tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12237870980726032292024-02-20T01:38:20.285-06:00lisamlillypadA blog by Author and Attorney Lisa M. LillyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-43527411376085894032018-02-14T09:50:00.000-06:002018-02-14T09:50:04.527-06:00Facing The Unknown<br />
Unknowns and gray areas have always raised anxiety for me in real life, yet those places are where everything interesting happens in fiction.<br />
<br />
In Rosemary’s Baby, <a href="https://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2018/02/how-rosemarys-baby-inspired-awakening.html" target="_blank">which I wrote about last week</a> (and which is one of my favorite books), the antagonists clearly fall into the evil camp from the readers’ perspective, no matter how they try to justify their actions to themselves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfzGnr2AJgmuMvLGxfBE0UW2a6hya9fpSHDbdAEEFRMSqZjy5VjWoPTlmOdx0ZW25b18Lc4xEWRUvQv0zKCburfP8g7najceFyvGHDaimSj-OdIuGZpk2ovffmEwz6grcUnStFiXv3rnY/s1600/Book+Release+Illumination+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="784" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfzGnr2AJgmuMvLGxfBE0UW2a6hya9fpSHDbdAEEFRMSqZjy5VjWoPTlmOdx0ZW25b18Lc4xEWRUvQv0zKCburfP8g7najceFyvGHDaimSj-OdIuGZpk2ovffmEwz6grcUnStFiXv3rnY/s320/Book+Release+Illumination+Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In contrast, in the most well known virgin pregnancy story in the western world, that of the Virgin Mary, the reader is meant to see the pregnancy as an unqualified good. Mary is portrayed, to the extent she is featured at all, as troubled at first but then quickly honored and grateful for her role. (It helps that an angel explains everything to her.)<br />
<br />
For The Awakening Series, I put Tara, the protagonist, smack in the middle of those extremes. The many unknowns in her situation struck me as more realistic, and more anxiety-provoking, than Mary’s story.<br />
<br />
<b>Things happen to almost all of us that we didn’t expect and didn’t ask for. Rarely is there a reason for them that makes any sense, yet we need to deal with them. </b><br />
<br />
Often those events change us and the course of our lives in ways people around us struggle to understand.<br />
<br />
Also, the unknown often poses the greatest emotional challenge. Fearing you’ll lose your job or a loved one can become so painful and scary that it’s almost worse than things that actually happen. Once something occurs, I can take steps to handle it no matter how bad. Beforehand, though, I can only imagine how awful it will be.<br />
<br />
<b>As Mark Twain said, “I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”</b><br />
<br />
How different people deal with the unknown also causes great conflict, particularly when it comes to religious faith.<br />
<br />
Some people find in religion definite answers, if only to say “it’s God’s will.” Others find that same concept deeply disturbing, as it can sound as if some all-powerful being targeted them for misfortune.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUunvpZgGTrBgjhoLllEBU7hk3eqruoK5S_9t2LMLChxqubLFJGwiJsWPzvUVO2lPUHinLd35uk5YRa0sLfYHPIlRLxTPmwNOd875lWhDsvGMkm75DGGSRg71gG8tB161Io3IT5FnzI8I/s1600/MomandDad2003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1152" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrUunvpZgGTrBgjhoLllEBU7hk3eqruoK5S_9t2LMLChxqubLFJGwiJsWPzvUVO2lPUHinLd35uk5YRa0sLfYHPIlRLxTPmwNOd875lWhDsvGMkm75DGGSRg71gG8tB161Io3IT5FnzI8I/s320/MomandDad2003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My mom & dad at their 50th anniversary.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I personally struggled with the things people say in the wake of tragedy after my parents were killed by a drunk driver.<br />
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People said what they may have meant to be helpful, but in words that reflected what they needed to believe to feel all right about the world again. Often their words sparked anger and frustration in me, yet I felt unable to express that because I didn't want to be rude or hurtful to those who were likely trying to offer sympathy in the best way they knew how.<br />
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Though it's an entirely different situation, those feelings and experiences are part of the conflicts in <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/" target="_blank">The Awakening series</a>, as well meaning people of strong but different faiths and world viewpoints clash with one another.<br />
<br />
I suppose all writers deal with their demons in one way or another through what they write. The gray areas—and the unknowns—these are mine.<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-33159546219753223792018-02-07T11:05:00.000-06:002018-02-07T11:05:24.753-06:00How Rosemary's Baby Inspired The Awakening Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7f6O-2j_5v7tsRDFm6FKHauYoPUVLVEloO6EVsaNXgVYt3f9HIO-u3zq5IvBA_CZtHEuSM2ZZldVIrzRNP64Xu697m7YbVL5qJnc2rtwtqVZoivng8dREAH2l1G5y_V7HWHT64thLgK-/s1600/Cradle+Image+Only.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1200" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr7f6O-2j_5v7tsRDFm6FKHauYoPUVLVEloO6EVsaNXgVYt3f9HIO-u3zq5IvBA_CZtHEuSM2ZZldVIrzRNP64Xu697m7YbVL5qJnc2rtwtqVZoivng8dREAH2l1G5y_V7HWHT64thLgK-/s320/Cradle+Image+Only.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rosemary’s Baby (by Ira Levin) is one of my
favorite books, and it’s part of what inspired <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening-series/" target="_blank">The Awakening Series</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It’s the kind of quiet horror that I love. The
story is disturbing because of gradually building suspense and looming evil
rather than blood and guts.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other things I love about Rosemary’s
Baby and how they fit with The Awakening Series (</span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">warning if you’ve never read or seen Rosemary’s
Baby, there are SPOILERS below):</span></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">An Unusual Pregnancy</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tara (my protagonist in The Awakening) and
Rosemary are in slightly different situations. Rosemary wanted to become
pregnant, and Tara didn’t. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But they are alike, too. Rosemary wanted a baby,
but not to have her pregnancy forced on her. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tara wanted to delay having children until she finished medical school. She
chose to abstain from sex, but at the beginning of the book finds herself
pregnant anyway. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The two women also are similar in they’re both
willing to entertain what appear to be impossible answers to the situation they
find themselves in. They follow where logic leads rather than assuming they
lost their minds, though others around them attempt to convince them that’s
what’s happening.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Woman As Hero</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Despite that on first glance Rosemary appears to
be the standard “woman in peril” staple of many horror and suspense novels, she
doesn’t remain a victim. Ultimately, I see her as “women as hero.” While she
isn’t able to defeat the evil people around her, she is able to take control of
the situation. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rosemary figures out what happened to her friend Hutch, how her husband became so successful, and the real goals of her seemingly benign elderly neighbors. I used her as a sort of model for Tara.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 32px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Both Tara and Rosemary, once they discover their situations, do everything they can to figure out what’s happening and how to deal with it. They don’t wait for others to rescue them.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tara trusts those around her, just as Rosemary trusted her
husband and neighbors, but she reexamines everything and everyone to figure out
how to survive. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Finding Her Own Way</span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rosemary also is unconventional. We expect her either to be defeated or choose to end her own life and her child’s. Instead, she’s
determined to find another way.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tara, too, is unwilling to accept the choices
others offer to her. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Everyone has an opinion about her pregnancy and
its origin, but Tara is determined to figure out for herself what it means. Even if she likes and trusts someone (such
as her mentor Nanor, founder of a woman’s community whose daughter also had a virgin
pregnancy), she doesn’t accept as gospel what that person says or do what that
person tells her to do.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Means and Ends</span></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I also like Rosemary’s Baby because it features
antagonists who on the surface appear ordinary and kind but whose beliefs justify,
in their own minds, doing terrible things.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While the antagonists in Rosemary’s Baby hold
beliefs that are generally considered to be evil, Levin makes clear that they
have a deep and strong faith that they believe justifies their actions. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the
surface, they do what look like good deeds. They help a young woman hooked on
drugs become sober and take her into their home, they befriend Rosemary and try
to help her through her pregnancy, and they help Rosemary’s husband’s career. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">All these things, though, are done to try to achieve
a nefarious purpose.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the other hand, Rosemary’s choice in the end
is one that is motivated by a clear good—love for her child—yet it’s unclear
whether it’s the morally correct choice given what’s at stake.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In The Awakening Series, I chose antagonists who do
questionable (and sometimes criminal) things because they see it as necessary
to protect the world. While Tara herself is clearly not evil, what her
pregnancy means and how it happened is unknown to her, as is whether those who
oppose her might, on some level, be doing the right thing.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the end, the questions over right and wrong
and the difficulties in choosing the best path when no options are clearly good
is a big part of what I loved about Rosemary’s Baby and what inspired The Awakening and the later books in the series. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Haven't tried The Awakening Series yet? If you're reading this the week of February 6, 2018, it's a good time to check it out, as the e-book editions of <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/" target="_blank">Book 1</a> are free.</span></span><br />
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<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-64192362753172499322018-01-30T11:13:00.001-06:002018-01-30T11:13:14.629-06:00Found Families, Conflict, And The Road To Hell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVpovV-Bect9PEfkmtcAeJ_hkzXmwd-IRXHxgAhdg4EsaJjVN-6Uf98aI3R7BWgy3icSsfGcLAJRYzyCfTf8CpPQfzTba18xgk_ylm1KLbkTAhD9oU8R-4A0DmMIXBvPiN5LB0l9lOyeq/s1600/Prophecy+Graphic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="940" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHVpovV-Bect9PEfkmtcAeJ_hkzXmwd-IRXHxgAhdg4EsaJjVN-6Uf98aI3R7BWgy3icSsfGcLAJRYzyCfTf8CpPQfzTba18xgk_ylm1KLbkTAhD9oU8R-4A0DmMIXBvPiN5LB0l9lOyeq/s320/Prophecy+Graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Of all her family members, my protagonist Tara’s stepdad,
Pete, struggles the most with her supernatural pregnancy. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
When I was writing early drafts, though, Pete was so
supportive that it made for dull reading.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>One suggestion I got to heighten the conflict was to show Pete feeling frustrated that he was
raising this child who was not “his own.” </b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
This view would lead to him to be
more impatient and disbelieving when Tara claimed to not know how she became
pregnant.<br />
<br /></div>
</span><div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>That would’ve been an easy place to go for conflict, but it
didn’t appeal to me.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It struck me as too expected and unrealistic at the same
time. It also didn’t interest me as much as the type of internal conflict Pete
ultimately faces between his faith and his love for his daughter.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Great Expectations</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The idea that Pete would see Tara as not really his daughter
despite having raised her from when she was three, and so would feel more
impatient with her or angry at her, seemed to me to be the expected conflict
and also, ironically, contrary to reality.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>As far as expected goes, it fit too well with the trope of
the evil stepparent (though usually that’s the stepmother). I wanted a more
complex reason than that, and I also wanted Pete to be a genuinely good person
and good dad, not a stereotypical type of villain.</b></span></div>
<b></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At the same time, the cultural view that biological or blood
relations are closer and have better relationships than do people not connected
by biology is often not true.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"> Some biological families are close and
supportive, and if you have that, that’s terrific. Others, though, create far
more stress and pain for one another than do the friends and families people choose
and create on their own.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Finding Your Family</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I feel lucky to have grown up in the family I did, though
particularly as a teenager and a twenty-something, I saw mainly its flaws. I
took for granted the very open definition of family that my parents had and
only later realized how wonderful it was.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My brothers and I were close with many of our cousins, and
our extended family frequently got together. Included in that family were
several longtime friends of my parents. Those people often gave me the best
advice I got when I was growing up and also served as cheerleaders for me when
I was struggling.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Likewise, my mom, often quite critical of her own kids and so
not necessarily the first person we went to with problems, offered help and
support to some of my cousins. Sometimes it’s easier to play those roles with
people who are not your own parents or children.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><b>In creating my main character Tara’s family, I wanted to
reflect those complexities and reflect the fact that you won’t always connect
with your family of origin. </b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Also, as is often the case in real life, Tara’s parents
don’t have the knowledge or expertise to help her deal with what she needs to
face. She must seek that elsewhere.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I liked exploring those other relationships Tara forms. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I also liked showing that her parents could grow and change
when challenged with a difficult — actually, an unbelievable — situation, and
that the parent/child relationships could evolve.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>The Road To Hell</b></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The saying about the road to hell being paved with good
intentions stuck in my mind as I created Pete, though I don’t see him as going
to hell by any means. (I also always remember an Ernest Hemingway character
saying the road to hell was paved with unbought stuffed dogs, but that’s an
entirely different article.)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In Pete, I created a character with deep faith in the
Catholic Church. Pete grew up all over the world because his father was in the
military. Catholicism was an anchor in his life. When he went to mass, no
matter what language was spoken, he understood went to sit or stand or kneel
and what was happening.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(I drew that part of Pete’s background from a visit to a
church in Florence when I was traveling alone. I went in to see the
architecture but stayed for a mass. Despite not knowing Italian, I could follow
everything because it was the same pattern, prayers, and even songs that I had
grown up with. Though no longer religious, I found it comforting to take part
in the familiar ritual while in another country.)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As the possible meanings of Tara’s pregnancy are explored,
it raises huge questions, fears, and doubts for Pete. He fears that there is
some evil component to it that will hurt his daughter and challenge his faith, and
he fears the child is meant to overturn the current order and undermine the Church.
