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Thursday, September 15, 2005An Algorithmic Chick Y'all were asking:Where did the idea to make Constance a math brain come from? Are you an algorithmic chick? No, I am math-challenged. But in my research for Bride I stumbled across the The Lady's Mathematical Diary and when I read the forward where the editor said females had "as clear judgments, as sprightly quick wit, as penetrating genius and as discerning and sagacious facilities as their male counterparts," I just cracked up and decided then and there I had to incorporate it somehow. I think it also makes the characters a little more 3-dimensional to give them a few idiosyncrasies. In next June's book our heroine is an entomologist--or in layman's terms, she collects and studies bugs. Don't forget to enter our contest!
posted by Deeanne at 1:39 PM
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12 Comments:
Of course this latest news just begs the question "Why bugs?" Do you know any women who are that idiosyncratic?!
2:57 PM
Once again, I ran across an instance of a real 19th century woman entomologist and it captured my imagination. But our character isn't really an entomologist, she's just likes to collect and classify bugs as a hobby. ;-)
3:55 PM
I really liked the math part of Bride. It did add some depth to the personality, and also made some of her quirks much more believable. The other nice thing when doing that is I suspected you were able to pull stuff straight from the cited journal. That is fun. It is nice as an author to be very exact.
As for the bugs, you might want to look at Pilgrim on Tinker's Creek by Annie Dillard. She seemed to be quite the entomologist and her use of words is exquisite. Now I am not advocating plagiarism, but a little illumination and thought provoking 'borrowing' is always in order
Blessings,
marvin
blessings,
Marvin
4:37 PM
I guess Beatrix Potter was enuf of a naturalist to have dead animals laying around for studious purposes. I like Monarch butterflies enuf to leave the milkweed growing randomly in the gardens, and I luv watching fireflies on summer nights. But I don't luv any bug enuf to stick a pin thru it and mount it some place so that I can look at it more closely. :oP Maybe this shoulda been called an idiosyncratic inspirational series??? Math, bugs--can't wait to hear what book 3 is gonna cover!
5:19 PM
PS--And pleeze don't take my comments as a dis. I do think the algorithm factor added a unique angle not only to Constance's character, but to Drew and Constance's relationship as it developed. And I'm bettin' bugs will do the same for Sunbonnet Babe and her saloon honey. I'm just sorta thinkin' it all thru!
5:38 PM
I'm not too keen on pokin' and pinin' bugs, either. But it was fun to have a character that was.
I have to be so careful, Marv. I'm such a sponge. So, for the most part, I try to stay away from fiction works that I might unintentionally borrow from. But after Lady comes out, I'll give your Dillard a read--and weep, most likely.
I know you're funnin' with me, Barb. No worries.
5:54 PM
Ha! "Funnin' with me" sounds suspiciously like lingo from the new book. Still curious as to what you munch on when you're writing. Do you go for period foods--venison, turtle soup, popcorn for the 1600's, and jerky, beans, and biscuits for the 1800's? Or do you forego the mood setting and stick with modern fare, like milkshakes, mini Snickers, and Tostitos Gold?
7:05 PM
I love it when you give me the next day's blog topic!! I'll tell you tomorrow.
8:13 PM
Sigh! Somethin' to look forward to tho, for sure! As long as you're covering food, feel free to throw in whatever other little period details you maybe employ--like if you wore high-collared flannel while writing Measure, and lit your desk with kerosene lamps, and rode horses to church. Happy dreams...
9:11 PM
Yeah, but do you knit? Teasing.
I've spent most of my morning reading (all of) your blog -- I actually set MY work aside (see below) to read it, which is saying a lot ;-) Your blog made me laugh (especially the parts about Greg) and I'd say it also made me cry but that's so cliche. Plus, I'm not much of a crier. It did bring back memories though. Memories of you in those "early years" when you wouldn't answer your phone during nap time because that time was "sacred", memories of you as a school teacher, and memories of you being so incredibly organized that you even had time to prepare a week's worth of meals for MY family when I was on bed rest during one of my pregnancies. It brought back memories of us "re-decorating" your house in "antiques" (much to Greg's dismay), memories of you letting me drive your new Suburban, and one very special memory when you led me to Christ.
I thank you for letting me have a glimpse of what you've been up to for the past 10 years. I thank you for the times you challenged me and for applauding me when I mustered the courage to (finally) challenge you. And I thank you for being there for me when no one else was.
I see many parallels in our lives (but not enough that you need worry) -- working at home, turning our "creative sides" into careers, having the same work wardrobe ;-) and it makes me smile. Even today as I set MY work aside to read about YOUR work, I realized yet another similarity. Writing. No, I'm not writing a novel. I'm desiging and writing a pattern for a sweater. Like you, it's an expression of my "creative side" put on paper and like you, it will be sent to publishers for submission and possibly rejection. Different yet the same.
Keep up the good work. You deserve every good thing that God has in store for you and I couldn't be happier for you and your success.
Much love to you!
3:01 PM
Forgot to mention "9 Bean Soup" Christmases, baby showers with blue and pink finger sandwiches, and matching mother/son outfits made of Jersey cow fabric. And okay I lied. I cried a little ;-)
4:21 PM
Yeah. We're definitely two peas in a pod, you and me. Sooooooo much alike in sooooooo many ways.
I still have that distressed furniture--much to G's distress! Ha!
Keep me posted with how the knitting submissions go. I'm so proud of you. And I love you, too.
11:03 PM
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