WHAT IS REQUIRED

Mural, "Battle of Issus" Alexander the Great vs Darius, king of Persia.

 

When I first sent off my manuscript of SHADOW OF THE LION, the writer, Steven Pressfield, had some very astute advice for me.  In part, this is what he said:

 

I happened to have been talking to some fighter pilots recently and they told me one of the axioms of air-to-air combat. The most dangerous moment in a dogfight, they say, is immediately after you've shot down an enemy plane. Because in that moment, you may let your concentration lapse. And that's when someone jumps you and shoots you down.

 

I would say the same is true for writers. The dangerous moment is just after you finish a book and ship it off. My own ironclad principle is to IMMEDIATELY start another book.

 

When you're immersed in a new project, you're not as apt of obsess over the fate of the one you just finished. You don't check your mailbox or your Inbox compulsively. You resist the temptation to measure your worth and the worth of your work by the opinions of others.

 

The other thing I have found is that when you start Book #2, whether you realize it immediately or not, you are already working at a higher level than you were on Book #1. This helps too, when publishers, editors and agents (who are notoriously slow to respond, sometimes taking MONTHS) don't get back to you with the lavish praise you were so hoping to hear IMMEDIATELY.

Listen only to your own heart. Hang onto your emotions. The next weeks and months will be a trial, so be ready for it.  "Start the next one tomorrow."

 

I have carefully followed Steven's suggestions all the way through.  In fact, I actually hid away my manuscript of "Shadow" so I wouldn't obsess on it. And yes, I started that new novel. Well, actually it was the one I had started before I decided to write "Shadow" so I brought it out of the archives, dusted off my research files and started to retype it into the computer (it had been written on a manual typewriter).  So far so good. My writer's group loves it and I am having a great time renewing the research and getting to know the characters again. 'Dragons in the Sky" is a Celtic tale set in the 4th century BC with an Alexander connection told in the first person by a young Celtic girl, almost a past-life regression kind of story.

 

Meanwhile "Shadow" has been in the hands of an agent for several months.  But finally, in spite of saying how much he'd enjoyed reading it and that it was a 'wonderful' story, he decided against signing me on.  What to do next?  I knew this was the way things go with submissions so I did have a list of possible publisher to pitch it to. Immediately my mentor Scott Oden suggested I send to the assistant publisher of a publisher company he is familiar with. So I did. And that's where it is now.  And if that try fails, I'll go for another, and another.  Because what is required when you are trying to publish a book is PATIENCE and DETERMINATION. 

 

Detail from the mural: Alexander showing his determination.

 

Alexander the Great and, before him,  his father, the formidable warrior, King Philip of Macedonia, went fearlessly into battle and never had one defeat. Their bravery and determination and skill as strategists made Macedonia the ruler of the world, dominating Greece and defeating even the mighty forces of Persia who had dominated the Asian world.

I am lucky to have an army of supportive friends and admirers who are cheering me on and backing me up.  So I will keep on pursuing my dream until it is realized. I KNOW "Shadow of the Lion" is a worthy cause.  I put my whole heart into it and gave it my best.  So in the end, if I persevere, I know I'll eventually win the gold.

16-pointed Star, Emblem of the Macedonian Royalty.

 

 



PROGRESS REPORT # 72 : DREAMING

Lately I've been having a lot of unusual dreams.  I used to be diligent about recording any significant dreams in my journal, because often you can look back on them and 'interpret' what they possibly meant.  Sometimes dreams can be visitations from people who have passed beyond.  Other times they are reflections of our lives,  stressful periods or joyful times.  I find dreams fascinating.  Even the unpleasant, scary dreams (nightmares) we sometimes have are interesting if you try to analyze just why those frightening images came to disturb your sleep.

Once, when I was in my teens, I had one of those 'non-dreams' where you really can visualize something has happened.  In this case, my sleep was disturbed and I woke to find two men standing by my bed.  One was an oriental man, the other a tall man wearing an overcoat and fedora.  They didn't speak, just stood by my bedside grinning at me.  Of course I was frightened and I sat up and cried out.  Then they vanished.  Who were these two men?  I can still see them as clearly as if it were yesterday.
The most mysterious part is, when some years later, I told this 'dream' to a friend, she related exactly the same incident happening to her at about the same age.  She described two similar men.  Where they guardian angels?  And why did they appear?

I have often used dreams in my novel "Shadow of the Lion".  In ancient times, dreams were important and were part of the psycho-therapy used in the healing shrines.  The person who came to the shrine to seek advice was given wine or some other potent drink,  wrapped themselves in an animal skin and slept. In the morning the priest of the sanctuary interpreted their dream and give them advice.

There have been a couple of times when I had a dream but realized that dream really belonged to one of my characters.  It's important though, if you use dreams in your stories, that you use them carefully so that they meld in with the story.  You must never write a story and in the end say "Then she woke up. It was all a dream!" That's a cop-out.  So if you use dreams in your story, they must make sense as if they are a dream your character might really have, and for what reason?
 
 There are 'waking dreams' too...those moments when our mind drifts off to other worlds or fantasies.  "Imagining", while we are awake.  These moments can also be used with your characters.

Dreams can be curious, playful, wishful-thinking, memories, visitations or powerful foreshadowing.
Here's a dream sequence belonging to Roxana,  the Soghdian widow of Alexander and mother of his only heir, Iskander (Alexander IV)  She and her son, heir to the throne, are held in a fortress at Amphipolis under the guardianship of Kassandros, one of Alexander's enemies, until Iskander comes of age and can legally take over the throne of Macedon.

