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December 13, 2009
Planning for my first virtual book tour is yielding splendid collateral benefits. I recently enjoyed the unexpected pleasure of meeting British writer, Imran Ahmad. Imran’s book, Unimagined – A Muslim Boy Meets the West, describes what it was like to grow up Pakistani and Muslim in London in the 1960s and 1970s. Imran’s literary efforts don’t stop at the borders of the U.K. He made a 13,934 mile car trip as part of his speaking tour of the U.S. And what a trip it was! Read about it on Imran’s blog at: http://open.salon.com/blog/imran_ahmad/2009/06/21/hello_america_--_im_a_muslim_my_13934_mile_drive I value my new relationship with Mr. Ahmad. He’s intelligent and tolerant, hardworking and humorous, self-aware but still capable of laughing at himself. In short, he’s an ideal fellow writer with whom to have a literary relationship. December 10, 2009
I’m planning my first virtual book tour for March 2010. Preparations include interactions with literature and book bloggers around the world. One of the bloggers that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting is Inna Selipanov in Berlin, Germany. Inna’s a linear, crisp thinker and her intelligence and honesty are both refreshing and humbling. Inna’s blog, Onions and Tea, is self-described as “about nothing and everything all at once.” You can read it at : http://onionsandtea.blogspot.com Inna’s favorite books include The Road, Of Mice and Men, The Idiot, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace, The Forsyte Saga, and Chocolat. Her blog’s book reviews and discussions reflect her intellect and her eclectic literary tastes.
December 5, 2009
As a writer, words are my most basic units of construction. Like any diligent artisan, I often give thought to these fundamental units of my craft. I spent a good part of the past week collecting, cutting and storing firewood for the coming winter. My dogs and I scouted around in the woods surrounding our home, sifting through the fallen leaves, picking up broken branches and the occasional fallen tree. Watching the dogs run about, I was once again struck by the depth and honesty of their playfulness. They’re pure beings, both of them, steadfast in love, loyalty and faithfulness. I can’t say why, but out there in the woods and the ginger December sun, the word “bitch” clicked into my rambling thoughts; it came along with all its colloquial connotations. I pondered how “bitch” evolved into a negative sense. From my experience, a bitch is a steadfast, authentic and caring friend, a being who exists with a seemingly sole purpose: to love and to be loved. What could be closer to Eden? With the meaning of the word modulated to its truer connotation, I confess that I’ll do my best to be a bitch. I only wish that more people were true-blue bitches.
November 28, 2009
“Simplicity”
Don’t forget: simplicity is a powerful and important element of your writing style. More than one reader of my first drafts has accused me of purple prose. An intimate partner who doesn’t write creatively once gave me writing advice after reading a page of freshly typed scenes. It’s one of the best critiques that I’ve ever gotten and I keep it scribbled on a little yellow sticky note plopped up on the printer next to my keyboard: “One word will do.” The argument I’m making is one for simplicity. Yes, your writing is crisp and profound; it sings and its song enlightens and haunts your readers’ minds long after they’ve put down your work and moved on into their respective lives. Yes. But don’t discount the power and the contextual appropriateness of that occasional, riveting simple sentence. My favorite sentence in my first novel is on its last page. It’s: “He smiled.” Nothing in my mind could be a better or a more right sentence at that moment in that story. Embrace simplicity. It can and will serve you well.
November 16, 2009
“Words: Immutable Form, Mutable Meaning”
I listened to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” on the way to work this morning. What a fantastic song, full of memories and reminiscence and with lyrics that put colorful characters onto barstools so vividly you can almost see them. Daylight began its slow splash through the morning clouds as I turned into a parking space, enjoying the last few verses of the song on the radio: the bar’s appreciative patrons had just put “bread” into the piano man’s jar and were marveling that someone that good was playing in their bar. I smiled, turned off the radio. And then I thought, “Bread?” Someone ten to twenty years younger than me might not know that “bread” means “money” in this context. Does it take only that long for meaning to mutate? Yes, in the case of generational slang, it does. Listening to Billy Joel this morning, I came to a couple of decisions regarding my writing: the material I’m drafting for today, prose meant for immediate consumption, can and will contain elements of slang when appropriate and effective. The material that I hope will be read ten to twenty years from now, prose meant for long term consumption (i.e. – novels, my book on creating fiction) will not include jargon-of-the-day. It’s got too short a shelf-life. Watch out for The Man. Dude!
