Did you ever feel like you're spinning your wheels in one place and going nowhere fast? That's my day today. I suppose it may be because I'm running on caffeine and less than three hours of sleep, or maybe it's because I've reached a point where I just need to sit back and let things happen. I can't force anything. I have done all I can to further my endeavours and now everything is out in the world, waiting to be discovered. I hate this feeling. It's a total lack of control. I prefer being able to make things happen. I like being able to call up my friends and family to say "Like this." "Tweet that" "Check this out", and now that that's done and I feel I've largely exhausted my network... now what? Within the next few weeks, I will be implementing a Twitter contest to win free things like books and such, so if you don't follow me, do. I will be listed in the CJN's Eye on Arts column, and I hope more stuff will follow, but I just have to do my least favourite thing... wait. Until then... PICTURE!
Today is definitely one of those days. I have far too much to do, and very little time to do it in. So what am I doing about it? Blogging. I suppose that's not the most effective use of my time. I could be going to Costco and restocking my food supply at home, or picking up dog food from the vet, or going to the post office, or the bank, or editing my book. Instead I'm typing stuff up here.
Did you ever feel like you're spinning your wheels in one place and going nowhere fast? That's my day today. I suppose it may be because I'm running on caffeine and less than three hours of sleep, or maybe it's because I've reached a point where I just need to sit back and let things happen. I can't force anything. I have done all I can to further my endeavours and now everything is out in the world, waiting to be discovered. I hate this feeling. It's a total lack of control. I prefer being able to make things happen. I like being able to call up my friends and family to say "Like this." "Tweet that" "Check this out", and now that that's done and I feel I've largely exhausted my network... now what? Within the next few weeks, I will be implementing a Twitter contest to win free things like books and such, so if you don't follow me, do. I will be listed in the CJN's Eye on Arts column, and I hope more stuff will follow, but I just have to do my least favourite thing... wait. Until then... PICTURE!
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I have decided to do something a little bit different. I have written a bit of a prequel to The Strings of the Violin. No spoilers of course! Hope you like it.
A Fox's Trouble Adom sighed exasperatedly. He rubbed a tawny paw over his eyes, his tail twitching in agitation. He swore the young prince would one day be the death of him. He remembered coming to the palace after learning etiquette, court procedure, and all the laws of the land. He had been told that his position would be as tutor to the prince. It would be his job to ensure that the prince learn all he must know in order to one day rule the Kingdom of the Light. Adom had anticipated an easy job. He had pictured the prince to be a quiet, well-behaved young man. Or at least that was how he had appeared when he had first met his charge. Now he understood that to have been an act. The prince was truly a hooligan. It took all Adom's energy and patience to keep the boy in line. There was nothing he could do to make him listen. At only ten years of age, the raven haired prince was nothing but trouble. He seemed to contain endless reserves of energy and mischievousness. He was always going missing, never where he should be. That day, Adom had been trying to teach the prince all about how to behave at a ball. On their way to the palace's ballroom, the prince had escaped Adom's sight and was now missing. He had searched everywhere. The boy was nowhere to be found. He was not in the stables, the gardens, his bedroom, the fencing room, he had simply vanished. Adom sighed once more. He knew the prince had a good heart. He had seen examples of his kindness. He was always asking after his tutor's well-being, bringing him little tokens from his adventures, treating him as a member of his small family. Yet, this wild streak had to be curbed if he were to become a king worthy of his subjects. Adom did not know how this was to be achieved. He walked through the palace corridors once more looking for his wayward charge. He crept down towards the servants' quarters and the kitchen and heard the noise of two soft child-like voices speaking. "You must do as I say!" came the whine of a young boy. "I am to be king!" "Yes," replied his companion. "However, you are not king yet." Adom peered around the corner and saw the prince speaking to a young girl. She looked to be around nine years of age. Her silver hair was pulled into two braids and her amethyst eyes flashed with amusement at the prince's pout. "What do you know?" the prince said angrily. "You are nothing but the cook's daughter." "I know a lot more than you," the girl replied. "I bet I could run the whole land better than you ever could!" "Could not!" the prince shouted, stamping his foot indignantly. "I am studying to be king." "Really? Than why am I always hearing of you running away from Adom? I bet you have not paid a bit of attention to any of your lessons." The prince crossed his arms across his chest and snorted in annoyance. "Etiquette is stupid. What does using the right fork have to do with ruling Hadariah anyway?" "It has to do with not offending the dinner guests who wish to trade with you," Adom answered, choosing that moment to enter the room. The prince jumped in fear. He flushed red at being caught and looked down at his tutor. "Sorry for running off again," he murmured. Adom nodded. "Try not to let it happen again," he chided his young charge. The prince nodded. "Okay," he said. The girl smiled at the prince. "Here," she said, handing him a cinnamon biscuit. "If you listen to your tutor, I'll give you more." The prince broke out into a large grin. "Okay!" he said. "I'll