He also fears that his daughter has been gripped by some type of mental illness
characterized by religious mania.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pete struggles with all those fears, but what he’s really struggling with are two
strong and opposing values that mean a great deal to him. </span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first is supporting his child and trusting her judgment, and the second is being true to his faith and the church. </span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">That’s exactly the type of conflict I find most compelling
for a character.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Of course, I couldn’t have Pete simply sit around and think
about these things, so in Book 2, The Unbelievers, he is forced to go on a
quest with Cyril, whom he doesn’t trust and who behaved terribly toward Tara,
to try to recover part of an ancient prophecy that may help both Tara and Pete
figure out what’s going on. (Now there’s a run-on sentence.)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If you haven’t checked it out yet, you can <span id="goog_24570483"></span><a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-unbelievers/">find TheUnbelievers here</a> in paperback, ebook, and audiobook editions.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "calibri";"></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-81231512290815697372018-01-24T08:33:00.002-06:002018-01-25T09:04:43.649-06:00Snakes, Trees, And Former Nuns: Creating The Cloister For The Awakening Series<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZw5WaU058nLi1KBB8as3kHjPdhq6VkJ9QOKIHBIHw5MW8w4YQ9RmTm303UhIgLeL_QG2OWT9sihqcCqOPA7eAWdbSTiCOUsoUM-mFrCwhnpYzA8JYIT9ip5-L7Rty_PtkztynLiXupCN/s1600/Pennsylvania+028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZw5WaU058nLi1KBB8as3kHjPdhq6VkJ9QOKIHBIHw5MW8w4YQ9RmTm303UhIgLeL_QG2OWT9sihqcCqOPA7eAWdbSTiCOUsoUM-mFrCwhnpYzA8JYIT9ip5-L7Rty_PtkztynLiXupCN/s320/Pennsylvania+028.JPG" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I use a lot of real places—like the St. Louis Arch
and a student hotel in Yerevan, Armenia—as settings in the <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/awakening-series-complete-supernatural-thriller-series-box-setomnibus/" target="_blank">Awakening Series</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My favorite setting, though, is one I created: a former chapel known as </span><span style="font-family: "calibri";">the cloister. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Danger looms there in Books 2 and 3 (no worries, no major spoilers below).</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A news report about snake handling, a visit to Pennsylvania, my family history, and a garden near the Art Institute in Chicago inspired it.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>
Hidden Places</b></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My dad grew up in Pennsylvania. One of my favorite things to
do as a kid, despite that it was a 12 hour drive, was to visit my aunts, uncles, and cousins there. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As an adult, after my parents died I traveled to Loretto,
Pennsylvania, for an extended family reunion.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcWN4AVaDBQLzM1ZVZjzIMnqj7WWDVFXvZLE0BIpRcVAW7kRR985N-6RepQTGofU9DlqQVizmuj8I3tJ4V4ImCUDtF7pWWSb3ywaZVX5-3epvH6Y_mdPAMlK2ap8vSAxzMW1UlFN-704Z/s1600/Pennsylvania+031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrcWN4AVaDBQLzM1ZVZjzIMnqj7WWDVFXvZLE0BIpRcVAW7kRR985N-6RepQTGofU9DlqQVizmuj8I3tJ4V4ImCUDtF7pWWSb3ywaZVX5-3epvH6Y_mdPAMlK2ap8vSAxzMW1UlFN-704Z/s320/Pennsylvania+031.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">While there, we visited the gardens of a nearby church. I was particularly struck by a giant beautiful tree with branches that stretched everywhere. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">You can’t quite see its scale in this photo,
but it stayed sharp in my memory. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">So much so that when I wrote The Unbelievers four
years later, similar trees played a significant part in creating the atmosphere
of the courtyard in the cloister.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Calling the former chapel "the cloister" also came from my
family history.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">One of my dad’s aunts was a nun, and as a kid I heard my
mother talking about cloistered nuns. The word means hidden, and I was
intrigued by this idea of a hidden place where people lived. </span><br />
<b style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: calibri;">When I needed a group of people, possibly foes but possibly
allies, who would guard secret information passed down for thousands of years
that my main character Tara needed, a place known as the cloister seemed like a
perfect setting.</b><br />
<b style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></b></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>
Trees At The Art Institute</b></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">How the tree I’d seen in Pennsylvania would play into my
story didn’t become clear to me until four years after I'd seen it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWDYTms_Xw9gAXXwZMo7T5m4_xyWkArM1tcO2Lo02DuOMPkVLLK7GSPvFx65ENCKtREpQRGvsmpx98nIIktHAXO9CK5XjwAkzXSrBkt_cfalqQbYA5dJVVDF0WNoVb078RzTHpXstspFy/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWDYTms_Xw9gAXXwZMo7T5m4_xyWkArM1tcO2Lo02DuOMPkVLLK7GSPvFx65ENCKtREpQRGvsmpx98nIIktHAXO9CK5XjwAkzXSrBkt_cfalqQbYA5dJVVDF0WNoVb078RzTHpXstspFy/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I was walking along Michigan
Avenue in Chicago and passed the Art Institute, something I’ve done hundreds of times. For the first time, though, I wandered into the garden on the south side of it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">That particular garden features hawthorn trees. In the photo above they have leaves, and their top branches wind into one another.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I created a courtyard for the cloister that was filled with
hawthorn trees, which I learned do grow in the mountains in Pennsylvania. Because the cloister is in the mountains, and it's above the snow line, the tree branches look stark against the snow as they wind together in
an eerie, foreboding way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>
Snakes And Serpents</b></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">While I was plotting The Unbelievers, I happened to see a
television news show about a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/snake-handling-pentecostal-pastor-dies-snake-bite/story?id=22551754" target="_blank">preacher who died while engaging in the religiouspractice of snake handling</a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The concept is that someone with true faith can
handle a poisonous snake without being bitten, or if the person is bitten, he
will be healed through faith.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVHUgAqrMMoCUuEpUyazV1_BvskyAiilXu2zXTL686Ylt7O7k-5iEY6tTCxk_DaCLzdNhWCw64oLqZSJjKvLgb8ahAy5HtLY3M-YkJXWP1cdkzD0ZNX-2ejTU3ZDEs1C-TELVKsnHsjyh/s1600/century+hallaug+19+20198_00+pm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="940" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVHUgAqrMMoCUuEpUyazV1_BvskyAiilXu2zXTL686Ylt7O7k-5iEY6tTCxk_DaCLzdNhWCw64oLqZSJjKvLgb8ahAy5HtLY3M-YkJXWP1cdkzD0ZNX-2ejTU3ZDEs1C-TELVKsnHsjyh/s320/century+hallaug+19+20198_00+pm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It’s based on New Testament verses in Mark saying that
apostles will pick up snakes and that if they drink deadly poison it will not
harm them. According to my research, the practice began in the Appalachian
Mountains, so it fit with the location of my cloister.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I didn’t end up using snake handling directly in the books,
but, fair warning, snakes play a role. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">A lot of snakes.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">----</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">For more on <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/awakening-series-complete-supernatural-thriller-series-box-setomnibus/" target="_blank">The Awakening Series</a>, stop back next Wednesday,
or <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/" target="_blank">sign up for bonus materials</a> for the series.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-21394003208402433402018-01-17T08:01:00.001-06:002018-01-17T08:01:57.534-06:00How Stories About Mary Influenced The Awakening Series<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iC8WsfhCcbmj0A0EgDhVosDb_4OIiqRnD3UZTFL86y9Fd7doVplmjG3ECncCiAw6mr00zuugr31gfkwO7OeUCuLboKDKYETY5Fy7HwG7-pGykC2Jb99rpLJeFAODSXB1xfcXJIBRgrT/s1600/Bread+Basket.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="940" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iC8WsfhCcbmj0A0EgDhVosDb_4OIiqRnD3UZTFL86y9Fd7doVplmjG3ECncCiAw6mr00zuugr31gfkwO7OeUCuLboKDKYETY5Fy7HwG7-pGykC2Jb99rpLJeFAODSXB1xfcXJIBRgrT/s320/Bread+Basket.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collyridians supposedly offered fresh-baked bread to Mary.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last week I wrote about the<a href="http://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2018/01/whats-real-and-whats-not-creating.html" target="_blank"> inspiration for the fringe religious order</a> that plagues my main character, Tara, throughout The Awakening Series.<br />
<br />
Research and reading into traditional and controversial beliefs about the Virgin Mary also influenced The Awakening, though Tara's journey diverges widely from Mary's.<br />
<br />
(For one thing, Tara's not religious, and the series is not a religious series. Also, so far as I know, there are no stories about an apocalyptic cult threatening Mary, which would have turned that part of the New Testament into a thriller, probably not the goal of its authors.)<br />
<br />
<h4>
Pure And Perfect?</h4>
<br />
In the Catholic Church in particular, Mary is viewed as "pure," "perfect," and "immaculate" because she's seen, paradoxically, as both a mother and a virgin. As a child, I assumed those beliefs stemmed from the New Testament, but there's relatively little there about Mary.<br />
<br />
There was a lot to explore on those themes.<br />
<br />
What if a young woman didn't see sex that way and had abstained for other reasons and found herself pregnant? What if she rejected people who tried to see her as "pure" and believed she'd give birth to a messiah?<br />
<br />
<h4>
Mother of God?</h4>
<br />
The Catholic Church granted Mary the title “Mother of God” about 430 years after Jesus was born.<br />
<br />
The Church believed she deserved the title because she'd given birth to the human Jesus, whom the Church came to believe also was God.<br />
<br />
This belief played into the next doctrine, that of Perpetual Virginity.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Perpetual Virgin?</h4>
<br />
Later, under a doctrine known as Perpetual Virginity, the Catholic Church decided that Mary not only was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, but she remained a virgin throughout her entire life.<br />
<br />
This doctrine surprised me when I learned about it. The logical reason for those who see Jesus as God to believe Mary was a virgin before Jesus' birth was to show that his "father" was not human but divine. (A point Tara's mentor, a former nun and professor makes.)<br />
<br />
But this doctrine makes a clear equation between sex and being impure--and equates perfection for a woman with abstaining from sex.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Contrary Views</h4>
<br />
Not all early Christians believed Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born, however, let alone that she remained one forever.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05242c.htm" target="_blank">The Ebionites</a>, a Jewish-Christian sect that believed in a non-divine messiah, believed that Jesus was conceived the usual way, through sexual intercourse. Later, they changed position to say that Jesus was conceived through the Holy Spirit, but still believed that after the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary engaged in sexual relations and had many children.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Excommunication</h4>
<br />
The Catholic Church rejected both views.<br />
<br />
The Church declared heretical any belief that Mary had sexual intercourse ever, including after Jesus was born. (A heresy is a belief at odds with what Catholics must believe to be considered Catholics. Heretics are barred from the Church.)<br />
<br />
The early Church felt so strongly about Mary remaining a virgin forever that it labeled those who held the belief that she had sexual intercourse after the birth of Jesus “<a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=31852" target="_blank">Antidicomarianites</a>”—opponents of Mary.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.ewtn.com/library/HOMELIBR/COLLYRID.TXT" target="_blank">Collyridians</a>, another group the Church declared heretics, went too far the other direction from the Church's standpoint. They worshipped her as divine. Most of what's known about them comes from a Bishop who denounced them. The group, mostly women, offered bread to Mary. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
(I borrowed from this lore when I envisioned a former chapel where Tara seeks sanctuary in Books 2 and 3, The Unbelievers and The Conflagration. The table in the main room features baskets of homemade bread.) </div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
Tara's Allies</h4>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
