Week One

First of all, thank you to everyone for your comments and helpful suggestions, both on and off my blog site. I really appreciate the feedback, and simply knowing that my site is creating a small buzz. I look forward to watching the energy grow, connecting with writers.

I would like to take advantage of this space to build some discussion, so I thought to create topics around the writing and publishing process - the blood, sweat and bruises involved in our craft (not to mention the finger dents and ink stains we are all familiar with).

This week was pivotal, in as much as completing the first draft of my novel, Turnstiles, that I have been working on since I returned from a two-month solo back-packing trip around Western Europe and the U.K. in 1998. I didn't believe I had really experienced enough to write a full-length book until I saw more of the world (and developed a keener and more mature eye for social issues in the world). Now, as I've been told, comes the real work. I'm going to revel in this part until the start of 2007... then I'll start tearing the first draft apart, where needed. Naturally, the main question is always 'so, what is your book about?' Here is a synopsis of the book:

Turnstiles is a novel with elements of social commentary. The main characters are three youths (aged early to mid-twenties), each representing a social ill that is an increasing problem in society. Marty is a street person, Wil is a wealthy aristocrat, and Evelyn (aka Yvonne) is a prostitute. The novel is not political in any way, but it does speak to these social problems through the smaller scope of each character’s individual trials. There is a struggle that exists between the need to serve one’s own needs and to participate in the larger social scheme that is expected. Marty and Wil are both trying to fit in to the world, but on their own terms. They are naive characters, searching for an Eden-like state of being, who develop their views of the world and themselves through broader experience, travel, and social interaction. They achieve these new perspectives by switching their fortunes.
Marty is an idealistic youth who leaves British Columbia to live in London, England. He travels to London with little money and no concrete plans. Eventually, he runs out of money and is forced to panhandle because he doesn’t want to join the workaday world, which he views as socialism and materialism. Wil is a Londoner and aristocrat who recently lost his wealthy and estranged father. In his father’s will, Wil was left an astronomical amount of money, which has already been deposited into his account. In desperation, he makes out an unsigned cheque of this amount and randomly gives it to a street person, who happens to be Marty. Evelyn is a character who, in the midst of regaining her independence and inner strength, indirectly connects and motivates Marty and Wil. Turnstiles weaves a story that brings discovery and healing for each character by way of a journey.

Last week, poet laureaute Carla Funk said to me "you're always writing, aren't you?" I had to answer "yes". I took her comment as both a profound compliment and an attribution to my status as an emerging writer in my community. Writing is such a natural act for me, I don't often acknowledge the scope of my published work or the volume of work I commit to. It is true, though, if I am not writing an article, I'm writing a poem and if I'm not writing a poem, I'm writing a journal entry, and if I'm not doing that, I'm either thinking or writing about my fiction, making notes, and when I'm not doing any of the above I am either organizing more article ideas, or simply jotting down two lines of morning ghazals with a pen in one hand and mug of tea in the other. It is funny that I don't consider myself to be prolific only because I don't have 10 books under my belt and am not churning out a poem a day. Isn't it strange how we view ourselves in our passions?