Austin Belanger: I'm a 51 year old father of four and grandfather of six who is still a kid at heart! I have been married to my wife Karen for 25 years. I grew up in New England but settled in Arizona, joining the Marines in 1984 and retiring in 2005 after traveling around the world a couple of times and experiencing many different cultures and people. Unfortunately, I was never able to stay long enough to really get into any of them. My favorite overseas locations are Japan and Italy. I did two six month tours in Iwakuni, Japan, visiting Hiroshima, where the bomb fell. It was a sobering experience visiting Peace Park and the Memorial Museum. World War II was definitely a dark time all around. I spent two tours and several months in Aviano, Italy during the war in Yugoslavia, attempting to aid the Bosnian people who were trying to stave off ethnic cleansing by the Serbians. Not sure if I made a difference in that mess, but that was as close to war as I ever got, thankfully. While overseas, I came to love both of those places because of their rich ancient history and traditions. Visiting Europe inspired me to pursue some of my interests in medieval/fantasy, leading me to become a member of a medieval recreation society called The Society for Creative Anachronism in 1997. We recreate the Middle Ages from the fall of the Roman Empire to the Elizabethan Age. I have chosen to recreate a Norse persona whose name is Patrekr Jarngrimsson. In February of this year, I was promoted (elevated) to a Peerage rank of Master for service and leadership. That was a great honor for me. When I'm not dressing and fighting in armor I still love to play Dungeons and Dragons, watch New England sports teams win championships, play online games like Rift and World of Warcraft, and write poems and books. Currently, I am hoping to publish a book that I have just completed and is with my editor for scrutiny!
DV: I think gaming (at least in the Dungeons and Dragons sense) is a kind of transient collaborative authorship. In your mind, how did you become a "writer" (whatever that is)?
AB: Being a writer to me is being someone who can relate his intimate thoughts and beliefs to strangers in a way that is grasps their attention and imagination. Personally, I find it hard at times to be honest with my audience because some things may be important but they are often also also very personal in nature. Writers put thoughts, emotions and ideas on paper that push the envelope, making others think, feel, and act. Writing is an art. My thought is that many times, a writer may write simply to entertain, but writers do this by creating new worlds or describing old ones. They create people real or imagined and breathe life into them. A good book should get you emotionally attached to the world and its people, leaving the reader feeling as if they "were there." Writers are the people who create these worlds and take readers someplace new or help them revisit somewhere old by the use of the written word. I agree with your take on gaming. It's like you are in the book and determining the actual path of your own story to a degree. I was a child with a vivid imagination who experienced major loss trauma at a young age due to the death of my father. I needed a creative outlet and I liked to write things. The pieces weren't good, but I was always coming up with stories and writing them down on yellow legal paper and reading them to my siblings. My stories were always about a hero that saves the day because, well, I wished he would show up. He didn't until I was fully grown and my mother remarried. (I still write like that!) When I was about 14, making money cutting grass for people as well as delivering newspapers, I did the lawn for one man who was a really nice guy. He was a big man who wrote romance novels, of all things. I saw him typing on an old IBM (not a computer, like nowadays) and of course, I immediately hit him up with 100 questions about how to write a book. He was a patient guy and nice enough to endure my scribbles that I thrust upon him, always encouraging me to keep at it. I also had a teacher, Mr. McKinley, in high school who taught the Creative Writing class. He made us keep a journal and write something every day. At first, I hated the pressure of having to write and just wrote anything, but when I tried, the one page required became five or ten. This is where I first wrote poems. They were teenage babbling, but I wish I still had them!
DV: You seem surprised, but actually most romance writers are men who use a number of female pen names. Aside from poetry, what kind of books do you write?
AB: I was more surprised at how many women authors that I have met online who are pretty descriptive in their romance novels. No judgment here, but I was just caught off guard by their straightforwardness. Well, when it comes to my writing it is actually "book" not books, at the moment. This is my first one. It is a fantasy medieval story that started out as a poem. The poem was the backstory for a Dungeon and Dragons campaign that I began writing in 2011. I saved it on my computer and forgot all about it and when I finally found it again, I really liked what I saw. The poem is called "The Battle of Arondayre," which I posted online at duanespoetree.blogspot.com and on Facebook. A friend saw the post and we talked about it. During our discussions, I revealed to her that I always felt that there was a book inside me somewhere but that I never could focus and finish the job. She called me out and dared me to do it. So I did. Once I started it was easier than I thought it would be. Grammar and syntax, well that is something else entirely! I have an editor looking over the rough now. He is probably taking a lot of aspirin.
