Showing posts with label JAL. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JAL. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Writing, Writing, Writing...



    Whoa, those are some huge pics. Not that I'm complaining - the bigger the better, in my opinion! Finally, I've finished the first draft of True or False?  Ahead of time, by the way, which is good. I've already done some edits and just have to finish them, also of course I also have to somehow contact the band and obtain permission before they sue me for copyright violation. Infringement of personal right to live or something like that, probably. I don't blame them.
 I also finished the first draft of Sea of Benevolence, but I feel a need to add onto it because it's significantly shorter than its two prequels. So I intend to do as much as I can with that until the summer, when I'll resume work on the sequel and last of the series, Secret Danger (whose working title I intend to change to Hidden Danger). Besides, I've only written about four and a quarter pages for it so far. Might as well wait a little longer...
 And after that I'll hopefully be able to work on a novel for my senior year research project, probably that vampire novel. I can research different myths and legends, how vampires have changed over the years, look into vampires of different nationalities, and I also intend to analyze four vampire novels, two older and two contemporary and find similarities and differences before I start my own. And just to get this over with, no, I do not believe in vampires, not in the least. I think they'd be interesting to write about (as long as I don't make them perfect, because perfect=boring for me personally). And yes, the vampire in the book is going to be a carnivore, and his name is not Edward Cullen; it's Fletcher Munroe (no, he's not related to President James Munroe - the guy responsible for the Munroe Doctrine). And he's not pale, mostly because I personally am not attracted to pallid people and partially because I've done some research and in the past people used to believe that a corpse had turned into a vampire when it looked healthier than it had in life (meaning, less pale and with healthier color). He's also not a mind-reader or anything special like that - he's just particularly skilled at archery due to centuries of practice, hence the name Fletcher.
 And again after that, I plan to work on another novel I've wanted to work on for quite some time: Heavensent. It's not a religious novel, although it will deal with the ideas of Heaven vs. Hell and Angels vs. Devilfolk. It will require extensive research (like in the Qur'an, Bible, and Torah - just the sections considering angels, devils, heaven, and hell), but it's something I want to do on my own time, as the subject is very special to me. Mostly because it was inspired by a Jal song. I don't think that's a copyright issue - it's just basically one line that happened to inspire an entire plot. If I hadn't mentioned that it was inspired by a song, it's likely no one would know. Although if you know me really well, you might be able to guess.
 Yes, I know, I plan out when I'm going to do each novel. I have to, that way I know what I'm working on now and what I'm working on later, and all my ideas get done. So far I'm set through college. There are other ideas I have, of course, but I feel like those are for more of an adult audience and it would help to grow up a little bit and gain some experience. In terms of YA, well, I am a Young Adult. There's my experience right there. 

Friday, January 2, 2009

New Year...



New Year, New Resolutions. Let's see what's on my list for 2009...
1. (at the very least) Begin publishing process on (again at least) one of my works
2. Meet Jal the Band (well, what's wrong with hope?) and get True or False? published - of course with their permission
3. Get accepted to Brown University (this is later in the year so it comes third) for fall 2010 - majoring in Creative Writing with a co-major in Journalism

Hmm. Pretty short list. No doubt I'll come up with more as the year progresses. Happy new year, everyone! Enjoy 2009!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Kash Ye Pal...



Trying to work on True or False (the novel that has Jal the band as actual characters) and Sea of Benevolence (the third installment of my shape-shifter series) at the same time. It could actually work out pretty well if it wasn't for the fact that I'm also simultaneously watching a movie and working on this blog. Talk about multi-tasking. But hey, everyone needs a break, right? Considering that I'm smack-dab in the middle for each work, I might need a break, even if it only lasts a couple of hours. I can't stay away from writing for too long. That's why I love it so much. I just can't live without it.
Speaking of things I can't live without, Jal the band just released a new song, "Kash Ye Pal", which translates as "I Wish This Moment..." in English, and I will say this: I never thought a song would make me cry. Ever, especially since I'm really not all that emotional at all. But then I never thought I would write a novel with the band in it either. That's just how life is. At least I have a new song to add to my playlist for True or False, even if it does make me start crying every time I hear it. There's just so much emotion put into it, the singing, the lyrics, even the actual composition... Don't worry, I won't start singing it. In the words of Arisha Ali, "She sings like a sick yak." Of course, she was describing Saamiya, but she might as well have been describing me.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Holidays!

I just want to wish a happy holiday to everyone out there! Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Eid (like me - it's a bit late for that, I know), it's no fun unless you celebrate with your friends and family, so keep that in mind! 
So far I'm still working on that project involving JAL (its working title is True or False) and I'm about 74,395 words in - or 142 single-spaced pages. Apparently first-time novelists' works are easier to sell around 60,000 words - something I've heard just recently - but if you think about it, this is my sixth work and the only thing new about it is that I haven't gotten published yet. Plus, with such a complicated story-line (trust me, it gets pretty complicated but I don't think any readers will get confused - none of mine have yet) there's no way I can get it all done in 60,000 words (maybe I can cut it shorter by eliminating a bit of Shazi's dialogue in the first part - I'm concerned I'm getting his personality all wrong anyway since he's the one band member no one ever hears much from or about, but it still won't make 60,000 since there's not too much that needs cutting). Plus, since the chapters rotate from Saamiya's POV to Farhan's and there is a subplot involving Goher and Saamiya's best friend Arisha, I'm planning to go back and add some chapters in Goher's POV as well. So what you get is what you get, I guess, 60,000 words or not, as long as I can get the band's approval and a good literary agent. Hopefully I'll get both really soon.