{Put This One on Your TBR List}: Review of A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock Accompanied by Karen Wiesner's Original Artwork by Karen S. Wiesner

 

{Put This One on Your TBR List}:

Review of A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock

Accompanied by Karen Wiesner's Original Artwork

by Karen S. Wiesner 

  Beware spoilers! 

I was looking for something to read on my Libby library app, and A Botanical Daughter by Noah Medlock came up, no doubt because of my newfound love of gardening and horror literature. This 2024 Victorian gothic chiller was the author's first book. The basic story is two Victorian-age, quirky gentlemen live a cloistered existence in an equally eccentric botanical garden. Simon is a taxidermist who views his usually whimsical (i.e., not disturbing) craft as art. Gregor is a celebrated, though somewhat spurned, horticulturist whose greatest love is cultivating wildly exotic plants. His latest acquisition is a strange fungus he's convinced is capable of unprecedented intelligence. He's determined to make it his masterpiece. Throw in a spirited housemaid named Jennifer who's a bit of an oddity herself in the community they live, and readers are treated to a whole menagerie of curiosities to explore. Jennifer has recently lost the friend she loves, one she believes was murdered by her own father, though she has no way to prove it. 

This story began in a wonderfully witty, charming way that captured me instantly, especially when the story turned into a gardener's version of Frankenstein. Seriously, what more could you want? I was mesmerized with the wonderful characters and their irresistible setting. Jennifer was unexpectedly vibrant, not willing to be defined by those around her, and fiercely true to herself and her values. Simon and Gregor were at first alike only in that both displayed erratic artist temperaments, yet the author made them very unique…at least initially. 

The first half of this book was amazing. I enjoyed every word, all the unorthodox developments, the author's clever turns of phrase that had me laughing out loud from one page to the next. I wanted to include at least one or two of the best of those gems here but my library app took the ebook back too quickly. 

Despite such a winning start, the last half of the story, regrettably, became a confounding garble of twisted, choking inconsistencies that eventually threatened to wreck the foundation altogether. It got to the point where I couldn't tell which character was Gregor and which was Simon. They became as the same person and unrecognizable from their formerly established characters. I lost track of the story because the main characters abruptly were so muddied and odiously unlikable. It was as if the author himself forgot who was who in his literary madness. Not only did the story turn to something painfully unreadable but the situations the couple's bad choices entangled them in resembled an abyss that got deeper, darker, and far less amusing than I could tolerate. The characters committed horrible atrocities that were presented in a way that ultimately condoned their behavior. Similar to another "holobiont"* set of books I recently read and was faintly appalled by**, the degeneration of values and lack of respect for life (human and plant alike) depicted at the end of this story all but crumbled to incomprehensibility, leaving me cold and filled with regrets for what could have been a brilliant first novel. The initial half was so enjoyable and fun. While I wouldn't have called this outright horror, it had moments of dread that I relished in context with all the plant concepts. I'm not entirely certain if it was an inexperienced author that was to blame for the crimes committed in the writing of the second portion of this tome, or an editor who let far too many mistakes creep in that went unrevised--probably both of these in combination. A third alternative is that this is simply the unimaginable (to me), new way books are written, and I'm just too old to appreciate it. Sigh. 

*Various symbiotic organisms joined as an ecological unit--read more about this on Wikipedia if you're interested. 

**The Southern Reach Series by Jeff VanderMeer. 

Despite my regrets for what might have been, I must say, what a lovely cover. I adore it!  Bravo, Julia Lloyd! 

To go along with the theme of this review, here's a botanical art project I recently finished for my daughter's birthday.

"Autumn…Where Nature and Imagination Merge"

(rendered in coloring pencil)

© Karen Wiesner (all rights reserved)

 Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of 156 titles and 16 series. 

Visit Karen here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Valentine's Day: Passion, Peace, and Purpose An Original Article with Artwork by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Valentine's Day: Passion, Peace, and Purpose

by Karen S. Wiesner

Copyright @ Karen Wiesner 

Clematis Vine on Trellis Sketch Rendered in B&W with Minimal Colored Pencil 

  

It's hard to celebrate Valentine's Day when you consider the fractured state of the world. When you look around, you don't have to search to find the bad. It's always there, everywhere your eyes land. It calls attention to itself. It vies for our attention like a proud toddler parading around his newly completed artwork. Negativity wants to steal every part of our focus and schemes to infect and bring us down, preventing positive change from taking root and spreading hope. Bad news will find you every second of every minute of every single day. It's everywhere, determined to suffocate you and steal all the joy out of your life. This is the case, without fail, and forever. You don't have to take a single step to find negativity or bad news because it will find you first. You can't hide from it, no matter how much you might want to. 

The good stuff, the good news, exists in this world, but it's much harder to see, let alone find. You actually have to go looking for it and even then it wouldn't be easy to locate. It's rare you'll ever find it. You have to make a dedicated effort to seek for it, long and hard and with everything in your being. Often, it's like cutting against the grain to even make this effort.

Here's the truly amazing part, though: You don't have to go searching far and wide for the good in life and things that feed your passion. In life's often times' contradictory and ironic serendipity, the things that bring true, inner peace and purpose are already inside you.  These things are made up of who you are and what you already love. 