come back and visit again. Maybe, if your mom lets you, I can take you to see my horse!" "I'd like that," the girl answered with a smile. She turned and ran off, eager to tell her mother. The prince and Adom walk back to the library together, the prince in thoughtful silence. "What is on your mind?" Adom asked him. "Am I really going to be a bad king?" the prince asked. "Not if you pay attention to your lessons," Adom answered with a smile. "Then I will," the prince answered. He paused again before continuing, "must I marry a princess?" "There is no official law about it," Adom answered. The prince nodded. "Good," he said. "You are only ten years old. You still have much time before you need to worry about such things. Why do you ask?" Adom asked him. "Because I have decided, I will marry the cook's daughter!" the prince proclaimed. "She seems smart and I like her." Adom shook his head in consternation. "You like her because she gave you a treat," he said. He rolled his eyes. He knew he should not worry too much about this. The prince would probably change his mind several times before he even went to bed. For the first time, Adom was wrong about the prince. He studied hard, doing everyone proud, and ten years later, he was present and filled with pride for his charge as he made the cook's daughter his queen. This is either me being very productive, or procrastinating doing edits on the first draft of the sequel. I'll pretend it's the former (but we all really know it's the latter). So, here's the news: I got the first draft of my press release and made some changes to it to make it better reflect what I want people to get out of my book. It's so funny to hear what other people say about your work. What they feel is important is sometimes quite the reverse of what you thought was the point of what you were writing. This is not to say that you weren't clear, it's just reading and writing are so subjective. For example, I thought that the fact that my story was based around Jewish and Eastern European folklore was something that set it apart from most other fantasy novels. The people in the press department thought that the fact that my protagonists were all girls was most important. Huh. So, we decided to add a line in their 'Yay! Girl power!' press release to say something about the folklore, and now everyone's happy. In other news, the boys were mad that so far only Hailey made it into my blog. They feel they have important things to say as well. Here they are: Phillip: Joseph:
So I have received the hard copies of The Strings of the Violin. It's real everybody! I know it was real before. But just being able to hold a physical solid book in my hand is such an amazing feeling! I will admit to having a very dorky moment and doing a spastic happy dance when I got them. I say spastic, because, well, I don't dance. People say I can, but really... no. I'm the person who accidentally punched someone in the face trying to execute a spin during a dance audition for a production of How To Succeed in Business Without Even Trying. Needless to say, I didn't get the part.
Anyway, I got my softcover, and hardcover copies and have looked through them. I am thoroughly excited! In other news, I am in the midst of editing the sequel to The Strings of the Violin. Yes, I have a title in mind. No, I can't tell you yet. Why? Well, I'm flip flopping between two choices. To tell you what they are may constitute spoilers for the first book. Okay, I'll give you a hint. The first choice is this: The D*****'* M*****. The second choice is: The D*****'* R******. See? Spoilers. So, stay tuned for more information on all fronts. All right, as you can see, I have received the necklace you can win in my contest, and it's awesome. Just a reminder, the contest closes on December 25th so you have just five days left to tell me all about your magical worlds that you would like to visit. So send me your stories! I have received some interesting entries so far and look forward to many more to come! I have received the Cover and Interior proofs of my novel. I now face the daunting task of painstakingly going through each and every word, piece of punctuation, chapter name, character descriptor, phrase of dialogue, etc. This is gruelling stuff. Why? Well, this is the final thing I must do before I unleash my work on the public. Once that's done, I cannot take it back. Part of me, the crazed perfectionist part, is cringing. What if I miss something? What if I say someone has blue eyes on one page and then fifty pages later they're green?!? I'll be laughed at, mocked horribly. What if I put a comma in the wrong place. Lynn Truss will have a field day with her sharpie. (Aspiring writers, please read her riotous work Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.) At some point, however, I know I will just have to let it go. Ultimately my goal is to be read, and in order for that to happen, I need to stop picking at it.
What this all comes down to is this: I need to finish editing and just say that this is the best it will be. I am happy with my story. My characters are who I want them to be. My plot moves in the direction it should. I need to trust that the people who read my book will like it. Or not. It is out of my hands now. In other news: I have been asked to perform again. There is a holiday cabaret going on with Steppin' Out Theatrical Productions on December 5th at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. Check out their website for more details. Also, if you don't have tickets yet for Angelwalk Theatre's first show of the season Off Broadway On Stage, it is most certainly worth a look. It will be an awesome night of fun, laughs, and great music at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. (Don't sell it Rob Ford!) Go here for more details. So, yesterday marked the official launch of this website, and I just want to take the time to thank everyone for their kind words and support. It is thanks to all of you that I am able to do this. I have been blessed with an amazing support group with my friends and family.
