Welcome to the first day of fall.
Since this post is going live on Sunday, Sept 23, I said “first day”
because, officially, my local autumnal equinox occurred at 8:54 p.m. C.T. Saturday evening, Sept.
22.
 |
| copyright Jeff D. Johnston |
What is the autumnal equinox, you ask? According to my eNews source, it's actually a dual-purpose
event. It marks the beginning of fall in the Northern hemisphere and the
beginning of spring in the Southern hemisphere. If you are geographically
challenged, it means at 8:54 p.m. C.T. on Saturday, Sept. 22, autumn began
officially in my space in the world, but a different season began on
the other side of the equator: Spring
began on Sunday, Sept 23, at 3:54 p.m. S.T. in South Africa and at 11:54 a.m.
E.T. in Australia. These time zones can be so confusing. The equinox does have astronomic logic to it, albeit some of it based on scientific imagination.
The word “equinox” means “equal nights.” Equal nights happen
when the sun’s rays are exactly over the earth’s celestial equator, which is really
an imaginary line: an abstract projection of the terrestrial equator into
outer space. The terrestrial (or geographic) equator divides the Earth
into the Northern and Southern hemispheres…0° latitude.
The other thing to remember is that after the equinox, the
length of the days changes. They get shorter and cooler in the Northern hemisphere and
longer and warmer in the Southern hemisphere.
Just thought you’d like to know, because
maybe you can find
a use for some of it in one of your novels. Setting is one of the more important
pieces of a good scene, and weather will inevitably play a part in that. Personally,
I’m looking forward to days when the heat and humidity along the Gulf Coast aren’t
combining to reach triple digits. My protagonist is doing the same thing.
 |
| Copyright Jeff D. Johnston |
***
I just re-read a Jane Friedman** post that said that the main
character might not really change at all, that the change readers see may be an
illusion; that is, forces and circumstances in the story have created outcomes
that cause the character to reveal his or her true self. What do you think?
Upcoming book signing in Mobile . . .
Local authors are being featured. If you’re in the area,
please stop by and say hi. I might be handing out candy…if it doesn’t melt
first.
***
Books are acts of composition: you compose them. You make
music: the music is called fiction.
.... E. L. Doctorow
Writers, if you have a book launch coming up and want to
schedule a post on Lyrical Pens for your blog tour, drop me a note.
That’s it for today, folks. You-all guys keep on keeping on,
and I’ll try to do the same.
cj
 |
| 5 Star Reviews |
Stop by Amazon and pick up copies of DEADLY
STAR and CHOOSING
CARTER, (to keep me in good standing with Simon&Schuster), and if you
take a moment to leave a review (good, bad, or just “I read this one”), I shall
be forever grateful.
Qrtly newsletter sign-up:
cjpetterson@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your turn! Got a question or comment? The author would love to hear it. (Comments are moderated to reflect the Lyrical Pens brand, so please keep it clean, else it gets dumped into that little chamber pot in the sky.)