Renaissance Festival and New Novel: Why mosquitoes are incredibly important

[pegkerr]

kijjohnson and I had a ball, and an incredibly creatively fruitful 24 hours.

We drove out to that aforementioned cheap motel. It turned out there were no attractive oiled young men. We made due with a bottle of tequila and margarita mix, procured at the liquor store next door, and drank the margaritas out of cheap plastic glasses. First, we attacked the problem of the title of the book kijjohnson is finishing. She was going to call it either Teeth and Claws or perhaps Claws and Teeth but has just been informed by her editor that there is another novel about to come out from the same publisher with a very similar title. After she groused about this for awhile (why couldn't this have been mentioned last year?) I worked out an idea tree with her to brainstorm up a new title. I put her old title in the middle of the page, and asked her, "What's the book about?" She threw out about four themes, and the names of the two main characters, and explained how the story arc of each character touched upon the themes. I asked her more questions to make connections, drawing in more characters, and about twenty minutes later, she hit upon the perfect title.. Then we turned to brainstorming my new book. Books start when you begin colliding ideas off one another. Here are the four starting ideas: the choice of a heart of flesh over a heart of stone (or ice); the idea that I want to write a fantasy set in Minnesota; the Shakespeare quote (I Henry IVabout calling creatures from the vasty deep--alisgray suggested in Minnesota it would an enormous wall-eye pike), and winter fairy tales, maybe including "The Frost King." I told her that I had found a Louisa May Alcott story called "The Frost King", and it is EXACTLY about choosing the heart of flesh over the heart of stone. But the problem is that it is so excruciatingly sentimental that it makes you cringe. Note to self: try to write heart of flesh vs. heart of stone without making the reader cringe. I don't think that making the tension of the story be "The Frost King wants it to be winter forever (just think how awful: always winter and never Christmas)" will work. The reader knows of course that winter is not going to last forever. There's no suspense.

So with that warning in mind, we started considering the question of what is the magic here in Minnesota? What followed was such a wild brainstorming session that we had to run down to the front desk (at midnight) to get more paper so that we could get down all the ideas that were flowing so thick and fast.

What is winter? Well, ice and snow, of course. So winter magic has to do with that--with water, actually, and its properties as it freezes. Ice expands as it freezes: the unusual exception. kijjohnson reminded me that in many tales, fish are magical creatures. Calling a magical creature from the vasty deep--why, that's ice fishing! Okay, so let's say that as a pond freezes, and the water grows colder and colder, the magic is trapped by the ice, and the fish grow wiser and wiser. Ice fishing is breaking open the ice to let the magic out--perhaps it would get trapped by the ice house. Then you catch the fish (the bait is an offering) and if you understand what that you're dealing with magic, you're not interested in catching fish to eat primarily--you're catching them to ask them questions.

Why do people fall through ice? Because the fish call them! But not all who call are chosen. I think the book will open with the heroine, as a little girl, falling through the ice. She "soaks up" the magic in the water, and ever after, the fish will recognize her. But not all who fall through can soak up magic, and some drown.

Other ideas:

Winter magic is water and earth (the mud at the bottom of the lakes). Summer magic is air and fire. Fish are the primary magical creatures of the winter and birds of the summer. Winter magic is slow and summer magic is fast. The fish in winter are very wise, but the lower temperatures make them very slow. In summer, they're fast, but they've lost all their magic, and this makes them stupid.

Minnesota is very powerful in both winter and summer magic because it is the farthest spot in the North American continent in every directions from the ocean. The oceans weaken magic because of the salt. Salt, of course, lowers the freezing temperature of water, preventing ice from forming (and the fish from acquiring wisdom).

Ice can be shaped. One powerful way to work winter magic is to carve ice statues--just as they do at the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Minnehaha Falls is an enormous nexus of magical power, in both summer and winter magic.

The State Fair is involved, somehow. I'm not sure--it may be the high summer festival. The custom of carving the bust of the State Fair's Princess Kaye of the Milky Way out of butter each year is significant--it's actually an attempt to shape summer magic, the equivalent of ice sculptures in winter. I think the heroine's grandmother is a former Princess Kay, and she keeps the bust that was carved of her at the State Fair years ago in a deep freezer--along with a whole lot of frozen fish.

The mosquito is the link between the fish and the birds. They live right on the surface of the water (on the border between water and air), and they are eaten by both fish and birds. And they suck blood--the blood, of course, is chemically related to the ancient composition of the oceans, and so they have something to do with the balance of magic. Haven't figured it out yet.

This is explains so much about Minnesota. Now we know why in Minnesota we spread salt on the roads. Now we know why the fishing opener is practically holy--it's the official turn of the season (the end of winter) just as duck hunting opener is the end of summer. The respective hunting openers are when both fish and ducks, respectively, are at the height of their magical powers. Now we understand the powerful nature of ice hockey. Now we understand the ubiquitous nature of the mosquito. Now we understand why Minnesotans eat lutefisk. Now we know why there are ice sculptures at the St. Paul Winter Carnival.

Jack Frost, of course, by using the Ice Palace that the St. Paul Winter Carnival construct, is surrounding himself with ice, which means he is multiplying his magical power.

Another scene: the heroine is on the run somehow, and someone who is trying to protect her builds a snowman to stand guard over her as she sleeps.

I think the book will end at the May Day parade and festival.

So, after this exhilarating conversation, we got up the next morning and went to the Ren Fest. Here's what we did at the Festival. I bought a beautiful blue celtic scarf, a hair toy, and ate a shocking amount of food, including, to kijjohnson's bemusement, two servings of apple dumplings. I pined after an astrolabe, but didn't get it for the third year in a row (how often do you really need to check your latitude?) and also pined over the costumes at Felix Needleworthy's booth. I particularly wanted a stomacher in this fabric (not me in the picture), but they didn't have it in my size. Both kijjohnson and I lusted after this coat and tried it on, but that one didn't fit us, either. kijjohnson got a coat at the Half Moon booth where I bought my cape the year before last. I think this was the one she got (not kijjohnson in the picture):

.

Interestingly enough, I saw something in the master artisan booth at the Fair that was very suggestive. A gamemaker had constructed a replica of a table with an ancient form of backgammon, dating from 1280. A number of Celtic symbols were worked into the border, including the Green man, and interlocking birds. It was divided into four seasons, and the seasons were named "Jack Frost," "Jack Spring" "John Barleycorn," and "Herne the Hunter."

Yes, I think the universe is strongly suggesting I'm on the right track.

Okay, here are items for thought and further research:

Learn about:

The history of the St. Paul Winter Carnival, including the Minnesota ice palaces. kijjohnson remembers a big art book that was published about ice palaces, maybe in the 80s, and I do, too. Anyone know where I could get a copy?

Ice fishing

History of Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre (they're the ones who put on the May Day Festival).

History of the Minnesota State Fair

More winter fairy tales

Think about:

What is the purpose of summer magic and winter magic? Are they in competition? Are the practitioners of each even aware of each other?

I think the Frost King is the antagonist. What's he up to? I've already decided I don't want it to be "I want it always to be winter." Lewis did it in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Tim Powers suggested that one way to plot a novel is to figure out what your protagonist wants the most and fears the most and try to arrange it so that he/she can't get one without facing the other. I know about my protagonist: she survived a near drowning as a child; her grandmother was Princess Kaye of the Milky Way, and she is coping with some threat, perhaps emanating from the Frost King. What does she want, and what does she fear?

Cheers,
Peg

Comments

[redbird]

Maybe the Frost King is trying to bring on another ice age? Something to do with global warming? Does he have to be the antagonist?

[cliosfolly.livejournal.com]

For some reason I'm thinking of Groundhog Day as an event that would be of interest to the Frost King, but I don't know how prevalent groundhogs are in Minnesota, and I don't think Groundhog Day as an indicator of the few remaining weeks of winter really matches well with seasonal changes in Minnesota.

[alisgray.livejournal.com]

hello, Peg, I put you on my friends list because I do enjoy reading about how your book's being made.

