Next Noble Pen Meeting

March 6th, 2014 at 7 pm

Scott’s Family Restaurant

1906 Blairs Ferry Rd NE, Cedar Rapids

News

Should a publisher require credibility from an author who claims to be revealing truth?  Simon and Schuster has given an author a book contract after he became well known for revealing tidbits of inside information from a brokerage he worked at.  The problem, critics say, is that he never worked there, and still has the book contract.

Victories

Dylan packaged a book and got it out, complete with a bar code.

Tyree started serious work on a pulp novella he was asked to do.

Cassie got contributor copies of the book she contributed to, so is now a published and paid author, who even was asked for autographs.

Education

Vampire lore (wikipedia) (another source) is not necessarily consistent.  Vampires or similar evil creatures have been feared in many cultures since long before Dracula and have accumulated a lot of folklore.  Archaeologists have found skeletons with stakes in them (another article), which some people interpret as early fear of vampires.  Recent authors and movies have modified and added to that lore.

In various cultures wood or metal stakes have been used to disable a vampire, and have been driven into the heart, the mouth, and other parts of the body.  Ash was preferred in Russia and Latvia.  Oak was more favored in eastern Europe.  Hawthorn was popular in Serbia and Slavic cultures.  In some traditions, the kind of wood was chosen because of mystical properties or the spirits that lived in that tree.  In others, the important thing was that wood had been alive and was now dead.  A practical reason for wood is that early cultures had few choices.

Usually, stakes did not kill a vampire; if the stake was removed a vampire could return.  The stake probably originated before coffins were common, as a method to pin the vampire to the ground so it would not return.   This is why in certain cultures, removing the head was the only sure way to kill a vampire.

Originally, vampires were not damaged by sunlight, although it might weaken them.  Total intolerance for the sun came later.  Some authors have vampires that can tolerate sunlight after they have grown powerful enough.

And if you search on line, you will find people advertising hand-made stakes for vampire hunters (another source).  Sort of a niche market, but they are made with more care than the ones at the local lumber yard.

Upcoming Schedule

Mar 6th
Nick
Tyree
Cassie

Mar 13th
Dylan
Open slots

Mar 20th
Open slots

Mar 27th
Janice
Open slots

Keep Writing,
Bill