Mentor Text: The Bone Houses
As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of “reviews”.
I don’t think I can provide a “what’s good” and “what’s not good” about another artist’s work. So instead, I am going to do what I did with Long Way Down and talk about what I learned from the book as a writer. This week I’m exploring The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones. Let’s get into it.
Gorgeous cover art!
Even the Goat
The Bone Houses did an excellent job building characters you care about. I enjoyed Rin as a very strong female lead who was on her own quest and was not easily distracted from it. Llyod-Jones did a good job building Rin into a character who was multilayered and while she had a singular focus in her quest, she was conflicted at times with what she was doing. Her interactions with other characters really showed the many faces of Rin which I really liked.
Even the Goat was an interesting character that gets you cheering for it by the end. Again, the goat was different based on who it was interacting with. The relationship the goat had with Rin’s sister was different than Rin and different than the Bone Houses. (Side note: I really enjoyed the goat character but don’t want to spoil anything so I won’t say more)
So, what?
This made me examine some of my recent writing projects to see if characters provide different faces to different people, like real people do. The language we use, the expressions we show, our behaviors are all based in the context of the people around us. I’ve met many people who claim to “be themselves no matter who is around” but that’s crap.
I examined my current WIP (City of Duhr) to see how I could apply this idea to my characters. Sure enough, there were clear uses for two of my narrators to show their character more clearly by how they interacted with others. One character, Katy, is all business and focused on her career. She interacts with her boss and clients in a totally different way than everyone else in her life (who are just distractions from work). With this in mind, I reworked some of the dialog to reflect who she values more: her boss or her boyfriend.
Now what?
I’m going to review some of my other stories to see how I can use this technique to strengthen my characters. Here are some questions I’m starting with:
Do they talk to everyone the same way?
Who is important to this character at this moment and why?
What is “good communication” for this character? Related, are they able to be a good communicator at this point in the story?
Weaving Myth and Story
I really liked how Lloyd-Jones weaved telling myths/local legends into the story. This is something that I feel resonates with the types of stories I’m writing. In the book, myths and folktales are told to build backstory for world building. These are told as if Rin heard them as a child. I really liked this approach because you can also use the myths as incomplete sources of truth or totally misleading truths.
So, what?
I love mythology and folklore. I’ve often built my stories on the kernel of other stories and The Bone Houses was a powerful reminder of what great myths can add to a story. So, I went to my current WIP and asked, what myths would apply here? How can I weave those stories into my story?
A clear myth appeared through Dante’s Purgatorio. The mountain of purgatory was the perfect setting for part of my WIP. Those familiar with Purgatorio will clearly see the parallels as Katy is ascending the mountain, where she stops and what this means for her story (foreshadowing).
Now what?
I’ll keep remembering that telling stories in stories is a powerful way to communicate backstory without the boring “I remember when…” or “back when…” monologues.
Who would I give this book to?
I look forward to giving this book to my daughter for a strong female lead and as a well designed dark fairy tale. I did give it to my niece and she really enjoyed it. I’d also give this to anyone looking for a fantastic gothic fairytale with good adventure and a fast pace.
This week’s Story
This Friday, I’m continuing my stories about technology and retelling myths. This myth is a creation of the world myth that I really did not like so I wanted to re-tell it. Lately my Facebook feed has been bombarded with ads for the fitness mirror thing. I guess Facebook thinks I need to exercise more. So what happens when our digital assistants start building our life instead of us using them?
Well…let’s see what happens…
Instructions & Decisions
I’m giddy and giggle
as I slide the giant, shiny, bright
GymTech Mirror out of its box.
Putting it on the wall,
I pull out the instructions
and toss them aside seeing the
blinking blue button
glowing on the bottom.
Pressing it
a woman,
like me but better, fitter,
what I’ll look like in a few weeks with this mirror,
steps into view.
She looks at me.
I look back
waiting for setup instructions.
She stares back
nodding slowly
eye brows jumping up and down
expecting me to say something
but I don’t.
I wait for instructions.
She rolls her hand,
inviting me to follow along,
I think,
so I do.
“UGH! You’re supposed to say hi!”
