Overdue update. After critiques by my local fiction focus group, several rewrites, and a long hiatus, urban fantasy novella (35,000 words) has been submitted to a major fantasy publisher. Fingers crossed, y’all.
I ran across an old post about my male protagonist, Haven, on my very first blog and can’t help taking you down Memory Lane with me. Proof positive, inspiration comes in every form imaginable.
Annyeong hasibnikka. (안녕하십니까.)
(Originally posted 11/16/2009 on Writingscape V1.0)
Why am I greeting you in honorific Korean, you wonder? Well, though this post is about my dark paranormal manuscript, it has a Korean slant.
Some of you are familiar with the practice of using music to connect with your character’s personality, story, or state of mind at a given moment. This is something I’ve always naturally done with my ridiculously dramatic self. Months ago, I stumbled upon the beautiful song that captured my male protagonist’s soul in a place I hadn’t expected—the world of Korean Pop.
The music of Korean mega-entertainer Rain (Bi, 비) has been a true favorite of mine for quite a while. In fact, I remember the first time I heard that whiskey-rich voice of his (without seeing a visual) and, not knowing who he was then, wondering why some black guy was singing in Korean. Ha. (Finding out he was not a brutha was a shock.) Anyhoo, “Escaping The Sun” (released October 2003) has been my top Rain tune for several years, and one day this year, while I was listening to it and working on a scene with my gargoyle, I realized the words could very well have come from Haven’s own soul (he is a creature of the night, stone during the day, forced to leave the sun and his woman behind over a century ago).
From then on, that was his song. I could connect to Haven without it, but with it put me in his head so much deeper.
In celebration of Haven’s story being complete and in the hands of my critique group, I give you the gorgeous music and words that so captured his essence for me. (Side note: The samurai girl and ninja aficionado in me is ready to explode with excitement because Rain’s new movie Ninja Assassin will finally be in theaters next week. ‘Bout time!)
“Escaping the Sun” (2003) English Lyrics
(English Translation: ShungLuV, via Soompi. Tweaks by Terri @cloudusa.org.)
The image of me crying, the foolish image of myself…
I hate the sun that shines upon the ground. (I hate the sun.)
If anyone recognized me and asked why I was crying,
I really hated not being able to answer. (I really hated it.)
I wanted to avoid the sun, and yet, no matter how hard I ran,
The sun was always overhead.
I really wanted to forget you, no matter how hard I tried,
No matter how hard I tried, you were still there, inside of me.
Your smile, your hands that touched me,
I really hated missing them. (I really hated it.)
While so many others laughed and shared past stories,
I tried to forget you, but again, my tears flowed.
I wanted to avoid the sun, and yet, no matter how hard I ran,
The sun was always overhead.
I really wanted to forget you, no matter how hard I tried,
No matter how hard I tried, you were still there, inside of me.
Everyone thinks that I’ve forgotten, but I think I’m going crazy.
I really want to forget. I really want to erase my memories, but it’s not working…
I wanted to avoid the sun, and yet, no matter how hard I ran,
The sun was always overhead.
I really wanted to forget you, no matter how hard I tried,
No matter how hard I tried, you were still there, inside of me.
Rap:
Like a thorn stuck so deep that you can’t get it out,
Like a scratch that hurts so much, it will leave a scar,
A person like you can never be erased.
Even though we’re apart, it seems like we’re still living together.
If only I could erase you by crying.
I cry so much that it’s enough to make a river.
Even if I live, I want to forget you and live normally (right)…
I want to live right… I want to live right…
Manuscript. Head. Drawer. 