Monday, December 26, 2011

The Year of the Rabbit as a Concept


Have you ever needed a creative outlet to help you cope with tragedy or personal challenges? I have. For many years.  

The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness provided me with a creative outlet as well as a structured approach to a goal and a dream.  

The title represents hope, respect for traditions and the conquering of fears.  While conceiving and nurturing it, I was able to balance creative freedom and basic project management skills.  Yes, The Year of the Rabbit for me was a concept as well as a project.

This post will focus on the concept.

Events in the 1999 Year of the Rabbit forced me to be more assertive yet maintain a level of compassion and personal sanity.  I sought ways to improve my family’s home life while living with financial uncertainty under a cloud of oppression.  The four years prior and after that year were some of the most difficult in my life.  I won’t dwell on that influence in this post.  You can read about the novel and writing as therapy in another blog.  

Short stories I wrote began to evolve and provided a welcomed creative outlet.  
I pondered and wrote poetry on the concept of time. Short story characters charmed their way into my imagination, encouraging me to write them into a novel.   It was a personal quest that started as an idea in 2007, a way to distract my concerns of the reality of being a single parent and knowing that in five short years, my attacker would apply for parole.   

I wrote many journal entries, asked many questions and explored different belief systems. I read my share of “self help” books.  I declined suggestions by friends and acquaintances to write about my own life altering experience.

During my explorations, Buddhism was one belief system that appealed to me the most because of its respect for the natural world and encouragement to lighten one’s load.  Although the woman’s role seemed limited in monasteries and Buddhist communities, I was still curious. Due to an overly creative monkey mind, I was not yet a good candidate for meditation.  I enjoyed movies like Enlightenment Guaranteed and Up in the Air.  

Writing, editing and sharing drafts of this novel provided me with opportunities to connect with other writers, published authors, to re-open myself to friendship and trust.

As mentioned in the project angle, there were delays and disappointments.  Yet in April 2011, I released the Print on Demand edition of The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness under the pen name of Florence T Lyon.  There was no way that I wanted my married name on my new creation.  For the curious, Florence T Lyon is a pen name that represents a renaissance and a philosophical crossroad. I had accomplished a major feat and arrived at a “crossroad” along my difficult journey.  

The reader feedback for the PoD version was encouraging.  Over the next few months, I corrected chronological inconsistencies and grammatical oversights.  In September 2011, I released the eBook version.  

Visit www.yearoftherabbit.ca where you can follow links to enjoy draft excerpts, reader comments and other blog entries.  

As for the missing chapters for the years in-between, they will become a short story collection that I hope to nurture, plan and release in plenty enough time for the 2023 Year of the Rabbit.  For the next couple of years though, I have to focus on practical goals.

Yes, I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, the same year as the novel’s main character, Sera Fletcher.  We both were able to tackle demons through reading and writing.  Sera though succumbed to rage when encountering one of hers for the last time.  I relied on the pen (or keyboard) as my weapon and as an escape.  Forgiveness though will be a long time coming.

Thank you for reading this far.

T


The Year of the Rabbit as a Project


Have you had long term goals that seemed out of reach or just impossible to achieve?  With proper planning, organized teamwork and frequent spoonfuls of determination, we humans are capable of almost any positive accomplishment.  

The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness provided me with a creative outlet as well as a structured approach to a goal.  The title represents hope, respect for traditions and the conquering of fears.  While conceiving, nurturing and planning for it, I was able to exercise creative freedom as well as practise some basic project management skills.  Yes, The Year of the Rabbit for me was a concept as well as a project.

This post will focus on the project angle.

It started as an idea in 2007 and was documented in January 2008 with an anticipated delivery date in mid-2010.  I had set targets for completion of various phases and milestones like chapter draft completion dates, novel edit version 1, version 2 completions, etc...  

I acquired resources who helped as readers, subject matter experts and editors.  Some services were obtained in exchange for lunches, dinners or for my own skilled offerings.  Some were offered freely.  Some required payment.  I met new people, made professional connections and obtained some unlikely new friends.

Along the way, it became apparent that I would need to adjust the time span represented in the novel and the intended milestones leading up to the release.  There were real life distractions with family issues, volunteer group commitments, working a day job plus preparing to downsize and move the family home in mid-2011 (yet another project).  

Due to the quickly changing publishing scene in Canada, my dream to have the novel released on target by a credible publisher soon faded.  There were other options but there was no way I was going to pay to have hundreds of copies of my novel printed and eventually end up storing boxes of them in my own home.  No way - especially if this  would hinder the moving project.  I thought about the cost, the space, my energy performing the leg work plus... the possible waste of trees and paper.  

My goal had to be delayed or re-imagined.  I pondered options available to me.  I explored alternatives.

Enter the liberating opportunities for Print on Demand and ePublishing.  

In April 2011, I released the Print on Demand edition of The Year of the Rabbit, A Novel about Fate, Family and Forgiveness under the pen name of Florence T Lyon.  The reader feedback was encouraging.  
In September 2011, I released the eBook version.

Although the targeted completion date was delayed, I am proud to say that this project was completed in 2011.  Visit www.yearoftherabbit.ca where you can follow links to enjoy excerpts, reader comments, tweets and other blog entries.  

As for the missing parts of the final product, they may be part of a new project that I intend to nurture, plan and release as a collection of short stories by 2023.  Another project I can envision is for the novel to be made into a movie.  I think it has the potential to rank with the likes of To Kill a Mockingbird and Stand by Me. I also think I need time to re-energize before even drafting a plan for that project.  

Yes, I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, the same year as the novel’s main character, Sera Fletcher.  

Thank you for reading this far.  Comments are welcome.   

TJ

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The gift of Reading

Although unwrapping a new Ereader loaded with hundreds of titles may not bring the same tactile pleasure as unwrapping piles of books, I'm sure many avid readers will be thrilled to find one under the tree this Christmas.   


If you have a loved-one who enjoys reading fiction by little known but promising Canadian authors, do I have a deal for you!  


The Year of the Rabbit(a novel about fate, family and forgiveness) is available in many electronic formats. 

The following are confirmed distributors for the Ebook version of The Year of the Rabbit : 


Of course, if you purchase the Ebook through Smashwords, the author gets a better return ;o) and I can monitor sales numbers in a more timely manner.   You can also enjoy a 50% discount coupon until December 24th.  



While you're considering the offer, check out some deep blonde thoughts on giftmas.  


Thanks for dropping by.  


T