it was all going so well, and then half the sidebar disappeared. just gone, poof, missing from the template.
I have no idea how that happened, and no time, just now, to try to fix it. Hopefully soon.
You've stumbled across my official website and landed on the front page of my weblog.
My name is Rosina Lippi. I'm a former academic and tenured university professor, writing full time since 2000. Under the pen name Sara Donati I am the author of the Wilderness series, six historical novels that follow the fortunes of a group of families living in upstate New York from about 1792-1825. A new series based on later generations of the same families was launched September 1, 2015 with The Gilded Hour. The next volume in the new series, Where the Light Enters, was released in 2019.
Please see the pinned post for an overview of what you'll find on this weblog, and what has been moved to the wiki (including the FAQ page).
Weird…when I came to the site ten minutes ago the top post was the mangled mathematician and your normal header was up. Now I see there was another post from yesterday and a different header…just thought you’d want to know.
I’m using Firefox, and it looks just like the current screen cap (Fleur template).
I’m sorry to hear about the Web site glitch, but I’m even more concerned about the mathematician. I hope it doesn’t require surgery, but whatever happens, getting rid of the pain is at the top of my good vibes list.
The blog looks in tact now – hope all goes well with the mathematician.
I don’t recall being put off or irked by any small detail in your Wilderness books, Rosina. You almost had me hunting for something, and then I pulled up short – no need to look, it was excellent as written.
There was a niggley “little” thing in Tied to the Tracks. I had a hard time imagining a short Italian named Angie when my baby sister is a willowy Polish Scot named Angie. This is where I guess I can sympathize with a reader wanting to change a name that causes contrary associations, interrupting the narrative. To your credit – I wasn’t thrown out of the narrative after the first chapter or so. I’m sure it didn’t niggle me to the end. All thanks to your writing ability.
And this sort of niggle, a name association niggle, I think, has to be completely idiosyncratic to the reader. A ‘shrug so what’ moment, don’t you think?
I think, by and large, writers think about the names they assign to their characters for good reasons; Agnes and Honore come to mind. QofS needs them to be named that way. Nobody has the right to ask the writer to make a name change. Period.
Suppose I buy a novel by someone I haven’t heard of, it looks like a pretty good read, a nice light romance. On opening it I discover there’s a hunk, and he’s named Studs Gonad. Ops. This isn’t what I thought I’d bought, and the name offends me enough I can’t concentrate. If it’s down and dirty pornography it goes in the trash; if it’s funny I read it; otherwise it’s donated to the library unread.
Jennet and Gelis. How in the world do you pronounce them? No, don’t tell me. I’ve already decided they are Jen’it and Gellis, although Hannah could have asked Jennet how her name was pronounced early on.
Cha’ right(wary) Nit-pick one of my fave authors? I don’t think so! Anywho, that’s not a path I’d feel comfortable going down. If I have a problem with something, a name,or whatever, I work it out, I assume theres a reason the author chose that name, or whatever. Had a conversation with my daughter recently about one of her friend’s name, Zoey I think it was, she was saying how silly it was, so I raised the possibility that maybe she was named after a beloved grandparent or other family member, that maybe to her family the name had special meaning and laughing about it would offend/hurt her. Rambling..To put it another way I wouldn’t mess with the final product, cause it’s the columnation of somebody’s best effort, and that’d just be rude. Now a work in progress..that’s different. :)
I have to say I understand the need to want to change names. Some people who have really done terrible things to me wind up sharing a name with a character I like, and though I try, I still have a prejudice against that character until they prove themselves to me. Not quite what the author had in mind, no? Or when the character shares the name of my son or daughter and something terrible happens to them, then I bawl simply because I see my flesh and blood suffering, when really nothing has happened to them. SO I would ask, might an author want to let a reader change the name of a character so that the character has the right “history” for the reader? -No evil connotations, no raw emotions, etc, just the history provided by the story rather than all the emotional baggage the reader has brought with them.
I definitely think that scenes and passages should not be changed however… there is a fine line that should not be crossed.
Rosina- you asked if there was anything we’d change in your novels. Well, I would ask for a bunch of foot notes. Recipies for apple grunt, venison stew, corn bread, etc. Liberally sprinkled throughout your works, ’cause boy you make a girl hungry sometimes!
For real! That would be yummy! Good thinking Soup! Could ja do that Rosina,could ja?! (Chocalate for breakfast, lil hyper)
Just a small thing, and probably not really the type of thing you were looking for, but I remember thinking ‘I have read that phrase one too many times’ in your ITW books: Elizabeth’s/someone’s mouth forming a small ‘O’ of surprise. (Or words to that effect). It certainly didn’t take anything at all from my enjoyment of the story though.
My only real complaint about your books is that I never want them to end. I suppose anticipation is part of the pleasure once the next one is published and I have it in my hot little hand breaking the speed limit on the road to get home and get started on reading.
Now there’s an idea from Soupiefick. I second that one. It might need to be a separate book entirely do you think?
One thing I would like to see added – not changed – is closure on Hawkeye. I know his going west with Hannah was his choice and the family at LITC had to respect that but it does cause me some sadness the not knowing how Hawkeye ended his final days and has he actually ended them? I know I’m from a completely different culture but I couldn’t bear for my father to go off and end his days like that. And with no word. Is he still wandering around out there? Has he turned into a wolf whisperer? Did he die a warrior’s death? Or did he simply close down his body and will himself to end it all? Who was going to sing his death song? I wonder how Nathaniel copes with all of that. Maybe in Book 6 Rosina? :-)
..I gotta ask, cause I’m curious, what’s a Wolf Whisperer? hehe.
I have never wanted to change anything in books I read. Sometimes I wondered about something that could be different here and there. But then, it would turn out in a different story. I am the reader, not the author.
I take the author’s work as is. I have my own interpretations and opinions, I may like or dislike it. It is not up to me to tell how it should be. It is not my creation. I can choose to read it over and over, or I can put it aside even without finishing it.
About your books Rosina, I have read Into the Wilderness books twice, and TTTT is on my to-be re-read list.
I have heard a lot of stupid names (in my opinion) in real life. Why would a name bother me in a work of fiction? It is just a name.
A wolf whisperer is something I made up but akin to a Horse Whisperer. Someone who can be around wolves (which I do have to say are such beautiful creatures, great eyes) and the wolves would leave that person be, almost recognising him (Hawkeye) as a brother.
Sounds cool, personally I’ve never seen a wild wolf, though I’m sure they’ve seen me. I’m sure I’ve provided them with hours of amusement. hehe
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…..a reader wants an electronic copy of a novel so she can change a character’s name.
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I thought that was the purpose — or the starting point — of fan fic.
Ter, haven’t seen you around in a while.
Fanfic doesn’t start with the original piece of work, but moves on to tell additional stories. Generally I believe it’s not considered kosher to change things in the canon.
I have read and enjoyed your books alot. My family & friends just can’t wait for the next one. The thought that someone would take a book and want to alter it in any way takes away the imagination, and effort that went into creating the story.
People who feel the need to alter a story should perhaps make up their own.
Thanks for your wonderful characters, and the effort that you put into them………
Keep em coming!