THe Lone Apsara

THe Lone Apsara

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Final page proofs

Well as I have said before when I read this book I love it, fall in love with the characters all over again. One of my friends in Cambodia, Pou Khlaing who is singer and entertainer and who has read the book from start to finish said one of the main characters reminded him of a French Cambodian with his speech and actions. I didn't even realize that was how I was portraying him. The main male character is very rich, from the royal family. Knows five languages. He is the type of man that all he has to do is look or speak one word and he has the whole army at his disposal. You will see he is multi faceted person.
I was just reading the scene of the first party of the Cambodian New year that is at his home and anyone who has been to any big party or wedding in Cambodia knows dancing is very important. After the traditional dancing comes more western dancing as the older guest leave. If you can picture gowns of every shade in the world. Real silks, satins, lace, sequins and sparkle. A swirl of color and add to that a very sensual dance so the couple have a chance to dance, getting to know one another. During that dance the aunt of one of the characters is talking to another guest, someone in the Gov. This guest seeing the two dance wonders aloud why the two main characters aren't together he knows who and what Nurung is. As my nephew said "Time travel is not going back in time so much but a parallel time that co-exist with the present."
So this dance that I created with the swirl of color, the movements, though clean, was to Usher's "Love in the Club" with Beyonc'e. It was the tune that helped me to create the scene.
Creating a contemporary character to go with Jayavarman VII who is on my cover was a joy. I fell in love with the king. He came to the throne at around the age of 60, was cousin to Suryavarman II who built Angkor Wat(The building). He was twenty years older then I will have my Jayavarman VII. He was the builder king adding on to make Angkor Wat the largest religious structure in the world that still stands. He kicked the butt of his enemies and then had a peaceful reign for the most part till in his 90s. His rein was at same time as King Richard the Lion the Hearted. He had two queens that reined and ruled with him at the same time, sisters. I dealt with that in a way that I could because this book and the next one are the story of this great king and 'his'Queen Indradevi. So enough said for now...