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Leanne Pankuch Author

Leanne Pankuch Author

Tag Archives: humor

Prologue – schmologue…wait, what?!

25 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by leannepankuch in Uncategorized

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anne mcaffrey, dragonriders, dragons, fantasy, humor, pern, prologues, reading, science fiction, writing

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Having grown up reading high fantasy novels, I came to have a deep love of author-drawn maps, glossaries of elvish terms, and character lists that included the names of dragons, queens, princes, wizards and the boy who worked in the castle kitchens and didn’t know he was a hero in the making.

But, there was one familiar component of fantasy novels that I regularly scorned – the prologue. After all, who wants to read an entire pre-history of a world/land/kingdom before the voice of the main character speaks? Or, if a single event or action was so vitally important to the story, I wondered, why doesn’t it happen, or why don’t we find out about it, in the actual story? I admit that, sometimes, if the prologue was only a couple of pages long and not titled Prologue, I was, in fact, tricked into reading it. Say, for example, the title on the page read Kingdom of Maron, Year of the Conquest, and then, in the voice of the old king’s servant, told (in eight paragraphs) how he smuggled the baby princess out of the castle during the attack of the evil forces and left her with two kind old women in a cabin, in a little village, on the far edge of the forest–just before he was killed by a marauding band of sorcerers. Then, on the very next page, the title read Kingdom of Maron, Sixteen Years After the Conquest, and the real story actually began with the now sixteen-year-old princess-who-doesn’t-know-she-is-a-princess-but-I-know-she-is-the-princess wondering why she was so different from everyone else in the village….

Grrrrr….

Needless to say, I avoided prologues whenever possible. Which leads me to the point of this post–my confession of how I once mistook a fantastic science fiction series for a fantastic fantasy series.

The series was The Dragonriders of Pern, by Anne McCaffrey.  The novels each begin with a looooooonnnngggg prologue about a sun and the planets around it, and orbits and blah, blah, blah. I skipped right to the lovely maps and glossaries and cast of characters and immersed myself in what I thought was one of the most original fantasy novels I had ever read. There was a new world with dragons that bonded with riders and could disappear and reappear at will. They protected the villages of weavers and fishermen and farmers and miners and music-playing harpers from an evil (Thread) that fell from the sky and devoured all living things. There were no machines or computers in this land, just a kind of non-religious early middle ages society. I LOVED the Pern books and devoured every one. The original trilogy, the Harper Hall trilogy, the story of Moreta’s Ride…and then came Dragonsdawn…and wait, what?!

I discovered my error. Dragonsdawn told the story of the original colonists who came to Pern in a SPACESHIP. How they hadn’t known about the biological organism – Thread – that existed on a nearby planet and fell on Pern when the orbits of the two planets came close enough. How they used genetic manipulation of an indigenous species – fire lizards – to create the sentient dragons that could bond with humans and fight the threat of Thread.

I couldn’t believe it. I felt like an absolute idiot. Suddenly, so many details in the “fantasy” storyline shifted and made an entirely different kind of “science fiction” sense.

And, readers, because of that incident, although I still doubt the need for most prologues, I now read them all – long, short, pointless, lengthy, or predictable.

Lesson learned.

Ghosts of Scrooges Past

09 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by leannepankuch in Uncategorized

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characters, Charles Dickens, Christmas, creativity, humor, Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppets, Scrooge, writing, writing ideas

I’ve read Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” at least twenty times and I’ve seen nearly every film and television version of the story, from the first silent movie depictions to Disney’s most recent CGI-animated monstrosity. I enjoy the 1938 film with Gene Lockhart as the perfect Bob Cratchit, but my favorite classic version is the 1958 film “Scrooge” with Alistair Sim. It is a masterful portrayal of the tale. Every year I hate Sim’s selfish and sarcastic Scrooge at the beginning of the story, yet am somehow drawn to him and his cynical loneliness. I then laugh when he dances around and frightens Mrs. Dilbur after his conversion, and, finally, cry when he sincerely apologizes to his nephew Fred and Fred’s fiancee.

But the version most enjoyed my entire family is “The Muppet Christmas Carol” with Michael Caine as Scrooge, Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Fozzie Bear as Old “Fozziewig” and Gonzo as the narrator–Charles Dickens himself. You might be surprised to find out that, lyrics and musical numbers aside, much of the dialog and narration in the Muppet version is drawn word for word from the original published text.

Watching the Muppet “Carol” I heard, for the first time, the line that Scrooge speaks to Marley’s ghost, “..there’s more of gravy than of grave about you…” Many of the other film and television productions cut that line (and others) attempting to enhance the seriousness of the story. Consequently, some of us have forgotten (or perhaps never even knew) that Dickens wasn’t just an insightful and brilliant writer, he was funny. I believe that the reason the Muppet “Carol” is so successful in telling the true tale is that it portrays both the silliness and the seriousness–just as Dickens himself did. Watching the Muppet “Carol” we feel the hopeful joy of the Season and lament the sickness of greed and the tragedy of poverty. We see the dirt of old London and feel the cheer of a “Merry Christmas” between friends. The Muppets make us laugh and cry. Dickens himself would have been pleased.

“A Christmas Carol” has always fascinated me because it is the story of a character transformed–his cold, unhappy world suddenly filled with warmth and love. As a writer, I am in the business of telling the stories of characters who change and grow into better, happier, or at least, wiser, beings. And, since I want my writing to ring true, like Dickens’s, like life, I won’t forget that there are tears and laughter. Thank you, Muppets. Merry Christmas.

Might as Well Face it I’m Addicted to Blogs

25 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by leannepankuch in Uncategorized

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creativity, humor, writing

A couple of months ago, I purged myself of most of the way, way, WAY too many blogs I’d been  following. The number of posts I received were overwhelming and I felt my own precious writing time being sucked away as I tried to do justice to the writing of others.

In the end, I kept my subscriptions to just three: 

http://eyespeeledalways.blogspot.com/  : Writer Karin Diamond’s powerful and inspirational chronicle of her amazing life as she battles Hodgkin Lymphoma. I found Karin’s blog after my own cancer diagnosis.  Her words touched my heart and continue to help me immensely.

http://www.teachingauthors.com/  : A creative, smart, and helpful blog by six children’s book authors who are also teachers.  So many times their “Writing Workouts” have made me pick up my pen and have FUN writing.

http://www.darcypattison.com/  : Fiction Notes by author Darcy Pattison is a comprehensive resource for any writer.  Whenever I am in the midst of revising, Fiction Notes seem to provide just the right information.

Three blogs is good, right?  I can handle three.  Three has symmetry.  And I won’t be overwhelmed by posts.  I will stick to three, I decided.

And then, last month…someone commented on my blog…and I visited theirs…

http://tryingtowriteit.com/author/tryingtowriteit/

And I thought…OMG, my inner writer self started a blog and didn’t tell me about it!  Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe!  Since then I have faithfully read every post by this amazing writer.  Her struggles seem to precisely mirror my own.  I love, love, love this blog!  Honestly.

But then, today, my paragon blogger re-posted an entry from another blog:

http://abusivelybaboozan.wordpress.com/

It was funny, inspiring…and…oh no!  Now I’ve subscribed to her blog!

But there is no symmetry in 5! And I can already feel my writing time being sucked into a black blog hole!  But, I can’t give any of these blogs up…I’m in control…right?

Whoa, you like to think that you’re immune to the stuff, oh yeah

It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough

You know you’re gonna have to face it,

you’re addicted to blogs.

Adapted from ROBERT PALMER’s ADDICTED TO LOVE LYRICS

For Love of the Limerick

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by leannepankuch in Uncategorized

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humor, limerick, poetry, writing

This is the time of year when I sometimes find my creative energies dwindling. In order to fend off the specter of the dreaded Writer’s Block looming around every dreary February corner, I often turn to writing poems.

Just to clarify–I am NOT a skilled poet. But somehow, getting a few very meaningful creative words down on paper or up on the screen can help me to throw off any writer’s funk–even a late-winter case.

The last time I needed a boost, I tried writing lyrical free verse character sketches of some of the personalities appearing in my latest novel.

This year I’ve done something different—limericks!

You can’t help but laugh whenever you read (or write!) a limerick. The lilting rhythm lifts your spirit and opens up your mind to creative joy! Try it–you never know…

Here are some sites with examples to help you on your merry way!

http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/limerick.htm

http://www.here-be-limerick-poems.com/#axzz1no7KXYyV

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After a two year journey with ALS, an amazing writer traveled on to a better place today. Farewell, @caiemmons ♡ You inspired and challenged me as a creator and as a human. I'm glad you are free from pain.
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