What have I been up to these last couple of weeks?

Still working on the novel….I seem to be working and re-working Chapter 7. Some days I only managed 300 words. It will have to do for now. It’s reading a bit stiff and clunky and I’m having a hard time moving forward until this chapter has been smoothed out. I’m not looking for perfect; the chapter just needs to work in the context of the bigger picture. The chapter is about 2,100 words long but it needs something more but I haven’t quite figured out what yet. Ergh! Anyway still focusing time and energy into it. That’s what counts.

Tonight, I bring in Chapter 4 and 5 to my writing group. Hopefully their feedback will help fuel the work on Ch 7.

Kitty sitting in the city…I’ve been in Chelsea the past couple of days kitty sitting Otis and Tessa. Otis is very demanding about food and attention in equal measures. Tessa is a shy Calico who tends to stay near the corners of the room, or hides in closets, when I’m around. She’s having a hard time warming up to me. Poor thing.

Christmas shopping…I have managed to get my family some gifts while staying in Chelsea. The shops are close by and when I get tired of the holiday crowds, I retreat to a quiet apartment.

My brain is full. I had a strange dream that Noomi Noren was sitting on the stoop to my parent’s house dressed like the character of Lisabeth Salander from the Millenium trilogy wanting to talk to me about my latest project. Not the novel but the film version of the novel. I kept telling her the screenplay wasn’t finished yet and that Michelle Rodriguez had first dibs on the lead role since the protagonist is a Latina. She told me very intently that she was part Spanish and that she liked the twists and turns of this movie. I woke up...1) thinking what twists and turns? and 2) feeling the pressure of needing to finish the novel. Hehehe!

I really have a hard time letting up on the pressure I put on myself. The problem then becomes that I don’t have enough head space to work out the problems/obstacles/issues with the novel ‘cause apparently the screenplay needs to be written too. Bah-Humbug!


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Chapter 7

I had a couple of hours to work on Chapter 7 today.  I went through a third of the chapter (~1,100 words)...but things are going slower.  Ergh!  There's 1,700 more words (still waiting) that need work.  It's interesting to read this material again after so long of a separation and trying to remember what my initial intention was for that particular chapter.  Things have changed in the story along the way and it's trying to navigate this old material and revamp with the new information so that it's coherent. But I'm plugging away. 

Peace,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Close Up Space

Last night, I went to see Close Up Space by Molly Smith Metzler currently in previews at the Manhattan Theater Club. I haven’t stopped thinking about the craft of the play. The story has SO much potential but I don’t think it’s quite fully realized. It had some interesting and beautiful elements to it, like the way Harper (the daughter) uses the Russian language and poetry as a way of communication with her father Paul. And the great chasm between them created by Harper’s mother’s death. Rich, interesting back story.

Instead, this piece gets mired with weird office antics. There are several characters that could well be cut out and never missed, i.e. the intern. The office manager is there for comic relief but winds up coming off like a Zach Galifianakis wanna-be character.

No disrespect to Rosie Perez but she was completely miscast as the superstar writer, Vanessa Finn Adams. She shrieked through her scenes and she had trouble enunciating words that were supposed to give her an air of intellect and sophistication. Her final exit was a Shakespeare piece but I couldn’t tell you which one it was because I could barely understand her. Metzler was starting to use the character of Vanessa Finn Adams as Paul’s confidant but I think Metzler could have gone further with that relationship, shy of a consummated sexual relationship. That way when Vanessa finally leaves it’s not just a professional blow but a personal one too as another relationship slips through Paul’s fingers.

Okay, the best moments are David Hyde Pierce as Paul sitting in a tent dictating a letter to his daughter. It was painful and beautiful to witness. The other moment was Paul’s confrontation with Harper as she tried desperately to communicate with her emotionally distant father. They were by far the two strongest scenes.

Last but not least, big shout out to Todd Rosenthal for his set design. It was absolutely perfect. He worked some serious magic on this set.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Healthy Chapter 6

I worked on editing chapter 6 for the better part of the day. It was tough. It’s so much easier to line edit someone else’s work because I can be ruthless. I don’t quite have the same teeth for my own work. However, I managed to clean it up into fairly decent shape. It’s 2,800 words long. Also managed to start on Chapter 7. Worked on the first two paragraphs and then my brain turned off. I thought that was a clear sign for me to stop for the day.

My treat for all the good work is a theater show tonight. I’m going to see Close Up Space. Yay!
All for now, I know this is a short one but I’m fried.

