tEERNXe1QhYYl5LOZdEmTWluZHxEQLYtwA-ZwX5IrEkV0LXi0Lcs_um_XJuPZYr2WT8zVzEQbxqVY40t8hyH7ym8PakaO4ACv6DTEJmSQcNm7HHwo7PQCjycVXE6LT7R/s1600/Mammoth+Diamond+Caverns+Sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21SM8tEERNXe1QhYYl5LOZdEmTWluZHxEQLYtwA-ZwX5IrEkV0LXi0Lcs_um_XJuPZYr2WT8zVzEQbxqVY40t8hyH7ym8PakaO4ACv6DTEJmSQcNm7HHwo7PQCjycVXE6LT7R/s400/Mammoth+Diamond+Caverns+Sign.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Cave creations</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LpE631Q9YgDrP_uXXOkssI8xDLDcvx9ucpw0CajnFTu6CtybxUpdmrmbWzB7o_Cq5jLe1-4Vy2jDLqE8XTEmnlr_wUfZmnrx3UQRLk2rj_xfitApNfoon8D06Bu1TL_NKS5H/s1600/Diamond+Caverns+Panorama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4LpE631Q9YgDrP_uXXOkssI8xDLDcvx9ucpw0CajnFTu6CtybxUpdmrmbWzB7o_Cq5jLe1-4Vy2jDLqE8XTEmnlr_wUfZmnrx3UQRLk2rj_xfitApNfoon8D06Bu1TL_NKS5H/s400/Diamond+Caverns+Panorama.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6_dIvLMK4-QP-cHUukbJRv2Jk43Erd9xG-AtPIUlBzqY_QuyNE2BNwriyNxFXxLe3haufdzL4NxiuIALhHA8egj3Yc2ilEuzq6T3apaWvleVeXOVS-2rhdpr0u_4jER64qbE/s1600/Diamond+Caverns+Column.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6_dIvLMK4-QP-cHUukbJRv2Jk43Erd9xG-AtPIUlBzqY_QuyNE2BNwriyNxFXxLe3haufdzL4NxiuIALhHA8egj3Yc2ilEuzq6T3apaWvleVeXOVS-2rhdpr0u_4jER64qbE/s640/Diamond+Caverns+Column.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4aFhEUiz-SSCvrdwEQux7kWyxgrcuZSB7X5TSkPfzis7CN26ch6xKzfFX-eNf52PQqJ3a2xGojRYL7MBfGmXjJS6fe0CI_ZNW0CXD7BZ2MHBZVrAx7Ve_ADbWgRqFZl08vFH/s1600/Traipsing+thru+Diamond+Caverns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm4aFhEUiz-SSCvrdwEQux7kWyxgrcuZSB7X5TSkPfzis7CN26ch6xKzfFX-eNf52PQqJ3a2xGojRYL7MBfGmXjJS6fe0CI_ZNW0CXD7BZ2MHBZVrAx7Ve_ADbWgRqFZl08vFH/s640/Traipsing+thru+Diamond+Caverns.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">And a few people gawking at Cave Creations</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<span style="color: black;">The next day we opted for the strenuous cave tour: 4 miles
underground, 4 1/2 hours, 1% of the Mammoth Cave system. One day I plan to
return and explore the other 99%.</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDike0KEjsLslAgArcHwuzQAd14AFHe-MQcGjW-Tw7RcYVOkJ82EX4LMYRimi33uIrtiI_hzkqKG5nv8CApsMySa99lOfwXVxCJq-9yrEQm0-AXd6IJvDs1nEEsa-cJ2YFaosv/s1600/Mammoth+Narrow+Hall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDike0KEjsLslAgArcHwuzQAd14AFHe-MQcGjW-Tw7RcYVOkJ82EX4LMYRimi33uIrtiI_hzkqKG5nv8CApsMySa99lOfwXVxCJq-9yrEQm0-AXd6IJvDs1nEEsa-cJ2YFaosv/s640/Mammoth+Narrow+Hall.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Tight Squeeze (not really, but awesome S formations)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikO7jiYF7AYXLzK8C3_txsAo94d_1GW0DVSYRtrkYnXbOo7BfA7pkYIU-79MaCRnoJWatC90VKaSKlKTrYkFoyv5ZI_vmvU3JArI1zHbKVF-0TBCnHiIQgimcTCyv4GEUCOhQm/s1600/Mammoth+That's+a+cave+man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikO7jiYF7AYXLzK8C3_txsAo94d_1GW0DVSYRtrkYnXbOo7BfA7pkYIU-79MaCRnoJWatC90VKaSKlKTrYkFoyv5ZI_vmvU3JArI1zHbKVF-0TBCnHiIQgimcTCyv4GEUCOhQm/s640/Mammoth+That's+a+cave+man.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">That's a cave, man. Yes, contrary to the evidence of flash photography, it was dark.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5jZJfsMuK6tVgCg8JhrdYcu5D1u3UEv2MAD96z0ZMjPKJ-5RtvCwCLA00DIme4L6vFa8iwIDtSPoYe3DefSaFtIUkZIXpEVGBsrRCBqumFCpoizk_kHkMaLfUq3f5d2QSKY5/s1600/Mammoth+Lunch+Snowball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB5jZJfsMuK6tVgCg8JhrdYcu5D1u3UEv2MAD96z0ZMjPKJ-5RtvCwCLA00DIme4L6vFa8iwIDtSPoYe3DefSaFtIUkZIXpEVGBsrRCBqumFCpoizk_kHkMaLfUq3f5d2QSKY5/s400/Mammoth+Lunch+Snowball.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Lunchtime</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHRUA93D0B1Vl3rFEhq403QYl4LACJwcXcmf7NDy3wDww0t_MzTJzag6EJ89qyfMbul-7RRzSTF6bhJDyLo_MV6atz0UkOM26HthUyrjsxNgjDWye7YuSilHBHroUuBCXnYoS/s1600/Mammoth+Eating+lunch+Snowball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHRUA93D0B1Vl3rFEhq403QYl4LACJwcXcmf7NDy3wDww0t_MzTJzag6EJ89qyfMbul-7RRzSTF6bhJDyLo_MV6atz0UkOM26HthUyrjsxNgjDWye7YuSilHBHroUuBCXnYoS/s400/Mammoth+Eating+lunch+Snowball.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Lunch in the Snowball Room. Note the snowball formations above our heads.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFqNZw0_8GeOqUl4l4W2kfIuea1HbdwCDnfXxOJxAixqdQc2eQgBRBZ5U1XRPl19VZzoIiisHHMUHu7Ci8PIaPUN8GOHSr7bcG9wZpObfcaVleklQzvbLA-imuyVwXOKpVoDW/s1600/Mammoth+Frozen+Niagara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFqNZw0_8GeOqUl4l4W2kfIuea1HbdwCDnfXxOJxAixqdQc2eQgBRBZ5U1XRPl19VZzoIiisHHMUHu7Ci8PIaPUN8GOHSr7bcG9wZpObfcaVleklQzvbLA-imuyVwXOKpVoDW/s640/Mammoth+Frozen+Niagara.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Frozen Niagara</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZ_s3p3MJoRoA_90aHKeDBN3nOHmLguWFbJdVtcSTfd15QvWnde7NimwieYsOl6-h5ADAr2Z-6Exnq5hLxqrIT6iZ1JjvNYAFtyztYuzCTUPP5ZGhYEWVHfOwPib6wwW52eYo/s1600/Mammoth+Frozen+Niagara+Looking+Up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZ_s3p3MJoRoA_90aHKeDBN3nOHmLguWFbJdVtcSTfd15QvWnde7NimwieYsOl6-h5ADAr2Z-6Exnq5hLxqrIT6iZ1JjvNYAFtyztYuzCTUPP5ZGhYEWVHfOwPib6wwW52eYo/s400/Mammoth+Frozen+Niagara+Looking+Up.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Frozen Niagara Ceiling</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The next day we headed back to Cincinnati, where this time I
vowed I’d actually stop and get a real view of the city . . .</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj-pXco_61jlKHzba12t-fDVxotGAxnS4fcoN9N0lAOx83rNri3seL9IotXMLFNpAo4pMlEIRV-hXE0gRPf30UEKLFvGQalPL_iDmgKN8hc55UtQpRFFKTVIptvYzadwJIHsw/s1600/Cincinnati+skyline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpj-pXco_61jlKHzba12t-fDVxotGAxnS4fcoN9N0lAOx83rNri3seL9IotXMLFNpAo4pMlEIRV-hXE0gRPf30UEKLFvGQalPL_iDmgKN8hc55UtQpRFFKTVIptvYzadwJIHsw/s400/Cincinnati+skyline.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">And check out the local wildlife . . .</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQtkChSe9VnmD_s0JSg6icHsVw59AvkhwyvXdAmioCgEBHbYwDc6hV-cay5xMvtP85t3toLAvNDzc8-mGwOYPGoacvFaBsEccyt1ia4dlztpjzsTYZJws19Lj-ZvgVpDfXeoe/s1600/Cincinnatic+local+wildlife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitQtkChSe9VnmD_s0JSg6icHsVw59AvkhwyvXdAmioCgEBHbYwDc6hV-cay5xMvtP85t3toLAvNDzc8-mGwOYPGoacvFaBsEccyt1ia4dlztpjzsTYZJws19Lj-ZvgVpDfXeoe/s640/Cincinnatic+local+wildlife.jpg" width="476" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
Ignoring the fact that we were entirely landlocked.</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcjx3kzvjXTyAFf4Jg8KAmBElAG7qUrcSy4cnmL0dhMMutFRLwRcEs7PHZp7rLEq7yu0vMp-h2j6IjsNyCpt7TVn-UREHe-tPhxCMnnDGALLMCieyTqXH4r9GRictxwNVC9tc/s1600/Cincinnati+shark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcjx3kzvjXTyAFf4Jg8KAmBElAG7qUrcSy4cnmL0dhMMutFRLwRcEs7PHZp7rLEq7yu0vMp-h2j6IjsNyCpt7TVn-UREHe-tPhxCMnnDGALLMCieyTqXH4r9GRictxwNVC9tc/s400/Cincinnati+shark.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdk-Ax9v99vwHmcxXPk5ZuEfLVthlhY7Bi2rXaZUbw-xgVbo4gl1u6p1I4k9dc8ECk4Cp0sYvr1sepYHkv_s1Rnx2QV-ZMdOIeVBrFHC_oJegFzhY84C1LRjQxvVUMxyc564_/s1600/Cincinnati+watch+what's+behind+you.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmdk-Ax9v99vwHmcxXPk5ZuEfLVthlhY7Bi2rXaZUbw-xgVbo4gl1u6p1I4k9dc8ECk4Cp0sYvr1sepYHkv_s1Rnx2QV-ZMdOIeVBrFHC_oJegFzhY84C1LRjQxvVUMxyc564_/s400/Cincinnati+watch+what's+behind+you.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">Sometimes you should be careful what’s behind you, though.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Our last day of road trip activity took us back to Cleveland,
