Branch 4, Leaf 1 – The Faery Dock

Once again, characters from Because Of The Red Fox speak …

Annie: Annie, here. You wouldn’t believe what’s been happening at our house these days. Well, actually, it’s our friend Djuna’s house. But where she lives reminds me so much of our home and the land around it, and the Hundred Acre Wood Farm Community — like it’s the inspiration or something — but it’s different too and has its own life and destiny and everything –

Santa: Annie, stop talking in circles! You’re not making any sense!

Shell: What Annie means is, is that at Homestead School and home, which is on an island that is very much like Yonder Island, and at a place on the island that is remarkably similar to the Hundred Acre Wood Farm Community, but different too, we’ve had a most amazing encounter.

Annie: See, some folks at Homestead School — which is this really magical, fun, and wise school in the woods –

Santa: — “wise”? You make it sound like it’s alive!

Annie: Everything is alive, Santa. Everything’s got a personality — you ought to know that by now!

Santa: Just because –

Annie (smugly): – all our experiences support that very basic truth!

Shell: The teapots do talk, and dolls do have parties when we aren’t looking.  And sometimes even when we are. Anyway, Annie. You were saying –

Annie (hopping up and down): Right! So, one wet and windy day a Homestead student’s mom found a baby robin just lying on the ground–really, looking half- or mostly dead — its head flopped back in the mud–

Santa: Yeah, and she scooped up the baby robin, and Djuna’s mom Dana, I think, held it against her skin for a really long time — an hour, maybe, to warm it –

Shell: The baby bird must have tried to fly, and had flopped instead, or maybe it had fallen out its nest, or –

Annie: Dana brought the bird back to life — warmed it up, and she and Djuna gathered earthworms, and they’ve been feeding it every half hour — earthworms, earthworms, yum!

Santa: You mean, yuck! Unless you’re a bird!

Annie: Anyway, our friend Djuna has been doing quite a lot of the care for the baby. The baby robin is named Ginger, and she’s soooo — (Annie gives a rapturous sigh)

Shell: Well, it’s pretty magical. Completely different from our experience with chickens who can almost talk. I mean, we’re talking about a wild bird here, truly wild –

Ginger And Djuna

Santa: –only, now it has bonded with humans. when we visited, Ginger was hanging out on a garden plot while her humans working away there. Then Djuna got Ginger to perch on a tree twig –

Annie: We’re all wondering what will happen when Ginger learns to fly — she did fly just a tiny bit while we were there.

Shell: We heard about someone in the neighborhood who has helped wild birds come back to health. One was a raven, who eventually flew off, but comes back to this person from time to time.

Santa: Ravens are super-intelligent, though. Would Ginger come back? Will she learn how to hunt on her own? Will she survive?

Shell: Well, those are the big questions, right. Remember, how that wild duckling just literally ran into the lap of Jane’s family? They raised that little duck, and the duckling followed them around and everything, but eventually Quackstar (that’s the duck’s name) got more and more wild, and one day he began flapping his wings –

Annie: Yeah, yeah — his wings just sped him around the yard, and then out of the yard –

Santa: — and he never came back. Jane and her family hope that he made it to a neighborhood pond or park and found himself a wife, but who knows what really happened.

Annie: Well, we just can’t know, can we. But wild animals have been coming into people’s lives for just forever. And I think something really magical happens when they do.

Santa: Ah. I knew we’d get here.

Shell: What do you mean?

Santa: Annie’s point of — (Santa makes a flappy, swoony gesture with hands and body) — you know, the moment when Annie gets all … misty-swirly or something.

Shell: What’s wrong with that?

Santa: Well, it’s not really practical, is it?

Shell: Isn’t it?

Annie (ignoring them): When the wild and humans meet in these sweet, just — deliciously ordinary ways, I mean, when they start caring for each other — I think something wakes up in the universe like a jewel or a brand new star! Certainly here on earth we remember again how each living thing has its own special life. And we get the gift of being part of it! That has to send some shiny Instant Message to the planet — to just everything!

Santa: Wow, Annie. Uhhhh –

Shell: What kind of message, Annie?

Annie: Oh, you know, like a Valentine — not the sappy romantic kind — just the delightfully hand-decorated “Love, love, love” kind.

Santa chokes.

Shell (puzzled, amused, touched): Wow, profound, Annie.

Annie: Anyway, Djuna’s mom Dana who is a teacher at the Homestead School said she’s going to have the kids do their Sit Spots with Ginger –

Shell: A Sit Spot is where you have your own secret or private place in a bit of nature, and you just hang out there — the kids at the school have Sit Spot times.

Annie: You and the Sit Spot place and the plants and bugs and whatever is there get to be really good friends. When I’m at my Sit Spot I feel like I’m a pot of Peace Tea, well-infused.

Santa: I get super-fab ideas at my Sit Spot.

