My Writing Process : A 'Blog Hop' Tour

First and foremost, I’d like to thank P.J. Royal, a most sensitive, talented historical fiction writer whose Humble Musings of a Literary Kind you can enjoy here : http://pjroyal.blogspot.com.  for inviting me to participate in this blog tour.

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What are you currently working on?

I am working on my fourth novel, something like a prose version of Eliot’s Gerontion, if you wish, with all due respect for my favorite poet. An elderly woman looks back on her life, focusing on her relationships with men. The novel explores how parental and societal mandates can affect lives, the impossibility of love unless we accept that we don’t all love in the same way, and the ways in which memory distorts fact as a defense mechanism against excruciating suffering. Perhaps it should be noted that, in the face of the horrible experiences many women have undergone, my protagonist has had quite an ordinary life. However, another aspect of this novel highlights that it’s all about subjective perception, so my main character responds to her perceptions rather than to what she actually experiences.

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

The notion of genre makes me uncomfortable. Many of the works we are now writing and publishing break every single rule of the genre, and we call them ‘novels’ through lack of a better name. In all honesty, it’s not for me to say how my work differs from others. It is true I do not write in borrowed voices, nor have I seen other works dealing with the same subject matters. Other than that, readers are welcome to point to the differences.

Why do you write what you do?

Much of our contemporary literature concerns itself with the horrors and atrocities inflicted by man on his fellow beings. To a large number of people, such horrors are distant. I write about such dark aspects of human nature as could be familiar to practically everyone: suicide, the neglect of the old and helpless, the cultural clash not triggered by the need to escape a war or persecution, lives ruined by wrong choices. My purpose is to provide readers with an image of their own lives or of the lives around them and force them out of their comfort zone. In a way, and from another point of view and with different resources, I do the same in my fiction as I do in my self-help books.

How does your writing process work?

If we talk about non-fiction, there’s a long period of thorough research, comparison and contrast, note-taking, and personal synthesis before the actual writing starts. When we come to fiction, the story, from beginning to end, first develops in my mind. I create a comprehensive biography for all my characters, even though probably very little of it will go into the book. The point is, characters should stay consistent even in their inconsistencies, something that can be achieved as long as the writer knows who they are and where they come from. This can take a really long time. Once this mental process is over, I sit down to write… and this is the hard part :)

If curious about my work, you can find it on http://www.amazon.com/Marta-Merajver-Kurlat/e/B009TC8C5A/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

I am tagging author Bryan Murphy, someone I very much admire, to continue with this tour. You can read his answers as from Monday, July 30, on  http://www.bryanmurphy.eu

 My Writing Process : A 'Blog Hop' Tour

First and foremost, I’d like to thank P.J. Royal, a most sensitive, talented historical fiction writer whose Humble Musings of a Literary Kind you can enjoy here : http://pjroyal.blogspot.com.  for inviting me to participate in this blog tour.

----------------------------   

What are you currently working on?

I am working on my fourth novel, something like a prose version of Eliot’s Gerontion, if you wish, with all due respect for my favorite poet. An elderly woman looks back on her life, focusing on her relationships with men. The novel explores how parental and societal mandates can affect lives, the impossibility of love unless we accept that we don’t all love in the same way, and the ways in which memory distorts fact as a defense mechanism against excruciating suffering. Perhaps it should be noted that, in the face of the horrible experiences many women have undergone, my protagonist has had quite an ordinary life. However, another aspect of this novel highlights that it’s all about subjective perception, so my main character responds to her perceptions rather than to what she actually experiences.

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

The notion of genre makes me uncomfortable. Many of the works we are now writing and publishing break every single rule of the genre, and we call them ‘novels’ through lack of a better name. In all honesty, it’s not for me to say how my work differs from others. It is true I do not write in borrowed voices, nor have I seen other works dealing with the same subject matters. Other than that, readers are welcome to point to the differences.

Why do you write what you do?

Much of our contemporary literature concerns itself with the horrors and atrocities inflicted by man on his fellow beings. To a large number of people, such horrors are distant. I write about such dark aspects of human nature as could be familiar to practically everyone: suicide, the neglect of the old and helpless, the cultural clash not triggered by the need to escape a war or persecution, lives ruined by wrong choices. My purpose is to provide readers with an image of their own lives or of the lives around them and force them out of their comfort zone. In a way, and from another point of view and with different resources, I do the same in my fiction as I do in my self-help books.

How does your writing process work?

If we talk about non-fiction, there’s a long period of thorough research, comparison and contrast, note-taking, and personal synthesis before the actual writing starts. When we come to fiction, the story, from beginning to end, first develops in my mind. I create a comprehensive biography for all my characters, even though probably very little of it will go into the book. The point is, characters should stay consistent even in their inconsistencies, something that can be achieved as long as the writer knows who they are and where they come from. This can take a really long time. Once this mental process is over, I sit down to write… and this is the hard part :)

If curious about my work, you can find it on http://www.amazon.com/Marta-Merajver-Kurlat/e/B009TC8C5A/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

I am tagging author Bryan Murphy, someone I very much admire, to continue with this tour. You can read his answers as from Monday, July 30, on  http://www.bryanmurphy.eu

Bio:

Bryan Murphy is an Anglo-Irish globetrotter. He recently retired from a job within the United Nations system and now divides his time among England, Italy, the wider world and cyberspace. His e-books include Murder By Suicide, Heresy, Linehan’s Trip and Goodbye, Padania. You can find them here:http://amazon.com/author/bryanmurphy … and at other major retailers.

Bryan welcomes visitors at: http://www.bryanmurphy.eu

Bio:

Bryan Murphy is an Anglo-Irish globetrotter. He recently retired from a job within the United Nations system and now divides his time among England, Italy, the wider world and cyberspace. His e-books include Murder By Suicide, Heresy, Linehan’s Trip and Goodbye, Padania. You can find them here:http://amazon.com/author/bryanmurphy … and at other major retailers.

Bryan welcomes visitors at: http://www.bryanmurphy.eu