J.K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy -still not disappointing

by J.R. Wagner

This isn't a review of The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. I'm not even done reading the book. While reading, I've come across some eye-catching words and phrases that I think are worth sharing. Yes, I'm a writer and therefore a word addict. When I see something out of the ordinary, extraordinary or something I just don't know, I write it down.

Will anyone know the word definitions? Comment if you do!

I needed the assistance of my friend Dictionary.com to get some definitions and or confirmations that these words were actually words and not something Rowling used with her now unlimited creative license.
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Interrogatively

I had my doubts as to whether or not interrogatively was an actual word.

Yup, it's a word.

in·ter·rog·a·tive·ly, adverb.

of, pertaining to, or conveying a question.

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I really enjoyed this...

"...as though there were degrees of deadness, and the kind that Barry Fairbrother had contracted was particularly sordid."
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I honestly didn't know what the heck this word meant.

Pedagogically

ped·a·gog·i·cal·ly, adverb.

of or pertaining to a pedagogue or pedagogy.

The definition isn't very helpful until you know what pedagogy means...

Pedagogy: the function or work of a teacher; teaching.

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I really enjoyed the visualization of this phrase

"...for everything was suddenly tissue-thin and friable."
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This one, while gross, is so very accurate and visceral. Love it!

"..scratching idly at the overfold of his belly, which was often itchy,"
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Don't see this used in a sentence every day...

"Krystal sat in truculent silence,..."

truculent fierce; cruel; savagely brutal.

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This sentence is both beautifully written and verbose -I suppose many beautifully written sentences are verbose. The literary scholars out there would enjoy this one.

"These rapid scribbles, the pixels arranged by fingers henceforth forever still, acquired the macabre aspect of husks."

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Here is another word that, in context I could hazard a guess at the definition but standing alone I would have been clueless:

"...and he could not help feeling that he had been vouchsafed a sign, a celestial wink."

Vouchsafed: to allow or permit, as by favor or graciousness:

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Even in context, this one is difficult. It could mean what's on the other side of the comma; vocal/independent -or it could mean something else entirely.


"...Pagford prided itself on being the most obstreperous, the most vocal and the most independent."


Obstreperous: resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.

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Again I could come up with a definition simply by the word's context but it wasn't dead on.

"The first effusion of Pagford's outrage had annealed into a quieter, but no less powerful, sense of grievance."

Annealed: to toughen or temper.

and just for fun there are five definitions for this word and only one of them would work in this context. I seriously think she has a cool word substitution specialist on her staff.


1. to heat (glass, earthenware, metals, etc.) to remove or prevent internal stress.
2. to free from internal stress by heating and gradually cooling.
3. to toughen or temper.
4. Biochemistry . to recombine (nucleic acid strands) at low temperature after separating by heat.
5. to fuse colors onto (a vitreous or metallic surface) by heating.

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This is just a beautifully worded metaphor.

"...satellite dishes everywhere, turned to the skies like denuded ovules of grim metal flowers."

If Stephen King were editing this book, he would have hacked out every unnecessary adverb and adjective in the book (if you don't get the reference, read, On Writing).  Would it have made it easier to read? Probably. Would it have been as enjoyable? I suppose that depends on the reader.

Thus far into the book (~200 pages), I'm not hooked like I was with Harry Potter.  Then again, this is not anything like Harry Potter. I am enjoying it...slowly. Eventually, I'll share my overall thoughts on the book.  I'm currently reading four others, which slightly hinders my ability to blow through any single title (unless it is fantastic).

If anyone can honestly say they could identify the meanings of all the above words, post a comment and I'll send you something for your literary brilliance!

Desire for the apocalypse part 3

By J. R. Wagner

The apocalypse in literature.

As far as I'm concerned, the apocalypse made its way into mainstream literature via the writing of one man.

That man is, of course, Mr. Stephen King. If you're a King fan, you've read The Stand. An amazing creation about the post-apocalyptic world once the super-flu has wiped out the majority of the population.

