Love

You guys, I think I've found my fictional match.
In 2008, I wrote a novel called The Silent Treatment; the next year, Exchange, both starring the same main character, Kat Shergill. She's spunky and sarcastic--sure she still needs a little work (and representation), but the start is there.

This afternoon, I finished reading a novel called Sex, Murder and a Double Latte by Kyra Davis. For the past 3 days, I've been thrilled that I finally found something similar to what I want to write. Sophie Katz, our heroine, is spunky and sarcastic (like my creation), but she's also sexy and has quite a mouth on her. She's bi-racial (like Kat, but not the same two races), and has the word "Kat" in her name (which I hope I won't have to change now!).
Instead of being jealous that I hadn't thought of the story first, I was happy I found another author I could identify with. (And lest Ms Davis stumble upon this blog and get creeped out by my fandom ... it's just regular, nice fandom.)

One thing this book has definitely done is given me renewed interest in editing The Silent Treatment, and possibly starting a third adventure in the series.

Another book I finished was I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley. Like David Sedaris, it's best to have her read the stories to you. I'm sure she's got a busy schedule, so I got the audiobook instead.
Besides the amusing stories and laugh-out-loud moments when she said she experienced something I thought only I went through (like finding it annoying when a movie character shares my name), I was impressed by her writing ability. It was smooth, easy, and very smart. Looking forward to her next book!

So basically this week, I've been shown up by two different people: two people who write in very different styles, very different topics. Much love to them both - maybe one day I'll be able to buy them a coffee and pick their brains. Kyra, Sloane, if you're reading this, I'm serious. I have $5 with your name on it.

Reading lots

From what follows in this post, one might assume I have loads of free time on my hands, which is not true. The majority of the "reading" I'm getting done lately is in the form of audiobooks, which I use to make my workday more palatable.

Let's begin.

First, I finished David Sedaris' When You Are Engulfed in Flames. I absolutely love his essays, but when he branches into fiction (as he does in one title), he exaggerates so much that the story becomes difficult to relate to (at least for me). But listening to him read his own work is half the pleasure - I'm not sure I can read one of his books to myself anymore because I've been so spoiled. In fact, have a listen here.

Second, I listened to Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth: Stories (Vintage Contemporaries). I've read her other books, The Namesake, and Interpreter of Maladies, and this collection was comparable with those. Nice descriptions of the emotions of everyday people, but sometimes those emotions run pretty dark; one story (Only Goodness) left me pretty drained and wanting to be out of that situation at the end. Luckily for me, it was just a story, not something I'd actually experienced, so I went about my day as though it never happened. That's the beauty of Lahiri's work, though -- she can really make you believe you've gotten your heart broken.

Still working on The Sleeping Dragon by Miyabe. It's entertaining, but it's old-fashioned words-on-paper reading, so I've got to find time during non-working hours.

Also in the "read it to me" vein, I attended an author reading at the Philadelphia Free Library last night, and saw Sloane Crosley. The first time I'd heard her was listening to her story "The Pony Problem" online, and ever since I've been a fan. Had a great time - didn't stay for autographs, though, because I've yet to buy one of her books. Bad, I know.

But it hasn't all been roses and tea-parties. I listened to about a third of Janet Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen, and decided I'd rather listen to ambient office noises than continue with the story. I borrowed the audiobook on the recommendation of a colleague of mine. She told me Evanovich was funny and interesting; I wanted to like it. The humor seemed forced, and the characters didn't seem real - almost like a cartoon or stereotypes. Anyway, the series is certainly popular, so she's hitting the right spot for someone -- just not me.

Persepolis

Took me a little while, but I've finished Persepolis (part 1).  Like Delisle's Pyongyang, I went into this story not knowing a whole lot about the culture behind it.  

The story was a little slow, but if the narrator is to be believed (and since the book is labeled "memoir", I think she can be), Iran was not a nice place to grow up in the early 80's.  I'm looking forward to reading the second part -- possibly even watching the movie after that.

Comic?

Today I finished reading my first graphic novel.  While superhero stories and stuff with a lot of violence isn't my favorite thing, I've shied away from them for a long time.  But after talks from my sister (who just wrote a short graphic novel), and seeing Persepolis everywhere, I thought I'd see what was out there.

The one that immediately caught my attention was Guy Delisle's Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea.  I love to travel, so realizing there are a handful of countries out there I'll never be able to visit simply because I'm American leads me to be curious about that place.  Once I saw pictures of North Korea's Ryugyong Hotel (and how creepy it is), I thought a little research about it might be worth my time.  (I mean, talk about secluded: Google maps doesn't even have anything labeled in that country!)  So when I saw this graphic novel, I was intrigued.

The story impressed me.  No one turned into a robot, and there were no vampires.  With pictures accompanying the text, reading was almost like watching a movie ... or almost like being there.  I guess there's the appeal of comics!  Well worth checking out: the author mixed humor and curiosity into a very strange subject.

