Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I am not Irish, but I do adore folklore and the color green, and I am always looking for fun ways to play with dialogue. So, here is a short piece; dialogue only, in honor of the holiday. Enjoy with some brisket and cabbage and good old green beer.

Luck (Dialogue Only)

by: J.J. M. Czep

“Stop yer squirming. You’re only hurtin’ yerself fightin’ like that. Just give me what I’ve rightfully earned.”

“Aye, an’ what be this thing you’ve earned by trussin’ up an ol’ man, eh?”

“Donnot try t’ play me for a fool imp. I know the rules o’ your kind.”

“Indeed? An’ what be the rules of an imp, then?”

“You must grant me a wish.”

“That be the rules o’ the little people, the Leprechauns, not old imps.”

“You know what you are!”

“Aye, but you said I was an imp.”

“Enough. You’re a Leprechaun. An’ I know that means you owe me a wish.”

“Aye, indeed, if that be what I am. I owes ye a wish. So what ‘ave ya?”

“I’ll ‘ave your gold.”

“Aye, ehm, well, for that ye’ll have t’ be lettin’ me go.”

“No way. I know how tricky you folk are.”

“Aye, an’ still ye be a fool. How am I t’ lead ye to me gold if’n I’m unable even to git there meself?”

“I suppose that is true. But, what if I let you go an’ it’s all a trick?”

“That’s a chance you’ll have to be takin’. If ye want the gold. An’ you do want the gold, don’cha?”

“I want the gold.”

“Y’ could make a wish instead.”

“I’d wish for the gold, then.”

“Aye, well to ‘ave that wish you’ll have to do as I said previous.”

“Fine. Then, I’ll tie this ribbon to you so you can lead me an’ not run off.”

“If that be a way t’ ease yer mortal mind.”

“It be.”

“We’ve been walkin’ some time. These woods are thick and it is getting’ dark. This better not be a trick.”

“No trick, good sir fool. You asked fer me gold, I be leadin’ ye right on to it.”

“Down there?”

“Aye, if ye wants the gold. I’ll have to be goin down there to git it. Your leash be a bit too short.”

“This is another trick. If I let you down that hole you’ll not come back out.”

“Aye, now what good would it ‘ave done me t’ lead ye this far. Ye sees the rainbow. Ye sees it’s colours runnin’ right into that hole there. So, it mus’ be so, the gold is there.”

“True.”

“There’s still time to change yer wish though.”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Well, so it tis, then.”

“Just get the gold.”

“So you’ll be settin’ me free then?”

“Aye, but I am goin’ down there for the treasures. I’ll not have you lock me away from it all by some magic.”

“Of course, of course! I would not dream of such a thing, but if ye be insistant upon it, down with ye. I will keep well enough in this dark, an’ dangerous wood, all by my little lonesome.”

“Good then. Ah! Look at it! Jus’ look at it all! I’ll be comfortable for the rest of my years!”

“Aye, of course, of course, sir fool.”

“Leprechaun, help me out wit’ this load.”

“Now, see here then. I helped ye t’ my treasures an’ travelled with a fool ribbon about my person to appease yer lack o’ trust. Like some animal I was leased t’ ye through a wood where I knows folks. An’ all this after ye tricked me int’ a trap of devilish devising. An’ now, ye needs my help t’ gets out of the hole ye got yerself into. Tsk, tsk, sir fool.”

“Leprechaun! You tricked me!”

“No, no, my fool. You ‘ave me gold as you asked. I told ye to be lettin’ me go. I told ye t’ be mindin’ yer wishes. But, now, ye be havin’ me gold. The ‘hole’ load of it. Far too much fer one man, los’ in the wood, t’ be carrying back t’ enjoy. Ye should’ve listened when I said to let me free. Should’ve made another wish at least.”

END

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Tovrea Castle for Kids too!

