Angela Oliver's Blog - Posts Tagged "inspiration"
Lemur Week
To celebrate the release of Imax movie Madagascar: Island of Lemurs the week running from March 30th through until April 5th, has been dubbed "Lemur Week".
Therefore, I thought I would share a little about Madagascar and why I am writing my "Lemur Saga".
I believe my fascination with lemurs began sometime in High School, when we learnt about prosimians. At first, I fell in love with the tarsier (which isn't a lemur) but then I began doing volunteer work at Orana Park, a local zoo park. There was something about these furry little mammals - not quite a monkey, with their bright, round eyes, pixie faces and beautiful scarf-like tails. One day they let me on the island to hand feed them. I was instantly besotted. And it's been lemurs ever since. They're fun, they're playful, they're smarter than your average bear, but not what one might call intellectually minded. And face it, they're beautiful.
My lemur obsession led me to making the long journey to Madagascar in 2007, accompanied by my husband. It was truly the trip of a lifetime. For someone who had never been further abroad than Australia, the culture shock was almost overwhelming. So many people, so much poverty. It was enough to break one's heart. Especially when you journey out of the cities and into the countryside – a mostly barren wasteland of dry grasslands and rice paddies, an island that was once a real jewel, a real lost eden and is now around 90% deforested. Once we were in the forests, however, I found the true beauty. There is nothing quite as amazing as staring into the face of the smallest primate in the world, the tiny mouse lemur, or standing beneath an indri (the largest lemur) as she sings her mournful dirge. I was entranced.
The Malagasy culture fascinated me and the people with their colourful clothing, big smiles and calls of “Salama vazaha” enchanted me and thus “Lemurs: A Saga” was born. The Lemur culture is loosely based on that of the Malagasy people – the reverence of their ancestors (called here Lemures), their Famadihana (the turning of the bones); their clothing and general zest for life. But I have also given back Madagascar her forests, given the farmers antelope instead of zebu cattle and goats and taken a great many liberties. Whilst some of the places – Morombe, Morondova, Belo-sur-Tsiribihana, the Tsiribihina river, and (Antana)Narivo actually exist, they bear little resemblance to their Madigaska counterparts.
Lastly, Queen Ranavalona IS real. Of course, in our world she wasn't a lemur, but other than that, most of her deeds in this novel are not entirely imagined.
For more information on how YOU can help the people, and lemurs, of Madagascar, plus further information on “Lemurs: A Saga” visit:
http://lemurkat.co.nz/lemursaga
Therefore, I thought I would share a little about Madagascar and why I am writing my "Lemur Saga".
I believe my fascination with lemurs began sometime in High School, when we learnt about prosimians. At first, I fell in love with the tarsier (which isn't a lemur) but then I began doing volunteer work at Orana Park, a local zoo park. There was something about these furry little mammals - not quite a monkey, with their bright, round eyes, pixie faces and beautiful scarf-like tails. One day they let me on the island to hand feed them. I was instantly besotted. And it's been lemurs ever since. They're fun, they're playful, they're smarter than your average bear, but not what one might call intellectually minded. And face it, they're beautiful.
My lemur obsession led me to making the long journey to Madagascar in 2007, accompanied by my husband. It was truly the trip of a lifetime. For someone who had never been further abroad than Australia, the culture shock was almost overwhelming. So many people, so much poverty. It was enough to break one's heart. Especially when you journey out of the cities and into the countryside – a mostly barren wasteland of dry grasslands and rice paddies, an island that was once a real jewel, a real lost eden and is now around 90% deforested. Once we were in the forests, however, I found the true beauty. There is nothing quite as amazing as staring into the face of the smallest primate in the world, the tiny mouse lemur, or standing beneath an indri (the largest lemur) as she sings her mournful dirge. I was entranced.
