FRIDAY FIVE: Favorite Re-Reads

I have a huge to-be-read pile because I get books at a faster rate than I read them, and yet I still manage to make time to re-read my favorites--whether it's to cheer myself up or just because it's a rainy day. Here are some of my favorites. All of the summaries are from Goodreads.

I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
Through six turbulent months of 1934, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain keeps a journal, filling three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries about her home, a ruined Suffolk castle, and her eccentric and penniless family. By the time the last diary shuts, there have been great changes in the Mortmain household, not the least of which is that Cassandra is deeply, hopelessly, in love.

This isn't the happiest of re-reads, but it's so poignant and warm and Cassandra is intensely relatable. I had two copies until a few months ago when I gave one away, and the one I still have has underlines all over the place. It's perfect for rainy days wrapped in a blanket with a very large mug of tea at my side.

Persuasion, Jane Austen
At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortunenor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen's last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all,it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

I love Pride and Prejudice as much as the next English major, but Persuasion is my favorite Austen, which is odd, considering I don't often enjoy romances about couples re-meeting. Maybe it's because I relate to Anne Elliot more easily than Elizabeth Bennet (although I fiercely admire Lizzy), but part of the appeal is definitely the steadfastness of Anne's love as well as the slow burn of Wentworth fighting and then acknowledging his feelings. Plus that letter at the end. "You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope." How could I not love that?

The Buccaneers, Edith Wharton
Nan and Jinny St George have both wealth and beauty in generous supply. In the New York society of the 1870s, however, only those with old money can achieve the status of the elite, and it is here that the sisters seem doomed to failure.

Nan's new governess, Laura Testvalley, herself an outsider, takes pity on their plight and launches them instead on the unsuspecting British aristocracy. Lords, dukes, marquesses and MPs, it seems, not only appreciate beauty, but also the money that New York's nouveaux riches can supply.

A love story of love and marriage among the old and new moneyed classes, The Buccaneers is a delicately perceptive portrayal of a world on the brink of change.

Edith Wharton's last novel (left unfinished, but finished by Marion Mainwaring) is as delightful as any novel of manners but with the added poignancy of the friendship between Nan and Laura, based on Wharton's own relationship with her governess. The ending is achingly bittersweet, and through every re-read, Nan St. George remains one of my favorite protagonists.

The Queen of Attolia, Megan Whalen Turner
Revenge
When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered...she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.

...but
Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times.

...at what price?
When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph, and his greatest loss, comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago...

Meghan Whalen Turner's entire series is wonderful (and I'm dying for the fifth installment already), but the second book remains my favorite. The characters are memorable, and the fantasy world is imaginative and full of gods, but believable. For such a short, quick read, the relationship between Gen and the queen of Attolia is amazingly nuanced and touching.

The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Orczy
It is 1792 and France is in the grip of a seething, bloody revolution. Mobs roam the Paris streets hunting down royalists, barricades block any chance of escape, and every day hundreds die under the blade of Madame la Guillotine. But in the hearts of the condemned nobility there remains one last vestige of hope: rescue by the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel. Renowned for both his unparalleled bravery and his clever disguises, the Pimpernel’s identity remains as much a mystery to his sworn enemy, the ruthless French agent Chauvelin, as to his devoted admirer, the beautiful Lady Marguerite Blakeney.

First published in 1905, The Scarlet Pimpernel is an irresistible novel of love, gallantry, and swashbuckling adventure.

The Scarlet Pimpernel was the original masked vigilante, and this book is just a ton of fun. What makes it work so well, though, is the relationship between Percy and Marguerite and their journey from distrust and outright dislike back to love. I'm dying to write a modern/alternate-history update of it.

FRIDAY FIVE: Summer Sci-Fi

Although I'm more of an autumn person, there are a ton of things I love about summer--sunshine, storms, ice-cold lemonade, fireflies, reading in a hammock. Plus all the science-fiction television shows that come around. I read a lot of fantasy, but I tend to watch more sci-fi. Maybe it’s because sci-fi shows are easier to find. Maybe I haven't been reading the right sci-fi. Whatever the reason, one of my favorite things about speculative fiction in general and science fiction in particular is that a lot of it remains grounded in humanity. Even though the settings and plots are outlandish, the characters and relationships are ones we recognize and connect with. This summer, my favorite new spec-fic shows were Fox's Wayward Pines and AMC's Humans. In honor of the summer sci-fi tradition, here are some of my all-time favorites.