From what I could tell, the early Church viewed these two groups as opposites--one group that saw Mary as, perhaps, too human in that she had sexual intercourse, and the other that saw her as divine. I found that intriguing, as it suggested a lot about how that religion saw women.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I also found these groups intriguing because, <a href="http://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2018/01/whats-real-and-whats-not-creating.html" target="_blank">as with the two Andrews of Crete I wrote about last week</a>, there was little information out there. That gave me a lot of room to take poetic license with how and whether to fit them into my story.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div>
In case you haven't yet read the series, I won't go into detail on what role the Antidicomarianites and Collyridians play, other than to say that references to them did make life more challenging for Shiromi Arserio, the producer/narrator of the <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/audiobooks/" target="_blank">audiobook editions</a>.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I hope you'll stop back next Wednesday for more on <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening-series/" target="_blank">The Awakening Series</a>. You can get bonus materials for The Awakening Series, including deleted scenes, <a href="http://eepurl.com/bk7YMf" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-92138670393680835792018-01-09T17:55:00.000-06:002018-01-09T17:55:16.518-06:00What's Real And What's Not: Creating The Brotherhood of Andrew (Antagonist For The Awakening Series)<span style="font-family: "calibri";">When I started The Awakening Series I had two “What Ifs” in
mind:</span><br />
<b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></b>
<br />
<ul>
<li><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";">What if a (non-religious) young woman today claimed she was pregnant but had never had sex? </span></b></li>
<li><b style="font-family: calibri;">What if a traditional religious group became convinced she would give birth to a messiah, but then learned the young woman's child would be a girl?</b></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">While each of the four books in <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening-series/" target="_blank">The Awakening Series</a>
features a specific individual character as the antagonist, the real antagonist for the entire series is that religious group, the Brotherhood of Andrew of Crete. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-illumination/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsMgdB5tEZzgzxNM8D3UC7QQ5vAbFX56LatA2T9H1ESN6wa6umMkJystu7FpL8SGjnjTUW6FPMPDCsqkB3j1lXgjLw2v-KMFq16-Ux_PaHyiA-yXluFXu5gx9olLrhJCEVrZtT6JsFpMvs/s200/The+Illumination+-+eBook+small.jpg" width="133" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-illumination/" target="_blank">The fourth and final book, The Illumination.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">The Brotherhood needed to be traditional and Christian Order so its members would believe in the story of the Virgin Mary and would be shocked at the idea of a potential
female messiah.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">But I didn't want the Order to be part of an actual, specific branch of Christianity. </span></h4>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As the antagonist, the Order would do things that from my main character’s
perspective (and probably the reader's perspective) were evil.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>I didn’t want to
associate that with a real religion or suggest any actual
religious group was wrong or evil. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
T<span style="font-family: "calibri";">hat’s why throughout the books, Brotherhood
members refer to concepts that come from many different religious traditions. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b>I also wanted The Brotherhood to have a saint around which
to coalesce because that would make their beliefs more concrete. </b></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">My criteria for the saint included:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: calibri;">(1) being devoted to the Virgin Mary so that the saint was logically
connected to The Brotherhood’s apparent mission of looking for signs of a new messiah</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(2) dying as a martyr, as that foreshadowed danger and
raised the stakes of the story</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(3) having lived 600-800 years after Jesus Christ was
reportedly born so that beliefs about Jesus were in flux and so the saint could
not possibly have personally known Jesus or Mary</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(4) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>being well
known so that I could take a lot of dramatic license in creating whatever back
story I needed </span></div>
<h4>
<br /><span style="font-family: "calibri";">I found two saints who met these criteria and who
conveniently shared a name – St. Andrew.</span></h4>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Interestingly, both were associated with Crete. </span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">I liked having a saint
from that part of the world because I planned to set some of the story in
nearby Armenia, a place I’d traveled to and found fascinating because of its
history as having become the first country to name Christianity as its official
religion.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: calibri;">The martyr Andrew of Crete was executed around 767 A.D. (or
C.E. for Common Era, as is more commonly used now in academia) because he defended
the honoring of icons – religious images – of Jesus.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">He also had a monastery dedicated to him, the <a href="https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the+koca+mustafa+pasha+mosque&qpvt=the+koco+mustafa+pasha+mosque&FORM=IGRE" target="_blank">Koca Mustafa Pasha Mosque</a> in Istanbul. (That has an interesting history in itself which I’ll
write about in a future post.)</span></div>
<span style="font-family: calibri;">While I didn’t find any particular connection between the
martyr Andrew of Crete and the Virgin Mary, the other St. Andrew of Crete was
known for composing and singing hymns to her. That St. Andrew was ordained a
deacon at the Hagia Sophia (a location I also used in the series). In 692 he
was made an archbishop on the island of Crete.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: calibri;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: calibri;">I combined these two St. Andrews into Brother Andrew, a
saint to whom my fictional Brotherhood of Andrew of Crete is devoted. I added
that Brother Andrew had visions about future women like the Virgin Mary and handed down a prophecy about such women and the danger to the world if events surrounding the prophecy went wrong.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Not all of this back story about Brother Andrew ended up in any of the books in <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening-series/" target="_blank">the series,</a> but I feel knowing it made my storytelling more layered.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<h4>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If you’d like to know more about the two St. Andrews, you
can check out the websites below. </span></h4>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(Fair warning if you're writing a paper on one of the Andrews and came across this article: Because I was writing fiction, I didn't make sure all my sources were well-researched and documented. I only needed enough to provide a jumping off point for my story.)</span></div>
<br />
<h3>
<a href="http://www.popflock.com/learn?s=Andrew_of_Crete_(martyr)" target="_blank">PopFlock</a></h3>
<h3>
<a href="http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=859" target="_blank">Catholic Online</a> </h3>
<h3>
<a href="https://oca.org/saints/lives/2017/07/04/101894-st-andrew-the-archbishop-of-crete" target="_blank">OCA (Orthodox Church in America)</a></h3>
<h3>
<a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=724" target="_blank">Catholic News Agency</a></h3>
<h3>
<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/173.html" target="_blank">Bartleby.com</a></h3>
<h3>
<a href="http://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/6195078" target="_blank">Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias</a></h3>
<h3>
<a href="http://orthodoxchristian.blogspot.com/2011/10/monk-martyr-andrew-of-crete.html" target="_blank">Orthodox Christian</a></h3>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">As the story grew and changed with each book, I made tweaks
to the structure of The Brotherhood, to who was in charge, and to how much each
member knew about its goals. I did that both to keep it a formidable
adversary and to leave room for the people within it to grow and change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/awakening-series-complete-supernatural-thriller-series-box-setomnibus/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zPReQsglQOPMFzPpfdYl8kL5mCmIuiOmSJtMfTIqCwXMLsK4LD2_uMtb6KaEXFRLlStEmivHd7uoNigPXYw2gzAzJZKYxlRY9sgJI7IXFAiFytrN6ZXngvAF5l5IU0fT0AZWqYbtSOAT/s200/Awakening+Series+-+3D+Boxset.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">If you haven't yet finished (or started) The Awakening Series now's a great time to check it out, as the series is now complete and is available in <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening-series/" target="_blank">ebook, audiobook, and paperback editions</a>. Also, as I write this, the ebook editions of <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/" target="_blank">Book 1, The Awakening</a>, are all free. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Or read the entire series in the<a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/awakening-series-complete-supernatural-thriller-series-box-setomnibus/" target="_blank"> box set/omnibus edition</a>.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-77562048231805810112017-12-04T09:40:00.000-06:002017-12-04T09:40:07.505-06:00Choose The Top Fantasy and Science Fiction Cover of 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh707L0oBsOgD8CUAUaM1wT9RINBhLutkkdLq1kDZSTtGj_tg6rCtjb7PkD1xafjALBwPORVabclmswhDNVLpMMNe9DAL9Hrdn47KqjYmWSOGJCnlQQVaX9USnibJkk4yRQeSjKotKPhMZ/s1600/Best+KWL+Sci+Fi+Fantasy+Covers+2017+Illumination.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="519" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh707L0oBsOgD8CUAUaM1wT9RINBhLutkkdLq1kDZSTtGj_tg6rCtjb7PkD1xafjALBwPORVabclmswhDNVLpMMNe9DAL9Hrdn47KqjYmWSOGJCnlQQVaX9USnibJkk4yRQeSjKotKPhMZ/s320/Best+KWL+Sci+Fi+Fantasy+Covers+2017+Illumination.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We're not supposed to judge a book by its cover.<br />
<br />
All the same, I'm really pleased that the cover for <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-illumination/" target="_blank">The Illumination</a>, the fourth and final book in my Awakening supernatural thriller series, was included in Kobo Writing Life's <a href="https://kobowritinglife.com/2017/12/01/the-2017-kwl-cover-contest-vote-for-your-favourite-science-fiction-fantasy-cover/" target="_blank">10 Finalists</a> for the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy covers of 2017. (Thank you to cover designer Chrissy from Damonza!)<br />
<br />
This poll also reminded me of a book I've been waiting for: <a href="https://jfpenn.com/book/map-of-shadows/" target="_blank">Map of Shadows</a> by J. F. Penn. I love Penn's London Crime Thriller series, and I'm excited to branch out into reading her other fiction. I also plan to check out the 8 other authors whose book covers are in the Top 10.<br />
<br />
You only have until 5 p.m. Eastern Time on December 7 so hurry and <a href="https://kobowritinglife.com/2017/12/01/the-2017-kwl-cover-contest-vote-for-your-favourite-science-fiction-fantasy-cover/" target="_blank">vote for your favorite cover</a> today!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-46916472297897887332017-09-03T13:40:00.002-05:002017-09-03T13:40:38.198-05:00Celebrate The Finale Of The Awakening Series - Chicago September 21, 2017Please join me to celebrate releasing The Illumination, the finale of The Awakening series, and embracing life as a full-time author. We'll have an appetizer buffet, an Awakening trivia quiz, and a drawing.<br />
<br />
Prizes include an Amazon gift card and a chance to have a character named after you in my new Q.C. Davis mystery series.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy4EtIhWNM_S-u2IqDUoKEmORNwYchvPMxEU_wtBcpE4xFop8UkWUOwcw9vs5BiPN4w9ivXB8gYyPSa8qncuBdVeLR6plUD2P7ZI_0-zMgDaO4eRd1AjNyn1pOfDWx9Sr97cMaYOyUq9q/s1600/Book+Release+Illumination+Banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="295" data-original-width="784" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy4EtIhWNM_S-u2IqDUoKEmORNwYchvPMxEU_wtBcpE4xFop8UkWUOwcw9vs5BiPN4w9ivXB8gYyPSa8qncuBdVeLR6plUD2P7ZI_0-zMgDaO4eRd1AjNyn1pOfDWx9Sr97cMaYOyUq9q/s320/Book+Release+Illumination+Banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
All four Awakening books will be available for sale.<br />
<br />
Where: Sopraffina Market Cafe, 10 N. Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois<br />
<br />
Date: Thursday, September 21, 2017<br />
<br />
Time: 5-7 p.m.<br />
<br />
Drop in any time and feel free to bring a friend!<br />
<br />
Look for (metered) street parking on Dearborn or one block west on Clark Street or valet ($15). Sopraffina is also close to Red, Blue, and Brown Line L stops and about 6 blocks from Union Station.<br />
<br />
If you can make it, please RSVP to Lisa@LisaLilly.com.<br />
<br />
Hope to see you there!<br />
<br />
P.S. Can't make it but want to check out The Illumination and other Awakening books anyway? Visit http://www.lisalilly.com/the-illumination/.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-52330220290115478772017-06-19T15:56:00.000-05:002017-06-19T15:56:43.532-05:00The Illumination, Book 4 in The Awakening Series (and my 100th post)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AJxIp8p71WCS7pmCjrgkJm7SRcXqGZI4WJwg4Epc92fB4vtE7byQc8DkLhN-E70_TvzSw-xhfmg64igNrOR7RY0jfn6YPK_OAVZcmPA8ZS0rYYdAUhAFURjowAUEDSHLKschnUEyaSUC/s1600/The+Illumination+-+3D.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AJxIp8p71WCS7pmCjrgkJm7SRcXqGZI4WJwg4Epc92fB4vtE7byQc8DkLhN-E70_TvzSw-xhfmg64igNrOR7RY0jfn6YPK_OAVZcmPA8ZS0rYYdAUhAFURjowAUEDSHLKschnUEyaSUC/s320/The+Illumination+-+3D.png" width="320" /></a><br />