DV: Aspirin is part of the daily editorial diet, along with hair and eyesight restorers. But I hope you have a good editor, who is both competent to do a good job and cares enough about your manuscript to do it well.
AB: My editor is a friend who is an English Educator overseas. He is currently losing his mind over my misuse or lack of use, concerning commas, semicolons. I joke with him calling punctuation literary garnish. I have faith that he will really clean it up. He lives in Japan with his family and I will be Skyping with him to discuss my lack of grammar skills and things that I need to fix in the book. I did fine writing papers in college, but that was a long time ago. If you don't use it, you lose it!
DV: When you were writing it, did you have a rigorous schedule, or was your progress made in clumps? If you had to do all over again, what would you do differently?
AB: I wrote pretty regularly, because I found it to be fun. Many times I would write in big spurts. I always tried to complete a chapter or scene so that I would not lose my train of thought. When I wrote the book, one of my major problems was keeping the timeline straight. I had a working outline, but the dates and events were fluid as I added and subtracted ideas. This led to what I jokingly called my "Dr. Who" influence where time was a bit skewed here and there. After I completed the book rough, most of my first pass in editing the thing was cutting the fluff, but also a big part was straightening out my timeline and progression of events. I would probably include those details in my outline next time.
DV: Different authors approach their work in different ways. Henry James apparently had extremely complex outlines of structures, so that some event or theme on page five would be mirrored five pages from the end. Jack Kerouac claimed that he just wrote spontaneously and didn't revise. Margaret Mitchell wrote "Gone with the Wind" backwards from the end of the book to the beginning. Some have regular schedules, perhaps 9-12 in the morning and 3-6 in the afternoon, usually in an office or some other private space away from the routine of their domicile; others, like Jack London, would write X number of publishable words every day, no longer how drunk he was. Charles Dickens apparently juggled numerous manuscripts simultaneously and wrote even while engaged in conversation at a party. Some share their work with a writing group, and others don't find this interaction to be at all helpful. What about your poetry -- how would you compare the writing process with that of your book?
AB: Well, when I started I wrote an extensive, super detailed outline of the entire timeline of the world from creation, to the point of my story, and several thousand years later. I included major events in history, the major players and the major civilizations. Then, I fleshed out the "major points" with a bit of minor information and incorporated a timeline that made sense. After doing that I began writing from the middle of my timeline, referencing the events that happened "in the past" as they were relevant to "present day" in the book. I started the story with a general plan, which eventually veered here and there. I stayed in line with my outline, to a point, but it evolved from the original plan to the final story which included other elements which added to the overall quality of the story. My style is to write in spurts. I will go a few days without writing, then "the day" will arrive and I will go into my office at my home, close the door after saying goodbye to the wife and boy and enter my world. I set the mood with medieval music quietly playing in the background and let it rip. I will write from 12 to 25 pages in a sitting, going back later to edit my rambling and my tendency to veer off subject. I wrote this book from start to end, vice end to start, but I could have easily written backward and had a really good end product. I am looking forward to writing another book about the main character's love interest, Adasser. I may take that approach! It might be an interesting take. My poetry is not planned most times. I get a "muse moment" as I jokingly call it, and the poem won't leave me alone. Many times, an event, a song, something mundane will hit a chord and remind of something in my life or push my buttons. Then I sit and write down the words as they come. I look at them a few times over, using prettier words and rearranging a line here or there, but usually, my best poems are spontaneous and require very little editing. In my book, there were times of inspiration like when I'm writing poems, where the chapter was not predetermined by an outline, but rather, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to depict and narrate, then I let my imagination create the narrative on the fly.
DV: What did you study in college?
AB: I studied Education, specifically World History and Computer Sciences in college. I ended up with a Bachelor's in Information Technology, Network Administration.