The 100

This is a gem of a show. I discovered season one on Netflix halfway through the airing of season two and scrambled to catch up. It starts a bit slowly, but once it gets rolling, boy, does it get rolling! 97 years after a worldwide nuclear war, the last of the human race survives on a giant space station called the Ark. Air is running out faster than they thought, and they send 100 underage delinquents down to Earth to see if it's habitable. The kids face threats from each other, nature, and Grounders, the humans who managed to survive on the surface for nearly a century.Along the way, the show asks big questions, like what it means to be human and whether they can hold onto their humanity while fighting for their survival.

That girl in the middle up above is Clarke Griffin. Even though this is an ensemble show, she's the main protagonist, and she's awesome. She's smart, bossy, courageous, and an all-around badass. Her season two arc, in which she takes on the burden of protecting her people and fully realizes the consequences of it, is exceptionally complex and heartbreaking. The rest of the main crew--Octavia, Raven, Bellamy, Lincoln, Lexa, and more--is just as compelling. In a show with no black-and-white morals and no true "heroes," it's easy to root for nearly everyone (with the exception of the Wallaces, of course).

Orphan Black

Orphan Black's opening scene is one of my favorites of any TV show. Sarah Manning gets off a subway at night, makes a phone that does not go well, and then hangs up and sees a woman taking her shoes off and setting down her purse. The woman turns and looks exactly like Sarah. Then she jumps onto the track. Talk about a hook!

The first two episodes are chock-full of suspense as quick-thinking small-time grifter Sarah snags the woman's purse and takes over her identity. Until she finds out that, rather than having a long-lost twin sister, she's in fact part of an illegal cloning experiment. Then the story gets kicked into high gear, and we're introduced to Alison, Cosima, Rachel, Helena, and others, all played by the superb Tatiana Maslany. It's about women joining together to take ownership of their bodies and lives, and it's great to see a show with an ensemble cast that's mostly women (even if it's all the same woman), all distinctive and interesting in their own right. Solid all around, the show's at its best when it gives in to dark comedy.

Battlestar Galactica

I've told this story a bunch, but I'm going to tell it again. I took a class in undergrad on Renaissance drama at the same time the last season of this show was airing. Every Monday before class, my teacher, a classmate, and I would discuss Friday's episode. And then she'd find away to talk about it in class and relate it to the Renaissance plays we were reading. The lesson I walked away from that class with was: stories last because, despite their period trappings, they're about human beings. The space trappings are wonderfully designed, and the characters will all have you rooting for them in different ways, but BSG's greatest strength, like The 100's, is in raising the question of what it means to be human.

Fringe

This is such a wacky and engaging show. It centers on Olivia Dunham, an FBI agent who is drawn into the Fringe Science division following a biological incident on an airplane. She enlists the help of Dr. Walter Bishop but needs his son, Peter, to act as a handler of sorts as they solve cases. The mythology deepens and the story arcs become longer as the seasons go on, culminating in a shorter fifth and final one that revolves around the Bishop/Dunham family and their fight for their future. Throughout the many imaginative developments, such as parallel universes and alternate timelines, the relationship between Olivia and Peter anchors the story.

 

Chuck

Definitely the most lighthearted show on this list, Chuck is about a regular guy who works as a Nerd Herder computer repair guy at Buy More until his ex-best friend sends him an email that downloads a government super computer into his brain. Enter NSA agent John Casey and CIA agent Sarah Walker, sent to protect him until they can get the secrets out. It's an outlandish premise but one that works because of the strength of the characters. Chuck and Sarah's will-they-won't-they relationship is the heart of the show, and Chuck's lovable family--sister Ellie, brother-in-law Devon, and best friend Morgan (who takes a little while to grow on you)--round out an endearing cast.

Year-Long Challenge

I meant to get this up a couple weeks ago on my birthday, but I was busy with last-minute school responsibilities and then my laptop died. But July 1st is as good a day to post this. I put together a list of professional, personal, and academic goals to work on over the next year. I might add or change things as I go, but I'm going to try to get as many done as I can. I'll update when I can strike things off the list.

