Talents Archives - YatPundit

YatPundit’s Pub 18-April-2019 – Churches and Books

by YatPundit | Apr 18, 2019 | Books, Podcast, Talents

Welcome to YatPundit’s Pub 18-April-2019 – it’s time to talk books and writing!

YatPundit’s Pub 18-April-2019

The shock of the fire at Notre Dame in Paris weighs heavily. A few introductory thoughts here, then we’ll get on with getting on.

Writing about churches

Let’s talk about other churches for a moment. So, sticking to “write what you know,” I focus on New Orleans. There are two stories that may turn into a full-blown Talents book, set in Europe. While one can write about well-known places, it works to write about the cities I walk around. Vienna is a setting in Trusted Talents for that reason. Utrecht, Stockholm, and Copenhagen figure into the in-progress cities. Work cities for me. I”m comfortable there. Oslo as well!

American cities, too

Same goes for American cities. The Orthodox church on High Street on Columbus calls me. It’s easy to visualize the great, potentially evil Nationwide Plaza. Transporting to Midtown Atlanta clicks. Switching to Manhattan Beach is easy.

When travelling, I stop in not only the Big Church. It’s fun to explore the parish church blocks away. Take time to check out the synagogue. When a character tells me something, I know exactly where they are. While I could make a Notre Dame scene happen, it’s more likely going to be a scene set in Nice.

Books

Edinburgh

Reading for YatPundit’s Pub 18-April-2019. So, I’m finishing up the 21st “Rebus” novel by Ian Rankin, Rather Be the Devil. John Rebus is retired. Therefore, he’s sticking his nose in the cases of DI Siobahn Clarke. Malcom Fox figures prominently in the story as well. There’s another “retired Rebus” book out, but I’ve got a ton of stuff to get to first.

IRA

Something that will jump the line, however, is Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. As I flew up to Columbus a couple of weeks ago, a friend messaged and said, read this book. So, last week, Pesca had the author, Patrick Radden Keefe on his pod, Slate’s The Gist. The book is fascinating! Two recommendations move it up to read-now.

Don’t forget Art in the Bend on Saturday!

Last Thursday’s pod.

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YatPundit’s Pub 2019-04-11 – Two Taps Open

by YatPundit | Apr 11, 2019 | Books, Dragon's, Talents

YatPundit’s Pub 2019-04-11

YatPundit’s Pub is back! Starting here with YatPundit’s Pub 2019-04-11, we’re going to attempt to be consistent with this now. Tuesdays will be politics and commentary, Thursdays will be books and writing. So, there are two taps at the bar.

The first is a remembrance. Ms. Margie Person passed away last week. She was mom to two of my friends going back to Brother Martin, John and Bob Person. Ms. Margie was also grandmother to Lady Artist, Elizabeth Person. Liz is Bob’s daughter. She’s a brilliant artist. I was very flattered when Bob told me one day that his mom really enjoyed my first urban fantasy novel, Hidden Talents. I never thought a lady in her 90s would fancy the magick and dueling, but he said she really liked how I described New Orleans. So, when it came time to write the sequel, he mentioned she would occasionally say, tell your friend he needs to finish that next book! Personally, I think she wanted to see what her granddaughter had in mind for the cover. 🙂

(On a side note, Lady Artist did a wonderful job with both Dragon’s Discovery and Trusted Talents. If you can hire Liz, you should!)

Dragons Update

Dragon’s Discovery by Edward J. Branley (cover art by Elizabeth Person)

Dragons 3, tentatively titled Dragon’s Defience, is in progress. The first five chapters have been red-penned by Dara, and I’m done with chapter seven. It’s going to be eleven total. The Fading Signs of New Orleans book for The History Press ate up a lot more of my time, so the fiction’s taken a back seat.

Talents Update

Trusted Talents by Edward J. Branley (cover art by Elizabeth Person)

Talents 3 doesn’t have a name yet, much less a firm outline, but I have an idea of how things turn out. It felt odd, I had a bit of a dream/daydream of what happens after the third novel. So, I have the end of novel three and the beginning of novel four! Who knows if things will stay that way, of course.

Next week

We’ll do a Tuesday sit-down in the pub, talking local stuff, like the airport and traffic cameras, then more books/literary on Thursday.