He's written other post-apocalyptic novels.  The Dark Tower Series is set in a post-apocalyptic world. It starts with The Gunslinger and culminates in book seven The Dark Tower (although he recently released an eight book relating to the series called The Wind Through The Keyhole, which I haven't read yet. The Dark Tower (or characters from the series) even shows up in a few of King's short story collections.

King recently delved into the pre-apocalypse world with Cell, one of my favorite King novels where the world falls apart right before the main character's eyes in a beautifully written, less cumbersome than The Stand, action filled zombie-esque journey of Graphic artist Clay Riddell who was in the heart of Boston on that brilliant autumn afternoon when hell was unleashed before his eyes. (thank you Amazon).

After The Stand was published in 1978, the market was flooded with apocalyptic novels of all kinds.

I've stumbled upon several top 10 greatest Apocalyptic novels of all times lists.
Here is one
Here is another

I've read several on these lists.  One, Z for Zachariah, I haven't though of for years and could very well be the catalyst of my obsession for the apocalypse.

Ann Burden is sixteen years old and completely alone. The world as she once knew it is gone, ravaged by a nuclear war that has taken everyone from her. For the past year, she has lived in a remote valley with no evidence of any other survivors.

But the smoke from a distant campfire shatters Ann's solitude. Someone else is still alive and making his way toward the valley. Who is this man? What does he want? Can he be trusted? Both excited and terrified, Ann soon realizes there may be worse things than being the last person on Earth.

Another (since turned into a major motion picture) I am Legend, is very, very good.

 The others, many of which overlap from list to list, are being added to my Goodreads To-read list as we speak.

• Alas, Babylon
• The Wild Shore
• Eternity Road

• The Postman (I've never seen the Kevin Costner film based on this book and have a feeling I don't want to ...at least until I read it)

• A Canticle for Leibowitz
• Earth Abides
• On The Beach
• Lucifer's Hammer

• World War Z
• Blindness
• The Road
• Swan Song

Many of these were published before The Stand however in my small world, The Stand is king.

Some modern titles that may be more familiar...

• The Hunger Games

• The Maze Runner
• The Knife of Never Letting Go

And if you're looking to take the religious apocalypse route you can always try Left Behind

Laugh out Loud moments in reading

We've all had them -times when we are reading something quietly and all the sudden we start cracking up.  The person next to us (if there is one) usually looks over with a completely mystified expression.  Fortunately, my wife was fast asleep during my last laughing fit.
I'll be the first to admit that most recently, the source of my amusement was nothing more than potty humor found in Stephen King's 11/22/63. Does that make me immature, childish and crude?  Probably.  Still, it was funny.



In 11/22/63, King's main character, Jake Epping, finds a porthole that brings him back in time to the 50's.  Bent on changing a terrible event of the past, Jake learns that the past doesn't want to be changed and will fight against you if you dare attempt to do so.  In this scene, Jake has gone to a pharmacy to find something to calm his insides because. "By then, both of my ejection-ports were producing nothing but watery gruel."

"Kaopectate," I said in a hoarse voice that didn't sound like my own. "Do you have it?" Wondering if it had been invented yet.
"Are we suffering a little touch of the bug?" The overhead light caught in the lenses of his small rimless spectacles and skated around when he moved his head.  Like butter across a skillet, I thought, and at that my stomach gave another lunge.
"It's been going around town.  You're in for a nasty twenty-four hours, I'm afraid.  Probably a germ, but you may have used a public convenience  and forgotten to wash your hands.  So many people are lazy about th--"
"Do you have the Kaopectate or not?"
"Of course.  Second aisle."
"Continence pants--what about those?"
     The thin-lipped grin spread out.  Continence pants are funny, of course they are.  Unless, of course, you're the one who needs them.  "Fifth aisle.  Although if you stay close to home, you won't neeed them. Based on your pallor, sir ... and the way you're sweating ... it might be wiser to do that."
"Thanks," I said, and imagined socking him square in the mouth and knocking his dentures down his throat.  Suck on a little Polident, pal.    I shopped slowly, not wanting to joggle my liquified guts any more than necessary. Got the Kaopectate (Large Economy Size? check), then the continence pants (Adult Large? check). The pants were in the Ostomy Supplies, between the enema bags and brooding yellow coils of plastic hose whose function I didn't want to know about.  There were also adult diapers, but at those I balked.  If necessary, I would stuff the continence pads with dish towels.  This struck me as funny, and despite my misery I had to struggle not to laugh. Laughing in my current delicate state might bring on disaster.

