Subplots and Storylines - February 2018

February can be a bit of a slump. December is abuzz with Christmas hype, January opens a fresh new year, and February . . . well, good old Feb is just another cold month following three other equally cold months, at least where I live. Is it much the same for you, or are you already melting in southern heat?

Life Subplots

Thankfully, this last week it has finally begun to feel like spring! There's something hopeful about seeing the snow creep back from under the pine trees, where the sun's rays begin to gather in the boughs . . . hearing the birds start to sing again . . . hearing the drip of snowmelt trickling from the eaves. Spring has always been about life and new beginnings to me.

"O wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?" -Percy Bysshe Shelley

February was a pretty average month here in my corner of the world. Life went on as usual: going to work, going to school, wrapping up some projects, studying, and--gasp--I just finished midterms! It's funny, but once again midterm week was a really nice change of pace. It was actually less busy than a normal week of school, because I booked it off work to give myself time to study. We'll see if it paid off once I get my marks back.


One noteworthy event amongst the averageness was going grad dress shopping with my sisters, one of whom is graduating this spring. I can't believe she's the third in the family to finish high school. My siblings are growing up!

Screen Storylines

My siblings and I are just about finished with Once Upon a Time season 3 and The Flash season 3. This season of The Flash is the most intense, feelsy one yet--my poor heart has been mangled at least five times over, and the last couple of episodes promise to do an even worse number on me. It's fantastic and terrible and I just want my favorite characters to be happy for once! Is that too much to ask?!


I also watched a teensy bit more of Once Upon a Time season 6. I've yet to be impressed, sadly. But Emma, Hook, and the Charming family are enough reason to keep watching.


As far as movies go . . .

The Death Cure


OH. MY. WORD. My siblings and I went to see it in theaters at the beginning of the month. I've enjoyed the first two Maze Runner movies, but this final one blew me away. It was better than expected, and yes, it did rip my heart out and shred it into pieces. Yes, I did almost shed a tear. Yes, I did spend most of the movie with my hands close to my face as if I could shield myself from the adrenaline and feels. (Didn't work.)


The Death Cure definitely felt like a war movie. It was darker than the first two. Lots of strategy, rescue missions, gunfights, chases, and heart-stopping action--but also grave consequences. Characters have worked hard to get where they are, but some of them risk everything to go against WCKD one last time to rescue their friends. It wasn't a perfect movie, and there was quite a bit of violence (obviously), but it somehow did an excellent job of making me feel deeply.


I'm nervous to read the book now because I don't think it'll top the movie.

Frozen


Much more lighthearted than The Death Cure! I haven't seen this one in a few years, although with all the hype that surrounded its release, I feel like I've watched it more often than I have.


My youngest sister and I decided it would make the perfect cozy film for Valentine's Day evening, which it was. I'd forgotten how sweet the story is, how nutso Kristoff is, and how well the foreshadowing was woven in.

Allegiant


Okay, I quite enjoyed the books a few years ago. I loved the Divergent movie (and its epic soundtrack, oh my goodness). But Insurgent fell kind of flat. I was hoping the series would fight past the sequel blues and deliver at least a decent finish, but based on reviews when Allegiant came out, I wasn't too hopeful.


Finally I sat down and watched it for myself. Yawn. I could have looked past the weird Martian-red landscape beyond Chicago's protective wall (which looks nothing like it did in the book). I could have chosen to ignore the plot holes and lack of explanation behind the sleek technology of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare.


But even though there were some good action sequences, like the escape over the wall, the story totally lacked emotional depth. Tris and Four felt like wooden cut-outs of who they were in Divergent. Tris makes stupid decisions (which I think she did in the book too, but somehow they felt more pronounced on screen). Four goes around being Mr. Brooding Boyfriend and punching people. Christina is practically absent. Peter is still his annoying self, but now in a juvenile way. And Caleb is . . . himself, I suppose. Don't get me started on the villain--his final moment was laughable.


It's a shame this movie bombed the way it did. I believe they were planning to split this book into two films (noooo, whyyyy), but that the fourth movie, Ascendant, was canceled. It's too bad, because Allegiant ended anticlimactically, with little sense of resolution. I was hoping for the kind of courage and sacrifice we find in the book, but alas, all Tris does during the climax is run through a ventilation shaft and shoot some things.


If you're looking for a solid finish to a dystopian movie series, watch The Death Cure instead.

Page Subplots

This was a good month for reading! I finished up a book I'd started in January, read three more, and started another one that will show up in March's Subplots & Storylines. Here's what I finished:

The Scorch Trials // James Dashner


(Funnily enough, I was in the middle of this book when I watched the third movie. Bad bookworm!)


