My WIP is a YA, Yay!

 I am proud to announce my WIP is a YA fiction. Unfortunately, i was a bit discouraged by the norm of the world where colour plays an important role in the makeup of the characters. My YA concept borders on a main character with a mixed heritage background and other characters from the west. The problem however, is selling this 'mixed heritage person' to an audience who dwells on the contents of a person's blood. Whether readers or publishers like it or not, we cannot relegate this unique group of people to the background just because a particular colour is deemed superior and others, deficient.

Writers cannot be creative in the world of being politically correct. Without being misconstrued, i am not against sexual relationships of individuals of the LGBT range but i am solidly against these hypocrites that dwell on colour. For instance, why should characters in books, movies, etc be exclusively white? What is wrong in being black? Don't get me wrong, i like whites (afterall, they make up most of my characters!) but I think people should be encouraged and praised for their talents and abilities and not about whether their colour will not sell their works. I read somewhere about an author who was rejected a record 20 times because of what the publishers felt uncomfortable with but it still got published and the book became a bestseller. Contemporary tims call for contemporary books. We say, oh, we want the story to be believable yada, yada, yada and yet we hardly recognise the good in the 'mixed people'.

Putting aside the anger bursts, i present my WIP which is entitled The Wildebeest Within. The title was derived from the wildebeest animal which is regularly hunted as food by crocodiles. I liked the name because it has intended pun for Wildbeast so i compared it to a person's innate animal or beastly candour.

The concept of the book dwells on the tests of friendships and relationships amidst pressure, murder, corruption and emerging psychopathic personalities, all mixed with flavours of intrigue and suspense. It is set in a fictional country. This project commenced in June and with the distractions of work and my hunky fiance, it's 24,700 words and still counting. All, bearing in mind, my goal to reach 85,000 words.

(Trumpet blowing, cheers and confetti throwing...)

I am proud to present my characters.

Tamara Fey

• 19 years old
• Voluptuous eye-catcher
• Plays volleyball
• Has personality issues
• Loves caribbean food
• Her strength is in her loyalty
• Her weakness is in her naivety
• Never truly lets go of her first love, David Reynolds
• Leaves an example for the establishment of a law regarding 
  women

                                                                                    Marie Bouchard 

•  Childhood best friend to Tamara
• Quite a tomboy
• Cynic
• A bit of a detective
• Acts as a super-ego to Tamara (borrowing a term from Sigmund Freud)

David Reynolds

• Playboy
• Masters student

                                                             Steve Wright

• University football captain
• Born into a diamond empire
• Not into one night stands and female advances
• He likes Tamara or does he?

   
  Ms Fey                                                                                                                    

                                                   

•   Tamara's mother
•   A loner
•   Has secrets
•   Part nurse, part vegetable farmer
•   Caribbean food lover

 
Barry Fey

•  Tamara's estranged father
•  Ex-soldier
•  Desperately seeks comeback with Tamara

So, these are the main characters with several supporting characters that make up the story. Big thumbs to Inmagine, Google and other search engines for their useful pictures that help bring my characters to life. Avril Lavigne definitely fits Marie but i couldn't find a mixed heritage voluptuous young lady that doesn't look X rated so this would have to do...for now. But she's cute, anyway. 

I definitely cannot wait to get home from work and get keyboard cracking on the story.  This might sound prejudiced but this story will rev up emotions in the reader because that is what i'd like to do. I do not want my story to be read and forgotten or be lost in the slush pile among millions of other books. And, one statement of advice: The person you look down on today might just be the person that will make it tomorrow and you may need their help (think Zuckerberg of Facebook who is a dropout but is now a billionaire). Do have a lovely day. Peace.

The beauty of leaving a writing legacy

I got home from work, thoroughly exhausted and almost crawling to my bed. Well...i am kidding as i didn't crawl...LOL! Anyway, i jumped on the bed and gazed at the direction of my ancient cane shelf which is my novel library. The books are mainly authored by Penny Jordan (think of the late 80's/early 90's Mills and Boon book cover), James Hadley Chase, Nick Carter, Harold Robbins and Agatha Christie. I must confess that James Hadley Chase helped shape my writing career. How, you ask? When i was about 13/14, i took up one of his sleazy covered books and read through. My mind formed a sort of contest, where i thought to myself how writing was soooooooo easy (even though, i never wrote anything) and these writers were making a lot of noise with their numerous books. So, i took the challenge and got a writing pad and began what you can say, a lifelong part of my life, over the years. It was not easy, at first, come to think of it, because my first set of stories lacked depth and was totally lurid. 

