Inspiration part 19 - the circus

Welcome back,

           Inspired by April's Fools, the theme for this month's inspirational post will be about something that has brought many people both joy and dread. It is not many subjects that can inspire such diverse reactions from people, but after reading this article, I am sure you will understand why.

I am speaking of course of the time honored tradition that is the circus. The idea came to me at work, as I was clearing copyright for old school circus posters for an online exhibition project. I learned quite a bit of the history of circuses in North America since the late 1800’s, and thought this would be a great subject for April’s inspiration article.

Circus parade around tents, in lithograph by Gibson & Co., 1874

           The circus has been entertaining spectators, young and old, for several generations now, with it’s attractions, games, performers and animals. With so many different features, it comes as no surprise that the circus can be a such great source of inspiration for writers. Let us take a look at some of the circuses most prominent aspects.

Common circus acts include acrobatics, gymnastics, aerial acts, juggling and a variety of other routines. These also include Daredevil stunts such as the human cannonball, fire eating/breathing/dancing, knife throwing, or sword swallowing. These routines are meant to be breathtaking and exciting, and describing them in narrative can be very useful for action oriented storytelling.

Speaking of circus performers, another mainstay to the big top are clowns. Clowns are common to most circuses and are typically skilled so that they can accompany any of the other performances. Clowns can be a great tool for someone trying to write a comedy.

Though they have been around for decades, these flamboyant comedians have a received mixed feeling from the public. Many will find their antics hilarious, while some find them creepy and off putting. For this reason, the fear of clowns, or coulrophobia, can be useful for authors writing horror or thriller stories.

Joseph Grimaldi as Clown

Ferenczy Clown 1910

1870 photo of British duo the Payne brothers as Clown and Harlequin

Polack Bros. Circus 1965 clowns

Standard clown

Horrific clown

Animal acts have been part of the circus going as far back as the early eighteenth century. Many different types of animals have been used; from big cats, elephants, horses, birds, sea lions, bears, and even domestic animals such as cats and dogs. The earliest involvement of animals in the circus was just as a display of exotic creatures, but it eventually moved on to live performance such as equestrian acts or lion tamers. It should be noted that in the past few years, the inclusion of animals in circuses has been highly scrutinized, as cases of animals being mistreated or forced into poor living conditions had been reported.

Sideshows are also part of some circus activities, and may include chapeaugraphy, magic acts, the strongman or the infamous ‘’freak show’’. Below are some genuine color posters from the Coney Island Sideshow dating back to the 1930’s/40’s (Source: The Library of Congress). Though meant to entertain, it is obvious that some of these attractions were meant to shock or scare patrons. From a writer's perspective, some of these could be very useful for horror or paranormal mysteries.

 

 

 

The final element is mostly in regards to how a circus can help add color to the setting. Some circuses were known to be accompanied by carnival rides, such as ferris wheels, pendulum rides, drop towers or funny/haunted houses. A carnival can be a great setting for a romantic story, or an abandoned amusement park can be a great hiding place for a villainous character.

As you can see, a trip to the circus can be especially beneficial for a writer looking for inspiration. Maybe you need references for a character working as a full-time clown, various rides for a theme park setting or maybe ideas for a creepy urban story. Bottom line: go visit one, you'll be surprised at what you will find.

           I hope you enjoyed this month's inspiration post and that I encouraged you to go out there and experience it for yourself.

Until next time.

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

**Please note that most of the photos below were taken from free stock images sites such as StockSnap.com, or were found doing a public domain search via Google.**

By the Book - Divine Misfortune

Welcome back,

It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to associate the month of April with the celebration of pranksters and comedians. So to keep in line with this custom, this month’s book review will showcase a novel by A. Lee Martinez, an author who successfully combines humour and the paranormal mystery.

           After a enjoying both The Automatic Detective and Monster, I was looking forward to reading something else written by A. Lee Martinez. The first chapter of Divine Misfortune was included at the end of Monster, and I was instantly hooked. The story’s concept was original, and its characters seemed interesting, so the book was a quick addition to my ‘’to read’’ list.

The story takes place in a contemporary setting, but in this reality, every god ever recorded in history exists and interact with mortals on a daily basis. Mortals can select which god they choose to follow through a matching service which sounds a lot like an online dating site. The novel follows the journey of Teri and Phil, a couple who until the beginning of the story decided they did not need a god. They reconsider this situation after Phil is passed up for a promotion and sign up under Luka, raccoon god of prosperity. At first all Luka wants is a small cut of their good fortune, and to live with them. Things get even stranger when Luka’s past start catching up to him, causing his followers to be caught in the crossfire.