Roxana and Alexander the Great



Roxana  went to her dressing table and took the combs out of her hair letting it tumble loose. She sat awhile, holding her bronze mirror as she wiped the paint from her face. She was barely

past thirty and already felt like a beaten old crone. The mirror’s reflection showed her pale complexion, the tiny lines around her mouth and creasing her brow. There were dark pouches under her sad eyes. She saw herself as a dowager, not Alexander’s proud widow, mother of the future king of Macedon. All her hopes had been dashed. Alone in the silence she shed tears of remorse.

That night as she slept, a horrible vision came to her.

She sees a cavernous room with walls of alabaster and floors of black marble. In the centre is an open sarcophagus and inside it lays the corpse of a man. She sees him clearly, the serene features are familiar to her: the nose, cheeks, the coppery hair springing from his forehead, the hands folded over a shield that bears a lion’s figure. Alexander. Then she sees Iskander ascending the steps, slowly, reverently. He approaches the casket and reaches out his hand, then bends over to touch Alexander’s face, and slowly as if performing a ritual, he climbs into the sarcophagus. She sees him lying there, and now it is no longer Alexander, but her son who lays in that marble casket.

She woke drenched in sweat, her heart pounding. The dream was so real that it felt as if she had flown to Alexandria and beheld it herself.

Trembling, she crawled out of bed and bent over a basin by her bedside. A wave of nausea came over her and she retched.

Was the dream an omen?

It was a dream ….only a dream. She repeated this until the spinning in her head ceased and she felt her heart beats slow. She decided not to tell Iskander.

It was a dream, that is all, she told herself. I cannot alarm my son when he needs to keep his thoughts clear.

*  *   *

This week in my novel-writing coaching group I asked the writers to choose one of their characters and write a dream that this character might have,  then relate it to an incident in their character's life, possibly a foreshadowing.  This proved to be a very useful exercise.  Try it yourself!  Those dreams will tell you many things about your characters -- or even yourself! 

PROGRESS REPORT 32: SLOW-DOWN

It's supposed to be Spring in my coastal city. The cherry blossoms are out in full bloom. So are the daffodils, crocus, hyacinths and other spring flowers. Who would have imagined that today I'd wake to a blizzard! Yes...snow at the end of March...just when we thought that Spring had arrived in full bloom!

I've had a set-back that has slowed me down with the progress on the novel. The unseasonably cold weather has brought along a lot of nasty 'bugs' with it and unfortunately, I caught one. I was at the doctor's for my annual last week, bragging more or less about my 'perfect' health, how I never get sick when those around me are falling prey to the viruses. By that evening my chest was tight and my throat sore. I rushed out to get some strong vitamin C fizzy tabs which usually do the trick when I feel a cold coming on. But by the next day it hit me full and hard and right in the chest. I managed to get myself through the next two days with fits of coughing, and hoped it would all go away. But by Saturday I felt worse. And Sunday I had to drag myself out to the 'burbs for the Easter dinner I'd been invited to with my friend's family. I made it home to bed that evening and there I've been pretty well all week long. By Monday I felt so ill all I could manage to do was go to the pharmacy and ask for some cough suppressant, then I went back home to bed. Tuesday I was worse and feared I might have pneumonia. Friends have been most helpful and caring. I hadn't been able to do grocery shopping but my pal brought me chicken noodle soup and herbal teas and a bag of lemon, ginger and garlic. Another friend brought me ginger ale. I just lay there coughing and choking and couldn't care less about food or anything, least of all the writing I wanted to get done this week.

On Wednesday I managed to get myself to the doctors, for by now I did fear I might have pneumonia. I got some heavy-duty antibiotics and they seem to be doing the trick. Yesterday I felt somewhat better, though still had some problems sleeping as I couldn't lie down without coughing and choking. But last night I actually slept well. Two nights in a row I dreamed of Anibal or his family. On Tuesday when I was so sick I dreamed I was in a big farmhouse with his daughters and ex wife (my friend in Santiago Chile). He was a shadow figure in the dream. It was a very pleasant dream and I woke feeling as if it had all really happened. The next night, because I had been to the clinic which had misdiagnosed him, saying he had pneumonia when it turned out to be lung cancer, I went to bed and dreamed he came to visit me, playing his guitar and singing for me and my friends. The next morning his daughter wrote on Facebook how she missed her Dad so much. I emailed her about the dreams and she had dreamt of him as well. He must have been hovering around to check up on us.

Last night I slept well and was dreaming of walking along a sea wall trying to catch up to two of my friends. It was peaceful and beautiful, a bright sunny day and sparkling ocean. We were going to visit an island. I woke up and opened the blinds and my gosh! There was a blizzard blowing outside. I couldn't believe it! So I stayed in all day today, not daring to go out in this freezing, cold weather. Not that the snow stayed -- it never does -- but it's just too cold for nearly April! (and more predicted for tomorrow!)

So, instead, I did some editing for a friend's novel which I found brilliantly amusing and fun to work on. And then a bit more editing for a travel piece one of my students needed help with. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have the mental energy back enough to delve into Shadow again.
I always feel guilty when I leave it too long. But really, I haven't been this ill in quite some time and it hasn't gone away yet. I think I'll be house bound at least for the weekend until this cough breaks up and my head clears. Two more antibiotics to go. If I'm not better by Monday it may mean a chest x-ray is in order.

Meanwhile, we all wait patiently for Spring to really arrive!