Tidying Up

Three days. Four garbage bags. One clean room.

Ah. There's nothing like having a tidy nest. Picking up after myself was supposed to be a priority this summer, but I actually ended up making more of a mess by forgetting to dust and dragging my reference books for my thesis all over the house - and leaving them in stacks all over the floor. Of course, there's nothing like watching an episode of Hoarders to send a shiver a guilt down your spine. Arming myself with a steely resolve and an open windows media player, I tackled every single part of my room in an effort of a huge clean out. The secret recesses of my closet (where the racks and shelves are designed so badly that I can't reach all the way into the back molars of the space, hehe), the drawers packed with wrinkly clothing, and my ever-shifting bookcases. On the last day of cleaning, I sneezed so much from the dust that I had to carry a tissue at all times.

Of course, my room really isn't that messy. It just got sorely neglected during my strict writing schedule this summer.

A friend of mine suggested that I blog about some of the items I rediscovered during my clean out (like video games, paper-bag puppets, and IKEA plushies), so I'll try to make some smaller posts this month and do that. In the meantime, I thought I'd give you an update on what's been going on lately.


Thesis 

Narwhals, swing jazz, lighthouses - oh my!

IT IS DONE! I finished my first draft on July 31st, fulfilling my goal of being done with it before August. I just barely made that goal, but I'm glad it worked out that way. School starts up again at the end of August, and I've got orientation and planning to do before I head back (the logical reason behind my thesis goal).

After reading through my draft again for typos, I'm going to print it and have it ready for my director to read. I'm looking forward to working with her on the future revisions.


Tumblr 

Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm really excited to say this: I have a fan club on tumblr!

*excited scream*

I discovered fans-of-kimberly completely by accident while tending to my personal blog. When I scrolled through my main feed, I saw a familiar sight: a grouping of the covers I've used for my Figment stories. It took me a minute to realize that they were, in fact, the very same covers... and the post originated from fans-of-kimberly. WHUT. That's SO COOL.

I don't know who started the tumblr club or how many people are following it, but I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I felt like crying when I saw it - so so amazing.


Future Projects

As I promised in my last post, I'm working on the final chapters on Diamond's story, "Becoming a Butler." However, I have been delightfully distracted by a book that's been giving me some ideas: a nonfiction book called A Butler's Life: Scenes from the Other Side of the Silver Salver by Kimberly Allen and Christopher Allen (the butler in question). While Allen is certainly a modern day butler, the story of how he stumbled into the profession is humorous, insightful, and wondrous to read about. I'm usually speedy when it comes to reading, but nonfiction books, for whatever reason, slow me down. So when I finish this beauty... yep. You can expect "Becoming a Butler" to be complete.

I had hoped to get a break after finishing my thesis draft, but classically, a lot of other projects have made their presences known.

In the next few weeks, I'll be working on a few overdue short stories; one of them is expanding my short story "Lookout" (that had appeared briefly on Figment). A brand new lit mag, founded by one of my MFA fellows, Alan, is called Tripod Cat. The neat thing about this mag is that all the stories are published as audio files. If you've got some free time, have listen of Issue 1's poetry and prose - they're so good! After "Lookout" is polished and ready to roll, I'll be recording it - hopefully overcoming my dislike of hearing my recorded voice. I'll do my best, haha.

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.

T-Shirt Time!

So, I love cartoons.

The best way for me to share the love is, usually, through the magical art of t-shirts. I used to have a huge collection of t-shirts, but recently I've done a massive clean out because... I'm a grown up now. I can't have too many of these things. As a truce, most of my closet is full of lovely bow and bird prints and lace dresses. But I can never forget my t-shirt days.

The shirts I've kept are my favorite cartoon ones - and yes, once in a while, I still love to purchase new ones. Also, my new school year resolution is to wear some of these shirts when I teach. I'll do it. It's going to be fun, haha.

I want to share some of my t-shirts with you - and consequently, some of my favorite cartoons.

From one of my favorite cartoons EVER: The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Sadly, this shirt is mostly used for pajamas since it's way too big on me. I really didn't expect shirts for this show to be gone already, you know? I'm sad that this is the only one I have. 

However, anything that mentions the mythical Candied Island is awesome in my book. It's on my list of places to vacation along with Nilbog (*cough* Troll 2 joke *cough*).