where we were determined to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Of course we did find the local wildlife here rather fascinating. . .</span> </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakIAr80q_OwERMgWthQjfsgXXE0Jq3HMaKgjFLtpQKI1xYmviEXoP97AlmpoIWxzrj8VLVPgExxShgJb4KaD6b6bUJhL5UvByUWZjioXRFTyxULQBQTJMeKiM9WNT-VmwH2FM/s1600/Cleveland+local+Wildlife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgakIAr80q_OwERMgWthQjfsgXXE0Jq3HMaKgjFLtpQKI1xYmviEXoP97AlmpoIWxzrj8VLVPgExxShgJb4KaD6b6bUJhL5UvByUWZjioXRFTyxULQBQTJMeKiM9WNT-VmwH2FM/s640/Cleveland+local+Wildlife.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">And we came upon this steamer ship that I just couldn’t
resist, although it was 110°F in the shade, or in the hold. Wilting, but still
an absolute joy to discover, two football fields in length.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtu5yalEZ4kZQwQfRNNXg1dMhnB-Cw8uuuLUTsDUUzb1jo61FJaDdA9xq9d5Xv9DT7Zjmtfpnc6kuGjlSsRM6QihXbatLSldRvnlwzKfbHI0jTZI7bNG49LauYq5ZHZzgtf-J/s1600/Cleveland+Steamer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtu5yalEZ4kZQwQfRNNXg1dMhnB-Cw8uuuLUTsDUUzb1jo61FJaDdA9xq9d5Xv9DT7Zjmtfpnc6kuGjlSsRM6QihXbatLSldRvnlwzKfbHI0jTZI7bNG49LauYq5ZHZzgtf-J/s400/Cleveland+Steamer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nsFtxuH1HLG-Son9wXXQ4z0FlBHt2unHn3TWQZbB3fzXgaBuAAZT2uh_sP3LV4L4ariKTmUWqlw10gPdc7movcE0yJB3VUGFAweigM4wBS3I9R1VWkpH0M_r_4xqTIJwTtRC/s1600/Cleveland+skyline+from+ship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5nsFtxuH1HLG-Son9wXXQ4z0FlBHt2unHn3TWQZbB3fzXgaBuAAZT2uh_sP3LV4L4ariKTmUWqlw10gPdc7movcE0yJB3VUGFAweigM4wBS3I9R1VWkpH0M_r_4xqTIJwTtRC/s400/Cleveland+skyline+from+ship.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUlfNOYz14dbH9zY86urOMruSmKCNxt3FQQ-mH99meLEYjDTeICi4uSDLReiqA1XKnm3P15bZ9TUFKj04kaV4Rqs-kHnpWMLM2I_eYWTr4JBQkfbezCs5r9nKwMJR_SEgEk_l/s1600/Cleveland+Lake+Ontario+From+the+Deck+of+the+steamer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIUlfNOYz14dbH9zY86urOMruSmKCNxt3FQQ-mH99meLEYjDTeICi4uSDLReiqA1XKnm3P15bZ9TUFKj04kaV4Rqs-kHnpWMLM2I_eYWTr4JBQkfbezCs5r9nKwMJR_SEgEk_l/s640/Cleveland+Lake+Ontario+From+the+Deck+of+the+steamer.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5wC7E2xDLTU3m_ujngY7NKMWEPAGDUiU3oGIrvUQ-t4qYAcLF0kLQ1td8aCZ5Fj2Q5PxY6s2vDeWFhdl70ha4h1X75KAYxOQg9bTUj6B8QFh7UegZNblhOXRFFxDBaKDZ59n/s1600/Cleveland+Steamer+Flag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb5wC7E2xDLTU3m_ujngY7NKMWEPAGDUiU3oGIrvUQ-t4qYAcLF0kLQ1td8aCZ5Fj2Q5PxY6s2vDeWFhdl70ha4h1X75KAYxOQg9bTUj6B8QFh7UegZNblhOXRFFxDBaKDZ59n/s640/Cleveland+Steamer+Flag.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
In the good old U S of A.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: black;">And yes, we made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
where . . . they wouldn’t let us take pictures, except for this one.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLsAkEoY8ClymcuMHRrbSWzDwKlMpDy0CwZYjx6dB3l3VOD6Q2ejEGWP9QIVOeCIAthRVxKHmg6Y9QxpfEzH0tjzXRHioTSaUCPYvJ-aSoFU-v3N3wfNOD9qIS9oWKdkdMZh5/s1600/Cleveland+Rock+Hall+guitars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuLsAkEoY8ClymcuMHRrbSWzDwKlMpDy0CwZYjx6dB3l3VOD6Q2ejEGWP9QIVOeCIAthRVxKHmg6Y9QxpfEzH0tjzXRHioTSaUCPYvJ-aSoFU-v3N3wfNOD9qIS9oWKdkdMZh5/s400/Cleveland+Rock+Hall+guitars.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;">After walking around downtown Cleveland in the worst heat
wave of the decade, I realized I preferred to see the Hall of Fame from this
vantage point.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3FG_Nle-zYArfNdE-ja74Lfxd6ExxkNrmZJYyk_7gAK-9Jy9qqdN0q3pki56V_awFEHP4_ASsRhlRViciFRDzjcpgJOaIsVXEgK8uEleiIi6zsRgyrsPfZJLw1eCTsXjRqJn/s1600/Cleveland+from+Hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3FG_Nle-zYArfNdE-ja74Lfxd6ExxkNrmZJYyk_7gAK-9Jy9qqdN0q3pki56V_awFEHP4_ASsRhlRViciFRDzjcpgJOaIsVXEgK8uEleiIi6zsRgyrsPfZJLw1eCTsXjRqJn/s640/Cleveland+from+Hotel.jpg" width="478" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Air conditioned Hotel Room</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">It was a long trip, so we were lucky we caught a few of
these along the road:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbL2LXtJfqU7I5y5SzdcDxFuxZ5G3D1EO1jSbQT8wman2I80wRbJ323qrXqpWR3q5MebCzm9Nk9t9s3nzCV-guq1BLaot89RleKvd3xFPXQ7Ch400VbvL1yvgLhp1VJiRAJt_/s1600/Mammoth+Coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbL2LXtJfqU7I5y5SzdcDxFuxZ5G3D1EO1jSbQT8wman2I80wRbJ323qrXqpWR3q5MebCzm9Nk9t9s3nzCV-guq1BLaot89RleKvd3xFPXQ7Ch400VbvL1yvgLhp1VJiRAJt_/s400/Mammoth+Coffee.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">Mmm. Coffee. Or preferably, at the time, Iced Cappuccino.</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;">A fabulous trip, all things considered. We arrived home
after seven days without fruit and I went a little overboard.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4Kg4vIbSKGcc4cHnOSIBCM7a6qxEDjyBnidIRTWnEoQsgv98IOBNwu69nb1_l3XfOV_hzZa5eCpN03pgfkTlxs5dmOovXal-alYdBDPy-TUTtY7TBMkZ2Ox1LxRhWjqY1dkU/s1600/IMG_0927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4Kg4vIbSKGcc4cHnOSIBCM7a6qxEDjyBnidIRTWnEoQsgv98IOBNwu69nb1_l3XfOV_hzZa5eCpN03pgfkTlxs5dmOovXal-alYdBDPy-TUTtY7TBMkZ2Ox1LxRhWjqY1dkU/s400/IMG_0927.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Ontario Fruit, nothing like it, along with a few of those Mexican
bananas. Did you see the wild blueberries? Did you see the Kahlua and Baileys? Well, you know, we did cross the border.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;">And about those tacky T-shirts and souvenir cups that you
shake your head at?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9viZN3fCtVRcdw70qRWZ5Z37bCG4thSMJ4-wIm7iPRMQFmSdCOJiCMC1e-L-ptlbXx98vaOuliErMOkcTQKCAeMDKs6XD_L3FuvRwJvhyk8vkeaqQexoKUjylgB2MUMchIhw/s1600/IMG_0930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9viZN3fCtVRcdw70qRWZ5Z37bCG4thSMJ4-wIm7iPRMQFmSdCOJiCMC1e-L-ptlbXx98vaOuliErMOkcTQKCAeMDKs6XD_L3FuvRwJvhyk8vkeaqQexoKUjylgB2MUMchIhw/s400/IMG_0930.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Couldn’t resist.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black;">But the best is yet to come, because I can relive the
adventure whe</span><span style="color: black;">n I read and watch all of these . . .</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYdaawwRZz0hpx9-VxcHLy8ZXh3pQIl3wCuPt6BCkSvbEGb-ZcPsqvjLNKRKKrE1K3NsV4-i1LT6gev-A0jqGH6hM9K4D3goZivzfSpdb4Tfhg7mPC97QJuo-198BTHT_kXUIr/s1600/IMG_0932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYdaawwRZz0hpx9-VxcHLy8ZXh3pQIl3wCuPt6BCkSvbEGb-ZcPsqvjLNKRKKrE1K3NsV4-i1LT6gev-A0jqGH6hM9K4D3goZivzfSpdb4Tfhg7mPC97QJuo-198BTHT_kXUIr/s400/IMG_0932.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"> Did you really think I’d leave
without books (and DVDs)?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /></div>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-42917062050486229722012-07-09T05:51:00.001-07:002012-07-10T03:54:38.458-07:00Death of a Story<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;">How to Find the
Balance Between Modification and Destruction</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Have you ever wondered about those stories buried in an
author’s filing cabinet? Well, perhaps nowadays they’re buried in a layer of
digital dust. They’re labelled and relabelled until they’re finally scrubbed.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I once wrote a middle grade story called <em>Ghost in the Piano</em>.
