Return to the Blogosphere
I am back. I went on a blog-hiatus of sorts, to begin my new novel in earnest; to attend my very first writer's residency; and, really, as it relates to the blog itself, I suppose I took a hiatus to think about what I wanted to share in this space.
I am not exactly sure I have come to definitive conclusions...
But I am back anyway.
I do have interesting things to report. In no particular order:
1. We have finally come to accord on the cover of my book! They went with a sort of Taj Mahal Window kind of theme, sort of stonework and Mogul windows, with things inside like: my title AS IT WAS WRITTEN; my name SUJATHA HAMPTON; a novel; and then a couple of images which I will leave till later to tell you about. We argued over these. Well, we argued over a lot of things cover related. I had very different ideas, but in the end, it's very pretty. The thing with the windows is a little funny, because the book is about Malayalees and the windows are totally Taj Mahal, which is...a different kind of Indian. But I think that Americans tend to see Indians as one way, with one kind of window, and with Bollywood looking women inside. But Malayalees have square windows and different looking women. But they know about selling books and I know about Malayalees, and in this particular case, knowing about selling books is more to the point. Like I said, in the end, it's a pretty cover and the Bollywood girl, peeking foolishly from her Mogul window with her purple sparkly eye shadow and her simpering expression, is gone. But to quote my dad, "Why did they put those windows? Didn't they read the book? It's about Malayalees." Still, it is pretty and I hope you like it. Many thanks to Karyn Marcus who fearlessly put her neck under the guillotine to make me happy.
2. I went to a writer's residency where I holed up in a little room in the Catskills and worked on my novel for three weeks. It was intensely gratifying. No interruptions, no distractions, nothing. I have never done anything like that before and all I wished was that I was in the middle or the end of my book, because if I had been, I would have finished. I was rather at a research stage and I spent a lot of time reading and thinking, which is important, yes, but...pages down makes you satisfied in a more...meaty way. I thought of a new title, I like it more, but I can't share it yet. Bad luck.
3. I donated a character in my novel to Capital Hospice where it went at live auction for $1900! I was thrilled. I know, its an odd concept to wrap your head around, but they approached me with this neat idea: would I be willing to donate a character such that someone could bid for the right to be in my new book. Basically, someone bids, and I name a character after the winner, and the money goes to support Hospice in the DC area. I thought about it and decided that, a. it's good karma, and b. even narratively, this is a good novel for it, because the story crosses international and generational lines. There is a war and I am writing about the most multinational/multiethnic/multilingual theater since perhaps the days of Ancient Rome, and so I figured even if...Ping Chou Lin bid and won, I could make it work without a problem. As it happened it is a lady named Judy Rhodes. We will see what I do with her. I did reserve the right to kill her if I needed to, and to basically do with her as I pleased. She is very nice though, so I might want to keep her around.
4. I have enlisted the help of a movie making friend of mine, Dennis Hare, who enlisted the help of his friend Pamela Schott, to create a book trailer for AS IT WAS WRITTEN. More on that later, but it is a very interesting prospect and I look forward to seeing what Dennis puts together.
5. My cousin-in-law, Alice offered to develop a website for me. She is an immensely talented Mistress of Many Trades, and she came to me a few months ago offering much assistance with marketing ideas and strategies. I know nothing about these things and I am so grateful to her for her help. She is planning on using my book jacket as a backdrop and working everything out on there. It is exciting to consider building a website, because frankly it is hard to believe that I actually have need of one. Once it's built, it will be sujathahampton.com. But its not there yet, so stay tuned.
So, I have reentered the blogosphere and hopefully I can keep you entertained with cool things happening as I gear up for the February release of my novel, AS IT WAS WRITTEN, and as I go through the agonizing and exhilirating process of writing a new novel, yet unmamed, which will feature the lovely Judy Rhodes who is so delightful a lady as to make herself hard to kill.
As always,
Send the muse!
S
I am not exactly sure I have come to definitive conclusions...
But I am back anyway.
I do have interesting things to report. In no particular order:
1. We have finally come to accord on the cover of my book! They went with a sort of Taj Mahal Window kind of theme, sort of stonework and Mogul windows, with things inside like: my title AS IT WAS WRITTEN; my name SUJATHA HAMPTON; a novel; and then a couple of images which I will leave till later to tell you about. We argued over these. Well, we argued over a lot of things cover related. I had very different ideas, but in the end, it's very pretty. The thing with the windows is a little funny, because the book is about Malayalees and the windows are totally Taj Mahal, which is...a different kind of Indian. But I think that Americans tend to see Indians as one way, with one kind of window, and with Bollywood looking women inside. But Malayalees have square windows and different looking women. But they know about selling books and I know about Malayalees, and in this particular case, knowing about selling books is more to the point. Like I said, in the end, it's a pretty cover and the Bollywood girl, peeking foolishly from her Mogul window with her purple sparkly eye shadow and her simpering expression, is gone. But to quote my dad, "Why did they put those windows? Didn't they read the book? It's about Malayalees." Still, it is pretty and I hope you like it. Many thanks to Karyn Marcus who fearlessly put her neck under the guillotine to make me happy.
2. I went to a writer's residency where I holed up in a little room in the Catskills and worked on my novel for three weeks. It was intensely gratifying. No interruptions, no distractions, nothing. I have never done anything like that before and all I wished was that I was in the middle or the end of my book, because if I had been, I would have finished. I was rather at a research stage and I spent a lot of time reading and thinking, which is important, yes, but...pages down makes you satisfied in a more...meaty way. I thought of a new title, I like it more, but I can't share it yet. Bad luck.
3. I donated a character in my novel to Capital Hospice where it went at live auction for $1900! I was thrilled. I know, its an odd concept to wrap your head around, but they approached me with this neat idea: would I be willing to donate a character such that someone could bid for the right to be in my new book. Basically, someone bids, and I name a character after the winner, and the money goes to support Hospice in the DC area. I thought about it and decided that, a. it's good karma, and b. even narratively, this is a good novel for it, because the story crosses international and generational lines. There is a war and I am writing about the most multinational/multiethnic/multilingual theater since perhaps the days of Ancient Rome, and so I figured even if...Ping Chou Lin bid and won, I could make it work without a problem. As it happened it is a lady named Judy Rhodes. We will see what I do with her. I did reserve the right to kill her if I needed to, and to basically do with her as I pleased. She is very nice though, so I might want to keep her around.
4. I have enlisted the help of a movie making friend of mine, Dennis Hare, who enlisted the help of his friend Pamela Schott, to create a book trailer for AS IT WAS WRITTEN. More on that later, but it is a very interesting prospect and I look forward to seeing what Dennis puts together.
5. My cousin-in-law, Alice offered to develop a website for me. She is an immensely talented Mistress of Many Trades, and she came to me a few months ago offering much assistance with marketing ideas and strategies. I know nothing about these things and I am so grateful to her for her help. She is planning on using my book jacket as a backdrop and working everything out on there. It is exciting to consider building a website, because frankly it is hard to believe that I actually have need of one. Once it's built, it will be sujathahampton.com. But its not there yet, so stay tuned.
So, I have reentered the blogosphere and hopefully I can keep you entertained with cool things happening as I gear up for the February release of my novel, AS IT WAS WRITTEN, and as I go through the agonizing and exhilirating process of writing a new novel, yet unmamed, which will feature the lovely Judy Rhodes who is so delightful a lady as to make herself hard to kill.
As always,
Send the muse!
S
You've been working hard. Love the naming of a character by auction. Awesome!
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