The Promises of a New Year

Happy New Year!

I wish you a year filled with wonder always and in all ways. Create what you want and call it so the universe can hear it clearly. May you manifest, in everything you do, the light that glows within you. Take each moment and craft it to uncover the beauty, love, happiness and peace that exist in it. I love you all!

To be complete with 2011. In the area of writing last year was the completion of many years of work on a YA novel. I finally wrote THE END in a moment of intense joy. The editing part is not complete but will be by the end of january. Also in 2011, I unlocked many knots in my heart and it had a direct impact on my creativity. I’ve always wanted to write a mystery and I started to outline one.

So what’s up for the coming year? Find an editor for my book.

My promise to the world for 2012 : Love is present every time I meet someone. People feel acknowledged and heard.

An insight for 2012 : This 6 degrees of separation thing amazes me a lot since I heard about it the first. Like we are separated from each other by only 6 other persons or less. Like I know someone who knows someone who knows you. Every time I read or hear about it, people state that they are very close to a movie star or some kind of celebrities. what if I look at it from another point of view. I am at 6 degrees of women in Mali creating a shea butter cooperative; I am at 6 degrees of separation of kids learning to read in the YMCA in Haïti. Actually, with those examples I am at 2 degrees. I am very priviledge to be surrounded by people giving their time and profound love to make this world a safe place for everyone. For 2012 I want to honor those people for the light they are.

Happy New Year!

With great respect and love!

A.

Being realistic

I know I will not complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. Even if I would take 3 days off of work and cut on sleep, I will not get there.

It is fine. I will write as much as I can until the 30th. Because I just love the story I am writing.

I learned a lot in the process. Writing in english was the challenge for me. The creative process is not different then when I write in french. I enter the new world with wonder and make some discoveries as I go along.

I just don’t write as quick as in french. I am looking for words. For the past few days, I just wrote the words in french thinking I would look for it later.

I’ll see you at the end of the line. Cheering for all those who had the courage to go through it all and complete. You are my heroes!

With great respect!
A.

Being unreasonable

That’s what its going take to complete the challenge. I am 14200/50k

Less than 7 days left.

I am way over excuses. I didn’t write. End of the matter. No stories.

I knew when I started that it would be completely crazy. I needed the challenge. I wanted to be part of it. I had to keep the dream alive.

Writing. Each word being like a deep breath. So for the next 7 days I will breath very deeply to pull out the 36k words I need to complete NaNoWriMo. I love that kind of math. You know, like : Sally has 4 oranges. Sue has 5 apples. Mark steals 1 fruit to each girl. How many fruits are left? A fruit salad!

So if I apply the concept to NaNoWriMo, I need to make around 5,115$ each day to win the game. Yes it is more inspiring if I put a money sign next to it. It creates an image for my brain that relates to abundance. Twisted? Absolutely! What ever I need. And I’m sure someone already studied that branch of “twistedness” in neuroscience.

So honeys let’s do this. It is the last week of this NaNoNonSense. A complete madness for the lover of words in this world. Because we are not alone! And love shall prevail! I am getting excited here!

I have a treat for you. An excerpt. Yes yes! Not much editing so be polite!!

The room was already filled with many – some dancing, others eating and drinking in gold and silver plates. Charles answered silently to many marks of respect, people were showing him. Finally he got to his seat, near the empty throne. Quickly a fluttering cloud of nymphets came close to him – young ladies giggling, whispering and blushing when he started to look at them amused. His plate got filled and his glass never got empty.

Soon, he was joined by Lord Clad, who kept a stern face during the first hour, until Amber came in the room. She was amazing, wearing a gold evening gown, with embroidered diamonds; her long blond hair untied and her eyes, underlined with fine black make-up, gave them an unearthly look. A small diamond on her forehead completed the outfit. Her beauty was legendary, but since she wore only black dresses and a shawl over her head, people seemed to forget it. Or was it her, casting a disappearing spell so she would go about her business unoticed? But at that moment, no human could be untouched by her beauty. Radiant like the sun, it seemed that the goddess was walking amongst them.

Clad took her hand. “Priestess, you are… so… magnificent. No song or poetry would ever match the beauty you are radiating tonight!” She bow reverently to the two man who could not take their eyes away from her. Charles was amaze at her young looks. He knew for certain that she was much older than him, but tonight she looked like a young princess that just became mature and ripe for union. He could not talk, not even smile. Amber, his second mother…

A few minutes after, it was Belinda’s moment of fame. She stood at the entrance of the main hall rejoicing on her effect. All the guest were speechless; the room was silent. Slowly, she walked around, granting a cold smile to the noble ladies, giving her hand genuinely for man to kiss.