Shell: I guess I … find out more about my magic in mine. It kind of talks to me, not in words, though –

Santa (with a bemused, mystified expression): Well, I felt super-still and quiet when Ginger perched on my finger. I didn’t want to go anywhere else or do anything else, just gaze at Ginger.

Annie smiles smugly.

Santa (shoots an outraged glance): That doesn’t mean I support your la-la language, Annie! My response was very practical! I–(splutter) –

Shell: Anyway, to Ginger’s good health! Thank you, Djuna, for introducing her to us, and sharing the story!

Ginger Perches

Let me give you some background.  Suzanna is an amazing watercolor artist, who also paints on silk.  This month she has a show of her dragon art at a place called Vashon Intuitive Arts.  Suzanna creates lots of different kinds of art–all really beautiful and magical and full of sweet charm.  But dragons have a special place in her heart–to which I, as purveyor of DragonAir!–of course totally relate.

Here’s our mini-show:

Sleeping With The Dragon - Art by Suzanna Leigh (used w/permission)

I just love the expression on this dragon’s face. I’d love to snuggle with him too!

Emerging Dragon - Art by Suzanna Leigh (used w/permission)

Shell is particularly struck by this piece. I’m sure it’s because of an upcoming Leaf — no, I’m not going to give you any spoilers! I’ll just say that you’ll likely understand the connection when Jane posts Leaf 1 of the Fourth Branch.

In the meantime, we want to let you know that Suzanna will be telling stories about her dragon art next Saturday, April 14, at 7PM, at Vashon Intuitive Arts, 17331 Vashon Hwy SW, and Shell, Annie, and I intend to go! I’ll even let Mom take us over hill and over dale in the quadricycle.

If you happen to be on the island, you come too, and introduce yourselves. We’ll be the ones accompanied by the red tea pot (Yes, Tam is excited to hear the stories as well!).

In the meantime, enjoy Jane’s latest installment of Because Of The Red Fox. Our story continues with Govan and his adventure with my cell phone ….

Read all about it here!

Santa: Ugh! What are you sighing about now, Annie?

Shell: She’s thinking about the film we saw at the Yonder Island Theater last Sunday.

Annie: A silent movie! Mary Pickford playing Sarah Crewe! And, best of all, live harp music as the musical accompaniment to the movie.

Shell: That was really cool. The harpist, Leslie McMichael, was just plain awesome. She composed the entire score for that film, right?

Santa: It was pretty amazing to hear the music she played, and to use those three harps — Celtic harp, pedal harp, electric harp, but –

Annie: No ‘buts’ about it! The themes she played for the different parts of the film absolutely expressed what was going on –

Shell: Her timing really impressed me. The three of us certainly know how weird time can be, but she was perfectly attuned to that film!

Annie: I just love the sounds of the pedal harp, and its chromatics — you know, how it can shift keys, just by using your feet on those pedals –

Shell: I thought the electric harp was awesome. The sounds Leslie chose to program for that harp suggested to me the piano playing that used to accompany the silent movies back in 1917!

Santa: Leslie playing and composition of the music was — magical. It was an absolutely one-of-a-kind experience. She really should be super-famous for it, being asked to film festivals all over the country to present her live music and the film in concert halls ….

Annie: And performing it in Quilt Shop galleries!

Shell: Uh, yeah — art galleries, or in –

Santa: I did hear her say she has a tour lined up back east.

Shell: Well, cool!

Annie: Maybe the three of us should learn harp and so that kind of thing, accompany silent movies. I’d play the pedal harp. It’s so elegant –

Shell: Electric harp for me! I’d get mine in electric blue, and use some awesome effects with it. Santa, I guess you’d choose the Celtic harp, wouldn’t you. Because they’re straight-forward yet elegant, with no mechanisms complicating things, and with a clear bright sound –

Santa: I wouldn’t choose any harp!!!!

Shell: What???

Santa: Harp is my least favorite instrument! I’m totally against them!

Shell: Are you mad?

Annie: The harp is the most beautiful instrument! Angelic–

Shell: But you can also play rock-and-roll and jazz on it too!

Santa: That’s all true, but –

Shell: Your own mom plays harp!

Santa: That’s the trouble!

Annie: Oh …

Santa: I’m sorry, you guys. But growing up with Mom playing the same mistakes year after year –

Annie: They don’t bother me.

Santa: Yeah, but that’s because you don’t have a precise mind. If you did, you’d be as appalled as me –

Annie: Santa, you’re so unkind!

Santa: I can’t help it — I’m a …

Shell: –perfectionist.

Santa: If only she’d vary her mistakes … But she seems to have perfectly learned them –

Annie: And that’s why you don’t like harp? That doesn’t seem fair!

Shell: I enjoy Aunt Jen’s playing.

