All The Better Part Of Me - A New Release from Molly Ringle.

There's always cause for celebration whenever Central Avenue Publishing launches a new novel from Seattle based author Molly Ringle. This is especially true for Molly's latest offering "All The Better Part Of Me" that is due to hit stands on September 3. I had the opportunity to participate as a beta reader on an early draft of this outstanding new novel and I'm so pleased to see it come to life in its final form.

What's it all about? 

It's an inconvenient time for Sinter Blackwell to realize he's bisexual. He's a 25-year-old American actor working in London, living far away from his disapproving parents in the Pacific Northwest, and enjoying a flirtation with his director Fiona. But he can't deny that his favorite parts of each day are the messages from his gay best friend Andy in Seattle—whom Sinter once kissed when they were 15. Finally he decides to return to America to visit Andy and discover what's between them, if anything. He isn't seeking love, and definitely doesn't want drama. But both love and drama seem determined to find him. Family complications soon force him into the most consequential decisions of his life, threatening all his most important relationships: with Andy, Fiona, his parents, and everyone else who's counting on him. Choosing the right role to play has never been harder.

Who is Molly Ringle?

Molly Ringle was one of the quiet, weird kids in school, and is now one of the quiet, weird writers of the world. She likes thinking up innovative romantic obstacles and mixing them with topics like Greek mythology, ghost stories, fairy tales, or regular-world scandalous gossip. With her intense devotion to humor, she was proud to win the grand prize in the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with one (intentionally) terrible sentence. She's into mild rainy climates, gardens, '80s new wave music, chocolate, tea, and perfume (or really anything that smells good). She has lived in the Pacific Northwest most of her life, aside from grad school in California and one work-abroad season in Edinburgh in the 1990s. (She's also really into the U.K., though has a love/stress relationship with travel.) She currently lives in Seattle with her husband, kids, corgi, guinea pigs, and a lot of moss.

My take...

Stylistically, this new novel is signature Molly Ringle, from its smart dialogue to its grounded and recognizable characters and its rich and evocative Pacific North West setting - honestly, why Molly has never been tapped to write for a Gilmore Girls-esque TV series is beyond me. Where "All The Better Part Of Me" represents a departure for Ringle is in its handling of a Male to Male relationship - one that is sensitive, deep and enriching, both for the story and for the reader.

During my beta read, Molly and I had a back and forth during which we remarked on how similar the experience of writing outside our familiar cultural sand box was for us both. I recall Molly fretting at times about whether she was unfairly appropriating a narrative in portraying a gay relationship from a heterosexual perspective - in much the same way as I worried about writing an Aboriginal story from a non Aboriginal perspective with "Gifts of the Peramangk". 

Molly's approach to the central relationship between Sinter and Andy has been handled with such a deft hand that you soon lose yourself in their love story, forgetting any baggage that may or may not come with the genre. As I have often said of Molly Ringle - she is an astute observer of the human condition and, as a storyteller, she is able to tap into something universal, no matter what genre she is writing within. All The Better Part Of Me brings together everything that makes Molly Ringle's writing so appealing and then goes further, exploring love and family and the politics of love and family in a smart, engrossing tome that will leave you heartily satisfied.

Pre-Order Purchase Links: 

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Book Depository

Indiebound

Kobo

Audiobook 

Where Molly Ringle Can Be Found:

Amazon

Blog: Mirrored here and here 

Facebook

Goodreads

DFA.

Spring Comes To Those Immortal - A Look At Immortal's Spring by Molly Ringle.

Immortal's Spring by Molly Ringle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sophie Darrow said yes once to a young man offering a realm of Greek gods and immortality. Now her home has been shattered, and her friends and family pulled along with her as they run from an evil cult and take shelter in the gloomy Underworld. But remembering the life of the original immortals long ago--Persephone, Hades, Hekate, Hermes, and more--may be their key to victory, as well as happiness. 

In ancient times too, the murderous cult Thanatos attacked and destroyed nearly all the Greek immortals who sought to bring good to humankind. But those immortals planted seeds in both their realm and ours to ensure their season would someday bloom again. And spring is finally coming.

