We'll take a cup of kindness yet

Is it the last day of the year already?

My 2011 New Year's resolutions:

1. Read more outside my comfort zone.
2. Finish revisions and rewrites on my WIP.
3. Keep up with my journal writing.
4. Run twice a week.
5. Eat my five-a-day.

Anyone else? What new leaves are you turning over this January?

My MFA Experience, Part 4: The Wrap-Up

A quick summary of my year studying for an MFA in England:

Pros:
I had a year to focus on writing.
I had a great time living in another country.
I made lots of amazing friends from all over the world.
I met my fiance.
I started to seriously think of myself as a writer.

Cons:
High tuition fees and the resulting student loan debt.
An MFA doesn't help much with finding a job after graduation.
Classes weren't as in-depth as I would have liked.
I didn't have a finished novel at the end of my degree.

So, is getting an MFA necessary if you want to be a serious writer? Absolutely not. Can it help? Of course. But so can lots of other things--taking a creative writing class at your local college. Getting together with a critique group. Going on a writing retreat (I've never been on one, but they sound cool, don't they?). In other words, getting an MFA isn't the right route for everyone. You don't need one in order to be published; all you have to do is write an amazing story. I mean, most of the authors I love don't have an MFA. Some don't have a BA either. When I saw Ray Bradbury on a panel at San Diego Comic-Con, he told us about how he educated himself in the local library when he was young because he couldn't afford to go to college. And I think that illustrates an important point about writing: things like talent and qualifications will only get you so far. When it comes right down to it, it's persistence and hard work that, in the end, will separate wannabe writers from real authors.

Happy Boxing Day

Hello! I've been suffering from the flu for the past week, which is why my final MFA post has been delayed. Hope you have all had/are having a fun Christmas/Winter Solstice/Kwanzaa/Festivus. I've got lots of shiny new books to read and talk about, as soon as I stop coughing/shivering. Expect new posts soon!

Inspiration post

Radiohead. Because their songs always make me want to write really, really sad stories.

My MFA Experience, Part 3: Struggles

The thing I struggled most with during my MFA was time management. This had never been a problem for me as an undergrad. I was always working on something, and was able to prioritize my workload well and get all of my assignments in on time.

My MFA program was different. I had classes just one day a week and I studied only two subjects at a time--for example, I had a writing workshop and a historical authorship class. And while I was able to keep up with all of my obligations for my classes, I was often left with the uneasy feeling that I should be doing more.

After all, I was studying for a master's degree. The MA students at my American university ran around looking perpetually stressed out and exhausted; in between classes, exams, teaching, reading, and papers, it was sort of amazing that they were even able to stand. Meanwhile I was having a comparatively relaxed time: writing stories, researching literary theories and typing up essays in between visits to Brighton Pier with my new friends and going on crazy adventures with Big Chimp. In short, I had the sneaking suspicion that it was all too easy. Surely being a graduate student was supposed to be, well, somewhat painful? Or at the very least unbearably stressful.

As I began to get assignments back with good grades and positive comments, I gradually learned to relax a bit and enjoy the experience. When our final grades came in, I received a "merit," the second highest grade possible, above "pass" and below "distinction." So all that worrying? Completely unfounded. It was just that the British system of education was very different from the American one to which I had become accustomed.

Another thing I had trouble with during my MFA was focus. I feel like if I had had a clear vision for the novel I wanted to write, the entire year could have been more productive. And while I did learn a lot about writing, at the end of the year I still didn't know exactly what I wanted to focus on. I had jumped between a couple of different stories over the course of the program, but wasn't entirely happy with either of them. It wasn't until a couple of months after graduation that I finally got a clear idea of the basic plot for Water Magic--a story I had put on the back burner a few years before--and started working seriously on it.

The other frustrations I experienced came mostly as a result of studying in a foreign country. I was not used to the way things worked in England, and at times the university where I studied seemed unbearably antiquated and silly. Where in America I would handle my class schedule, financial aid, and pretty much everything else online, in England I ended up having to visit various offices in person, and having to go through (what seemed to me to be) ridiculous amounts of paperwork and red tape, as well as stand in a lot of queues, just to do basic things like register for classes or claim my financial aid.

Another frustration was the short opening hours of various offices on campus. The financial office, for example, was only open for a few hours a day. Shops around town were the same: many closed at five or six in the evening, which was a huge change from the 24 hour stores and restaurants I was used to in the US.

And then there was all the trouble I had with my British bank, which never sent me my ATM card, so I had to go into the branch every time I wanted to withdraw money. No one could figure out why the card had not been sent, or how to rectify the situation. They also were unable to look up my account using just a photo ID, which I found absurd. In the end, they suggested I write them a letter to find out about the ATM card, so I ended up just switching banks. But the whole time I was thinking, this would never happen at my American bank.

So looking back, it was culture shock that caused me the most frustration during my MFA year. Things were different than they had been in America, and I found that difficult to deal with at times. My advice to anyone planning on studying abroad would be: just go with the flow, and try to laugh it off when things seem silly. It's all part of the journey.

Next time: My MFA Experience, Part 4: The Wrap-Up

SNOW DAY!

