The official blog of Denise M. Baran-Unland, author. Discover her books for all ages at bryonyseries.com.
Showing posts with label Charles Dickens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charles Dickens. Show all posts
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Thursday, July 19, 2018
BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens
This is Chapter 11 of Dickens' The Pickwick Club, and, fictionally, it is exactly that.
A man who, unbeknowst to anyone, becomes convinced he is insane, relates how he goes about the business of life keeping his dark secret.
I found it more gripping than Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and really liked when the narrator screams: "'Damn you,' said I, starting up, and rushing upon him; 'I killed her. I am a madman. Down with you. Blood, blood! I will have it!'
You can read A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens online.
A man who, unbeknowst to anyone, becomes convinced he is insane, relates how he goes about the business of life keeping his dark secret.
I found it more gripping than Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and really liked when the narrator screams: "'Damn you,' said I, starting up, and rushing upon him; 'I killed her. I am a madman. Down with you. Blood, blood! I will have it!'
You can read A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens online.
Here's one link: https://www.lang.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~matsuoka/CD-PP-Madman.html
at 3:36 AM
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
If you were to ask anyone in my household right now, he or she might agree.
Everyone is going through major restructuring at their jobs, and no one is quite certain what that looks like.
So we're a bit tense at home right now. But it occurred to us last night that in a couple of weeks, everyone's routine will be vastly different than it was at the beginning of this month.
I'm not sure about you, but we thrive on routine and the occasional break from it. Developing a routine allows our tasks to run (somewhat) smoothly and provides the most productiveness for us.
So when that is shaken up, we tend to get a little shaken up - at least until we're able to understand what we're doing and mold out a new routine.
Such is our current definition of the worse of times. Now for the best.
Opportunities to learn and expand our skills into arenas we didn't think we could. New routines emerging from the old and giving us new experiences and new ways or looking at our day.
In a season for us when we're still singing Christ is Risen and will be for a few more weeks, when our minds are on "Behold, I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19), which follows with, "I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert," shouldn't we be excited that God takes old routines and "like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment
they will be changed." (Hebrews 1:12)
In faith, we are moving in that direction. For now, I think Dickens applies.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of
belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we
had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to
Heaven, we were all going direct the other way. (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)
Illustration by Christopher Gleason for "Staked!"
Sunday, December 25, 2016
One Good Quote For Christmas Day
“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Monday, March 30, 2015
Eternal Memory
For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Ecclesiastes 2:16
The Twilight craze has passed and so has the fervor for Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.
I can see you blink and say, "Huh?"
Not too many years ago in the eternal perspective, loyal fans of this latter serial waited with as much anticipation for the next installment as Edward/Jacob devotees yearned for the next movie. Victorians gathered at harbors to meet English ships for one reason, and it wasn't greeting family and friends. They just had to know: "Is Little Nell dead???"
Most of us will never be as famous as either Stephanie Meyers of Charles Dickens, and the memory of their accomplishments will fade, has faded, and is fading from the forefront of most people's consciousness. Think of all the schools that are named for esteemed educators and then ask schoolchildren (and their parents and teachers) to give a summary of that educator's life.
So what does that mean for the rest of us, who lead more ordinary lives between the here and then gone?
Two things happened to me on Saturday that inspired this post. One is a friend grappling with that question. The other is the former marketing director for the BryonySeries, who left a voice message for me while I was in a meeting.
Eight years ago I had interviewed her for a Herald-News story before and after she had brain surgery to remove a meningioma. The second interview was at her home, while she was recovering. Because this woman is creative and spiritual, I impulsively stopped at a religious goods store on the way to her house and purchased a lace banner for her, with the phrase: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.
The story was published, and in 2010 I hired her for marketing until the budget for marketing was gone. End of story.
Until Saturday.
She still has that lace banner. That banner still inspires her. On that particular day, she was writing a euology for a relative's memorial service. She called to let me know that she was using this banner as the foundation of her eulogy, and that it still meant something to her eight years later.
In the Eastern Orthodox church, we conclude our memorial services with the phrase, Eternal Memory.
I believe that as the sharp particulars of a person's life soften and fade from the mind of loved ones - because they will, as much as that might sting our pride - they increase in warm, strength, and value in the spiritual realm, much as a candle flame enlarges as it burns. In this case, it's a flame that eternally grows and burns, one that is never extinguished or forgotten.
Our names, the details of our works, these are not the important things and won't be much remembered except by God, but that's the remembrance that ultimately counts.
But the impressions of love and joy we make upon others, the example of our character and the way we choose to live, these DO affect others, who will take up the torch and light the way for generations to follow.
That's what it's alll about, Alfie.
The Twilight craze has passed and so has the fervor for Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens.
I can see you blink and say, "Huh?"
