Kim Golden's Blog - Posts Tagged "copenhagen"
Two Expats Talking Shop
A few weeks ago, fellow writer and former expat Emily Breunig asked me if she could interview me for her blog. We ended up having a great chat session in which we talked about Maybe Baby, our characters, the expat life and a whole lot more.One of the things we ended up talking about a lot was this idea of the disconnect and rootlessness a lot of expats feel. I've been an expat American for over twenty years now, so I can relate. I love the life I have here in Sweden. I sometimes miss my life in the US but I've been away so long that I feel like a tourist when I am there. It's disconcerting.
I think my character Laney feels a similar rootlessness. For her it is more pronounced: she has no family to go back to the US for--her mother is dead, her father abandoned her. Her only family now is her cousin Eddy, Eddy's mother and her Swedish boyfriend, Niklas. Is it any wonder she feels so confused about exploring the unknown? Well, that's for you to decide when you read Maybe Baby.
Emily and I have both written about the expat experience. Her novel, A Ghost at the Edge of the Sea, is out on submission and is represented by the Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. And while Maybe Baby deals with the game of love and an expat woman at a crossroads in her life, A Ghost... deals with ghosts, parallel universes and the afterlife in modern day Shanghai.
I can't wait for Emily's book to finally be published. Or maybe she'll take the plunge and go down the self-publishing road.
Prepping for NaNoWriMo
Every year, I (and loads of other writers) go a bit bonkers in the pursuit of completing a 50K+ word novel in a month. Yes, I mean NaNoWriMo.
My 2011 NaNo novel became my first novel, Snowbound, which I published last autumn. I had a blast writing it and a lot of people enjoyed reading it, even though some people thought Mia didn't deserve an HEA. Well, I am already working on a little story about Mia & Jake so that might be a Christmas present to their fans. :)
My 2012 NaNo novel became my second novel, Maybe Baby/i>, which I published in March, ended up for a while in the Kindle Top 100 list for its genre and won an award. It also caused many women to fall in love with Mads, the Danish sperm donor/furniture maker. I don't blame them. I have a bit of a crush on my own creation too. ;)
Last year was not a good NaNo year for me. I managed to write a 25K manuscript, come to the realization that I hated what I was writing and couldn't muster the energy or resolve to finish.
But this year is different...I feel ready to write my heart away, and we'll be returning to Copenhagen for more of Laney & Mads's story. So this weekend, I'll be prepping an outline so I won't find myself sitting in front of my MacBook Air and wondering what the heck I am doing.
Come November, I'll keep you updated here and on my author sitewith progress reports. I'll even post excerpts so you can see what's going on--but keep in mind it will be a very rough draft and probably full of typos. :)
My 2011 NaNo novel became my first novel, Snowbound, which I published last autumn. I had a blast writing it and a lot of people enjoyed reading it, even though some people thought Mia didn't deserve an HEA. Well, I am already working on a little story about Mia & Jake so that might be a Christmas present to their fans. :)
My 2012 NaNo novel became my second novel, Maybe Baby/i>, which I published in March, ended up for a while in the Kindle Top 100 list for its genre and won an award. It also caused many women to fall in love with Mads, the Danish sperm donor/furniture maker. I don't blame them. I have a bit of a crush on my own creation too. ;)Last year was not a good NaNo year for me. I managed to write a 25K manuscript, come to the realization that I hated what I was writing and couldn't muster the energy or resolve to finish.
But this year is different...I feel ready to write my heart away, and we'll be returning to Copenhagen for more of Laney & Mads's story. So this weekend, I'll be prepping an outline so I won't find myself sitting in front of my MacBook Air and wondering what the heck I am doing.
Come November, I'll keep you updated here and on my author sitewith progress reports. I'll even post excerpts so you can see what's going on--but keep in mind it will be a very rough draft and probably full of typos. :)
One more week until NaNoWriMo
Only one more week until NaNoWriMo and I am nearly done with my outline. I'm getting really anxious to start. I don't remember feeling this excited last year--which is probably why I didn't finish my 2013 NaNoWriMo effort.
This year, as I mentioned in my last post, I'll be returning to Copenhagen and writing about Laney and Mads. We meet them four years after the end of
and
. I've made a vision board for the novel and it's been a great help during this outlining stage.