People who have read early drafts of The Strings of the Violin have said one thing repeatedly to me: That is that it is wonderful to read about a group of teenage girls who are friends. Not just friends, but true, strong, friends who support each other no matter what . This is what I hope to instil in my readers. Having good girl friends, as a young woman is important. My best friend has been with me since we met in junior kindergarten what feels like a million years ago. I rely on her for so much. It is disheartening to read and see friendships depicted in literature and in the media as being disposable. Girls toss their friends aside for boys, for social status, for the most mundane reasons. I grew up watching shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reading books like The Hunter's Moon and the Harry Potter series, and generally like my female protagonists to be strong, to be caring, to be intelligent. This is what I want my own daughter to see and read. This is the kind of character I want her to look for, and this is the kind of character I want my sons to see as well. I don't want them to see women as fickle, weak people who need protection. I want them to be pillars of strength, humanity, and intelligence This past week has been anti-bullying week. Girl on girl bullying is a horrible epidemic, and while in school, and in the online communities, we should wish on our daughters, sisters, and friends the kind of friendship and support I had from my best friend, and from my family. I was bullied in school. My own personal bully seemed to find it mildly amusing that my friend and I could fit inside of a locker. We therefore spent a large amount of time inside of them. If it wasn't for her, I don't know how I would have dealt with that. So, let's take the time to be the kind of friend you want. Let's support each other and be kind to each other. As my bubbie said: "Be a mensch." For all interested, I have just opened a contest on my Events page. I am very excited about this, as the whole thing is quite new to me. How did I decide to do this? You may ask. Well, I knew I wanted to do something creative. Not for me, for all of you. I didn't just want to do something along the lines of: fill out a form and enter. I wanted to get all of your creative juices flowing. I want you to have to do a little bit of work. I want to get to know you all a bit better.
The Strings of the Violin has been a true labour of love for me. This is a story I have had rattling around in my head since I was fourteen years old. In essence, I have been living with these characters for literally half my life. In the case of some of the villains, much longer. These characters infused the stories I was told from infancy. So, in order for you, my dear readers, to get a prize, tell me all about where you go in your heads. Tell me about the worlds you dream of inhabiting. Enter once, enter multiple times. Whatever you choose. Just write. I am still writing. The muse has not left me. These characters just will not let go. I am currently hard at work on a sequel, the name of which I will not say (I can, I just choose not to at this present time). So check back here for updates on that as well. Much love and luck to you all. First things first, the cabaret went great last night. It felt fantastic being back onstage in front of an audience.
Now, on to things of a more serious nature. When I was in high school, I took a course called "Writers' Craft". Basically, our teacher told us that we were supposed to write what we knew. All I wanted to write was fantasy. I felt this was what I knew. It felt like the most natural thing to me. I had been raised on stories and superstitions passed down to me by my bubbie. I was told not to line up your feet so that they faced a doorway, or the dybbuks could drag you off into the night. I was scolded if I whistled in the house because this was bad luck. I was told stories of small European towns filled with foolish wisemen, and truly wise beggars. It speaks to her power as a storyteller that I retained every word of her tales. To me, talking animals, enchanted objects, magical crones, and dybbuks were my idea of fantasy. So, imagine my teenage surprise when I went to the fantasy section of the local bookstore and found novels full of wizards, fairies, and elves. Don't get me wrong. I loved these books passionately. I still do. Yet, I hungered for a book with a mythology I identified with. I wanted characters who had a history like mine. I decided that I would take matters into my own hands. If I couldn't find it, I would write it myself. So it is that The Strings of the Violin came to be. I like to think of it as my own little love letter to the stories of my bubbie's homeland in what was once Czechoslovakia and Poland. Now that I have children of my own, I have every intention of passing the same stories down to them. Write what you know indeed. Hi everybody! Welcome to my ramblings. This is my first post as a blogger, and I just want to tell everyone how excited I am. As you can see, I am a soon to be published author. My debut novel The Strings of the Violin will be available for everyone soon. I will update with more information when more becomes known. Until then, stay tuned. You can follow me on Twitter as well @AliLGoldenberg, and find my Facebook fanpage under my full name as well. As for this blog, look for exciting topics on such things as fantasy, triplets, and musical theatre.
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