Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 21
October 23, 2011
October 22, 2011
Shopping List
Did you forget to pick up a Diwali gift for your favorite Mama and Mami? Not to worry, my two Indian-themed novels and the prequel are for sale at Kindle. Cheap, fast, literate -- what's not to love?
October 21, 2011
October 17, 2011
Preparing for Diwali
The holiday season all across India is in full swing now, and it's only natural to wonder how other people prepare for and celebrate Diwali, so let's ake a peek inside the household of my fictional character Nela and her adopted daughter Ranu and see what they're up to:
One night, long before dawn, Nela awoke to the sound of
fireworks. Someone else might have identified it as gunfire, but this
pop was distinctive, and immediately brought her childhood back to
her. It was Divali, the Festival of Lights celebrating Rama's
triumphant homecoming after killing a foe, the time of year when
she and Ramesh would rush out of the house after an excited, light
sleep, armed with Atomic Bombs, and Flowerpots. Arms full of
firecrackers saved for and selected weeks before, they would race to
the gymkhana across the street. No matter how early, there were
always children already there, waiting for the brother and sister
famous for balancing the flaming flowerpots on the vertical bars of
the chain link fence and setting off the fuse of the Chinese crackers.
Soon the night bloomed with burning flowers, hovering over whole
neighborhoods before dissolving.
Now Nela rubbed the sleep from her eyes and opened the front
door. There was Ranu, crouched in the fallow garden, setting off a
few tiny blazes. The path from the kitchen door to the plot had been
lined by diya pots, and a kolam made from rice paste drawn outside
the porch. How long it must have taken Ranu to do this! Nela ducked
inside before the child noticed her and the surprise was spoiled. She
went to her bookshelves. The child needed a Diwali gift! There was
no time now to make traditional sweets or buy new clothes, but a
book would do. Nela picked up her Gita and drew her finger along
the spine, rubbed her thumbs over the embossed cover. How could
she part with this piece of her history? Chitti had given the book to
her when she was still too young to understand it, although she
could have recited any story from it on the spot.
She took the volume out to Ranu. "Happy Diwali," she said. "This
was my auntie's book. You have seen it before, at the hut. Chitti gave
it to me, and now I give it to you." The child received the book like a blessing.
on Genre
I recently clicked on a group named My Genre Fiction Can Kick Your LitFic's Ass, where a debate about the merits of literary fiction versus genre fiction raged. Accusations hurled from practitioner and aficionado alike are cliches by now -- pretentious language goes up against formulaic plots and stock characters, inscrutable meaning takes precedence over entertainment. But how to define literary fiction? I found this take on SheWrites:
1.Literary fiction puts strong focus on how the story is told. "Literary" writers play with form, point of view, and language. Readers find themselves paying as much attention to the manner of telling the story as to the story itself.
In Shiva's Arms,I employed a multiple POV technique that recalled film's Rashomon Effect for one critic. And my use of language, strongly influenced by my work as a poet, affected many readers positively, but one thought my language was "fractured for effect".
2.In literary fiction, readers are asked to do some work–make connections, deduce motivations, recognize turning points. There's plot (or there should be!) but the plot is there to reveal themes, not just for the fun of the action.
Although I included glossaries in both of my novels, I hope the readers' exploration won't stop with unfamiliar words. The theme of altruism in Rescuing Ranu,for instance,is revealed through the relationship between Nela and Ranu. It transforms Nela, and might encourage a reader to familiarize herself with the mathematics that underscores that transformation: Hamilton's Rule, and how questions of loyalty and relatedness work in her own community.
3.In literary fiction, characters wrestle with the big issues. Characters, and readers, come to a deeper understanding about the human condition. Literary fiction deals with "truth" with a capital T.
Animosities between in-laws, even complicated by a culture clash, are classic, and to develop empathy for a difficult,three dimensional character can sometimes be as hard for the writer as it is for the reader. I had to re-frame Amma in light of her own fictional world to provide a more fully human portrayal of what it meant for her to live in that world. And after all, isn't that one of the reasons we read fiction? We want to learn how to be.
1.Literary fiction puts strong focus on how the story is told. "Literary" writers play with form, point of view, and language. Readers find themselves paying as much attention to the manner of telling the story as to the story itself.
In Shiva's Arms,I employed a multiple POV technique that recalled film's Rashomon Effect for one critic. And my use of language, strongly influenced by my work as a poet, affected many readers positively, but one thought my language was "fractured for effect".
2.In literary fiction, readers are asked to do some work–make connections, deduce motivations, recognize turning points. There's plot (or there should be!) but the plot is there to reveal themes, not just for the fun of the action.
Although I included glossaries in both of my novels, I hope the readers' exploration won't stop with unfamiliar words. The theme of altruism in Rescuing Ranu,for instance,is revealed through the relationship between Nela and Ranu. It transforms Nela, and might encourage a reader to familiarize herself with the mathematics that underscores that transformation: Hamilton's Rule, and how questions of loyalty and relatedness work in her own community.
3.In literary fiction, characters wrestle with the big issues. Characters, and readers, come to a deeper understanding about the human condition. Literary fiction deals with "truth" with a capital T.