Ahhh, oldies. To be honest, I had a love-hate relationship with Captain Planet. My brother and I would make fun of it the whole time, but we secretly coveted the power rings. I wanted the wind one, haha.

I watched a lot of Felix growing up - and the movie was by far one of my favorite  things to watch. The scene where Princess Oriana dances in a bubble has stuck with me as one of the most striking animated scenes I've ever seen. So I'm including the clip here, haha:

Regular Show. My brother got me interested in it, despite my initial reluctance to watch it.  The characters are all surprisingly endearing - to the point where I haven't decided who my favorite is. But I got this shirt because I love when Mordecai and Rigby shake their fists and chant, haha. I'm guilty of imitating them... though it usually comes off better when you have a friend to mirror you, haha.

Rocko's Modern Life - another childhood staple. This show is totally guilty of corrupting my mind, haha. I started watching it again recently and what surprises me most is that the show is so quiet. Do you know what I mean? It's actually peaceful to watch, instead of having blaring, heavy sound effects and high-pitching voice acting. 

By the way.... my brother interviewed the creator, Joe Murray, on his radio show. I even got to ask him a question! That was a great fangirl moment, haha. The interview is here... just don't cringe when you hear my voice pop up, haha. (is sensitive about my voice, bwahaha). 

Courage the Cowardly Dog. This is probably my favorite cartoon ever! No joke. I've gushed about Courage before, and more specifically, his creator John R. Dilworth. It's a wonderful treat to be able to wear shirts from this great show. Courage looks delightfully frightened in both shirts.

Adventure Time. Of course. As much as I love this show, it's been difficult to settle on which shirt to get. A lot of the girls shirts have Marceline, the vampire hipster on them, so I've said no for a long time. Her character just rubs me the wrong way, I guess. But I was so excited to see a shirt inspired by the gender-bending episode - so this is the one for me! Fiona and Cake are adorable. And, well, I love the positive energy going on here with the "HECK YES!"

Not a cartoon, I know. But how could I not include Buster Keaton? In honor of meeting  some summer goals (including writing ones), I bought these two Buster shirts. The grey one, I think, is one of the better shirts out there for Buster fans. The fabric is thick though, so I'll have to wait until it gets cooler to wear it for long periods of time. *shakes fist at Florida*

The white tank top makes me smile - all my favorite silent film boys, haha! At the top is Fatty Arbuckle, then to his left is Al St. John, then there's Luke, the talented dog, and finally good old Buster Keaton. This was from Buster's early film years, before he struck out on his own - I really love watching Fatty and Buster's short films. I'm sorry to say that the design for this shirt is no longer available, but if you're a fan of Al St. John (who isn't?), you can check out the other shirts and items from the shop.

Dime Stories: Not Invited

For this dime story, I decided to play around with a screenshot from an actual movie. I'm not quite sure where this one comes from (but I believe it's Russian - one of those excellent fairy tale remakes).

It's story time, kiddies!

Not Invited

       As the Sorcerer of Evil Storms, I'm not usually invited to birthday parties. Had I known that my career choice would result in being a social outcast, I would have studied to become a beautician instead. 

Perhaps people have every right to worry about me. 

Snow gathers in the pockets of my trousers like lint. I'm the reason why the oak tree fell on your house last week during that rain storm. I spun the threads of the snow-blanket that suffocated fifty homes in the Blizzard of 1907. The next tornado, to be named Zippy by frantic meteorologists, lives inside my left nostril and eat only fried spaghetti. 

The last time I had been invited to a birthday party was two-hundred-and-thirty-five years ago. A girl who lived down the block from me was turning five; her name had been Maggie. Before any public appearance, I rubbed my skin with coal and silver flakes. I brought a light drizzle and pumpkin pie with me as I walked down the street with the other neighbors. 

"I am the Sorcerer of Evil Storms," I had said, blowing on Maggie's face with my peppermint-storm breath, "the King of Bad Weather." 

She giggled, oddly unafraid, until I lifted up my tattered hat in a mock bow. I had forgotten that the western winds had taken up lodging inside my hat. Poor Maggie's house blew away instantly - her presents, parents, twin white cats, and collection of plastic dolls were gone forever. Maggie cried and I collected her tears to mail my mentor as proof of my skills. 

