Life’s Attic is featured in the January 2013 issue of their Small Press Bookwatch publication. Here’s what they have to say:

Love can bloom anywhere, even when it may be problematic. “Life’s Attic” is a novel from Elizabeth Ely, who tells of Leanne Porter and her romance with Jay Hanson. They grow to find love, but Jay’s condition of carrying AIDS threatens their future and potential for love and family. An insightful story of facing hardship as a couple and coping with mortality, “Life’s Attic” is a fine addition to any contemporary collection of fiction, recommended.

Read an excerpt of the novel on this site or visit any of the Amazon sites to look inside Life’s Attic thanks to their “Search Inside This Book” feature.

Interested in an Autographed Copy? Click here for more information.

 
Online retailers of Life’s Attic include:

Amazon
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK(and all other regional Amazon sites)
Book Depository
Alibris
Books-A-Million
Powell’s
AbeBooks NEW!
Barnes & Noble NEW!

 

“Just finished reading your book. WOW!!! It is truly a beautiful study of pure love, devotion, life, death and so much more. I savored every word and truly enjoyed it! I look forward to reading your next one!”

~ Kathleen Gati

It’s amazing to hear such feedback since the writing process itself is so solitary. To know that thoughts and words that I’ve strung together in private can now move others elsewhere in the world is nearly indescribable. But I’ll try.

When I set out to write this novel, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted it to be and most importantly, of who these characters were, who they were telling me they were. So much of writing is about listening I think – whether it’s to your inner voice telling you to follow a dream, or to the voices of characters that you create who in turn tell you what they’re going to do. That may sound strange, but often it’s what it feels like.

At its best, writing is almost like some sort of weird solitary collaboration. So in that sense, I didn’t feel alone – I was with the characters while I was writing. But it was still just me at the computer or walking around thinking about writing. And now, other people are reading those words and getting to know the characters I love so much. It’s so heartening to hear how people are responding to the story that I just had to tell. Thank you all.

I have also received a number of questions from those curious about my experiences with the writing and publishing process. I am planning to blog about this soon. If you have a question or detail you’re particularly curious about, please let me know. It will be such fun to revisit all the gloriously fascinating, frustrating, tedious, challenging, and rewarding moments.

What’s that old saying? Something about how if you knew what you were in for before you started something, then you never would have done it. Well, while there were indeed moments like that for me, I also always knew that, no matter what, I just had to write Life’s Attic. And at long last, here it is.

There’s now a dedicated page for Life’s Attic that, in addition to having the latest information on the book and its availability, includes a link to read an excerpt from the first chapter.

I have consolidated the information from the separate website Elizabeth Ely’s Harp Page (now archived) into its own page here Harp Info and CDs. This new page includes biographical information and other details and stories of my former “harp life.” There’s also information regarding my 3 solo harp CDS, including track listings and ordering links.

The blog has not been changed aside from the obvious design and layout differences – all posts, comments, and categories have been retained.

There are a few other added little features like Facebook “Like” and “Send” options on individual pages and posts. And there’s even a little teeny Life’s Attic favicon up there in the navigation bar. (Fun little detail I probably spent too much time working on…)

If there’s something else you’d like to see on the site, please feel free to let me know with that handy dandy contact form.

Happy website exploring! And thanks for visiting.

In the meantime, here’s the blurb from the back cover. I’m curious what you think, so please feel free to comment.

~In the fictional West Coast town of Clementine, Leanne Porter is about to meet Jay Hanson. There’s just one problem. Jay has AIDS. But will that stop them from loving each other? And what will their lives be as a result of this chance meeting? Two thinkers who are great talkers, Jay and Leanne remain true to themselves, facing tough inevitabilities head-on with humour, optimism, and joy. Life’s Attic is a journey of hope and happiness amid the challenges of life and death. Life has many forms. So does love.~

Well, it sure has been a while since this blog has seen any updates. But there is a reason for that. I’ve been writing my first novel. I will post more about it soon.

The entire process has been really fulfilling and exciting! But it has left little time for other writing. Hopefully I’ll find a way to do both – perhaps with more shorter blog notes and thoughts.

But in the meantime, I wanted to say hello. Please feel free to browse around the blog – I hope you enjoy it. Comments are always welcome.

Have a great day!

The debate as to whether or not Titanic should have remained at peace undisturbed as a graveyard for more than 1,500 people or explored and investigated like tombs from ancient Egypt. It’s a curious and complicated question as to when it’s OK to disturb a resting place, just how much time must pass. But it seems since no bodies have ever been found and all back to dust I imagine by now, the controversy has been focused more on disturbing the ship itself. The retrieval of items has perhaps sped up the natural decay of Titanic. Multiple dives have sure brought back some incredible footage. Speaking selfishly I thank Robert Ballard and James Cameron and all who respectively have visited the ship and allowed the rest of us to see it.

What spurred this post is the apparent end to one controversy, or at least a time out. For the first time, both scientific and salvage approaches are coming together. It has long been known that the ship is disappearing. Just how fast and when it will be gone have also been up for debate.

Research specialist Bill Lange of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts has said, “Everyone has their own opinion” as to how long Titanic will remain more or less intact. “Some people think the bow will collapse in a year or two,” Lange said. “But others say it’s going to be there for hundreds of years.”

The National Geographic reports that, “The 20-day Expedition Titanic will use remotely operated submersibles to complete an unprecedented archaeological analysis of the two-by three-mile (three- by five-kilometer) debris field, including Titanic’s two halves…Thousands of high-resolution photos and video will be combined with acoustic and sonar mapping data to form a 3-D replica of the site, allowing scientists and armchair explorers to probe it in detail. Some photos will reveal never before seen parts of Titanic…Other images, when compared to evidence from earlier years, will help experts gauge the rate of the wreck’s deterioration.”

As an example of the deterioration, they also report that, “Between 1987 and 1993, Nargeolet observed the gymnasium roof corroding and collapsing as well as the upper promenade deck deteriorating. On an early ’90s dive he saw that the crow’s nest—previously seen still attached to the forward mast—had disappeared altogether, apparently damaged to the point where it snapped off and fell to an as yet unidentified location.”

“In addition to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, several other top scientific organizations are managing the data collection. But RMS Titanic, Inc.—which holds exclusive salvage rights to the wreck—is funding the endeavor.”

This time around, project co-leader and director of special projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution David Gallo has said, “We’re going to be very careful not to touch the ship…It’s like any operation or exploratory surgery: There is always some risk, but we’ve done everything we can to ensure that we won’t in any way alter the site itself…The only treasures we’re going to be looking for are treasures of the mind…And we’re not picking anything up but data.”

May the controversy be laid to rest alongside Titanic. But there still remains the possibility that what they find this time could lead to renewed controversy Gallo concedes. “If we find out that the hull is going to collapse completely in the near term, what do we then think about the artifacts that are in that hull? Do we let it crumble naturally? Or do we try to somehow preserve the legacy by taking some of those pieces from the seafloor?” Some issues seem practically unsinkable it appears.

Read previous posts relating to Titanic

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Hopefully parents everywhere are still saving those wonderful refrigerator boxes. And at least one designer is doing what she can to encourage cardboard fun. “Designer Liya Mairson has solved the issue of not having enough room to build a playhouse, or dedicate a full-time play area in your home to your kids, with her pop-up and collapsible cardboard play abode, ‘My Space.’ Children may easily construct and then tuck away this 100% recyclable nifty niche on a whim! When expanded, accordion-like, the multi-panel setup becomes a world unto itself, complete with cutout windows, working door flaps, and pop-out shelves…The user-friendly, durable nook is designed to be a blank and versatile backdrop for children to use their toys and belongings to create different worlds derived from their imagination…Imagine living in a giant pop-up book and you’ll get the basic drift of ‘My Space.’”