More than the other books in The Awakening Series, writing the fourth and final book, <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-illumination/">The Illumination</a>, required pulling together many threads. It was like a giant puzzle as well as a novel.<br />
<br />
That made it fun. And challenging.<br />
<br />
It was also exciting because at last Tara Spencer comes face-to-face with the forces that caused her supernatural pregnancy. She learns the truth about her child's origin—and her own—and everything rests upon what she decides to do about it.<br />
<br />
Completing and launching the book also made me sad because I’ve spent so many years thinking and writing about Tara and the people around her.<br />
<br />
Some, like Thomas Stranyero, began as minor characters and turned into pivotal actors in the drama. Others didn’t make it to the end. But all of them became real people to me.<br />
<br />
All of this makes it fitting that this is my 100th blog post. I didn't plan it that way, but if I had, that's what I would have wanted.<br />
<br />
If you haven’t yet read The Illumination , you can find it in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Illumination-Awakening-Lisa-M-Lilly/dp/1546352899/">paperback</a> or ebook editions (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Illumination-Awakening-Book-4-ebook/dp/B06XDP2JMD">Kindle</a>, <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-illumination-lisa-m-lilly/1126394232">Nook</a>, <a href="https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/the-illumination-5">Kobo (Canada)</a>, <a href="https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-illumination-5">Kobo (U.S.)</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-illumination/id1182828520">iBook</a>, or <a href="https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lisa_M_Lilly_The_Illumination_The_Awakening_Series?id=_qHDDgAAQBAJ">GooglePlay</a> formats).<br />
<br />
The audiobook is coming soon.<br />
<br />
If you have read the series, thanks so much! Reader reviews, emails, and comments are what kept me going throughout, especially when I was also managing a law practice.<br />
<br />
Best,<br />
Lisa<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
P.S. Haven’t had enough of Tara? You can get bonus materials from the series, including deleted scenes and my handwritten notes as I was plotting The Illumination <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-2345739775063683962017-04-05T14:42:00.001-05:002017-04-05T14:42:58.831-05:00<h2>
<span style="color: red;">Did The Virgin Mary Influence The Supreme Court?</span></h2>
<br />
In 2014, three corporations argued to the United States Supreme Court that paying premiums for health insurance made them a cause of abortions. Everyone - the Court, the government, and the corporations - agreed that the insurance didn't cover abortions. But it did, as the Affordable Care Act required, cover IUDs and emergency contraception.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmWrqfNaNZrFgN9XP2sBRUxD91sxNzX6vkq91cc1PLWKSPS-2CmmDIR9vQRloORywqal-dec8D3mmyKsDgT7G3PdATCRpcYgyeNoXzXkuJ6snNqigrIe5KZkIoZ2PbTRwuOqcDwZ51ySa/s1600/How+the+Virgin+Mary+INfluenced+The+United+States+Supreme+Court.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmWrqfNaNZrFgN9XP2sBRUxD91sxNzX6vkq91cc1PLWKSPS-2CmmDIR9vQRloORywqal-dec8D3mmyKsDgT7G3PdATCRpcYgyeNoXzXkuJ6snNqigrIe5KZkIoZ2PbTRwuOqcDwZ51ySa/s320/How+the+Virgin+Mary+INfluenced+The+United+States+Supreme+Court.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
The shareholders of the corporations believed those methods of birth control were the same as abortions and argued requiring them to provide this insurance violated their religious freedom.<br />
<br />
The Supreme Court agreed.<br />
<br />
The five justices in the majority were Catholic. The corporations' religious objections mirrored those of the Roman Catholic Church.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XVH4BXX">How The Virgin Mary Influenced The United States Supreme Court</a> looks at whether Catholic views about the perfect woman, sex, and birth control influenced the Court's decision. The Kindle edition, which is free 4/6/17 through 4/8/17 (and always free for Kindle Unlimited subscribers), talks about:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>What the gospels say about the Virgin Mary (not much);</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The Catholic Church’s view of the “perfect” and “pure” woman as both virgin and mother; </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief filed by the 67 Roman Catholic theologians and ethicists; </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The reasoning of the justices who wrote the majority opinion and the principal dissent in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
How much did the Catholic view of women and the Virgin Mary really influence the Court?<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XVH4BXX">Download the Kindle edition </a></span>today and see for yourself.<br />
<br />
P.S. Don't have a Kindle? <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520964536">Order the paperback edition here<b>.</b></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-87306384833223896242016-09-28T15:17:00.002-05:002016-09-28T15:17:18.721-05:00Still Loving Books In The Digital Age<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTAFYfZonnfKHjBPoHmsqwrRfE9Q3Wr0KPTvZ8IhyphenhyphenKTbBWk-uVlvht19HJXa6e2VQGmh0-EtamorbTsgOhkfVnhFGaLmGmlw5ybmrAcykF96PRWhWE8EvcpIPFtnI0cl2ZF_1oH3AV1V6O/s1600/Book+Stacks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTAFYfZonnfKHjBPoHmsqwrRfE9Q3Wr0KPTvZ8IhyphenhyphenKTbBWk-uVlvht19HJXa6e2VQGmh0-EtamorbTsgOhkfVnhFGaLmGmlw5ybmrAcykF96PRWhWE8EvcpIPFtnI0cl2ZF_1oH3AV1V6O/s320/Book+Stacks.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My hallway being taken over by books.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I've always loved books. But I have to admit, now that there are now so many television series that tell season-long stories, it sometimes cuts into my reading time. (Recent favorites: Agents of Shield and Jessica Jones.) I enjoy watching a good series almost as much as I do reading books.<br />
<br />
Why only almost? It has to do both with loving to read words on a page (or an ereader) and with how loud the world seems to have become.<br />
<br />
<h2>
A cheap vacation</h2>
<br />
Reading a good story, watching a TV series, or sitting in the dark in a theater to see a movie or play all can pull me into a different world for hours. But books add a layer by, ironically, doing less. Reading requires engaging my own imagination in a way that a movie or series doesn't. I picture how the characters look, hear the sounds, and smell the scents the author describes. Because I'm so absorbed in imagining, it feels like I'm getting a cheap mini-vacation from life.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Focus</h2>
<br />
Reading a book also demands complete attention. I can and do listen to audiobooks and podcasts while doing other things. I really like that. Good audio can make you look forward to routine tasks like sorting laundry. But it also means that we're all dividing our attention more and more. In contrast, when I read a good book, I focus on it. For the first five minutes, especially with a new book, that can be a challenge. But after that, everything else leaves my mind. I truly relax. I notice I sleep much better if I read 45 minutes to an hour before I go to bed. It seems to clear out the day's concerns, almost like a long meditation.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Quiet</h2>
<br />
So many things compete for our attention these days and they're all loud. TV commercials, video clips (and more commercials) on the Internet, and cars honking is if that will make traffic jams magically disappear. Books, whether on paper or on my Kindle, don't yell. They don't shriek. They don't even whisper. They are silent. And I love that.<br />
<br />
What about you? What do you love about reading?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-4442530857844559072016-08-24T17:47:00.001-05:002016-08-24T17:47:46.344-05:00Comic Con, Ghostbusters, and What Women WearThis past weekend, I attended Comic Con Chicago. The panels I made it to were fun and informative, including one with X-Files cast members, one by the creator of the Facebook Page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LadiesGeekingOut">Ladies Geeking Out</a> on gender and geek culture, and another on the intersection between film, books, television, and video games.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOZZQdzyMrU6j9z11-0w3zNOXxDO9FdIepfQEnNY3JWLgUu0Wa7c8wn36cIOeHnmpTBhTlofyUSIKV1WJaKSNfwaIPhAaUV1WW0EaWFB_TooqsAdTFGHk_wi1vfLwk0XHDBHrpQu6-9zp/s1600/Comic+Con+012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIOZZQdzyMrU6j9z11-0w3zNOXxDO9FdIepfQEnNY3JWLgUu0Wa7c8wn36cIOeHnmpTBhTlofyUSIKV1WJaKSNfwaIPhAaUV1WW0EaWFB_TooqsAdTFGHk_wi1vfLwk0XHDBHrpQu6-9zp/s320/Comic+Con+012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Seeing all the costumes reminded me of one of the big reasons I loved the new Ghostbusters movie. Not only did I laugh through all of it, I appreciated seeing women on screen dressed appropriately for their work. These women didn't head out to fight ghosts and monsters in bikinis, leotards, or skimpy superhero outfits. They were practical. They wore coveralls. I enjoyed seeing that added to the range of types of dress and characters portrayed at Comic Con.<br />
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Along those lines, at the geek culture panel, I learned about a great blog called <a href="http://repair-her-armor.tumblr.com/">Repair Her Armor</a>. It's to help all those female superheroes out there forced to go into battle with so much skin exposed. Also, at the <a href="http://thehawkeyeinitiative.com/">Hawkeye Initiative</a>, you can see "How to fix every Strong Female Character pose in superhero comics: replace the character with Hawkeye doing the same thing." It's hilarious and highlights the differences in how these characters are drawn.<br />
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I also got to see the car from one of my favorite 70s TV shows. Do you know whose this is?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNgER0BRid2R-P-uf5QF4rey2B6gbALSCt8JSF9SEPl7SOnS_EYokYdSLi7I4sa1qEpdoKmuM8_z2pqPTMhMK2AP3TM8v-wT2NhPJP2BFKzYJxP0n7JMmXB6CwjNrjJxlmf9kOlfxnbRCA/s1600/Comic+Con+2016+Car.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNgER0BRid2R-P-uf5QF4rey2B6gbALSCt8JSF9SEPl7SOnS_EYokYdSLi7I4sa1qEpdoKmuM8_z2pqPTMhMK2AP3TM8v-wT2NhPJP2BFKzYJxP0n7JMmXB6CwjNrjJxlmf9kOlfxnbRCA/s320/Comic+Con+2016+Car.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Post your answer below, and feel free to share your Comic Con experience.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-16258250952762909702016-08-10T17:40:00.002-05:002016-08-10T18:28:07.487-05:00An Illuminating Day -- The First Draft Of The Last BookMy plan for this blog entry was to share with you my thoughts on the <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ghostbusters_2016/">2016 Ghostbusters movie</a>, which I loved. I had notes sketched out on a yellow legal pad (because I really like writing on those). But then this morning I realized I was so close to finishing the first draft of The Illumination, the fourth and final book in my <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/">Awakening series</a>. So here I am, typing this at 5:35 p.m. central time. I don't have a cool post, but I do have a first draft. <a href="http://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-best-laid-plans-half-way-through.html">A day ahead of schedule</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkOiLYtZh_-9YjRkKg7Bzrd0FJC39mvemKCrQHBWg59IzQxuVYgQKkBCRLS5DrGJw-Jus_hgOZN7CZELTqmpxlEaRLgxNVIy1u3b3Gmx7B2gjGCu5pZ3KmqtxWbB1o9YEnCjUKXun-JDY/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkOiLYtZh_-9YjRkKg7Bzrd0FJC39mvemKCrQHBWg59IzQxuVYgQKkBCRLS5DrGJw-Jus_hgOZN7CZELTqmpxlEaRLgxNVIy1u3b3Gmx7B2gjGCu5pZ3KmqtxWbB1o9YEnCjUKXun-JDY/s320/036.JPG" width="240" /> </a>I admit I had a little time left to write a blog post, but instead I went onto ShutterStock and starting saving images of lightning strikes and illuminated cities and silhouettes of young woman I might want to use in a cover. I can't post them because I haven't bought any of them yet, but you can view them <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/lightboxes/48171343?verification_code=d184c673147cb099fdf8a4106569d970">here</a>. The photo on the left, which I took, gives the barest hint of what I'm looking for. Not the Sears (now Willis) Tower, as that won't be featured. But a cityscape with sky behind it that looks a bit ominous. Probably including lightning strikes. </div>
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One thing I'm sure I'll struggle with during rewrites is the last line of The Illumination. It's a lot of pressure, writing a closing for a four-book series. The line as it reads now is bad. (No, I won't tell you what it is.) But I'll deal with that, and a host of other challenges, including how to manage so many characters, in the rewrite. While I can't promise a final line that will be amazing--though that's my goal--I can promise it'll be better than what's there now. (No, really won't tell you.)</div>
