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Friday, October 31, 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014: the Amapola Press Way

NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow and I have character studies on my protagonist and antagonist for the first half of the book. I have an outline.

There are pictures that guide some of my choices.
 

There’s even a map!

For those of you participating, you may buddy up at NaNoWriMo and look me up as KaliAmanda.

I’ll have updates of my progress in this space as well as the Amapola Press Google+ page.

Love and the Android
Author: KaliAmanda
Genre: Women's Fiction

Synopsis
Maya Narayan has lived neglected by her parents and under the shadow of her sister Rani since the moment she was born.

Step-by-step she asserts her unique identity, and comes into her own by leaving Earth and taking over the International Space Station (now a private concern as NASA has moved on to interstellar and intergalactic pursuits).

On Earth, she finds a voice, and a new confidence as she prepares to leave the planet by committing her adult life to her work. In space, she finds love -- manifested and experienced entirely through electronic means and, finally, through the aid of artificial intelligence.

Love and the Android is a study in loneliness, empowerment, and sexuality, a compendium on the civil rights of artificial intelligence, the ethics and consequences of using artificial intelligence as surrogates, and life in space...


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Indecision 2014: NaNoWriMo Edition

In two days thousands of crazy creative people will go on overdrive and try to race against the clock and the calendar and themselves, and try to complete a 50,000 novel in 30 days.


I’m still in relative limbo, unsure whether I have it in me or if I even want to do this to myself again.

A couple of days ago, as the Antares rocket launch was scrubbed, a scene played in my head that has been forming for weeks. It may or not serve as the introductory scene to Love and the Android – it has a Halloween and a space theme. It also hints at the overall plot. But it does not call out to me…

I want to say that I have spent the last three weeks outlining and plotting and doing character studies. I’ve done nothing!

Yesterday, the relaunch for the rocket went horribly wrong. Thankfully, it was an unmanned vehicle, but it reminded me of Challenger. I thought of the kids that had gone to see their teacher go up then, and of the kids who were there this week to watch their experiment go up to the ISS.


Worst, I’d contacted an old schoolmate and suggested her boy watch (he likes space science). Would this spur his curiosity so that it cements his passion for it or turn him from it?

There is some drama there, themes that can be explored. Any space-related news is research and usually enticing, evocative, inspiring. And yet, I don’t feel seduced by the idea of jumping head first into this year’s adventure. But it is precisely this that makes me want to do it, because I don’t back down from a challenge.

I’m missing a couple of my cheerleaders this time around and that makes me sad. I didn’t finish the challenge last year and that left a bad taste in my memory. So I’d come into it as an underdog.

There have been several other real life challenges met and fought and survived this past year that had the potential to leave serious scars. Perhaps that has made me a little gun shy, but it is also the reason I ought not sit out NaNoWriMo.

The decision shouldn’t be so hard, but at its core is a woman who wants to be creative but only if she can commit to it in the way others commit to marriage. Not that NaNoWriMo requires all that, so essentially it is pilot error from the get-go, with me getting in the way of me. The writer’s nightmare… 

(This neurosis shouldn’t happen before NaNoWriMo, it’s usually scheduled for late in the second week!)


When the clock strikes 12:01 am on the Day of the Dead, I will start typing my story. The excitement will mount and I simply will not be able to help myself, because no matter what else I may be, deep within my soul resides a writer.

Now, can anyone tell me where I put Grandma’s English/Hindi dictionary? 


Friday, October 10, 2014

NaNoWriMo Upon Us

It is almost mid-October. The temps have begun to subtly decrease—the evenings are cooler. Leaves started turning golden and all sorts of beautifully earthy relatively early this year. It is autumn and a woman’s thoughts turn to NaNoWriMo.

For those of you not aware (where have you been?!), November is National Novel Writing Month and the lunatic fringe gets together (online and in real life) to write 50,000 words.

It is insane and exciting. It is a marathon for the intellect. It’s a challenge of wit and (yes) sanity. Why? Because we love to write; because the creativity is a heavenly high; because it stretches our stamina, our imagination, our personal threshold of je ne sais quoi

It goes beyond a love of language and writing. Participating in NaNoWriMo is about camaraderie (though you certainly can work alone). It tests your endurance even when creativity deserts you. It helps you redefine commitment against overwhelming odds. It allows you to delve deep into yourself and find alternatives to failure (yes, failure: you go in as an underdog!).

Creativity, a sense of honor and a sense of humor all come into play to get through an intense month!

You will not always win the challenge, but you should try.


NaNoWriMo is how I wrote my first novel, Justified, parts of the series for The Chronicles of Ash, and May You Grow Old and Fat

I intend to participate this year. I want to! I start at a distinct disadvantage because I am not only looking for a day job but also trying to procure freelance assignments.

Still the focus required to compete against your own self can be freeing, humbling, and a jolt of energy and self-confidence that is virtually rejuvenating! It’s like falling in love: a whirlwind, a joy, a mystery.

Don’t get me wrong, it can be maddening too. It can be a disaster from the moment you decide to jump in. It can be terrifying—especially when you run out of steam or story and you stare at a blank page or screen and the words won’t come.

So why do this to yourself? It builds character. Character is good.

I now have a couple of weeks to decide, to outline, to plot, to allow myself a tiny bit of whimsy. The question is whether to write a novella based on a new idea:
It's bad enough being charmed by a snake, but realizing it's just a lizard using smoke and mirrors... I mean, that's one talented lizard, but it's still just a scaly thing that eats small insects. 
The alternative is to pick up one of the ongoing projects and expand or renew the concept.


Last year, I started Magic Stilettos. I did not complete the challenge. Poetic Justice is missing the gut of the story in the new world (I have the beginning and the end). May Your Grow Old and Fat began as result of a conversation about child brides and the need to educate girls—perhaps Malala Yousafzai winning the Nobel Peace Prize today is a sign from the Universe to finish that story. 

As some of the writing is already done, this is cheating – unless I rewrite what I have and start anew. (Not unheard of as this is what happened with Justified. I started with one story and wrote another.)
And then there’s Love and the Android, the proposed study of loneliness and sexuality, and the civil rights of artificial intelligence. I have notes and research but nothing written yet.
Decisions, decisions…
The question is will you join us? What will you write about? What worlds will you build? Which characters will be born during your NaNoWriMo? The clock is ticking!