An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears

An Instance of the Fingerpost

By

Iain Pears

Back Cover: "It is 1663 and England is wracked with intrigue and civil strife.  When an Oxford don is murdered, it seems at first that the incident can have nothing to do with great matters of church and state.  Who poured the arsenic into the victim's brandy?  The evidence points to Sarah Blundy, a servant girl...She confesses to the crime and is sentenced to be hanged."

An Instance of the Fingerpost is a standalone novel by Iain Pears, author of the Flavia di Stefano Mystery Series.  I was introduced to Pears books a couple years back when was asked to review Stone's Fall.  I enjoyed it and have since acquired several of his Stefano mysteries, plus this book.  I finally decided to dive in and read it for Fall Reading Challenge.

It is an intriguing historical fiction novel,  a bit long winded at 752 pages, but it's that long for a reason. The story takes place in 1663 in Oxford, England and is told in 4 different stages, each stage narrated by a different man in first person point of view.  Each man different as well as arrogant and attempting to tell the story their way.  You are never quite sure whose telling the truth. First there is Marco da Cola, a young Italian doctor, then Jack Prestcott, who doesn't believe his father is a traitor and is trying to clear his name, mathematician Dr. John Wallis. Lastly Anthony Wood, an antiquarian - student of history. The story is full of history, archaic medical theories, religious persecution, political intrigue and deceit.  It's quite convoluted and complex and not an easy read, but it will capture your interest detailing 1600's science and medical practices and the politics of the age.  

Pages:  752

Publisher:  Berkley Books

Released:  March 1, 1999

Source: Personal Copy

"When in a search of any nature the understand stands suspended, then instances of the fingerpost shew the true and inviolable way in which the question is to be decided.  These instances afford great light, so that the course of the investigation will sometimes be terminated by them.  Sometimes, indeed, these instances are found amongst that evidence already set down."

--- Francis Bacon, Novum Organum Scientarum

ROW80 Mid Week Check in

Thanks to K.M. Weiland's Outlining Your Novel, I've spent the past few days 'what iffing' ideas about my upcoming Nano story, Blue Steel. I'm currently on Chapter 5 and taking scads of notes.  Much seems like common sense, but I'd never thought about doing the 'what if's' before.  It has lead to some interesting scenarios and a plausible sub plot.  Last night I sprang it on Father and he liked my ideas which made me feel good.  He also came up with some interesting input which may make it into the story.  We'll see - sometimes he goes over my head with electronic jargon and leaves me with my brain about to explode from trying to absorb it all.

I know there are only a couple weeks left before Nano but I'm going to try and plot as much as I can this time.  Something I've discovered about myself is I can't read craft books while in the midst of writing a first draft.  I start thinking more about the mechanics then the story and there goes all my creativity.   I'm getting in the Nano mode so modifying my goals to concentrate totally on story planning.  Less is more at this point, so everything else is sort of going out the window.

Wonderful Michelle set up a Row80 group over on the Nanowrimo forums in the writing groups:  link

and I just discovered you can subscribe to threads now through rss.  *grin*  So cool!  

Check in and see how everybody else is doing.

ROW80 check in: Brainstorming

Happy Sunday my darlings! It's an absolutely gorgeous day and listening to the birds singing outside my patio window is always delightful.  ROW80 wise, I've done pretty well this week.

1)  complete character study on Layla - incomplete. The character clinic is giving me insight into her so hopefully will get there soon.

2)  Start Section one of Character Clinic - worked through 1/2 of the section completing writes up on character need, idea of work and play, wants from past, present and future.  Had an epiphany about Layla which will help with plot of story.

3)  Read Chapter one of Outlining Your Novel - Actually read three chapters so far and  completely sold on the aspects of outlining. I love the idea of brainstorming.  Something my father taught me long ago.  K.M. suggests brainstorming what if's, don't censor, focus on the senses and listen to your gut instinct and write it all out in longhand so you aren't tempted to edit.  I love this quote from K.M. 

"The two sides of our creativity - the conscious and the unconscious - working in harmony, the one pulsing and pounding ahead, the other slowing and refining, are capable of fantastic things."  pg 55

4)  Organize Novel Bible - I got as far as buying the notebook. :)

5)  DYI MFA - Work on reading list.

Discovered Gotham Writer's workshop site has some great lists.  Leaning toward mysteries or suspense with romance and these two lists here and here  provides great starting point and suggestions for books to read.

6)  Treadmill workout - one hour a day 4 times a week - Check

7)  Visit and comment on at least 5 rowers every day.  I managed to drop by the majority of rowers and leave a comment or note of encouragement.  Discovered a system that works quite well.  Visit all who end with 1's, then 2's, then 3's and so on.  Elana Johnson taught me the secret of give yourself an hour, opening up tabs at the same time on all the folks you want to visit, and leave comments. It's actually quite effective. 

