DoML - Chapter 9

I spent a lot of time today finishing Chapter 9 in my book, and it's one of my favorite chapters so far!

It's fun how ideas in the plot line will just pop into your head when you sit down and force yourself to write. It seems I can't just wait for inspiration to come, but I have to kind of squeeze it out, like toothpaste!

I've incorporated a new character in my book, who first appears in Chapter 9, named Pierre Peintre. He's an artist, like those that you find scattered around Paris with their artwork displayed behind them as they paint a new masterpiece, and he plays an integral part in the storyline of the two poodles, Didier and Colette.

The chapter had started out as just a way to break the monotony of Maddi's boring and miserly lifestyle. I had already created the poodle characters in the first chapter of the book, and they had made a cameo in the third chapter as well, but now they get their own side plot-line, which will somewhat tie together with Maddi's story in the end.

I had had difficulties making Chapter 9 interesting, but then, as I was squeezing out the ideas, Pierre came to mind. What was supposed to be just a fun and silly chapter (the comic relief of the book, if you will) actually became a serious chapter that included both sides of the lucky/unlucky dichotomy and incorporates that kind of a bittersweet feeling that is popular throughout a majority of the book. I think the new layer creates interest though, and will compel readers to continue on.

Here's an excerpt!

"As they were crossing the bridge, Colette ran ahead of Didier a little ways, stopped, got into a pouncing position, and motioned with her head for him to follow just before dashing away. Didier took this invitation to a race with pleasure and ran after her.

He had dated many a pooch who had just wanted to lie around and look pretty in their new puppy couture; the spoiled brats that they were, but Colette was different. She liked to flirt and have fun with him. What could he have done in the past to deserve such a perfect mate?

They flew down Avenue Rapp. Didier was closing in on Colette. He pulled up beside his gal's left, and was almost nose to nose with her, when she took a quick right down Avenue Franco-Russe.

Didier was quick to recover from the unexpected turn, but Colette had already put two houses’ length in between them. A block ahead the road bent to the right, and one block further it came to an end at the Rue De L’Universite. Colette took a left at the intersection, with Didier trailing close behind.

The Eiffel Tower greeted them just a couple blocks ahead."

- excerpt from The Downfall of Maddi Lavare, Chapter 9 by Robbie McNamee

DoML For Short

I took the day off from work today for various reasons. Mainly, I have been on a nonstop working/rehearsing streak that I needed some time off to catch up on my sleep and have some much needed "me" time.

One of the things I worked on today while sitting in my room was a book that I have been writing for a while now. It had originally started out as an idea for a musical - but after I had written the entire first act, including lyrics and a very small amount of music, my hard drive crashed and I lost everything.

The story was fun and colorful and being it really had been the result of much scattered inspiration I wanted to keep it going. Making it into a musical though was something I had been having a lot of problems with; some of the characters are young children who have to endure painful beatings, which nobody would ever want to witness - even if staged; and lets face it, I'm just not a good composer of music. SO, I decided to adapt the concept into a book.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a little summary of the story - keeping in mind those little paragraphs that you find on the back of a book cover, or on the inside of the flap - and to give you a more understanding of what it's about, I thought I would share it with you.

"Maddi Lavare lived in the same house in Paris her entire, miserable life. As an only child, she spent most of her youth locked up in its cellar and getting undeserved beatings by her father. It wasn’t long before the darkness, in both its literal and metaphorical senses, started affecting her mind, and Maddi soon grew to be one with the house's beautifully aged rooms and crevices. After her father died a premature death, Maddi, who was now in charge of her own path for once, kept herself shut away inside the house, hating anything and everything that lived outside of its embracing walls.

"Now, with her newly-deceased but still cherished cat, Martin; some imaginary friends from childhood who have never quite gone away, and an inheritance of two mysteriously related and incredibly snoopy children, Maddi’s place of inhabitance is starting to feel a little crowded to the middle-aged woman. As plans for a new dog park arise within the city, and the secrets of her past are revealed, everything starts crashing down around her; the bed posts, the ceiling fans, the murders and lies."

The book has a title in progress right now of "The Downfall of Maddi Lavare". I thought that maybe it was just too obvious of a choice and not inventive enough, but until I come up with something better I'm just going to stick with it.

I am currently starting my 9th chapter, and have written 81 full pages so far. It's proving to be a challenge, as sometimes I just don't have the motivation, while other times I don't have the time. It's nice to have both in this short window of opportunity - and THIS time, I'm keeping a copy of my work on a portable disk drive thing! Can't risk another crash!!!

At one point it crossed my mind to maybe write the book in french as well - just to practice my french writing skills (which need improvement) but then I thought that it would take up way too much time... who knows though.

Would you know the question "What orbits around the Earth" even if it was translated in french? I don't know what these french people are even thinking, lol.

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A Beautiful Set of Hypno-Disk Eyes

I came home from work yesterday to find a present that had been delivered to me earlier in the day by UPS. It was from Barnes & Noble, and it confused me greatly. I didn't remember ordering a book from online, and I would definitely hope to remember something like that especially since I almost never order anything online anyways.

With a little difficulty I tore open the cardboard wrapping paper and found, to my delight, a book of poetry titled "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories" To those who know my artistic style, you'll know that I love tastefully dark, mysterious, and twisted stories - very similar to the style of Tim Burton - which this book just happens to have been written by.

Unlike some of his movies in the past, this book was nowhere near disappointing, but was instead very delightful to read and a welcome addition to my ever-growing book collection. It has many different small poems and a couple of longer ones, some of them have reoccurring characters or themes, and they all have cute little illustrations very reminiscent of the styling of Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. It even has stories of Mummy boy and Stick boy who are close to the mummy and Jack respectively in Nightmare.

Here's an excerpt from the book - illustration above:

VOODOO GIRL

"Her skin is white cloth,
And she's all sewn apart
And she has many colored pins
Sticking out of her heart.

She has a beautiful set
Of hypno-disk eyes,
The ones that she uses
To hypnotize guys.

She has many different zombies
Who are deeply in her trance.
She even has a zombie
Who was originally from France.

But she knows she has a curse on her
A curse she cannot win.
For if someone gets
Too close to her,

The pins stick farther in"

My sister was the one who gave me this gift :) She was in her warm state of Florida when she saw this book and thought of me. She just HAD to get it for her little brother! I love it when little surprises are tailored to my personality, just like this one. It means more than some standard card or flower - which I always kill off anyway. On a short tangent, I have decided when I get flowers I will kill them on purpose by drying them out. I have a bouquet of dried red roses, which I love so much, resting on top of my bookshelf. That deep red color is my favorite.

Speaking of my sister Rosie - she recently moved to Florida with her boyfriend Dan, but she is home for the weekend! I haven't seen her in at least a month, which is a big thing for us as our whole lives before this we lived very close; even in the same apartment building once (with our own apartments). She was on the second floor and I was on the third. I won't go into how she tricked me and stole away my childhood bedroom, but it's all in the past anyway as when she moved to Florida I stole it back.

We talked on the phone yesterday when I called to say thanks for the book. She told me that after experiencing a Florida winter that she doesn't know if she'll ever be able to move back to Minnesota due to it's chilly weather. I don't blame her, but at the same time it's sad. My sister and I are very close, and thanks to her gift, I will have Oyster Boy and his freak friends to keep her near when she's enjoying the sunny south in all it's glory.

To think this movie is turning 15 years old. What the hell?


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