The Banana Disease

I love baking (and eating) banana bread. So does my husband, and even my two dogs. The recipe I rely on is the same one my mother used, passed down from her mother. It might go further back, but it's too late to ask. I've shared the recipe at the bottom of this post if you're interested. The secret is to use bananas that have previously been frozen so they turn really brown, and to let the batter sit in the pans for 20 minutes before baking. But that's not really what this blog post is about.

In my book, Guardians of Grace, banana bread becomes a bit of a trading commodity in the small off-grid community where the family finds refuge. It's not just that the bread tastes so good, it's because bananas are hard to come by. Unfortunately, the potential for this to happen isn't fiction. Bananas are at risk.

I've seen several names for the disease attacking banana plants: fusarium wilt, Panama disease, TR4. The cause is a fungus that isn't new, but is spreading rapidly around the globe. According to one article I read, the banana disease was first identified in Taiwan some two decades ago, then spread throughout Asia to the Middle East and Africa before its arrival in Colombia late last year. Colombia is trying to slow the outbreak before it spreads to the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations considers TR4 to be among the most destructive of all plant diseases. 

It spreads stealthily via spores in the soil on boots, plants, machines, or animals. A diseased plant might look healthy for a year while its vascular system is being ravaged. By the time the yellow, wilting leaves appear, it's too late. The soil is contaminated. Since there is no treatment, the only recourse is to abandon the land and move elsewhere. Infected farms are quarantined, and biosecurity measures are put into place to prevent spread. 

For my book, I use Panama disease as yet another subtle warning of climate change, although my research tells me the root cause is greed. As the burgeoning banana industry developed decades ago, a single cultivar was chosen for its consistency in size and taste, and the ease of mass production. The potential to make money superseded any concern that limited genetic diversity could lead to disease susceptibility. 

Of course, scientists and researchers are working hard at developing new varieties of disease-resistant bananas as well as changes to farming methods to address soil health. And so I expect to be baking banana bread for a long time to come.  

Grandma's Banana Bread

I double the recipe for two large loaves:
One to eat and One to freeze

1c Sugar

1/2 c Butter, softened

2 eggs

2 c. flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 mashed ripe bananas

2 T sour milk (either buttermilk, or add a little lemon juice to milk)

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add eggs and blend. Stir in bananas and milk alternately with dry ingredients sifted together. Batter will be very stiff. Pour into greased bread pan. Let stand 20 minutes. Bake 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

For additional reading:
https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-pandemic-threatening-bananas.html
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-22/the-25-billion-banana-industry-is-being-ravaged-by-disease.html

When Characters Rebel

Recently, I was looking over my original, haphazardly scribbled notes for Guardians of Grace as I began plotting out the sequel. I was a bit surprised to see how much I veered from the original plan. Mostly this happened because a character refused to follow the outline. These are the characters who were very demanding and made me rewrite entire scenes until satisfied. Some scenes just wouldn’t be wrestled into submission until I gave up control to the character with the main Point of View for that scene.

Usually, the first rebellion comes if my characters don’t like their name. I may have carefully selected a name, building in lots of symbolism and meaning, and then the character makes me change it. My main character takes on a new identity as Faith Sparrow. I totally forgot that my original intention was to name her Faith Nightingale until I looked back at my notes. Nightingales are a symbol of love and longing, after all. But no. I found myself typing Sparrow. Sparrows, you see, are a symbol of hope, fertility and resurrection. Faith was right, of course. 

Or a character refuses the nickname I give them. Obsidian is the dragon demon in the story. I named her after Obyzouth, a fallen angel who kills newborns and causes stillbirths. Really. There are entire websites devoted to the origins of angels and demons and gods from many cultures and religions. I found Obyzouth in one of these. Of course, I planned on shortening her name to Dian. I couldn’t imagine typing out that long name all the way through the book. But she had other ideas. You see, Obsidian turned out to be a rather formidable character. She let me know pretty early on that a nickname just wasn’t appropriate for a demon of her standing. And then she insisted on upstaging the main demon/antagonist in the book (her lover) every chance she got. 

 And don’t get me started on the minor characters that refuse to sit on the sidelines after their big moment (I’m looking at you Ms. Black. You made me give you a first name, Helen, and then you kept showing up in my scenes).

Sometimes I get it right, and the characters embrace their names. Layla and Aaron Daniels, for example, are the biological parents of Grace. Layla’s name is a derivation of Laylah, an angel who oversees and protects childbirth. Aaron’s name is based on Ariel, an angel of protection. Even the last name, Daniels, is based on Diniel, an angel who protects infants. They settled into their roles without any complaint whatsoever. 