A couple of my novels had already been published, but I wanted to improve my
writing, so I joined a critique group. Now I think critiquing is the best way
to improve writing, but when you’re first introduced to it you have this notion
you have to listen, erase, rewrite until every line is absolutely perfect,
according to someone else’s vision.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Here are my relabelled examples:</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Ghost in the Piano</span></strong><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Ghost in the Piano
Another Revision</span></b><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Ghost in the Piano
Version 3, 4, 5, 6 etc.</span></b><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Ghost in the Piano A
New Beginning</span></b><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Ghost in the Piano
Whatever</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The “Whatever” stage is when you scrub. It’s rather sad,
actually. I think I did some of my best writing on that story, but eventually I
couldn’t look at it anymore. I pull it out every once in a while, intent on
finally finishing it, but I always sigh and shove it back into that bloated
digital file.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Critiquing to the nth power is an
effective way to kill a story.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"></span><span style="color: black;">It all started with the beginning. Beginnings are so
difficult. They need to acquire that magical power to draw the reader in. So we
write and rewrite our beginnings. But there has to be a point where a red flag
appears, where you stop bringing the story to a critique group because they
will ALWAYS find something to criticize. Eventually the magic gets warped from
the strain of too many rewrites.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I loved <em>Ghost in the Piano</em>. Now I despise it. And yet, I
still love some of it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It was my greatest failure.</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I know most authors don’t talk about their failures. They
came from a time when the writer struggled through the mire to get to solid
footing. They feel like children that died in utero. But I think it’s important
to remember, in everything, that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">too
much criticism can be devastating</b>.</span> <span style="color: red;">Our failures are
shining examples of what never to do again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;"></span><span style="color: black;">Now I only bring my beginnings to a critique session once,
maybe twice, at the most three times. Of course I’ve polished it many times
before it reaches this stage, but it can only tolerate major upheaval a few more
times before it explodes. I’m serious. I have fragments of Chapter One all over
that file.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I will only bring a full manuscript to my critique group once. I get
several ideas of what others think is wrong from this one session and I can
sift through these ideas to zero in on the problems. But I won’t be replotting
ten more times. It won’t help the book and it will destroy my sanity.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: red;">Sometimes your sanity is more
important than a perfect book or great reviews.</span> Think about it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Besides, once you hack it apart, it’s sometimes hard to
recapture the voice you began with, or the smooth-tender flow. The style can
become choppy and inconsistent. The magic of that storytelling voice taking you
through the trials of time travel, or the deadly burrows of a cave, or the
terror of a haunted piano is lost, never to be found again.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I have other dead stories, buried in that digital drawer,
but they were never of sufficient caliber to mourn. By the time I wrote the
ghost story, I’d grown as a writer and I was hoping the story would touch many
young hearts and give them hope and courage. But it will remain forever locked
away, an unfulfilled wish.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I will leave you with this. Fragments, unrequited love,
rotting bits of flesh.</span><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">There was a single clang—one jarring chord that rang
crisp through the bottom level of the house and vibrated in my head. That’s how
it all began, exactly a month after I’d quit playing the piano—a month after
the worst day of my life.</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I crept over the icy floor tiles in my bare feet. I
shivered, but didn’t stop. After all, it must have been only gravity that had
caused the piano to sound off. Into the living room, across the hardwood
strips—that seemed even colder, although that wasn’t possible—right up to the
ribbed keys. There wasn’t a book in sight. Only a wispy cloud above the
keyboard, as if someone had blown the dust off the keys.</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I kept playing over his sharp and painful notes. Soon
I was drowning him out, my own less than perfect music chopping through the
angry melody. Eventually the dreadful sound petered out and there was nothing
between the notes. Now there was no one else but me—licking notes that were
soft and belting out those that needed to be bellowed. As my fingers flew over
the keys, and caught the elusive harmony, I knew, then, for sure, that I would
never hear the ghost in the piano again.</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"></span></i><span style="color: black;">This is an excerpt from my favourite chapter: The
Spiritualist</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Okay,” I said. With extreme relief, I slammed the door as my
parents and Uncle Max departed. Two minutes later, Rosie and Char slunk in,
both wearing long droopy clothes and hoods like medieval monks.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“It’s a séance, not an inquisition,” I said, grinning despite
myself. It was great how friends knew just how to take the edge off sometimes.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Rosie shrugged and flounced into the living room. “I thought they
looked cool. My brother had them left over from Halloween. He and his friend
were Grim Reapers.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“I think you’ve totally missed the seriousness of this situation,” I
said.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I led them into the living room, around the dingy leather couch and
scuffed walnut coffee table, to where they could cast long stares at the
mysterious piano. The scratches seemed more pronounced today, like ivory spider
webs crisscrossing the dark casing. And dust clung to it, as if it had sat
there unused for decades.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“So?” said Rosie. “You gonna talk or what?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I sighed. “It doesn’t work that way. It usually plays in the middle
of the night, just to make my life a living hell. It probably won’t make a
sound unless this Madame Tussaud can set it off.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">As if on cue, an old baby blue Cadillac swung into the driveway and
flashed bright beams through the front window. The lights switched off and a
tall thin woman with a pale face and globular glasses teetered up the walk. She
wore a long black gown, like a grad would wear, and her arms hugged some silver
and black instruments. She leaned with her elbow on the doorbell. I ran to let
her in.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Madame Tussaud?” I asked.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Yes,” she said in a smoky voice. “You must be Jenna.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I nodded and stepped aside so the woman could enter. The taps from
her spike-heeled boots on the front tiles echoed throughout the house. She
handed me what appeared to be a tape recorder and a digital thermometer. She
held onto a couple of other strange devices that looked electronic, but that
was about all I could make of them.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“We need to measure the psychic energy in the house, my dear. The
temperature usually drops along with some other interesting environmental
changes when there’s a discarnate entity. Otherwise, we may be dealing with
your run-of-the-mill poltergeist.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Okay,” I said, thinking that a poltergeist hardly seemed
run-of-the-mill. “The piano’s right this way, in the living room.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Madame Tussaud followed me closely, her husky breath like a warm
breeze on my neck. She gave a slight nod to Rosie and Char, then tapped over to
the piano. After laying her remaining instruments on the floor, she rose and
her fingertips, then her palms drifted over the piano’s mud-brown casing.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Odd,” she said. “So odd.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“What? What is it?” I asked, venturing closer to the woman, despite
the creepy feeling she gave me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“It’s closed to me,” said the medium. “Like a closed casket. I feel
no energy at all.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I looked helplessly at my friends who just shrugged. Rosie stifled a
giggle. “Well, what does that mean?” I asked.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“I can’t be sure. I’ll have to run some tests. First, though,
there’s the matter of payment.” She smiled and looked at me expectantly.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Oh, of course,” I said.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I shot up the stairs to my room, and dumped the contents of my purse
onto the bed. I had twenty bucks stuffed in my wallet. Along with Rosie’s five
and Char’s ten, we still didn’t have the fifty the woman had asked for. So I
tiptoed into Joey’s room. He was so zonked that he didn’t even raise his head
from the pillow when I grabbed his piggy bank and ducked back into my room. I
managed to squeeze another fifteen from his crumpled bills and scattered coins.
Then I raced back downstairs and handed Madame Tussaud the money. An oily grin
painted her face as she slipped the cash into her pocket, and it made me wonder
if this woman was for real. But she set immediately to work, seizing the first
instrument on the floor.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“This is a Geiger counter,” she said as she tapped on some buttons.
“It checks the radiation in the room.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I frowned. “There aren’t any nuclear bombs in here, you know.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">She smiled and shook her head. “There are a lot more things that
give off radiation, including the sun. If I get a reading between 2 and 7, that
might tell us if a haunting is occurring in this house. Most man-made radiation
sources are higher and natural levels are below 2. Even a quick spike might
tell us if there is a concentration of paranormal energy.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">She pointed the instrument at the piano, aimed it around the room,
at the coffee table, the abstract paintings on the wall and the beige leather
couch, then back to the piano again.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Nothing,” she finally said. “Only a 0.9. We’ll try something else.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">She put down the Geiger counter and picked up another instrument
with gauges and dials. “The electromagnetic field meter. It traces a moving
magnetic field, even that made by a human body, since we have electricity
flowing through our nervous systems. If the needle moves when I point it at the
piano and there’s also a high-pitched tone, that would indicate the presence of
a discarnate entity.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">She swept back and forth, over and around the piano, but there was
no movement of the needle and no sound from the device. Finally she put the EM
meter down and turned to me.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“There’s no entity here, my dear. How old are you?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Fourteen. I told you.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Yes, on the cusp. Some parapsychologists might say ‘too young.’ But
I’ve seen it before.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I gritted my teeth. “What are you talking about?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Your abilities, my dear,” said Madame Tussaud. “Have you had a
quarrel about the piano? Something that irks you deep within?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I paused, not wanting to tell her, but if she could help . . . “I
had a . . . bad experience . . . at a recital, but what has that got to do with
a ghost? There’s something haunting this piano.” I slammed my hand down on the
top, shaking the instrument just a little, but it still didn’t eke out a sound.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Really?” said the spiritualist. “But I haven’t found any evidence
of a haunting. Let me demonstrate, my dear. Then perhaps you will lay your
skepticism aside and trust me.” She looked pointedly at Rosie. “I am surrounded
by skeptics.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“I believe you,” said Rosie, trying her best not to giggle again.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Madame Tussaud took the thermometer—what she called the thermal
scanner—from my hand and waved it over the piano. “Seventy-three degrees,” she
murmured. “It’s not very cold.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“So?” I said. “It’s only cold when it plays.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Then the woman held a pendulum over the piano, suspended by a
thread. It swung back and forth, steadily, with no change in direction. “No
disturbance in the flow of energy.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I rolled my eyes. “And that means what exactly?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“There is no ghost, my dear. No displaced spirit. If there were, it
probably wouldn’t disguise itself in the piano, unless it had some potent
connection to it. Spirits usually haunt the place where they took their last
breath. They can’t move on, because they’ve been done an injustice that they
feel must be corrected. Often they wander the place for years or centuries
even, moaning or screaming, trying to be heard. Some can use the energy around
them to manipulate or move objects or even in some cases can transform that
energy to make themselves solid for a short time, but that takes a lot of
concentration and skill that most of them don’t possess. But even the strongest
among them don’t usually play nasty tricks. Poltergeists, however, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">like </i>to play with objects.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“So there’s a poltergeist in my piano?”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Madame shook her head sadly. “The poltergeist is you, my dear.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I stepped back, my jaw unhinged. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not a
ghost, or a poltergeist, or whatever. I’m alive.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Madame Tussaud swept around and placed spidery hands on my
shoulders. “Of course, you’re alive. Poltergeists are troublesome spirits that
focus their noisy pranks on one particular child or adolescent. The child is
usually very gifted with psychic powers and . . . ” She paused.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“And?” I prompted.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“And the poltergeist activity is usually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">caused</i> by the adolescent. Unconsciously, of course.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I goggled at the woman in horror. What a ridiculous statement. She
was saying that somehow I had made the piano play by itself, that I was
tinkering with the instrument even when my greatest desire was not to touch it.
