BROTHERS IN ARMS - a joint post with Ailsa Abraham

Whilst recently chatting over a glass or three of wine, I and fellow-Crooked Cat author Ailsa Abraham realised that our male lead characters (Lorenzo in The Ghostly Father and Iamo in Alchemy and its sequel Shaman’s Drum) have a great deal in common.  They come from similar backgrounds, they’re both monks, and they’re both somewhat unorthodox in their outlook on life.  So we decided to get the two of them together and ask them a few questions.  

Let's start at the beginning – what made you enter a monastery in the first place?

LORENZO – I had no choice.  I was told by my father that this was what I must do, and he threatened to disown me if I did not obey him.  To say that this was a shock does not even come close to describing how I felt; he was a kind and just man, and for him to behave thus was completely out of character.  I did not find out the real reason for his actions until almost twenty years later.

IAMO – I had felt a sense of vocation from my early years and studied with the Temple while I was at university. It was a natural progression for me to take my vows as soon as I finished my studies.

Did you have a happy childhood? Had it always been your ambition/vocation?

LORENZO – My childhood was privileged.  My father was a Venetian count and we lived in a palazzo.  All our needs were taken care of by our servants.  I had one brother, three years my senior.  Sadly I never knew my mother, who had died at my birth.

It was never my ambition or vocation to enter Holy Orders.  My one desire was to become a physician.

IAMO – Not particularly. Like Lorenzo I was born into an aristocratic family but I found myself unable to take an interest in the things expected of me and I became interested in the Path very early on. I had almost no contact with my parents but adored my Nanny. It was probably through her that I found my vocation.

Were you not bothered about the vows of chastity etc that you had to take? Did you give those a lot of consideration before making your decision?

LORENZO – Having lost the love of my life before I entered the order, the vows of chastity did not cause me any problems.  I knew that I could never replace her.

IAMO – in my Order we were only required to take celibacy vows after a certain time and by then I was so set on my career as a priest that I gave it very little thought. I had never been in love and felt that the pro outweighed the con inestimably.

Once in the order, were you happy?

LORENZO – To my great surprise, yes.  I am sure this is due in no small part to the influence of Fra’ Roberto, the Father Superior who became my own “ghostly father.”  He displayed a level of kindness, sympathy, compassion and good sense which I had never anticipated of a monastic.

IAMO – Probably less so than Lorenzo. I became the assistant to the High Priestess of our Order and my responsibilities were onerous. I failed in my duties several times. Although Scribe has never said so, I think she has hinted that I was itching for adventure.

Did you ever envisage leaving the order?

LORENZO – Never.  Indeed, I did not imagine that it would even be possible.  I had always understood that the vows were for life.

IAMO – As far as my past life was concerned, I had burned my bridges. All contact with my family had been cut and they were furious that I was not going to return to give them the heir they wanted. Not having considered any other way of life, I never imagined anything else.

Did you have much of a life on the outside “in the world” before taking your vows?

LORENZO –- I was eighteen when I first entered the friary as a postulant, but for the year before that I was apprentice to an apothecary.  This is where I learned the skills which prepared me for my later tasks as herbalist and infirmarian.

IAMO – Yes. Like all privileged little boys of my class I went to prep and public school. My studies were then pursued at university because I wanted to study under Professor Oliver, so I had the life of a student with all the attendant excesses. Also, in an effort to marry me off and dissuade me from the monastic life, my mother had shoved various prospective brides at me. Yes, I think it's fair to say I had my share of “real life”.

How did you decide on your monastic name?

LORENZO –- My real name is Sebastiano Lorenzo Matteo Giovanni Battista Da Porto.  I was always known as Sebastiano, but when I came to take my vows I was asked to choose another name because there was already a Fra’ Sebastiano in the friary.  I chose Lorenzo because it is my second given name.

IAMO – I would rather not reveal that as I have been Iamo for so long now and will stay that way. Perhaps if I just say that it is composed of my initials.

