Book Review: Twin-Shadowed Knight

Vampire Hunter D Volume 13: Twin-Shadowed Knight Parts One And Two by Hideyuki Kikuchi


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In this installment, the vampire hunter is pitted against his doppleganger and, in the process, begins to uncover some of his past. I find it amusing that it took 13 volumes to actually learn something about D, but part of having the mystery is what keeps me wanting to read more.

I keep getting recommendations from people who see me reading this series, people who will say "hey, if you like that sort of thing, you should read the Twilight Series!" I haven't read the Twilight series, nor have I seen either of the movies, but I have to say that not all vampire books are the same. Vampire Hunter D belongs in the same catagory as Stephen King, in my opinion; it's closer to horror. There's no romance in it whatsoever, not in the classical sense, anyway.

I think one of the things I like most about this series is the melding of fantasy and science fiction. I really like dytopias; Revelations is my favorite book of the Bible. Lord of the Flies has been one of my favorite books since I was a child. Maybe that makes me a bit morbid, but hey, that's me. All I can do is patiently wait for the next volume, which hopefully hits shelves in March.

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Book Review: The Gunslinger

The Gunslinger: Revised and Expanded by Stephen King


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I can see why this series is so popular. Once again King gives us a great storyline that's delivered beautifully. I felt the book could have stood alone, but I'm also looking forward to the next installment, The Drawing of the Three...

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Forgive the Fugative

Once a week I visit one of the other foster care sites in my agency, just to touch base with workers and gather documents relevant to adoption. Right across the street is my local public library. Now, as my mother is a librarian, I've always loved to be in libraries, but this particular public branch plagued me for a little over 4 years. Every week when I went to do my site visit, I felt like a fugitive, sneaking by the guard tower. I had visions of searchlights suddenly focusing on me and a loud voice booming over a PA system: "Give us back our book or pay your fine!"

Simply put, I borrowed a book in 2005 which has sat on my bookshelf ever since. The local branch is a mere 10 minute walk from my house, and even less on the bus. But, I'm sad to say, none of that mattered much. I just let the book sit. I only received one call back in September 2005, but never heard from them since. So I decided to let it go. Now this isn't the first time I've "forgotten" to take back a library book. The last big incident was a children's book that had been borrowed in 1991 that I never took back and didn't show up at the library until 7 years later. The result of that incident was that the entire library record system crashed not 10 minutes before I got to the desk and they re-registered me instead of waiting for the system to come back online. Technical malfunction, or divine intervention? Either way, I knew I was one lucky girl, especially since I overheard a guy in front of me having to pay $85 in fines.

So, I let it go this time, as well. Until 2o10, that is. I mean, I was going on 5 years that I had not been to a public library and it was getting to be ridiculous. This still feels like a recession, whatever Wall Street says, and I just can't afford to buy every book I want to read. So, I gathered my courage and went to the library at the end of one of my visits. I walked up to the desk and told the man behind the counter in an oh-so-innocent voice that I had lost my card (not a lie) and was wondering if I could get a new one. It took 3 or 4 minutes for him to look up my account, but finally he did.

"You have a fine on your account," he said. I inwardly sighed and realized I was not going to get out of this by any technical malfunction.

"I see. How much?"

"$28.00".

Okay. So 28 isn't half as bad as 85. I was actually quite relieved when he quoted me my fine. $28 is a lot of money to be wasted on an overdue book, but I paid it anyway and felt relieved. And I was able to borrow books right away! Let's just try to get these back on time..

Left Behind....

It occured to me while thinking of famous stories of journies that there are forgotten characters, or those "left behind". There is always the hero in these stories who is on a journey of either a personal or epic nature, who, somewhere along the way stumbles upon benevolent characters (some maned, some nameless) who in some way assist the hero in his quest. These characters appear for the short number of scenes required and are quickly disgarded, forgotten by the hero and readers/viewers as the story continues and the hero's plight intensifies.



Specifically I suppose I was thinking of Lord of the Rings (what else?). I was having a wonderful "what if" moment. What if Gandolf had not told Sam to go with Frodo? Besides the obvious ultimate failure that would follow, Sam would have been left prey to the Dark Riders when they came looking for the ring. He simply knew too much. But what about those characters who don't have the option of going along? I'm actually finding it difficult to think of such characters. My feeling is that it's because these characters are meant to be forgotton. I think it would be an interesting exercise to write a short story about them, those "left behind", with their fates unresolved. What happens to the woman at the well after Jesus performs his miracle and moves on?



