Late Edition

Good Evening,

Writing is going well now (knock on wood). I am still on chapter 23 (of 30), but I'm putting more effective time into my writing. Key elements are:

• starting as soon as I get up in the morning, 
• prioritizing my activities in the day that are most essential and leaving the others to optional time slots,
• mastering the art of AIIA (Actively Ignoring Internet Activity) and
• writing my blog at the end of the day.

Especially the last element is now turning out to be a 'two birds with one stone' (Dutch: twee vliegen in een klap) situation. When I pour my creative juices into writing the book first, then I don't waste them on the blog. Also it leaves me with a fresh experience to actually fill my blog with. So I don't have to go wracking my brain for a topic to blog about (not something I had to do yet, but did fear for the future), but instead discuss something that I encountered on that same day.

I find that I am now also using more real life experiences as material for the characters inside the story. Bangkok for example is now (once again) under siege by government protesters and this time around they've decided to pour donated human blood in front of official's offices and houses. Combine this urban jungle tension and antics with me practicing for my hiking trip in Malaysia by walking around the city for a couple of hours each day and you've got enough inspiration for the story. As it is, the above (with a little artistic reshaping) translates nicely into Simon and his friends traipsing around the Amazon rain forest, coming upon a slash and burn logging site where protesting treehuggers are in conflict with the loggers.

I know, it's a stretch in actual elements, subjects and environment, but the emotions, atmosphere and description of essential details that make the reader feel they're in the scene when they read the book. Tomorrow: how can I transform a movie & hamburger experience in a mega mall to a boat trip down the Amazon river eating bananas... (just kidding).