Friday, September 20, 2024

The Pope said you should read my books.

Maybe.

Of course we all know the Pope has never heard of me or my books.  But when I first heard that he released a letter encouraging everyone to read more literature,  I thought it could be fun to write something pretending* the Bishop of Rome indirectly endorsed my work.  Studying his letter made me want to define some terms.

Fiction – Anything that is made up.  You know that disclaimer at the beginning of a book that tells you it’s the “product of the author’s imagination?”  That means it’s fiction.

Novel – A work of fiction long enough that it cannot or should not** be finished in one sitting and that is written for the primary purpose of entertainment.

Literature – A written work someone reads because he or she feels it is important.  Examples of good reasons to deem something important include wanting a good grade, to learn about a foreign or past culture, to exercise spiritual growth, and to understand how to rewire something without electrocuting oneself.  Examples of bad reasons to deem something important include wanting to feel superior to those who haven’t read it, when people you don’t know or respect have said it’s important, and wanting to laugh at how someone else is putting something together without actually helping that person do it correctly.

Reading – Enjoying a work of fiction or literature; they are not mutually exclusive.

Reading – Processing the words of fiction or literature.  There is a difference between reading for pleasure and reading for knowledge.  We should really call the latter studying.  You study a work when you approach it as important literature, which could end up having a positive or negative effect.  People regularly sit down to read something they end up studying or otherwise not enjoying.  Conversely, people can end up reading something they intended to simply study.  This is an example of unexpected joy. 

The Pope’s letter confused me by using the first three and last two terms interchangeably.   A line from his letter states, “There is nothing more counterproductive than reading something out of a sense of duty, making considerable effort simply because others have said it is essential.”  There are good reasons to make the effort to read (as in study) a work, but entertainment is the only reason to read.  He also says that, “Literature is often considered merely a form of entertainment…”

And now I need to add a few more definitions.

Entertainment – Rest for the brain, an essential part of a healthy physical, mental, and spiritual life.  There is nothing merely about it. 

This Post – What happens when I try to write something entertaining when I’m cranky. 

Cranky – A state of being brought on by other people not thinking exactly the super weird way you think.

Super Weird – Actually totally normal now that I’ve explained it.

Entertainment is important.  Therefore, a novel is literature to anyone who finds it entertaining.  But if you read one of my books only because the Pope said to read literature, then that will be counterproductive to entertainment.  Unless it becomes an example of an unexpected joy, and that is something we should all try to find.  Now who’s cranky?*** 

 

* Because I write novels, not literature.

** Because people need to eat and sleep, and if you read 300 pages in two hours you’ve probably missed something, like the point of slowing down to read.

*** No one.  We’re all super weird together.

Saturday, August 10, 2024

Even the Hard Part was Fun

I had a ridiculous amount of fun creating stories and puzzles for the new series I’m launching this week.  Yeah, my escape room romance mashup is now a series.  That’s how much fun I had.  My playtesters pointed out lots of things I needed to improve or clarify, and it was intriguing to see how things I thought were obvious were interpreted differently by different people.  I greatly appreciated the feedback.  I appreciated a lot less the “help” I got from Word when I tried to turn everything into a nice, neat book.  This is a brief excerpt of a conversation that went on for several days.

Me: Why is it not an option to put page numbers on the outside of mirror margins?  I know I’ve done that before.

Word: That is so last version.  We do odd and even footers now.  It totally gives you more options, and therefore power.

Me: I don’t want power.  I want simplicity.  And now that I did the odd/even thing, there’s a page number on this page where I already removed the page number.  What happened?

Word: I relinked it to the next section when you changed the alignment in that section.  Isn’t that what you wanted?

Me: No!  I turned that off.  Are you ignoring my power?  Why is link to previous even the default?  Why would I make a new section if I wanted it to be the same?

Word: I moved an object in one of your puzzles two inches to the right.  I know it’s not connected in any way to the page numbers, and now it no longer lines up with the rest of the puzzle.  I think you wanted me to do that.

Me: Why? 

Word: Did you notice the arrow?  When you clicked save, I guessed you were telling me you wanted that arrow to point at something else.

Me: Don’t make me reach through the screen and pull you out of my computer.

Word: I relinked sections four – seven again.  Also, I know you said to apply the margins to the whole document, but you need to tell me that for all eleven sections or I don’t think you mean it.

Me: What does whole document mean to you?

Word: I just added a blank page somewhere in this document.  It won’t show up until you turn it into a pdf.

Me: Why did you do that?

Word: It’s fun.  Everyone likes surprises.

Me: There are four blank pages.  And somehow only one of them is included in the page numbering.  This is not a good surprise.  What did you do?

Word: I moved that arrow for you again.

Me: I’m going to ignore that until I get these page numbers chronological.  Then we’re going to talk about how you keep moving stuff for no reason.

Word: I can’t handle all this negativity.  <crash>

Friday, July 19, 2024

Study Guide

 I’m about to give everyone a third very good reason to read or reread the Love in Andauk series. 

If you haven’t noticed, the first ebook in that series, Everything Old, is currently free.  It’s also free if it’s already on your bookshelf.  That’s a great deal, and the first reason.  The second reason is the More Love in Anduak series currently in the works.  Though this series is standalone, being familiar with some of the people who show up as minor characters can only make it better.

This exclusive study guide will be reason number three.  No, I’m not calling it exclusive to sound cool.  It is only available here on the internet.  The characters in these books meet to discuss serious faith and life issues and occasionally veer onto more entertaining sidetracks.  The following questions are pulled from and/or inspired by those discussions.  They can be fodder for you and your friends when your book club meets to talk about all the things you loved (and maybe that one thing you didn’t love) about Everything Old, Into the Fire, By Its Cover, and What Goes Around.

1) St. John Vianny is said to have heard Confessions up to 16 hours a day.  What is one thing you’d be willing to do for 16 hours just one day?  You are not allowed to say sleep unless you are less than six months old.

2) One character liked a picture of a Saint depicted with a giant eagle shielding him from a thunderstorm because he never lets bad weather keep him from jogging.  How could a giant eagle be useful in your life, other than for pretending to be Gandalf?

3) Some Saints have fairly outrageous legends attached to them.  Characters discuss some moral truths that are still present in those stories even when the details may have been embellished.  Is there a story from your life (or perhaps a family member’s) that has been exaggerated over time into something of a legend?

4) How Sacramentals are different from superstitions was discussed at one meeting.  If you invented a superstition, just for fun, what would you say is bad luck?

5) Characters joked about how to handle a vision from God regarding a future spouse if that person hadn’t seen the same vision.  If God sent you a vision, what would spark your sense of humor?

6) Can you name a difficult or simply mundane task that could be made joyful by remembering how it serves God?  Can you name an already joyful task that could be made more joyful?

7) There is some discussion of detachment and greed.  Are there any material goods you don’t understand why anyone wants in the first place?

8) Which book in the series is your favorite?  I don’t remember what page that was on, but I’m pretty sure someone said something about that.