Tag: bell mountain series by lee duigon

Is the Lord Trying to Tell Me Something? REPRINT

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Extinct hoofed animals looked like gorilla-horse | Earth Archives

 

From June 15, 2020

Knuckle-bear and calf, Lintum Forest

I am so not ready to go back to writing about the Chinese Communist Wuhan Death Virus, riots, soulless white liberals, and all that other schiff that everybody else is writing about. I am so not up for it, it isn’t funny.

That’s not like me. Usually on Monday I’m ready to wade back into the hurly-burly. So why am I thinking that today I’d like to work on my new book and put up a few blog posts that have nothing to do with Far Left Crazy trying to murder our country? I mean, we have to fight them, and we have to win.

But is God telling me, “I will fight them, boy. You go write your book”?

Yeahbut, yeahbut–Lord, what about my Newswithviews column?

“You don’t even know what you want to write for that. If I told you to sit down and write it today, you’d be stuck. So don’t worry about it.”

Tomorrow, then. I’ll get back into the melee tomorrow. I guess.

 

 

I’ve Been Reading My Books

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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.

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

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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.)

 

Finished!

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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

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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…

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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.)

 

Progress on My Book (I Hope)

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Physical therapy this morning, and waiting for various doctors to schedule me for chemotherapy (not looking forward to that!).

But at least it’s a sunny day, and I took advantage of it to set up outside and crank our four more pages of Ozias, Prince Enthroned. A major battle is shaping up, but I think Maressa’s lost her nerve. She wants a parley; her allies are infuriated.

In case you were wondering where I get this material, I can tell you that I’ve patterned this looming battle after Hannibal’s fight at Lake Trasimene. I’ve even named the terrain “Lake Trasm.”

I’m fast approaching the climax of the book and don’t know what I’ll do with myself once it’s finished. Well, I do have to type it all. And I have to finish editing Ozias, Prince in Peril. It feels like an age since I wrote it.

And Ocean of Time will be coming out any day now–so dream up some gang-busting names for as yet uncreated new characters. Contest winner gets an autographed book.

What’s In a Name?

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(Why won’t it let me post an image?)

Our “Name a Character” contest is off to a slow start. Oh, well.

Sometimes all you’ve got to start with is a name. A new character enters the story, looking for a role in the plot. A catchy name might clinch it for him. Or her. Queen Gurun’s name comes from an Icelandic saga. Ryons, from Arthurian legend. Ozias, from the Bible. And some just come out of the blue–like Uduqu.

God willing, I’ll soon finish Prince Enthroned and move on to King Betrayed. The field’s wide-open for new characters. Who knows? A name you dream up might lead to an epic.

(Now I’ll try one more time to post an image. Good luck with that, Leester.)

[The old laptop let me post an image.]