Tuesday, February 28, 2012

In Bruges the movie and the writer Martin McDonagh.

I watched a great movie called In Bruges. Set in a medieval city, charming gangsters, clever and funny. What's not to love?

Written and directed by a tall and white headed young man who I thought must be Dutch. Martin McDonagh.

Looking him up I find that he is Irish. Bless him and the blarney. His Irish parents left him at age 16 and his brother in London when they went back to Ireland. Here's a good telling --
----------------------------
An Irish Cowboy from London

            The son of a construction worker and cleaning lady, he dropped out of school at 16, shunned college because it was “bogus” and spent the following 10 years on the dole watching TV and eating potato chips.

During this decade of leisure, McDonagh watched his brother, John, try to become a writer, and decided that it might be a good idea to become one too. “Here was a job where all you had was your head, a pencil and a piece of paper. That’s the coolest kind of job there is.”



from The Good, the Bad, and the Irish
http://www.hartnell.edu/westernstage/press_releases/2004/Cripple/cripple_supp.htm

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Ray Bradbury, be a happy writer (or person)

http://youtu.be/AgkVNK6ViJk


I wish this video was embedded. Maybe you can tell me if its possible here, I know it does on Facebook...

This is Rad Bradbury, 86 years old. He says we are here to enjoy ourselves, not to be unhappy.In the morning when he wakes up he is grateful to be able to begin to write.

He never dreamed to live so long, to have the same zest, the same passion he had when he was 30.

My new idol.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

reading fiction

I've read a novel every night of my life, when possible. Not the whole book in one night, but enough to enter into another world, leave my own troubles or hum-drum behind.

Sometimes during the day, if I am particularly glad to be alive after something... I'll indulge in reading fiction in the daytime. Sitting comfortably in an arm chair with my feet up.

When I started writing a novel. I stopped reading. I also stopped listening to the news in the morning, which is how I used to wake up.

I wanted to tune into my own mind, my own stories and my own subconscious without too much interference from other voices.

And I think its a good idea, when you're writing creatively.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

creativity - of the female sort


I had a revelation this morning. I'm studying for a possible (probably fantasy) book set in prehistoric times. Will be the sun-deity be a male or a female? Can the characters make or find an ideal world?

Off track already. What I was reading about this morning is patriarchy - which is defined as - the will to dominate and it's way is control. This is a subject that I have avoided as seemingly too complex. Besides I like men, in general...I just don't like bosses.

One of the major things we think about women, as the female of the species, is that they are the most important "creators" because they have children and give life, and keep the species alive (while men are busy both creating - bridges, microscopes, etc. - and killing).

But the fact is that creation of offspring is not something that women "do." It is something that happens to them. Women are part in the play of natural forces. To think that I, as a person, actually "create" another human being is laughable.

And that leaves women with the responsibility to create in a conscious, working, way, the same way that men do. And leaves men with the responsibility to let them.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Short story - Harriet and Her Lost Dog

Link to the short story http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/130697

 Harriet is a 10 year old Afro-american girl with a white mom and white step-dad. She tells us what happens when the dog who looks like her - brown with kinky hair - gets lost on the plane trip.
A friend told me this story. It really happened. I made up some of the details. 

The Silverton Cozy Murder Mysteries, Number 1 - Henry Loses Her Beau

Here is my profile page on Smashwords.It has everything I've published on it. (one short story so far, to see if I could do it). What a fantastic service this is!

http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/rebeccasorens

My book, the "cozy mystery" set in Silverton is still in the revising stage. By the end of February it will need volunteer readers to tell me the parts that need clarifying, rearanging, etc...Always wanted to try your hand at editing? Just let me know.

It has a name! It is the first in a series, of three I think. The second one is about a slightly wacky English as a second language teacher (no one you know) whose house gets overrun by gangsters. The third one may be a murder in the public library.

The Silverton Cozy Murder Mysteries, 
Number 1 - Henry Loses Her Beau

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A British Adventure Mystery Set in Victorian London



On The Trail of the Scissorman: A Bartleby and James Adventure

Here's a book from Smashwords that looks really fun. A bit like The Silverton Cozy Mystery Number One "Henry Loses Her Beau" that is coming soon. Except The Silverton Mysteries are less threatening than this! Just click the title above to find it.
By Michael Coorlim

A serial killer is turning Steampunk Victorian London's children into orphans, and consulting detectives Alton Bartleby and James Wainwright have been hired to catch him before he can kill again. Can Bartleby's deductive reasoning and James's forensic inventions lead them to the Scissorman before he catches them instead?

smashing publishing

I'm a published author! I have published in print before, but not for awhile.

I just uploaded a short story to Smashwords. It's called Harriet and Her Lost Dog, told from the point of view of an African American 10 year old girl. The great thing about the site is they make your book (short story in this case) into all the e-book formats. You can also read them on your computer.

I'll come back with the link to the short story.
Cheers!

Friday, February 3, 2012

rewriting the Silverton Cozy mystery

I finished writing the novel in a month, but now I see that it will take another month to polish it off.

Reading over a short story that I did in one sitting, it reads just great. Am thinking that I'll write the next novel a little differently. Make notes as I go, so that I don't forget things like I did this time, or just make scene headings as I go so that I can find things later.But "re-write" as I go. Or just write a bit more carefully instead of just rushing to get it all out at once.

Maybe slower, but better, so its finished when I'm finished. Hopefully in 2 months, 3 at the most. I haven't got a lot of time, ya know!