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That I was driving myself crazy.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“I am not a poltergeist,” I said loudly. “I am not making the piano
play with my mind, although it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">playing
with my mind</i>!”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Calm down, dear.” The woman patted my shoulder, trying to soothe me
with her buttery tone. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It means you have
extraordinary abilities. All you have to do is harness them and the piano will
rest easy again.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Really? Well, I’m not satisfied with your explanation. You came
here to talk to the piano, and you’re going to do just that. I didn’t use up
all my allowance just to get ‘harness your abilities.’ We’re going to sit down
and you’re going to conduct a séance. I want to hear what that piano really
wants.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Madame Tussaud was flabbergasted. Her pasty face seemed to whiten
even more. “Séance, my dear? But I haven’t done one of those in years.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“What?” I said. “Then what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i>
you do?”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“She reads your future,” Char broke in. “She tells you about the
past using her psychic abilities. You just phone her and she tells you
everything about yourself.”</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“She’s a fraud,” I said.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“No, no,” Madame Tussaud objected. “I am a genuine psychic and a
registered parapsychologist. It’s just . . . I’m a little out of practice with
the séance business.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Well, you have to get back into practice.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“I . . . I suppose,” she conceded.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">I motioned for the woman to sit in a circle with the other girls. We
lighted candles and incense, and the air was soon clouded with the cloying
scent of cloves and vanilla. Madame Tussaud fumbled through her bag and
withdrew a container of salt—sea salt, she said it was. “If there is a genuine
haunting, it should turn brown. It’s an old fashioned method, but still quite
effective.” Then she clasped our hands and began to hum, tilting glassy eyes to
the ceiling. We were told to wipe all thoughts from our minds, particularly me.
Then she called on the piano to play a note if there was some restless soul
within its strings.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">The piano stood silent, as if it were once again a dead thing. I
gritted my teeth and begged it to sound off, to tinkle or to moan. Something to
prove that it was more than just the imagination of one girl, or the restless
poltergeist stirred from within her own troubled mind.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Finally the medium stopped chanting and shrugged her shoulders.
“Empty, I told you.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“The piano is not empty,” I said. “It keeps talking to me, playing
music that I used to play, and waking me up at night. It even got mad at me
when I said I hated the piano and dumped me on the floor.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">The medium frowned. “It reacted directly to your speech? The entity
must be very strong.” She stared back at the piano, her dreamy expression gone,
replaced by a look of fright. “Perhaps it’s a cold spirit and that is why it’s
closed to me.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“What do you mean by ‘cold spirit?’” I asked.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">The woman’s lips twitched. She blinked and looked away. “Evil, dear.
Deserving of death.”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">At her last words, the room swelled with sound. The keys depressed
in harsh stacatto rhythm, pounding out a miserable version of Beethoven’s Fifth
Symphony. The notes bounced off the walls and echoed in our ears. It was so
painfully loud we hunched over in agony. I tried to crawl away and tripped over
the Geiger counter—reading a five—and the EM meter, its needle jumping all over
the map. The air in the room was so frosty I could see my breath. Char
scrambled behind me and knocked the sea salt from its container. It was an
earthy brown.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Together we crawled out of the room, sobbing as the vibrations
throbbed through our bodies. Just as we got to the hall, the front door
exploded inward and the piano’s notes cut off in midstream. In stumbled my
mother with wide eyes, my father with narrowed ones and my uncle with a look of
sheer fascination on his face. The smoke haze was still in the air. The sharp
scent of incense lingered. Madame Tussaud lay sprawled on the floor.</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“What in heaven’s name is going on?” asked Mom.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span lang="EN-US">S</span><span lang="EN-US">uddenly the spiritualist sprang from the floor, and, thrusting aside
the three adults in the hall, she fled out the door.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“Wait!” I called, brushing aside my family as well. “Wait!”</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">Madame Tussaud was opening the door to her car with trembling hands.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">“How do I get rid of it?” I yelled to her.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent2" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US"></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: black;">She looked back at me, her eyes bulging and her face as pale as snow.
“You can’t!” she screamed and slammed the door. Then she gunned the car
backward, spun around, and sped off down the street.</span></span></div>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-16308700098042793372012-05-31T05:21:00.000-07:002012-05-31T05:21:18.651-07:00Time Meddlers Announcement<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trajan Pro","serif"; font-size: 22pt;"><span style="color: black;">Time
Meddlers<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Trajan Pro","serif"; font-size: 22pt; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
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</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span></b>Deborah Jackson</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black;">Dear Time Meddlers fans,</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">I’ve come to a decision. It’s not fair to make you wait two,
three years to read the third Time Meddlers book when you’ve been thoroughly
engrossed in the adventure. That is the reality of finding a new publisher
(minimum). </span><br />
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Stencil Std"; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: black;">Time Meddlers Undercover<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Mistral; font-size: 24pt; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: black;">Deborah Jackson</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">So . . . I’m going to self-publish all three books for the
time being, in both electronic and print format. I’ll do my best to deliver the
books to the most accessible retailers, and I’m even engaging an artist to make
these books more visually appealing than they were through the previous publisher. I’m
also revising the first book entirely to match the other two in writing quality
and dynamism. This will take some time, but hopefully by the end of the summer
I can release all three :)</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 26pt;"><span style="color: black;">Chapter 1</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Bradley Hand ITC"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;">Cretaceous Park</span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_11" o:spid="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 17.25pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 277.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><span style="color: black;">
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<span style="mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: black;"><div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Sarah parted the leaves of the
gigantic fern and peered out at the riverbank. Directly in front of her, a
duckbill dinosaur dipped its muzzle into the water for a drink. Sarah glanced
back at Matt, who was being far too noisy, rustling leaves and crackling dead
branches beneath his feet.</span><br />
<br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Matt,” Sarah squeaked.
She pushed him down as the duckbill raised its head and examined them
suspiciously.</span><br />
<br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">“It’s okay, Sarah. It’s
only a plant-eater.”</span><br />
<br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">“A plant-eater that’s big
enough to crush you with its feet, or one swipe of its tail. This is crazy.
What are we doing?”</span><br />
<br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">“My dad is here, just past
that clump of trees. I’m sure of it.” Matt pointed to a spot in the forest
congested with cypress and palm trees.</span><br />
<br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">“Right,” said Sarah. “It
looks like the Everglades, but it sure isn’t. Why couldn’t we rescue your
father in a safer time period?”</span><br />
<br /><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">She couldn’t believe he
had roped her into another mad adventure, not in a war this time, but in the
Alberta badlands sixty million years in the past. </span></div>
</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Read the remainder of Time Meddlers on the Nile</span> <a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/Timemeddlersonthenile_chapterone.html">Chapter One</a>.<br />
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: 26pt;"><span style="color: black;">Chapter 2<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bradley Hand ITC"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;">Time Disruption</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black;">Matt stood at the entrance to the lab
building, trying to comprehend. If he thrust even the tip of his finger through
the partition, it seemed to disassemble. Beyond the door all he could see was
uninterrupted forest – not a building in sight. What had happened? Had time
been altered in such a way that North American civilization didn’t exist
anymore, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> didn’t exist? No,
it couldn’t be. But why couldn’t they leave the lab building?</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black;">“Matt, do you have any
idea . . . ?” Sarah’s voice seemed small and lost. Why shouldn’t it be? This
was impossible, wasn’t it?</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black;">“I don’t know. Something
to do with the time machine, I think.”</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black;">“It would have to be. No
earthquake or bomb could do this. This building, we’d be wiped out too, and
there’s nothing left out there.”</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: black;">“Not a building. Not a
house,” Matt agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">Read the remainder of Time Meddlers on the Nile </span><a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/timeMeddlersonthenile_chaptertwo.html"><span style="color: black;">Chapter Two</span></a><span style="color: black;">.</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Images and Text Copyright</span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Book Antiqua","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: CenturyGothic; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">© J. Jackson/Deborah Jackson</span></span></span></span></div>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-65950912813271312182012-05-13T16:14:00.000-07:002012-05-14T13:15:27.855-07:00Comiccon is Trending<span style="color: black;">You understand that in order to write sci-fi, even “serious”
sci-fi, you must first be a Trekkie, and perhaps a Star Wars fan too. No, I've never been to Comiccon before. Comics aren’t my thing, but when Shatner
comes to town and you have an opportunity, well...you must...see...The
Shatner.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The morning began this way.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">My husband and I bounced out of bed. My son dragged his
sleep-drugged hormone-infested 15-year-old body from beneath the covers an hour
later. My daughter was still comatose. So I sent her a text:</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span><strong><span style="color: blue;">Time to get up.</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">And again two minutes later.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span><strong><span style="color: blue;">Time to get up.</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">And two minutes later.</span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">Are you up yet?</span></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">Yah.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><strong>
</strong><strong>The Shatner awaits.</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">So she got up, 20 minutes later.</span><span style="color: black;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Then we were off. We drove into the fairly ginormous lot of the CE building, found a parking spot—a good sign—and joined this line.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">This is what 12,000 people in a line-up looks like. But we
didn’t realize it snaked around the building, zigzagged and looped back
again. As we turned the corner and discovered how long the line really was, a look of astonishment and disgust flashed onto our faces. Then, after we zigzagged and looped back, the next group of people turned the corner, with looks of astonishment and disgust. This time we laughed, 'cause we were in the home stretch, baby.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The home stretch took an hour longer, but we weren't bored. It gave us a chance to gawk at all the spectacular and sometimes lame costumes.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Finally we entered the <s>zoo</s> door.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Got it, got it, want it. Actually don’t have any at all.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">We stopped by the Star Wars booth. They were too busy
fighting the dark side and intergalactic wars to bother with us.</span> </div>
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<span style="color: black;">But they were cute.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Eventually I became caught up in the purpose of the event: celebrity-worship.
