Mel Far made this Okal Rel themed pottery project in class. The lid has Monatese, Turquoise hued leaves. The sides have rel symbols and names of characters.

Labels: art, Mel

posted by Lynda at 06:38   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 

Earlier this summer I decided to start picking a line a day from the saga to post on twitter. (I got tired of saying, well, here I am again with my morning coffee.) I'm now up to page 75. It's my version of notching a tree trunk to mark time. :-) My original idea was that if I took one line for each page of each book in the main series, then about the time I made the last tweet would be the point where I could say I was done. And if I ran out of published (or drafted) books I would know I was way behind schedule. The goal is to be done the ten novel series by the end of 2012 and each published book should have a year's worth of tweets in it, more or less. So I'm good. :-)

Labels: Courtesan Prince, Twitter

posted by Lynda at 08:53   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 


My google alert turned up an entry for the old Guide to the Okal Rel Universe (published by Windstorm Creative) on a site called "We Read". (Title and image are linked if you wish to visit). The screen shot shows what appears in the part of the screen for "other works by". It's exciting to see ORU titles pop up on the web like this. Which ones "register", of course, is always quirky. Makes me wonder who did what to make them appear there. Why the broken cover art for Part 5: Far Arena? Why Lorel Experiment and not Kath or Mekan'stan from the Windstorm era? Why Part 3: Pretenders but not Part 2: Righteous Anger? Life is full of mysteries. My guess is someone who intersected with the ORU circum 2006 entered the guide, Lorel Experiment and Part 4: Throne Price (which was published before all the rest). Then second user of this service entered the copies of Part 3: Pretenders, and Part 5: Far Arena.

Labels: Guide to the ORU

posted by Lynda at 08:23   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 
On July 5, 2009, ORU author Hal Friesen closed his facebook account with the following notice:

I am deleting my facebook account, because I am strongly opposed to the way information is disseminated and presented. It encourages the type of interaction I greatly dislike, and discourages meaningful relationships, in my opinion. There are exceptions but these do not outweigh the informational issues.

I send him an e-mail saying I appreciated the sentiments. I use facebook mostly because of Catherine T. Vogt, these days. She's made me find a reason to enjoy it. Until then, like most of the web 2 sites I've tried, a heavy sense of "me me me" prevailed with little "us us us". I've found a way to use twitter, as well, by posting a line a day from successive pages of Part 1: The Courtesan Prince, but this was a sort of "I'm lost" reaction to the challenge of making a meaningful connection in a storm of one liners. It made sense to me so I did it. But, like Hal, I sometimes feel unsatisfied with bite-sized conversations. And like him, it's the meaning that's lacking. Work seems to be all about surveys and five-point-scales and where-do-we-rank and how-many-votes ... that's bad enough without wading knee deep in popularity contests to refresh the emotional/artistic side of my life. Maybe just like science, quickie communications are not good or bad but what you make of them. Hoping to "play" a bit with Catherine and others on the facebook page for the ORU. But completely respect people, like Hal, who engage on other levels. Hal has written a second Nestor story for the upcoming anthology, Opus 4. Like his first one, it exemplifies aspects of story-telling no video game can, because it's not just about the action but the philosophy of being a unique human being in a world that doesn't go out of its way to make the meaning of things obvious to anyone.

Labels: facebook, Hal Friesen

posted by Lynda at 08:37   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 


Just notified of the review on Amazon book sites, reproduced below, by SF author and physicist Mark Shegelski.

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Source: Review on Amazon.ca


Far Arena is my first read in the Okal Rel Saga, the fifth book by Lynda Williams in her series. My decision: I want to start the series and read all the books! Although new to Okal Rel, it was easy for me to see why the books are so popular and highly praised. Williams has the rare ability to develop her characters, show us the story, maintain tension, and do all three at the same time. The characters are deep and intricate. The story moves quickly; the pages keep turning. The universe is unique and developed in impressive detail. I found the conclusion of the book to be very satisfying, leaving me wanting to read the previous books. The final chapter of the book is compelling. It told me more about the intriguing character Di Mon, and I could not help wondering how things all began. If you've read one or more of the previous books in this series, you'll love Far Arena. And if, like me, this is your first dip in, you've got five guaranteed good reads waiting for you. You can't go wrong with Far Arena.

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Mark is one of the people in the PhD category of readers who have turned on to the Okal Rel saga. I especially love the diversity of those who like my work, because it confounds the typical market-speak that used to demoralize me. What do a PhD physicist, middle-aged women, IT industry gurus, a computer scientist, a pastor with a PhD who lectures on comparitive religions, a library director, eighteen-year-old male university students, Terrace high school students of both genders, a handful of working poor of the starving artist variety, masters students, SF geeks, 'mainstream' readers, a book-crazy 12 year old, and young women in Prince George high schools who like the ORU have in common? They are intelligent, creative people who respond to characters with ambition, flaws, serious problems and real ethical dilemnas about how to deal with it all without becoming monsters or losers. No matter what you put in a book, it is the quality of the reader that determines whether it will "work" in the theatre of the mind. Readers who share Mark's taste will doubtless enjoy his book Remembering the Future. I've read half of it and put it down somewhere. Grr. Need to find it soon to be in a position to review it properply. It is published by the one and only Dr. Dee Horne of ScrollPress.

Labels: Mark Shegelski, Part 5: Far Arena, Review

posted by Lynda at 11:45   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 


Catherine has up a facebook album of action shots from the Pan-Demish Tournament staged at the launch for Part 5: Far Arena, Jul 2, 2009, at the Prince George Public Library.

Labels: Book Launch, Catherine T. Vogt, Part 5: Far Arena

posted by Lynda at 23:19   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 

Now and then I just have to share Catherine's comments on facebook, especially when she's reading a book. I've also enjoyed text messages from Krysia as she reads through Part 5: Far Arena, but those are harder to snip and show. :-)

Labels: Catherine T. Vogt, Part 5: Far Arena

posted by Lynda at 23:02   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 


David has updated the books page of the ORU site to reflect the new look of the Okal Rel Legacies title, now published by Absolute XPress.

Labels: David Lott, Okal Rel Legacies

posted by Lynda at 22:47   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 
I've added the cover picture of Avim's Oath to the Publications page of the ORU website. Also to the left side banner of this blog.
posted by David at 11:41   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 
85,000 words into book 7!

here's a snippet of the first draft in progress

Ilse barged into Mira’s waiting room, found it empty, decided the receptionist Erien had provided her with must have stepped out for a break, and went sailing on into the infirmary. She hoped Mira would have time to teach her something new today instead of putting her to work on a task she had already mastered.
When she came upon Mira arguing with a tall man dressed in black, she halted as if she’d run smack into an invisible brick wall.
The man was Horth, Liege of Nersal.
Mira was saying, “ ... I don’t care how slowly you fly me there, I’m not going!” Liege Nersal was the first to notice Ilse. He turned with the precision of a sword in an expert’s hand, making Ilse catch her breath at the impact his mere presence had on her.
posted by Lynda at 00:32   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 0 comments

 
Fun launch last night! Thank you one and all who attended. We'll get some pics up soon. Here's a couple missives from those who didn't make it and wanted to:

"I am flying to Miami tomorrow, and I return end of July. I will miss
another launch. And I LOVED Far Arena! Ann's pregnant!! I love Perry
D'Aur's observation about Ann's understanding of Gelack culture. Horth
negotiating trade agreements, Dorn Earth ambassador, and Amel finally
ending the past for Erien and Ranar. I loved it, loved it."
- Elizabeth Woods

"While I am quite sure that we are not able to make it today I am more than happy to help you out with any future events if at all possible ... I hope that your thing goes well today!"
- Ash Larsen (Society for Creative Anachronism)

Also heard recently from ORU reader Rémi Després-Smyth who I will be sending a review copy of Part 5: Far Arena. And will be looking at Opus 4 work this weekend. Spoke with Opus 4 editor Sheila Flesher at the launch last night and introduced her to the two PG authors attending the launch. Oh, and ran into a contact of Elizabeth's in Quiznos yesterday who saw me reading Far Arena out loud to Tegan and said "I've read that book, it was good!". Turns out he's going to be teaching math and science in PG and is a sci fi fan. New contact met last night is Tyler, a reporter who is starting up a new journal for downtown distribution...if memory serves. Also renewed my acquaintance with John Bell of CFIS's story tellers program and was delighted to have Ann Tiffany and Jacklyn Baldwin among the attendees at the launch. Not to mention Catherine's Finnish contact and the young neighbour she's been telling me about. Nicole K. won the Pan-Demish Tournament. Nathalie Mallet won the "over 20" class which I figured is sort of a like the nobleborns. The McGees (Weston and Nicole) turned out and were game about wearing capes and taking part in the tournament. Much, much thanks to the usual suspects for setup and take down! Krysia, Angela, David, Tegan, Catherine! And to Margaret Johnson of Friends of the Library.

Labels: Elizabeth Woods, Part 5: Far Arena

posted by Lynda at 07:46   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 2 comments

 
Many thanks to CKPG, Tegan Lott and Krysia Anderson for interview which ran on TV last night and is available on the internet (click the image or title of this entry). Launch for Part 5: Far Arena will be held tomorrow night, July 2, at the Prince George Public Library. Drop in at 6 pm for some sword training and to browse the art show. Short program to be held at 7 pm followed by the Pan-Demish Tournament where participants will compete for book prizes.

Labels: Book Launch, Part 5: Far Arena, Prince George Public Library

posted by Lynda at 15:04   permalink comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 1 comments