For whatever reason, I can only think stories where such characters are left behind simply because they're killed off, thus further fueling the hero's search for vengence and justice. I'll have to bring this up at the next Writer's Circle Meeting...

An Overactive Mind Part II

I realize every so often that I have a horrible habit of over-analysing my stories, especially before they've even gotten a chance to get off the ground! It's so frustrating; I wish I had an "off" button that allowed me to just move on.



I was just re-reading my writings from last night and I thought "there are some interesting parallels between Gareth and Paladin". So, I'm writing it, putting it out there, and moving on. That's the proper thing to do, I guess. I just hope that now that it's out, I'll stop thinking about it and just keep writing. ^^



Another thought that popped up in my mind has to do with naming. In the Lisiria Chronicles, I spend a good deal of time discussing names and how every character has different names. Paladin is also Barduin - The Divine Hand of the North. Semele is also Vaingauzai - The Great East Wind Purifies the Flames. And now, Gareth is also Silithaun - The Forgotten Child. This is obviously a culture that places great emphasis on names. It also seems that there is a public name and a private name. The Leume King is known in history as Barduin, but his birth name is Paladin. Are people given nicknames as children and then given titles once they "make it"? I wrote in The Reign of Kings that people knew him as Barduin but that's not who he was. That's something that intrigues me, that people are given names which they don't necessarily deserve or that don't really speak to who they really are.



Another fleeting thought...why are there no women in these stories? The only female characters in these stories are Chloe and Pein. I should write more Paume stories, since they seem to be a matriarchal society.

The Perils of Writing

As part of new beginnings in the new year, I sort of stated to myself that Wednesdays would be writing day. This morning I gave myself the goal of writing 5 pages in a story by the end of the day. Well, that didn't happen. I got 3 pages written, which isn't quite so bad, actually. And it was in a new short story, part of the Lisiria Chronicles. I'm hoping that it will be the first of the Chronicles that will actually be completed, as a first draft in any case. I find myself working hard to develop these characters as separate entities from their original incarnations and I think I'm succeeding well in this case. The story is entitled The Education of Gareth. The first chapter is completed, and I anticipate there being no more than 3 more to come. A short story by far.

Today marks my first experiment with video journaling. Only time will tell whether or not this is a useful tool, but it's certainly entertaining. It's really embarrassing to watch myself talk - that's definitely a point of low self-esteem for me and something I should probably work on. But I imagine that it would be useful as I talk far faster than I type, and my thoughts race even faster. Really I just want to ensure that I have some work to present at the upcoming Writer's Circle meeting. I have a new chapter of Snow Falls Slowly, but that story is in such a state of disarray that I am weary of presenting it right now. I met with a psychology professor a couple weeks ago to discuss mental heath disorders and now I'm a bit confused. I definitely need some work on that story...maybe some video journaling. ^^

Going Green in the New Year

It seems that, like many, I've been moving ever forward towards being greener. I'd love to say that this is purely due to my desire to save the planet, etc. But the reality is that it just makes sense. Sure I want to save the environment, but on a more selfish side, I can't use a lot of commercial products because of my allergies. And I noticed that I spent a lot of money last year on repeat buys (eg: sponges for cleaning and loofah pads). I've been starting small - using eco-friendly drain cleaners, for example - but then I realized that I can make things that will help save the environment and money in the long run. I started knitting and crocheting dishcloths and washcloths, which work just as well if not better than pricey alternatives. Plus they look so much nicer! I also changed out my shower liner from vinyl to fabric so that it can be laundered repeatedly.

One of the great brands that I'm really attached to is Mrs. Meyers. I discovered it at The Container Store, and it's definitely more expensive then more commercial brands, but I've been continually impressed. Not only is it all-natural, it has a light scent that makes the whole house smell really good, and it's a powerful cleaner, to boot. More powerful than most of the cleaners I'd been using before, actually. I've been nursing a bottle of the all-purpose solution (it's concentrated so a little can be diluted for a whole project) and have been using to clean countertops, floors, the stove, the tub, even for cleaning my finished hardwood furniture. I got my mom hooked on these products - she's ventured out to the dishwashing liquid, hand soap and surface scrub - and now she's raving about them too. Sure I end up shelling out a little more money up front, but overall they last longer from visiting doctors and buying medication, so I think it's a winner.

They're small changes, but in the long run I think they'll make a difference, not only in my own life, but in the life of the planet. I can only hope that 2010 will continue to open up new avenues to making everyone a little greener.