Moonlake’s Reading List (2)

All right, I skipped Sunday again! Two consecutive days of 30+ Celsius cooked my brain but mostly, I’m still out of my blogging routine. Ah well, I’m still owing one and I will be keeping tabs.

 

Hmmm…. I did say this won’t be an actual series but well, I’m not really in blogging mood today and besides Moonlake’s Book Discoveries is overdue but I’m not ready to write another long read so this will have to do. Read this as a preview of January’s Book Discoveries, to be released on 3 January (in Australia).

 

Firstly, let’s go through the list of reviewed work/books I had read in the interim of the last Book Discovery post and the forthcoming one:

Standalone novels and series

  • Shadows Trilogy by Jon Sprunk
  • A Dead man’s Ransom by Ellis Peters
  • Hope to Die by James Patterson
  • Days of the Deer by Lilliana Bodoc
  • Shadows and Stronghold by Elizabeth Chadwick

Short story collections

  • A Dreadful Murder & other criminally compulsive tales by Minette Walters
  • Harvest Moon by Mercedes Lackey, Michelle Sagara and Cameron Haley
  • Tortall and other lands: a collection of tales by Tamora Pierce

Gaming/plot-your-own books

  • Destiny quest: The Legion of Shadow by Micahel Ward
  • A Million Little Mistakes by Heather McElhatton
  • Being Elizabeth Benett: create your own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster
  • Cavern of the Snow Witch by Ian Livingstone

 

Next up on my reading list are:

  • Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (yay, my local library finally stocks the whole series!)
  • More Elizabeth Chadwick books
  • Robin Hobb’s Farseer trilogy and possibly other series if I like her style
  • Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera pimped by my good friend except they are only available only as audiobooks which is a problem for me as I like to read, not listen to books

Moonlake’s Writing Updates (4)

Hmm…. I forgot about last Sunday’s post. Ah well, there will be a make-up post either today or forthcoming.

 

Today, I’m just going to do another writing update. Unfortunately, the short story that I said I was committed to finishing really didn’t work out and I just became so ‘out’ of the story that I decided to discontinue. It’s a bit of a pity since I had a good start- it was born out of a collaborative venture at my Writer’s home and those of us who participated had great hopes for it but ah well… things didn’t really work out across various areas and I didn’t really feel like short stories are my thing. I love complexity, interconnections, that kind of thing. So after enrolling myself into James Patterson’s Masterclass (I told you this last time), I got reinvigorated to going back to my stalled novel that I had put down since Feb/Mar.

 

I’m going all the way back to the outline stage and I will be creating a comprehensive outline for each of the 5 book series before I actually revise the writing now. And if you are one of my followers who had went through one of my few long reads titled Moonlake’s Novel Planning Method, you might’ve noticed that I don’t write outlines but instead do a sequences of steps starting with giving each Chapter a name and write two sub-events that happened in each Chapter in indentation form and ending with what I call pre-writing where I fill out each scene by brainstorming about how exactly I will write each paragraph or main section to get how the sequence of events play out. But JP’s Masterclass made me realise that an outline included and should include more elements than my own process that could be really useful to help writers play-test their novel before they even start writing. So I’ve decided to try out this new tool.

 

I think I mentioned that I’m a bit of a sub-plot maniac and that’s certainly where I had the most fun with the first time around. This time around, the outlines are proving somewhat more difficult for me because JP’s outlines are really more about getting back to the essence of a scene (the conflicts, the key traits of the character you are showcasing whereas previously my emphasis tended to be getting it right in my head as to how events unfolded in a scene. Also, I’m no longer working with a clean slate and I’ve recently felt a little stuck. But I’ve included more helpers this time around. I’ve shared my outlines with two people who I’ve befriended on the Citadel (what I call my Virtual Writer’s Home for casual/first time readers of my blog) and I’ve also recently gained one more beta reader, a ‘lost’ member and one of my closest friends come back to the site. Also, this time around, I’m committed to doing some iterations on the outlines so I’m hoping that this setup (Currently I have 2 people commenting on the outlines and another two on actual writing although at some point I’ll probably get my beta readers to join in on giving feedback on my outlines, I was initially reluctant to do so thinking that they might not like getting spoilers but it looks like I might have to ask that of them some time or later) will give me some good feedback that I can use when I go through and do iterations on the outlines (when I started on the novel, I didn’t do any iterations when I planned out the plot, I was just impatient to start writing and surely the result of ‘winging it’ resulted in plots that my new beta reader said sounded a little forced, hints that I dropped in of future developments that are picked up and conveyed too vaguely to provoke little reader response, that kind of thing). So yes, I’m committed to iterations this time around.

