The Book Launch for Mainly by Moonlight Was a Success! Even Though the Books Didn’t Make It.

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Uncategorized, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy
Another Read Through, a marvelous second hand book store that features local writers.

After I got done being hysterical: Oh shit oh shit oh shit! I can’t do a book launch with no books! People are coming because they want the book and Another Read Through wants to sell it to them and so do I. What’s the point of a book launch if there are no books to launch? Etc., etc., etc.

And then I took a deep breath (always a good thing, but, yes, this is probably the most over-used phrase in modern fiction, but I really did take a deep breath, in fact I took several) and it slowly dawned on me that a book launch is not just about selling books, it’s also about celebrating the birth of a new book, the manifestation of an idea born out of gallons of blood, sweat, and tears.

OK, fine, I could work with this.

I did have plenty of copies of Book One, Forging the Blade, so I decided to sell it for $10 instead of the $13-$16 that it usually costs.

I also had one copy of Mainly by Moonlight, which I decided to raffle off free of charge. (My niece won it. It was fair—honest, I didn’t even do the drawing. Thalia probably won because she was the only young adult in a room full of adults, most of whom were well over 50, and The Mage Web Series is YA fantasy).

I was amazed and totally honored that so many people came, even though I’d sent out a notice that there wouldn’t be any new books for sale. Some traveled from as far away as Salem, OR and Longview, WA. Thank you so much to you all. You made my heart sing!

And we had a wonderful time. We celebrated, and drank champagne, and enjoyed each other’s company.

For those of you who couldn’t be there, here is a printed rerun of the talk I gave and some more pictures:

Most book launches start with the author reading from her book. I’ve never understood this. You are all perfectly capable of reading from my book. Instead I’d like to talk about the writing process. Specifically, about the question that authors dread in interviews: “Where do you get your ideas?”

In her latest book, Big Magic, Creative Living Beyond Fear, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, offers an explanation that I am particularly fond of. She says that ideas, and these are not just ideas for novels, they are ideas about everything—a work of art, making a dress, building a bridge, writing a song or poem—don’t originate with us, they are constantly floating around outside of us. The Multiverse is packed with them. And they each have a life a life and personality of their own, and they each have one burning desire: to manifest into the physical world. They do this by finding a receptive brain, slipping into it and taking over the body. This idea isn’t new—it’s as old, if not older, than the ancient Greeks and the Muses. But Gilbert puts a new an interesting modern spin on the concept.

She even explains how to attract an idea—you must open your mind and be still and listen. Not things that we are used to doing in this culture.

The idea for Forging the Blade possessed me over twenty years ago in a unguarded moment of quiet. It patiently waited for me to learn to write, but was quite demanding as it began taking over my life. Before I had even finished writing the first book, the idea said, “No, no, no. You’re not done yet. There’s more of me!” And the idea for Mainly by Moonlight slipped into my brain around ten years ago. I must admit that my idea does try to help whenever possible. Every time I encountered a problem with either book, or needed information, a synchronicity would magically swoop in and save the day. This happened so many times I quit counting, but I’d like to tell you about one of my favorites.

Most of Mainly by Moonlight takes place in and around Grant High School in NE Portland, but there is a chapter in which the Librarian describes the origins of the Mage Web and the formation of Tesseract Academy, their training school located at the center of the circle of time. It all began in Alexandria at the Library of Alexandria at the time of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Now I’ve been to modern Alexandria, and it’s a beautiful city, but what did it look like in the first century BCE? And what did the library look like?

As I was pondering these questions and wondering how I was gonna research them, I went to the library looking for a bit of light reading. I love murder mysteries, so I went to that section. The first book I saw was Alexandria, a Lindsey Davis Didius Falco novel!!! It’s set in Alexandria in the first century CE—a hundred years later than my book, but close enough—and involves dead bodies being found in the Library of Alexandria. Davis is a painstaking researcher and her book provided me with enough information and ideas to write the chapter! How cool is that?

And my idea still isn’t content. I’m half-way through Book Three—it’s working title is Hell’s Gate—and plotting Book Four. But we are here to celebrate the two actual manifestations of my idea: Forging the Blade and the publication of Mainly by Moonlight.

Let’s raise our glasses in a toast to the ideas of Forging the Blade and Mainly by Moonlight!

It took almost a whole village to actually manifest the idea of Mainly by Moonlight.

First someone had to write it. That would be me.

