A Sense of Wonder

red and white concrete house near mountain — Photo by Cassie Boca on Unsplash
A house in Iceland

I think of this time of year as something of a dreamtime. The weather is stormy, the colours are vivid and it feels like stories are in the air along with the whirling leaves. It’s the month of Halloween, and I’ve aimed to post something every day, whether it’s old or new, just to acknowledge that this time of year is sort of supernatural.

Hand on heart, I don’t believe in vampires or werewolves. I keep an open mind about ghosts and know that as a (really rubbish) Christian I ought not to believe in nature spirits. But I do believe that it’s fun to act as if you believe, as if there are wonderful worlds just beyond our view, and that there is a magic in the world – within reason of course.

I have tried to raise my son with a sense of wonder and curiosity in the world, along with my husband who is a consummate story teller himself. I started young. When my son was maybe three years old, we walked past a hole next to the pavement and I pointed at it and said that anything could live down there, even a dragon. That was a mistake. Son refused to walk past it. I had to pick him up and carry him. Later I had to explain to a nursery worker exactly why my son was talking about dragons on the way to school. He only calmed down when we told him that Daddy had gone to the dragon and punched it on the nose, so there wouldn’t be any trouble.

A few weeks later we passed a similar hole. I thought I had learned my lesson and told him that rabbits could live down there. Son was only three, but he gave me a look that said, ‘You’re saying rabbits, but you’re meaning dragons’.

That is why I love reading about the elves in Iceland. There is an article here about them. It’s not a question of whether the elves are real or not. It is all about a world where there is room to believe in them. It is about a place where you can accept a little magic without worrying about what people think. For me, it isn’t about the elves. It is the spirit of generous tolerance to other people’s harmless beliefs that needs celebrating. It is a thing of wonder and we need more of that in the world. Sometimes we need to believe that the elves’ church needs protecting or that there is a dragon down a hole, just for the magic of it.

October is Awesome!

In the last few months, I’ve managed to connect to some really awesome indie authors. They are doing some great stuff, and I’ve been encouraged and inspired. I’ve taken the chance to sign up to some great online and blog events.

Of course, October is a great month for those who write about ‘things that go bump in the night’ in all their flavours. This means that there are a gazillion blog posts, articles, giveaways, book reviews and articles sloshing around the web. I’ll be taking the opportunity to share some of these. It also means that I have committed to far too many things – but that is par for the course!

I will be posting most days. Not only will I be linking to other authors during October, but I’ve committed to posting quite a few bits from me. So, if you like a supernatural flavour, keep an eye out! Today I’m sharing the link to Timothy Bateson’s blog, and the post which kicks off his amazing ’31 Days of Halloween’. In case you don’t notice, I’m on 24th, but, to be honest, I’m really looking forward to reading all the great stuff that’s scheduled.

Also coming up is October Frights which is an intensive five days of all things Horror and Paranormal. I will be posting and sharing a lot so brace yourself for loads of links and some original fiction from me.

In other news, I’m still working on the newsletter. I have the content, but I’m getting bewildered by the legals. The first edition will go out as soon as I can manage. The link to subscribe is here, if you are interested. And for anyone who missed it, here is the latest instalment from the White Hart. Happy reading!

Is It Art

I went into Leeds today. I had a few errands to run, the sun was shining and I thought I would make the most of it. I got off the bus in City Square and saw this.

It’s a statue of some legs, in case you haven’t guessed. It’s been done very well, and someone has gone to a lot of trouble and effort and it’s bright and colourful and contemporary. I wasn’t sure about it, though. I’m not educated in Art, and I think if you have a fine arts background and you know more about context then it’s probably a really great piece. For a philistine like me, it just looked like some colourful legs. There’s some more about it here.

A little later, in Briggate, I took this picture.

As you can tell, I’m not brilliant when it comes to pictures. This is a statue of Minerva, apparently, and I think was sculpted more recently. As I said, I’m completely uneducated, but I love the way that the solid metal is made to look like fabric folds. According to a snippet here, Minerva was the goddess of weaving and commerce which is absolutely perfect for Leeds which was built on textiles in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and I love the owl mask, as owls are on the Leeds coat of arms. I understand this as much as I understand anything. It tells me stories in the way that the Legs don’t.

The question is – are they both ‘Art’? Of course they are, and some people will prefer one and some the other. In both cases someone took an idea and translated it into something solid using skill and passion. The problem isn’t in the sculpture, the problem is in the question. The question is poison.

In Leeds Art Gallery there is a huge canvas painted blue. That’s it – just a vast, flat, blue rectangle. My instinctive reaction is – someone had a sale on blue paint. However I have been told that there is a lot of skill in getting an even tone and texture over such a large canvas and that those who paint will really appreciate it. I know that whoever painted it did a better job than I could ever do. Who am I to say that they are wrong?

That question – is it art? – is poison to writing as well. You can be caught up writing the most exciting, challenging, thrilling story. You can see the action, hear the voices, even smell the smoke and flowers but there is always a little doubt. There’s always a little niggle. Are the characters deep enough? What about extended metaphors? Have I let an adverb sneak in? Should I have included this character? Should I have cut that character? I need to edit more.

I think that the questions you should ask are things like, are the characters believable? Are they consistent? Do they have the same eye colour from one chapter to the next (it happens!)? Does the story make sense? Does it have variations in pace? How about the descriptive passages? How does the dialogue sound? All these are valid questions. You should never stop unless you can say that you are proud of it. But if you find yourself asking, is it art? then I think you need to step away from the writing and do grocery shopping or cleaning or something that ties you back to the mundane. From my experience, chasing Great Art is bad for the mental health.

I don’t agree with everything that Rudyard Kipling wrote, but darn it, he could work rhythm and I was reminded of his poem when I saw the Legs this morning – The Conundrum of the Workshops