 

The other major development is that I’ve started another collaboration on the Citadel. I had previously posted up my manual translations of a bunch of mythical lifeforms from Chinese lore and it was well liked. Then while asking what themes of Chinese lore people wanted to read on the Citadel (I had later branched out into more than lifeforms), another dear friend on the site said he would like to see an actual adventure module showcasing the creatures. So then I asked whether he wanted to collab on it and he said yes and off we went. We’re still brainstorming at this stage but I’m excited because this is only my second collaborative experience on the site. I only had two other collaborative experiences and they were both with another dear friend, who was another Moon (we have several people whose usernames involved Moon on the site). The first one turned out very pleasant and the second died due to unforeseen and regrettable circumstances (a pity cos what we came up with was a fun idea) but we two remained good friends, which is what matters. And it really gave me a taste for the power of collective brainstorming so these two development should be occupying most of my creative muscles for now.

 

 

Moonlake’s Serendipidities (1)

I disappeared again for two weeks and that’s because I was down with a cold for that duration. I’m also in a “don’t feel like doing anything” mode in general. But I’m trying to make a comeback so what could be more uplifting than doing an entry that lists all of the serendipities in my life so far?

As everyone can see from the description of this category page, serendipidity’s a fancy word for describing a not so complex phenomenon but I will admit that I have a whim for fancy words and I’ve just taken a liking to this word. So that’s why I named this page thus.

Anyway, I don’t want to go too far back in time so I would start the list with when I get my first grad job which is back in 06/07:

  1. When I despaired of ever getting a grad job in my Honours year, I got the offer to my first job as a Research Officer (effectively a Research Assistant but at where I worked, that’s the actual job title). That year, I applied for 10-20 grad programs (you could say that’s not a lot but I believe I applied for the most out of my Honours classmates simply because most were taken up in April already but I kept getting rejected so I kept applying throughout the whole year) and the really depressing thing was that I always got through to the interview stage for those jobs that I really thought I had a chance and was somewhat interested in (or at least not adverse to) so effectively I was experiencing all these roller-roaster moods of hope and then rejection again and again. Towards the end of the year, I was despairing so much that I was full on planning to do Masters straight away if I couldn’t get a grad job but then the ad for a RO position (it was just one position whereas most grad programs take a number of new grad for anyone not familiar with what a grad program is) came along and I actually got the job even though after the interview I was still like “nay, won’t get it”.
  2. I discontinued with a PhD in the final year and then became unemployed. Amidst contemplating a career change etc, I hit upon my real passion: creative writing. I mean, I knew all the way back in high school that I enjoyed writing and sometime during my PhD I had stumbled upon my writer’s home but I never considered it as anything other than a hobby. But gradually, I’m switching to the perspective that I wanted writing to be the main focus in my life. By this, I don’t necessarily mean that I’m setting out to a full time writer or a published one, simply that I want to personally make it my priority. I’m still struggling with mood swings, worries over financial security etc. at the moment but at least I’ve gained a clearer perspective over what I want with life. Anyway, I was truly euphoric when I made the realisation that I’m a writer at heart and I don’t really want to turn back to anything else.
  3. Sometime before my epiphany i.e. when I was stuck in thinking about a career change, I had joined a book club on meetup as part of an attempt to meet new people and broaden my horizon (also excuse to get me out of the house and my Internet addiction). At that point, I was thinking that potentially I would be interested in a counselling career and then on the day of the meetup, two other women from that book club were actually doing a counselling course at that time. In the end, I decided not to pursue a counselling career after all but when I found that out on the day, I was like “wow, talk about coincidences!”
  4. Around the time that my novel was stalled, I started to be plagued by worries over finance and my emotions threatened to play havoc. And then one day I just opened up my email and apparently someone had been trying to reach me for a while asking whether I’m available to do RA work for her. It felt like a job had just rained down on me from nowhere again (I got that feeling with my first grad job although in truth I obviously went to the job interview and they thought I was a good fit but you know how feelings are)
  5. A commercial e-book venture was suddenly formed over at Strolen’s Citadel (my writer’s home) and it gave me the excuse I needed to take up writing a short story. It’s come to a stall again like my novel but I did look upon it as a blessing when it appeared.
  6. I discovered a place called the Little Library in Melbourne Central (a shopping centre/train station that I always bypass on/off work) where you can borrow books indefinitely and then either return the same book or another of your choice. Nothing major but a little nice surprise for a bookworm like me
  7. Google ad sent me a link to Masterclass which offered a writing class by James Patterson who writes bestselling mysteries (based on my browsing history probably). After finding out that he wrote the Women’s Murder Club series (I haven’t read it but played a few hidden object PC games based on it) I saved the link for reference. Now I’ve officially enrolled (it only costs $90 USD) and I think it comes in real handy cos I’m hoping to use it as a leverage to get me back into writing again.