Santa: Most people do — most people don’t even hear her mistakes or don’t care because the sound of the harp is so magical –

Shell: So why can’t you just enjoy her music too?

Santa: Because–it’s–Mom–playing!

Shell: Uhh.

Annie: Santa, it sounds like you’ve got some sharping levers engaged where they shouldn’t be.

Shell: ‘Sharping levers’?

Annie: Those are the little things you flip up on a Celtic harp to make a note sharp.

Shell: Oh. Well, despite the fact that we’ve discovered that Santa needs some harp therapy, I’ll repeat again that Leslie McMichael playing live harp music–a score that she composed — to the 1917 silent movie “A Little Princess” — was absolutely an enchanting experience — for all of us (except maybe Santa) –

Annie: And it should be world famous!

Shell: Go to a performance of it, if she comes to your area. Or encourage your community to invite her!

Santa: It’s pretty awesome — I have to admit — despite the fact that I’m against harps and think all harps should be removed from the planet and shipped to the Otherworld.

Shell: Santa, you’re warped! In the meantime, Readers, we hope you enjoy the latest Leaf.

Leaf 7: Eglwys Lost

Annie: Oh! We almost forgot: Leslie McMichael also created and performs of another silent film, Peter Pan – and, oh, it’s ever so fun and magical too! View and listen to a little bit here!

LEAVES:  Barred or bard?

SHELL:  Now that you mention it, Leaves.  Maybe it was a ‘bard owl’.  We’re on Yonder Island, after all, and it seems like just about anything can show up.  Are bard owls different than bard foxes?

LEAVES: Of course.  We–or at least–I–have a way with words.  Bard owls play harps.

SHELL:  Is … that … so?

LEAVES: You sound like you don’t believe me!

SHELL:  Well … you can’t blame me if I … maybe think you’re telling tales.

LEAVES (with a satisfied grin):  Hm!

SHELL:  Anyway, my mom gets an interlude today. You’ll see me–us, that is–Leaves, and me–again next week.

LEAVES: Bon apetit!

SHELL (off-stage): Leaves, you don’t eat twigs, too, do you?

Read here:  Extra!  Extra! A Twig For Elinn.

When I was 7, I decided I wanted to be a writer when I grew up.  I already drew lots of stories.  After my decision to be a writer, I started working on daily installments of stories (hmm, looking back on that, I think these postings of my book chapters are the modern-day version of that!).

My brother loved sports, so we’d write and draw newspapers full of sports articles and pictures.

I loved comic books, so I drew super-hero cards (inventing my own super-heroes) and drew comic strips.

Eventually I wrote novels.  I wrote one and a half books when I was in middle school.

I particularly loved taking situations in my own life and reimagining them so that they took place in other times and even other worlds.   The real-life happenings change in the process, and its like playing with words to do this.  I end up having a lot of fun this way.

For awhile I created Books of Magic for a magical world I created for my sister and her friend.  I imagined that the world in these books, called Manora, was real, and that you were in it in our own backyard.    The Magic Queen sent my sister and her friend on missions, and the books held maps, and spells and keys to getting to different places in Manora and getting away from scary beings like the evil fairies, Windy, Sleet and Hail.

If you love to write, no doubt you are writing in a lot of different ways.  You may be writing your own stories, but you may be writing articles or blurbs about things you enjoy, and may not even realize that you’re being a Writer.

If you’re writing and you love it, you’re a Writer!

This is a good time to tell you about The Script Frenzy Young Writers Program, and encourage you to join in.  Here’s what it is:

“Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which participants attempt the creatively daring feat of writing an entire script in the month of April. For 30 days, you get to let your imagination take over and create the film, TV show, play, or graphic novel of your dreams!

That means participants begin writing April 1 and must finish by midnight, April 30. The script goal for our adult program is 100 pages, but the Young Writers Program (YWP) allows 17-and-under participants to set reasonable, yet challenging, individual page-count goals.”

I’m planning on doing it, creating a script for a novel/graphic novel hybrid.  100 pages (the Adult Program) sounds like a lot, but with scripts you have a lot of white space in the formatting!  I’ve written scripts before, and write scripts for my harp-and-storytelling performances.  Here’s a link to one of my harp partner’s and my Forest performance scripts.   This one isn’t exactly written in “official” script format, but may give you an idea about how script-writing might go.

So anyway, check out The Script Frenzy Young Writers Program!

Now, About The Latest Leaf

You might be thinking, how can Jane be thinking about writing a script, when she’s writing a book?

I can’t help it.  I’ve tried to only work on one project at a time, but that doesn’t work for me.  I always have several going at once.  I just love tending all those pots on the stove.  Or is it “plots”?  My intention with the Script, though, is to use it more for note-taking, plotting, and mapping a world, which I’m doing (despite myself!) anyway.