November 11, 2009
A church built out of grammatical symbols; do the apostrophes work for grass? I'll have to think about that one: + | ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ! _____________ ! ! ! ! ! "" !_________________! "" November 8, 2009
“A Karass, Synchronicity and that Elusive Sophomore Novel”
I jabbed a stiff period onto that suffering pad of yellow paper. I had achingly scribbled out the latest handwritten installment to my second novel. And then I sat nestled in the arms of my old couch and I thought about the passages that had just been born… The aliens have explained how consciousness creates the physical universe and how the initial phantoms of three dimensional reality achieve final solidity through the communed considerations of multiple consciousnesses, a process called collective conscious, a perpetual cosmic machination governed by the equation:
E = mC2 = Con3
where E is energy, m is mass, C is the speed of light and Con is consciousness. …which all suggests that synchronicity should not surprise us. These truths inform and influence conversations and experiences throughout the novel’s restaurant scene, a vignette of synchronized convergence where all of the major characters of the story cross paths at an eatery. One of the characters is a water molecule…Aetch-to-oh…a character born during my recent trip to Niagara Falls…he’s in a glass of water, listening. What a karass of characters I’ve burdened myself with! November 1, 2009
"A Pointer on Dialogue or 'Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'”
To a person, writers of fiction want their dialogue to be sharp, interesting, snappy and true. Nuanced dialogue is a cornerstone of character construction (think Steinbeck’s common man or Fitzgerald’s Gatsby spouting “Old Sport” when speaking to friends and colleagues). The old fashioned and highly effective way of creating dialogue is to listen to the world around you and to read other writers who’ve honed the skill of putting truth into the mouths of their characters. But reading and listening might not be the only way to learn to create great dialogue. I read Edward Albee’s play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” this week. I found it powerful, emotionally provocative and difficult to put down. In finishing the text, I realized that I’d stumbled upon another source of instruction for creating strong, compelling dialogue: read and/or watch plays. Think about it; a play is built around one primary superstructure: dialogue. Dialogue creates the characters and is the sole written vehicle for moving the story forward. And so dialogue has to be superb in the best plays. Do you want another source of inspiration and instruction for creating great dialogue? Get thee to the local library and check out a handful of plays. Some suggestions to get started:
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee “Death of a Salesman” by Arthur Miller “The Glass Menagerie” by Tennessee Williams
Don’t forget that the selection above is an expression of what appeals to Mohamed Mughal…and he’s an emotional, sentimental fellow with a philosophical bent and the academic background of a rationalist. Apply your own tastes and leanings to create a personalized list of plays to read. If your fiction falls into the genres of crime, romance, horror or comedy, you’ll definitely modulate your selections to reflect those dispositions.
October 24, 2009
“My Trip to Niagara Falls” OR “Headless Buddhas and White Power”
I had the privilege of spending a week in Niagara Falls last month. Nature’s majesty and power were on full display in the thundering waters surrounded by peaceful Fall foliage and colorful, pristine gardens. Evening fell and I walked the misty periphery of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls alongside an assortment of international visitors and tourists. I turned, walking uphill for about a quarter mile, away from the falls and towards the hotels and casinos. I curved right at Fallsview Blvd. The street grew quieter, bustle slowly left the air. A patch of copper colored streetlight fell across the neon glow of a closed tattoo parlor. The road ended and a new one, perpendicular to the first, began. A young man was cattycorner from me across the intersection. He was wiry with a wispy beard, in his late 20s; he was doing jumping jacks, counting each jump. He suddenly jerked his head to one side with a loud shout, grunted and broke into a run towards me. Passing, he shouted “White power!” and then stomped off, lost into the street’s quiet shadows. I continued my tourist’s taste of the falls the next morning. Arriving at the White Water Walk, I was surprised to see a Buddhist Temple across the street. For reasons I don’t know, I’ve never been able to resist going into houses of worship. Rather than stroll to the White Water Walk, I ambled into the temple grounds. Rows of seated Buddhas graced the sculpture garden outside the temple entrance. Strangely, the Buddhas in one row were headless, cut clean and flat at the neck. The image was striking, drilling a set of curious questions and assumptions into my mind: maybe the Buddhas in this row have ascended to heaven and that’s where their heads reside; this row symbolizes an unthoughtful life; these Buddhas represent man’s eternal quest to achieve spiritual completeness. I moved from the sculpture garden, through the large wooden doors and into the temple itself, onto the clean wood floors. Hundreds of brass Buddhas graced the shelves along the back wall and a serene and light scent of incense and sandalwood kissed the air. A tall, thin man with a shaved head sat quietly at a long folding table close to what looked to be a centered alter area. I walked by him; he held a loop of wooden prayer beads in a relaxed palm, his thumb slowly nudging from one bead to the next, a distracted look on his face. He smiled as I walked by and I couldn’t help but respond to his subdued greeting with a question: “There’s a row of headless Buddhas in the sculpture garden outside. What do they symbolize?” “Actually,” he replied, “A group of drunks went through here one night and knocked all their heads off.” I stood mortified, still. I was incensed. I told him that I was very sorry to hear that; I slid a folded bill into the donation box. I left having learned that even here, in the midst of nature’s grandeur and limitless beauty, we humans can’t help but succumb to our frailties and neuroses – White power… Headless Buddhas… We have a long way to go. Will we get there?
