Brownies

Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's Brownie Thimbletack from their series The Spiderwick Chronicles 

Brownies are one of the most recognized fairies. They come in all shapes and sizes as helpers to families in rural communities.

In Northern England and Scotland, various spellings include Brooney, Browney, Brouney, House Brownie, Little Man, or Browny (also sometimes called Hobs). In Southern England one goes by the name Robin Goodfellow (as accounted by Carol Rose's book, which I mention down below). In Demark the Nis is said to have similar characteristics, as do the Russian Domovoi, the North African Yumboe, and the Chinese Choa Phum Phi.    

Described at an average of twenty inches high, it is unusual to actually 'see' him. On the off chance that they are seen, they can be tiny shriveled old men, furry, naked, turn into roosters at dawn, wear raged brown clothes (sometimes made of course wool) or suits of green or blue, have coal black eyes, wear caps made of felt, or have a tail such as the Lowland Brownie Wag at the Wa' (a grumpy old teetotaler with crooked legs and a long tale, who complains of a constant toothache and considers the pothook over the fire as his favorite spot to hang). Sometimes they have no nose (a common description of Lowland Brownies) only the nostril openings. In Scotland, their hands can be webbed, or have fused fingers apart from the thumb, or have no fingers or toes at all. 

Names attributed to specific Brownies are Aiken Drum, Mieg Moulach / Maggy Moloch, Wag at the Wa', Robin Goodfellow, and Puddlefoot.

In Cornwall, he is the bee keeper, as bees were considered bringers of good luck in old times. 

In Scotland, it was said every home had a Brownie; he would help with the brewing of beers and malts. His reward for a good brew would be a few drops of the best of batch poured into a holed stone known as the Brownie Stone (sounds like the name for a novel *wink, wink*). 

In Wales, his cousin is of the Bwciod (you read that right) or the Bwca or Bwbach (confusing, isn't it?). These little bogeys lean toward the Boggart in nature. They have long noses and dress in Welsh farmers clothes, are just as small as the Brownie, and will help around the farm if in good humor. They despise teetotalers. If his master happens to put him off, his goodness can't be regained and will spiral into a rampage - IE: banging on walls, throwing things, ripping clothes, pinching people, throwing people, telling everyone's inner most secrets out loud, screeching, and beating his former masters. (Look at my Boggarts page for another list of all the nasty things they can do) Retaining some sort of exorcist to sack his grumpy butt will usually do the trick.  

In certain areas, it is believed the Brownie cannot venture into daylight and will die if exposed. Other beliefs say that he simply doesn't like sunlight. Roosters can be considered their familiars, or the shape they change to when daylight comes, allowing them to work in sunlight.       

They love any work to be given when attached to a family. Farm work such as tilling the fields, grinding grain, reaping, cleaning the house and barn, churning butter, etc... They were watchful of other workers and would tell on the lazy and inefficient. They take a dish of the best cream and a new baked cake or loaf of bread (in some other instances it says that they like honey smeared on it too) for payment at the end of the day.

Similar to Dobby of the Harry Potter series, to give them sympathetic gifts such as clothes would drive them away (but instead of tearful thanks, they take offense and leave chaos in their wake. I guess they don't like being pitied?).  

Katharine Briggs' An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and other Supernatural Creatures recounts that the Brownie will usually become attached to a member of the family (this could be used as a Best Friend trope in a novel set in the rural highlands). Also in this version, to give a Brownie a treat specifically would drive it away. Instead, the farmer's wife would leave scraps of food in places it could reach as an offering but never as an explicitly said gift. In her book, it notes that often outside of his master's house he was a feared creature for he could be just as mischievous as he was kind. There were hardly any accounts of a female among the troupe, except for in Scotland where they were sometimes seen in small groups with one girl among them. Katharine notes the tale of Meg Moulach (or Maggy Moloch), or Hairy Meg, who was a girl and a fierce Brownie who would not tolerate abuse of her Brownie family and refused to do the house work without the aid of the other maids or house servants. Brownie Clod was said to be her mate (cross eyed cad with one too many bats in his Belfry).

Often they would hang about streams or ponds. If offended by way of negligence or sympathetic gifting, they would turn into Boggarts and haunt the household until appeased. 

Despite being benign creatures, they are adverse to Christian symbols. In one tale, it speaks of the local minister trying to surprise a Brownie with a baptism, to which the Brownie screamed and never returned. 

In some instances they like collecting things, sitting by the fire, sleeping in the shed, cellar, or attic, and are afraid of cats.

The Dobie is very similar to the Brownie, and wishes very much to be helpful. Note I said wishes, because, most everything he tries to clean or fix usually ends up worse than before he touched it. He is said to have a sweet nature, but not very bright.