Peace,

L~
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

What's Up?

I am plugging along on the novel. Took me awhile to get back on track but the last two days I’ve written up 3,600 more words. It’s cool…progress…finally! I’m not sure what happened. One day I was hemming and hawing about what to do next with the story… the next thing I know…I revamped 3 whole chapters in a matter of days (Chapters 3, 4, and 5 are mostly done…5 may need more but will decide better tomorrow) with the 6th chapter (1,500 words) waiting for a serious line edit. Yes!

I had given myself a year-end deadline with this novel and now that I have the last three and a half weeks breathing down my neck…it kick started me to plow through and get this rough draft turned over into a decent manuscript.

Also, I’ve been reading Margaret Atwood’s: In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination and her take on the genre. It’s providing fuel for me to finish this story. I’ve only read the first couple of chapters but I’m fascinated with the way she engages with this particular genre. Her words have motivated me to finish my own story because at the end of the day, I want to see how this book ends. It has changed so much from its initial inception that I want to see what this story will eventually become.

 

Peace,

L~

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

A Tasty Morsel

I wanted to share the following exciting news:

You can now download a digital copy of my book of poetry onto your Nook via Barnes and Noble:

A Scorched Page

It didn’t include page count but it’s roughly 65 pages long.
Pass the word along.
Peace,

Lily~
 
 
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Ketch-up Entry

I’ve got some things rattling up inside my brain skull. Too much really and I keep taking my sweet time with writing blog entries so I am way behind here, bear with me. Been busy living life, I guess.

Nov 19- Went to see Ani DiFranco perform in Town Hall. Had a great time and I’m a bit peeved that my little cheap camera phone took crap pics. As in, unable to see anything really. So no uploadable shots. Security guards were also being annoying with people taking pics and kept removing people. *rolling my eyes* I will say that Ani D. was in rare form that night on her guitar. Every time I listen to her play, I want to pick up a guitar and learn how to play (just like her). Oh and who opened for her but none other than Melissa Ferrick...sweet Jesus can she rock! And it doesn’t hurt that she’s really hot in her tall gangly way. Ferrick just came out with her new album: She’s Still Right Here  It was a fantastic show.

Anyway, as I was walking to the train, I overheard some VERY young women talking about how disappointed they were that Ani D. didn’t sing more of her old material. But I totally get it. As a creative person, you move forward and showcase your newest material. Not to discredit the old material but a person has lived some life, gained new experiences, has created all this new work to showcase and that old material is done and over with. I really liked hearing her new material and she’s gone back to her home grown roots of political songs. Check out her new album: Which Side Are You On

Over Thanksgiving weekend-Went to see a couple of movies:
Melancholia by Lars Von Trier is gorgeous . It unfolds very slowly...so slowly in fact that there were several theatergoers near me leave the screening halfway through it. But when the movie hit the halfway point it seemed to blossom and pick up speed. After all, it’s about the end of the world and the way two sisters (Justine and Claire) fragmented by the impending doom come to grips with it in their own ways. The cinematography is phenomenal. The dialogue sparse. The emotional content wavering along tense and taut, on the brink of shattering. It’s stark. But the movie has stayed with me for days on end afterwards. I love when movies affect me that way.

The Dangerous Method written by Christopher Hampton, filmed by David Cronenberg is about the relationship between Carl Jung, Sabina Spielrein and Sigmund Freud (drawn from true events). Keira Knightly is raw and delish to watch playing fragile intellectual Sabina. Knightly is raw and painfully exposed in this role. Viggo Mortensen, as Freud, seemed a bit out of his depth at first but as the movie progressed, the ambition of the man seemed to take on a more “dangerous” quality, Mortensen crackled electric when that element came through. Michael Fassbender as Jung was restrained and subdued but when his own desires began to diverge from the “norm” he came alive. Both the internal struggle (personal desires) and the external power struggle with Freud made Fassbender’s performance layered and piercing.

Icarus Magazine I continue to be involved with Icarus Magazine in my capacity as reader. Always looking for that stand out story in a pile of submissions. If you’d like to submit your work to this magazine, please check out their guidelines at http://lethepressbooks.com/guidelines.htm#About_contributions_for_Icarus. Literary magazine guidelines are different from Lethe Press Books so please read carefully. Hey! I just realized my name’s not up on their website...I’ll have to go bug them about that too. Just add it on to my perpetual to-do list that seems to be growing by the minute.
 
Enjoy for now and I'll have more for you shortly.
 
Peace,
 
L~
 
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2011 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.