Route 27

Route 27

This is my route back to a regular writing schedule, because the 27th is the first day of school for the boys. (Cheesy, I know, but I liked the graphic.)

That means:

Freedom!!! I love my kids, but it's really time for them to go get an education.

It also means I will have hours and hours to revise, rework, and reinvent the worlds I'm spinning on both my manuscripts. Who knows what all this unfettered quiet time will lead to?

Here's what I'll be working on in MoK:

Deeper secondary characters - They are the "salt in the stew" - according to my crit group member, Brad Davidson.

World building expansions of summarized scenes- My first beta reader suggested a longer chase scene for chapter three, among other things.

A tighter, more comprehensive ending, so the ms can truly stand alone- WriteOnCon agents suggested they are tired of trilogies. I was only planning one "companion" book anyhow.

A more interesting hook for the beginning- Always the LAST thing to get done, isn't it?

For BA:

Reworking Haydon- Back to what I really want him to be - a cute/slightly nerdy biotech geek.

Toning down the fantasy- I got a revise and resubmit request in April, the dreaded "slow no". She  passed because the fantasy wasn't slow enough. Yet, I had a full request on the previous version and that agent passed because it was too slow. I need to find the middle ground.

Scheduled completion for all of this?

Your guess is as good as mine!

Istanbul in the Movies: This Fall

Istanbul

I love when Istanbul gets spotlighted in a film, and this fall, the city is the star in several movies. The streets have been busy, bustling with film crews and top actors. There are some specific locations that film directors seem to love - like the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar.

(That scene is getting old for me. Remember when Clive Owen did it in The International? )

I digress. Here are the trailers:

Taken 2, with Liam Neeson.

In the movie, his daughter runs across the rooftops of the grand bazaar. (Does she always have to be barely dressed?) Of course, I would have preferred if there were some good guys from the city too, but this film seems to get off the roofs and into the streets of today's Istanbul. I give lots of points for that.




Then there's the latest James Bond, Skyfall, where Daniel Craig falls off a bridge in Adana, and yet somehow ends up riding a motorbike on top of the grand bazaar. (Well, I love the bridge scene anyway.)




And lastly, Argo with Ben Affleck, which has scenes set in Iran that were actually filmed in Turkey. I'll actually have to watch this one to see if I recognize anything but the mosque in the trailer.

Here's hoping there are no scenes on the Grand Bazaar rooftops.

WriteOnCon

www.WriteOnCon.com

I'm over in the forums at WriteOnCon today.

The schedule this year is chock full of YA information. Ninja Agents are lurking in the forums already. If you haven't ever participated, try sitting in for a session or two. You might find something you like. ;)

I've posted both of my queries in the forums, for better or for worse:

http://writeoncon.com/forum/showthread.php?8864-YA-Fantasy-BURNT-AMBER

http://writeoncon.com/forum/showthread.php?8425-YA-Sci-Fi-MIST-OF-KAVALA

If anyone is participating, I'd appreciate suggestions and/or pageviews so I can keep getting more feedback from others. I'd be happy to reciprocate.

Thanks!

The Houses of Harran

Harran

Last year, I picked up a paperback of DUNE for my son. It was on the 9th grade reading list, see. Plus I remembered something about giant sandworms, which I thought he might like. Yeah.
Last week, I finally dusted off my dear son's paperback shelf, and I read the book myself.

(For the record, sandworms are really cool. Movie bonus: Sting! (aka: that singer I'm obsesssed with) I added the extended edition to my Netflix queue, and it can't get here fast enough.)

The surprise of DUNE, for me, was the middle eastern inspired desert culture of the Fremen, and the mysticism throughout. The expansive ecology and elaborate system of water capture of the planet Arrakis made me sit up and pay attention. Yep. DUNE is epic. But you knew that.

I'm not trying to be epic, but I do want to incorporate realistic culture/ecology into my own work, so this thread goes back to my musings on Hattusa. And Harran.

Harran is not very close to Hattusa, but the lack of trees is bringing the two locations together in my head. My story is set in a semi-arid wilderness. Resources are precious.

Like my previous post on cow pies, I'm following the scarcity of wood, and the houses of Harran inspire for that reason alone. Their bricks are made with mud and hay. Not a single stick is used in the structure.The distinctive beehive rooftop design dates back something like 3000 years. 3000 years! The shape helps heat rise and keeps the people cool in the long, hot summer.

The houses are no longer in use -tourists excepted.

The people moved out to a more modern, flat-roofed village nearby, but they still maintain the same reverent use of resources. They twist hay into ropes and use it to make bales. Then they pile the bales in a (beehive-like) pyramid on top of each house, providing insulation and convenient fodder storage for the winter.

I'm just not sure how they tie everything down so the wolf doesn't blow it away.

Emir

emir

So. Playlists. Have you got one for your manuscript? I always make one up for mine.

I've been looking for a good song for my main character in MIST OF KAVALA. I found good ones for the two secondary characters, but for some reason I couldn't pin one down for Taner, for the longest time. Was it because I didn't understand him yet? I'm not sure, but worry no more: I found it! The perfect song, and it's a Turkish one too. Double points!!!
So to explain what Emir has to do with all this perfection:

1) An "emir" is the old name for a prince, or similar head of state, in Turkish and in Arabic speaking countries. (Still in use. Example: the United Arab Emirates, where I used to live.) Emir geldi - is Turkish for "an order came down" from our superiors. And the order is that we need to pay attention to this new Turkish artist, Emir.

