The Empty Drum

Two of my favorite children's books these days are called "Zen Shorts" and "The Three Questions" by John J. Muth. What I like about these books are that they are picture books that are intelligent enough to read as a bedtime story to my seven-year-old son, yet interesting enough that my four-year-old enjoys them as well. Well, the latter book, "The Three Questions" is based on a story of the same name by Leo Tolstoy in which a king wishes to know how to do the right thing at all times by knowing the answer to three questions: "When is the right time to do things?", "Who is the most important one?", and "What is the right thing to do?". This story was adjusted to a younger audience, because in the original, the king tries to save a man who had wanted to kill him. In John J. Muth's version, the boy is asking his friends, gets stuck in a storm, and helps rescue a panda and her cub. It's a thought-provoking story, well reviewed, and artistically quite good.

Anyhow, reading the first version got me curious about the original, so we got a book out of the library that was a Children's collection of Tolstoy stories. One of the stories in there was called "The Empty Drum," in which a poor man marries a lovely woman. The king sees the woman and wants to claim her for his own, so hires the man and tries to assign him harder and harder tasks so that when he fails, he will be put to death and the king can be free to pursue the woman (who refused him). He meets every challenge, until finally, he is asked to go "there, don't know where" and get "that, don't know what." That way, the king is advised, whatever he gets, the king can say it's the wrong thing. The man ends up following a path advised by his wife (we never quite completely understand her in this story, so I am curious to read a more thorough "adult" translation of the story to answer my questions) and walks all the way to the sea, where he is to take an item that one answers above mother or father. He stays at a home overnight, and the next morning, sees a boy refuse to wake up when both his parents tell him to. Then he hears a noise, and the boy jumps up and rushes out the door to follow it. The man follows the boy (and the noise) and discovers the sound is coming from an empty drum. The drummer refuses to give it up, so the man follows him until he falls asleep and then takes it and heads back home. (Ah yes, great moral messages abound in this strange tale). There, he calls for the king, and when (as expected) he is refused, he pounds on the drum as he marches to the coast, then breaks it into pieces. As he was drumming, he was followed by all the soldiers of the kingdom who had learned long ago to follow the sound of the drum. And in breaking it, he broke the hold that the king had over his army, and thus lost his power. In that way, the king was forced to turn over his wife.

A couple of years ago, I bought a romance novel that was so incredibly creative (and not at all trashy like my husband had hoped). In it, the main character buys an antique book in which her namesake is a side character. The antique book is a Victorian era novel, and the main character (I'll call her Alex, because I do believe the character's name might have been Alexandra, but I'm not positive) is in love with the novel's hero. She falls asleep while reading and wakes up to discover that she is now in the novel as it's being written, in the scene during which she fell asleep. She is, of course, cast in the role of her namesake, and so logically she would only have one or two lines and would barely encounter the hero. She watches as a ballroom scene unfolds, then watches everyone relax because the author is taking a break. She keeps trying to guide the story so that she can meet the hero, but it's difficult, because he knows too well that characters can get written off or just dropped altogether if they become too difficult to work with.

So the whole concept of the characters being alive and being actors for the writer really resonated with me, especially since I've been struggling with one of my stories because I'm waiting (okay, I know, it's been two years since I last spoke with these characters; it's beyond waiting) for my characters to reveal to me what their back stories are. There's seriously one last piece I need to fit in, and then it all comes together. Theoretically.

But anyhow, I loved the story. It was so great, that I even emailed the author and told her. And she emailed me back and told me that she had another novel coming out in which the main character falls in love with a villain. Ooh, I can't wait to read it.

The problem is, I can't remember the name of the novel or the author. I can't find the book or the email exchange.

So I went to Border's (where I bought the original book) and looked around in the romance novel section trying to see if I would recognize the book or otherwise hit upon it. No luck. I then tried asking for help, but I knew going in it would be impossible to find a book without more information.

I went there, don't know where, to find that, don't know what. And as of yet, I'm still searching. But ah, that's the power of the internet for you. I'm am asking for your help. Have you by chance read this obscure book? Would you have any hints as to how I might find it? Any suggestions whatsoever? I have got to read the sequel. Just like I will pick up any Tracy Chevalier book (Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Lady and the Unicorn, The Virgin Blue, Falling Angels), and any book by Lauren Willig (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, The Masque of the Black Tulip, The Deception of the Emerald Ring), I will gladly purchase any book written by this author...assuming I ever figure out her name!