Day 7 Favorite novel FB challenge

I remember how much I enjoyed reading Rebecca as a teenager. Daphne du Maurier wrote a classic novel of deception and suspense. As I reflect on some of my favorite novels, I realize that the theme of deception runs through many of them. It's how the main characters deal with being deceived that interested me as a teenager, and still interests me as an adult. I too have experienced deception; I was deceived early in my life by a man who professed to love me. Suffice it to say that I was not the only one he deceived, and that is often the case. Walter Scott said "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"; how correct he was. Rebecca is a story of misplaced loyalty, of jealousy, of envy, of evil. It may not be the darkest kind of evil, rather a more banal evil, but  nevertheless, it is evil, and the more you learn about Rebecca and her world, the more you understand that she thought nothing of manipulating and controlling those around her, including her husband, Maxim de Winter. I won't spoil the novel for you if you are planning on reading it; I will say that it is absolutely worth reading.

Day 6 Favorite novel FB challenge

Stanislaw Lem's book Solaris blew me away when I first read it. I remember thinking that the author could not have been of this world. He managed something so few other sci-fi writers manage; to write about another world as though he had been there to witness and experience it. It gives you a strange feeling when you read it; you understand in some uncanny way that the author had first-hand knowledge of this other planet. But how could he have? The story gets under your skin and doesn't leave you. I recommend the book, and also the 2002 film Solaris, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starring George Clooney and Natascha McElhone. Like the book, the film also got under my skin. I've read the book twice and seen the film several times.

Day 4 Favorite novel FB challenge

I love Jean Rhys' books. They are wistful, sad, and reflective accounts of women's lives lived on the fringes of society. Her female characters don't do what women are supposed to do; they do the opposite, and they pay dearly for it. They are not destitute or homeless, but they are often desperate for male attention and for the money and gifts that men can lavish on them. They don't seem to be able to exist apart from men. Perhaps they are much like Jean Rhys herself, who struggled with alcoholism and an unhealthy dependency on men for most of her life. Wide Sargasso Sea is really a prequel to the novel Jane Eyre; it imagines the life of Mr. Rochester's first wife--the crazy wife from the West Indies who lived locked up in the attic. It tells the story of how she might have gotten there, and in doing so, it makes us empathize with a woman whose life was already over by the time Jane Eyre finally met her.

One more post for today--update on NaNoWriMo

Yes, I know, there have been a lot of posts from me today. Probably because the negativity and cynicism in my workplace challenges me to rise above them, and I do that by tapping into my creativity and writing myself free of what promises to drag me to hell. I promised I would keep you all updated on my progress with NaNoWriMo, or for those who have just started following A New Yorker in Oslo, the novel writing challenge called National Novel Writing Month. I didn't make it to 50,000 words by November 30th, but I did make it to 33,000 words (about 121 pages and counting). In other words, I'm getting there, and I will definitely finish my novel and publish it. Why? Because I think it's good. I will show it to a few other people before I do. What have I learned from it all? That it's fun to write. But that it's hard work too, especially when you get writer's block for a few days or when you sit and write for five hours at a time with no breaks. Writing can become obsessive, creative, frustrating, depressing (when you get it wrong), and exhilarating (when you get it right). And only you really 'know' the exact moment when you get it right. Little wonder that editors and authors develop such intimate relationships. I can only imagine one other person who might understand where I was when I was writing---and that would be an editor.

But what I learned about myself when writing my characters--that was the best of all. It's all true what published authors say--you get to know and like (or dislike) your characters. You get to know about the people who are buried deep within you. The characters you thought you would be able to write 'well' are the ones who end up disappearing into the woodwork, and the ones who emerge front and center are the characters who really live in your subconscious and who have been clamoring for a chance to climb out and test the waters. So I let them. They directed me in how to write them. Well, I had a few ideas of the situations I wanted to put them in, but I let them do the talking for me. And that seemed quite natural somehow.

Anyway, once I finish this novel, I will start on another, and also on a screenplay that I will be collaborating on with another woman. So we'll see where that takes us. One place it will take me intellectually and emotionally is far far away from the demoralized workplace I frequent each day. And thank God for that.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and me

I may be writing fewer posts during the month of November, not because I am at all tired of blogging, but because I have decided to write a novel during the month of November, and have registered with National Novel Writing Month in order to help make this a reality.You can check out their website at http://www.nanowrimo.org/en

I've written over 8000 words so far, toward a final goal of 50,000 words. It sounds daunting and perhaps it will be. So far it's been fun; I've done a fair amount of research already to help me get started, but I already had the pictures in my head of where in the world it will take place and how it should look. I was pleasantly surprised to find a 3D representation of the area in the world I want to write about nicely presented by Google Earth, of all things. The world feels like a much smaller place when you can learn what you need to learn about another country online. And so far, what I've learned has actually given me the desire to travel to that country.

I would like to reveal what I am writing about, but have decided to wait with this until I am almost finished with the novel. I have to be finished by the end of November in order to be eligible to win. I'll keep you posted. I can say that it is my first foray into the world of sci-fi/horror, but for those of you who know me, this may not be surprising. I checked out my idea on internet, and surprisingly I have not found anyone who has written anything about this before, so who knows? Whatever happens, I'm excited about my new project and confident that I am capable of doing this. I have not had that much confidence before when it came to my writing, even though I have (self) published two books before. One of those books actually sells, and that is a nice surprise and bonus for me--an incentive to keep writing.

I don't want to follow the old rules anymore. I don't want anarchy, but I feel that the traditional ways of doing research and publishing move too slowly for me. The future belongs to those who use internet and social media sites. It is possible to learn a whole lot about marketing your books and creative work online, if you only take the time to do so. CreateSpace, Amazon, online press releases, a personal website, a Twitter account, are just a few of the things that can help you create and market your work online. And of course if you write e-books, you're already halfway there. People do download e-books just like they download Kindle books. The future is here, and there is a lot of reward (and fun) to be had in embracing it.

A short October update

It’s shaping up to be a busy week, in fact, probably a busy month as well, with all of the different work projects I’ve taken on. In addition I’ve decided to write a novel, and am contemplating joining the project that WordPress is sponsoring during the month of November, called National Novel Writing Month. This is a project that entails working toward completing a 50,000-word novel by November 30^th, which means writing 1667 words per day. Who knows, maybe I will manage to do it. And then again, maybe not. One thing is for sure. I know what I want to write about and that goes a long way toward getting me started. I’ve been tossing ideas around for the past few years, but there hasn’t been much that has held my focus as long as this idea has done. I’m not going to talk about the idea; I will rather say that it will fall into the sci-fi/horror genre. I’ve started researching it and I’ll keep you posted on my progression (or lack thereof).