When you entered the order, what did you miss most of your earlier life?  How did you cope without it?

LORENZO – It was all so different from what I had previously known that for a long time I was not comparing like with like, so the question did not arise.  Once I had accustomed myself to the new way of life, the biggest difference was being a servant rather than a master.  But that was the way of the Franciscans – their task was to serve.

IAMO – Nothing. Oh yes, the occasional cigarette. Mostly I was very happy in the Temple.

Was there anything you were glad to leave behind when you entered the order?

LORENZO – Unhappiness.  I had just had to bid farewell to the love of my life.  And also (I am ashamed to say this), following my father’s inexplicable change of demeanour, I was glad that I should not have to have any further contact with him.

IAMO – Yes, killing. My father belongs to the “hunting, shooting, fishing” brigade and such things leave me cold. I cannot bear the taking of sentient life for no reason. I'm vegetarian and the only things I kill willingly are demons, but that is a moot point. Are they in fact “living” in the first place? I was glad to get out of a world I didn't fit into.

From what we can gather, neither of you seemed to have had much difficulty about bending the rules when it suited you.  Do you feel guilty about that?

LORENZO – I had to (as you describe it) “bend the rules” on one particular occasion – which was to help a desperate person out of a desperate situation.  I have no feelings of guilt about that – but I cannot even begin to imagine how I would feel if the outcome of my actions had been different.

IAMO – I have to agree with my brother monk here. I didn't just bend the rules, I broke them, threw them on the ground and jumped up and down on them. I had to pay for that, but no, I do not regret it for a moment because I did it for the finest of motives – love.

Thank you both, gentlemen – this has been a fasinating discussion!

This post is also available on Ailsa's blog here.

Indie Author Land Interview

One of my fellow Crooked Cat authors recently told me about the wonderful site Indie Author Land.  Here is the interview I did for them about The Ghostly Father.

Gifts of the Spirit - a guest post by Ailsa Abraham

Today on my blog I have a very special guest – my fellow Crooked Cat author: the fun, fabulous and bewitchingly fascinating Ailsa Abraham.

Welcome, Ailsa.  I’ve been fascinated by your intriguing postings about religion – and I’ve noticed that your beliefs appear to be very diverse.  Please tell me – how do you reconcile them? 

Thanks for asking, Sue. I know that my mentioning of various belief systems confuses many people, and I'm asked, “Well what exactly ARE you?” The answer is simple. I'm a spiritual being who has come to the conclusion that it is all one and only the ways of expressing it, rituals and forms of words change. The trappings are not important, it is what is in your heart and the way you treat other people that matter.

That may sound radical but my Quaker friends agree. They don't use the word “God,” they say “Spirit” – which fits in perfectly with my Shamanistic training.

It's probably that I was exposed to most of the world's major religions at an early age. My father was Jewish, but played the organ at the local Anglican church because he was the only organist they had. Mother had been brought up Presbyterian, nearly converted to Catholicism but settled on “All purpose Protestant” after marrying my father.

So from early years I was just as at home in a synagogue as I was in a church. Then came my life surrounded by Muslims. Because my late aunt worked in the Sudan, we had very close connections with her students who were sent to the UK to study in British hospitals. I played with the other little girls and learned that in their house I put on a tirha to cover my head and we ate with our right hands only (by dint of being made to sit on my left hand to avoid mistakes).

Coming into adulthood, I was drawn to the pagan path.  I studied Wicca up to High Priestess level, but shortly after my ordination I had to leave and so was without a coven. That was when I took up Shamanism, which respects the spirit of all things.

I believe very sincerely that there is a Spirit of the Universe, but the human mind is incapable of taking in the immensity of it, so man makes God in his own image. That's fine. The Green Lady of the pagans is the Blue and White Lady of the Catholics, Quan Yin of the Buddhists and just an expression of the feminine side of the infinite.