He sent me an achievement certificate on card stock a few days later. I never got another invitation again. 

But you could change that.

       I'm a good guest. I promise. I always arrive fashionably late and bring dessert.

Publication News: The Medulla Review

I received wonderful news last night: my short story that I had submitted to The Medulla Review was accepted! Better yet, the new issue has just been published and is available here to read.

A few months back, a friend of mine had sent me an email about The Medulla Review's call for submissions;  she thought the theme was a bit of a challenge - and perhaps something I'd want to try. And she was right. I was very excited to create a story to submit. 

The theme was Tarot cards, particularly the Major Arcana. The editor-in-chief, Jennifer Hollie Bowles, says this about her issue in the editor's letter:

This was an ambitious issue, for the writers who submitted, and for me. Yes, I wanted comprehensive works on 22 of the most amazing archetypes: The Major Arcana. I wanted the positive and negative energies of each card balanced and expressed in a story, in a poem — in seven hundred words or less...

I didn't know much about Tarot cards, but when I read up on them, I was intrigued by the archetypes that could be found in each one - kind of like how, as writers, we use archetypes of define our characters in the early stages of a new writing project. The card I liked best is called The Star, so I chose to write my story based on my own interpretation of it. 

Various illustrations of the Star card. So pretty!

The Star card traditionally represents an oasis of sorts; it's a place or state of mind where you're comfortable, calm, and at rest. Tranquility, hope, good will, and renewal are also some great words to describe this card.  

After having a particular difficult spring semester at school, I had longed for some stress-free moments and rarely got them. So, for me, my oasis had to wait a few months until summer vacation hit. Even with the crazy heat, I can still find relief by relaxing and getting inspired by books, movies, and video games that I didn't have time to indulge in during the semester, haha. 

Combining my own feelings about finding rest, with the imagery that appears over and over again with this card, I created my story aptly named "The Star." 

Excerpt from my story, "The Star." Get ready for an interesting vacation!

There isn't a table of contents in this issue (I think, because, reading each story is supposed to be representative of a journey), but if you want to skip to my story, the link is right here. Enjoy!

Flappers and Narwhals: A Thesis Adventure!

Formspring time!

How is your thesis book coming along?

Very well, thank you. It's a little slow at times, but I'm only a few weeks away from writing the conclusion.

If anyone's been checking my Figment page over the last few months, you've probably noticed that besides the occasional contests, my updates have slowed down considerably.  There's a good reason for that. 

My third and final year of graduate school is approaching and in order to earn my diploma, there is one last epic task that I must complete: writing a finished, polished manuscript. My thesis. 

No matter what genre you work in - whether it be fiction, nonfiction, or poetry - this is the usual requirement for graduation (besides, you know, getting good grades and all that). Fiction writers have the option of either writing a novel manuscript or a short story collection manuscript for their thesis. 

After much deliberation, I decided to take on a novel. 

The last year is usually spent working closely with one's thesis director and committee; we gather together, talk about revisions, and then I go back to my office and scratch my head until I figure out the best plan to attack my editing. In order to this successfully, and get the best feedback I can, I must complete the first draft of my thesis before returning to school.

So that's what this summer is for. I have been writing every single day to reach that goal.

Because it's a school-related writing project, I'm not able to share it. However, I can tell you a little about it. 

My thesis is set in a fantasy world inspired by the 1920's. There is a girl who studies shipwrecks and lore. There is a boy who speaks to numbers. 

This novel is bursting with flappers, lighthouses, gramophones, an adventurer's club, deaths, narwhals, pocket watches, keys, wooden props, a castle, islands, witching waves, candy floss, ocean liners, violets, a carnival city, squash racket matches, captains, sailors, saltwater swimming pools, childhood crushes, fire, and foul storms. 

I've been listening to a lot of The Hush Sound and A Fine Frenzy, two bands I've adored for a while. I've also been filling my iPod with a ton of electro swing. 

My research books include, but are not limited to a 1927 reproduction of a Sears catalogue and an early history of ocean liners. 

And of course, there's always bits of inspiration to be found along the way: 

Richard Barthelmess, you're terribly cute. 

The anatomy of a 20's girl! 

Narwhals!

And of course, a happy helping of Fatty Arbuckle and Buster Keaton's misadventures.