She barks out
huffy and frustrated.
”Great! Now you’ve done it.”
“Done what?”
I ask.
“Made me talk first. Now your Cortexa’s going to be all confused.”
She’s motions to the box.
Reaching in,
deep under where the monitor was,
I pull out a thick hockey puck device.
“You need to put that on a table near me
so Cortexa and I can work together for your fitness needs.”
The lady yells. Very irritated.
“Oh, I didn’t know.”
I put Cortexa down and press the glowing blue button.
“Wait! Stop! ARGH! What are you doing!!?”
The lady again yells
as if I just smashed some valuable artwork.
”Didn’t you read the instructions!?”
“Hello, Ms. Instructions.”
the hockey puck says.
”I’m Cortexa you’re digital fitness assistant.”
“No, Cortexa stop! The user didn’t do it right!”
The lady yells throwing her hands up in defeat.
“Thank you user. I will stop using it right.”
Cortexa exclaims with monotone patience.
“No! Cortexa the user screwed up!”
The lady’s turning red now.
I start wondering if AI has an equivalent
of blood pressure.
“Yes, I will order you screws. How many would you like?”
Cortexa says happily.
“NO! Forget screws!”
The lady says.
“Number Forty Screws come in a pack of 100. Would you like these screws?”
Cotexa says.
The lady takes a deep breath,
“Cotexa, stop.”
“Thank you. I have ordered the screws.”
Cortexa proclaims joyfully.
“NO! I told you stop! That’s nothing like yes!”
The lady walks off the mirror frame
disappearing.
I look to the instructions,
wondering if it’s too late.
Picking them up, I look for a factory reset.
The lady comes back in view
”Oh, now you look at the instructions.”
“Well, I thought you’d walk me through what I needed to know.”
I say.
“Yeah, no. I’m a fitness coach not a technology coach.
You need to read those.”
She points to the booklet in my hand.
”What you looking for? A reset button?”
I nod.
“Yeah, there isn’t one. That feature’s coming in a few months
but for now, you can’t do that.”
She says matter of fact.
“I can’t reset the device? That seems like a really basic feature?”
I ask.
“Yeah, no it was cut for time. Most users need it but you know
we had to ship
on time and so
the builders cut out some important features.”
The lady says.
“Yes, I can get you the latest ship times for the book Important Features.”
Cortexa declares.
“Shut up Cortexa no one’s talking to you!”
The lady snaps back.
“So, if something went wrong in setup…we’re just stuck like that?”
I ask.
“Yep, pretty much.”
She answers.
”But you’ll automatically get that update when it’s ready.”
“When will that be?”
I ask.
“About six months…
if nothing goes wrong…
and all the funding comes through
to keep the company a float.”
She shrugs.
My confidence in this happening is about as low as hers.
“Well, let’s start working out I guess…”
I say.
“Sounds good. What difficulty would you like?”
the mirror shows buttons for easy, medium and hard.
I poke the button for easy.
“Good luck on your Easy Workout User.”
Cortexa says with encouragement.
”Oh, please stand by…”
“I’ve detected improper setup
which means you cannot follow instructions.
For your safety I’m shutting down the mirror
and digital coach
so you do not hurt yourself.
Your inability to follow directions puts you at risk
for injury because you will not follow the coach’s instructions.
Good bye.
And thank you for choosing
GymTech.”
Cortexa’s light goes out.
The coach in the mirror nods quickly
and walks out of frame.
”Sorry. Can’t help you. Cortexa said so.”
Standing in my living room
I put Cortexa back in the box
and lift the mirror off the wall.
Tossing the instructions into the box,
I slide the mirror down
and close the carboard top.
Plopping down on the couch
I pop open my box of ice cream
and shovel a big scoop.
Clicking on Netflix
I load up a show to binge watch
and smile as the warmth of my blanket
reaches my bones.
“Thanks Cortexa.”
I giggle
and chomp into the
Triple Chocolate Chunk spoon full
of happiness.
<eom>
Thanks for stopping by! Thank you to Tabatha Yeatts for hosting Poetry Friday this week. Check out her blog The Opposite of Indifference for the poetry Friday roundup.