Professional

01. Finish train short story

02. Finish mermaid short story

03. Finish wedding short story

04. Finish monster short story

05. Finish superhero short story

06. Finish millennia short story

07. Finish flat tire short story

08. Write a dragon short story

09. Finish bed and breakfast UF novel

10. Start/participate in a group blog

11. Finish ballet novella

12. Outline time travel adventure

13. Outline a superhero novel

14. Write a rough draft of a superhero novel

15. Attend a convention

16. Write an hour-long podcast drama

17. Write an hour-long movie or web series (twelve five-minute installments)

18. Query agents

19. Submit at least two short stories for publication

20. Write ten poems

Personal

01. Dye my hair

02. Get another ear piercing

03. Organize my CD collection

04. Eat healthier

05. Exercise regularly (four-five times per week)

06. Complete one full month of Hip Hops Abs

07. Complete full Hip Hop Abs program

08. Complete one full month of Insanity

09. Complete full Insanity program

10. Build a little free library

11. Build a piece of furniture

12. Build that model rocket I’ve had lying around for a year

13. Go to a baseball game in a stadium I haven’t been to yet (six out of thirty)

14. Learn a new song on the piano

15. Learn a new song on the guitar

16. Learn how to use my Traveler 120 and take lots of photos

17. Take lots of photos in general

18. Learn karate or boxing

19. Join a rowing team

10. Build a terrarium

21. Join a softball team

22. Reach my 10,000-step Fitbit goal every day for a week

Academic

01. Start learning Latin

02. Refresh on Polish or Russian

03. Write an article on genre fiction/heroines to submit to the Journal of Popular Culture

04. Study for and take the GREs

05. Apply to doctoral programs

Excerpt--TOR MADDOX 3: MISTAKEN

TOR MADDOX 3: MISTAKEN

Eight leotards and a ball gown—that’s what Tor Maddox packed for her summer ballet intensive in New York. Pity she never arrived. Kidnapped once by the good guys and once by the bad ones, Tor finds herself involved in a high seas adventure featuring princesses and pirates, a wedding ring, and the guy she thought she’d never be allowed to see again, junior man-in-black Rick Turner.

Tor’s employee ID promises “Your Fantasy Starts Here.” It couldn’t be more mistaken.

Grab a flotation device and welcome aboard for more shenanigans, villainy, and romance.

An Excerpt From MISTAKEN:

 

I sank into the soft embrace of twenty-four inches of buttery, gray leather. The first class cabin was everything I’d ever dreamed. Before we even buckled, the flight attendant Jock handed me a blanket—and not one of those thin-as-a-T-shirt disposable ones from the normal people section—a real blanket.

Rick passed him the Starbucks cup he was clutching. “Can you please warm her coffee?”

“Sure thing, honey,” Jock replied. “Back in a flash.”

“Honey.” I giggled as I elbow-nudged him. “I think he meant you.”

Rick eye-locked me, his Mediterranean-blue to my plain old brown. “I know,” he whispered. “Jealous?” Amusement danced in his gaze. He was himself again.

With our heads pillowed on the dovewing leather, eyes communicating on some other level, I felt a rush of premonition, like years from now we’d be lying on a bed together backflashing this moment. I smiled at him with lips that remembered a thousand kisses that hadn’t happened yet.

Rick smiled back. “Torrance Olivia Maddox, what is going on in there?” He knuckled my forehead gently. “I’d give a million pennies for that thought.”

“Do you have a million pennies?” I honestly didn’t mean for my voice to come out as husky as it did. I knew I shouldn’t be encouraging this.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” he teased. “Can I get an answer on credit?”

“No way.” I shook my head coyly. A cocoon of intimacy spread over us like a blanket fort. Hmm. File that idea for later, much. I cozied in closer.

And then our private walls were breached with a cheerful, “Here y’are. One warm latte for the lady. And for you, sir? A complimentary cocktail before late dinner? Wine? Beer?”

“Just a ginger ale, please,” Rick replied.

As Jock moved on to row seven, I whispered, “You could have. He thought you were old enough.”

Rick raised an eyebrow. “I am.”

“Oh. You had a birthday.”

Somehow that broke the spell. It shouldn’t have bothered me, but honestly, it did. Not that he was old enough to drink, or that technically I was more than four years away from legality myself. However, this marker of maturity was more than symbolic. The time gulf couldn’t have been made plainer.

Mind the Gap, as they say on the London subways, or you’ll injure yourself, and don’t hold us responsible. We told you it was there.

What was I doing? How could I replace a real, trained agent? Was I recruited for this job only because Rick missed me? I couldn’t crush the more-than-a-smidge of doubt that this could be a huge mistake.

We weren’t just at different stations on the track of life, we were in completely different trains, chasing each other through dark tunnels. Foreboding seized my heart. Until further notice, our occasional meetings would only be collisions, with screeching brakes, shredded metal, personal injuries, and disastrous consequences.

Pre-order MISTAKEN, and visit Liz's Amazon author page.

About the Author 

 

Liz Coley’s internationally best-selling psychological thriller Pretty Girl-13 has been published in 12 languages on 5 continents and been recognized by the American Library Association on two select lists for 2014 including Best Fiction for Young Adults.

Liz’s other publications include alternate history/time travel/romance Out of Xibalba and teen thrillers in the new Tor Maddox series. Her short fiction has appeared in Cosmos Magazine and numerous anthologies.

Liz invites you to follow her as LizColeyBooks on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Facebook, and visit her website at LizColey.com.

