Bride and Prejudice

I don't usually write movie reviews--in fact, I don't think I've ever written a single one, but I couldn't resist blogging about how much I enjoyed watching "Bride and Prejudice" two weekends back.

Made in 2004 and directed by Gurinder Chadhu of "Bend it Like Beckham" fame, the movie was one I've wanted to see for some time but never seemed to get around to it. Recently, however, I've been on a bit of a Jane Austen tangent, so when I was at the library the other day and saw the film on the DVD shelf, I knew it was the right time for a little fairy tale fantasy.

It turned out to be a serendipitous choice--I absolutely LOVED this movie. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a modern-day version of Pride and Prejudice set in rural India. Aishwarya Rai (aka "the most beautiful woman in the world") and Martin Henderson play the parts of Lalita Bakshi and Will Darcy, or as we might recognize them from the original Austen text: Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Moving the story up a few centuries and taking it from the English countryside to Amritsar was an incredibly clever interpretation of a much beloved classic. The Bakshi family was the perfect remake of the Bennets; Will and Lalita were just as conflict-ridden as their original counterparts; and the chemistry between all the characters--including Jaya (Jane) and Mr. Balraj (Bingley) was almost better than the book!

I've always been a big fan of Bollywood: lots of bling, embroidered silk veils and saris, singing and dancing for no reason whatsoever, dreamy couples who seem to have all the money and time they need to fly around the world to gaze wistfully at sunsets and each other, and of course the 3-hankie happily-ever-after ending. Bollywood is the ultimate escapist, love-conquers-all movie moment. "Bride and Prejudice" was no exception.

Which got me thinking about what makes a great romance book or movie. And this is what I've come up with: two strong, intelligent characters overcome their very real differences so they can learn to work together. Yep, it's all about work. Kissing is the easy part. Getting to the altar takes courage. And a lot of singing and dancing.

I've always thought Pride and Prejudice is essentially a story about marriage. The relationship between the parents--the Bennets in Pride, and the Bakshis in Bride--truly intrigues me. Mismatched on the surface but made for each other; their bond is what has made Jaya and Lalita the heroines they are. My favorite line from "Bride and Prejudice" is when a distraught Mrs. Bakshi is scolding her daughters on being so concerned about marrying for love. She turns and points to a sheepish-looking Mr. Bakshi. "Where was love in the beginning?" she chides. Where indeed? And yet here she is, with four pretty girls, a home of her own, and a husband who obviously cares for her. Awww. As the girls sing after dinner with the endearingly awful Mr. Kholi: "No Life Without Wife!"

Tip of the Day: Watch this movie! Afterward you might like to think about your other favorite romantic films or books. What makes for good chemistry between the characters? Anything you want to change in your own writing? And now it's time for some more singing:                                                                   





Life is a Playground

When I was little, I could play all day. ALL DAY. From the minute I woke up to the second I fell into bed, I was in play mode. For weeks on end I could live in a world of my own, a fantastic landscape filled with talking animals, altered realities, and pith helmets. (I always had to wear my imaginary pith helmet.) Not that I didn't get into trouble; I don't think a single report card ever went home without "Too much daydreaming" scrawled across the bottom. Sigh.

Report cards aside, I still managed to grow up into a fairly disciplined person, so much so that when I made the comment in my writer's group that "life was a school," I was somewhat surprised when another member countered with, "Actually, life is a playground."

When I started thinking about it, however, the idea made a lot of sense to me. Playgrounds, as I remembered them, were a place to let off steam, have snacks, and learn to take turns with the ball. They were a place to sit quietly and talk with my friends, or else to go find a team and run around and scream--as loudly as possible.

Being allowed out of the classroom was a reward for enduring what seemed like endless hours of boredom and repetition: math, spelling, "current events." Instead of rulers and leaky pens there were slides and swings, scraped knees, split lips, and badge-of-honor Band-Aids. When it rained we couldn’t go outside but we invented indoor games and turned our classroom into a makeshift playground. And when nobody was there on the weekend, the empty fields could sometimes feel like the loneliest place on earth--a feeling I rather liked when it conjured up visions of ghosts and captured fairy princesses.

