The Writings of Cora

I write for a few purposes:

1. I have stories to tell, and I love to tell them.

2. I want to write stories that people enjoy. Not to teach lessons or have a subliminal message. There is no "And the moral of this story is _____" at the end to convict the reader and make them want to go home and re-think their life. Nope! Just a fun and exciting story. If you get something out of it, bravo for you! If not, I hope you liked the story and the people in it!

3. I've discovered a distinct lack of gripping fantasy novels that have no magic. I've gotten bored with magic, think it's dumb, and it tends to turn dark quickly. It seems like when an author can't possibly think of an explanation or a fix for a plot hole, he says, "Why, it's magic, of course! Didn't you know?" Blech! I was even encouraged to use magic in my stories by one friend because it was an easy excuse. Why do people buy that excuse so willingly? So. No magic. To the trash bin with it! *tosses magic into bin filled with crumpled paper, eraser dust, and pencil shavings* *fixes lid* Ah, that's much better!

4. ON THE OTHER HAND, lack of magic in fantasy is usually a synonym for boring, super-sweet, annoying stories. For example: genre Christian fiction. The main character is practically perfect, though they're allowed 1 flaw, and it's usually pride. Then they have some issue with that flaw, and the whole story takes a melodramatic turn for the worse. After a few pages, the main character says, "What have I done?" and apologizes, repents, and all is good again. Then an older, wiser character comes to the main character to say, "Son, this just goes to show you that nothing good comes of being proud." The authors avoid magic simply to create a super-sweet story that all Christian parents would let their children read. You can only read so many books like that before you can predict the ending after reading the book's first paragraph. Eventually, you have to look for something else. I'm writing that something else.

In my first book, the main character does not have a huge, glaring flaw because it did not fit the story. She does not have a flaw merely for the sake of having a flaw to teach the reader to be a better person. My goal is not to teach lessons on how bad pride, greed, etc. is throughout the story. I am assuming you know that already and don't need me to tell you.

I'm a Christian. I write fiction. I do not write genre Christian fiction. I write fiction from a Christian perspective.


So I am writing to fill the gap I've found in the "epic fantasy" genre. Swords, leathers, cloaks, dungeons, desperate ventures... and characters that are lovable. Or love-to-hateable. :)

All fueled on the power of coffee, M&Ms, and sheer willpower.

........Mostly the M&Ms.....

Thursday Thirteen: Names That I Like

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood! The sun shines through wisps of clouds, and everything is bathed in a golden light. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Praise Him, all creatures here below!

*Thursday Thirteen*

Here is a list of random guy names that I like. Not necessarily that I would use - just ones that I like. Next week, I'll post 13 girl names. :-)

1. Andreas
2. Donald
3. Evander "Evan"
4. Gilbert
5. Jonas (NOT because of the Jonas brothers. I almost disowned this name because of them [ick!], but there is still Jonas Quinn...)
6. Jonathan
7. Martin
8. Matthew
9. Oliver
10. Peregrine
11. Wilbur
12. William
13. Zachary

What 13 things do YOU feel like listing today? Leave me a comment and tell me!

(added to the Mr. Linky HERE)

Cora, Mommy to 4

Just recently, I became mama to 4 little kids. Two sets of twins, in fact! Their names are Jacen and Jaina (someone is a Star Wars geek around here...); and Gareth Joraiem "Super Gary" and Jerusha Rielle. Yes, I name every animal, including the ones that will end up on our plates someday. My animal-naming-style is Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Character Names With A Flair Of Hebrew Whenever Possible.

Here are some pictures of my adorable babies

Gary and Jerusha just after birth:

Me feeding Jacen, and Gary supervising:

Mom feeding Gary and being pestered by a hungry Jerusha:

The tichel (hair covering) is to keep the smell of goats off my hair, because my hair is a magnet to barn smells. It is not part of my normal attire. :-)

Flashback #1: "O! What a Tangled Web We Weave!"

I am posting a series of fun "Flashback" posts from my old blog.

"O! What a Tangled Web We Weave!"

Aug. 25, 2007

As my first show n' tell, I wanted to do something that was uniquely me. Something that would make everyone who knows me nod and say, "Yep, that's Cora!"... or it could make them cower in the corner and pretend they don't know me. That's entirely possible, too. However, I couldn't think of something like that, so I went with this.

I came home from the fair inspired to take up a new craft. After all, spending 8 hours a day in the Home Ec. Department will get to you. I decided I wanted to do something easy... like spinning! Ah, spinning. There's nothing to it, really. You put your foot on the foot-press-thing, which drives the wheel, which turns a string, which, in turn, turns the thingamabob. The thingamabob turns the doohickey, which makes the fuzzy stuff into yarn. See? Clear as mud. So, armed with my vast knowledge, I began. This is all by myself, mind you, no adult supervision.

I carded the wool, which I know how to do really well. I learned how to do that while we were watching Galaxy Quest with Susan and her kids a few years ago. Then, I hand-rolled a short piece and tied it to the starter yarn. I was off! It went pretty well at first, except that the string on the wheel kept popping off. Tightening fixed that for the most part. I figured how to get the wheel spinning constantly. Then, I realized that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

That's what it looks like when the smaller gear (turning the spool) does not turn fast enough. Obviously I learned that through trial and error. Mostly error.

That's what it looks like when you abandon the project.

The moral of this story is: If you're going to take up a craft that your mother stopped doing a few years ago, ask her if the device is broken FIRST, instead of waiting for her to come home and tell you it is!

Moses

"Don't let your worries get the best of you. Remember, Moses started out as a basket case."
~The Great and Wise Man Named Anonymous

This has been a favorite of mine for viele Jahre (many years).

He's home! :)

My brother is now home from the hospital and resting. *sigh* It's been a long two days.

"He'd better be saving someone's life..."

That's what my mother said while we were driving to the hospital yesterday afternoon. My brother had just been taken there, and we didn't know any details more than, "He fell out of the back of a jeep."

We got there and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Then they let Mom in. So David and I waited again. Over an hour later, she came out and told us that he would be ok - just really dizzy and sick. Michael had been sitting there in the back of a running, but parked jeep (so they could listen to the radio) with a couple of friends. Some kid (who didn't own the jeep), jumped in and took off driving. Michael reached out to keep his two friends from falling out and in the process went flying out onto the pavement.

They said he'd be fine to come home soon, since he didn't have fractures or anything really bad like that. I don't know when "soon" is. We spent 7 hours in the ER waiting room and finally left around midnight. I have no idea how he's doing now, 9 1/2 hours after that. It was kind of funny - half the people who came into the ER as patients were people we knew, and about 50 people came by over the course of our 7 hour stint to pray with us, talk, play cards... We are blessed with so many friends.

Could you please pray that Michael comes home soon? Very soon. :(