Samantha Sotto Yambao's Blog, page 12
March 17, 2011
Friday Field Trip: My Cave
The oldest known cave art can be found in the Chauvet cave in France. The most common cave paintings are of large wild animals. One theory behind this theme is that it was meant to magically help increase the number of animals the cavemen hunted. Hmm…now if I could only figure out how I could make that work in writing caves.
I'd probably doodle something like this:
(I have to say that this second novel is an entirely different beast from my first one. For starters, it has bigger horns – and it knows how to use them. I am presently firmly skewered onto one of them and am unable to budge from chapter thirteen. But enough about the-novel-that-is-slurping-my-brain-out-with-a-straw. This post is about caves. And magic.)
The cavemen were on to something when they lived in caves. Caves sheltered them from the elements and made them feel safe. Inside them, they didn't have to worry about being eaten alive or drowning in tar pits.
There are arguably less life-threatening dangers surrounding us today, but one doesn't need the threat of a horrible death to need sanctuary. Whether it's a quiet place to put our feet up and inhale cupcakes or a spot to hunker down with the iPad and break our Angry Birds record, we need to stake out a little corner of the Earth for ourselves, even for just a little while. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. It simply has to be large enough to stretch our legs and spirits - without leaving any room for guilt. In this magical cave, for a stolen moment, it's okay to not care about anyone but yourself.
Today, I thought it would be fun to take a field trip to my current cave. It's perfect for hiding out from large predators, wrestling, er, writing second novels while the kiddos are in school, and exhaling. Are you ready to go? Hop on the van and follow the red umbrella! (Oh, and please try to keep the noise down. It's a "library" :D)
How about you? What's your cave like and what do you like doing in it?
March 15, 2011
Thinking of Cherry Blossoms
You may have noticed the change in the scenery. Japan is on my mind and Cherry Blossoms are blooming early here. The Cherry Blossom is a short-lived flower. As such, it symbolizes the ephemeral nature of life. It blooms, it wilts, it falls to the ground. On one hand, this seems tragic. But it is also what makes it special. We appreciate it more because we know how fragile and fleeting it is. The events in Japan have had the same effect on me. I have never hugged my children tighter.They say Japan moved eight feet nearer to the United States, but I think the shift was greater than that. The disaster has brought the world closer. Our shores may not have been hit by the waves, but our hearts are flooded with compassion.Cherry blossoms bloom, wilt, and fall to the ground. Then it blooms again.With our help, so will Japan. 
March 13, 2011
Before Ever After: Book Cover Reveal and Virtual Tour
When I was pregnant with each of my kids, I used to imagine what they would look like. Would they have my eyes or their dad's? Would they get their father's nose? I would stare at their ultrasound images and try to make out their faces. For nine months, I waited.And wondered.I felt the same way when I wrote Before Ever After. I've lost count of all the "pretend" covers I made for the book. My computer skills are limited at best (uploading photos into Facebook remains a challenge), but that didn't stop me from copying, pasting, and cropping pictures to give the story a face.Each mock-up explored different elements from the novel - a sundial, a mosaic, a Volkswagen van – but they had one thing in common: they were HORRIBLE. Don't believe me? Ask my hubby who mastered the art of mustering the most polite and encouraging smile whenever I'd show them to him and ask, "So, what do you think?" (He quickly learned that the correct answer was the same as the response to the question, "Does this make me look fat?")I have since accepted the fact that, just like cooking, designing book covers is definitely NOT one of my talents. (And yes, I will now admit that my white blouse with horizontal red stripes does make my waist look five inches thicker.) Apart from looking like a six-year old's craft project, there was something missing. The designs failed to capture the essence of the book, the concept of a story being told within a story.Still, back then, my latest "masterpiece" was there when I needed an image, however crude, to hold in my head whenever I felt like giving up - an image that would make me smile, as I waited.And wondered.At long last, I can stop wondering. Before Ever After finally has a real face smiling back at me. In a moment, it will smile back at you too. You will also get to see the premiere of the "virtual tour" we made of "The Slight Detour," the offbeat European tour Max, my main character, runs in the book. The virtual tour uses quotations from the book as well as images from two extremely talented photographer friends of mine: Cecilia Beltran and Bopet Gillego. (Thanks, guys!! You ROCK.)For those of you who have not yet read the synopsis of the book, I'm posting it here so that you can have some background on the novel before you watch the tour. If you've already read it, please skip ahead, hop on the van and enjoy the tour!Meet Before Ever After… Three years after her husband Max's death, Shelley feels no more adjusted to being a widow than she did that first terrible day. That is, until the doorbell rings. Standing on her front step is a young man who looks so much like Max–same smile, same eyes, same age, same adorable bump in his nose–he could be Max's long-lost relation. He introduces himself as Paolo, an Italian editor of American coffee table books, and shows Shelley some childhood photos. Paolo tells her that the man in the photos, the bearded man who Paolo says is his grandfather though he never seems to age, is Max. Her Max. And he is alive and well.
