THe Lone Apsara
Monday, May 30, 2011
The Cham Invasion
Here are some photos of the Bas Reliefs at Angkor Wat and The Bayon depicting the invasion of the Cham. It's the only record out there of this invasion. Much research is being done on my end about this period of time of Angkor. More photos will be added this afternoon..
Saturday, May 28, 2011
History, writing and random thoughts...
Well there is much to be said about being up in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning when you can't sleep... the house is very quiet, the kids are not fighting. The only noise I can hear now is the dog snoring and the cats coming to check me out and probably wondering why I am up?
It happens of late when I get woken up suddenly and then get a migraine from jumping up to the sound of a dog barking outside and wondering in my sleep, "Why is the dog barking outside ?" So now I am up...
It's hard during the week, I don't have time to write and so I put the part of my brain that writes to rest. Then towards the end of the week I start to wake up again, plotting my next part in the book. Really I am always playing with the characters, thinking out the next part. It's not just as aggressive, because I know I won't have time to write. So instead of getting really frustrated with myself I have learned to leave it till I know I can tackle it. Really that's good, very, very good in fact because I can be a real bear if I am working on my book on the week-end and I haven't the time to get out my thoughts... Things I want to get done slide and all I can focus on are character development and the next scene... Funny how watching an Eminem and Dr. Dre music video and how Eminem tells how trying to get his ideas out and working on a song the only one who understood him was Dr. Dre. He was the only one to take a chance on a 'white kid', how he just felt like he was going crazy, no one understood him . Like my son Brendan I think is a genius and he gets ideas and because he isn't loaded with money yet it takes a while, sometimes a great while to get a project underway. BUT he has a select few who he can talk to , share his dreams and visions. I think when you have creative, gifted people in your house well it's probably hard on the other ones in the house, I don't know I don't have to live with myself BUT I do know when I am in my creative bent I know if I am happy I am easy to live with myself, but if I am frustrated for lack of time or I am having a hard time getting my idea out or I feel like all I am writing is just junk, like pulling teeth then I am not a happy camper and thus no one else is going to be very happy. So it's good to have someone to talk to, someone who understands how it is dealing with creative energy and being frustrated. Your loved ones can say "yea,yea" but to really understand. To know what it is like having ideas but until you can see them come to fruition it is really frustrating and then on top of it if you lack the resources to get things moving well it's nice to have someone who can help or can help be a mentor or be that one who sees what you are saying or trying to convey ... LOL writing in the middle of the night has it's advantages BUT it also has it's disadvantages, you are still half asleep and it's hard to peg down that idea and make it come to life...
It's nice I can talk to my older kids, bounce ideas off them, sometimes long distance, like Meg. Or when I am driving my older son to school, telling him something. It helps just to be able to voice what you are thinking and then it doesn't sound so out there or at least they don't tell you they think it's whacked and out there but they listen patiently. That's why it's nice to be able tot talk to my kids, each one whether it be like my other daughter who is home right now I can talk to her too and tell her things and though I am not sure she always understands I think she is getting there at least she listens too. So I have my little support net work. Brendan , well he shares his visions, like he did a few years ago. I couldn't see it then, couldn't grasp it but then last February he tried again, telling me about his KOA idea and how "can you help me research Mom?" "Sure says I" and then I realized I didn't just want to do research but i wanted to write this story... How it felt to get to a part and write it and then find out, OMG what I was forming in my mind was actually true, not just something I dreamed up in my head. Some how I knew things and it gave me chills because I would have whatever already firmly established in my little brain then 'bass ackwards' do some research and find out that was the way it was... Now mind you i don't always do things backwards. Most of the time I do my research before but sometimes i get ahead of myself and just want to write, let the creative juices flow... research later. So I try to be as historically accurate as possible... timetables, events, kings, rulers but there will be something I don't get right and I apologize now if i get it wrong or if I take a ruler from one hundred years before and put him with my characters now... he just seemed like the better villain...
WEll it's now past 4am and the birds are singing... I am going to try and go back to bed.
History... working with historical figures, even though there isn't a whole lot out there on them to glean from I try to be a good steward with what knowledge I have of them. To use it correctly ,to not be disrespectful in bringing them to life again. I am dealing with people who to this day have descendants who still reign over a country that my older children live in. There is a bit of room to work with some of the minor characters and since in this second book I am only just writing it, I have a lot of time to write, write and re-write. Many drafts and edits till I get it just right and feel good and comfortable about what I am writing.