I have been on board with Molly Ringle's The Chrysomelia Stories since Book One - Persephone's Orchard and I was given the opportunity to read a draft of the final entry - Immortal's Spring last year. In preparing my review, I returned to it this month when I was given a final copy of the novel.

(image credit: Molly Ringle).

It is no small thing for me to say that Molly Ringle's works rank among my favourite hands down. As a writer myself, I take a sort stylistic inspiration from her - specifically in her construction of characters. Ringle is an astute observationalist, able to imbue her creations with unparalleled realism and presence, such that you find yourself quickly empathizing with their journey and becoming invested with them. Throughout The Chrysomelia Stories, I have come to care a great deal about the likes of Sophie Darrow, her paramour Adrian, her brother Liam and the extended cast of characters who carry the load of dual identities - both here in the modern day world and the parallel world of Ancient Greece - where each of them assume the roles of classic figures from that culture's rich mythology.

Looking at Immortal's Spring in isolation, it is undoubtedly the most compelling in the series, and I say this only because it carries the responsibility that is common to all third acts, it has to address and resolve the cliff hanger Ringle left for us at the conclusion of Book 2 (Underworld's Daughter) whilst maintaining the sense of tension and real urgency as it progresses towards the finale. Ringle's narrative crackles with energy, sensuality and excitement. Her investment in and portrayal of the cast elicits a real emotional response in the reader and that is where the genius of this series lies.

I have such an appreciation for Greek mythology as a result of journeying through the Chrysomelia Stories. Throughout my reading of these books, I have constantly cross referenced Greek mythos with Ringle's storytelling just so I can appreciate the true genius of what she has wrought.

Molly Ringle is an equal to Rowling, to Riordan, to DiTerlizzi and Black. Immortal's Spring specifically and The Chrysomelia Stories more broadly are a modern day epic that everyone should know about.

Immortal's Spring is out everywhere on June 1st 2016.

Molly Ringle has been writing fiction for over twenty years. She grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and lives in Seattle with her husband and children. Her studies include a bachelor of arts in anthropology and a master of arts in linguistics. She also loves folklore and mythology, and this has been the impetus for her epic series of stories couched in Greek myths. When not writing, she can often be found experimenting with fragrances, chocolate, and gardening.

Pre-order Immortal's Spring here, here and here. 

Visit Molly Ringle here.

Facebook with Molly here.

Tweet with Molly here.

View all my GR reviews

DFA.

Guest Post: Because Magic - Why I Write Fantasy & Paranormal by Molly Ringle.

This week, I'm pleased to welcome back to Dean from Australia, my Central Avenue Publishing stable mate and dear friend Molly Ringle. The next few months are gearing up to be exciting ones for us both as we prepare for the release of our respective titles. Molly's, in particular, promises to be epic as she concludes her genre bending trilogy under her Chrysomelia Stories banner with "Immortal's Spring". I've had the pleasure of following this re-imagining of Greek Mythology from the beginning and I'm excited for readers and fans to be able to get their hands on the final instalment.

So, without further ado, I'll hand you over to Molly.

DFA.

Seattle based author, Molly Ringle (image credit: Molly Ringle). 

Having just spent the better part of four years writing and editing a trilogy based on Greek mythology (Persephone’s Orchard, Underworld’s Daughter, and the upcoming Immortal’s Spring), I’ve had plenty of time to ponder why I choose subjects like gods, immortality, magic fruits, and flying ghost horses. In the world around us, there are so many complex issues and fascinating places I could write about. So why do I often forgo those in favor of writing about something that doesn’t exist? In short, why do I write fantasy? 

Books 1 and 2 of the Chrysomelia Stories by Molly Ringle (image credit: Molly Ringle).

Why does any fantasy writer do so, for that matter? I can’t speak for all of them. George R.R. Martin probably has reasons different from those of J.K. Rowling, and I bet Tolkien came at the subject differently than Madeleine L’Engle, and maybe what I say here wouldn’t hold true for any of them.

