Published material at: Written stories as starwind: [Go!]
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Welcome to my shelf, wanderer! (lest ye be a minion of Satan or a large talking stalk of asparagus, that is) Have yourself a comfortable seat and please, don't leave too soon! In case you want to know more before trusting your imagination to me for a few long minutes, you may consider this:
I am a Christian, and my literary mentors are J.R.R. Tolkien (naturally), C.S. Lewis (supernaturally), and the fantastic-but-woefully-obscure Rosemary Sutcliff (she's just super). I also won't deny my debt to Brian Jacques' Redwall series.
My posted works are categorized as such:
Independent "vignettes" or scenes give you a sense of some characters and plotlines that continue beyond. May or may not be continued: A Not-So Soft Moonlit Night -- Extract from the Memoirs of Jesse Berlin --Lord of the Desert Storm
Complete short stories: The Twilight's Warden -- The Young Foxes -- Sea Far and Wide -- Berries in the Snow
Poems: "An Unwise Bargain" -- "Beyond the Seas" -- "The Fay at Brightwater Cascades."
Comments are the donuts in my coffee, the sprinkles on my cupcake, the pomodoro-alfredo sauce on my fettucine-- in short, they are what make me happy about Elfwood. Each comment will get a reply, unless I've already replied to you elsewhere and have nothing more to say. I also promise to at least visit your main page, and will certainly leave comments of my own if I get around to reading your stuff. Note, however, that I will delete or edit any comments that use profanity or gratuitously vulgar language at my discretion, whether they are used against someone/thing or are just there to "spice up" your language.
I strive to entertain, but have lately wondered if such a purpose must be mingled with something greater if it deserves any lifelong attention. The purpose of writing is not necessarily to write what no one has ever read before, but to present any given story in a way that deepens our knowledge and appreciation of "Life, the Universe, and Everything" (to borrow a convenient phrase from Douglas Adams) - including, of course, the mysteries of human nature, imagination, and the soul. In other words, it is to shed light on something that was dark. To merely be provocative without building others up in some way seems to me utterly pointless and ultimately destructive. I write what I want to read, and I hope to make myself an instrument through which God may work His own creativity.
"Fairy-stories were plainly not primarily concerned with possibility, but with desirability. If they awakened desire, satisfying it while often whetting it unbearably, they succeeded."
- J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories."
"As through the hard rock go the branching silver veins; as into the solid land run the creeks and gulfs from the unresting sea; as the lights and influences of the upper worlds sink silently through the earth's atmosphere; so doth Faerie invade the world of men..."
- George MacDonald, Phantastes
And please let me introduce you to a new fantasy saga, The Birth of Terralax, authored by my good friend Blake Anderson. You can learn about his first tome, The Dragonheroes, here.
Oops! Forgot about this one. Must be losing me touch...
Keenan: I do feel pain, you know, and my flesh burns away, it just wouldn’t be fatal. Can’t say I’d like it, but then I doubt I’d like anything he’ll try to do to me, and unfortunately I’m not allowed to do anything back to him... not anything permanent, in any case...
He would be rather irritated when he realized he couldn’t kill you, and I’m not sure how he’d react, since he’s never run into that before. But none of my characters are allowed to physically attack any other character outside a story-thing, unless I make a specific exception.
Anne: not being evil anymore is a hard life, isn’t it, kiddo.
Keenan: *stretches arms* certainly more limiting. *to David with a grin* I only antagonize him because he’s so blindingly arrogant. besides, he insulted my Lady, and that I can’t let go. I might admire him if I didn’t have my perspective on what that kind of bloody single-mindedness creates.
But of course you must defend your Lady! That is one of the most honorable tasks out there, I say. And Laston admires himself enough that it’s okay if there are some who don’t. Make no mistake, he is a villain.
Anne: *rubs nose* He means Death. ...or the personification of Death from his universe. He’s basically her knight. I should probably add that she’s a pretty nice personification, all in all.
New take on a Death Knight, eh? Very interesting. I think my personification of Death changes depending on who is meeting it. I’ve only had such a meeting once, and it was definitely sweet and gentle, not the guise under which it would meet Laston -- if he ever does die.
Keenan: why do his men follow him if he leads them to their deaths?
Because it’s not certain that they go to their deaths, and they all would’ve been Lupin-dinner long ago were it not for him. Until the Lupin armies began their conquests, Laston had taken the Black Racon from being a loose, ragtag band of misfit mercenaries and outlaws into the most powerful and feared Clan on the continent (it’s a small, island continent, roughly the size of Greenland). And like I said earlier, he genuinely cares about them as his Clan, his brothers. They’ve proven their worth, and he’s sacrificed for them. His rule is based partially on their consent, and partially on their recognition that none of them could successfully challenge him. He’s not selfless, but he values them highly. The Clan has a pretty strong bond between all its members.
