Bookselling

Star Wars as an Icelandic saga, and other matters

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First, a brief commercial message. Due to a momentary technical lag in our diabolical plan to raise the prices on my two self-published e-books, Troll Valley remains for sale for the old $2.99 price at the time of this posting. I have no idea how long this will last, so if you want it at the old, low-self-esteem price, get it now.

Author Michael Z. Williamson sent me this link to a remarkable piece of writing by Jackson Crawford, who teaches Norse and Norwegian languages at UCLA. It’s a retelling of the Star Wars story as an Icelandic saga, and to my ear it seems letter-perfect. Also better than the movies.

But Lúkr took Artú’s bloody cape and there found the message written by Princess Leia. He began to read it. “I am no runemaster,” he said, “But these words say, ‘Help me, Víga-Óbívan Kvæggansson; you alone would dare to avenge me.’ I don’t know how to read any more words, because they are written poorly and hastily. What is this?”

Artú pretended not to speak Norse, and asked in Irish, “What is what?”

“What is what?” responded Thrípíó, “That was a question. What was written on that message which Princess Leia gave you?”

“That’s nothing,” said Artú, “An old message. I think that Princess Leia is long dead.” Thrípíó translated his words into Norse.

“Who is Princess Leia?” asked Lúkr, “What family is she from?”

Uncategorized

How Much Do You Need to Know About Me?

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Alissa Wilkinson writes about Christian artists who eschew identification as such:

Sometimes it’s because they’re afraid of being stigmatized, in some fields more than others. But just as often, what I hear is that they don’t because they’re afraid that the “Christian world” will glom onto them, making them the next poster child for the cause: “Look! Christians can be cool, too!” Then, precisely because the gears are ready and well-oiled, they fear they’ll be sucked into being packaged for “the Christian market.” (And often they want their art to be appreciated because it is well-made, not because a Christian made it and we all gotta stick together.)

(via Jeffrey Overstreet)

Reading

Creeping into the 21st century

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C. S. Lewis wrote somewhere that for modern souls, the acquisition of new appliances, vehicles, and entertainment devices constituted “the very stages of their pilgrimage.” I bear that in mind as I announce my acquisition of a Kindle HD.

As you know if you’ve been following this blog, I’ve had a Kindle Keyboard (the generous gift of no less a figure than the learned Dr. Hunter Baker) for some years now, and have fallen wholly under its sway. I like its ergonomics, its lightness, and the opportunity, when I need a new book, to satisfy my jones in about a minute. I treasure my Kindle Keyboard, and have no plans to abandon it. In the single day I’ve owned my Fire, I’ve tried reading on it, and it’s fine. I’m sure I could transition to it as a regular reading device without trouble. But the battery on my old Kindle lasts longer, and the essential reading’s equally good.

The Kindle Fire HD is a genuine tablet, albeit a low-end, entry-level one. The first thing that impressed me was the graphics. What I see on my device doesn’t have the definition of the more expensive Kindles, but nevertheless it amazed me. I got a free month of Amazon Prime with my purchase, and I downloaded an episode of “Justified.” I was highly impressed with the speed and picture quality (though downloading YouTube videos can be annoyingly slow and page loading can be poky). Also impressive was the Dolby sound, which is amazingly good for such a small device.

I’m still learning to navigate on the thing, and experiencing the normal old dog’s problems. I like the way you can move around and zoom in on the screen with a finger swipe, and I think the whole thing will become pretty instinctive before long. For someone who’s always worked with Windows, the whole “Mojito” operating system involves a little techno-shock, but like all systems it makes its own kind of sense. The virtual keyboard is OK; it confounded me for a while but I think I’m catching on.

The main reason for the low price of this Kindle is that it doesn’t have either a camera or a microphone, so the buyer should be aware of that. I bought mine because I wanted more flexibility in accessing the web. I think I’ll even be able to do some of my graduate course work through it; at least that is my hope.

This is a preliminary evaluation. I’ll let you know if I change my mind about anything.

Authors, Fiction

Beowulf: "What's My Line?"

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Remembering being asked to make a new translation of Beowulf, Seamus Heaney said, “While I had no great expertise in Old English, I had a strong desire to get back to the first stratum of the language and to ‘assay the hoard.'” He had gained a feel for the sound of Anglo-Saxon and wanted his translation to sound as authentic as he could make it. He remembered a way of speaking from his relatives. “I called them ‘big-voiced’ because when the men of the family spoke, the words they uttered came across with a weighty distinctness, phonetic units as separate and defined as delph platters displayed on a dresser shelf. A simple sentence such as ‘We cut the corn to-day’ took on immense dignity when one of the Scullions spoke it.”

So he brought out this sound in England’s oldest epic poem. Now, researchers are saying their accepted opinion on the poem’s first word may have been skewed. The word translated as “hark”, “lo”, “behold”, and similar words (“Hwæt! We Gar-Dena in gear-dagum, þeod-cyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!”) probably isn’t so boldly declarative. And Heaney may have thought so as well, long before the researchers caught up to him.

Fiction, Reviews

Sons and Princes, by James LePore

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…Chris thought of Jimmy Barsonetti, a man who, if there ever was one, deserved to die. He knew in his bones not only that he deserved to die, but that the truest justice comes at the hand of the victim, or his family. Had this been Joe Black’s code? On the one chance he had had to ask that question, Chris had been too young, and too paralyzed by the weight of Joe Black’s persona to speak up. He “followed orders” his father had said, but what happened when the orders he received were evil? What did Joe Black do then? That was the question Chris had never asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

Sometimes you run across a book that you like very much, but aren’t entirely sure you understand. But that said, I have to give Sons and Princes by James LePore a high rating.

The hero of Sons and Princes is Chris Massi, a son of the Mob. His father was a respected and feared hit man. He used to be married to the daughter of a don. Nevertheless, he never wanted to be part of that world, and became a lawyer instead. He worries over his son and daughter, being raised by their mother in the shadow of the Family.

But Chris’ plans for his life have gone off track. The district attorney, once Chris’ best friend but now his greatest enemy, tried to send him to prison, and did succeed in getting him disbarred. Now the don is making Chris an offer he… well, you know. He tells Chris that a rival don murdered his father. And if Chris will kill that don, he will send Chris’ son to live with him, out of the seductive mob environment.

Chris is dismayed at the choice, but that’s only the beginning. Things are going to get very nasty, and people are going to die, and the secrets of a number of hearts will be revealed.

There’s a strange double vision in this book. There’s a compelling sense of morality, and even of Christian faith. Chris is a Catholic believer, and there’s a very decent priest involved, and one character turns to prayer in desperation, and the prayer is answered. Yet the idea of vengeance also permeates the story.

That said, I enjoyed Sons and Princes quite a lot. I recommend it. Read it yourself and see what you think. The usual cautions for language and adult themes apply.

Bookselling

Prices subject to change without notice

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Tonight, crowdsourcing. Or a social experiment. What I mean is I want your opinion.

I was talking to someone the other day about the way my novels are languishing at Amazon (my big exposure through Christianity Today the other day resulted in a total of 20 copies sold), and I mentioned that I’m asking $2.99 for a download. My friend suggested maybe that’s too little. Perhaps people assume that a $2.99 book isn’t to be taken seriously.

Baen is charging $6.99 for The Year of the Warrior.

I take it for granted anyone who reads this blog and is in a position to buy an e-book has already gotten their own $2.99 copy. So you have nothing to lose by giving me your honest opinion. Do you think the books would sell better at $4.99? $5.99?

I figure we could run a sale once or twice a year. Hard to do a sale at $2.99, unless you just make it free.

Tell me what you think.