DV: Did you take any literature classes? Are there any writers (poets in particular) that you regard as being formative of your own work?
AB: When it comes to poets I tend to read random things and find myself attached to things that speak to me. I lean toward the fantasy genre. My favorite writer and poet has to be J. R. R. Tolkien. His stuff always inspires me. Another one would have to be C. S. Lewis, who I didn't discover until I was an adult. At times, I think that I subconsciously try to mimic both of their styles when I write poetry.
DV: I certainly understand your attraction to these titans of modern fantasy writing. I wonder if the two medievalist dons shared their poems along with their prose when they met with their fellow Inklings at Oxford. On the other hand, most lovers of the works of these two find their poetry to be their least favorite parts, since it is both subtle and technically difficult. Tolkien probably agreed with Lewis' remark that "Intricacy is a mark of the medieval mind" and that the old poets delighted in offering us "something that cannot be taken in at a glance, something that at first looks planless though all is planned. Everything leads to everything else, but by very intricate paths." Tolkien, for example, liked to use the same kind of obsolete alliterative, accentual poetry found in "Beowulf," although he complicated the form by adding rhymes. It is not strictly rhythmical, because it was based not on a metrical arrangement of syllables but rather on the regular repetition of strong beats in each line. For instance, the first line of the "Song of the Mounds of Mundberg" would read "We HEARD of the HORNS in the HILLS RINGing" and the next line would have a different rhythm ("the SWORDS SHINing in the SOUTH-KINGdom"), but they both have four strong beats, as does the rest of the poem. In "Beowulf" fashion, usually the first and second halves of a line are tied together since the first and third beats share the same consonant, and many times the first three beats all alliterate. Lewis was perhaps even more complicated in his poetic structuring. For instance, the last stanza of "Le Roi S’Amuse" has eight slightly disguised lines, but the internal rhymes make it far more complicated:
WORLD and MAN
UnFURLED their BANner –
It was GAY Behemoth on a SABle FIELD.
FRESH-ROBEd
In FLESH, the enNOBled
SPIRits carousing in their MYRiads REELed;
There was FROLic and HOLiday. Jove laughed to SEE
The aBYSS empeopled, his BLISS imparted, the THRONG that was his and no LONGer HE.
So your exemplars, whether you mimic them subconsciously or not, are extremely difficult acts to follow. My hat is off to you. Do you still tend to follow their lead when you are not writing fantasy-themed poetry?
AB: Honestly, I don't know if I follow them at ALL! I just find their writing and poetry to be inspiring and it hits home when I read it. My poetry, at times, is more haphazard than planned, sometimes it has a rhythm and sometimes is doesn't. At times, it seems to be a rap. Many times, some lines rhyme and others just say what is on my mind. I am not sure if that fits into the styles of either of these great men, but when I read their writings my imagination is fired. I find myself thinking of other angles to everything they write and I am particularly inspired by the epic nature of the poetry written by Tolkien during "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit," especially. He always amazes me with their detail. I mean, Tolkien wrote languages for his worlds; I am nowhere near that level of thought! I think a lot of my interest in Tolkien and to a lesser degree, Lewis, was spurred by the the big Dungeons and Dragons craze of the 1970's and 80's. I grew up during that time. I spent many days playing fantasy games, reading books, and watching movies like "Conan the Barbarian" and "Excalibur." I lived in the medieval/fantasy world most of my teen years, at least in my head playing D&D, and when I grew older I found a group called the Society for Creative Anachronism, where we actually recreate the Middle Ages with varying individual degrees of authenticity. I have a unique perspective when writing or reading about armored combat, having actually fought in armor for over 20 years (although, in the SCA, we use wooden weapons for safety sake). When I read poems like the one below, I can almost feel what the narrator is saying, as crazy as that may sound. I particularly love this one by Tolkien. I try to write in this style, or some semblance of it:
Lament for Eorl the Young
Where now is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;
The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.
Who shall gather the smoke of the deadwood burning,
Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?
DV: Just for the sake of comparison, could you share one of your own Tolkienesque poems?