Not every day you get to see Elvira.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Or Q.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Or the Delorian. You can worship a car too.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">I apologize for the crappy photos, but you must understand how hard it was to even get close to a car with 12,000 people batting you out of the way (or at least jostling). And the resolution on this camera was bloody awful.</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><br /></span><span style="color: black;">Back to celebrities: Even Starsky and Hutch made an appearance. Not. But their
car did. It looked appropriately battered, so I think it was the real deal.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">But no Shatner.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">After browsing and gawking for a good hour or two, we headed over to the panels.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Marina Sirtis was giving a speech and I thought, what the hay, let's see if she can provide us with some insight into the inner workings of the Enterprise, and Wesley Crusher (not that we cared) (about Wesley Crusher). Little did we know . . .</span> <br />
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<span style="color: black;">. . . she'd be the highlight of our visit. Deanna Troi is the wimpiest, dullest character in the Star Trek series. But on that little stage she shone, and did her best to disparage The Shatner. How dare... you disparage...The Shatner. Undoubtedly she'd been a comedian in another life, or on another planet. We heard stories of her delight at finally getting to "drive the ship" in Generations, until she actually read the script and discovered she crashes the ship, not once, but twice, and in another instance how she endured The Wrath of the Director and Crew when she refused to sit on burning embers in the captain's chair after an explosion and forced them to spend six hours reconstructing the set; this lady had us in stitches.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Did we actually get to see The Shatner, though? No. While Marina blessed us
with her stand-up routine, Shatner breezed in, signed 300-400 autographs at $75
a pop, and breezed out again. He also gave a speech, but I wasn’t tackling that
line which extended nearly as far as the original five kilometres we slogged through to get in. Honestly, Marina upstaged the man entirely, so we didn’t
miss a thing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">And we got to see him . . .</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">It's the Star Trek bear. Don't you recognize him from Episode ?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">But we did worry we wouldn't be allowed to leave, because, you know . . .</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Besides being a total blast, Comiccon triggered some
nostalgia. My husband and I remembered our Star Trek years, and how our
daughter adored the Star Trek theme song. I’ll show you how much . . .</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzKdf_1Uoxf15j_Xxq8wk8l_JUZ1J0UZ45Fhmih5LIUTYJvNW04XeZ_aR_hU-OOwq9y5LLuqfvlcUg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span style="color: black;">And there you have it. They do start young, don’t they? Can't resist the call of the Enterprise. To
boldly go where no one . . . </span></div>
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</span><span style="color: black;">Live long and prosper, my fellow Trekkies.</span></div>
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</div>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-38923366672743664772012-04-26T04:42:00.000-07:002012-05-13T16:15:17.912-07:00Michelangelo and the Artist’s Vision<span style="color: black;">Should we continually adapt, adapt, adapt to suit someone else’s vision?</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Michelangelo was an arrogant fellow. He had his own vision for his artwork, and it certainly didn’t coincide with the artists of the day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Years ago, shortly after I completed my university degree (although it wasn’t in art or art history) I travelled to Europe, student-style, and visited the standard castle-cathedral-museum train of must-see spectacles in the tourist brochure. Of course there’s obvious aesthetic and cultural reasons these particular stops are included on the list, but as a science major, they often didn’t have the same appeal and eventually you grow weary of yet-another-church, of yet-another-museum, of yet-another-vineyard-where-you-must-stop-and-sample-the-wine (well, maybe not that one).</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">We stopped in Paris and visited the Louvre where I saw Mona carefully cushioned within her bullet-proof display case, viewable but untouchable, and still smiling—would you believe it? We wandered through the south of France, tried our hand <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">at | the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>| slot | machines | in<span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">|</span> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Monte Carlo </span>and wound our way through the </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"> hills </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"> of Italy, where we dropped by Florence. I’ll never forget Florence. And in case I would, I took photos. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">I'm in this one. Bet you can't find me.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">The thing that struck me the most about Florence was <s>the architecture</s>, <s>the vistas</s>, <s>the friendly Italians</s>, </span><span style="color: black;"><strong>the David</strong>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Before we could breathe, or even begin to <span style="font-family: Pythagoras; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">absorb</span> the flavour of Italy, both <span style="font-family: Pythagoras; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Renaissance</span> and <span style="font-family: Abilene; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Twentieth Century</span>, or watch the street artists capture the vitality of the city with <span style="color: black; font-family: Baskerville-Nova-Black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">broad brush strokes</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span>from the Ponte Vecchio, we were whisked off to Rome.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The most magnificent feature of Rome was <s>The Colliseum</s>, <s>The Forum</s>, <s>The Trevi Fountain</s> (where yes, I threw in a coin, and no, I haven’t returned yet) <strong>The Sistine Chapel</strong>. I’m sure many of you would disagree with this assessment, and it was particularly odd for someone so philistine, so unschooled in the arts, (and not Catholic) to be <s>enraptured </s>blown away by Mike’s achievements.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">As I flip through my photo album, I see everything Mike.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">How did that get in there?</span><br />
<span style="color: black;">When in München, do as the Munchkins.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">My daughter is taking visual art and art history in school now. She’s educating me on all things artsy. I’m learning to appreciate <span style="font-family: A780-Deco; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">abstract art</span>. I’ve come to understand <span style="font-family: Math-PS; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">modern conceptual art-</span>modern conceptual art (although not appreciate it—a brick is still a brick in my opinion) (and don’t get me started on urinals). I now know a <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Aargau-Poster; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Baroque</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span> from a <span style="font-family: "Gothic 57 Wide","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Renaissance</span> from an <span style="font-family: Accent; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Impressionist</span> painting. She didn’t know the word for bust and I had to educate her—sometimes it feels good to one-up the expert ;)</span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: black;">It shouldn’t surprise you, though, that the first book on art that I chose to read was one called <em>Michelangelo</em>. I didn’t simply discover more about the art, I discovered the artist. Mike was temperamental, stubborn, worked on his own model of perfection, disregarded the critics of the day and grumbled, grumbled, grumbled about having to paint for various popes when he preferred sculpting. Mike became an expert on human anatomy, studying corpses and revealing humans in twisted, flexible poses rather than the rigid norm. Mike worked reluctantly on the Sistine Chapel, but he achieved something no other human being ever has, in four years time. He didn’t want to paint; he was <s>forced</s> required to, but heck if he wasn’t going to paint his own vision of the Bible, human beings and the world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I often wonder if we’ve stepped away from writer as <span style="font-family: "Slasher Heavy"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">artist</span>. I know genre writers aren’t given credit as artists—we’re the poster producers of the art world. But since we’re mixing our own <span style="color: #cc0000;">p<span style="color: cyan;">a</span><span style="color: #351c75;">i</span><span style="color: orange;">n</span><span style="color: #351c75;">t</span>s</span>, choosing to </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-family: Cezanne; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: cyan;">s p l a t t e r</span></span>, </span><br />
<span style="color: lime;">d</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"> r</span><br />
<span style="color: lime;"> i</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: lime;"> p</span>, <span style="font-family: "Blackoak Std"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: magenta;">sponge</span></span>, or </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"> <strong><span style="font-family: Bodoni-Black; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="color: red;">b r u s h</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></strong> </span><br />
<span style="color: black;">on the texture of our novel world, since we choose our canvas (be it science fiction, thriller, or literary), and then spend months, if not years, improving the image, should we not be allowed to create our own vision?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I’ve sat through a number of agent- or editor-author critique sessions with my manuscripts, and I kid you not, every single agent or editor has a different vision for your work. They often want you to change it to match what they think will sell, or take on the appearance of what they have a particular affinity for. They won’t insist you change the canvas, but everything else, every brush stroke, every tenderly rendered expression, every unusual curvature has to be altered. They’d like to tear down the Sistine Chapel and rebuild it in their own image.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The ideal agent/editor is the one who sees your vision, and loves it. They only want to help you perfect it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">It’s very difficult, if not impossible to be Mike. But it is possible to strive to become the best you can be, and once you think you’ve reached that pinnacle, don’t compromise. Be the artist. Because if you’ve put in the time and used your incredible unique imagination, some readers are bound to “get” your vision.</span>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-28372537282929786822012-04-11T05:17:00.000-07:002012-05-13T16:15:48.881-07:00The Forgivable Lapse<span style="color: black;">Are you In It for the Long Haul?</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">It probably doesn’t surprise you that I enjoy watching sci-fi and paranormal television shows: <span style="color: blue;">Fringe</span>, <span style="color: blue;">Grimm</span>, <span style="color: blue;">Supernatural</span>, <span style="color: blue;">The River</span>. I also watch medical shows like <span style="color: #990000;">House</span> and <span style="color: #990000;">Grey’s Anatomy</span>, but that’s beside the point—and has to do with my background and expertise rather than my fascination/obsession.