A sleepless night, when the idea of a story based in a farmhouse, in particular, the kitchen, come to mind, and all you want to do is dive right into drafting a short…which kitchen would you describe?
Stay tuned
Tag: creative writing
If Romeo and Juliet Had Gone…
If Romeo and Juliet Had Gone House Hunting Together – is a read that had me entertained so much that I had to share it here. Please do yourself a favor today and simply appreciate the creative take on the story of Romeo and Juliet and oh…a few villas:
What if Romeo hadn’t drank the poison? What if Juliet had awoken to find her beau alive & kicking at her bedside and they’d ridden off into the sunset in search of a love nest, to live out the rest of their days happily ever after? Now that would be a house I’d like to visit. And some five centuries after their story is thought to have taken place, it appears as if the Italian real estate market has really changed all that much. You see, I’ve been imaginary house-hunting again in the dreamy property books of Italian agency Lionard, and it seems there is no shortage of historic castles and palatial estates fit for a Montague heir and his runaway bride. Palazzo’s of all shapes and sizes, waiting for a new generation to save them from ruin. Let’s just play real estate agent to Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers for a moment…(more)
In Search Of…
I’ve just returned from Scotland, where I spend a good amount of time doing research. I think I may have mentioned this bit once here. But it doesn’t hurt to repeat so that we are all on the same page, if you will, so that my story makes sense.
So while in Edinburgh one night, staring out of the floor-to-ceiling window in my hotel room with views across the town and ‘some’ body of water in the distance (sorry for my show of disoriented being), all of a sudden, I couldn’t breath, freaking out about my life and where it is headed. It happens; I know, to all of us at some point or another in our lives. Mine had to be a week or so ago, in Edinburgh.
In that moment, I felt the need to email a few friends and my mother, telling them that I finally settled on where I wanted to move or retire…sooner than later, and it was Scotland, more specifically, Edinburgh. The response from all of them was mutual, a variation of the smiley emojis and the ‘LOLs’.
Only one person came back with ‘get your head out of the clouds.’
I’ll show you – I said to myself and went to bed.
This week while I prepare for the next semester at Stanford University continuing education program, I noticed the welcome email from the instructor was dropped in my email address. Naturally, I clicked to open it and began reading, loving every word he’d put down on paper. And among the advice, and inspirational quotes the professor included, one stood out the most:
This is advice from Flannery O’Connor. She says, “Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to was never there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it. Where is there a place for you to be? No place… Nothing outside you can give you any place… In yourself right now is all the place you’ve got.”
What say you?
Advice For the Struggling Writer
Thirty-nine things to remember while struggling to build your writing career was an article sent to me via Pinterest by someone very special. I appreciate the fact that she was thinking about me. I guess she was listening more than I thought she was each time I expressed my feelings to her about the whole writing thing. Anyway, all good advice and most of them, I learned to follow over the year. I write because I love to express myself. I write because I have stories to tell. This past year has been an enlightening experience, mostly since I took the leap to put out my first two-part novel. I learned from all sorts of mistakes I made, and at times I felt very insecure and ready to give up.
It was my mother who insisted that I push forward, and continue to write because she could tell how alive I became in doing so. Besides, she said she loves my stories and plots I share with her over tea. So here I am still tapping away at my keyboard every chance I get, doing what I love best-writing.
So there, that’s my story, and the advice I want to share with you all.
Styles of Writing in Pictures
While I write, I also run an edit program on my computer to make sure what I’m writing is coherent and concise. At times I feel so good about what I’ve written and other times naturally I doubt every single word put together, questioning my style. When I saw this comic illustration here, I couldn’t help but feel the need to borrow it; printing it also to pin to the corkboard in my office. It’s important to have a sense of humor when writing. Happy Thursday everyone!
Challenges of an Indie Author
I have to say a year ago, I thought writing a book would be the most difficult thing to do. Well, I was wrong. Marketing and advertising has topped the list of everything difficult an author is faced with in regards to making her/his book noticed and read.
Of course the internet is saturated with information on how to market and advertise (which is not the same thing by the way) and although it all sounds easy, it can be challenging and a little discouraging. However, I’m not giving up. I will do everything in my power to market and advertise my book, including a roundtable with reading groups and more.
I love my book and wholeheartedly believe you will too, just give it a chance. Keep one thing in mind, the second edition of Piazza Navona is in the works and should be out mid December – addressing the misspelled words undetected by various computerized editing programs, and the formatting errors also undetected by the publishing company on more than one occasion.
So, bottom line is – buy the book if you don’t mind the minor spelling errors and incorrect indents. Wait for the second edition, if you do. Meanwhile, I will organize book signings and put out a calendar of events (very shortly) and welcome anyone who wants to invite me to make a public appearance to discuss the book, or how I came about to writing a novel and what are the obstacles in committing to write a novel.
As always, I do thank you from the bottom of my heart.
MLKilian