Then the first readers, that would be Dick and Karen Seymour, had to read it and gently—or not so gently—tell me what they did and, more importantly, didn’t like.

I fixed it, proofed it, and sent it to my amazing editor, Jessica Morrell, who picked apart the plot, and character and theme development, word usage etc. It was a bloody carcass when she sent it back, but The Mage Web Series is much, much, better because of her excellent work.

After I recovered from the shock of her edit, I rewrote the book and send it to my Beta reader—for Mainly by Moonlight, that was Mike Howard. His suggestions and critique, especially of the Alchemy Lab scene, were invaluable.

I did a quick rewrite and careful proof and sent it to my intrepid proof readers, Becky Mellinger and Johanna Norton. Their expertise saved me from looking like a fool many times over.

I emailed Ture Ekroos, a professional animator in Vancouver BC, and begged her to do another front cover for me. She accepted the job and after months of back and forth emails, arrived at this beautiful cover.

At the same time, I somehow talked Adam Forrest into doing the graphic design for the back cover and interior. Again, it’s beautiful.

My two sons, Todd and Ian, helped me with the web site and solved quite a few computer problems for me.

And then, my daughter-in-law, Esther Rmah Lavielle, and Jessica Morrell helped me figure out how to sell it—no small feat, trust me.

My friends,Yvonne and Marlen, helped put on this launch.

And Elisa, owner of Another Read Through provided this space to celebrate and to sell the book.

Elisa, owner of Another Read Through with me.

Thank you thank you thank you everyone!

Save the Date: January 4, 2018. Book Launch for Book 2 of the Mage Web Series!

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Uncategorized

Come Celebrate With Me!

Mainly by Moonlight will be available for purchase.

At Another  Read Through

3932 N Mississippi Ave, Portland, OR

January 4, 2018, 7-8 pm

Here’s the back cover blurb:

Murder and Magic Make Devastating Partners

Molly Adair is a warrior mage. Her parents are dead and she’s just moved to Portland, Oregon to live with her grandmother. She is so totally not looking forward to starting her junior year at Grant High School. She doesn’t know anyone and even if she did, she would have nothing in common with them. Things improve immensely when she discovers that Grant is the Mage Web’s magnet school for the United States’ West Coast. She begins making new friends, both mage and normal, and attending Tesseract Academy, the Mage Web’s school at the center of the circle of time.

But then, someone steals Flick, her sentient sword, from its pocket between the worlds and stabs her best friend through the heart.

And Molly is everyone’s prime suspect.

Only a powerful magic user could have stolen Flick. And because adept mages can jump through both time and space, alibis mean nothing.

Molly’s search for her friend’s killer reveals a dark and dangerous secret, forcing her to either find the murderer or become his next victim.

Samhain—It’s Not Just about the Ancestors

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Uncategorized, Wheel of the Year
Thank you, Pixabay

Yes, ’tis the season of “ghosties and ghoulies and long leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night!”* My favorite time of year. The veil between the worlds is thin and spirits walk close in the night. And this year the veil has been thinner than usual and for a much longer time.

True, some of thoseYes, ’tis the season of “ghosties and ghoulies and long leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night! spirits are our ancestors and well worth honoring, but most of them aren’t. So, as you are welcoming in your ancestors, it’s wise to make sure no unwanted spirits tag along.

Which brings me to Samhain’s other claim to fame. It’s the Celtic New Year. A time of fresh starts and new beginnings. And before we start fresh, it’s always a good idea to clean up our act on all the levels—physical, mental, and spiritual. That’s why New Year’s Days of every culture, no matter when they occur in the year, are times of brisk house cleaning. Witches don’t just parade around waving their brooms and riding them across the face of the moon. They use them to sweep dirt out of their homes, and while they’re at it, they use those same brooms, combined symbols of air and fire, to sweep out all the unwanted spirits and psychic cobwebs.

So this Samhain, practice a bit of psychic self defense. This is always an excellent practice, but it’s especially important at Samhain.