It’s kind of an ironic name isn’t it? This cardboard ‘My Space’ seems about as far away from computers and the internet as you can get. And while there have been other commercial cardboard playhouse designs over the years, this one has so many more possibilities and variations. The photos only show a few of them. The video below, despite a rather frenetic musical accompaniment, shows a bunch of wonderful permutations of this imaginative folding cardboard contraption. Apparently it’s not available commercially, at least not at this time, but it could serve as further inspiration for home done versions.

As much as we may try to live the adage of being childlike just not childish, there are some things that seem to rest in childhood alone. Cardboard forts may be one such thing. But then again, maybe we instead just move on to a more grown up version. After all, there sure are a lot of home renovation and improvement stores and shows these days. Maybe some of what they do is address our leftover yearnings from those days when magic and imagination could turn a cardboard box into anything we could dream up.

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Andrew Johnson of The Independent writes, “Now technicians at Leeds University are putting the finishing touches to a robot which, they hope, will follow the shaft to its end. Known as the Djedi project, after the magician whom Khufu consulted when planning the pyramid, the robot will be able to drill through the second set of doors to see what lies beyond.”

He explains that, “At [the pyramid’s] heart are two rooms known as the King’s Chamber and the Queen’s Chamber. Two shafts rise from the King’s Chamber at 45-degree angles and lead to the exterior of the monument. They are believed to be a passageway designed to fire the king’s spirit into the firmament so that he can take his place among the stars. In the Queen’s Chamber, there are two further shafts, discovered in 1872. Unlike those in the King’s Chamber, these do not lead to the outer face of the pyramid.”

“No one knows what the shafts are for. In 1992, a camera sent up the shaft leading from the south wall of the Queen’s Chamber discovered it was blocked after 60 metres by a limestone door with two copper handles. In 2002, a further expedition drilled through this door and revealed, 20 centimetres behind it, a second door.”

It keeps sounding more and more like some movie or kitschy TV plot where attempts to explore ancient ruins or monuments are made, but keep coming up against new obstacles, as if somehow the structures are protected from outsiders with trap doors, sliding panels, or worse.

Stuart Fox of TechNewsDaily writes that, “The robot explorer, built by researchers at the Leeds University, England, in collaboration with French aviation company Dessault and British robotics company Scoutek, will incorporate a small fiber optic camera for looking around corners, an ultrasonic probe for testing the quality of the rock and a releasable mini-robot that can fit through spaces as small as 0.7 inches in diameter. Additionally, the robot uses special nylon and carbon fiber wheels that won’t deface the pyramid’s sensitive rock.”

Shaun Whitehead, Systems engineer and mission manager told TechNewsDaily that, “All the robots were designed from scratch to do as little damage to the shafts as possible…The previous robots both used tracks that scrubbed away at the floor and ceiling as they moved. We use soft brace pads to grip the walls, like an inchworm or the technique that rock climbers use for ascending ‘chimneys.’ The wheels don’t need to grip, they need to slip as much as possible.’”

Recognizing the challenges they face, the team plans to continue their expedition until they succeed in reaching the end of the shafts. Just like so many great mysteries, you get to one door, figurative or literal, and find yet another door just beyond. “We have been working on the project for five years,” Dr. Robert Richardson of the Leeds University School of Mechanical Engineering has said. “We have no preconceptions. We are trying to gain evidence for other people to draw conclusions. There are two shafts. The north shaft is blocked by a limestone door and nothing has penetrated that door. With the south shaft a previous team has measured the thickness of the stone, drilled through it and put a camera through it and found there was another surface. We are going to determine how thick that is and we could drill through it. We are preparing the robot now and expect to send it up before the end of the year. It’s a big question, and it’s very important not to cause unnecessary damage. We will carry on until we find the answer. We hope to get all the data possible which will be sufficient to answer the questions.”

This monumental structure (monumental in so many ways) has survived for so long, thank goodness it seems they’re taking a gentle approach to their exploration. While I’m still not entirely comfortable with the idea of drilling even tiny holes in the Great Pyramid, this expedition certainly has piqued my curiosity for what may soon be revealed to be behind these very closed doors.