“What an hypocrite!”, whispered Clad through his teeth. Charles nodded absently. Next to Belinda, was standing the most innocent thing he had ever seen. Belinda always went around with a few young ladies, daughters of nobles and rich merchant, used to castle life and wearing an arrogant smile all the time. But this one was different. She looked everywhere in awe, drinking with her beautiful blue eyes every thing she could set her attention on. She froze when she noticed him at the other end of the room. The pink on her cheeks was unoticeable but Charles could feel the change in the mood of the young girl. How can this pure heart follow that dry soul all around. How could he save her before her soul got tainted and the damage unchangeable?

“Charles! My dear you look… handsome as always.” Belinda presented her hand. Charles took it and with an affected voice said, “My lady, no songwriter or poet will ever find words to sing your praise on this land. That is truly a pity.” Clad and Amber sucked up a laughter. Belinda took her hand promptly and walked away, not without an angry “Silly.”

“I think you went too far Charles.” “How could anyone go too far with her, Clad? She already crossed the line too many times with me. It is just a fair return of faith.”

“Don’t take her too lightly.” The profound voice of the priestess surprised him. She never paid attention to the young lady, untouched by her petty games. “Priestess, why would you say such a thing? Don’t you think she is playing a childish game? I warned her already, but there is nothing to fear, frankly.” “Remember, it is the week of the Comet, all feelings are distorted and amplified.” Charles stayed silent, somehow he could understand what she meant. He could feel an invisible threat but was unable to capture its source. For now, he just wanted to dive in the pure perfume of this innocent beauty, following the dragon everywhere. The night was young and he didn’t need to hurry. She would come to him.

With great respect and love!

A.

Getting behind

It’s happening. I am getting behind on NaNoWrimo!

And I have a pretty good excuse! Yes, yes… which is…well it depends on what day we are talking about. I worked all week-end. Basically, Sunday night when I came home, I couldn’t even stand to be in front of the computer. So I skipped. But no worries, I came back to writing at lunch today.

Tonight I came home late and I am heading to bed… No worries! I will have a 3 day week-end. And I don’t work on Wednesday and Thursday night this week. I will get back to it quickly because the story continues to unfold inside and it creates a pressure when it’s time to write. I don’t type fast enough…

Getting behind… I feel more human. Really. I started a week ago with my “I’ll manage everything” looking good attitude. Good thing that was broke very fast because I would not have been able to maintain that, without causing a tremendous amount of stress. All I need to do now is to relax and create a more “human” schedule for writing. (And get enough sleep!)

I’m sure that veteran Nanowrimers could create a map of the process we get through during November. What goes on during the first week; two or three things that might happen during the second week and so on. So I am in the middle of it and I am not panicking… not yet.

So honeys! It is fun to watch everybody going through the process and sharing their word count! And I’m sure I can hear your words of encouragements towards me.

For your eyes only, a sentence that came up during the short writing session today: The sun was quietly setting, leaving a bloody trace in an already dark sky. 

With great respect!

ML

 

And then it started to make sense

I finally got it today. I “got” my story.

For NaNoWriMo I had done a first outline to give me some kind of direction into the story. I didn’t go to deep into it so I could have space during the writing process. I created some of the main characters to provide some grounds to the action.

Today I just opened up a complete new space that uncovered some deeper content. I spent a lot of my time today, writing in a little notebook things that I should not forget for later in the story.

While I’m writing I always have this question lingering in the back: What are her/his motivations/intentions to do/say/think this? As I find some answers, it all starts to make sense.

Anytime I work a new story or poem, it is only an intangible feeling that seems to wander in my mind without any grounds. And then I start with a word, a sentence and then it “appears” in my mind – the whole story, the images and emotions associated with it. All the fun is in the process. I just love to start each day on a blank page and go on with the story. It is interesting that I’ve never feared a “blank page” or a “writer’s block”. I don’t say that it can’t never happen, I just don’t fear it will happen. I just trust the process. And in the process I find many things inside myself : treasures, tears, laughters, shit, anger, gold,  hate, light, darkness, love, humanity, compassion, etc. And when what I write is useless, I don’t make it mean anything. It’s just part of the process of letting go whatever is inside. Just like yesterday and the cheezy stuff.

About romance… It’s not that I don’t like to write romantic stuff. I know a bunch of writers who do it very well. I am just not into that. Maybe that is why I call it cheezy and that I’m being a little cynical about it. But if I think that what I write is somehow related to something going on (or not) in my life, or a feeling that may hide inside, I just have to be responsible for it. It doesn’t come from the neighbor… So yes I would love a little cheezy romance in my life…. and by the way the romantic scene I wrote yesterday? Even with a promising start and maybe some hot action, ended in a fight…. (that’s me being cynical about relationships.)

