Community, Compassion and Cancer: Patry Francis and The Liar's Diary

The world has over 6 billion people on it, and yet sometimes it feels like there are no strangers because a name you hear is known by a friend of yours. That makes them a friend of a friend.

Today approximately 300 bloggers have agreed to help out someone in need of support. That woman is Patry Francis. I do not know her, but she is a friend of my friend Jordan Rosenfeld.

Patry spent many years waiting tables, scratching out her thoughts on paper, toiling to improve her craft of writing. Finally she had succeeded in having a debut novel published in hardback. She achieved the success that I and many of my friends are still working toward. Her book The Liar's Diary was well reviewed and earned blurbs from such esteemed authors as Tess Gerritsen. Her book is now available in seven languages.




Patry should be celebrating her success and spending her time thinking up new characters for a follow up novel.

Instead, shortly after the publication of her book she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

Cancer.

A word that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of anyone who has seen the ravages that disease can inflict on the human body.

I have had far too many of my friends and relatives touched by its various forms. Some have survived, some haven't.

My husband's mother is still locked in a valiant struggle with lung cancer. She was diagnosed at stage 4. Initially it was thought that she might last six months, but here she is two years later still showing how stubborn she can be. God bless her.

I know how tough it is for her to continually take poison into her veins with the hope it will kill the diseased cells and not the host. Changing treatment modalities every few months when the medications stop having the desired effect. Trying to plan her life when she does not know what the new side effects of medicines will be. She is often tethered to her bed and her bathroom for days at a time post-treatment, making it impossible to leave her house.

The pain. The morphine to relieve the pain. The endless sleeping that results when you take the narcotics.

And of course the depression.

Cancer is a cruel disease. To fight it you must be stubborn. You cannot be passive. You must have the will to live and desire to survive while forcing a life threatening disease into submission.

Or remission.

Even then, you will live with the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head always fearful that the cancer will return in a new form, in a new site, and force you to take up arms again renewing your warrior status.

Patry Francis is engaged right now in a life and death struggle with cancer.

Today is release of her book The Liar's Diary in paperback. It is far more important that she invest her energy in caring for her wounded body than spending it publicizing a book.

That is why there are over 300 bloggers banding together to help spread the word on Patry's behalf.

Here is a synopsis of The Liar's Diary from Patry's website.

Synopsis

What would you do if your best friend was murdered—and your teenaged son was accused of the crime? How far would you go to protect him? How many lies would you tell? Would you dare to admit the darkest truths—even to yourself?

Jeanne Cross is an ordinary suburban wife and mother with a seemingly "perfect" life when Ali Mather arrives on the scene, breaking all the rules and breaking hearts. Almost against her will, Jeanne is drawn to this powerfully seductive woman, a fascination that soon begins to infect Jeanne's husband as well as their teenaged son, Jamie.

Though their friendship seems unlikely and even dangerous to their mutual acquaintances, Ali and Jeanne are connected by deep emotional needs, vulnerabilities and long-held secrets that Ali has been privately recording in her diary.

The diary also holds the key to something darker. Though she can't prove it, Ali is convinced someone has been entering her house when she is not at home-and not with the usual intentions. What this burglar wants is nothing less than a piece of Ali's soul.

When Ali is found murdered, there are many suspects; but the evidence against Jamie Cross is overwhelming. Jeanne's personal probing leads her to the question none of us would ever want to face. What comes first: our loyalty to family—or the truth?"

The blog that organized this blogopolooza event on behalf of Patry Francis is Susan Henderson's Lit Park. Please go there, check out audio and video clips of the book and the list of bloggers who have joined the effort in helping Patry. There are also a variety of links to purchase the book depending on which vendor you prefer.

I have yet to read her book, but I shall remedy that soon. Today also marks my mother's 76th birthday and I am fortunate enough to still have both my parents. I had wondered what gift to get my mother, but once I heard about this blogging event and realized the significance of the date, my decision was clear.

My mother will be receiving copy of The Liar's Diary.

Be well Patry. Many people are in your corner, whether they know you personally or not.

Be well and Live Strong.