Come on! What's not funny about someone with an intestinal bug?  My wife says I write for teenagers because I act like one most of the time (and she may be right), but I believe everyone can find humor in someone else's bowel disorder.  Especially when well crafted in the context of a serious story.

The face behind the shelves; a librarian's perspective

Karen Smith has been working at the Downingtown Library for over twenty years. Recently she was kind enough to allow me to invade her teen group and discuss my upcoming novel (among other things).

Many book lovers aspire to work among the shelves of a library -to have access to countless pages of literature -to inspire others to find the magic in books.  By tapping Karen's extensive experience in the field, I hope to open the window for those enticed by the lure of literature and allow them a peek inside.


What is your official position/title at the library?

 I am Program coordinator and circulation desk clerk.

How did you find the position? 

 I had returned to the States after teaching school overseas for 12 years and my sister told me the library was looking for volunteers. I applied and was hired instead of being a volunteer. At the beginning I only worked every other Saturday.

What is your favorite part of the job?

 I love talking to people about books and suggesting new authors. I read a wide range of genres and can usually suggest an author to just about anyone.

How are you handling the digitization of books? Does the library offer or plan to offer e-lending or something similar? 

Each of the Chester County libraries has seven Nooks that can be checked out just as you would check out a book. Each Nook has seven books loaded onto it. You can have the Nook for three weeks. The Nooks have a designated genre: science fiction, historical fiction, thriller, romance, biography, fiction and nonfiction. They have been very popular and are constantly circulating. Patrons can also download eBooks and audio books from the CCLS website.

Your library is heavily involved in community offerings and events. What are some of the more enjoyable/successful events run at your location?

  A very popular adult program has been the Introduction to Tai Chi with 24 participants. Our Ghost Hunting program is also a crowd pleaser.

Can  you tell me more about the ghost hunting?

We have had several paranormal groups come through the building and "look for ghosts". After they have assembled their findings they come and speak. Each group seems to find something different but they all have found evidence of friendly spirits. The house was built in 1800 and was part of the Underground Railroad. It was also a school and a boarding school and a doctor's office. Many people have passed through the building.

Life Changing books part 2

"They prowled on but found no mysterious midnight spheres of evil gas tied by mysterious Oriental knots to daggers plunged in dark earth, no maniac ticket takers bent on terrible revenges. The calliope by the ticket booth neither screamed deaths nor hummed idiot songs to itself."

This book was written by one of, if not the greatest living American author. Ray Bradbury.

The book is Something Wicked This Way Comes

This is the first book I ever read as a child that resulted in problems falling asleep.  When I closed my eyes I could hear the calliope playing outside my window and I knew what had rolled into town and was waiting -lurking, just outside, just for me.

What a great and horrifying visualization.   Fall in a small town, a carnival arrives by train in the dead of night.  The entire thing feels wrong...and yet, it's a carnival, they're fun!  Get the kids! Lets go!  If only you knew what really lurked in the shadows of the booths, tents and rides. If only.

This book was the catalyst to my interest in the horror genre.  Stephen King soon followed and my love for the genre has never waned. Without the violence and the gore of a King novel, Ray Bradbury stitched together something just as terrifying -and the subtlety of it all made it even more so. 