There are probably more that I missed but you get the idea here. I don’t know how many of you stuck to the finish with this post but if you do, I hope that you will find it uplifting in nature for you as well.

Moonlake’s Lyrics (16)

To make up for last week, I’m doing 2 posts today. This is from another song by Anita Mui. I don’t think this is one of her famous songs. In contrast, the other Cantonese version of this sung by another HK female singer is quite well known. But I like this version much better. Somehow, I also connect this song with the life story of the singer. Anyway, the real reason this song draws me is that it reflects well the reason why I never value fame. In fact, I actually abhor fame, preferring to hide in a corner usually. That is in part what drew me to writing, which is essentially a solitary pursuit (as are all my other hobbies).

The title of the song is “Song of the Sunset” and its lyrics is:

*The sunset is infinite                    and yet it is only brilliance only lasts for a breath
Diffusing with the clouds              splendour that went past won’t come back
Late years                                           cannot endure the changes of this lifetime
Like the coming together and diffusion of clouds              entangled with this tired appearance who had experienced all the ups and downs of life

#A long road                      suddenly I feel that time has shortened
Times of happiness are always short and never return
Who has seen through that my dream                   is plainness

@How many storms have I encountered                              weaving my criss-crossing fantasies
Having encountered your embrace from the heart          accompanying me through ordeals
Amidst rushing about                     become disheartened
There is yet another bend on the road amidst disputes and twists and turns
One day when I think     (think)                  of returning it’s already too late

Repeat *, #, @, *, #, @

Oh                          me who is born alone feel gloomy
There is yet another bend on the road amidst winds and hail and tears and laughter
One day when I think                                     think of returning it’s already too late

Repeat @,@

Moonlake’s Lyrics (15)

Sorry about breaking the promise coming back on first Sunday of Nov but I was fully engaged by my student (I did mention that I took up tutoring, didn’t I?) until this Tuesday. Anyway, now I’m back fully though I’ve decided to cut posting frequency to once per week. Posts will be put up every Sunday in Australasian time or potentially Monday for US time.

This is a set of lyrics that I like because it tells a story (it might actually be one of theme songs of a movie but I don’t know for sure), it was sung by a HK singer that I quite liked but had already passed away- Anita Mui. She has many classic songs, of which this sort of falls in the middle in terms of being famous. It’s very Chinese in that it’s reminiscent of the 30s or 40s (not that I have a personal thing for that era but the tune and the lyrics just fit so well into that particular era). The title of the song is called “Seemingly like the coming of one from the past”. In Chinese, the title’s only 5 characters and has a much more poetic ring to it but ah well, you always lose something through translations. Also, before I actually present the lyrics, just want to note that in Chinese, the term “One from the past” can refer to all kinds of contexts including an old friend, a former spouse/lover, someone who is deceased as well as disciples and old followers but obviously in this song, it’s referring to a past lover.

The lyrics is as follows:

Both passer-bys         both dreaming the same dream            we should’ve been a couple
In youth                        don’t realise within the dream              (we) already returned home once awake
Barely having three meals and a night’s sleep          yet still a couple          who will that person be?
Whatever not attained                  whatever in the past      is always (considered) the best fit

Down the stage you look              up the stage I act             the drama that you wish to see
You who have forgotten all worries         the past and past people              did you still remember?
Happiness and sadness                 ageing, sickness, life and death      these are not considered legends
Hate the fact that neither those intimae upstage              nor down stage                is you and me

*the world is tiny                             fate is vast                          separating you and me
Sentences of broken-hearted words      consecutive sounds of storm      seemingly like the coming of one from the past

Which day it will be         where will it be                                 that we meet again
Not meant to be yet brought together by fate   memories won’t stop    but life is bitterly short
The same type of missing             two bitter loves           it takes more than half a lifetime to tell this tale
In the abyss of time        looking at the moon faraway      imagine your hidden bitterness

Leaving you                        or leaving me                                                                     in this world alone
Before parting                   (we) did not know the days together                     are so good
Holding the other’s hands            but then letting go (breaking up)              loving and yet as if not loving
Couples ten years later      or ten thousand years later       it’s a pity that we won’t be able to see them

Repeat *

Moonlake’s Writing Updates (3)

I thought I had released this already but somehow a sneak peek back in here revealed that I didn’t and it’s not even saved as a draft! Anyway, this is a quick post to let everyone know that I will officially be back in Nov. which isn’t that far away. I added a drop-down today just now at work but there are more drop-down items yet to be rolled out under Random Writings.

On the writing side, still struggling with my epub short story. I’ve gone over the half way mark but not yet 2/3 there and now what I call Writer’s Lethargy has set in (also, in between my last post and this one, I’ve gone back to FT hours, started tutoring, experienced a row among my epub writer’s group, been offered career opportunities that introduce uncertainty again in my life, all of which acted as obstacles to my writing progress). Now I’ve stopped speculating/setting goals for when I will finish this story. However, I am determined to finish it regardless.

Back to blog development news, I will trim down to posting once a week when I come back until I get the short story done. I hope my followers who migrate by themselves to following this blog of an introvert won’t be too disappointed with this decision. Take care until I come back (not long now).

Chinese Lore- Legendary Chinese String Instruments (Guqin) (3)

Now, the last of this series:

  1. Pillar Circler

Appearance & Characteristics:

Its name came from a story published in a famous ancient text: a renowned female singer from the Han region in the Zhou dynasty who was travelling to the Qi kingdom but ran out of money half way and so had to resort to singing on the street to beg for money. Her melancholy sword circled in the air like the call of a swallow. Moreover, it was said that her voice still circled and reverberated among the pillars within houses three days after she had left. Thus, this instrument had a strong echo.

Lore:

When this instrument was actually constructed is unknown. However, legend says that it was brought to the Lord of the Chu kingdom (known as Chu Zhuang Wang, that’s not his actual name but a title, Wang is the Chinese character for a feudal lord) as a tribute by a person named Hua Yuan. It was said that Chu Zhuang Wang received the Pillar Circler, he was totally immersed in the beautiful music it produced. There was once when he didn’t go to court for seven consecutive days and forgot all about the affairs of the kingdom. His wife got really worried and said to him, “Lord, you are too immersed in music! In the past, Lord Xia Jie loved to hear Mei Xi playing the Se (another string instrument that have 50, 25 or 23 strings). Similarly, Lord Zhou lost the kingdom to decadent music. Now, Lord you are so immersed in the music produced by the Pillar Circler so as to not go to court for seven days. Do you also want to forfeit your kingdom and your life?” That made Chu Zhuang Wang think. In the end, he decide to heed his wife’s advice. So he ordered the Pillar Circler to be broken up by iron hammers and this highly sought after instrument became history.

  1. Horn-bell

Appearance & Characteristics:

The timbre from this instrument is very grand, like the long note from a horn or the ringing of a temple bell (that is usually as tall and wide as one man), such that music produced from it would vibrate strongly in audiences’ ears.

Lore:

Made in the Zhou dynasty, *Bo Ya (a skilled player of the guqin who was renowned because the story about him and his friend created the Chinese term for a friend who has a keen appreciation for one’s talents zhi yin which literally means “know music/sound”) had once owned it. It subsequently fell into the hands of Qi Yuan Gong, the virtuous Lord of the Qi Kingdom during the period of the Spring and Autumn Warring States. He was a man who had great musical talents and had quite a collection of high quality guqins. Among these, he especially treasured Horn-bell. He had once asked his retainers to knock on the horns of oxen and sing accompaniments while he used the Horn-bell to perform. It was said that the effect was very poignant and the servants who were serving on the side all ended up in tears.

Moonlake’s Writing Updates (2)

Okay so I’m back but only to say that I want to extend my leave to end of September. I’ve gone through a couple of false starts but I’ve started on the short story for the epub project that I talked about in the last post and have just passed the 1000 words mark. This is behind what I had initially set as a goal but it’s still an overall positive development.

Now, on the blogging side, when I come back in October, I will be introducing two more category pages: Serendipity and Self Discovery and Healing. Serendipity is where I’ll be sharing all the serendipitous events that had happened and will be happening in my life. Self Discovery and Healing is pretty self-explanatory, I think. While this started as a creative writing blog, I’ve found that increasingly positive thinking, self discovery and healing have become of increasing interest and importance to me. Also, if nothing else, introducing more pages of a wider set of themes will give me more content that I could write about and in that way alleviate the dried up content problem that I had. Also, on more blog developmental news, I will eventually roll out drop-down menus so that I could fine-tune the grouping together and easy search of content on my blog. However, I must admit that because this blog started as a casual project, I have been and still am super slack in rolling out features of a common website purely because I didn’t have the patience to track down how to do all the things that I already knew how to do straight from HTML but now have to do through searching through the Help section of WordPress. Anyhow, drop-downs are next up on my to-do list. But my followers by now should have gotten used to the way that I do things by my Writer’s Whims.

Moonlake’s Writing Updates (1)

Firstly, the good news: I’m officially part of the Strolenati commercial epub group and in the process of writing my first short story for sale (all right, I wrote and abandoned a short story before but that was basically a self-amusement project)! We are just starting and there’s now less than 5 members including myself and only one so far has finished his story and hey, it’s a start. Anyway, I started off with an attempt to ‘rip out’ a part from my abandoned novel. I came up with three directions that I could go (based on three different side characters in my novel and events that happened to them in the past that I had made up using the 10 by 10 character grid) in one night plus suggestions given to me by my beta reader. After some thoughts, I chose one of the three that I thought up and one night, I actually got the whole first paragraph ‘dictated’ to me by my muse. However, that proved to be a false start and I’ve gone back to the drawing board and came up with another short story based on the same world of my abandoned novel but featuring a character that I only alluded to as a legendary figure. Long story short, I’ve gotten the full outline for it done already and I’m going to go into characterisation stage and then writing stage on it soon.

This then brings me to the bad news that I’ll be announcing in this sub. I will be taking a break from blogging for a month to do the write-up for this short story. I feel a little bad that I’m abandoning the few followers who have stumbled on my blog of their own accords and decided to follow such a ‘green’ blog that is wont to fall into random rumblings a lot of the time. However, it’s really that with the break away from novel writing, I really felt that my material for blogging are drying up quick. Increasingly, I’m feeling like blogging is a chore to me that distracts from creative writing. So I’m taking this opportunity to build up more material for future blogging as well as giving myself some free space to concentrate on this epub project that have just come onto the radar.

So in conclusion, bye for now to my followers but I will be back, with more material that I could share without feeling that I have to desperately scrap them out of a cobwebbed corner or feel pressured that I have to conjure something then and there when I feel totally uninspired.