Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 9
January 27, 2020
Bombay Trilogy, book trailer
Bombay Trilogy, book trailer
January 25, 2020
Almost Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blank Page
Character or Plot?
Planner or Pantster?
Research or Write-what-you-know?
Beginnings: Pianissimo or forte?
Done or Abandoned?
Device or Spontaneity?
January 21, 2020
December 21, 2019
Faves from the Novels
1)Favorite phrase in the Bombay Trilogy's Shiva’s Arms?
vidama pidingarathu (the way samsara gets its hooks into you and won’t let you go)
From Rescuing Ranu?
How many cousins are worth one brother? (you don't have to know we're talking math here!)
From Kalpavrishka?
It's a tie between "work to do!" and "There's nothing like relatives!"
2)Favorite maxim or proverb in the book?
The elephant should not marry with the mouse (SA)
When Nela and Jackson in RR refer to one another as "my house," the way Ramanajun referred to his wife.
The old woman in Kalpavriksha who only speaks to the young boy Anand in proverbs.
3)Favorite description?
“Soon the lawn bloomed with bright saris. Heads tilted upward to try to see what Amma saw--light traveling to each person, to take with them wherever they went.” SA
In RR, the way Nela takes care of Jackson when he falls ill.
From Kalpavriksha: "It had always been the time she liked best, just after the moon had ridden to its highest point in the night sky. Ram imagined Alice gazing at the ruins of the reception in the frosted light, and tried to picture the room as she had seen it, bathed in a wash of sapphire like a wept-over still life: the tablecloths askew, the centerpieces and chunks of cake smashed into the floor, curtains of flower garlands pulled down after the children had attempted to swing on them, chair legs broken in the places where the men paraded the bride and groom around on their shoulders, and stumbled drunkenly into the furniture. Now the room, embalmed in gold, shimmered with light that would whiten in a minute."
4)Scenes that made you want to visit India?
The celebration of Golu; Nela offering her hair at the temple. SA
The depiction of pongal in RR.
The wedding reception disguised as a Bollywood movie launch in Kalpavriksha.
5)Favorite scene revolving around food?
When Amma makes her famous dosa at Ram's house in SA.
The wedding feast in Kalpavriksha, served alongside acrobats. "A good Brahmin married in a circus!"
vidama pidingarathu (the way samsara gets its hooks into you and won’t let you go)
From Rescuing Ranu?
How many cousins are worth one brother? (you don't have to know we're talking math here!)
From Kalpavrishka?
It's a tie between "work to do!" and "There's nothing like relatives!"
2)Favorite maxim or proverb in the book?
The elephant should not marry with the mouse (SA)
When Nela and Jackson in RR refer to one another as "my house," the way Ramanajun referred to his wife.
The old woman in Kalpavriksha who only speaks to the young boy Anand in proverbs.
3)Favorite description?
“Soon the lawn bloomed with bright saris. Heads tilted upward to try to see what Amma saw--light traveling to each person, to take with them wherever they went.” SA
In RR, the way Nela takes care of Jackson when he falls ill.
From Kalpavriksha: "It had always been the time she liked best, just after the moon had ridden to its highest point in the night sky. Ram imagined Alice gazing at the ruins of the reception in the frosted light, and tried to picture the room as she had seen it, bathed in a wash of sapphire like a wept-over still life: the tablecloths askew, the centerpieces and chunks of cake smashed into the floor, curtains of flower garlands pulled down after the children had attempted to swing on them, chair legs broken in the places where the men paraded the bride and groom around on their shoulders, and stumbled drunkenly into the furniture. Now the room, embalmed in gold, shimmered with light that would whiten in a minute."
4)Scenes that made you want to visit India?
The celebration of Golu; Nela offering her hair at the temple. SA
The depiction of pongal in RR.
The wedding reception disguised as a Bollywood movie launch in Kalpavriksha.
5)Favorite scene revolving around food?
When Amma makes her famous dosa at Ram's house in SA.
The wedding feast in Kalpavriksha, served alongside acrobats. "A good Brahmin married in a circus!"
December 20, 2019
INTRODUCING the BOMBAY TRILOGY
Bombay Trilogy follows the fictional Sambashivan family from the author's previous novels-- Shiva's Arms, Rescuing Ranu, and Kalpavriksha-- through a sprawling, epic retelling of their history. The characters, from a bandit-killing matriarch to siblings who rise above the demands of blood; a daughter who adopts an orphan of questionable origin, a cousin who marries an 'unsuitable' bride, an auntie who inherits her sister's life, and newlyweds with separate agendas for their future-- they all cycle through decades of cultural, personal, and societal change, each generation finding itself stranded at the intersection of freedom and duty. For each of them, in different ways, that's the point at which the story opens into an exploration of cultural identity, freedom, and the meaning of home.
December 3, 2019
The Bombay Trilogy
The novel Kalpavriksha, the final novel in my Bombay Trilogy, is now available. I'll miss those characters...
http://www.lulu.com/shop/cheryl-snell/kalpavriksha/paperback/product-24343781.html
May 27, 2015
New Book!
Introducing a new collection by Cheryl and Janet Snell: GEOMETRIES
About the BookGEOMETRIES pairs expressionist drawings with lyric narratives, exploring the intersection of art and writing from different points of view, sometimes from a character in the drawing, sometimes from the emotional distance of the poet making a representation of a representation. The pieces navigate a territory whose boundaries merge –– grief into consolation, logic to fantasy, attraction to detachment, and the creators’ shared sense of melancholy layers the whole in the varied ways meaning is made.
ISBN: 9780991212170
Price: $20
53 pages
Publisher: Moria Books
free pdf
print copies
About the BookGEOMETRIES pairs expressionist drawings with lyric narratives, exploring the intersection of art and writing from different points of view, sometimes from a character in the drawing, sometimes from the emotional distance of the poet making a representation of a representation. The pieces navigate a territory whose boundaries merge –– grief into consolation, logic to fantasy, attraction to detachment, and the creators’ shared sense of melancholy layers the whole in the varied ways meaning is made.
ISBN: 9780991212170Price: $20
53 pages
Publisher: Moria Books
free pdf
print copies