Anne: *amused* I see. *to David* what, no cyclops face to go with that evasion?
Touché! But remember, the plus sign doesn’t carry over in these comment boxes.
*nods* all very true. Kee’s story was/is all very organic/subconscious for me, but I can clearly see the themes of guilt/forgiveness and corruption/redemption as very powerful in it without my orchestrating anything. things that are important to the author will out through the work I suppose.
David Michael replies: "Yes, ’tis true. It happens when you start putting yourself into the characters, bit by bit, and then you see how they act, how they’re similar and different to you, and...well, it makes you think."
*muses* How can you get your comments so full without having to go somewhere else to reply?? David Michael replies: "You mean, how does it let me write so much in reply? I use Firefox as my browser. When I had Internet Explorer, it’d almost never work except for really small replies and comments, but Elfwood likes Firefox enough to let me just write on and on and on and on and on......"
Oh my gosh that is sooo cool!! How did you put your ’Hey’ next to my ’Hey David ’ ?? In-text html! It’s back to Elfwood at last! *cheers*
Wow.... David Michael replies: "Do you know how to do basic html tags? You put them around whatever you want to insert as your reply into the comment itself. Each tag must be in [brackets.] To change the color of the text (important to distinguish it from original comment), write COLOR=**** inside the first set of brackets, replacing asteriks with the color name in all lowercase. At the end of what you wrote, write /COLOR inside the end set of brackets. And voila!"
((moving yet another comment... O_o )) Shift and consolidate...
Keenan: *regarding Laston* I never said it didn’t. He thinks he’s mighty, though, and that’s a view that is always fun to pick at considering that, from the right perspective, even the mightiest of us are nothing more than specks... not every opinion I express is my own, though I usually have a reason to express it. Fair enough. I certainly don’t agree with Laston -- that’s part of why he’s fun for me to write! He gets awfully beat up throughout my story arc for him, and his ego is part of what keeps him alive. And keeps his men alive, too, which actually matters more to him than you might expect for a villain. He’s risked his life for them before, and they know it. If he weren’t so bad, he’d be downright heroic. *nods* like chocolate chip too.
Anne: me too!
Keenan: *twitches slightly and looks at Berlin* ...real sugar cookies don’t need icing.
Berlin: "Well then, sounds like I’ll have to try your real sugar cookies..."
Anne: don’t be a snob.
Keenan: anyway...
Anne: this class I am currently taking is overwhelming... David Michael replies: "What class is that? Is it the only one you’re taking at the moment? Sorry to hear it’s overwhelming. I’m still at the point where any kind of work in summer sounds like heresy. Of course, if you love it it ain’t exactly work..."
You deserved the thwack for taunting me about an interesting character that doesn’t have enough written about him. ^_~ Laston definitely has a lot of power behind him and seems very compelling. A really good antagonist is a horrible thing to waste. ^_~
blech. no one needs a more pronounced summer. It reached 110 here the other day and that with the humidity... it’s no wonder the south wasn’t highly populated before air conditioning. this is a bit more south than I am used to though. Tennessee, where I’m from... I wouldn’t trade it for any other place I’ve seen and I’ve been quite a few. the place breathes "Forest" and even in the places that have been cleared you can tell that the land still knows what it’s meant to be. If it got just a bit more snow in the winter I think I would feel it is perfect. *misses* I’ve never been to the west coast, though, which is a shame. I’ve been close, but not quite.
aye, well, I’m female and even I’ve been conditioned not to cry... I’ve gotten better, but I remember many an instance where I’ve been sitting on a couch with friends watching a film or something and having the only dry eyes in the room... it’s conspicuous and sometimes very embarrassing O_o the name Katie Melua sounds familiar, but I can’t place her. I am bad at matching artists with their music.
*nods* I just... I guess I want more substance to a good romance. Part of why I enjoy maybe one romance out of ten.
Don’t. even without being taken seriously they are both disturbing. >_< *nods* I’ve never been able to watch Braveheart all the way through because of violence... I’m a very visual person and things like that just... stick. same things with book imagery as my brain translates words vividly. I have to be careful what I read, though I can handle a little more in print sometimes than on film.
Keenan: well that’s something at least, though he’s obviously a psychopath. But then it takes one to know one I suppose. *winks* *to Berlin* indeed. well, I’ll be back later with cookies then... *wanders off*
Anne: research methods. the class is actually very good, as is the proff, but I have an eight to ten page paper due every wed and mon until the seventh on top of work and an internship... O_o All this, though, I do so that I may graduate in december and return to my beloved tennessee!
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