Peaks Island Press: Winter 2013

Peaks Island Press has quite the impressive catalog!

The latest publication is Persuadable, my tribute to Jane Austen's Persuasion and a romance in its own right. I will soon begin posting excerpts and comments on Persuadable on Votaries of Horror. 

Author Eugene Woodbury has produced two young adult novels set in Japan. Fox & Wolf has a contemporary setting and tackles the world of shape-shifting. Not only is this novel an excellent way to learn about Japanese werewolves and werefoxes, it is also a great education on the customs of Japanese high schools!

Serpent of Time, Eugene's second YA novel, details time-traveling between the Nanboku Period in Japan--specifically the time of the Oei Rebellion--and contemporary Osaka, including famous Mount Koya. More specifically, Serpent of Time follows the trials of a princess on the run plus the adventures of her helpers and chasers.

Peaks Island Press is also home to The Gentleman & the Rake, my omnibus edition of A Man of Few Words and Mr. B Speaks! A Man of Few Words, my tribute to Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, is told entirely from Darcy's point of view. Mr. B Speaks! is also told from the "hero's" point of view and provides a social, historical, and legal perspective on the origins of the English romance novel.

Peaks Island Press's catalog also includes The Path of Dreams, a fantasy-romance with its roots in dream sequences, and Tokyo South, an in-depth view of Mormon missionary life in Japan.

All novels can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and iBooks. All are available in electronic format. Most are also available in print.

Why I Still Miss Michael Moriarty on Law & Order

Matter-of-fact Michael Moriarty as A.D.A. Ben Stone

Michael Moriarty played Ben Stone on the first four seasons of Law & Order. I love mystery shows (I'm a mystery addict!) and Law & Order supplies a truly awe-inspiring number of mystery stories (20 seasons!) but after Moriarty left, Law & Order just wasn't the same for me. I rewatch the first four seasons quite often. I rarely watch anything from the later seasons.

I was sad when Richard Brooks left; I was disappointed when Chris Noth left. But Michael Moriarty's departure was the make-or-break moment for me. Unfortunately, the adorable Steven Hill (Adam Schiff), the gentlemanly Jerry Orbach (Lennie Briscoe), and the regal Carolyn McCormick (Dr. Elizabeth Olivet) weren't enough to keep me watching. (If Fred Dalton Thompson had showed up earlier, he might have been.)

Michael Moriarty played Ben Stone as a man passionately and seriously committed to the law--to him, law is a workable way to solve problems of justice. He has a unrelenting sense of moral rightness that nevertheless never morphs into self-righteousness.

In "Wages of Love," for example, Stone decides to take manslaughter off the table, forcing the jury to choose between acquittal and murder. When Adam and Robinette comment on how nervous he is, Stone replies, "I never done anything this potentially stupid before."

Moriarty delivers the line with wry self-awareness. There is something highly endearing about his dry, almost staccato delivery. He comes across as achingly real as do the first four seasons of the show.

In contrast, Waterston (and every other Law & Order D.A. except the underused Courtney Vance) comes across as overly dramatic. I CARE! I FIGHT AGAINST WRONG! I WANT TO GET THE BAD GUYS! So much angst and heart-ache and angry yelling. *Sigh.*

Moriarty as Stone was fully capable of portraying wrath without histrionics. In one of best episodes of the first season, "Sonata for Solo Organ," he shows his dissatisfaction with various characters in crisp, non-melodramatic ways:

Defense attorney: What's it going to take to make you happy, Stone?
EADA Ben Stone: The Mets in the Series, peace on Earth, and Dr. Reberty in Danamorra.

Joanna Woodleigh: If you prosecute him, he’ll die. I know he will. And for what? Mr. MacDaniel is going to be a very wealthy man.
Ben Stone: With only one kidney.
Joanna Woodleigh: Just like I have, Mr. Stone. The hope is we’ll both live long and happy lives.
Ben Stone: Please believe me, I’m glad you’re healthy again. I know how close to death you were. But, Ms. Woodleigh, do you really think your father would have acted any differently, if you had needed a heart instead of a kidney?