2) I've posted about Tarkan in the past. Modeled a character on him in BURNT AMBER even. (Lot's of people want to be like Tarkan, so that wasn't a stretch.) He is a very influential artist. I would even venture to say he is a king maker on the Turkish music scene. My evidence? He's turned his efforts from singing and writing, to writing and producing. Emir is one of Tarkan's sucesses. (Ha! Emir even plays on the word king. :D)

Tarkan is a co-producer on Emir's album, and lending lyrics to the new star, he cameos in the video clip for Ben Sen Olamam. His influence is so strong, many Tarkan officianados even question if Emir is Tarkan's protege or clone?

Funny they should mention clones... I'm working with a thread about them right now. Just read Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD too. Hmm.

And so I claim Tarkan/Emir's song, Ben Sen Olamam - I Can't Be You, as my inspiration for Taner. Fit's him like a glove, it does.

Here are the lyrics and my own (mediocre) translation:

Öyle diyorlar,                                           Like this, they say
Böyle diyorlar                                          Like that, they say
Şekile mekile takılıp üzüyorlar                Appearances, they stick on them, they sadden me
İnsana dünyayı dar ediyorlar                  They constrict a person's world

Yaftayı takıp sınıflandırıyorlar                They label and they classify
Eğriyi doğruyu bilen ya onlar                 Right or wrong, they are the ones who know
İnsanı kaderine küstürüyorlar                 They disturb a person's destiny

Kaçtım, kaçtım durdum                             I ran away, I kept running away
Kendime değil, hep kendimden                 Not to myself, always from myself
Ne zaman ki bana geri döndüm                When I came back to myself
Ümitle donandım yeniden                         With hope I returned again
Ben benden oldum yaşayınca                   I made myself, even as I lived
Onun bunun kitabına göre                       According to this or that rule
Ben yine beni bende buldum                    I found myself in me regardless
Sığınınca kalbime yeniden                       I embraced my heart again

Ben bundan böyle:                                   Me, after this:

Ne yasak tanırım ne kural tanırım            I acknowledge neither forbidden nor allowed
Ruhum bedenime dar, bunalırım              My soul is too tight in my body, I suffocate
Üstüme gelme. Bak. Kafa tutarım             Don't push me. Look. I will defy
Acımam, tozu dumana katarım                 I have no mercy, I throw dust on the flames
Ben sen olamam, olursam eğer                I can't be who you are, if I am
Kendimi kızgın ateşlere atarım                I will throw myself in angry flames
Uymam, sürüye uymaktansa                    I won't conform, if I follow the herd
Kendimi kurd'a yem yaparım                    I make myself food for a wolf

Ya sev seveceksen olduğum gibi             Love me, if you will love me the way I am
Ya da çıkar at kalbinden beni                 Or remove me, throw me out of your heart
Ne değiştirmeye çalış ne yargıla             Neither try to change me, nor judge me

Hangimiz kusursuz mükemmeliz ki         Which one of us is without flaws, perfect?
Bana tepeden bakıp da                            You look down from your hill upon me and
Kendini daha özel ayrıcalıklı sanma       Don't think yourself special, superior
__________________

Cow Pies

Cow pie castle walls

Research for my Hattusa book is going interesting places. Like cow pie castles.

"Bleh!" You say.

In the winter, when trees are few and far between, cow pies do the trick. They're a good fuel source for heating or for a cooking fire.

July is the time when Anatolian peasants are out molding the dung into squares, and creating the cow pie reserves that will get them through the winter. They stack them in seemingly decorative patterns, but the reason for the design is simple: cow pies need to dry. Different villages have different ways of stacking. Some make round towers, others create walls.

Just another neat detail I hope to incorporate in my book, when I get around to writing it.

In the meantime, I'm off to revise the Nemrut sci-fi some more.

Fermata

Fermata

I used this F word in a yahoo writing group and it caused an uproar. Apparently, I've stumbled upon something interesting and I should share.

Editor Cheryl Klein uses the term: Fermata.

It's a musical symbol she borrows to explain how to end a chapter, scene, short story, novel, or any piece of writing that doesn't use the cliffhanger. (I'm sure I don't need to explain that one.)

So what is it?

In terms of music, it means to hold the note.

Lot's of cute things floating around the internet with the phrase: I'm a fermata. Hold me. plastered all over them. Coffee mugs, onesies, t-shirts. Very clever.

There's a band named Fermata, a book titled FERMATA; it's a popular concept.

Fermata is nicknamed the bird's eye, but the history of the symbol goes back through the middle ages all the way to the Assyrian's design for a crown - as in a crowning moment.

If we take this symbol back to the realm of writing, it means we're ending with an idea that embodies the purpose of the piece, in way that resonates with the reader. They hold the note, if you will, because it carries with them after they finish the chapter. It makes them keep reading to find out what other truths your character will discover. And I'll bet lots of fermatas are e-reader highlights.

I also noticed that when a writer takes me 95% of the way there, ends without a good cliffhanger, and skips the fermata, I toss the proverbial yellow Volkswagen at them. I stop reading.

Granted, crafting the fermata is a tough job. I'm guilty of the 95% crime myself.
(See confession below.)

After learning about the fermata, I went back to my manuscript and looked at each scene. There was always logical progression, but nothing to tie the ideas together at the end. I was missing the opportunity for some serious interiority.

I'm revising.

Any thoughts you'd like to add about the fermata? I'm thinking somebody called this concept "The Good Tell", but I'm not sure where I read it.