Thursday, June 7, 2012

Beliefs and legends lead to writing

My parents are from El Salvador. I have been lucky enough to have visited the country and family that my parents had left behind. It is a beautiful country with strong belifs and legends. It is what influenced me in the story that I am writing.

The stories may sound absurd, be it the gold that my great grandfather buried but people are too afraid to unearth for the spirits will haunt them (there is actually confirmation of buried metal deposits), or the story of my cousins grandfather having a pact with the devil (confirmation of this is still up in the air, but I will say this my cousins family obtained a large amount of land and money in a short amount of time. So the story goes). 

The legends fare no better. The legend of the "zipitillo", the actual translation I am not sure of, but it is the legend of a dwarf like creature that likes to flirt with beautiful women. My female cousins would always braid their hair before they went to bed, because apparently the "zipitillo" likes to braid women's hair while they sleep. Of course a legend for men exists, "La Siguanava" (probably not how it is spelled). "La Siguanava" likes to entice men. When the man aproaches her because of her beautiful body, she reveals her hideous face, causing the men to go crazy.  I have had family members swear by God that they have come into contact with  either "El Zipitillo" or "La Siguanava". I do have more than a few crazy cousins.

The stories get darker dealing with actual spirits, curses and possessions. I have always been intrigued by the darker stories told to me by my grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and parents. It is one story in particular that I spun my tale around and it happens to be the darkest.  I will write a more detailed synopsis within the next couple of days, it is still a work in progress. The story that I expanded on is that of a young woman who is possessed. 

What I am writing is a far cry from Jane Austen romance filled novels. I would say it is more like Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches chronicles. But Aspiring Toward Austen does not mean that I wish to mimick her work but her ability to draw the reader in her world and characters. I strive to create a character like her Mr. Darcy, like Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Wentworth. I strive to create her world of Northanger Abbey, Pemberley and Mansfield Park.







Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Aspiring toward Austen

I start this blog on the urging of one of my best friends. When I told her I wanted to be a writer she said I should start a blog. If you start a blog you can post chapters, ramblings and I would so follow you, is what she said to me. The problem with a blog is that people will see what you write was my hesitating answer. Duh! Isn't that the reason you want to be a writer, to have people read what you have to say, what you think and to immerse people in the worlds the you create within your work, she answered. Fear started to grow in me. No. I lie. The fear in me grew bigger.

I have been afraid of many things for a very long time. From the obvious ones, such as fear of heights, fear of roller coasters and even fear of the dark after watching a scary movie, to the much deeper ones, such as fear of disappointing others, fear of judgement, fear of rejection and fear of not succeeding. It is time that I stop letting fear rule me. Here I am!

Aspiring Toward Austen comes from wanting to write an enduring and much fantasized about character like Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, or creating the enduring love between Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth in Persuasion. Jane Austen's classic works are not my only source of inspiration. Anne Rice, Margaret Mitchell, JK Rowling, Dan Brown, Stephen King, Elizabeth Gaskell, Paolo Coelho are only a few of the authors that I love and who influence and inspire me.
Get ready for my ramblings, my literary work, my thoughts and I hope to immerse you in the worlds that I create within my work!