Linda

Love Conquers All or Subjugated by Love

Yesterday Jennifer Lynn Jordan wrote a blog post regarding the director Terry Gilliam and his incredibly bad luck. There was one passage that was especially thought provoking for me. It was:

Take Brazil. Production for this film (one of my very, very favorites) sent the project into never-before-seen levels of debt, and the studio battle for the final cut was epic, spawning several documentaries and a book. Gilliam lost the Battle of Brazil. The first theatrical release had a saccharine-sweet, happy ending Gilliam never intended, as did the TV edit (now known derisively as the "Love Conquers All" version). In the end, though, he got his way with one of the best-selling releases from the Criterion Collection, which included three different cuts of the film, amongst which is the Gilliam-approved version. Unfortunately, the Criterion Collection consistently costs above $50, and the cheaper, more accessible DVD releases rarely include the Director's Cut. The result is that Brazil remains one of the most highly-esteemed, least seen films of our time.

The phrase that intrigued me was "Love Conquers All" and how it has come to be used in a pejorative manner.

I posted a reply to her there, but have since then had more thoughts on the subject and decided it would be best to expand upon them here rather than clog her comment trail with a long winded reply.

The phrase in question is first attributed to the ancient Roman poet Virgil in his Eclogues (Eclogue X to be exact.) The online Massachusetts Institute for Technology site has the entire works of Virgil's Eclogues and the following translation:

Love conquers all things; yield we too to love!

I would have liked to give a longer passage to help give an idea as to its proper context, but I did not see any real easy place to cut it. Therefore if you are interested, please follow the link if you desire to see how that phrase is the culmination of a speech.

Back to how the phrase is being used today. Commonly the phrase "love conquers all" (LCA) when used in discussing popular culture connotes that Love will somehow solve all problems and create the desired Happily Ever After (HEA) ending. Cue the violins and pass a tray of baklava.

It is not that I dislike happy endings, but I prefer endings that are satisfying dramatically. Sometimes that means that you leave the theater on a happy note, and other times it is more appropriate for a cathartic cry. I dislike endings that are like cotton candy that are light, frothy, and rot your teeth. I would rather have some vinegar to go with my honey to provide some contrast and depth in the emotions being evoked.

There is a different reading of the phrase "love conquers all" by a different poet yielding a much different meaning from the syrupy sweet ending with which it has been associated.

The Italian Renaissance poet Matteo Maria Boiardo in his epic poem Orlando Innamorato meant that the power of love surpassed all else and no one, not even the powerful knight Orlando was immune to its effects.

Here's the second stanza in the first canto in Book 1 (translation by Charles Stanley Ross):

"Don't think it strange, my lords, to hear
Orlando Innamorato sung.
It always is the proudest man
whom Love defeats and subjugates.
No strong arm, no audacity,
no blade well-honed, no shield or mail,
no other power can avail,
for in the end Love conquers all."

In other words, everyone can be struck down by the power of love or "Subjugated by Love. " That phrase has a different ring to it than "Love conquers all" and it implies that people will do anything when they are conquered by the power of Love.

Instead of scheduling a dental appointment to check for tooth rot, it conjures up an image of Aphrodite as a dominatrix or Eros decked out in leather chaps.

I do not mean the cute winged cherub that Cupid calls to mind. I mean a young virile man with six pack abs who just happens to have wings and a quiver of arrows tipped with magic. Check out your local store for some trashy romance novel covers if you need any help with that imagery, it should not take long to find a hawt male. Or you can look at the cover and review of Virgin Slave, Barbarian King to get an idea.


Imagine if the upcoming holiday of Valentine's Day which provides billions of dollars for Hallmark cards and florists were to feature powerful images of Love instead of lacy red hearts and tacky stuffed animals.

Of course that will never happen. Instead we are stuck with doilies, cherubs, and heart shaped confetti. How utterly romantic.

I shall dedicate more to my visit to Chantilly in another post, but here is a preview. There was an entire room decorated with stained glass retelling the legend of Cupido (Cupid or Eros) and Psiche (Psyche).



Here are the lovers. Cupido looks more like an adolescent child than a God of Lurve.




I shall leave you with another version of this phrase. This time I wish for you to consider the immortal words from the famous philosopher Huey Lewis:

"It's strong and it's sudden and it's cruel sometimes
But it might just save your life
That's the power of love."


Linda