Reader's Block

Fuss and bother! This summer I'd decided to read Gordon R. Dickson's "Childe Cycle" through from start to finish, at any rate, to the last book he wrote (he died before he finished the science fiction cycle). I own all of them, so no problem, right? Wrong!

As best I can figure, Tactics of Mistake has gone AWOL .... or Her Horribleness sopped it to oblivion ... *sigh* It's a distinct possibility that in the random quick cleanup to get anything soaking-wet out of my house, the crew had to pick it up and toss it. I don't know. Therefore, Reader's Block! The local library doesn't have it listed either. So now I have to find a copy somewhere and buy it.

OK - so you don't have to read them in order. They function quite nicely in stand-alone fashion. However, I've never read them straight through before and wanted to see what I might glean from following the author through from the beginning, watch his characters and idea unfold as he created it.

Characters are fascinating things, especially in the hands of a good writer. One of my favorites is Rod Gallowglass (nee Rodney D'Armand) by Christopher Stasheff. He (Rod) has wormed his way into my heart and I would marry him in a flash ... except he's so besotted by his beloved Gwendylon that it would be a betrayal of his essential character to consider life with any other woman. Alas! But I wouldn't have his character be any other way!

It is the guiding of the writer's muse to bring characters and ideas into being and then attempt to capture them authentically in 'mere' words.. Sometimes I suspect they say and do things that the author had no original intention of them doing, but then finds they would be dishonest if they said and did anything else.

This is not my gift, but I deeply enjoy stepping into the worlds created by those whose gift it is. I occasionally wonder if it's anything similar to what I feel when crafting a sermon or worship, or leading a meeting where we are seeking solutions to old problems, or those times when one steps into a situation which requires counseling and diplomacy, or those moments which transcend all of time and humanity. It's hard to put into words. The best I can come up with is that I am not the guiding force in my responses and actions. I am not alone, and there is that which is Other which is there to help. (Sounds like I need to see a psychiatrist, doesn't it?) Yet at the same time, that which is the essential me is in control.

Wow! That was a major detour! Sometimes stream-of-consciousness blogging wanders in some interesting places! Guess I'd better bring this to a close and toddle off to Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble to see if I can find Tactics. Gotta do something to get rid of this Reader's Block!