I wasn't going to share the plot just yet, but I changed my mind. Here's the gist of the story I'll be working on:
Now married with two kids, Laney and Mads are finding life together is not as simple as it used to be. Laney is struggling with juggling a new baby and her four-year old daughter, Liv, and pressure to come back to work early from her maternity leave. She's also worried that she and Mads are drifting apart. He's so caught up in his furniture making business that he's forgetting promises made to Laney and to Liv. And he's missing signs that all is not well with Laney...
When the pressure gets too much for her, Laney takes the kids and goes to the US, hoping to find sanctuary with her aunt Cecily, a former school teacher who now teaches yoga and meditation to pensioners and at-risk teenagers in Florida.
Will Laney and Mads find a way back to one another...or is it too late?
Next Saturday I'll be ready...and I will probably exhaust myself (and my fingers) the first few days, but I'll keep writing. I'll also have a temporary page here on the site where you'll be able to read the very, very rough versions of the chapters I pen. I hope you'll cheer me on. If you want to follow my NaNo progress, save this link.
By the way, the cover image is just inspiration. It's not the final cover. I made it just to keep me motivated. When it's time for publication, I'll be contacting Arijana at Cover It! Designs for another amazing cover. :)
I wonder how many of you will be joining me for the NaNoWriMo challenge...drop a line and let me know! :)
This year, as I mentioned in my last post, I'll be returning to Copenhagen and writing about Laney and Mads. We meet them four years after the end of
and
. I've made a vision board for the novel and it's been a great help during this outlining stage.I wasn't going to share the plot just yet, but I changed my mind. Here's the gist of the story I'll be working on:
Now married with two kids, Laney and Mads are finding life together is not as simple as it used to be. Laney is struggling with juggling a new baby and her four-year old daughter, Liv, and pressure to come back to work early from her maternity leave. She's also worried that she and Mads are drifting apart. He's so caught up in his furniture making business that he's forgetting promises made to Laney and to Liv. And he's missing signs that all is not well with Laney...When the pressure gets too much for her, Laney takes the kids and goes to the US, hoping to find sanctuary with her aunt Cecily, a former school teacher who now teaches yoga and meditation to pensioners and at-risk teenagers in Florida.
Will Laney and Mads find a way back to one another...or is it too late?
Next Saturday I'll be ready...and I will probably exhaust myself (and my fingers) the first few days, but I'll keep writing. I'll also have a temporary page here on the site where you'll be able to read the very, very rough versions of the chapters I pen. I hope you'll cheer me on. If you want to follow my NaNo progress, save this link.
By the way, the cover image is just inspiration. It's not the final cover. I made it just to keep me motivated. When it's time for publication, I'll be contacting Arijana at Cover It! Designs for another amazing cover. :)
I wonder how many of you will be joining me for the NaNoWriMo challenge...drop a line and let me know! :)
Registered for NaNoWriMo!
I Heart Copenhagen!
February appears to be my Denmark month. My husband and I went to Copenhagen for a pre-Valentine's Day celebration and had some amazing meals at places like Fleisch, Øl og Brød, Mad Copenhagen and Madklubben Bistro Deluxe. And I will be going again very soon. While we were there, I soaked up the winter sun as much as I could (it's been pretty cloudy in Stockholm, Sweden) and let the city inspire me.
I ended up walking around a lot in Nørrebro, the neighbourhood where I imagine Laney and Mads from Maybe Baby live. I also spent some time in Fredriksberg (where Henrik and Eddy call home) and Vesterbro (where eventually Ragnar will find his footing).
You wouldn't think there is such a different vibe between Copenhagen and Stockholm. Both cities are Scandinavian capitals--with Copenhagen being the capital city of Denmark and Stockholm serving that role for Sweden--but there is a marked difference. Stockholm is very formal, though it strives to be cutting edge and trendy. Copenhagen is very laid back, like the cool cousin who doesn't need to try so hard. Of course, it's easy to say that when you are a visitor there. I've lived in Stockholm for over twenty years, so perhaps I've grown a bit blind to some of its charms. 
Maybe that's why I ended up setting the Maybe... series in Copenhagen--I wanted to write about a place that felt very laid-back, but was still Scandinavian and it delivers. Well, I'll be going back to Copenhagen on the 24th to visit friends and soak up some more sun (hopefully) and inspiration. Slowly but surely, I am getting ideas for developing Ragnar's story, so hopefully I can start working on it again.