AB: I am embarrassed to consider this poem in the same "zip code" as Tolkien's, but here is one that I wrote when I was writing my book. It doesn't follow the measures that you cited earlier, but I wrote it while trying to capture a similar feeling as Tolkien did with his poems and odes to great heroes in his stories. I wrote this prior to writing my book. To get in the mindset and into the mood, I guess?
The Song of the Golden Queen
On the day when men bled crimson,
Hope was lost on barren field,
Below the mountain,
Men did garrison,
Dwarves retreated,
Their gates did yield,
The Elves did likewise,
Ran and hid,
And in the forest,
Farewell they bid.
No quarter granted to men few,
The evil came,
It charged anew.
But against the last of light’s fair chance,
A hero spoke and raised his lance,
His men cheered loudly,
Their horses reared,
And died they should have,
As they feared.
But from Aeternum she rained down,
Her golden visage and holy crown,
With call her kindred,
Who brought their doom,
With fire and magic,
And smoky gloom,
She rent the evil with her clan,
And saved the hero,
This mortal man,
And shout they did,
With might and cheer,
The Queen they loved,
They did revere,
And she did turn and roar to go,
Up to the sky,
Man down below.
Now on that day do all recall,
The deeds of Puryn and them all,
How honor moved the heart of One,
Who watches over man and son,
And granted man a new day, bright,
To stand with her,
And evil smite.
DV: Actually, if you look closely (and you double some of your lines) you'll see the same loose, accentual (rather than metric) style of poetry. Have you ever given any thought about why your juvenile interest in the Middle Ages carried on into adulthood? Is that why you went into Armor?
AB: I am not entirely sure why my interest in the Middle Ages carried over, but I think that I identify with that period in history because of events that occurred earlier in my life. Not to sound like I'm psychoanalyzing myself, but the biggest event of my childhood was when my father died when I was only 8 years old. This catastrophic event thrust me into the position of "the man of the house" and even as a young boy, that statement was burned into my mind, meaning to me, that I had to protect everyone. I had to grow up extremely fast and I considered myself responsible for defending my sister and brother from bullies. Other issues that impacted my actions included mental illness in the immediate family which led to public gossip that required my constant attention to "defending the family name" while living in a small town environment. I think these experiences made the Knighthood and Chivalry second nature to me. I identified with service, honor and protecting those who could not protect themselves. I'm not saying that I thought I was some tough guy, I just stood up (and got beaten down at times) for those who could not stand up for themselves. Later, I became a teenage father with my high school sweetheart. Rather than choosing to abort our child I stood up and married my lady. I joined the United States Marine Corps to support my family, but also because they were the "toughest." I have always felt the need to prove myself, even when I achieve the goals I set. The Society for Creative Anachronism screamed out to me. The culture, the art, the music, the martial activities, the actual Monarchy, Peerages and social ranking structure is as real as you want to make it. It was everything I ever wanted in real life, even if it's just on the weekends and at special events. Nothing is scripted. It's all real time and real people, trying to live what we call "The Dream." My life is fashioned around what we in the Society call "The Current Middle Ages." Chivalry, Bushido, whatever you want to call it, it is what I have adopted as a personal code of ethics and beliefs. This ethos serves me, where religions and men fail. I guess it's what I truly believe.
DV: One of my close friends in Korea had been a jester in the SCA, but otherwise he did not seem to be much interested in things medieval, so I'm curious about your level of involvement, especially given your status as Master. For instance, do you enjoy Gregorian chanting or madrigals, do you play a harp or similar instrument?
AB: I joined the SCA in 1997. I wandered around just partying and having fun with it for the first 12-14 years and then I became more serious. I squired to a Knight, which is much like a Sensei/Student relationship. While learning the martial arts of the medieval warrior, I was also required to do service to the Crown and to dabble in the arts and sciences. I served several times as a Queen's Guard to various Queens and I was also a Baronial Guard. I have held several local Officer positions in my local Shire, and currently I am the Seneschal (legal officer/President) of our local group. I make my own clothing, armor, mead, and beer. I have painted a few things but nothing too professional looking! I play a doumbeck reasonably well, but I'm not a professional at that either.
DV: Do you participate in bardic events, reciting your poetry?
AB: I have toyed with the idea of entering the Kingdom Bardic Competition, but I am really not that fond of public speaking! Maybe if I don't chicken out, I will try at the next one.
