THE JOY OF STORY
John M. Daniel’s Blog
December 17, 2016
Greetings, friends and fellow fans
of Story. This week we have a guest author, as we do the week following the
third Saturday of every month. Our guest this time, Marilyn London, has written
a multi-generational family saga. It sounds like a
fascinating and highly entertaining story, with a blend of history and moral
themes supporting the novel’s structure. I won’t tell you anything more about Marilyn’s novel, Percy’s Gold or The Trust Fund,
because she’s done a fine job of that in the guest essay that appears
below.
I’ve
never written a multi-generational family saga, so I won’t pretend to list all
that’s involved in the art. I can state the obvious: the novel needs to have
the essential ingredients of all stories, namely conflict, choice, and change.
I assume such a book must take a good deal of research, since the early
generations in the plot must have lived in the long ago. I have written a bit
of historical fiction, and I try my best to avoid anachronisms. I’ve also
written stories involving families, and I’ve noticed how important it is to
reveal family traits, and it’s sometimes good to pay attention to the relatives
who dare to escape their roots and traditions and make their own rules.
§§§
Before I forget, I need to make this
important announcement: this is the last post of the month of December and it’s
also the last post for the year 2016. Susan and I will be in Las Vegas
celebrating Christmas with family. The blog will be up and running again
January 7, 2017.
Don’t forget about the 99-word story feature. In
case you’re a new visitor, you’ll find rules of the game following our guest
speaker’s visit.
§§§
The
Roots and Treasures that Pass
from
Generation to Generation
Marilyn
London
Percy’s Gold or The Trust Fund is a multi-generational saga of
familial love, infidelity, and loyalty. The story explores how the consequences
of our actions transcend time.
In the late 1850s, Mamie loses
her husband on a whaling boat and enters a marriage of convenience with a
Virginia plantation owner in the hopes of keeping food on the table for her
sons, Percy and Sam. Aided by his brother and the underground railroad, Percy
runs from the encroaching Civil War and joins a wagon train headed west. He
survives the Indian Wars near Fort Laramie and falls in love with a runaway
slave. Their life on the prairie is arduous and Percy becomes disillusioned. He
steals gold from the railroad as it makes its way through the Black Hills. When
he dies, the stolen gold is passed to Sam and his descendants as a familial
trust fund. To inherit stolen gold, each must be trusted to keep the family
secret, and the gold changes the lives of everyone it touches. Sam’s daughter
has Alzheimer’s. She wills the gold to her grandson, Jason, but misplaces it
before she dies. Jason’s mother, Emma, knows nothing of the gold but
feels that something is missing in her relationship with her mother and is
surprised to learn that her son has inherited a trust fund. In the end, Emma
and Jason both find gold. The reader is left wondering if they will share their
discoveries with one another.
Several themes permeate the
story. The first theme deals with our choices about how to live our lives.
Percy did what others wished they would do, but never would because of real or
perceived dangers. He never lived vicariously. Sam, on the other hand,
benefited from happenstance, and an innate ability to let go and enjoy life’s
pleasures as they came.
The second theme is Percy’s
gold, which is both his father’s wedding band and the gold Percy stole from the
railroad. The only good that comes from the train heist is the reconstructed
family home on Long Island, a symbol of family loyalty and hope for the future.
Juxtaposed, the value of the ring is minute when compared to the monetary value
of the stolen gold. However, the love passed on with the ring exemplifies the
trust and caring that bonds family members whose actions transcend time.
Emma’s quest for acceptance is
the third theme. She struggles to attain her aging mother’s love while caring
for her. This theme also touches on researching ancestry and discovering how
our lives fit into the larger scheme of history.
The fourth theme is derived
from the prayer recited by Red Cloud as he absorbs the true meaning of a wagon
train massacre carried out in retribution for the destruction of innocent lives
at Sand Creek. The prayer recognizes the fleeting nature of human life and the
transcendent power of nature, goodness and human action. As a metaphor, the
reader notes that Percy will be gone, but the stolen gold will have lasting
effects.
When my parents could no longer
live in their home, it fell to me to prepare their house for sale. I began this
book as I reflected on my childhood. I found that the memories of my family’s
unique sense of humor, love for American history, and strong religious morals
far out-valued any objects my parents left behind. The characters in my story
bring my memories to life in a creative way.
I self-published Percy’s Gold or The Trust Fund as an ebook
on Amazon recently, and it will soon be available in paperback.
Marilyn London is new to the
creative writing field but not new to creative arts. For more than twenty
years, she was a classical musician-teacher-performer before changing careers.
For the next twenty years, she was an administrator and assistant dean at a
medical school, where she currently volunteers to facilitate small groups of
medical students in discussions about ethics and professionalism. She also
teaches online courses part-time. As a retiree, she is participating in local
organizations to hone her creative writing skills. Besides holding Masters
degrees in piano performance and cultural anthropology, she has a Doctor of
Education in Creative Arts in Education. Her novel, Percy’s Gold or The Trust Fund, is now
available on Amazon.com as an ebook. It soon will be available in paperback.
Marilyn lives on Long Island, New York with her husband and two dogs, Cole and
Mirabelle.
Twitter: @marilynlondon22
Buy the book on
Amazon.com: Percy’s
Gold or the Trust Fund
§§§
Call for submissions: Your 99-Word
Stories
The
deadline for January’s 99-word story submissions is January 1, 2017. The
stories will appear on my blog post for January 14, and will stay posted for a week.
note: this 99-word story feature
is a game, not a contest. Obey the rules and I’ll include your story. I may
edit the story to make it stronger, and it’s understood that you will submit to
my editing willingly. That’s an unwritten rule.
Rules for the 99-word
story feature are as follows:
1. Your story must be 99
words long, exactly.
2. One story per writer,
per month.
3. The story must be a
story. That means it needs plot (something or somebody has to change),
characters, and conflict.
4. The story must be
inspired by the prompt I assign.
5. The deadline: the
first of the month. Stories will appear on this blog the second Saturday of the
month.
6. I will copy edit the
story. The author of the story retains all rights.
7.
Email me your story (in the body of your email, or as a Word attachment) to: jmd@danielpublishing.com
THIS
MONTH’S PROMPT FOR NEXT MONTH’S 99-WORD STORY: Write a story
inspired by the following sentence: I
took a trip on a train.
§§§
Calling
all published authors—
I try to feature a guest
author the third Saturday (and week following) of each month. If you’re
interested in posting an essay on my blog—it’s also a chance to promote a
published book—email me directly at jmd@danielpublishing.com.
§§§
Thank you for visiting.
Please drop by next year!
Nice to see a new author blogging here, John. Where, exactly, does Marilyn live on Long Island? Maybe I can meet up with her one day.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours!