Skip to main content

Keeper #2

House of Scorpio by Pat Wallace is a novel that has stayed with me since the first time when I was fourteen. It became my second keeper (Mistress Devon by Virginia Coffman was my first.) It's a collection of six interlinked science fiction romances set on alternative world where zodiac signs are actual human races. Avon published this novel as a Gothic, believe it or not. It's also the book that taught me how to build a universe from scratch.

I loved this book because even to this day it is the most wildly inventive romance I've ever read. It swept me off to a completely alien world that I had never before encountered and yet felt immediately comfortable with and understood right away (important world-building lesson #1.) It was a captivating story, told in six parts that all came together at the end beautifully. It was also a well-veiled attack on the sometimes hysterical racism in the 70's. For a kid who was dealing with desegregation at school and a panicking mother who was convinced I'd get my throat cut during homeroom, it was a blessing and a light during a very dark time.

No one will probably remember this novel in another fifty years. It will just be forgotten as more important, literary authors must always come first. Yet the writer and the person I grew up to be is in part thanks to House of Scorpio. I will always remember this book.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts

This is a story that starts out very sadly, so if you're depressed by the holidays you might want to skip the first part. As far back as I can remember I've dreaded the holidays. Being poor, having constant family troubles and belonging to a strict religion made that time of year always pretty unhappy. I just hunkered down and hoped to get through without being yelled at or punished because I didn't do something I was expected to do, like sit in church for hours without moving or making a sound while a priest spoke mass in Latin. Gifts were uniformly disappointing, too. My mother usually gave me dolls or socks or underwear for Christmas. I understand now as an adult that she was doing the best she could, and trying to save money at the same time, but as a kid I'd been told good children got what they wanted for Christmas. I was a pretty good kid, but while my friends received new bikes and cool toys and lots of treats from Santa, I didn't. I thought San
Post a Comment
Read more

We Have Backsplash!

Yesterday my guy and I decided to chose this natural stone as the backsplash tiles for our new kitchen counters (which will be in the same quartz I'm holding at the bottom of the photo.) Since all the bids for installing the backsplash came in very high my guy is going to put it in himself; he's done a bit of tile work in the past, too. I swear there is nothing this guy can't do. :)
Post a Comment
Read more

Detoxing Results

For twenty-four hours I left these five vintage cigar boxes sit with detoxing agents (baking soda, coffee grinds, dryer sheets, vinegar and Febreze) inside them to see which worked best to remove the tobacco/storage odors that came with them. I then removed the agents and did a sniff test. Before we get into the results, a reminder: none of what I do is ever meant to be expert advice, as I am certainly not an expert at anything. Follow my methods at your own risk, and please first consult an actual antique expert conservator or restorer to detox items that have value for you. Okay, let's see how my experiment worked. Baking soda (left) did nothing to remove the odors. I think if I let it sit for a longer period of time it might have done something, but for a 24-hour test it was a complete fail. Coffee grinds (right) removed 100% of the odors, and left behind definite coffee scent. I like that and think it goes very well with wood, but if you don't like the smel
Post a Comment
Read more