Musing

D is for Doctor Who

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

Today I started watching Doctor Who with my husband. We watched the first episode, and are planning on doing an episode a day. This is his first experience with the Doctor. I myself am simply shamefully behind. And by “behind” I mean I have yet to see the last two David Tennant episodes and have yet to expose myself to the eleventh doctor.

Mainly this is because I was getting married and a little too busy to catch up on all my TV shows (of which there are multiple I’m behind on, I have to admit!) (Fandom goes by the wayside when you’re busy trying to organize a wedding and keeping financially afloat, etc.) but partially this is also because I was being very reluctant, again, to let Eleven into my life, but now that it’s been some time, and I’m getting to share the show with my hubby, I think I’ll be ready by the time we get to Eleven this go around. (Though with my luck, he won’t!)

Anyhow. For those of you not familiar with the show, the Doctor (yes, that’s his name, his full name, so far as you’re concerned) is a Time Lord, the last of an alien species who can both see and travel space and time. He does this in his TARDIS—that’s Time and Relative Dimensions in Space. He travels around both history and the universe, encountering aliens and weird situations of all types, usually running into crises, and he does the best he can to help (which is usually quite a lot, considering the fact that he’s a genius and has been around the block more than a few times.) Usually with a “companion” of the female persuasion who is full of gumption and can stand on their own feet.

I’m not going to go on and on about the show (though I do highly encourage you to watch it!) but I do want to talk about one of the bit reasons why I love the show so much, and that is its inherent message that humanity is good and capable of so much.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in the general world of fantasy, the consensus is that humans really aren’t all that great. They’re weak, greedy, violent creatures, and there are a whole lot of fantasy races or creatures that are a whole lot “better” than them. Think about Twilight, and how Bella Swan could do absolutely nothing better than any of the vampires in the books—she was weaker, slower, had less understanding, had lower intuition, and was basically nothing in comparison to the vampires (and the wolves, to a lesser degree). She couldn’t do anything to save the day except for possibly kill herself, until she became a sparkly, shiny vampire herself.

Doctor Who is fairly the opposite. Even in this first episode that we watched today, the Doctor, despite all his great intellect and experience, had his life saved by a girl who worked in a shop and happened to have taken gymnastics when she was younger. All throughout the series (so far as I’ve seen it, and I trust, beyond that) the Doctor is always not only encouraging of humans, but impressed by their tenacity, their inspiration, and their ability to adapt. As a human who’s always looking to be tenacious, inspired and adaptable, well… 🙂

There are a lot of other reasons I love Doctor Who, but that’s a really big one, one of the biggest ones out there (other than the fact that the show is capable of heartbreakingly beautiful moments, and certainly pulls no punches). So, if you haven’t watched it yet, go watch it! It’s on Netflix, or so I’ve heard! And if you have watched it and are waiting for season 6 to start—don’t spoil me!

Image source here: http://scottysdrawings.webs.com/doctorwho.htm

C is for Crochet

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

So, I have a little bit of a yarnie love. No, not love, addiction. In fact, if there’s one hobby I could do for a living that wasn’t writing, it’d probably be spinning yarn (yes, like on a spinning wheel or a spindle—actually I haven’t tried a spinning wheel yet, but ooh would I love to!)

This yarn-yearning has been part of me since I was a very small child. I was fascinated with the stuff, though I didn’t know what in the world to do with it. Knitting didn’t strike my fancy at that age, and try and try again, I just could not learn how to crochet. I was taught, too—twice. I could never get past the single chain, basically the very first stitch.

I toyed with crochet once or twice as I got older, but all meager attempts failed, more or less. Then, my freshman year of college, I learned how to knit, taught by a neighbor of mine. I started slow with knitting, making basic garter-stitch scarves and not even learning how to purl (which is what makes knitting look all nice and smooth) for a couple of years. I loved knitting—it was very in at the time I was going to school (which was really only a few years ago) and was full of instant satisfaction for the creative being in me.

