Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Diamond in the Rough

Formspring time!

Am I the only one that pictured Diamond as Joseph Gordon- Levitt with his hair slicked back? *swoon*

Bwahaha.
Haha, I'm not sure how to answer that. 

I think it's wonderful that you have a clear image of who you think Diamond looks like! That's one of the most magical aspects about reading. Being able to take an author's words and spin a character's looks together in your head is just fun.

I mean, I'm sure there's some reader out there who pictured Diamond as a badger dressed in a butler uniform - and that's 100% okay!

Will the readers out there who imagine Joseph as Diamond please stand up?

*waits*

My Diamond

Now, since we're talking about looks and characters, I thought it might be the best time to talk about my own actor-inspiration for Diamond. When I create a character, they usually exist in a fluctuating manner in my head - sometimes very clear and other times quite wobbly. Finding actors and actresses to settle those wobbly thoughts is often difficult for me, but Birdcage Girl has been different. So different, perhaps, that I actually managed to make a self-indulgent dream cast, haha. Embarrassing, but true.

It's strange that I haven't blogged about Diamond yet... now that I think about it. Hm.

This.

The handsome young butler I pictured while writing Birdcage Girl stayed pretty solid on the British actor Alex Wyndham. I remember seeing him in the movie As You Like It (2006), playing the comically lovelorn shepherd named Silvius. I had no idea he was British until I found him on IMDb because he played a Japanese shepherd (If you haven't seen this adaptation of Shakespeare's play, you need to. It's brilliant). 


Yeah, Shakespearean Shepherds! 

In some of his other roles as well, Wyndham is a bit a chameleon. I like that about him and how that aspect relates to Diamond. After all, Diamond's background leaves much of his heritage in the dark; I've always pictured Diamond being sort of muttish in that way.

Becoming a Butler

Speaking of Diamond, it's been a while since I updated his side-story, right? 

Because two photos are never enough.
My thesis work has officially taken over my life, making it, clearly, difficult to write my other projects. But the good news is that I'm almost finished. Three more chapters and I can call draft one officially over. Hopefully that will be this weekend (aka, major celebrating).

My first act, upon being freed from the thesis, is to conclude "Becoming a Butler." The poll has indeed influenced what will happen to Diamond and I can't wait to finally reveal with happens to him at the Butler Academy. Hang tight, guys!


QUESTION FOR YOU:

How did you picture Diamond when you read Birdcage Girl?

Can you please talk about your experiences thus far with attempting to publish BG?


Sure! I've been quiet on that front because there's not much going on right now. At the beginning of summer, I had gathered a list of agents that I admire and would love to work with and sent out my queries to them.

So far, I've gotten a few rejections (and one really nice one that I think I'll frame), but mostly I'm still waiting to hear back from the others. There's one partial out and three fulls. I'm crossing my fingers for good news, but agents are very busy; it can take weeks (understandably) for them to respond.

14 comments:

  1. Yay! That many requests for BG? It should be published in no time at all!

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  2. Oh, right. The question. :P

    This might seem strange, but as soon as you mentioned that he had this purple-ish cast to his hair, I though of him as this purple-haired guy with impeccable posture and shiny shoes. I think he also might have had brown eyes.

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    1. Yes! The purple-ish hair. I like the impeccable posture and shiny shoes. That's spot on :) And the brown eyes! Yesh :D

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  3. Thanks for answering! :D

    I'm not sure why I happened to picture him that way- possibly because I'd just got done watching Inception when I began reading BG. Alex Wyndham works too ;)

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    1. Ah, s'okay. Gordon-Levitt is a great actor. Perhaps he could pull it off :) I haven't seen Inception yet... hmm, I'm not sure what to think of it. I saw the movie Paprika, which is the Japanese version (or, more correct, Inception is the American version, haha) and I liked the concept a lot.

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  4. Am I the only one who thinks Diamond-as-Badger would still be amazing and butlery and fantastic and perfect? ;)

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  5. Holy cow, I only now just saw your comment on my blog post from a few weeks ago, the one about "The Hall Monitor" and my keeping busy.

    It was really nice, thanks for the kind words, they mean a lot to me :-D

    I mentioned this already: I thought Diamond looked like Buster Keaton in a tuxedo.

    Anyway, just want to express my thanks, you lifted my spirits!

    PS: wasn't sure if I should email, I remember a while ago you said you dont prefer that.

    PPS: congrats again on finishing the thesis draft. Good luck editing it and preparing your class for next fall! I wish you all the best.

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    1. Ah! Buster Keaton! If only someone alive actually looked remotely like him *cough* Blake Ritson *cough*

      Oh, I'm totally cool with email - I'm just bad at checking it since I can't keep multiple accounts open (my school email, the prevalent one, must remain private. Alas).

      Thanks again for the congrats :D

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