  • Sweep, dust, and clean around your living space in a roughly counter-clockwise direction.
  • As you are doing this, firmly tell all unwanted spirits and energies to leave–it doesn’t matter if you can’t see them. And have no fear, the vast majority of spirits and thought forms are no match for a determined resident. They will vacate.
  • Just to be sure they’re gone, walk counter-clockwise around your space banging a sauce pan with a spoon and shouting, “Begone!” Yes, I know it sounds silly, but it works. Spirits and negative thought forms hate loud noises.
  • Clean, refresh, and energize any protective crystals or guardians you’ve placed around your home.
  • Moving in a clockwise direction sprinkle some salt water around your space and follow it with some sweet-smelling incense—frankincense works well if you have it. As you are making the rounds, picture a circle forming and expanding into a dome of protective light around your living space.
  • Now you are ready to invite your ancestors in. But be sure to state that only friendly spirits may come in. Remember: no entity from the other worlds can enter your space unless you invite them.
  • When you’re done, thank the spirits that came to visit and tell them good-bye. Firmly.
  • Leave the circle up. It will continue to protect your home—just clear it out and give it some energy every once in awhile—full moons are a good time to do this.

Wishing You All a Spirited Samhain!

*From a traditional Scottish prayer.

Save the Date! Workshop and Book Signing at New Renaissance Bookshop

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Come if you can!

For the Workshop, the Book Signing, or just to say Hi!

New Renaissance Bookshop

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Workshop, 11am-1pm, Book Signing, 1pm

Cost: $20, the Book Signing is free: To Register, Call 503-224-4929

“How the Tarot Major Arcana Relate to Your Life”

The major arcana cards of a tarot deck tell the story of “The Hero’s Journey”, which is the basic plot of western literature and of each of our lives. Because we are all heros on our own journeys toward enlightenment. In this workshop we will follow one of the many variations of this plot through the major arcana and gain an understanding of the part each card plays in our own journey. Then I will teach you a three card spread that will show you where you are in your journey right now.

This workshop will also help you understand my young adult fantasy, Forging the Blade, at a deeper level. I wrote the book as a Fool’s journey through the major arcana. Each chapter is a major arcana card, and they go in order–beginning with Chapter 0, The Fool, and ending with Chapter 21, The World.

Please bring a pack of tarot cards, preferably a Rider-Waite-Smith deck or one like it, because that is the deck I’ll be using in the first part of the workshop.

FORGING THE BLADE is Now Available at New Renaissance Bookshop!!!

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When you are a self published author, and your book is available on Amazon, it is difficult to find a brick-and-mortar bookstore to carry your book.

But New Renaissance, in Portland, Oregon, now has Forging the Blade  on its shelves.

I know that some of you have been holding out for the opportunity to buy my book at a local bookstore, and now you can–and from one of my favorites.

Forging the Blade is now Available at Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR!

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Uncategorized

I love libraries.

To me they are sacred places. Legend has it that the ancient Library of Alexandria had a sign in its main room that said:

“The place for the cure of the soul.”*

And so I am thrilled that there are now four copies of Forging the Blade in the Multnomah County Library.

Since the sequel, Mainly by Moonlight, is set mostly at Grant High School in Portland, the library was kind enough to place one of the books in Albina Library and one in the Hollywood Library, the branches closest to Grant.

 *The Greek philosopher and historian, Hecataeus of Abdera, visited Egypt in the fourth century BC and reported that the library in the tomb of Rameses II had “The place for the cure of the soul” engraved on one of its walls. The modern historian, Luciano Cánfora, says that since the library in Rameses’ tomb was never found, it never existed, and, since the wall is located in his tomb, the soul referred to is the ka of Rameses and the place is the tomb. I like to think that the sentiment was found in both libraries and refers to the power of the written word, not a tomb.

The Crystal-Witch of Valparaiso, Chile

Posted C. LaVielle8 CommentsPosted in Chile, Gifts from the Multiverse

Valparaiso rises up out of its harbor into a bustling, modern port and skyscraper packed city and then up onto forty-five steep hills, each a maze of winding streets lined with colorful houses and post-colonial edifices.*

It’s filled with fabulous street art.

And street vendors are everywhere.

The best way to navigate the city is by taking the funiculars, steep railroads with two counterbalanced cars that go up and down the hills. Valparaiso has fifteen of them, nine of which actually work.

Funicular entrance
View from a funicular

Near the top of one of these funiculars we passed a woman sitting beside a table full of copper jewelry (Chile has huge copper mines). She was one of dozens of vendors that we’d walked by that day, but something made me stop and look at her work more closely. Most of the pieces were made from fine copper wire that had been crocheted into chains and settings for crystals. It was pretty stuff, but not any prettier that the other handmade jewelry I’d seen.