Then finally I decided I needed to learn how to crochet. Knitting and crochet really go hand in hand. You can know the one without knowing the other, but it’s far more beneficial (and freeing, in terms of what you can make) if you know both. After all, I’d learned how to purl on my own, I’d learned how to cast off knitting on my own… (well, thanks to youtube) why couldn’t I learn how to crochet?

I bought the book Stitch n’ Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker, and with that guidance, finally learned how to do something more than a chain of stitches. The exciting thing about crochet is that once you learn the basics (and by basics, I mean just barely beyond where I’d been the majority of my life) you can do just about anything. 

I’ve fiddled with the whole gamut of crochet, from scarves to toys to tiny motifs. I even have a little etsy shop where I sell the tiniest granny squares you’ve ever seen.

I like to use my crochet in other ways, too… like to ornament stuff in my main Etsy shop, CinderLisaDesign. Really, crochet just makes me happy. I knit more, to be honest, but crochet is my comfort craft. Easy to fix if you mess up, easy to shape stuff ways you want it. I’m always extra pleased with crochet stuff I do, to be honest, because there was a time I thought I’d never be able to get the handle of it. I’m glad I kept going. 😉

I’d say this doesn’t have anything to do with writing, except that for me it does, in a way. It proved to me that I could conquer things that I was hesitant about… something I also did in writing. I was sure that I couldn’t write believable fantasy for a long time, when the truth is, that’s almost all I’m writing right now, and makes up the majority of my planned projects, too. Sometimes you just have to keep trying until it works.

B is for Belief

/ Lisa Asanuma / 2 Comments

Since today was General Conference for the LDS church (which I happen to be a member of), my natural thought when I was trying to think of a topic for today was to write about belief.

But when I sat down to actually write the blog post, another facet of the word came to me—something much more tied to my usual topic of writing and/or fiction.

What I thought about, was Firefly. Actually, Serenity. About how the reason the Operative in it is so dangerous, was because he believed. More to the point, he believed that what he was doing was just and right. And I remembered a paper I very nearly wrote for a Classics course I took in college, where we read Antigone. The “villain” here too, Creon, the one who has decided Antigone’s fate, believes that he has made a just call, the only thing he could do, under the laws of the gods.

Another example is Javert from Les Misérables. Javert too is a man of justice, a man who believes in exact punishment. He believes he is a servant of God, but he (like Creon) doesn’t understand the subject of mercy, and therefore is limited in his view of the world—he sees only in black and white, wrong and right.

In these cases, belief can be a scary thing… especially belief without questioning. Devoutness can be admirable, but it can also be taken a little too far. It makes for some great villains, though. 😉

Belief makes for great heroes, too, though. Think about Harry Potter, Frodo, or even say, Indiana Jones. Each of them have a strong belief system, a goal that they will not stray from, and it is those beliefs that give them the courage to take on the things that might scare or intimidate the rest of us into complacency.

This makes me wonder a little what my characters believe in… do they believe in anything strongly enough? What about yours? What about you?

In which I explain my OCD reading habits.

/ Lisa Asanuma / 2 Comments

A Real Conversation with my Husband

Me: Sigh. You can only have 15 holds at the library at once.

Him: Heavy sigh.

Me: Can I put 15 holds on your—

Him: NO.

Backstory: According to Goodreads, I’m currently in the middle of eleven books. This includes one book of poetry, four books that are being held captive by the library and holds system, and five that I own. (Was very recently six, plus another library book, but I finished those.)

Anyhow… I was wanting to start Tiger’s Curse, because he bought it for me for Valentine’s Day (along with Sapphique, the sequel to Incarceron, which I loved so much I was tempted to buy Sapphique from the UK Amazon) (Yes, I know I’m lucky.) Then I made the mistake of explaining to him why I fall into the trap of reading more than one book at a time—generally either because one is slow but fascinating, I’ve misplaced the book, or yes, it needs to go back to the library and I haven’t finished it.