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In the meantime, I'm heading out to see Ghostbusters again to celebrate.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-52826799514877100852016-07-27T21:01:00.000-05:002016-07-27T21:01:01.993-05:00Breaking for a Historic MomentTwo posts ago, I <a href="https://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-best-laid-plans-half-way-through.html">shared my main goals for the rest of the year</a> and included a timeline. As I write my first draft of the last book in my Awakening series, having that timeline out there for all to see has helped me return to the keyboard even when I'd really like to binge-watch the next three Agents of Shield episodes. (I decided to watch the series on the recommendation of two other participants in the creative retreat <a href="https://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-value-of-retreating.html">described in my last post</a>.)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBPoGLpqea3WdXe_ZNsSRaPQR5tW_yEWx741GA29uU13qIskGhWW5fFhyZNvOhLapuGaXBFxk3Mm8b68n23Lh7KHf0XSlKRPfXoai02eO0CAxMbfXyywI64PcyDT-ddqs0Ugbn29s7MTx/s1600/Hattie_Caraway_cph.3b11365.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBPoGLpqea3WdXe_ZNsSRaPQR5tW_yEWx741GA29uU13qIskGhWW5fFhyZNvOhLapuGaXBFxk3Mm8b68n23Lh7KHf0XSlKRPfXoai02eO0CAxMbfXyywI64PcyDT-ddqs0Ugbn29s7MTx/s1600/Hattie_Caraway_cph.3b11365.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hattie Caraway, the first woman elected to the Senate.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But yesterday I got an email from a friend who has raptly followed the conventions of both major political parties. The roll call was likely to be at about 4 p.m. central time, he told me, so if I wanted to see a historic moment, I should tune in.<br />
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I wrestled with taking a break for something that held no real suspense. Sure, there was a question of what, exactly, Bernie Sanders would do, but he'd already endorsed former rival Hillary Clinton. She was going to be nominated. And yet....<br />
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A woman nominated for president of a major political party is something that's never happened before in the United States. It's something that my mom, who was born just three years after women got the right to vote, didn't live to see. So I tuned in.<br />
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It took much longer than I expected. So long that I finally got my laptop and multi-tasked (something I generally avoid) by scheduling some advertising for August.<br />
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But it also was far more moving than I expected. Regardless of political views, hearing a woman born before women had the right to vote announce her state's delegates for the first woman to be the nominee of a major party...amazing. A Wall Street Journal article today talked about how far women have come, and yet I'm so often struck by how much as not changed. There are only 20 women in the Senate, for instance, despite having had the right to vote since 1920. Twenty.<br />
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Last night, though, I didn't think about that. I thought instead about how many girls will grow up in a world where it seems perfectly normal for a woman to be president. Where, perhaps, there'll be women running on both sides and no one will even comment on it.<br />
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For today, though, it is groundbreaking, so I felt the need to take one more break to write about it.<br />
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And now...back to work.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-76956362907222339142016-07-13T16:45:00.000-05:002016-07-13T16:45:03.806-05:00The Value of Retreating<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMX5gfIVsKCmMOYEz9UCOf-bBvsBXzKB6ov9Hi3j4Y7coeg0mg701zUe8e0EtX6pbQOwpxP8x7RA59IiVQkH0lto9cs4PX_VoagJCLWugSdk5IvP0U_Xfjn5eSyNxmRwFWRLBMHBndlU0/s1600/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMX5gfIVsKCmMOYEz9UCOf-bBvsBXzKB6ov9Hi3j4Y7coeg0mg701zUe8e0EtX6pbQOwpxP8x7RA59IiVQkH0lto9cs4PX_VoagJCLWugSdk5IvP0U_Xfjn5eSyNxmRwFWRLBMHBndlU0/s320/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+015.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many sunsets during the retreat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In early July, I spent seven days at a creative retreat organized by Rabbit Hole (a company that designs live interactive gaming experiences). We stayed in a house on a river in Indiana with an outdoor grill, fire pit, and decks. While I set specific writing goals, I didn't think much beforehand about what being on a retreat means.<br />
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Today I looked up the dictionary definitions of the word "retreat." As a noun, it can mean a place of privacy that affords peace and quiet, an area where a person can be alone, an area for withdrawal for prayer and study, or the act of withdrawing or going backwards, especially to escape something hazardous or unpleasant (or enemy troops). As a verb, its meanings are similar and include pulling back or moving backward, withdrawing from enemy forces, or withdrawing to a quiet or secluded place.<br />
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In different ways, all these definitions applied. I consciously decided to withdraw for the week from unnecessary email, most social media, and business concerns. <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOvvDA3XedLF0LOQIxgGbEliFVPdir2JJazYA5A8FNk-SVteMWPDvMttxtVJjvX5fdNY7FxifInHseL9AentkQsbBjoLUkvPBA5_pFxQl40kd0rUT8_Oc_wmgAtWtpvub3ybYSK4kjHdL/s1600/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOvvDA3XedLF0LOQIxgGbEliFVPdir2JJazYA5A8FNk-SVteMWPDvMttxtVJjvX5fdNY7FxifInHseL9AentkQsbBjoLUkvPBA5_pFxQl40kd0rUT8_Oc_wmgAtWtpvub3ybYSK4kjHdL/s320/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+041.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle (no longer a baby) taking a break on the dock.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I also withdrew, without really planning to, from other aspects of life. For instance, from being concerned about how I present myself. Rabbit Hole was founded by my niece Michelle Lilly and her friend and business partner Eleanor Hyde. I've hung out with Michelle since she was born (she was a super-cute baby, by the way, not that I'm biased), and the retreat included other writers, musicians, and artists who are family or are friends of Michelle. All had come to work on their own projects (games, plays, music, art), not to evaluate or do business with me. Which meant I packed and wore what was comfortable and weather appropriate without a lot of thought about how I looked. I brought only one pair of shoes--sandals with a gym-shoe like sole. In other words, I could ignore the lines most women walk every day, such as do I look:<br />
<ul>
<li>too young (skirt too short; hair too long; dress, skirt, leggings, or jeans too tight; sweatshirt or T-shirt too big/too loose)</li>
<li>too old (too much gray in hair; skirt too long; blouse buttoned too high)</li>
<li>too sexy (blouse cut too low; skirt too short; heels too high; hair too wild)</li>
<li>too conservative (shoes too flat; make up too sparse or too polished; hair too straight and neither too short nor too long)</li>
<li>too serious (not smiling; arms at sides)</li>
<li>too silly (smiling too much; gesturing too much). </li>
</ul>
I just wore what I wore and looked how I looked. How relaxing was that?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyEHU-QpM6Cz2zFloqDpOlwtkXwvZAZ_9M0pVwwRdVhBRKKGFXan0s4jcxPKP75QfWteQ-c0TGYSC-NtbwDn942gH3K-eExJN9TqFzly5qeSELlnM30KQM5mOgnze6DfQ71IurryKHKf1/s1600/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTyEHU-QpM6Cz2zFloqDpOlwtkXwvZAZ_9M0pVwwRdVhBRKKGFXan0s4jcxPKP75QfWteQ-c0TGYSC-NtbwDn942gH3K-eExJN9TqFzly5qeSELlnM30KQM5mOgnze6DfQ71IurryKHKf1/s320/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cemetery a few steps from the house.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It also felt wonderful to be free of scheduling. As I <a href="https://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-best-laid-plans-half-way-through.html">wrote in my last entry</a>, I live by schedules because that's how I make sure I get things done. But because I dropped out almost everything other than fiction writing, I felt confident I could write the number of words I wanted to write without a fixed plan. So I never set in alarm for when I would get up, and I went to bed when I got tired, rather than at a specific time.<br />
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Also, Monotone, Indiana is in a different time zone than Chicago, where I live. My laptop stayed on Central Time, the clocks in the kitchen were set to Eastern Time. The clocks in the bedroom were all blinking because apparently the electricity had gone out at one point. My iPhone kept switching time zones, which probably had to do with cell phone towers. All of this gave me a wonderful feeling of time being fluid, and of having no pressing demands.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjB9z9FbnCeXNS2iggQX9mSaqxY9tRp61_TLDyYO1PmItb4SERvPbfy7L5c_k34j4qz2ORgwcmmbV7aMHH5V8Rl2DaDwZjBUWFMhUffOYoRc7A3AneLR13SM_jSmWXwXjgPFQ_U6S2nU0b/s1600/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+039.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjB9z9FbnCeXNS2iggQX9mSaqxY9tRp61_TLDyYO1PmItb4SERvPbfy7L5c_k34j4qz2ORgwcmmbV7aMHH5V8Rl2DaDwZjBUWFMhUffOYoRc7A3AneLR13SM_jSmWXwXjgPFQ_U6S2nU0b/s320/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+039.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A zombie game we played (similar narrative to Walking Dead).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Retreating means not only pulling away but moving toward. I was looking for peace and to jump start my creativity after a few busy months getting my third supernatural thriller released, finishing a semester of teaching, and writing an appeal. My plan was to relax by immersing myself in fiction writing (I'm working on The Illumination, the fourth and final book in my <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/">Awakening Series</a>), and I did that. But I also completely enjoyed simply being in a place with all these people who love telling stories, and care about telling stories, as much as I do, and who tell them in very different ways. Michelle, Eleanor, and I spent about eight hours playing a game called Her Story. It required using keywords to search for video clips of an interview of a woman who was connected to a murder. By finding and watching the clips, which could not be seen in chronological order, we pieced together the woman's life and what had happened. So it was both a game an an alternate, non-linear way of figuring out a mystery/suspense story. As the next series I plan to write will be mysteries/legal thrillers, I not only had fun, I learned about my genre.<br />
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The house, which Rabbit Hole found through AirBnB, had a VCR and a bunch of videotapes, including the original Star Wars trilogy. So one night we stayed up late and watched Star Wars. (I admit it; I went to bed before Empire Strikes Back.) That, too, was a great experience that took me back to how I excited I felt about that movie when it came out, and the sense of wonder it engendered.<br />
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These surprises and others (including the neighbors' over-the-top fireworks displays on July 3, 4, and 5) reminded me that while focusing on productivity and sticking to schedules has served me well my whole life, it's also important to be flexible and try new things. Not just to foster creativity but to have a happy and fun life.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmLTyY1yqFqgbeox6zSaCaOFkoWglYgdK_Sii67mUa-PZey8ztxyP26HdXZ7mBqGaPPTqzf8kscFFjase8Nq_UXEhn3Hn6kW5bhGJ3VxfpYmremINPFXtvKublsFPYBBKRJduQKZD2xQU/s1600/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNmLTyY1yqFqgbeox6zSaCaOFkoWglYgdK_Sii67mUa-PZey8ztxyP26HdXZ7mBqGaPPTqzf8kscFFjase8Nq_UXEhn3Hn6kW5bhGJ3VxfpYmremINPFXtvKublsFPYBBKRJduQKZD2xQU/s320/Rabbit+Hole+Retreat+014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the cloudy days on retreat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Finally, I appreciated how responsible, considerate, and cool everyone at the retreat was. Depending on the day, we had between 3 and 8 people staying in a small two-bedroom house. Everyone brought or bought more than enough food to share, washed dishes when they saw them piling up in the sink (no dishwasher), cleaned counters or tables when needed, and cooked. Those who stayed up late or got up early were mindful that others were sleeping. And we all checked with one another regarding workspaces and whether what we were doing might disturb anyone else.<br />
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The only downside for me was that while I loved taking walks, sitting near the river, and watching sunsets over the water (see photos), many, many, many bugs also enjoy the same, and are not at all put off by eco-friendly bug spray. I am pretty sure I got more insect bites in one week than I've had in the last 10 years. And I am absolutely going back if Rabbit Hole hosts the retreat again next year.<br />
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When is the last time you went on a retreat? If you haven't been on one, would you like to? Please share your thoughts and experiences below.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-87598257708158265352016-06-22T13:40:00.003-05:002016-06-22T13:40:43.390-05:00The Best Laid Plans Half Way Through The Year <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmzyZGTfAfjF5y6QdVvRriCM5kIUjDfrLPSRBsKU2fVUqfob7HIj6DwL-my7fvOcd-WOpDurJSf3S8gLqXHClgfS70_PBtRncUJGQdY-yjYczJYtAMBgiey3ircMR6um4RhBJ9FqD3RkS/s1600/Bird+and+St+Louis+038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsmzyZGTfAfjF5y6QdVvRriCM5kIUjDfrLPSRBsKU2fVUqfob7HIj6DwL-my7fvOcd-WOpDurJSf3S8gLqXHClgfS70_PBtRncUJGQdY-yjYczJYtAMBgiey3ircMR6um4RhBJ9FqD3RkS/s320/Bird+and+St+Louis+038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Three Sixty Restaurant in St. Louis</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm a little nervous posting this. Yesterday I had on my schedule to write out a schedule (yes, really) for the rest of the year. Which led me to defining specific goals for the second half of 2016. I tend to aim high each January with the idea that it's rare to exceed a goal. But I don't share my goals, as I'm not committing to achieving every single one unless everything works out perfectly and there are no surprises. (Surprisingly, I've never had a year like that.)</div>