When I was six, seven, eight years old, I dreamed of one day experiencing that wonder of winter: a snow day. Unfortunately I grew up in San Diego, California, where the winter comes wrapped in sunshine and blue skies. And while on the coldest days the grass might be covered in a thin coat of frost which melts by midmorning, snow is only a dream that six, seven, eight year old children have.

But today, wonder of days, the college where I work has been closed due to the heavy snow we've been having in southeast England. So, almost twenty years after I first dared to dream, my dream has come true: I finally have a snow day.

I am going to tramp through the (rather very deep) snow in my Wellington boots, and then I'm going to do some hardcore writing on my WIP, followed by some serious reading. I've picked up two more advanced copies of novels from the bookstore where I work, and I plan to finally finish Gayle Forman's If I Stay today (I had to stop reading it a month ago because I found it too disturbing). I've also just started Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon, and I'm still making my way ever so slowly through The White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey.

Any other lucky snow-dayers out there today? If so, what are your plans, and more importantly, what are you reading?

My MFA Experience, Part 2: Reality Check

The first thing that I did when I got to my British university was run out of money. Those of you Americans considering studying in the UK, keep this in mind: American checks take between two and six weeks to clear through a UK bank. And financial aid from the US Department of Education will come in the form of a paper check mailed to your British university. The best thing to do is sign over these checks immediately to the university. They take out money for university fees and then give you the rest about two weeks later. Being used to my financial aid arriving like clockwork each quarter at my american university, this delay came as a surprise to me. I would recommend either taking a year off to save up some money, or selling your car before you leave for the UK. Even after selling a lot of my possessions the summer before I left, I was eating crackers and Nutella for most meals during the first two weeks of my program.

Still, I was excited to be there, happy to meet new people, and having fun exploring Brighton. I was put in an off-campus house for postgraduate students, in a nice area a few steep blocks up from the seaside. My ten housemates were from ten different countries: Holland, Canada, England, Russia, Pakistan, Kenya, Nigeria, Japan, Mexico, and Ecuador. The house was an old three story converted for student use, with a shared kitchen and a large back garden. The house next door was also a postgraduate house, filled with a similar hodgepodge of nationalities, and in good weather we would sometimes get together in one of the gardens for a birthday party or a potluck dinner.

In the first week, I had my program orientation at the university campus, a twelve-minute train ride away from Brighton Station. There was a general orientation for everyone in the department, and then we split into our specific MA groups. My group went to a nearby classroom. It was a small group, and became even smaller when I learned that a lot of the other students were part-time, and wouldn't be having classes with the full-timers, of which I was one. We each partnered up with another student to talk about our writing and get to know each other a bit. Afterward a buffet lunch was served in the building's cafe. I started to talk to the only other person on the programme who was near my age. We left the cafe and sat on a bench outside and talked about ourselves, writing, reading, and books. And that's how I met my now fiance, Big Chimp.

The program itself wasn't quite what I was expecting. We spent only one day a week in class, with the weeks alternating between creative writing workshops and authorship theory classes. There were no exams, but a 5,000 word essay or creative peice due for each class each term, and a 20,000 word dissertation due at the end of the summer.

What I wasn't expecting was all of the free time I had. It was nice, to be sure, but judging from what I'd seen of master's programs at my American university, I had been expecting something more in depth. This seemed to be a common sentiment among my American friends, who were studying English, media, and international criminal law, so I don't think it was exclusive to the creative writing program. English universities are just set up differently. They expect you to do more work on your own and spend less time with instructors. Personally, for the amount of money it cost, I would have preferred more than one day a week of classes (although to be fair, the one day did last all day long). It wasn't that I didn't have to work, because I did, but I had grown used to the way things were at my American university: intense, fast-paced, and crammed full of lectures, discussion sections, quizzes, exams, reading, and essays. And to be honest, that's still the way I prefer to learn. But I guess the take-away lesson here is: a degree program is what you make of it. Especially in Britain, where the onus is on you, the student, to make the program work for you. As the old saying goes, the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it.

However that's not to say that the program was bad. I learned plenty from it. It was a new program at the time, and there were definitely kinks to iron out. And I wish I had had a clearer idea of what I wanted to write, so I wouldn't have ended up changing projects several times throughout the year. But there was value in what I was learning, and the most important thing I took away from the program was learning to see myself as a writer. Not someone who wants to be a writer when she grows up, but someone who already is a writer, someone who works hard at writing with the goal of someday being published. And there were smaller, just as important things -- avioding elegant variation, watching those adverbs didn't get out of control, making sure setting was present in each scene, etc, etc.

My American friends who were also studying for MAs at my university all seemed to agree: our programs, while not bad, didn't seem to be worth the hefty international fees we were paying for them. However, the experience of living for a year in England -- specifically of living in as vibrant a city as Brighton (Britain's most progressive, laid back, artisitic and all-around awesome city) -- of traveling (I visited France and Morocco that year, as well as taking a road trip around Britain with Big Chimp), of meeting new people (like my amazingly cool friend Pauline, from Kenya, and of course Big Chimp, my soon-to-be husband), of just having the experience of this amazing adventure -- that was worth so much more than money could buy.

Next time: My MFA Experience, Part 3: Struggles

My MFA Experience, Part 1: Choosing a Program

The year I graduated from college, I decided that I wanted to get an MFA in creative writing . I knew that I wanted to go to grad school, and after debating between an MA in English literature and an MFA in creative writing, I chose the latter because I knew that what I really wanted to be was a writer. It was a difficult choice, because it is a lot of time, money, and effort to spend on a degree that won't help you much with finding a job or bettering your financial situation. But I was committed enough to the idea of being a writer that I knew that studying the craft further was something I wanted to do. I also worried (perhaps unnecessarily) that if I jumped straight into the working world after graduating from college, I might never get around to doing an MFA.

I had a hard time getting information about which programs to apply for. My professors generally recommended the Iowa Writers' Workshop, which is considered the best creative writing MFA program in the United States. They also recommended UC Irvine and the University of Virginia. But when it came to British universities, all I got were blank stares. So I ended up doing a lot of research online. I wasn't confident enough to apply for the best programs (though I did apply for a couple as "reach" schools), but I didn't want to be right at the bottom either.

Based on this experience, I've come up with a list of things to consider when choosing an MFA:

1) Money: How much can you afford to spend? What kind of financial aid will you realistically be able to get? Does the university offer scholarships or teaching assistantships?  How much student loan debt are you comfortable with getting yourself into?

2) The program itself: Look at the courses on offer for each program you are considering. Do they meet your requirements as a writer? If you're unsure, consider what you want to get out of the program. Some offer more practical courses on the publishing industry in addition to workshops and masterclasses. My program offered a day when we could all meet individually with either a literary agent or a publisher for feedback on our work. This was a huge factor in me choosing my univerisity. My program also had authorship theory classes, which focused on literary theory and the philosophies surrounding fiction. Some programs combine creative writing with critical writing, or with another related subject. Take your time in considering which kind of program would best suit your needs.

3) Location: Is the location of the university right for you? Would you be happy in a tiny town? A bustling metrpolis? Would you be bored/lonely/intimidated/overly distracted in the location you are considering? Is it near enough to your family and friends (or far enough away)? Being comfortable and happy in your new home can make a huge difference in your ability to work, which is what you've put all that effort into being able to do in the first place!

I ended up applying to several schools in the US and several in the UK. Many of the US schools rejected me. Looking back, this was because a) my portfolio at the time wasn't strong enough (I was great at characterization, but pretty clueless about plot and structure) and b) the competition is a LOT fiercer in the US, not just for MFAs but for graduate school in general.

In the end I decided to study in Brighton, England. In the UK, a master's degree generally lasts one year instead of two, so even though it is more expensive to study abroad, it being only half the time makes the cost actually a bit less:

Total international tuition for an MFA at a British university: $15-20K
Total tuition for an MFA at an American public university (in-state): $18-25K
Total tuition for an MFA at an American public university (out-of-state): $30-48K*

However, this doesn't take into account the fact that financial aid may be easier to acquire in the US (at least for US citizens), nor the fact that US universities tend to offer teaching assistantships, which can be a lot of help financially. Also, it doesn't factor in living expenses, which can make a huge difference in the overall cost of a program.

But the real reason I chose to study in the UK was pretty simple: I wanted an adventure. I had spent a year abroad in the UK during my junior year of college, and I had loved it. I wanted to return and continue to explore the UK and the rest of Europe while working on developing my writing skills. I had also heard and read a lot about Brighton, my chosen city, and I felt pretty confident that it was somewhere I would enjoy living.

With that in mind, I signed all the paperwork, sent off my housing deposit, and, nervous and excited, I boarded a plane one day in September with my laptop and my stuffed elephant in tow.

Next time: My MFA Experience, Part 2: Reality Check

*These costs are averages for a few different universities I looked into. Tuition fees can vary depending on the university and location, and may well fall outside these ranges.

Hallows and Horcruxes

Saturday night Big Chimp took me to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One. I don't normally enjoy the film versions of my favorite books, but the Harry Potter series has always been an exception. And while I've enjoyed all of the Harry Potter films, none have impressed me as much as Deathly Hallows: Part One.

The film for the most part stays true to the novel, capturing all of the darkness, the despair, the frustration, the hope, and the fear that the characters experience. It feels by far the most serious of the films, as it is the most serious of the novels in the series. It doesn't shy away from pain and loss, but still manages to remain wonderfully magical.

What I find particularly interesting is that the film delves more deeply into the relationships between the characters, especially between Harry, Ron, and Hermione. One particularly poignant scene shows Harry persuading a despairing Hermione to dance with him, alone in their tent in the woods. It's just such a great illustration of love between friends, especially between two who have been through so much together.

Another part I love in the film is the animation that plays as Hermione reads the story of the three brothers from The Tales of Beedle the Bard. The style of the drawing is just spot-on, and Emma Watson's voice complements it beautifully.

It's not often that a movie can make you actually laugh or cry, but I did both during this film. That's one of the things I love about this series: the perfect balance between humor and darkness, between gravity and whimsy.

Thank you JK Rowling, for writing the Harry Potter series. I sort of love you.

And thank you Warner Brothers for doing the story justice.

WIP update!

It's November 14, which means that NaNoWriMo is just about halfway over. Is anyone at 25,000 words yet?

As for me, I've written less than usual for the past couple of weeks while I've been making the adjustment to working five days a week (something I've never done before, ever). But despite being pretty tired, I'm happy with the progress I've made on my WIP, and I'm confident that I will have my zero draft finished before the end of the month. I only have two chapters to finish, and I'm about halfway through each one.

Someone (I can't remember who it was) posted a quote on Twitter recently that said something to the effect of, "Your first draft is for finding out what your book is about." I think that's very true. When I started writing this novel, I only had a vague sense of who my characters were and how they were going to reach their goal (finding their missing brother/friend and rescuing him from an evil magician). Now that I am at the end, I feel I know my characters—their personalities, their quirks, their fears, and their journey—so much better. Which means a lot of revising and rewriting is in store for the first half of the book. But very soon, for the first time, I will have something resembling a novel to edit, rather than just another unfinished manuscript. And I'm excited about that.

Happy All Hallows Eve!

Happy Halloween one and all!

Big Chimp and I had a great time at the London MCM Expo yesterday. It's a comic convention that has the same feel as San Diego Comic-Con, but on a much smaller scale. The event focuses on comics, manga, films, games, and Japanese pop culture. There were lots of artists and writers doing signings; lots of merchandise for sale; cool costumes; game demonstrations; Japanese drummers; origami lessons; and, inexplicably, there were these British wrestlers throwing each other around in a ring in the corner:

I bought a stack of books to add to my growing to-read pile:

[Yes, these books are stories of ancient Roman history told through the voices of anthropomorphic cats. Cool, right?]

And, best of all, this hat:

The reference, for all you non-Sudio Ghibli people (seriously, you don't know what you're missing!), is Totoro from Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbor Totoro.

The Wooky Book

I'm pleased to announce that, after twenty-two months of under/unemployment (which, when feeling pessimistic, I thought of it as "Recession Purgatory," when optimistic, "funemployment!"), I've managed to land two promising, literature-related jobs. Three days a week I shall be known as Little Bonobo, Library Assistant, and for the other two I shall assume the identity of Little Bonobo, Bookseller [Extraordinaire]!

I'm sure my experiences in these institutions will provide plenty of book-related fodder for this blog, so, watch this space!

(For example, here is a rough transcription of a bookstore conversation from earlier this week:

ME: Can I help you find anything, ma'am?
CUSTOMER: Yes, I'm looking for the Wooky Book.
[Pause.]
ME: The Wooky Book?
[Image in my head: My Life with Han Solo: Chewbacca's tell-all memoir]
CUSTOMER: Yes, by Russell Brand.
ME: Oh, do you mean Booky Wook 2?
CUSTOMER: Yes, that's the one! ::smiles sheepishly::)

NaNoWriMo writing madness

So, it's that time of year again—NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is fast approaching! Is anyone participating this year? I haven't participated before, but I think it's such a great idea. Sometimes we get so hung up on editing and following writing rules that it's hard to just GET THE WORDS OUT. Which is really what a first draft should be about—locking away your inner editor and just letting the words flow. And that's what's great about NaNoWriMo: 50,000 words in one month leaves no time for editing, fixing, or tweaking. It's a chance to let the creative right hemisphere of your brain to rule unhindered for 30 days. Then in the months following, you can edit to your heart's content.

For young writers (under 17), there is even a special Young Writers Program, where you can set your own word-count goal.

I seriously considered taking part this year, but I'm so close to the end of my draft of Water Magic that I think I'll use the month of November to just finish the book. I've got about 20,000 words to go, so it should be doable.

Have any of you participated in NaNoWriMo in past years? What was the experience like? Or, are any of you brave souls considering taking part for the first time this year?

Happy Banned Books Week!

It's Banned Books Week this week (September 25–October 2, 2010) which means it's time to celebrate freedom of speech by reading your favorite banned books, or picking up something new and controversial. If you need help with ideas, The American Library Association has a list of frequently challenged books on their website. Also, today the Guardian published a list of the top ten most challenged titles.

Some of my favorite challenged and banned books:

The Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
A Separate Peace by John Knowles

So, you tell me: what are your favorite banned books?

Fear of public writing

Though I can read pretty much anywhere, I've found that I can't write in public places. I know plenty of people write happily at coffee shops, or on trains, or in the park, but I just can't do it. I think it's some sort of weird paranoia about someone catching a glimpse of my unedited work.

I was thinking about this today, and it got me wondering about other people's writing routines. I tend to write either at a desk using Big Chimp's iMac, or sitting on the bed against the wall with my laptop on my lap. If I'm sitting at the desk, I have to have my legs up on the chair, sitting pretzel-style. I have a writing playlist of instrumental music (songs with lyrics are too distracting and silence is too oppressive) that I put on random to accompany my typing. It includes a few classical compilations, movie soundtracks, and some Explosions in the Sky albums. I can't write if it's noisy and I can hardly ever write if there is someone else in the room, unless they're doing their own thing—quietly—and facing away from me.

So my question is: what are your writing routines/weird quirks? Do you have a special writing space or a certain type of music that you listen to while you write? And does anyone share my strange fear of writing in public?

What fuels your imagination?

I've always been a multiple book reader. I can never read just one at a time, and usually have about four on the go at any time. I think this has to do with my imagination having always been extremely overactive. The way I look at it, your imagination needs fuel to keep it going. People who don't use their imaginations much don't need to read much because their imaginations lead a sedentary lifestyle. But writers and other creative people need to feed their imaginations A LOT—whether with art, music, books, etc.—because these imaginations are like marathon runners; they are super active, they never stop, and they need fuel constantly.

To continue with this analogy, I think that overactive imaginations need healthy foods in order to grow and develop—good nutritious novels or nonfiction books rather than tabloids; nutrient-packed plays rather than soap operas; and fresh, organic music rather than vacuum-packed, prepackaged pop songs.

To this end, I've cut down dramatically on television in the past couple of years. I think that the old saying that the tube rots your mind may have some truth to it; most of what's on can certainly deaden your imagination, and I believe that the barrage of advertisements are especially unhealthy for your brain.

That's not to say that watching the occasional silly show or listening to a throw-away pop song once in a while will do you any damage; just as an infrequent ice cream sundae won't ruin an otherwise healthy diet. After all, we all crave mindless entertainment sometimes, especially after a hard day of school or work. However, just as we are conscious of what we are putting into our bodies, we should be aware of what we are feeding our minds. Especially for creative people, since our minds are the source of our work and the focus of our lives.

So, what about you? What have you been feeding your brain lately?

Recently read and rigorously recommended

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

By Susanna Clarke, 2004
A unique alternate history tale about two rival magicians in 19th century England. Its slow build-up (the book is 1024 pages) makes the events of the final chapters even more shocking and fantastical. Includes magical books, servants who are not what they seem, sojourns into the realm of Faerie, travel via mirror, kidnapping, death-defying spells, and ravens—lots and lots of ravens. 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
By Sherman Alexie, 2007 
The diary and sketches from a year in the life of Junior, a Spokane Indian teenager who decides to go against his tribe by attending a white high school in a neighboring town. Both funny and tragic, the book draws the reader into Junior's world—his coping with being poor, his attempts to fit in with his classmates and tribal members, and his internal struggle to come to terms with the devastating effects of alcoholism on his family and his tribe.
Ender's Game
By Orson Scott Card, 1985
This award-winning science fiction novel follows the life of super-intelligent Ender Wiggin, a boy bred to be humanity's hope against the buggers—an alien race that has attacked Earth twice and threatens to wipe out the human population. Sent into space to attend Battle School at the age of six, Ender is subjected to years of brutal combat training games and psychological manipulation. At the age of eleven, he must face the enemy as the commander of Earth's army—but on which side of the battlefield does true evil lie?

Fruits Basket

By Natsuki Takaya, 1999–2007
This fun, lighthearted manga follows high schooler Tohru Honda, ever optimistic despite the personal tragedies she has experienced. Living alone in a tent after the death of her mother, Tohru unknowingly camps on land belonging to the Sohma family. When she is discovered by Yuki Sohma, a popular boy from her school, he and his cousin Shigure convince her to come and live with them in their home. Once there, she meets the volatile Kyo, another member of the Sohma clan. As she gets to know her new roommates, Tohru discovers a dark secret—all three of them are afflicted with a family curse that causes them to transform into animals from the Chinese zodiac when embraced by a member of the opposite sex.

Holiday in the sun

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I've been on vacation!

First Big Chimp and I went to San Diego Comic-Con, where we attended lots of panels, including ones on writing, editing, Batman, Dexter, and Harry Potter. It was AMAZING! I also acquired way too many books, including a few signed ones, like Silver Phoenix by Cindy Pon (who moderated a super cool panel on the young adult genre), and The Prometheus Project by Douglas Richards.

Another huge highlight was seeing Ray Bradbury speak about libraries, writing, and the importance of colonizing Mars:

And then there was the ultra cool Grant Morrison:

The next week, we left on a California road trip, which included LA, Yosemite, San Francisco (where I acquired even more reading material from City Lights Books), Monterey, Big Sur (where we revisited the Henry Miller Memorial Library), and Santa Barbara (Yeah UCSB Gauchos!).

By the end of the trip I had accumulated eight new novels and six new graphic novels, as well as a 1928 Underwood Portable typewriter (an awesome birthday gift from my best friend—thanks Audrey!). We had to check an extra bag:

In short, it was the best vacation ever.

Now, back to writing this book!

Geographical inspiration

When I was younger I was lucky enough to travel each summer to some of the most beautiful national parks in the western United States. I traveled by bus. With about fifty relatives. And my great-uncle Joe was the bus driver. But that's a story for another time. Anyway, clearly all of the amazing landscapes captured my imagination, because they keep popping up in my book:

 The geothermal features of Yellowstone National Park appear in the Silvermarsh Province in Abernwyth. 

The beautiful rock structures of Arches National Park appear as the Archlands in the northern desert province.

And Canyonlands National Park becomes home to an isolated clan of ninja-faeries.

So, what about you—does travel inspire you? Do you get your fictional settings from real places, or places you make up in your head, or both?

Water Magic

I've been writing this young adult fantasy novel for over a year now, and yesterday I hit 60,000 words, meaning I've only got about 30,000 words to go! Now, I realize that a year is a long time for only 60,000 words, but that includes several false starts, when I had 10,000 to 20,000 words down, only to realize that the point of view was all wrong. Or the protagonist needed to be older, or a different gender. My early attempts were pretty bad, to be honest. I knew the basic idea of the story, but not how I wanted to tell it. Now, I've got something that actually feels like a book! And that's pretty exciting.