I then made the further mistake of explaining to him HOW I read multiple books at one time. Basically, I line whichever books I have up by order of date that I started them (This obviously does not include books taken back to the library unfinished. It does, however, include books that are misplaced.), and then I pick one book as the “A” book, or the Alpha book, I guess. What I mean by this, is that I pick a book that I can read straight through if I wish to, then whenever I want to turn to something else, there’s a set rotation I have to follow. The Alpha book is either a book that I’m particularly hooked to, or a book that I’m bribing myself through, because it’s interesting, but other books are far more interesting. After the Alpha book has been assigned, I read through the books in order, one chapter at a time. If the Alpha book isn’t super great, or great-but-not-insanely-greater-than-the-other-books, my reading pattern is decided for me. With letters assigned to titles for ease of explanation, it reads a bit like a complicated poetry scheme:

ABACADAEABACADAE, etc.

I have siderules, also. Of course. Because I’m just that crazy.

#1) Once a book is in Alpha position, it must stay there until it is completed. (For exceptions, see Rule #5)

#2) If there is no Alpha position, chapters read ABCDEABCDE, etc. (Yes, I know there’s still an A there, but now it’s just another letter.)

#3) In most cases* a book cannot be added unless another book is finished.

#4) No book can be moved to the Alpha position on its first round.  This means if I’m in the middle of a round when I start a new book, I must finish that round and read through another full round before the new book can be given the Alpha position. Except:

#5) Library books are automatically given Alpha position. This means that any book that was acting as Alpha now goes back into line. This is the only time an Alpha book can be taken away from its Alpha position without being finished. When the library book is finished, assuming the other book is not, it moves back into Alpha position.

#6) (This is a new one) These rules apply only to physical copies of books.

#6a) I am allowed to have ONE of each: 1) an audio book for when I’m doing stuff with my hands but my mind is free 2) a book on my phone to read when I have no other books available to me, and 3) an ebook on my computer.

#6b) I can use the same book for all three devices if I choose, but cannot read a secondary book on any of the devices, even if all three are the same.

*This rule excludes library books and long-time favorite authors’ new books.

Understandably, my husband demanded that I put a stop to the insanity. He withheld Tiger’s Curse from me until I at least get down to 3 books (physical… he agrees with me on the techie side of things, yay!) but I think I’ll let myself get down to two, and read two at once… that’s usually my goal, one Alpha, and one to string along… I don’t know.

Anybody else out there read in completely obsessive-compulsive ways?

Writing bumps (and successes!)

/ Lisa Asanuma / 4 Comments

Sometimes writing feels like walking in the dark down a bumpy road. I’ve had a lot of bumps in my writing the past few months, mostly in the form of minor freak-outs that I just can’t cut it. I’ve been lucky, though, that I always have someone waiting to listen to me as I worry, and miraculously a lot of my worries have been followed immediately by a light clicking on, and my being able to see that much further of my path.

What do I mean? Well, I’ll tell you.

Firstly, I had a BIG block on Jethro… I’m talking about a month and a half’s worth of block. I knew who my bad guy was, I could see him, I just didn’t know how to get him to find out about my characters… and how can he hunt them down, if he can’t find out about them?

I avoided this block for a long time. I basically didn’t even open my manuscript because until I knew how to connect point A to point B (or more like point Q to point R, in relation to the story) I was sure I couldn’t get anywhere else. I was in California living with my sister at the time, and she basically called an intervention, worried that I wasn’t doing any writing, which I was specifically there to do. I flipped out on her pretty much, spilling all over to her about my seemingly impossible situation. Then after talking through the complexities of it to her and virtually draining myself of anything I could even think on the subject, the answer popped into my head a few days later. And it was the simplest thing in the world. So obvious, in fact, that I was really tempted to knock my head against a wall like they do in movies sometimes. (Movies? TV shows? Does anyone ever do this anymore?) (Maybe I should say, I literally wanted to headdesk.)

I had a similar freak-out on my Secret Project. I was worried that the middle wasn’t exciting enough, and there was a lot of middle. A part of me thought that this was going to have to be the story I shelved for years and years until I was “good enough” to write it. I talked to Isabelle Santiago about this one, and she assured me that what I had was good, that I already knew what I needed, just like I had before, and that this was a story that needs to be out in the public. (It’s so nice to have a friend who fangirls your WIP unabashedly.)

