VictorianLady

The specific plot of "Flying Girl" is original with me. But I did do some research on the historical period, and I already had some knowledge of Chinese folklore.

Have you ever heard of "The Water Margin," also known as "All Men Are Brothers"? Its mythic warrior characters gave me some of the inspiration for the superhuman Liang Ni-Wa. As for what the enchanted feather does to Lu-Mao's personality: think of Sauron's Ring, which makes its wearer obsessed with power.

When my adopted Korean daughter was small, I used to tell her _quite_ a variety of bedtime stories. "Flying Girl and Iron Merchant" is actually an adaptation of stories I made up for her.

You're already in Chapter Seven? Oh, you are wonderful.

Here, I bumped it up just for you.

By the way, if you like manly heroes in historical settings, you might enjoy "The Iron Merchant," which I think is still on the visible queue in Writing Club, near the last.

I saw Liam Neeson's movie of "Rob Roy," but I confess that I have not read the book, nor any Walter Scott book besides "Ivanhoe." I certainly have nothing against reading other books of his, just never got around to it.

You're welcome! I figured that saying a number as large as ten would make the reader understand that I wasn't really specifying an _exact_ number of roles or personalities to be found in you. And I did want to suggest that there was more to you than people would realize at a first encounter, because I do in fact believe this to be true.

Just one of those quotes you see where people put up quotes. If Cicero did say it, maybe he said it with tongue in cheek, meaning that _other_ guys were doing that. Or maybe it was Seneca who said it.

Still here? I wrote _another_ sonnet!

Let's see, was it Cicero who said, "If you have no case, abuse your opponent?"

Feel free sometime to tell me more about the Roman stuff.

Even just being around a lot of music will help, and I always have been. My Dad, for instance, used to play guitar and accordion in a dance band.

Well, if you gain any proficiency on the piano, you'll be ahead of me there. The only instrument I can play worth mentioning is an autoharp--which, by the way, I have been able to use at times in the RenFest.

Any instance where my lyrics were to someone else's music should be noted clearly on that thread. I certainly composed my own music for "Sir Wilfred and Rebecca."

I really liked that! Am I right that it reflects you having acted on stage? Your picture on the blog was poorly lighted, but it looks to me as if you are a beautiful girl.

If you discipline yourself to learn how to follow a meter and a rhyme scheme, the skill entailed will help you to master ANY formal poetry style. I developed my skills through songwriting, as the following thread illustrates:

http://www.narniafans.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21031

I like sonnets because of their association with Elizabethan culture, and because their prescribed length is a good balance between being long enough to say something, and short enough that you have to make every word count. But I also write haiku now and then, such as--

From the airport lounge
We watched planes take off in rain;
Their wings were swimming.

Thank you. Of course, there are times when you have to stand your ground no matter who doesn't like it; but not every argument is "a hill to die on." I pray always to know the difference.

There's a new sonnet up on the Sonnets thread.

Bye! See ya!

It's been fun, but I need to go to bed, so have fun while I'm away. Bye.