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Dayle Loves This: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (book/series)

This post was funded by my wonderful supporters at Patreon.

Welcome to Dayle Loves This, wherein I recommend books, TV, and movies (and maybe other things) that rocked my world.

If they don’t rock your world, that’s okay. We all have reader/watcher cookies as well as triggers. If you have questions, go ahead and ask. And please make your own suggestions, and discuss!

Almost every holiday season, I feel the urge to read mythic fiction, which is described as “rooted in myth, folklore, legend, and fairy tales.” The word “rooted” feels particularly apt, because when I read mythic fiction books, I feel drawn to the earth, to the imbued truths that speak to my core. The collective unconscious. The books themselves may be set in modern times, but are firmly attached to these universal magic.

(I’m drawn to British-based mythic fiction, but there are books that touch on a variety of other places’ stories. Wikipedia has a beginning list.)

Particularly, I almost always reread the novel The Dark is Rising. It’s set at the winter Solstice in the Thames Valley during an unprecedented snowfall, it and resonates within me no matter where I am or what the weather’s like. I’m there. It drags me down into a deep magic I can’t begin to explain.

When the Dark comes rising, six shall turn it back;
Three from the circle, three from the track;
Wood, bronze, iron;
Water, fire, stone;
Five will return and one go alone.

Iron for the birthday, bronze carried long;
Wood from the burning, stone out of sound;
Fire in the candle-ring, water from the thaw;
Six signs the circle, and the grail gone before.

Fire on the mountain shall find the harp of gold.
Played to wake the sleepers, oldest of the old;
Power from the green witch, lost beneath the sea;
All shall find the light at last, silver on the tree.

This poem, which encompasses the five-book series also called The Dark is Rising (TDIR novel is the second in the sequence), stops me in my tracks and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and brings tears to my eyes. Again, it’s a feeling so deeply entrenched in me that I can’t find words for it.

I’m not saying everyone will have the same reaction. I hope you do, though, because it’s…well, magical.

The novel, which was a Newberry Honor Book, tells the story of Will Stanton, who on his eleventh birthday learns that as a seventh son of a seventh son, he has a major part to play in the war between Light and Dark. He’s guided by someone I don’t want to spoil for you, and meets others I don’t want to spoil for you.

The Dark is Rising can be read on its own. There’s no need to read the first book in the sequence, Under Sea, Over Stone, which is directed at a younger audience than the rest of the book. But if you want to read all of the books, start with that one, because it introduces key characters.

Dayle Loves This, even as she fumbles and fails to accurately describe how it makes her feel. She hopes you tap into the magic, too.

[And if you want more mythic fiction recommendations, let me know! xo]


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I’m able to continue writing and publishing thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

So many holiday stories for you!

Whether you’re in cold and rain (here in OR), or under snow (I hear you, friends in MN!), or dealing with heat (CA, Australia…), maybe you crave holiday stories. Not just Christmas stories, but Thanksgiving and Hannukah and Solstice and more; not just plain holiday stories, but ones that intertwine with crime or romance or fantasy and magic.

I certainly do.

Plus, short stories don’t take a lot of time to read. On your phone while you’re standing in line at the Post Office or the grocery story. While you’re waiting for the oven to preheat. A few stolen minutes before you fall asleep.

Hopefully dreaming of dancing sugarplums (whatever they are).

If you’re like me, then let me tell you about a wonderful Storybundle of eleven holiday collections—which comes out to a whopping seventy-two stories.

For $5, you get four ebooks; for $15 or more, you get all eleven.

You can also donate to a special charity, AbleGamers: “Creating opportunities that enable play in order to combat social isolation, foster inclusive communities, and improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.” This is so important during the pandemic shutdown, and especially during the holidays.

My collection, Winter Wonderlands: Ten Tales of Holiday Magic is only available through this project. I’ll probably put it up for sale next holiday season, but that’s eons away.

But hurry: this Storybundle vanishes like Santa at the end of December!

For more information and to purchase this amazing deal, check out Storybundle.

If that’s not enough holiday cheer for you (is there ever enough?!), then check out the WMG Holiday Spectacular. It’s an advent calendar of stories, one appearing in your In Box every day from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.

Yes, I know it’s the middle of December already! It doesn’t matter. If you subscribe between now and December 27, you’ll get an email of every story you missed. If you wait until after December 27, you’ll get the email on January 3 (but what’s the point of reading all the stories after the holidays?).

Either way, you’ll also receive The Holiday Spectacular #3 ebook compilation, which includes all thirty-eight stories and introductions, in July 2022.