October 18, 2009
It’s amazing what you’ll find when you resolve to clear a couple of bookshelves on Saturday morning. Sifting through a heavily leaning mound of books, separating the ones that I’ve read from the ones that I ought to donate to the local library from the ones that I’ve intended to read these last few months but haven’t, I found two lonely sheets of typing paper folded in half and stapled at one corner. I opened the fold and gazed at the forgotten first draft of a pencil-written vignette that found its way into my first novel. Centered and underlined at the top of the first sheet was the makeshift title Adam and Becca meet. I read through the draft, simultaneously unaware and aware of a wry smile twinkling around my mouth. “Wow, this reads a lot like the final version,” I thought. Curious, I flipped through a copy of the published version and compared it with the handwritten first draft. There were a number of changes in the final version: the title of the vignette became Bone of My Bones, Anno Domini 1999; the characters had the same basic conversation, but it focused on different poems; I had added more details to the characters’ gestures and movements; the dialogue is less stilted and rings “truer” in the final version; in the published version, one of the characters shares a nickname that her grandmother gave her, a detail that serves to immediately “humanize” that character. Other observations: only about one fifth of the best imagery in the final version is verbatim from the first draft; the overall backbone and intent of the scene, that of two central characters meeting for the first time, is fully retained from draft to final. In all, as many improvements and accentuations as I made from draft to final, the superstructure of the scene remains the same. The inadvertent find and analysis of this first draft is instructive to me as a writer. I believe it can also be instructive to other writers and so I’ve posted the draft pages on my Facebook writer’s page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mohamed-Mughal/133019190089?ref=nf. I’ll also include the analysis of draft vs. final as an exercise in my first non-fiction book, Creating Fiction: A Hands-on, Practitioner’s Guide.
October 16, 2009
Inspired by the George Bush shoe-throwing incident, unveiling the 2009 cybershoe: <__! (a left arrow, two underlines and an exclamation mark); Recommended use: to be thrown at cyber-idiots.
October 13, 2009
Congratulations to our fellow Harford writer, May Kuroiwa! May's short story, The Lesson, has been accepted for publication in the PEN Women's inaugural issue of The Gunpowder Review. A reading will be held at the "Celebrate the Arts Festival" on Saturday, October 17th, at the Bel Air Methodist Church. http://www.harfordsheart.com/calendar.html
October 1, 2009
HAPPY 85TH B-DAY TO PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER!
September 26, 2009
"Thanks Again, Sarah."
I had lunch with a couple of friends the other day and one of them mentioned that although she had seen me in person only a handful of times, she felt that she knew my heart. I asked how and she replied, “By reading your book.” Personal experience is the mother of creative expression. In that way, all fiction is a muted form of autobiography. The keen reader pierces the veil of fabrication and sees the heart underneath. It’s frightening when you realize that writing fiction is a form of self-exposure. But a moment’s reflection brings you face-to-face with the conclusion that that can’t be helped. Vonnegut’s experiences as an American soldier in WWII are an anchor in the storyline of Slaughterhouse Five. Steinbeck’s experiences growing up in Salinas give generous contribution to the settings, images, characters and “feel” of his novels. The loves, the losses, the trials and failures, the triumphs and successes, they all sooner or later find voice in the circumstances and characters of our fiction. Yes, the natural self-revelation intrinsic to writing fiction can be frightening, but it’s an occupational hazard that I accept.