For those out of Arizona or who just don't know about the wedding cake styled castle that sits just outside the cit of Phoenix, I would love to share Tovrea Castle at Carraro Heights.

I started as a volunteer working in the cactus gardens that surround the castle and moved into the castle recently as a docent. This does not mean I live there, just that I would love to! The castle is open for public tours beginning March 10th, so please, call up and reserve a space. If you ask for Jenn I will certainly try to be your guide.

Past gardening and learning enough about the grounds and castle to educated the public, I was recently asked to work on one of several writing projects. I am excited to announce my position as writer of children's books based on the castle and the owners! Stunning, right?

While I cannot go into deep detail for the moment, I can say I am seeking an artist(s) to work on the images for these books. If you have an interest in Arizona history and offering your talents to a non-profit organization, please contact me.

Arizona parties are most welcome of course, but out of state works too!

I hope to release more about this stunning piece of Arizona history in future posts on this blog or my Ancora imparo blog.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Adventures at the Arizona Renaissance Faire

I am starting with the “thank you”s. Thank you to Ann Chamberlain of The Arizona Renaissance Festival Book Shop! You made me feel so very welcome my first year selling books at the faire that I was giddy to return this year and made it my goal to do so! Thank you to Char and her mom for welcoming me into their home and feeding me for the weekend of the faire. I am honored to be to lucky to stay in such a lovely home with open minded, creative, wonderful people, who by the way make a mean chicken casserole! Thank you to Max! I would not sell half the books that made it into the hands of the public without your faith and sales skills.

So, yes, another year, another Pirate Weekend at the Arizona Renaissance Faire. I am so grateful for the unseemly lovely weather Arizona has this year. Captain Blackstrap did not get the chance to wear her captain’s coat for very long, but people seem to dig the belts more anyway. It was great to see at least a few familiar faces on Saturday when it was only Max and me. The best was running into one of my Teen Creative Writing students from Rio Vista! I am excited and as always a bit nervous about seeing some of the pictures taken by all of the roving photographers, but by all means tag them on the social media and send a few my way. Max always looks stunning with all his pirate style. And, it was a pleasant surprise to be visited by my GD Frippery friends and Top Hat the Pirate.

I am always sort of relieved when the stash of books sells out. This is especially true at the faire. It is impossible for me to sit at the book table so imagine how chained I feel just having to hang out there for hours as the world passes by. I was happy to visit Moon Mermaid at the Twig the Fairy house and to run into some of my favorite drummers there too. I do wish I had more time to sit to watch Ghazal Beledi dance, but what I did see was astounding as usual.

On Sunday, with the rest of the crew present, we really took the faire by storm. We raided Enchanted Images for a group photo and to visit with some of the members of Delirium. Casey (Captain Red Cap) even managed to escape her tower for a short while to visit and take a photo with us!

The tournament was a bit of a disappointment this year as the pretty, pretty prince won the day. It is pirate weekend folks, isn’t the bad guy supposed to win? Shameful. Commodore Max made it worth while though by taking second place in the pirate contest. Proud and maybe a little jealous, but can you really think of anyone more deserving?

All in all, a great weekend and hopefully many more impressed fans and followers of Captain Blackstrap. Now, to get my fingers clacking at put Max’s story to paper. Faire winds to those still entertaining at the faire and to those who have not yet been, I will see the lot of you at the next DREAD Fleet event, if not before!

Pirates! What is your profession?

ARR! ARR! ARR!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

NaNo & Son

NaNoWriMo is less than two weeks away! I am excited this year even more than usual. I typically rope one or more of my friends into the challenge and have a blast comparing notes with them and trying to arrange writing time together. This year, my thirteen-year-old son signed on! I am proud to bursting!

His profile on YWP is Grantfer, word goal set at 12,000. The working title of his first novel, a fantasy adventure, is The Shadow of Israphel. He is already such a chatterbox about the story concept! I love it! He is even trying to rope in some friends and planning to help turn the studio into a writing haven now and again through November! Have I said how proud I am yet?