And then I felt a tingle. It was very slight. If I hadn’t been paying attention I would never have noticed it.

It was coming from the crystal pendants set in copper wire.

I scanned one, checking for energy radiating out from it. There is nothing mystical about this. With varying amounts of practice, anyone can do it. Just look at the crystal, or a person,or whatever your scanning,and tell yourself that you want to feel its aura. Then hold your hand three or four feet away from the object and move it slowly towards it. Stop when you feel a slight squishyness, or heat, or tingle—everyone feels something different. The distance from where your hand stopped to the object is the size of its aura. Most clean, happy crystals the size of the one I was scanning generate an aura that goes out about one or two feet.

I couldn’t find the beginning of this crystal’s aura, even after moving back two and then three steps. (Later, when I had enough space, I found that its aura extends out about thirty feet!) I was blown away.

“Did you charge this?” I asked.

“6000 pesos,**” she replied. Her English was excellent, but she’d misunderstood me.

“No, I mean, did you put any energy in them?”

“Oh yes!” she said with a grin that went around her face two times. “I put them out in the light of the full moon and filled them with

protection energy.”

She’d not only stuffed an amazing amount of power into the crystals but also spelled them for protection. My jaw dropped in awe.

“You can feel it?” she asked.

“Oh my gods, yes!!! You do excellent work. I’ll take this one,” I replied grinning right back at her.

She probably wouldn’t call herself a Witch, but I certainly would.

And it makes my heart sing to know that she exists in Valparaiso.

And that somewhere on one of its forty-five scenic hills

She is doing good, potent magic,

Quietly, with no oohs or ahs or fanfare,

Packing it into crystals and selling them to passers-by,

Who spread her magic far and wide.

Even as far as Portland, Oregon.

Full Moon in Valparaiso

*My husband and I recently visited our son and daughter-in-law who are driving around South America in their camper van.

**$9.00

The Water Dragon of Los Pozones Hot Springs, Chile

Posted C. LaVielle10 CommentsPosted in Chile

Chile’s Lake District feels a lot like the Pacific Northwest.* It’s green, rainy, full of trees and mountains and, of course, lakes. But when we looked a bit closer, we realized that those oh so familiar green slopes were covered not with Douglas Firs but with evergreen beeches, myrtles, and eucalyptus trees. And there were a few more volcanoes on the horizon than we were used to. And lots of hot springs.

Termas Los Pozones, my absolute favorite, lies nestled in the hills beside the Rio Liucura, just an hour’s drive from Pucon, a scenic resort town on the shores of Lake Villarrica.

Lola, Todd and Alex’s camper van, is not a rugged, all-terrain sort of vehicle, so we parked in the upper parking lot and walked down over a hundred river-rock stair steps.

There are six pools lined with river-rock. The hottest one is where the steps come down and they get cooler as you go downstream. I only tested three. The first one was hot. I could feel the hot water welling up through the gravel bottom. The other two went from warm to tepid. I spent all my time in the hot pool.

As I floated in the pool, feeling the hot water welling up through the gravel bottom and swirling around my body I gradually became aware of a large presence curling around me, flowing sinuously with the water. My eyes snapped open in alarm, but there was nothing there, and nobody else seemed at all disturbed. Then I “looked” with my other eyes and realized I was enfolded in the coils of an enormous dragon. He wasn’t quite as large and sturdy as the two dragons that live on the ridge beneath out house.** His body was thinner, daintier, and even more sinuous. And he had fins as well as fore and hind legs. I realized that I was in the embrace of a water dragon.

“Greetings!” he said, gazing fondly at me with luminous green twirling eyes. I stared at his mouthful of long, pointy teeth, paralyzed between fear and wonder and tried to think of something intelligent to say.

“Uh,” I said.

“Your friends stopped by and told me you were coming. They asked me to introduce myself and make you comfortable,” he said, spiraling gently around my body, making the water stream and pulse against my skin, and soothing away my tension and fear. “Your neck is tight.”

My neck has been tight for years, and my shoulders too. But they soon relaxed into happy Jell-O.

“You’ve been in here long enough. Get out, cool down, drink some water, and come back in. I will release your low back.”

The Rio Liucura

I got out, watched the river, and lined up my questions. I had no doubt that the “friends” that the water dragon was referring to were our dragons from home. They had done me a huge favor. Dragons are not social creatures and guard their territories fiercely.