In this advent calendar of stories, I have a sweet Solstice romance set in Wales. I have no idea on which day it’ll appear…but that’s part of the fun!

WMG Holiday Spectacular

(Hint: Both of these make great last-minute holiday gifts for the readers on your list.)

She was indeed a beautiful girl, our Bonny Lass

On Halloween, we said our tearful goodbyes to our sweet Bonny Lass.

We knew when we adopted her that she had cancer, and a recurring one. She had a life expectancy of two more years. She’d had one surgery so far, and went through four with us. The last one, she didn’t recover as quickly from, and we decided that was it, plus the cancer was growing underneath the muscle, a much more invasive surgery.

We adopted her and her bonded pal, Hamish, in February 2019, after Ken finished chemo but before surgery to clean out the rest of his tumors. We’d seen the cats on the shelter’s website, but didn’t know about Bonny’s cancer until we met her. It seemed like a sign. She needed a loving home to live out the rest of her days, and that was something we could give her.

She was never a lap cat, our sweet bonny girl, but she loved being next to you and getting scritchies. Sometimes she made biscuits with all four paws, she was so happy. If you stopped, after a few moments you’d feel a gentle touch on your arm, and look over to see her sea-glass-green eyes wide and questioning. Excuse me, I’d like more scritchies, please. And we could never deny her.

She lasted seven months longer than the expected two years, and we were grateful for every day. Even when the horrible tumor was so large it made me sick, she didn’t seem to care. She ran back and forth at meal times in anticipation of food, jumped up on chairs and my desk, and in her few months thought the back of my reclining writing chair was the best place to perch.

Then on Halloween night, she didn’t eat her supper, and when I went to check on her, she was breathing heavily.

I always promise my cats that when they’re too tired or too much in pain to go on, to tell me. That I didn’t want to say goodbye, but I would because that was what they needed, and they’d always, always live in my heart.

She had that look in her sea-glass-green eyes.

And so we let her go, and she’s now free of cancer and frolicking and making happy biscuits with all four paws. No matter how much it hurts—saying goodbye to her, missing her her peeps and purrs—that makes me smile through my tears.

Bonny Lass
Feb 2011 – Oct 31, 2021

Dayle Loves This: Practical Magic (movie)

This post was funded by my wonderful supporters at Patreon.

Welcome to Dayle Loves This, wherein I recommend books, TV, and movies (and maybe other things) that rocked my world.

If they don’t rock your world, that’s okay. We all have reader/watcher cookies as well as triggers. If you have questions, go ahead and ask. And please make your own suggestions, and discuss!

I don’t know about you, but I have comfort movies and books and TV shows that I rewatch/reread regularly, often at certain times of the year. For example, I love mythic fiction in the darkest days of winter.
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I don’t necessarily watch the same movie every year at the same time, because that would end up feeling more like checking off something on a to-do list. (Although goodness knows, I fucking love crossing items off to-do lists. Yes, I’m one of those people who will do something and write it down just so I can cross it off.) Plus every year is different; I might be busier, or away from home, or whatever.
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All that said, Practical Magic is my October movie.
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I remember when I saw it in the theatre, where I was and who I was with (visiting my bestie in Virginia). I still get weepy during the same scene near the end. I’ve read the book, which added some helpful details, but the movie is my jam, a million times over. I remember buying the soundtrack, and how every song evoked a moment, a scene, an emotion—and still does.
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It’s about two women—Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, both utterly luminous—who grew up under the care of their aunts—Stockard Channing (embodying everything I want to be) and Dianne Wiest—all of whom are witches. The house they live in is beyond glorious. (The exterior was built for the movie and then torn down, which shatters me. I would be happy just living on the porch.)
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Gillian (Kidman) can’t wait to escape the small island she’s been raised on. Sally (Bullock) loves it, and falls in love…only to hear the death beetle beneath her floorboards. She and her daughters move in with the aunts, proclaiming things will be different.
They are, and they aren’t. Gillian comes back to save her, but then Sally has to save Gillian.
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There’s romance, yes, but the movie is primarily about women’s relationships with and love for each other. It’s about sisterhood, both by blood and by heart. It’s about grief and healing and living again, made possible by the love and sisterhood. It’s about prejudice, love, magic, darkness and light, prophecy both positive and negative.
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Some people are magic.
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All people are magic.
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Dayle’s heart needs this Practical Magic almost every year, and she hopes your heart is also taken with it.

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I’m able to continue writing and publishing thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

New Story: Left Behind, She Waited

Available Now

Left Behind, She Waited

When petty criminals Angela and Mike stumble across an abandoned coal mining facility in a Tennessee forest, they plan to stay for the night.

