Header Promotion
Well, now, you really can’t talk about MASKED BY MOONLIGHT without talking about The Whip. And my affinity for doing just about anything in the name of book research. With a theatrical background, I’m a sensory kind of gal—I want to know what things look like, smell like, feel like, etc. because I create them in my head almost as if they were onstage. This meant I really wanted to know what it felt like to wield a whip and a sword, because they were so integral to Matthew’s character.
And, I’ll admit, it just plain sounded cool. I had to come up with something to top learning to walk a tightrope from the granddaughter of Carl Wallenda. Or getting espresso lessons from a world-ranked barista (before I even knew baristas could be globally ranked). Or learning the Chinese and Japanese tea ceremonies. I’ve got a reputation to uphold…
The swords were easy. I signed my son and I up for six weeks of fencing lessons. It was outrageously fun, and a serious workout. I was one of the only adults in an all ages class, which meant I had signed up for a six-Saturday session of getting “whupped” by people two feet shorter than me. Including my son, who won every single duel we had—and the instructor delighted in pairing us up once he knew the reasoning behind my attendance. My son, of course, thought being encouraged to skewer his mom on a weekly basis was great fun. I learned the difference between fencing and most of what we see on television. This was the summer that one of the Pirates of the Carribean movies had come out, so there was lots of “swashbuckling slashing” than needed to be corrected. Swords:
check.
Whips: a bit harder to come by. As you can imagine, you get all kinds of looks when you start asking around about whips. I finally found the San Francisco Circus Arts School, and managed to wrangle my way into “open whipping night” during one of my Frisco research trips. I’ll
openly admit to serious trepidation about just who might show up at something called “open whipping night.” I’m six feet tall, nearly fearless (except for roller coasters), and can handle myself when traveling alone, but this...
It was a blast. The mixture of attendees was enough to fill twelve books’ worth of characters—everything from tattooed performance artists to ten-year-old boys to a radio show producer to someone who looked like she ought to be teaching second grade. My teacher was astoundingly patient and answered my dozens of odd questions i.e. “What’s the most dashing thing you can do with a whip? How badly can you hurt someone? Can you really hold yourself up and swing across something? What can’t you do? What’s the most romantic thing you can do? Does Indiana Jones get any of it right?” and so on.
Cracking a whip is one of the most viscerally satisfying things I’ve ever done. It radiates down
your arm into your chest. You feel like telling the whole world to get out of your way. You feel powerful and sassy and more than a bit rebellious. The sound is unique to anything in the
universe.
It hurts a whole lot when you get it wrong.
Would I do it again? Absolutely. We’re doing a sequel to MASKED BY MOONLIGHT for 2010, and who knows what I’ll come up with for this one. And, because I know you’re asking yourself, NO—I didn’t buy one to take home. Not that I wouldn’t want to, but the good ones are rather expensive and I couldn’t bear to explain myself to the airport inspector when I tried to check my bags….
Want to hear me read Chapter One of Masked by Moonight (complete with whip-cracking action!) to you? Log on to www.alliepleiter.com and click on the link next to the book cover. No sound effects, but loads of fun anyway.
Save the Date! You won't want to miss our annual open house event on December 11th!
