Beyond Object Impermanance

Posted on December 17, 2007 by jkmahal

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R2a_uQIag2I/AAAAAAAAAEk/v-49rybAUV8/s1600-h/IMG_1105.JPG”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R2a_uQIag2I/AAAAAAAAAEk/v-49rybAUV8/s200/IMG_1105.JPG” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5145010425642517346″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;” I/spanf science is to be taken as truth, everyone goes through object impermanence as a baby. That’s the belief that if we cannot see someone or something, then it has been destroyed or does not exist.br /br /I’m not doubting the science. I only say “if” because babies can’t talk in a language we fluently understand, so there is some margin for error.br /br /As we grow older, we gain the ability to understand that things and people don’t disappear completely when they go out of sight. I suppose it’s a sort of faith. We believe that the stuffed toy bear we left on our bed will be there when we come back. We believe that mommy or daddy will reappear in the morning, even if sometimes we have to sneak into bed to check. Thus, steps should be sildenafil generic sale taken to control body weight, which will improve erectile function. This particular component makes sure that the blood flow to the vessels thereby promoting better erections. canterburymewscooperative.com viagra online france He has his own company, Biotech PharmaFlow Ltd, based in the UK and handles assignments across the india tadalafil spectrum from top ten Pharma’s through to highly virtual early stage start ups. Kamagra is one of the best examples cialis generika 5mg of efficient herbal supplements. And that belief is supported. When it’s not, it affects our security, our knowledge of the world.br /br /The creche in the picture sits on my mantle, a gift from someone no longer with me but always present. She and I have moved beyond object impermanence. I believe in what I cannot see. That her energy is out there in the universe, no matter how that universe defines itself.br /br /I believe that my book exists, whole and complete, even though it is still in the process of being. Its object is not permanent, but not impermanent either.br /br /What do you believe?

Posted in writing | 5 Comments

Casting My Characters

Posted on December 15, 2007 by jkmahal

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R2MsxAIagyI/AAAAAAAAAEE/jGQp0_JfI7w/s1600-h/Murciano.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R2MsxAIagyI/AAAAAAAAAEE/jGQp0_JfI7w/s200/Murciano.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144004419747742498″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;” T/spano everyone else, this photo is of a href=”http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006663/”Enrique Murciano/a, star of the CBS series a href=”http://www.cbs.com/primetime/without_a_trace/”Without a Trace./a To me that’s a photo of Detective Daniel Castillo in my WIP iWalking in the Dark./ibr /br /I woke up this morning struggling with an emotional scene and decided to cast my characters. Not all of them, just the main ones, whose intersections drive the plot.br /br /Actually, I already had a photo of Cassie, the protagonist. It’s a not-so-glamorous glamor shot of an Oscar-winning actress. The sad thoughtfulness of her expression fit the mood of Cassie. Similarly, this issue of insufficient supply of blood to the viagra super http://miamistonecrabs.com/viagra-5347 penis. You don’t have to pay a visit to the drug-store; you only need a computer and an internet signal being miamistonecrabs.com buy viagra online all that’s required. OT’s can also increase their salaries by earning a post-graduate degree and advancing to higher paying medical positions, by gaining seniority, by moving to a larger institution, cost of viagra canada or by promotion to a supervisory role. Mechanism of Kamagra jelly: Kamagra treats the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during the sexual activity.It initially holds the levitra on line sale action of Kamagra, one should be familiar with how an erection occurs. It makes a good reference.br /br /Casting the detective helped me move the scene along, made it easier for me to imagine. That’s when it hit me. All of the other fiction I’ve written has been in the form of a screenplay or a television spec script — two mediums that are written with a cast in mind.br /br /Of course casting helped! That’s how I’ve been trained to write.br /br /I’ve now started a file for interesting pictures of actors, actresses and real people I can imagine in roles. I figure it’s like my imagination’s talent agency, a place I can go to find a a href=”http://www.thefreedictionary.com/golem”golem/a to breathe life into.br /br /How about you? Do you “cast” the characters you write?

Posted in Walking in the Dark, writing | 6 Comments

Lessons I’ve Learned From ‘The Wire’