The next morning, Angela finds Mike and all their possessions gone.

And she learns why the mining company closed its doors, and what haunts its halls….

Eerie and unique, “Left Behind, She Waited” will give you chills and make you think twice about redemption.

“Left Behind, She Waited” originally appeared in Unexpected Heroines (Kydala Publishing, 2020).

Buy Now

Recent and Upcoming Publications

Available Now

Janelle’s grandfather is a broken man. Smart and caring, he still contains a sadness that never goes away—just like the permanent limp he won’t discuss.

The limp he got in the South in the 1960s, when being a Black man falsely accused of a crime meant terrible things.

Then Janelle gets a wild, impossible chance to help her grandfather and right the injustice….

“Bringing Light to Darkness” originally appeared in Obsessions: An Anthology of Original Fiction, 2020.

Buy


Available for Preorder

When petty criminals Angela and Mike stumble across an abandoned coal mining facility in a Tennessee forest, they plan to stay for the night.

The next morning, Angela finds Mike and all their possessions gone.

And she learns why the mining company closed its doors, and what haunts its halls….

Eerie and unique, “Left Behind, She Waited” will give you chills and make you think twice about redemption.

“Left Behind, She Waited” originally appeared in Unexpected Heroines (Kydala Publishing, 2020).

Preorder


Want to chat about this post? Join me on Facebook or Twitter.

I’m able to continue writing and publishing thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

Dayle Loves This: Kill the Boy Band (novel)

This post was funded by my wonderful supporters at Patreon.

Welcome to Dayle Loves This, wherein I recommend books, TV, and movies (and maybe other things) that rocked my world.

If they don’t rock your world, that’s okay. We all have reader/watcher cookies as well as triggers. If you have questions, go ahead and ask. And please make your own suggestions, and discuss!

The friend who recommended Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky to me did so hesitantly. She thought I’d like it, but there was also a chance I’d be deeply offended by it.
I love it. It’s a book both about how loving a band can bring friends together, and a book about how teenage fandom is seriously unhinged. (Given that I’m an über-fan of Styx, I can see why my friend worried about recommending it to me.) The book is also incredibly funny.
I remember when I first read it: Ken was asleep and I was reading in bed beside him, shaking silently, trying desperately to not let out howls of laughter.
The boy band in question is an English quartet called the Ruperts…because they all have the first name of Rupert. They came together because of a show called So You Think the British Don’t Have Talent? If that doesn’t make you laugh, this may not be the book for you.
Our heroine—I’m not sure if her real name is ever mentioned because the book is in first person and whenever she’s asked, she uses the names of 1980s movie teen characters*—and three other teens finagle their way into booking a room at the same hotel where the Ruperts will be staying in NYC. They’re each a fan of a different Rupert.
The book starts in their room, where they have one of the Ruperts tied up with stockings in a chair. They’ve kidnapped a Rupert.
How that happens is howlingly funny, but I don’t want to give too much away.
But I will say that when our heroine meets her idol, she says, My face at the moment was the Heart Eyes emoji.
What really works is that the author understands fandom. When confronted as to why she loves the Ruperts, our heroine ponders whether it’s the music (catchy, mindless pop), the fact that they’re hot, for who they are, “…but mostly I love them for how they made me feel. Which was happy.”
Later, she thinks:
Other people may have seen fangirls as crazy teenage girls obsessed with a fad, but they couldn’t understand the small but important joy you get from indulging in these fandoms. They didn’t understand that a new gif of Rupert K. grinning at you could be the difference between a crap day and a beautiful day. They didn’t get the friendships that formed, the community of people who shared in your same joy. Maybe it was obsession, but it was also happiness; an escape from the suckiness of everyday life. And when you find something that makes you happy and giddy and excited every day, us fangirls know a truth that everyone else seems to have forgotten: You hold on to that joy tenaciously, for as long as you can. Because it’s rare to get excited about anything these days. Ask your parents.
Did I choke up when I read that?
Hells yeah.
Kill the Boy Band is a page-turner of a book, funny and dark and layered. The ending is…it could give you any manner of feels. I don’t want to influence that.
Still, Dayle suggests that if you’re a hardcore fan of anything, this is a book for you.
*Lydia Deetz, Sloane Peterson, Samantha Baker, etc.

Want to chat about this post? Join me on Facebook or Twitter.

I’m able to continue writing and publishing thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

Dayle Loves This: Dark (TV series)

This post was funded by my wonderful supporters at Patreon.