My first answer is, however, probably one of the things almost every fiction writer would say: I like to create a world where I control everything. I work through the confusions of real life by manipulating the lives of characters in meticulous detail. Sometimes I write about the so-called real world too—that is, events that we all agree could potentially happen, even though they didn’t. But other times I take my imaginary world further, into things that couldn’t happen, into fantasy and magic. Now what good does that do me?

I suppose part of it is that the restrictions of real life frustrate me—along with everyone else on Earth—on a daily basis. Why can’t we heal people instantly? Why can’t we shape-shift? Why can’t we manipulate forces of nature? Why can’t we see and talk to ghosts? Having wishes that transcend the possible is one of the poignant charms of humanity. Our species’ oldest-known stories—myths and folklore—are full of exactly those types of wildly creative scenarios. Every culture around the globe has nurtured stories like these for millennia. When I look at it anthropologically like that, I feel that by writing fantasy I’m being deeply traditional, rather than shallow, fanciful, or trendy. Fantasy has serious street cred, if dominance of the literary record counts for anything (and I’d say it should).

Writing about magic also introduces both interesting problems for the characters and unusual solutions to them. In some ways it makes things harder for me as a writer, because if we have magic at our disposal, why can’t that just fix everything? You have to come up with rules and restrictions on your magical system, and stick to them, or readers will rise up in revolt and (rightly) cry, “Unfair!” The magic should never be too easy. Easy magic that fixes everything with no cost might be a lovely daydream, but it lacks the tension and drama needed for a good plot. (As the characters on “Once Upon a Time” like to tell us approximately every fifteen minutes, “All magic comes with a price.”) (Ideally you’d add, “Dearie,” in Robert Carlyle’s delectable Scottish accent.)

However, the rules, restrictions, price, and effects of magic get to be completely zany. That’s the fun of it. Yes, this character can turn into a wolf, but never a bat or anything else; that’s just the rule. Yes, you can reverse this evil spell, but only if you accomplish these three bizarre tasks before sunrise. Sorry, but those are the conditions. Yes, you can enter and leave the supernatural realm safely, as long as you don’t eat or drink anything while you’re there, because then you’d be bound to it. Them’s the rules! 

You’ve read fairy tales; you know this is how it always goes. The magic is dreamlike in its nonsense logic, but that’s kind of why we love it. Maybe it works for us because real life doesn’t actually make very good sense either, if we’re honest, so why not turn fully surreal and flex some imagination while we’re at it? 

And, of course, I love the crazy places a fantasy setup can take us. Without giving too much away, I’ll say that there’s a twist at the end of Immortal’s Spring that’s the sort of outlandish plot device I can probably only use once in my whole career, and it can only happen because of the magic involved, and I love it. (Readers might love it too, or might just think it’s insane; we shall see!) 

I will surely sometimes take a break from these magical challenges and settle back into a novel about the real world, as I’ve done before, where I can rely on the ordinary limitations of humankind and the laws of physics. That’s comforting too, when my mind tires of the acrobatics that fantasy plots call for. But other times, as in the Persephone’s Orchard trilogy, I love slipping into the dream world and getting to explain away wondrous happenings with the excuse, “Because magic.”  

Book 3 of the Chrysomelia Stories - Coming June 2016 (image credit: Molly Ringle).

- - -

Molly Ringle is the author of the Greek mythology fantasy series that begins with Persephone’s Orchard and continues in Underworld’s Daughter. The final book, Immortal’s Spring, comes out in June 2016. She has also written ghost stories in The Ghost Downstairs and Of Ghosts and Geeks—and, to some degree, in What Scotland Taught Me. She stays within the bounds of reality (though still fiction) in her romance novel Summer Term and her dark romantic comedy Relatively Honest. She lives in Seattle with her family, is happy when it’s cool and cloudy, and gets giddy about fandom, things that smell good, and gorgeous photos of gardens.

Pre-order Immortal's Spring here.

Visit Molly Ringle here.

Molly Ringle on Goodreads here.

Tweet with Molly Ringle here.

The Slowest Curve/Adena Atkins - There Need Be No Other Title.