Posted on December 14, 2007 by jkmahal

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R2H4VjoQqbI/AAAAAAAAAD0/WZA64PGYyzg/s1600-h/16564077_4317cde9ff.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp1.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R2H4VjoQqbI/AAAAAAAAAD0/WZA64PGYyzg/s200/16564077_4317cde9ff.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5143665298658863538″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;” T/spanhe writing team of a href=”http://www.hbo.com/thewire/”The Wire/a was nominated for a a href=”http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1516″2008 WGA award/a on Wednesday for the quality of its writing. It’s well deserved. The show isn’t to everyone’s tastes. If you hate gritty crime drama, swearing or sweaty naked bodies, this isn’t the show for you.br /br /But if you like great storytelling, characterization and world-building, a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_%28TV_series%29″The Wire/a is a go-to show. So in honor of the nomination, here are three lessons I’ve learned from a href=”http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0306414/”The Wire/a.br /br /b1. Characters don’t always have to make the easy choices./b Over and over again, the drug dealers, cops, politicians and educators of this show make choices that are completely within their character, but are not the ones that first come to mind. By easy, I don’t necessarily mean easy for the character, but easy to the writer. Example: In Season Two, when Ziggy’s deal with Double-G goes bad, he doesn’t do what most writers would have him do and run away. Instead, he waits in the car for what he knows is coming. (Sorry to be vague, but I don’t want to ruin the episode for those who haven’t seen it.) It’s a brilliant piece of writing.br /br /b2. And, although it hasn’t been proven by science, they also insist that there’s something sildenafil online pharmacy else in it that naturally boosts the sex drive. Dosage pattern Dosage to viagra pfizer cialis is easy to use pumping method for ED issue. It is also reported to aid in excitement and increase sensation. generic viagra from india Kamagra viagra generic cheap is a pharmaceutical product, which is facilitated as Kamagra tablets, Kamagra jellies and Kamagra soft tablets. Details matter./b This is true in both the story world of uThe Wire/u, where a wire tap could make a case, and in the writing of uThe Wire/u. The small things tell so much about character. Example: When McNulty in Season Three starts watching a televised political show and then flips over moments later to a WWII documentary, you just know how his date’s going to go later that week.br /br /b3. Throw stereotypes out the window./b What comes to mind when you think of a drug dealer? I’m sure it isn’t Stringer Bell using Robert’s Rules of Order to run a meeting with his mid-level dealers. Or Prop Joe fixing a toaster, because he hates to see useful things wasted. The writers of uThe Wire/u break stereotypes time and time again, allowing us to see characters as three-dimensional, rather than villainous (or virtuous) cut outs.br /br /Watching uThe Wire/u challenges me to be a better writer.br /br /Congratulations to Season Four writers Ed Burns, Chris Collins, Dennis Lehane, David Mills, George Pelecanos, Richard Price, David Simon and William F. Zorzi. Kudos (both the chocolaty kind and the standing O variety). Now if only the Emmy people would wise up….br /br /span style=”font-size:85%;”Photo by a href=”http://flickr.com/photos/larachris/”Chris and Lara Pawluck/a/span

Posted in television, The Wire, writing | Leave a comment

Strikewatch 2007: Letter Writing Made Easy

Posted on December 11, 2007 by jkmahal

For those of you not following the Strike News, negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP have broken down again. The AMPTP refuses to come back to the bargaining table unless the WGA gives in to all of its demands (which, when you think of it, doesn’t seem like much of a negotiation). Visiting the br /br /This is why the people at a href=”http://firedoglake.com/wga/index.php/write/compose”Firedoglake/a have made it easier than ever to send an email to the producers of your favorite shows. br /You name the show (from “Pushing Daisies” to “Army Wives”) and they have it programmed in. The first well known position, you will rely on your first sexual intercourse viagra online samples in missionary because it’s easy and efficient. Such new and harmful disorders are coming into existence due to the increase viagra store in canada discover for source now in health issues or carelessness of the person. Lack of side effect is a buy cheap cialis main health benefit of consuming Lawax capsule. PE is psychological Psychological causes of premature ejaculation or early tadalafil 20mg canada discharge. By using their form, you can easily send word to the production companies and studios that you would like the AMPTP to return to the bargaining table.br /br /They have a standard letter with a lot of rhetoric that can be sent, or you can change it (as I did) to say something more to your taste. I just took their first paragraph, personalized it to each show and added “Thank you for your time.”br /br /Please consider taking 5 minutes out of your day to send an email. br /br /a href=”http://firedoglake.com/wga/index.php/write/compose”Click here to start your letter writing campaign./a

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The Not-So-Wicked Stepmother

Posted on December 10, 2007 by jkmahal

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://www.availableimages.com/images/previews/Stepmom%20%281998%29.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;” src=”http://www.availableimages.com/images/previews/Stepmom%20%281998%29.jpg” alt=”” border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:180%;”span style=”font-weight: bold;”I/span/span was in a store Friday getting a photo album made when I mentioned to the clerk that the album was for my stepmother.br /br /”Oh, your stepmother,” she said in a voice dripping with understanding fueled by Disney cartoons.br /br /”No, no,” I protested, “I really like my stepmother.”br /br /The clerk was surprised. It was the second time this year I’ve seen that look on someone’s face when I’ve expressed my admiration for the woman my dad married after the divorce. My Not-So-Wicked Stepmother is a sweet, loving, wonderful person, the total opposite of the wicked woman in the Cinderella story.br /br /Which made me wonder about the ways in which we use stereotypes in both our writing and our lives. Stereotypes are easy for writers to fall back on. They’re cookie-cutter, culturally accepted ideas. Also, once in a while you require a spe price for viagra 100mgt and at some point any old specialist will do. This remedy doesn’t solve the issue of men when they are stressed. generic viagra buy Sexuality is all about cheap cialis australia expressing and experiencing the erotic feelings of being highly sexual. With erectile dysfunction medication that contains PDE5-inhibitor, these enzymes are destroyed slowly and gradually, curing the impotence buying cialis in spain in men. Stereotypes are simple and sometimes useful.br /br /But what if we, as writers and people, look beyond them. Instead of the easy snap judgments, what if we take our time and get to know a character or a person. How much does it enrich our lives and our writing to see things fresh?br /br /The local weekly here strives to show — rather than tell — that the homeless are people with its regular feature profiling a homeless person. The stories are varied and not always what you expect.br /br /I love that about it. I love that they dare to turn our conventional wisdom of who the homeless are upside down simply by telling their stories.br /br /And in the fictional realm, it makes me want to work harder to learn the stories of my characters, especially the main antagonist, so he doesn’t simply fill a mold.

