Marissa De Luna's Blog, page 10

If you know exactly what you are going to do, what is...

If you know exactly what you are going to do, what is the point of doing it? - Picasso (I am quoting this froma what I heard in the movie Midnight in Paris- so could be slightly wrong- FYI - I loved that movie)

As you may well know we are currently in the middle of the Oxford Literary Festival. On saturday, in the rain, I traipsed over to the Sheldonian Theatre ( A beautiful building both inside and out) to hear a talk by Alexander McCall Smith. This author has been a great inspiration to me w...

The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.

“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.”
—Philip Roth
My blog posts are few and far between these days. I have been writing though. I finished the first draft of Indian Diaries- Speedy, I know but its only approx 10,000 words and really it is a skeleton draft- just the bare bones– now they are with Urmi for her comments. I think its gonna be a great little kindle book – we might even get our heads around the epub format and put it on Good Reads and other sites to download.
I have sta...

The harder I work, the luckier I get

The harder I work, the luckier I get - Samuel Goldwyn

Sorry, I have been oh so lame at blogging at the moment. Why? Well work has started on the short story kindle book currently called Indian Diaries. It will feature 25 (or thereabouts) short stories ( more like flash fiction but the idea is that the stories are short, concise, focus on the picture and are thought provoking) to accompany beautiful photographs (all black and white) set in India. I also signed my publishing deal (whoo...

No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly;

No fathers or mothers think their own children ugly; and this self-deceit is yet stronger with respect to the offspring of the mind.


-Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra 
I am in one of those moods. I came home from work all ready to get to grips with Chupplejeep and then I got distracted. I have started watching Hot in Cleveland - which for some strange reason I am addicted to as well as Girls. Anyway Hot in Cleveland distracted me and even though H is not around this evening I couldn't bring my...

I dont care if a reader hates one of my stories...

“I don’t care if a reader hates one of my stories, just as long as he finishes the book.”
—Roald Dahl, WD


Where do I begin? It has not been long since my last post but I have been busy (not writing unfortunately) busy with work and it feels like it has been an age since I blogged or ranted - should I say!

Well I have done a bit of writing and more character development on Under The Coconut Tree. I am now up to approx 45,000 not that I am counting- that is the worst thing you can do- to me it mea...

I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage...

I have long felt that any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has just put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae or banana split.
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr

Well it happened- I received a scathing review. A one star rant about just how terrible the reviewer felt GT was!  I can't say it didn't sting – it did. ‘Take it down’ H said especially when you are sending Bittersweet to publishers. – I laughed- 1) I don’t kno...

Writing is the only profession...

Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money. - Jules RenardSo the year has properly started – if you were fortunate not to go back to work last week - I am sure you are back now. And it’s difficult isn’t it? Working, getting rid of the festive fat and writing. You kind of look at the year ahead and if you are not in the right frame of mind you think: arghhhh another year to get through. Gosh that is so pessimistic – I must be suffering from SAD!...

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer...

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.
- Eugene Ionesco Happy New Year. Three days of work and I feel that Christmas is a distant memory. So I must share my recent revelations and my goals for 2013 with you. Yesterday I went to creative meditation. I always find, when I go to this class, I feel like a new person after. The meditation was all about creating space in your life for something new- something you want or even for...

If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not writing.

If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not writing. Just like life. It’s as simple as that. – Rita Clay Estrada
I have mentioned this website before but it’s so good I thought I would give it another mention. Recently when I researching something or the other – probably what questions to ask a literary agent I found this site again: Writers beware. Well I actually went looking for it because I knew it would be filled with good nuggets of information. I was right it gave me the information I wan...

Don't be dismayed by the opinions of editors...

Don't be dismayed by the opinions of editors, or critics. They are only the traffic cops of the arts. - Gene Fowler So today I feel like I am drowning. Now that I have an agent and I want to get The Bittersweet Vine (TBV) submissions out as soon as possible I have to re-visit it. Before I was going to give my brain and poor eyes a rest and start editing  it again in January. So Poor Chupplejeep gets put to the back of the pile again. I have now set myself a deadline of Middle Jan to get...