These sprightly fellows can fill many different roles for the Paranormal Novel. Be it the Helper, Side Kick, Confidant for its favorite human, or Antagonist (as the Boggart version, or perhaps a wild Brownie not yet fixed to a family).

One of the most recent contemporary examples of this fairy is Thimbletack from the Spiderwick Chronicles. (in fact, you can read more about their definition of the creature here: Spiderwick Wikia)

You can find him in Book One, The Field Guide of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's series The Spiderwick Chronicles. 

I drew from Katharine Briggs' An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and other Supernatural Creatures, Carol Rose's Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, Nancy Arrowsmith and George Moorse's A Field Guide to the Little People, and Edain Mccoy's A Witch's Guide to Faery Folk. 

Show Vs. Tell

Both have their merits, but which is better?

Often, writers will press Show. Show—Show—Show. But what about Tell? Telling can be just as constructive in getting your point across, maybe more so.

Showing offers the reader a visceral experience, living in the character’s shoes; while Telling allows for metaphors and ideas that may be difficult to express physically. Sometimes, we want to be flowery with our language, and sometimes, we want explosive action and cutting dialog. We want to see that wide-eyed fear in our hero’s gaze or hear his inner thoughts. See the irony, the sacrifice; his analogies on what his story amounts to.

A good story, in my opinion, has balanced both Show and Tell. But, I have also liked stories that are almost all Show or all Tell. There isn’t an unbreakable rule that states you can’t ever Tell. The people that believe in this faulty Show Don't Tell rule may curse your career as a novelist and belittle your efforts (and unleash a hoard of Boggarts to roast your plot bunnies and hogtie your Muse in barbed wire upon breaking this fictional rule).

What matters is how you feel as the author of your story. Show and Tell both contribute to your style as a writer. Do as you see fit. Never let someone shake their finger and admonish your efforts, chide you for stepping outside the norm. Writing is all about discovery, experimentation, and expressing yourself as an artist.

Gothic Romance author Mary Stuart is one great example of balance between Show and Tell. Her allegories are beautiful while her action crackles. I recommend her book The Moonspinners for high action, suspense, and a study in Show and Tell.     

Read up on each approach then pick and choose the aspects that you like. You have a unique voice. Let that voice be heard.

So tell me, how do you feel about it?

Thank you for reading!

Help on Writing

In between school, chores, defending my homework from my cat, and other things, I have been immersing myself in this book and taking a sabbatical to try and better my writing technique. It is amazing, Story Engineering by Larry Brooks gives you way more info on structure, theme, and character than other writing blogs, books, and various other things that I have read.
He uses something called the Six Core Competencies. It's a list of things you combine to make good stories.
First is concept, then character, then theme, then structure, then scene execution, and finally writing voice.

He describes concept as a tool to help you involve that initial idea into a rough outline. He says to take your idea and morph it into a "What if?" question that could lead to more what ifs and eventually the beginnings of a fantastic story.

He also talks about the "three dimensions" of a character. The first layer is what we see on the outside: habits, appearance, quirks, and attitudes. The second layer explains why that character does what it does - in other words backstory, which is also connected to the third layer. The third layer is the true essence of a character. For instance, you have a person who is a bit messed up. Made a lot of bad decisions in life (I E drugs, alcohol, etc...) and that character is faced with two choices, one of which is the better choice and the other a very bad choice. Now, despite all of the things this character has done, he or she could take the better choice showing his or her true character.

This is a wonderful book that covers practically everything you need to know about how to write a piece of fiction. ^_^

Until next time~

Bloody Mary

One of the most famous ghosts of them all: Bloody Mary. 

The tale varies from place to place - even the person who was thought to be the original Mary varies greatly. I began digging into this myth because of my own story and found that if you're writing a paranormal, you could morph this ghost into whatever you need it to be. It can be a good or bad depending on which stories you hear.

Of course we all know the one where you call out and she's supposed to rip your face off or do something equally terrible - but, did you know that Bloody Mary could be referring to the Virgin Mary? In this case, she does not harm you and may offer protection of some sort. Then, there was a legend where you'd stand in front of a mirror holding an apple after brushing your hair 100 times and Bloody Mary would reward you with a peak at your future husband.

Then there are other versions where an animal appears instead of Mary - such as the Donkey Lady or Mary Wolf.

There's many many legends about who she was. "The loony woman next door", a young woman named Mary Worth whose child was killed or murdered and the people thought she was the one who did it (in which case you're supposed to say "I believe Mary Worth" or "I don't believe in Mary Worth" or "I hate Mary Worth" or "Bloody Mary I killed your baby" or "Bloody Mary I have your baby".) the bloody English queen Mary herself, Mary queen of Scots, Mary Magdalene, an ax murderer, a child killer and many more.