Not too many years ago in the eternal perspective, loyal fans of this latter serial waited with as much anticipation for the next installment as Edward/Jacob devotees yearned for the next movie. Victorians gathered at harbors to meet English ships for one reason, and it wasn't greeting family and friends. They just had to know: "Is Little Nell dead???"
Most of us will never be as famous as either Stephanie Meyers of Charles Dickens, and the memory of their accomplishments will fade, has faded, and is fading from the forefront of most people's consciousness. Think of all the schools that are named for esteemed educators and then ask schoolchildren (and their parents and teachers) to give a summary of that educator's life.
So what does that mean for the rest of us, who lead more ordinary lives between the here and then gone?
Two things happened to me on Saturday that inspired this post. One is a friend grappling with that question. The other is the former marketing director for the BryonySeries, who left a voice message for me while I was in a meeting.
Eight years ago I had interviewed her for a Herald-News story before and after she had brain surgery to remove a meningioma. The second interview was at her home, while she was recovering. Because this woman is creative and spiritual, I impulsively stopped at a religious goods store on the way to her house and purchased a lace banner for her, with the phrase: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10.
The story was published, and in 2010 I hired her for marketing until the budget for marketing was gone. End of story.
Until Saturday.
She still has that lace banner. That banner still inspires her. On that particular day, she was writing a euology for a relative's memorial service. She called to let me know that she was using this banner as the foundation of her eulogy, and that it still meant something to her eight years later.
In the Eastern Orthodox church, we conclude our memorial services with the phrase, Eternal Memory.
I believe that as the sharp particulars of a person's life soften and fade from the mind of loved ones - because they will, as much as that might sting our pride - they increase in warm, strength, and value in the spiritual realm, much as a candle flame enlarges as it burns. In this case, it's a flame that eternally grows and burns, one that is never extinguished or forgotten.
Our names, the details of our works, these are not the important things and won't be much remembered except by God, but that's the remembrance that ultimately counts.
But the impressions of love and joy we make upon others, the example of our character and the way we choose to live, these DO affect others, who will take up the torch and light the way for generations to follow.
That's what it's alll about, Alfie.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Keeping Focused During Off Times (Or "It's All About the World Count...Or Is It?")
My muse tends to behave like an errant toddler: it flares up at the most inappropriate times (when it must be completely suppressed) and remains stubbornly mute when it should be speaking up.
So I resolved to spend an hour a day after work writing, but when one has already spent ten or more hours mostly in front of a computer writing and editing, my brain suffers from mental screen exhaustion.
What to do?
Well, first of all, I realized last weekend that flogging creativity into submission wasn't the way to go...except on tight newspaper deadlines. Writing a novel, no matter how many words, pages, paragraphs, etc. is the goal, is a slow process. While we writers certainly don't want the process to be so slow that we really aren''t writing at all - just procrastinating and playing at writing - giving the brain a chance to rest is one way to wake it up.
I think this is probably why mine tends to perk-up fiction-wise during the week and leans toward writing feature stories for The Herald-News during the weekend.
Sigh.
So i spent a lot of this past weekend and my day off, not writing (DAMN!), but rather, reviewing what had already been written so far. The first part of Before the Blood (John's story) is over 55,000 words, really a small novel in its own right. I looked back at the days and weeks of this past year - when it seemed little progress had been made - and realized - like the proverbial tortoise running his race - that slowly and surely I had knit together a decent draft that made me give my shoulder a little pat.
(I should do the same at work. Usually all I see are the stacks and stacks of snippets of details that need addressing, not the work already accomplished).
It also made me want to write that much in a single weekend and caused me to give the desk a little kick in frustration knowing that would not happen. Sometimes, I want the whole forest at once, instead of realizing I do have to grow it a tree at a time, trees unique unto their own.
When I was a freelancer, I saw writing as writing, everything was woven into one package, and I shifted from various writing projects, to homeschooling, to housework to delivering newspapers. Deftly, seamlessly, I alternated chores and duties.
However, before I get all nostalgic here, I remind myself that this was a learned skill. I had a different life and routine before that one, and I will surely have a different one after the currentone.
So I'm going to try something this week.
If something pops into my head, I'm going to take a few moments and jot it down and save it for later. Instead of composing at night during the week and forcing a tired brain to produce (which it doesn't really anyway), I'll do the "busy" work portion of writing, research, etc. but only for short periods.
For instance, Christopher Gleason, my illustrator for Staked!, has already asked for chapter summaries so he can beging work on chapter heading illustrations, so even a couple of those at night, saved into a file, should help to keep the creative fires stoked.
On the flip side, this weekend, when my mind starts straying toward features, I'll do the same, jotting down ideas I can use during the week. At the end of the week, I'll review the results and decide if I should continue in this manner for another week.
Instead of feeling like I have to move at breakneck speed 24/7, I'm going to strive for slower, steadier, quieter, more thoughtful and reflective and allow the work to unfold.