So what made me turn my back on the playground? Perhaps it was the fear of looking too happy, or even foolish. Real writers frowned and worried about their manuscripts. They complained about editors and constant rewrites. Yet I should have known better: literary history is ripe with successful fools: wise fools, holy fools, jesters, clowns, Nasrudin and Silly Billy. In the tarot deck, the fool can be the smartest person in the room. So shouldn't we all be fools for our art? Fool around. Just fooling. April Fools. Feast of Fools. Ship of Fools.

The best way, I realized, to get back to the playground is to examine what is so much creative fun we're embarrassed to admit it. It can be anything: from crayons to mud pies aka ceramics. It can even be an obsession with cats.

Some of the benefits of returning to a playful mindset can include:

• Play is infectious. Editors and readers will pick up on, and appreciate, your ability to entertain.
• Constantly marketing or submitting work for publication or other venues can be depressing if you're not seeing the results you want. It's good to take time off from relentless social networking and always being "on."
• You can withstand rejection and negative critiquing better when you remember that you started all this to have fun. (They don't call 'em "screenplays" for nothing!)

Tip of the Day: When’s the last time you chose the playground over work? If it's been a while, you might want to ask yourself why. Write a journal entry, perhaps in the form of an unsent letter to whatever, or whoever made you stop playing. Or perhaps you'd prefer to create a collage mapping out some future play dates. Be sure to take them!


 

I Love Cats!

True confession: If you send me a link to a video with cats, or tell me there will be a cat somewhere in the middle of the video if I look closely, or even tell me it just features 1-nanosecond of something that remotely resembles a cat, I will watch it. In fact, I will not only watch it, I will watch it again. And again. And then want to watch the sequel and probably read the book if one exists. 

The other day I got the full package when a good friend sent me a link to the absurdly, impossibly ridiculous faux E-Harmony video of "Debbie who loves cats," that has around 22+ million hits of which I've contributed about 5 or 6. If you've seen it already, I apologize in advance, and if you haven't, well, here it is. (Go on, you know you want to watch it. Again.)

After about the 6th time viewing it, I then realized there were spin-off videos of "Debbie": satires and diatribes, posers and posters and posts and so on. My favorite was the "Songify" version.

And then while I was laughing hysterically, tears at the corners of my eyes, I suddenly took a look at my office and computer table (yes, I know I should have been working on my writing rather than watching viral videos. . .). I was surrounded by cat images, i.e.,

• My hand was resting on a cat mousepad.
• A Mexican cat figurine was on my desk.
• My favorite cat tote bag was on a chair facing me.
• I was wearing cat earrings.
• The binder holding my WIP, a nonfiction manuscript on pet ownership was covered in a cat collage I'd made to inspire my writing.
• A stack of cat stickers was on the shelf of my computer hutch ready to be placed in my journal.
• And for the last few weeks, I've been drawing cats and kittens in my sketchbook.

I was as bad as "Debbie"!

I loved their ears!

I loved their whiskers and noses!

And their little bow ties!

I had a problem!

Or maybe I just love cats?

 

Tip of the Day: What do you love? What's your passion? Basing our writing and creativity on the subjects we love is a surefire way to guarantee a constant source of inspiration.

 

 







Patterns

Happy September! The year is flying by too fast--way too fast, which doesn't mean "give up" because time is running out; it means: Do all those fun things you've been dreaming about!

With that in mind, I couldn't wait to visit The Sketchbook Challenge to see what the latest theme for the month would be, and I was very excited to see it was "Patterns." I've always loved patterns, and am constantly on the lookout for new ones to include in my drawing and collage work. Even better is the way the topic lends itself so nicely to writing and journaling, starting with one of my favorite poems since childhood, "Patterns," by Amy Lowell.

Other than poetry, which is perhaps at the top of literary pattern-making, I also thought of investigating:

• Animal fur, hair, hide, and skin.
• Fabric swatches.
• Architecture: structure, decorative detailing, even the random plaster and stucco work.
• Plant material, e.g., seed pods, bark, leaves, fungi.
• Seashells.
• NASA photos of star formation.
• Antique books with their intricate borders and covers.
• Wallpaper.
• Gift wrap.
• Ceramic dinnerware, good China plates, tea sets.
• Lace, ribbon, and braided sewing trims.
• Jewelry.