The writing in this one was a slight improvement over book one. I really liked the change of setting found in the Scorch and the ruined cityscape. It was a sharp contrast, and the lack of walls and rules made things more difficult for the characters. Moments like the scene with the Cranks in the Underneath were pretty intense! Newt's dry levelheadedness and Minho's blustery leadership style were fun, and Thomas's dreams/memories were interesting, if a bit repetitive.


My main quibbles fall on the two female characters. Toward the second half, Teresa was just plain annoying. "Trust me, Thomas. This is all an act. No, wait, the act is an act! No, the act is an act of an act! Trust me!" I'm not sure what Thomas sees in her. I was waiting for a better explanation behind her actions, but maybe the payoff is coming in book three.


And Brenda. I was blurring the movie version of her with the book version (that's what you get for watching the movies first), so for the most part I genuinely liked her. Some of her unwarranted touchy-feely moments were grating, but my sisters assure me she improves a lot in book three.


Speaking of movie versions of characters, I just couldn't picture Jorge as being "young" like Dashner described! My picture of Jorge is the 50-something face in the movies, and I can't see him any other way.


Anyway, I enjoyed the book overall! Rat Man was properly infuriating. The sheer craziness of the tests WICKED puts the teens through is . . . well, crazy. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but again--I must read book three and find out. Four stars.

The Candlestone // Bryan Davis


I continued my DIOM reread with the second book in the series this month. Once again it was great to return to beloved characters! In The Candlestone, Billy battles his own darkness, Bonnie faces a deep fear, Walter steps up as a comrade in battle, Professor Hamilton reveals secrets, and Ashley's eyes are opened for the first time. Their journeys really begin to gel and intertwine in this one as a centuries-old story comes to light.


The candlestone itself provided a canvas for several vivid analogies, which I appreciated again in a new way. It nearly brought tears to my eyes. I'll never forget Billy lying on the cavern floor with Excalibur in his grip. "Truth . . . truth is my sword. Faith . . . faith is my shield."


And I couldn't help but notice that Bryan Davis's writing improved over the first book. Both are fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it's neat to see how even your favorite authors grow their craft over time! Five stars.

Hostage Run // Andrew Klavan


Klavan's books are always super fast reads for me, and this one was no exception! I finished it in a few days.


Some things I liked:

• Klavan's writing style is sharp and to the point. Nothing fancy, but that's what makes it sound like the main character himself, an ex-football player named Rick, is telling his story.
• Rick's friend Molly featured more prominently in this book, which I loved. She was sadly lacking in book 1, and felt like just another personality-less girlfriend type. But she got a lot more page-time this time around, and her parts of the story were my favorite. She's almost six feet tall, super fit, and spiritually strong as well, a combo I don't find very often.
• Victor One. He is the BEST.
• Rick was honestly trying to forgive his father and mend their relationship, unlike so many embittered sons in fiction.
• The Breach was cool, even if it wasn't explained as much as I wanted.

What I didn't like as much:

• Mainly just the Octo-Guardian, a humongous creature with octopus legs and a humanoid face. This creature guards the villain's ship in the Realm (the videogame world that Rick is able to enter). Given the videogame context, I guess it works, but it was a biiiit of a stretch to take seriously on my part. Still, it didn't ruin the book for me.

It felt great to devour a book so fast. With that cliffhanger ending, I won't let another couple of years before I pick up the sequel! Four stars.

Orphan's Song // Gillian Bronte Adams


My friends in the blogging/bookish/Goodreads communities have been buzzing about this book ever since Enclave Publishing released it over three years ago! I was intrigued by the premise of a Songkeeper wielding some kind of musical power, but to be honest, I was hesitant about the quality. (I seem to be wary of self-pubbed or small publisher books--always wondering if the writing will be polished enough not to snag my attention with too many mistakes.)


But aside from a small handful of typos and missing commas, my fears were unfounded! This was a really sweet, cozy fantasy that reminded me the type of books I read as a tween/young teen. It just felt homey to me. With a cranky peddler, ancient griffin, mistreated orphan, mysterious sword, and young street rat, it carried many classic elements of a good ol' fantasy adventure.


Amos was my favorite character, even if his refusal to share information with Birdie, the main character, got a little old by the end. For some reason, Amos's voice clearly sounded like Hector Barbossa's in my head??? Except more kindly? I don't know, maybe it was his accent or his amusing insults!


I also enjoyed Ky's storyline and how it eventually wove into Birdie's journey. I'm looking forward to their adventures together. I sense that both of them will flourish in the sequels! Speaking of sequels, the plot twist at the end took me by surprise, even though I should've seen it coming.


I'll be keeping an eye out for book 2! Four stars.