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><img src="http://blacktemplereviews.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/supernatural.jpg" /></div><span style="color: black;">The other day I was watching <span style="color: blue;"><strong>Supernatural</strong></span>. I know, the stories are often silly, but it’s the silliness, the sentimentality, the downright goofiness that often makes it endearing. In the beginning the <span style="color: red;">characters</span> drew me in as slickly as the supernatural component: two brothers (and hunters) who rely on each other to survive; who are polar opposites in disposition and skill (one college-educated with a knack for doing research and a preference for health food, while the other is adept at Samarai sword-fighting or rock salt rifle-shooting and would rather drown in booze and hamburgers); and they<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have quirks like adopting the names of elderly rock stars for their aliases as FBI agents, or drinking demon blood. But more than the characters, it’s the <span style="color: #cc0000;">episodic nature</span> of the series, along with <span style="color: #cc0000;">tongue-in-cheek humour</span>, that make it appealing (for me).</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">I know this particular brand of writing is likely more difficult to write—coming up with a new concept every week—than simply continuing with an ongoing storyline. But I found when the writers decided to <s>be lazy</s>, focus on a single dramatic storyline, the show began to deteriorate. If you’re familiar with the program, you’re familiar with the extended plot: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a battle between heaven and hell, demons and angels. There’s very little room for comedy or goofiness in such a battle. The characters soon became worn, guilt-plagued, dreary and the added characters of angels and demons were universally arrogant, self-centred and greedy. There’s only so much back-stabbing, gut-clawing or incised brows that you can take. Even so, even wringing my hands with irritation, I continued to watch it, but my husband strayed. I kept hoping the writers would return to their original format, and I loved the characters enough to allow for this lapse. This season, the writers finally clued in; undoubtedly they lost a number of viewers, like my husband, when they lost their sense of humour.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">I’m sure the same thing happens to you with novels. If authors create beguiling/arresting characters, you will keep reading the next book, even if their plot occasionally stumbles and becomes less than captivating. <span style="color: blue;">George R. R. Martin</span> has invented several interesting and <span style="color: #cc0000;">surprisingly human/flawed characters</span> in his epic story, with just the <span style="color: #cc0000;">hint of magic</span> or supernatural activities to lend to the label of fantasy. Even the wretches have perfectly reasonable reasons for their wretched behaviour. But in Book Two, <em>A Clash of Kings</em>, the plot dragged and I found my mind wandering. Still I returned for another dose of fantasy-fulfillment with Book Three,<em> A</em> <em>Storm of Swords</em>. He’d set the tone so well at the beginning with these wonderfully relatable characters that readers were willing to forgive a lapse in intrigue in the hopes that the author would slingshot back to what drew them to the series in the first place.</span></div><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/A_Game_of_Thrones_Novel_Covers.png" /><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;">Supernatural</span>, in this season, has returned to its roots. Episodic, humourous, goofy but in a good way, intriguing in that a new situation arises every week. I love it! I’m smiling again. :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;"><em><span style="color: blue;">A Storm of Swords</span></em> pulled me under as only a vortex can with the same tense character situations, totally surprising plot twists that don’t balk at killing off some of the most appealing protagonists or devilish antagonists, and the throwing together of unusual characters at every turn. I’m smiling again. :)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">Yes, if you’re a real fan of the style, the characters, the talent of writers to create this otherworld that you adore, then you’re willing to forgive the occasional lapse. It happens. Of course we’re all human, and writers can be <s>lazy</s> tired, <s>cranky</s> frustrated, <s>occasionally dreary</s> uninspired, <s>blocked</s> unproductive or <s>lacking in depth</s> unable to tap the surface. Sometimes fresh material eludes them for a while. And sometimes their brilliance re-emerges. I’m willing to wait, one year, two, one book, two—sometimes even more—because I’m in it for the long haul.</span></div>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-55615700119983840612012-03-23T05:11:00.000-07:002012-05-13T16:15:32.238-07:00Update on the Time Meddlers Series<span style="color: black;">All <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">good</b> things must come to an end, but sometimes you can end<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> bad</b> things on your own.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I know I promised Time Meddlers fans a March release of the latest book in the series but, as you can see, March is almost over and no release. This forced me to step over the threshold of making a major decision for the series. I decided to pull it from the current publisher before the release of the third book.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The focus of this publisher has been increasingly geared toward books that are not kid-friendly, and it’s become an inappropriate atmosphere for a children’s book series. I’ve felt my ire grow as the books were often pushed aside or nestled side-by-side with adult romance or “other<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>adult” books. Not that there’s anything wrong with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“other adult” books, they just don’t belong with kidlit. I also encountered several problems within the organization that I won’t go into any detail about,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but which impelled me to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pull the series. This decision has been costly for me (to break a contract always is); I didn’t make it on the spur of the moment and without a great deal of pain and trepidation. It’s very difficult to find a new home for a previously published series.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I apologize to my fans. I know you were looking forward to the release of this book, as was I, but I’m hoping in the long run you’ll have better access to the books and no further delays when a release date is announced. I'll do my best to make it up to you as I search for another publisher.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">If you haven’t read </span><a href="http://deborahjackson.blogspot.ca/search/label/Matt%20and%20Sarah%27s%20Misadventures"><span style="color: black;">Mars Maze</span></a><span style="color: black;">, I have that available for free on my blog—a tongue-in-cheek mini-adventure based on <em>Time Meddlers</em>. (The premise is rather silly compared to the other books, but the point of it is simply to laugh and enjoy.) For those of you who haven’t read <em><a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/books/icetomb/index.html">Ice Tomb</a></em>, message me and I’ll give you a code to obtain a free copy. If you’re interested, I might release a few chapters of <em><a href="http://www.deborahjackson.net/timeMeddlersonthenile.html">Time Meddlers on the Nile</a> </em>over the next few weeks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I currently have two other unpublished manuscripts that I’m working on, so once this mess is sorted out, I hope to provide you with a great deal of reading material :)</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Feel free to ask me anything you like regarding this decision. I welcome your thoughts and concerns.</span>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-16292053432161695012012-03-14T10:01:00.000-07:002012-05-13T16:16:03.214-07:00The Reluctant Reader/The Defiant Child<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">For the Love of Reading</span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Irony is a part of life.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I am a writer (in case you weren’t aware.) I love reading (in case you think I could possibly contemplate writing books without reading them.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I have two children, a boy and a girl (oh, yes, the perfect family.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I have ONE reader in the family, besides myself.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">This is how it works, or how it worked for me. My first child was born, <span style="color: magenta;">a girl</span>, and she loved books. It stands to reason that a mother who absolutely adores reading will pass on that passion to her child.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">She never liked dolls, or Lego, or fuzzy stuffed animals. <span style="color: #cc0000;">She loved books.</span> She used to go to sleep surrounded by her favourites: <em>Curious George</em> and Dr. Seuss, <em>Charlotte’s Web</em> and <em>The Berenstain Bears</em>. (We’ll miss you Jan.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">As she grew older, the stacks migrated from the protective wall around her body (I don’t know how she ever woke up without creases and striations all over her skin) to the night table, but the stacks never diminished. She eventually took a literary arts specialty in high school, and although her true passion is now visual art, she will never grow out of her love for books.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Four years after my daughter was born we had another child, <span style="color: blue;">a boy</span>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Now don’t think that I agree with the gender bias that suggests non-readers are all male; this is just a fact in my life.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">The boy didn’t like books.</span> In fact the boy didn’t like hockey either, or skiing or anything his parents adored.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">My husband is crazy about hockey; well, he’s a Canuck, so what else do you expect. So . . . my son was required to learn this exciting, demanding sport as soon as his feet could properly support him on a single blade, not two. At four we enrolled him in the Mite Hockey League. He stood on his skates, quite well. And that’s all he did. Stand in the middle of the ice like an obstinate rock while the ebb and flow of four-year-old hockey magic zipped around him. (They stumble-skated back and forth on the ice and managed to flip a few pucks beside the net.) He would not move.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Next we tried skiing. I’d developed a passion for this sport in my university years and thought, what kid wouldn’t love racing down the slopes with wind in his face and gravity doing all the work? The sense of freedom and exhilaration, the blistering speed. What kid wouldn’t? My daughter did.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Every Saturday we’d truss him up, beg, borrow and steal (well, not really steal) ski equipment and set him up with lessons for an hour with the option of a full day of free skiing after that. One hour<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>later, when the eager-to-escape ski instructor returned our son to us, the whining would begin and wouldn’t end until we stripped off the skis and fled the slopes.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">I don’t think my son hated hockey or skiing. <span style="color: #cc0000;">He was simply determined to loathe anything we loved.</span> We had bred a defiant child.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">When it came to reading, though, the refusal just wasn’t acceptable. <span style="color: #cc0000;">My son had to learn how to read</span>—literacy is essential to success in this very difficult world. Plus, I was a writer. How could I explain an illiterate child? I had to ignite in him a passion for reading, if I did nothing else.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Thus began the endless parade of books.