Back of the Book:

“In a world where the gods are real, Phil and Terry are just looking for their personal slice of divine assistance. After much soul searching, they settle on Lucky, a raccoon god of good fortune.

At first, everything seems to be working fine. Things fall into place and all the little bits of luck on which life hinges seem to fall their way. So what if their god wants to crash in their guest room? And if his unemployed Aztec serpent god buddy ends up sleeping on their couch for a few days, what’s the big deal?”

What I learned:

• Character contrast: Having a distinctive cast of characters is important. Different personalities help advance the story by telling it from different perspectives. For example, in this story we see the characters of Luka and his friend Quick play well against each other. Luka is easygoing and carefree, while Quick is responsible and empathetic.
• Making it funny: Martinez proves successful at implementing comedy in his works of fiction. His witty style and humorous visualizations put an interesting twist on tense situations. For example, how Teri Phil constantly escape danger because their god endowed them with incredible good luck.
• Playing with the source material: Martinez incorporated gods from every religion and era into this story, and most likely a few you never heard of. He then placed these characters in a modern day setting, and showed how that would affect their personalities. The result was not only interesting, but quite comedic at times.

A. Lee Martinez is an American fantasy and science fiction author who was born in El Paso, Texas on January 12, 1973. He has written several published fantasy novels, which have been translated into five languages.

For those interested in reading more books from A. Lee Martinez, please check out his website and wiki description, where you can find a complete listing of his published works and all other pertinent information:

http://www.aleemartinez.com/about/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Lee_Martinez

In closing, I would like to thank my family and friends for the tremendous amount of encouragement they have shown me since the beginning. And a special mention to my good friend John (O’Lantern) for introducing me to this great author.

Until next time!

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

By the Book - Monster

Welcome back!

In honor of April Fools day, the selection for this month’s book review was inspired by the literary genre most befitting of the celebration of pranksters: Comedy. I’m not someone who laughs easily, so when it came time to try and find a comedy themed book, I went back to an author that had me chuckling last time I read him: A. Lee Martinez.

    After a pleasant experience with The Automatic Detective, I was looking forward to reading something else written by Martinez. While looking at a list of his works, one stood out as it sounded a lot like the project I am working on; a story about an inhuman individual who hunts monsters. This immediately got my interest, which explains why I chose Monster.

    This story takes place in a contemporary setting, but in this reality, magic and mystical creatures exist. However, these elements remain imperceptible to most of the general populace, and those who do see them, forget any encounters with the supernatural shortly after. The story focuses on a man named Monster, a Cryptobiological control service agent and Judy, a store clerc. Their adventure begins after crossing paths during a yeti attack in the store Judy works at. They keep running into each other during other crypto attacks, which begins to raise suspicion after the number of encounters defies all logical odds. The mystery leads to further twists and turns, when they realise that the appearance of a third party is responsible the rise in the monster population.

The book can be found at:

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-A-Lee-Martinez/dp/0316049913

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5931576-monster

Back of the Book:

Meet Monster. Meet Judy. Two humans who don't like each other much, but together must fight dragons, fire-breathing felines, trolls, Inuit walrus dogs, and a crazy cat lady - for the future of the universe.

Monster runs a pest control agency. He's overworked and has domestic troubles - like having the girlfriend from hell.

Judy works the night shift at the local Food Plus Mart. Not the most glamorous life, but Judy is happy. No one bothers her and if she has to spell things out for the night-manager every now and again, so be it.

But when Judy finds a Yeti in the freezer aisle eating all the Rocky Road, her life collides with Monster's in a rather alarming fashion. Because Monster doesn't catch raccoons; he catches the things that go bump in the night. Things like ogres, trolls, and dragons.

Oh, and his girlfriend from Hell? She actually is from Hell.

What I learned:

• Character contrast: Having a distinctive cast of characters is important. Different personalities help advance the story by telling it from different perspectives. For example, in this story we see the characters of Monster and his sidekick Chester play well against each other, as the first is aloof and ill-mannered, and the other is polite and professional. However, when you take a look at Monster and Judy, the two are so similar to a point that it makes the story slow down or feel stagnant in sections where they interact. This contrast helps underline the importance of variety in characters
• Making it funny: Martinez proves to be successful at implementing comedy in his works of fiction. Though Martinez says he sees himself as more of a fantasy writer than a comedy writer, his witty style and humorous visualizations make for an enjoyable read.  
• Playing with the source material: In an interview found in the back of the book, Martinez admits one of the bonuses of writing fiction with elements such as magic and mystical creatures, is that it saves on research. Creatures like Yeti’s or Griffon’s don’t exist, so a writer is free to use, interpret and/or alter them in anyway they see fit.

