rthstewart (
rthstewart) wrote2011-10-30 08:59 pm
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Egads, she posted
Chapter 10 of Apostolic Way, Lionsgate, just went up. It is HUGE, but as the first part of it is a re-tread of Under Cover, I did not split it.
Links to information on owl hearing are here, here, and a cool video here:
The discussion of convergent evolution here and here.
Green Tree Python

Emerald Tree Boa

Images courtesy of wikicommons
I did a lot of google fu regarding what Indians of the state of Gujarat eat for breakfast and have links to many, many recipes for handvo and theplas as well as soap rationing, maps in the UK in 1942, what to do with your garden in October in the UK, and the growing of runner beans on wigwams. There are some things I couldn't nail down and so just inserted them, like the assumption that Russell House is of fairly recent construction and so has advanced, indoor plumbing, gas rationing for zoo personnel, and other things.
Gerald Durrell's biography is here, among other places.
Again a huge thanks to Clio and Miniver who both helped enormously in the development of Jill -- Clio with research regarding her background in Jamaica and Miniver who over a year ago mentioned the possibility of Jill as Afro-Caribbean.
The discussion of convergent evolution here and here.
Green Tree Python

Emerald Tree Boa

Images courtesy of wikicommons
I did a lot of google fu regarding what Indians of the state of Gujarat eat for breakfast and have links to many, many recipes for handvo and theplas as well as soap rationing, maps in the UK in 1942, what to do with your garden in October in the UK, and the growing of runner beans on wigwams. There are some things I couldn't nail down and so just inserted them, like the assumption that Russell House is of fairly recent construction and so has advanced, indoor plumbing, gas rationing for zoo personnel, and other things.
Gerald Durrell's biography is here, among other places.
Again a huge thanks to Clio and Miniver who both helped enormously in the development of Jill -- Clio with research regarding her background in Jamaica and Miniver who over a year ago mentioned the possibility of Jill as Afro-Caribbean.
Gerald Durrell
IIRC, he also had a TV show for a couple of years on the BBC.
Will review when I have a free half hour. Am currently visiting family and will be visited by at least 1 small child tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Re: Gerald Durrell
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I finally got around to watching "Mixed Britannia", that BBC series I linked a preview to for you a while back. I think you'd be fascinated by it. The first episode (the only one I've watched so far) discussed mixed race relationships in the UK from WWI up to start of the second War. There were interviews with adults who had grown up as part of a mixed race family -- British women marrying Arabs, Chinese marines, and West Indians, along with others from other far flung parts of the Empire. (You can catch interviews and some clips/episodes from the series on Youtube if you're interested.)
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It was also interesting to write Jill as observant, the first time I had a point of view character who I could characterize in that way. The others wouldn't notice things like the pots and the height of the Lady of the Green Kirtle, but Jill does. They've either seen it all before so it isn't new, or they just don't notice things that way. The ideas of her mother being so fashionable provides another lens -- her mother is from money and unlike most women who have appeared in the story, she's very conscious of her appearance. Appearance was very important to women and they really worked to maintain it to "keep up morale." It really puts a different spin on Susan's lipstick and nylons.
I thought it read as a huge info dump for Jill, but it did move things forward. I had to address Silver Chair. I had to develop Jill who is probably the least written of any canon character. I had to rebuild the story as this was the first HUGE departure from the original outline, parts of which I'd already written. They were always going to Russell House but it was in 1946, after the war, and the school was close (but there are no moors in Oxford, so I had to change that). The nurse (who was not Ruby) comes in at breakfast saying there's been quite the to do at the school, with a lion and all. Edmund and Lucy hare off to the school realizing what happened and Asim drives them and Mary is, again, in the dark. They don't let Peter go because he would go all Royal We so he rattles around the house and he makes a nuisance of himself and breaks things until Patel drags him off to go carry compost.
Errr, stopping now.
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How lovely to see Jill and Eustace again, especially this particularly-interesting Jill. I loved how attentive she was to Richard.
Now I was unable to discern this form the chapter (or perhaps I wasn't reading closely enough): is Jill's mother white, or her father? Would they accept a black woman into the WRENS at that time?
And yay for beautiful non-venomous green snakes, they're so lovely.
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The full measure of British treatment of its colonial citizens in its service is one I really can't fully comprehend. There was obviously discrimination though I don't think it was as bad as the American, fully segregated service. There is a lot of anecdotal information about how well the Brits got along with the American black servicemen. And then you see posters like this:
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(Anonymous) 2011-10-31 06:14 am (UTC)(link)~LotL