How will I feel once my first book comes out? I am sure I will be very happy, over the top happy in fact. I will probably be walking on cloud nine with my feet off the ground. I am already thinking of my book launch party and have already talked with Barry King about having it on the Schooner Mary Day. She is where I feel very happy and relaxed and so I think it's fitting I have my first party there. Then there will be one in Cambodia...
It happens of late when I get woken up suddenly and then get a migraine from jumping up to the sound of a dog barking outside and wondering in my sleep, "Why is the dog barking outside ?" So now I am up...
It's hard during the week, I don't have time to write and so I put the part of my brain that writes to rest. Then towards the end of the week I start to wake up again, plotting my next part in the book. Really I am always playing with the characters, thinking out the next part. It's not just as aggressive, because I know I won't have time to write. So instead of getting really frustrated with myself I have learned to leave it till I know I can tackle it. Really that's good, very, very good in fact because I can be a real bear if I am working on my book on the week-end and I haven't the time to get out my thoughts... Things I want to get done slide and all I can focus on are character development and the next scene... Funny how watching an Eminem and Dr. Dre music video and how Eminem tells how trying to get his ideas out and working on a song the only one who understood him was Dr. Dre. He was the only one to take a chance on a 'white kid', how he just felt like he was going crazy, no one understood him . Like my son Brendan I think is a genius and he gets ideas and because he isn't loaded with money yet it takes a while, sometimes a great while to get a project underway. BUT he has a select few who he can talk to , share his dreams and visions. I think when you have creative, gifted people in your house well it's probably hard on the other ones in the house, I don't know I don't have to live with myself BUT I do know when I am in my creative bent I know if I am happy I am easy to live with myself, but if I am frustrated for lack of time or I am having a hard time getting my idea out or I feel like all I am writing is just junk, like pulling teeth then I am not a happy camper and thus no one else is going to be very happy. So it's good to have someone to talk to, someone who understands how it is dealing with creative energy and being frustrated. Your loved ones can say "yea,yea" but to really understand. To know what it is like having ideas but until you can see them come to fruition it is really frustrating and then on top of it if you lack the resources to get things moving well it's nice to have someone who can help or can help be a mentor or be that one who sees what you are saying or trying to convey ... LOL writing in the middle of the night has it's advantages BUT it also has it's disadvantages, you are still half asleep and it's hard to peg down that idea and make it come to life...
It's nice I can talk to my older kids, bounce ideas off them, sometimes long distance, like Meg. Or when I am driving my older son to school, telling him something. It helps just to be able to voice what you are thinking and then it doesn't sound so out there or at least they don't tell you they think it's whacked and out there but they listen patiently. That's why it's nice to be able tot talk to my kids, each one whether it be like my other daughter who is home right now I can talk to her too and tell her things and though I am not sure she always understands I think she is getting there at least she listens too. So I have my little support net work. Brendan , well he shares his visions, like he did a few years ago. I couldn't see it then, couldn't grasp it but then last February he tried again, telling me about his KOA idea and how "can you help me research Mom?" "Sure says I" and then I realized I didn't just want to do research but i wanted to write this story... How it felt to get to a part and write it and then find out, OMG what I was forming in my mind was actually true, not just something I dreamed up in my head. Some how I knew things and it gave me chills because I would have whatever already firmly established in my little brain then 'bass ackwards' do some research and find out that was the way it was... Now mind you i don't always do things backwards. Most of the time I do my research before but sometimes i get ahead of myself and just want to write, let the creative juices flow... research later. So I try to be as historically accurate as possible... timetables, events, kings, rulers but there will be something I don't get right and I apologize now if i get it wrong or if I take a ruler from one hundred years before and put him with my characters now... he just seemed like the better villain...
WEll it's now past 4am and the birds are singing... I am going to try and go back to bed.
History... working with historical figures, even though there isn't a whole lot out there on them to glean from I try to be a good steward with what knowledge I have of them. To use it correctly ,to not be disrespectful in bringing them to life again. I am dealing with people who to this day have descendants who still reign over a country that my older children live in. There is a bit of room to work with some of the minor characters and since in this second book I am only just writing it, I have a lot of time to write, write and re-write. Many drafts and edits till I get it just right and feel good and comfortable about what I am writing.