I didn't realize I was going to get this, but here it is!  Feedback on my Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award excerpt:

p.s. if you'd like to read the excerpt that these people read, please download this short TXT file.

Feedback

Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Reviews

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The excerpt is well-written overall but what I really liked about it was Kat's interaction with Bridget, which seemed realistic and lively and fresh. I like their easy banter.

What aspect needs the most work?

I think overall this is a really strong entry. There were just a couple of things that gave me pause. (1) Kat's interaction with the policeman in the first chapter was odd. Specifically, these two passages:

A. "What's the matter? Why are you hugging
yourself?" the cop asked, rather coarsely. His
name tag read Brown. "You cold?"

-- If she's standing there barely dressed and soaking wet, the answer to this is obvious. Anyway, it doesn't seem like a question the policeman would be likely to ask.

B. "We could just," she
started, giving Officer Brown a tiny smile and
tilting her head back toward the apartment.

-- I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. The context would suggest that she just wants to talk in her apartment. But this certainly sounds like she's coming on to him, which makes no sense within the story and is just very weird.

(2) Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt that anyone named Katrina these days gets a conversation about New Orleans whenever they introduce themselves. And I find it hard to believe that someone would legall change their name because of it.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Apart from the small problems I had with the story, as mentioned above, I really enjoyed this one. I think the writing is good, starting with the description of Kat standing in the rain at the beginning. And I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Kat and Bridget. Hopefully there's more of that to come in the story. I'm not sure what will happen given the drama with which the story starts, but I would definitely keep reading this one if I had the book in hand.

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The minutia of the day-to-day grind of the average American hits the reader head-on with an unrelenting encounter of the mundane, tedious toil that makes up life. Incredibly accurate portrayal of time consuming chit-chat, social obligation and random encounters that leave the reader reeling.

What aspect needs the most work?

The excerpt is a victim of its own success...it does such a good job portraying the "common man" (or woman in this situation) that the reader wants to escape the tedium and mindless chit-chat. Also, doesn't seem like it would appeal to a general audience but rather fall into the "chick lit" category or better yet, a movie transcript.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

Soft diversion of modern day working woman. Chick lit that makes for easy reading and comforting commonality among working class young women. For some reason, this seems like it would make a better transcript than a book...high on visualization but low on plot.

How cool is that?  I'm very happy with those 2 reviews (mostly the 1st one).  Dangit -- so I didn't go to the next round!  With reviews like that, I can actually go back and re-edit with those few tips and make it awesome.  And heck, I'll even take the "Chick Lit" category.

No More Winnings

So it's been a while since I posted anything.  Most of that has been because there's not anything interesting to say on the writing front just now.  Also I've been pre-occupied with some interesting personal developments.  Let's just say there might well be beer in my future.  Liters of it.

I did not make it to the next round of Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award.  Of course, I'm disappointed, but I'm incredibly happy that I made it through the first round.  There's always next year (or disqualifying myself by finding representation on my own!).  The novel I'm currently working on is more interesting than the one I submitted, so my odds are better next year.

What have I been reading?  I'm glad you asked.

Work can be a monotonous place, so I've been listening to a lot of podcasts involving writers reading their own work.  This was great until I exhausted my supply, and now I'm back to listening to TV shows on hulu.com.  In paper form, I've been reading Gyles Brandreth's Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries.  This involves Oscar Wilde not as the author, but as the character.  Now, I could think of a lot that could go wrong with a project like this, but Oscar Wilde is the MAN, so I had to give it a shot.  The first scene opens in Madame Tussaud's, so that settled it.  (Yes, Madame Tussaud's was around in the late 1800's.)

I have, unfortunately, not been diligent at reading, so in a month, I've only read about 200 pages.  While a little dry in places, it's well done.  The dialogue isn't so stiff that I can't find the humanity in it (although, being a period piece, it's much more stiff than this blog, for example).  A few of the side characters are boring, though -- however, I've just gotten to the murder (i.e. the good part), and I'm totally slacking.  Gyles Brandreth 1, Melanie 0.

I haven't come up with a new novel idea yet, although little, incoherent pieces are starting to form.  I still have quite a while left with editing (55 out of 450 pages done).  Hoping I'll have it finished so I can take part in nanowrimo's winning offer to have it printed by createspace.com.  Hey, even if only one book is printed, it still looks wonderful on my bookshelf!

That's all for now.  I should have been getting ready for work in the time I wrote this -- but hey, it's Friday.

Appetite

If you like short stories, I recommend Appetite by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh.  It's about a guy who is a waiter and his adventures, if you will.  The thing I loved the most about this story is that he describes almost everything I've ever felt about work (anywhere - retail in particular, but some of it goes for the office, too).  The opening scene where the main character wants to ask for a raise is painfully vivid (in a good way).  Also, the character has a dream, but instead of faking out the reader by having something good happen and then PSYCH!! waking up, the author accurately describes a confusing jumble of memories and TV shows, and conversations that might have been.  When the character wakes up and realizes he's been asleep instead of watching TV, instead of feeling played, I think, "aww, that's happened to me too."