One last character who rebelled is Ethan, the reincarnation of-- well, you’ll need to read the book. My notes have Ethan as a falcon, watching over Faith and Grace. Falcons, after all, are symbols of protection-- probably because they never close their eyes, even in sleep. But no. Ethan wanted to be a hawk. I had to do extra research to figure out why he was so insistent. I discovered that in Native American culture, hawks are a symbol of power, known for their strength, courage, intelligence, and intuition. A perfectly appropriate change. But I suspect that Ethan simply wanted to be called Ethan Hawk. He does have a rather dry sense of humor, after all.

I can’t wait for you to be able to read the book. I’m working hard to find an agent and get it published, but it’s pretty competitive out there. So send me positive vibes as I keep ‘querying’!

Nepeta and Bumblebees

In front of our garage is a large stone planter, about 6’X10’, stuffed full with lovely, fragrant Nepeta (Catmint). In late spring, at the height of flowering, the bumblebees are so numerous that the planter practically vibrates with the humming of little bee wings. I find myself enthralled watching the bees industriously moving from bloom to bloom and plant to plant. The urge to reach out and pet the fuzzy striped bodies is nearly irresistible. They seem completely oblivious to my presence. 

Several years ago, however, the bees weren’t there. Maybe a stray or two, but that was it. Much has been made of the decline of honeybee populations, but surely that couldn’t be the same thing as what was happening to my bumbles. Could it? I wracked my brain trying to remember if I or my husband used any of the 'bad' chemicals lately. And I glared in my neighbor's direction because I just knew he prioritized a big green lawn over a pollinator-friendly habitat.

Around that time, I began to read snippets in the news about a growing mismatch between biological events of pollinators and their favorite host plants. This was referred to as phenological mismatch. (See definition below). The general hypothesis is that climate change is contributing to this phenomenon, and related scientific research is being conducted worldwide.

The main theory is that the plant, like my Nepeta, uses mean daily temperature as its phenological cue to break dormancy and flower, while the pollinator, like my bumbles, uses day length. If these two species depend on their interaction with one another for pollination and food, the changing environment means they may end up missing each other entirely. Of course, an occasional occurrence of early spring isn’t going to decimate bumblebees. But if this is a permanent shift….

Because I love my garden and the birds, butterflies, and bees that occupy it, I worry. I worry enough that I included a reference to phenological mismatch early in my book, Guardians of Grace, as one of the subtle clues of climate chaos to come.

Of course, my characters don’t know this. They, like me, are just wondering why the Nepeta is blooming so early, and why the bumblebees are missing out on the nectar.

According to a quick internet search, Phenology is the study of the timing of the biological events in plants and animals such as flowering, leafing, hibernation, reproduction, and migration. Scientists who study phenology are interested in the timing of such biological events in relation to changes in season and climate.

The Earthen World

Photo Courtesy of Unsplash

Imagine the universe is one humongous corporation, founded by a creative genius-- the Matriarch. There’s a management hierarchy, employees, staff meetings, performance reviews, and on and on. Different worlds are the products of this great enterprise. This is the premise lurking in the background of my novel, Guardians of Grace, where Earth is only part of the Earthen world, and the Earthen world is only one of many worlds created by the Matriarch. 

Think of the Matriarch (or Matty to her friends) as an inventor, dreaming up worlds and the systems to maintain those worlds, conducting a beta test before sending them out for final release, and hiring staff to manage them. She's the first to admit that the Earthen world is her favorite-- so far. And the decay of Earth’s environment endangers the entire Earthen world.

So, what is the Earthen world? It’s a world consisting of multiple layers of realms, with Earth in the middle. Earth is the home of the living. When a person dies, their soul may ascend to one of the many realms in Heaven, called Halls, or they may descend to a realm in Hell, called Circles. Which realm a soul ends up in is determined by their character and actions.  But, souls have the ability to move among the Halls and Circles by proving themselves worthy so they may advance (or vice versa) and even rejoin the realm of the living. The movement of souls is what powers this world in a self-sustaining cycle of kinetic energy.

This system can get complicated, so the Matriarch charged the Archangel Gabriela and the Archangel Sataniel with directing the process for each of their territories. Gabriela relies on her organization of Guardian Angels to efficiently manage the movement of souls in the Halls of Heaven, and Sataniel has a similar organization of demons for the Circles of Hell. 

However, Sataniel's demons are a bit difficult to manage and they like to play around with the souls on Earth, maybe even snack on a few when they can. The demons aren't supposed to impact Earth directly, but they've figured out how to bend the rules by influencing the living. Human nature is ripe for such manipulation, with wealth and power being especially useful motivators in the hands of a demon who wants to push mankind in a certain direction, like wrecking Earth's environment.

This is the background behind the events in my novel. The story itself is from the human perspective, where the structure of the universe isn’t entirely known. But the prologue and epilogue provide clues. Future novels (because I’m loving this writing stuff) will explore other worlds, or the structure of this universe-- its products, customers and shareholders. Until then, I’ve got to get this thing published!

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Dottie Part 1

“Why aren’t your two porties in the book?”

