ACH-AOD

It could be that Hamlet, among other things, was a writer, when he reminded Polonius that books are just “Words, words, words.” Whatever else a book might be — a dream, a terror, a mystery – in the end the existence of the book is in the words the author put together.

In my view, almost all the time it’s best your words go unnoticed. Readers want the events of the story, the feelings and ideas of the characters and that should happen in a direct way. Certainly, there’s some taste involved. I am very often dismayed at how often books that are well-reviewed and big sellers seem to me to be wildly over-written – too much metaphor and description and not enough fact.

But today I want to talk about a kind of word structure in fiction, the catchphrase, something that becomes iconic for the work, and may even enter common parlance. Examples:

“I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse”

“So it goes.”

“Who is John Galt?”

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

“TANSTAAFL”

I daresay no author sets out to write a phrase that will live outside the work where it appears, but as I think the examples above illustrate, it does happen.

For my part I don’t think I’ve ever written anything that has this break-out potential, but … I have an advantage other writers do not have, namely the needle and wit of my wife Kim, who posts on String-Or-Nothing. Of course a classic embroidery form is the sampler, a piece that showcases a particular technique, often including text. The text may be just an alphabet, or it may be an expression that was important to the needleworker.

For some years Kim has been illustrating things from my books. Here’s the oldest:

This is from a work I started a long, long time ago. In it, the mentor of the young hero carries with him an embroidery like this. Who made it and why he has it is part of the mystery of the story.

I self published Treyavir in 2018. In it, Falcon-Knight Reignal Maigntar quests to the counter-Earth of Treyavir, where time is different and the land is ruled by a seemingly unkillable wizard. This is the piece made for that work:

Reignal learns this phrase, Ant-aransa, when he meets the titular Treyavir character. Like Reignal, Treyavir has an oath of chivalry, described like so:

Bore me,” Reignal insisted. “One minute will make no difference.”

“There are many formalities,” Treyavir said, “but one important principle: Ant-aransa.”

Treyavir seemed loath to continue. “Which means … ?” Reignal prompted him on.

Treyavir thought a moment before answering. “I suppose you would say, ‘Do what’s right.’”

From Fractured Symmetry (2017), Kim made this:

Fractured Symmetry is five novellas, featuring SF detective Blair MacAlister and her boss, Terendurr the Black Stone. In the concluding story, Nature Is as Nature Does, Blair travels to a pre-technical settlement to investigate the death of the settlement’s charismatic leader. This leader is based on Elbert Hubbard, who founded the Roycroft Community in the late 19th century. Hubbard was fond of referring to head, hand and heart as the keys to the Roycrofters’ work. Fethan, Fuur and Fustov is an alien version of that – it means Mind, Fist and Blood.

Note the large, upright beasties at the bottom of the piece. They represent the patron creature of the settlement, one of which – not without reason – killed the leader character.

Now we are getting into more recent, and unpublished, territory. In Bandal the Only, Blair and Terendurr go up against alien super-villain Bandal, known as “the Only”. In it, Blair is aided by The Entertainers, a band of alien actor-assassins led by Hwohhrin. From him, Blair learns the motto of the Entertainers:

Lucus Orthai Ta translates to “Life’ll Kill You”, which incidentally is the title of a song by Warren Zevon … Hwohhrin is much inspired by Zevon.

In 2024 I wrote Stone by Stone, a new story set in the CivSpace universe of Blair and Terendurr:

I like the monumental style of the letters, which reinforces the solidity of the title. And the pattern of swords echoes the swordplay that happens in the story: The protagonist, Finn, is a kind of enforcer for a half-criminal, half-technical enterprise, on a planet where advanced weapons are prohibited.

Now we come to the present day. My 2025 book was Forlorn Toys, where alien-technology hunter Irá Norlander, a 70-year-old woman regenerated into the body of a 10-year-old, starts a mission of vengeance, only to stumble on a cosmic danger that threatens all humanity. In a pocket-universe, Irá meets the alien, Keya. Keya flies into a rage when Irá remarks, “Knowledge is power.” Later when Keya calms down, he reveals to her the guiding principle of his species:

Knowledge is Joy – short, and with a childlike simplicity, this is my favorite of all my quotes, because (as I like to believe) it means something.

I suppose the 2026 work, from the still in-progress The Hungry Judges, also means something, though maybe a thing less uplifting:

Here’s the context: Irá Norlander’s companion and protector is space captain Judd Maddox. Judd’s ship is named The Perpetually Unimpressed Bystander, often “Perp” for short. In the story, Perp’s FTL engine is upgraded to be substantially more powerful. But the new setup must be tested. Judd insists on being aboard for the first live flight:

“What?” The engineer yanked on their tether to propel them to the sled; then they spun in space. “You can’t do that old man! Do you know how many safeguards we’ve ignored, making this change so fast? There should be weeks of automated testing. Anything could happen!”

“Anything often does.” Judd locked his boots onto the hull plates and hit the remote release on his tether. “I’m going inside. Do your tests, but when it comes time to set a vector, I intend to be on the bridge.”

I will say, right now more than our share of “anythings” seem to be happening to Kim and myself. But, to show the universal applicability of one of the catchphrases I listed up above … So it goes.

Thanks for reading, Till next time …