It’s Out

Rightful Identity is now in print as of September 9, 2011.

If you’ve already read it, it’s time for you to post your comments. If you haven’t gotten a hold of a copy, these are the directions to get it:

1. Go to: http://smashwords.com

2. Subscribe to the free membership.

3. Turn off your adult content filter.

4. In the “Search” Box, enter Rightful Identity or Jackie Pias Carlin.

 

When you’re ready, send your comments in.

Jackie

 

 

 

Delayed

I can’t help it, but Rightful Identity missed its publication deadline. Thank goodness, it was a self-inflicted deadline.

Excuses are: new teaching position at UHMaui College, teaching position at the college, new position as a college lecturer.

Just being hired two weeks before the semester, I had to drop everything and concentrate on the two class’s schedules and texts. Now two weeks after the semester started, I’m just about able to breathe regularly.

Whenever I don’t make a deadline, the project bites at my butt, lingers in my brain and eventually I have to get up in the middle of the night and finish it off. So don’t fret, Rightful Identity will be ready for reading shortly.

 

Count Down

August 2nd, deadline for publication right at the tip of my nose. ISBN, book cover, copyright and acknowledgements pages all set to go.

I’m publishing Rightful Identity on smashwords.com, and maybe that’s why I can procrastinate. I set the deadline. So what am I waiting for?

Again, I feel like an expectant mother hoping my newborn is just as gorgeous as the one on that magazine cover.

CONTENTS. Oh yes. The story. It’s as ready as it can get at this stage.

Read the synopsis for Rightful Identity. 

What’s New?

Rewriting never ends. Something new comes into focus every time the manuscript is read, and changes begin. As a seasoned author, I am still learning the craft of writing.

I normally let the fresh flow of ideas go wild during my first drafts. During these drafts, I am still deciding on characters and whether or not they are useful to the plot. After a while, even the narrator’s intention becomes clearer. Is the narrator someone in the story, or just existing to tell an intriguing story?

My intention is usually very vague when I start. It begins as an idea that grows, and all of a sudden I am at my notebook fleshing out the body. Shortly after, I transfer the ideas to my computer, and my keyboard heats up from the typing.

As the story develops, doubts occur. I can never erase those doubts until others have laid their eyes on the manuscript. Even then, I wonder about the comments that never get to my ears.

The more I write, the more critical I become. Therefore, one more rewrite is occurring with Rightful Identity. It is stressful. I wake up in the middle of the night wondering what to do with a certain character. I feel like I created a misunderstood person. Well, what’s new? Isn’t every one, at some time or other, been misunderstood?

On The Path

Just when I thought I was on the path to the finish, I am not. Another rewrite scheduled just as “Rightful Identity” is about to be published-two weeks from now. It’s my lesson that I should trust my instincts and clear my doubts. That little voice inside me points those areas out, and then my conscious self disregards the voice.

Time to get my imagination running again.

Big changes for Lilian and Sonny in “Rightful Identity.”

Rightful Identity

Why did I choose to write Rightful Identity?

First, that wasn’t the original title.

It started as a story about three women and their relationships with each other. Two are local born and raised on Maui, and the other is a transplant from New Mexico, (I think it was New Mexico).

As I created the characters and the plot, other characters began voicing their wants to be part of the story. Hence, Aunty arrived, and so did Sonny. Others eventually joined in in supporting roles.

I brought my revised manuscript to Taos Writers Conference and had it workshopped with Justin Cronin, and four other writers. The revised manuscript was very rough compared to what it is now.

That was three years ago. That’s how long it takes me to write a book. I don’t mind the long process. It’s a learning process as well. I have two other day time jobs, and some days there isn’t enough time for everything.

Second, after the workshop, I came home and placed the comments over low simmer. Actually, I stacked them in my nightstand. I didn’t revisit the manuscript for over a month. Justin suggested I rearrange my characters and omit one of them. It felt impossible.

I waited for Universal Guidance. In other words, I slept on it.

Little by little, drip by drip, a new story commenced. It was still an opportunity to write about Maui during the 60s. The characters handed me their histories in sensitive bundles. Willing to expose their lives to an audience, the story evolved.

These characters are fragments of other people who have influenced me, personally and impersonally. Someone might just walk into a restaurant, and he/she may inspire me. The fragments are seeds, and then I nourish them with my imagination.

Third, I changed the positions of the remaining characters as Justin recommended. A major landmark became a metaphor. As soon as I could make the parallel, the novel became Rightful Identity.

http://jackiepiascarlin.com/rightfulidentity.htm

Hello world!

Welcome to Rightful Identity‘s blog with author, Jackie Pias  Carlin. The purpose of this blog is to share what goes into writing, publishing and promoting Rightful Identity. I use my other blog, http://jcarlin.blog.com for all general thoughts like painting, gardening, self-publishing, traveling, etc. Whatever comes to mind, really.

A day ago, I offered free ebook copies of Rightful Identity, off my Facebook page. I’ll continue to do that through July.

Last month, I announced the birth of Rightful Identity at the annual meeting of Book Trust Maui where I was the guest speaker. The short excerpt I read brought the audience to a time and place on Maui when thorny kiawe trees and empty sandy beaches bordered the island’s south coast.

I like writing about old Maui-not that old-just during my lifetime , because it reminds me of life when Maui was much quieter and less complicated. Then I realized that a non-complicated life isn’t real, is it?

That’s where my plot begins.