Are We There Yet? ( a poem about writing)

Are We There Yet?

Following a map

using my hopes and dreams

as a guide

the occasional markings

of frustration splatter my windshield

like fresh puree and insect wings

in those I see potential

If I could fly...

A sonorous wind

of a teasing angel

sings choral atonality

adjusting modulation

after the storm

the calm brings clarity

the beauty I see

before me

a perfection

of chiaroscuro

dark and pearly light

clouds bathe in gold rays

cummulous covers the

bare ruby mountains

antique gold ribbon

wraps my plateau

a hush

I take it all inside

Breathe.

Write.

Breathe.

How do you feel when someone asks how's your writing?

I turn beet red then I feel inspired to chisel at my writer's block. I continue writing my first novel. Frustration is part of the writing process, but eventually it will be a scifi novel.

Happy Writing! :)

My Knitting Hobby

I hope you had a Happy Fourth of July! Someone asked me what is your hobby? I said knitting. The sweater in the photo is one I knitted a few years ago. It is made of 100% wool full of bobbles and cables which makes it in Aran style knitting and the design came from Vogue knitting magazine. I even made my own four inch cable needle out of bamboo skewer which I tapered both ends and waxed and buffed it.

People worry about the economy and ABC has been airing their "Made in America" series. I wondered what kind of a business I could do? Well, I could knit berets. Knitting uses a pair or two needles and good yarn. That's it. It is a delightful craft that uses less tools than woodworking or making stoneware clay mugs. I admire ceramics, but you need a kiln, a room to get wet and dirty, a potter's wheel and a sturdy shelf to dry or even a humid room to dry it slowly. Otherwise, ceramics is very beautiful.

I am slowly chiseling my way out of writer's block. For many months I was stuck on chapter 13. So far, I have written chapter 21. Writing my novel and composing music are my two passions. Just when I got happy I felt worried because I realize I need to write about 20 more chapters so my book can grow to about 400 pages. Oh, Lordy, Lordy.

Who are the women who knit in fiction? So far I can think of one a great amateur sleuth developed by writer Agatha Christie. Miss Marple would think about clues and supects while she knitted with yarn and a pair of knitting needles.

My Fight with Writer's Block

It has been a long time since I wrote a blog and I missed you folks. I send you virtual hugs. :)

I encountered writer's block so I chose to chisel that block one word at a time. I kept chiseling at the block till I wrote another chapter in my first novel.

Where did I go while I was away? I visited a cyber library and checked out free sheet music at the Petrucci Library. It is a huge library that contains about 95,000 scores from over 5,000 composers. There are also many recordings.

I picked up Fur Elise music sheet from The Mutopia Project and played it many times. I was surprised that my fingers remembered how to play a song that I hadn't played for twenty years! Actually I hadn't played any music till last December. I found playing with my keyboard helps soothe the numerous frustrations that had been following me.

What else had I been doing with my time? I've been trying to write a song for months and hit an impass so I decided to lighten things up by doing a techno/ piano mashup.

I hope you enjoy my music video. :)

I hope to blog more frequently. Hopefully by next weekend I will post a blog.

Happy Writing!

Pushing Snow

Last week I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone. I took a quick break from writing my novel. I decided to enter a contest even though I had only one week to compose a few bars of music, sing and make a decent video. That was serious crunch time! What was I thinking? My comfort zone includes playing a few notes on the keyboard and mixing sounds with my DAW. I never was comfortable with the activity of singing. I decided to do the video in the name of fun. I wished to film my perfomace on a lawn full of fresh snow. I was lucky. It snowed three days in a row. I shoveled so much snow that on filming day I felt light headed from all the shoveling. Okay, maybe I was giddy with the excitment of getting out of my comfort zone and singing infront of the camcorder. I ventured outside. It was 24 F and windy! I wore my downfilled parka, ear muffs, long pants, cashmere sweater and my face was freezing! After one take I ran inside. My senses were numb from the cold. I took a look at the video and I couldn't stop giggling. My pants jiggled so much from the breeze that it looked as if my legs were made of rubber and I could dance!

I won't post the video till the contest is over.

My next post will be about Steampunk artists and how they inspire us to write Scifi, Steampunk or fantasy genre. I will also include writing prompts.

Happy Writing!

Spare Time

In my spare time I like to try new things. I took four photos and stitch them vertically with GIMP software ( free open source). Each photo is 640 x 420 pixels. I took the photos with a low resolution camera ( camera binoculars which I purchased for $ 20 ). I wanted to proove that you don't need an expensive camera to take beautiful photos. I was walking in my neighborhood when I took this picture. Too often I stare at the dry sagebrush and complain how dry and twiggy it looks. The soil is pure clay. When I look at my photo I realize that I live in a beautiful place even though the winter lasts 7 months and there are no trees. It is interesting that I needed a mechanical device, my camera, to tell me about beauty.

In my spare time I also like searching for freebies, contest, tutorials, poetry and beauty.

Pssst....check out my previous blog Aviary's 30 Days of Roc Contest.

Happy Writing and enjoy your spare time!

Aviary's Roc Contest

Woohoo! I am so excited to tell everyone that www.aviary.com is having a contest called the Thirty Days of Roc! Yeah! The prizes include iTunes gift card for the winners. There is NO FEE to enter the contests. Create your music with Roc software, which is an online music making software. Creating music is simple with Roc because you only download the wav or mp3 file which you create. Blue dot means note on.

Every day is a new contest with different instruments. Aviary will be posting their brand new instruments for each day of the contests which lasts a total of 30 days. Okay 6 days past so as of today there are 24 days left to participate. Hurry! Once you compose your song with Roc software you submit your entry at their sister site worth1000.com If you are making your own book trailer this is a good way to explore their 50 new instruments and if you enter each new contest you will build a nice portfolio of your own music.

Yesterday, I tried their Kitchen Sink and Bird instruments. Their approach to percussive instruments is absolute genius. I really enjoyed their Teacup for its crisp sound and the Cutting Board for its soft drum like thump. I found the Swan's voice paints an eerie scene. The owl has a soft breathy voice.

Am I participating? Yes, because it's fun and and will explore sound and music in the process. Here is link to my song "Do the Beet Juice" created with Roc.

http://www.aviary.com/blog/posts/30-days-of-roc-6-birds

http://avry.worth1000.com/contests

Book trailer: Diamond Eyes

You can read the book review at The Fringe Magazine .

This book trailer is a good example of what a book trailer can accomplish through music, graphics, photos and illustrations. It is more than a sum of it's parts for it opens the door with a friendly wave into the protagonist's dark world and compelling obstacles. The music is chromatic which conveys the feeling of mystery. Words define the protagonist: a young blind woman who can solve crimes!

P.S. I would like to know which book trailers have caught your attention.