(Incidentally, my dad used to make up stories for me and my sister which had a frog protagonist. One of the "villians" was the Great Northern Pike, since they eat frogs. The blue heron and the raccoon were dangerous, too. Often the stories were sort of anthropomorphized versions of the ecology of Lake Itasca, but sometimes contained painfully obvious morals that related to our own lives, remembering to flush the toilet, not fighting with your sister, that sort of thing. Once the frog accidentally ended up in Japan, too, after dad had a business trip there.)

Your dad . . .

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

sounds like he has a great imagination. It's really amazing how many classics of children's literature started as stories that men (usually fathers) made up for children. That list includes Tolkien. He started out with what were called the "Roverdom" stories, I think about a stuffed toy dog that one of his children owned and lost. Tom Bombadil, by the way, was actually a doll that one of his children owned. I think he told them bits of the Hobbit, too. Also on the list are Alice in Wonderland, the </>Stories of Doctor Doolittle, The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down. Maybe The Wizard of Oz was, too? Can't remember. I think I remember hearing that he got the word "Oz" from glancing at his filing cabinet as he was making up the tale for some children (not sure if they were his own, or included other children), and seeing the drawer labeled "O-Z."

Peg

Things that an Evil Minnesotan Sorcerer might want to do...

[(Anonymous)]

Potential goals for an evil Minnesotan sorcerer:

1. Subjugate Wisconsin.
2. Purify Minnesota by eliminating anyone the bad guy considers an outsider.
3. Feed the entire state to a Frost Dragon.
4. Slay a benevolent dragon.
5. Incite Jesse Ventura to slay a benevolent dragon. (Okay, we're hitting the point of farce, here...)
6. Drain the lakes.
7. Flood the Mississippi to turn the whole state into a lake.
8. Use the Minnesotan magic to do something awful to the rest of the world -- eradicate humanity to return the world to its original owners, the Fey. Or eradicate the rival tribe of fey, with humans as potential collateral damage.
9. Bring about Ragnarok (kind of the ultimate "always winter and never Christmas" situation).

One idea you could play with a little ... there are a lot of jokes about "Minnesota nice" vs. "Minnesota ice." Minnesotans are known for being pretty polite and superficially friendly, but not really willing to bond with you and become _good_ friends unless you're someone they've known since kindergarten. This seems like something that could tie into the heart of flesh/ice idea. I meant to say more about this but I have a whiny toddler who wants a peach _right_now_.... --Naomi Kritzer

Re: Things that an Evil Minnesotan Sorcerer might want to do...

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Some good suggestions here, Naomi. I'm really going to have to give the issue of motivations very careful thought. I think that it could be very easy to tip over into cliche, and I'd like this book to rise above cliche.

I also think it's going to be a heckuva lot of fun.

I totally sympathize about the whiney toddler, having dealt with those many times myself.

Peg

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. I am so wildly interested in reading your new book. It's got so many places and events in it that I care about.

I have a large library of Minnesota books that you are welcome to draw from, including one on the history of HOBT. Only thing is, I also want to tell you the stories of the million goldfish and the never-frozen turtles of Powderhorn Lake. So, that's the deal, OK?

Can you ice skate? How about the girls?

K. [wait, and remember the Winter Carnival legends, too!]

[aome.livejournal.com]

You're the only person I'm backtracking for (I don't check LJ when I'm at my inlaw's), because I saw the reference today to previous book ponderings and I'm very much enjoying seeing your development process. I don't have anything to add on that front (except to say that it's fascinating), but as for the RenFaire -- I'm the proud owner of a Half Moon cloak myself. *g* I bought it at the MD RenFaire about 4 or 5 years ago when I got sick to death of my regular winter coat. I still have a Lands' End jacket for general wear, but if it gets really frosty (er... by PA standards), or I want to wear one of my heavier sweaters, the cloak comes out.

It occurs to me that I still owe you commentary on EHR, just as I commented on WS. *adds to to-do list*

[serendipoz.livejournal.com]

Other suggestions for Minnesota goals -

1) Bring back the glaciers to cover the land (and keep the wise fish wise)
2) Freeze the falls (Minnehaha, Mississippi, etc.) so they don't eat any more of the land - did you know the falls of the Mississippi and Minnehaha started in the same place - once?)
3) Preserve the ice palace (and refuse to allow butter sculptures)
4) Allow only maple flavored ice cream (from ice and maple syrup)