The Autobiography of a Half-Baked Indian October 5, 2008

So, how many of you have read The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga?  Mr. Adiga’s novel is a headspinner for those who have always thought of India as a sacred, spiritual mecca, blessedly innocent of the worst of human kind.  For the White Tiger (aka Balram, the main character), there are two Indias:  one of light, and one of darkness, and the Mother Ganga flows through the India of darkness.  The novel is the story of Balram’s journey from the poor abused son of a rickshaw puller to a wealthy man of tomorrow, an entrepreneur in Bangalore.  The political corruption and mafia-style business dealings that Balram observes along the way are nothing new to any American who stays abreast of US news, except that this is all taking place in India, the land of Ghandi.  And the corruption is so blatant, so “business as usual,” that one cannot be too surprised at the lengths to which Balram goes to secure his freedom.

Balram tells his story through letters to a Chinese dignitary, who he heard is planning to visit Bangalore.  A novel of letters is not a new technique, but it takes considerable skill to pull off well.  And Adiga does pull it off.  He has created a story so riveting that I could barely stop reading long enough to sleep or to drive myself to work.  And he created a character in Balram that I couldn’t help but want only the best for, even while he was commiting the worst of crimes.  He is undereducated but astute enough to take the insult of being called “half-baked” and turn into a lofty title, thus his “autobiography of a half-baked Indian,” thus his story.

I hope Adiga wins the Booker Prize.  The White Tiger is one of the most exciting stories I’ve read in a long, long time.

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Guest bloggers at the Writer’s Resource Center June 2, 2008

John Hewitt of the Writer’s Resource Center is on hiatus for a few weeks and has engaged a great group of bloggers to fill in for him. One of that great group is . . . yours truly I am thrilled to be listed among some phenomenal bloggers. For a full list, click here. John has also challenged us to see who will generate the most comments, so please visit his blog every day and participate in our discussions about writing! (Of course, you should already be visiting his blog every day, but think of our challenge as giving you extra incentive.)

The month of guest bloggers is off to a great start with writer and editor Lillie Ammann’s post Get Rid of Ugly Wordiness: How to Cut Your Novel Down to Size. She provides five critical editing steps that apply to short stories as well as to novels.

Use Podcasts to Generate Sales May 29, 2008

While this might not work for everyone, apparently a few authors are finding that giving away free podiobooks and/or e-books can generate sales for the print versions of their books. Check on this post on Writer’s Blog about Scott Sigler’s success so far. According to Sigler’s blog: “Scott is the author of INFECTED, a major hardcover thriller from Crown Publishing. He landed his book deal by giving away multiple novels as free, serialized podcasts that generated a large online following and saw over 4 million downloads of the individual episodes.”

Now, I am an “audiofile.” I love listening to books (especially when I’m running, knitting, sewing, or cleaning house), and when I really like an audiobook (or podiobook), I often will go out and buy the hard copy. When it comes to good writing, I want to see the layout of the book–the scenes, the dialogue–so I can learn how to (hopefully) generate the same effect in my own writing. Besides, printed books will always have a special place in readers’ hearts.

Also, I think an author is showing a real desire to connect with his readers when he makes “cyber” versions of his book available for free. In return, that online following can lead to a lucrative contract with a traditional publisher.

What do you think? Have you made your work available through podcasts or e-books?

National Novel Editing Month Begins Tomorrow! February 29, 2008

I finally read my first draft of The House — all 175 double-spaced pages. I think it has a bit of the page-turner quality to it, but, yep, it needs so much work! What I would like to do is periodically post parts of my novel on my blog and let you all have an opportunity to judge whether I have a viable novel or not. For a taste, let me start with the prologue and a brief summary.

PROLOGUE
This is a story about a house. Not just any kind of house, of course, but one that was built with so much love and so much happiness that it virtually took on a life of its own. Strange as it sounds, it is the only explanation for the wonderful and, later, horrific things that happened at that house until its final day of judgment. It is a sad tale, yes, but one that should be heard, for it warns of the excesses of jealousy, pride, and even love.