Lowering myself slowly back into the pool, I floated in the dragons coils and asked, “Do these springs belong to you?”

“Of course, but I’m happy to share the waters with whoever needs them.” I “saw” water streaming through hundreds of crevices deep in the earth, through the dragon’s cave, sparkling with millions of mineral crystals, and up into the pools.

“Do you heal everyone who comes here?”

“The waters themselves are potent with minerals and earth magic, and are healing enough for most. But occasionally, I will do a healing.”

“Thank you,” I said as my lumbar vertebrae oozed into perfect alignment, “I’m honored.”

Realizing that I was in the coils of a master healer, I asked, “What’s the most important thing to know about healing?”

“Ah, you know that already. It’s all about the flow.”

Of course, a water dragon would say that. And of course, I knew that.”

Does anyone else know you’re here?”

“I don’t show myself to many, and most of those never notice. But that boy…” (I “saw” the eight-or-so-year-old boy with the cruelly curved spine that I’d noticed getting out of the warm pool) “…is a special friend of mine.” Tears came to my eyes as I remembered the huge grin on the boy’s face.

“Enough questions. Be still and enjoy.”

All I have to do is remember that amazing afternoon at Termas Los Pozones and my whole body relaxes and I smile.

Next time you visit a hot spring, check for a water dragon.

*My husband and I recently visited our son and daughter-in-law who are driving around South America in their camper van. They were in the Lake District, so that’s where we began our trip.

*Yes, two marvelous dragons, a red one and a white one, own the land around our house. Mostly they sleep coiled beneath us, but they also love to fly. They can be anywhere they’ve already been in the blink of an eye and often follow us when we travel. They absolutely loved roaring through the Paris subways. They were here when we moved into the house and I have no doubt that they’ll be here for centuries after we’re gone.

Fact and Fiction in Storytelling, or, How Do You Really Forge a Blade?

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Forging the Blade, Major arcana, Tarot, Writing, Young Adult Fantasy

If you want to tell a story that keeps your readers turning pages, you must convince them that perhaps it could be true. Or, at the very least, convince them to suspend their disbelief for the duration of the story. This won’t happen if they spot even small errors in your work. It breaks the spell and they stop reading–something writers strive to discourage–and say “Wait! That’s not right.” And even if they then continue to read, they will be suspicious of everything else you tell them.

Chiisakatna, by Michael Bell

In chapter 14, the Temperance chapter of Forging the Blade, the Damian goddess, Brigga, forges a magic sword for Molly, the main character. She uses Molly’s blood to bind her to the blade. As the sword is forged, Molly is also forged into a warrior. I figured that forging a blade would be a perfect metaphor for Temperance. This is a key chapter in the book, and to make it work, the reader must totally believe in the drama of a piece of steel and a teenage girl being forged into sentient, magical weapons. I needed to get the forging process exactly right.

The Internet couldn’t give me all the information I needed to write a believable chapter. It is an amazing tool for gathering bits and pieces and finding out where to get more, but it couldn’t tell me all the tiny, practical details of the process, or what a forge smells like, or how a furnace sounds, or how it feels to hammer a piece of steel into shape. It is always best to write what you know, and I didn’t know squat about forging a blade.

Coquille River in Spring

And so it came to pass, that in June of 2007 I drove down the Oregon Coast Highway to Coquille, Oregon, home of Michael Bell, master swordsmith of Dragonfly Forge. He had agreed to let me watch him forge a katana, which is a Japanese sword, and exactly the kind of weapon I wanted Molly to have.

The Bell family home and Dragonfly Forge are tucked up in the hills between Bandon and Coquille, Oregon. My first morning there I sat at their kitchen table, drinking tea in front of a wood-burning stove and listening while Michael described the difference between iron and steel and the changes a blade goes through during its forging—in other words, a crash course on metallurgy. Michael is a slender, soft-spoken man, not at all what you think of when you think of a blacksmith. He was also very patient with all my questions.* After he was satisfied that I had the basics down, we headed out to the small wooden outbuilding which is Dragonfly Forge. There was nothing fancy about it—dirt floors and well-used, simple equipment—but it exuded a comfortable symmetry. Every tool had its place, and I quickly learned that as soon as you were finished using it, it went back in that place.

Dragonfly Forge

Michael admits with no shame whatsoever that he cheats. Traditional swordsmiths use charcoal-fired furnaces and they do the rough shaping of the blade with hammers that are nearly as heavy as sledge hammers. His furnace is gas fired and he uses a trip hammer. He also uses electric grinding wheels.