September 18, 2009 (continued)
“Eid Mubarak!” Eid, the Islamic holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, is on September 20th this year. Traditional celebrations include wearing new cloths, family gatherings with lavish holiday meals and gifts for children. Muslims also participate in special Eid prayers at mosques and in other public forums, and they give alms to the needy. To the one and a half billion Muslims around the world: Eid Mubarak!
September 18, 2009
“Shana tova umetukah!” To all who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah this weekend: Shana tova umetukah! Wishing everyone a good and sweet year, Mohamed September 8, 2009
Ed Akehurst interviewed me a few weeks ago. An excerpt follows:
Ed: Some people claim that the Tetragrammaton is somehow embedded into your character’s name: “Adam Hueghlomm.” Is it?
Mohamed: (laughs). No. I only wish that the hidden meanings were so elegant. There is something else, though, that’s embedded in the name. I’ll let my readers discover it for themselves.
Ed: Any clues?
Mohamed: No. But one reader has e-mailed me with his correct deduction, so it’s there and it appears if you look at the name from the right angle.
Ed: Is it true that “786” is a clever play on “666,” the devil’s number?
Mohamed: No, not at all. “786” has a special meaning to some in the Muslim community and it’s a positive meaning. I’ll leave it at that.
Ed: Are there other special numbers in Resolution 786?
Mohamed: Yes. Pi – 3.1415926…the infinite number, the number without an end. There’s 40: years wandering in the desert; days and nights fasting in the wilderness; days and nights of the Great Flood. And 7: the number of days in a week; the number of revolutions that a pilgrim makes around the Kaaba at Haj. And then there’s 12. You can read about its significance when the Lord talks about it during his trial. At one point, the Lord says, “Cycles, symmetry and the number twelve are the basis of all creation.” Grady Harp, one of Amazon’s top reviewers, used that quote as the title for his review of Resolution 786.
I didn’t completely appreciate the role of numbers in Resolution 786 until Ed asked me these questions. You can read the full interview at: http://www.harfordneighbors.net/index.php?section=1&subtype=136&id=2732
September 1, 2009
A good friend was kind enough to make a Facebook page for “Mohamed Mughal, the writer.” He suggested that I ask friends and family to join as fans. I did. In less than two days, I had over two dozen “fans.” Their collective attention and kindness makes me realize just how lucky I am to be a part of their circle. I admit: I’m a loner; I’m idiosyncratic; I’m afflicted; I’m touchy; I’m sensitive; I’m absent; I live inside myself. Yet despite myself, the Multiverse has blessed me with the best friends, the very best family and the most beautiful partners imaginable. I am perplexed by my karmic bounty. And I am grateful. Thank you. August 24, 2009 Hitchcockian Moments Remember how Alfred Hitchcock seemed to manage a cameo in many of his movies? I call those spots “Hitchcockian moments.” There’s a scene in Resolution 786 where the soldiers of Platoon 110 destroy a warehouse full of enemy explosives. One of the soldiers directed to “Put your grenade launchers on the warehouse” (reference page 84) is Mughal. That’s my Hitchcockian moment in Resolution 786. After writing it, I promised myself a cameo in each successive novel. Last night, the evolving and creatively tortured draft of Christmas in Mecca finally got its cameo: Becca Gowetski is milling about in Alan Weinstein’s astronomical observatory, a recurring setting named the Octopus. She sees a loose stack of journal articles strewn across Weinstein’s many working tables. One of the articles, sitting wrinkled and ajar, winks its title and author in conservative, bold black font – “Biological Terrorism: Practical Response Strategies, by Mohamed Mughal.” Becca lifts the sloppily stapled sheets before her face, scrunches her small nose and carelessly tosses them back to the table muttering, “Oh, the pathetic way some men make a living.” My second novel’s Hitchcockian moment is set and in place. Now to finish the damn book!