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9ZoMHvVq8JDtSro4U19xVy8KpKE14ggkTEV6PrMQhHUlvQfHwWY4TzTv_H7m1GWQh_cbYYHAT1PTLX7rRi_k1SyUj6lotv4iSnH_l8gfLJzG8dwgdWRJ6xrH2JdhpuRNWX-_/s1600/iphone+photos+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP9ZoMHvVq8JDtSro4U19xVy8KpKE14ggkTEV6PrMQhHUlvQfHwWY4TzTv_H7m1GWQh_cbYYHAT1PTLX7rRi_k1SyUj6lotv4iSnH_l8gfLJzG8dwgdWRJ6xrH2JdhpuRNWX-_/s320/iphone+photos+052.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9nrwpV05RQeezraRbX0Gsy3rV2PPUTf0-nln-5WdQGE7IfVy27WT3fDJpmsTFgMA2AbI_zHJwf1_L5zNVZ9ESJ0wWWF9WOoxtfNxLt5GzC6jo_bCXL27QtJuqE0pYLz_t0cb/s1600/stack+books+061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx9nrwpV05RQeezraRbX0Gsy3rV2PPUTf0-nln-5WdQGE7IfVy27WT3fDJpmsTFgMA2AbI_zHJwf1_L5zNVZ9ESJ0wWWF9WOoxtfNxLt5GzC6jo_bCXL27QtJuqE0pYLz_t0cb/s320/stack+books+061.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTsP5A5Iuu3EdwjmoEBvql1XNMoch6zlYk0vlgMcBJv4IhalIkoKQMnUuoc4c2zz_dCd5Ilh9u-jMWbW_ZXWdgEIOBLS_bJP9Hq5h779VP80UdV1i3-lZau0oo_ZqYffAi3g6/s1600/nonfiction+stack+053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTTsP5A5Iuu3EdwjmoEBvql1XNMoch6zlYk0vlgMcBJv4IhalIkoKQMnUuoc4c2zz_dCd5Ilh9u-jMWbW_ZXWdgEIOBLS_bJP9Hq5h779VP80UdV1i3-lZau0oo_ZqYffAi3g6/s320/nonfiction+stack+053.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><span style="color: black;">This isn`t endless, because we`ve donated most of books to the school library, but I`m sure </span><span style="color: black;">you get my point.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">My son will never love reading.</span> I came to accept that after a number of years, although it was painful for me. His teachers would chuckle at me kindly, at my hopeless efforts with full understanding and sympathy. Eventually he did learn to read, although never to love it, and that’s a reason to rejoice in itself.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">This is what worked for him:</span><br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/about_hugo_intro.htm" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="right" alt="The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick" border="0" height="356" id="Image1" src="http://www.theinventionofhugocabret.com/images/hugo_intro_cover2_over.jpg" style="padding: 0px 0px 28px 28px;" width="240" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Hugo Cabret—a book that tells a story through illustration rather than simply text. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRBi95ChyDUraRSZtmVwKm4iYD8WIVQuPoSCk-3eUYiaKX8FwehqEeSAOL-8cqQoJoMjx1Brlc_fg5AEhDiAZPebgRBxJ-C5Pb7oR5mBhMczpYNHZrno2qAzfgb0zKz2szQJi/s1600/books+that+worked+056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRBi95ChyDUraRSZtmVwKm4iYD8WIVQuPoSCk-3eUYiaKX8FwehqEeSAOL-8cqQoJoMjx1Brlc_fg5AEhDiAZPebgRBxJ-C5Pb7oR5mBhMczpYNHZrno2qAzfgb0zKz2szQJi/s320/books+that+worked+056.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Nonfiction titles of topics he’s passionate about: gardening, plants, the universe and planets, rocks and minerals.</span></div><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggukZ4vuntm_9KZoRjBHP2iPDGrNPIklVirc6R3cBqdTMWty31yRjDXk1q9GEj_ARO4pD32DxyhJxKBediTTGVG-JvSBZ6Z-y-Cn6xpNbjgCPmXGY12kKLL9slZhNoSE5izkCC/s1600/wimpy+kid+049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggukZ4vuntm_9KZoRjBHP2iPDGrNPIklVirc6R3cBqdTMWty31yRjDXk1q9GEj_ARO4pD32DxyhJxKBediTTGVG-JvSBZ6Z-y-Cn6xpNbjgCPmXGY12kKLL9slZhNoSE5izkCC/s320/wimpy+kid+049.jpg" width="239" /></a></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">Wimpy Kid—not my favourite, but a Best Book of the Decade according to a children`s survey. Basically comics and graphic novels. If your reluctant readers like humour, try to interest them in a Wimpy Kid style of book, if they enjoy adventure and movies, furnish them with graphic novels.</span></div><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">I failed to entice my reluctant reader into the world of books, but he does love movies. We don’t share many passions, but at least we both appreciate stories (in whatever format), and we’re avid gardeners and amateur geologists too. I’m not a failure and neither is he; we’re just somewhat different and that’s okay. </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Not everyone can be a reader.</span></div><span style="color: black;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span style="color: black;">If you`ve had similar struggles, I invite you to share them. If something drew your reluctant reader to books, let me know. If you're a former reluctant reader and now adore books, what ignited your passion? I’d like to assemble a list of helpful advice and potential books, if not to create an avid reader then at least to awaken a spark and keep kids literate.</span></div>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-55370045442436227872012-02-14T08:03:00.000-08:002015-01-30T04:48:59.780-08:00An Arduous Journey<span style="color: black;">Announcement: Ice Tomb is now available as an eBook.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3LSiUJxuPWf83olYzZEk6gPjhAqEMjn4M7Uoc6nu7YyW4P6Egl_y3Y0gCp5qECwZ_6C3n_01xvjkd9lQyhSKPayy0y8wfFhA-6kZFrjttNnJ_Mbg0Kippe-9Cq5p9m7qiINfc/s1600/ice_tomb_cover_2ndedition_v2.jpg+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3LSiUJxuPWf83olYzZEk6gPjhAqEMjn4M7Uoc6nu7YyW4P6Egl_y3Y0gCp5qECwZ_6C3n_01xvjkd9lQyhSKPayy0y8wfFhA-6kZFrjttNnJ_Mbg0Kippe-9Cq5p9m7qiINfc/s320/ice_tomb_cover_2ndedition_v2.jpg+2.jpg" height="320" sda="true" width="211" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="color: black;">Since I’m re-releasing <i>Ice Tomb</i>, solo this time, I thought it only fair to provide an explanation. It’s been eight years since the book’s publication, an arduous journey for me, a learning experience. When I first received notice that <i>Ice Tomb</i> would be published I immediately popped the cork on a bottle of champagne. I’d devoted a year to the project, researching like a mad woman, diving into challenging topics like rocket proposals for a moon mission, a potential science station and quantum physics. I’m never one to shy away from difficult topics even if they’re extremely technical or analytical – and not exactly my cup of tea, although I find the theories of the universe intriguing to the say the least.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Little did I know that the publisher, although happy to publish my book and very pleasant in other ways, wasn’t everything I’d hoped for. They released the book without a decent round of editing and, after numerous attempts to persuade the business manager to join the eBook revolution, he refused. Marketing was non-existent, which is par for the course in small presses, but something I was unaware of at the time.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">So I obtained a publicist, but I did most of the sales and promotional work myself, sending out press releases and submitting my book for review.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Some critics gave the book a great review. Other less-than-enthusiastic critics treated it to a sound thrashing. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Great reviews:</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Top Pick</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: black;">“Ice Tomb is set in the near future, and the science in the fiction is very plausible. A fast-paced story with plenty of twists, this book reads like a classic sci-fi tale. The characters are well drawn, the action plentiful and the outcome surprising.”</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: black;">– <b><i>RT BOOKclub Magazine</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Editor’s Pick</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: black;">“She may be a new kid on the science fiction block, but Ottawa writer Deborah Jackson could well rank up there one day with the likes of Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke.”</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="color: black;">“Ice Tomb is surprising not just for its entirely believable plot and well-crafted suspense, but because it has all the earmarks of a tale written by a sci-fi master.”</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: black;">– <b>Mike Gillespie<i>, The Ottawa Citizen</i></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">BTW, even though I live in Ottawa, I had no association with this editor whatsoever. He actually liked it without any persuasion on my part.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Not-so-great reviews: Jonathon Cowie, Concatenation</span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: black;">With Ice Tomb she has moved her target readership upwards to young teenagers,</span></i><span style="color: black;"> (</span><span style="color: blue;">reviewed after the release of Time Meddlers<span style="color: black;">)</span> <span style="color: black;">(</span>intended for adults</span><span style="color: black;">) </span><i><span style="color: black;">and for them has produced a gripping adventure that also makes for a reasonable (so-called) 'young adult' SF read. Older readers will find some of her (fortunately occasional) turn of phrase facile...</span><span style="color: black;">(</span><span style="color: blue;">Sob</span><span style="color: black;">)</span> <i><span style="color: black;">The plotting is also very contrived,</span></i> <span style="color: black;">(</span><span style="color: blue;">it was/is</span><span style="color: black;">)</span> <i><span style="color: black;">but this will probably not matter a jot to young teenagers, especially as the rest of her writing style conveys the story with fluidity.</span></i></i> <br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">He uses some harsher words that I couldn’t even print. Then he goes on to bash the publisher, which I won’t include either, since I’ve said enough above and I truly do appreciate their acceptance of the book.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The review continues:</span><br />
<br />
<i><span style="color: black;">Publisher issues aside, were I back at school I would probably welcome Ice Tomb. Indeed as an adult when it comes to the science, I really can't seriously fault this. It was reasonably researched. In fact I wondered whether she had read Blankenship et al., (1993) Active volcanism beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. Nature 361, 526-9? Big Brownie points here even if I have ice sheet stability problems with a part subterranean Antarctic base. Ditto personal problems with an episode of geological timing mentioned which was (northern hemisphere dominated Younger Dryas aside) one of climatic and ice sheet change as we were coming out of the last glacial, but your average SF reader (even if a scientist other than one into climatology of biosphere science) simply would not know this. Ditto the iridium record.</span></i><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Which wasn’t so bad.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">So I did my homework, but I wasn’t a literary genius and my plot was very contrived, probably because I watch too many movies, and let’s face it, nearly every thriller/adventure/horror film has a contrived plot.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">This was the beginning of my journey from naïveté in thinking my publisher would help me produce a pristine product and underestimating the brutal world of criticism, albeit justified. I realized I desperately needed a critique group to spare me some of the humiliation by catching my mistakes before they hit the editorial desk.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Yet some people, like the kind reviewers above, loved <i>Ice Tomb</i>, despite all its failings. I even had questions from parents of <i>Time Meddlers</i> fans asking if their kids could read <i>Ice Tomb</i>. “No!” I insisted. “Too much adult content.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><i>Ice Tomb</i> needed to be revamped and made more kid-friendly before I’d give it one more chance in the eBook world. Since readers of <i>Time Meddlers</i> were interested in it, I thought it deserved that chance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">But how do you revamp an aging book? I liken it to old bread. You can scrape off the mold, you can sprinkle some spices on a slice or two, but it will never be fresh bread. I tried . . . valiantly. I did remove the offensive chapter and rewrote it entirely. I tried to rework some of the passive writing and delete the clichés. One or two totally illogical sections I ripped out and replaced. I like to think of it as a reupholstered story that still retains the original thrills and science that some people actually loved and removed the most offensive aspects that some people really hated.