As a new parent and member of La Leche League, the oft-repeated phrase was, "People before things." As a worker, the Dickens line (Jacob Marley) popped into my head yesterday evening, "Mankind was my business."
The two are true and synonymous. Readers, be that of newspapers or novels, deserve our very best. Writers, the ones producing those works, need to treat ourselves with the same consideration and respect.
So I resolved to spend an hour a day after work writing, but when one has already spent ten or more hours mostly in front of a computer writing and editing, my brain suffers from mental screen exhaustion.
What to do?
Well, first of all, I realized last weekend that flogging creativity into submission wasn't the way to go...except on tight newspaper deadlines. Writing a novel, no matter how many words, pages, paragraphs, etc. is the goal, is a slow process. While we writers certainly don't want the process to be so slow that we really aren''t writing at all - just procrastinating and playing at writing - giving the brain a chance to rest is one way to wake it up.
I think this is probably why mine tends to perk-up fiction-wise during the week and leans toward writing feature stories for The Herald-News during the weekend.
Sigh.
So i spent a lot of this past weekend and my day off, not writing (DAMN!), but rather, reviewing what had already been written so far. The first part of Before the Blood (John's story) is over 55,000 words, really a small novel in its own right. I looked back at the days and weeks of this past year - when it seemed little progress had been made - and realized - like the proverbial tortoise running his race - that slowly and surely I had knit together a decent draft that made me give my shoulder a little pat.
(I should do the same at work. Usually all I see are the stacks and stacks of snippets of details that need addressing, not the work already accomplished).
It also made me want to write that much in a single weekend and caused me to give the desk a little kick in frustration knowing that would not happen. Sometimes, I want the whole forest at once, instead of realizing I do have to grow it a tree at a time, trees unique unto their own.
When I was a freelancer, I saw writing as writing, everything was woven into one package, and I shifted from various writing projects, to homeschooling, to housework to delivering newspapers. Deftly, seamlessly, I alternated chores and duties.
However, before I get all nostalgic here, I remind myself that this was a learned skill. I had a different life and routine before that one, and I will surely have a different one after the currentone.
So I'm going to try something this week.
If something pops into my head, I'm going to take a few moments and jot it down and save it for later. Instead of composing at night during the week and forcing a tired brain to produce (which it doesn't really anyway), I'll do the "busy" work portion of writing, research, etc. but only for short periods.
For instance, Christopher Gleason, my illustrator for Staked!, has already asked for chapter summaries so he can beging work on chapter heading illustrations, so even a couple of those at night, saved into a file, should help to keep the creative fires stoked.
On the flip side, this weekend, when my mind starts straying toward features, I'll do the same, jotting down ideas I can use during the week. At the end of the week, I'll review the results and decide if I should continue in this manner for another week.
Instead of feeling like I have to move at breakneck speed 24/7, I'm going to strive for slower, steadier, quieter, more thoughtful and reflective and allow the work to unfold.
As a new parent and member of La Leche League, the oft-repeated phrase was, "People before things." As a worker, the Dickens line (Jacob Marley) popped into my head yesterday evening, "Mankind was my business."
The two are true and synonymous. Readers, be that of newspapers or novels, deserve our very best. Writers, the ones producing those works, need to treat ourselves with the same consideration and respect.
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens
This is Chapter 11 of Dickens' The Pickwick Club, and, fictionally, it is exactly that.
A man who, unbeknowst to anyone, becomes convinced he is insane, relates how he goes about the business of life keeping his dark secret.
I found it more gripping than Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and really liked when the narrator screams: "'Damn you,' said I, starting up, and rushing upon him; 'I killed her. I am a madman. Down with you. Blood, blood! I will have it!'
You can read A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens online.
A man who, unbeknowst to anyone, becomes convinced he is insane, relates how he goes about the business of life keeping his dark secret.
I found it more gripping than Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and really liked when the narrator screams: "'Damn you,' said I, starting up, and rushing upon him; 'I killed her. I am a madman. Down with you. Blood, blood! I will have it!'
You can read A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens online.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A Child's Dream of a Star by Charles Dickens
Someone gave me a copy of The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens (and you thought his only specters were Jacob Marley and the trio of Christmases of Past, Present, and Future), but last night I read a story in that book that didn’t seem to quite fit the collection.
As I was reading, A Child’s Dream of a Star, I kept waiting for the story to turn delightfully ugly, but it was a simple, innocent, and enjoyable read to the expected end, although it does deal with death.
A much more appropriate reading for Julian Calendar Christmas than a vampire saga.
Many sources offer this story online.
As I was reading, A Child’s Dream of a Star, I kept waiting for the story to turn delightfully ugly, but it was a simple, innocent, and enjoyable read to the expected end, although it does deal with death.
A much more appropriate reading for Julian Calendar Christmas than a vampire saga.
Many sources offer this story online.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)