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But mid-year is different. It's about priorities for the rest of the year, and a little beyond. Part of me feels like sharing them, with a timeline no less, is tempting fate. We all know the saying about the best laid plans. The part of me that struggled on and off with anxiety for many years swears by that saying. While anxiety rarely takes over anymore, it's like a broken bone that's long since healed. Every now and then--in a certain type of weather or after a wrong step--it reminds me that it was once very seriously broken and could break again.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtXJ3E1Kq_QgWin1WfS5gkYVjaPJEZXRRP3M3eQ_OMnENjUGqYdM711MYyhuJ-QNNpaIv2BowpVmSnu1L2aeene9oWqAqaoHXT3Z7VAGcXQH3uheq56LcaepnomORsiqXjh5_xWM4w7Na/s1600/View+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtXJ3E1Kq_QgWin1WfS5gkYVjaPJEZXRRP3M3eQ_OMnENjUGqYdM711MYyhuJ-QNNpaIv2BowpVmSnu1L2aeene9oWqAqaoHXT3Z7VAGcXQH3uheq56LcaepnomORsiqXjh5_xWM4w7Na/s320/View+003.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Cindy's in Chicago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The other, healthier part of me knows that a career as an author and publisher means prioritizing writing and publishing. I already prioritize the part-time work I do as a lawyer and adjunct professor because other people are depending on my efforts to advance their careers and businesses. But my shift to devoting the bulk of my time to writing and publishing only works if I set realistic deadlines. Ones that account for the ups and downs I can anticipate (a larger than usual class size, an unexpected court ruling requiring an appeal at an already busy time, a family or friend or personal emergency). If everything goes far more smoothly than expected, I can always move up the schedule. But I no longer am willing to move it back.<br />
<br />
So, here it is, my half-year check in/schedule/goal list. The Cliff's Notes version is the release date for the fourth and final book in The Awakening series, The Illumination, is May 15, 2017. If you'd like to know what else I have in the works feel free to read the details.<br />
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8/12/16: 1st Draft of The Illumination finished</div>
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8/12/16: List of 10 topics for blog posts about Writing as a Second Career finished</div>
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8/19/16: First 25,000 words of Illumination and outline revised to send to story editor</div>
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8/26/16: First 5 posts of WSC blog finished, start posting one each Sunday night</div>
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9/2/16: Next 5 posts of WSC blog finished</div>
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9/9/16: Finish Outline of The Worried Man (working title of first book in a new legal thriller/mystery series)</div>
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9/16/16: Next 5 posts of WSC blog finished</div>
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9/23/16: Revision of Worried Man Outline finished</div>
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10/28/16: Send revised Illumination manuscript (based on editor's comments & my post-break review) to Beta Readers</div>
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11/4/16: Next 5 posts of WSC blog finished</div>
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12/23/16: First draft of Worried Man finished</div>
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1/20/17: Revision of Illumination based on beta readers' comments finished.</div>
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(work on Worried Man while taking break from Illumination)</div>
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2/23/17: Final revisions to Illumination finished</div>
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(take a week off)</div>
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2/27-28/17: Proofread and polish Illumination (minor edits only + corrections)</div>
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3/1/17: Send Illumination to proofreaders</div>
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3/17/17: My last proofread; add edits from others</div>
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(do not read Illumination for at least 5 days)</div>
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3/28-29/17: Final check, all proofreading finished, manuscript finalized</div>
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3/30/17: Manuscript to 52novels (for ebook conversion) and CreateSpace (for print publication)</div>
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(work on Worried Man revisions, blog posts, proofread ebook files, galleys)</div>
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5/15/17: Publication date for Illumination</div>
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Oh, I almost forgot. Why the photos? Most of the action in The Illumination will be in Chicago and St. Louis, so I've given you bird's eye views of both. Which I think is appropriate for goal setting. If you'd like to keep up to date with new releases and be notified when The Illumination is available for pre-order or purchase, <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/">please join my email list</a>.<br />
<br />
How has your year gone? Any half-year goals or plans you'd like to share in the comment section?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-90229664803172347342016-05-25T10:15:00.002-05:002016-05-25T10:15:52.170-05:00A Four Book Series And The Forced Pregnancy Narrative<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz5Jh5vDBlSaIS3Zntxn1BPYYxrh8yRr4Rl2A8_bIDWS5TdHmo-rHAPyRf72C4-C285ba5Av6LFOE4gsdOZYZMvdzwnsfmB3jkxlhg1t_Ckf7NbeeaRo6EZYyyuXaarnub-zzER9vffHb5/s1600/Final+Proof+The+Conflagration.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz5Jh5vDBlSaIS3Zntxn1BPYYxrh8yRr4Rl2A8_bIDWS5TdHmo-rHAPyRf72C4-C285ba5Av6LFOE4gsdOZYZMvdzwnsfmB3jkxlhg1t_Ckf7NbeeaRo6EZYyyuXaarnub-zzER9vffHb5/s200/Final+Proof+The+Conflagration.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Final Print Proof of The Conflagration</td></tr>
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Many people have asked why I made <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/">The Awakening</a> a four-book series. I asked myself the same question yesterday after I approved the final print proof for <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-conflagration/">The Conflagration</a>, Book 3 in the series, and revised my handwritten outline for Book 4, The Illumination. (You can get The Conflagration<a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-conflagration/"> now in ebook form</a> if you don't want to wait for the paperback.) It's not that I don't love my main character, Tara Spencer. Despite all the awful events I've put her through, I do. She and her allies and foes are my favorite characters of all those I've written about. But if I had made the series a trilogy, I'd be finished now. I'd miss them all. But I'd be finished. As someone who likes to check off boxes for completed tasks on lists, that appeals to me.<br />
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So why write four books? As I talked about in the Author's Note at the end of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_612829461"></span>The Conflagration<span id="goog_612829462"></span></a>, originally I envisioned <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/">The Awakening</a> as a standalone novel. But as I revised it before publishing, I realized there was much more to Tara's story. I've always been intrigued by world-changing pregnancy narratives, Rosemary's Baby and The Terminator being my favorites. On the one hand, that trope gave us one of our most well known female action heroes in The Terminator. On the other, that narrative seems to say the woman protagonist derives her significance from the fact that she may give birth to a special child, and that it's only acceptable for her be proactive, to fight, if it's to protect her child. That's not the story I felt compelled to tell.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kov0EaPgirgOQg7wiNLybUA6Os5GWqhyphenhyphenamxU9t2hHX6GsZDFD2AOlzWRN41l9yPxGyhoY-60sSjeRQgJuno7VLwfIhXX6AGyFfJQjQhR6dRCI42BQj15YWCUq_05BRh_Q-fTfCduJUFT/s1600/Illumination+Outline+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kov0EaPgirgOQg7wiNLybUA6Os5GWqhyphenhyphenamxU9t2hHX6GsZDFD2AOlzWRN41l9yPxGyhoY-60sSjeRQgJuno7VLwfIhXX6AGyFfJQjQhR6dRCI42BQj15YWCUq_05BRh_Q-fTfCduJUFT/s320/Illumination+Outline+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outline for The Illumination, the fourth (and last) book in The Awakening Series</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Tara is a hero not because of the child she might have but because of the values she holds and who she is, so her story goes far beyond having to deal with a pregnancy that was forced upon her. I also wanted to deal with the issue of the forced pregnancy itself. As in, regardless of end goals or motives, what are the ethics of causing a supernatural or mystical pregnancy for a woman who had no part in the plan? As I plotted <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-unbelievers/">The Unbelievers (Book 2)</a>, I discovered it took me to a natural midpoint both for Tara's personal journey and for the bigger picture of how and why she came to be pregnant and what it means for the world. So -- four books.<br />
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My goal is to release Book 4, The Illumination, within a year. If you've enjoyed The Awakening Series to date and would like to be notified of the release of The Illumination, you can <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/">join my email list here</a>.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-86457475626993311612016-05-11T20:20:00.000-05:002016-05-11T20:20:50.098-05:00Now Available For Preorder: Book 3 In The Awakening Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi867o0dxnGor4CXSbu26un7j93KDDRHkFjWUtJOmrmBbzAgyCQ3pAQDBePG-yTGIiDFhBcTFNQTXGI-K2ZG4Uus0p_OsLoglejkSF3NGMjw3V3uRNaDm0Yag5G6bnZE6n_e6du7892i8KB/s1600/46755358_Cover+Proof.6203838+copy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi867o0dxnGor4CXSbu26un7j93KDDRHkFjWUtJOmrmBbzAgyCQ3pAQDBePG-yTGIiDFhBcTFNQTXGI-K2ZG4Uus0p_OsLoglejkSF3NGMjw3V3uRNaDm0Yag5G6bnZE6n_e6du7892i8KB/s320/46755358_Cover+Proof.6203838+copy+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Six months after giving birth to a mysterious child whispered to be the Antichrist, Tara Spencer fights for her life as she searches for her kidnapped baby girl.<br />
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While Tara follows leads, she also must struggle to make sense of a shocking prophecy about her own growing power and place in the battle between good and evil.<br />
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Denounced by some as a fraud and feared by others, Tara desperately aligns herself with foes who attempted to murder her only days ago. But can she come to terms with what she's learned about herself and control her power in time to save her daughter?<br />
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The Conflagration is the third installment in the four-book Awakening series by Lisa M. Lilly, author of The Awakening and The Unbelievers. She lives and practices law in Chicago.<br />
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Release date: May 17, 2016 for all ebook editions<br />
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Preorder Now:<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Conflagration-Awakening-Lisa-M-Lilly-ebook/dp/B01FB6YZ3U"><span style="color: red;">Kindle</span></a><br />
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<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-conflagration/id1111307526"><span style="color: red;">iBook</span></a><br />
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<a href="https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-conflagration-1"><span style="color: red;">Kobo</span></a><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-85892318604110608632016-05-05T12:04:00.002-05:002016-05-05T12:04:28.806-05:00Lost Gospels From the Fourth Century<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtJyOj682UsG0cpVHGET82RXvn1oW5W4usKBHbN4CLeA_lYLoAIdBBoPyhinrC6ctlIflLo1XmVuwPYZfpN4Q9eEpaIli88T64boJC_29YL4D5OK_Kek19yTcckSj8zPQghb3xAY1QR24/s1600/Nag+Hammadi+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtJyOj682UsG0cpVHGET82RXvn1oW5W4usKBHbN4CLeA_lYLoAIdBBoPyhinrC6ctlIflLo1XmVuwPYZfpN4Q9eEpaIli88T64boJC_29YL4D5OK_Kek19yTcckSj8zPQghb3xAY1QR24/s320/Nag+Hammadi+Cover.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
If you've never heard of the Nag Hammadi documents, think Dead Sea Scrolls but less well known. The Nag Hammadi Scriptures contain English-language translations of fourth-century papyrus gospels unearthed in Egypt in 1945. I relied on an earlier compilation of the translations in my research for The Awakening series. <br />
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Inside, you'll find many lost texts the official Catholic Church rejected, including the Gospel of Mary, the Apocalypse of Adam (where Adam speaks to his son Seth), the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Thomas, and two I used in the Awakening series, The Trimorphic Protennoia and The Thunder, Perfect Mind. (You'll see reference to the latter in Book 3, The Conflagration, which will be released May 17, 2017.) Both of those texts are poetic and both lend themselves to a focus on the feminine aspects of God. I liked reading them because they interested me even if I hadn't been looking for inspiration for my fiction.<br />
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Other texts I found hard to follow, and still others seemed so out of whack (that's a technical term) to my modern-day eyes that I wasn't surprised the Church disregarded them. Whether they made sense at the time and were rejected as contrary to official Church teachings, I don't know.<br />