The plot of Water Magic goes like this: Two years after her baby brother Jayson disappears, 15-year-old Violet Cantwell is haunted daily by thoughts of what may have happened to him. Then she and her brother Caden, along with two of their friends, discover the entrance to a faerie world in the basement of an abandoned house. When they pass into Abernwyth they meet Loper, a Guardian who has been protecting the portal, and Zilas, his teenage apprentice. The faeries take them to meet Floridyn the Mage, the most powerful sorceress in the province. It's Floridyn who divines that Jayson has been kidnapped by the mysterious sorcerer Ezekiel Stone. And what's more, the sorcerer has been stealing children from every province in Abernwyth. Now the travelers and the faeries must band together to rescue Jayson—and all of the other children—before it's too late.

There are a few subplots that include a mandrigal (someone who can talk to animals), a clan of canyon-dwelling ninjas, a wicked dragon breeder, and a proud desert king.

The reason it's called Water Magic is that there are many different types of magic that faeries can do—elemental magic, color magic, sound magic, etc.—but water magic is the most ancient and powerful (and, as you might have guessed, it's an important feature of the story).

I usually aim to write about 1,000 words a day. But my writing is flowing really well lately, so I've set myself a goal of reaching 70,000 words by next Tuesday, when we leave on our vacation.

What about you—what are you writing right now? Do you set yourself writing goals and stick to them, or play it by ear?

THE TENANT OF WILDFELL HALL by Anne Brontë

 

ISBN: 9781853264887 [UK]  

 

First can I just say that I love the Brontës. Probably Emily first, then Anne, and then Charlotte. It always amazes me that these three sisters were able to write such captivating stories, all without computers or typewriters or even electricity. Imagine drafting an entire 300 page novel with a pen. By candlelight. And then having to revise and edit. Wow.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is the first book I've read by Anne Brontë. I found her style to be much less reserved than that of her sister Charlotte, and somehow rougher than her sister Emily's. Anne Brontë's characters passionate, scandalous, rambunctious, violent... anything but boring. 

The novel is narrated by the elderly Gilbert Markham, who is relating by letter the events of his youth for the benefit of his friend and brother-in-law. The story follows young Gilbert as he meets and falls in love with Helen Graham, a mysterious widow who takes up residence with her young son in nearby Wildfell Hall, an isolated, run-down old mansion.

The second part of the novel is told through Helen's journal, which she gives Gilbert to read so that he will understand why she cannot be with him, even though she is in love with him. With the diary comes the shocking revelation that Helen is not all that she seems...

Honestly, this book, despite having been written 162 years ago, was a page-turner for me. I neglected the three other books I was reading at the time in order to learn more about Helen and her mysterious past. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a must-read for anyone who loves dark Victorian novels or tales of mysterious fugitives.

I thought this was cool

 "And Daniel Boone Comes to Life on the Underwood Portable."

This was posted on Lines and Colors, an art blog I like, a couple weeks ago. It's a typewriter advertisement from 1923, painted by Norman Rockwell.

Happy Saturday!

Epic reading feat

I'm proud—and a little exhausted—to announce that after over a year and a half of reading aloud to each other, Big Chimp and I have today finished all 1,006 pages of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Okay, to be honest it was mainly Big Chimp who did the reading, but he has the better accent for it.

All I can say is wow, what an epic story! What an amazing build-up and ending!

Glowing review to follow.

(Now if I could only figure out whether I am a Strangite or a Norrellite...)

Hollywood plots are boring

In the past two weeks I have watched one of the saddest movies I have ever seen:

And one of the happiest:

And I loved them both! They're both titles from my new favorite, Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation film studio.

Now, the fact that I loved two very different films—one is about two war orphans trying to survive a food shortage in Japan, the other is about a magic goldfish—got me thinking. Normally it's a rare event that I truly like a film, let alone love one. So what's different about these two?

The answer is that they tell stories in ways that I'm not used to—they tell stories in a non-Western way. After 25 years of living in the United States and Great Britain, I'm officially burned out on Western storytelling in films. Or more accurately, I'm burned out on American and British films. The predictability. The cliches—the stripper with a heart of gold, the tired old athlete who gives it one more shot, the teacher who inspires inner-city kids, the mismatched couple who hate each other at first but inevitably fall in love—yawn. The same goes for most American sitcoms: gender stereotypes followed by ethnicity stereotypes followed by sexual orientation stereotypes followed by yawn, yawn, yawn. I've seen it all before. I'm bored.

What I like about foreign films is that they tend to tell stories if not in a less formulaic way, then at least with formulas that I'm not familiar with. When I watch these Japanese animated films, I watch them having no idea what is going to happen next. Even Ponyo, which is based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid," surprised me with its originality; its utterly unique take on a familiar story. The delight of being surprised, of truly not knowing what will happen next, is what enables me to sit through a film.

I guess that's why I've been finding more and more inspiration in foreign and independent films over the past couple of years. I figure that if I can learn to tell stories in an unexpected, unpredictable way, then they will be more fun to read, and more fun to write as well.

So, what do you think? What makes a story—whether it's a a book, a film, a play, or whatever—interesting for you? What keeps you reading/watching/listening?

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller...

In case you tend to get Henry Miller and Arthur Miller confused, here are the lyrics to Dan Bern's "Marilyn." (This is the song that Magnus Toren serenaded us with at the Hay Festival last month). Watch the video here. 

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller

But if she did he'd have taken her to Paris

And if she did she'd have smoked a lot of opium

And if she did she'd have dyed her hair blue

And if she did she might be alive

Oh-oh-o-oh Henry Miller

Oh-oh-o-oh Marilyn Monroe

Oh-oh-o-oh Henry Miller

Oh-oh-o-oh Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller

She lived outside the Tropic of Capricorn

Marilyn Monroe didn't marry Henry Miller

I don't even know if she knew Henry Miller

But if she did he'd a taken her to Paris

And if she did they'd have fucked every day

And if she did she'd have felt like a woman

Not like a photogragh in a magazine

Oh-oh-o-oh Henry Miller

Oh-oh-o-oh Marilyn Monroe

This is not a knock against Arthur Miller

"Death of a Salesman" is my favorite play

But Marilyn Monroe should have married Henry Miller

And if she did she might be alive

Cause if she did he'd have taken her to Paris

Tied her to the bed and eaten dinner off of her

And okay maybe she'd have died the same, anyway

But if she did she'd have had more fun

Oh-oh-o-oh Henry Miller

Oh-oh-o-oh Marilyn Monroe

Oh-oh-o-oh Henry Miller

Oh-oh-o-oh Marilyn Monroe

Inspiration Post

This post is about the things that are inspiring me as a writer right now. I love Studio Ghibli films for their incredible imagination. I also love magic and the idea of nature spirits, two things that are prevalent in these films. Of course I love Dr. Who, because I really like the idea of time travel, and when combined with space travel it's even better. I put in the Brontë sisters because I'm going through a bit of a Brontë phase at the moment, having just read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I feel inspired by the fact that these authors were able to write such incredible novels with nothing but ink and paper and will. Lastly I've included Mars because I've been wanting to do a story about a Martian colony for a while now. I love its dramatic color in this photo; it reminds me of glowing embers. 

Laputa: Castle in the Sky 

Spirited Away

Howl's Moving Castle

Princess Mononoke

Dr. Who

The Brontës

Planet Mars

So, what about you? Where are you getting your creative inspiration lately?

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE by Stieg Larsson

ISBN: 9781906694180 [UK]

To be honest, the second installment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy didn't capture me quite as much as the first. One of the main problems I have with it is that Lisbeth Salander is, to me, the most interesting character in the novel, and when there were long stretches of narrative told from the point of view of other characters, I got a little bored. Not that there is a lack of intrigue and excitement in the novel; there are plenty of twists, turns, and surprises to be had. 

The story focuses on the hunt for the strange, super intelligent, and obsessively reclusive Lisbeth Salander, who is suspected of a triple-murder. Much of the novel is told from journalist Mikael Blomkvist's point of view as he tries to unravel the mystery of who really killed the victims—a search that brings him dangerously close to major players in the European sex industry. Blomkvist is convinced that Salander—who saved his life the year before—is innocent, and he is racing against time to clear her name before the police find her. Along the way, he learns some shocking secrets about Lisbeth's early life, and her own associations with the international criminals whom he is trying to expose. 

Overall I found the book to be an enjoyable read, though I felt that some of the middle sections dragged on a bit too much. But if you've read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and are keen to find out more about Lisbeth Salander's mysterious past, you won't be disappointed with The Girl who Played with Fire. 

Happy June 16!

Happy Bloomsday one and all!

One of these years I will celebrate in Dublin, and I will dress up like this:

Quarter-Century Resolutions

My birthday is coming up next week. It's kind of a big one, in an I've-been-alive-for-a-quarter-of-a-century kind of way. And one thing I like to do on my birthday is to make resolutions. Like last year I resolved to start learning French, take some yoga classes, and get back into tae kwon do. Along with these resolutions usually come writing goals—to work harder on my writing, to finish this or that project, etc.

This year, I've decided to make some reading goals. I've got a personal reading list with well over a hundred books on it, and I figured that there are at least a few lengthy novels on there that I should get through before I turn the big three-zero.

Thus, I present to you my Five Year Reading Goals:

Ulysses by James Joyce

 War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

 

 The Way by Swann's by Marcel Proust

  

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

The Judeo-Christian Bible by various authors

Of course, these aren't the only books I want to read in the next five years. But they are all books I've read sections of before, and books that I think will challenge me. I certainly don't think that they are necessarily more important than other books in the Western canon, but I think that setting them as goals will make it more likely that I will actually follow through and finish them (I've read the first hundred pages of Moby Dick twice before but became distracted both times by more contemporary, fast-paced novels, despite actually liking Melville's narrative).

So, how about you—do you have reading goals? Or novels that challenge you? What are some of those classic books that you never seem to get around to reading?

Hay Festival of Literature 2010

I've just returned from one of my favorite events of the year: the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts. Every year, some of the world's best authors travel to the small Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye to give talks on literature, writing, and culture. In past years Big Chimp and I have had the pleasure of seeing writers as diverse as Augusten Burroughs, Salman Rushdie, and Christopher Hitchens; and we've attended lectures on topics ranging from current events to Milton's Paradise Lost.

The village of Hay-on-Wye is tiny and green, with historical buildings, a castle, and a clock-tower in the centre of town. As its name suggests, it sits on the river Wye, which winds its way along the northern outskirts of Brecon Beacons National Park. The countryside is filled with rolling green hills and valleys, and is populated more by sheep than by people. In the past we've camped in the grounds of Baskerville Hall (yes, that Baskerville Hall), but this year we decided to stay in a hotel about an hour's drive outside of Hay along winding, narrow country roads.

Highlights of this year's festival begin with the first event we went to: a talk given by Magnus Toren,  who runs the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, California. We were eager to hear this lecture not only because we are fans of Henry Miller (I'm currently halfway through Tropic of Cancer, which is the first I've read of Miller's books), but also because by chance we stumbled upon the Henry Miller Memorial Library on our road trip through Big Sur in January 2009. The talk was small and informal, and, aside from the supremely uncomfortable chairs, really, really enjoyable. Toren talked about Henry Miller's life and his views on writing and being a writer. Especially interesting were tales of the censorship trials that occurred when Tropic of Cancer was first published in the U.S. in 1961 (26 years after it was published in France). Magnus told us that occasionally tourists visiting the Henry Miller Memorial Library ask him why there are no photos of Marilyn Monroe on the walls. Then he picked up a guitar and sang us a song called "Marilyn Monroe Didn't Marry Henry Miller." It stayed in my head for the rest of the festival.

The next event we went to was children's author Charlie Higson being interviewed about his new book, The Enemy, which is the first novel in a children's horror series. Higson was funny and insightful, discussing the horror genre and the idea of writing horror for children. He also talked about the differences between children's books in the U.S. and children's books in the U.K. In the U.S., according to Higson, there is an overwhelming idea that children's books ought to teach kids clear moral lessons. If novels are ambiguous in this sense, libraries and schools may refuse to stock the books, which is a chance most publishers are not willing to take. Higson went on to say that The Enemy had to be edited for the U.S. edition, so that the children are two years older, and some of the more graphic scenes are toned down. This made me a bit sad for American kids; books ought to be fun and entertaining, not watered-down, toned-down, and censored.

The final event we attended, was, in my mind, the best. It was an interview with Yann Martel, the Canadian author of Life of Pi, which won the Booker Prize in 2002. Martel talked about his new book, Beatrice and Virgil, an allegorical novel about the Holocaust. During the interview Martel was eloquent and seemed intensely smart as he discussed the difficulties of exploring an issue as sensitive as the Holocaust. He also offered intelligent refutations of criticism he has received for Beatrice and Virgil. His argument is that like all historical events, the Holocaust must be looked at from different angles in order for us to fully understand it; history must be a dialogue, a cacophony of voices rather than a strict and unchangeable narrative.  My favorite anecdote came at the end of the interview. Not long ago the prime minister of Canada was asked what his favorite book was. He responded, "The Guinness Book of World Records." This depressed Martel so much that he began to send the prime minister a copy of a great literary work every two weeks. His argument was that he didn't want someone who had power over him to be someone who never read literature. As a contrast, he related another anecdote. He told us that a couple of weeks ago, out of the blue, he had received a handwritten note from Barack Obama. Obama said that he had just finished reading Life of Pi with his daughter, and they had really enjoyed it, and they preferred the version with animals, and thank you for writing it. I can't even explain how happy hearing that story made me feel, but maybe this photograph captures it:

And so, loaded down with far too many new books, we left Hay for another year.

#1B1T

I've recently put aside Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (review of the second book, The Girl Who Played with Fire, coming soon!) to take part in One Book One Twitter, a worldwide book club that is currently reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods. A worldwide book club! What a great idea! I've always found it fun to read books at the same time as other people, and then talk about what we've read (which is why I loved being an English major in college). And anyway, American Gods has been on my to-read list for quite a while now, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to read it. Right now I'm halfway through chapter ten (this week's twitter discussions cover chapters nine through eleven), and I'm liking the book a lot so far.

The basic premise of the novel is this: throughout history, immigrants arriving in America have brought with them their various religious beliefs, and with these beliefs came gods. European gods, African gods, Caribbean gods, you name it. Unfortunately, as the immigrants assimilated, their belief in their traditional gods declined, leaving the diminished deities to fend for themselves. Now a storm is coming: a war between the Old World gods and the new gods of technology and progress. And our hero - an ex-con by the name of Shadow - is caught in the middle of it. 

Here's the discussion schedule, in case you would like to participate (the twitter hash-tag is #1B1T):

Week 4 : May 26-June 1
Discuss Chapters 9, 10, & 11

Week 5 : June 2-8
Discuss Chapters 12, & 13

Week 6 : June 9-15
Discuss Chapters 14, 15, & 16

Week 7 : June 16-22
Discuss Chapters 17, 18, & 19

Week 8 : June 23-30
Discuss Chapter 20 and Postscript

PS - Neil Gaiman is on twitter (@neilhimself) and has been participating in live question and answer sessions about the book. Awesome!