Starting in January I joined a critique group through Authors Incognito, a group of LDS writers (that’s writers who are LDS, not necessarily writers who write LDS books)(and yes, I’m LDS too). I’ve been having the chapters of Jethro critiqued—so far just the first chapters of Jethro, the ones which flowed like water onto the screen that I’d thought were so good. I’ve gotten them back torn up and abused, with red ink all over them… and then I had another freak-out, this time needing both my husband and Isabelle’s assurance that firstly, Jethro was good, and secondly, this is a first draft… all the little things get fixed in the editing, which is way more fun than writing. (Would you have ever believed that back when you were in school? I sure wouldn’t have.)

Part of me wanted to run into a corner and hide, and bury my poor little manuscript under a shroud of anonymity so that it would never be critiqued again. But most of me was starting to realize, yeah, these are things I need to address in my writing. I have good, gripping prose in me, I know I do… but maybe I don’t have it in my first drafts, and that’s okay, so long as it’s in there by the end.

My latest flip-out experience was also Jethro, and it was just the other night. I’d been reading a bunch of blog posts about writing the book from the right character, and even though Jethro is really an ensemble piece, suddenly I was terrified that the character I’d chosen as the “main” was wrong. And I’m talking about thinking  this nineteen and a half chapters into writing it. One of my secondary characters just sparkles so much more, and I know she has some serious demons that’ll be in her path very, very soon, and I thought maybe the character I’d picked just couldn’t hack it, couldn’t carry a full-length novel that would keep teens and adults reading.

This was maybe my biggest heart-attack yet. How could I have so misjudged? How could I have gotten it all so mixed up?

But then logic kicked in… the character I’d chosen had to be right. Considering who she was, what her personal history was, there was no way she was wrong. She was the one. The only one who could tell the story as a hero. Well, maybe one of two… but that’s a bit of a secret.

Still, this presented me with a problem. Luckily, this problem also turned out to be a solution. You see, I knew the answer to this question, too. The question being, “How to make my main character be more exciting,” or more to the point, “How to torture my main character just a bit more?” I knew because it was already in an earlier version of this story, but it was something I’d thrown out because I’d wanted to involve another character in that story arc, a character that it was vital to the plot that she be involved.

So again, I panicked a little bit. I had 1+1+1, and I needed it to equal 2, because in this case, 3 just wouldn’t cut it. 3 would be preposterous.

I ranted at my husband about this problem for a few minutes, but he was working on other things and I was talking too fast to really understand probably, anyhow. In this instance, I pulled out my trusty notepad and just started scribbling. I basically did a web-diagram, in the messiest, fastest cursive that I can claim.

And you know what? My problem worked itself out. In a way that not only was simple and logical, but that actually solved another little problem I’d had with my plot, and had me feeling like standing up and cheering for my characters, because they’d just proved to me how awesome they really could be. I jumped from that to writing almost a full scene, only stopping because it was late and I was bone-tired.

The one other bump I’ve had recently had nothing to do with writer’s block, but more with my laptop charger, which died on me unexpectedly about a week ago. Without a charger, my laptop turned into a big ole’ paperweight for a few days, and stealing time on my husband’s desktop wasn’t fully cutting it. I got my new shiny charger in the mail from Amazon the day before yesterday, though, and while I was out pretty much most of the day yesterday, I got on today to find that Jethro had actually crossed 40K while I wasn’t looking. I’m excited! Secret Project has over 55K, but not in a solid, chronological block like Jethro. I can’t say this is the longest thing I’ve ever written (I was a fanficcer, once upon a time… ssh… it’s a secret!) but it’s the longest I’ve had of a wholly original story.

Success suddenly seems a lot closer in hand than it ever has before.

(And hey, while I’m here, check out my contribution to The Hollow Tree today. We post free reads there every Friday, don’t forget!)

Reflecting about the earthquake in Japan.

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

Japan, Japan.

Five things to know going into this:

1) I am half Japanese.

2) My dad (the Japanese half) ran a business placing Japanese exchange students all while I was growing up, so from approximately 3-17, we always had a Japanese student (or two) staying with us.

