They were still discussing it around the wash table outside the mud porch when we got to the house. Bestefar was dipping water from a pail into the washbasin, and as he rolled up his sleeves, loosened his shirt and started to scrub the dirt off he said, “Peter, I think Otto’s got a point. … Continue reading Snippet Three, Troll Valley
CHAPTER I THRESHING It really was my fault. There’s no getting away from that. It started during the threshing. I remember I was angry till I saw the red caps. Then I was frightened. As always. Regular people, my brother Fred had explained to me recently, laughing, do not see red Norwegian caps (luer) with … Continue reading Snippet Two, Troll Valley
[To whet your appetite for my new novel, which I hope (but can’t promise) to have out by Christmas, here’s a snippet. I’ll post them here from time to time until the book is released. Every Friday, and possibly more if I’m feeling generous. lw] PROLOGUE: THE PRESENT. Shane Anderson woke up in a room … Continue reading Snippet One, Troll Valley
First of all, I want to share the movie trailer above. It’s for “Cabrini,” a film directed by the director of “Sounds of Freedom.” Lukas Behnken, son of my old college roommate Dixey Behnken, was unit production manager and line producer for this film (he was also, if you recall, director of the excellent “Mully” … Continue reading ‘Cabrini.’ Also, elves.
As you may recall, I have a fondness for this “hymn” from Mel Gibson’s movie, “We Were Soldiers.” In spite of its faulty orthodoxy. So sue me. Yesterday I drove down to Kenyon, my home town, for a memorial service at a country church. A motorcycle group in the area does an honor ride every … Continue reading ‘The Mansions of the Lord’
I was busy translating today, and then I was busy catching up on things I neglected so I could do the translating. So what to post tonight? My latest default seems to be finding Andrew Klavan videos, because nobody does the writing job better in our time. The clip above concerns his novel Another Kingdom, … Continue reading Klavan on storytelling
I want to like Paul Kingsnorth, the critically acclaimed English author who has recently converted to Romanian Orthodox Christianity. So I have read and reviewed the first novel of his trilogy, The Wake. And I have now read Beast, the second book. I’ll be honest – it’s a challenge. In my not-critically-acclaimed novel, Troll Valley, … Continue reading ‘Beast,’ by Paul Kingsnorth
Here’s some film footage I’ll guarantee you’ve never seen before (unless you saw it on Facebook, where I posted it this morning). My father was one of those 1950s dads who took home movies as a hobby. After his death I found myself with a large number of old 8mm reels, about which my feelings … Continue reading Hey, you want to see my home movies?
Not a bad lillejulaften (little Christmas Eve, as they call it in Norway). No great accomplishments chalked up, but I got a couple things done that I’d been putting off. Faced a minor appliance crisis – I learned it was a false alarm, though the diagnosis cost me a little. Still, I was expecting much … Continue reading ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’
During the later part of the war, the government issued a pamphlet on how to recognize changelings. Violet read it (a green tinge of the features; propensity to cruelty) and laughed. The real signs had been far more pervasive, far less clear. Sometimes she thought she had only realized she wasn’t human when she was … Continue reading ‘Desires and Dreams and Powers,’ by Rosamund Hodge