As outrageous as Paolo's claims seem–how could her husband be alive? And if he is, why hasn't he looked her up? – Shelley desperately wants to know the truth. She and Paolo jet across the globe to track Max down–if it is really Max– and along the way, Shelley recounts "The Slight Detour," the European package tour where they had met. As she relives Max's stories of bloody Parisian barricades, medieval Austrian kitchens, and buried Roman boathouses, Shelley begins to piece together the story of who her husband was and what these new revelations mean for her "happily ever after." And as she and Paolo get closer to the truth, Shelley discovers that not all stories end where they are supposed to.
So, um, what do you think? Does it make me look fat? ;-)
March 10, 2011
Friday Field Trip: Eggs and Awards
"The trip was also Max's chance to continue his long-time pursuit of the perfect Spanish omelet. His passion for eggs almost rivaled his devotion to chickens, though generally he preferred the latter off a plate than on it. Max staunchly believed you could get through anything if you had a chicken, and the clucking kind, in his expert opinion, had far more uses than the ones nesting on warm mashed potatoes and gravy.Shelley never fully understood her husband's ethos on poultry and chalked it up as just another item on his long list of quirks. His rabid love of the Bee Gees topped that list, while his two-year reign as strip Scrabble champion fell somewhere in the middle. (Shelley was, by default, first runner-up, being the only other contestant in their Saturday-night tournaments.) Still, she loved all of Max's quirks equally, and the sum of them even more." *
*Copyright © 2011 by Samantha Sotto-Yambao
Hi, campers! You made it just in time for our Friday Field Trip. I don't know about you guys, but I just love reading about food in novels. Since I read Harry Potter, I've been obsessed with finding out what Butter Beer tastes like. And don't even get me started on Like Water for Chocolate. But even if a book's characters are just having coffee with toast and jam, I feel that these little details immerse you more deeply into their world.
Eggs are a recurring theme in Before Ever After and today I thought we'd sample the kind of cuisine you'll find in the book. Don't worry about crumbs. You're allowed to eat on the van today. You'll need the energy for all our other awesome stops.
First on our itinerary are these wonderful ladies who gave me this delightful award:
Everyone, I'd like you guys to meet…
Fiona Phillips
Julie Flanders
Deborah Lawrenson
And
C.M. Villani
Thank you so much, ladies! The great thing about awards is that you get to pass on the fun. May I have the envelope please? And The Lovely Blog Award goes to.... (I know that some of them have already received this award before, but there's always space on the mantle for another award, right?)
Catharsis40blogSpotFairy Tales and CappuccinoLife on the Muskoka RiverOnline Confessions of a Stay-at-Home MomReads, Reviews, RecommendsMy MommyologyManila Fashion Observer101 Grams of (Eye) CandyUneditedChoosing to GrowAiring My Dirty Laundry One Sock at a Time
Danielle Mulcahy
Life's Like That
Queen of ProcrastinationSo are you guys ready for our next adventure together? I sure hope you're hungry. Oh, and as always, don't forget to follow the red umbrella!
p.s. I'm curious – Do you have any favorite dish or drink from the books you've read?
March 7, 2011
My First Goodreads Review (And yes, I'm still grinning!)
Hey, guys! In the spirit of sharing every step of this journey with you, I'm sharing a link to my first ever Goodreads review from a reader (she received an advance copy) in BRAZIL! You will also see the book's "official" blurb from my publisher on the site :D
March 6, 2011
A Burst Appendix, a Time Traveler, and a Traffic Jam
www.timetravel-britain.comLet me begin by saying that this post is not about a time traveler whose appendix burst while sitting in a traffic jam. But since you probably did not land on this page because you googled "time traveler whose appendix burst while sitting in a traffic jam," I trust that you won't be too disappointed to find out that this is actually a post about lines – crooked ones, to be specific.
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, that is, if you know where the end point happens to be. Locations are easy enough to find on a map; in life, not so much. You might be lucky enough to have an idea of the general direction you want to go – you may even have a plan and packed snacks – but you can't truly know for sure where you will end up. In this post, I'm sharing the crooked line that led me to writing Before Ever After.
Life throws curve balls that can knock out the best GPS. It threw one at my brother and hit his appendix, which is quite remarkable considering that we later discovered that his appendix was actually on the wrong side of his body. Life has uncanny aim.
Because of my brother's jumbled up anatomy, his condition was initially misdiagnosed. This led to serious complications. (Don't worry. Except for being an appendix-short and the fact that his colon is now semi-colon, he's fine.)
Our family took turns staying by his side while he was at the hospital. During my shift, I started reading the book The Time Traveler's Wife. For those of you have read this novel, you will know that this isn't the best story to read when you're emotionally exhausted. I had a cloud of gloom hanging over me for weeks after I finished the book.
The dark cloud seemed to hover closest when I was stuck in traffic with nothing to do but cry over Henry DeTamble. That's when Max, the main character of Before Ever After, hopped into my car to cheer me up. At the next intersection, he introduced me to his wife and friends and started telling me all about The Slight Detour, the offbeat European tour he ran. By the time I got home, his story was swirling around in my head.
I could not have predicted how those long hours curled up with Audrey Niffenegger's wonderful novel by my brother's hospital bed would lead me to writing – and I'm glad. Crooked lines make more interesting journeys, don't you think?
March 3, 2011
Friday Field Trip: Big Toes and Boracay Island
"Y ou can tell a lot about a place by how it feels between your toes. Shelley's ten digits took great pride in their astute ability to judge an area's character. Her left big toe was an especially thoughtful observer. By instinct, it could tell within seconds of touching the ground if a place was rough, slippery, or soft. Now it decided, as Shelley waded to the shore, that this particular island required a whole different category of praise. Paradise came close, but that rang a bit trite. A happy accident, it thought—a string of mishaps, to be precise—suited it much better. Shelley's toe was utterly convinced that Boracay had not come about on purpose. If it had, it would be forced to accuse God of favoritism— something that the Catholic in it refused to let it do."*
p. 260, Before Ever After
Welcome, campers! Glad you could join us for our Friday Field Trip. (I know, I know. It's not Friday yet, but I'll be toiling at the proofreading mines tomorrow so we're borrowing the Tardis and taking a quick trip to the future.) Today we're headed to one of my personal favorite settings in the book – Boracay!
Boracay is an island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines and has been named as one of the top ten beaches in the world.
But I won't waste my breath attempting to describe it to you. Hop on the van, follow the red umbrella, and see it for yourself. (By the way, my eight-year old son took some of the photos in this video. I find that kids really see things from such a different and fascinating perspective. Can you spot which photographs are his?) And while you're there, make sure you try the Calamansi (Philippine lemon) muffins.
*Copyright © 2011 by Samantha Sotto-Yambao
February 27, 2011
Deleted Scenes and Alternative Endings
Hi. I'm Sam and I'm a Special Feature Junkie. It all started back when DVD players were twice as thick and ten times more expensive. I bought the Matrix Special Edition DVD Boxed Set and was promptly doomed.
I'll never forget my first glimpse of The White Rabbit. It was a special feature that allowed you to sneak a peek at the special effects of selected scenes when a white rabbit icon appeared. Keanu Reeves. Trench coat. Wire harness. Awesome.
Since then, I've gotten my fix via The Princess Bride's "As You Wish" Documentary, The Lord of the Ring's "Abandoned Concept: Aragorn Battles Sauron" and Harry Potter's "Conversations with the Cast." The list goes on.
I'm the same way with books – which is why I was thrilled when I won the code to EVENFALL author, Liz Michalski's hidden pages on her website through a contest over at Petit Fours and Hot Tamales. What can I say? I'm on a lucky streak.
http://petitfoursandhottamales.com/2011/02/guest-chef-author-liz-michalski/
I'd love to know how you feel about book "bonus features." As a reader, does it spoil the magic if you discover what the Magician has under his sleeve or does it make you appreciate the illusion more? As a writer, do you enjoy sharing your secrets with the world or would you rather keep them close to your chest?
p.s. And speaking of bonus features, as promised, here are more photos from my Singapore trip. (For those of you who are snowed in, I hope this helps thaw you out :D )
Singapore Friday Field Trip from Sam Yambao on Vimeo.
Hi, Campers! Glad you could make it to our field trip today! I'm in Singapore for a quick getaway and I'm taking you with me. Follow the red umbrella to see some initial glimpses of this awesome place.