The other nice thing about Stone is that he can convey warmth without, again, yelling or doing the sad eyes thing. One of my favorite examples comes again from Season 1, "The Troubles," when Stone elicits testimony from a British woman whose husband and children were killed by a terrorist bomb. After she finishes, he uncurls her hands and presses his palms to hers; it is very touching.

Another favorite example comes from "Skin Deep" in Season 3, starring the excellent Claire Danes, Stone listens to this teenager's heart-breaking story of misuse by an older man. Stone is no pushover--he's perfectly willing to put kids in jail. In this case, he recognizes how cruelly the girl was treated. When her lawyer asks that she be remanded for treatment, he bobs his head, seemingly too choked up to talk.

These touches of gentleness are quiet, demonstrative rather than DEMONSTRATING. With Waterston, I always feel like I'm being lectured. With Moriarty, I feel like I'm watching a real guy work through the political and ethical and practical problems of his case.

I really miss Michael Moriarty. I think he defined the first seasons of Law & Order. Without him, the show was never quite as direct or gritty or strong.

Darcy & Babies: Last Chapter & Why Austen Should Be Taken Seriously as a Writer

The last chapter of A Man of Few Words is a bit of a stretch; in it, Darcy figures out that Elizabeth is pregnant before she does. The scene can be read below.

Vanderbilt Mansion in Newport, RI

This is NOT the type of existence Darcy would have led.

It is unlikely that Elizabeth wouldn't know she was pregnant. However, I wrote this ending in response to Austen tributes that I feel completely misinterpret Austen and her time period (likewise, the final chapter of Persuadable is a response to the 2007 movie).

Because Austen deliberately left out hot & heavy romance scenes as well as direct discussions of topics like reproduction (there are plenty of indirect discussions), many readers assume (1) that Austen belonged to the Victorian era; (2) that Austen, the spinster, was repressed/scared of sex, etc.

Setting aside that Victorians were far more earthy and cognizant of basic human functions than many modern people seem to be and also setting aside that Austen was not actually a Victorian but belonged to the far more earthy, sometimes bawdy, Regency era and setting aside that Austen was surrounded by all kinds of sex-related scandals and could have written the equivalent of salacious porn if she'd wanted (and writers of that era did), Austen deserves to be treated as what she was: a serious writer.

She didn't write what she did because she was a poor little woman with no experience; she wrote what she did from choice. Everything that is excised from Austen is excised by the author's careful craftsmanship.

So when I read Austen tributes that paint Darcy as some kind of stuck-up Victorian prig whose introversion has been translated into sexual repression, I want to scream.

Part of the problem, I believe is that many American (and some British) authors translate Darcy's wealth into American terms; they think the Darcys are the equivalents of the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers, families whose wealth originated in industrialization and who used that wealth to create self-serving, ostentatious, and decadent lifestyles in places like Newport, Rhode Island.

But Darcy grew up on a farm! His wealth is based on land, crops, weather, and other such earthy considerations. He would be fully cognizant of the ways of reproduction; he would likely have seen newborn babies; he would more than likely have seen tenants' wives breastfeeding (remember, Darcy rode his horse all over Pemberley when he was a youth).

We moderns like to believe that we are so much more aware of things than people of the past, but the truth is, Austen doesn't talk about a lot of stuff in her writing precisely because she wouldn't have considered it quite so shocking and astonishing and hush-hush as us.

Excerpt from Chapter 12: Darcy Betrays a Thorough Understanding of Human Biology

“Maybe you’re starting a baby,” Darcy said and headed towards the door.

He was halfway across the room when Lizzy said, “Will!” and he turned back. She sat on the divan, staring at him, her face pale, eyes large.

“I think you’re right,” she said, slightly stunned.

Darcy shook his head. Why was she surprised? Her mother was fertile—she had given birth to five healthy daughters and survived.

