Tag: peaceable kingdom

The Peaceable Kingdom

In my Archetype/Barn Swallows’ Dance stories, I write about the Peaceable Kingdom.

The Peaceable Kingdom originates with a passage in Isaiah 11:6-8, where the author writes about the animals, predator and prey, sitting peacefully together: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” 

Edward Hicks, a Quaker painter, painted a series of paintings known as The Peaceable Kingdom in a somewhat primitive way, incorporating William Penn’s treaty with some Native American tribes in some of the paintings. 

The Peaceable Kingdom is obviously a metaphor, because we can’t expect the lion to literally lie down with the lamb (as popular renditions of the Isaiah passage conflate), except perhaps in children’s play. Perhaps that’s why the passage evokes its sense of peace with such strength. 

Barn Swallows’ Dance, my fictitious ecocollective in central Illinois, is my Peaceable Kingdom, or at least a noble experiment in such. Based on principles of right living, stewardship to the land, and pacifism, the collective has collected a variety of people who, like the wolf and the lamb, would not be expected to dwell together.

Imagine two National Guardsmen coexisting with a legendary draft resister. Or a real estate agent dwelling with an anarchist.  A gay conservative rural Southerner living with himself. Barn Swallows’ Dance brings disparate sorts together to muddle their way through to the Peaceable Kingdom.

Because the Peaceable Kingdom is an ideal, the members of Barn Swallows’ Dance never quite make it there. They face conflict, they bicker, sometimes they fight. On rare occasions, someone commits evil out of their xenophobia. But the collective has pledged to create the Peaceable Kingdom, and they never quit trying.

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The Valley of Love and Delight

I can’t give up writing.

I hone my words (although sometimes I miss spelling errors) to share my visions of the Peaceable Kingdom, where we have quieted our lives enough to discover the biggest secret in life — each other.

Perhaps what I write is what I seek — less distraction from material things, less status-seeking and dressing for success and hero worship. A place where discussions beyond “How are you?” are possible, and we choose connection over possession. Where people aren’t rejected for being different.

Of course, the utopia in my books is far from perfect. People who pride themselves on being open-minded shut their hearts toward those they view as “other”. Factions stash guns and explosives on the grounds of a pacifist collective, and one of the pacifists delights in slugging the antagonists. The Seven Deadly Sins still exist, even among the good guys. But the Peaceable Kingdom is an ideal, not something to be shunned for power and fame.

Because of their perpendicular shift from dominant culture, my books have a gentle tone to them that is decidedly “girly”. More My Little Pony than GI Joe. My characters have mostly holed themselves up in a safe place, but are under siege from inside and out. The emotional wars trump the explosion of hand grenades. My characters come to realize, however, that they have failed the world in hiding their light under a bushel, as Jesus would put it. If I had to describe my writing in terms of the snarky one-liners that pass for elevator pitches, I would say, “The Friendly Persuasion with otherworldly complications”.

I’m still trying to figure out how much more time I want to spend bashing my head against the outside world to get published. I know I’d rather live in the world I write about, where our hearts strive to “find ourselves in the place just right,”  as the song Simple Gifts would put it.

One step forward — Kindle Scout

I have taken an intermediary step between agents and self-publishing for one of my books — I have submitted my book details to Kindle Scout, and this is what should happen:

  1. In 1-2 days, I should hear whether they’ve approved the book for eligibility
  2. Then they submit it to a “campaign” where I see how many upvotes I get. 
  3. At the end, if the book gets enough votes, it gets published.
The best book cover free editing software can buy.
Why this process? Because it’s vetted. Self-publishing otherwise seems like throwing the book on the sea and hoping it floats. If it comes to that, I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t dream of being a NYT bestselling author. I dream of someone reading my book and liking it.
Face it, though, I’m afraid of rejection again. I’m confident that I write well, but wonder if my ideas are publishable or whether I can stand up to a popular vote. I’ve never been popular, after all.
The book may be too gentle for people who read things like “The Meth Chronicles” and vampire stories. I’m a flower child at heart. I believe in the Peaceable Kingdom and the strength of small groups to change the world. I love people in both the general and specific sense. 
I’m not going to beg you to support me on Kindle Scout if I get that far. But I want you to think about it, because it’s my dream. And please, please, any support you can give me (preferably something that reaches my eyes or ears) would make me feel better about the process.

An excerpt — just to tease you.

This is an excerpt from the story I’m currently editing:

The sun had barely peeked over the horizon when Luke Dunstan strode around the site of the coming Apocalypse.  He observed a brightening sky streaked with fuschia, an apple orchard etched in grey, squat houses surrounded by shadowed herbs and flowers. As an Archetype, Luke needed no sleep; because few of the humans were yet awake, he could walk alone.

He considered the plight of the collective against beings of his race and their vicious Nephilim fighting force, who fully intended to kill not only the humans of the collective, but the Archetype who held all women’s lives — his daughter Lilith.

Luke concealed his tears.

Editing as a form of Revisiting

I have been participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this April, pledging 60 hours to editing a book (which turns out to be all five) by the end of the month. I can only edit as much as my writing knowledge and my fallibility let me, and my husband and co-pilot looks at them afterward (more slowly than I do). I MAY HAVE TO PAY SOMEONE TO EDIT.

The fun part, though, is that I get to revisit some of my favorite people — the thoroughly modern psychologist Lilith (yes, that Lilith) and her consort, the fey Adam (yes, that Adam); Lilith’s father Luke, a 6000-year-old supporter of humanity and suspected Serpent in the Garden; Adam and Lilith’s daughter Angel, the iconoclastic creator of immortal cats; the practical botanist Jeanne and her younger and mystical lover Josh and their relationship with Gaia; Amarel, who was born on the point between human and Archetype, old and young, and male and female.

If you’ve read the previous paragraph, you will catch some of the issues that may prevent me from getting published — subverting the Garden of Eden to find a different message; a young transgender individual (who will fall in love); an exploration of No One True Religion; an older plump woman in a relationship with a much younger man.

Other issues stay hidden: a battle plan without bloodshed; corporate plots to bury opposition; liberals that act in opposition to their morals; no vampires, werewolves, or over-the-top sex scenes.

I worry that this isn’t “marketable”, because it’s not urban fantasy, romance, or sword and sorcery. It’s not what the Sad/Rabid/Dead Puppies want to see. I write about the Peaceable Kingdom and our failures in getting there. If you know of someone who will publish this (not self-publishing yet) let me know.