Ok enough of that stuff already… how about a short excerpt?

Murrogh finally sat after his latest tour of the huge kitchens settled in the semi-basement of the castle, where near a hundred people were preparing the banquet.  The week of the Comet was the busiest and he had to requisite almost every young man in age of working to help. The job was rough, the kitchens being a stressful environment and an accident could happen so quickly. How many cuts, burns or bruises happened over the years? He could not recall. Wiping the sweat on his forehead he looked around in satisfaction. This year’s feast would be one to remember.

In the latest delegation of foreigners that came a few months ago, there was a cook with many tricks who showed him how to create arts and sculptures with the many dishes that were presented to the guests. Since then, Murrogh had been wandering around the land on a secret mission, looking out for sculptors that would create masterpieces made of fruits, vegetables, meats and breads. The first time he gathered his team composed of butchers, bakers and pastry cooks, many where skeptic in front of the different ideas he showed. After a few heated discussions, they all finally agreed to give it a try, knowing the challenging days coming ahead.

But the best was yet to come. Murrogh kept a final secret from all of them. The centerpiece of the event would be a full-scale sculpture of the goddess, seated on a huge wave. At its base, a basin filled with live fish and other sea creatures. Around it, many smaller sculptures of forest animals stuffed with fruits, slowly melting along the week releasing their gifts. Everybody was so busy with the preparations, that no one noticed he had set a room next to the main hall, where five sculptors and their apprentices were creating the ice pieces. To top it off, he asked one of the city magicians to create a spell to keep it frozen all week.

As Chief executive he was definitely proud of his work. The huge tables of the main hall would show the abundance of their land and feed the hundred of guests that would come along during the week. And he knew for certain that the poets would sing his name for centuries to come.

Murrogh was not a king, but he fed them with panache.

With great respect!

A.

Day three : go with the flow.

I just can’t believe that I’ve been writing for three days. There was a crunch of activities this week and I’ve been coming back home at night completely exhausted.

But writing brings me a sense of peace that I don’t find in any other activities I do. The tiredness just vanishes and the words are adding up one after the other. I love the story I’m working on. Some parts of the first 5000 words sounds cheezy. But that is all in the world of  ”I think that I need a little romance.” It’s missing in my life.

About writing in english. It is truly a challenge. My worst enemy is doubt. “Is it a word in english?”. “That sounds so wrong.” And I have been running to google translate more than my share in the past days, to find that most of the time, it was the right word. There is something that gets me out of my comfort zone and that gives a new twist to the flow of inspiration.

I can’t wait for the week-end to get a little edge on word count so I don’t get behind for the second week.

Word count after 3 days : 5511

With great respect!

A.

The last hour…

I was excited all week and all week-end. I prepared myself and I planned out of my way to make sure I don’t start on empty and meaningless “charabia”.

Maybe I prepared to much. If I don’t have any more ideas? If I forget where I was going with all this? Maybe dark fantasy is not such a good idea. It’s not like I’m good at it anyway. Why did I tell EVERYBODY that I was doing it? I don’t have the time anymore…

Oh my best one : Maybe I should just go to sleep and start tomorrow during the day. I don’t need to start at midnight anyway.

NOooooo!! How about I go for it and surf on the wave of bliss. What if I have fun? What if I discover something powerful about life and love and whatever I might discover.

I already know that I will do 2 or 3 sessions a day to achieve the daily goal of 1667 words. I have planned my lunch time accordingly… and my alarm clock in the morning (I still need proof that it will work with me!!!)

My beautifuls that are doing NaNoWriMo this year, I salute your courage and love for words, for characters, for imagination, for creativity, for stories, for yourself.

With great respect and love!
A.

Finding partners for NaNo

One of the thing I saw for myself when I write is that I need a support system. Because if I keep myself all alone, dealing with my mind, at one point I will just get stuck and never sit in front of the computer to write. There is a set of things I tell myself when writing becomes the greatest bad idea in the world. What they are is irrelevant but basically it starts and ends with “I’m not good enough”.

I didn’t win the game last year. There are two main reasons why? First, it all happened and stayed in my mind. I didn’t share much about it, thinking people would think I’m crazy… Second I wasn’t prepared.

So this year, I am planning (research, outline, etc.). I’ve set time in my schedule to write. And I am talking to EVERYBODY about it. And, I started to get in touch with other participants. Some peeps from my city to meet up for writing sessions. And on twitter where I found plenty of great and courageous people playing the game also.

Writing is a very personal process that is influenced by what goes on around us at anytime. Influenced by people, events, images, colors, dreams, newspaper’s article, etc., etc. Anything can add flavor to a story. But to make ourselves get to the actual action of “writing”, it needs sometimes a little “help from our friends”!