A. Lee Martinez is an American fantasy and science fiction author who was born in El Paso, Texas on January 12, 1973. He has written several published fantasy novels, which have been translated into five languages.

For those interested in reading more books from A. Lee Martinez, please check out his website and wiki description, where you can find a complete listing of his published works and all other pertinent information:

http://www.aleemartinez.com/about/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Lee_Martinez

In closing, I would like to thank my wife Linda and our family and friends for the tremendous amount of encouragement they have shown me since the beginning. And a special mention to my good friend John for introducing me to this great author.

Until next time!

Cheers,

Patrick Osborne

Inspiration Part 11 - Pets

Welcome back!

Keeping in line with April's Comedy inspired theme, this month's inspirational post will be about something that manages to make a lot of people smile. I am talking of course about our furry family members, more commonly referred to as pets!

Everyday, thousands of pictures, videos, jokes and “memes” are uploaded to the web about domestic animals, either doing hilarious things or captioned with funny comments. Family pets are often good for a laugh, popular examples would be the Grumpy Cat or Doge, which everyone with an internet connection has surely heard about by now.

Pets play a big role in people's lives, and the same can be said in litterature. Domestic animals have made their appearance in various forms, playing different roles in stories of all genres. Here are a few examples.

Main Characters. In some stories, animals have proven to be so charismatic, versatile and intelligent, that they occupy the main role. In these tales (har har!), the animals usually progress the story by interacting with the setting or secondary characters, in order to achieve a goal. Popular examples are Lassie, the Littlest Hobo, the Black Stallion, Flipper the dolphin or Skippy the kangaroo.

Companions: Just like real life, animals in literature can play the role of loyal companion. In these cases, they are often used as a plot device to help the progression of the story, either by performing an action the main character cannot, pointing out an important element to the story that is otherwise unseen by the protagonist, or simply being a friendly ear to which a character can talk to. Popular examples are Tintin and Snowy, Harry Potter and Hedwig, Dorothy and Toto, or the Lone Ranger and his horse Silver.

Anthropomorphic: These characters have animal abilities and\or characteristics. They can be either animals with human traits or humans with animal traits. Their animalistic features usually help accentuate their roles in one way or another. Examples are Scooby Doo, Salem from Sabrina, Babe the pig, Captain Carrot and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Symbolic: Any character whose very existence represents an aspect of society or humanity. They may also embody the theme, moral or idea of the story. Good examples are the cowardly Lion, the Tortoise and the Hare, Garfield, King Kong and the big bad Wolf.

Now on to the visual reference part of my inspiration post. I will be using my own furry family member, my dog Dimitri, in order to better demonstrate how animals can be an inspiration when writing.

First we will take a look at how expressive animals can be. Even though Dimitri can’t talk, he does a fine job of getting his point across, using his big boston terrier eyes.

The ever popular head tilt.

Squirrel?

Sleeping in the most uncomfortable places...

… or sitting in awkward positions.

You wouldn’t like me when I’m Hangry!

 

Da fuq?

    Domestic animals are like children, and like children, they love to play. Watching an animal entertain themselves can be both amusing and funny as hell. Not to mention playing with your pets can be a great stress reliever, and the welcomed distraction can help with writer's block.

Rearranging the bed.

Playing fetch in the lake.

Peek-a-Boo!

I haz a hoop!

No work, rest now.

Personification is the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman. Pet owners do this all the time, dressing up their animals in costumes or sharing pictures of their pets doing “human-like” things. The results are sometimes cute, often hilarious.

Bath time.

Can I eat candy cane?!!!

Dog in the hood.

 

Wassup?!

Doctor Dimitri

It’s not what it looks like!

    Some people say that dog owners often make connections that don’t exist, such as claiming their pets look like them. Though I don't believe their is actual scientific proof behind those claims, one can’t help but wonder…

That is all for this month's Inspiration post. I hope you enjoyed it and managed to  learn something in the process. In closing, I would like to thank each of you for dropping by, it is truly appreciated.

Until next time.

Cheers

Patrick Osborne.

***All pictures are ©Patrick Osborne 2016***