3) I took Japanese in college. Just for a year, but enough to love the language.

4) I’ve been to Japan twice, once in high school, and again in college. My favorite thing about it was the unexpected juxtaposition of the ancient and the impossibly modern.

5) Up until about two and a half weeks ago, I was trying to get a job teaching English in Japan. I thought it would be a great experience for me and my husband, and maybe our only opportunity before kids, etc. I just couldn’t find a job, despite the qualifications above (which one company wrote back to me and remarked upon as being quite impressive, though they didn’t have a position for me).

So, Friday night I was flipping through the channels and decided to stop in at Anderson Cooper 360°. The show wasn’t on, of course, instead there was CNN breaking news, with footage running in the upper corner of the devastation going on. I read the ticker-tape line to the husband immediately—Japan had suffered a 8.9 earthquake, and the tsunami waves were already rolling in. We both watched, feeling a mixture of sick and relieved.

They showed images of Tokyo and talked about the trains being down—the main transportation system, something that has brought the city to its knees. Tokyo was exactly where I was focusing my job search, as my  husband doesn’t know Japanese, and it’s easier to get around a large city if you don’t. We had our heart pretty much set on Japan, and it was only by a few twists of fate (and probably some nudging from above) that kept us from ending up there, so you can imagine how the news hit us that night.

Still, even knowing that I’ve been kept from being a part of that disaster… it kills me to hear the death rolls rise, and to think of all that’s been destroyed (and still has the potential of being destroyed) in all of this. It’s not just the major cities, either. It occurred to me the other night how much of Japan is still fishing villages, and how it takes fish years to return to an environment that’s been as rent as Japan’s has—if any of those people can still find and use their fishing boats.

Really my thoughts are so jumbled that I probably have no business blogging about this right now, but I can’t help it. This has been weighing heavily on my mind. I’ve been impressed by how many organizations—big and small alike, have been running sales where 100% of profits go to Japan Relief. I’m donating 15% in my Etsy shop, and I desperately wish I could afford more, but I just can’t afford to right now.

Just know this is a nation I love, a land I love, a people I love. My heart is breaking for them.

Random Ideas Folder

/ Lisa Asanuma / 6 Comments

I’m sure most writers have one of these. A folder on their computer, or a notebook or something, that’s devoted to nothing else but random bits of ideas. Something that may or may not turn into books someday. Or at least short stories. Or scenes.

Lately I seem to have been adding more and more to my random ideas folder, opening a word document and writing a paragraph or two of a character that’s jumped into my mind or just an idea that’s hung around enough that I think, “Maybe that could work…”

I don’t know where these little ideas come from. I think part of it might be from writing shorts over at Tales From the Hollow Tree, and getting used to that. Part of it is undoubtedly from reading books and descriptions of books I want to read… Some of it is pure daydream. Some of it I know I’ll never, ever write. But some of it, maybe.

The most important thing about these little flashes of ideas? Is to write them down. If you don’t, they may disappear on the wind, and as Regina Spektor tells us in her fabulous song “Bon Idée,” “ideas that left will never come back home.”

Write it down. Put it somewhere where you can stumble across it again. When you do, it may hit you with entirely new and fresh meaning. You might see that scribbled half-sentence and suddenly see an entire novel surrounding it. It happens. Don’t short-sell yourself by letting them get away before they have the chance to develop into something.

Reactive Reading

/ Lisa Asanuma / Leave a comment

My husband has started reading the first Fablehaven novel by Brandon Mull, which is one of my favorite series, ever. Probably my very favorite kid-lit series (I’m not counting Harry Potter here, he’s in a realm of his own). Fantasy like you’ve always wanted it—scary at the right times, but always uplifting and full of awesome heroics. (Not half so emotionally dark as something like The Spiderwick Chronicles, either).

Anyhow, back to my husband. Now, I read pretty intently. You sit me down with a good book and I’m glued to it. I don’t want any interruptions if the book is really good. When something shocks or worries me, I probably gasp or widen my eyes, possibly clench the book closer to me, but really I’m still all alone in my little world—or rather, I’ve forgotten myself entirely, because I’m so deep in the world I’m reading about. And I’ll admit, sometimes I don’t want anybody near me when I read. When I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I shut myself up in my room for three days, only coming out when it was absolutely necessary.

