Historical Novels, You Gotta Love 'em

As much as I love stories in literature or movies, TV or what have you, I know that I have always been more intrigued with those stories that are based on true stories.

We all know the most common ones told throughout the ages: Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, and many war stories based on truth. And of course a plethora of other kinds of stories based on real life people who lived some kind of fantastic experience. People like Henry XIII, and so many others that would fill a hundred postings.

And that's why I chose to write about John Dunn. He didn't change the world, but he did influence a region of it. And it's a story that hasn't really been done. Yes there are some books about him. But I would bet no one that has read this blog had even heard of him before learning about him from this blog.

Regardless, I am not making everything in this story 100% accurate, or even exact in its chronological order. I will stress that this is a story which is BASED on a true story. All the characters are real, and to the best of my research, I am trying to make their personalaties at least close to how they have been described.

But I have one real void. Aside from Catherine Pierce, Dunn's first wife, the Zulu wives of Dunn have not been described or talked about in any of the research I can find. But I'm tring to give them some dimension in the story. I want them to be real, not just backdrop. I can't do it for all of them. There's too many.

I have made Catherine, herself, a major player in the storyline. Every research I've seen says she was very upset with all the other wives. No duh, I know, but I am playing up on that angle. Also, I have read that she had to deal with prejudice and racism that others displayed towards her.

So here's a good angle. A woman who is victimized by racism, because she is half black, is herself victimizing others for being all black. Sounds to me like there's a lesson in there somewhere.

Debut Novel, THE VASE

I am writing my fourth novel, now, and with three under the belt already, I was thinking that it's a good thing that my debut novel will be THE VASE.

I'm an art teacher after all. I teach ceramics as well as drawing and painting. And THE VASE is certainly a subject that has something to do with ceramics. I would like to make it known to my colleagues in education about this book when it comes out. I'm even hoping it might be included in the school libraries.

I know that my other two books, KILLER OF KILLERS and KILLER EYES, would not be included in any middle school library. It's too much of an adult read. There's too much violence and sex, and too much off the wall stuff that goes on in those two.

Maybe that's why they're so good. But regardless, if my Killer books came out first, I really couldn't say too much about them at my school. Not so for THE VASE. It's a great story that does have some violence but no sex, and if you are someone who needs sex to read a book, then you'll have to wait for the other ones. THE VASE is a good clean story for almost all ages.

How to Write When the Sky is Falling

I don't know how many writers have to write when everything around them is in utter chaos. I have a wonderful wife and two magnificent sons still in the house, aged 15 and 9, and it is not uncommon for them to be louder than one of my middle school classrooms!

My brother who is writing his first novel now, has only the wife to contend with. And he emails me complaining about the constant interruptions. I know what he means. I told him imagine how it would be if he had the kids on top of that.

So what do I do? I don't ignore the wife, that's for sure. I do want to stay married after all. And I most certainly don't ignore my sons. I have been there for them virtually every day of their lives. I must say that if there is anything I did right in my life, it was being a good dad.

But I do know when I can focus on my writing. And it takes focus. I am fortunate to have the ability to block out the distractions and concentrate on what I am doing. I think I developed that skill during my years as an artist. And now that I'm into writing books, that skill has carried over.

So if anyone out there has a problem with distractions, practice blocking everything else out. Pretend you have tunnel vision. And then one day you will see that light at the end of the tunnel!

Zulu Terms

Just thought it might be interesting to share the kind of Zulu words I'm working with in my WIP, the John Dunn story, Heart of a Zulu. So I've listed the ones from my notes and what they mean in English. I'm getting pretty good at pronouncing them, too. Just remember what I've said before, that different books have different spellings for just about every one of these words.

Terms
iziBongi – Praise Singers
amaDlozi – ancestors
amaShoshozelo – loyal supporters
Ubuntu – to share or to be humane
inDaba – meeting with important people
Inceku – house servant
izAnusi – diviner
iNyanga – witchdoctor/diviner
ukuThakatha – to use supernatural forces for evil purposes
umThakathi – a person who uses supernatural forces for evil purposes
inDuna – advisor or an official of the king of chieftain
intangas – female troops or regiment for marrying the male troops
isiCoco – the head ring for mature males
Beka – to proclaim as heir to the king
Bayede – royal salute
uThulwana – Mpande’s regiment which Cetshwayo was in
uSuthu – Cetshwayo’s army
impi – Zulu warriors
Mathambo – the place of bones – the battle site of enDondakusuka
iziGqoza – Mbuyasi’s army
inKozikasi – the Great Wife at center hut behind cattle pen
inKhohlwa – left side of kraal ruled by the First Wife
inGqadi – right side of Kraal ruled by the substitute Great Wife
isiGodlo – king’s harem
isiCholo – wide straw hat warn by mature women
isiDwaba – goatskin skirt worn by women
uhbulahlu – beadwork in headdresses and necklaces
amabheshu – the backward apron worn by men
iziNhloli – advance scouts

Movie Versions

I have made it known that movie versions of books, even comic books are usually nothing more than a bad joke. Of course there are exceptions. But usually movies do no justice to their source, if that source is a book or comic book.

And comic books get the worst of it. Lately, I've taken my sons to see the new X-Men, Thor, and Captain America movies. The kids like them, because they never read the comic books. (They haven't taken to reading yet. But I'm sure they will as they get older.)

But for someone like me, who has read them all, I just can't give these movies my stamp of approval. Almost always they are cast wrong. Almost always, the movie writers change the concept or storyline of the origins.

I mean, as an example, the X-Men movie. It was supposed to be about, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel. But only Beast was there. And come on... the Beast didn't have an opposing thumb for his big toe.

OK, there was an Angel in it, but Angel was a guy in the comics, with the wings of an... ANGEL... not a girl who was a stripper with bug wings. They should have called her Bug Girl, not Angel.

Oh well.

Writing About Real People

You know what? I've been getting weird feelings the last couple days writing about real people. It's one thing writing about people I made up like in KILLER OF KILLERS and THE VASE. But John Dunn, Cetshwayo, and all those people I'm writing about now, well, it's different. I hope they're not looking down from heaven or anything like that. But in case they are, I hope they realize I'm putting them in a good light. Really.

Be Flexible When You Write

I have found that I have to go back and add stuff to prior chapters to make the later chapters relate to them better. For example in my WIP, I never established that John Dunn, even at a young age, had acquired a good amount of money through trading cattle. He would buy a team of trained oxen and then trade them for two "unbroken" teams and then he would train them, himself and repeat the process. Two separate sources have confirmed that he used this method to become a wealthy man.

So now I am in chapter six, and he has taken his first Zulu wives, and of course must pay the lobolo, which is a dowrie. But I never established that he had the means to do that. So now I will go back and find the best place to insert that with some dialogue where it makes sense for the subject to be broached. This way, the reader won't be thinking something like, 'since when did he have all that cattle to pay as lobolo?"