A little more than four thousand words in three days and counting! That's more like it!
The story of "The Book of Thoth" is developing... I am now at one of the crucial moments in the novel, when the central character realises that he might not be in the decade he thought he was... I am finding it extremely difficult to do this without making the whole time travel thing sound grotesque ... Maybe it will be... There's always the second and third draft to remedy that. 13/9/2011 In with the kidsAah, the things our venerable museums wouldn't do to sex up their exhibitions in order to appeal to the "Yooff"! I imagine their Yooff Consultant: "Like, it would be totally awsome if, like, we had a hoodie so like the teens can identify with him, and then there's a girl, like, young, and tension, danger, like, she's going to get raped or murdered, or somefink, like in SAW 135 and it's dark like in a horror movie, and there's no dialogue, because like it would be so totally too elitist, and we're not, right?" So you have it (below). Seriously though, I am really excited by this John Martin exhibition at the Tate. His work is mind-blowing... I just hope it won't be full of hooded kids yapping away on their mobile phones... John Martin, Apocalyse, September 21st 2011 - January 15th 2012 There is a massive international buzz surrounding Erin Morgenstern's "The Night Circus", with a huge publishing deal and the film rights already sold. I usually don't follow hypes - I still haven't read / seen any of the Harry Potters, Millenium trilogy and most certainly NOT the Twilight stuff (this one makes me want to puke just thinking about it). Yuk. I know that this time, I am going to make an exception and purchase Ms Morgenstern's book, because of two things: One, she seems to be a very interesting and humble lady, a visual fanstasy artist who happens to have started writing and been successful at it. She blogs about kittens a lot too... And she likes tea! What's not to like? Two, from what I have gathered from articles and snapshots of reviews, this book is genuinely awsome. The author has conjured up a whole poetic, fabulous, black and white fairy tale world that I just have to enter and discover. Poetry, beauty, magic... This type of book is usually not particularly my cup of tea, but I have an inkling that this one might just be different, somehow. More mature. There might even be a hint of darkness within its heady pages... Ms Morgenstern comes across as absolutely not star-like and as a genuinely creative, dreamy individual. She is also ready to share her experience as a new writer, something that interests me most as I try to get my book(s) published. "The Night Circus" has been marketed as being a book for the Harry Potter/Twilight audiences, but I have the sneaky feeling that there is much more to it than just teen/young adult fodder... It seems to be more delicate, more complex, more poetic. Here is a fascinating and incredibly insightful interview with Ms Morgenstern. It comes in two parts: PART I Erin Morgenstern's blog is here: Erin's emporium
12/9/2011 The Whole World is WeirdSo there. The Dogbones are awsome, and I really have to see them live again... It's been far too long. 12/9/2011 16 agents so far...And how many more to go before I give up?
I read reassuring articles about how some authors - some of them now on the cusp of super-writer stardom - have been rejected by, oh, about 100 agents... Myth or reality, I am not even sure I really care... To be honest, I really wouldn't want to find myself in the middle of a media storm even before my book was published, much like ERIN MORGENSTERN, author of the soon to be global phenomenon "The Night Circus"... Talking about a circus... Her life and work seem to have already been snatched from her control... All I really want is to see my books published. I perfectly know what I should be writing about in order to be taken on, but it would bore me to death as I first and foremost write about situations and characters that interest me. As I have said somewhere else on this blog, my intention is to send "I Am a Muse" to agents until December, and if nothing has happened at all, then I'll be embarking on the slippery slope of self-publishing. It was a well-shot part dramatisation of the life of Mary Shelley and the events in her life that drove her to create her internationally famous monster.
I was rather saddened by Mary Shelley's life. From a fiercely intelligent, free-thinking young girl who had been so very mature for her age, she turned into a worn-out, sad, disillusioned woman who was never really able to live an independent life and enjoy the fruits of her remarkable writing talent. Her story is the tale of a world in which women were not in control of their bodies - and apart from certain infertility or celibacy, with the lack of knowledge about contraception, the enjoyment of sexual pleasure was inevitably followed by a pregnancy. It was bloody horrendous. Mary Shelley's life was plagued by those successive pregnancies, her children took her freedom away - she was entirely aware of it but felt unable to act upon it - even though they all but one died extremely young, adding to her woes, breaking her down with sorrow and illness. The story of Frankenstein is well-known; it has been analysed and adapted, told and retold numerous times. Personally, I particularly enjoyed Kenneth Brannagh's most reviled 1994 epic film version; more recently, I read - and can only warmly recommend - Peter Ackroyd's "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein", a fabulous, fascinating re-telling of the story; this is a Gothic drama in which Doctor Victor Frankenstein is no longer a fictional character but a "real" person, a friend of Percy Byshe Shelley, Lord Byron and Mary Woolstonecraft - later to become Mary Shelley. In the book, Frankenstein is indeed a monster, but is he really the kind of monster we think he is? Maybe he is even more human than Mary Shelley had made him to be. 11/9/2011 Picking up the pen again..... or rather the keyboard, although I do still write in a notepad when I feel like it and always use pen and paper to scribble down ideas, list characters' traits, etc.
It's been 10 days since I haven't looked at my novel and usually it takes me a good day or two to get back into it. But even though I have been away from it, it has been on my mind all the time and I have been thinking a lot about the next scene I am supposed to write. Therefore, I am hoping to be able to start writing the scene stright away. I am going away again in 5 weeks (a whole week without any computer access!) and therefore will have to maximise my writing time as well as I can. I am eager to get the story moving forward... And yes, I still want to change the design on this page and hope to be doing so in the next few weeks. 7/9/2011 Back to Blighty ...So it's back to England tomorrow, and if I'm being perfectly honest, I cannot wait!
I will be heading to the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the South Bank Centre straight from the Eurostar, to hear Peter Ackroyd talk about his new book, History of England, Foundation. The first of a series of exciting cultural events I'll be going to over the next few months... Bring on Autumn! Two interesting articles: Peter Ackroyd profile in The Independent You wouldn't expect to find a national museum in a city such as Moulins - slightly less than 20 000 inhabitants, located in the middle of an extensive rural area.
But there is, and it's not your average museum either: the National centre for stage costumes - and stage sets/décors, offering exhibitions, workshops and other events, all related to the stage and performance - the theatre, opera, ballet, etc. The museum is housed in former military cavalry barracks dating from the end of the 18th century and classified as a historical monument. Have a look around their site, there are videos with such people as fashion designer Christian Lacroix and more, very interesting!: CNCS I went there this week to see their current exhibition, "L'art du costume de la Comédie-Française". In France, la Comédie-Française is the equivalent of the Royal Shakespeare Company in terms of prestige. We saw wonderfully made costumes that had been worn by some of the greatest French stage actors, from the 18th century to the present. If you want to know more about the exhibition, you can find a French version of the blurb here: COMEDIE FRANCAISE EXHIBITION ENGLISH VERSION |
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March 2024
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