tirsdag 12. oktober 2010

Writer's news october 2010

So far I haven't experienced much glamour in my life as an author. After all I'm still in the cathegory "promising", My book is still not published and has no cover. But everything is looking better every day, faith is getting stronger! ;)

A couple of weeks ago I was at a meeting with the publishing house that has shown interest in my novel, a very exciting and interresting experience. It is strange, but nice, to sit around the table with three people who are so positive, and so enthusiastic about what I.m doing. One thing we all agree on: The title! The rest of the story is not so easy...
Allright, it isn't that bad. But some work still needs to be done, I have made loads of rookie mistakes. So I delete and write and delete again. But my team at the publishers are cheering me on, they like the story and they like my language. "This is going to be great", they say. Let's hope they're right!

 "Just hang in there", they say. Hang in there??! As if there's an alternative? I aim to spend the rest of my life writing books so of course I hang in there. Even though the release date keep moving as a fata morgana in the desert it seems?? I drag myself slowly towards the goal- and still I do it with joy! Wish me luck.

So what's my book about? Well it's four years of research in Egypt coming out - I have translated a page for you even though I can not guarantee that exactly THIS page won't be deleted from the final result. Maybe I could name the novel "Diary of an orfi wife???"
-Should we sit down, Kareem interrupted, and laughed at his convincing older brother..
-I mean it! Love is the most important thing in life and it does not wait. When it lands in your hand you must take good care of it, promise me that, honey, Mahmoud said with a wink.
I smiled shyly as Mahmoud showed us into the livingroom. What Mahmoud just said was nice, but it was also true, I thought. No doubt the things people regretted the most was what they had not dared doing, even though they dreamed of it? They thought about it until it was too late. I didn't want to do that mistake. Love had landed now, and if I didn't try, I would never find out...
The three of us sat down in the big white sofa. When I sat back between the pillows I felt as if I was six years old, I almost disappeared in that massive piece of furniture. 
-It's Annes English furniture, Mahmoud explained, somewhat unneccesary.  -She brought them by ship from England to Alexandria, it cost her a fortune to get them through the customs. I suggested she should sell them and buy new furniture here, but she didn't want to. Mahmoud rolled his eyes. -The lady sure knows how she wants it!
 

søndag 10. oktober 2010

The woman I wish I was


Why am I not happy with who I am? Who am I?

The woman I wish I was gets up in the morning, she has a peaceful cup of tea in her tidy kitchen while solving a crossword puzzle and listening to the news in the radio. After, she goes and has a shower, when she meets the day her legs are shaved, her eyebrows are plucked, her hair is done. She wears jewellry. She smells of a discrete perfume and lotion.

 She smiles.

She is self employed, an author and owner of a small, cozy coffee-shop she loves but isn't dependent upon. She has time and energy to gather friends and family around her in the evening.

 She exersises. She loves healthy, delicious food and shares it with her loved ones.

She's a spiritual being. She's at peace with herself and offers comfort and council for those who are not. She's got kids. She takes them travelling. She loves seeing the world and implements her experiences in her novels.

I love that woman. I wish I was her.
Am I her?

Can I be?

torsdag 7. oktober 2010

Beautiful Barcelona

French balconies

So what was best about first time in Barcelona??  Definately not the hotel. Me and my cousin booked it at hotels.com, and when we arrived, it was so anonymous we nearly missed it. Small, cheap, somewhat shabby and with hookers on the doorstep. The room was very small as well... and dark. It had one small window, but it faced nothing but a shaft in the middle of the building.
We tried to be positive. I said, we didn't come here to stay in the room did we? As our week went, the jail-cell we lived in became quite a joke... But of course we were very happy to stay in walking distance from many main sites and also the beach.


That was one of the things I loved the most about Barcelona... That it faces the sea. Or actually, a guide told us Barcelona lives with it's back towards the sea, because the poorest fishermen lived near the water, the richer inhabitants built their villas as far up from the sea front they could get. Anyway, i thought it was splendid to be able to spend two days during this holiday at the beach with three of my best friends: My cousin, my pen and notebook..! Got a really bad sunburn though...


Of course Barcelona is a lot about arcitechture, and as seen on the picture I was in a cheery mood in the towers of Sagrada Familia... And after seeing this great cathedral (It REALLY is a construction site!!) and La Pedrera, I fully understand that Anthoni Gaudi was declared a genious. And I fully understand that I will never fully understand Anthoni Gaudi. Did you get that one?? ;)

I left Barcelona with the best feeling one can have after a sucessful holiday: That this city still has so, so much more to show me, and that I have to return. The world's so big and still so much to see. But the best thing to collect, is happy memories - agree? ;)

Who am I and what is this blog

Me at the beach in Barcelona, sept 2010

This is the English blog of Gunn Marit Nisja, Norwegian woman, 31, and author-to-be.  I am interrested in travel, culture, nature and literature, and most of all reading, writing and PEOPLE! Thanks to this I have quite a few friends who don't speak Norwegian, hey folks, this blog is for you!

I will writa about the daily life of a soon-to-be author, books, travels and much much more... A little bit of this and a little bit of that. Looking forward to this project, it's been a long time since I blogged in English, so hope you all won't mind the errors...!

The coming posts will be about the latest meeting with my publisher, my holiday in Barcelona, Autumn in Norway, and me being an artist's assistant at Norways biggest Art Fair... Keep coming back for news!