During that period of transformation, i was able to amass a large quantity of readership and wrote a play for my Secondary school (high school) competition between the boarding houses. 

As, i look back, i cannot help but ponder on the success of the authors that inspired me with their legacies. Checking through their books, you'll find out how far back they authored such books (one was as far back as 1950something!) and still manage to survive in the deluge of unquantifiable authors and wanna-be authors.

Frankly, there is no greater joy in leaving a legacy or legacies than being ''just'' an ordinary writer. Despite, the adaptations and modifications done to those old books, they still leave a sizzling emotion to the reader. 

Before, i forget, there is a peculiar contest by H.P. Mallory, where you get to be a character in her new book, Toil and Trouble. You should check it out. And, just like a housewife, she is quite demanding. But, it's a small price to pay for participating. Here's the link. 

http://urbanfantasyauthor.blogspot.com/2010/10/contest-become-character-in-my-next.html#comment-form  

See the writing potential in every event: A case of surviving the Chilean Mine

If you haven't heard by now, that the Chilean miners have been rescued, then you are a certified ignorant. All 33 miners were pulled up yesterday, from their over 700 feet ''prison of darkness''.

I won't bother you with all the intricate details. However, i do believe that a writer somewhere is harnessing the non-fiction aspect of this story. What a great book, it would turn out to be; writing about what went wrong, how they coped, their boredom, longings, prayers, world reactions, etc. People all over, no matter the class, see them as a source of hope in surviving the odds. As a writer, especially for those who write non-fiction, this will be a great opportunity to write on what will make readers salivate and ponder. I bet hundreds are currently hitting their keyboards now but only a handful will ever get their manuscripts published. Now it doesn't matter whether a million and one writers are scampering to get that juicy publishing deal. All that matters is how you write yours.
For instance, Marily Monroe has been written over 20 times by different biographers. And, yet, each read may be similar but different in contrasts, for instance. And one of those books will definitely have a huge impact on the reader.

So, for non-fiction writers, this should be that gem-in-the-rough piece of work, that's waiting to be refined and polished for sale.

Flesh for a piece of fame

Sorry, i haven't been around as i have been busy with a school exam which i've finished!!! Was about to post my blog of the day when i stumbled on a site linking actor Laurence Fishburne's daughter to pornography. Before i get to the nitty gritty, i am a big fan of Laurence Fishburne, having watched movies like Red Heat, Event Horizon, The Color Pruple and Matrix Trilogy. I was shocked when i was reading his wikipedia profile, that said his daughter, Montana is a porn actress.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana_Fishburne

I followed the link to her page and was disgusted that she had to follow the likes of Kim Kardashian. Flesh for a piece of fame. Why on earth would a human want to be known for her flesh than what she has upstairs? Is the society really that depraved?

http://sandrarose.com/2010/08/montana-fishburne-im-not-doing-sht-to-him-but-fuking-and-having-my-career/

I can only imagine the poor dad wondering what went wrong. And to make matters worse, she's just 19 years old. If young kids are doing this to be popular, i can only cringe at what the next generation would do...probably have couplings with stone statues.

Then, the world that pretends not to have a nice view of it all, celebrates such individuals by giving them endorsement deals, interviews, etc. Phew! What a world we live in!

Passionate Book Encounters...

When i was in my teens, i was an avid reader of romance books. Gosh, i could kill for Mills and Boon especially with their lacklustre softcovers (unlike now!!!) but exciting and passionate characters and stories to follow.

I would day dream of my Prince Charming especially how he would look like and sweep me off my feet. Tall, brown sugared, dark hazel eyes, handsome chiselled face, moderate biceps...and above all, a sexy (not too baritone) voice. Funny, that as an adult, your preferences are limited to an extent. And i digressed to Science Fiction, Crime and Mystery.

Anyway, the topic is on Passionate Book Encounters. What book have you read that made you sizzle? Or appealed to you in such a way that you saw yourself as the heroine of the book? 

Times have changed and have had tremendous impact on the way books are written now. Books have steamier passionate encounters between the main characters than say, 20 years ago. I recall a book i read recently by Elisa Adams entitled Eden's Curse. It was so erotically written that you would literarily think you were revelling in a pornographic setting. But it was still a fantastic read nonetheless. In romance genres, as a writer, you need to fuel your story with passion but how much passion is enough? Some people like it subtle and others like it explicit. It's amazing how a pen can seduce a reader's emotions.

The bottom line however is that it must be a fascinating read for your readers. And  make them come back for more. Lure and hook them in your world. For life. That is why we will always remember Penny Jordan, Danielle Steel etc.