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One very small point of information - not, I trust, plot-bunny-boiling - there is actually a moor just a few miles north of Oxford. It's called Otmoor, I don't know if Lewis knew it at all but Tolkien certainly did. It certainly isn't the moor behind Experiment House, though, as it's a sunken moor, not a raised one (this makes it Very Rare Habitat, and since I lived in the area they've turned it into a bird reserve; http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/o/otmoor/index.aspx. Quite right too). Whether or not Lewis knew it, I'd like to think Richard, Digory and Polly were regular visitors at one time, if only because they really ought to have met Makareti Staples-Brown, who lived on the edge of the moor until her death in 1930.
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This particular moor placement was not an issue -- I could pack Polly off to Shropshire. I certainly did not realize the difference between a sunken moor and a raised one as is presented in Silver Chair. I know that as much as I try to be true to the time and place, there are some things that I cannot discern based on reasonable research, or that I have to have in place for the story to move forward and so just ignore. Sometimes it throws the knowledgeable reader out of the story and sometimes I have to rely on deus ex Leo.
Thank you again, so much. I really appreciate hearing from you. (and I love the puffin)
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Thanks for writing!
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I really love the additional depth to Jill (she's long been one of my favorite characters, and it's great to see her trying to figure out the Russell household - and, as you say above, the stuff she notices the others don't.)
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(Anonymous) 2011-10-31 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)~Syrena
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Yay!
Incidentally, when I was about ten years old, my (divorced) Dad had a girlfriend from Jersey. So we visited, and it turns out that I met Mr. Durrell at his zoo. I do remember the zoo, but not the Great Man himself, sadly; it's too bad, 'cause his books are sooo much fun!
Re: Yay!
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(Anonymous) 2011-11-05 10:31 pm (UTC)(link)But here I am, ready to tell you what I think about all that.
First: Russell House. Good to be there once again. I love the ambience. And I like how Jill suited there perfectly well.
Second: Polly Plummer. Very professional investigation. No doubts we’re in the country of Sherlock Holmes...
Third: Jill. I must admit that I don’t remember much about her from the books. Chronicles of Narnia were my favorite books when I was 8-9 years old. When Eustace and Jill replaced Pevensie children as main characters I simply took umbrage at them and all the books which were not about Pevensies and was reading only those with PSEL. As a result I can still quote parts of LWW or PC, but I remember hardly anything from SCh. Nonetheless, Jill which you created (there is so little about her in books that we may say that this one is your creation) is a person I really like despite my old prejudice. What is rare, my first thought was that I like her not as a book character, but as a person - I believe her consideration for Richard is to be blamed for that. Her attitude towards him is really charming. Such a simple, but intelligent kindness.
I must say that at first I was a bit skeptical about making her half-black - I thought it’s a bit too much of a coincidence considering your interest in a topic of non-whites in Britain and multicultural Russell Household. Yet, in this chapter I bought it easily. But if you would write: "Oh look, an African girl!" I would throw all the pages with your story printed and never come back to it again. Luckily it was subtle enough for me to swallow. But I declare, that if you’ll listen to some of your readers and “ship” Jill with Peter I will take the first plane to USA and bash you in your head. Really, we have enough maritime stories in the fandom, don’t turn yours into one [*maritime story - story which can be fully described by information who is shipped with whom]. Anyway, they all die young so they won’t have much time for romantics. Good for me!
One general thought: your chapters are too short. I don’t know if that’s only me, but after ending each chapter my first thought is “Wait... Where’s the rest of it?”. I do understand that it’s a problem of having many characters without labeling few of them as “main”. But I really wouldn’t mind reading about Jill’s interaction with Kun and Lee.
Waiting for a Return of the (High) King. Hope you won’t make us wait too long.
Krystyna
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I'm writing Jill's first meeting with Peter now. I'd originally thought to include Susan as well, but I'm trying to trim characters and so didn't want to write that. They'll be Christmas.
Several readers in ff.net have wondered where the idea of Jill as Afro-Caribbean came from. How counter to book canon am I? Well, the fact is, the books say nothing of her appearance or family at all. Nothing. She's a blank page. And for all that I've got this international cast of OCs, to my mind, it's different when you make a canon character a person of color. It's rare too that the source material is so vague that you really have no idea at all what she looks like. So, that's why I went with it. There was room here and I decided to not default to the white character. With all the others it can seem overkill -- I'd not decided to do Jill in this way when I started. I had no real ideas about Jill at all other than that she would bond with Kun and Lee over art, cooking, and gardening. I'd originally seen her too as finding a surrogate family at Russell House -- I've not fully resolved that as in my head, Jill's family is pretty solid. I suppose I could kill them off....
Thank you again for reading and reviewing.
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(Anonymous) 2011-11-08 03:43 am (UTC)(link)J. Apple
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(Anonymous) - 2011-11-09 09:21 (UTC) - Expand