Sure, most of stories end badly after you've called to her but in some cases, she can give you toys or candy, sometimes you just get to see what she looks like, you can ask her questions, harmless scratches appear on your skin, or the bathtub water turns red.

If you're writing a story, it can go either way - good or bad - depending on how you want it. I found most of this information at this site: The Face in the Mirror, Looking at Bloody Mary, Mary Worth and Other Variants of a Modern Legend
And also at wikipedia though, the site above gives the most information I could find.

Hope I could help!
Until next time~!

Shmoo

I came across this funny creature when paging through my book, Giants, Monsters & Dragons by Carol Rose. It states that this lovable creature is the sweetest thing around. He's always smiling and happy, and is self-sacrificing. He can produce milk, eggs, and butter when needed and if looked at by a starving man would die of happiness to be eaten.
He taste like chicken if you boil him, steak if grilled, his hide was the finest leather, he multiplied quicker than a rabbit, and his eyes could be made for perfect buttons.

I read here: http://www.deniskitchen.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=bios.shmoo that he was so good that the people stopped working and became dependent upon them. So the American government took them all to try and get the people to work again but one managed to slip away and start his own colony in Dogpatch's Valley.

If you're in need of a creature sidekick in your story, he would probably be a good one. Until next time~

Water Leaper

The Water Leaper does exactly as it's name states - it hops on top of the water like a crazy beach ball.

Its image varies but, what is consistent it that it is round and winged with a tail that has a stinger and looks like a large toad-ish bat, except no legs. It uses its wings to skip across the water's smooth surface and with its sharp teeth cuts fishermen's lines and eats their bait. Sometimes, when it's fed up with fish bait and livestock and decidedly feeling adventurous, it lures the fishermen themselves to the edges of their boat and gobble them instead.

You don't have to worry about this little devil popping up and eating you while leaning over the rail of your cruise ship to ogle at the sunset. That is...if that cruise is stopping by Wales. Then you should be worried. So, if your cruise ship just happens to be chugging by Wales on the Irish Sea, stay in your cabins folks.

Until next time~

Spot Light! Help for Character Development

Recently, I stole a few books on psychology from my mother and have been whispering to them at night in hopes of learning the secret to the universe. No such luck - but! What I did divine from this particular beauty could be of help to writers who are having trouble with body language gestures or a signature something their main character frequently has a habit of doing.

I've only breached the first chapter but, I've already learned quite a bit. Elizabeth Kuhnke talks a lot about things people may do subconsciously; such as micro expressions. Those of you who have seen the show Lie To Me know what I'm talking about. To those of you who don't: Micro expressions are bits of emotion that flash across our face for a split second. Now, you may be able to hide your feelings by way of specific gestures and serious mental discipline but, no one is capable of hiding micro expressions. You can use that to your advantage as a writer.

For instance: You could have a heroine that is very observant and is a natural Emotion Detector and then have the princely cool guy whose suave and is one of those 007 types who never lets his real feelings show.

Then she goes on to talk about gestures that are signature to us as a person. How we all have something that defines us. Some are stronger than others. She makes an example of the tennis player who used to yank on the back of shorts just before a match. It was something he did a lot of and people began to mock him in the locker room.

It'll help with identifying what gesture goes with what emotion and how we react to certain things. It has whole chapters for our hands, legs, arms, and lips.

I hope this will help ^_^

Gremlins

Do not be fooled by this adorable face! This Hollywood dramatization couldn't be more wrong..... Because, gremlins are evil little creatures that look like this!!!!!

This is also the face of the creepy thing hiding under your bed. 

Gremlins, according to my fairy dictionary, didn't start causing mayhem until WWII when airplanes came to be in use. They would attach themselves to plane wings and hitch-hike. That is, if they didn't sharpen their claws with them or ice them first. They'd also appear out of nowhere in the pilot's windshield as a cruel joke. These happenings only occurred over Europe. It says that many pilots experienced the torture of these little devils. The Allies nor the Axis wanted to believe these claims...but they kept happening. Eventually, they felt they had to log them in the flight records.

The gremlin of the 1943 Bugs Bunny cartoon

Most pilots who complained of Gremlin attacks had, had their wire pulled out of the engines, holes poked in their wings, gas leaks, spontaneous combustion, wing ice even though they were no where near freezing temperatures, and of course, they'd pop in front of the windshield.

They are little body builders, for, they can tear through metal without a sweat. They don't need food, air, or water for longs periods. They also range from the sizes of a child to an adult and are very hairy and have a grin like the Cheshire Cat, supposedly. I can't say for myself since I've never seen one - and hope to never see one.

I hope this helps you in some way if you've got writer's block. All of this information came from my beloved book - A Witches Guide to Faery Folk by Edain McCoy. Until next time!