For those of you who follow the progress on this project at all, you’ve probably read Maddie’s nightmare sequence several times as it has gone through countless revisions and new incarnations.  Well now you’re in for a treat.  The first illustration by artist Paul Davey is a scene from Maddie’s nightmare, and he has more than lived up to my expectations.  Leave a comment, let me know what you think.

Thanks to some critical feedback, I’ve decided to make another major change to the focus of the novel. Originally the story switched back and forth between the real life conflicts of the Dreamers and their adventures in the Land of Nou. But it became unwieldy – Poguri’s story (he is the main character lest I forget) was being obscured.

So then I decided to focus more on Maddie, as developing one character more thoroughly gave the story more focus than delving into the personal details of six or so. But as is my tendency, I tried to stuff too much “other stuff” into the novel that didn’t belong, such as some of my real life passions around certain social issues. I vowed from the start that Land of Nou would not be any sort of social commentary, but as I continued to write out Maddie’s story, that’s exactly what it was becoming.

And this created a schism between the Waking and the Dreaming, and a the problem of Maddie’s story having very little to do with the overall conflict in the Land of Nou.  Lest I forget, the story is called Land of Nou!  Now I have decided that the dreamers will be introduced as they were originally – their dreams opening paths to the Land of Nou – but that from there the setting will remain in the Land of Nou, and not delve into the Dreamers’ Waking narratives at all.  There will be a strong Waking component – something I cannot reveal – but it is directly relevant to the conflict in the Land of Nou, which makes for a more focused story.  With this decision I have been able to resume writing, although the going is still slow.  But one word at a time is better than no words at all.

Sometimes real life is the biggest obstacle to fantasy – writing it, anyway. It’s been months since I’ve done any serious work on the story, and I wish I could say it was because I’m juggling work and school or some similar excuse, but the truth is that I just haven’t been inspired.

On some level I think that maybe I’m not cut out to be the writer of this story. While I believe the concept to be sound, I am not certain I have the know-how to flesh it out fully into prose. Every book that I read for inspiration actually seems to have the opposite effect, that is making me painfully aware of how I am lacking as a writer.

But there is hope. One of the things that usually always stirs my inspiration is new artwork. I’ve recently started a collaboration with an artist named Paul Davey, whose style coincides with a new desire to take the illustrations into a more “realistic” direction.  On top of that, his work also blurs the line between fantasy and reality, which is one of the main themes in Poguri and the Land of Nou.

Now tell me, did you notice the  two giant bears in the background?  If not, look again.

That I found Mr. Davey at all was nothing short of what Carl Jung would refer to as synchronicity, but that cynics might consider a mere coincidence.  Either way, I foresee a very fruitful partnership, and hope that I can draw some inspiration from his work and put it towards finishing the novel.

Over the past few days – corresponding to the arrival of a new laptop – I’ve had a real surge of motivation.  In no time at all, after what must’ve been a several-month spell of writer’s block, I’ve managed to churn out a prologue and five complete chapters.  In addition, I have a better sense of where the story is going and how I’ll take it there.

I’ve made some vital changes to Poguri, namely how he’s introduced, as well as making the critical decision to make Maddie the primary dreamer character.  Part of what had made the story overwhelming to write, I think, was that I was planning on jumping back and forth between the adventures in Nou and the real life troubles of five different characters.  It was just too much!  And if it was too much for me as a writer, then it certainly would’ve been too much for the reader.

The surge spilled over into the urge to make a few aesthetic changes here on the website – you may have noticed the top banner now uses a part of one of the scene illustrations instead of the black and white scheme.  On top of that, I’ve added the ability to toggle between a “Day” and “Night” theme – the former featuring brighter colors and the dreamers in the side bar, the latter using darker colors and featuring the bogeys in the sidebar.  The banners are different for each one, too.

So that’s all for now.  Here’ s hoping the streak continues and I’m able to get this book done sometime in the next year.

It’s probably not a secret to anyone who follows this blog – and I’m actually convinced that no one does – but I haven’t even touched the novel in weeks.  My plan to write 2 pages per day was derailed by a serious lapse in confidence, and a general lack of motivation.  It also doesn’t help that most of every day is spent engaged in some really soul-draining work.  Still, there is hope.

Recently I’ve been reading the works of Scott Adams of Dilbert fame, not the Dilbert books themselves, but God’s Debris and The Religion War.  Apart from the stimulating content of these works, Adams chose to write them in a way that would appeal to people with short attention spans – like young people.  My attention span of late has shortened, just in that I find a need to fill my every waking moment with some sort of stimulation.

So I’ve found Adams’ works to be enjoyable in that he spares the reader the usual excess of details.  Both books can be finished in one sitting – a few hours at most, and in a way, it’s refreshing.  Applying this to Poguri and the Land of Nou, I think that perhaps I have been stalled by some need to write the next epic children’s novel.  In my determination to write something that was “literature” as well as entertainment – i.e. socially and/or culturally relevant – I’ve gotten caught up in the details.