“For these beings, fall is ever the normal season, the only weather, there be no choice beyond. Where do they come from? The dust. Where do they go? The grave. Does blood stir their veins? No: the night wind. What ticks in their head? The worm. What speaks from their mouth? The toad. What sees from their eye? The snake. What hears with their ear? The abyss between the stars. They sift the human storm for souls, eat flesh of reason, fill tombs with sinners. They frenzy forth....Such are the autumn people.”

Why we need to be rejected

Stephen King, you may have heard that name, received dozens of rejections for his first novel, Carrie; he kept them tidily nailed to a spike under a timber in his bedroom.



One of the publishers sent Mr. King's rejection with these words:

 We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.

J. K. Rowling's  (you may have heard that name as well)Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (later Sorceror’s) Stone was rejected by a dozen publishers, including biggies like Penguin and HarperCollins. Bloomsbury, a small London publisher, only took it on at the behest of the CEO’s eight-year old daughter, who begged her father to print the book. I wonder if Jo sent her advanced copies of all her books -regardless, thank God daughters tend to have inexplicable influence over their fathers (yes, from personal experience)



William Golding's (you may not recognize the name until you hear the title), Lord of the Flies was rejected by 20 publishers. One denounced the future classic with these words:

An absurd and uninteresting fantasy which was rubbish and dull.

Books about writing...and why they're a waste.

Boy that title sounds pompous, doesn't it? In my world, it happens to be a statement based on experience.

When I'm asked if there is a book out there they can read to help them get started (becoming an author), I typically ask in reply, what is it you're looking for?  Motivation? Subject matter?  An 'insider' tip that will help you break into the field? Information on the process?  The mechanics?

At this point, I usually get nods from start to finish, an emphatic YES on one particular subject or a glazed over look.

The truth is there are TONS of books out there on fiction writing. Here is the proof.  I just went to amazon and searched three words, fiction-writing-books.  There were 30,868 results.  (Screenshot below)

Crazy, right?

Most books written by successful authors about writing and specifically fiction authors and how they write are...well...about how THEY write, not how YOU write.  You know how you write not bestselling author X or CEO of publishing company Y.

If you need a book for inspiration then I truly believe you shouldn't be writing at all.  Writers are creative, right? Inspiration lies in the world around you -or how your twisted mind perceives the world around you.

That being said, there are books out there that touch on subjects that do touch on the process and mechanics and are worth reading -multiple times, actually.

The first and probably most well known is called The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White.  If you've been writing for any length of time, you already own this book or have heard of it.

  The second, less well known, although the author is world renown, is called simply On Writing by Stephen King -yes THAT Stephen King.

I've read On Writing cover-to-cover at least half a dozen times first because, like most of his work, is thoughtful, witty and honest.  Take this excerpt, for example from the second foreword.

This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit.  Fiction writers, present company included, don't understand very much about what they do --not why it works when it's good. Not why it doesn't when it's bad.  I figured the shorter the book, the less bullshit.

Many people have many things to say about Stephen King but one unarguable fact remains. King is a master storyteller.  Tying stories of his life together with explanations on process, mechanics and even touching on what to do once you've finished a project, On Writing is the most easy-to-read, easy to understand book on the topic I've found.  It contains priceless lessons for writers of all levels, not just beginners.  Of all King's pieces of work, On Writing has had the most influence in my life. 

So, are books about writing a waste?  Most of them.  These two certainly are not.  Buy them. Now, in fact.  You can download Elements of Style for FREE!  But as a fellow author, I hate to see anyone's work given away.  

Buy On Writing

Buy Elements of Style

One of King's best pieces of advice is to write. Everyday put aside time to write.  Write whatever you want but write!  Give yourself a word count goal (I think he shoots for 3000) and stick to it.  I shoot for 1000 and probably will until I make a living writing.  

If you write because you want to be the next Stephen King and live the 'high life' you will not succeed.  You must write because you love to write.  If the passion is not there, the reader will see right through you.  If you love to write, writing everyday isn't a drag, it's uplifting, exciting and sometimes scary but always enjoyable (except for those times when your brain stops working and you can barely get a sentence out from your brain and down to your fingers). 

Until next time, J. R. Wagner

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