How will I feel once my first book comes out? I am sure I will be very happy, over the top happy in fact. I will probably be walking on cloud nine with my feet off the ground. I am already thinking of my book launch party and have already talked with Barry King about having it on the Schooner Mary Day. She is where I feel very happy and relaxed and so I think it's fitting I have my first party there. Then there will be one in Cambodia...
Monday, May 23, 2011
"The Apparatus of State"
That is the description for the photo I had on the last post of the Queen or Princess giving a blessing. It is on the South Wall Gallery. As always my friend Kent Davis came to the recue and told me where I can find more information on the bas reliefs.
There is a second one that he sent me. Now to find the book that will help me to understand more about these great portraits of life at Angkor.
Learning from the past
It's not easy finding out about a time, it's people the country that is almost 1000 years ago. The only thing left to give me even a hint is the bas reliefs of Angkor Wat and The Bayon. At Angkor Wat you have mythology and wars gracing the bas reliefs. At the Bayon it's everyday life. That's what I am looking for and researching at the moment. Anything that will give me a hint about the everyday, the mundane. I am also doing research on a major battle but in amongst the battles life goes on. Well until all hell breaks loose.
So though I may have already put these photos on I want to explain a difference with them.
The first one is more then likely one of the grand marches that shows the troops as they are going off to war. I am trying to find more information on it.
The second one is of King Suryavarman II being fanned and sitting under umbrellas.
The third that I just posted recently looks like a Queen or Princess blessing people or monks. Since I think it was from the Bayon, it may have been one of Jayavarman's Queens, he had two that reigned with him at the same time. They were very involved with everyday life, taught and were well respected. This one is my pet project at the moment.
So though I may have already put these photos on I want to explain a difference with them.
The first one is more then likely one of the grand marches that shows the troops as they are going off to war. I am trying to find more information on it.
The second one is of King Suryavarman II being fanned and sitting under umbrellas.
The third that I just posted recently looks like a Queen or Princess blessing people or monks. Since I think it was from the Bayon, it may have been one of Jayavarman's Queens, he had two that reigned with him at the same time. They were very involved with everyday life, taught and were well respected. This one is my pet project at the moment.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Bas relief at Angkor Wat
Have a great day and week-end!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Getting your mind back in the present
You know it's not easy when you are in a writing grove and all you want to do is write,write,write... Your mind is on the characters, plotting, scenes and sequence. Should I add this, take out that. Your mind is back almost a thousand years and trying to recreate a time, culture, people who for the most part existed. Most of my characters are real and though there isn't a whole lot written about them I do have one surviving record written by a Chinese diplomat who visited Angkor at the time of the last King of Angkor. He will be the final king in my book. I also have the reliefs on the walls of Angkor and the Bayon that I can study.
Some days I find it very hard trying to keep my characters back in the back reaches of my brain, they want to come to the forefront... so come the week-ends I am wanting to write like crazy. Not easy when you have other responsibilities that beckon. So I try to balance.
Life is a balance.
may you all find your balance and peace today!
Some days I find it very hard trying to keep my characters back in the back reaches of my brain, they want to come to the forefront... so come the week-ends I am wanting to write like crazy. Not easy when you have other responsibilities that beckon. So I try to balance.
Life is a balance.
may you all find your balance and peace today!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
The second book.
A quick post here. Have been working on the 2nd book, I am up to 50 pages which is a milestone for me. Makes me very happy. I am also very happy to announce that the third book in the series is taking shape... With the help of a book on Cambodian dancers, and Pou Khlaing who is a Cambodian singer and friend of mine ( he asked me what I thought about this certain idea???) and I said OMG I have been tossing that idea around and just this moment I now know what King will be in it. So I am very happy to now have the third book firmly in my brain. More info as I come along.
All of you have a great day, I have to get to work early.
All of you have a great day, I have to get to work early.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Khmer Wedding Outfits
I really wish I could scan my daughter Megan's wedding dress pictures. She was stunning. I can't remember how many times and gowns she had throughout the day. I had two. One for morning and then one for the evening. I think Megan had 13-15 gowns, I will have to ask her. Anyway here are photos I found to give you an idea of what Khmer Wedding gowns look like,
for the morning ceremony anyway.
for the morning ceremony anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)