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.
----------------------
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.

----------------------

I really enjoyed this...

"...as though there were degrees of deadness, and the kind that Barry Fairbrother had contracted was particularly sordid."
----------------------


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.

----------------------

I really enjoyed the visualization of this phrase

"...for everything was suddenly tissue-thin and friable."
----------------------

This one, while gross, is so very accurate and visceral. Love it!

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

"Krystal sat in truculent silence,..."

truculent fierce; cruel; savagely brutal.

 ----------------------
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."

----------------------
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:

----------------------

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.

----------------------


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.

---------------------- 

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!

Books for Teen Boys -a guest post

Books for Teen Boys

By Carlie M A Cullen

Getting teen boys to read isn’t an easy task unless it’s something they’ve grown up with and really enjoy. Let’s face it the vast majority of boys in that age group are interested in sports, gaming and maybe girls. So what sort of books would you look to give a male teen?

I think it has to be something they can relate to, subject matter which will pique their interest and spark their imagination. Fantasy; swords and sorcery, Action and Adventure, Sci-Fi – there are some really great books available for boys of all ages.

In my opinion, you can’t beat the Harry Potter series by J K Rowling. These books appeal to all age groups and both sexes. There’s plenty of action, intrigue, sorcery and with the lead character being male, other boys can relate to him. I don’t think I need to say much more about this series as it’s so well known.

For younger teen boys there’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 ¾ by Sue Townsend. This was made into a TV series in the UK and is a very British book. The premise of the book is as follows:

The book is written in a diary style by Adrian Mole, a thirteen year old boy who, although writes confidently, often misinterprets and does not understand the events that go on around him. The book follows him through the year of 1981 and a bit of 1982, starting with his new year's resolutions including "stopping squeezing my spots" and "vowing to never drink alcohol... after hearing disgusting noises from downstairs last night." Mole is a self-described intellectual who writes unreliably about the events he goes through and his troubles as an adolescent - resulting in a light-hearted and amusing book.
He writes bluntly about his parents' marital troubles and his own relationship with Pandora, a fellow Year 9 with beautiful "treacle hair": "Pandora and I are in love! It is official! She told Claire Nelson, who told Nigel, who told me." Adrian Mole also writes about his cringe-worthy poetry, his troubles at school, his acne problem, the Royal Wedding and his eighty-year old friend Bert, and numerous other events.

There’s also The Coracle Boy by Edwin Sayers. The blurb reads:

A long time ago, in a land not too far away, there was a fabled and mysterious place known as ‘Farland - the land of the great swamp’. At its heart lay the town of Westown, the home of Harry, the ‘Coracle Boy’.

Time and time again pirates and robbers from all over this land came to plunder the good folk of Westown, rampaging and taking anything they could. The people of Westown dare not venture into the forests and even the river that had supplied food and goods from far away were now deemed unsafe to travel.

But Harry knew the river like the back of his hand and no-one knew how to use a coracle more than he. And now, more than ever, Harry’s skill and determination were desperately needed. For it was only Harry who could navigate this dangerous, swollen river and get a message to General Smith that the notorious King Axel was about to mount his most vicious assault. . . Will Harry be able to save the day?

The future of Westown depends upon the ‘Coracle Boy’.

For boys aged 16+ there’s The Boy Who Made It Rain by Brian Conaghan.

When a school tragedy happens, you may lay the blame on society, the Internet, TV or violent films. Not many of you think it could be the parents' or teachers' fault, do you? But then, is it? We have our say, spout off opinions in different directions according to our view of the world. In this novel, too, they all have their say, but who's right?

At only sixteen Clem's world is turned upside down. His Willy-Loman-like father, a travelling salesman and a loser, is transferred from Eastbourne to Glasgow and along with him go Clem and his meek accommodating mother. But Glasgow is rough and Clem's posh English accent is not well-accepted in the sink school he attends. And he's a brilliant scholar. He soon becomes the target for McEvoy's group of thugs for whom slashing faces is the most important ambition in their depraved lives. When a school tragedy happens, you probably lay the blame on society, the Internet, TV or violent films. Not many of you think it could be the parents' or the teachers' fault, do you? But then, is it? We all have our say, spout off opinions in different directions according to our view of the world. In this novel, too, they all have their say, but who's right?

There are some other great epic fantasy series appearing on Kindle and paperback like DarknessRising by Ross M Kitson, The Tower of Bones series by Connie J Jasperson and The Never Chronicles by none other than our very own J R Wagner.

A few other titles that caught my eye are:

One Dog and His Boy – EvaIbbotson

Boys Without Names –Kashmira Sheth

The Book of Ralph – JohnMcNally

The Kite Runner – KhaledHosseini

The Ice Boy – PatriciaElliott

There are plenty of books to choose from and I’ve only selected some here that really captured my attention. Ultimately, if you’re buying a book for a teen boy, you need to know what type of things he likes. It’s a bit of a minefield, but if you do your homework, you’re sure to pick a winner!

 Carlie M A Cullen is the author of newly released novel Heart Search. 

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.

How to cope with DEATH…in writing

I originally guest-posted this post on C.K Volnek's The Mind's Eye blog  on January 12th -great blog, check it out

We all see it. On the television, in video games, some of us have he misfortune of witnessing it in real life.  Some of us more than once.

I myself have been a witness to death’s clammy hand escorting a loved one from this world. I have seen the aftermath of this process and I have also seen a person pull from the grip of that hand and return to the living.  She was certainly on her way down the path until us humans intervened and escorted her back. 

Death, I’m afraid, is all around us. 

Daniel Defoe wrote, "Things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firmly believed." in his novel, The Political History of the Devil.

“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” JK Rowling

Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men.  ~Herodotus

The graveyards are full of indispensable men.  ~Charles de Gaull

End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path... One that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass... And then you see it.

What? Gandalf?... See what?

White shores... and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.  ~The Return of the King

The tears of J. K. Rowling?

I haven't mentioned this to many people -mostly because I've forgotten. It's been over four years since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has been released.  Always in the back of my mind though, I've never forgotten.

While I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the first time, I noticed something strange about my copy.  At first, I thought it was supposed to be there.  I believed it was part of the print.  A trick of the trade intended to reflect the mood of the chapter.  It was, after all, called The Will of Albus Dumbledore.

Then, out of curiosity, I checked a friend's copy.  This anomaly was not there.  I checked another and another. I even went so far as to go to the bookstore and look in those copies.  Not there.

I even searched online to see if anyone else had reported this strange occurrence and couldn't find anything.  Granted, I didn't search very hard but if google doesn't know, who does?

So, to what am I referring?

 Here are my images.  I scanned two pages and photographed two pages. The scan isn't great because I'm not about to squish my copy of the book just to get a good scan.  I also assure you this is not photo-shopped -I'm not that good with the program and something like this simply isn't worth my time.

I like to think of these as the tears of J. K. Rowling.  As a writer, to bid farewell to that which has been so dear to her for so very long is not an easy thing.  I truly thought that was the message she was trying to convey with these ink stained pages that resemble drops of liquid on the pages.

What are they really?  A printing error obviously...perhaps.  Or perhaps they are part of the magic of Harry Potter.  Magic in one copy of a book printed 12 million times (thank you google).