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Author Insight
Borrowing from Opera
In this excerpt, I was playing with the notion of the confusion of a four-way conversation, complicated by the fact that two of the participants, salesti and Roebor, can't be heard by one of the others, Luke. Shannon is caught in the middle, trying to deal with them all. I decided to try this confusing cross-talk after listening to several operas and opera-rooted musical such as The Phantom of the Opera, where cross-singing is a common device. I likely wouldn't have thought of the idea on my own, but I had quite a bit of fun playing with the notion in several conversations in the book. It's fun to experiment in my writing. It's fun to pick up ideas from completely different media. I hope I never run out of fun ideas to try in my writing!
Book Excerpt
Power Multiplied
I do not believe I care for this earththing, Daq. What do you call him?
“Luke.”
“What?” Luke asked.
I do not like this name Luke either. He shall be called Toran.
“Why did you ask me ‘what’?” Shannon asked Luke.
“Because you said ‘Luke,’ as if you planned to say something to me.”
“Oh. No, I said ‘Luke’ to Roebor. He wanted to know your name. Which he doesn’t like. He’s rechristened you Toran. And it’s too late to offload Roebor. We left his body back up in Canada.”
“His presence will kill you, Shannon. Surely you know that. And tell him I don’t care for the name Roebor, either, so I’ll call him Little Kitty. And forget ‘Toran.’ How does he like that?”
Little? I am not little. And what does a kitty look like?
Salesti, ever helpful, said, kitty short word for kitten, means baby cat.
Baby? I am no baby. Does he not remember I am grand in size both in this world and among my own kind? Does he not know I am full grown, a leader, a warrior, and a scientist? And what offends him about the name Toran? It is a strong name.
“Finding Essi should be pretty easy, so I won’t have him on board long, Luke, and no, Roebor doesn’t care for Little Kitty. And please don’t call him that, because if I can hear you, he can hear you, and then I have to listen to him grouse about it. You, on the other hand, won’t hear him call you anything. Sorry I mentioned it. Toran.”
salesti believes toran makes joke to tease roebor. because you big, he calls you little. because you full grown, he calls you baby. salesti right, Daq?
“That’s not funny,” Luke said.
“Don’t you start,” Shannon said.
“Start what?” Luke asked.
“No, not you, sorry, I meant Salesti.”
Yes, it is funny, Roebor said.
“It’s funny that Salesti called me Daq?” Shannon asked Roebor.
“Daq? Roebor calls you Daq? Yes, that’s funny,” Luke said.
No, the name Daq is not funny. Toran said it was not funny that you called him Toran. I said it was funny.
shannon tells salesti do not start what, Daq?
“Call me Shannon, please, Salesti.”
but roebor—
“Shannon,” Shannon said. “On Earth, you two call me Shannon, please. On FireWorld, you can call me whatever you like.”
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