I also decided to do Nanowrimo so will be adding nano prep to my list of goals for each week.  The brainstorming technique K.M. talks about in her book will help here. All I have is an inkling of an idea and a direction and perhaps a way to tie it into Layla's story.  Then I'd be killing two birds with one stone with world building.

To be honest, I'm missing Sabrina and Richard from Red Thief and started reading some of the story yesterday.  Makes me want to finish typing up the story and.....   At what point does your mind blow up from too many characters and different story lines?   Is it possible to channel them all and keep the stories straight.

Check in on the other rowers and see how they are doing. Don't forget to leave a note of encouragement or just say hi.

The Botticelli Affair by Traci L. Slatton

The Botticelli Affair

By

Traci L. Slatton

Back Cover:  "She's a high-spirited woman with a sordid past, trying to go straight. Enter gorgeous John Bolingbroke, a half-vampire with special powers and news of her beloved missing father. From New York through Paris, Amsterdam, and Rome, while fleeing ruthless vampires, Laila searches desperately for her father and a lost Botticelli painting that holds a coveted secret."

When I was asked if I wanted to read The Botticelli Affair by Traci Slatton, I jumped at the chance because it had all the things I enjoy in a story - vampires, art history and romance.  The story was interesting and highly entertaining -  all the makings of a B movie with the cheesy dialogue and non stop acting.  Laila is definitely a high spirited young woman and shouted, cried, chirped, panted, whispered and raced across the pages. I've never seen so many exclamation marks in one story before.  It was a good cozy paranormal mystery with all the elements for a great one. I just couldn't take it seriously.  If you are looking for a good beach read, check it out. 

Thank you to Leyane of FSB Associates for providing me with a courtesy copy of the book and Traci Slatton for writing such an entertaining story.

Row80 Mid Week Check in -- Eating my words

I lied.  

I swore up, down, right, left and till almost blue in the face I wasn't going to do it again.

But then....I saw her

Yes, it's just a wig mannequin, but that hair, that face, those cheek bones just yelled at me to tell a story.    Tough, leather jacket, smart spoken. Then a name came to me - Jersey Lee. So I gave in and spent yesterday looking at pictures, coming up with names, finding the guy, thinking of a story.  Couldn't stand the thought of not doing it.   I'm free this year...no classes to distract.     I just love the idea of locking up my pesky internal editor and just letting it flow.  So......  Yes!  I'm doing NaNoWriMo again. I'm not going to kill myself to win by stressing about the numbers and adding filler.  Just going to go with it and see what happens.  If I win, great. If I don't.  At least I'll have the beginnings of another interesting story.  My handle is mytwoblessings if you want to add me as a writing buddy on the site.

Need help prepping for NaNoWriMO:

Check out mystery author Alexandra Sokoloff's series of Nano prep posts

 Larry Brooks of Story Fix and his 31 Empowering Posts in 31 days

In the meantime I'm going to continue on editing Eyes in the Ashes and all the stuff I mentioned earlier.  Which is going well by the way. I'll recap on Sunday. 

See how everybody else is doing here.

A to Z title Challenge: L is for Lawless through Out of time

Mini reviews of the books I've read for the A to Z Title Challenge

In L is for Lawless Sue Grafton put her favorite PI Kinsey Milhone through the ringer.  Her landlord asks her for a simple favor - to help his neighbor find the evidence proving his grandfather served in the military so he can be buried with honors.  Sounds easy except Kinsey finds herself flying cross country following a young pregnant woman who took something from the neighbors home.  A fun adventure considering takes place during the 1980's before the advent of internet and cell phones.



Murder in the Marais is Cara Black's debut novel  and the first in a series of now 11 books following the exploits of Private investigator Aimee Leduc in Paris, France.   I discovered Aimee is a feisty chick who jumps into situations fearlessly, throws herself body (literally) and soul into her investigations. Sound like another private eye we know (hint - see above book) *grin*   She isn't afraid of a few bruises and once she's on somebody's trail, doesn't let go.   I was amazed at this character's tenacity. I was exhausted just reading the story.  Paris is more than just the setting, it is also a living breathing character that helps bring the story to life.  

 First time author read for me of Kristin Hannah's Night Road and it was an emotional read.  When young Lexi Baill moves to Port George, Washington, she soon becomes fast friends with Mia and her twin brother and is absorbed into the family.  One night they go to a party and get very drunk.  Unfortunately they decide to not call their mom and drive home thinking it's only a mile or so - what could happen?  Beautifully written and gut wrenching at times, but well worth the read. 

Alton Gansky's Out of Time is one of his J.D. Stanton mysteries.  J.D. takes 5 troubled teenagers of military families out on a week long cruise in hopes of turning their lives around.  They get a lot more than they bargained for when a mysterious storm takes out all the electronics on board.  Then a pre wwII battleship appears out of the fog - with no one on board.  A ghost ship.  Then more weird things start happening.