The thought occured to me before to write the Land of Nou story as a series of chapter books – short 150-200 page affairs that a child could tear through in an afternoon.  My commitment to writing an epic sidelined that idea before it had the opportunity to blossom.  Now the idea has returned, and I’ve come to realize that the chapter book format does not necessarily preclude the work from being classified as literature.

The tenative plan now is to give each major character individual attention – to tell the overall story from each of their perspectives as they travel back and forth between the waking world and the Land of Nou.  With my current day job scheduled to end soon due to lay-offs, I should have more time to devote to the projects which really matter to me.  Poguri and the Land of Nou, of course, is at the top of that list.

So you’ve all probably noticed – I mean you better have noticed – that I’ve changed the website design.  It still echoes the original design, but I definitely like this one a lot better, for the contrast between color and black and white, and the not-so blocky style.  The main reason for this change was to unite the blog with the main site, and to start using Wordpress to update everything, which makes my life a lot easier.  Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new layout!

As I tried to write the “Great Freeze” Tale, it felt more like a distraction from the novel than anything that added to the overall story or the Poguri universe. I found myself using similar themes – particularly the spreading of some worldwide condition. The “Freeze” felt a lot like the “Blight”. So I scrapped it. I still think that the Tales from the Land of Nou is a good idea, and I do intend to work on something along those lines soon, but for now, the novel has returned to top priority.

For my upcoming Jabberwocky meeting I completely reworked Maddie’s introduction chapter, taking all of the feedback I received from various sources into consideration. I feel good about this version. Like before, it is available for everyone to view on the website.

Maddie’s Introduction
http://www.poguri.com/maddie/

Update: The Maddie intro has been replaced by Chapter One – which is still the same essential character introduction, but with some considerable changes.

I even threw some pictures in to break up all the text. I figured that would also be more reflective of the final product, since “Land of Nou” is intended to be an illustrated novel. I hope you all like the rewrite, and whether you love it, hate it, or don’t feel one way or the other, I encourage you to leave me any feedback that comes to mind.

Thanks!

Greetings all…

A whole slew of new concept art has been posted to the illustrations section, including the second full-scale illustration, which shows the bogeys attacking Daywatch and the effects of the Blight. The contrast between this image and the “Fun in Daywatch” image sets the tone for the novel.

In other news, I am working on the first Tale from the Land of Nou, tentatively titled Poguri and the Great Freeze, which I hope to have complete by October 15th, in time for a writer’s event being hosted by Philadelphia Stories, as well as another meeting of Jabberwocky – a small writers’ critique group.

Based on the feedback I receive from these two events, I hope to be able to put Poguri on the [not-so] fast-track towards publication. For the few of you out there actually following this thing, you may be happy to know that Poguri and the Great Freeze will be posted on the website once it is complete. The Tales are not intended to generate any kind of profit for me, but to help me flesh out the Poguri universe and to familiarize all of you out there with the characters and setting. So I’ll be looking forward to your feedback as well. Well, that’s all for now. Stay tuned for the next Pogress Report and other information from the Land of Nou…

After receiving feedback from other writers, I have decided, finally, to take a crack at writing short stories. The catch for me will be coming up with a something that is simple enough to cover in a small space, yet also compelling enough – for ME. I tend not to be dissatisfied with stories if they are too simple, so this is really going to be a challenge.

The plan is to create several Tales from the Land of Nou, self-contained short stories that will not only help me hone my skills for writing the novel, but will also flesh out the Nou universe for my future readers. Who knows, maybe they’ll help me generate a following, too – a legion of fans eagerly anticipating the release of the novel! Wishful thinking, I’m sure, but how could I ever hope to write Poguri without the ability to dream?

One of the reasons I was aiming to complete the book by the end of the year was so that it coincided with the start of an MFA in Creative Writing Program in which I planned to enroll. However, a reality check flew in with the subtlety of a brick when I was rejected by not one, but two separate MFA programs.

At worst I could see these rejections as evidence that I am not a good writer, and at best…well, frankly, there is no silver lining. I am wrestling with the possibility that I am not a writer, but rather a “conceptualizer” – the guy who comes up with good ideas, but may not be so great at delivering them.

On the other hand, I am aware that if the idea is good enough, the writing doesn’t have to be, as long as it doesn’t “get in the way” of the idea. I can think of at least one popular book series for which this seems to be true, although I wouldn’t really say the idea for that series is too good, either. While the rejections dampened my enthusiasm towards this project for several days, I’ve decided to forge ahead. I am now determined to spite these two schools by writing the “next great children’s novel”. Whether or not I can achieve that, of course, remains to be seen…