New shipment of books

16 Oct

A few days ago I put in an order on Amazon.co.uk and they split it up into two shipments which has led to some difficult decisions in my reading. Yesterday I received Howard Buten’s “When I was five I killed myself” and began reading it immediately. Today I received J. K. Rowlings new novel “The Casual Vacancy” and began reading that immediately. I couldn’t help myself. I have anticipated this novel ever since news of its publication came out. So I will take a little break from The Children’s Trust Center and Burt’s difficult life and his story that he writes on the walls of the quiet room at the Center which begins with the words: When I was five I killed myself.

The final book of this order was a novel I have had my sights on for a year or so: “The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.” I have read slightly longer descriptions of the book which caught my interest but the blurb is not only interesting it is simply awe-inspiring: “Gather up your courage, scoop up some wishes, grab a little pinch of luck, and prepare to be swept away, in a ship of your own making, to a land unlike any other…” It is nothing less than wonderful poetry. I do so hope this book will meet my expectations.

Instructions Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s

24 Mar

Just the other day I read Neil Gaiman’s Instructions. It is cross between a children’s book and a poem. To me at least. I immediately wanted to write my own set of instructions just for fun so here they are:

Knock on the door you never realized was there. There will be no answer. Enter only if you’re certain that you will embark on an adventure. When you walk past the scare crow in the field ask yourself if you’re scared. If you find yourself so then beware that adventures are often scary but not very often dangerous. When you reach the castle enter. Not by the front gate. You must go through the garden to find the alternate entrance.

You can get lost in the maze in the garden. If you dare to enter it. It would be easy simply to avoid entering but you could learn a great deal and so I’d advise you to consider carefully before declining this opportunity. It is not always wise to take the straightest path.

If you do find the alternate entrance to the castle you’ll find yourself in the hall of mirrors. Everything you ever were and everything you are will be there for you to behold. Only that which is to come is still open to opportunities.

If you want an awfully big adventure you’re well advised to accept what the mirrors tell you. Now you have a choice. There are two doors. One of them is open. You can see everything in there. The other one is not yet open but it is unlocked and hence this path is a possibility as well. The secrets behind it will not unfold itself though before you choose to take that path.

Maybe it will take you a while to decide which door to choose and that is perfectly fine but make sure you do choose one because time spent in the hall of mirrors should be relatively short. If you don’t walk out of either door in time they will close on you.

Finishing a Novel

22 Mar

Today has been a great day – both as for the writing and the rest of it. This morning I had one of the best writing sessions for a long time yet. I finished the novel that I am working on. That is I finished the basic structure of it, meaning that I have written all the scenes that I am going to write. I have been working on it – more or less intensively – since November 2010 so I have been looking forward to this day. All that is left now, which of course is a whole lot, is to flesh out the scenes that I have written too fast to make sure that I captured the story, improve continuity (it’s a quite complicated narrative, so this will take some time) and generally edit a lot. Once I have finished that process I will read it in its entirety, preferably in one sitting. Edit again. Then I will have my most trusted readers try it out and get their feedback. Then I will edit again and again and again.

Still I do believe it is worthy of a small celebration to have a completed the first draft. And I was crying my eyes out as I wrote the final two scenes of the book as it was a bit like saying goodbye to the characters. I will be spending a lot more time with them yet but the story is now set, they will no longer do the wonderfully surprising things that characters sometimes do that require an interesting plot twist or change the story completely. I am so sentimental about my writing and I love that!

Our great postman (who knows everybody – we’re in the countryside after all) delivered my latest stack of books from Amazon. I have already read the first book out loud to my son this afternoon: Neil Gaiman: Instructions. It is awesome, a very quick and short read but a wonderful and very inspiring story. I’m actually contemplating writing my own version, a set of instructions, just for fun, sometime soon. I’m very inspired by other people right now, trying out things. As for instance my version of an Erin Morgenstern inspired tale earlier on the blog. It’s a lot of fun to try out writing different things. This is of course especially the case when you sometimes feel stuck on a certain big writing project. But I am no longer stuck. Now it’s on to work on the second draft and I am so excited about that!

I also have the rest of the new stack of books to look forward to:

Philip Pullman: The Firework-Maker’s Daughter. I think it was my brother, a great Pullman fan, as am I, who told me that this was an awesome story.

Anna Sewell: Black Beauty. I want to read something to my son that I remember fondly from my own childhood. I was very much into horses when I was a girl and had my own horses so of course I loved this story. I hope it is as good as I remember!

Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden. I have never read it but it sounds fabulous.

Brian Selznick: The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Having lived in Paris for a while I am looking so much forward to reading this story. It sounds magical.

Alain de Botton: The Architecture of Happiness. Until reading The Art of Travel I wasn’t really a fan of de Botton. I have a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and tried to read his Consolations of Philosophy but it really couldn’t keep me interested. However the topic of this book, architecture, interior decoration etc. is really on my mind right now as I have spent the last year planning and designing the renovation of my grandmother’s and my father’s childhood home, a wonderful farm in the countryside. E.g. I am pondering why it seems to make a difference to me that my family history is tied to this place. Because to me it really does. More on that later on the blog, I suspect.

