An Interview with a Delaware Author

By Guest Blogger, JM Reinbold

JM Reinbold is the Director of the Written Remains Writers Guild and the co-editor of Stories from the Inkslingers, a collection of short fiction by Delaware authors. Sherry Thompson is the author of the recently published epic high fantasy, sword and sorcery novel, Earthbow.

JM Reinbold: Sherry, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Sherry Thompson: I’m in my sixties, retired, and fairly unconventional. Storytelling is my second career but my first love. I’m servant to two cats: Khiva, the seal-point Siamese, and Vartha, a black foundling with Maine Coon mixed in. I have a variety of hobbies, including jewelry-making. I love filk (folk music of the science fiction and fantasy community), world and folk music. I also enjoy virtually all forms of guitar music, Celtic music and most Christian music.

JMR: Your book, Earthbow, has received excellent reviews. What is it about?

ST: Earthbow Volume 1 has gotten great reviews, because only half the book is out. Gryphonwood Press decided that Earthbow was too long to be published as a single book. Earthbow Volume 2 will be published later this summer. Earthbow tells the story of the 2nd Narentan Tumult, just as Seabird, my first book, related the story of the 1st Narentan Tumult. Tumults are cataclysmic periods of plotting, murder and battle during which parts of Narenta, my fictional world, are threatened by various forces of evil. Frequently, these include sorcerers, and the 2nd Tumult is no exception. Madness, the blind striving for power, the possible destruction of whole ecosystems are also involved. Because the Earthbow story is so complex, parts of the tale are experienced by certain characters, while other parts are experienced by others. Consequently, Earthbow has an ensemble cast and several plot threads. It all comes together near the end of Earthbow Volume 2.

JMR: Earthbow is a high fantasy work. Describe what that genre is for those who may not know.

ST: Backtracking to my first book, Seabird is high fantasy because it is set in a fictional location. In the case of Seabird, this other world of Narenta may or may not be part of our universe. Occasionally, Earth inhabitants or people from other worlds are brought to Narenta—otherwise Earth would know nothing about it. Seabird is also “epic” in that a major part of the plot involves two or more forces struggling against each other. Earthbow certainly fits these definitions up to a point. That particular point is when the sorcerer, Mexat, and a young fighter named Coris strolled into my group of characters. Coris took a nearly instant dislike to Cenoc (Lord of Latimus) and Beroc (leader of Cenoc’s guards), while they didn’t much like him either. In the meantime, Harone (an initiate enchanter) caught on to Mexat’s machinations and knew he had to be stopped. Voila: Sword and Sorcery. So, just to confuse things, I look at it like this: the world of Narenta is definitely an epic high fantasy setting. However, the plot of Earthbow has strong characteristics of Sword and Sorcery, in which individual battles between wizards and/or fighters take place.

JMR: What other authors or books have significantly influenced your writing?

ST: My influences have been George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams. Also, Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series and Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time series. Barbara Hambly’s excellent and out-of-print fantasy series, Lewis Carroll and Poul Anderson.

JMR: What inspired you to write Earthbow?

ST: I was inspired to write Earthbow at the same time I was inspired to write Seabird. I had finished reading Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit and C.S. Lewis’ the Chronicles of Narnia and Space Trilogy. I was just starting on the other Inkling, Charles Williams, with his seven urban fantasy novels and his Arthurian poetry. But I was running out of fantasy to read. In danger of running out of subject matter, I wrote some for myself at first, just as I used to tell myself stories. I very specifically began with an audience of one, then expanded to see how other people might like theses stories, too.

To learn more about Sherry Thompson and her books, visit her website at http://sites.google.com/site/khivasmommy/home.

Read an exclusive extract from Earthbow: http://writtenremains.blogspot.com/2010/06/earthbow-week-continues-with-exclusive.html and an interview with Sherry Thompson discussing the Art & Symbolism of the Earthbow covers on the Written Remains Writers Guild blog: http://writtenremains.blogspot.com/2010/06/earthbow-week-continues-with-artwork.html.

Jazz at the Newark Free Library

E. Shawn Qaissaunee and Sharon Sable gave a beautiful jazz concert at the Newark Free Library on Wednesday, June 30.

The two work seamlessly together, Qaissaunee’s beautifully lyrical guitar introductions can be so fanciful that it is hard to know which tune he is introducing. But Sable seems to like that fine and knows just when to bring in her cooing jazz lyrics and when to stop for more of Qaissaunee’s interludes. Their music is quietly melodic, yet they step out of the box whenever they can.

Qaissaunee’s guitar work is highly polished technical finger work with a jazz spin or even a hint of blues and country. He seems to let his fingers do the wandering which makes his performance unpredictable and exciting. For example, when he played his introduction to the Beatles’ song And I love her, he managed to work in a quote from Blackbird.

Sable’s voice is rich and yet she holds back just enough to keep you on edge. She has that cool, quiet jazz style which is like a feather in your ear…you just have to pay attention. She is solid on her lyrics and is able to bend the lines in a funky way. Her delivery of the ridiculously erudite lyrics of You fascinate me was smooth and unpretentious.

The library was one of the more formal settings for the duo, who have just made a new CD together called Comfort Me, and the quiet and formal setting was a new experience for them and a nice thrill for the audience.

See www.esqmusic.com.

See http://www.sharonsable.com/.

Urine the Theatre

At times, it was easy to forget Urinetown was cast only with student actors. The singing, acting and dancing was so spot-on, and so professional in most cases. The only indication of the cast’s youth was the occasional actor looking startling with white hair, or those who hadn’t quite grown into their adult voices and bodies. The audience and the actors seemed to love this production by the Delaware All-State Theatre at the DuPont Theatre.

Producer/Director Jeffrey Santoro choreographed many snappy numbers, making excellent use of the space on the simple set. “Mr. Cladwell” is a song reminiscent of “I think I’m gonna like it here” from Annie. Hope Cladwell (sung beautifully by Natasha Michael), Cladwell B. Cladwell’s daughter, meets her new co-workers-her father’s lackeys-and they give her the seal of approval in a rousing, fun chorus. Later in the musical, Annie is fair game again, when several characters remind us “The sun will come out tomorrow”. The musical’s creators, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis, are shameless musical quote from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita.

Not only do we get an “in-your-face” sometimes groan-worthy mocking and quoting of Broadway musicals, we get a constant breakdown of the fourth wall. Lockstock, who was expertly played by Jordan Weagraff, is the most successful at handling these sarcastic, knowing quips about the show and its merits that he tosses out to the audience. After a while, the show’s self-commentary becomes tiresome and glib.

Jake Glassman was charming and sincere as Bobby Strong. He manages to step out of the stock character cartoony role, and make the flash back scene, “Tell Her I Love Her” extremely funny as he appears a ghost in the mist. Another stand out was the pregnant Little Becky Two-Shoes, played by Lydia Stinson. One of the strongest actors in the show, she was lively, animated and always involved in the action on stage. Mike Hinkle was energetic and convincing as the slimy Cladwell. As Penelope Pennywise, Maren Lavelle had good command of the stage and a natural sense of comic timing.


Though Urinetown was intended to be an edgy, political satire, I found myself wondering exactly what the commentary was. I understood that big business and corruption are bad, and make people do bad things. The show’s theme simplified: everyone should have access to a toilet when nature calls. Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I also found myself thinking there are other musicals that carry a stronger message and are more deserving of the spotlight.