My husband on the other hand, has sat next to me while doing most of his reading (I’ve been reading too, but mine is a mix of business and pleasure), and he reacts vocally to what he reads. He’s gotten incredibly frustrated with one of the characters—Seth, if you’ve read the books—and has vented that frustration loudly to me. I’ve read all but the last book (I really hate for it to end, so I’ve been prolonging it. That, and I was getting married, so I was a little busy) so I love Seth, despite his rash ways that always lead him into trouble. I tried pointing out that he didn’t know what he was doing in a lot of the scenes that irritated my husband so much, but he would have none of it.

I honestly love it. I think his reactions are great, and I really should have expected nothing less, as my husband’s personality could never quite be mistaken for quiet, like mine. Anybody else seen someone read so reactively?  Do you, by chance?

P.S. I’m really excited to watch as he reads the rest of the series. The Fablehaven books just get more and more awesome as they go, and his reading them makes me want to reread them. And okay, finally finish the series.

P.P.S. The Jayne icon is the closest I could find to relay the obvious reactions my hubby’s been having, but on a sidenote, I’ve gotten him watching Firefly, too. We’re about half-way through the series now. The hooks are in. He’s caught.

Carving time to Read

/ Lisa Asanuma / 1 Comment

I have been a horrific reader of late.  If I’ve been reading anything, it’s been blog posts and news articles, stuff to critique for my writing group, or stuff for work.  I’ve also been reading a lot of tweets, which really, really do not count.

I made the goal again this year of reading 52 books in 52 weeks, but it’s over two weeks into the year and I haven’t finished a single book.  Then again, I also haven’t been giving myself any time to read.  I’ve been trying pushing myself so hard when it comes to writing, getting all my freelance stuff done and trying to get novel-writing time in also, that I’ve been sapping myself of my best source of inspiration—great books.

A lot of writers (as I’ve been reminded these past days, by reading their blogs) feel that reading is a part of the job.  Maybe one of the most important parts.  A lot of writers also mention that (like me) they feel guilty if they spend too much time doing anything that isn’t writing, and reading falls under that category—but they also realize that it’s to their detriment.

So I’ve decided something that might be very hard for me to do.  I’m going to let my weekends focus on reading.  I’m going to give myself my weekends to bury myself entirely in books, if I want to.  Let myself read as much as I want.  Actually give myself a chance to hit my reading goal.

I’m also planning on starting a regime of waking up at six in the morning to write, starting tomorrow, so that I have a set block of quiet time to work on my more creative endeavors.  Maybe as I get into the swing of things, I’ll be able to incorporate reading back into my schedule in a more normal basis, but we’ll see.

***

Japan update: In case you don’t know, I’m attempting to go to Japan this Spring/Summer with my husband if possible.  I’d be teaching English.  I’m applying all over the place, but only really seriously the past few days.  I’ve gotten two reply emails so far!  One “please send us this completed questionnaire!” that seems very encouraging, and another that wants me to reapply for their Summer term.  Wish me luck that my continued attempts go well!

Productivity tastes good.

/ Lisa Asanuma / 2 Comments

Lately I’ve been trying to change the way I do things. The fact is, I’m kind of a workaholic, and when you’re a creative type working from home on either a self-employed or freelance basis like me, that can mean that you’re working ALL THE TIME. Do things get accomplished that way? Sure. But when you have a never-ending to-do list, it starts to feel like you’re never going to catch up.

And so, I’ve started making daily goals. Or rather, one or two big, specific goals for each day. Once I have those specific things done, I can count my day as a success. Anything else I get done is a bonus, and if I don’t get anything else done? I still had a good day.

Today I managed the two articles I was asked to write, along with listing a new item in my Etsy shop. (And blogging. See?!) I’d hoped to finish some music reviews I need done by the 15th, but that will be tomorrow’s big goal. Now, I’m going to snuggle up with my husband… or a good book. Whichever one is feeling more snuggly at the moment.