On the cold days of November, when writing seems like the least of my priorities, it will be great to open up the computer and have an email saying: “Hey guys! Remember tonight we meet at such and such café for an incredible writing session. See you there!” OR “Hey girl! How is your word count doing?”

I know that looking at it from a “4 days before it starts” point of view, NaNoWriMo sounds like a good and a bad idea. Bad: It will be complete madness to stick to the schedule. Good: I will finally find a way to write everyday.

But actually that’s not it. NaNoWriMo is a game. A game I play for myself. A game that creates inspiration, that nurture my enthusiasm for life, that makes me proud of myself. Whatever if I think that I’m not good enough. Who cares? I am just playing and having fun doing it. And I know that on the morning of the 1st of December, what happened during the month of November would have been worth it.

With great respect!

A.

Images search for NaNo

I spent a couple of hours tonight looking for images to get inspiration for characters, places, jewelry and accessories. The process of selecting images must be done in complete freedom, not being attached to any particular aspects. Just being open and let the images trigger new ideas.

So from the search tonight, I discovered 2 new characters. This is very exciting because it deepened the plot and added value to one of the main character. I also found the ambiance for the environment in which the story will take place. The most interesting search was for clothes, jewelries and arms.

This week-end, I will browse some magazines for images and create a collage. I find it very powerful to create stories or scenes coming from a “non-word” (!!!) point of view. The images I choose to put together seems to have no link, whatsoever. But when it’s done, I just let any feelings, sensations and emotions come up and transform into words. And I write them down creating a new world.

This process amazes me every time I go through it. At first, I always doubt that the magic will happen again. It is a complete creation without any judgement or any preconceive idea of what the result might be. Not good for a mind that likes to “know before” what the result will be.  And then it just happens. I discovered a lot of things about how I view the world and how things in life seem to be for me. I guess someone with psychological knowledge could explain the process that gets initiated by the association of different images. Not sure I want to get into that. I just love making them!

With great respect!

A.

So I finally sat and started to scribble down some ideas.

An idea comes around like perfume scent when you walk on the street. Oftenly ephemeral, but in a second it can trigger an ocean of memories, images and emotions. Preparing for NaNoWriMo has been like chasing for the kind of fragrance that would create a storm in my mind and explode my heart in millions of particles.

Many promising scents came around, like a few blind dates that lead nowhere. Each time I would just stay still, letting the idea finding its way into my psyche. Watching to which depth it would go and what it would reveal. Finally it came, like the smell of mommy’s homemade cookies and hot cocoa, when you come home after playing in the snow. You just want to rush and eat them all, under the loving and warm smile of your mother. And that smell you would never forget…

An idea came along and in an instant I was brought in an whole new world. It stirred up long lost memories of nights, sitting next to my dad while he told me stories of monsters, witches, dragons and impossible challenges. It revealed a deep longing to go back to that time when it was easy to trust, when my dad’s smile would just make all the monsters disappear.

A week ago I thought that I would go for a mystery or a thriller, as I dream profoundly to become the next Agatha Christie. But as the week past, I was drawn to dark fantasy. Maybe a feeling of wanting to escape from reality and dwell in a completely created world where the sun could be dark violet and cats could talk.

So I finally sat down tonight and scribbled down some ideas, that became an outline revealing new aspects of the first scent, like perfume that seems to change and deepen has the hours pass by.

Here is the general plot for your eyes only. We’ll see where it leads us through out the month of november : a Channel or a rotten dead rat in the dumpster. (O and please don’t tell if it starts smelling fish…! I need a few illusion to keep me going in life.)

Mysterious ways (working title)

When she set foot on the earth, emerging from the sea, all living creatures could feel the cold bite of fear. She had the power to make animals speak and turn men into pigs. Centuries ago she had cursed the country, allowing her to take a young soul every 7 years to create an army that soon, she thought, would roam the earth and rule it, like she ruled the deep sea. One year, on her way to claim her due, a man stood in her way. The arrogant Count Harold Ferrigtan, the new master of Beandrion. Describing the myth of this curse has “”stories for the naive””, the young Lord had decided to abolish the cult of Oceana has soon as he became the ruler. Most importantly, he banned the practice of sacrificing a young girl to the wrath of the ocean to keep is country safe from destruction. Elders tried to warn him, to no avail; he would not listen. Not even to his dear uncle Clad, who raised suspicion about the young maiden that quietly arrived from a distant country, on a stormy night. He could see she was a witch, of some sort, that would bring deception in his nephew’s heart and maybe worst. But he was far from the truth. Her arrival coincided with the first fight between Harold and his best friend, Charles Sorringon. Would Harold have challenged the Dark Lady, knowing what was at stake?

Let the fun begin!!

With great respect!

A.