Posted in characters, writing | 4 Comments

Don’t put a gun in Act 1….

Posted on December 5, 2007 by jkmahal

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R1ZCezoQqZI/AAAAAAAAADk/njyfChj5ZJY/s1600-h/305308414_b9b7b29943.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_dJEkdJdUM4w/R1ZCezoQqZI/AAAAAAAAADk/njyfChj5ZJY/s200/305308414_b9b7b29943.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5140369121712581010″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-weight: bold;font-size:180%;” D/spanon’t put a gun in Act I unless you plan on using it by Act III. It’s a basic rule of story. One that I saw violated this week with the a href=”http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/”iHeroes/i/a Volume II finale.br /br /The gun I refer to in this case is Peter’s powers. And the violation of this rule over and over again in this shortened season drove me batty.br /br /Peter, for those who don’t watch the show, is a hero with a capital H whose superpower is the ability to instantly mimic/absorb the powers of the heroes he encounters. Those powers then become his, available to be used at any time.br /br /So far, Peter has absorbed the powers to fly, turn invisible, create radiation, move things with his mind, shoot electricity from his fingers, read minds, regenerate, travel time/space and stop time. There are probably a few other powers he’s gotten as well.br /br /SPOILER ALERT (Don’t read further if you don’t want to know what’s been happening in span style=”font-style: italic;”Heroes/span).br /br /This season, he accidentally strands a girl he has fallen for (Caitlin) in a future where humanity has been destroyed by a virus. The stranding happens at a point in the storyline when amnesia caused by the Haitian (another gun character who has disappeared with a completely unexplained storyline) kept him from remembering anything.br /br /What I have a problem with is what happens after he heals his brain and remembers. Instead of going back to the future (no one’s ever going to be able to use that phrase without a Michael J Fox flashback) now that he remembers how to use his powers, he goes along with Adam’s plan to stop the virus from being disseminated. To increase the blood flow to that region it is then when the person fails sildenafil 50mg to make erections. A prostatectomy is when the prostate gland is removed, usually along with small parts of the lymphatic system near the soft viagra tabs gland. It purifies your blood and levitra brand provides essential vitamins and minerals. The chief reason is not following good diet plan with well balanced nutrients and a little change in our attitude helps to understand and overcome adverse situations http://www.aimhousepatong.com/double-bed.html levitra uk in our life. That would be all fine and good, except Adam is a bad guy and even after being told (by Victoria and then by Hiro) that Adam is a bad guy, Peter can’t/won’t/doesn’t use his powers to inkle out the truth.br /br /This is a man with a freakin’ dozen superpowers, including mind reading, but he can’t figure out how to tell if Hiro or Victoria is telling the truth instead of Adam? Ummm, what about freezing time, turning invisible and checking if Victoria was really aiming at you when Adam shot her? Or going back with Hiro to see what Adam’s been up to?br /br /Plus, VOLUME II ENDING SPOILER why on earth would Peter send Adam into the vault for the vial of virus when he’s the one with the radiation hands. What was Adam supposed to do, regenerate the virus to death? And Peter can walk through walls, so why did he have to pull the door apart to begin with.br /br /Don’t even get me started on how they screwed with Mohinder’s character this year.br /br /If you put a gun in Act I, use it by Act III. If you give someone incredible superpowers, have them USE their superpowers (or explain why they can’t). And for God’s sake, don’t make them stupid all of a sudden without explanation just because it creates (false) dramatic tension for them to do the wrong thing.br /br /It’s one thing for the gun to jam at the end of Act III, especially if you see why the gun might jam. It’s another to kill the antagonist with a knife while the gun is still laying on the kitchen table.br /br /Writing like this is how writers (and series creators) lose readers (and watchers). And a writer’s strike is no excuse for shoddy plotting. End of rant.br /br /span style=”font-size:85%;”Photo by a href=”http://flickr.com/photos/bethanyking/”Bethany King/a/span

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments