"A basement shopping mall...

...will connect Xanadu with Valhalla and Nirvana. It is still a gloomy underpass, lit by roadworker lamps and strewn with tarpaulins, tiles, wood planking, sheet glass, and a prematurely delivered army of boutique dummies huddled naked in misty polyethylene. Morino is ahead, a megaphone in one hand. Mama-san walks behind me, and the horn players bring up the rear. Somewhere above my head in the real world, Ai Imajo is playing Mozart....Down here is chilly and damp. I sneeze. My throat feels tight. Finally we climb to the surface on a dead escalator."

                                                     David Mitchell, Number 9 Dream, p. 178

"There is an aura of intriguing mystery about...

...this woman of Calcutta. No one is quite sure what she does with her time. She seldom entertains, especially here in her official residence overlooking the Ganges, which dates back to the time of the East India company. Nevertheless, it is presumed that she must do something. Was it only after eliminating every other possible alternative that it was decided that she was a great reader? Yes. What else could she be doing, shut up in her private apartments, during the hours between tennis and her evening drive. Crates of books, addressed to her, have been known to arrive from France."
               
                                                         Marguerite Duras, The Vice-Consul, p.71

Review: Josh Weil's "In the Hills"

Just start this short story from The Sun (April 2013, page 17 ff), and you'll be hooked. Weil explores the nature of heartbreak in, I dare say, a delightful way. 

Structurally it's quite brilliant, blending story, poetry, memoir, and play. He uses almost all the "persons" - first, second, third, and all their plurals! And through all this structure-play comes an intimate and authentic story of a man and how his life was shaped by the breakup with his wife. 

It was a joy to read, and I'll be looking for more works by Josh Weil.

Hearing Voices?

Zen writer and practitioner Cheri Huber advises us to ignore the constant talking in our heads. Since most of the chatter seems to be negative, and so much of it is repetitive, her suggestion makes sense. Here is  what she says in her blog:

http://cherispracticeblog.blogspot.com/

Two Hats

Can't wear both at the same time. The first is the creative process hat. The second is the editor hat. Both are part of the process, but I must remember to wear them at different times. 

Suzann Kale

"Collision" on PBS Masterpiece Theatre

Not only did I have to watch all 5 episodes in one sitting, but I also dreamt about COLLISION  for a few nights after! Plus, it altered the way I'm writing my novel. And I might add, it changed my life. Written by Anthony Horowitz and Michael A. Walker, Collision is a 5-episode mini-series, available on Netflix. From the beginning I was hooked --- but little did I know that by the end I would be totally blown away. And I'm not going to tell the ending, because that would be a spoiler. But I will say that the show intrigues and entertains on many levels. And it's about fate. And how the universe might or might not work. 

Suzann Kale

Surrendering to the Characters

And another reason I was having writer's block: I wanted the novel to go a certain way, and the characters simply wouldn't comply.

I know that sounds cliche and goopy. But ...

My problem is that I hate for my characters to have problems. Like my pets, I want my novel's characters to have wonderful lives free of opposition, embarrassment, and negativity.

So, oops. No plot.

And in fact, as I ponder my book in quiet moments, I see clearly that not only do my two main characters have huge problems, but they want me to write about these issues in detail because they want these problems resolved. 

Also I found out that Sylvie, my main character, did not want to do first person. So I'm back to regular third person with her. Why? Because I can get a lot more information in. In this particular story, I found that Sylvie telling her own story was too limited.

I also was plagued with the small town in which my two characters live. They don't really like living there. So...why are they still there? In order to answer that question I had to realize the enormous issues each one faced, that brought them to that town and kept them there. 

Very general, I know. But it feels good now. Going to the computer to write no longer feels like an extended torture session. Now it feels rich and deep. Nevermind that the story isn't going the way I had originally planned. It's going to go the way the characters go, because that's the only way it's going to get written.

Suzann Kale