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Pottery- Korean Style

Sep 28, 2009 | | 16 Comments

Recently our family went into the countryside (about an hour and a half bus ride) to visit the traditional Korean pottery city, Icheon. If you’ve read Single Shard by Linda Sue Park, you know what I’m taking about.

There’s a festival held there once a year in the spring but since it’s fall, we just went to the part of town that had all the Korean pots for sale. There were about forty shops in all that sold all types of pottery from the traditional celadon to a more modern rustic look.

The boys also made their own pots. Here’s a video of Caleb shaping his clay:
And Luke:

And remember when Doug made his own pot? Here it is:

I kind of got carried away and bought too much pottery (and more not pictured for my parents). What’s your favorite? The traditional green celadon (on the left) or the modern?

Website finished!

Sep 24, 2009 | , | 9 Comments

Sick, sick, and more sickness all around our home. It’s been a tough week here at the Farleys but I think I’m coming out of the murky darkness of sick bay. And here I’d planned on getting so much writing stuff done. Like polishing my query and synopsis. Yeah, right.

But I did revamp my website! Yeah! I’m hoping it will give editors and agents a glimpse of who I am as a writer. Check it out at: http://www.christinafarley.com/

While we were all sick at home, guess where my husband was? Hong Kong! Jealous? You should be. At least I was. But I was really glad he could go. He attended a tech conference on how to incorporate technology into your classroom. He said it was very innovative and exciting.

I’m going to leave you with a movie clip of his junk boat trip on the harbor of Hong Kong. The last time I went, I was pregnant with Luke so it brought back good memories for me too. Oh, and the photo above was taken by Doug from Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Books that Inspire Songs

Sep 17, 2009 | | 7 Comments

A friend of mine sent me this link called Artists for Literacy. Basically, its a site that lists songs inspired by a particular books. It’s facinating. And terribly fun.

Like did you know the novel Frankenstein inspired Bob Dylan to compose ‘All Along the Watchtower’?

Kate Bush was obviously so impressed with Bronte, she wrote a song called ‘Wuthering Heights’. And one of my favorite authors, C.S. Lewis, moved Steve Hackett, he wrote the song ‘Narnia’.

I was not very impressed to find no matches for Jane Austen. What is up with that? The only redeeming factor for these songwriters’ oversight is a number of artist were influenced by J.R.R Tolkien. Now we’re talking!

So, if I were a songwriter (stop laughing at that thought!), I’d be inspired by Jane Austen, J.R.R. Tolkien and Shannon Hale (after all, her writing is gorgeous).

How about you?

Picture by Alexey Arkhipov

All Sparkly

Sep 14, 2009 | | 11 Comments

Oh, Iโ€™m so excited about my current WIP. I can actually see the end right now and WOW, does that feel GOOD. Okay, so itโ€™s not the end as in โ€˜book being printedโ€™ and all that. But itโ€™s close to query stage. Yeah!

I hope to spend the rest of this week, checking and rechecking to make sure Iโ€™ve got those commas in place (naughty little buggers) and then swish! Off it will go.

Scary. Exhilarating!

So wish my sparkly WIP lots of luck and if you think of it, send me some cyber chocolate, too. I use it for all purposes such as rejection medicine, celebration food and, of course, for inspiration!

Photo by Ed Bruns

Breakfast Tales

Sep 9, 2009 | | 9 Comments

The view from where we eat overlooks the mountainside and down into the section of Seoul called Yonhi Dong.

The conversation this morning at breakfast kind of went like this:
โ€œDaddy,โ€ Caleb said. โ€œAre there any tigers in that forest?โ€

โ€œNot any longer,โ€ Daddy said, โ€œbut they used to a long time ago when Yonhi Dong was all forest. The people lived behind the city walls.”

โ€œSo they were safe behind the wall?โ€ Caleb asked.
โ€œWhat if they got in?โ€ Lukeโ€™s eyes were all big and blue at this point.

โ€œDonโ€™t worry,โ€ I told him, โ€œthe Hwarang warriors protected everyone.โ€

โ€œThen I want to be a Hwarang warrior,โ€ Caleb said. โ€œAnd have a sword.โ€

Luke sat up really tall. โ€œMe too.โ€
I guess Iโ€™m going to have to write Santa a letter asking for traditional Korean swords. Letโ€™s hope they come in plastic!
Photo from: Anima

No! No! No!