Writing Storylines

I actually have a few little somethings to report here.


First, I wrote a piece of flash fiction about 1,000 words long, called Dead Magic. I intended to submit it to Havok Magazine, but thanks to school and procrastination, I didn't finish in time. I might post it here someday, or brush it up and find another place to submit it. Either way, it was fun to actually write something!


And I purchased an annual Realm Makers membership! Even with the exchange rate to Canadian dollars, it still will save me a bit on conference registration.* When you get a membership, they send you four free audio recordings of past RM classes, so I listened to one by Steve Laube about Theology and the Cosmos. Inspiring! I also caught part of a webinar by Thomas Locke that was open just to RM members.


*Speaking of which, earlybird registration ends on March 15 and I need to do something about that!


But the best writing thing to happen this month was that I finally started working on The Brightest Thread again! YES!!! Not editing yet--that will come later, once this college term finishes. No, for now I'm compiling all the feedback from my beta readers into one place so I can, you know, actually use it. There's about ten sets of complete feedback, give or take a few, so that's a lot of comments to go through! I've covered chapters 1-6, and there are . . . gulp . . . 371 comments to deal with so far. Granted, some of them are positive! But there are also substantial issues to fix in the first section of the book.

Farewell, February! How was your month, adventurers? Is it spring yet for you? Have you seen The Death Cure? Are my book/movie reviews getting too long? (Be honest now.) Should I post about my beta/editing process someday? Let's chat about allll the things!

Remember in the Dark

"Don't forget in the darkness what you learned in the light."

I first read that quote (originally by Joseph Bayly, it appears) in Circles of Seven by Bryan Davis. At least that's where I think I read it. It was so long ago that time and frequent recollection have blurred out the quote's origin. But the truth of it remains clear in my heart.


I've been grateful to live a pretty amazing twenty-two years so far. I can't say I've had a hard life; all I have to do is look around and see countless people with struggles more difficult than my own. But not one of us slips through this world unscathed. We all weather storms of varying magnitudes. I, too, have faced looming shadows and endless valleys.


And it is in the midst of the darkness that we forget.


It's easy to remember in the light. It's easy to recall the truth of who we are and the truth of the God we follow when the reminders are as warm and near as the sun shining on our faces. But when night falls, oh, how quickly we forget. We panic, groping blindly for a corner in which to hide. We cry, fear clawing up our backs. We stumble on, wandering and getting lost in the blackness. We forget so quickly that we are children of light.


But faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Did you get that? Faith is the substance and evidence of what you cannot see. It's the paradox of holding an intangible thing, of perceiving what is not immediately visible. It is real. It's not some wayward fancy. It's not a lure-less hook tossed into the sea in the mere hopes that it will catch a fish.

It is real.

When you go to bed at night and flick off the lights, does that mean your room ceases to exist because you can no longer see it? Of course not. Sight has nothing to do with the existence of a thing. It is there regardless of whether you see it or not. But it takes a steady belief to remember that when the lights go out and your eyes fail you.


Memory is a fickle thing. Is it just me, or do you ever look at something to memorize it--be it a review sheet at school or a book cover or a name or a number or a recipe--and forget it two minutes later? "What was that again?" And you go back to check. This kind of repetition is what we need in the moment we're plunged into shadows, when our minds go blank and the fear wells up. Go back and remember. What was it you learned in the light? What was it you saw and felt and knew? Isn't that true today, right now, even if you don't see it in front of you? Go back. Remember. Remember. Remember.


What was true in yesterday's sunrise is true in today's midnight. And it will still be true when the sun rises again.

I'm still standing here // No, I didn't disappear // Now the lights are on // See, I was never gone

(Never Gone by Colton Dixon)

When He feels far away, He is near, as close as He's ever been. When everything crumbles around you, there is a rock beneath your feet. When confusion clouds your mind, you will hear a voice behind you saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

"Your word is a lamp for my steps; it lights the path before me."

(Psalm 119:105)

The thing is, you can see that light if you choose to. It's on a different frequency than the physical light around you, and sometimes it takes a focused effort on your part to switch to that frequency, to see with eyes of faith. But it's there, and it's real. The unseen really is more real than what is seen.

So today, dear soul, wherever you are and however dark it may be, never ever ever EVER forget what you have learned in the light. Hold it close to your heart. That candle will erupt into a torch, and then a burning wildfire, before long.

Autobiography of a Fantasy Character - The Journey Begins

Fantasy is my favorite thing to read and write, but every genre comes with its own suitcase of tropes. In this blog series, we poke some fun at our beloved stories and at ourselves as fantasy lovers.