We wrote our daily word count numbers - 400 for JD and 1667 for me - across our knuckles last night, to mark our commitment to the challenge. November can't come fast enough now!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/participants/easalle

Monday, October 3, 2011

Writing is not all I do!

Since August I do not feel like I have had a chance to slow down for a moment, but I am always excited to announce all the exciting events that are happening in Phoenix! It is especially exciting now that the weather is beginning to cool down.

BUCCANEERS PIRATE SHOW
October 15th, 6PM - 2AM
Sail Inn
(Tempe, AZ)
+21
Check out azcorsair.ning.com for more information!

PIRATE FEAST
*ONLY ONE MORE WEEK TO PURCHASE TICKETS*
October 16th, 5PM - 10PM
The Everhart's
(Chandler, AZ)
All Ages Welcome
$20 Meal + Entertainment + Bar (Only 75 Available)
$15 Meal + Entertainment
$10 Entertainment + Non-Alcoholic Beverages + Tournament Entry
$5 Entertainment + Non-Alcoholic Beverages
$5 Tournament Only
*All Ticket Sales are Presale Online Only*
http://piratefeast.info

BOO AT THE ZOO
October 28th - 29th, 6:00PM - 11:00PM
Phoenix Zoo
( )
All Ages
http://www.phoenixzoo.org/events/Howl-O-Ween/

DANCERS OF DENILE W/ BINT HAZINE
November 5th, 11AM
Arizona State Fairgrounds
(Phoenix)
All Ages

LIVING CHESS MATCH
November 19th - 20th
Phoenix Faerie Festival
( )
All Ages
http://www.westerngatesfaerierealms.com/PhoenixFaerieFestival.htm

Fighters and performers needed for the Living Chess Match! This is essentially a battle between the magically enhanced, deadly ship Delirium and the confused but confident ship Ecstasy, with Max and Dirk as the kings on the board!

Also, keep up on all the adventures by following these pages on Ning.com and Facebook!

http://azcorsair.ning.com/
http://www.facebook.com/bint.hazine
http://www.facebook.com/czep.blackstrapbook
http://www.facebook.com/jjmczep
http://www.facebook.com/BlackstrapGennie
http://www.facebook.com/czeps.just.write
http://www.facebook.com/tlapdaz

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Character Blog: Villains

They are lurking in dark shadows or brazenly stalking bright hallways of modern cities; they inspire fear, awe, and even lust… villains, where would heroes be without them?

I am cutting right to the chase on this one, one-dimensional villains are tripe. Did anyone miss that? One-dimensional villains are tripe! I do not care that the video game industry thrives on stereotypical evil monsters to produce conflict in game. Even comic books grew out of this mindset of the evil mastermind bent on world domination (destruction). If your evil is absolute, at least have the presence of mind as a writer to give reason behind it. The villain is no more a perfect being than his bright and shiny heroic counterpart.

I love working on bad guys. There is so much fun to be had getting into the mind of a character based on all the narcissistic tendencies we, as average humans, suppress. Villains are the authors’ outlet for all the harassments and beatings received in high school. All the wicked little journal entries about how you planned to reap vengeance on all those who dared cross you, well, now they have purpose.

The Villain archetype has a spicy variety pack: Human, Animal, Supra-Human, Monster, Domestic, Nihilist, and Classic. Blake Snyder does a great job of breaking down these villain types in Save the Cat Goes to the Movies. Save the Cat books are great tools.

To touch upon the creature villains, and creatures in general I recently read How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction by: J. N. Williamson. Chapter eight discusses how to create plausible creatures by understanding the type of environment this creature would have to live in.