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This edition in particular of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures makes me cheer for Amazon and other platforms for selling books on line. When I first learned about these manuscripts, the compilation of translated versions was only available through academic publishers at a cost of over $700. Later, I bought the edition I still have through Amazon for about $60. As I write this, the price is $12.99 for Kindle and $15.48 for paperback, with many used copies available for less.<br />
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If you are interested in the origins of Christianity and how and why some of the earliest texts were excluded from it, this is well worth the read.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-25302148668689140482016-04-27T14:18:00.002-05:002016-04-27T14:18:54.715-05:00The Literary Equivalent Of Pratfalls <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZeJu8dBkR3e3eeXDsG3L7q-xQHd2nkuau-W1SjM9b7JQ0-PCtfTNirfQDPIVc9hPHldTzy-dqNRcUQI2MbeCaMrWFdIUjteytKJgbRXVVSgwjZdfwvxsDjtB0KpVljiNLuF9RlEoW0JM/s1600/Lamb+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ZeJu8dBkR3e3eeXDsG3L7q-xQHd2nkuau-W1SjM9b7JQ0-PCtfTNirfQDPIVc9hPHldTzy-dqNRcUQI2MbeCaMrWFdIUjteytKJgbRXVVSgwjZdfwvxsDjtB0KpVljiNLuF9RlEoW0JM/s1600/Lamb+Cover.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/B000OXEPSG">Lamb </a>is the latest book group read.</td></tr>
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One of the pluses and minuses of belonging to two book groups is that I read a lot of books I wouldn't otherwise choose. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/B000OXEPSG">Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal</a> is one of them. Not only does it not fall into the mystery, occult (OK-maybe extremely loosely), suspense, or thriller genres, it is a novel that is mostly satire mixed with the literary equivalent of pratfalls. I enjoy short satirical pieces and goofy humor at times. But not so much for fifteen hours and twenty minutes, which is the length of this book on Audible.<br />
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Despite all that, I'm not sorry I read Lamb. Mainly told in first person, it purports to be a lost gospel of a childhood friend of Jesus Christ, wrapped within the story of how Biff came to write it after being resurrected by an annoying angel. It focuses on the years the Christian New Testament skips. First, it covers childhood and, second, the early teens to twenty-something. According to Biff, these years include travel in India, learning about other religions, doubts about being a messiah and what that means, and a healthy/borderline unhealthy curiosity about sex.<br />
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<h3>
More Than A Comedy</h3>
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Lamb is filled with irreverent jokes, anachronisms, and silliness, but it would be a mistake to view it as making fun of the Christian gospels. OK, it does make fun of the Christian gospels a little. But I read the book as the author’s genuine attempt to understand inconsistencies, gaps, and less-than-clear doctrines expressed by the Christ depicted in the New Testament. For that reason, depending upon whether the reader's sense of humor matches the author’s, I don't think this book will necessarily put off religious readers.<br />
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<h3>
But It's Probably Not Horror</h3>
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The Amazon rankings for Lamb as I write this include listings under (a) horror/comedy, (b) contemporary fiction/religious, and (c) religious and inspirational/historical. Uh, I'm not so sure. I didn't find anything that would be remotely considered horror in this book. But the Amazon categories, despite including numerous subcategories, often do not quite fit a particular read. My own <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/">Awakening series</a>, best described as a supernatural thriller series, usually appears on the Horror Top 100 list when I have a sale, though it is more supernatural than frightening or bone chilling.<br />
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As to the historical reference, my guess is people who view the Bible itself as historical would be offended at anyone referring to Lamb that way. On the other hand, I saw a Goodreads review that noted that some of the fictional adventures Joshua (the name Biff claims was Jesus Christ's real name) engages in fit with historical suppositions about those missing years.<br />
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<h3>
Why Listen Rather Than Read</h3>
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Had I read Lamb rather than listened to it, I might have liked it better. The joke is a bit one-note, and listening to it for so many hours got tiresome. Had I been reading, it would have taken me less time, so I might not have grown tired of it. I also might have skimmed a few more parts. (Though I confess I did the audio equivalent of skimming. I set the reading speed faster and occasionally did household tasks that drowned out the narration without going back to listen to the parts I missed.) I chose to listen rather than read because I knew this wasn't my type of book. I figured I'd be more apt to finish it if I listened while doing other things rather than setting aside time simply to read. Also, I wanted to use my Audible subscription credits.<br />
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<h3>
Conflicting Reviews Of Lamb</h3>
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Unlike Americanah, <a href="http://lisamlillypad.blogspot.com/2016/04/why-i-read-americanah-suspense.html">which I discussed two weeks ago</a>, I was not surprised by the varying reviews of Lamb. Those people who enjoy satire and farce seemed to really love the book. Those who gave it very low reviews tended to be people who, like me, grew tired of the novel-length joke or aren't really fans of satire or farce. If you're not sure if this book will work for you, I suggest listening to a sample on Audible or reading the sample pages on Amazon. If you enjoy the tone, you probably will like the rest of the book as well. If not, I doubt that it will grow on you.<br />
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<h3>
Why Would I Review Another Book That Is Not What I Usually Like To Read?</h3>
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From a marketing perspective, I probably should review books here that are in the same genre in which I write. That way, people might flip from the blog page on my website to the book page and discover they are interested in my Awakening series. But I already edit a <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/">monthly newsletter that covers the mystery, occult, suspense, and thriller</a> genres in books, film, and TV. (You can <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/">sign up here</a> if interested.)<br />
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More important, as both a reader and writer, I want to pay attention to books that are outside my usual area. For one thing, too many dark books leads to a skewed view of the world. I already look at every alley or panel van and imagine a story involving a monster or other villain. That’s good for my career as an author, but I don’t need to reinforce it with every book I pick up. And I have always liked learning about perspectives and approaches different from my own. Which has resulted in some very interesting conversations with different friends during this election cycle, but that's a whole other post. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lamb-Gospel-According-Christs-Childhood/dp/B000OXEPSG">Lamb</a> gave me some new perspectives on how believers see Christ and on using satire in long-form storytelling. That alone made it worth the read.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-51364540003390942322016-04-20T14:20:00.000-05:002016-04-20T14:20:09.448-05:00God Is Not One<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAPBoQMjcJkwG-WrBnfeeOj3obBRbshz23Apro5iIMJinXODEZPYW2EVLOz9ay7c4tOQjBwVCg8u8px6bFuArgBD2ehB91_iw-QGYBhtEeXsSjuRtnhLEMk3Ag1DZwi6kO4ic9c5oQvGa/s1600/God+Is+Not+One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkAPBoQMjcJkwG-WrBnfeeOj3obBRbshz23Apro5iIMJinXODEZPYW2EVLOz9ay7c4tOQjBwVCg8u8px6bFuArgBD2ehB91_iw-QGYBhtEeXsSjuRtnhLEMk3Ag1DZwi6kO4ic9c5oQvGa/s320/God+Is+Not+One.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This week's <a href="http://amzn.to/1TjaZ2G">book recommendation</a>.</td></tr>
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Since my early twenties when I started seriously questioning my religious beliefs, I've enjoyed reading books about religion. Not books that preach, but books that explore. Questions about when and how the universe was created, whether there is a god, many gods, or no god, and the various ways people rely upon religion to explain and navigate the world fascinate me, as does how religious beliefs affect people's relationships. That last point inspired me to write my <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/the-awakening/">Awakening thriller series</a>, where characters with genuine, deeply-held beliefs oppose one another. All of which is why I love the book <a href="http://amzn.to/1TjaZ2G">God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run The World</a> by Stephen Prothero.<br />
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Prothero's Reasons For Writing About Differences In Religious Beliefs</h3>
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Prothero's premise is that while people often say things like "we all worship the same God," we actually "...live in a world where religion seems as likely to detonate a bomb as to defuse one." (See Prothero's Introduction.) No one tries to argue that every political party, type of government, or economic system is the same, as the current U.S. presidential primary races highlight. Yet popular culture and even religious scholars often view different religious as merely varying ways to get to the same place. </div>
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The Eight Religions The Book Discusses</h3>
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Throughout <a href="http://amzn.to/1TjaZ2G">God Is Not One</a>, Prothero shows the differences among Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Yoruba Religion, Judaism, and Daoism. Why these and not others are included in itself raises interesting questions. Prothero organizes his analysis using a four-point structure. For each religion, he examines:</div>
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<li>the problem</li>
<li>the solution (or religious goal)</li>
<li>the technique (for reaching/achieving the solution)</li>
<li>an exemplar who illustrates the path from problem to solution </li>
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A Timely Example Of Differences</h3>
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As an example of differences in the first two points, Prothero explains how Christianity sees the problem as sin, with salvation as the solution. But in Buddhism, suffering is the problem and awakening is the solution. In contrast to both of those religions, in Judaism, the problem is exile; the solution is returning to God. I find these comparisons particularly timely for the U.S., which is now in the midst of the presidential primary election season. The race includes candidates who normally court the vote of a specific segment of the Christian population, argue the U.S. is a Christian nation, and deplore businesses who attempt to recognize that not all their customers are Christian. Yet because the primaries are hotly contested this year in New York, those same candidates have needed to attempt to broaden their appeal to non-Christian voters. I confess to not following every single thing politicians say (shocking, I know), but I feel safe in guessing that one way politicians attempt to deal with such conundrums is to assert that we all worship the same God and hold the same values.<br />
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Who Shouldn't Read This Book </h3>
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If you're uninterested in religion or philosophy, <a href="http://amzn.to/1TjaZ2G">God Is Not One</a> won't appeal to you. But if you are curious about what, how, and why cultures and individuals profess certain religious beliefs, I think you'll find this fascinating. Also, while the book is well-researched, the tone is fairly conversation, so you won't feel like you're reading a textbook.<br />
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If you read God Is Not One and have thoughts about it or can suggest other similar books, please share below.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-29940478964102765042016-04-13T16:04:00.003-05:002016-04-14T08:01:28.648-05:00It Was The Best Of Books, It Was The Worst Of Books: Americanah<br />
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Why I Read Americanah</h3>
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Suspense, thrillers, mystery, and occult are the genres that make up most of my to-read stack, so <a href="http://amzn.to/1VWaihQ">Americanah</a> by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is not the type of novel that typically catches my eye. But I saw it listed in an article covering the ten most-talked-about books for 2014 and suggested it for one of my book groups. Also, I loved the audiobook sample on Audible. It was from the point of view of Ifemelu, a Nigerian woman who moves to the U.S., struggles to achieve professional success, and writes a blog on race for non-American blacks. I found the partial blog post included in the sample funny and insightful. I was also intrigued that Ifemelu planned to return to Nigeria and was contacting Obinze, a Nigerian man whom she'd once loved, but who was now married to someone else.</div>