If you haven't yet read the first instalment, check it out:


Origin Story (in which Hero grows up in Quaint Village, Mentor is mysterious, Incentive dies, Villain's backstory is disclosed, and Hero discovers his singular purpose: to save the world.)

Mentor and I set out the very next day for Distant Land. We packed light, for everyone knows that heroes aren't supposed to look like burdened pack ponies. Taking too much food or supplies would ruin our appearance. Astride our gallant steeds, we bid Quaint Village farewell and rode out into the mountains.


My heart pounded like my stallion's hoof beats. I'd never left the valley before. Never seen the world before. And Distant Land was many, many leagues away, with untold wonders and dangers in between. Suddenly I felt very small.


As we rode, the prophecy ran through my mind.

Darkness watches the chosen one

Many wrongs have been done

When the final note has been sung

And night is day and old is young

Seize the keys that Villain flung

What could it all mean?


Mentor and I rode in silence all day, upslope and downslope and up again, through winding passes and over steep crags. Our horses never tired. We stopped once to eat, but never to relieve ourselves or feed our mounts. Heroes are invincible to normal human needs, you see. That night, we took turns keeping watch and sleeping under the stars. The rocky ground did not disturb my slumber, and I awoke feeling rested.


Our second day of travel continued much as the first. So did the third, the fourth, and the fifth, the mountains growing shorter every day. We could have used all this monotonous riding for discussion--Mentor could have explained more about his past or about my crucial role in saving the world--but where's the fun in that? Better to go into the big wide world with only the bare minimum of knowledge.


We did, however, spar together every night to keep up my training, and I even practiced using my powers. I learned how to start a campfire with a snap of my fingers, move a rockslide out of our path with a blast of light, and probe ahead with my mind to search for living beings.


But my abilities did not warn me of the dark soldiers following us. We had just reached a wide plain that stretched as far my eyes could see, when the enemies attacked from behind. A flurry of crossbow quarrels landed all around us. One struck my shoulder. I cried out and turned my horse to blast our attackers with a frenetic spray of energy. Several faceless soldiers died, but I missed four of them. They ran closer, crossbows taking aim again.


We didn't gallop away to escape their shots. We stood our ground. Heroes aren't supposed to run away from a fight, you know. So when the soldiers fired again, Mentor and I came within inches of death . . .


But Mentor raised his staff and shouted a mysterious word. "GHAOWOUSHAL!" Blinding white light shot from his staff like an exploding star, knocking the quarrels out of midair and searing the enemy soldiers where they stood.


Then we turned and ran.


My shoulder burned with pain. Every hoof beat seemed to drill the quarrel deeper. All I could compare the pain to was fire. Coals on my skin, heat in my veins, fire, pain, fire, pain. (Although I'd never been burned before, so this was all hypothetical.)


Mentor led the way over the grassy plain. We rode hard for several leagues before finally veering into a forest. By this time, I was nearly fainting with the fiery, burning, crackling, searing pain. My vision swam. My thoughts dispersed like fog burnt away by the sun. Mentor pushed his horse through the trees, and my stallion followed.


Just as black crept around the edges of my vision, I glimpsed a massive tree with faces peering out of windows carved in the trunk.


At last I fell unconscious.

* * *

I don't know how long I slept, passing in and out of a feverish haze. Blurry faces hovered above me. Words in a flowing language passed between them. Cool hands touched my burning wound. Somewhere in the back of my muddled mind, I deduced that the quarrel had been poisoned. No ordinary crossbow bolt would make my whole body feel as weak as wet paper.


As I slept, my mind was plagued with more visions of terror and death. I saw cities burning and fields slicked with blood, and a haunting aria of strings seemed to play in the background. I tossed and turned, too weak to rouse myself to wakefulness.


In one vision, I saw Mentor with his staff raised again. He shouted that gibberish word, but this time I understood it. "Cease and desist, by the Light that Blinds Enemies and Burns their Wicked Hearts!" Apparently much could be said in a single word. But understanding its meaning did little to answer my questions or bring peace to my troubled mind. Instead it added to my confusion. Who was Mentor?


When at last the fever broke and the fire in my shoulder eased, I opened my eyes and found myself nestled in a soft bed. Sunlight streamed through a window to illuminate a cozy room carved out of wood. Moss grew on the floor and flowers dressed my bedside table. Was I inside the huge tree I had seen? Whoever chose to live so close to nature must be noble folk indeed.


But what arrested my gaze was a pair of brilliant blue eyes staring down at me. Ruby lips turned downward in a frown. Pointed ears peeked out from waves of golden hair tumbling down her shoulders.


Standing at my side was the most gorgeous girl I had ever seen. And she was an elf.

To be Continued . . .