Photos - St. Peter's

I've been trying to get back into photography, although I haven't yet been able to drag out my camera or fix up the one my grandma gave me a few months ago. Last weekend, I visited the historical church of St. Peter, which was built in 1845 on the site of the first mass ever held in Pennsylvania. I love going to historical sites because I generally come away with either an idea for a story or a cool place for a setting.

 

 

the view from the choir loft

  The stairs leading up to the loft. They're built clockwise so defenders at the top can fight with their right hands and attackers ascending are forced to use their left.

the cemetery overlooks the town

COVER REVEAL: Tor Maddox: Unleashed by Liz Coley

INTRODUCING

Tor Maddox, a heroine for our times

“I know that one day, I’m going to have to live in the real world. I’d like it to be a decent one.” - Tor

Book I Tor Maddox: Unleashed

When sixteen-year old Torrance Olivia Maddox, self-confessed news junkie, figures out that the mysterious and deadly New Flu is being spread by dogs, she has one question—if the danger is that obvious to her, why hasn’t the government revealed the truth and taken action?

Her search for the answer will take her farther than she ever imagined. But then again, she never imagined that man’s best friend could become public enemy number one, that men in black might show up in her cozy suburban neighborhood, that she’d spend her sixteenth birthday as a teenaged runaway, and that her effort to save one dog would become a mission to save them all.

About the Author

Liz Coley has been writing long and short fiction for teens and adults for more than ten years. Her short fiction has appeared in Cosmos Magazine and several speculative fiction anthologies: The Last Man, More Scary Kisses, Strange Worlds, Flights of Fiction and Winter's Regret.

In 2013, psychological thriller Pretty Girl-13 was released by HarperCollins in the US and UK. Foreign translations have been published in French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian, Czech, Slovakian, and Chinese (simplified and traditional).

Her independent publications include alternate history/time travel/romance Out of Xibalba and teen thrillers in the new Tor Maddox series.

Liz lives in Ohio, where she is surrounded by a fantastic community of writers, beaten regularly by better tennis players, uplifted by her choir, supported by her husband, teased by her teenaged daughter, cheered from afar by her two older sons, and adorned with hair by her cats Tiger, Pippin, and Merry.

Liz invites you to follow her as LizColeyBooks on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and visit her website at LizColeyBooks.blogspot.com.

National Poetry Month

Happy National Poetry Month! In honor of NPM, I’m sharing a poem from one of my favorite authors, Edna St. Vincent Millay. I chose it because of its very appropriate title and subject matter.

Northern April

O mind, beset by music never for a moment quiet, —

The wind at the flue, the wind strumming the shutter;

The soft, antiphonal speech of the doubled brook, never for a moment quiet;

The rush of the rain against the glass, his voice in the eaves-gutter!

Where shall I lay you to sleep, and the robins be quiet?

Lay you to sleep — and the frogs be silent in the marsh?

Crashes the sleet from the bough and the bough sighs upward, never for a moment quiet.

April is upon us, pitiless and young and harsh.

O April, full of blood, full of breath, have pity upon us!

Pale, where the winter like a stone has been lifted away, we emerge like yellow grass.

Be for a moment quiet, buffet us not, have pity upon us,

Till the green come back into the vein, till the giddiness pass.

Read more about Edna St. Vincent Millay and about National Poetry Month.

When I was in the Peace Corps, I took a lot of walks, especially in the summer. My village was pretty tiny, and I often ended up at the rechka (little river). I’d sit on the bank, take the little black notebook out of my back pocket, and jot down some verse. There’s nothing like writing out among nature.

The view from the bank of the stream

Since I’ve been in my MFA program, though, I haven’t written much poetry. However, I wanted to include a theme of oral history in my novel, so I’ve been able to incorporate some poems and songs. Most are unfinished “extracts,” but here’s a sample that I wrote after one of my classmates convinced me to try a sonnet.

In fields of gold the chosen heartfriend lies.

The sun burns bright behind his closéd eyes.

An answer to the queen he soon must give

Of how or not together they will live.

But fear can be a mistress strong and cruel

Who lives to make of all men wretched fools.

And so the heartfriend waits for words divine

To clarify the way his path will wind.

The queen looks down upon her chosen one.

“We’ll carve upon our hearts each other’s truth.

As one, not two, we’ll fly into the sun

And in the flames discover what we’re worth.

So take my hand. As two together bloom,

In heav’nly fire our souls will be consumed.

This has been good for me because it’s helped me get back into the rhythm of poetry, but it lets me stretch those writing muscles without being bound to writing a full poem. Because I can fit these into the context of the story, I can get away with just writing snippets—besides the above poem, of course. I hope to get back to writing poetry once I graduate even though I don’t have a stream on whose banks I can bask in the sunlight and ponder, through verse, the meaning of life and whether steppe cats are as big as my fellow volunteers said they were.