Villains drive the conflict. “What is the conflict?” can often be answered by “What is my villain’s motivation!” Why is your villain so villainous? The Seven Deadly Sins are a favorite basis for conflict; they are tried and true and universally understood. Wrath drives the warlord, the shunned, wronged seeking vengeance. Greed, gives us crooked CEOs, millionaire eccentrics, or poor sots seeking fast cash. Sloth – okay, to be fair, sloth is a hard one because, really, if your villains are lazy, they are probably not going to drive a story. Lust, isn’t this always the reason the damsel is in distress? Envy and pride are wonderful forces behind evil queens. Gluttony is not always food related is it?

It is difficult to talk Villain without touching upon conflict. The Villain is not always a person (living creature). The Just Write writers discussed the crowd as character before. The basic types of conflict a Hero can encounter most should recall from grade school; man versus man, man versus society, man versus nature, man versus self.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Characters Post Two

Who are you?

Somewhere in each of us dwell one or more archetypes. Whether we are aware of this or not, we can be, ranked and filed, into one, or more, of these basic character types. We do this rank and file to one another often enough as humans, we could at least use it for improved writing! Before really working on the types of characters I thought looking up the differences between, Archetype, Stereotype and Counter Stereotype might be wise. Wikipedia is good enough in this case for skimming the surface of the types.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archetype
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterstereotype

The twelve archetypes of the Western Zodiac are likely the most commonly known. We have all done it at some point; asked that new potential friend or love interest, “what’s your sign?” As if this one answer will allow us to fully understand the complex personality in the flesh vessel we are trying to strike a conversation with. It is a start though and learning the basic personalities associated with each of the twelve signs does offer insight into creating a character with a little bit of plausible back story. I mean, really, how many Scorpios do you know willing watch a sappy movie? Some theories even suggest major historical gangs of characters were created in harmony with the Western Zodiac – King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, even Jesus and his twelve disciples. The personalities of each of the twelve men in these circles can coincidently align with each of the signs. So, what’s your sign?

The Zodiac is not the only method of boiling a man down to his core for easy comprehension. An Eastern idea based on blood types seems to take a more scientific approach, if you want to call it that. If you really want to find some interesting characters building ideas though I really suggest Who Are You?: 101 Ways of Seeing Yourself by: Malcolm Godwin. This book covers everything from facial structure to epicurean tastes when deciphering personality. It is great at parties too!

Consider some of the basic questions asked of a character on a typical day. What is your birthday? What year were you born? What is your blood type? What color are your eyes? Do you like dogs? What would you like for dinner? Answers to these questions help the reader build an understanding of whom he is traveling with on this adventure. Nothing demands adherence to common archetypes, but your reader may notice if the personality and the birth date are glaringly at odds with one another. There is always that one nerd in the bunch! That one is the one you want to really work your little writer heart out for, because he is the one paying attention. If you make him happy all the simpletons will be just plain giddy!
While I would love to go on about basic archetypes and personality types, I think a touch on stereotypes is required. The angst ridden teenager, the tech savvy Japanese man, the dumb jock, the Indian the runs the convenience store, the nerd with glasses, weak women, greasy Italian, black criminals, the dumb blonde, frugal Jews, angry old men, the list goes on and on. Using stereotypes can be considered violation of the unwritten rules of political correctness it also cheapens your writing. These characters are too easy! Readers can see them coming and know what the plot surrounding them will likely turn out in the end. Stereotypes are the salt and pepper of the character spice rack, they are probably there, in every story, but they should not make the meal, err, plot.
The counter stereotype can be just as poor and predictable. You know who they are too, check out the previous list and turn each on its head. Counter stereotypes seem to crop up in youth and science fiction. Avoiding these characters is no more imperative than avoiding stereotypes or flat archetypes, but the same caveat does apply. Over use will annoy readers!
There is a reason these types exist in fiction though - they exist in reality. I am a great example of that! I grew up in a town of under three thousand people. I think we had at least a couple traffic lights. I moved out of my parents’ home and moved to a city of one hundred times that number! I made a name for myself and returned to the small town for huge rewards. Okay, maybe that last part has not happened yet, but otherwise very cliché.