I love it when I discover music that has been crafted rather than simply produced. Music as an art form has long been underestimated. This is especially true today when you consider the kind of music that occupies the mainstream. It is bereft of artistry. It resembles an item in an Ikea catalog. It is soulless. 

So when you find examples of music that have been sculpted with real care and honesty, they become something to treasure - something as tactile and tangible as art on a canvas, in a piece of clay, or a surface metal. They live and breath.

Seattle based singer/song writer Adena Atkins is a discovery I made this past week that proves my maxim that there is definitely artistry in music and, in her own music, there is much to experience on many levels. It involves all the senses.


I have arrived at Adena Atkins music through her début EP, The Slowest Curve. It is a recording that, I'll admit, caught me off guard and it took me a couple of listens to get my head around what it was I was listening to. But, right from the opening refrains of the first track, there was a tangible "something" that hooked me and before too long, I was addicted.

I'm gonna toss another of my esoteric side notes in here and say that I was reminded, a little, of David Gilmour's pairing with British Trance outfit The Orb for the 2011 Metallic Spheres album. Both compositions are highly experimental in their execution and dance with a thematic under-current to drive the music forward. 


On The Slowest Curve, Atkins and her producer partner, Jay Pinto, craft - from the ground up - four tracks which have the thematics of the four seasons at their centre. Each track is set in front of a window in the morning and the listener is invited to "see" what the artist sees through the glass. Atkins describes parallels with the impressionist work of painter Claude Monet, whose repetitive compositions highlighted variety in light and colour.

Appropriately, the album begins with a track entitled "Glass" and it immediately challenges the listener with an off-beat signature, reminiscent of Phil Collins "In The Air Tonight". There is a sensuality within the track as it depicts the voice of two lovers during the autumn. It speaks of trepidation, of fragility, of wanting to surrender yet hesitating - akin to the leaves falling from the tree. "End Of Story" moves into a darker, more cynical phase as winter descends upon the lovers and we observe conflict within them - a disconnect. It is deceptive here because the music itself has seductive energy to it. Transitioning into spring, "April Rain", is a subtly uplifting piece as the darkness of  the winter dissipates. It hints at the passing of a significant amount of time between the lovers, yet there is a sense of rediscovery in each other. Rounding out the recording is "Hot Gray Morning" and here we find the voice is singular now, reflective as she sits by a Boston window - looking out and reflecting on having left her home. The song has a languid, gospel feel to it. As the listener, you drift on its back and it concludes quietly, with warmth and absolution.

In all of Atkins tracks, there is no lyrical repetition. Atkins herself explains that they follow a poetic structure, showing concern for small particulars such as mallow, stained glass, pigeons, and creeks. These might seem overly random and of little consequence within the wider context of the pieces, but they are in fact, essential ingredients. Nothing is added, either lyrically or musically, that should not be there.

At the core of the artist is her exquisite voice which Atkins has honed over many years of performance. Her approach to song is from the discipline of soprano but Atkins has extended herself immensely, taking her voice farther and in varied directions from classical and opera,  to jazz, atmospheric and even pop. Thus, she can occupy different aural spaces, centering her vocals there and owning that space effortlessly. 

As a song writer, Atkins takes her astute skill of observation and constructs lyrical poetry with song in mind, but the lyrics stand on their own terms as a beautiful language that are at home on the page without music as they are within the music she weaves for them. 


Musically, Atkins is at home with experimentation, infusing her sound with heavy keyboards, digital percussion a la Peter Gabriel and a side of bass. She pairs these traditional elements with a variety of other sounds - both organic and inorganic - including a hurdy-gurdy, typewriter, running water, bassoon, a creaking boat, bells, vocoder, a string quartet, and even a gong. In isolation, they are abstract and, seemingly, without meaning. As part of Atkins whole - they are everything.


Adena Atkins has entered my catalogue and now occupies a special place where atmosphere and feeling within music run freeely. She has challenged me to appreciate a truly artisan style of music and she has captured me. 


I surrender willingly.


DFA.


Visit Adena and Purchase Her Music here

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