Alice -- Frequently Asked Questions

Alice FAQ

Catch-Up

Bit by bit I am getting all my stuff converted and put up for e-readers. This is the latest.  These days, I have so little free time between dog walks and rewrites, it may be another year before I get the next thing pulled together and online. It makes me miss, a little, the days when I had undiagnosed Grave's Disease and could go for 30-40 hours without sleep, writing like a maniac. Those days are gone. Back to work.

Another Reason to Love Jon Stewart

He's making a movie about Iran.

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

Thanks for tagging me, Taffy. Read about Taffy’s work in progress here.

What is the working title of your book?
Last Girl Standing, very much a working title. The story evolved into something very different than I originally envisioned and this title doesn't work as well now. 

What genre does your book come under?
Bollywood crime comedy. (I hear it's the next big trend in crime fiction, so watch for us on the NYT bestseller list.)

Who or what inspired you to write this book? Where did the idea come from for the WIP?
I was robbed in a strange, nonviolent crime near Mumbai airport, which led to a feud with a criminal gang, with whom I kinda fell in love.

They were delightful. They had all sorts of disguises! Ballsy. Stones like weather balloons, these guys.  Truly, they were a gift from the universe, as was the mildly corrupt, but mostly well-intentioned, cop who got caught in the middle.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 
Our heroine, outsourced to India, gets drawn into a feud with petty criminals, leading to a byzantine murder mystery in Bollywood.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Six months.  The rewriting is a bitch, always, but it was a real bitch for the last year because I got distracted by a dog who made me rescue her and write a book about her, which I just finished. 

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
It has my favorite chase scene so far, some of my favorite characters, as well as a mouthwatering survey of Mumbai street food.  A recurring character dies though. Sad.

Bonus Questions from TPAC:

What is your character's worst habit?
Vodka and vengeance (tied), both of which she has given up at the start of this episode. This vow will be sorely tested in the course of the book.

What is your favorite sandwich?
Pastrami on good rye with hot mustard and a proper deli pickle on the side.
If you have questions of your own, feel free to ask them in the comments. 

Read another Next Big Thing, by the funniest guy I know. "Afropuffs are the antennae of the universe."

Canada

So... I forgot to mention in my last post that Alice and I made it to Canada, where we are settled now. She loves it in Canada, and especially loves winter, although winter here is much colder than in Kathmandu. She likes almost everyone she meets here, dog and human, and is thriving in almost every way, although she still suffers from some separation anxiety and can't be left alone yet.  We're working on it.

Here are a slew of photos, almost all taken (or drawn) by other people.

And me, my world has, for the most part, shrunk from being the size of the world to the radius of a few blocks, as far as I can walk with my dog in this cold weather.  But it's not so bad. Smile.

Life Happens

I am back in India, and back to writing full-time, after four months devoted to saving this little one, Alice. She found me in a lane in Kathmandu. Sick, dehydrated, and terrified, she looked up at me and I was a goner. I tried to find her a place in a shelter, but the shelters in Kathmandu are woefully overwhelmed. I found her a home, but she refused it and made it clear she was not going to let me go. I intended to return to India much sooner, but stayed on in Nepal in order to get all her shots and the paperwork needed so she could travel.

Then Nepal was hit with a violent general strike. The country shut down. And we had to leave by a certain date. Staying too long meant, at best,  a huge fine and other expenses I couldn’t afford to pay, growing food and water shortages and more violence in the streets due to the escalating strike.  Oh, and the rains were coming to ground flights and wreck the roads, which have a terrible reputation in the best of weather.  Luckily, Alice has a way of winning people over, and humans from all over the world helped, from Indiegogo supporters to the amazing Dr Jha to Buddha Air to Russian Peter to Jody Epstein to a brave rickshaw wallah to Mr. Harbinder Singh. After 37 hours of straight travel by foot taxi turbojet cycle rickshaw and train we made it safely to friend Kurt's place in Delhi. Now we are working on Alice's trip to Canada.

It's a cliche,  but true, that when you rescue an animal, the animal rescues you back. I am giving up my itinerant life, looking for a way to settle down and give Alice, and her future four-legged buddies, a stable home. Stay tuned.

Josephine and Grace

A friend posted this on Facebook, The Five Most Bad Ass Teams of Famous People to Ever Join Forces....

...which made me think of one of my favorite famous teams, Princess Grace of Monaco and Josephine Baker, who fought racism together--not as dramatic as the other examples, but much more epic.

In 1951, back when racism was still wildly popular, Josephine was refused service at the Stork Club because she was black. Grace Kelly was so incensed by this, "she stormed out with her entire party and refused to go back. And never did." The two became lifelong friends.
Wouldn't you love to have been a fly on the wall when these two got together at the palace, when the tiara and the glass slippers were off and they could just kick back, two girlfriends together?

Josephine:

Radical Abundance by K. Eric Drexler

This is the book I'm most looking forward to reading, when it comes out next year. Drexler, who wrote Nanosystems and Engines of Creation, is controversial and maybe 50 years ahead of his time on some things (he's "active in space politics," and was involved with the Moon Treaty of 1980). But he's also extremely perceptive about the ways the world economy and political landscape are changing radically because of the power of personal technology. (Also, he writes for people like me who appreciate the concepts but don't understand the mathematics at all.)

The Cynic of Sinope

This Smithsonian Magazine piece, the Top Ten Books Lost to Time, made me think of Diogenes, whose writings were lost (many in the fire that destroyed the Library of Alexandria IIRC). We know of him only through a handful of other writers whose works survived.

Fascinating guy. Would have been right at home in the Hotel Chelsea.

"Diogenes was knee deep in a stream washing vegetables. Coming up to him, Plato said, 'My good Diogenes, if you knew how to pay court to kings, you wouldn't have to wash vegetables.'

"'And,' replied Diogenes, 'If you knew how to wash vegetables, you wouldn't have to pay court to kings.'"

The Teachings of Diogenes.

Fasting to Stop Gratuitous Fasts

After the success of Anna Hazare anti-corruption fast, all sorts of people are jumping on the bandwagon.
Some have done it for a long time, and for good reasons.
Some are.. dubious.
In which category does this guy fall, you think? My, he does look saintly in those photos.
In other news:
A Chennai girl writes an open letter to a "Delhi Boy" and unleashes a brouhaha.
That long-dreamed for "pie-fax" may soon be a reality.