So Much to Do...Well, it feels like it

Okay, I haven't blogged in a while, I admit that, but it's not like I've got a ton of readers waiting on edge for my next post, so I think you'll forgive the delay. Not much going on on this end, except I attended a summer creative writing workshop at Columbia University from June 29 to July 17, and I have just two words to describe the experience: Totally. Awesome. Definitely the highlight of the summer. For the time being, I've crossed Bleeding Heart, that YA vampire novel, off my writing list, in case I haven't mentioned it before. Too many vampires these days - I know because even I got so bored of vampires that I couldn't keep writing. And now in between two Honors and one AP class, college applications, and just living life in general, I'm working on the first installment to a new YA trilogy based on Greek mythology. I still haven't quite gotten a good title down. The working title is currently, My Boyfriend, Son of Poseidon, but I'm not really feeling it. Something short and sweet is what I need. Greek is out of the question.

FTLOH Revisions

FTLOH isn't some weird acronym that stands for something totally random like Fan To Live Over Hannibal (that doesn't even make sense, which only proves my point), it stands for For the Love of Humanity, the title of the first installment of my shape-shifter. As you can guess from the title of this blog post, I'm working on revisions to the manuscript, and boy was there a lot to cut down on or what! I had so much junk clustered in with the important parts that I went from 122,000 to 87,000 words, just from the initial revisions, and I've already spotted bits here and there (not as many as there were initially) that could be cut out, placed somewhere else, or combined with another chapter to help the pacing. Basically, I think I'm going to end up watching Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (see the pic) this whole month until I'm sick of the movie (even though I love it) because it puts me in the perfect mood to work on FTLOH. 

Heat Wave

No, I'm not talking about Domino's Pizza when I say "heat wave", although a slice or two really does sound appetizing at the moment... Just came back from school after being exhausted all day with a bit of a headache and issues of the nose kind. Unfortunately, it probably doesn't help that I'm the only person in the school wearing pants instead of shorts - religious reasons, let's leave it at that - and I don't have issues with that since I love my dark jeans, but the only thing I wanted to do all day was wear my light cotton salwar kameez that would keep me cool without violating any religious or cultural morales. So now I'm sitting at home, in my favorite green salwar kameez (to get an idea of what salwar kameez looks like, just take a look at the photo. And no, that's not me. The only way I'd ever be that tall is with seven-inch heels on.), trying to do something to beat the heat - currently it's watching clips on YouTube. On the writing front, I've edited True or False? about three times now and have finally got it down to a decent word count, eliminating anything that either made no sense (I believe I've mentioned this before, but when I refer to something that made no sense in my writing, I probably wrote it past midnight when my brain apparently switches off automatically) or just didn't move the plot anywhere. Some scenes I left to add to the humor quotient but cut down on. I've started A Hidden Danger, which is going along well, as well as Bleeding Heart, that vampire novel I've been wanting to work on. I haven't been working on it for long, so I've only got about three chapters, but I posted an excerpt from the first chapter on Yahoo! Answers and got some pretty good responses, most of them asking me to finish it, three asking me to change the vampire's name from Fletcher to something else (not likely; names that start with the letter F appeal to me for sentimental reasons and the fact that his name is Fletcher has to do with his talent for archery which in turn relates to the plot), and a couple telling me to come up with something original. In other words, something that wasn't Twilight. I didn't post details that would have separated my work from Twilight but would also have ruined the story for any potential readers. The response I was personally most impressed though was this one:Holy Hippogriff, you really have some talent! However, I strongly recommend that you don't waste it on a human-vampire love story, as if we need more of those. You have me Rowling (Harry Potter pun completely intended) my eyes, because you have so much talent, and you are wasting it on an overused plot. Your grammar skills far surpass Stephenie Meyer by a mile. So please, for the sake of literature, write something more unique and creative, like you!

My screenname on Y!Answers is UniqueGirl (I know, I know, but I made it up when I was 14. Give me a break.), in case you were wondering about that last part. I completely agree with Luna Loves Lucius (who wrote that post) - I never saw myself writing a vampire novel. But I figure that if I do, I might as well put a unique spin on it to make it genuinely memorable, add a little spice and excitement to the mix.

Poetry

Great news - I just got a letter from Greenspring Publishing. I'd submitted a poem back in January or February, and the company wants to publish it in an anthology. So now all I have to do is order the anthology and send the order form (okay, that's probably not all I have to do - there is also working with the editors to think about, but I'm happy about it). According to the website "only the top 5% of submitted poems are considered for publication." Yet another writing achievement to add to college applications! Whoo! Yeah, right - I just want to see my work in print like anybody else ;) (And not saying that the poem isn't any good, cause it's one of the few works I am actually personally satisfied with, but I wrote it in about five minutes. Seriously.) 

