Here's the cover of the latest anthology in which one of my stories is featured. The editor had this to say in the introduction about my story: "[Wheeler] demonstrates the gallantry and the butchery of the Napoleonic Wars amplified to 'eleven.' He also wrote the best exchange of dialogue in a book filled with great exchanges."* The story is "Seventh Hussar and Aide to the Mage." You can get it here. I reread it earlier today, and enjoyed it again. It's smack-dab in the center of the book, which is filled with great stories.
*Currently, the ebook (and probably print as well) fails to list my name in the introduction, erroneously giving the name of an author who wrote the WW2 short story preceding mine. My story is the only Napoleonic tale in the anthology, and I've confirmed with the editor it was me and my story/dialogue to which he referred. A correction, although not demanded, has been promised.
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I was in a meeting earlier today in which someone mentioned that a third-party wasn't responding, or didn't seem genuine in her responses. Naturally, I had to say, "She was immune to your consultations." Nobody got the reference. Not only that, I couldn't remember either the song title or artist to which I was alluding. The other folks in the meeting thought I was using legal jargon. Fortunately, the handheld device was right at, well, hand. I did a quick search to reveal the source song and artist. Even then, no one else recognized it.
On the other hand, a coworker did get a couple of the three musical references I made within her hearing. All I can say about that is two out of three ain't bad.
Doing some reading in French, as I often do. I was struck by the difference in the French and English words for "now." The English word has but three letters. The word compacts a sense of urgency within the narrow confines of its brevity. Two consonants sandwich a single vowel. The first vowel is quickly formed with the tongue tapping the palate immediately behind the teeth. The second consonant has the advantage of requiring almost no oral action at all--merely a slight constricting of the lips and passage. The word can be a burst of sound enunciated with the leading letter to be squelched at once or drawn out by holding the vowel and final consonant. The W is a doorman who can slam the door or hold it open for emphasis. "Now" is perfectly suited to its purpose.
The French word, "maintenant," au contraire, does not lend itself to the hammer blow imperative of insistent immediacy. It has ten letters. For those of you running low on mathematical wizardry spells, that's more than three times the letters in "now." Notwithstanding the fact that the French have a penchant for ignoring many of the soldiers within the ranks of a given word, it's still at least a two syllable word (technically three, but that "e" in the middle is really just to tip-off the neighboring "t" to the fact that he needs to answer the roll call even though his mate at the end of the word could go awol and not be missed). The word begins with the lips entirely closed for the "m." To add insult to injury (and other cliches), the two syllables are both nasal, making one shouting the word by itself sound like the bearer of a speech impediment or a double-squeezed goose. It's a no-win combo of sound.
English for the win on this duel of rival tongues. Why do I bring this up? No reason. It's just something I noticed and spent more time thinking about than it deserved. I'm sure there are other battles that French might win. (I refrained from making an old joke here. I'm sure you can figure out what it was). For instance, could there be a better language for poetry? When you can make the "O" sound with 14 different combinations of letters, you're going to have big advantage in the rhyming words skirmish. However, I suspect that Shakespeare would be willing to contest the matter.
Check out all my books and published short stories here.
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