Welcome to Dayle Loves This, wherein I recommend books, TV, and movies (and maybe other things) that rocked my world.

If they don’t rock your world, that’s okay. We all have reader/watcher cookies as well as triggers. If you have questions, go ahead and ask. And please make your own suggestions, and discuss!


We live in a time of bounty when it comes to visual media. I remember the days of three TV channels (four if you could get PBS on UHF or something), and you had to watch it when it aired and run to the bathroom or get snacks during commercials. I know I ended up watching a fair amount of dreck just because it was the only thing on—especially if it had a SF or fantasy element, which was by comparison rare in the 1970s and 1980s. (I’m looking at you, Manimal.)

One of the things I love even more now is the ability to watch TV and movies from around the globe. Netflix in particular has partnered with a number of countries for their content, and it’s a refreshing change.

Much of our television offerings, especially that on regular ol’ cable, is kind of dumbed down. Did you miss it when the camera lingered on a clue to make it super-obvious it was important? Well, let’s show you again. Whereas the foreign shows are more likely to assume you caught it, you remember it, and if you don’t, you will when the mystery is revealed.

Or, just, it’s assumed you’re following along and noticing details.

With Dark, an amazing show from Germany, there’s a cave. I’m not really giving away spoilers to say the show deals with time travel, as that becomes obvious very early on. What they do is have different things outside the cave at different times. That old beat-up sofa? Boom, we know what time we’re in. We don’t need a year splashed across the screen in big letters.

But that’s not the only reason Dark is amazing.

It’s hard to say much about it without giving too much away. Set in a somewhat remote town surrounded by forest, the show starts in the current time when a nuclear power plant that started in the 1980s is being decommissioned. Is the power plant responsible for the strange things that are happening? Is someone their own grandpa? Is there a wide cast of characters each with their own strong backstories and problems and motivations? Will there be women’s power suits from the 1980s? Does anyone really know what time it is?

The show is dark (hence the name) and a bit creepy, but it’s not horror, and the few truly awful moments are there for a reason, not gratuitous (and no real gore that I recall).

I watched the first couple of episodes, realized Ken would like it, and then we watched the first season together. When the second season came out, we roped our lodger into watching the first season with us, and then we all were glued to the TV for the second and third seasons.

Two important notes:

1.  IMO, the best way to watch this is in German, with English subtitles. Ken and I watched the first season dubbed into English, and it was kind of awful. The voiceover actors were flat, with little inflection, and they all sounded alike—which made it really hard to remember who was who. I’ve read reviews from people who preferred it that way, but having watched it both ways, I strongly suggest the subtitles.

2.  When rewatching the first season, I found a website with a flow chart of all the characters, which helped immensely. The particular site I found had two for the first season: one with spoilers and one without. Obviously, use the non-spoiler one if you’re watching this for the first time. (Because I was rewatching it, I used the spoiler one and picked up some stuff I’d missed the first time around. Hell, just watch it twice like we did! It’s worth it!)

Dark is on Netflix, and Dayle says if you like time travel and weirdness and shows that make you think, you should check it out.


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I’m able to continue writing and publishing thanks to my wonderful supporters on Patreon.

New Story: Girl With a Mission

Available Now

Girl With a Mission

Brittani Menchin, decidedly not popular high school student, gained a reputation when she rescued some popular kids from their own stupidity.

A reputation as the Fixer.

And now head cheerleader Tara Kildare wants her help.

The parents of Tara’s girlfriend, Chaya, want Tara arrested for the statutory rape of their daughter, because they don’t condone the lesbian relationship.

That makes Brittani’s blood boil….

Fans of Veronica Mars will love this first story featuring justice-seeking Brittani Menchin, not-quite-six-feet-tall math nerd and high school Fixer.

“Girl With a Mission” originally appeared in Fiction River: Hard Choices, 2018, and was republished in Powerful Girls: A YA Short Story Collection, 2020.

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Thank You. Really.

I know this is belated, but I’m finally at a point where I can pull myself together and say it:

Thank you.

No, really, thank you.

Thank you for your words of comfort. Thank you for the cards, calls, texts, emails, and Facebook comments. Believe me, I read every one, often more than once, even though I didn’t have the time or energy to respond.

Thank you from the depths of my heart. Even a quick note helped, even just a heart or a hug. I felt as though there was a web of love around me, holding me up, reminding me of the best of the world—even when there’s darkness to navigate through, love is the light that illuminates the way.

Keep that light shining, y’all. When I needed it, you were there for me. Goodness knows the world needs it.