Characters

As all writers of fiction know, whether they're amateurs or professionals, it's vital that each character be given an individual voice. I like to mold my characters in such a way and give them such vibrant personalities that they practically leap off the page to greet the reader. Some examples from my own work: 

Marie Cynthia Guinevere Rosanna - The Peasant Princess - Sheesh, what a long name. Well, being a princess seems to demand it. Marie has what is referred to in the writing world as "rebellious princess syndrome" - she doesn't behave or do anything the way a princess is supposed to. She duels (as in swords) with her elder brother, practices archery almost daily, is fond of falconry, can't sew a stitch to save her life, dances like she has two left feet, and fails to see the point in excessive finery, the ability to balance any and all object(s) on her head, and constantly thinking of suitors. She's a bit impulsive and defiant, but she is also kind and trustworthy...and a bit hot-headed. Don't make her angry - she won't think too much about giving anybody a black eye.

Coralie "Cora" Parker - Shape-shifter Series - Cora is...well, she's Cora. She walks into things and injures herself on a daily basis (once she walked right into a mailbox. The mailbox was fine; she had to go to the Emergency Room). She's also sarcastic, willing to punch any guy who makes googly eyes at her, tomboyish, not quite sure what's so great  about designer label clothing, and is evidently a human magnet for shape-shifters. She has no difficulty speaking her mind and is perfectly willing to smack someone with a baseball bat...as long as it is a deserving punishment.

Saamiya Siddiqui - True or False? - Saamiya is still recuperating from the loss of her father in a car accident when she was eight years old. She's twenty-two now, and tries to mask all the hurt she feels by being sarcastic, harsh, and, often, hateful. It's a gradual process, but she starts to drop the mask and become a little more warm-hearted, a little less sarcastic, and in general a more fun person. She doesn't do it alone though - the three members of Jal the band are notably responsible for her reformation (and it is a reformation rather than a transformation).

Ten Things I Hate About Me - Randa Abdel-Fatta

I've been reading this book since yesterday, and it makes me want to go to school, stop in the hallway, and bang my head repeatedly against a row of lockers. What's the issue? The book is about a girl, sophomore in high school, who is a Lebanese-Muslim who is hiding her cultural identity from her classmates in Sydney. Yes, as in Australia. So every other page the girl complains about her father's unrelenting rules - "He refuses to let me go to the formal! My life is over!" Big whoop. I'm not going to the junior prom - I didn't even bother asking my mom about it. Mixing of genders, probably some close dancing, people trying to sneak in drugs and alcohol. Not for me. Again, in the book, "Don't you trust me? Why don't you trust me? You don't appreciate me!" Right. My mom trusts me, no doubt about that. She doesn't trust the people around me. And, quite honestly, when hormones, evil thoughts, and booze (even the possibility of it) are brought into the equation, neither do I. And then there's bellydancing and Muslims drinking alcohol and dating. Yes, that's sooo Islamic. Please, please, note the sarcasm there.  But what bothers me the most in this book is the fact that this girl just sits there listening to her "friends" trash-talking her heritage and does absolutely nothing about that. She says her father shouldn't care about what other people think - why can't she take her own advice? I'm a Pakistani Muslim, and believe me when I say I'm proud of it. What have I got to be ashamed of? I go to school like everyone else, I abhor violence, and I have my own personal hobbies and interests. Oh no, but what about the Taliban? Yes, the Taliban has everything to do with me just because I'm of Pakistani origin. Not. 9/11? So many lives lost, and in the so-called name of religion. Let me say this: accusing all Muslims of being terrorists is like blaming the entire town for something a criminal  - a single person - who lives there did. Blame an entire group of people with a religious affiliation in common for what a couple of crazies who got their hands on weapons did. Make any sense? Not in the least. Believe me, we Muslims are just as abhorred by it as anyone else, probably even more since it says right in the Qur'an that there is nothing more precious than human life and killing one person is sin enough to equal killing the whole of mankind (and conversely saving one life is equal to saving the whole of mankind - so let's save more people). So how did that message get mixed up? Either some people didn't read that line - maybe not even the whole Qur'an - or somehow managed to completely misread it.

Sea of Benevolence

The plot, in the beginning of Sea of Benevolence, revolves around the protagonist, Coralie "Cora" Parker, trying to figure out how to get Kyle Grimalkin to admit that he might have feelings for her. Sounds like every other YA novel, right? Close, but not quite. Kyle's a shape-shifter, and if that didn't make things complicated enough, he's had major commitment issues ever since his family abandoned him when he was eight years old. So he doesn't exactly believe in love. That's a problem. 

One thing I can say, I have to work hard to keep Cora from becoming like those girls at school who are constantly drooling over Edward Cullen - I'm not a big fan of obsession of fictional characters. Or of any person, come to think of it. At least now I kind of understand the obsession (due to my fixation with Jal the band), but at least I know the guys in the band actually exist, unlike a certain golden-eyed vampire... Plus, if I'm obsessed with anything, it's the music, not the guys' eyes or their hair or whatever it is that makes girls obsessed with EC.