August 13, 2009
Literary cubism gives you license to use any form of written expression to tell your stories. I used e-mail messages quiet a bit in my first novel to define characters and relationships. Let’s translate that last sentence into a working example. Here’s an e-mail message that appears in Resolution 786:
From: Rebecca Gowetski To: adam.hueghlomm@armycivilian.govmail Sent: 04/12/2006 3:48 PM Subject: Something You Might Like
Hey Adi, I hope that you’re taking care of yourself out there. Did you get a chance to visit any historical sites or meet any interesting local people? I know that you love that stuff and I want you to have everything that you love. I’m looking for flights to LA. I’ll let you know what I find. That multicolored child’s marble that you found in Nazareth is so cool. I have it on the desk in front of me. It’s so thoughtful of you to want to put that special marble between your Mom and Dad’s graves. I know it’ll mean a lot to them. And we’ll tell your Dad about how we prayed at Jerusalem for him. I wish he and I could have met. Hey, I found something that you might like. It’s the prayer card that that nun gave us when we visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Didn’t she have the most beautiful and radiant face? I think she said her name was Sister Mary. Pretty name. Anyway, the prayer card has the 23rd Psalm. For some reason, I felt compelled to share it with you today. Here goes, Baby Cakes:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
I wonder where you are right now and what you might be doing, and I can’t help but feel how proud your father would have been (is?) of you. I love you, Adam Hueghlomm. I want us to start building a life together. I don’t mind waiting, but try to remember that I am just as human as anyone else. Oh, the tyranny of the Silent G, Silent H J Yours forever, Becca
Was it difficult for you to answer the preceding questions about the sender, the receiver and the nature of their relationship? If it was relatively easy, the e-mail message works towards defining character and moving the story forward. If it was difficult, the text needs work.
July 25, 2009
As a literary cubist, I consider all forms of written expression potential building blocks for my stories and novels. My first novel has two poems, one that expresses a character’s internal fears, motivations and frailties and another that reveals the same character’s perspectives of G_d. In honor of the storytelling power of poetry and to provide myself a forum through which to become a better poet, I’ve added a new page of poems to this website. As always, I value and welcome your feedback.
July 16, 2009
About nine years ago, I organized a small group of folks who met at my home from time to time to talk about ideas, gatherings loosely modeled on Benjamin Franklin’s American Philosophical Society. We discussed notions ranging from the nature of G_d to the substance of love. I called the group “The Society of Mind.” I got lucky with the self-selected membership: a rabbi who currently leads a local synagogue; a physician who speaks Japanese, is a full colonel in the active Army and, at the time, conducted a symphony in Philadelphia; and a PhD in chemical engineering with over 30 years of applied research experience. And then there was me J. Society of Mind fizzled through the transformative powers of reassignment, retirement, marriage and life, but I maintain contact and friendship with these intelligent, creative souls. Most recently, Jonathan Newmark, the physician with a love for music, sent me his new CD titled “Trios & Duos,” a compilation of original chamber music that he composed and recorded through Music Unlimited Studios and Omega Recording Studios. I don’t know how he managed to get this done between the rigors of his senior position in the U.S. Army and a full plate of work-related international travel, but he did. And it’s good stuff! If chamber music is your thing, give it a listen. You won’t be disappointed. G_d bless the creative people who come into our lives for it is they who sustain and inspire our own creations.
July 9, 2009
I mulled my use of “The End” following final text in my stories and novels. That phrase limits the contextual residence of my writing; it implies that an isolated universe is created within each piece of prose and that that world is immutable, irrefutable and final. It isn’t. I realized this when the current draft of my second novel, “Christmas in Mecca,” evolved into both a sequel and a prequel to my first novel. Nothing ends. My stories and novels depict fragments of experience that occur within the moment, but that are also nested within a dynamic sea of future and past. A focused lens into the past can provide valuable, revelatory insights into and about the present; a retrospective gaze from the realized future can redefine and more precisely account the broader implications of that same present. In the infinite plate tectonics of the cosmos, nothing stands alone, absolute, stoic and stone. I am no longer comfortable using “The End” when I finish novels and stories…but what then to use, if anything? I thought of “etc.” Etcetera. A literal translation from Latin is “and the rest.” Common meanings include “and so forth” or “and other things.” I think this better captures my sense of my writing…and the rest…and so forth…and other things. Hereon in, my stories and novels will not end with “The End.” They’ll end with “etc.”
July 1, 2009
The central character in Resolution 786 flees from Uganda as part of that nation’s forced expulsion of Asians in 1972. I just knew that no one else had written about that episode in history. I was wrong. I recently discovered Canadian author Shenaaz Nanji’s novel, Child of Dandelions, the story of a courageous fifteen-year-old girl’s experiences during that difficult exodus. I contacted Ms. Nanji to thank her for taking on this unique subject in her writing. Kind and gracious, she sent me a signed copy of the novel. I enjoyed the book! An excerpt from my Amazon book review follows:
“Child of Dandelions soars as a story of courage and self-discovery, a historically based tale of fiction that remembers a largely forgotten racial injustice that unfolded in full view of the global community in the early 1970s, a well-written, even-handed and authentic narrative that documents the perspectives and experiences of those who suffered and overcame the brutal expulsion of Indians from Uganda.”