Here’s the scoop on Because Of The Red Fox.  When I posted the last Leaf, I made a big decision about the story.  I’d written something in the first draft that for ages really bothered me because it seemed to weird.  I went back and forth, should I take it out, or keep it in?  How would the story change if I kept it in?

Well, luckily, in the past few weeks I’d been reading a children’s fantasy series, The Dalemark Quartet by Diana Wynne Jones.  It’s an amazing series (a little dark at times), and also with some complex ideas.  Diana Wynne Jones was a really courageous writer.    Reading her stories inspired me to just go with my weird ideas and make them work and make them fun.

The result is that my story has changed, even though I kept the weird thing in!  So I’m finding I’m totally rewriting this section of the book.  And now it turns out that Govan will end up having his own interlude, so that will be completely new.

So, I’m sorry it’s taking sometimes two weeks between posts, but I’ll do my darnedest not to be longer than two weeks in between!

Okay, that’s all for now!  Happy reading — and keep on writing!

Dalemark Quartet Volume 1 Cart & Cwidder Dro
by Diana Wynne Jones

This is just one volume of the Dalemark Quartet, though the edition above contains the first two books — including Drowned Ammet which is the most dark of the series — with some beautiful stuff in it too, towards the end. You can probably get all four books at your public library or through your local independent bookshop, or through Powells Books, via this link.

Leaves: You might call us ‘tea-leaves’!

Tam The Teapot (offended):  You might not!  Oh, now I’m befuddled ….

Leaves: I’ll take over.  I’m here to read your future.  The new leaf is up.  It’s cooky–

Tam The Teapot: And rather long!

Leaves: — like my glorious tale.  Enjoy!

[Go to Leaf 6: Shell And The Green Knight ]

Tam: puff, puff!

Leaves: Before you go, here — have some fun looking at my inner self!

Tam:  Leaves — puff, puff! — you are truly absurd!-

Leaves:

Red Fox Skeleton

Young Patience - photo by Annie

Shell: But, Annie, that’s a pretty old photo of Patience! He’s a handsome full-grown rooster now–except that of course he’s very small, being a bantam.

Annie: I lost my camera for a few months.  This pic is from November, I think.  Anyway, I thought you were calling for him.

Shell: No, Annie.  I was just letting our readers know to, um, have patience.  Jane’s still revising the new Leaf.  But she hopes to have it posted early next week.

Santa (sagely):  Writer’s block.

Shell: Well, not really.  She’s already written the Leaf.  So it can’t be writer’s block.

Santa: Phobia of revision?

Shell: But she’s revising it–she’s not afraid of the Leaf, at least I don’t think so.  Though … in a way … the Leaf is kind of scary.

Santa: No, it isn’t.

Shell: Yes, it is.

Santa: No, it–

Shell (interrupting): Anyway, check back on Leap Day!  Yeah, for sure it will be posted by then!

Annie: Why?

Shell:  Because — Leap Day!  Get it, get it?  Leaf Day!

Santa: No, Shell.  I really don’t.

Annie:  You look pretty thoughtful, Shell.  Are you okay?

Shell:  Um.

Santa: “Um” is right.  Did it really happen, Shell?

Shell just looks at Santa.

Leaves:  Ho, ho, ho, Santa.  You’ll just have to find out!

To be continued … after you read Interlude Or Prelude?: Shell or Not?

Santa: Worms? Where! Don’t tell me the tent caterpillars are back!

Shell: Huh? What are you both talking about? Worms on the trees?

Tam The Teapot: Ah hem, I believe Annie is referring to catkins. I too have noticed that some shrubs and some trees are now displaying catkins. Some are yellow-green, some reddish brown. Other trees have other kinds, I suspect.  Catkins are basically the trees’ flowers.

Shell:  So the trees have flowers, and not worms?  That’s a lot more pleasant!

Tam The Teapot:  Indeed!

Annie:  I wonder if trees in other places have worms all over them right now–I mean catkins?  Hey, readers –  [Annie looks at you!]  — do any trees in your neighborhood have dangly-things all over, and no leaves?

Shell:  Hey, I have a joke!  Fresh from my Joke Shop!

Santa: What is it?  I could listen to something funny about now.

Shell:  Okay, here it is:  How is Jane’s book writing like those trees with all the catkins?

Santa:  Uh, gee, Shell.  How?

Shell:  Her book still has no new leaves.  Ha ha!

Santa: Not very funny–

Shell:  Maybe not, but it’s true.  Jane is working on the book–my book–and had hoped to post a new Leaf today, but ….

Annie:  She’s covered with worms instead?

Shell:  Annie, I just don’t think so.

Tam The Teapot: In any case, dear Reader.  Jane begs your patience and pardon.  She’s pretty sure the next Leaf will be ready sometime next week.

Annie:  The first Leaf of 2012–how exciting!

Santa: Hm.  We’ll see …..

To Be Continued!