Forge welding the cable length with a triphammer

Instead of folding and refolding the billet of steel before he starts shaping the blade, Michael starts with about a foot of steel cable. The cable is perfect, he says, because it’s made from the highest quality steel available; and, since it’s made of dozens of steel wires twisted into a spiral, he doesn’t have to do all the folding. I like the idea of using cable because the spiral is a potent symbol of life and living. As he shapes the length of cable into the sunobe, or rough sword shape, with the trip hammer the spirals of steel wire are forge welded together. If every weld is not perfect, the sword will be flawed and will probably break at the final quenching.

Steel cable length (above) which is forged into a “sunobe” (below)

 

The cable is twisted twice to bring out the patterns in the finished blade.

 

It took him until late afternoon to finish the sunobe.

End of the first day. Michael Bell with completed “sunobe”. Notice the triphammer, furnace, and anvil.

 

The second day Michael did more shaping. First he cut and hammered out the point. Then he hammered in the three planes of the blade.

“katana” cross section

Two planes, called the Mune, form the top or ridge of the blade, the Shingogi-ji form the sides of the blade, and the Ji form the cutting edge.

Steel is very hard. I know that’s like saying the Grand Canyon is very big, but I didn’t really appreciate how hard it is until I started banging on hot (translate: softened) steel with a three pound hammer. My first enthusiastic blow made a tiny, crescent shaped dent. The master swordsmith pointed out that it did that because I’d hit the steel with the edge of the hammer, not the flat pounding surface. Dents are a no-no. Forging those planes took Michael almost a full day of hammering. I was tired after about ten minutes. When he was finished, the blade looked like a dull, blurry version of a finished katana. He heated the whole blade up to yellow heat and let it cool slowly by the furnace. This process is called tempering. It relaxes the metal and makes it uniform throughout the entire length of the blade.

Forging the “sunobe” into three planes.

The third day was for grinding and fine shaping.

Grinding
More grinding
Close-up of the blade. Even without polishing, the patterns in the steel are already visible.

When he was satisfied that the blade was perfect, Michael applied the clay in a very specific pattern and let it dry thoroughly. When the sword is heated to yellow hot and quenched in water the clay slows down the cooling. The thicker the clay layer, the slower the cooling. The steel that cools slowly doesn’t develop the large martensite crystals that make the blade brittle enough to hold an edge. It is still strong, but more flexible. The lines of clay that are perpendicular to the cutting edge make stripes of softer steel that act like the discs between our vertebrae. This last step is what allows a katana to hold a strong, razor sharp edge, yet be flexible enough to withstand the strikes of another blade and the forces of cutting through armor, rifle barrels, and torsos.

Applying the clay

The final day was for drama. The quenching of a Japanese blade does three things:
 It finds the flaws. If the forge welding isn’t perfect or if the architecture of the blade isn’t quite right the temperature extremes will cause the blade to shatter or crack or warp.
 It transforms the plain, brittle steel of the blade into a miracle blend of steels so strong and flexible that it can cut through iron or nearly anything else you throw at it.
 It accentuates the sweet arc that makes Japanese swords look like they’re ready to float out of your hands.
 It ensouls the blade and it becomes some a living entity. Really. Ask any Japanese swordsmith.

Michael’s son, Gabriel, who is also a swordsmith, came out to watch. We fired up the furnace, which soon began to roar in an earnest, breathy sort of way. When it was up to heat we closed the shutters on the forge windows and Michael began to pass the blade rhythmically through the hottest part of the flames, heating it evenly throughout its entire length. The darkened forge reached sauna temperatures, and we watched, mesmerized, as the blade glowed cherry red, then orange, then yellow. When he was satisfied with the color, Michael pulled his creation from the flames and thrust it into a trough of cold river-water, which hissed explosively. The forge went silent, and we stood in awe as the master swordsmith lifted a perfect blade from the water and another being joined us in the forge. The katana had survived its ordeal of fire, brutal blows, and water, becoming strong and beautiful and alive.

This was an even better analogy to the Temperance key than I had imagined. As far as I’m concerned, truth wins out over fiction every time. As storytellers, we should use it whenever possible. The rest of the time we can only strive for a good imitation.

*Any errors or omissions are mine alone. Michael Bell, of course, knows exactly how to forge a katana.