He went back and kissed the top of his wife’s head. He was pleased, though babies at this stage always seemed rather remote to Darcy. He usually visited them in his tenants’ cottages after their births, bestowing coins, best wishes, and the occasional sapling.

Of course, this baby—his and Elizabeth’s baby—would garner far more attention and resources than Darcy had ever marshaled before. But Darcy rather liked the idea of introducing a new relation to the delights of Pemberley.

“I’ve never had a baby,” Lizzy said to his shirt, which made Darcy laugh. She grimaced up at him. “I’ve taken care of children, but this—”

“Lizzy,” Darcy said, still amused, “you can do anything.”

She laughed then and pushed him away: “Get along, you.”

Darcy went out to find the castile soap. As clever as his wife was, he thought as he ran down the stairs, there were times when she could be downright obtuse.

Darcy & Lady Catherine: Chapter 11

Chapter 11 of A Man of Few Words includes the famous scene between Elizabeth and Lady Catherine where Elizabeth provides the impressive retort, "In marrying your nephew, I should not consider myself as quitting that sphere. He is a gentleman; I am a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal."

Of course A Man of Few Words doesn't show this scene directly; rather, it is related to Darcy by Lady Catherine.

Lady Catherine reporting Elizabeth's behavior

and giving her consent to the match.

The question I had to answer was why on earth would Lady Catherine rush off to tell Darcy exactly what Elizabeth said to her? Geez, is the woman so obtuse she doesn't realize she is simply tossing oil onto flames, exciting Darcy's already excited interest?

The 1940 film solved this problem by having Lady Catherine be one of those crusty sharp-tongue old ladies who secretly adore outspoken girls like Elizabeth. This is a classic type and can be used to good purpose. The 1940 film does use it to good purpose although the first time I watched it with my mother, she (a fan of the book) couldn't resist leaning over and saying, "Lady Catherine does not do this in the book."

What the original text does make clear is that Lady Catherine does possess a substantial degree of cluelessness. Her cluelessness isn't rooted in stupidity but rather in her entirely subjective version of reality. After all, only Lady Catherine could continue to tout a potential marriage between Darcy and her daughter Anne when no one, including Darcy and Anne, imagines this will ever happen.

In A Man of Few Words, I portray Darcy as not even realizing that anyone thought it would happen:

"Can you believe it?" Lady Catherine said. "[Miss Elizabeth] knows that such a connection would be improper, but she refused to deny the rumor. Yes, I can see that astonishes you." Darcy had risen and was gaping at his aunt. "An obvious falsehood, yet she refused to admit it. I explained about Anne--"

Darcy blinked, head cocked. What about Anne?

Lady Catherine coughed and waved a hand. "And she still refused to acknowledge that there is no attachment between you . . ."

But then Lady Catherine is this type of woman: enough of a hard-headed realist to avoid spouting pure fantasies but too far invested in her view of the world to invite too much challenge to those fantasies. Truth is, Mr. Collins is the best possible clergyman for such a patron!

Persuadable from Peaks Island Press

Peaks Island Press has just published Persuadable, my latest tribute to Jane Austen, specifically her Persuasion.

Like A Man of Few Words and Mr B Speaks!, Persuadable was inspired by an English classic. Unlike the previous novels, Persuadable doesn't follow the book's main characters. Rather, it follows the novel's nemeses: Mrs. Penelope Clay and Mr. William Elliot.

My original idea was to offer more insight into the original plot from the point of view of two outsiders. Persuadable still provides this perspective, but it is also a romance. Like any classic romance, it follows the courtship of a seemingly antagonistic couple whose mutual wariness cannot mask their reciprocal attraction.

Persuadable does answer Persuasion-provoked questions, such as, What did Mr. Elliot fetch for Mrs. Clay on Union Street? But mostly it addresses the question raised by Austen herself: Does love last? When and how does it thrive?

I will continue to post about A Man of Few Words over the next few weeks after which I will begin posting my thoughts and research for Persuadable.