Author: marianlthorpe

Not content with two careers as a research scientist and an educator, Marian L Thorpe decided to go back to what she’d always wanted to do and be a writer. Author of the alternative world medieval series Empire’s Legacy, Marian also has published short stories and poetry. Her life-long interest in Roman and post-Roman European history informs her novels, while her avocations of landscape archaeology and birding provide background to her settings. As well as writing and editing professionally, Marian oversees Arboretum Press, a small publishing imprint run as a collective. Marian is currently writing Empire's Heir, the sixth title in the Empire's Legacy series.

Landscape and Story

marianlthorpe's avatarRandom Ramblings

A few minutes ago I clicked on a Twitter link on marketing (vs. selling) e-books.  I read through the strategies, and sighed.  I don’t want to do any of this…but should I be?  And then I realized: no.  I quite like what I do, where I am as an author, where I’m going.  I don’t actually want to be a ‘best-selling’ author if that entails hours of publicity, marketing, talks…..that’s not why I write.

All my life I have explained my world to myself in words.  As I get further into my coursework in landscape archaeology, I realize that much ofEmpire’s Daughter, and much of Empire’s Hostage, the in-progress sequel, is actually, at one level, a fictionalized interpretation of the landscape archaeology of Britain in the post-Roman world.  I ‘kind-of’ knew that, but two days ago I opened a textbook to a map almost identical to the…

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A Humbling Experience

Once a year, my alma mater, the University of Guelph, honours its faculty, staff and alumnae who have published, edited, or illustrated a book in the last year.  This year’s honourees included winners of and nominees for some of Canada’s most prestigious literary awards, including Thomas King, Dionne Brand and Alison Pick…and alongside those well-known names was me.

campus author poster

Which was a humbling experience, let me tell you.  There I was, author of a self-published, moderately successful e-book for young adults, being feted in exactly the same way as these major authors, whose books are taught and read in schools and universities, who have won major prizes….I felt a little bit like a fraud, to be honest.  But, on the other hand, the University knew exactly what I had written and published, and they chose to include me (and others like me).  I thought that was wonderfully democratic and non-hierarchical….and also typical of my university and its community.

My plaque has pride of place on my office wall.  I will admit that I do keep looking at it.

Thank you, alma mater. May you never change your attitudes and beliefs.

Mondo Bohemiano by Quentin J. Parker: A Review

Mondo Bohemiano is a sometimes funny, sometimes ironic and largely satirical tale of a man desperately trying to leave the love of his life behind, and, perhaps, grow up a bit in the process. Nigel Q. Bunnytail is our anti-hero, a man living a frenetic and aimless life in Philadelphia, hanging out with friends he’s mostly known since earliest childhood, sleeping with many women, working in a job perhaps not up to his skill level, pining for his beloved Millicent.

The aimlessness and frenzy of Nigel’s Philadelphia life is mirrored in the writing. I found the first half of the book a little hard going, but as I read on, the rapid and rapidly changing pacing and action began to make sense as a mirror of what is going on in Nigel’s psyche. Once Nigel makes his decision to move to the other side of the country – Spokane – the pace and mood of the book changes, reflecting the changes Nigel is making.

While Nigel is referred to as ‘the big bohemian’ several times, there are indications that he is hankering for a more structured life. He is attracted to the discipline of flying, both in real life and in a complex simulation on his computer. His clothes have a military styling. In moving to Spokane to attempt a relationship with Sigrid, he also appears to be leaving not just Millicent, but also the ‘Mondo Bohemiano’ behind. What he’s got himself into, though, is not what he bargained for.

The writing is original, witty, and fast-paced. The book isn’t easy to classify –satirical rom-com is the best description I can come up with. My only niggle with it was the characters’ names, which I found a little bit overdone – although there may be a relationship between Nigel’s last name and one of Sigrid’s obsessions – I won’t go further than that, to avoid spoilers. I am looking forward to the planned sequel, which is not a statement I would have thought I would have made at the half-way point in the book. Overall, three stars.

This is an independent review of copy of the book provided by the author. The opinions stated here are mine alone.

Wind and Silence

This verse was my visceral response to being at the site referenced in it.  It’s not my greatest verse, but the image and the impact stay with me.

December 29, 1890 (July 30, 2001)

The wind is the first thing; that,

And the silence. Dry land, brown bent grasses,

Blue sky.

In the valley, where the tents were,

Where the children were,

There are dreamcatchers for sale.

On the hill, against the carven stone,

A buffalo skull and flowers lie

Beside rolled tobacco and a teddy bear.

What dreams are caught at Wounded Knee?

Falcon Boy and Bewilder Bird vs Dr Don’t Know in a Battle for all the Life of all the Planets, by Barnaby Taylor

At the beginning of the regenerated Doctor Who series, in the first Christopher Eccleston/Billie Piper episode, Rose, a wheelie-bin swallows Mickey. And then spits him out again….or is it him? As part of the plot, it was a hint – no, a statement – that we as viewers had entered a world of the absurd, where the rules of normal life were left behind. Within the first few pages of Falcon Boy and Bewilder Bird vs Dr Don’t Know in a Battle for all the Life of all the Planets, by Barnaby Taylor, I realized I was in another absurd world, missing the rules of normal life, where just about anything could happen.

Falcon Boy (A Fairly Hopeless Hero) is the series title – this book is the first in the series and currently the only one published. The story defies categorization. At one level, it’s a children’s book about a super-hero of sorts who really isn’t very good at what he does. On another, it’s very adult, the writer having a wry eye for the ridiculousness of life. Things happen just because the author – who is often present in the story as a commentator – decide they should. Characters seem familiar…but like the Mickey that emerged from the wheelie-bin, they aren’t necessarily what they seem. They also have lives of their own…several of them have Twitter accounts!

I haven’t laughed so much reading a book in some time. Falcon Boy isn’t going to be to all readers’ taste, though, and if you haven’t a clue what I’m getting at with the Doctor Who parallels, then it might not be for you. But if you know where to look for a tattoo to identify a dead bishop, understand that the Frog & Peach is in Yorkshire for the parking, or believe that Rocky & Bullwinkle is a cartoon for adults, you may want to read it, or at least read it to your kids. You can download it for free from Amazon.

This is an independent review, not sought by the author nor written for any benefit. The opinions stated here are mine alone.

A Verse for All Hallows’ Eve

Angels Unaware

The hollow hills return their travellers

Lost and out of time

On the unsubstantial streets.

The boy panhandling on Yonge

Has no shadow, and will live forever.

Seven crows are silent among the pigeons in the square;

In the haven of the Spit, a white ship, un-noticed,

Waits to sail west.

In the dreamt city the riff-raff are

The guards at the gates of faerie;

Are the rockfall that hides the easter caves,

The glamour that obscures the grail.

Update on Empire’s Hostage

I’m about a third of the way through the next book in the Empire’s Legacy series. It’s going a bit more slowly than I hoped but that’s my own fault; I signed up for an on-line university course that’s taking quite a bit of my time, but then again I find I’m more creative and focused when my time to work on Empire’s Hostage is limited.  It’s a balance.  My goal is to finish the first draft by the spring!