Writing, Editing, Revising, Rewriting - Oh my!

The beat goes on, the beat goes on

Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain

La de da de de, la de da de da

...The Beat Goes On, by Sonny and Cher

A sound, like machine guns fills my apartment :

Tap tap tappity tap tap.

Tap tippity tap tap - tap!

again, hammering away on the latest edit, or minor revisions to my novel, "Bollywood Storm, An Elanna Forsythe George Mystery."

It's been six years since yesterday that I completed the month long 2006 NaNoWriMo challenge. (National  November  Writer's Month).  I haven't written another 'NaNo.' I'm afraid of what might come out next time. I'd like to finish this novel before I ignite another one!Why is it taking so long?For one thing, when I approach an artistic project, it doesn't matter what it is, painting or writing, I take the road less traveled. And on that road, no matter how many times I pull at my hair and SWEAR the next project is going to be simpler, they won't be. My wild imagination and sense of adventure gets in the way. I'm like a mad scientist that way.This is the longest project I have worked on and I'm glad to report that I  am happy with how it's going. Sure, I get impatient and want to share this work, but on days like today, when I have been able to see my work fresh, and celebrate the accomplishments, and buckle down to delve deeper into some paragraphs that don't work, I am glad that I am taking my time.  I have had to  bite my lip more than a few times in order to stay with the flow of the story that wants to be told, not the way that it *should.*What is the story? Well, if you've read my blogs, it's a story of a detective who is hired to solve the murder of a famous Bollywood Director, Rajesh Sharma and the mysterious deaths of some of his illegitimate children. If you read A Germ of an Idea, you'd also see how I came up with the NaNoWriMo idea. It wasn't supposed to be a serious venture...but, here we are, six years later.There are so many elements of Bollywood Storm that have come to light over the last six years. I am discovering so much that I couldn't have imagine at the time I began this. So many layers of meaning. I have learned a lot about myself, my parent's country of origin (because I was born in Canada), and so much about the psycho-spiritual elements of not only Hinduism, but what we, as humans, live through in our quest to become actualized.It's not always an easy, or a clear cut journey. In this world of 'good and evil' there lies a place where there is no judgement, if we just only look closer. If we were all enlightened, all knowing and aware, what would the purpose of being here be?But that goes to the deeper level. The landscape of Bollywood Storm rolls along like Brothers Grimm, One Thousand Arabian Nights, or The Old Testament. It reflect human events. Love, hate, sex, murder, fame and fortune. Throw in some James Joycean poetic and language usage, and Tarantino's KillBill 2 and - well -  I'm obviously having fun. I've noticed the name of my novel, Bollywood Storm, is also showing up over the internet. Gotta love Search Engines. Yep, people are using the name for a Bollywood E-zine site, or in Bollywood event articles. And that's okay, because it is causing a ripple effect. No such thing as bad press. But, there's no hurry. As a someone who is taking on a large piece of work like this, I have had to do the normal stuff, such as work to pay my rent, rest after being with the work too long. Come back to it when I'm ready. I can at the same time feel elated at the progress, and also feel the doubts when I run into a scene that's too thin - or too wordy. I had hoped to have the book out by Christmas, and that could possibly happen, but realistically, it'll be likely in 2013. Yes, after either the world has been hit by Nibaru, or we've ascended to another planet, or entered into the era of brotherhood. We shall see. N.K. JohelNOTE: This was a blog I did in 2012 -  it is 2014 and we weren't hit by Nibaru. YAY!!!