What bothers me about modern literary fiction in general (and what happened with this particular story also), is that sometimes nothing really happens.  There are a bunch of good characters who flash back and dream and interact, but when it comes to the ending, I'm left feeling a bit ... blah.  I will tell you that I'm totally lost when it comes to symbolism, and that might be holding me back with the genre.  Someone please clue me in: when reaching the end, am I supposed to feel something other than, "huh.  Well ... that's it, I guess"?

25,000 words removed

The first novel (in recent times) I finished and thought was decent totaled about 25,000 words.  It was a mystery -- decent one, if you ask me, but because of its stunted growth, I couldn't find a home for it except in a corner of my hard drive.  I can't bring myself to recycle the character names (although a few of the story elements have seeped into other stories), so maybe I'm not done with it yet.  Maybe I'll re-write it into something longer, or maybe once I've got a novel or two in the "S" section at Barnes and Noble, someone will be interested in publishing this novella.

Awake didn't share that story's fate (at least not yet).  Back a few blog posts, you'll see that I ended the novel at a grand total of 120,000 words (which is too long for a first-time novelist to get picked up by anyone), but let's face it: in a first draft, a good 10 - 20% of the text is crap.  So far, I've read through the entire story (parts of it were painful), and trimmed a lot of useless word-padding.  Starting at the beginning again, I'm steamrolling the entire thing, taking out unnecessary paragraphs and re-wording almost everything else.  So far, the words I've cut from this novel equals about 25,000 words.  If you remember from one paragraph above, thats about enough room to write a completely separate story.

So far, the edit is going well.  The characters are showing me how they feel rather than me having to say it, so reading through a newly polished chapter is giving me guilty feelings of glee, enjoying my own work.  Of course, for the past 2 days, I've had plenty of time to edit because the city has been shut down by piles of snow.

Besides writing, I've been working my way through Denise Mina's Garnethill, which is a good read so far (I'm about 3/4 finished).  Stylistically, I'm not enjoying the omniscient point of view, but hey -- she's not trying to cater to me.   For me, it's the ending that really matters, so here's hoping it goes alright.

Also, who isn't interested in the final season of Lost?  I'm pretty excited about it, especially since I can't predict what's going to happen.  It's either going to end really well, or it's going to be the biggest letdown ever.

New Year

Blah.

So, the excitement of November is over, the comments have fallen off, and my updates have fallen off.  What's been going on?  Nothing.

I listened to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button after a failed attempt at watching the movie.  Really, after listening to the original short story, I can see why I had trouble watching the film -- it's sort of a novelty piece.  What happens when a guy is born old and slowly becomes a baby.  Not my thing when it comes to plot, but whatever.  It's short.

I also read Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner.   Now this was an excellent book.  I liked the characters, and the story was cute (and sometimes heartbreaking).  I chose this book because I was reading Miss Snark's blog, trying to figure out how to tweak my query letter.  She said the first few pages of Good in Bed were exactly the kinds of first pages she wanted to see from new authors.  Naturally, I had to check it out, and I got sucked into the story.  Of course, that's what you want.

I tried hard to "read as a writer" and pay attention to why the story was so good -- why the words flowed so effortlessly.  But since it was so smooth, I glided right through and I have no idea how to emulate this woman.  Perhaps reading a few more of her novels will teach me a thing or two.


Meanwhile, I'm getting hooked on British TV shows.  Funny stuff!

Mind's Eye by Håkan Nesser

Now that I've stopped writing for a little while, I've got to read a few books.  So I went to my library, and ended up borrowing Mind's Eye by Hakan Nesser, who is, apparently, pretty popular in Sweden.  I thought, Good! I like European things, and the description of the story sounded interesting.

The mystery starts out really promising.  Guy wakes up and doesn't know what happened (quite like what I just wrote -- one reason I chose this book), and discovers his wife is dead.  Guy goes to prison, but he didn't do it -- and gets murdered himself (don't worry, this is all in the blurb, so I'm not giving anything important away).  

That's all good.  Interesting.  Okay, now what?

The investigators investigate.  They talk to people.  Halfway though, they're talking to people.  At the 3/4 point, they're talking to people.  At the end, they're talking to people.  

I don't know.  If you read on Amazon, it got really good reviews, but I didn't feel it.  It was sort of like the middle sagged all the way to the end, and all the questioning became really repetitive.  Very much a plot-driven story, since the characters didn't really have lives of their own (not as much as I like -- i.e. they didn't really do any extra-curricular activities that weren't mentioned as a side-note).

Nothing strikingly "wrong" with the story or the writing style, just not my cup of tea.