DV: What about the neo-Paganism that is sometimes associated with the society?
AB: The Neo-paganism of the SCA is pretty widespread but so is every other belief system. I know Wiccans, Asatru, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Jews and Atheists. Religion is kind of an unspoken subject in the circles that I run with, but there are Hospitaller and Crucidine Crusader groups who, I have been told, hold Catholic Mass or Protestant worship in their encampments on Sunday mornings. I guess that it really depends upon what you want to experience and who you hang out with. Households are usually formed by like-minded individuals who create the atmosphere that they desire to inhabit during SCA events. There is pretty much something in the SCA for everyone.
DV: You mentioned Bushido, and I'm sure you must have visited the castle at Iwakuni -- have you ever thought about introducing a Japanese-themed auxiliary similar to the Great Dark Horde,which is based on the Mongol empire? Or is that too far removed from the European Middle Ages?
AB: The SCA centers its "time period" from 600AD - 1600AD, but that is loosely interpreted many times, with people recreating the ancient Greek and Roman societies which existed during the SCA focus but far from their peaks of power. The way it was explained to me is, "If the civilization had any trade or diplomatic ties to any of the major European Monarchies or Kingdoms, they are in the scope of what we do." With the Huns, the Silk Road and many other cultural ties, if you want to make a connection, there is probably a way. I have met folks in the SCA that recreate Japanese personas. We have two of them in my local group. Many of them tend to gravitate toward Rapier (fencing) combat vice the heavy combat field, but there are a few here and there that get on the heavy battlefield in full laminate armor. Their helmets are impressive if they are done right. When I was in the USMC, stationed in Iwakuni, JP I did visit the castle you spoke of and was totally blown away by the armor and weapons. I believe the name of the area was Kentai. I was really interested in how they constructed the defenses and guardhouses, using geese and ducks as an early warning system. I also spent some time looking at some of the Shinto and Buddhist shrines and temples in the area.
DV: It is my understanding that the bridge leading to the castle was also designed so it could be quickly disassembled when an enemy approached and then easily reassembled. Did you ever feel inspired to write about Japan or any of the other places you visited?
AB: I wrote extensively while I was on a U.S. warship, but not too much while overseas in Japan. I was also stationed in Aviano, Italy in the early to mid-1990's during the Bosnian War. I worked with NATO to provide air support and to enforce the no-fly zone over the former Yugoslavia. I wrote a lot then also, but unfortunately, I lost all of the those poems over the years because they were in a notebook that has gone missing. Back in those days, computers weren't as easy to come by as they are today! Most of my poems were about loneliness and my perspective during those times because I was away from home and homesick, but some were about the ocean or the mountains in Pordenone, Italy. Italy wasn't real. It felt like I was living in a movie. I really loved what I got to see of Europe. I loved Japan also, but for different reasons. My writings didn't survive though. I wrote this one years later in Arizona. It's about being a young Marine in Aviano. It came to me when I was leaving work one day. I had a flashback due to the weather, the cut grass, and the strange quiet of the flight line that day. Here it is:
Nightcrew in Italy
The cool, damp breeze upon the unsuspecting brow
Brings with it the wafting trace of freshly cut grass,
Staring out at familiar terrain,
And the flight line oddly hushed,
As if it were dozing on this comfortable evening...
Save one lone MMG running steadfastly in the night!
Off out of sight, it seems a quiet and welcome droning...
And there I am in coveralls again,
25 years old with a cranial cocked back on my head,
Staring out into the blue lights that adorn the field,
With a toolbox in hand,
Sure of myself,
With a job to do, a mission to accomplish...
Knowing my place in the world...
The memory, almost a vision, is so lucid,
But then, as the generator hum subsides,
From this fond reoccurring dream I awake,
Strangely sad, grasping for it to remain.
But alas, those days are gone forever, never to return,
And the uncertain future holds in store what it will,
Thus I relearn what the term "good old days" truly means.
And how easy they are to take for granted.
AB: Dr. Vorhees, the honor is all mine! Thank you for your time and efforts. I wish the best for you also! Thank you for all of your insight and for publishing my poetry on your website.
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