Wish List

Thinking about buying more books is probably not healthy for me, but I can't help it! There's a traffic-jam of unread books still on my bookcase (and, with them, a goal of managing to read them all before the school semester starts up again).

Still... I can't help but be excited about books that are scheduled for release in the very near future. 

So without further ado, here's a small sampling of what's on my (amazon) wish list:

The Vanishing Act: A Novel 

By Mette Jakobsen 

On a small snow-covered island—so tiny that it can’t be found on any map—lives twelve-year-old Minou, her philosopher Papa (a descendent of Descartes), Boxman the magician, and a clever dog called No-Name. A year earlier Minou’s mother left the house wearing her best shoes and carrying a large black umbrella. She never returned.

One morning Minou finds a dead boy washed up on the beach. Her father decides to lay him in the room that once belonged to her mother. Can her mother’s disappearance be explained by the boy? Will Boxman be able to help find her? Minou, unwilling to accept her mother’s death, attempts to find the truth through Descartes’ philosophy. Over the course of her investigation Minou will discover the truth about loss and love, a truth that The Vanishing Act conveys in a voice that is uniquely enchanting.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

By Catherynne M. Valente

September has longed to return to Fairyland after her first adventure there. And when she finally does, she learns that its inhabitants have been losing their shadows—and their magic—to the world of Fairyland Below. This underworld has a new ruler: Halloween, the Hollow Queen, who is September’s shadow. And Halloween does not want to give Fairyland’s shadows back.

Fans of Valente’s bestselling, first Fairyland book will revel in the lush setting, characters, and language of September’s journey, all brought to life by fine artist Ana Juan. Readers will also welcome back good friends Ell, the Wyverary, and the boy Saturday. But in Fairyland Below, even the best of friends aren’t always what they seem. . . .

Splendors and Glooms

By Laura Amy Schlitz

The master puppeteer, Gaspare Grisini, is so expert at manipulating his stringed puppets that they appear alive. Clara Wintermute, the only child of a wealthy doctor, is spellbound by Grisini’s act and invites him to entertain at her birthday party. Seeing his chance to make a fortune, Grisini accepts and makes a splendidly gaudy entrance with caravan, puppets, and his two orphaned assistants. 

Lizzie Rose and Parsefall are dazzled by the Wintermute home. Clara seems to have everything they lack — adoring parents, warmth, and plenty to eat. In fact, Clara’s life is shadowed by grief, guilt, and secrets. When Clara vanishes that night, suspicion of kidnapping falls upon the puppeteer and, by association, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall. 

As they seek to puzzle out Clara’s whereabouts, Lizzie and Parse uncover Grisini’s criminal past and wake up to his evil intentions. Fleeing London, they find themselves caught in a trap set by Grisini’s ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it’s too late. 

Newbery Medal winner Laura Amy Schlitz’s Victorian gothic is a rich banquet of dark comedy, scorching magic, and the brilliant and bewitching storytelling that is her trademark.

The Elementals

By Francesca Lia Block

The Elementals is on one level an intriguing coming-of-age novel about a young woman, Ariel Silverman, facing the challenges of her first years away at college in Berkeley, California, while her mother battles cancer at home in Los Angeles. But the book takes on deeper, stranger meanings when we realize that Ariel is haunted by the disappearance of her best friend, Jeni, who vanished without a trace a few years before, closing Ariel's heart and changing her forever.  Ariel wonders if she will ever be fully alive, until she meets three mysterious, beautiful and seductive young people living in a strange old house in the Berkeley hills.  Through them Ariel will unravel the mystery of her best friend's disappearance and face a chilling choice.

The Sweetest Spell

By Suzanne Selfors

Emmeline Thistle has always had a mysterious bond with cows, beginning on the night of her birth, when the local bovines saved the infant cast aside to die in the forest. But Emmeline was unaware that this bond has also given her a magical ability to transform milk into chocolate, a very valuable gift in a kingdom where chocolate is more rare and more precious than gold or jewels. Then one day Owen Oak, a dairyman’s son, teaches Emmeline to churn milk into butter—and instead she creates a delicious chocolate confection that immediately makes her a target for every greedy, power-hungry person in the kingdom of Anglund. Only Owen loves Emmeline for who she truly is, not her magical skill. But is his love enough to save her from the danger all around her?


What books are you interested in reading?