I get this question all the time. The simplest answer is my book has one dog, Dottie, and how could I possibly choose one of my porties over the other? Besides, not everybody knows what a Portuguese Water Dog looks like, but pretty much everybody recognizes a Dalmatian. And finally, porties really don't do fiercely protective very well. Snow and Boo would sell me out in an instant for a hamburger.

Just like my main character, I had a Dalmatian as a kid. We picked her up from the breeder on July 4 when I was seven and my brother was ten. We named her Independence in honor of the occasion, and called her Indy. She was a great dog-- always ready for adventure, play, or belly rubs. She stayed outdoors because Mom was concerned about my allergies. I wish with all my heart that she could have lived in the house with us. As it was, it became too easy to neglect her when the weather was bad or homework had to be done. But her wiggling butt and eager whines greeted me when I joined her outside. Dogs are pretty amazing creatures for their capacity to forgive, comfort, and entertain. Yeah, she was a great dog.

Indy and me on the day we brought her home.

Friends that are familiar with my book, Guardians of Grace, often remark that they picture the cute puppies in the movie 101 Dalmatians and can’t imagine the breed being very effective as a guardian. But Dalmatians are considered a large dog at 50-70 pounds and 19-24 inches tall at the shoulder. There are rumors that the breed includes some Great Dane in their ancestry. Indy was a bit of a runt, though. We chose her against the advice of the breeder simply because she tried to crawl into my mother’s purse. We figured the little pup chose us.

My brother and me with the new puppy.

Dalmatians are well-defined, muscular dogs with excellent endurance and stamina. According to Wikipedia, these beautiful creatures were used as dogs of war several centuries ago, guarding the borders of Dalmatia, a region of Croatia. The breed was also used to guard carriages and horses, and to clear the way through a crowd for the horse-drawn fire wagon. To this day, the breed retains a high guarding instinct. Dalmatians also have a strong hunting instinct and are an excellent exterminator of vermin. I can attest to this ability because Indy, on at least one occasion, proudly presented my mother with a dead rat. Of course, instead of praise, the poor dog was rewarded with a screech. But Dad rewarded her (the dog, not Mom) and let her know she did good.

I’ll stick to my rationale to use this friendly and loyal breed as a companion and guardian in my story. Maybe my porties, Snow and Boo, will make it into a future novel.

Guardians of Grace - Introduction and Inspiration

A few months before my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I woke up from a very strange dream. I dreamed that I died and was given a new body-- that of a pregnant woman. It’s pretty easy to see where this dream came from. I never gave my mother the chance to be a grandma, and there are times when the lost years eat at me. She would have embraced her role with delight and love, sharing her passions for books and art and baking. But it’s too late. I’m too old. She died late last spring. 

But the dream stuck with me. Crazy thoughts would spring to mind. Like, who was the child? Who was the mother? How could this happen? And why? I wrote a scene about it, and I shared that scene with two people: my best friend and my sister-in-law. It made them cry. This scene was the foundation for an entire novel, which I finally finished this year, a year after Mom’s death. 

The novel is fantasy, complete with demons and angels and telepathic dogs. I wrote it to answer my questions about the dream, and to let me use a story to fix some of the choices I made in life. Of course, that would be a pretty one-dimensional story, so I pulled in the other parts of my life that give me so much angst. Namely, the climate crisis we are in, and the politics of America. There are other themes that found their way into the book, bubbling up from somewhere in my psyche. 

I’m proud of the result. I’m even hoping to publish it someday. Advice from the writing world is to create a social presence to attract followers and create a market for my works. (Plural because there’s more to this story than one book.) And so I’m starting this blog. I’ll use the blog to explore the world I created, the places, the characters, the themes, the research behind key aspects of the story, and anything else I come up with.  But I won’t give you the actual book-- you’ll have to buy it. Someday. 

The title may change, but for now I call it Guardians of Grace, written under a pen name: N.L. Baber. Here’s the current version of the pitch:

Annie, a warm-hearted and pragmatic octogenarian, has one regret—she never had children. When she is offered a second life, raising a child destined to save a dying Earth, she can’t resist. She didn’t expect to find herself in somebody else’s pregnant body, running from a wealthy demon and his dragon consort who want the child dead. 

When Annie realizes the danger she’s gotten herself into, her life skills seem a bit inadequate to protect her child. Other than stabbing the demon with knitting needles or distracting him with banana bread, hiding seems to be her only option. Annie’s coping abilities are further tested when her daughter Grace develops amazing powers of her own—courtesy of ancestral spirits and archangels who insist on popping in unannounced.

As the demon accelerates his efforts to destroy the Earth with climate chaos, Annie realizes she cannot simply hide her daughter forever, even with the help of new and old friends. She must help Grace embrace her destiny and save the world—after she figures out what exactly that destiny entails.

Please follow this blog and explore the world of Guardians of Grace with me.