It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.
The awesome co-hosts for the November 1 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, Jean Davis, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diedre Knight!
Today’s question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?
I have, twice. Won the first time, came close the second. (Second time was a June event, but it was the same principle.) I'm a slow writer, so an event like NaNo is the kick in the butt I need to get it done. I go in with a detailed plan though. Can't imagine just writing with no plan!
We need hosts for December, January, and February!!! These are tough months so if you can help, we will be most grateful. If you have never co-hosted, please volunteer. It’s a lot more fun on the co-host side. Really! You get a ton more visitors, meet a lot of new people, and get to showcase yourself as a writer/author.
A Little Bollywood Horror
Please welcome my longtime friend and author, Damyanti Biswas!
Halloween is a relatively new celebration in India, more a marketing gimmick for eateries and costume shops than anything else.
The concept of horror movies though is pretty well established in Bollywood, and it is these traditions that have inspired some of the scenes in my latest book, The Blue Monsoon.
The Blue Monsoon is a literary thriller, but I wanted to incorporate horror/ cult elements in it, especially from the Bollywood movie tradition, which often features witches with long hair. Hair is a recurring theme in the book.
Here’s an excerpt:
Hair. So much hair hanging from long ropes strung across the open roof, like witches slung up in some medieval ritual against a gloomy sky, threatening rain. Even in broad daylight though, the thick clusters of dripping hair made her think of watching eyes, of dark, fetid places. Her skin crawled at the sight of all that shiny black, swaying gently in the wind, sinister, assessing, as if ready to rise in the air and surround her.
Since this book is set during the dark monsoons, I hope the use of movie-inspired scene props gives it that creepy, gothic air.
What kind of horror tropes and props have you seen in books and movies? Which are your favorites?
Find Damyanti Biswas at her blog.
Pick up The Blue Monsoon here.
November Movie Preview
Here are the theatrical releases for November. Descriptions courtesy of the IMDB. Snark provided by me.
10 –
The Marvels
Director: Nia DaCosta
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson, Iman Vellani
Carol Danvers gets her powers entangled with those of Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, forcing them to work together to save the universe.
Superheroes, right? Not the 50’s R&B group?
22 –
Napoleon
Director: Ridley Scott
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Ludivine Sagnier
The film takes a personal look at Napoleon Bonaparte's origins, and his swift, ruthless climb to emperor viewed through the prism of his addictive, and often volatile, relationship with his wife and one true love, Josephine.
Phoenix was so method, he never took his hand out of his shirt…
December 1 –
Godzilla Minus One
Director: Takashi Yamazaki
Stars: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yûki Yamada
Godzilla appears in post-World-War-II Japan, which is at its low point at zero, and knocks the country down one to the negatives.
Let’s hope that’s the title and not the average score on Rotten Tomatoes…
Have you participated in NaNo? Like the Blue Monsoon excerpt? Any of those movies strike your fancy? And can you co-host in the coming months? Please leave a comment or send me an email!
And Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.