Oh and I almost forgot: Neil Gaiman: Odd and the Frost Giants. I read the first chapter to my son this afternoon. It seems promising!

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Altered Books and Brian Dettmer’s Book Art

18 Mar

Recently I am becoming more and more fascinated with the concept of altered books. Today by way of Neil Gaiman’s blog I discovered the works of Brian Dettmer who is a true master in the art of alteration. Whereas my own creative endeavors in altering books only go so far as to add words to the books this is above and beyond my creative abilities. Dettmer changes the book into a piece of art by removing parts from the book and turning it into a sculpture. His works are mind-blowing, e.g. this:

 

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The concept of making a new piece of art by detracting instead of adding is interesting. We seem so preoccupied with what we can add that the idea of actually looking at the beauty of that which already is and the possibility of emphasizing certain elements in it is forgotten. This also seems to be true on a more philosophical level. My fascination with detraction is that it enables us to focus on certain details in the original work and even create a new meaning. This to me is very creative and a great way of creatively engaging with the original work.

I also get the thought that by literally opening up a book in this way you achieve some sort of transparency. It opens up the book to you. It appeals to me in much the same way as an art print of an original painting by Danish painter Otto Frello that I was given by my cousin for Christmas almost ten years ago. It depicts a square in Copenhagen and the interesting thing about the painting is that it shows the square in several different time periods which overlap in the picture:

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I love the symbolism of this kind of lucidity of time and space and this is often a theme in the fiction I write. As I have taken a day off from writing fiction today it is great to have the opportunity to ponder a bit and Brian Dettmer really gave me the opportunity to do so. After all Sundays are – at least ideally – days for contemplation and dreams. This Sunday I will dream of owning an artwork by Brian Dettmer.

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The Invention of Hugo Cabret

17 Mar

The downside of writing is that there are not enough hours in the day to have time for reading. So I’m always a bit behind schedule with my reading. A while back I read about The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick and decided to put it on my must-read list. I have just realised that it has now been made into a film directed by Martin Scorsese. This means that the pressure is on. I have to have read it before I watch the movie. The plot sounds so mesmerizing that I would be so disappointed not to have had the chance to create my own mental images. The only problem is that I have misplaced my Kindle charger and so I will have to wait for Amazon to dispatch it for me! I am looking so much forward to reading this novel and I am afraid that with these high expectations I will be left disappointed but at the same time I am almost sure that Hugo Cabret wont let me down. He sounds like an awesome character and like his story will prove to be a wonderful adventure.

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My Erin Morgenstern-Inspired Tale

16 Mar

As I wrote in the last post I think the idea of writing ten-line tales is amazing and as a tribute to Erin Morgenstern I have in fact written about two people falling in love in a circus. So here it is, my tale:

A Destiny-Altering Performance

The first time he saw the late night performance in the circus he knew nothing would ever be the same.

The implication of these magic tricks was almost incomprehensible.

He knew deep down in his heart and mind that he too was meant to achieve great things in the world of magic. Even change the world.

Making his first experiments on people he realized that the consequences could be grave indeed but considering the purpose of his actions he knew he needed to pursue his destiny.

The first time he saw her he knew that their destinies were intertwined. She knew too but none of them knew exactly how.

He was falling in love with her and utterly seduced by the magic she was able to perform.

She was falling in love with him too but uncertain of his emotions towards her she wanted to make sure that he loved her.

When she enticed him with her magic she created an illusion that was too strong and too far removed from reality.

He walked right into it and got lost.

And so it was that because she didn’t trust him to feel the same way she did her love remained unrequited and her fears turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Spontanious Tales

16 Mar

A few days ago I visited Erin Morgenstern’s blog. Erin is the writer of The Night Circus which I think is one of the best novels ever written.Her ability to imagine another world and write about it is amazing. The best reading experience is when you read a book you wish you had written yourself. I wish I had written The Night Circus and of course that made me curious about Erin. So I was amazed when I discovered that she publishes so-called Flax-Golden Tales every Friday. As it is Friday today I would like to dive into that concept. Erin writes short stories of ten lines. Ten lines people! This actually means that you could write a short story in two minutes. It makes writing so spontanious and accesible. I am in love with the concept and I am considering practising my imagination by writing one every day for a while.

Just because it is possible to write a short story in two minutes will not mean that it is good (as Erin’s are!) but I think the idea of using such small tales as a breathing room from all the writing that has to be good, at least at some point, and just write something for the fun of it. I think it could be quite interesting to write a number of tales without revising them and then at some point to be able to look back at them and review which subjects and writing styles one was preoccupied with at that time. It might even open doors into an unknown territory of writing that you wouldn’t even have discovered if you only write on your large and serious projects.

So maybe it will be a weekend project for some of you to write your own tale! It is a lot of fun! Erin’s tales are accompanied by photos by Carey Farrell so if you’re into photography as well (as I am!) then you could incorporate this into your tales as well.

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