The Malagasy culture fascinated me and the people with their colourful clothing, big smiles and calls of “Salama vazaha” enchanted me and thus “Lemurs: A Saga” was born. The Lemur culture is loosely based on that of the Malagasy people – the reverence of their ancestors (called here Lemures), their Famadihana (the turning of the bones); their clothing and general zest for life. But I have also given back Madagascar her forests, given the farmers antelope instead of zebu cattle and goats and taken a great many liberties. Whilst some of the places – Morombe, Morondova, Belo-sur-Tsiribihana, the Tsiribihina river, and (Antana)Narivo actually exist, they bear little resemblance to their Madigaska counterparts.
Lastly, Queen Ranavalona IS real. Of course, in our world she wasn't a lemur, but other than that, most of her deeds in this novel are not entirely imagined.
For more information on how YOU can help the people, and lemurs, of Madagascar, plus further information on “Lemurs: A Saga” visit:
http://lemurkat.co.nz/lemursaga
NaNoWriMo
I am proud to say, I started writing properly due to NaNoWriMo*. I entered for the first time in 2003, then again in 2004, before giving it a break for a few years, a failed attempt in 2007, then more succesful ones from 2010-2013.
My 2010 Nano novel is now published as Aroha's Grand Adventure: A Little Bird on a Big Adventure.
This year, due to other commitments (my unfinished second-novel-in-my-series/my animal-a-day project/work and general RL stuff), I have decided not to participate this year, but YOU should!
Now, for those of you trying NaNo for the first time - it is scary, but exciting! - if you have ever dreamed of writing a novel, but always considered you have never had the time, well, find the time! When I was writing "Aroha" I got up an hour earlier every morning, intending to write 1000 words before breakfast. If you're more of a night owl, well, make a time to shut off the book of face and the interweb and write for an hour or two (or three or four) before you go to bed.
You only have to write 1,667 words per day - and they don't even have to be GOOD words! Shut down the internal editor, put a lid on your inner critic and write, write, WRITE!
You can do it - because, I can tell you, that when you have caught the wave (and believe me, a certain amount of writing is hard work, but when the characters take over, your fingers cannot keep up with your brain), there is no more awesome feeling. You are like a god! These characters, they are your puppets, your toys, your pawns or queens or knights. You can point them in the direction you want them to go - then delight as they take on a life of their own and send the plot spiraling in directions you have never imagined!
Don't write for the market, don't write for your mother, your life partner - write for yourself, write the story that you want to read, and if the passion is there, then any future readers will sense it too.
So go forth and write!
* NaNoWriMo is "National Novel Writing Month" - the idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Find out more at: http://www.nanowrimo.org
My 2010 Nano novel is now published as Aroha's Grand Adventure: A Little Bird on a Big Adventure.
This year, due to other commitments (my unfinished second-novel-in-my-series/my animal-a-day project/work and general RL stuff), I have decided not to participate this year, but YOU should!
Now, for those of you trying NaNo for the first time - it is scary, but exciting! - if you have ever dreamed of writing a novel, but always considered you have never had the time, well, find the time! When I was writing "Aroha" I got up an hour earlier every morning, intending to write 1000 words before breakfast. If you're more of a night owl, well, make a time to shut off the book of face and the interweb and write for an hour or two (or three or four) before you go to bed.
You only have to write 1,667 words per day - and they don't even have to be GOOD words! Shut down the internal editor, put a lid on your inner critic and write, write, WRITE!
You can do it - because, I can tell you, that when you have caught the wave (and believe me, a certain amount of writing is hard work, but when the characters take over, your fingers cannot keep up with your brain), there is no more awesome feeling. You are like a god! These characters, they are your puppets, your toys, your pawns or queens or knights. You can point them in the direction you want them to go - then delight as they take on a life of their own and send the plot spiraling in directions you have never imagined!
Don't write for the market, don't write for your mother, your life partner - write for yourself, write the story that you want to read, and if the passion is there, then any future readers will sense it too.
So go forth and write!
* NaNoWriMo is "National Novel Writing Month" - the idea is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. Find out more at: http://www.nanowrimo.org
