The Suspense Builds...

"It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City itself is a detective story."

-Agatha Christie

I'm still waiting on the results of the Sparknotes Musical Fiction Contest. I don't feel as good about winning  this one, since I haven't seen as many people mention my story this time around. I didn't win last time either, but "Lunch is Served" got an honorable mention and had many fans.

A lot of finalists were picked and I feel mine was really different. There wasn't a pressing plot or action. I guess it was more writerly, but that's how the song "Honey, Honey" was. I love the song because it's a slow building, heartbreakingly beautiful melody that makes the listener slowly piece together what's happening in the story.

In the end, I don't care what place it gets, but it's nice to get some positive feedback and gratification for the work you do:)

Contests are just good in general for making me buckle down and get some writing done, which I haven't been doing lately over these lazy summer days. Actually, scratch that, I have done some writing, but it's been spread so thinly over three different stories.

I had to put on the brakes on my NaNo story because I realized there was something wrong with it that needed to be changed. I know you're not supposed to revise the first draft. You're supposed to just write straight through a crappy first draft and don't look back. This is very very hard for me to do as a perfectionist. I have to know where things are going for the most part so I don't get bored, confused and veer off. At the same time, I also don't like outlining and planning too much, then I get too caught up in that and use missing plot points or weakly defined character as an excuse to stop writing. NaNo helped because I only had an idea and several characters at the beginning following the rules of no writing before November 1st. And whaddaya know, I wrote a good 130 pages by the end of the month.  (That's still only like a third of a novel.)

I've decided to cut out one of the characters that I thought was important but I realized how the story was split into two ideas and it couldn't survive like that. I've also come up with two novel ideas: 1) two American Muslim teens who are best friends and how boys have affected their relationship and 2) a mystery novel with Muslim girl detective. Both are stories that I'm really excited to write about and have been mulling around in my head for just as long as my NaNo novel. The funny thing is all these plots once tried to be in one book together and I have characters moving from different stories and exchanging names, family members and background characteristics. Everything just has to fit nicely for the story to get going and I feel happier about the progress.

Now my problem is just focusing on one story now that I feel they are each on the right track. I think I favor the detective story but I just need to figure out the crime and victim. Who dies and why? It's kind of annoying how as a writer, I have to also figure out what happened but think from both points of view from the detective and criminal and understand both of their motivations. I have a really good book to help me through the whole mystery novel process though, so I better get to reading and follow the clues.

Mother's Day

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new."

  -Rajneesh

Happy Mother's Day! 

I hope you all were able to enjoy a relaxing day with your mothers or if you're not with them, atleast sent them a reminder of how much you love them. Moms are quite unappreciated and we shouldn't really need a mandated holiday to put the spotlight on them, but it's still nice to have a dedicated time to show how important they are. I would have loved to take my mom out to brunch and tea just the two of us, but sadly she works weekends so we'll have to postpone our mother-daughter outing for another day.

I wanted to share with you what I did get her, other than flowers and a card, a fabulous book called Little Bee by Chris Cleave. 

Here's what the back of Little Bee says:

WE DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU TOO MUCH ABOUT THIS BOOK.

It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:

It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific.

The story starts there, but the book doesn't.

And it's what happens afterward that is most important.

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

So, sounds good right?

I've been wanting to read this book for a while and I love sharing books with my mom since she hardly has time to read and doesn't know which good books are out there. I highly recommend this book to you all if you're looking for something new to read. I have a long list to tackle and now that school is out, I can finally get to it:)

Snap Judgment

pic copyright:http://www.beyucaffe.com

"To be a person is to have a story to tell"

-Isak Dinesen

I found this awesome show called Snap Judgment, all about spoken word, poetry and sharing stories. It debuted on NPR nationally in April, but they have a website where you can upload your own stories with audio, text, pictures and get them potentially onto the radio show. They say that Snap Judgment is "putting the public back in public radio" and I'm very glad they are. 


I'm really inspired by the online community of writers and how they are trying to create more opportunities and chances for publication and expression. Snap Judgment says they are looking for the best stories on the planet. It's nice you don't have to do all the traditional grueling work of sending out your stuff and waiting to be accepted (or rejected) by an agent to get your work noticed. Now the audience can come to you, give you feedback and spread the word!


I haven't dabbled into spoken word before, but I've always dreamed of competing in a poetry slam one day. Snap Judgment has motivated me to get started. It's a great way to practice short, engaging, plot driven stories that have to keep a person's interest. Plus, it would be awesome to be on the radio:)


All the stories I've looked at have such strange, but unique titles and premises. I think I have a lot to learn about a good spoken word piece, though I'm sure many people on there are in the same boat as me. I encourage you all to check out the site and submit your stories too:
snapjudgment.org

My Top 5 Literary Villains

"The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture"

- Alfred Hitchcock

pic copyright: liquidmatrix.org

So I was inspired by ZellaKate to post my top 10 literary villains. I have never really thought about villains as much as I do about heroes, but I think understanding how to craft a good, non-stereotypical villain is very important. 


But instead of 10, I could only come up with 5, but who knows, I could add more if I think of them. I think this was so hard for me because I don't read books that have a clear antagonist in it, just a force opposing the main character. I feel like real villains are more in comics, children books and movies? I haven't been reading as much fantasy or mystery and that's where real villains seem to appear.


 I also discovered that I am incapable of spelling the word villain without spell check, so I guess I am improving my writing skills in multiple ways.  


Without further ado, the list:



1. Villefort, Danglars and Mondego: The three stooges who imprisoned the innocent Edmund Dantes and ruined his life forever. I hate hated them as they put their selfish desires first and didn't blink at the crime they were committing until Dantes reinvents himself into the dazzling, charming and wealthy Count and strikes back. Ahh vengeance!


2. Voldemort: Come on, he was the epitome of evil against the symbol of hope and goodness, 'arry Po'er. His twisted, troubled childhood, mysterious omnipresence, obsession with snakes, hanging out in the back of Quirell's head, passion for eugenics... Everyone's fear of Voldemort made Harry's struggles against him that much more epic and exciting. You have to be an incredible character to be worthy of lasting seven books without becoming a washed up maniac. Rowling's creation of Voldemort is simply magic.


3. Cruella deVil: Her name pretty much sums it up. Fear a woman who puts fashion first above feelings. (Wilhemina Slater, anyone? Sidenote, RIP Ugly Betty.)  I had continuous nightmares after watching Disney's 101 Dalmatians, even though I have never had any pet dogs. I can also no longer see Glenn Close as anything but this demented skunk-haired diva.


4. Simon Legree: Yes, Uncle Tom's Cabin was very melodramatic and slipped into borderline bathos with its preachiness and wordiness, but Legree was a great concentrated depiction of the evils of a slave owner. He had no heart, soul or sense of morality and deserved everything the slaves did to him.


5. [WARNING SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ/FINISHED THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO!!]
Martin Vanger: A sick sick minded man who was a Nazi sympathizer and engaged in incest and sexual abuse of women, including his own sister. Reading the chapters with his explanation of what he did made my stomach churn. 




Hope this wasn't a downer on your day. Here's something positive to cheer you all up, or atleast me lol. My short story  "A Sorceress Spurned" was picked as a finalist for the 2nd Sparknotes Fiction Contest! Hooray! 


Please read it if you haven't and let me know what you think. I also appreciate your votes in the final user contest. Thank you!

South Park and Free Speech

"Free speech carries with it the freedom to listen"

-Bob Marley

So this is kind of a departure from the theme of this blog about my writing, but then again, it's still related to writing because it's about something huge that all writers care about: censorship.

The Internet is abuzz over the South Park controversy of an episode that depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit. A website called RevolutionMuslim.com issued a warning statement that the South Park creators could end up like Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was killed by a Muslim extremist upset over Gogh's film of Islam being violent towards women. (Why weren't they as outraged by violence that is going on towards women though? Islam doesn't promote that, of course, but sadly there are Muslim governments that do appease it and let it go. But that's an entirely different post.)

Now the owners of the RevolutionMuslim website have said they are not actually threatening the creators, but they are just stating facts based on what has happened in the past to other individuals who have depicted the Prophet Muhammad in any manner, especially in a negative light.

As a Muslim and writer, I am appalled by this. The Islamic belief that no prophet be drawn because it could lead to idolatry has been so exploited by desperate, uneducated Muslims. Why is it the end of the world if someone else depicts him? They clearly are not worshipping him and it is part of comedy just like the show behaves towards all other religious figures. 

Muslims are not unique in getting special treatment for our holy figures. Those same Muslims who are issuing death threats and more certainly do not respect other religion's figures. Instead of being irrational and childish by threatening violence, they should explain their concerns through writing, letters and such about why they feel insulted or hurt by the depictions. That's free speech as well.

What annoys me is how only a couple Muslims act out like this and the media says that all Muslims are reacting in that manner. But we're not. The problem is that if it bleeds, it leads, so it's so much easier to make the situation seem like that. It only makes the Muslim community look more intolerant, backwards and sensitive.

Yes, any kind of insult towards the Prophet Muhammad, Prophet Jesus, Prophet Moses or the religion of Islam hurts me, but I'm strong enough in my faith to not let it have any effect on me. Free speech is very important and in many parts of the world, it is not respected nor tolerated. If we want to stop discrimination against us, then Muslims need to stop discrimination of others as well, whether we agree with their opinion or not.

And lastly, if these so-called Muslims want to honor and defend the Prophet, do they not understand that by thirsting for violence they are doing the opposite? When the Swedish and Danish cartoons depicted the Prophet as a violent person and then Muslims rallied to kill them, don't they see how idiotic and stupid that is? They are doing exactly what the cartoonists are accusing everyone in our religion of doing. If you don't like them calling the Prophet violent, then prove it by showing him we are not violent people and instead are rational, mature and cooperative.

When the Prophet Muhammad was persecuted, threatened and mocked by the townspeople, he never retaliated against them. He prayed for them. He even asked on the behalf of a woman who used to throw animal intestines on him while he prayed on his own in the mosque. That humility, patience and forgiveness is the example of the Prophet that Muslims all over the world should live by and defend. No one is going to believe Muslims are peaceful if we don't act that way.

Obviously we can't stop the fringe from behaving that way, but we can sure make a difference in preventing that fringe from growing and making sure we emphatically condemn threatening free speech as much as we can. Actions speak louder than words, so please join me in signing this petition in support of free speech:http://www.irshadmanji.com/petition

I'm an American Muslim and I believe in free speech, equal rights and respect. I may not agree or like caricatures of my religion or anyone's religion, but that's what entertainment does-make people laugh at the expense of others and that's just something we have to live with in order to secure our freedom. Cartoons like South Park are not intelligent critiques of religion so I could honestly care less what they say. I don't support hate speech and believe we all have a right to stand up to it, but we should let the law and courts deal with it. We are not lawless people, vigilantes who go out and do what we wish without thinking of others. I wish more Muslims would be as vocal against those terrorists who are giving us a bad name than little cartoonists or writers who aren't hurting anyone but their own intelligence and conscience. 

Our religion can stand up to and cooperate with reason, courage and restraint just like anyone else, so let's actually show that, shall we? We live in a pluralistic, diverse, multi-religious society where we must cede certain preferences in order to be in harmony with others. You can't have everything your way. The world just doesn't work like that.

Sorry to get all political on you guys, but this is something I'm very passionate about and the writing community I know should have some sort of opinion on it. Judy Blume probably does:)

In the Zone

" It always seems impossible until its done."

-Nelson Mandela

So despite my awesome and peculiar idea for a short story, I failed to enter the NPR Fiction Writing Contest. I know, I know cue the "awwww" sound.

It was those dreaded sirens YouTube and Facebook, I swear! I could not resist!

Actually, it was also that I went out of town and did not bring a laptop with me so I was disconnected from the world for a few days. It was quite frightening, I tell you. I didn't realize how much my life revolves around Internet, email, online news and such. It's nice to just get away from it all and get back to basics.

The reason I went out of town was to attend a school trip to Oklahoma City to visit the National Memorial Museum where the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings happened. We were learning about terrorism and the press, how the media covers it as well as what is terrorism really. 

It was so fascinating to see the museum and learn about a domestic terror event that I don't even remember because I was only four at the time. The museum was incredibly well done and hit the perfect tone of solemnness, hope and courage for the survivors and the whole community. 

We also got to talk to an amazing man, Mike Boettcher, a former CNN correspondent and veteran in covering global terrorism. We met lots of really interesting people thanks to our professor and being a part of the Cronkite school. Everyone knows us so we get a lot of priveleges:)

But it wasn't all work. One evening we got to watch The Green Zone, starring Matt Damon as Officer Roy Miller. The movie although very fictionalized is an account of a soldier in Iraq who uncovers the conspiracy over the lack of WMDs and how America knew that and still went in, fabricating information in order to have authority to create a democracy in the country. It's "inspired" by a non-fiction book by a Washington Post reporter Raji Chandresekaren called  Imperial Life in the Emerald City. 

It looks like the only things the movie and book have in common are the setting and theme, otherwise the whole character of Matt Damon finding out about the nonexistent WMDs isn't true. But I guess that's Hollywood. The movie was really good though and I'm not really into pointless action movies. I don't flinch at blown up cars and shaky camera scenes. Well I do, but not in a good way.

I watched the movie not just from an average viewer but as a writer which made me notice several things:

• This movie had a compelling plot, although pretty simple, and made you follow the mystery the whole way through as you yearned to find out why the soldiers were being sent to sites that didn't have anything there and no one would listen to Matt Damon. Everyone should listen to Matt Damon! If it was over complicated then I would have lost interest. War and politics are already so confusing and complex that people don't want to have anything to do with it. You don't want readers to think that about your writing.

• It's possible to draw people into a story that they might not know anything about by adding human interest and emotional conflict because that's what everyone relates to and will be thinking about as the story goes on. I loved the character of Freddi, an Iraqi citizen with one leg, that just wants to do what's best for his country even it means helping the American invaders. What would I do? Would I trust that guy when everyone says not to? Do I do the right thing or the easy thing?

So I'm not really sure how they were able to craft this implausible story out of Chandresekaren's book, but it's definetly going to make people want to read it now. I sure do. But it's going to be a looong time before I get to it. I have a list of about 50 books I want/need to read and I've barely made a mark on it.

This is my current read for one of my classes, but it's one that I'm enjoying a lot because I love Nelson Mandela and am very interested in the history of South Africa's apartheid.

You have a face for radio... and a story to match

Fresh off my entrance in the Sparknotes Fiction Contest, I'm planning on entering this interesting one from NPR (National Public Radio.)

NPR Fiction Writing Contest
No more than 600 words
Deadline- Sunday, April 11, 2010. Must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time

To be qualified for the Contest, an entry must include only one (1) fictional story (each, a "Story"). The Story must include all of the following words, which may be used as nouns, adjectives or verbs of any tense:
plant
fly
trick
button
The Judge will select one (1) Contest Winner, based on the following criteria, weighted equally: (a) originality; (b) creativity; and (c) overall quality of writing.

I have absolutely no idea what to write about or how to use those four plain words, but I'm excited. I have a school trip Thursday to Saturday, but hopefully I'll be able to get enough work done before that so I won't miss the deadline. This is such a huge platform. I can't even imagine what I would do if I won or became a finalist!?!

These short story contests are like little battery chargers for me while I rest for who knows how long from my novel. It's taken me much longer than I thought to finish my NaNo novel, but atleast I'm further than what I would be if I hadn't tried at all.

So that's saying something.