I'm sure there are dozens of other sources you can think of too, but this list seemed to be a good place to begin--at least as far as the physical world is concerned. But what about the other side of "patterns," as in "habits," or dare I say it, "ruts"?

I felt I needed to ask myself some questions about my own patterns, especially those connected to my creativity and daily living. Some of the thoughts I jotted down in my journal were:

• What patterns do I fall into too easily?
• How could I create some new patterns for myself?
• What about the patterns I create for my characters--how can I make them more interesting, lively, and surprising?
• When I write, draw, or paint, am I focusing enough on the overall pattern of the actual piece? How can I improve or work on this?
• Is there an artist, writer, or mentor I'd like to pattern my own work/life upon?
• What would happen if I didn't have any patterns to follow?

I haven't written down my answers yet, but I'm looking forward to whatever comes up for me. I have a feeling this is going to be a good September.

Tip of the Day: What are your favorite natural patterns? How can you bring them into your own work? Over the next few weeks, make a daily practice of observing and recording the patterns you see in the world around you.

Stacked Journaling and the Sketchbook Challenge

Over the weekend I discovered two new ways to work in both my journal and my sketchbook: The Sketchbook Challenge, and Stacked Journaling as taught by artist Judi Hurwitt on her blog, Approachable Art.

I found these great sites simply by entering the search terms "how to use a sketchbook." Admittedly that sounds like a really basic search, but I was looking for creative ways to get re-inspired for those times when I sit down to journal and/or sketch and suddenly get a bad case of the blahs.

As soon as I came across The Sketchbook Challenge however, I knew I'd struck gold. Not only was this a place to share and study sketching with an online community of productive artists, the site provides a theme every month for filling up those sketchbooks. No more excuses and I don't know what to draw. . . Right now the August 2012 theme is "Shelter," and so for my first attempt I did a quick sketch with Derwent Inktense pencils of the patio off my new condo's bedroom, a very sheltering place, indeed.

Later that day back on the computer, I discovered the term "stacked journal." As soon as I realized it had nothing to do with turning old journals into furniture or door-stoppers, but instead was a way of writing decoratively into your journal, the idea appealed to me. Basically, the technique is to write a paragraph at one angle, turn your pages to another angle and write over the previous paragraph, and so on until you feel ready to finish. For my first attempt it seemed appropriate to continue using the theme of "shelter," which I added to my drawing of the patio.

Here's a closer look at the journal entry on its own:

The results were extremely pleasing to me, and I know this is something I want to continue using in the future:

• It's a way to turn emotional (and overly-emotional) content into art, with the emphasis on the word "transformation."
• I love line and drawing. Using my handwriting as a line in itself truly expresses my style and direction.
• I can see that it will be an interesting way to match and complement the subject I'm drawing, eventually creating an outline or shape that I can fill in with color or collage.
• It could also be a unique way to deal with "negative space," the area around an object.
• Writing into a gessoed background with a tool such as a paintbrush handle or a twig could create a very special texture for oil pastel, watercolor, and even collage.
• Best of all, it seems an excellent way to write my heart out and then not feel I have to hide or throw away whatever I've put on the page. Instead of wondering "what do I do with this?" it can now be a work of art!
• On top of everything else, it's just so surprisingly enjoyable and attractive at the same time. I'm excited about  the way it combines journaling, art journaling, and my sketchbook all under one umbrella. Very efficient, if you ask me.

Tip of the Day: Okay, start stacking those journal entries! Have fun, let go, and if you need more direction, please go visit Approachable Art. Let me know how it works for you.

Overtaken: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Before I get started with today's topic of "ideas," here's a good one to mention first: Overtaken is now on Kindle, and for the great price of just $4.99. I'd like to invite all you e-book fans to take advantage of this new opportunity to indulge in the lush, gothic, and romantic world of my heroine, Sara Bergsen. And of course, if you're still like me and not quite ready for virtual reading, you can always order a paperback copy direct from me or any other bookseller.

Which leads me back to ideas in general. While I was submitting my e-files for this new edition of Overtaken, I was reminded of my original inspiration and motivation for writing the story in the first place. So often I am asked (as are most other authors, I'm sure): Where do you get your ideas? On the surface it sometimes seems like a standard question, one that's easy to gloss over. After all, ideas are everywhere, the hard part is winnowing through the crop to finally settle on just one. But when I really thought about it, there were definite instances, experiences, and prompts I could point to throughout my creative life that have each influenced my work and given me my ideas.

