The Game of Life

 

Excel in the game of life

Game of keys, clean ebony notes, young prodigy, acclaim

Game of pawns, of bishops and queens, chess genius, strategy

Game of dance, lithe spins, nimble star, artful muse

There are many ways.

 

Shine in the game of life

Gift of words, hidden meanings, ideas, storyteller, philosopher

Gift of numbers,

Those you own, in comfort, in luxury - the zeros, the glittering estates, the dividends

Those you probe, play with, in ecstasy - the curves, the charts, the rates…the vision. The vision!

Those that own you, the friends, the contracts, the fame…family, those you serve in joy, 

In sweat

There are many ways.

 

Or else the game of life, the game of life in depth,

Gift of seeing

Gift of hearing

Gift of healing,

By touch, by knife, by poetry, by divine intuition.

Or by love.

Be in love with the game.

There are many ways.

 

And yes, the game of life in laughter,

Gift of humour,

Through courage, through wisdom, through hope

Stoic and fearless is this game.

There are many ways.

 

Oh, the game of life in beauty,

Gift of sensitivity,

By light, by color, by song, by imagination.

Moved by the magic.

One with the game.

There are many ways.

 

A game of life in the unrelenting,

Gift of battle,

Gift of winning,

By race, by wit, by grit, by force, by endless striving.

Driven, often revengeful, this game of life.

There are many ways.

 

The game of life that longs to live,

Gift of quiet endurance,

By health, by joy, by resilience, by curiosity

Endless learning and discovery.

Endless shifting.

There are many ways.

 

But of all the ways, of all the ways…

One way remains...

Fail the game of life.

Fail and feel, all there exists to feel.

Fail and rise, slow rise, astound, surprise.

Fail and learn, be open, grow wise.

Fail, and then fail again, transcend the game of life.

Fail and accept to fail.

Fail and let go of the game.

Fall,

Fall low so you might fly above the game of life.

Such is the game.

Calista - latest news on movie magic

 

My Victorian horror mystery, Calista, is now a movie !! 

Not quite. 😉 It has been optioned but that is a nebulous future considering that these film projects take decades to take off. Only the most enduring will play at that game. I’ve indeed seen options renewed yearly over a span of a decade while directors change and nothing gets up. Sigh.

For now I am creating art for the novel because it deserves it. ♥️ Plus it’s fun for those who love visuals.

I love this early scene where French detective Maurice Leroux steps out of the carriage that has brought him to Alexandra Hall. The thing with employing Sora for imagery is that you end up blending your historical fiction writing with both art direction and an entirely different cinematographic language. It is intensive but well worth it. It took me three hours to get this picture just right. I love being able to share my world, and give a more vivid glimpse into a gothic story that I hold dear.

This next image is straight from the first chapter of the novel. In which we find, a terrified Vera Nightingale attempting to get some shuteye while reminiscing on the last years, not least, of knowing her brother's strange Greek wife, Calista. Dearest Calista is a village girl from Corfu and to Vera she will always be a peasant, despite her regal appearance in the portrait. The night in Alexandra Hall promises quite a few surprises for Vera. And what is it with those silver spoons on the staircase? Well, you'll have to read the novel to find out.

Next up we have this kitchen scene depicting Maurice Leroux as a child...

I admit, I was itching to feed this idea into Sora. It is Maurice Leroux's dream sequence. Here we find a childhood memory back in Paris, growing up in the post-terror. Save that the terror is domestic...

As with all dreams, the imagery here departs from the gothic and enters surrealism. 

Thérèse Leroux wears her French cockade well, don't you think? In the novel, she even threatens Maurice with the guillotine.  

Well that is all from me. Short and sweet!

Calista is available in Kindle, paperback and audiobook format from all Amazon territories. It can be purchased almost anywhere online. Alternatively, readers can borrow it from the National Library of Australia and from the BnF in Paris.