SUMMARY
The novel roughly covers the time period from the early 1800s to the present and takes place predominantly in the Town of Constance, located somewhere in the northeast. The Town of Constance is a tightly woven community that has managed to seclude itself from the outside world.

The house was built in the early 1800s by the Kindfellows and inhabited by them for almost 16 years. The house has something of a symbiotic relationship with the Kindfellows and protects them to the extent that they care for it. All this ends when the Kindfellows are brutally murdered by Mr. Kindfellow’s best and dearest friend.

The house, distraught over the loss of the family and the happiness it once knew, in turn murders the best and dearest friend. Decades later, as the house has grown increasingly bitter and become an object of curiosity among the town’s young people, it frightens anyone who makes sport of it and eventually kills again.

The house finds salvation in Jonas Buckthorn, a community member who volunteers to renovate the house and find a family to buy it. All this after a young man is found murdered in the house, and the young man’s mother has pleaded to have the house destroyed. Buckthorn prevails but not without learning about the evil spirit inhabiting the house. In order to protect the community, he acquiesces to the house’s demands and eventually chooses to live in the house himself. He and his bride are descendants of the Kindfellows and bare such a resemblance to the original Mr. & Mrs. Kindfellow, that the house comes to believe it can relieve those long-ago halcyon days.

However, the Buckthorns’ happiness is threatened by a jealous and disturbed young girl, who is eventually “dispatched” by the house on the Buckthorn’s wedding day. They take in the young girl’s sister for her convalescence after the young girl’s body is found months later. While both of the Buckthorns have become increasingly uneasy living in the house–Jonas because he suspects the house is guilty of killing the young girl and Mariah because she senses Jonah’s unease– they are resolved to live there until the young girl’s sister has such a terrifying experience that she refuses to sleep alone or stay in the house another day.

Separately, without any discussion, both Jonas and Mariah determine that they should vacate the house. Of course, the house will not let them leave.

National Novel Editing Month February 17, 2008

March is National Novel Editing Month and I’ve signed up to spend at
least 50 hours editing my NaNoWriMo novel–The House. And I’m going
to somehow do that while working 50+ hours a week at two jobs and
without giving up my exercise routine. I gained a few pounds during
NaNoWriMo and they are only now starting to come off!

I haven’t even printed the tome yet and I’m not even sure how well my
printer will handle it. I guess I’ll just print a chapter at a time
and maybe buy some stock in HP ink cartridges.

This should be interesting …

Writer’s Resources December 25, 2007

John Hewitt has an amazing website at www.poewar.com. Every aspect of writing you can think of and, best of all for NaNoWriMos, a step-by-step approach for getting your jewel of a novel revised and ready for submission. Start here if you want to go directly to John’s novel-revising guide: http://www.poewar.com/firstdraft/

Of course, Chris Baty and team wouldn’t leave us aspiring novelists hanging after a grueling month of (almost) nonstop writing. Check out their tips at I Wrote a Novel, Now What?

Happy Holidays!

I WON! November 30, 2007

A picture is worth a thousand words ….

I managed to squeeze out 50,650 words, and actually put an ending to the novel. Nothing like having closure. But these last few thousand words were hard to write. I didn’t have writer’s block. Rather, I didn’t want the writing to end.

But all good things come to an end and now I must get off my numb butt and return to the life I left behind a month ago!

Home Stretch November 26, 2007

I just uploaded my novel-in-progress to the National Novel Writing Month website (www.nanowrimo.org) and I have over 43,000 words! Only five more days to write and reach the 50,000 word mark. I’m pumped! And I’ve learned a lot.

This is my first time participating in NaNoWriMo. One thing I’ve learned is to write early and write often. I started off with over 2,000 words on Nov. 1 and then was stuck there for several days while on a business trip and then while recovering from that business trip. In hindsight, I should have skipped the social events and just gone to my room to write. Even though I’m now up to speed, I’ve had to sacrifice practically my whole Thanksgiving weekend to writing!

Well, I’ve learned and next year, I’m sure I’ll take my advice: Write Early and Write Often!