One of the main sources to thank for much of Overtaken is The International Women's Writing Guild. At one of the IWWG Skidmore College summer conferences where I was teaching a workshop on self-publishing, I had the great privilege of attending classes with authors Emily Hanlon and Marylou Streznewski. The very last page of Overtaken was written before any other part of the book in Emily's class, and one of my dream sequences I eventually assigned to Sara was written under the guidance of Marylou. So thank you, ladies!

After returning home from the conference I continued to work on the book, mainly in the form of journal entries, morning pages, and other writing exercises from both how-to books and my writing groups. Within these writing sessions I would find myself wanting to write about different times and experiences from my own life, for instance:

• London. Oh, how I love London. And just like Sara, for a while it was my home. Fortunately I've been able to go back a few times, but I still can't get enough of the place, so any excuse to set a story in London takes me back to my favorite shops, streets, museums, and galleries.
• Sara is an artist--and I try my best to follow in her footsteps. Of course she is much more highly skilled than I am (she makes her living as a professional portrait artist), but it was fun to imagine the kind of paintings and style she preferred.
• The Theosophical Society. For many years I've been intrigued and interested in the work of Helena Blavatsky and the society she founded. Even if you're inclined to regard (or dismiss) her writing as sheer myth and storytelling, it's mythology on a grand scale. The language of metaphor, symbolism, and "what if" helped me imagine the possibility of Sara and my other characters inhabiting parallel universes and realities.
• From the TS, I was introduced to the work of Russian artist Nicholas Roerich, especially his costume and set designs for the Diaghilev Ballet, which then worked its way into my plot line as well.
• Editor Ellen Datlow and her great anthologies of speculative fiction. Whenever I've come across these books I've devoured them. After several volumes I was inspired to write my own paranormal tale. The result was Overtaken.
• My favorite pieces in the Datlow anthologies seemed to stem from fairy tales, and my favorite fairy tale of all time was, and is, Lona by Dare Wright. So it was natural that I asked myself the question: What if the Princess has to rescue the Prince? Hence the disappearance of Sara's new husband, Miles, and the primary story problem.
• Greece. Okay, I've never been to Greece, but I've always wanted to go and I wanted Sara to go there too. The best way I found to start my research was with magazine cut-outs and collage. Collage helped me to "feel" where Sara was once she arrived there, and how she would react to her environment. It also provided me with some specific details I would never have found just by reading about the country.
• Color; and the year my mother made hats. This is probably my most obscure motivation for writing Overtaken, but all of my life I've loved color, the more unusual the shade the better, and I think it stems from the time when I was in the first grade and my mother studied hat-making from a Hollywood dress maker. Every day after school we would go to the woman's house which was filled with the most fabulous fabrics, trims, and furbelows I have ever seen then or since. While my mother learned the intricacies of wiring Gainsborough-style brims, I got to play in the walk-in closet and try on the seemingly endless array of netted petticoats and gowns in every color imaginable: peacock blues; poison apple greens; Jezebel scarlets. I was in heaven! Now, as an author, I was able to relive that wonderful time by giving my heroine a similar immersion into her wardrobe, environment, and artistic palette.

Tip of the Day: Now it's my turn to ask you: Where do you get your ideas? Writing down your answers is a great way to prepare your marketing material for editors, publishers, and readers alike. This is an exercise that can work for artists and all creative-types, too. Don't hold back; enquiring minds really do want to know what makes your work personal and unique.

My Blog Interview with Marilee Brothers

I'd like to send a big thank you to Marilee Brothers at bookblatherblog.blogspot.com for her kind offer to not only interview me, but to post it too! Marilee's blog is great place to visit at any time, but if you pop on over to read the interview now, there's an extra bonus of a special book offer exclusive to her readers. So what are you waiting for?

Tip of the Day: Interviews are a fun way to get to know each other better, and they are an especially helpful way to learn more about our fictional characters. Take a cue from magazines, blogs, and even television shows for the best questions you can ask your story people to find out who they really are.