Aug 29, 2009 | | 17 Comments

I will say no. I will say no. I will say no.

Yes, it’s true, I’m dying to write another book. I have all these ideas and the character is chatting away in my head. I love her already!

Shhh! Don’t tell my hubby because he made me promise I’d finish revisions and query these other two books I’ve written before I write another one.

It’s true, I have a problem. I adore writing. But sometimes I get so caught up in making my drafts perfect and then I get the feeling I will never finish the book.

So no. I will not start another book. Yet.

In fact, I’m going to put my computer away right now and read through my last 40 pages. I’ve sat down these last few days and read my book. Caught some naughty spelling errors and tossed in a few commas too! Oh, aren’t you proud of me?

How about you? Is there anything that you have to tell yourself NO! before you do what you want to do? (Like scrub the toilet as opposed to watching TV?)

Quarantined!

Aug 26, 2009 | | 12 Comments

Yep, that’s right. Our school has closed for the H1N1 Virus. We had three cases show up on Friday in our British School so that division was closed. But by Tuesday, more cases popped up so the Korean government has closed us down.

Just a few cases doesn’t seem like much, but with a close expat community, a virus could spread fast. Besides, South Korea may not be an island, but with North Korea blocking us off from Asia, it basically is.

Last night we got the email from our head of school. It was a long list of things we could do or couldn’t. One of the weird things is no one is allowed on our school campus unless they have to be (all our teachers live on school property). We had until 11 AM this morning to go into our classrooms and get what we needed. I was in my office still at 11 printing stuff out and gathering my folders that I’d need while the announcement kept coming on “You need to leave now!”

I have no idea why we aren’t allowed in our classrooms, or in my case, my office. But we’ll go along with it.

Still, we have off from school until next Wednesday (as of right now). Currently, all the teachers are having on-line school. With the technology of today, it really is doable. And I’m planning on hitting my novel HARD this week. My deadline to be finished with edits is Sept. 1st. Can I do it?

Regardless, it’s all very exciting to live in a community that is quarantined. Maybe I’ll have to write a book about that!

But on a more serious note, please keep all the people around the world who are sick in your prayers and hope this virus can get contained.

Are You a Writer in Korea?

Aug 21, 2009 | | 4 Comments

It’s amazing how many writers living or have visited Korea that I’ve met since having this blog. So I thought I’d make a blog post to all those who are near or coming to Seoul.

We have an SCBWI chapter here in Korea that is still new and forming, but with some awesome people. Here’s the link or check us out here on Facebook. We usually meet once a month. Whether you are a member of SCBWI or not, come join us!
Also, at my school, Seoul Foreign School, we have a writing group called Inkwells. It’s for all genres and I get a lot out of it. We’ll be having our first meeting in September.
Email me if you’re interested in coming or interested in SCBWI. farley dot christina L at gmail dot com.

Character Motivation

Aug 19, 2009 | | 4 Comments

This is a photo of us climbing the last series of steps before reaching the peak of Diamond Head Crater in Hawaii. It was a tough hike for little Luke, but we kept telling him it was worth it.

“The view, Luke! Wait until you see the view!”

Writing is a little like that, isn’t it? Hard work. Exhausting, actually, but totally exhilarating once you get to THE END!

I’m getting closer to my THE END with another revision after getting back my brilliant notes from my two Beta readers, my hubby and Brilliant Beth- yes, Beth, you’ve a new nickname now. (See my blog post on the process)

Today I worked hard on my characters’ motivations. What makes them tick? Why do they love, kill and sacrifice their lives for a cause? And most importantly, how do my characters’ decisions effect and steer the plot?

I’m a very goal-orientated person. I decide I want something and do it whether it kills me. (Yes, this is how I finish books but it can be a very bad thing as in no sleep or frustration)

I guess my characters tend to be goal oriented too, but they need to fail. And not just the main character, my other key characters too. That’s the hard part. Because I want them to have the happily ever after. Still, we can’t always get everything we want!
So in this draft, I’m highlighting my characters’ inner strength and motivation to get them to their goal, despite their failures and insecurities.
Have you ever accomplished something really difficult, and despite setbacks, succeeded? I’d love to hear about it!

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