Animosities between in-laws, even complicated by a culture clash, are classic, and to develop empathy for a difficult,three dimensional character can sometimes be as hard for the writer as it is for the reader. I had to re-frame Amma in light of her own fictional world to provide a more fully human portrayal of what it meant for her to live in that world. And after all, isn't that one of the reasons we read fiction? We want to learn how to be.
October 14, 2011
Before They Were Famous: Rejection Letters of the Stars
Match 'em!
"There certainly isn't enough genuine talent for us to take notice."
A Anne Sexton
B Sylvia Plath
C Lady Gaga
"The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level."
A Bastard Out of Carolina
B A Good Man is Hard to Find
C The Diary of Anne Frank
"…even to an enlightened Freudian…the whole thing is an unsure cross between hideous reality and improbable fantasy... I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.
A Lolita
B The Fountainhead
C American Psycho
"I haven't really the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say. Apparently the author intends to be funny — possibly even satire — but it is really not funny on any intellectual level."
A The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
B Catch 22
C Green Eggs and Ham
BCAB (answers)
"There certainly isn't enough genuine talent for us to take notice."
A Anne Sexton
B Sylvia Plath
C Lady Gaga
"The girl doesn't, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the 'curiosity' level."
A Bastard Out of Carolina
B A Good Man is Hard to Find
C The Diary of Anne Frank
"…even to an enlightened Freudian…the whole thing is an unsure cross between hideous reality and improbable fantasy... I recommend that it be buried under a stone for a thousand years.
A Lolita
B The Fountainhead
C American Psycho
"I haven't really the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say. Apparently the author intends to be funny — possibly even satire — but it is really not funny on any intellectual level."
A The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
B Catch 22
C Green Eggs and Ham
BCAB (answers)
FAQ
Writers all need a one sentence summary of their book to hook a publisher. What was your elevator pitch for Shiva's Arms?
Will the power struggle between a Brahmin matriarch and her American daughter-in-law grind the man in the middle into chutney?
What if the elevator stops between floors?
I'd add this: when Alice marries Ramesh, she is plunged into a battle of wills with her mother-in-law. Namesake of a god, Amma reigns over Alice's household until a family secret is revealed that costs the old woman everything. It is up to Alice to heal the rift, as Shiva's Arms opens into an exploration on cultural identity, the power of reconciliation, and the meaning of home.
How do you negotiate with those in your real life when portions of them appear in your work?
Deny, deny, deny. After all, everyone knows an Amma, an Alice, a Ram, so if a person thinks they see a bit of themselves floating around my pages I chalk it up to a guilty conscience.
What's something your readers might not know about you?
Let's see. Do they know that I've played the piano with a symphony orchestra? A law in physics bears my family name? That a boat was named after me?
Describe yourself in three words
Fluent in subtext.
The imagery you create of India is amazing! How many times have you been there?
India came to me in the form of my husband, his friends and relations. I did plenty of research however –read the books, cooked the cuisine, learned a bit of the language, celebrated the feasts, fasts, and festivals.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." (Samuel Beckett)
What is your true subject?
In my work, the past is present, and the future is, too. Outside or within the mortal there is always the immortal. That conflation is my true subject.
Will the power struggle between a Brahmin matriarch and her American daughter-in-law grind the man in the middle into chutney?
What if the elevator stops between floors?
I'd add this: when Alice marries Ramesh, she is plunged into a battle of wills with her mother-in-law. Namesake of a god, Amma reigns over Alice's household until a family secret is revealed that costs the old woman everything. It is up to Alice to heal the rift, as Shiva's Arms opens into an exploration on cultural identity, the power of reconciliation, and the meaning of home.
How do you negotiate with those in your real life when portions of them appear in your work?
Deny, deny, deny. After all, everyone knows an Amma, an Alice, a Ram, so if a person thinks they see a bit of themselves floating around my pages I chalk it up to a guilty conscience.
What's something your readers might not know about you?
Let's see. Do they know that I've played the piano with a symphony orchestra? A law in physics bears my family name? That a boat was named after me?
Describe yourself in three words
Fluent in subtext.
The imagery you create of India is amazing! How many times have you been there?
India came to me in the form of my husband, his friends and relations. I did plenty of research however –read the books, cooked the cuisine, learned a bit of the language, celebrated the feasts, fasts, and festivals.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." (Samuel Beckett)
What is your true subject?
In my work, the past is present, and the future is, too. Outside or within the mortal there is always the immortal. That conflation is my true subject.
October 12, 2011
Karwa Chauth
AmBo Karwa Chauth Scene by Favidoes
Nine days before Diwali, married women in the north observe Karwa Chauth. It is a day of fasting, moonrise to moonrise, to ensure the health and longeivity of their husbands. The women dress in their bridal saris, worship Pavarti and Shiva with ten earthen vessels full of sweets. When a wife glimpses the moon through a seive, the fast is broken, the husband feeds his wife, and the mood is set for the Festival of Lights. Above is a cinematic treatment of the occasion.
