WHAT DO WRITERS DO BESIDES WRITING? PART 3: FUN WITH FRIENDS

CELEBRATING CANADA DAY

"A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends." Cecily James.

It's been a few weeks of holidays and celebrating. The best parts of it were some of the times I spent with my friends. On Canada Day several of us met in the park at Granville island and spent the afternoon listening to music. It was the end of the jazz festival (I missed most of those events) and a big day of celebrating Canada's 141st Birthday. The sun was hot and the crowds all enthusiastic as they waves flags and enjoyed the day. A real show of patriotism. And a fun day for me with my friends, beginning with lunch at an Indian restaurant, then the music in the park, then a late bite to eat at our favorite jazz venue on the Drive.

Mid week my pal Andrea and I went to see an art exhibit opening at the Yaletown Gallery (www.yaletowngallery.com) The paintings were by a well-known BC poet and a good crowd showed up. My friend Jabbar is the gallery curator so we always try to go to the exhibits. It's a small gallery in a prestigious part of the city (Yaletown). Now, here's the part of this story that connects with my writing. Jabbar asked me about Shadow of the Lion. When would I finish it? Then he suggested something that certainly served as a huge inspiration. He said that perhaps when it is finished, I can do a reading at the Gallery. He would invite Iraqi and perhaps Greek artists to display. And I said, "Yes, considering you are one of the characters in the novel!"

The story is this: I have a fictional character named Nabarzanes who is a Persian court advisor from Babylon. I had written a lot about Nabarzanes and had a vision of him in my mind. But one day when I was in the L.Q. where my friends and I hang out, I saw this man and immediately I did a double take because HE was Nabarzanes. Eventually I got to be introduced to this tall, dark stranger (who I was sure was from the Middle East) and it turned out he was a refugee from Iraq, a well-known artist from Baghdad who had to flee Sadaam's regime. He and I have become good friends and that's our little 'in' joke -- that he is the embodiment of Nabarzanes.

Whether or not this 'reading' ever happens time will tell. But it was certainly a jolt of inspiration that I needed. "Hurry up and finish it!" Jabbar said. And I will!

I went out to the suburbs on Friday to spend a lovely day with my sister and catch up on family news.

So then the weekend came and it was salsa dancing time again. Every weekend 'the gang' gets together at our favorite haunt, the Latin Quarter, to enjoy the excellent Latin music of a group called Sumalao. This Friday was one of those nights full of high energy and fun.
People showed up who we haven't seen in awhile and everyone was in a merry mood. I was even given a yellow rose, a very sweet gesture from one of the Latino men. My friend Anibal used to play percussion with this group and of course there are always moments during the evening when I really miss him and start to feel nostalgic. But this was a night for being happy. It was the weekend. And life is good.

Saturday a group of friends and I met at the Heritage Grill in New Westminster to hear my son's band play. Here's Steve singing the Blues. We always like to go and support him when the band is playing. You can hear some of his music if you check his website at
www.myspace.com/stevekozakswestcoastbluesrevue

Today, Sunday, I finished tidying up my apartment and cleaning up the balcony. Then I went to buy new plants and meet my good friend Astarte for coffee. We ended up hanging out together all afternoon, bought the plants, then went to her place to drink mojitos and eat some snacks. It's been a good week, and now it's time to start some serious writing again. I'm feeling much better in mind and body.
The acupuncture has really helped my painful back/foot problem; I have managed to quieten myself and feel I am more centred once again but I still intend to keep on the regime of diet, exercise and meditation. The weather is supposed to be great all week. And even though I'll be busy teaching two night school classes a week for the month of July, I will still enjoy my outings to the beach and my social get-togethers with the wonderful group of friends I have. Yes...and for sure...I'm going to be working on the novel again. You'll see another snippet posted soon! And oh yes...tomorrow I have an interview with a prestigious writers group of retired people who need a life writing instructor. And more writing-related events are happening in the next 3 weeks.

PROGRESS REPORT #3 "Fire in the Heaven" !!

"The splendor of a great man lights up the heavens."
I Ching Hexagram 14

This was the hexagram I got this morning when I threw the old Chinese coins to see what advice the I Ching had for me when I'd asked "What do I need to do to keep the inspiration going?" Well, of course, the "fire in the heaven" of Hex. 14 certainly must have meant Alexander. Who else?

And then, when I read the Tao Te Ching this is what it had to say:

"Governing a large country
is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much poking." Tao Te Ching 60

I think this means, I should look at "Shadow of the Lion" as a "large country" and don't worry about nit-picking ("poking" at it). Just keep on writing. Worry about the small things like editing ("nit-picking") when its all done. Keep on going. I'm almost there!

I've actually been feeling pretty inspired and in spite of having a couple of other things on my agenda last weekend I have progressed, almost finished another chapter segment, and managing to write several hours a day (sometimes up to six). Last night I workshopped the entire segment of the 'dangerous dialogues' and got very good critiques from my group, so that was quite a relief as I was uncertain if the point of view worked. So now I will carry on. And soon I will post a blog on "Questions" as in the questions Iskander is going to ask after overhearing the conversation between his grandmother and mother.

It's been a busy weekend. The rain kept falling almost non-stop. And I kept wishing I was still in Greece (frying in the heat-wave is better than drowning in the deluge). Anyway, the Summer Dreams Literary Festival was in the Park on Saturday and it managed to stop raining for part of the afternoon. I had the job of hosting the kid's stage for two of the children's acts but only six kids were in the audience and unfortunately a nearby craft table was a huge distraction. Then I went to set up my Travel Memoirs workshop but, as I expected, only one person showed up. (Actually two other women came but wanted to go for lunch first and didn't return.) So it was a bit of a bust but the one-on-one was a good run-through for the new 'course' which I will include in my night school classes from now on.

Sunday I had friends over for a Greek dinner. Lots of fun. And we watched the DVD of Haris Alexiou's concert at Lykebettos recorded last September along with two really hunky-dory male singers, Sokrates Malamas and Alkinoos Ioannidis. I swear that Malamas looks exactly like General Perdikkas in my novel. At least, exactly the way I had described the General who took over Alexander's army after he died. Yum! (No wonder I cried when I had assassinate the guy!) I once saw Perdikkas working in the post office up in northern Greece in Asprovalta. I bought a lot of stamps that summer when I was camping there. (check out their websites and you can catch some videos of Ioannidis on YouTube. All of them really talented singers/song writers.

I should write a blog on visualizing your characters one of these days. I do that a lot. I have almost my entire novel cast with real-life people I have seen (most of them in Greece, but some elsewhere such as in the movies.) You listen to Greek women speaking in those deep, sultry voices of theirs and you will 'hear' Olympias.

Today there finally WAS 'fire in the heaven". I think it's the sun! I worked all morning on notes for the editing and new chapter segment and then took myself out for a long walk. I'm having lower back problems again, brought on by sitting to long at the computer. And now the entire city is on strike so all the swimming pools are closed as well as other services. (It will be a stinky city in a short time as the garbage isn't being collected either.) I guess I'll start swimming at the beach though the water isn't so warm as the Aegean Sea. Because I need my swims. And should make more effort to get the bike on the road a couple of times a week too. Today I walked (briskly) for about an hour, just around the neighbourhood, on the streets that run port-side where there are a couple of sweet little parks ("meditation parks") where you can sit and watch the freighters and tug-boats. Very pleasant. Then I came home down the shaded back-streets where the old houses reminded me of when I was a teen-ager living in this area.
Nothing like a good hit of nostalgia!

Okay...it's time to go do those changes and additions I made note of this morning. I'll be back real soon!

"Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day."
William James 1842 - 1910 "The Principles of Psychology" 1890 ch 4