Quan Yin

I was only co-opted into the Catholic community because I live in a nominally Roman Catholic country and I'm a healer. People in the village came to me for healing, but were uncomfortable thinking it was some form of sorcery. They wanted to believe that my healing gifts were from their God, or (more precisely) from the Virgin Mary. Fine, no problem, I'll connect with her as well as any other. Keeping other people happy and doing “When in Rome” is a way of life for me. Particularly “when in a Roman's house...do what is expected of you.”

I totally respect anyone's faith or absence of one. I don't force anything I feel to be true on anyone else, and I appreciate it if they do the same to me. I will join in with whatever festivals, celebrations or customs are expected with a few exceptions. When the local corner shop was run by a charming Hindu couple, I made a point of paying homage with a Namaste to their shrine to Shiva and Lakshmi. On buses in Malta where there were religious tableaux above the driver, I crossed myself as I saw others doing. I may not have spoken the language, but I got my arm patted by a few old dears for knowing how to behave.

It comes down to respecting Spirit, in whatever form, whether it is a tree, flower, statue,touching a mezuzza, lighting incense... it really isn't important. Respect is important. Not upsetting people is important.

One final thought – as one who has been on the pagan path, Roman Catholicism is very easy to switch over to. It is very feminine-centred, and their Mary looks awfully like the Goddess she replaced all those centuries ago. I say good morning to the Lady on the Hill every day, because I think She understands that it doesn't matter what colour she is wearing, we know what we are both on about.

If this upsets anyone, I'm truly sorry.  But that is probably because you think you have the One True Answer...and I don't believe that anyone has that. Not me for sure!

What a fascinating and thought-provoking post, Ailsa.  Thank you very much for sharing it!

Nice Girls Don't

Following on from my post last week about this, I can now show you the artwork for the cover.

I must say, I think it looks pretty good!

Release date: 15 July 2014.  Save the date, and come and join the launch party on Facebook!

More book news - and another author interview

Today I have the honour to be the blog guest of the lovely Lorraine Mace.  

During the interview (which you can read here) I mention my second novel, Nice Girls Don't, which is due out on 15th July 2014.  Once again, those wonderful people at Crooked Cat Publishing have been brave enough to take me on!

Nice Girls Don't is perhaps best described as "romantic mystery."  It is set in 1982, and tells the story of Emily (a young library assistant) and Carl (who is trying to find the answer to a mystery about his late grandfather).  Their research follows a complicated paper trail which leads, eventually, to the battlefields of the Great War.  

But in the meantime, Emily begins to wonder about her own family history.  Why had her mother never spoken about her own father?  And why was she so opposed to Emily going out with boys?  

Meanwhile, if you haven't yet read The Ghostly Father, the e-book is still a princely 99p!  Go on, treat yourself.  You deserve it!

Book Review: The Other Side of Morning by Joanna Lambert

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  I have to say that I really enjoyed it.  The story moves along at a great pace, the settings are described in such amazing detail that I felt as though I was there in person, and the characters are so lifelike that they leap off the page. 

And what a cast – the dashing hero, the sensible heroine, the spurned boyfriend who won’t take No for an answer, the stupid, selfish teenager… to name but a few.  And then there’s the wicked scheming stepmother. I found myself wanting to run for cover every time she appeared.

It’s difficult to describe the characters in detail without giving away too much about the story, but suffice it to say that by the end most of them have got the outcome they deserve.  Having said that, this is no fairy-tale; just as in real life, there are also some genuinely innocent victims. 

I must also add that it’s a credit to the author’s skill that I had no idea, until I came to read some other reviews of the book, that this story forms part of a series.  But it isn’t necessary to have read the earlier volumes first; there’s enough background information to ensure that it works very well as a stand-alone novel.

Highly recommended.

The Other Side of Morning is available from Amazon.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in rural Wiltshire, Jo Lambert grew up with a love of books and a vivid imagination.  As a child she enjoyed creating her own adventure stories similar to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five.  Writing always stayed with her, but college, work and eventually marriage found it kept very much in the background as a hobby.  In 2009 everything changed when she decided to self-publish a novel she had completed. After When Tomorrow Comes, three other books - Love Lies and Promises, The Ghost of You and Me and Between Today and Yesterday followed.  In 2013 she decided to give up full time work to concentrate fully on her writing.  Her fifth novel The Other Side of Morning was accepted by ThornBerry Publishing UK and is now available in e-book form with a paperback version to follow shortly.

Jo is married and lives in a village on the eastern edge of Bath, Somerset, with one small grey feline called Mollie. She shares her husband with his ‘other woman’ Bridget – a 48-year-old white MG Midget who keeps him occupied while she is busy writing.

Travels with Lorenzo (in honour of Shakespeare's birthday)

A few years ago, when The Ghostly Father was still very much at the first draft stage, Better Half and I had a holiday in northern Italy.  During that trip we visited Venice, Verona, and (very briefly) Mantua, seeking out the places where parts of the story are set.

When we learned that the book was going to be published, we promised ourselves that we would go back.  The project, which became known as "Taking to Lorenzo to Verona," finally came to fruition at the beginning of this month.

The trip started off on a rather shaky footing, involving an incident at the airport which I've described elsewhere (details here, for anyone who might have missed it).  But the trip itself, despite slightly indifferent weather and a 24-hour vaporetto strike in Venice the day after our arrival, was most enjoyable.

Here, then, are a few photos of Lorenzo, the eponymous hero of The Ghostly Father, in his natural habitat.

The building which was once the Ospedale della Pietà orphanage, made famous by the composer Antonio Vivaldi, is now the Metropole Hotel.  Looking at its grand status today, one would never guess at its original purpose - apart from one clue which can still be seen, tucked away in the passageway which runs between the hotel and the church:

This strange curved wooden doorway is what used to be the ruota dei trovatelli - the turning-wheel where unwanted babies could be left, anonymously, to be cared for by the nuns who ran the orphanage.  

The eighteen-year-old Lorenzo becomes a friar in Venice.  Some years later he leaves Venice... 

(Yes, he is travelling on the causeway, even though it wasn't built at the time when the story is set...!  But then, even the mighty Shakespeare didn't always get it completely right...)

... arrives in fair Verona, where we lay our scene...

... and helps to establish a new Franciscan friary in the city.  

This is the cloister of the Basilica of San Zeno - very much how I envisage Lorenzo's new home.

And it isn't long before Lorenzo's path crosses with that of Romeo and Giulietta.  

The building on the left of this picture is known as the Casa dei Montecchi - the House of the Montagues.  It's now a restaurant.

This bronze plaque of Romeo fleeing from Verona after his banishment is on the wall by the restaurant door.  The card tucked behind the horse's foreleg is an impromptu advertisement for the book!

The Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's house) is a much higher-profile place, attracting thousands of visitors every year.

"The walls of the passageway leading from the street into the courtyard are covered from top to bottom with swirling multicoloured graffiti." 

(The Ghostly Father)

"The interior of the house is tastefully decorated and pleasantly cool and quiet, and although the attraction is a modern invention, it is not difficult to imagine how the Capuleti family might have lived." 

(The Ghostly Father)

This bed is the one which was used in the 1968 Zeffirelli film.

Throughout the house, the story of Romeo & Juliet is told on a series of these boards:

Outside in the courtyard, visitors are encouraged to buy a padlock from the gift shop, inscribe it with their names, and attach it to the fence alongside the statue of Juliet.

We were tempted, but instead settled for something we could bring away with us - a pair of interlinked wristbands.

This is Juliet's tomb - the place where, in the original story, the Friar's plan goes so horribly wrong:

And here is Lorenzo, with Verona's own tribute to the great man who provided the inspiration for the book.  Happy birthday, Will!