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The book, which I listened to rather than read, shifts between Ifemelu and Obinze, who at one point emigrates to England but does so without documentation. (Ifemelu comes to the U.S. on a visa.) There are also shifts in time. While <a href="http://amzn.to/1VWaihQ">Americanah</a> starts when Ifemelu decides to move back to Nigeria, much of the book is the story of her life leading up to that point. </div>
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The Best Of Books</h3>
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Though I usually prefer a more traditional plot structure, I loved this book. I had no trouble following the point of view and time shifts, which is partly a testament to the narrator. She varied her accent and voice slightly for each character so that I could tell who was whom, but never to the point of caricature. I also found it fairly easy to follow the shifts in time, as the author used certain anchor scenes and places to signal the timeframe. The characters struck a chord in me and were well developed. I loved Ifemelu's observations on race and U.S. culture from her outsider perspective and enjoyed her wit and humor. At the same time, her story is deeply emotional, as is Obinze's. The book has a great deal to say about race, immigration, and differences from person to person and country to country, but I never felt it spoke at the expense of the characters or the plot.</div>
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The Worst Of Books?</h3>
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So why does my title include "the worst of books"? Because after I'd finished I checked the reviews on Goodreads. To my surprise, the first review that popped up was from a reader who hated everything about the book that I'd loved. He'd found the characters underdeveloped, the plot hard to follow or non-existent, the structure lacking. Another reviewer found the book preachy and not at all funny, and the scenes that made me cry left her cold.</div>
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You Decide</h3>
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None of the negative reviews changed my view of <a href="http://amzn.to/1VWaihQ">Americanah </a>as one of the best books I've ever read. But the unfavorable reactions were educational. As both a reader and writer, I know book lovers often differ widely in how they see a particular novel. This is particularly so when it comes to a fan of literary fiction reading commercial work and vice versa. This difference often occurs because people come to novels for different things. The lovers of literary fiction tend to focus more on the writing as an end in itself, while those who love commercial fiction often look more for story, including plot and characterization. But I hadn't realized how much of a difference of opinion there could be on a book that seemed to me to do an amazing job on both counts.</div>
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If you decide to read the <a href="http://amzn.to/1VWaihQ">Americanah</a>, please let me know how you see it.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-91571233628804368892016-04-06T21:31:00.001-05:002016-04-06T21:31:56.833-05:00The Conflagration Is Almost Here<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjpJa20OaxqDYQUSDn9rf3ZFg5P_Vp0SWLlfrBUU0AekSK1DOeRHoXrn-_0HmNjvKFfeEiO-1mjvR31cy8GVM8RdudQ4wocfp7F5PZNewCwhQZmP6zl-H4AVaiXGJpgow2k5SH9s7xe2vo/s1600/Conflagration+Cover+FOR+WEB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjpJa20OaxqDYQUSDn9rf3ZFg5P_Vp0SWLlfrBUU0AekSK1DOeRHoXrn-_0HmNjvKFfeEiO-1mjvR31cy8GVM8RdudQ4wocfp7F5PZNewCwhQZmP6zl-H4AVaiXGJpgow2k5SH9s7xe2vo/s320/Conflagration+Cover+FOR+WEB.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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It's almost time for Book 3 of 4 in The Awakening series. I'm finalizing the text now for publication, and you can see the cover above, thanks to graphic designer Carly Neigh. The ebook editions will be released in May. If you'd like to receive a notice of the release date directly, you can <a href="http://www.lisalilly.com/contact/">join my email list here</a>.<br />
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Now, back to work...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-35990223991611986822016-03-23T17:32:00.000-05:002016-03-23T17:32:08.940-05:00Still Life and Still Life (A Favorite Books Post)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVBLAHvbk1nfz58sRCRwwPkN3V0JsnIHm6zunfNQRH9Csgt4I72hQWlvW6ruCkbu5m6weLs4JMIk0FnghQ63mFmb3xIGNW9WpXUDBFTfYhF2U_9BKDY354DZ68PEOzB9cO0mgwwPybLj1/s1600/Still+Life+Joy+Fielding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYVBLAHvbk1nfz58sRCRwwPkN3V0JsnIHm6zunfNQRH9Csgt4I72hQWlvW6ruCkbu5m6weLs4JMIk0FnghQ63mFmb3xIGNW9WpXUDBFTfYhF2U_9BKDY354DZ68PEOzB9cO0mgwwPybLj1/s320/Still+Life+Joy+Fielding.jpg" width="196" /></a>From personal experience, I know authors struggle with what to title their books. The goal is to give readers a sense of what the book is about and to choose something memorable, but not so memorable it gets used too often, possibly creating confusion when the reader searches for the book. (In the U.S., titles are not copyrightable, so any number of authors and publishers can use the same title.) Two of my favorite thrillers have the same title: Still Life.<br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1pIU1kC">Still Life by Joy Fielding</a> </h3>
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Casey Marshall is a businesswoman who suffers severe injuries from being hit by a car. She's plunged into a coma, but she gradually becomes aware of what's happening around her. She can hear, at least some of the time, but can't move, see, or communicate. Despite that, Fielding makes her a proactive main character who does everything she can within the (significant) limits placed upon her. I found every moment fascinating as Casey begins to realize the people she loves might not be quite who she thought they were, and the "accident" may have been an attempt on her life.<br />
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1UlGWKW">Still Life by Louise Penny</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHtvIP1GtBYkPYDANi_6xDongbyJ9DHFvdxxuoMnj5oIFlQo4O_-iMuQNoFIKokMVEDT60MVEsw0agRjDAVHurzpjXmffadhpnovdtxtuzfpLdEaMIEtIJtbCWJ3wWUMtRQLn5TB4QHd1/s1600/Still+Life+Louis+Penny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCHtvIP1GtBYkPYDANi_6xDongbyJ9DHFvdxxuoMnj5oIFlQo4O_-iMuQNoFIKokMVEDT60MVEsw0agRjDAVHurzpjXmffadhpnovdtxtuzfpLdEaMIEtIJtbCWJ3wWUMtRQLn5TB4QHd1/s320/Still+Life+Louis+Penny.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Like Joy Fielding's book, I couldn't put this one down. It is a more traditional suspense novel in that there is a detective--Chief Inspector Gamache. Yet it is distinctive in several ways. While Casey exists almost in a vacuum due to her coma, the mystery here is grounded in Three Pines, a small town in Canada that almost becomes a character in itself. The residents include an accomplished aging poet, several artists, a former psychologist turned bookstore owner, and proprietors of a beautiful bistro that is also an antique shop. The murder victim is a beloved long-time resident of the town, murdered just after she's been brave enough at last to enter a painting in an art show and has learned she's been accepted. She has no enemies that anyone's aware of, and no one can imagine who would kill her.<br />
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Point of View</h3>
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Joy Fielding's book is told from a single point of view, that of Casey Marshall. The reader knows only what Casey hears and understands. Louise Penny's novel is told from multiple points of view, sometimes within the same scene, which at first I found a bit distracting. In the end, though, seeing the town, the crime, and the resolution from so many viewpoints added layers to the story. It also added to my desire to live in Three Pines, or at least visit regularly.<br />
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The Meaning of the Title</h3>
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The most obvious meaning of the title of the Joy Fielding book is that the protagonist is literally still, due to her coma, and yet is more alive than anyone realizes. Still Life also reflects some of Casey's realizations about her pre-coma life.<br />
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In the Louise Penny book, the title in part refers to the artists in the town and their work. But it also reflects aspects of life in the town in ways that shed light on the mystery.<br />
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Tone and Title</h3>
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1pIU1kC">Still Life by Joy Fielding</a> is tense and suspenseful, with little relief from Casey's fear. <a href="http://amzn.to/1UlGWKW">Still Life by Louis Penny</a> has a mixed tone. Despite beginning in an atmosphere somewhat like that of a cozy mystery, the people and events have dark sides and twists. A few times I found the humor a bit buffoonish given the darkness of the story as a whole; however, I enjoyed the book so much it didn't matter.<br />
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If you enjoy suspense or mysteries, I highly recommend both Still Lifes. They are among my favorite thrillers of all time.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1223787098072603229.post-3912262010096898862016-03-16T09:13:00.002-05:002016-03-16T09:13:49.872-05:00Inside The United States States Supreme Court: The Brethren (A Favorite Books Post)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7HrH-H8GBKRn4frohvDUs_zNfSL4c5bXi3s7KqFdyAaTVCX-VzS_TUUIXN2Qyc9YLAnXjJuIdHAbRCuEe6mi-QmiuNaZEeeXAiqppjNxEtCgcbHMQLeH2oJhuSLwZZ5Hc_8UUlec-CP0/s1600/Brethren+Book+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK7HrH-H8GBKRn4frohvDUs_zNfSL4c5bXi3s7KqFdyAaTVCX-VzS_TUUIXN2Qyc9YLAnXjJuIdHAbRCuEe6mi-QmiuNaZEeeXAiqppjNxEtCgcbHMQLeH2oJhuSLwZZ5Hc_8UUlec-CP0/s320/Brethren+Book+Cover.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Current cover for <a href="http://amzn.to/1LqjTLN">The Brethren</a>.</td></tr>
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1LqjTLN">The Brethren</a> is a behind-the-scenes study of the people on the United States Supreme Court during a time when landmark decisions, including Roe v. Wade, where issued. I came across it while in law school, when I told a friend I didn't understand how the Court could issue such conflicting opinions during the same time period. I often felt some underlying reason for a decision was being left unspoken. He loaned me <a href="http://amzn.to/1LqjTLN">The Brethren</a> by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong.<br />
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Not Like Other History Or Political Books</h3>
The idea of reading another book did not appeal to me. I was working full-time, attending classes at night, and reading at least eight hours every Saturday and eight hours every Sunday to keep up with the required reading. While before I started law school, my favorite thing to do to relax was to read novels, after wading through dense, difficult case law for sixteen-twenty hours a week, I generally turned on the TV when I had a rare half hour with nothing to do. (That's how I started watching X-Files, which was on after my Friday night class.) I also had never liked any history book I’d ever read, probably because I’d only read textbooks.<br />
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So if my classmate hadn't actually handed me the paperback edition of <a href="http://amzn.to/1LqjTLN">The Brethren</a> (cover shown below), I doubt I would have read it. But I started it and was immediately hooked, flying through it within a week despite all my other commitments. It became the first nonfiction book I loved. I had never read a Bob Woodward book before, so I didn't know what it would be like. (I’ve now read and enjoyed several, but this one is my favorite.) I was fascinated by the horse-trading, personal relationships, and thought processes behind the Court's decisions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2346dVRlcBZ_xVoAGh1G-oDIfLp6urwjVNH49b7GKr9kxsct24k_oF3M1YYvJr7mTqD2y3ABQPhc74WnGDaMkWGrmPV_VcVoxioWxJGjc07QET1q_7rrbMXxveoMC2TKgjx3mr9UnVxgg/s1600/Brethren+Avon+Books+Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2346dVRlcBZ_xVoAGh1G-oDIfLp6urwjVNH49b7GKr9kxsct24k_oF3M1YYvJr7mTqD2y3ABQPhc74WnGDaMkWGrmPV_VcVoxioWxJGjc07QET1q_7rrbMXxveoMC2TKgjx3mr9UnVxgg/s1600/Brethren+Avon+Books+Cover.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Avon Books cover for <a href="http://amzn.to/1LqjTLN">The Brethren</a></td></tr>
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When Only White Men Were On The Court</h3>
I had an added personal interest in the book because the only other lawyer in my extended family clerked at the U.S. Supreme Court toward the end of the time period of the book—1969-1975. It was a time when only white men served on the Court, and it's interesting to see how their views and politics varied despite all having that in common. (You can see a list of all Supreme Court justices throughout history <a href="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/JusticesUSSC.html">here</a>.)<br />
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My cousin told me Bob Woodward called him when researching the book, but he declined to comment, as clerks are supposed to keep everything confidential. While I'm glad my cousin honored that, I confess I'm grateful that others apparently did not, because the book is fascinating to read for the human stories alone. It also helped me understand the extremely varied reasons why the justices reach their decisions and how the Court fits into the larger political system of my country. I highly recommend <a href="http://amzn.to/1LqjTLN">The Brethren</a> to anyone who has even a passing interest in how the United States works.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224163010904082968noreply@blogger.com0