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Of course revising an old manuscript can lead to some technical problems. I will repeat one of Jonathon Cowie’s statements: “her writing style conveys the story with fluidity.” When I write a first draft, it inevitably flows along like a rippleless river. Where I might fail in other aspects of writing, I think I have this inherent sense of rhythm and flow. When you begin ripping out this word and replacing that “facile” phrase with something more dynamic or interesting, you inevitably mess with the flow—a flow that was established years ago. So in my valiant attempt I undoubtedly threw rocks into the river and produced a few rapids, and where it would make for a rafting nightmare, I desisted. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">If you’ve never read one of my books, it might be a strange journey at first. To avoid any misconceptions, let me tell you exactly what I write:</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Thrillers</span></b>/Modern-day <b><span style="color: blue;">adventure stories</span></b>/<b><span style="color: blue;">Science fiction</span></b> with some near future speculation<b>/<span style="color: blue;">Mysteries</span></b> . . .</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">. . . that often blend in <b><span style="color: blue;">historical</span></b> or <b><span style="color: blue;">mythological</span></b> components . . . </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">. . . and include a <b><span style="color: blue;">romantic subplot</span></b> more often than not.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">And how I write:<b> <span style="color: blue;">Fast-paced, over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek</span></b> (but in a fluid way ;))</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">If this type of story interests you, then follow the links below. I have every intention of publishing the next thriller, Sinkhole, in the near future—eight years and three middle grade time travel adventures later. Sinkhole is also kid-friendly, but not a children’s book. </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077Q3O9E/ref=kinw_clar_choose1">Kindle</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Ice-Tomb-Second-Edition/book-bGYcxRDvJk2Ku17Y9FoO0w/page1.html">Kobo </a><br />
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<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ice-tomb-second-edition-deborah-jackson/1108337083?ean=2940032976608&itm=1&usri=ice+tomb%2c+second+edition">Nook </a><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Smashwords</a><span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">If you have an iPad or iPhone, Smashwords sells copies in every format. You can also get the Kindle app for free on these devices.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Please feel free to ask me about my journey. Believe me, life is never what you expect, particularly in the writing world.</span></div>
Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-82596228653280374322012-01-04T08:25:00.000-08:002012-01-04T08:34:15.346-08:00Lost in Translation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9U7BcBx27b1AnyuyuWFkbHeaRxUXztAKMZWOS9Ih1q0BNJWoCftszq6OGRbB2wBCoaHFl97_6NPe9-3_8jW9GCHg2-jDvTNydRVAaPDxiYTxcth7YZcUIVFdEnhKjpjeOdG_/s1600/Girl-with-the-Dragon-Tattoo-Movie-Poster-Swedish-Version.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX9U7BcBx27b1AnyuyuWFkbHeaRxUXztAKMZWOS9Ih1q0BNJWoCftszq6OGRbB2wBCoaHFl97_6NPe9-3_8jW9GCHg2-jDvTNydRVAaPDxiYTxcth7YZcUIVFdEnhKjpjeOdG_/s320/Girl-with-the-Dragon-Tattoo-Movie-Poster-Swedish-Version.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: black;">I suppose it was a couple of years ago when I was confronted with another dilemma: <span style="color: #cc0000;">To read or not to read</span><strong> </strong>and simply watch the movie. If you haven’t noticed yet, from previous blogs, my house is virtually bursting at the seams with books, not only read, savoured and hoarded, but stacks on my “to read” list as well. When word finally reached my less-than-attuned ears that Stieg Larsson’s books were worth a read, I was already knee-deep in kidlit and YA and opted to rent the Swedish subtitled versions of the movies instead.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Being the lovely (North) Americanized “please spoon-feed me” type of person, I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about reading my movie. Don’t get me wrong, I adore reading, but when it comes to movies I like to “experience” them visually, with the necessary auditory component that doesn’t require distraction through reading – just like I don’t like to watch my books. I believe the iPad may have something to say about that in the future, though.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I was fully prepared to be annoyed.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">But that didn’t happen. First of all, I know a little Dutch, and Swedish has some similarities. Secondly, I didn’t mind reading the subtitles, because the story was so engaging and the acting phenomenal. And the message was all too clear.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Last week, a friend mentioned on Facebook she was reading <em><strong>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</strong></em> and the English translation left much to be desired. Another FB entity chimed in and mentioned he’d recently watched the English version of the movie and found it filled with graphic and “pointless” violence.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Pointless violence?</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><em>How much has been lost in translation</em>, I wondered?</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I clearly understood through the Swedish movies that <span style="color: #cc0000;">violence is the point</span>, “violence against women.” Perhaps this would have been crystal if the original title hadn’t been changed from <i><strong><span style="color: #cc0000;">Män som hatar kvinnor</span> </strong>-<strong> </strong></i>“<span style="color: #cc0000;">Men Who Hate Women</span>.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Lisbeth Salander was, to me, the embodiment of “women finally striking back,” wielding power over abusive men for so many women who are defenseless. I’ve seen the results of rape and abuse, although I’ve been lucky not to have been touched by it personally. Most women are psychologically afflicted and often incapable of leading a normal life, let alone striking back. Lisbeth was never a realistic character to me, but she was <span style="color: #cc0000;">the personification of hope and retribution</span> for these women.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I fail to see how this wasn’t clear in the English movie. I wonder if sloppy translation made it less than obvious in the books. But I found it disturbing that people didn’t understand Stieg Larsson.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I later learned why he wrote the books. It was to atone for the guilt he felt over witnessing a gang rape years ago and doing nothing to help the girl. The story is more than the character and plot. The story is the author and the girl.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Sometimes a fiction story is simply a moment’s entertainment in our lives. Sometimes, it’s a great deal more. (And should never be linked to a </span><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/45491909/Retailer_Seeks_Hit_With_Dragon_Tattoo_Clothing_Line"><span style="color: black;">clothing line</span></a><span style="color: black;">.)</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Please, let’s translate it correctly.</span>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21118803.post-8145622652457411812011-12-15T11:41:00.000-08:002012-05-13T16:16:27.534-07:00How I Came to Love Twitter<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5tvgJJRA4S4_FbhkATrdYt1kcLyQ8HcNH9usXyQAIpx8YZkjq-3kSH0OOKGuusJ2SGwhhDjOkonki7XNhyphenhyphenAXNPyXZQKeXq5FXk452YxMTC1pIpiuUrMIbiClnjVA940oP4yH/s1600/Twitter+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5tvgJJRA4S4_FbhkATrdYt1kcLyQ8HcNH9usXyQAIpx8YZkjq-3kSH0OOKGuusJ2SGwhhDjOkonki7XNhyphenhyphenAXNPyXZQKeXq5FXk452YxMTC1pIpiuUrMIbiClnjVA940oP4yH/s1600/Twitter+logo.png" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: black;">It was unexpected. It began as a chore.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">You must promote! As a writer you’re hammered with this notion incessantly, even though you despise self-promotion. At least I do. I write because I can’t imagine not writing, but once the book is published, all the other tasks that accompany it are tedious. And in the back of my mind, I think I’ll never measure up to the literary geniuses, so how can I promote myself? </span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Despite my distaste, I gritted my teeth and I joined.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Over a period of time the duty became a joyful experience, one I rush toward every morning and at various hours during the day.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The joy began when I realized that </span><span style="color: blue;">Twitter was more than a vehicle for sales. In fact it was the quite the opposite.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">A universe opened up to me – a universe of information at my fingertips, breathtaking photographs and art, <span style="color: blue;">but above all people</span>. These people had incredible insight, generosity and gift of the gab – in 140 characters or less. Immediately I realized that I would not self-promote, but I would take in and I would give back. When I began to do that, friendships developed – extraordinary friendships over vast distances that could never be bridged except in the cyber world.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Twitter emerged as something quite different from Facebook – more than “I know you from somewhere, so let’s connect.” Instead <span style="color: blue;">the connection occurred</span> <span style="color: blue;">because of shared interests and passion</span>, the way we sometimes make lifelong friends at conferences. For me it wasn’t just writerly people, but those interested in science, photography, art, archaeology – other passions of mine. It opened up an astounding world of fascinating, comical and complex human beings.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Another thing occurred to me as I observed and explored this strange and wonderful network.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Twitter was another manner of writing. <span style="color: blue;">A vehicle of expression</span>, albeit a raw, ragged, sloppy one, minus the rewrites and editing. I could play around with language, something I love to do. Usually I express my thoughts, through characters and situations, of course, in 90,000 words. It’s a long, very self-involved process which I call “creative mode.” The purpose of writing is often personal – to transfer what the author is passionate about into a comprehensive tale while exploring various characters - weaving mulicoloured patterns into the tapestry, then trying on different outfits and diving through the mesh - but there’s also that desire to connect with readers. The problem with novel writing is that, for so many years, the author has been distanced from the reader.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;">Twitter allows you to connect directly</span>. You can’t tell a tale, but you can inject personality and, because you’re constrained by the number of characters, it forces you to become creative.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I love the hashtag. Not to promote an idea or subject across the Twitterverse, but to add a splash of humour or contradict my own statement. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s me.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">I like to comment on scientific discoveries or photographic enticements or rocks. Yes, rocks! But most of all, I like to smile, wink or chuckle with Twitterpals.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">If you’re into Twitter simply to sell something, then I think you’ll become disillusioned rather quickly. Nobody wants to hear a sales pitch. But most people, if you really listen, have something valuable to say. And <span style="color: blue;">if you’re willing to give of yourself</span>, your return will be more than you imagined.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">If you smile at someone and they smile back at you, it’s worth more than all the gold in the ground.</span>Deborah Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14865815181595465515noreply@blogger.com3