Sometimes we feel so lost, we don't know how to tap into our passion, peace, and purpose, in part because they require you to look within instead of without (infinitely harder for most people), and they demand your devotion--both your time and your energy, which can be in short supply when there are so many other things vying for both. It'll take strong will, but if you can free up for yourself just fifteen (even five, if that's all you can spare) minutes of every day to draw out the passion that gives you joy and imparts, alongside it, peace and purpose, you'll see the entire world from a different perspective. Don't let anything distract you for those five to fifteen minutes. Shut out the world. Analyze yourself and the things you love, the things you're drawn to, the passions that bring out the very best of you. 

You probably won't need money to bring out that passion because, always, these kinds of things come from within. (I believe they're instilled inside us at conception.) I can't imagine you won't recognize it because you'll come to life and light up from within when you identify your passion--it's the missing piece that is you. This is your happy place, and here you belong; here (together with this piece/peace), you become what you're meant to be. 

Be aware that what you're searching for probably isn't larger-than life, nor is it an ethereal or even an ephemeral thing that wins you fame and fortune. It may not even be a single thing. It could be and probably is more than one, each fitting together and allowing you to find peace in a chaotic world and giving you the motivation to pursue it each and every day. It's the quiet passion deep within your soul that says, "This is where I want to be. Where I'm me. Where I'm happiest. Where I'm whole. Where I can do the most good for myself and others." For some, that's immersing the self in nature and the quieter, more solitary aspects of the earth. For others, it's in books or art or learning. Still others only find peace when they empty the self and give to those in need. 

Whatever your passion is, that's where your main focus should be. Think about this: If you spend your entire life fixated on the sad state of the world, all the negativity and bad in it, and on a volatile future churning out doom and gloom left and right, the present will pass you by and you'll miss everything that could have been worthwhile. Cut out what brings you down wherever and whenever you can without isolating yourself completely from it. (Hermits rarely make the world better for themselves or anyone else.) 

It requires willpower to live in the present and make something good out whatever's before you in the place you're occupying, in this time you're given. If you find the things that feed your passion, you'll experience both peace and a sense of purpose. You'll be doing something that gives you hope and roots and a place to exist that feels safer than anything the world can ever provide. When those things occupy your time and energy, you can let go of all the things that you have no control over in this world. You'll find both a will and a way to reconcile with them because you're doing your part in bringing something worthwhile into being.

Your life and the way you live it can bring inspiration, illumination, and motivation to everyone around you--even without you doing anything except pursuing what you love, and spending your energy and focus on them instead of on all the negative stuff. Trust me, the world does not need or even care about your attention, as hard as it clamors to steal every ounce of it, nor will it ever reward you the way inner passion, peace, and purpose do and will--without restraint and perpetually if you remain dedicated to cultivating it. 

In truth, I don't think most of us even need to hunt for our passion, peace, and purpose. You know what yours are. What you may lack and are probably looking for is the time to immerse yourself in them. By committing yourself to just five to fifteen minutes of every day without distraction to pursue at least one of these things, you live in the present and invest in the future. Don't let anyone or anything take those minutes away from you. If you've only just started on a passion you've wanted to devote more time and energy to, what small goals can you set to see it come to fruition? Take a lesson from a gardener: Most of the work happens in advance of the season we're looking forward to. We plant bulbs in the fall in hopes they'll come up and bloom in the spring or summer. If we didn't plant and prepare in the present, nothing can happen in the future. 

This Valentine's Day, think about your passions and how they can bring you peace and purpose today and throughout your lifetime. Start in the present, planting seeds for the future. If, as I have been for the past few years, you're aching for a return to things that motivate you to be your best self instead of leeching the life out of you, sit down and draw up a table of your passions. What three things most define who you are and what you love to do? Below each passion, include how those passions present themselves in your favored activities. My own trinity of passions looks something like this: 

Passion #1:  Writing	Passion #2:  Art	Passion #3:  Music
Devotionals	Sketching and illustrating (colored pencils, painting, etc.)	Listening to
Articles/essays	Gardening	Playing piano and singing
Reviews	Simple living, going back to the basics, and making everything homemade--including food, decorations, greeting cards, and gifts for loved ones	Songwriting and composing

I want to do so much more of all of these things in the future. While I'm retiring from writing fiction (as soon as I can manage it--other than children's stories), I will never stop writing. I feel like I've just started with the last two--these little seedlings are just sprouting. There are so many angles to pursue, my days and energy are bursting with them. All of it makes me eager for the future when I can hopefully see them bloom and blossom. 

Once you've established a routine, let your passion grow. Take more time for these things and give them the majority of your focus because they're the important things in life, the tasks that you'll feel good about in the end because they'll shape you and touch the lives of everyone around you. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Summer and Autumn Sampler by Karen Wiesner

 

Summer and Autumn Sampler

by Karen Wiesner 

Happy Fall! In honor of another summer gone past and the beautiful Fall leaves, I'm posting some of the newest, nature artwork I've been doing with initial pencil sketches followed by my colored pencil versions of them. 

Note, all of these are copyrighted by the artist (Karen Wiesner), illegal to download and distribute, and not available for reproduction or use for any purposes. 

Calla Lily Sketch @by Karen Wiesner

Calla Lily Rendered in Colored Pencils @by Karen Wiesner

 

Rosebud Sketch @by Karen Wiesner

  

Rosebud Rendered in Colored Pencils @by Karen Wiesner 

  

Fall Leaves Sketch @by Karen Wiesner

  

Autumn Sampler Rendered in Colored Pencil @by Karen Wiesner

  

Be sure to check out my website and the blog there to remain in the loop of all I'm doing: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/