Writing brims with collateral benefits, one of which is the opportunity to meet and learn from fellow writers from other countries. Thank you, Ms. Nanji!
June 25, 2009
Who says that the antiseptic observations of a consummate existentialist anti-hero can’t inform our deepest emotions? I recently took mental inventory of the wonderful people in my life, souls who selflessly provide me care, companionship, affection, security, joy and unwavering support. “I am blessed,” I thought, and remembered old man Salamano, Meursault’s neighbor in Camus’ The Stranger. Salamano has an old dog who he mistreats consistently and persistently for eight years. During an outing at a fair, Salamano stops at a booth to watch “The King of the Escape Artists.” In the midst of Salamano’s distraction, the dog runs away and the old man is left alone. Salamano looks for the dog in angered frustration. He doesn’t find him. That night, Mersault listens to Salamano pacing in the adjacent apartment. The bed creeks. Salamano is crying. For whom are the circumstances more tragic: Salamano or the dog? Beyond this simple, binary question lies a larger truth, the truth that both have suffered and that both have accrued irretrievable losses from the circumstances, for who among us would chose to be Salamano and who among us would chose to be Salamano’s dog? And so the dispassionate existential exposition of these circumstances, just as much as any canonical literature, teaches us to be patient, to be caring, to be grateful for those special souls in our lives before, through the rush of unstoppable fate, they are no longer in our lives.
June 18, 2009
I had occasion to re-read my Amazon book reviews. The one I did for Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five (noted below) got me thinking and chuckling:
"A Masterpiece December 24, 2008 Vonnegut has penned a celebration of the anti-hero, the story of an unwitting man who takes a winding, chronologically non-linear dash through the space/time continuum. Billy Pilgrim experiences combat in Europe during World War II while simultaneously experiencing life as a successful optometrist in Ilium, New York twenty years later. Complexity to complexity, in 1967, Billy is kidnapped by aliens and kept captive in a zoo on the planet Tralfamadore, naked and with a porn star for his cellmate.
Why do I laugh while reading my own book review? Two reasons. First, I’ve managed to include aliens in my second novel. (Rest assured, I’m still working the porn star angle :)). Second, the phrase, “How’s the pudding?” has become the title of a chapter in my first non-fiction book, Creating Fiction: A Hands-on Practitioner’s Guide. It’s amazing how something you’ve written can lodge itself into forgotten compartments of your subconscious and then re-manifest in three-dimensional clarity months later. June 16, 2009 I want to try something new; I want to write a novel (or a portion of a novel) in first-person narrative style. I'll try it with one of the characters in my second novel. Let's see how the pudding turns out...
June 11, 2009
Writing is a serendipitous activity. “Nietzsche’s Horse,” a vignette in my second novel, is a retelling of the story of Friedrich Nietzsche’s mental breakdown. The scene unfolds from the perspective of the horse who witnessed it. There’s an astronomer in my novel-in-process; I made a site visit to a local astronomical observatory to get a first-person view of this character’s working environment. Jon, the horse in the scene with Nietzsche, deserves equal respect; so I made a site visit to a local horse farm to get a first-person (first-horse?) view of this character’s working environment. As I drove to the horse farm, I realized that I had already developed a set of writing strategies and techniques useful towards creating fiction. The drive ended, I parked my small car on a gravel lot nested among barns and fields and I had decided: I’m going to collect my writing techniques into a book – “Creating Fiction: A Hands-on Practitioner’s Guide.” Site visits, the catalyst of inspiration for the book, will certainly be one of the strategies and techniques that I cover. I suspect that my first draft of this guide will be completed concurrent with the completion of my second novel.
