Category: bell mountain series

This Is One of My Favorites

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

C.R. Knight - Uintatherium with Eohippus in the foreground

Behold the massive Uintatherium, brought to life in this painting by Charles R. Knight, the master painter of prehistoric life. As a bonus, he threw in a few Eohippus (“dawn horse” in the foreground.

And Lord Reesh got a fleeting glimpse of one in The Last Banquet.

Digging Up the Past to Understand Our Climate Future | Natural History Museum of Utah

Look at that skull, all knobs and fangs. They used to have a Uintatherium skull in the Rutgers Geology Museum. The skull alone was as big as a full-grown German shepherd. I could never walk past it without stopping to wonder at it. The whole animal was about the size of a car.

I never could figure out how it got by with such a tiny brain case. Maybe that didn’t matter much, back then. The animals that competed with it for food weren’t exactly College Bowl material.

I would be very happy to dream of Uintatherium tonight.

I’ve Been Reading My Books

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

The Glass Bridge (Bell Mountain, #7) by Lee Duigon | Goodreads

I’m in no condition yet to go back to writing novels, so I’ve been reading them instead. Today I finished The Glass Bridge. It’s Book No. 7 in my Bell Mountain series.

I’m doing this so I can refresh my memory. Fifteen of these books have been published–quite a load for any memory to carry. I don’t think I’m wrong if I say I’m proud of them.

Next, I have to type up No. 17, Ozias, Prince Enthroned; and after that, one more, from scratch: Ozias, Prince Betrayed. After that–well, I don’t know. It depends on what God will give me.

Now It’s Both Of Us

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

I'm really sick, can you send pictures of your cats? : r/cats

Yup, we’re both sick now, Patty and me. I can’t help thinking it’s the hospital’s fault–saddling me with a room-mate who coughed and coughed all night, every night… which of course made it impossible for me to get any sleep. We’ve both got it.

Maybe if I sit outside for a while, I’ll feel better.

No, I haven’t forgotten that I’m trying to write a book. But holy cow, the obstacles!

How Do I Do It? (Part 2)

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The Thunder King

I have 15 Bell Mountain books in print, with three more planned, one of which is written and is currently being edited (Ozias, Prince in Peril).

I don’t know how many characters I had to make up to populate these books. At a guess, say three or four hundred. Some come back in book after book. Some appear only for a walk-on. But as they say, you can’t tell a story without characters.

Where do they come from, all these characters?

Some I create to carry out certain jobs demanded by the plot. Having done so, they either remain in the story to do more, or quietly fade away.

A few start out as just a cool name. I borrow a lot of names from various sources–Greek and Roman history, ancient Welsh stories, Norse folklore. And then, often, a character takes form around the name. You can’t let a handle like “Abombalbap” go to waste.

Even fictional characters, of course, have to live somewhere. I had to invent a bunch of countries to house my characters. Obann, Wallekki Land, Abnak country, Arachosia–oh, all sorts of countries! And cities, too.

To invent all this stuff, nothing will prove more valuable than years and years of reading. It’s fun hanging out with Herodotus or Sir Thomas Malory; but you can also learn from them. The more you read, the better. And it’s okay to concentrate on reading the kind of stories you would like to write someday.. I have no time for Serious Mainstream Literature. Give me The Lord of the Rings or The Worm Ouroburos any day.

And that’s enough of this for now.

How Do I Do It? (Part 1)

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Ocean Time

I’m occasionally asked how I’ve managed to write my series of “Bell Mountain” fantasy novels.

Well, it’s a long story, and it starts with my friends Bobby and Ellen in their basement, with me ten years old or so. We are making up wild stories. Bobby was old enough to have a subscription to a science fiction book club. We did our best to imitate the authors.

Point is, that’s where it started and it never stopped. Writing stories is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do as a career. It takes a long time and years and years of practice: not only in writing, but in reading.

“It walked in the woods. It was never born.”  –Theodore Sturgeon, “It”

Boy, did that intro ever turn me on.

So how do you wind up with books full of countries, people, and cultures you made up and somehow made convincing? Too much goes into it to polish off in one blog post. Suffice it to say you really, really want to do it. You’d rather write stories than be president.  You will study your art and never stop trying to improve it.

Your teachers will be the authors you like best and read again and again. Some of the writers who influence me, to this day, are Edgar Rice Burroughs, J.R.R. Tolkien, Herodotus, Plutarch, Livy–these last three have been in print for thousands of years, they must have been doing something right.

And you must be willing to keep at it no matter how many times it gets you absolutely nowhere.

That’s enough for now. I hope I’ve made this interesting enough to spark some comments.

‘Ocean of Time,’ Now on Sale

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Ocean Time

Well, here it is, the 15th Bell Mountain book, Ocean of Time. And in time to order it for Christmas, too!

https://chalcedon.edu/resources/books/ocean-of-time-bell-mountain-15

You can order it from the publisher (www.chalcedon.edu/books/ ) or through Amazon.com (I think). The next book, Ozias, Primce in Peril, pushes the story back a thousand years, so you may want to get familiar with the first 15 books in the series. But some of you have already done that.

I can hardly wait to see what readers will think of our new book.

(P,S.–Well, it’s not on Amazon yet, but it soon will be.)

 

I’m Wiped Out

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Male Writer Worker Fall Asleep Front Stock Photo 469107836 ...

Sorry, but I’m knocked out, weary, etc. We have to go to the hospital again this afternoon–to get to a weekend of staying home, watching movies, and not having to take my chemo pills again till Monday.

If I could just get rid of those &%$#^ bladder stones! But the cancer has to come first. Until then, all I can do is pray for a decent night’s sleep.

We’ve also had to do some work on Ozias, Prince in Peril. My primary editor, Susan, lost those first several chapter sets when the hurricane messed up her computer. Good thing we had them stored here! And the rest of Prince Enthroned has to be typed up and submitted for editing.

I still feel normal while I’m working on my books. It seems my host of symptoms can’t follow me into Obann. Thank you for that, Lord!

Finished!

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24,300+ Young King Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free ...

Hallelujah! Finished! Ozias, Prince Enthroned–I was stuck, I asked the Lord to show me where to stop… and He has. A perfect place to stop. But as Bill White used to say on double-header days, “Plenty of baseball left, folks!”

The next book, Ozias, King Betrayed, is already generating notes. Lots and lots to think about! But I pray I now have several months available for that.

I had to level the karma of the bad guys, but there will always be more of them waiting to come on stage.

Of course, I still have to type it up and send it to my editors, and that’ll take a good while. That gives me another chance to make sure everything in the story is as it should be. There’s always a letdown when a book is finished, but at least I have another book waiting for me.

Here I Am, On the Air

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Aha! Evidence that I actually exist.

I happened to turn up this interview Tim Wildmon did with me for the American Family Assn. It was years ago, and I had just had published my fourth Bell Mountain novel, The Last Banquet. 

Anyway, here I am. Last Banquet was ten books ago, and I’m still writing. I pray my books will be fruitful in God’s service.

Meanwhile, Back in Everyday Life…

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

When You Hear the Bell, Come Out Writing"

I’ve just finished doing my author’s edit of Ozias, Prince in Peril. I thought it would be pretty good; but it’s better than that. Primary editing by Kathy Leonard: no one does it better.

Any day now, Ocean of Time will go on sale–in time for Christmas. I love the cover Kirk DouPonce created for it.

I’m almost finished writing Ozias, Prince Enthroned, and then after that, God willing, will be Ozias, King Betrayed. 

Keep working. Stay sane. I try to live up to that.

kirk douponce – Lee Duigon

(Ah, here it is. I thought I’d lost it.)