An Epiphany...

A PHOTO I TOOK RECENTLY AT THE ILLAWARRA FLY.

NB: HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POST, POSTED FOR AESTHETIC PURPOSES ONLY.

Sometimes I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing by my characters.

I change tack while I am writing and try to move the storyline in a different direction to avoid my character having to suffer.

But I think this is the mistake I have been making over and over.

It isn't my job to protect them. It is my job to let the story evolve without judgement - (my role of course depends whose point/s of view the story is coming from)

And so those 'safe' novels get dumped. Booted out into the 'major problem basket'. But this novel I started a month ago is NOT safe - And it is working out so much better. I am already up to 5000 words.

Some of the short stories I have written, I have been less worried about protecting my characters. And some of them, I think might be worth sending away....

One of my characters (although not the main character) that I am currently working on, has experienced a great loss. And I find the writing sometimes exhausting and really difficult emotionally - I think I have been protecting myself from that with other pieces I have written. While I feel 'good' about this epiphany, I also feel a bit annoyed that it has taken me 4 lots of 20,000 or 30,000 words and buckets full of bits a pieces, to work it out.

A Meme .... Can't remember where I pinched it from!

My unread Blog lines list is enormous!!!! So I have no idea who I pinched this from,
but it seemed a snazzy little meme, so here goes....


Make a list of things you can see without getting up:
1) The laptop
2) The fan, the air conditioner is broken aragggg
3) My sleeping baby


What were you like when you were five?
Goodness, that is a stretch. My twin and I were serious Strawberry Shortcake fans!

What color is your bedroom?
Boring cream I have to admit, but the cedar blinds are nice.


What was the last thing you bought?
Japanese take away, my son who refuses to eat his vegetables is happy to down a dozen cucumber sushi (no fish) rolls wrapped in seaweed, go figure?


What are you listening to right now?
The fan. It is too loud! And my poor little pumpkin has a cough.

What is your favorite color, and has it always been your favorite color?
Army green, I have never really been drawn to this colour before. I have always been a red and black girl, although black will always be my staple wardrobe colour. (it's slimming)

What song are you currently listening to a lot? Jason Mraz - I'm Yours. I love this song, It has been the inspiration for the novel I'm working on and I just listen to it over and over.

If you could have any super power, what would it be? Oh easy, I would be a Vampire - I realise that isn't really a super power, more a creature with super powers, but hell I'm gonna bend the question to suit.

What was the last reality TV show you watched? Oh I'm embarrassed (Americas Next Top Model)

What is your most challenging goal right now? To finish my novel but the end of 2009.

If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? It would be a toss up between The Greek Islands or something overlooking a Piazza in Italy, preferably in the middle somewhere.


Favorite vacation spot? That depends on the weather. Winter - has to be mountains, knitting and hot chocolate. Summer - Noosa - a frozen daiquiri, a banana chair and my husband.

What is your favorite children’s book? That is really tough, I have so many! Peepo is right up there and The pimpernel Seed, I have looked everywhere for this book...and can't find it.

Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Fresh marinated curd cheese ( I don't eat dairy by the way) Italian bread rubbed with garlic and sprinkled with sea salt, drizzled with olive oil and lightly grilled. Then more olive oil and Balsamic vinegar to dip, slabs of Parmesan and an ridiculous amount of dark chocolate. I think I might need a midnight snack :)

If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? Alfred Hitchcock and Edgar Allen Poe.

If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? Gosh, as daggy as is really sounds, I like what I am doing now- being a mum and writing. Except in this daydream I would have more time to write and would be snapped up by a publisher in a wink :)

Right Brain .... Left Brain?

This is really interesting little video.
It is an optical illusion video, that claims to suggest that the viewer is either right or left brain dominant, depending on which direction you see the dancer spinning.
Have a look then scroll down to see what I saw.....



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I saw her spin only left to right, clockwise. Hmmmm, I did Bachelor of Creative Arts at uni in visual arts. and I am very, very bad at maths.
Try as I might I was not able to spin her the other direction.

However, my Network Engineer husband also saw her turn clockwise only.
My Son, 4 and 1/2 years old, saw clockwise too.

Not sure what I think of the claim, but it is interesting.

A POST FOR PINTER...

Harold Pinter passed away on Christmas Eve, this year, 2008.

I was shocked when I heard the news the other night. I have always loved Pinter's plays, and read a few of them at Uni as well.

I saw a student production of 'The Caretaker' at university when I was in my 1st year and it left a huge impression on me. His plays are characterised by awkward, as well as profoundly poignant silences, these absences of character speech were aptly coined "Pinter Pause". They brim with tension and anxiety, making the ordinary seem almost treacherous.