June 4, 2009
As part of my explorations of the limits of literary cubism, I’m experimenting with alternate formats for storytelling. Examples, you ask? The first is the use of a screenplay format for a vignette in my second novel, “Allah Huakbar, Harold Hawkins.” The scene consists of two characters in a college classroom setting; they’re quietly exchanging a series of scribbled notes across their desks while the professor goes over a post-test exam key. The second is a short story written entirely in spreadsheet format. Although the piece is void of traditional sentences, paragraphs and prose, the spreadsheet of “The United States President’s Budget, 2051” tells a full-fledged tale about our country’s needs and values four decades into the future. As always, I value and solicit my readers’ opinions on these and any other ideas expressed in my writings. Let me know what you think at mohamed@mohamedmughal.com.
May 29, 2009 A number of readers have asked me about "Nostradamus, Quatrains I - VII, Date Unknown," a short story posted, naturally enough, in the Short Stories portion of this web-site. "What does it mean?" is the most common query. My answer: like all writing, it has whatever meaning the reader puts to it. In the spirit of that relativistic interpretation of literature, I open the door to hearing readers' thoughts about the meaning of "Nostradamus, Quatrains I - VII, Date Unknown." You can reach me at mohamed@mohamedmughal.com.
April 30, 2009 My next author event's scheduled from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm on May 16th, 2009 at the Bottomless Cup in Havre de Grace. I'm particularly excited about appearing at a Harford County venue, especially one that hosts such a diversity of cultural and artistic talent. You can read more about my signing and many other great events at www.thebottomlesscup.com. Hope to see you there!
March 9, 2009 I spent last Saturday at the Carroll Community College's Book Fair. In addition to selling a couple of copies of Resolution 786, I had the pleasure of meeting my fellow local writers, Brian Hartford and Danielle Marie Linton. You can read more about Brian's memoirs and action books at his web-site, http://www.authorsden.com/brianahartford. For those of you with a feel for romance, Danielle's web-site is http://romancingthewriter.com. It's great to see so many local folks come out to support the literary arts!
January 22, 2009 I thoroughly enjoyed a recent author event at a local venue. Although it was the coldest night of the season (4 F on the drive home that night!), these kind folks managed to give me a warm welcome coupled with a stimulating, interactive conversation about Resolution 786 and literature in general. I’ve spoken on this novel in a number of venues ranging from writers’ groups to Unitarian churches, but this is the first group in which someone asked, “How did you manage to capture God?” Oh, my. Good thing I had an answer: by showering him with a beam of tachyons, massless particles of pure energy that travel at superluminal speeds, followed by a manipulation of E = mC2 (see page 72 of Resolution 786). So there.
January 10, 2009 Each of the Amazon customer reviews for Resolution 786 is insightful, illuminating and honest. I'm indebted to these readers for sharing their impressions of the novel, feedback that helps me evolve into a better writer while helping new readers decide whether or not the book is right for them. More than helping me become a better writer, a sentence in Dennis Littrell's review of January 8, 2009 leaves me both humbled and hopeful. Mr. Littrell writes, "Mughal does not take sides, except to champion the side of humanity." I am humbled that my novel left a reader with that impression. I am hopeful that all my future writing will remain true to that sentiment. Thank you, Mr. Littrell, for encouraging me to retain impartiality in my writing. Impartiality is the mother of truth.
January 4th, 2009 The visit to the local observatory was fantastic! My thanks to the Harford County Astronomical Society for their gracious hospitality in showing me the observatory facility and for allowing me to watch and participate in telescopic viewings of Venus and the moon. Venus has phases! I never knew that, and so in addition to the aesthetic pleasure of the experience, it was enlightening to see "half-Venus" last night. The overall experience gave me a chance to talk with and listen to some interesting, pleasant and intelligent folks, providing plenty of images, ideas and concepts to run through my gray-matter while trying to develop a realistic and compelling setting for the "astronomer-character" in my second novel. If you're looking for an enjoyable, educational local experience for both children and adults, I highly recommend the Harford County Astronomical Society's monthly activities. You can get more information at their web-site, www.harfordastro.org.
January 1, 2009 Happy New Year! I'm happy with "Resolution 786" but , try as I did, I couldn't manage to include extraterrestials in the storyline. That's a component of plot that I've resolved to address in my second novel, "Allah Hu Akbar, Harold Hawkins." Extraterrestrials can't just pop out of thin air, ala deus ex machina. No. I want them brought into the story by the actions of a key character. In this case, that character is an astronomer (Alan Weinstein) searching for extraterrestrial intelligence. All great fiction is built on a foundation of physical reality, and so I'm visiting a local astronomical observatory on January 3rd to take a first-hand look at the working environment of a practicing astronomer. |