Jitter - Author Notes

This second entry (Tall Tales Shorter Days author notes) begins with humble appreciation for everyone who commented on The Herbivorous Witch! Self publishing is not easy work and all the recent activity makes for great motivation! And that said, please accept my deepest apologies for small errors you many encounter which, though scoured and intensely edited, may have slithered their way into the book. For its majority a solo project, the elfin team of editors, proof-readers, and design goblins of big-books-inc. was not present --- (gah! I just discovered another tiny glitch now fixed). And so I ask for your patience and understanding.

And now for those who have returned to the blog, time to explore Jitter, a tragic and horrifying love story of sorts... loosely appropriate for Valentines week. (And don't forget the giveaway contest for printed copies of the book and a grand prize lantern - details below***).

The second story in On Stranger Winds is definitely a darker addition to this book's content. Whereas The Herbivorous Witch is best read with a sense for dark humor, Jitter, is rather more for those who like their horror gritty and grim. At one time I pondered if the book was best split in two halves - on the dark side: Jitter, Let Rains Bring Toads.... and the lighter side: The Pumpkin Dream, Watrous & Valmora, The Ballad of Papi Huesos... with The Herbivorous Witch somewhere out of place in the middle... but the decision was made instead to mix things up for a bumpy ride. I can't say if that was a wise decision or not...?

Jitter, I suppose, would fit the genre of animated scarecrow tales (?) along with Nathaniel Hawthorne's Feathertop. As best I can recollect, the story was partially inspired by autumn trips to the Craven Farm pumpkin patch (Snohomish, Washington), as well as by the following excerpt (below) of imagery dreamt for The Pumpkin Dream (originally illustrated in 2010). However, Jitter travels into much darker territory.

Beyond this morbid change withdrew
your friends like dreams forgotten flew,
and pausing at the edge of town
you shiver from what sights abound,

Of corn shock bent in rhythmic charm
at Goblin's Hob and Craven Farm,
as scarecrows in a dance morose
wave tattered arms from broken posts.

In the Jitter tale, a bogle awakens near an early season pumpkin patch. Though he once began as the lifeless and innocent work of protective crop farmers, a nearby witch has since animated him for her own mysterious purposes, which are relentlessly troublesome to the farm. But the farmer's have a bit of of their own magic, and escalate the situation with a second scarecrow. What happens next, when these two innocent creatures become involved in this older squabble, and on one particular Halloween night, make up some of the darker moments in the book.

Note - the wikipedia entry linked above has some great info on the term bogle which I must say I've taken a liking to over the term scarecrow. Here is an excerpt of the Wikipedia article --- "There is a popular story of a bogle known as Tatty Bogle, who would hide himself in potato fields (hence his name) and either attack unwary humans or cause blight within the patch. This bogle was depicted as a scarecrow, "bogle" being an old name for "scarecrow" in various parts of England and Scotland. Another popular Scottish reference to bogles comes in The Bogle by the Boor Tree, a poem passed down in the Scottish dialect. In this ghostly ode, the Bogle is heard in the wind and in the trees to "fricht wee weans". (Wikipedia)"

Our tatty bogle at Ichabod's Cottage, 2011.

As the first story written for the collection in Seattle, I thought I was setting a self precedent for a book full of scarecrows. And the original title of the book was Sketchbook of Straw (which will likely bequeath its name next time around on volume 2). But curiously enough, and discovered after the book was compiled, witches (of sorts) appear in each and every story, not scarecrows. This collection of witches are quite different from tale to tale. Some are seemingly harmless and sarcastic, while other are treacherous and certainly up to no good. And the witch in Jitter certainly has no warmth in her heart for scarecrows...

^{The snow has teeth...
oddly following a perfect Halloween in Colorado.}

As before, I would love to hear from you. The last entry had some great comments on witches! Now, what about scarecrows and/or bogles? All comments are entered into the Giveway mentioned below. In the meantime, a continuing thank-you to all who recently grabbed a copy of the book in either print (on Amazon or Etsy) or the Kindle/iPad e-book version which is available by loan or purchase, (note - loaner availability is a limited Kindle library offer).

Bindlegrim books in need of a new home. PS - Cover art is by David Irvine

*** GIVEAWAY DETAILS ***

1) Leave a blog comment here about whatever you like... about scarecrows, about writing, good stories, or better yet about Jitter.

2) For each author-notes blog entries, I will draw randomly at the end of that week to give someone who commented a signed printed copy of Tall Tales Shorter Days.

3) At the end of all six blog entries I will draw from all comments (more comments, more chances to win) for one Bindlegrim lantern - The Horrid Decor (Orange on Ghost Skin) seen below.

Note - Bindlegrim encourages and hopes, but does not require, that readers might leave a Like or a Review on the Amazon pages for the book: print or e-book.