I right this post as my own small tribute to Harold Pinter and the enormous contribution that he has left to the world stage...PAUSE...

Alas... My Word count was an embarrassing 3,586

NaNoWriMo has come and gone, unfortunately it did not sweep me into the winners bucket, and I have no one to blame but myself - and perhaps my children! LOL While I joke, it is true. My son is at preschool three days a week, but my little girt is only 10 months. Writing with little people is really difficult for two reason. Excuses, excuses I hear you say!

But I am going to tell you anyway...

1. The most obvious one is a major lack of time, and a lack of brain clarity.

AND

2. When a small round face looks up at you; gums glistening with chewy dribble, gibberish that makes you melt with pride and eyes lashes to kill for, who isn't going to be distracted?

So, in light of that I have decided to say:

"Oh well"

At least I didn't miss out on my daughters 9th month

I have not given up though! Plod on, I will.....

Research...

My favorite part of writing, beside the actual writing I suppose, is research. But it can also be a huge time devil. What I enjoy the most is creating a character, moulded and shaped by social and historical context. Then there is the puzzle; the character needs to curl themselves around the world within the book, and with the creation of their world, or the world that the invade, comes the research of places; times, ideas, whatever is relevant. What bar was the most popular for the men during the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge? What do squashed bees smell like? How did women in the 1700 hundreds go to the toilet with those huge dresses on? ........


1700's Court Dress

(image from http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_C.I.65.13.1a-c.jpg )

NaNoWriMo upate....

With only 7 NaNo days left to go, I am clearly not on my road to victory. November has managed to throw me a few domestic curve balls and a couple of snotty nosed little ones, who are looking spritely and well now, at the end of November:)
Although I feel disappointed that my word count wasn't higher at this point, I have not by any means given up! I still write like the wind whenever time permits.

And I am really enjoying the story as well.

I began fresh for NaNoWriMo, with no preconceived idea at all! At the end of week one I thought - "man this is shit!" Yet I pushed on, past the dialogue that sounded all wrong and that odd switch to 1st person voice in the middle. (Which I was compelled to fix and did shhh) By the second week I realised the word count was unachievable with a wakeful baby in tow, but continued anyway- this week I feel really good about the story. It is falling into place nicely at the moment and ideas a plentiful (touch wood)

42 Words...

LOL I am up to 42 words so far. This is going to be a long month :)
I realise that I am not going to make the word count, but I will do my best. I was too busy playing dollies and little people this morning.... but I still have 8 hours and forty minutes until this day is over, let's see how long baby naps for.

I realise that NaNoRiMo is about getting as many words down on the page as possible until an idea comes full circle. I think this is really going to help my writing, weather what I end up producing is any good or not.

A busy month ahead...

I have decided to take the challenge and put my hand up for NaNoRiMo. (National Novel Writing Month) I realize full well that I will not make the quota of 50,000 words in a month! Hey, you think I'm superwoman, I have two kids! But I will write like a demon anyway. I have some ripe, and hopefully juicy ideas to run with, so NaNoRiMo here I come!

Absurd!

"PRIVATE investigators will no longer need to have sex with prostitutes to gather evidence against illegal brothels."
This is from an article in The Age newspaper. Firstly I wondered if these were married men, perhaps with children, 'collecting this evidence'. But moreover, what an abuse of power! To partake in sexual activities with prostitutes under such false pretences, it is subterfuge and it's deceitful . I can't believe it is 21st century and only now have the managed to come up with an alternative means of establishing the legality of a brothel.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/sex-called-off-in-hunt-for-illegal-brothels-20081018-53nx.html

Tears for women...strength for women.

I held my daughter for a long time while she slept yesterday. The silence was wonderful and I could smell the warm caramel scent of her milky breath with each tiny exhale. And I cried and cried.

A young woman that I know, a close friend of my sister in law, has recently found out she has 2ND stage breast cancer. She has been told that she has quite a battle in front of her. At only 37 years old, with a frightened husband and three small children, she is expecting to face more than I could possibly imagine. Her most profound concern is for her children.

I write this as an acknowledgement to all those with cancers; both women and men, mothers and fathers, of the pain and the fear as well as strength and for just a moment, as a shared tear of hope with all mothers, because sometimes it is the tears of profound love that give us the most strength.

'MUTO' An Amazing Short Film Animation...

This animation is amazing! The whole thing has been painted onto a wall and then painted over and over with white paint as the picture travels across the wall.

I am not sure what it means exactly. It is clearly riddled with political and social comment and probably, more specifically, anti-capitalist and anti war ideas. It is engrossing to watch; weird, clever and clearly very labour intensive art.

Please note: This short film is not sexual or violent. But I wouldn't let kids watch it. It is a little weird and some bits could be a bit scary or disturbing for kids.