*** GIVEAWAY DETAILS ***

The Herbivorous Witch - Author Notes

Now that a scattering of Tall Tales / Shorter Days are drifting through the digital ether of Kindles and iPads... (with Nook soon to follow)... and with a continuing thank-you to all who recently grabbed a copy..., I thought I would use the blog to share bits and pieces of author-madness behind the stories, one by one, over the next few weeks, and even answer questions if anyone should venture into the seldom tread footpaths these days of blog comments. (See recent GIVEAWAY DETAILS*** added to the bottom of the blog) and btw 2-9-2012 latest installment is here: Jitter - Author Notes.

The first short story in On Stranger Winds is a wintery tale, titled The Herbivorous Witch. In describing a general mood - I am reminded of the this passage from Wikipedia concerning the Grimms' Fairy Tales: "first volumes were much criticized because, although they were called Children's Tales, they were not regarded as suitable for children, both for the scholarly information included and the subject matter."

The Herbivorous Witch is not quite fairy tale, yet perhaps disarming with the seeming innocent telling of such genres. It's like the awesome surprise of a snow-day vacation, yet lurking with the danger of frostbite. I tried to recreate the feeling of those hazy days from youth, when evenings were filled with the fascination of heavy snowfalls, and the following day exhausting with snowmen construction; it's about the popping sounds the heating coils make as you thaw yourself safe and cozy by the heater, hot chocolate in your hands. Funny though how small irritants mar bliss. Especially when reality clashes with a human's inability to understand magical realms. And at that I can say no more... I will leave that to anyone who wishes to discuss further within blog comments...

I can say that the story was born from a curious writing process I created for myself while in Seattle during 2007. Given lack of much disposable income, (well remembered for numerous lunches on boiled eggs and vitamins), I began writing to boost my morale. I would scribble, upon waking or just before bed, a deliberate batch of nonsense. The goal was to avoid any seriousness in content. So the lines began as such... "A lost collection of fruit bats gathered on my skin"... or "there is a leaky ghost on my ceiling"... or "the herbivorous witch lives in the woods"..., (and if your interest is piqued, you can actually find the original verse in an undisclosed entry here on the Bindlegrim blog).

Around this time, various stories were started, and halted, and Jitter (the 2nd story in the book) was mostly completed while residing in the northwest, Seattle. It wasn't until moving to Denver, where I experienced regular snowstorms once again, that the poems coincidentally founds themselves at hand. I was posting past poems to the blog, and wondered if I couldn't turn one into a short story, to be included in what was percolating into a book of shorts. Likely inspired by our cottage habitat bordered by a small bit of woods, The Herbivorous Witch was a natural favorite. Between the poem and the setting, I found the story practically wrote itself.  

Ichabod's Cottage, Colorado where The Herbivorous Witch was written.

Do you have any great techniques for writing? This seemed a great method, whereas I have found some tales cumbersome to the telling, while other simply refuse and opt to be left alone in their own forgotten folder on a laptop.

In closing, I would like to express my experience as an author submitting this story. As I was exploring the adventure of self-publishing from every angle, I was simultaneously submitting the book to various magazines (especially those accepting of possible reprints). While a certain number declined unremarked, I received one wordy review though it was seemingly scathing! This reader described the characters as unlikeable, and yet described them spot-on, as written, with all their intended human foibles... (irritants of bliss as it were). I was told this undermined the story, which I also found humorous, because the reader finished, then felt necessary to "quite frankly" detail the awfulness of it. Contrary to their helpful (?) intent, I was "quite frankly" delighted! This person was not my audience; this person would not appreciate a good story like Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. I like to believe the story shocked that particular reader, and if so, is an absolutely fantastic result! But enough about my fibrillating ego...

After all of this babble and scribble, I would love to hear what YOU thought of the story, or some aspect of it. Or even just your thoughts on writing techniques. Thank you for listening, sharing, and a big thank you to those who have taken time to explore this or other stories in the book.

Bindlegrim books in need of a new home. PS - Cover art is by David Irvine

*** GIVEAWAY DETAILS ***

1) Leave a blog comment here about witches, about writing, stories you like, or better yet about The Herbivorous Witch.

2) For each next six blog entries, I will draw randomly at the end of that week to give someone who commented a signed printed copy of Tall Tales Shorter Days.

3) At the end of the six blog entries I will draw from all comments (more comments, more chances to win) for one  Bindlegrim lantern - The Horrid Decor (Orange on Ghost Skin).

Note - Bindlegrim encourages and hopes, but does not require, that readers might leave a Like or a Review on the Amazon pages for the book: print or e-book.

*** GIVEAWAY DETAILS ***

*** And this weeks book winner! ***

Good evening! And congratulations to tonight's winner of a printed copy of On Stranger Winds: Tall Tales for Shorter Days! (See updated post). A screen shot of each comment was folded to the same size, shaken, and the first one to fall back out of the Trick or Treat canister declared the winner! All entries will be entered in the final drawing for the lantern (shown above), a few weeks from now. Thank you all again!

*** This weeks book winner! ***